Chapter 3 The Duel.
It was Monday morning. Tomorrow was reaping day and today was the last chance they had of training. Cato arrived at the training centre and his eyes immediately scanned for Clove. Not having any luck he gave up and went to the spears and swords station.
It was afternoon already and Cato still couldn't find Clove, he started to scan the whole centre again and saw her outside of the training centre and was just sitting under a tree fully calm and relaxed. Cato dropped his spear but took a sword just in case it becomes messy.
Clove noticed a big shade that was covering her sunlight and looked up and saw Cato
"What do you want?" Clove asked
"I've been looking for you everywhere" Cato said
"Why? It doesn't feel like you're taking interest in me" Clove grins at Cato
"Don't flatter yourself, Princess. I just wanted to test something and see if my theory is correct" Cato says
"Theory? What theory?" Clove asks as she stands up and fixes herself
"Your weakness theory." Cato says as he pulls a kid with a rope and the kid instantly falls on the ground
"What's with the kid?" Clove asks
"Kill him" Cato says
"What?" Clove glares
"I see. You're not willing to kill the kid so that means you can't kill kids can you?" Cato glares
"What are you trying to do?" Clove shouts
"All I want you to do is kill the kid then I'll be out of your sight" Cato grins at her "that is if you can" he adds
"Don't mock me, Wood." Clove glares at Cato with piercing eyes
"Try me, Cleverwood." Cato glares back and his eyes started getting a darker shade of blue.
Clove loses it and throws a knife near the kid's face which created a scar.
Cato grins and says "So close, did you just miss? Ms. Perfect aim and never misses"
"I told you! Do not underestimate me, Wood!" Clove shouts and throws another knife on the other side of the kid's face and that side started to bleed as well.
"I'm guessing you're not the perfect aim everyone claims you to be" Cato glares
"That's it!" Clove shouts as she takes out two knives and crashes down on top of Cato.
"Oh, I see you like to fight me now. I won't lose to you, Princess" Cato says as he takes out his sword and flips them around.
"Am I little too heavy for you?" Cato grins
"Heavy? Nah. The dummies are heavier than you!" Clove shouts as they started rolling down the hill.
Everyone saw Clove and Cato rolling down the hill
"Cato!" Alec shouts
"Leave them be. If you want to live" Marvin said as he signals everyone to continue their training and leaves Clove and Cato to settle their business.
While rolling down the hill Cato loses his sword and Clove loses some of her knives. She was able to get the last two knives out of her hair and Cato grabs the last sword behind her back and they kept rolling around the floor none stop.
"Get off of me, Wood!" Clove shouts as she struggles to break free from his big body
"I don't think so. I guess I win this round" Cato says
"Not on my watch." Clove says as she flips them around and they continued rolling around on the ground. They both lost their weapons and finally said it was a tie. Cato was still on top of Clove and they were panting on the ground completely out of breath.
"Not bad, Cato" Clove laughs
"You weren't so bad yourself" Cato laughs.
"Would you please get off of me now?" Clove says
"I don't think so. I like it here" Cato grins
"I knew it you are interested in me" Clove grins
"What if I am?" Cato grins back. Clove didn't expect that kind of answer and she just stared into his blue eyes. Cato does the same and stares into Clove's green eyes. They both could hear their hearts beating faster than ever. Their faces only inches apart. Cato couldn't help himself and dives right in and hungrily claims Clove's lips. Clove's eyes widens and goes stiff for a moment but then relaxes and places her arms around Cato's neck, pushing him down and making the kiss deeper. They both explore each other's mouths and had a tongue war. Cato won that one and explored Clove's mouth deeper than ever. Clove couldn't help herself and flipped them again and now she was on top of Cato. She breaks the kiss and says "I knew it, you were interested in me." Cato grins and says "and you're interested in me" before Clove could give an answer, Cato hungrily claims her lips once again. His hands were on her waist now moving up and down and caressing her curves. Clove breaks the kiss and goes down for his neck and Cato does the same. Clove giggles and says "Wait, I'm ticklish!" Cato pretended not to hear and started kissing her neck even more. Making Clove jump and they were once again rolling down the hill. The both of them were able to stop just in time before falling into the lake. Clove was on the bottom and Cato was on top.
"God, your pretty" Cato says
"Oh, I know" Clove laughs and hugs Cato tightly. They finally got up and sat down. Cato was sitting behind Clove and she leaned on Cato while he placed his arms around her waist.
"So, who was that kid that you saved yesterday?" Cato asked
"Oh, so that's why you had that little test. You thought my weakness was kids. That kid from yesterday was my little brother." Clove says
"Oh, so that's why. Then why did you glare at him?" Cato asks
"He knows that I have a reputation to uphold" Clove laughs
Cato laughs along with her and hugs her tighter and places his neck on her shoulder.
"I can't believe I fell for you." Cato whispers in her ear
"I can't believe it either" Clove grins and takes Cato's head and claims his lips. This time their kiss was passionate, sincere and flowing with emotions. Without breaking the kiss, Clove turns around to face Cato and they both slowly lie down on the ground once again.
Clove places her hands in to Cato's blonde hair and twirls her hands into his hair. Cato places his hands under Clove's shirt and rubs her back and caresses her curves. They were soon out of breath and they just both lay their trying to get their breathing back to normal.
Clove stands up and sees the sun starting to set.
"Oh shit" Clove says as she fixes her messed up hair
"What's wrong?" Cato asks as he stands up himself
"I've got to get home" Clove says as she starts to go up the hill trying to find her knives.
"Hey, wait up." Cato says as he runs up to Clove and turns her around to face him. "Why are you in a hurry?"
"I need to get home to take care of my brother and my knives are scattered and I need them back!" Clove says. Cato could feel her shoulders tensing up and he tried his best to calm her down while massaging her shoulders.
"Relax, Princess. I've got your knives here with me" Cato grins and gives her knives back
"How in the hell do you even do that?" Clove says as she takes the knives from Cato and places them back in place.
"I guess I'm just better than you" Cato grins
"I don't think so." Clove says as she turns around and starts to walk home
Kyle and Alec were there and saw Clove walk out of the hill with her hair down and two knives in her hands. She looked beaten up and tired. Cato soon follows out of the hill and looks worn down and tired just as Clove.
"Hey Man, how did your fight go?" Kyle asks
"I'm guessing you won, since she looked so beaten up and she didn't even have time to fix her hair!" Alec says
"Of course I won" Cato grins.
Clove hears this and comes back and says
"Hell No, I won. Since I have this" Clove says as she shows Cato his sword
"How did you?" Cato asks
"Well it just means I'm better than you." Clove grins and throws his sword to him. Cato catches it and grins back at Clove who started to walk home once again.
"So that means it's a tie?" Kyle asks
"It was a close fight" Cato grins and walks away from his friends while waving goodbye.
Clove walks home with her hair down and every single person looks in her way. Clove always wears her hair in a ponytail and always looks clean but for the people in their district this has been their second time seeing Clove so beaten up and dirty and she never had time to fix her hair. The people wonder who she fought. Clove looks uninterested and continues to walk home. She takes her hand and scratches her hair and combs it using her hands. When she gets home, she closes the door and goes straight to her room.
Cato walks home beaten down and tired as well. People were also looking at him but not very amused. Cato being tired and worn out was a regular thing to them since he always gets in to fights with the peacekeepers but it was strange to them that Clove also looked so worn out which gave them the conclusion that Clove and Cato had a battle and they all want to know who won. Is it the boy who can defeat anyone in seconds or is it the girl who just gives you a glare and you feel your life ending slowly?
Clove places her knives on the table and gets inside the shower quickly. The hot shower brings back what she and Cato did just a moment ago. She smiles as she remembers every moment and says to herself "I really have fallen for Cato Wood" She quickly goes out of the bathroom and changes into something comfortable and lays down her bed thinking about Cato as she drifts off to sleep.
Cato enters his house and his siblings suddenly bombard him with questions
"Why are you looking so beat up and tired, brother?" Claire asks
"Remember the girl I told you about?" Cato says while kneeling to be at the same height as them
"The worthy opponent?" asks Claide
"Yep. I challenged her today." Cato grins.
"and did you win?" Claide says
"Personally, I would say I won but it was a tie." Cato says
"So she's that strong?" Claide asks
"You bet." Cato says
"I told you, Girls are just as strong as guys!" Claire shouts
"Didn't you hear what brother said? Personally he thinks that he won so that means he beats the girl!" Claide counters
"It was a tie!" Claire counters
"Guys, enough. I'm a little worn out. Get to bed and get some rest. It's a very special day tomorrow" Cato says as he stands up and walks to his room. He enters the shower and takes a long hot bath. While standing in the middle of the shower, he remembers Clove and their battle. He smiles to himself as he remembers everything and says "I can honestly say that I have fallen for Clove Cleverwood" He turns the shower off and gets into comfy clothes and looks at himself in the mirror and says "Would Clove mind if I sleep over at her place tonight?" Cato grins at himself and combs his hair and slowly makes his way out of his house and runs to the other side of the village to go to Clove's house.
Clove who was sleeping soundly was suddenly woken up by a tapping sound. She quickly rises up from her bed and holds a knife right in front of her. She looks around and says "What the hell is that noise?" She hears it again and heard it coming from her window. She grunts and stands up, opens her curtains and sees Cato throwing pebbles at her window.
"What the hell are you doing?" Clove says as she rubs her eyes
"Looking at the most prettiest girl here" Cato grins
Clove throws her knife down and it falls right in front of Cato "Shut up, you idiot" she says as she laughs
"Can I come in?" Cato says as he picks up her knife
"If you can climb up then yes" Clove says as she steps away from her window and sits on her bed waiting for Cato to climb up. He grins for a second then placed the knife in his mouth and skilfully climbs up to her window and jumps in.
"I can see that you're a great climber as well" Clove grins as she continues to rub her tired eyes.
"Training pays off" Cato says as he closes the windows and the curtains and places the knife far away from Clove
"So, what are you doing here?" Clove asks as she leans back in her bed.
"Since I'm going to volunteer tomorrow, might as well spend my last few hours with my girl" Cato smirks as he crawls on Clove's bed and is now inches away from her face. Cato was about to close the gap when Clove stops him
"Wait… you're going to volunteer?" Clove asks
"Yeah, Are you worried about me?" Cato grins
"What if I am? Can I not be worried about my man?" Clove says in a serious tone.
Cato hears the tone in her voice and knew that she wasn't kidding. Clove sighs and says "Cato, your my everything. You're the only person who has loved me for me, well except for my younger brother but still. My parents only care about me if I win the hunger games. You're the only person that isn't afraid of me. I don't know what I'd do if I lose you, I'd probably go insane and never recover again. I can't lose you, Cato"
Cato hugs Clove tightly and gently lays her down on her bed. He carefully flips them and Clove lays down on Cato's chest, listening to his steady heartbeat. He strokes Clove's hair and she looks up at him.
"You won't lose me. I'll come back for you and when I come back you'll see me as the victor and we'll move in the victor's village and I'll never leave you ever again. Trust me, I'm going to be victorious when I come back. You don't have to worry. I won't lose. I'm the best there is. So please, stop worrying about me and believe in me alright? I promise you, I'll come back for you and I'll never leave your side ever again." Cato smiles and kisses Clove's forehead.
Clove crawls a little bit higher and smiles at Cato. Cato smiles back and knew he has convinced her that he'll come back for her. He hungrily claims her lips and Clove hungrily claims his. Cato's hand went wild and lifted her shirt and he gently caresses her curves. They stop from their long kissing to take a breather. A half a second breather and Cato goes for her neck and starts to kiss it. He knew how ticklish she was. Clove loses her strength and collapses on top of Cato's chest and just started giggling.
"Cato, stop that!" Clove says in between her giggles.
Cato says in between his kissing. "What if I don't want to?"
Clove grins and pushes her self away from Cato and gets up from her bed
"Hey! We were just getting to the good stuff!" Cato whines.
"Stop tickling me!" Clove whines back
"I can't help myself. The way you giggle turns me on" Cato smirks
"I won't play by your rules Cato!" Clove says as she turns around from him
Cato stands up and gives Clove a back hug and places his head right on her shoulder and whispers "If you don't want to play by my rules then I just have to make you" He lifts Clove and throws her on the bed and quickly climbs on top of her.
"Now be a good princess and play with me" Cato grins as he claims Clove's lips hungrily. She smiles in their kiss and wraps her arms around his neck to push him lower, making the kiss deeper. Cato's hands go up and down her curves. Clove kisses Cato's neck and Cato does the same. She knew that he would do the same so she decided to play by his rules just this once. In one point, Cato wanted to stop the silly kid games and go and get started with the real fun.
"Let's get started with the REAL game" Cato grins as he emphasises on the word "real". Clove rolls her eyes and just nods in agreement. She was too tired to move so she let Cato do all the work since that's what he wanted anyway. Their night was filled with moans and silent screams, they both didn't care if they woke someone up. They just continued and continued when Cato collapsed beside Clove from exhaustion. She faces Cato and says "Finally tired?" she realized that Cato was sleeping. She laughs to herself and kisses him on the nose and sleeps beside the man she loves.
Please Review! It would make me so happy. :) Thank you for all your support! I'll do my best! :)