A/N: ok, so someone said last chapter how it was cute that Annie was five, but she's actually 21 (as I said in the chapter) and older than Clove who is 16. That makes Cato, Marvel, Thresh and Gale 17.

Chapter 4:

"Get your asses in that car in ten seconds or I swear to God I will leave you here!" Brutus yelled, throwing his trainees suitcases into the back of his truck. Marvel and Thresh piled into the front seat leaving Cato and Clove for in the back.

"Is he always this uptight about a fight?" Clove asked as Brutus pulled out of the gym's driveway.

"The farther we go, the more uptight he gets" Cato said. There was a minor's mma tournament in Las Vegas that weekend and the four of them were competing. It was an eight to nine hour drive and it'll be a long drive.

"Great" Clove said sarcastically before letting out a yawn and fighting to keep her eyes open.

"Someone's not a morning person," Cato laughed as they pulled onto the highway. They had to leave at six in the morning to get there in time to check into their hotel.

"Never was, never will. It also didn't help that Annie couldn't sleep last night and her goddamn doctor made a damn schedule and had to stay in her room all night to keep her in bed. But if he didn't prescribe thirty different types of pills she would have slept" Clove complained.

"Why do you have to take care of her? What about your mom and dad?" he asked and Clove completely froze.

Clove quickly regained her composure and answered, "Frank is Annie's dad and he had to work and our mom isn't around."

"Oh" Cato said. He noticed Clove freeze and new that her family was a sensitive subject. "Why don't you take a nap? I'll wake you up for bathroom stops and when we get food."

"Thanks" Clove said, giving Cato a small smile. He noticed he was the only person she actually smiled at. She rested her head on the crappy headrest and closed her eyes, falling asleep almost immediately. After a few turns Clove fell against Cato, her head resting on his shoulder. Cato could only grin, he never had a better car trip.


Cato jumped on the balls of his feet and throwing a few punches into the air, getting pumped for his fight. "Hadley" Clove called. She was standing on the bench, her arms on top of the octagon fence and her arm barely peeking over.

Cato took a few steps toward the fence while spiting out his mouth guard into his hand. "What's up, knock out" Cato asked. Clove had won her won all her fights with a knockout in the first minuet. It was sad really, that her competition was so bad, but she was so goddamn good.

Clove rolled her eyes; all the boys were calling that since her first fight with a knock out thirty seconds into the match. "I just wanted to with you good luck" Clove said. "Watch out for this guy's hooks. They come out of nowhere and their lethal. Swipe out his legs, he's hopeless on the ground" Clove added.

"Anything else?" asked Cato and Clove only smiled.

"I hope he doesn't beat your ass like I did" she smirked and jumped off the bench, taking her place beside Marvel in the crowd. Cato smiled to himself, placing his mouth guard back in his mouth and turning back towards his competitor.

He walked towards the ref and stared down his competitor until the ref said, "Touch gloves" they did and the ref blew his whistle, signaling the beginning of the match. Both competitors' gloves went up and they circled the octagon, waiting for the other to make the first move. Cato decided to strike first, sending a punch to his face and, as he expected, his opponent blocked it. Cato kept punching at his face and he sent an uppercut to Cato's head. Cato ducked, mentally thanking Clove for warning him. Cato went down and swiped his feet from under him. The second boy fell onto the ground and Cato pounced on top of him. He sent punch after punch at his face. Cato's opponent, a boy a bit shorter than Cato but with the same amount of muscle, was more concentrated on his looks than winning the fight so he protected his face. Cato easily kept him pinned down for the ten seconds to win the match.

Cato grinned, spitting out his mouth guard and raising his arms above his head in victory.


Cato wanted so badly to kiss her, as she lay on his bed, asleep. She had fallen asleep in his and Thresh's room while watching a movie with the two other boys. They were watching The Hunger Games, to be exact. She had been so excited to watch this movie, but the events of the day had caught up to her and she had fallen asleep before the games even started.

He had given up on watching the movie long ago and decided just to watch Clove sleep. She hypnotized him. The way she curled up slightly and bundled herself up in the blankets. He loved how her eyelids fluttered every one and in a while, almost as if she was going to wake up.

"You look like a creep, Cato" Thresh said. He was on his own bed, next to marvel that was fast asleep and snoring loudly. Marvel shared a room with Brutus (since Cato and Marvel in the same room would lead to the hotel being destroyed) and Clove had her own room.

"You would look the same if you had as big of a crush on her as I do" Cato whispered, making sure not to wake Clove, he was almost certain that if Clove woke up he would get punched for staring at her and again for letting her fall asleep during the movie she waited "forever" to see.

He tucked a piece of Clove's long, dark hair behind her ear as Thresh said, "I think you're right." That comment surprised Cato, as Thresh was the smartest out of the three boys and had never called Cato right about anything. "It sucks that you won't turn the crush into something more," he added and Cato looked up. His blue eyes met Thresh's brown ones and he could see the arrogance light up in them. Cato knew he was right and that he needed to ask Clove out.

"I better get Clove into her own room before Brutus comes in" Cato said mostly to avoid Thresh's silent gloating. He picked up Clove bridal style, making sure to grab her room key and walked out the door.

He was almost half way to Clove's room when Clove shifted in his arms, waking up. "Cato?" Clove asked.

"Hey, sleepy head" Cato teased, giving her a lopsided grin. Clove only gave him a look of confusion.

"Why are you carrying me?" she asked. She was a bit startled to find herself in Cato's arms, but more so at the fact that she felt so safe. She had never felt safer or at home in Cato's arms.

"You fell asleep while watching the movie. You looked so peaceful I couldn't wake you up" Cato said. Clove nodded and wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder.

Cato grin widened, but it dwindled slightly when he walked up to Clove's door. He unlocked it and walked into the small room (the cheapest one in the whole hotel) and placed Clove on the bed. "Goodnight, Cato" Clove said as Cato stood there for longer than necessary.

"Night, Clove. See you in the morning" Cato said, placing her key card on the bedside table and walking out of the room.

He fell onto his bed, thinking about what happened in the hallway. What Clove had done had to mean something, right? He pondered it for minuets or hours, he wasn't sure. Eventually he fell asleep, thinking of only Clove.

A/N: I decided to move the Clato up. I was going to make you wait ten chapters until their first date, but I have decided to only make you wait six or seven chapters. I ran out of stuff to put in between and I think we all get Clove has opened up to Cato a lot and they like each other.