Hey Guys! Happy Valentines day! Thanks to all who followed me, are visiting this, etc. This story is dedicated to Holly, my cherished sister, and Courtney, who encouraged me to write this story. Thank you.

I don't own The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, nor any of the characters from there. Enjoy!

P.S. This story has some DEEEP stuff in it. You'll see why I put in that silly chapter before this. Sorry these aren't very long. I'll try to write more over the weekend.

Two days later

Cato walked into the gym with his - oh what a surprise- gym bag. Note the heavy sarcasm. Yesterday, Glimmer had pestered him all night with texts…And of course he had to answer, and pretend that he 'like, absolutely, loved, it'! Cue the obnoxious squealing. Yeah. This was his new life in freakin', sunny, California. Oh the joy.

As if on cue, Gale and Katniss walked in. Here the Dynamic Duo actually split ways! Oh jeez, Glimmer really had left a bad mark on him…Even he would admit that he was cranky and that was rare. He went to the sword section. He actually had taken fencing lessons when he was younger, so he was able to leave his mark on a few dummies. Soon gym started. The teacher, Abernathy, said, "We're going to be having races today," his gravelly voice proclaimed. He smirked, "No rules, two mates per team. Let the games begin!"

One student, she had red hair and reminded Cato of a fox, she had a certain slyness about her, asked, "Do you have any advice for us?"

Abernathy smirked, "Stay alive."

Cato mentally groaned. Teamwork…That meant he had to work with someone…Oh, here came Clove…Well, at least she was fast.

"Oh, Cato, we're working together, yeah?"

Cato frowned, "What happened to your 'like's and 'totally's?

"I just have to do those to fit in…It's silly, but I really don't want to be like Katniss…An outcast."

"But, they always seem to have fun…I mean, look at them," Cato pointed at a laughing Gale who gently pushed Katniss who lightly punched him back.

"Katniss! That actually hurt!"

"See, that proves that I've got arm muscle!"

"Yeah, but-"

Clove's face softened, "Maybe…But, I'm already at the top, why go to the bottom?"

Cato's next question surprised her, "Are you happy?"

Clove bit her lip, "I-"

Abernathy shouted, cutting her off, "Racers, to your marks, or whatever those stupid announcers say!"

"Is he seriously trying to sound like Claudius Templesmith?" Katniss asked Gale, raising her eyebrows. Cato and Clove were right next to their lane.

"More like Caesar Flickerman."

"Ewww…He's the one who has blue hair."

"Come on, it's coolio, I mean-" Gale got cut off.

Abernathy announced again, "Stop chatting, I changed my mind…You will race sportmanslike, and whoever is fast enough will be sorted into two relay teams…And the survivors of that race will be on the track team!"

Clove smirked at Cato, "You ready?"

"Darling, ready is my middle name," Cato smirked back. It's odd, he felt more comfortable with Clove…Maybe it was because he wasn't the only one who felt uncomfortable with the Careers.

They decided that Clove was going to start off, and Cato would go second. On the other hand, in the lane next to them, Gale would be going first, and Katniss would get the baton handed to her.

The cap gun fired. Clove, Gale, and one other girl with black choppy hair fired off, way in front of the others. Gale reached Katniss first, the girl with choppy hair reached her partner, a small girl with short, curly, brown hair, and Clove reached Cato milliseconds before the other. Cato smirked, thinking that he would definitely be the fastest out of all of them. But, surprisingly they were able to keep up…Cato was in shock when Katniss passed him. She outran both of them, the small girl and Cato were almost tied, but Cato was able to pull ahead at the last minute. The rest of the teams reached them from a minute later to five minutes.

Abernathy called the three teams up. He had Katniss, the small girl, and Clove on one team, and Gale, Cato and the fast girl from the beginning of the race on the other team. However, when the two teams had races each other it was an equal tie at the end, even when they ran it two times over.

So stinkin' Abernathy decided both groups would go on the track team. While the girl with choppy hair, whom they found out was Johanna, fist punched the air, and yelled, "Yes!" - and the small girl, Rue, simply smiled but you could tell she was happy…However, Gale, Katniss, Clove and Cato all had similar looks of displeasure on their faces. How would the 'lowlife' and Careers mingle, when they had to work together! Cato was glad - no, Cato was never really glad, but he was happy that it was Clove and not Glimmer or Cashmere, who would hear no end of it.

"You will meet a 4:30 P.M. on the track field. And jeez, people at least try to look happy? Ah, whatever, if you're fast, people will bet on you at the track meet, you're good…Dismissed!"

Cato was walking home. Track meet was boring. Katniss and Gale were easily the fastest out of all of them. Turns out they weren't even trying during gym. He wondered how they got so fast. Everyone else, including him, were fast, but never as fast as them. Cato wasn't in the mood for Glimmer at all, so he decided to just wander around the town, getting used to it. What was surprising was that no fights arose, and the Careers didn't make a big deal out of it. They basically told Cato and Clove to 'cream them, make them wish that they were never on the same team as them. You can be faster than them' and of course, Brutus cracked his knuckles, and the girls made annoying 'like's and 'totally's.

He had wandered around for quite some time, when he came across a wide, open, grassy, area…And there was someone sitting in the middle, just sitting there, staring into space, obviously contemplating something.

Although he didn't seem in the mood for company, he decided to join whoever was there, something compelled him to. He walked over to the middle, and sat down beside the person. It was Katniss. He didn't know why, but neither of them said a word. They knew the other was there, but neither of them did any action to force the other out. They simply sat there. Contemplating their separate subjects, sitting in companionable silence. Eventually, Katniss stood, and Cato followed suit. They left the field, walking side by side. Then they split ways, Katniss going one way and Cato the other.

This happened for the whole week. They would just sit together for an hour or so. They never acknowledged each other at school, but never aimed any direct attacks at each other either. They never conversed during their meadow time, but Cato depended on Katniss to come into the meadow, and Katniss always waited for Cato to sit down next to her.

Then one day, Cato got his guts together. He spoke. He asked, "Why did you do it?"

Katniss didn't lose her cool at all, "Why did I what?"

"Why did you give away the heart donation to Roise? You never even knew her."

Katniss sighed, "I spent most of my life, since I was eight, thinking I was going to die. Thinking that I didn't have any more hope. The doctors all said there wasn't. My father and sister had both died from it. What were the chances? Even my mother shut me out. The only person from my family who actually loved me for who I still was, was my step-brother. Thom.

"Then a few months ago, it was like the sun shone through the clouds, no matter how cheesy that sounds…I had a chance. If I got that heart, then I would be free. It was so…so awesome. It was then I knew there was a God in the world, who must've seen me. But, that's off topic," she added, seeing Cato's confused face at the last sentence.

Her eyes became unfocused, "There were now so many possibilities. I could enjoy life. Find someone who I truly loved. Grow old. Go to college. My mother started talking to me again. Then, before all these things could become true, I found out that someone, who was younger, more pure than me, would have to go through what I had gone through for my life. Through all that pain, and anguish, and she would never experience the feeling that I had felt for that one month…

"After that terrible course of the future, giving my life didn't seem so bad at all."

Cato cautiously asked, "Does your mother still talk to you?"

Katniss's eyes came back into reality. Pain showed in her face. She sighed, "No. My step brother is the only one who talks to me. Again. And he's upset that I gave away the heart."

"Well, if it helps, I'm not upset? And for sure, Rosie's not upset."

Katniss barely had a smile on her face. She answered, "That doesn't help very much. Your opinion is nothing to me." She lightly pushed my shoulder.

Cato was in shock. Did Katniss just joke around with him? She was obviously not as comfortable with him, as she was with Gale…But it might be a start of something. 'No, not "might" ' Cato thought, as he exchanged witty banter with her, 'I'm not going to let it be anything else.'

It was indeed a start of something, something far more different than either of them had ever dreamed of.