After spending a few more minutes on top of the mountain, the two of them headed back down into the forest, hand in hand.
"Jasmine?"
She looked up and saw Clove looking at her and Cato before a smile crept onto her face.
"Clove…" Jasmine said
Clove pulled out her knife from the trunk of the tree before turning to face them.
"I'll see you later." Clove said
She smiled at Jasmine one more time before turning around to walk the path towards the exit of the forest.
Cato laughed softly as Jasmine turned to look at him.
"What's so funny?" Jasmine asked
"Nothing. It's just you look as if someone caught you sneaking out of District 2." Cato replied
"Clove doesn't know anything yet… So… I didn't know how to react." Jasmine said
"It's quite the opposite, Jasmine. Clove knows quite a lot. In fact, she knows about my feelings towards you. She is in the academy after all and she's considered a friend of mine." Cato said
"Really? But she never told me." Jasmine said
"If she did, we wouldn't get to where we are now, would we?" Cato said
Jasmine shook her head and said, "If you carry on acting like that, I'm going to start disliking you."
Cato laughed and said, "That's going to be hard for you. Because you've fallen in love with me and I intend to keep it that way."
Jasmine looked at Cato and couldn't help but agree with what he said. She only knew that the more time she spent with him, the more in love she was with him.
The two of them were walking towards the exit of the forest, back to District 2 when a group of District 2 kids, at Cato's regular spot caused the two of them to stop.
"Well, well… If it isn't the great monstrous boy of District 2. Cato… I thought you'd be practicing for The Hunger Games. I didn't know you've gone all soft and you're even in a relationship with the Lykermans' daughter!"
"Shut up, Liam, or I'll rip your throat out." Cato said, gritting his teeth.
As Cato stood in front of Jasmine, the other kids standing with Liam suddenly stood back, leaving him out in the open.
Liam looked around him and realizing he's lost his back-ups, gulped before turning to look at Cato, who was much taller and bigger than him.
"I believe that if I do rip your throat out; none of them are going to tell on me. They'll just say a wild animal killed you." Cato said
Liam blinked in fright before blurting out, "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, Cato! Please don't hurt me!"
"I'll give you 3 seconds to leave this place before I do something I won't regret." Cato said
Liam nodded and gathered his things, ready to run when Cato grabbed onto his shoulder.
"If I hear anything concerning me or Jasmine spreading around in school, you're the first person I'll find." Cato said
Liam held onto his belongings tight as he nodded crazily. As soon as Cato let his shoulder go, Liam and his friends bolted out of Cato's spot towards the exit of the forest in record time.
Cato turned around to look at Jasmine, who seemed a little shocked at what just took place. Realizing he just turned into a bullying monster in front of her, he immediately regretted what he did.
"Jasmine… I'm so sorry… I shouldn't have done that in front of you. I.. I'm a monster." Cato said, "Just go home."
Not waiting for Jasmine to say anything at all, Cato turned around and walked towards the log where he sat down. She looked up just in time to see him sit down on the log and although she was a little frightened when he went crazy on Liam, she knew it wasn't who he really was. She knew that Cato wanted her to leave because he thought she'd feel repulsed by him. But, in truth, she didn't feel that way. She walked over to the log and sat down next to Cato.
"I'm not going anywhere." Jasmine said
Cato looked up at her and she merely touched the side of his face as she continued, "You said I've fallen in love with you and you intend to keep it that way, right?"
"But, I'm a monster. Look at what I did just now. I just freaked a kid out of his mind." Cato said
"It isn't your fault. You were trained by the Capitol to be like this. You're not a monster." Jasmine said
Cato took Jasmine's hand from his face and held it, "I'm sorry… Whenever I get angry, this happens."
"To tell you the truth… I've seen Clove act this way before. You were just a male version of her." Jasmine said
Cato laughed softly, "You don't mind?"
"Of course not. So long as you try to do it when I'm not around?" Jasmine said
Cato smiled, "I'll try."
Jasmine smiled back and smoothened out the crease on her skirt.
"I love you." Cato said, looking at her.
Jasmine looked back at him and without even thinking, she said, "I love you too."
Cato smiled widely as he leaned into kiss her deeply. For once, the only thing that the two of them could think of was the happiness that they were experiencing now. The Reaping might be near but the temporary bliss that they found in each other was all that mattered for now.