Chapter Seven

We wait in silence behind the trees, where we have a fairly good outlook on the field in which the Cornucopia is placed. In front of it, there is four bags, one for each District that still has tributes left. I look at Clove, whos body is completely tensed. We both know we could just go in there and grab our bag, and nothing would happen to us, but it would be stupid to let go of the opportunity to get another tribute down while we're at it. Hunting has already gotten boring.

"When will they come out?" Clove hiss annoyedly, as she adjust herself in a more comfortable position, while still being prepared to run. I'm about to reply, but both of us are silenced when a red lightening shoots across the field, grabs a bag, and disappears into the forest again.

"What in the..." I haven't even finished the sentence, when another girl runs against the bags.

"Stay and watch, this girl is my kill." Clove sneers quickly before setting off against the other girl, who I already have recognized as the one with the 11-score. The Girl on Fire, from District 12. I wonder to myself if Loverboy is around here.

I watch as Clove throws herself at the other girl, knocking her to the ground, and I smile because I already know that Clove is gonna win. Suddenly, a sound in the forest behind me demands my attention, and I spin around quickly. With a hand on my sword, ready to pull it out at the slightest movement, I start looking for the person, or animal, or whatever it may be that caused the sound.

"CATO!" Clove's scream is filled with fright, and I immediately turn around and run back to the field. She screams my name again, and as I get closer I can see that the big guy from District 11, the one I made sure to watch out for, has his hands wrapped around her neck. Without further thought, I sprint against the pair, yelling Clove's name out loudly. The boy only has time to turn his head, before I crash into him, knocking him and Clove to the ground. His hands are removed from her neck, and I watch her roll over and get up on her knees, where she starts puking. Great timing, just great.

From my view, rolling around on the grass with this big guy, I can see the other girl, who's slowly getting up from the ground. I manage to get on top off the other male, grabbing around his neck and slamming his head repeatedly to the ground. It doesn't seem to affect him much, and he's trying his hardest to remove my hands. Suddenly he start choking, spitting out blood that stains my face. I'm a little surprised, when his fighting stops and the light leaves his eyes. In a matter of seconds, he is dead.

I look up and see that Clove has ripped open his stomach with a knife, from right behind the place where I'm sitting. The guts are hanging out, and the blood is staining my trousers, so I get up. The firegirl is gone, with her bag as well, leaving only District 2 and 11's bags on the ground, next to Clove who still looks in shock. She hasn't ever been this close to dying, so it's not a surprise.

I get up, before offering her a hand. Then we grab both of the bags, before leaving the field and the dead boy.

"We're gonna win this..." Clove mutters to herself on our way back to camp, and I can see that she's trying to harden herself up. It must really have gotten her, this guy. I pretend not to hear it, but I grab her hand and give it a squeeze. She looks up at me, but I avoid her eyes since I can't even explain why I did it. I try to tell myself that I don't want her to give up, because it won't be any help for us at all... But I don't like the way her eyes seems dull, and her fighting spirit seems gone. That's just not Clove.

We reach the camp, and my stomach growls loudly. I open the bag, our bag, and I am more than relieved to see that it contains food. There's no meat in there at all, but there's a lot of bread. I couldn't care less that it's not what I'm used to, right now I'm so hungry I could eat anything. Clove doesn't seem to feel that way, though. When I throw a bun at her, she just looks at it with disgust. I roll my eyes.

"Yeah sorry it's not what you're used to, but it's what the sponsors gave us." I growl annoyedly. She scowls.

"I'm not hungry, idiot. I'm going to bed." She crawls into our tent, seeming offended. I don't care much right now, all I can concentrate on is the bread. When I finally feel like I'm not starving anymore, I close the bag. I crawl into the tent, deciding that there isn't much to do out here anyways.

Since we're this few left in the arena, I've decided that I'm gonna stay awake while Clove sleeps, to make sure we're not harmed. The Gamemakers must want the games to be ended soon, and the other tributes are probably going desperate as well. At some point, I hope that's the case. I've seen Loverboy's talent for camouflage, and that redhead from 7 isn't the easiest catch either. I sigh to myself, staring at the top of the tent. I'd really prefer if they came to us, instead of us having to chase them.

"You talk in your sleep. Did you know that?" Clove suddenly mutters, as she shift to find a better position. I shrug, not really prepared to talk since I thought she was asleep.

"No, I didn't." I tell her, when I realize she can't see my shrug. Then I start feeling embarassed. What have I said?

"You told me you love me." She says, as if she read my thoughts. I grunt unintelligently.

"I'm not a person who loves." I reply, furrowing my brows as I try to remember saying something silly like that to her. I can't re-call it, but she said I was sleeping after all...

"I know." She says, rolling over so she's facing me. "I'm not either."

"And yet, you love me?" I tease, not sure if she's seriously trying to confess to me.

"I'm not sure. I'm not a person who loves, how would I know what love feels like?" She states irritadely. Then her voice is softened. "But I know that I feel something about you, that I haven't felt anytime before." I lay for a while not knowing what to say, before reality of how stupid this conversation feels sink in. I get up.

"I'm not gonna confess my undying love to you, if that's what you think. I know what it feels like to love, and it's just not this." I say, before leaving the tent. I know what I said was a lie, but I'm not gonna admit it out loud. I'm not ready for that.

The only one I've ever loved was my mother. She was there when the training was hard. The first few years, it seemed stupid. Who'd want to train hard for years just to be able to fight and kill other people? But then I started watching the games, with my father and the rest of Panem. I watched the victors that returned and was bathed in glory and fortune. I wanted to become one of them, even if my mother didn't really approve of it. And I started caring for training, I didn't need her anymore, so when an illness suddenly started to eat her up, and she died only a few months later, all I had left to live for was the games.

After all that, I never really thought of love. I hooked up with a bunch of different girl, but it was never more than sex. I was unsure about if I was still able to love. And I was even more unsure that I wanted to love. And now, after meeting Clove, who puts up with me. Who fought with me. Who's carrying my child. Am I in love? No matter how stupid it feels, I know I am. But I'm not gonna tell her, not before we're out of this arena, if even then. After today's events, I've realized that the possibility that one of us might not make it exists. And I don't wanna be pitied, if I return alone as a victor, and everyone thinks my loved one died.

I'm in love with Clove, but I'm not gonna throw all these years of training away just because of her.

I'm gonna win this, may it be with or without her.

A/N:
Omg, please kill me in the reviews, would you? I somehow even managed to make Cato sappy, stupid and just horrible. Bleh. I'm sorry, but I'm pretty sure I just ruined this story. If you decide to give up on me, I will not try to stop you, because this chapter sure as hell did not make me worthy of having all of you out there.

For the ones that decide to stay, I will promise that I will try to make the next chapter better, but I will not promise that I can do it. Because honestly, I'm not completely sure if I can :/
You deserve better!

The "votings" on their possible death!:

Okay, I'm gonna spoil it completely, but I received so many reviews about this :3 98 % of them wanted both to live. To be honest, that makes me happy since I wasn't really feeling like killing them either way :3
So don't worry! If you can put up with my shitty writing and my shitty characterization, I promise you that there will be no death of Cato and Clove.

I own nothing, the lovely Suzanne Collins has all rights to this amazing universe!