Chapter 9
Katniss pov
When he said that, I immediately had flashbacks.
Flashback
"Katniss! Stop it," my friend Tom said. "By the time you're done tickling me I'll be dead!"
"Sorry Tom, but you got to admit, that was pretty funny," I said while giggling.
Tom is only a few years older than me. He's 12 to be exact. We were venturing out around the woods that day when this wolf came out of nowhere. Its' teeth were barred with some foam around the corners of his mouth.
I started shaking in fear. My body radiated my fear and I was pretty sure that the lone wolf could taste it.
"Katniss, I need you to back away slowly ok? I'll meet you back home. You run as fast as you can while I distract it, got it?"
I never thought that this was how Tom's life would end, but I still followed what he said. I nodded my head and said, "I'll meet you back home. I love you," I whispered.
"I love you, too. Now go!"
I ran as fast as I could go. My legs on fire and my heart pounding in my ears, but before long I heard a scream. Tom's scream. Forgetting about all he told me to do, I ran back into the woods to where I heard the scream.
I didn't hear anymore growling. And that meant only one thing.
I couldn't stand seeing the sight of Tom. All bloodied up, teeth marks all along his arms and legs. Blood seeped out of his head creating a pool of it to form on the ground.
I cried and cried as I walked up to him. The tears streamed down my face as I began to hiccup.
His arm suddenly twitched and I watched in amazement as his eyes began to open once more. His bright green eyes were now a deep moss color, the color that I learned to love.
"Katniss," he whispered. I crawled to his side and held his hand as I furiously nodded my head up and down. "Promise me something."
"Anything Tommy," I choked out.
"Promise me that you won't ever cry when you think of me. Promise me that whenever you think of me, you think of the guy that made you laugh. The one that was always there for you. The one that will ALWAYS be there for you. Even when I'm not here, I'll always be with you. Do you promise?"
"Yes I promise," I say now weeping. "Tommy don't leave me, please you can't!"
"Shh. I never left you. Because guess what. I'll always be there," he said pointing to my chest. "I'm always with you sweetheart. Don't ever forget that," he says giving a slight smile.
"I love you Tommy. I love you so much, please. You can't go, what about all the things we had planned? Come on, the ambulance is going to be here soon. Come on, stay with me!"
"I love you so much kitten. I'll always be here, just look around you. I'll be waiting for you princess."
His eyes slowly started to droop, but never did his smile. He was still holding my hand, but his grip slowly started to loosen. His head lolled to the side, but his smile was still there.
"Tom come back please! No, no, no, no, no, Tom! Tom get up please! I need you! Tom!" I started to uncontrollably weep. The tears dropped onto the forest floor and into my mouth as the salty taste seeped in.
He's gone. Realization dawned on me, as I didn't have a best friend anymore. He died saving me, and I already broke one of his promises. I didn't even hear the sirens approaching in the background. My eyes were still locked onto him, same with my hands.
That night I wouldn't fall asleep. The tears were unstoppable as they streamed down. I was missing half of me. The only half that could do any good to me. From that day on I shut all the guys out because nobody would make me feel to same as Tom did. All I saw was half of everything. Half a sky, half a shoe… Just, half…
Flashback Ends
I didn't even realize I began crying as I thought about that horrible memory again. Cato approached me with open arms. My mind didn't even register the arms around me until he started to whisper soothing words into my ear.
"Shh, it's ok. It's ok. I'm here for you, come on you can let it all out."
I never realized that Cato could be such a soft person on the inside when he can be such a jerk on the outside.
I immediately curled up into him, ignoring the shocks that went through my body where he touched me. My tears stopped and my crying noises died down.
He grabbed my hand and led me over to a fallen log and sat down on the ground, using the log as a back supporter. He brought me down next to him and I laid my head onto his shoulder. I once again curled up into his side just seeking comfort from him.
No words were exchanged and silence was in the air. It was the comfortable kind of silence, where you just relax.
Minutes that seemed like hours passed until he finally looked at me. I stared into his blue eyes as he stared into my stormy ones.
"You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to Katniss. I'm not going to force you into telling me something."
He was so understanding that it kind of hurt. No guy was ever this understanding. Only Tom was. I kept staring into his eyes, trying to read them. All I could see was total adoration and understanding. Usually guys would just want to find a way to get into my pants. I mean I get that because guys have "needs" that need to be fulfilled, but Cato is a different story. Like this guy gives me whiplash with his bipolar attitude.
"Cato that scene that just happened was because of what happened when I was really young. It was such a traumatic time for me, like I want to tell you, but I can't. I just can't go through that pain again. Plus I barley even know you."
His eyes turn into a darker shade, and they fill with disappointment. And here comes his bipolar-ness.
"Katniss I want to help, so would you stop shutting me out! I can be there for you, I can take everything away. You just need to trust me, please. I won't let you down."
I look down at the ground and say, "Cato I'm already broken. There's no need to have someone fix me up when I'm just going to break again."
"Katniss I can help, but I can only help if you let me."
I start to think this over in my mind. Do I really want to go through another traumatic experience if this doesn't work? I look back up at Cato and say, "Ok. I'll give you a chance."
The smile on his face couldn't have grown any bigger.
"Thank you so much Katniss, I won't let you down. Let me give you my number properly this time, since you kind of put a hole in my other one," he says giving me a cheeky grin.
I blush a little bit and reply, " Ok, but don't get too cocky Mr."
"Wouldn't dream of it princess," he says taking my phone from my hands and punching in his contact info.
I look back at him and realize that he could be my next Tom. That he could be my savior. That he could be my superman. Might as well take the chance, so I leaned in and gave him a kiss.
His eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head any minute now, but as soon as he began to relax into it I pulled away.
He gave out a huff and grabbed the back of my head to pull me in once more. It was a slow and passionate kiss. He poured out all of his feelings into that one kiss. I could definitely feel the sparks this time around. Like fireworks on your lips.
As he pulled back he looked back into my eyes, gave me a smile, and pulled me up.
"Come on princess, let's get you back home," he said giving me a genuine smile that lit up his face.
