Chapter ten
In the morning, Katniss and Cato were woken up by Effie's voice announcing that they had a big, big day. Katniss groaned, not wanting to leave the comfort the bed, and Cato, provided. She had to admit that she liked having Cato near her, especially since his presence seemed to keep the nightmares at bay. After heaving a sigh, Katniss got out of the bed and went in the bathroom with a change of clothes. Another reason Katniss didn't want to get out of bed was that for Effie, every day was a 'big, big day', so that didn't mean today was important.
When she left the bathroom, she stopped and stared at the sight before her. Cato had obviously decided not to wait for his turn in the bathroom since he was getting dressed in the bedroom. Katniss could not tear her gaze away from her co-victor's body. The rippling of his muscles with every one of his movements fascinated the young woman.
It was only when Cato was finished pulling on his t-shirt that he realized he was no longer alone in the room. He spun around and found Katniss' eyes glued to his body. He couldn't repress a surge of triumph at the way the girl was looking at him. Cato shook his head to rid it of these thoughts, knowing Katniss probably didn't like him anyway.
Somewhere inside Cato's heart, a part of his lost humanity was coming back, and it was because of the girl leaning in the doorway leading to the bathroom. He had to admit, the Girl on Fire was growing on him and with every moment spent in her presence, he found himself liking her more and more. Emotions he hadn't felt in a long time resurfaced and Cato wasn't sure if he wanted them to go away again.
Katniss only came out of her daze when Cato snapped his fingers in front of her face. The way Cato's eyes were lit up and held a hint of amusement told the young woman that he had seen her ogling at his physique. A blush rose onto her cheeks and she avoided looking directly in his eyes, preferring to stare at his jaw instead.
"Let's go eat some breakfast before there's no left," Cato suggested.
Katniss nodded and she was glad that Cato wasn't making a comment to embarrass her even more. As the two teenagers left the room, they found themselves in a comfortable silence. Katniss had only interacted with two other boys before Cato, so she didn't know how to act. When Cato didn't comment or question her, Katniss calmed down, understanding that the silence wasn't unnerving for the blond boy.
As Katniss and Cato arrived at the door leading into the dining room, they both reached for the handle at the same time, so their hands collided. A tingle ran up Katniss' arm, starting at the point where she and Cato touched. Liking the feeling of his hand on hers a little too much, Katniss dropped her hand and allowed Cato to open the door for them. When Katniss quickly glanced up and caught Cato's eyes after retracting her hand, she swore she saw disappointment flash through his eyes. However, Katniss forgot about the flask once her eyes fell upon the heaps of food on the table.
Haymitch and Brutus were already eating, so the teens filled themselves a plate and sat down.
"How was your night, Sweetheart?" Haymitch inquired curiously.
"It was fine," Katniss answered shortly, not wanting to share the details of the night with her prying mentor.
Just as Haymitch was about to open his mouth to say something else, a smooth voice spoke before he could. "Leave the poor girl alone, Haymitch. If she and Cato want to have some fun, it's none of our business."
"Thanks for your approval, Finnick," Cato replied, laughter in his voice, while winking at Katniss. If she could have gotten any redder, she would have. All the men in the room burst out laughing at the expression on Katniss' face.
"What is it with you guys? Leave my life out of your conversations!" Katniss said, tired of being the centre of the men's dirty jokes. Her face had cooled off when her temper had risen, for which she was happy. Katniss, who had never blushed before, hated that these people could get such a reaction out of her. She wasn't angry, just slightly annoyed. After all, don't all friends tease each other like this? Taking into account every thing she had gone through with them, Haymitch, Brutus, Finnick and Cato were her friends and she would cherish them forever.
"So, did you, Katniss?"
'Did I what?' Katniss thought to herself. It was obvious that she had missed a part of the conversation and her confusion must have shone because Finnick had to stifle a laugh.
"Did you do something interesting during the night?" Brutus repeated the question.
"No!" Katniss responded without missing a beat. "We only slept together."
A silent moment passed, then the men were all roaring with laughter. It took Katniss an instant to understand why they were all laughing, but then she turned bright red. She had said that she and Cato had slept together. Only, she meant it in the literal sense, not the dirty one.
"It… Uhm…. I mean that – Uh," Katniss stumbled around to find the words, but couldn't so she gave up and suffered the teasing in a brooding silence. When the laughter died down around the table, Katniss glared at them all. "What I meant to say, is that we didn't do anything other than sleep. No, Brutus, we did not have sex, we only… slept," Katniss finished lamely, trying not to recall the images of Cato's half-naked body.
"We know, Sweetheart. We didn't hear anything last night coming from your room, and we're just teasing you 'cause of your reaction to the subject."
Katniss avoided meeting her mentor's eyes and kept her head down for the rest of the meal.
"We will be arriving in District one tomorrow morning. The prep teams will be waiting for you two just before nine and will have you ready for your stylists by eleven o'clock. As for the speech, well, you'll see once on stage. The rest of the events will be explained as the day goes by," Haymitch explained to Cato and Katniss once everyone was finished eating.
Finnick added his piece of advice, saying that it would be best if both of them were well rested; therefore, going to bed early was a great idea.
Both Katniss and Cato accepted the advice, and Katniss left the room to find something to do to occupy her mind for the rest of the day.
Time flew by and soon, supper was being served. After enjoying the meal, Katniss roamed the train, trying to find a room where she could watch a movie. As an Avox was setting up the movie, Cato entered the room. When he saw that Katniss was already there, Cato took a seat next to her on the couch, deciding that he was going to watch the movie with her.
As Katniss and Cato watched the movie, they were both acutely aware of the other sitting right next to them. When the movie drew to an end, the co-victors decided to watch another one before going to bed. However, around the middle of the movie, Katniss suddenly became exhausted and moved closer to Cato in order to learn on his shoulder.
A few minutes went by, but the position Cato and Katniss were in wasn't comfortable for the male. Shifting his position, he moved Katniss so that her head and part of her upper body were resting on his lap. When the movie finished, Katniss was still lying on Cato's thighs and couldn't make herself move, even when Cato gently probed her to get up she refused to move. Chuckling at the stubborn girl in his lap, Cato lifted her into his arms and stood up. Startled at the sudden motion, Katniss circled Cato's neck with her arms and held on tightly.
Cato carried Katniss back to their room and deposited her on the bed. By that time, Katniss was already half asleep, having been lulled to sleep by the rocking motion made by Cato's gait. Seeing the young woman on the verge of sleep, Cato shook her a little, trying to make her regain some consciousness.
"Katniss, come on! You can't sleep in your clothes, it'll be uncomfortable!"
Katniss pouted at the male before sitting up and removing her shirt. When Cato saw Katniss was about to undress, he had turned around to give her privacy. While waiting for it to be okay to face the bed, Cato changed into his nightwear which meant he took every thing off except his boxers.
Lying back down, Katniss stripped her pants and threw them off the bed. By the time Cato was told it was alright to face the bed, Katniss was only in her bra and underwear and was curled up into a ball. Shaking his head with a small smile, Cato lay down on his back next to her.
Not a minute later, Katniss had twisted out of her position and was now resting with her head on Cato's chest and had thrown an arm carelessly over his abdomen. The ex-tributes went to sleep with Katniss using Cato as a pillow.
As always when Cato was sleeping with her, Katniss' nightmares were inexistent.
A/N: So, this is it, chapter ten is done! I hope you like it. Next chapter is the tour and farewells.
I want to thank everyone who reads this story. And I can't thank the people who review enough! You guys are awesome!