I know it's been like three million years since i updated... I can't express how sorry I am. Special thanks to Bellanator116 who snapped me out of my project-holic state of mind :)
Cato's POV
As much as I wanted to grind Peeta's face and wipe that idiotic grin off his face, I quietly slipped in the glass doors minutes after Katniss.
'Control you temper.' I told myself. I couldn't afford to lose it in front of everyone. According to the world, Cato Ludwig didn't hang onto girls like a helpless puppy. Girls hung on to me, and not the other way around.
Perhaps I was being selfish by wanting what Katniss obviously didn't want. Maybe I should be more like Peeta with his cheesy morale, "As long as Katniss is happy, I'm happy." But I wanted her too much to let her slip through my fingers again.
Katniss's POV
I felt giddiness rising up inside me as I walked through the winding hallway. Peeta wasn't Cato; he would never shatter me like Cato did. Maybe I needed a relationship like this, soft and tender, not one full of lust and passion. Maybe I deserved some peace and quiet.
I wiped the thought from my mind and straightened my shoulders. Now wasn't the time to dwell on such thoughts. Right now, I had to concentrate on my career.
I stood up straight, put on a confident smile, and pushed the filming door open. According to the map, this was the main base, the room where no filming took place, but where everyone met on non-filming days. The place was full of people bustling around, trying to get some last minute work done. No one acknowledged my entrance; they were all too busy in their hectic minds, not that I minded of course. I spotted the director, Gary Ross leaned over on a desk, studying text on a piece of paper. Next to him was a middle aged man, who was talking urgently and gesturing with his hands.
I walked over to the little discussion and cleared my throat.
The two men stopped their conversation and looked up at me. They both smiled when they saw that it was me. "Nice to meet you Mr. Ross and Mr..." I trailed off not knowing the name of the man next to the director.
"Beaufoy," said the man, shaking my hand. "Simon Beaufoy."
I stretched my mouth into a wider smile and turned to the director shook his hand. He smiled widely at me and said, "The pleasure is mine, Miss Lawrence. And please call me Gary."
Hmm.. He was friendly... which was good. Last thing I needed was a stuck up, bossy director with anger management issues. "Call me Katniss," I replied warmly.
"The others are in the lounge waiting for everyone," he said, gesturing to a red door in the corner. "You can wait there with the others if you want."
"Thank you," I replied formally, "I'll see you later." I gave a tiny wave and walked towards the red door. I turned around to smile at them one more time, when I saw a familiar muscled body talking and shaking hands with them. Just when I had almost forgotten about him, he had to barge into my life again. I gritted my teeth, clenched my fists, and stomped into the lounge.
The lounge wasn't that luxurious, but looked fancy enough to accommodate the bustling amount of bodies already in the room. There was a coffee machine, which I wrinkled my nose at, and a hot cocoa machine, which I immediately dived for.
While the machine was processing the drink, I looked around the room to search for any familiar faces. I spotted Kelvin Drone, who I heard was going to be playing Jack, the male tribute from District 1. He had once done an action movie with me two years back. Talking to him was a petite girl that looked about Prim's age. She had dark skin and hair. She turned and met my eyes for a second, and I was filled with nausea. She looked so much like that last girl.. like that last victim.. the last person I had to attack for Snow. Could she be the same person? I shook my head at such ridiculous thoughts. Surely, she must be a look alike. A lot of people had dark skin and wide, brown eyes like hers.. right?
My past began rushing through my brain, and I could feel myself breathing faster and losing control. I closed my eyes and counted slowly to 10. I am Katniss Everdeen. I am 17 years old. I have a younger sister named Prim. I am a singer and an actress. I was picked for the Jennifer Lawrence part in the movie, The Hunger Games. I'm going to go shopping with Clove and Prim tomorrow and go to dinner at Peeta's...
I opened my eyes and my eyes landed on Cato who was staring at me curiously with a bit of... regret? When he saw that I was looking, his face immediately morphed into a smirk. To my horror, he started walking towards me, his eyes daring me to run away.
'Run away!' my brain screamed. My mind started screaming at me to move my legs and turn away, but I could do was stand frozenly at the approaching figure with a matching scowl.
Cato's smirk grew wider when he saw that I wasn't going anywhere. After what seemed like an eternity, he leaned casually on the counter and started examining his nails. "Your cocoa is ready," he said suddenly, making me jump up.
I turned around and saw a steaming cup of cocoa looking ready to be drunk. I grabbed it and wrapped two hands around the warm cup.
Cato looked up from his nails. "I expected you to run," he said huskily, his icy blue eyes boring into mine. "You've gotten... braver." He raised his eyebrows and flexed his muscles, his demeanor daring me to answer.
So he that's how he wanted to play. I smiled lazily, joining in on the game. "Yes," I replied, dragging the 's' in the word, "I've gotten stronger and less vulnerable." 'To people like you.' I added in my brain.
"I see," he said cooly, repositioning his body.
"So how do you feel about this filming?" I asked, choosing my words carefully. I swirled my cup, trying to appear careless to his answer.
"Excited of course," he answered nonchalantly. "but a little irritated."
I looked up curiously. "Why is that?"
He smirked, "My time with Glimmer will be limited."
I stiffened for a moment, but relaxed myself forcefully, hoping that he didn't see my reaction. "Filming can be very time consuming."
"So I heard," he replied. "How will this affect your life Katniss?"
I saw where this is going. He was trying to lure me into saying that I was miserable and stressed out. Well, too bad, because I wasn't going to give him the pleasure. I smirked, "Not much. Peeta and I will have plenty of time to catch up at night." I emphasized the word, night, imposing a double meaning. I felt guilty that I was abusing my new relationship with Peeta, but desperate times called for desperate measures. I started sipping from my cup, waiting for Cato's reaction.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Cato stiffen with anger. "So," he growled. "he's taken you?"
"To where?" I asked innocently, once again implying the double meaning.
"You know what I mean." I grinned internally when I saw that Cato's face was turning red and his toes tightening, signs that he was extremely pissed off.
"Maybe," I said mysteriously. "If you're thinking what I'm thinking." I wasn't completely lying. Peeta did take me to Burger King, which Cato never did. We always went to
Carl's Junior, although I highly doubted Cato was talking about my burger choices.
I could see his cool facade melting away rapidly. A warning light was going off in my head, telling me to run away from Cato's tantrum that wasn't far away. I ignored it, too busy basking in my victory. "How long have you been dating him?" he asked with gritted teeth.
"Two days," I lied. "We wanted to keep it private."
"Better make it public then because people are thinking that you and Odair are together," growled Cato.
"I don't think we will," I replied with a snarky tone. "We are rather enjoying the privacy. He actually values and respects the relationship we share."
Now I could feel the heat radiating from the boy in front of me. "Are you saying that I didn't love you?" he half-shouted.
I stood unflinchingly at his anger. "Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying," I said cocking my head innocently. "Do you have a problem with that?"
"You.. you.." he stammered, his eyes shooting flames at me.
I smirked at him. "What? Whore? Slut? Bitch? Like you called me 18 months ago?" I shook my head mockingly. "You don't get it do you? Maybe I'm happy with him. Maybe he is the one. Maybe I didn't ever love you." To avoid an awkward silence, I drained the last bit of cocoa and walked away. I threw the cup in the trash and grabbed the door handle, when the door flung open, and the director came in with a huge smile.
"Welcome!" he boomed, "let's head outside to discuss the next 9 months of our lives." His bluntness gained some chuckles from the audience.
The large mob inside the room bustled and spread out into the bigger studio. There were a few stragglers here and there who were finishing last minute, but to my relief, everything seemed to be in place. I just didn't have the patience to work with a crew that couldn't get things done.
The director clapped his hands. "Hi, as you all know, my name is Gary Ross and I'll be the director for the Hunger Games. We won't be doing any shooting for the first three days. We'll mostly concentrate on scripts, character personalities, props, and such." A woman that seemed to be in her twenties was going around passing out a packet of paper. As I flipped through the packet, I realized that this was the script for Scene One or the beginning of the movie. Only a few people were in it: me, Liam Hemsworth, Willow Shields, Paula Malcomson, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson, and to my frustration, Josh Hutcherson. "If you are not in Scene One, please follow Selene who will be telling you about your jobs today."
I moved towards the director and saw that only five others were with me. The girl who was going to be playing Willow Shields was missing. The others seemed to have noticed the absence because they started to look around in search of the girl. When it was clear that she was not present, we all snapped our heads towards the director, who was smiling mischievously.
"She wanted it as a surprise," he said simply. He turned towards the table with the long red tablecloth and called out, "You can come out now."
The tablecloth ruffled and underneath it came out... "Prim!" I yelled. "What are you doing here?" Prim straightened up and dusted her skinny jeans. Behind her, came out Clove who was trying her hardest to keep her smirk in.
I glared at the two figures that stood sheepishly in front of me. "What the hell?" I screamed. "You live 4 miles away from here? How did you get here?"
I glared furiously at the crowd that was staring amusedly at me. "Can someone explain what's going on here?"
The director laughed and put a hand on my shoulder. "No need to show us that infamous temper of yours, Katniss. They're here because I asked them too," he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Prim, is going to be playing Willow Shields, Jennifer's sister. Clove is going to be playing Isabella Fuhrman, District Two's female tribute."
"But how?" I sputtered. "They didn't even try out. Or at least not Prim!"
Before the director could explain, Prim opened her mouth. "It was during camp," she squeaked excitedly. "Mr. Ross came in one day to inspect the camp, since he's one of the board members. He saw Clove throwing knives at the target and me making an herbal salve using alfalfa. He needed someone to play Isabella and Willow because none of the tryouts were satisfactory. So, he asked us, and we accepted."
"But who approved it?" I demanded. "You need contracts, agreements, approvals, insurance, and tons of other documents that need to be signed by your guardian, which would temporarily be me."
Clove smiled coyly at me. "You forgot that my dad is my legal guardian. And that, yes you are Prim temporary guardian; however, you're not of age, which gives Haymitch to approve all the documents you mentioned."
I rolled my eyes, frustration overwhelming me as I realized that I was never going to win this argument. "Fine," I grumbled. "You got me." Prim smiled sweetly at me and Clove's awaited smirk broke out.
The director clapped his hands. "All rightey then!" he said excitedly. "Let's get started!" As if on cue, three people popped out from a brown door behind us. The director turned to Clove, "You can join the others who are with Jane." Clove nodded curtly and walked to the big group in the corner.
The director turned to the new group of people. I recognized my physical trainer, Derrick, who helped me prepare for this movie. I heard that Jennifer is quite athletic and loves archery just like me. We didn't have a difficult time doing archery, but he said that getting me to stop eating burgers was the most difficult part.
"These will be your trainers," said the director. "Derrick will be getting you into shape. Anna here will take care of character personalization, presentation, and anything related to your character. Lisa will work out the best colors for each of you and input that in your costumes and makeup." We all shook hands with the three people and turned our attention back to the director. "You'll be in pairs, but one group will have three people." Immediately, I stepped closer to Prim, but he raised his hand. "No, I'll be choosing your partners," he said chuckling. A huge weight built up in my chest as I realized that possibly and most likely I would be paired up with Cato. Sure enough, he announced, "Prim, you'll be with Paula, your mother in the movie. Woody with Elizabeth and our special group of three will be, Liam, Cato, and Katniss."
I grumbled internally. Liam seemed like a nice guy judging by the warm smile he gave me, but seriously Cato? Couldn't these people understand that we weren't exactly on friendly terms?
Derrick approached us accompanied by two women, each with a clipboard. Derrick was a gigantic african american man with well toned muscles and a fierce expression. Despite his tough looks, inside he was gentler than a teddy bear, when he wasn't training me, of course. However, during training, his personality spun one eighty degrees. "Hey, guys," he greeted, "you're with me first for the first three hours."
He lead us opposite of the entrance, through the back door. The outside air was chilly, and I hugged my thin cardigan closer to my body. I shivered in the cold weather, and to make it worse, gusts of wind started to blow around us.
"Here," said a gruff voice, and I felt something big and warm thrown around my body. I turned around, and realized that I was wearing Cato's jacket. I looked at Cato and saw that he only had on a thin v-neck t-shirt.
"No thanks," I said cooly, reminded of our previous discussion. I saw Cato's fists clench in frustration.
"I insist," he said firmly. I studied his face, and saw that I was never going to win this argument.
"Thank you," I said softly. I walked on faster, trying to get as much distance between me and Cato. I was confused; one moment, we're fighting and few minutes later, he's giving me his jacket. I knew that Cato had a tendency to fight intensely with anyone he cared about. Maybe that was the reason he didn't have any close friends or family members. They all thought that he was purposely picking fights with them, in reality he just couldn't stand seeing them possibly getting hurt. Cato told me this on our second Christmas together.
...
We huddled together, trying to fight the cold, biting air. We were in New York, where the majority of Cato's relatives lived. Not used to snow and the weather, I felt like I was being frozen to death.
After much walking from the station, we finally arrived at the street of our destination. The big cream white house stood eerily in the moonlight, but I could see the friendly aura glowing from the window.
His arms around my waist, we stepped into the warm room. I could hear laughter and music coming from the living room. Cato took our coats and hung them on the red coat rack next to the doorway.
I couldn't remember the last Christmas our family spent together. Every Christmas, my mother, Prim, and I stared longly at the doorway, hoping for my dad to appear in the doorway, like he promised every year he would try to do. There was no time or spirit for Christmas trees, decorating, gift exchanging, or feasting. My mother would stare blankly at the doorway, in her own little world, and Prim would be by her side holding her hand, not quite comprehending what was going on.
All conversation stopped when we stepped into the bright room. I spotted Cato's parents in a couch in the corner and Marvel laughing mischievously with his cousin, probably planning a prank on the adults. Most of the people in the room had the trademark Ludwig icy blue eyes that seemed to pierce me fiercer than the snow outside the house.
"Cato," said an old lady in a rocking chair near the fireplace. "We're so glad you could make it."
"I love you too grandma," he said, smiling gently at the old woman. All tension seemed to break at those words and everyone resumed their conversation.
"They're not the friendliest people at first," he whispered to me. "But the fact that my aunt didn't snap at you yet means that they like you."
"They sound real friendly," I said sarcastically.
Cato laughed and ruffled my hair. "C'mon, I want to show my family the love of my life."
He was right; they were friendly. At first, they seemed a little distant, if not a little hostile, but as conversation went on, they started opening up to me.
Everything was going fine until we talked to Cato's cousin, Elisa. Elisa was the most beautiful person I had ever laid eyes on. With her waist length, wavy, honey blonde hair, big blue eyes, slim figure, long legs, and very developed curves, she was what most people called perfection.
"So Katniss," she asked playfully, "how do you manage to handle Cato?"
We began animately talking about Cato's odd quirks with Cato grumbling all through the conversation. We were just discussing Cato's choice of eggs when Elisa's phone rang.
Elisa's brows furrowed in worry as she listened to the other line. She bit her lip and answered, "I'll be there. Give me twenty minutes." She hung up and pocketed her phone.
"What happened?" I asked.
"My boyfriend, Dylan got drunk silly at this bar near the 13th Avenue," she answered worriedly, "All his friends are equally as drunk, but one of them was coherent enough to call me. I'm going to go pick him up."
I was about to wish her good luck when Cato blew up beside me. "What?" he screamed. "Are you out of your mind?"
"No, I'm perfectly sane," Elisa said cooly, packing up her things. By then, everyone was staring at the exchange.
"Do you know how much rape and murder scenes happen near 13th Avenue? There are like at least two everyday in broad daylight!" Cato bellowed, his face turning red.
I touched his arm gently. "Cato, she'll be fine. Mark is going with her."
"Stay out of this," he snarled. I recoiled against his menacing glare and took a few steps back.
Elisa was heading to the door when Cato grabbed her arm. "Let me go!" she yelled. "Mark, start the car!"
Mark, Elisa's older brother started inching towards the front door. "Don't you dare," snarled Cato, "You wouldn't dare if you really care about Elisa."
Mark froze, his gaze moving from Elisa to Cato. Everyone held their breath, curious to see the outcome of the fight. Cato was violent and stubborn, but Elisa was even worse. Someone sneezed, and Cato's head snapped towards the sound. Using the distraction, Elisa bolted out the door. By the time, Cato dove to the curb, her car was already racing in the main street.
Cato threw a tantrum, ripping his hair out in anger. I could tell that this year's Christmas for the Ludwigs had gone out the window.
Cato didn't join us for dinner. It was silent and awkward; no one seemed to know what to do about the sound of smashing flower pots in the garden. After hearing him scream a particular offending sentence, Cato's dad stood up. "I've had enough," he said apologetically. "I'm sorry everyone.I'll take him back to the airport."
I stood up, a surge bravery rushing through my veins. "I'll go talk to him," I said firmly.
"Are you sure?" asked Alana, Cato's aunt worriedly. "He can be.. violent when he's angry."
"Yup, he won't hurt me."
I stepped out into the garden, and gasped at the sight. There were cracked pottery every and tufts of flowers lay dejectedly on the ground. Cato was punching the poor fence that was crumbling against his fist. "Cato James Ludwig!" I screamed. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
Cato spun around to face me, his knuckles heavily bruised and his eyes in a bright shade of red. "Go away," he snarled nastily. "You have no idea what's going on."
I started to feel heat creeping up into my face. Cato thought that he had a temper; well, he never saw mine. "No idea?" I whispered. "Do you think I have no idea?"
"Yes!" he bellowed. "You're not worrying about how your cousin might possibly be murdered in the next thirty seconds!"
At those words, I felt my top blow off. "You think that I have no idea? Cato James Ludwig, you listen to me here and now, nice and clear!" I screamed, stabbing his chest with my finger. "I spend most of my life worrying about staying alive! I lived in the Seam near District 12 School. You think that 13th Avenue is bad? The Seam is a thousand times worse! I used to wander around at midnight to shop for groceries, pay bills, and do laundry because I didn't want people to know that my mother was useless and couldn't take care of her children! I used to worry everyday, every second about how Prim and I could be murdered any second and nobody would know or care!" I stopped to take a long breath. "I'm not saying that you shouldn't be worried about Eliza. You have every right to worry about her and protect her. I'm not saying that she won't be harmed because there is a possibility that she could be. I'm telling you to suck it up, deal with it, and stop ruining everybody's Christmas like a bastard you are acting right now." My chest heaving, I pointed to the door. "I want you to go inside right now, and apologize to everyone for being an idiot. NOW!"
Cato looked a little taken back at my outburst. His face contorted from anger, to worry, then to guilt. "I'm sorry," he whispered.
My face softened at his dejected look. "I understand," I said wrapping my arms around his sagged body.
He hugged me back and buried his face in my hair. "Sometimes I think that I care too much about the ones I love. I'm too protective of them. I don't realize that my protective outbursts are hurting them than anything else could. I'm pushing them away at the same time."
"I'm sure they'll forgive you if you apologize right now," I said, pulling away from the hug.
Cato seemed to be in a thought for a moment, then his face contorted into his signature smirk. "Of course they will," he said in his normal, cocky tone. "Who wouldn't forgive a hot hunk like me?" He wiggled his eyebrows and stepped inside, leaving me behind to roll my eyes.
After exchanges of comforting words, hugs, kisses, and good wishes, Cato and I decided to cut our stay short and leave. Just before I closed the door, I heard Cato's grandmother whisper, "She'll be good for him."
The next day, Cato got a call that Elisa had been beaten up senseless and was in a coma in a hospital.
...
That's when our relationship started to become tense. After the call, Cato went into another fit, and this time I didn't stop him. That day, we fell asleep snuggled on the couch, with our arms wrapped around each other.
Our bond became stronger for the next 5 days, me helping him with his tantrums and being at his side while he visited Elisa, but started deteriorating on the sixth day. Cato seemed to be troubled, with a heavy weight on his shoulders.
One week and two days later, we split up.
Hey guys :) I know a lot of you wanted FinnickxKatniss, but I honestly, I don't know much about Finnick, and it was just easier for me to do Peeta. I hope you guys don't mind =^.^=
CHAPTER 10~ and that means I do personal shoutouts to everyone who reviewed, followed, favorited, PM, or anything like that for Chapter 9.. If you missed this one then the next one will be on Chapter 15 (there is a pattern) if I ever make it there at the speed I'm going at...
Some shoutouts are longer that others, but THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT I APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT LESS. I'm sorry that for the people that didn't review, but followed or favorited the fanfic, I put the same shout outs. I just couldn't think of anything else to say =^.^=
hungergames713- Thank you so much :) I'm glad that you like my fanfic :))))))))))
Meeee054 (Guest)- LOL don't worry.. Peeta and Katniss will just be a temporary thing.. if i don't change my mind...
Sugarpearl- Thanks for following and favoriting Stardom! I hope to see more of you as I continue writing.
laughingsince98- I will try my bestie to update~ I wasn't sure if the tattoo idea was ok, but now I know that some people liked it :))
Guest-I hope the first confrontation in the studio isn't too disappointing because it's not packed with action/ Thanks for reviewing :)
Guest- I'll most definitely continue :) Let's just hope that I become faster at it though ^.^
yodell- Love your review "woahhhh!" It inspired me and made me crack up at the same time :) the magic of one word/
Katniss-Will-Drown-Your-Cat- I really did want to try FinnickxKatniss, but I couldn't come up with anything :( love Finnick too ;P
peanutbutterQueen- Thanks for following Stardom! I hope to see more of you as I continue writing.
Bellanator116- Yeah, Katniss decided to give Peeta a try. Can't promise it'll be that way forever, but just for the moment.
shadow kissed 4eva- A lot of people have doubts in the beginning, but I'm glad that you are one of the people that liked it in the end :) I'll try my hardest to lessen Peeta's heart break ^.^
Nguyen52-Thanks for following Stardom! I hope to see more of you as I continue writing.
thehungergamesemma- Reviews like yours inspire me to update faster :)
LiveLifeToIt'sFullest47- I thought I liked your previous screen name.. but I LOVE your new one :))) I'll try to update ASAP ^.^ now you know how I feel after reading your updates.. dying to read more.. except you update everyday and I don't hehe
abugsaunt- Thanks :) That meant a lot to me/you're too kind ^.^
InLoveWithHG- LOL I'll try updating ASAP. I'm glad you like Stardom :)
thepinkmartini- I love jealous Cato too.. maybe I'll make him jealous of Peeta forever.. just kidding :) Thanks for reviewing ^.^
HungerFabrevans- Thanks :) I'll try my hardest to update ASAP/ I hope my future chapters are as enjoyable.
vballhitter10- Katniss does have a big appetite :) Thanks for reviewing continuously/ Your continuous support is what keeps me going =^.^=
tama27- You have no idea what it means to me when I see that someone is eagerly waiting for my updates :) Thank you ^.^
The Infamous Zombie Slayer- Thanks for following and favoriting Stardom! I hope to see more of you as I continue writing.
CO COSH- There are times when I write this fanfic that I feel like I'm being to evil towards Cato :) but as you said, it's his fault ^.^
xxPeetaBreadxxx-Thanks for following Stardom! I hope to see more of you as I continue writing
minniemelol- I hope I didn't let your hopes down this chapter :) Thanks for recommending Bliss but Harsh Life. I'm currently enjoying reading it ^.^
priestessofma'at7-Thanks for following me and Stardom! I hope to see more of you as I continue writing.
ItsNanna- I'll try updating ASAP/ Thanks for wishing me luck AND calling this fanfic cool ^.^
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Eloquence Deceptive- I'm glad you liked the first chapter :) Thanks for reviewing ^.^
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jessiekatnisseverdeen- Ikr ;) Katniss was a little burger deprived at the moment/ Thanks for reviewing and favoriting ^.^
- Thanks for following Stardom! I hope to see more of you as I continue writing.
DedicatedWallflower- Thank you for your review and encouragement :) Life's Puzzle was the first fanfic that I read on this site and it was the fanfic that got me addicted to Catoniss/ I'm glad that you like Stardom =^.^=
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If you guys read your own personal shoutout put "HGRULES!" in your next review :))