Chapter Ten.

Training day 1 was almost as fun as day 2, almost. I actually got to prove myself against Glimmer. Who just wasn't smart enough to back down. Next time she tries to fight me, I won't stop until she's dead. That's a promise.

So I was minding my own business, talking to Cato, when Glimmer came up acting like a jealous bitch. I mean, really? You've known him for a day, and you're already claiming him? No. He's taken, so sorry. So she came up to us, flipped her hair (in the arena I'm going to cut it off in her sleep) and completely shoved me out of the way. She stood in front of me and started backing up, while trying to start conversation with Cato. So I stood my ground, until she was practically standing on me.

I pushed her, using all my strength. She stumbled forward and landed on her hands. She was so mad, I could see her pretty little face turning red with anger. Then we fist fought, like a group of guys, except she punched like a girl. She swung (really badly) and I dodged, she should really learn how to throw a punch. So we fought a bit, well I played a bit, then I proved myself against her. I beat her, and she left with a few good bruises, I can tell you that.

Finally the peace keepers broke it up and sent me away.

The next day was individual training with the gamemakers. The day we got judged and received our mark. It went good, Cato went before me. Then I went. I showed off with spears, and swords, and hand to hand combat. I left knives for last and blew them away. I could tell they were a little stunned when I left, good. I sat with Cato for the rest of the day…

So that's why I'm here now, sitting beside Cato on the couch. Staring intently at the T.V. waiting for the screen to light up. I've been so impatient all day, waiting for my score. I need to know how I did, I need to know how Cato did. And most of all, I need to know that we could get sponsors. They could save Cato's life and I need that. So much. I need to know when I die, that he will be going home. That he will be okay. Or else, this will all be for not.

"Are you nervous?" Cato leans closer to me.

I'm matter of fact, "yes," because I am, and there are already too many lies between Cato and I. Too many broken promises. We've both promised to keep the other safe and one of those promises will have to be broken.

He nods, gives me a small smile and whispers, "me too." God, I love him.

The screen lights up and I bounce my knees up and down. I hope we have the highest scores, I mean, who else is there to compete with us? Nobody. Not Thresh, or 1, and definitely not District 12.

I have never been so wrong in my entire life.

Soon Ceaser Flickerman has appeared on the screen, sheets of paper in his hands. Then he begins.

"Marvel. 9.

"Glimmer. 7" Hah, of course she got a 7. Can she even do anything right?

"Cato…" we both sit in our seats, in anticipation, "10." We all clap Cato on the back and congratulate him. 10 is a great score, the highest so far, and what should be the highest to come. Cato will get plenty of sponsors, especially after he charms the Capital in the interviews. He can kill ruthlessly, he's smart (even though many don't realize it) and he was born to win the games. Then why am I so worried about him?

"Clove. 10." Cato grins at me and pulls me into a hug. He can't restrain himself. I know I should worry about Athena, but we'll deal with her later. Edward definitely already knows and is probably disgusted by it. Then there's Enobaria, she knows...she's probably, no definitely not happy about it. She'll just have to suck it up. I hug him tightly back, we deserve these few moments of spontaneous happiness together, before it's all taken away, forever.

"Ahmn," says Enobaria, we pull away and I notice she's eyeing us suspiciously.

Athena looks confused, "I don't understand?"

Enobaria scoffs, "your two tributes, are little love birds."

Athena puts her hands over her mouth, "I'm so sorry this had to happen to you," she gasps. I shake my head, now its bad because we're together? Sending tributes alone is any better, how do they not realize that what they are doing is wrong? How did I not realize it until now?

Ceaser continues reading the scores,"Thresh, 10." So Thresh got the same score as us, that tells me he's strong. Maybe decent with weapons, he's a huge threat. We need to get him in the bloodbath before he can slip away, after that killing him will be much harder. I just hope we can eliminate him quickly and painlessly, painless for us at least.

'Rue. 7." How did a 12 year old get the same score as Glimmer? Honestly I would be doing us a favour by getting rid of her, she's practically useless.

Then it's District 12's turn, I wait, expecting low scores. Boy and I wrong.

"Peeta. 8." Eight is a decent score, a score someone with some kind of advantage could come up with. He must be good at something. I noticed how he's extremely good at camouflage and weight lifting. Yesterday we were watching him climb a rope and he fell. As we were laughing, he grabbed an 100 lbs. weight and threw it in our direction. It taught us never to underestimate anyone. And I definitely won't underestimate him anymore.

"Katniss," ah, so that's her name. I haven't bothered to figure it out until now, we've created some fun nicknames for her over the past few days. Fire Bitch. Bitch on Fire. Fire Girl. I prefer the first one, but oh well. No one will remember her after her ridiculously low training score.

"11."

I never saw that one coming.

Cato leaps up, his face beaming with anger. He punches the wall, his fist going through the drywall. Then he throws a coffee table and and a green plant. The Avoxes scurry out of the way as he runs by. I hear his door slam in the distance. Wow, I wasn't expecting that reaction from him...actually it's Cato. What I was expecting wasn't reality. And I can't really blame him.

How the hell did she get an 11? She's from District 12 for goodness sakes. She's starving, weak and stupid. Or maybe she isn't. She must be good at something, some weapon of some sorts. She stayed away from weapons during training, but she could have been hiding her skills, like I did day 1. Either way she is officially a large threat to us, we don't know what kind of training she may have had. We'll watch out for her in the arena.

I feel a burning hatred growing inside me. How dare she beat me? I was the best female, me. Until she had to come in and beat me. I hate to lose, I hate how some poor girl from District 12 actually got a higher score than me. I have been training my entire life for this, not her. She will pay for what she's done, that's a promise.

I stand up and proceed to stalk down the hall as well. I ignore Athena and Enobaria's protests, they want me to leave Cato alone. Let him calm down. Well he won't hurt me, I know Cato. I trust him, or at least I think I do.

I pound on his closed door, "Cato!" He doesn't answer at first, so I push my way in. His room is a disaster. He's punched holes in the wall, thrown plants and other decorations around the room. He's ripped the sheets of his bed and he threw a fancy plate at the wall, leaving shards of glass on the floor. In the corner of the room Cato is leaning against the wall with his head in his hands.

"Cato?" I say again, this time softly.

He doesn't even lift his head. I carefully step over the fallen glass and kneel down in front of him. I put a hand on his arm, he doesn't move.

"Cato, what's wrong?"

"Cato please, talk to me."

"It's over Clove, there's no winning anymore," he's still angery, I can hear the anger laced in his voice, but he speaks softly.

"Of course there is…" I begin but he leaps up.

"NO THERES NOT CLOVE! DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND!? WERE DONE FOR."

I shake my head but he grabs me by the arms and lifts me up. I don't dare move, this is not a fight we need to have. I can't let myself fight back, I can't let us hurt each other. Not now, not with so little time left. When I don't agree he drops me, I land on the pile of glass. Pain shoots up my arm, there's a small piece of glass lodged into the back of it. Cato towers over me, his eyes a dark blue. In that moment I know what it's like the be the prey. The predator standing over you, the fear pumping your heart. Any breath could be your last. And I hate the feeling, I hate it.

I stand up quickly and back away. Soon my back is pushed up against the wall, I have no where else to go. Cato is advancing on me, glass in his bleeding hand. How is this happening to us? I need to realize it's because this is who we are, and have always been, there's no changing that.

I pull out two of my knives, one in each hand.

"Cato stop," I plead, "Cato it's me." He continues forward. I don't want it to be this way, but I can't let him kill me. It would ruin him. However, there is no getting through to Cato now. The Cato who loves is hidden deep beneath. Watching with horror.

I screw up my face, look away, then throw my knife. I call tell by his gasp of pain, that I hit him where I wanted. He drops the piece of glass and pulls his bleeding hand to his body. He sits down suddenly, his bright blue eyes pained. My Cato is back, I know the pain has brought him back. I just wish I could have been the one to do it. I wish love was strong enough for that, but love is something inside us. A feeling. Pain, apparently, is much stronger.

"Cato…" I begin, but he shakes his head and looks away. So much pain in such a short lifetime.

"You're arm," he croaks. The painful throbbing comes back to me. With one more sad glance at Cato, I head into the bathroom to clean myself up.

I manage to pull out the glass and clean it up a bit in the shower. I get my clothes wet, but I don't really want to try and undress right now. It hurts too much. But I'm not a baby, and I'll just have to deal with it.

I inspect the cut. Stitches. I hate stitches. I take a deep breath and stitch up my arm, we learned basic medical necessities in training. As long as we could reach, we needed to be able to stitch ourselves back up. This is the first time I've needed to actually use my knowledge. Soon it's covered in a white medical bandage. It still hurts, but the pain has subsided to a dull ache. Brutus once told me that, "pain is only your body's way of telling the brain that something needs to be fixed," after that, whenever I was hurt I imagined the brain sending out it's workers to fix everything up. I think this always calmed me down, and it does work it's magic now.

I enter Cato's room again, he's still on the floor staring off into space. I bring the first aid kit over to him and start working on his hand. The blade didn't go all the way through, just went a few inches into the skin, on his hand. If I had thrown my hardest, the blade would have been sticking out on both sides. I stitch him up, thinking he's in no state of mind to do it himself. Then fix his bed and lead him over to it. He doesn't resist, just lies on the bed, facing away from me. Going over and over the pain, and sorrow.

"You didn't mean it…" I start.

"Just go away Clove," he whispers dully.

But I don't just go away, I can't do that. Instead I lie down beside him and wrap my arms around him. My arm aches when I do, but I ignore the pain. For once love is stronger. We stay like that as the sun dips down into the sky. Because he needs me right now, and I'm not going anywhere.

A/N: Poor Cato and Clove! I'm really sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've been crazy busy!

Thanks lovelies for all the lovely reviews.

This is chappie was really sad to write!

Hopefully the next one will be a little more uplifting.

xoxoxox