The sound of a ringing phone bounced off the walls of Cato Weston's room, his hand finding its way out of the covers to silence the sound. His first impulse was to hit the attractive red button, to shut off personal contact for at least another few hours so he could absorb more sleep on the last day of the weekend. He looked at the block letters displaying the Caller ID, squinting his eyes at first at the source of bright light that contrasted the darkness of the room. He had no idea of the time of the day, no idea that Irene had left and gone to church, no idea that it was almost noon and he was still in bed.

Cato refused to admit it, but working out had exhausted him to his limits. He'd never put himself through so much physical work, so much self-discipline and so much mental straining. Of course, the parties in Manhattan had tested his sleep, but partying was certainly different from getting himself to a track and doing continuous wind sprints up and down the field. The dissatisfaction from Coach Brutus and Mark Kensington from the first day of practice had been engraved in Cato's mind—he refused to fail their expectations and be a lackluster quarterback. Cato hated being a lackluster anything. He was either the best or he refused to do it at all—it explained for his less than existent schoolwork and community service, and his excess in drinking and partying. Now, football had become an integral part of his life—he'd spent the previous night watching the NFL Network, a few clips of Mark Kensington's old games, trying to figure out what the man had that Cato didn't. He wanted it. He wanted the alluring glory, the life of becoming an essential celebrity due to mere physical prowess.

The letters on his phone read "Gale Hawthorne" and immediately, Cato associated the big man's name with football, assuming there was some sort of practice or weightlifting session going on. "Hey bro, what's going on," Cato asked as he picked up the phone, hearing the sound of waves in the background.

"Get your ass up, we're playing touch football in front of the beach house," Gale's low voice travelled out of the speaker, and Cato instantly raised his eyebrow.

"Touch football?" he scoffed. "Did you suddenly get your balls cut off or something?" If touch football was what was involved, Cato gladly would stay in bed for another few hours, not minding missing the weak, watered down version of the sport.

"Wells, my balls are still intact, thanks for asking," Gale replied, chuckling. "But the ladies are here so we can't really tackle them to the ground."

"The girls are playing?" Cato asked flatly, the interest absent in his voice but present in his mind.

"Well, some of them are," Gale shrugged, thinking nothing of the question. "Marvel invited Clove, Katniss and Jackie." At the mention of the pale brunette, Cato sat up and searched for a clean pair of athletic shorts, definitely interested in seeing how she would fare playing football.

The gathering at Gale Hawthorne's beach house was casual, certainly not to the level of Marvel's party or of Glimmer's previous beach house party. He arrived on the small, modest property where a few familiar faces were soaking up sun in beach chairs, Madge and Jackie being two of them. He glanced further down onto the shore to see Clove, Gale, Katniss, Peeta, Marvel and the wide receiver, Finnick, all engaged in what looked to be a much smaller scale of a scrimmage. He watched as Clove played quarterback to what looked to be a team with Peeta and Marvel, throwing a perfect spiral pass at Peeta who bobbled it before reeling it in. His mouth formed an impressed grin at Clove's perfect form and release, much like her father's only without quite as much arm strength.

"Alright. Which team's the lucky one?" he asked as they took a break from play, and saw Cato approaching as he took off his shirt and discarded it on the sand.

"Bro, we're getting killed by that scrambling quarterback," Finnick panted, nodding over at Clove who had a confident smirk on her face as she played with the football in her hands.

"He's right," Gale chuckled, shaking his head. "You're on a team with me, Katniss and Finnick." Cato nodded in approval as they lined up for defense, and the game started as Peeta snapped the ball and took off, Clove, eyeing her passers. Cato watched the eyes of the quarterback, tracing her vision, but before he knew it, Clove herself was taking off with the ball. She slipped through the first line of defense of Gale and Katniss who were blocked by Marvel and Peeta. The sight of Marvel trying to contain a much larger Gale was humorous and Clove found herself almost laughing at the sight, but focused on getting past the last two defenders to slip through the end zone.

At the sight of Cato and Finnick closing in on her from each side, she picked up her pace to its maximum and dashed right through the two, finding her way into the end zone and scoring. She let out an excited whoop and spiked the ball as Marvel and Peeta joined in her celebration, running and pumping their fists into the air before picking Clove up from underneath and hoisting the light girl on their shoulder.

"Look at that stud!" Marvel yelled before they put Clove down, Marvel and Peeta bumping chests for no apparent reason as Clove laughed. From a few feet away, Cato, Finnick, Gale and Katniss watched the celebration, Gale and Katniss chuckling at the sight of Marvel and Peeta's goofiness. To Cato, it seemed so strange that the two were friends with Clove, and that somehow, their happiness was contagious to even the usually hostile girl.

As if Finnick read his mind, he muttered, "It's like sports get her high or something." Cato laughed at his receiver, who was still panting at attempting to chase down Clove.

The next possession, the offense of Cato's team scored as Cato threw a pass to the awaiting hands of Finnick, who lept up acrobatically and caught it above the reach of the much shorter Peeta.

"Guys, I made lunch," Jacqueline called from inside the house as she and Madge prepared to take out the trays to the deck. "Time to eat."

"Alright, mother, one more," Marvel shouted back and rolled his eyes as they got ready for one more possession, everyone getting into their pre-snap stances. "Hike!" Clove called, asking for the ball before passing it right to Peeta.

"Run him to the ocean!" Gale yelled jokingly, as he, Finnick and Katniss charged at Peeta, directing him into the waves. Marvel, too, ran in that direction, but why he did so was unknown. He had no ball and he certainly wasn't on the other team, but in a moment of confusion, Marvel decided to go along with the crowd.

As the three on Cato's team tackled both of Clove's receivers into the waves and drenched them, Clove stood in the dry sand, her mouth agape at the strange turn of events. She looked at Cato, who had a smirk on his face, before she narrowed his eyes. "Don't even think about-" she began.

"Too late," he interrupted her, sprinting at the girl. Before Clove could take two steps, Cato's arms had scooped her up in one swift movement as he threw her over his shoulder and headed straight for the water.

"Cato!" she shrieked, beating her fists against his back in protest. "I'm going to kill you!" She nearly slipped from his shoulder a few times because of the sweat that had covered her sports bra and spandex clad body, but he managed to keep ahold of her through the water until he reached a deep enough level to drop the tiny girl in. He dunked her in the water that was about four feet deep, and she emerged from the water with wet hair, looking absolutely furious. "I'm going to kill you!" She screamed and ran at the much larger boy, tackling him right into the torso and causing him to fall butt-first into the water with her sheer momentum.

The rest of the group had gotten up from the water, soaked from the waves. Katniss nudged at Peeta. "Look," she said, pointing at Cato and Clove who were currently engaged in what looked to be an aquatic wrestling match.

Finnick raised an eyebrow. "Uh. Should we... maybe rescue him?" he asked, looking at the other four while Clove was now on Cato's back, trying to get a chokehold on the much larger boy. It was a losing battle.

Gale laughed. "No, I think he's fine," he said as the group started to move out of the water, unnoticed by the two so caught up in their fight. "We've finally met someone stupid enough to mess with Clove... Other than Stone over here, of course."

"Bitch," Marvel muttered a comeback at the comment of his lack of intelligence, while the others laughed.

"Correct me if I'm wrong. But I think Weston's definitely got the hots for Clove," Peeta grinned, while Katniss rolled her eyes.

"Oh hush, you romantic," Katniss replied as they neared the deck, grabbing towels.

"I mean, look at 'em," Peeta replied, as the group turned back to two who were still in the water. Cato looked to be laughing as Clove got up from the bed of sand and started to walk away. "It's weird as hell, but I mean, there's something."

Marvel shrugged. "You guys really think Clove's going to let her guard down?"

"He's definitely getting under her skin," Gale pointed out, as they dried off, Clove approaching them looking infuriated. She approached the group and pointed at the guy trailing her from behind.

"Who invited him," Clove grumbled as she took her towel and headed inside the house. As soon as she shut the door behind her, the group broke out in laughter, Finnick meeting Cato with a fist bump.


The girls had gone inside to do the dishes and store the food, leaving Cato, Finnick, Gale, Marvel and Peeta sitting on the deck, beers in hand as they looked at the rolling waves emerging from the darkness of the night. "Bros. It's senior year, can you believe it?" Finnick asked, breaking the silence before taking another swig of his draught.

Gale chuckled. "I'm just ready to get out of this damn town."

"What are you doing next, man?" Peeta asked curiously, turning to his childhood friend and watched as Gale shrugged.

"I don't know... Go to college... Work for dad's company I guess," Gale muttered.

"So really, you're just leaving for four years and coming back here," Marvel laughed, and it echoed with the rest of the boys.

Gale shot him a look. "What are you planning on doing, Marvy?" he asked, using Marvel's loathed nickname.

Marvel shrugged. "Same as you. Go to college. Diamond industry's waiting for me right when I get out. Looks like we're gonna be stuck here, boys. Peeta's gonna be head baker and Finn here's gonna be fishing straight into retirement," he teased the two other boys, grinning. "What about you, Weston?"

Cato snapped out of a vacant stare. "Huh? Fuck if I know."

Peeta laughed and shook his head. "You could play football," Gale pointed out. "Get far this season and you'll probably pick up a few looks."

Finnick scoffed. "You already have the head cheerleader and the looks, you lucky shit."

Cato laughed. "Not dating Glimmer," he corrected him, shaking his head.

"Told you!" Peeta exclaimed. "Told you, it's cause Weston over here's infatuated with Clove."

"The fact that you even used the word infatuated makes your argument invalid," Marvel commented wryly, his protectiveness over Clove showing slightly as Cato raised an eyebrow.

"Clove? As in the one that tried to maul me? Psycho's not my type," Cato denied.

"Dude. If I didn't have a girlfriend, Clove wouldn't be a bad choice," Finnick shrugged nonchalantly. "I mean, temper aside and shit, she's hot. She plays sports."

"A lot more to her than that," Cato muttered, which earned a stare from all of the other men.

Peeta's face went from surprise to a knowing smirk. "I knew it. I'm calling it right now," he said, throwing his hands up before picking up the beer and immersing himself in another Sunday night buzz.


"What do you think they talk about?" Madge asked, peering out the kitchen window, tempted to eavesdrop the men's chatter.

"Uh. I don't know, beer, sex and sports?" Clove remarked as she dried some dishes. Jacqueline scrunched her nose in disgust and Katniss laughed. "What? It's true."

"It's so weird... we grew up with them and now they go out to parties sleeping with every other girl who isn't us," Jacqueline said, much contemplation in her voice.

"Speak for yourself," Madge said, grinning slyly as Clove groaned at the thought.

"Are we really talking about sleeping with them?" Clove rolled her eyes. "All boys who we've seen in their diapers?" And Katniss nodded in agreement.

"Kat, don't pretend you're not in love with Peeta, you have been since the first grade." Madge stated, crossing her arms in her one-woman promiscuity ship. "And, all of them except for Cato, Clove."

"All of them are also not assholes like Cato-" Clove started to say but was hushed by Madge, who was leaning against the window.

"Shh, Clove, I think they're talking about you," she interrupted. "I can't hear much... Finn's talking. I think he just called you hot."

Clove raised her eyebrow. "Finn? Madge, clean your ears. Finn has a girlfriend," she said, putting away the last of the dishes.

"Now Cato's talking..." Madge announced, trying to listen to the muffled voices through the window. "Ugh, why can't they talk louder."

"Hey Undersee, the dishes are waiting," Clove grumbled as Madge pouted and turned the tap back on, the sound of the water drowning out the boys' faint voices.


As everyone continued to help restore Gale's beach house back to its normal order, Clove took a break from cleaning up to sit on the deck railing and enjoy the sea breeze. She heard the door behind open and shut and looked back to see the man she'd least preferred to see, as usual.

"Thinking about going for round two in the water?" he joked, and Clove rolled her eyes.

"You're funny," she muttered. "What, too good to help everyone clean?"

"I'm not the one with house servants," Cato countered, placing both hands oh the railing beside where she sat.

"You're not telling me your parents actually got you to do chores once in your life," Clove said, skeptical of the mental image.

"To do that, they'd have to know they have a son," Cato commented, staring out into the sea. Clove couldn't help but turn her head to look at the boy, intrigued by his vague comment.

"What, mom and dad too busy with their important careers to focus on their only child?" she scoffed, predicting the typical sob story so common with affluent children.

Cato let out a hollow laugh. "Somewhat that," he admitted. "And with other people. Typical rich kid problems." He said the phrase with such an absence of humor that Clove couldn't help but wonder what he was trying to say.

"So they sent their golden boy to be raised by someone else when you finally caved in?" Clove predicted once more, but her almost lighthearted tone met silence-an unforeseen solemnity.

"I wasn't the golden boy," Cato shook his head, chuckling coldly. "My twin brother Cassius was, actually."

"Which is why he's still in the city," Clove hypothesized. She met silence for a few seconds.

"Yeah. I guess you could say that," he finally said, a tone of mystery in his voice that annoyed Clove. He was hiding something, as if it were painfully obvious common knowledge. She continued to press on with questions.

"Must be hard living in his shadow," Clove commented, trying to get some sort of emotion out of him.

Cato looked down at the railing. "Kind of hard to do that now if he's six feet under," Cato muttered, almost inaudibly, but loud enough for Clove to hear as her eyes instantly widened.

"Cato, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-," she started to say. She was interrupted by another cold, emotionless laugh.

"Not a big deal," he replied. "I'm just a conceited, rich asshole, dead brother doesn't change anything." With that final statement, he turned around and headed back into the house, leaving Clove with nothing but her thoughts. She felt a guilt for Cato-mainly from her experience of losing family herself, but also for the fact that she'd thought of him as nothing but what he'd referred to himself as: a conceited, rich asshole.

Maybe they had much more in common, holding a painful past that no one else could possibly understand.


A/N: So sorry this is really late! I was just a tad bit stuck, but thanks to your reviewing, I got through it with a relatively decent chapter (I think). Let me just say that your suggestions are absolutely amazing. You guys should really think about writing AU fics (:

If you're curious as to what other AU fics are out there that I admire, I've been a huge fan of The Final Trace of Innocence, Guilty By Association and Hot Addiction. If you have any recommendations, let me know! i'd love to do more reading.

But keep reviewing! I love hearing about what parts you like, who your favorite characters are and what you want to see more of.

Also follow me on Tumblr! Compliclato is my blog, and I run ask-marvizzle as well.

So much love for you all! - Rina