"Well Caesar, I'd say that things are taking a turn towards interesting in that cave." Claudius Templesmith said, his capitol accent thick. Caesar nodded beside him leaning towards the camera a bit.

"I'd say so! I'm sure it's going to become a tragic love story for the ages." He said with a flick of his wrist, brining everyone's attention to the screen behind him.

The screen was focused in on the sleeping pair of tributes, Cato's arm still securely wrapped around Aria's body, her head on his chest.

The pair was currently the obsession of the citizens of the Capitol.

Caesar and Claudius stared at the pair for a moment, dreamy looks in their eyes, before Caesar began to speak again.

"We're now down to eight remaining tributes folks, with the deaths of Crellis of District Four, and Aaron of District Ten. And I must say, the games are keeping me on the edge of my seat this year. "

Claudius nodded, the two of them going into their usual playful banter about the excitement level of the games. After a few minutes, Caesar turned back towards the camera, his perfect smile ever present on his lips.

"Let's get back to the action, shall we?"

Claudius nodded, both of them turning around in their chairs, the camera coming in on the Cornucopia, where one alliance had made their camp.

[-]

"Where the hell is Cato?" Glimmer shrieked, pacing back and fourth in front of the Cornucopia.

" I don't know Glimmer, let's give him a call." Marvel said, fiddling with the end of his spear, which still was covered in a small bit of blood from his last kill.

Clove ignored the both of them, sitting on the top of the Cornucopia, tossing her knife up in the air and catching it again in a rhythm. She wasn't concerned about Cato in the slightest. He was a big boy; he could take care of himself.

" Very funny Marvel." Glimmer said with a roll of her eyes, sitting down against a crate of supplies. "Aren't you the slightest bit concerned you guys? I mean, he is in our alliance."

"Not anymore." Marvel mumbled with a scowl.

Clove glared down at him, fighting the urge to toss a knife threw his head. " What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Marvel looked up at her, raising an eyebrow. " Come on Clove. I think we both know where he probably is right now."

With her.

Clove slid down the wall of the Cornucopia, standing beside him. " Not necessarily." She said simply, making her way towards a bag of apples.

"What are you guys talking about?" Glimmer asked, re-braiding her messy hair. She had to stay looking pretty for the cameras, especially if she wanted any sponsors.

It was her angle after all.

"Cato's off with District Three." Marvel stated, setting aside his spear and sitting down beside another crate, leaning against it.

Clove ignored the pair, taking a bite from her apple before hopping up onto a large crate, her knife tucked safely in her belt.

Glimmer scoffed a bit, saying " And why would he want to have anything to do with her?"

Marvel rolled his eyes at his District Partner, saying, " Why the hell do you think Glimmer?"

Glimmer let out a huff, folding her arms across her chest. She may not have been the brightest, but even she could gather what Marvel was implying. And she didn't like it.

Not one bit.

Clove looked upwards, the sky dark with clouds. " It looks like it's going to rain soon. We should probably take cover in the Cornucopia."

Everyone agreed, climbing inside, the tension thick enough to cut with a knife. Clove knew she would need to go off on her own soon.

She was outnumbered without Cato here.

The odds really weren't in her favor.

[-]

" The game makers must be up to something." Cato mumbled, peaking his head out of the cave for a moment, glancing up at the sky.

I shrugged, zipping my jacket up to my neck, sitting on the opposite side of the cave from him, my arms folded across my chest. He sends a glance in my direction, before sighing and leaning back against the wall again.

"I'm hungry." He said, rummaging through my pack and pulling out the bag of dried fruit. " Do you care?" he asked, opening it up.

Do you care?

I shrugged again, him taking this as a yes before popping one into his mouth. I remained silent, biting my lip as I stared out of the cave entrance. I hadn't actually spoken to Cato since last night. Once he fell asleep, I was left to ponder my own thoughts.

I felt like an idiot. Why was I here with Cato? Why would I trust someone who has hurt me so much in such a small increment of time?

Why did he hurt me?

My mind wandered back to that day at the training center. It seemed like so long ago, when in reality, it had been less than a week.

You trusted him then.

You trusted him enough to kiss him.

To hug him.

To sleep with him.

I shivered slightly, trying my hardest to not think about that again. I had been making a conscious effort to remove that memory from my mind. I was convinced that if I simply forgot about it, than the act would disappear.

And trusting him again would be an insane idea.

Everything would be so much simpler.

Cato sighed softly in my direction, obviously staring at me. I finally looked over at him, raising an eyebrow at his expression. He looked bored and frustrated, chewing on another piece of dried fruit.

"What?" I asked with a bit more edge to my voice than intended, pulling my legs up to my chest and hugging them.

"Oh, so you're talking to me now?" He said with a tone of sarcasm.

"What makes you think I wasn't talking to you?" I asked, setting my chin in-between my knees.

"Maybe the fact that you haven't spoken to me all day." Cato said, already growing a bit more agitated. He stood up, stretching his toned arms above his head, before looking down at me again with a raised eyebrow.

"What?" I asked again, tilting my head to look up at him.

"Are you going to tell me why you haven't spoken to me all day?" He said exasperatedly, as if he was explaining something to a small child.

I contemplated this for a moment, before shrugging my shoulders, releasing my legs and moving to stand. " No reason." I replied, standing up and walking around him, rummaging through my bag for the dried fruit he had mostly eaten.

Cato sighed behind me, mumbling something before sitting down again, remaining quiet. I sat down in his previous place, across the wall from him, eating an apricot. I let my eyes run over his figure.

His stings were now almost completely healed, the venom long gone from his system. He had yet to leave, however, which was both a concern and a virtue.

Part of me wanted Cato to stay here with me. I didn't want to leave him again.

But the sensible part of me wanted him to go, to get as far away from me as possible. Cato couldn't be trusted, that's what I told myself, and yet I found myself sharing a bag of dried fruit with him, a weapon clearly in his reach.

He could kill me in a second if he wanted, and yet he hasn't.

Even if he does care about you.

"Aria? Are you listening to me?" Cato said, suddenly snapping me back to reality. I fiddled with the end of my hair, looking at his face again, his eyebrows raised expectantly.

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked, folding my legs over each other, leaning my back against the cave wall. Cato mimicked my position before speaking again.

"Can I ask you a question?" He said, folding his arms across his chest.

That depends on the question.

"Sure." I said, my heart thudding a bit faster than usual in my chest, worried about just what he might ask me.

"Why did you volunteer?" He asked again in a soft tone, my posture stiffening.

"Because my dad wanted me too." I spoke before thinking, looking away from him at out of the cave again, the sky looking even cloudier than before. Cato didn't say anything, wanting me to elaborate.

"My dad's brother died in the Hunger Games when he was eighteen. He was devastated, obviously, and he promised himself that if he ever had a child, he would make sure that if they were reaped, they would come back."

I cleared my throat a bit, glancing over at Cato, seeing he was still watching me, before continuing. " Then, he met my mom, and they had me. My dad was so different around her than with other people. She had this effect on people, it's hard to explain."

I felt a small lump forming in my throat, but continued on, wanting Cato to know this, for some reason. " When my mom died, my dad lost it. He didn't eat, didn't sleep, and didn't talk to me at all. I was only nine when it happened. For months, I had to take care of myself while he recovered. One day he came home with a bow and arrow, and started to teach me. It was the only thing he focused on. The rest is history."

I looked over at Cato's face again as I finished, his eyes locking onto mine for a minute, before he looked down at his lap. We remained silent for a few minutes, before I broke the silence with the question I had been dying to ask.

"Why did you betray me?"

The cave was dead quiet for a few minutes, the sound of the wind whistling by outside the only audible noise. I stared at Cato expectantly, wanting an answer more than anything.

I wanted him to tell me he had planned to do it all along. I wanted him to tell me he never cared. I wanted him to prove that not trusting him would be the smart option.

I wanted him to make things simple again.

"To protect you." He said gently, his eyes looking up into mine. I couldn't help but scoff a bit, saying " Explain."

Cato shifted uncomfortably, pausing a moment before speaking. " You remember the day before the interviews, when I was talking with the careers on the couch?"

I nodded gently, my heart thumping slightly as the other memory from that day came to mind. " They were angry with me, for being with you. I tried to explain to them that it was all for show, for the sponsors, you know?"

I could feel a tug on the fragile strings holding my heart together, the small lump in my throat getting a bit bigger.

He didn't care.

"They didn't buy it, and Glimmer basically had a death wish out for you. I knew that if I did the interview thing, they'd believe me. So I did it." He shrugged as he trailed off, his eyes staring into the top of my head as I stared down into my lap, biting my lip a bit.

"Clove tried to tell me not too, that night of the interviews." I looked up at him as he said this, my eyebrow quirking a bit. "Clove did?"

"Yeah, she could tell that I-" He stopped himself from speaking any further, his eyes flickering onto mine before looking at the cake entrance again.

My hands grew a bit clammy in my lap, my heart thudding away harder than ever in my chest. " You what?" I asked, my voice quivering slightly from the low volume I used.

"That I didn't want to." He said, looking back at my eyes again, this time keeping them there. I swallowed down the lump in my throat, a small glimmer of hope flickering in my chest. "Why not?" I asked a bit more loudly, sitting up a bit.

"Why do you think?" He said standing, brushing his hands on his pants.

Not this again.

I snapped up, grabbing his arm and turning him around towards me, anger fizzing through my veins. "No, Cato. No more cryptic answers. Tell me why, straight forward."

Cato's hardened expression remained on his face as he stared at mine for a moment. I cracked a bit, stepping closer to him, desperate for some sort of answer. "Cato, please." I whispered, releasing his arm.

His face relaxed into a new emotion, one I hadn't ever seen from Cato before. I couldn't quite make out what it was, but his eyes focused in on mine as he spoke back, just as quietly as me. " Because I liked you, Aria. I like you."

If I thought my heart was pounding before, it was on a whole other level now. I opened my mouth to speak, but stopped hearing a beeping from outside. Both of us hurried to the cave entrance, seeing a small silver parachute come flying downwards, the wind blowing it onto the branch of a nearby tree.

I glanced over at Cato, not saying anything before moving to exit the cave. " What are you doing?" Cato said, his hand gripping my good shoulder, effectively stopping me. "Getting the sponsor gift." I said simply, not looking back at him and slipping from his grasp, making my way out along the rocks and onto the tree, pulling myself upwards.

I silently thanked the game makers for this convenient distraction. What was I supposed to say to him?

I like you too Cato! Let's run off and get married!

Because that's plausible.

I reached out, grabbing the capsule just as the threatening rain began to fall in buckets. I was quickly drenched, scurrying back along the rocks into the cave. I panted a bit, tossing Cato the capsule, before slinking down the wall, shivering from the wetness of my clothing.

Cato set down the parachute, not bothering opening it before coming over towards me. He slipped off his dry jacket, holding it out towards me. "Take those off and put those on, so you don't get sick."

I didn't argue with him, not wanting to piss him off anymore than he might already be. After all, he tells me he likes me and I walk off. It wasn't exactly a romantic moment.

I walked to the other side of the cave, Cato closing his eyes as he sat back down. I quickly stripped down to my undergarments, before slipping on his large jacket, it hanging loosely off my body to just above my knees. I zipped it up to my neck, before sitting down beside Cato, folding my arms across my chest.

He laid my damp cloths out flat for them to dry, looking over at me, not speaking.

I wasn't sure what he wanted me to do. Fall into his arms and smother him with kisses, telling him how I always liked him and have never quit.

Not going to happen.

The logical part of my brain was telling me he was playing some sort of mind game. The other half of my brain was telling the logical part to shut it.

"Are you cold?" Cato asked gently, resting his hand on my forearm for a moment. I slowly nodded, turning my head to look at him for a moment. He still held that expression from before, a look I couldn't seem to decipher.

He reached over, pulling me on top of him so my front was pressed against him, his arms resting around my lower back. I rested my head on his chest, still shivering slightly, despite the heat from his body radiating onto me.

The pounding in my heart was urging me to say something, before I lost my chance at anything even remotely close to a relationship with Cato, even though at the moment, I wasn't quite sure if I even wanted one.

At least one of us is going to be dying soon, anyway.

"I like you too Cato. But I don't know if I can trust you yet. You hurt me, do you understand that?" I spoke slowly, the words sounding like sounding almost silly coming from my lips. I leaned back again to look at Cato, my palms resting down on his chest.

I was still shivering, Cato's lips twitching upwards for a moment before he spoke. "I understand." He spoke softly, noticing my still constant shivering. He hesitantly lifted his hand up to my zipper, pulling it down the slightest bit before looking at my face again.

"You can trust me." He said gently, pulling my zipper down completely, before wrapping his arms tightly around my bare waist, pulling my body hard against his. I slipped my arms around his toned chest, already feeling a bit warmer.

"You can trust me." He repeated in a whisper, thunder clapping loudly outside as my eyes began to close. I nodded gently, not responding as sleep overtook me.

He does care.

[-]

Hey guys

Can I please just say how amazed I am that were over 550 reviews :D

Thanks so much, and keep those reviews coming!

I hope you enjoyed this much longer than normal chapter as a little reward for your continuous reviews :D

I received a very unconstructive review on the last chapter, which has since been removed, but I just wanted to state something; If you don't like my story, then don't read it. It's as simple as that.

Thank you to everyone(:

-Becca3