Chapter Thirty-Six

Peeta's POV

"You're an idiot you know?" Madge reminded me none to kindly.

"Yeah cause saying it out loud makes it even more obvious," I sighed letting my hands tug slightly on my hair. I hadn't been able to stop thinking about Katniss and the way she'd yelled last night. It was so… un-Katniss-like. It was as infuriating as it was intriguing. Mostly because I knew no matter what I said she'd never listen, she had to forgive me on her own and no matter what I did I couldn't help that process. No matter how often I apologized or how much I prayed she'd just snap out of it she had to do it herself. And intriguing because, well, you only yell if you care right?

"To be fair Madge he has a point, he's enough of a smart dumbass to calculate just how much of a jackass he really is," Marvel pointed out from the other side of me.

"And what is the formula for that?" Madge asked and I rolled my eyes, even knowing they couldn't see me it still made me feel a little better.

"I believe it is number of jerky acts over number of days since the first jerky act multiplied by 100 to give a percentage of general assholeness," Marvel informed her. I was almost impressed by the formula. Almost.

"Don't you dare calculate it," I turned to Madge first and then Marvel hoping my gaze was half as threatening as I hoped it was. From the way they both just laughed at me I guess it wasn't.

"Look she'll come around, just don't do anything too bad in the meantime," Marvel advised, although I wanted to tell him I had already realized that was what I had to do I figured it would be best to nod and agree. "In the meantime," he left the end of the sentence hanging and pushed towards me a drink that I hadn't seen arriving. "Drink up!"

I quickly downed the shot of whatever it was he had ordered and slammed the empty glass back down on the bar top. The alcohol stung at the back of my throat and my body took a second to get used to the unfamiliar feeling.

"What the hell was that?" I didn't realize that the drink had affected me quite so much until I heard my voice croak. I felt stupid for my first thought being that I was glad Katniss wasn't around to hear me now.

"The start of a very, very fine day," Marvel grinned wickedly and the young bartender brought over a second round of something that looked slightly like the first shot of whatever it was but just a tinge darker.

Johanna's POV

"Gale," I sighed again, pushing him away half-heartedly. I didn't really want to, but, well, I wasn't an idiot.

"Yeah," he smiled down at me. So I knew it was a stupid idea. Ok, so stupid didn't even really begin to cover it but here we were, me pressed firmly into a deck chair and him all kissing me like he's only just learned how to use his mouth to do things and now here I am… well, in my current state.

"You're an ass," I sighed; I freaking hated how easily I lost my train of thought around him.

"Yeah, but I'm your ass. And I'm a freaking sexy ass at that," he winked and I took the opportunity to push him over so that he fell off of the deck chair and onto the sand of the beach around us.

"Still sure about that," I looked over the edge of the deckchair at him and hated admitting to myself that even slightly confused and disorientated and sand covered, he was irritatingly sexy.

"Like 90% sure," he shrugged and I leaned down to peck him on the lips.

"Anyways I gotta run, need to make a phone call," I half apologized and moved around to the other side of the deck chair to throw my flip flops back on.

"Wait to who?" he moved awkwardly to sit behind me and wrap his arms around my middle.

"No one," I replied in an overly sing-songy voice. "Just someone from home, I kinda need to ask them about something," I tried to avoid an explanation.

"Should I be worried about 'someone'?" he asked, his lips making an awful lot of contact with my ear for such a short question.

"You shouldn't be worried about anyone dumbass," I leaned myself back against him briefly.

"Just checking," he muttered and I angled my shoulder so that I could face him.

"Look, I promise me and Cato was the biggest mistake I've ever made. If I could go back and undo it, then I would. But would you ever have been so honest about your feelings if that hadn't happened. If you hadn't felt threatened?" I asked and he looked guiltily out to the sea. "Exactly, and I'm not saying what I did was right. But what I did got us here, and it sucks that that had to be the case but it's true. So please stop worrying about us or the possibility of some other imaginary guy because when I'm with you I can't think about anyone else. Hell I can barely think alright and you have no idea how fucking irritating it is."

"I have some idea," he muttered, now returning his gaze down to me. "But thanks," he added before bringing his lips down onto mine. It was weird sometimes, how much he could say with his lips without using words. He let me know that he had been worried, that he did still want proof that I was his and only his. Then it made sense.

"That was why you wanted to go slowly wasn't it?" I asked when we eventually broke apart.

"A little, I just. Johanna I care about you and sure it wouldn't be our first time, but this time I want to do things right. I don't want to do it to prove why you should be with me, or to try and convince you to give us a shot at last. I want it to be for us, because we're ready and because we want to, not because I feel like I need to," he answered and I could see him already feeling stupid for saying the words out loud.

"You know how crazy you sound?" I asked.

"You know how crazy you make me?" he replied, raising an eyebrow at me, letting me know that he wasn't really expecting an answer.

"When did you turn cheesy?" I questioned, only half laughing because in all honesty, yes I grew up watching one too many Disney movies and I did love a bit of cheese every now and again. So sue me.

He shrugged. "I dunno, guess you bring it out of me," he answered and leaned in for one more quick kiss.

"Ok Prince Charming but I seriously have to make a call. I'll stop by your room later?" I double-checked. Cato had apparently made plans (which I would be checking up on).

"Yeah, apparently the only channels that work here are like BBC 4 and some kids shows. So kids shows?" he double-checked. I replied by pushing him backwards on the deckchair and turning to go and make the phone call I really should have made before we left.

Cato's POV

"So who was that?" I asked Katniss as we headed back to the hotel. Johanna and Gale had run off to the beach together, as in literally, before coach could stop them.

"Who was who?" she asked, furrowing her brow and looking at me like I was a post.

"The guy who was talking to Clove," I answered, like it should have been obvious. The way Johanna went on about it people would think that Clove was all I ever thought about. Which wasn't true. Sort of.

"I have no idea, she seemed really weird around him though. Why not just ask her yourself?" Katniss asked me, and I wondered if I was subtler than I thought I was.

"I don't think she'd tell me," I mumbled. "So you and Peeta seem, weird," I pointed out, wanting to get away from talking about Clove ASAP. She laughed a little in response. "What?"

"Cato I think you're one of the only people who could say that and not have it be an insult," she admitted although still smiling slightly.

"Umm… thanks?" I replied, accidentally smiling a little myself.

"Anytime I guess," she answered awkwardly. We really sucked at the whole conversation thing.

"So, yeah, since Gale is obsessing over Johanna, if you need someone to kick Peeta's ass into gear, I'm here for you bro," I said before I could stop myself.

"Bro?" she questioned, now it was her turn to look confused.

"Sorry, I guess I'm too used to Gale and his whole 'Touch Katniss and I'll kill you' talk," I tried to explain.

"To the point where you actually think of me as a 'bro'?" she asked, still trying to hold in some form of laughter.

"Definitely safer," I pointed out.

"Scared of Gale?" she asked.

"If he has the right to punch me in the face then yeah."

"You'd let him?"

"Maybe not just now, my jaw still hurts from last time. But if I deserved it then yeah."

"And you think that anything between us gives him a right to punch you?"

Crap. How do I end up in stupid conversations like this?

"Probably not, but try explaining that to him," I sighed in defeat.

"Don't listen to him. Much as he likes to pretend to be all tough and indestructible he's really just an overprotective softie," she confessed for him.

"Haven't you seen him with Johanna? I'm pretty sure strangers could guess that about him," I pointed out.

"True, God sometimes I wish they'd just get a room."

"I don't. At the moment that would be my room, which they're actually already kicking me out of later."

"Well that's good to know," she looked a little disgusted at the thought.

"What not comfortable with the thought of those two getting it on?" I asked, teasing her only a little.

"Like you are?" she shot back.

"Not actually thinking about it but the pair of them are a lot more tolerable afterwards," I made a point of watching her squirm a little as she thought about it. "Wow, really that bad huh?"

"Oh shut up! Like it matters," she half-shouted.

"It does."

"And why's that?"

"Cause your reaction is freaking hilarious," I laughed and felt her hand make sharp contact with my stomach.

"I understand why you and Gale get on so well now," she muttered.

"We both make you uncomfortable with references to acts that you haven't carried out yet? Cause you know perhaps if you did it you'd be a lot more open to conversation about it."

"Cato I really doubt that's the problem."

"We could find out?" I jerked away in time to avoid getting slapped in the stomach this time.

"Cato!"

"I know, I know, 'you're waiting for Mr. Perfect' or no you're more the type of 'I'll do it when it suits me, and no one is talking me into or out of it when I want to'," she raised an eyebrow at me as I made my voice rise a few octaves higher than I would ever admit my voice could go.

"No that's not it," she insisted and I could hear the frustration in her voice.

"Hmmm just horny and can't find someone? Cause I mean you're an attractive girl Katniss and I'm sure that-" that time I didn't dodge in time to avoid her palm.

"Cato would you just shush!" she demanded and I would have laughed at her frustration if it wasn't Katniss.

"Sorry," I mumbled, feeling like a child who'd been scolded for eating all the chocolates in an advent calendar on the first day of December. We wandered along in silence for a while.

"Seriously how do you get girls? You're kind of an ass," she wondered aloud and for a second I debated if she really wanted an answer.

"In all honesty? Like that," I admitted.

"Like what?"

"Well, wind them up to the point that the tension gets to the point of wanting to slap me and then just make a move before they really do."

"So when I slapped you-"

"Katniss I'm not actually going to try anything with you. You're like an adopted sister by default."

"Sister by default?"

"Well yeah, Gale's like my brother and you're like his sister. So like a weird adopted sister," I explained and I saw something very odd but unsettlingly familiar flit through her eyes.

"So does that mean we're all part of one really messed up family?"

"Unfortunately."

"So Johanna's like some weird kinda sister-in-law?"

"Nah Johanna's like my sister, so her and Gale are sort of breaking every rule that was ever set down in the name of common sense."

"Lovely. So Clove is like a sister too?"

"Clove's like the weird adopted one that I'm pretty sure is some sorta secret agent sent to kill us all," I left out the part that I couldn't think of Clove as a sister. For lots of reasons none of which I was getting into now.

"Yeah that does sound like Clove," she agreed, smiling slightly. It was only then I realized that we were now back at the hotel. "Thanks Cato," she mumbled.

"What for?" I could feel my eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"Just, making the day make a little more sense," she smiled and looked awkwardly over to where someone I felt like I should recognize seemed to be waiting for her. I shrugged it off and decided if he was important then she would have said something sooner.

"Umm, sure. Anytime I guess," I smiled a little and we stood awkwardly, neither of us really sure how to say goodbye. "So, I'll, umm, see ya," I eventually muttered.

"Yeah, see you," she agreed and then turned and walked towards the stranger.

Author's Note: So firstly a MASSIVE thanks to you guys who reported the story "I Need You Cato" it means so much and I was kinda nosey and read the reviews you guys left and seriously you're all amazing! Like it means the world that you helped me stick up for my work and I owe you guys so much! Sadly the story is still up but anyone who reads the reviews knows that it was stolen and that is all down to you guys! So therefore if you would like a new chapter for "Pass Me The Extra Bits" then leave a review and let me know and I shall get on it ASAP. So in terms of this fic, who do you guys think Johanna's off to call? What trouble could a drunk Peeta possibly get into? And what did you guys think about Cato and Katniss' chat? Also I apologize for how long it took me to update, I forgot to take my laptop with me when I went away for Christmas, cause I'm a dumbass like that. So I really hope you guys all had an amazing Christmas and I shall hopefully have another update for you soon! Until then remember you can also follow me on twitter Boydie93 :)

-R