~Katniss~
Going back to District Two was almost unbearable. I would officially meet Cato's family, as Katniss Everdeen and not as Spitfire, and I will meet Clove's family for the first time, only to say how sorry I am that their daughter isn't with them now. Everybody will probably love that Cato is back. And those who remember me from the Academy, well who knows. I didn't train with them, so the Trainees from here do not know me. The Mayor of District Two gave his speech, introducing Cato and I. Cato went first, since it was his home, then I stood up and gave my speech.
As they looked up at me I grew nervous, people either glared at me and they gave me smiles. And I could tell the difference of who gave what. Those who followed the Capitol like dogs gave me smiles, loving the fact that Cato and I have a romance. But then there are those who still think District Twelve, my home, is nothing but scum. Cato could tell that I was nervous, so when he took my hand and rubbed circles on the top of my hand with his thumb, I started to calm down. Finally I finished my speech and we both took our seat and waited until it was time for us to take our leave. About half an hour later, the Mayor let us leave while the crowd clapped and cheered.
"Cato I don't think I can do this." I told him once we got back onto the train. "Your family only knows me as Spitfire and I'm not her anymore. And I don't think I can face Clove's family. Let alone go out in public and wait to see if everybody will actually hurt me, judging by the looks they gave me." I babbled as I unzipped my steel gray, thin strapped, floor length, dress. This time I was in just a bra and underwear, but I didn't really care at the moment. I was too nervous. I grabbed a robe and tugged it on before I felt Cato's hands on my shoulders.
"Everything will be okay. My family loved you before and they'll love you now. And Clove's family will understand, Clove fought for us. And as for everybody else, they'll have to go through me to hurt you." he said seriously as he wrapped his arms around my waist from behind. I leaned my head back against his chest and took a deep breath, inhaling his scent. He turned me around to face him and looked me in the eye. "I'll be here to protect you if you ever need it." he said cupping my face with his hands.
"Thank you. Well I guess we better get changed, it's now or never." I said solemnly. I watched as he turned and walked out of the room to his own so he could change into better clothing, shutting the door behind him. Sighing, I went to my closet and looked for something to wear. I pulled out a light blue blouse about the same color as Cato's eyes that had sequins on it, a nice pair of black pants, and some black flats. My make-up was minimal, knowing Cinna he probably made sure it was minimal because I would meet Cato's family again today, so I left it on. My hair was down in it's natural curls again thanks to Cinna. I stepped out of my room to find Cato in the living room wearing a gray button down shirt, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, a pair of black dress pants, and black shoes. When he saw what I was wearing he chuckled.
"What?" I asked him.
"We're both wearing clothes that match the others eyes. I'm wearing gray and you're wearing blue." I looked at both of our clothing and realized it was true. I smiled lightly and took his outstretched hand.
"Come on, time to go." he said and and I followed him out of the train. The walk to his parents house was quiet mostly on my part. Cato would point out different things to me like where he would hang out or walk around. Finally we came up to his house and it looked like the ones in the Victors Village of Twelve, I wonder the that houses look like here. We paused in front of the house and he held my hands. "Are you ready for this?" he asked, looking deep into my eyes.
"I think so. Cato what if they don't like me anymore?" I asked him and he gave me a soft smile.
"Like I said before, they liked you when they knew nothing about you. I doubt being from Twelve will change anything." he said and I nodded, telling him that he can open the door. The door swung open as we stepped inside, nobody was around. "Hello? Mom? Citch?" he called out and soon I heard steps coming down the stairs. His mother was the first to appear then Citch and finally Selima holding Sessa. He was right, she has gotten bigger.
"Cato! I'm so happy you're home." His mother said coming to hug him. Selima set Sessa on the floor and the little girl stood holding her mom's fingers. When Cato's mom was done hugging him she turned to me.
"I had a feeling you were from Twelve." she said with a straight face. My nerves only grew more. What if Cato was wrong? What if they don't like me. "But it doesn't matter." she said smiling then hugging me. She pulled away and rested her hands on my shoulders. "You make my son happy, and I thank you for that." she said and I gave her a curious look.
"If you don't mind me asking, how did you know I was from Twelve?" I asked and she smiled at me.
"You have the characteristics of somebody from Twelve. You skin tone and hair give you away." she says.
"More like from the Seam." I mutter and she give me a confused look. "The part of Twelve I'm from." I clarify and she nods.
"Well it doesn't matter where you're from, as long as you make my son happy, then I'm happy." she concludes, stepping aside so Citch could greet me next. He gave his brother a brotherly hug and smiled at me.
"It's about time he made a move on you." he said jokingly then pulled me in for a hug. "Welcome to the family." he said and Selima chuckled.
"They aren't married Citch." she reminded, walking Sessa over to Cato. He picked her up and she giggled happily. Selima kissed Cato on the cheek then walked over to hug me. When she pulled away Cato walked over to me with Sessa in his hands. She opened and closed her fists at me and he shifted her into my arms. Once I held the little girl she cuddled into me, wrapping her arms around my neck and resting her head on my shoulder.
"She really likes you." Citch said and I smiled.
"It's hard not to love her brother." Cato said wrapping an arm around me. I looked up at him and he gave me a small kiss on my cheek. I set Sessa down and she got on her hands and knees to crawl over to her mom. For the rest of the day we sat in the living room of their house and got to know each other. I talked to them about losing my dad and raising my sister, hunting in the woods, and so on.
"I remember the last Victory Tour I went on, Clove and I went on the woods and met some guy." Cato said and I stiffened next to him.
"Did he tell you his name?" I asked and they all looked at me confused.
"Yeah he said his name was Gale why?" he asked and I sighed in relief. He kept his promise.
"Thank god." I said.
"What?" Citch asked.
"Gale is another on of my best friends and my hunting partner. I met him after my dad died when I was hunting in the woods. When I was at the Academy I made him promise to not let my sister starve. He kept it." I explained to them and they nodded in understanding. Cato's mom was about to speak when the front door opened to reveal Cato's father. He was wearing a nice suit and tie and carrying a briefcase. He set it down by the door and didn't even realize that Cato and I were even sitting there until he turned towards us, finally looking up at us. When he noticed me sitting there, next to Cato whose arms were wrapped around me he got this smirk on his face, one that I have seen Cato wear many times. Now I know where he gets it. Slowly his father walked into the living room and Cato and I stood up to face him. He looked me up and down slowly and I suddenly grew nervous, what was he going to say? What is he thinking?
"So you're the famous Spitfire. Katniss Everdeen." he said sounding intimidating. Cato, sensing my nerves wrapped his hand around mine, which caught the attention of his father. "The Co-victor of my son who has managed to capture his heart." he spoke once again and I grew more and more nervous by the second. But it all went away as soon as he smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you." he said with an approving smile on his face. I sighed in relief and shook his outstretched hand.
"Goodness Casco you had this girl scared to death." Cato's mother, Claret, said standing up and wrapping her arm protectively around my shoulder.
"Yet she didn't back down at all." his father, Casco said.
"She never backed down from me and we made it through the Hunger Games. She's tough." Cato said giving my hand a reassuring squeeze. I smiled at him and he kissed my hair.
"Maybe even tougher than you brother." Citch teased.
"You trying to say something Citch?" Cato challenged with a mocking face.
"Just saying that maybe you need to go back to training for a bit, you're losing your touch." Citch continued his teasing and soon enough the two brothers were wrestling around on the living room floor, but still being careful not to break anything. I watched the two of them while Cato's parents went into the kitchen and Selima took Sessa upstairs. It was starting to get late and we still had to stop by Clove's parents house before we left for District Three.
"Cato. Cato!" I shouted and he looked up from the headlock he had on his brother. "It's getting late and we need to go." I reminded and he look at the clock and got up immediately.
"Oh yeah I almost forgot." he said. We bid goodbye to his family before walking out of his house towards Clove's old house. "See it wasn't so bad meeting them again." he pointed out once we were outside his house.
"Yeah yeah you were right." I said smiling as he snaked his arm around my waist and mine around his. "Although I'm not sure if I'm ready for this though." I said as Cato lead me towards Clove's.
"I'm not ready for this either. But it's time you met them. You and I were Clove's best friends. I wish you didn't have to meet them like this." he said, his voice going from playful to soft. We were silent the rest of the walk and soon we came to a slightly more run down part of District Two. Soon we stood outside a small house that was painted gray and dark blue shudders on the windows. This house was only one floor and looked a little cozy. But it seemed like something Clove would have lived in. we stepped up to the door and Cato lifted his hand and knocked on it four times. A few seconds later a small woman, maybe a few inches shorter than me, with dark hair like Clove and the same eyes as well. Clove looked so much like her, must be her mother.
"Cato, Katniss." she said surprised to see us. "What are you doing here?" she asked.
"I think it's time that I finally meet you, I'm just so sorry for the circumstances." I said softly and she nodded, wiping a stray tear from her eye.
"Come in. Come in." she said opening the door wider for us to step through. On the walls were pictures of Clove and who must be her little brother. There were even pictures of Clove and Cato as well. "It's nice to finally meet you Katniss. Clove, she talked about you a lot."
"She was a good friend to me here." I said softly.
"We miss her greatly, Proti especially." she sniffed.
"Where is the little guy?" Cato asked, speaking up for the first time since arriving.
"He's um in his room with his father." she said gesturing to the hallway behind her. She turned and led us down the hall to the first door on the left with his name on it. Across from his room was Clove's, her name was etched into the door from probably a knife. Her mom opened her son's door and we saw him and his father on the floor playing with different toys. "Honey, Cato and Katniss are here." she said and he looked up at us. Proti looked up at Cato, stood and wobbled over to him. I see what Clove meant by him being disabled, his legs were slightly disfigured making it a little hard for him to walk. When he reached the tall man next to me, Cato knelt down to the boys height and picked him up.
"Hey little guy."
"Hi Cato." the boy said and looked at me shyly.
"This is Katniss. Can you say hi?"
"Clove's friend?" Proti asked looking back at Cato who nodded. Proti looked back at me and waved. "Hi." he whispered.
"Hi. It's nice to meet you." I said with a little smile on my face. He had the same dark hair like Clove but his fathers hazel eyes.
"You were Clove's friend." he observed simply.
"She was one of Clove's best friends buddy." Cato said to him, holding the little boy close.
"I miss my sissy." he said starting to cry. He wrapped his arms around Cato's neck and buried his face in his shoulder.
"We miss her too Pro." Cato said hugging the boy, calling him by what I assume is his nickname. "If you guys ever need help with anything, please let us know." Cato said to Clove's mother and father.
"We promise." her mom said.
"It's getting late, you two should be getting back to the train." Clove's dad said, getting up from his spot on the floor and taking the crying boy from Cato's arms. Cato passed him over and wrapped an arm around me, needing the comfort. The three of them lead us out of the house and waved as we walked away from their door. As we walked it grew darker and darker as the sun got lower and lower in the sky. Cato still had his arm wrapped around me but it wasn't enough. With my hand that was closest to him I reached over and took his free hand in mine, he clasped his around it and rubbed his thumb over my palm. Tears were silently falling down my cheeks, why did I have to meet them this way? It wasn't fair to any of us. Eventually the tears became to much for me because I couldn't see where I was going anymore.
"Cato stop I-I can't." I said stumbling over to a nearby bench. I sat down and pressed my hands to my face as I sobbed into them. Cato's arms circled around me, holding me close as I sobbed. His body shook, telling me that he's crying as well. Street lights came on as it grew completely dark around us, a few people walked by but didn't pay attention to us crying teenagers. Cato stopped crying long before I did, maybe it was because I lost more in the Games than he did, Peeta, Clove, and Rue. It was all taking it's toll on me. I couldn't stop crying, so he picked me up, cradling me to his chest, an walked up back to the train, which wasn't too far away now. Once we were on the train he ignored people who questioned him and went straight to our room. He just set me down on the bed and held me as I cried, which soon turned to sniffles. When I was done he pulled my face up towards his to look my in the eyes. He ran his thumb across my cheeks, ridding my face of any tears left over.
"We're gonna get through this. We will." he said pressing his forehead to mine.
"You promise?" I asked sniffing again. He gave my nose a peck and looked my in the eyes again.
"I promise." I pulled him close, wrapping my arms around him in any way that I could, pressing my face into the crook of his neck where it meets his shoulders.
"I love you." I whispered. He snaked his arms around me and pressed me to him tightly.
"I love you too. We'll get through this together, I promise." he vowed, a few moments later he pulled away and looked at me. "In a few more days we'll be in District Five, the next few Districts should be easier, but when we get to Five you get to see Luna again." he said trying to cheer me up, and the thought of seeing another on of my best friends again did make me a little more happy.
"I miss her." I said quietly.
"I know." he said then kissed my head. "I know."
"I pray to any God that she doesn't get Reaped, or that I don't have to Mentor." I said bitterly and his chest rumbled slightly with a chuckle.
"Maybe President Snow will seek a little pity on us and not make us Mentors since we're the first couple surviving couple the Hunger Games has ever seen." he said and I snuggled closer to him.
"President Snow, if he doesn't make us Mentors he'll find some other way to use us." I said, saying his name like it was acid, and it tasted acidic when I said it.
"But it's not like he can kill us easily. The Capitol people love us too much." Cato said hopefully. He, like the rest of his District, almost have too much faith in the man who so poorly runs this country.
"He'll find a way to make it look like an accident." I reminded.
"We just have to please him, do as he says and hope." he said.
Hope
It seems like that's all it comes down to in the end. Back home it was hope that I don't get caught hunting. In the Games it was hope that I don't get killed. And now it's hope that nothing bad will happen to me and those that I love if I displease the President. What will he make us do? Be prostitutes? Sure the women of the Capitol will be willing to spend time with Cato. Will he turn us into an Avox? Or slaves? He'll think of something. And that's what scared me the most. Out of all of the horrible arenas they've created in the years that have passed, what will he think of to use to torture us? I shuddered just thinking about it. Cato's arms tightened when he felt me shudder and kissed my head soothingly.
"Come on we need some sleep before tomorrow." he said softly in my ear. I nodded and pulled away to get changed into pajamas as he left the room. When I was done I didn't even wait for him to return. I just got into bed and pulled the covers over me.
~Cato~
After I was done getting changed, which was just some pajama pants, I saw that Katniss was already in bed, curled tightly into a ball with the covers over her. My heart broke at the sight. The Games have really killed her fire. She used to be strong, fierce, and ready to take on anything. She was a fire, burning hot and bright, but now she's like a match, struggling to stay lit. Before the Games I had never seen her cry before, but after I found her with Peeta, she's been broken. I've never seen a person cry as much as she has lately, and it's all because of the Games, because of Snow. I walked over to the bed quietly, not wanting to wake her if she was already asleep. But as I lifted the blankets and slid in beside her, she turned to face me, her eyes still closed. I gently took her arms away from her legs and pushed her legs away from her body so she wasn't in a tight ball anymore. Once she was unwound I pulled her close to me, and she clung back in return. Hopefully seeing Luna in a few days will cheer her up. Katniss needs some good in her life right now. Once we get off this train either to her home, my home, or some new home anywhere, we'll be able to live peacefully. Even though we may still be under Snow's thumb of control, we won't be around death and pain anymore.
The next morning we awoke to Effie pounding on our door, shrieking that we overslept. We quickly climbed out of bed and got dressed into something appropriate for our speeches. I was put into black pants, shoes, and jacket but an electric yellow button shirt. I should've guessed since District Three is all about technology. When I walked out I saw Katniss in a floor length dress the same color as my shirt, but had small rectangular pieces of plastic placed in a pattern over her dress so she could still move, but made it look reflective. On her feet were silver heels about the color of her eyes. Her hair was down in curls on her shoulders that covered the thin straps of the dress. All in all, she looked amazing, as she does all the time.
"You look beautiful." I complimented as I walked up to her, leaning my head down to kiss her lightly glossed lips. When we pulled away she reached up and wiped any of her gloss from my lips. I licked my lips when she was done and I could still taste a bit of it. "Mint?" I asked with a raised eyebrow at Cinna who stood a few feet away.
"Do you have a problem with it?" He challenged with a smirk. I chuckled and shook my head.
"Mint happens to be my favorite." I said looking from him to Katniss before I kissed her again, resting my hands on her hips.
"Keep doing that and I'll have to reapply throughout the day." he said laughing. I pulled away from Katniss put my forehead on hers, looking into her eyes.
"I don't have a problem with that. Do you?" I asked her and she bit her bottom lips, smiling slightly. "I'll take that as a no." I said chuckling.
"Okay you two, we can't have you all hot and bothered before you're speech." Haymitch said walking into the room with Effie and Brutus trailing behind him.
"Too late." Cinna joked and Haymitch glared at him. Cinna raised his hands in defense before turning to leave the room.
"Anyway, you two need to get out there, we can't have everyone waiting." Effie said trying to lighten the mood. She ushered us out of the train and we stepped into the sunlight and it made Katniss' dress shine just like it. Cinna is pure genius. After we gave our speeches we stepped back onto the train so we could relax. All through the speeches I could only think about Katniss' mint flavored lips, mint was already my favorite before, but now there is no way that is going to change. I walked with Katniss back to her room and as soon as the door was shut I spun her around to face me. Before she could even utter a word of surprise I crashed my lips to her's, unable to resist temptation any longer. After a few moments she pulled away, needing to breathe.
"Where did that come from?" she asked chuckling.
"If Cinna is going to keep using that mint flavored gloss, this is going to happen a lot more often." I said seriously. She laughed but when she saw I wasn't laughing she stopped.
"Well I'm not complaining." she said before tilting her head up and kissing my lips once again. This kiss seemed to be more heated, more serious. My hands wrapped around her waist as her's went to my neck and played with the hairs there, making me shiver. I brought a hand up and brushed the hair away from her neck and we started to walk backwards towards the bed. I pulled my hands away from her and took off my jacket and tossing it to the floor before my hands went back to her, searching for the zipper to her dress. Her hands busied themselves by undoing the buttons of my shirt, one by one. I undid the zipper of her dress and let it fall to the ground, leaving her in her strapless bra and panties. I shrugged my shirt off and gently pushed her back onto the bed, pulling away from her mouth and trailing kisses down her jaw, to her neck, and finally to her chest, before going back up to her lips. Her soft moan as I kissed her chest urged me to go further, we've never been this far and I knew this was new to her. So as my hands, which somehow grew a mind of their own, went up to the clasp of her bra, she lightly pushed me away.
"Stop, Cato I can't." she said breathless. I shook my head and pulled away further.
"No it's my fault. I'm sorry I shouldn't have gone that far." I reached down and grabbed my shirt off the floor and held it out to her. She took it and put it on her leaving it open. "If you leave this like that," I started as I reached over and buttoned it up. "I'll get tempted to take it further." I said with a little smirk.
"Eventually, we will. But now it just feels too soon." she said shyly looking away from me. I took her face in my hands and tried to look in her eyes. But she kept them closed. I leaned in and kissed her eyelids lightly and she finally opened them.
"Hey, I've waited for you since the day you left to go back to your District back when we were in the Academy. I can wait for that for as long as you want." I whispered to her and she looked at me surprised.
"Really?"
"Really." I said then kissed her lightly. "You've changed me Kat, but for the better. Before you I wouldn't have waited. But after meeting you, I don't want to be who I used to be. I was an arrogant jerk who always got what he wanted, no matter what. Here, now, with you, I like who I'm becoming. I'm becoming somebody better, because of and for you." I admitted to her, pouring out my feelings to her. It was something new to me, but I liked it. It felt good.
"I like who you are now. You said yourself that you were a jerk, but you aren't anymore. You care about people, about me. I like that, I love you." she said putting her hand on my cheek.
"I love you too." I replied rubbing my nose to her's. She scrunched it and giggled. "Come on, let's go explore District Three." I suggested standing up and going to the bathroom to fix my hair to look presentable.
"We've already seen it. Can't we just stay in today?" she practically begged from her position on the bed. I turned back to her, shutting off the light in the bathroom. I walked over and leaned down, resting my hands on the bed and leaning on them so I was level with her face. I smiled at her and chuckled.
"Fine, we can stay in today." I said.
"Yes!" she said triumphantly.
"Only," her face dropped a little. "If you'll go swimming with me in the ocean after our speeches when we get to Four." I suggested to her and she thought about it before nodding, I smiled at her and kissed her lips.
"Come on, get dressed and let's get something to eat in the dining car." I said taking her hand and pulled her up off the bed and dragged her over to the closet.
"You know if you're going to be sleeping in here, why don't you bring some of your clothes in here?" she said and I thought about it.
"Yeah, give me my shirt and I'll be right back with my clothes." I said holding my hand out for it.
"You need your shirt for that why?"
"Because they'll get the wrong idea if they see me shirtless."
"Let them get the wrong idea." she challenged. I smirked and kissed her head.
"Fine, but only because you look really hot in my clothes." I said and she shoved me towards the door.
"Go get your stuff." she said and I walked out the door. Before I shut it I took one last glance at her to see her looking at her closet trying to decide what to wear. I shut the door and turned to mine only to find a Haymitch and Brutus staring at me, both with a raised eyebrow.
"What?" I asked innocently.
"Any particular reason why your shirtless?" Haymitch questioned.
"A couple can't have a hot make out session?" I questioned back with a small chuckle.
"So what are you doing here and not in there?" Brutus asked waggling his eyebrows before Haymitch smacked him in the gut.
"Things got too heated and I'm going to get some of my clothes to move into her room." I explained
"You. Will. Not!" shrilled an appalled Effie down the hall.
"Effie calm down." Haymitch warned.
"There is absolutely no way these two are moving into the same room. They are too young."
"They sleep in the same room already. What's the harm in moving in? And I think they grew up quite a bit in the Games Effie." Brutus defended.
"Well if she get's pregnant I blame all of you." she scolded, pointing a long manicured finger at all of us before she walked away. Her heals clicking behind her.
"There isn't a chance she could get pregnant right?" Haymitch asked with a warning tone in his voice, I have no doubt that if I get Katniss pregnant when we aren't married, he'll kick my ass.
"No, we aren't going that far. No need to worry." I assured them before opening the door to my room and gathering some of my clothes then going back into Kat's room to see what she was doing. She was sitting on the bed with her legs crossed wearing a loose, light pink, short sleeve, v-neck top and a pair of black pants that were very fitting. She looked up at me and smiled as I walked over and sat next to her on the bed. I set the clothes in my arms on the bed behind me and grabbed a gray shirt off the top and slipped it on. We sat there for a few moments and I slung my arm around her shoulder and she leaned her head on mine.
"So are you hungry?" I asked her.
"Yeah a little bit. How about you?" she replied and I shrugged with her still on my shoulder, making her giggle.
"I could eat." I stood up and pulled her up with me. "Come on, let's go see what there is to eat." I suggested and together we walked out of our room to the dining car. After we had eaten some strange but tasty Capitol food we went back to our room and just relaxed. I laid back on the bed with my head propped up in the pillows and held my arms out for Katniss to come to me. She crawled up to me and lied down next to me, cuddling into my side. After a few moments of silence, I spoke up.
"What do you think will happen after the tour? After all of this is over?" she was silent before answering my question.
"I don't know. I haven't really thought about it."
"I've thought about it. In two different ways."
"Oh?
"If there were no Hunger Games. The only way I would have met you is if I went with my dad on one of his inspections in your District. Our relationship would have started differently. I wouldn't have been training so I wouldn't have been the jerk that I was. You might even had been different too. We would have dated and I would have taken every chance I could to visit you. We would've fought but it wouldn't matter because we would work through it. We would have gotten married, had a few kids, maybe have a house in both Districts so we could live in both if we wanted. That way we could be near our families all the time," I explained my dream to her and she was quiet as I described it.
"That sounds nice," she mumbled into my chest.
"I thought so too."
"But since there is the Games and we met the way we did..."
"After this I still see us getting married and having kids, if you ever want them. But until then I see us living in District Twelve so you can be near your sister, making trips every now and then back to Two. We would leave the Tribute mentoring to our mentors so we can relax and get used to things. Then in the future we can talk about the rest of our lives." I felt her chuckle against me and I held her tighter.
"What if Snow has some horrible plan for us?" she asked and I didn't know what to say.
"I don't know. We just have to think positive."
"Like how? Like making us get married at such a young age?" she asked sarcastically.
"Would that be so bad?" I asked, poking her side, making her giggle.
"Cato, we're only sixteen."
"People got married at that age way before our grandparents were even born. It wasn't exactly unheard of."
~Katniss~
I'm not going to lie, what Cato was saying was starting to get to me. I'm not ready to get married. Yes I love him and yes I want to be with him but marriage? At sixteen? I'm not ready, and he was talking about it like it was nothing. I pulled away from him and sat up to look at him.
"But that was in the past, way in the past."
"You're sounding like you don't want to marry me. Is that what you want? To not marry me?" he asked, propping himself up on his elbows.
"Not now at least. We just got out of a life or death situation and you're talking about marriage."
"We're only talking about it if Snow makes us do it. It's not like we're going to have a choice."
"And what if Snow doesn't make us get married? Huh? What then? Are you still going to want to get married at this age?" I questioned him as I got off the bed and paced the room.
"I don't know. I want to marry you eventually. And if Snow makes us, well dream come true."
"You'd be okay with him forcing me into something I'm not ready for? Seriously?" I snapped at him, what is going through his head right now? Doesn't he realize I'm not ready?
"Katniss, we wouldn't have a choice. Ready or not we'd have to do what he says." he sat up and tried to grab my hand as I paced but I pulled away from him.
"But you wouldn't fight would you?" I asked him and he was silent, he just sat there and looked at his hands in his lap. I scoffed and nodded. "That's what I thought." I walked away from him and stormed out of the room, ignoring him calling my name. I slammed the door behind me and stood there, waiting for him to come after me, but he didn't. So I kept walking, I walked through the cars of the train until I came to the Look-Out car, it's the car that has a glass ceiling, I slid down and looked at the sky. I hadn't realized that it was so late in the afternoon. It was almost dark outside. I watched the sky as it faded from blue, to orange, to pink, to purple, then to black with stars popping up here and there. Cato was right, if Snow made us do it, we wouldn't have a choice, but I still thought Cato would try to, want to fight for me. I thought he cared about me that much. But what if this is all because of the Games, it's all for the show and he's faking it behind the scenes to I'll believe it and it'll be more believable. I don't want to believe that, I don't want to think that Cato would do something so cruel to me after what we had been through. But this is Cato, the guy who hated me back when we first met. But he is also the guy who was so sweet to me during and after the Games, and again that could have been an act.
With all of these thoughts running through my head, I sat in the Look-Out car curled up on the floor, leaning against the wall as I looked up at the stars. Why hasn't anybody come to find me yet? Haymitch knows that when I'm upset to leave me be. But Cato doesn't. So why hasn't he come? I felt the train move and I knew it was time to head to District Four. If Cato and I don't work things out soon, we won't go swimming in the ocean together. I was looking forward to it. My neck was getting tired and so were my eyes. So still curled into a ball, I leaned over until I was laying on the ground, still in a ball, and let my eyes drift closed.