I do not own Suzanne Collin's The Hunger Games characters.

Hey everyone! I hope you all have been doing well! To be honest, I have kind of been having a rough time of it lately, but coming on here and writing these stories and see how many people have been reading them have really been helpful. I am probably not going to continue this story for too much longer because I feel like it is getting rather long. What do you all think?

Anyways, on with the chapter.

Chapter 23:

AFTER THE HOMECOMING

Annie's POV

It is almost ten o'clock when we are walking out of the cafeteria. Johanna found us again about thirty minutes ago, and she was in a much better mood, not to mention she had quite a bit of smudged lipstick. Madge danced literally the entire time and Gale only got like ten minutes of break time. Peeta and Katniss actually seemed to be getting on rather well. Cato and Clove spent the entire three-hour dance cuddling and kissing and whispering things to each other. By the time we were all getting ready to leave, Clove was literally sitting in Cato's lap, their bodies pressed so tightly together that it was hard to tell where he ended and she began. As we are walking out, Cato and Clove bump into Finnick and me. They aren't even looking where they are going. Finnick shoves them back gently.

"Hey, you two! Eyes on the road, not each other," Finnick jokes.

Clove blushes but Cato looks completely unabashed. In fact, Cato looks squarely at me and Finnick before taking Clove's cheek and brazenly kisses her passionately on the mouth. Clove gasps a little as they pull away and Cato looks smugly at us before continuing to walk. We are almost at the doors that lead out of the school when Glimmer runs in front of us.

"I'm having an after-party at my house, you're all coming," She says, catching me off guard.

"Why?" Johanna asks suspiciously. "You don't even like us."

"Well, my brother likes you well enough, so, I figured I might as well try to be nice to you," She says as someone told her that she has to suck a lemon in her mouth for twenty minutes, but a part of me thinks that maybe she is actually trying to be nice.

She walks away to go join her group of girls in her car. Marvel is standing right there and he throws what no doubt is supposed to be a sexy smile our way. I turn and see Johanna looking directly back at him. I pull away from Finnick for a second and walk a few steps back so I can talk to Johanna.

"It looks like you and Marvel made up," I say.

"What are you talking about?" Johanna asks, trying to feign innocence, but that has never been Johanna's strong suit.

"Don't tell me he gave you that look for nothing."

Johanna laughs. "Okay, so maybe he gave me an ultimatum, and maybe I agreed to it."

Madge is beside us now and she is curiously absorbing every word.

"What kind of ultimatum?" Madge asks.

"He said that I either try having an actual relationship with him or all of the hookups and getting to even see him were over."

"And you took the first option. Aw!" Madge swoons.

"Shut it," Johanna glares.

"So are we going to go to this after-party?" Madge asks, louder than how she had been talking earlier so that everyone can hear.

"Why not?" Gale replies.

We all more or less nod in agreement and find that the limo is still waiting outside for us. We all pile in and as I look around the back of the car I notice that everyone looks significantly happier than they did when we first got in. Johanna, however, has made it her point to sit in between Cato and Clove, and while the rest of us give her a grateful smile, the two lovebirds glare angrily at her. The drive to Glimmer's house only takes about twenty minutes, but twenty minutes where we don't haven't to listen to Clove and Cato, or Clato as Finnick calls them, cooing at each other feels like an eternity. When we get out of the car, they are all over each other again. Finnick lets out a groan when Clove quite literally jumps on Cato's back and kisses his ear.

The lawn of Glimmer and Marvel mansion of a house is already crowded with people and I hear someone call for Clato to get a room. I laugh and so does Johana and Madge. I lose track of everyone except Finnick (who is has his arm securely around me) until we get into the mansion itself. It has sloping ceilings that are ornately painted and long hallways that are made of what I can only assume is real marble. It is hard to see much of what I am sure is a very impressive house with how many people are packed in. Finnick drags me through the throng of people until we reach the open doors that lead to Glimmer's backyard.

While people are still milling around the large pool that is in her backyard, no one is actually in it. Finnick and I walk to the edge of the pool. He sits down, pulling me with him. He pulls off his shoes and then his socks and then his tie and jacket. Then, still in his nice dress shirt and pants, he gives me a smile before sliding sideways into the pool with a splash. I laugh and he resurfaces quickly, running a hand through his wet copper curls.

"C'mon, get in," He says, reaching out to pull me in.

"I can't," I say, gesturing to my dress, hair, and full-face of makeup.

"Sure you can," Finnick responds.

"Madge is going to kill me if I ruin this dress. And hair. And makeup. So basically everything," I respond.

"Please," He pleads, giving me his best puppy dog eyes.

Just as I am about to concede, Madge walks out onto the pool deck and immediately spots me.

"Don't you even think about it, Annie!" She yells as she walks towards us.

"Told you," I say. Finnick laughs.

"Hello Madge Badge," Finnick calls up to her as she reaches us. "What would, say, theoretically happen if Annie got wet?"

"Nothing really. The dress is waterproof and so is most of the makeup but it would ruin her hair." She has barely finished saying when Finnick pulls me into the pool. I splash around for a second, but I land in his arms in the pool, the water swirling around me. My hair never even gets wet.

"See? Nothing to worry about," Finnick smirks.

Cato's POV

It is almost one in the morning when everyone is finally ready to go. Since we all took the same car hear, we can't leave until everyone is ready and Johanna decided to disappear with Marvel an hour ago. Madge finally had to go and find them because she was fed up with how long it was taking. As Johanna walks towards us, her hair is tousled and her lipstick smudged but she doesn't seem to care. Annie, Finnick, Peeta, Katniss, and Madge are making their way to the car, Gale close behind when I realize that Clove isn't with us.

When I turn around, I see Clove curled up on the ground in a ball, sleeping. I smile. Not wanting to wake her, I crouch down and gently scoop her up, which is hard to do with my injured arm. I'm lucky that she is so small. I carry her gently to the car, awaiting the teasing that I am sure is going to happen. They have been teasing us all night, not that I can say we don't deserve it. I just can't help it sometimes. It is difficult to get into the car with Clove in my arms, but I manage to and hold her close to me.

"Oh my gosh, you guys are so-" Johanna starts, but I cut her off with a glare.

When we finally pull into the driveway of my house, I adjust Clove gently in my arms before carrying her into the house. My parents are leaving as I make my way inside. My mother opens her mouth to say something, but I just brush past them. I am almost to Clove's room when I feel her shift in my arm and I nearly drop her.

"Cato," She whispers up at me.

"Hey beautiful," I respond, making my way into her room. I set her down gently on the bed, pulling the covers up and over her.

"I talked to my mom before the dance," She says, her voice heavy with sleep as she says it.

"How did it go?"

"Good," she nods before yawing.

"I'm gonna let you get back to sleep," I respond. I lean down and kiss her head gently. When I move to leave and go to my room, Clove grasps my uninjured arm, pulling me down next to her. For about a week now, if I come and say goodnight to her, she'll pull me down to bed with her, makes me stay with her in the bed, cuddled up. The first night, I didn't fall asleep. I couldn't stop looking at her, couldn't stop making sure that she was okay. I realized quickly when she first started living here that she has nightmares a lot of the time. After a few nights though, I realized that I didn't really mind sleeping in the same bed as Clove.

I tuck myself under the covers with her and only then do I realize that we are both still in our fancy clothes from the dance. I take my jacket, tie, and shoes and gently remove her heels before tucking us both back under the covers. She curls into the side of my body, laying her head on my chest. I love her. I give a small start just from thinking about it. Clove shifts her head, looking up at me.

"What is it?" She asks.

I shake my head slightly before opening my mouth.

"I...I," I want to say it, so badly I do. As someone who has never heard their parents say it to each other when they were sober, I can't get the words out, so I just bring her face up to mine and kiss her. She presses her lips gently back against mine before laying her head back on my chest.

"I...I too," She says and somehow I know that she and I mean the same thing.

"Goodnight baby girl," I whisper against her hair.

She lets out a small laugh before replying.

"Night babe."

As I drift into the comfortable lull of sleep, the last thing I think of is Clove. I love her.

What did you all think of this chapter? I cannot believe that it is almost September. 2020 has gone by like scary quickly. Anyways, I hope that everyone had a good last week and will have a good this week.

Stay happy, healthy, and safe,

-Jewel