Happy Friday the 13th! In honor of that, I present to you chapter 13! (Just so we're clear, this was absolutely unintentional. It's just that I have recently found the time to write this and thought I should upload it before I forget.) Hope you like it! :)

Clove's POV:

I cannot believe that just happened. I cannot believe Cato just kissed me and I kissed him back! He couldn't have chosen a better timing though. I have to say, he really has a way with the female specimen. After showering me with compliments, he goes straight for the homerun. Let me tell you, it really worked. I could not have been happier in my life. I could've died on the spot for all I cared.

After we broke apart, we stared at each other for a moment, trying to steady our breathing. I was searching his eyes for signs that maybe he was just doing this as a comfort thing but I saw none. He was, in contrast, smiling so brightly it was as if he won the lottery or something. I couldn't help but smile back at him as well. He then proceeded to wrap his arms around me, cradling me and whispering sweet nothings in my ear. It was at that moment I realized I was the luckiest and happiest girl in the world.

School the next day wasn't nearly as bad. Nothing really eventful happened, not to mention today was also Friday meaning we'd have the next two days off. The group decided we should celebrate the end of the first week of the year (they like to celebrate everything!)

We were at the Mellark's bakery, which we haven't been to in a while, sitting at our usual booth. Cato made sure not to make it too obvious that we were sort of together but sat as close to me as possible.

"Hey, Clove. Where were you yesterday? You never did get to tell us where you had gone off to." Finnick said, remembering my little fiasco yesterday.

"She was at my dad's office." Gale said, not looking up from his food.

"What were you doing there?" Annie asked, now completely puzzled.

"I bumped into Jason in the hallway." I saw Cato glance at me for a second. Oops. I may have forgotten to mention that yesterday. Well at least he knows now. "He was the one who brought me to Gale's dad's office. I was rounding the corner when it happened. I don't really know where I would've gone if I hadn't. I was sort of just aimlessly running away."

They all stared at me with concerned faces. I guess it was time to tell everyone what my real problem was.

"Do you guys mind if we go somewhere private before I tell you my life story? I don't really feel comfortable with the idea of other people potentially overhearing it."

"Sure. We can go to my room. C'mon." Peeta said, leading the way.

Once we got there, we all found a comfortable place to sit. Cato decided it best to sit on the floor and motioned me to sit next to him. I proceeded to tell my story to them. Surprisingly, I didn't feel as emotional as I did yesterday when I relayed it to Cato. I guess it was because I wasn't as afraid anymore. I knew that these people were trustworthy.

Once I was done, the girls all had tears in their eyes and tackled me. This is what true friendship should feel like.

"Oh Clove that's just horrible! How could they do that to a precious girl like you? If I ever see those people I will squash them all like a bug!" Jackie said. Just those simple words made me smile. Knowing that someone would go through lengths just to protect me made me feel safe and special. Much like what Cato did yesterday.

"Why do you get to have all the fun? We all want to go! Teach those jerks a lesson." Marvel said. Aww. Even the boys cared!

"I appreciate the gesture guys but I'm fine now. I have all of you, after all."

"Awwww. We love you too, Clove!" this was followed by yet another group hug. I just love these people. What would I do without them?

Cato drove me home again that night. This time, though, there was an actual conversation going on.

"How do you feel?"

"Better, actually. Thank you for yesterday. I wouldn't have been able to talk about that to the others if it hadn't been for you."

He smiled. "No problem. Glad I could be of service."

We stayed silent for a little while. It wasn't awkward though. It was more of a comfortable one. We were both deep in thought and knew the other was as well. We respected privacy.

"What are you going to do about the performance on Friday?"

I paled. I completely forgot about that! Ironic actually, seeing as that was the whole reason for this mess in the first place. "I don't know." I replied solemnly. We were once again silent after that.

Then his eyes suddenly brightened, obviously struck by an idea. "I know what we could do!" He paused after that.

"What?" I said after he didn't continue.

"How about we sing a duet? He never said anything about having to perform solo."

My eyes widened. Why didn't I think of that? Wait, even if I was singing a duet, I don't think I'd be able to do it.

"I don't know, Cato. It's a great idea but I don't think I can sing in front of all those people. Just the thought of it scares me."

He stayed silent for a moment, thinking of a solution. "We'll think of something."

Once we got to my house, he walked me all the way back to the door.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"Everything, really. For yesterday, today, all the other days in the past, possibly the future."

Then he pecked me on the lips before saying, "You're welcome."

We stared at each other for a moment. I don't think I'll ever get tired of this. Looking into his eyes, just getting so lost in them, I don't know how on earth I ever return to the land of the living.

"Can I come over tomorrow? We can work on the song together, if you'd like."

"That'll be perfect."

"Not as perfect as you." I couldn't help but giggle. He was so cheesy. He gave me another quick peck before saying good night and departing.

With a smile on my face, I went inside the house, looking forward to the days to come.

"No, that doesn't sound right." We were sitting at the piano bench at my house, trying to write a song. We could've just chosen a song to sing but Cato insisted that as a professional singer, he wanted to write his own music so here we are, an hour later, still struggling to come up with lyrics for our song.

"Cato, this isn't working. Why don't we just choose a song that's already been written and just try to learn that?"

"What's the fun in that? Besides, you said so yourself, you like to write your own music as well. It shouldn't be that hard to channel your writer self."

This was true. Being reminded of my song writing made me remember the song I'd written about him that night I came home from Finnick's party. I blushed at the memory. I hope he didn't notice. If he did, I'll just make an excuse that it was his comment that made me blush. Yeah, that should work.

Finally, after 4 hours at the piano bench, we had our song. It was pretty good, if I do say so myself. I was quite proud of our work. If I was being completely truthful, I would say that now, I'm actually pretty excited for other people to hear it. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited for people to hear, I'm just not thrilled at the thought of actually performing it for them.

Friday rolled by fast. Drama came way too quickly for my liking. Once we were all present at the auditorium, Mr. Anderson handed out pieces of papers with our names on it and numbers 1-5 to rate the performances of our classmates. Seeing this made everything so much more real. I was starting to shake from the nerves but Cato held my hand and gave it a tight squeeze, telling me it's going to be alright. I was grateful for that. At first, Mr. Anderson asked for volunteers to be the first to perform. Since no one wanted to, obviously, he decided to call people at random. Surprisingly, some of them were actually pretty good. I gave my honest opinion on everyone's performances since I thought it would be fair for everyone. The lowest I gave was a 2 because I felt that just having the courage to go out there and perform was in itself, a great effort.

When Glimmer was called, I physically tensed. Cato seemed to have sensed this and started rubbing circles on the top of my hand to calm me down. She, of course, gave a wonderful performance. You wouldn't have expected anything less from her. She even went so far as to provide her own microphone, much like the girl from that movie, High School Musical. Reluctantly, I rated her a 4 out of 5. Even if I didn't like her, I wasn't letting my personal issues affect what I thought of her performance. I still, after all, believed that I should be truthful and just. Technically, I was already holding back. She really deserved a 5 but I couldn't get myself to encircle it. It was like letting her win. I wouldn't give her that satisfaction.

Finally, my name was called. I froze for a second, not believing that it was time. Cato gave me a gentle tug, which pulled me out of my trance and made me get off my seat. Cato and I made our way on stage, a guitar already strapped to his shoulder. Cato spoke first, seeing as everyone was shocked Cato was on stage as well.

"If you don't mind, sir, I would like to sing alongside Clove."

All of my classmates were protesting, saying that it was unfair. Cato shut them up immediately.

"Hey! Mr. Anderson didn't say anything about performing a duet. All he said was that we all had to perform one song. Am I right, sir?"

He seemed to be thinking about this. That can't be good. What if he doesn't approve? Then all of our effort would've gone to waste. I don't think I'll be able to do this without Cato. Then, after what seemed like forever, he seemed to have made up his mind.

R&R? :)

DISCLAIMER: Not mine.