A great big thank you to AutumnWillow18, cutegirlems, Guest, Guest, Rhea, BamSQUARED, Victoria-Hunter-Of-Artemis, Guest, Guest, 321Clato, Guest, and Guest for being super cool people and reviewing :P

The atmosphere in The Rose Garden, one of the most exclusive clubs in Beverly Hills, was relatively calm, probably because it was a Sunday night and all of the fun people were still recovering from their festivities of the night before. Clove, Katniss, and Johanna relaxed on one of the modernized couches near the dance floor, legs crossed and fingers typing away on their cell phones. A Jay Z song blared through the high quality speakers in the club, and finishing off her drink, Clove dragged Kat and Jo onto the dance floor.

"Clove," Johanna groaned, folding her arms across her chest defiantly.

"Stop being a pissy pants and dance," Clove rolled her forest green eyes, which were practically invisible behind all of the make-up on her face. Her lips were a light pink color, her eyelids covered in neutral colors and thick eyeliner.

Strobe lights danced across their bodies as the three of them moved their hips to the tempo of the song. They stayed like that for hours, dancing with nearly every single person on the floor at one point or another until the three of them were far past tipsy. Clove sighed, wishing that the alcohol could make her forget about…well, everything. Not Glimmer, Marvel, or Cato had made any effort to contact her in the last 24 hours, and she could physically feel her heart shattering with every second that went by without a word from them. Regardless of how much they hurt her, she found it literally impossible for her to hate them. Because she wanted to hate them, she really did, but all of the memories they had together refused to let her just forget about them.

Falling back onto the uncomfortable grey couch, Clove pressed two fingers to her temples and massaged gently. The pounding of the music was giving her a migraine, and all she really wanted was to just go home.

"Hey, baby."

Clove glanced up to see a typical Beverly Hills guy standing in front of her. He wore a Ralph Lauren polo shirt paired with a navy blue blazer, and the urge to knock him out only grew stronger as he continued talking.

"You look lonely."

"Way to state the obvious, Sherlock," she snorted, not in the mood to be flirting with random guys whose names she probably wouldn't even remember in the morning.

"Come on, don't be like that," he said smoothly, sliding onto the couch and placing a hand on her upper thigh.

She scoffed, removing his hand from her leg. "Do not touch me."

"Why? You don't like it when I touch you?"

"No, as a matter of fact, I don't."

"Bitch," he mumbled under his breath before standing up from the couch.

"Oh?" she spat at the guy who couldn't be any older than 18 or 19 at the most. "I'm a bitch? Because, if I recall correctly, you were the one who put your filthy hands on me first. And if you've made the incorrect assumption that everyone in this town is going to fall at your oversized feet just because you have a little bit of money, you're kidding yourself. So I suggest that you don't act like such an, I don't know, arrogant asshole next time you try to flirt with a girl at one of these clubs."

"Calm the fuck down," he slurred, rolling his eyes. "I just wanta get laid."

As the guy stumbled over to a girl who was sitting alone at the bar, Clove practically fumed. She was so fed up with the people in this town, from Marvel to Cato to that asshole who was – annoyingly – succeeding at flirting with the girl at the bar. Every single one of the guys in this town walked around with their chins tilted upwards, acting like they owned the place.

Abruptly, Clove rose from her spot on the sofa and grabbed Katniss and Johanna by their wrists. "We're going home," she said sternly, leaving no room for discussion.

"What? Why?" they slurred, but Clove ignored them.

Only minutes later, they were piling into Clove's limo as she gave the driver directions to their houses. Both of them were passed out in less than five minutes, and Clove regretted ever going out tonight at all. It hadn't made her feel any better about herself…if anything, she felt worse.

Pulling out her white iPhone from her purse, she sighed when she saw that there was still no word from Glimmer, Marvel, or Cato. All she needed was one text or call, just so she would know that they still cared about her. But maybe she just needed to accept it…maybe they didn't care about her anymore.

After drifting off into a dreamless sleep, Clove didn't wake up again until her chauffer nudged her and let her know that she was home safely. She made her way up to her front door dazedly as she breathed in the fresh, summer night air. The palm trees that lined her street blew in the wind, and a white Ferrari sped down the road, music blaring.

After fumbling around her purse for a minute, she pulled out her keys and entered her house silently. Dropping her Prada handbag on the round table in her foyer, she was headed in the direction of her kitchen when a muffled noise coming from the guest bedroom stopped her dead in her tracks.

What the hell was that? Was she being robbed? Should she call the police? Her mom was surely upstairs in the master bedroom, her dad was out of town with business, and most of the help had already been released for the night.

Deciding to crack the door open ever so slightly, Clove peeked in, bracing herself for the insane man dressed in all black carrying a gun that was sure to be in there. But, upon entering the bedroom, she realized that there was no burglar in the room at all. No, it was something much, much worse, and bile rose in her throat at the horrendous sight. Tears immediately dotted her eyes, and her manicured hands flew to her mouth.

"Mom?" she asked, jaw dropping.

There, on the queen-sized bed of the guest bedroom, lay her mother, half naked and on top of a man Clove had never seen before. Both of the aforementioned people sat up in bed at the sound of Clove's voice, all of the blood draining from her mother's face when she saw her daughter.

"Clove," her mother immediately stuttered, "I…I can-"

"No," Clove spat at her mother angrily, "let me guess. You can explain?"

Her mother buried her face in her hands guiltily, and Clove couldn't help but feel the slightest bit of satisfaction at the tears that threatened to overflow from her mom's eyes. It was nothing she hadn't brought onto herself, anyway.

"How could you do this to dad? To me?" Clove continued, tears rushing down her face. How could someone ever be so damn selfish?

"Clove, I know you don't understand. How could you? You're only a junior, after all. But I love this man, I do, and I want to spend the rest of my life with him."

Her mother's words made her sick to her stomach, and upon further inspection, Clove realized with a sinking feeling that she did know the man in bed with her mother. And if her mom did indeed decide to marry this man, not only would Clove have a new father, but two new siblings would be involved as well. Twins. Gloss and Cashmere Montgomery, to be exact. How could her mother do this to her?

"Please," her mother begged, a pained expression on her face, "please say something."

"I…" Clove hesitated, not really wanting to say the words but knowing that she needed to let her mother know how much she'd hurt her. "I hate you."

At that, she stormed out of the room and then out of her house altogether, sliding into her Mercedes and speeding out of the driveway of her mansion. She drove in the direction of Cato's house, not even caring that he probably hated her after last night. She needed to tell someone about this, even if that someone was Cato. He knew her family better than anyone else; surely he had some kind of advice for her.

It took less than ten minutes for her to arrive at his house, and she practically leaped out of her car, tears still streaming down her face. Knocking urgently, a feeling of relief filled her when Cato opened the door and didn't look like he wanted to kill her. He wore nothing but a pair of boxers, and she let her eyes linger down there for an extra second before looking up into his big blue eyes. She could tell that he was hesitant and that he probably didn't really want to forgive her, but he'd always had a soft spot for Clove, especially when she was hurt.

"Cato," she sobbed loudly, unable to contain her emotion any longer.

"Clove," his tone was laced with concern and worry, "what happened?" Clove collapsed into his open arms, crying into his shoulder for a good ten minutes until his chest was wet with her tears. A million thoughts ran through her head, yet all she seemed to be able to focus on was the way his abdomen muscles tightened and released when he spoke. "Come on," he instructed, guiding her toward his living room, "come sit down."

"H-how could she do something like that?" Clove cried, wiping away at her never-ending tears. "Why would she do this to me?"

"Who? Who are you talking about?" Cato asked her, gently scratching her back as she curled into a ball on his couch.

"My mom!" she exclaimed, crying even harder.

"What?" Cato furrowed his eyebrows. "What did your mom do?"

"She…she slept with another man! A man who is not my father and does not love her as much as my father does and is already the father to two of the most aggravating people I've ever spoken to!"

Cato's jaw dropped. "Your mom cheated on your dad?"

Clove nodded weakly, cuddling into his warm and secure side. He wrapped a protective arm around her, completely forgetting everything that had happened the night before. They stayed like that for a while, until her tears dried and the little hand crept past the three on the clock hanging on Cato's living room wall.

She looked up into his forgiving eyes and realized that he was looking at her the way she'd always wanted to be looked at. He was looking at her like he loved her. "Do you want to kiss me?" she whispered softly.

Cato thought for a minute before finally replying with a small smile, "One day."

Clove woke up snuggled into Cato's arms early the next morning, although she wasn't greeted with the same shame and regret as the last time she awoke in his bed. The feeling of his bare chest rising and falling filled her with a sense of security, and she wanted nothing more than to climb on top of him and have her way with him. But they'd agreed last night that they were going to take things slow this time around, which basically meant that neither one of them would be getting past first base any time soon.

Everything in her life seemed perfect for those first few seconds of being awake, until she remembered why she'd come to his house in the first place. Tears sprung to her eyes again, but she refused to let them fall. She was stronger than this. No way in hell was she just going to sit back and let her mother singlehandedly destroy her family. She needed to do something about this, and soon, before it was too late.

"Cato," she nudged him awake, smiling as he opened his eyes sleepily.

"Good morning," he smiled back at the sight of her tangled hair and tired eyes. He could definitely get used to this.

She sighed, "What am I supposed to do about this whole situation with my mom?"

Cato's face fell as he recalled everything she'd told him last night. It was so unlike Clove's mom to do something like that; he was still in shock. Tucking a piece of hair behind Clove's ear, he answered, "What do you want to do about it?"

"I want to make sure that she stays married to my dad and dumps Mr. Montgomery's sorry ass."

"Wait," Cato interrupted, "the man your mom's been sleeping with is Mr. Montgomery?"

Clove nodded.

"As in Gloss and Cashmere's father?"

She nodded again.

"What the fuck?" he said in pure shock.

"My thoughts exactly," she looked down, sighing.

"Clove," Cato said gently, "are you okay? About everything, I mean. Not just your mom, but…the whole situation with Glimmer and Marvel."

"I'm as okay as I can be, I guess," she replied honestly.

He ran his fingers through her hair delicately, and she knew then that she didn't deserve him. She was conniving and sarcastic and bitchy, and Cato…he was kind and caring and he treated her better than she could ever hope to be treated.

The two of them spent the next hour and a half just lying there in each other's arms, enjoying the pure presence of the other, until eventually drifting back into a peaceful sleep.

Glimmer pulled into the large circle drive of the Astoria mansion as the summer breeze blew through her wavy blonde hair. Annie had called her about an hour ago and begged her to come over as soon as she possibly could. Apparently she was having some kind of emergency that only Glimmer could help her out with.

She made her way past the fountain in the front yard and up the stone walkway to the front door. Ringing the doorbell, her face fell when Clove answered the door. Her former best friend was clad in one of Cato's giant t-shirts, and Glimmer scoffed with a roll of her eyes, "Typical."

"Cato," Clove called up the stairs warily, "What is she doing here?"

"Huh? What is who doing-" a shirtless Cato emerged at the top of the stairs, pausing when he saw Glimmer on his front porch. "I don't know."

"I invited her," said Annie as she casually strolled into the foyer from the living room.

"Why?" Clove said, narrowing her eyes at the auburn haired girl.

"Because, "Annie sighed, walking past Clove and opening the door wider for Glimmer to enter, "you, Cato, Glimmer, and Marvel are best friends…you always have been. I'm not just going to sit here pathetically and let you throw all of that away over a stupid argument."

"Were," Glimmer corrected her. "We were best friends."

Annie ignored her, "Marvel should be here any minute now."

"Annie," Cato growled, walking down the stairs slowly before stopping next to Clove. He wrapped a protective arm around her waist, and she leaned into his side comfortably.

Glimmer scoffed, "Of course."

Clove glared at her, "Shut the fuck up, Glimmer. You have no fucking idea what you're talking about." She turned to Annie apologetically, "Excuse my French."

"Don't speak to me like that," Glimmer said, crossing her arms across her chest.

"I'll speak to you however the hell I want to," Clove replied bluntly, breaking out of Cato's arms and taking a dangerous step towards her.

"Clove," Cato warned, grabbing hold of her wrist and pulling her back to him.

The doorbell rang once again, and Marvel came walking inside without an invitation, stopping when he saw Glimmer, Clove, and Cato. "Annie," he started, "I'm getting the feeling that you didn't invite me over here to help you with any kind of 'emergency'."

"No, I didn't, " Annie shut the door behind him. "Now follow me."

She headed off in the direction of the living room, and the four of them reluctantly followed her. "Sit down," she motioned to the leather couch, and they complied. "Now look, I get why you're all pissed at each other, I do. She slept with him so her best friend slept with his best friend and then she almost slept with him while they were drunk and blah blah blah…If you two," she looked at Marvel and Cato, "could just learn to keep it in your pants, everything would be much simpler."

Cato was horrified to hear his baby sister talking like this, and even more horrified that she basically knew every dirty detail of his sex life.

"Marvel and I slept together because we love each other," Glimmer protested, "whereas Cato and Clove only did what they did for revenge."

Clove rolled her eyes, "What makes you think Cato and I don't love each other?"

To be completely honest, Clove wasn't entirely sure if they did love each other. She glanced over at Cato nervously, and he smiled, taking her hand and linking it with his own.

"For starters, you're Clove Carlton and he's…Cato. You two don't just go around loving people, especially not each other," Glimmer said matter-of-factly, purposely ignoring their slight display of affection.

"Valid argument," Clove snorted.

"Shut the fuck up," Glimmer retorted.

"Besides, why should I believe that you and Marvel love each other? If I'm not mistaken, it was less than 48 hours ago that he and I were alone…in bed…on top of each other," Clove smirked, immediately feeling guilty when Cato tensed up next to her. She squeezed his hand reassuringly, and he relaxed slightly.

"Marvel wasn't going to sleep with you, Clove," Glimmer said angrily, and Clove barked out a laugh.

"Did he tell you that? Because the growing, umm, situation below his waist begged to differ."

A horrified look came across Glimmer's face, and she immediately turned to Marvel, who was blushing a deep shade of red. "I…umm…" he stuttered.

Glimmer glared at Clove, "You know what? I don't even care. Marvel and I love each other, and we're going to spend the rest of our lives together, no thanks to you."

"You keep telling yourself that," Clove rolled her eyes, sarcasm seeping through her tone.

"It's true," Glimmer protested, infuriated.

"I'm sure," Clove wasn't even bothering to hide her amusement now, and it was making Glimmer's blood boil.

Glimmer clenched her fists tightly, and she was seconds away from throwing the first punch at Clove when Annie realized what was about to happen and threw herself between the two girls.

"Were you going to hit me?" a dumbfounded Clove asked, although she already knew the answer. "You crazy bitch!"

"Me!?" Glimmer screamed. "You're the one who's been throwing yourself at every guy you so much as speak to! First Marvel, then Cato, then Marvel again, and now Cato…again! Why don't you make up your fucking mind?"

"How dare you?" It was Clove's turn to be pissed off now.

"What?" Glimmer feigned innocence. "It's not like everyone here doesn't already know it."

"Cato," Clove said, trying desperately to contain her anger, "she needs to leave. Now."

"Glimmer…" Cato started.

Glimmer scoffed, "Are you really going to kick me out, Cato? After everything we've been through."

"Stop embarrassing yourself, and just leave," Clove rolled her eyes, regaining leadership in their power struggle.

Glimmer narrowed her eyes, deciding to use the one thing she had that she knew would tear Clove apart, "You know…I've always wondered what it would feel like to always be someone's second choice."

The brunette raised her eyebrows as her curiosity peaked, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Glimmer," Cato lowered his tone, "don't."

"Don't what?" Clove's voice cracked.

"So I assume Cato didn't already tell you?" Glimmer was taunting her now, twisting the knife she'd long since stabbed in Clove's back.

"Tell me what?" Tears sprung to her eyes because she knew what was coming next. It was just like that God-forsaken night when she'd met up with Marvel at the hotel.

"Cato and I slept together," she smirked.

"Clove," he'd never seen her look so broken, "please just let me explain."

She stood up from the couch, yelling, "No! God, no! I am sick of letting people explain why they fucked up."

"It was years ago, Clove! It meant nothing!"

"How could you not tell me? After everything with Marvel…And you," Clove averted her attention from Cato to point an accusing finger at Glimmer, "is there anyone in this town you haven't slept with?"

Clove stormed out of the house, and Cato chased after her, grabbing her by the wrist and spinning her around to face him. He placed his hands gently on her shoulders, staring into her eyes deeply as a million emotions passed across his face. He spoke desperately and hurriedly, "Please don't leave me. Please."

"Give me one good reason as to why I should stay," a single tear slipped out of the corner of her eye and trickled down her face.

"Because I love you, Clove Carlton."

So here is the long-awaited update :) I hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween, and I'm so sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up. I've already started working on the next one, so hopefully I can have it done by either next weekend or the one after that!

Please pleaseee review. I'm not asking you to write a novel in response either…even the two or three word reviews make me happy :P

PS did anyone catch how I named the club they were at in the beginning 'The Rose Garden' in honor of President Snow's rose garden? Hahahha i'm so punny.

~xoxo~