Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games and the characters. Only the plot line and some characters are mine. :) enjoy!
I was in the winter of my life, and the men I met along the road were my only summer.
At night I fell asleep with visions of myself, dancing and laughing and crying with them.
Three years down the line of being on an endless world tour, and my memories of them were the only things that sustained me, and my only real happy times. -Lana Del Rey
Three days later, the gang met up at the Mellark family bakery and everyone had agreed to go. Thresh would bring his younger cousin Rue, and Katniss would bring along Primrose. By the next week, they all piled in three cars heading to the beach house. On the empty road, there were only four lanes. So of course, being competitive as Cato and Finnick are, they had decided to race to the nearest stoplight, which was nowhere in sight. With Cato and Finnick driving a hundred miles each, Thresh's van was left in the dust following slightly behind.
"Dammit Finnick drive faster!"
"I'd like to see you drive this fast while having to block out the sound of four other people screaming in my ear to hurry up Jackie!"
"Sorry, geez don't get your panties all tied up in a knot Odair."
"Hey Marvel, can you get your girlfriend over here to shut her face!?"
"She's not my girlfriend!"
"He's not my boyfriend!"
The rest of the car ride stayed absolutely silent besides the occasional snickers from Clove and Annie. Cato had won the first car ride which led to a rematch that Finnick won which started a heated argument that led to Johanna rolling down the window of Cato's car and throwing her shoe into the window of Finnick's car, causing Annie to throw the shoe out the window on the other side.
"Hey Nielson! Make a U-turn! Cresta over there thought it would be absolutely hilarious to throw my shoe out the window!"
"Too bad! We're almost there; you can walk back and get your shoe later!"
"Nielson, turn the damn car around or else I'll chop off your balls!" Cato quickly turned the car around and parked it so that Johanna could run down and get her shoe.
"That's what I thought, never mess with the Mason."
Cato quickly caught up with the other cars causing another argument that led to Clove throwing one of Finnick's playboy magazines into Cato's car. Soon after, they all got to the Odair residence and the girls started to unpack their belongings. Clove shared a room with Katniss, Jackie and Johanna whilst Annie and Madge shared the room across with the two younger girls.
"Who wants barbecue for lunch?" hollered Peeta from the backyard. Everybody knew that when it came to making any kind of food, Peeta was the best.
Soon after, they all sat in small groups on blankets feasting on hamburgers, hot dogs, and chicken.
"Why aren't you eating Clove?" asked little Rue, always so caring.
"Oh, don't worry about me. I already ate."
"I didn't see you eat any breakfast this morning Clove," Said Katniss.
"Now that you mention it, I didn't see her eat dinner last night or any of the marshmallows she roasted either," Added Jackie.
"I ate dinner and breakfast at home," Clove replied curtly.
"Are you on a diet sweetheart, because you know, you're perfect just the way you are. You're actually quite petite. So eat up!" said Madge. Clove hesitantly grabbed a hotdog and took a bite. When she thought nobody was looking, she spit it out in a napkin. She hated wasting food, but she just couldn't help it.
Flashback
"Hahahaha you're so fat Clove, that's probably why Ian broke up with you!"
"I don't understand why anyone would go out with a fat dork like you."
"What a stupid girl, you actually thought he loved you."
"Don't be an idiot Clove, how could anyone love such a fat loser like you?"
The horrible memories flashed through her mind like a slow and haunting horror movie. She had always been ashamed of her body after that breakup mid freshman year. 'He was a senior and I was a freshman. I should have known better' Clove thought. Marvel sensed something off about Clove and slung his arm around her shoulders.
"Hey Clovely, you alright?"
"Yeah I'm fine thanks Marvel. I'm just a bit tired from all the screaming and yelling in the car." She laughed.
"My ass," said Cato out loud.
"Umm can I help you Nielson?" asked Clove in reply.
"Well now that you mention it, I would like to speak to you privately in the living room please."
"No."
"I said please. What more do you want from me?"
"Alright fine, but make it quick."
Clove followed Cato into the living room and they were soon greeted by the sight of Jackie, sprawled across Marvel's body reaching for the remote control to the television.
"Stop being such a baby Jackie."
"I'm not being a baby you already watched for like an hour it's my turn!"
"What are you? Five? Since when did you start 'taking turns'?
"Shut your face before I shut it for you!"
"Ooh getting feisty now, are we Fox?"
"What?"
"I like feisty women you know," Marvel whispered in Jackie's ear. She turned beet red and quickly got off of him to sit down on the seat next to him.
"Works every time," Marvel whispered and winked to Clove. Cato and Clove boy rolled their eyes and trudged off into the kitchen.
"So how may I help you Nielson?"
"I want to know what's wrong with you. I know there's something wrong. Don't deny it."
"Why do you care!? If you really cared about me, you should have left me alone when I asked you to! I don't need your sympathy. I don't even know you!"
"Look, I know I've been pretty stuck up and annoying, but can we just start all over? Please?" Clove could tell that Cato really wanted to start all over because of his pleading eyes. She felt that she might have been to rough on him, but she couldn't help keeping her senses alert all day everyday, I mean after what had happened to her, anybody would act this way. She finally decided to him have his chance.
"Fine."
"Fine what?"
"You can have your chance dummy!"
"Yes!" Cato yelled in excitement and squeezed Clove tightly. She suddenly froze at the skin contact. After 'the incident', Clove had never let anybody touch her besides Annie, Madge, Jackie, Johanna, Katniss, Peeta and Marvel. Her group of friends were with her throughout hick and thin, and she only let down he walls with them. Cato noticed her stiffen, so he let go and apologized. The two returned to their group of friends and spent the rest of the day together, whilst Marvel spent his day arguing with Jackie.
After 'linner', (between lunch and dinner) the teens piled into the living room to watch a movie together and found Jackie screaming, "Run Forrest run!" while heavily sobbing onto Marvel's cardigan. Marvel had his arm around her waist and pulled her onto his lap to comfort her. The group let out a chorus of 'Awws' and sat around the couple, poking fun at them. A while after, Marvel pulled Jackie into the bathroom to help her dry her tears (and his own shirt). Finnick turned on 'Pitch Perfect' for the group to watch and they all laughed throughout the movie, even when Katniss yelled at Finnick for playing a pg-13 movie while Prim and Rue were there.
After the movie completed, Gale carried a sleeping Katniss into her bed and tucked her in. Annie went into her room earlier to get some rest, and the remaining teens sat down to play a safe game of 'Wii Super Mario Bros.'
Clove laughed as Cato lifted Rue off the ground and started to tickle her on the couch.
"I thought we were supposed to be on the same team! How dare you push me into a goomba!" Cato yelled jokingly.
"C-Cato! St-s-stop it!" Rue laughed. 'I guess I was too quick to judge. I've never seen this side of him before' Clove thought, as Cato stopped ticking Rue and patted Rue's head in a brotherly way. This action reminded Clove about her own brother and how he couldn't live long enough to see what he was missing. Clove stepped outside onto the porch and became lost in her thoughts. 'I really miss Dominick. He didn't deserve to die. I guess heaven needed another angel up there.' She looked up to the stars.
Flashback
"Claires? Seriously Clove? You're already twelve years old. You don't need any of the junk there." Clove pouted. "Tell you what. I'll take you to the Sweet Factory instead. You can never be too old for that." Clove nodded excitedly as they made their way through the crowded mall. Dominick paid for their sweets and they made their way towards the exit in Macy's.
"Everybody hands up!" shouted a man leading a group of twelve other armed men. All the frightened customers' fled towards the exits which caused one of the men to shoot his gun up to the ceiling to stop the commotion. This backfired and caused more chaos. A gunman positioned himself at the exit where Clove and Dominick entered; unaware of what was going on. He stopped the two siblings and demanded for Dominick's wallet. Dominick knew the only way to get out of this situation was to do so, so he handed the man his wallet. The man found no money and out of rage, he searched Dominick's pockets for any more valuables. After failing to find anything, the gunman turned to Clove and demanded to search her instead. Dominick refused to let the filthy animal touch his sister, so in return, he was shot in the leg. The gunman reached for Clove but Dominick beat him to it. Dominick grabbed Clove by the arm and together, they rushed out the door. The gunman was too quick for them, so Dominick was never able to reach the exit. As the anonymous thug refilled his gun with bullets to aim for Clove, he was caught by a police officer. Clove was stubborn and refused to leave Dominick's side, but the policemen filed in and took dragged her screaming self away. She stayed long enough to see that the murderer of her brother managed to get out of an officers reach and escaped. Even till this day, nobody knows exactly where the gunman is or what he looked like. Except for Clove.
Clove was knocked out of her train of thoughts when she heard a knocking. Cato was leaning against door and was looking at Clove worriedly.
"Hey, you okay?" he asked
"Oh yeah, I'm great." She replied and managed to smile at him, her eyes brimming with tears.
"Look, I know we only started being friends, but I don't want our relationship to be built up of lies."
"Wow, you sound like some guy from a drama TV show."
"Clove, please tell me, maybe I can help."
"Are you sure? You might be in for some waterworks though," she joked.
"Wow! I never though I'd live to see the day that the almighty Clove McPhillips would actually cry," he joked back. "I don't mind some tears," he said again, gently.
Clove told Cato the entire story of Dominick's death and how she felt nobody could understand her like he did. Clove had ended up shedding a few tears, but not too much. Cato patted her back awkwardly and scratched his neck.
"Look, I can't say I understand what you are going through, but if you ever need anybody to talk to, I'll always be here for you and I will try to understand." Clove was touched by these words and allowed Cato to hug her. She snuggled into the crook of his neck. The two sat in a comfortable silence which was broken when Cato asked, "Can I ask you a question?"
"You just did," Clove laughed but stopped when she saw how serious his face was.
"Why are you so hostile around every guy that tries to hit on you, don't you think you should loosen your corset a little bit and have some fun every once in a while?"
"There's another emotional story that goes to that, but I'll tell you another time when I'm ready." Clove replied quietly.
"Okay. That works for me, I won't rush you." After talking about other random subjects, the couple walked back into the house to find Peeta and Marvel arguing about who gets to be Mario. Thresh took the remote and chose Mario for himself.
Marvel huffed after being forced to choose Luigi and said, "At least Luigi's girlfriend Daisy isn't stupid enough to keep on being captured by Bowser."
Clove giggled before walking into her room to get some sleep. 'Cato's honestly not that bad. He's really sweet and quite good looking too. I'd totally never go out with him though. All his little fan-girls would probably come after my blood while I'm sleeping.' Little did she know that she indeed had a growing crush on the blue-eyed blonde.
Clove woke up early the next morning and put on a tank and a pair of running shorts. She walked into the kitchen and filled up her bottle of water. Cato sneaked up behind her and poked both sides of her waist. She yelped and turned around to glare at him.
"Ticklish now are we Clovely. Where are you going so early in the morning?"
"Jogging, I do it every morning. Would you like to join me?"
Cato could never pass up a rare offer like this from Clove even though she wasn't annoyed with him anymore. "Sure meet me on the porch in five." He replied.
The two had jogged up and down the beach along the water for half an hour when the decided to take a break. They sat down on the cool sand together in the presence of cool ocean mist. They had a heart to heart conversation about politics, what a romantic relationship should have, and many other random subjects. Clove had grown very fond with the boy in the past few days and she felt as if he could understand her very well. Whenever she talked, he wouldn't space out or interrupt her. He was one of the greatest listeners and she really appreciated it. She learned that he was a man of justice and he was quite a romantic guy, even though his ideal date night would be a simple date. They had so much in common and Clove enjoyed talking to him very much. Whenever they got into the deep part of the conversation, Cato would grasp her hand or touch her shoulder, which made her hear skip a beat. She knew that she was crazy for this boy, she wouldn't deny it either. She felt a deep connection him and him with her. He didn't want to ask her out just yet, being afraid that she would reject him, or that he would lose their fragile friendship. Clove on the other hand, was waiting for him to make his move the entire time, even though she only knew the real him for about three days. There was chemistry between them that she couldn't deny.
The couple walked to the pier and into one of the ice cream parlors there. Cato had offered to pay and this lead up to an argument. Cato finally convinced her after she realized she hadn't even brought her wallet. Clove ran to the restroom after she ordered, and Cato waited for their desserts. Clove's phone rang and when she picked it up, Katniss nearly made her deaf.
"Clooover! Guess who just asked me out! Guess who! Okay you wouldn't believe it but here goes! Okay…" Katniss inhaled very audibly "… Soooo GalecameintomyroomtoaskhowIw asdoingandIsaiditwasgoodandh esaidgoodandthenitgotreallya wkwardandquietandsohekeptloo kingat mylipsandlikewekissed…" Inhale"…thenwesatthereforawhileandhe toldmethathe'salwayslikedmesonowwe'regoingout." Clove stood there in shock wondering what would happen if Peeta found out. Peeta had a crush on Katniss for as long as she could remember. "Clove? You still there sweetie?"
"Uhhh umm," was all Clove could say. She quickly hung up the phone and walked out of the restroom.
When she got back, there was a strawberry blonde girl sitting across from Cato, obviously flirting with him and was seductively licking the top part of Clove's ice cream.
"What the hell Cato!" Clove screeched, confused and brokenhearted.
A.N. So yeah, that's the chapter. Thank's for all the reviews, and the person who reviewed that I had accused me of copying Guilt by Association or whatever it's called, the only similarities are that they all go to Finnick's beach house I believe, but thanks for reviewing anyways, I appreciate it. You just made my story more popular. :) I will never, ever, ever, ever not update. So don't freak out guys. Well, I'll most likely forget to update, so... Yeah! But, I shall never abandon my fellow authors or my followers. Rate and Review! :)