Author's Note: Sorry for the wait everyone! I was working backstage at my school show all week and this weekend and I've had no time at all to write. I hope you enjoy this chapter, please do review even if it's just a quick message. They do make me happy and they also make me update faster!
Crowd of Two
Chapter Ten
Grey's POV
It feels like we have only been in my district for a couple of days, but soon our week is coming to an end. Similar to my visit to Cato's home, most of our time is spent with my friends. Titus, Terra, and Eunia accompany us nearly everywhere. It seems that in my absence, the girl who I had thought was quiet and subdued has actually come out of her shell and she makes it much easier to feel comfortable. Eunia continues to bake for us, especially after hearing about Cato's lack of cooking skills, and the boy is completely taken by her cookies.
A small part of me had been worried that Cato would have the same idea as many careers; that the lower districts are dirty and have no value whatsoever, but he is instantly immersed in everything the town has to offer, following me every time I go out so he can see more of the area. On the second day of our visit I make up a picnic and take Cato down to the beach for an afternoon.
His eyes are like saucers when he sees the picturesque landscape. The weather is perfect to be outdoors but the strip of sand that I take him to is deserted. It's a perk of District 4's smaller population. I instantly take off my shoes and ditch them with the picnic basket at the edge of the sand, running across the soft ground until my toes hit the water. Cato seems bewildered by the whole thing as if he is not totally sure whether the water is safe, they don't have beaches in District Two. He stands back for a while, looking uncomfortable as he stands in the sand with his shoes on, watching me kick my feet around in the waves.
Eventually I get sick of his hesitation and I kick up a spray of water at him, making him jump back and lose his balance, landing on his bottom in the sand. Instantly I'm pulling his shoes and socks off, and Cato's protesting that "No, I won't go into the water" and "No, I'm not scared of the waves" but I am already pulling him onto his feet and into the current. After the initial freeze as the water runs up to his shins, he can't resist the ocean and soon he's kicking up water and splashing just as enthusiastically as I am. Kicking water leads to splashing, and this eventually leads to Cato picking me up by the waist and swinging me around above the current. Whether it's by accident or not, he lets go and I get flung into the water fully clothed.
I have to make it even and by the time we get out of the water to eat something, we are both soaked with sea water and grinning wildly. We collapse on the sand having no care for how disgusting we are going to feel when we dry off with sand all over. Cato lies in the sun looking perfectly at ease, and I alternate between feeding him the sandwiches I made and kissing him. He seemed equally content with both.
Titus and Cato continue to have a tense relationship for the first couple of days and it's not until Titus suggests that Cato accompanies him fishing one morning that they really warm up to each other. I am instantly wary of it, it seemed awfully easy to just chuck someone off the side of the boat and put it down to an accident, but I smile and say that it's a good idea, thinking it would be good to just let them sort out their problems themselves.
I admit I expected at least one of them to come home with a fishing hook "accidentally" lodged in their head, but they return a little sunburnt with grinning faces and absolutely no fish at all and that's the end of their tense relationship.
Although Cato and I enjoy ourselves immensely, we are plagued by thoughts of President Snow's visit. During the day we aren't bothered, there are too many activities to do and people to see, but it seems that whenever we get home and close the door, we can feel his shadow over us and our nights are restless. We talk it through together and realise that what we both want is to get the tour over with so we can maybe fix everything and get back to living our lives. So when we visit Finnick in his home in Victor's Village, unused as he spends a lot of time in the Capitol, I am told, to pick him up on the way to the station, we aren't too upset.
He seems disappointed at the idea of leaving his home, which doesn't surprise me. I saw him a couple of times during our stay and he was always walking alongside the same brunette girl that we saw meeting him at the train station. Terra, the master of gossip, explained to me that the girl's name is Annie and she is a past victor who went crazy after winning her games. I'm immediately reminded of Marvel who had told me the story back before the games, and I am instantly curious to meet her. Unfortunately, Finnick is extraordinarily overprotective and we never talk more than a polite greeting in passing.
"Can't I just stay here?" He moans, obviously not enthusiastic about travelling to the other districts. Finnick is normally so flirtatious, but seeing him here I can almost imagine him as a loving husband. It seems cruel to force him to come with us and leave Annie, but by the time I think this he is already standing in front of us with a bag filled with clothes.
"Well, what are we waiting for?"
Titus, Eunia, Terra and Annie see us off at the train station. Once we've seated ourselves by the window and the train begins to move away from the platform, the four start to jog alongside the train laughing and shouting farewells as we wave back with exaggerated sadness.
The train ride itself is uneventful, though the meals are tense with what is going by unsaid. Rebellion, District 13, all topics that Cato and I talk about when we are in bed together at night, but as we are afraid of talking to Finnick or Brutus about it, we end up bouncing the same ideas back and forth between us. Could we just leave and run away to District 13? What would happen? Well, we would get arrested, Cato replies.
Cato and I are taking a mid-morning nap when the announcement comes across the loudspeaker that we are coming into District Twelve in ten minutes. Cato is sitting up against the pillows, softly stroking my head as I lie with my head in his lap, drawing circles onto his leg. After a couple of minutes, he presses his lips to mine and slips off the bed to go rummaging through his cupboard on the lookout for a suit. I watch him lift his t-shirt above his head and I prop myself up on my elbow as he stretches up his arms and shows his toned stomach. When he slips his arms into his jacket he sees me watching and smirks.
"Just gunna lie there and watch me, are you?" He teases, sitting down on the edge of the bed to lace up a pair of dress shoes.
"Would you mind?" I send back, giving him a flirtatious smile and reaching my hand over to gently tug on the waistband of his slacks, revealing a strip of his underwear. That makes him turn and give me his full attention.
"You… you want to do that?" Cato quietly asks with one eyebrow perked. I instantly remove my finger and sit backwards, staring at him with wide eyes.
"What? No! Not now!" I reply, a little too quickly. Cato rolls his eyes almost unnoticeably.
"Yeah of course you don't, I know. Whatever. You should probably go and meet your prep team now, they will want to get you ready for District Twelve." He gets up off the bed and begins to walk out of the room. I call out to him but he doesn't turn around. Is he really that hurt by my refusal? I'm not leading him on in thinking that I want to do that now, am I? Maybe I was a bit…
Cato's noticeably quiet as we disembark from the train, dressed in fine clothes that seem completely out of place in the poorest district in Panem, but when we see the sad crowd assembled at the station waiting for us his hand finds its way into mine. We give the crowd our rehearsed speeches as soon as we step onto the platform, talking about how the Hunger Games has given us the opportunity to visit new districts and to find love; terribly soppy speeches that both of us say with no feeling.
There is no applause when we finish and instead we are faced with a deathly silence as Cato, Finnick and Brutus follow me as I shake hands with someone I can only assume is the mayor and his family. A girl about my age shakes my hand silently and I notice that she's dressed completely in black. She must be mourning for the tributes that didn't come home. I feel a pain in my soul when I realise that I can't even remember who the tributes from District Twelve were.
"Ah, the double victors, I didn't think that was gunna happen in my lifetime!" A voice says from nearby and suddenly a figure slumps into view. I reel back in fright but hold up the man's shoulders until Finnick relieves me of him.
"Couldn't stay sober for even a few minutes, could you Haymitch? Look, you've scared the poor girl!" He says, gesturing to me. The bedraggled man who has been referred to as Haymitch holds a hand out to me and I tentatively shake it.
"Sorry sweetheart. It always gets difficult around the games, you know. I lost another two tributes this year." I purse my lips and I don't let go of the District Twelve victor's hand for a few seconds longer than necessary. There must be so many like him, who never get victors and have to deal with that on their conscience. This gives me a touch of sympathy for him but Cato is not as besotted and sneers and ignores the hand offered to him until Brutus grunts and gives him a dig with his elbow to be polite.
We follow Haymitch's wobbling figure into victor's village and it's sadly empty. The victor stumbles to the door of the first one and somehow manages to fit the key into the lock. Our little procession including the mentors, escorts and important district people follow him in, but Cato pulls me back and instead of walking into the room on the left that everyone else enters we slip in the door on the right.
"Grey," He murmurs as soon as we are out of range of the others, "We're in District Twelve, do you know what that means? District Thirteen would just be a hike away! We could run and no one would ever find us. If the rumours are true, then we would never have to deal with President Snow and the Capitol again!" I sigh, running a hand through my hair.
"They would come looking for us, and they would instantly track us down. We aren't scavengers. You're a fighter but I'm guessing you probably can't avoid detection from peacekeepers." Cato's eyebrows furrow in hurt that I would doubt his abilities, but he doesn't argue with me so I know that I'm right.
"You're talking about District Thirteen, aren't you? Don't even think about going there." A voice says from behind us and we both fling around defensively, ready to make up excuses, when I see that it's Haymitch looking surprisingly sober. I wonder how much of his drunkenness is for show. I see out of the corner of my mind Cato clam up and bring up his career sneer, but I feel like I can trust Haymitch. I still speak tentatively though.
"Oh of course not, why would we go there? There's nothing but rubble, I've seen it on the television. But if we did wish to visit, to see the destruction and the power of the Capitol of course, where would we go?" I ask slyly. I feel Cato's eyes on me and I see Haymitch's eyes light up for a second.
"If you walk through the town, sticking to the outskirts of the fence, you might eventually find a weak spot somewhere. The fence says high voltage but it's never switched on. If you hike briskly, you might get to District Thirteen in a little over a day. Now, I should go back to watch the rest of your group. I'm sure, if you were to disappear, no one would notice for at least half an hour. See you soon Grey and Cato." Haymitch nods at us and walks out of the room. I turn to Cato who is looking at me with wide eyes.
"Do you think we should go? This might be our only chance!" He says excitedly. I ponder for a few seconds and I hear through the other room the sounds of Haymitch rambling about his alcohol. I don't want to end up like that, alone and forced to lean on drinks to keep me going each day. Maybe getting away would keep me sane. So I nod, and together we slip out undetected from the house.