A/N Listen to 'I'm Yours' by Jason Mraz at some point whilst reading this.
I'll see you sooner rather than laters, baby.
-

Her singing.

I must have awoken from a bad dream, as the melodic voice of my sister singing me back to sleep again flowed in-between these four walls. She held me close in her arms while we sat in the bed I shared with Mother.

Katniss sings about meadows, grass, soft pillows. I feel tears prick in my eyes and I watch my sister as she stares down lovingly at me. She sings about me sleeping peacefully, dreaming about all of the simple, easy things in life. Katniss strokes my hair, letting the silky strands run through her delicate fingers.

Katniss sings about how safe I am in her arms, how it's warm and how her holding me would protect me from any harm that comes my way. Finally, she sings about how much she loves me, and how she would never let me go, even now that she's gone.

"I'm okay, now," she says as she finishes her song. "I'm okay."

I nod my head and close my eyes, finally feeling at peace. Katniss is okay. She's always been okay. Nothing has ever stopped her from anything, and nothing has stopped her.

The tears in my eyes stuck to my cheeks as I woke up from my dream. I scrambled to wipe them away, but felt myself smiling. She was okay. She came into my dreams to tell me that she was okay. For the first time ever, Katniss was free. Away from worries, pain, heartache... She was finally okay.

Cato stirred next to me and opened his groggy eyes, watching me.

"You okay?" he grumbles, half-asleep, half-awake.

I sniff and nod, snuggling into his opene arms. He held me close to ward off the monsters inside my head. I couldn't stop thinking about her. Even though I wish she was here, she was okay. And because of that, I couldn't be happier.

The amount of pain swelling in my heart was immense when I woke up the next morning. My heart clenched at the mere thought of my sister being shot and killed right before my eyes, all because Snow wanted to play a game with me and Cato. Lives were not Games though, not like the Hunger Games. This was real, and we were all hurting. But of course, Snow doesn't care, as long as he gets what he wants.

Cato and I slept with one another last night. It wasn't like we had a choice though... he needed my comfort and I definitely needed his. I liked the idea of us starting over, although it would be hard to go on from this moment forward.

When I woke, I was facing Cato, who was still peacefully asleep. The sun peeked through the blinds on the windows and cascaded his face in a photogenic way. One of his hands was lazily draped over my waist, moving up and down slightly with every breath he took. His long, blond eyelashes brushed against the tops of his cheeks, his eyes fluttering lightly as he dreamt whatever dream he was having.

I think the only thing we can do now is move on. I know that it's stupid of me to think, but honestly, Cato and I need to think about keeping ourselves safe. No matter what, our families aren't safe, and we never have been, so as much as we plead and cry, we can't watch over them from the Capitol. Snow does what he wants and that's final. We need to move on. Yes, we should be sad and want to cry every second of the day, but there is no use in dwelling in the bad because that will only make things worse for us. What we need to do is remember all of the good things about the people we lose... the love we shared and the smiles that they put on our face. There is so much that we have both gone through. We've both lost people that are important in our lives.. Sometimes I just wish that things could be different, and that we could have met each other in another world-

Cato's eyes flutter open and his tired eyes are staring into mine lazily.

"Hi," he mutters, removing his hand from my waist to rub his eyes.

"Hi," I mumble back shyly. I don't know why I'm so shy with him right now.

Cato stretches before sitting up and leaning back on the headboard. "How are you feeling?"

I shrug. "I'm okay. How are you?"

Cato shakes his head. "I'm feeling better than I should, especially with you being here with me." He frowns and stares at his hands. "Who knows what nightmares I would have had if you wouldn't have been here..." he drifts off.

"Hey," I stop him. "Don't think about that right now."

"How can I not think about all of this?"

I bite my lip. "Look Cato, this is hard for me to say, but I think it's time that we start focusing on our relationship before we think about others. If you think about it, the only way that anyone is ever safe is if you and I are doing well."

Cato shakes his head and frowns at me. I know he thinks what I just said was wrong, but there is literally nothing more we can do but focus our duties and get through life here. "But what about Mum, and Charlie, and your family?"

Well, my Mother is the only one left so... "I'm sure they're okay."

"Yeah, well you can never be sure with the sick man that runs this nation."

I nod, because he's right.

"The only way that we can be sure is if we listen to Snow, and do exactly as he says," I respond, trying to convince myself of the words I was trying to get Cato to understand.

Cato removes the sheets from his body and forces himself to stand. He stretches his body and causes his developed muscles to pulsate. I try my hardest not to stare and swallow the forming lump in my throat. Of course, Cato decides that he doesn't want to wear a shirt, and even though I should still be somewhat angry with him, I can't help but be swooned by his appearance.

Cato yawns and rubs more sleep from his eyes. I look away, making sure that I won't get caught staring for one of the many times that it has happened. Instead, I jump up, making sure that I'm decent enough in his eyes.

"Can you at least take what I'm saying into consideration? It's not like we have much of a choice," I gently plead. I really want him to cooperate on this. I literally only have my mother left, and if us being stupid causes me to lose her, the only family I have left, I will have no reason to live... not even Cato.

"Alright, baby-" He freezes and looks at me cautiously, scratching the back of his neck.

I stand wide-eyed. Honestly, in terms of relationships, I don't know where we stand. And if Cato got nervous calling me 'baby', he didn't know where we stood either. We should probably discuss this at some point. Hopefully soon... just not now.

"Rose, I'm sorry, I hope that didn't make things weird," Cato apologizes slowly, eyeing me with hesitance.

"I'm gonna go take a shower," I replied quickly, turning to rush into the bathroom before I broke into a fit of tears.

I shut the door behind me before we could make this any more awkward than it already is. My hands went to my face and I shook my head. How on earth could we end up like this? We're so nervous around each other that we can't even handle pet-names without getting all funny with one another. I did not think we would ever be like this... uncomfortable around each other. I guess this is normal, though, in our lives. Nothing for us is out of the ordinary.

I step in the shower, hoping to wash away all of the negative thoughts with nice, hot water. The water slightly burned my skin as I let it hit me in soft little pellets, but in a way, it eased my tense muscles. I scrubbed my body until I thought it was clean enough, and took my time to wash my hair. I wanted to stall with as much time as possible before I have to face the real world once again. I thought about a world where everything was perfect: where I could live in perfect harmony with my sister, my Mother, Cato, and even my dad. It took me away from reality, and even made me smile.

I stayed in the water until it began to get cooler, and then I stepped out, wrapping a towel around myself.

I walked back into the bedroom, but not before peeking to see if Cato was in there. When I realized the coast was clear, I raced to get myself ready. If he couldn't call me 'baby' without it being somewhat cringeworthy, I don't know how we'll handle him seeing me naked for the second time. I brushed through my hair and braided it, just like Katniss used to. It made me smile just thinking about her. My braid was much longer, but hers always looked so much better than mine.

I was just about to walk out of the room when something caught my eye. Several sheets of paper were sitting on the bedside table, with black ink covering almost every square inch of the white paper. That wasn't there before..

I reach and pick up the paper and begin reading the words written in messy cursive.

I remember the first day that all of this started...

Every word written on these pages meant something, from the very first letter to the punctuation marks at the end of every sentence. He told me everything, every single thought than ran through his mind from the first time we saw each other. From the reaping all the way to last night. It tore my heart up reading this, but why did he write this? And an even better question would be when? When did he have the time to write all of this?

It hit me as I read the final words of the letter.

I'm sorry I couldn't be your knight, the ending to the perfect fairytale you deserve.

Even though I won't be there, I'll always protect you, my little Rose, and I will never let you go.

He wrote this right before he was supposed to be killed by Snow, when he thought he would never see me again unless it was peering through the clouds in the sky. Cato believed that, from the bottom of his heart, that yesterday was the end. So to apologize to me, he wrote me a letter, his personal feelings spanning a total of ten full pages.

The last word before he signed off stayed in my heart.

Yours.

He's mine. I'm his. There cannot be another barrier held between us. It can only be us.

Yours.

I didn't realize I had been crying until I saw my teardrops smearing the black ink on my letter. My eyes blurred as I shed happy tears, revelling in how difficult it is to understand how one person could love another so much, unconditionally, through the good, bad and ugly. My fingers clutched the paper as if it was my life, creating wrinkles on the edges of what I considered to be my whole life in ten pages.

The door to the bedroom opened and Cato peeked his head through a crack in the door slowly.

"Hey, I made some breakfast if you'r-"

He stopped and frowned as I made eye-contact with him. He looked angry at seeing me like this, but once his eyes traveled downward to the letter, he made the connection.

Cato silently walked the short distance and sat on the bed next to me. He hesitantly wrapped an arm around my shoulder and rubbed my arm soothingly.

"I forgot about that. If I would have remembered, you would have never seen it," he mumbled, clearly annoyed with himself.

I frowned and stared up at him. "Why? Why would you ever be ashamed of this?" I ask, clutching the letter closer to my heart.

Cato bites his lip and shrugs. "I don't know.. I just think it's stupid, especially now, considering that I don't even know where we stand."

I sigh. "Cato, this is the best thing that anyone has ever done, especially you. I know this was hard for you."

"Really?" he smiles.

I nod. "This is amazing, Cato. Thank you."

"Anything for you."

I expected him to kiss me then, but he didn't. I still don't think we've fixed anything, even though he is the sweetest man alive. Instead of that, he let go of me and knelt down in front of me.

"Look," he starts, "I can't handle us acting like we don't know each other. I know we can't change any of the shit from the past, but we can change the future."

"What do you mean?" I ask slowly.

"Let's make the start to something new," he suggests with a smile.

I grin from ear-to-ear. I like what I'm hearing. "And how do we do that?"

"Go on a date with me."

Where is a voice recorder when you need one? I have never thought I would see the day when the words "go" and "on a date" would be in the same sentence, let alone coming from Cato's mouth.

"A date?" I stuttered in shock.

Cato laughs and stands, reaching his hand out to pull me up with him. "Yeah, tonight.. Will you?"

"S-sure."

That's what got me pacing Sunny's room with Delphi and Montana watching me. I hung out with Cato for a while before managing to make up a silly excuse to come and see the girls. I was losing my mind.. I had no idea how to 'date', or what to do on said date.

"You're freaking out for no reason," Delphi sighed.

"What do you mean?! I've never done this before, and it's scaring me!"

"Wait," Montana interrupts, "you've never been on a date before?"

I shake my head, biting down on my already non-existent nails.

"Then how on earth do you have a boyfriend?" Delphi bursts out. "Dating is the way to get a boyfriend."

"Cato and I were never like that. We didn't date, we just met and it went from there," I try to explain. "And it's not like we even had time to date. It was the Games, and then here."

"Yeah, girls, could you back off a little?" Sunny defends me. "It's not like she throws herself at men, unlike some people." She coughs in the direction of Delphi, who scoffs and throws a pillow at her playfully.

I groan and flop down on Sunny's bed next to Montana. "So what do I do? How do I prepare?"

"We can help," Montana nods. "C'mon."

She grabs me by the hand and drags me out of the room, Delphi and Sunny following suit. Montana pulls me all the way through our building, back up to the penthouse.

"What are we-"

Delphi literally yanks the door to the apartment, exposing Cato to the four of us emotionally unstable girls. He was, once again, watching the cooking channel, learning how to effectively clean your vegetables to ensure safe eating. Montana almost melted into a puddle at the sight of him, especially at the fact that he was wearing his glasses again.

"Um..." he frowns at us all.

"Out," Delphi barks in a serious tone.

Cato frowns at her and looks at me, checking to see if she was serious. I nod once, and he gets the picture. He turns off the television and picks up his keys and jacket. He walks toward us and stops in front of me. He pulls me into a quick hug, leaning in to kiss my temple.

"I get it.. girl things. I'll see you at six, baby."

There he goes with that name again.. well, it's not like he's never called me that before.

I blush and wave. "Okay," I whisper.

Once the door is shut behind him, I turn to Montana. "You can pick your jaw up off the floor now." I would probably be extremely angry if I didn't know that she was not serious enough to try and steal him from me. It's cute, the way she reacts to him. That's probably how I reacted when I first saw Cato.

Montana flushes and shrugs. "What can I say? The guy is sex on legs, especially with those glasses."

I shake my head, though she is right, and scurry as the girls suddenly drag me into the bathroom.

"You showered today, right?"

"Yes," I frown.

"Good." Montana turns to the girls. "Delphi, you're on outfit duty. Pick something out that says 'I'm not trying too hard, but I'm trying to impress you not to the point where I look like a slut'."

My eyes widen and I cough. Delphi nods and runs into my bedroom, making a line for the closet.

"Sunny, you're on makeup. Give her a subtle, kind of natural look, not anything too dramatic. Cato seems like the type that likes girls without makeup."

"I'll make you gorgeous," Sunny says with a smile. I frown. "N-not that you're not already gorgeous. I mean, you are, but-"

I laugh and cut her off. "You don't have to explain."

"I'm on hair," Montana says to no one.

It was going on 6:30 by the time the girls finished with me. Memories of the Games came flooding back, with Cinna and the prep crew getting me ready for all those events. Memories of Cinna's fearful face as he braced himself for a bullet that was not meant for him...

Anyway, Montana stuck to her word and made me over so that it didn't look like I was trying too hard to look presentable, but not too laid back that it seemed like I didn't try at all. I was wearing an actual dress, without stockings, something that was considered risky in my District. It was a little shorter than I was comfortable with, but with Cato, I could never feel uncomfortable, so it was okay.

Cato knocked on the bedroom door, asking if he could at least get a change of clothes so that he could shower. Sunny granted him access so long as he didn't try to look at me. It's not like I was anything extraordinary. I was just plain and simple me.

Cato jumped in and out of the shower in maybe 5 minutes, and was changed and ready in the next five.

The girls hid me from him as he waited for me at the front door. I could already see how breathtaking he looked in his t-shirt and blue jeans.

Sunny giggled as Cato grew impatient. "May we present to you, Miss Primrose Everdeen."

I jumped out from behind them dramatically, adding to their shenanigans. Cato laughed as I wiggled my fingers and smiled up at him.

I stood up straighter as he slowly approached me. He pulled his hand from behind his back, presenting a single red rose. I took it, my blush extending, and he kissed my knuckles.. like a real date.

The girls "awwwed" at us, and Cato rolled his eyes, leaning into me. "You look amazing," he whispered.

"Thank you," I whispered back, tugging on my bottom lip with my teeth. Montana was right.. he is sex-on-legs, if I knew what sex was even like.

"Ready to go?"

"Mhm."

Cato grabbed my hand cautiously, rubbing my fingers with his thumb, and turned toward the door.

"You have her back before 11:00, not 11:01, ya hear me?!" Delphi calls after us.

Cato laughs, but ignores her, letting out a sigh of relief once we're finally out of their sights.

-
Helllooooooo, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Hello to all of the new readers! I hope everyone really likes the story and aren't trying to make me feel bad.

What should they do on this date? Give me ideas people!

Nice comment of the week: Really one of my favorite book on wattpad! This story has made my mouth drop to the ground! Keep up the amazing work!

Thank you bebe!

I'm going to St. Louis tomorrow morning! I'm super excited... And it's with the basketball team ;) (wink wink) haha jk.

I love you guys! Vote, comment, share, follow and thank you so much for reading!

Cheers. Laters, baby.

Myesha xx