There was a sharp knock on the front door at 8:00am sharp, waking me and Cato from our deep slumber. Not only was it super early in the morning, but I was enjoying a pleasant dream of Katniss setting up for a tea party with me.

Cato stood from the bed, completely void of any clothing other than his pyjama pants, and went to open the door. He knew I was not going to get up to answer the door, so he was gracious enough to do it after using every swear word he could. This is what boyfriend's are for. They do everything that us girls are too lazy to do ourselves.

The knocking persisted until I heard Cato open the door. There was mumbling, and I distinctly heard Cato swearing at whoever was at the door at this time. He was telling someone to leave, to come back later. There was a clacking sound on the floor.

Oh no... No.

There's only one person I know that's persistent and wears insanely large heels. Only one person could force Cato away to get what she wanted. This could only mean one thing. I'm going on tour.

The door to our bedroom slams open and I duck my head under my sheets. I can see the vibrant orange of her hair through the white sheets, and it almost scares me. Peeta told me that orange was his favourite color. My body shivers unexpectedly.. he is the last person that I want to think about. What I want is to cuddle back in bed with Cato and let him rock me to sleep. I want him to protect me from the torture that comes with living with Effie Trinket.

The sheets are snatched off of me, along with the warm duvet, and suddenly I'm staring up at Effie Trinket, who is carefully styled like the sunrise and sunset. Her hands were on her hips as she watched me with that domineering glare.

"It's time to get up! We have a big, big, big couple weeks ahead of us young lady!" she chirps, killing my ears. I watch Cato roll his eyes as he walks into the room.

Cato sits down on the bed, pulling me into his arms. "She fucking shoved me out of the way, literally," he grumbles, staring at her like she was his next prey. "No one does that to me."

I rub his arms and yawn. "Isn't it too early for this?" I ask Effie. Surely, eight in the morning is not the time to kick off a tour of the entire nation. Most people aren't even awake at this time.

Effie scoffs and I almost roll my eyes at her. But, that's not something a 'young lady' would do. "I do not want to hear your sass. The prep team will be here shortly, so pack some things! The train leaves in thirty minutes sharp."

Contrary to what she told me to do, instead of me packing my things, she goes to my closet and begins taking things out, throwing them onto the vast amount of floor around her.

"Can somebody get this sunset-clad bitch out of here?" Cato nearly yells. Effie was too far into the closet and didn't hear him, thank heavens.

I kiss his cheek and stand up. "You can't say no to Effie." I reach my hand out to pull him up with me. "Come on. We need to get ready to go." He stands up, placing a butterfly kiss on my collarbone. My hands trace his chest, marveling at the beauty of it all.

Effie's heels come clacking out of the closet, interrupting our little moment, with a huge suitcase rolling behind her. Cato goes to his drawers and begins pulling things out. Effie regards him curiously.

Cato turns to her and frowns. "What? I know I'm sexy and shit, but could you at least try not to stare?"

"What are you doing?" she asks him, eyeing his duffle bag.

"Packing my shit, what else does it look like?" he retorts, stuffing a pair of underwear into his bag.

Effie turns to me and crosses her arms. "He is not going."

I was about to protest, but Cato beat me to it. "If you or Snow think you're going anywhere with her without me, then you must be out of your fuckin' minds. Either we're both going, or no one is leaving this room, not even you." He ends his small rant with the threat to Effie, and you can see that she is absolutely livid. I don't think anyone has defied her like that... anyone outside of Haymitch of course.

"Absolutely not!" Effie yells at him. I stand back, watching the two fight over who would have me. It reminds me of taking Cato to my home in Twelve, with Cato and Katniss fighting over who I loved the most.

Oh, Katniss...

Cato walks to the bedroom door and slams it shut, turning the lock slowly. He turns back to glare at Effie, letting her know that he was not messing around.

Effie walks up to Cato and stops when he gives her the look. That absolutely gorgeous smolder. It was dominant, yet completely attractive at once. You could see in that look that he meant business. If she took one more step toward him, Cato was going to have her by the neck.

Effie looked at me, possibly trying to get help, but I shrugged my shoulders. What was I going to do? I wanted him there with me more than anything.

She taps her foot, but I see her giving in. Like she even had a choice.

"Alright, fine! But hurry! We're already five minutes behind schedule."

Oh, no, not the schedule! Effie will have a mental breakdown if we're off schedule more than a nanosecond.

I hurriedly help Cato and Effie pack our things, taking enough for the both of us to last a lifetime. Effie made sure that everything matched perfectly before she allowed for me to stuff it into my suitcase. I realized that I hadn't even had time to wash up. Gosh, my breath probably smelled like a dirty goat...

Once our bags were packed and Effie was somewhat calm, we waited for the stylists to come and then we were boarding the obnoxiously large train that would be my home for the entirety of my tour.

My Victor's Tour... it was weird to even think about it. I, out of all people, am going on a Victor's tour for winning the Hunger Games. I never imagined that it would be like this. I never thought I would get into the Games. Katniss always told me that there was no chance I would do it, not while she was still alive. She always told me that if the time came, she wouldn't hesitate to volunteer for me. I remember the day of the reaping. She didn't hesitate, but I went anyway. And look at where I am now.

I never thought that my life would end up like this.

I feel an arm touch my shoulder and I snap out of my thoughts, staring up at the marble green eyes. "You okay?"

I sigh and nod. "Just thinking about Katniss."

Cato nods and kisses my forehead. He bends and carries all four of my bags along with his, walking effortlessly to the train where the conductor was loading the bags. I followed slowly behind him, dreading every step that I took. I didn't want to go on this tour. I wanted to wait this next year out, train whoever for the next Games, and repeat. I don't need a Victor's tour. I don't feel like a Victor.

As I stepped onto the train, my stomach gargled loudly. I needed something to eat, and then I needed more sleep. Cato dropped our bags in the family room and an Avox rushed to pick it up. I mumbled a quick 'thanks' to her as she walked to what I assumed was going to be my room.

Effie clacked up to me. "How about we start with breakfast, and then we'll go over the schedule?"

I nod enthusiastically.

"Good." Effie nodded. "I don't know when Haymit—-"

I looked downward as sadness filled me. She was going to complain about Haymitch being late or drunk, maybe even both, just like it used to be. Effie cleared her throat awkwardly.

All of the memories I shared with Haymitch on this train coming flashing before my eyes, and it makes me incredibly sad. I miss Haymitch, no matter how he acted towards me. I knew that, deep down, he must have loved me, just as much as I loved him. He was like the father I never had. But he's gone, and I have to move on. At least there were those small happy memories I had of him.

"Oh..." Effie started. "Let's not get all melancholy. Why don't you start unpacking while I attend to breakfast?"

I agree and she walks away. Cato took my hand and led me to our room. Once the door was closed, he pulled me into a much needed hug.

It's so weird that he knows exactly what I need at the right time. "You sure you're alright? You don't have to do this now, ya know?"

I nod against his chest. "I need this distraction. There's just so many things making me sad."

"Well, I know that Effie is going to push you to the limit, so just let me know when it gets to be too much and I'll make sure you get your break."

I mumble an 'okay' and sit down onto the bed. I felt like falling out and just sleeping an entire lifetime, but there was no time for sleep for the next two to three weeks. It was going to be nothing but constant work, attending ceremonies and parties. There will be talking to people who hate me, people that blame me for their kids' death, and even people that I don't like. But, I have to get through it.

Cato sits next to me and lets his fingers crawl over to me slowly, a deathly smirk set on his lips. Little blond peeks of his growing beard poked at his skin as I watched him bite his lip. My eyes grew with fear as I knew what he was trying to do. He was going to tickle me.

I loved and hated being tickled all at once. When I'm tickled, I feel it extremely and my laugh turns from something soft to that of a dying hyena. He was trying to cheer me up, and it was going to work, but it wasn't going to be attractive.

"Cato, no," I warned, inching back slightly. I can't even recall the last time I was tickled.

He nods, placing his fingers onto my hips. At the touch of them, I jump back and fall right back onto the hard floor. My entire backside makes contact with the ground and I'm momentarily winded.

Cato bursts into laughter and leans down, watching me as he laughs. I pout and grimace at the pain shooting up my behind, reaching all the way up to my spine. I try to move a little bit, but it hurts a little too much for me to handle.

"Holy shit," he says between breaths, "are you okay, Kitten?"

"No." My back stings harshly and I can already tell it's going to be uncomfortable.

He leans down to pick me up, his hands making contact with my bum. I screech in pain as he squeezes a little too tightly.

"Are you hurt?" Cato asks, immediately sobering at the instance of me being hurt.

I nod, assessing the sharpness of the stinging in my back. "I think so."

"Where?" Cato's fingers run across my entire body slowly, trying to find the source of discomfort. When he reaches my back, my body jolts unexpectedly.

"Turn around."

I turned slowly, making sure I didn't move so quickly that I passed out from pain.

Cato wrapped his fingers around the waistband on my trackpants and I pulled away from him. I didn't want him pulling down my pants.

"Stop, Cato. It's fine," I snap unintentionally.

Cato reaches for my waistband again and snatches me backward. I hiss in pain and frown down at him. "That hurts!" I scream.

"I need to see it!" he almost yells at me. I immediately become irritated. If he would have just left me alone when I asked him, we wouldn't be going through this.

Cato was getting just as frustrated with me as I was with him.

"Maybe you should have just stopped when I asked you!" I yell.

Cato rolls his eyes and I reciprocate, making sure that he sees the slowly movement of my eyes. I know it pisses him off, which is exactly why I do it.

"Just turn around, Kitten," he orders.

I roll my eyes again, crossing my arms over my chest as I turn around. I feel his hands again as Cato slowly inches the waistband of the trackpants down my backside. I feel a cool breeze pick up on my bare skin as Cato surveys me.

"What is it?" I ask impatiently as Cato says nothing. I turn around to look, and there is a huge forming purple bruise right in the middle of my right cheek. It extends all the way up to the bottom of my back.

"Damn, baby. I'm sorry. I didn't know that this was going to happen."

I quickly pull my pants up, growing embarrassed. This is seriously so stupid.

He leans toward me, trying to capture me in a hug but I writhe away from him.

"I told you to stop!" I yell.

Cato stares down at me, completely surprised by my outburst. This is only going to get Effie all upset because I shouldn't be fooling around with boys. And I know she's going to be upset about how much makeup it's going to take to cover this up.

I ignore Cato's pleas and walk out of the room, stalking toward the dining cart so that I could finally get something to eat. I was angry and hungry... I was hangry. And that is a dangerous combination in a small girl like me.

The food was just being placed onto the table when I sat down, and I eagerly took my fair share of breakfast. Effie joined me seconds later, accompanied by her overly excited prep team. Cato followed suit shortly after, taking a seat cautiously next to me. I watched as he eyed me from the corner of his eyes, probably afraid that I was going to smack him like Katniss did.

I sat uncomfortably, trying hard not to press anything into my backside so much so that it would cause any more pain.

Effie drank a little bit of juice before she turned to me.

"Aren't you excited about this tour? I think it's going to be the best one yet, I really do," she practically yelled from excitement.

I shook my head. We've only been on this train for an hour and I'm already tired of her and my persistent boyfriend.

"Not really," I mumble, knowing full-well what I was saying. It was going to generate a long lecture from her, but right now, I do not really care.

"What do you mean, 'not really'? Every District is so excited to see you, Panem's sweetheart. They're all dying to meet you, every single one of them." It's clear Effie is lying, especially about the Districts of the people I've killed, even my own.

I shrug my shoulders. "I don't really care. I just want to get this thing over with."

As I thought, Effie goes off on a tangent about how she thinks I'm really going to enjoy this trip, about how fun it's going to be, and other things that I didn't listen to.

I mumbled okay when I needed to and kept my mouth shut.

I notice her watching me carefully, a frown set in her eyebrows.

"What?" I question after I get tired of her staring.

"What's wrong?" she asks slowly.

I look down at my plate. "Nothing," I mutter quietly.

Cato shifts nervously in his seat. He knows her just as well as I do, so he must be scared of how Effie was going to react.

"Well why are you sitting like that?" she asks with a bit of edge in her voice.

I bite my lip nervously, making short eye contact with Cato's scared eyes.

I don't answer her.

Effie stands up and grabs my arm. "Stand up."

I drop my spoon and stand up, making sure to shoot Cato a hard glare for the drama he is about to cause.

She pushes her fingers all around me until I jerk from the pain of her pressing right into the bruise.

Effie immediately pulls my pants down and gasps in horror as she assesses the damage.

"What on earth!"

Cato stands. "Look, it's not that big of a deal!"

"Not that big of a deal?!" she yells.

I pull my pants back up. "It was just—-"

"It was just nothing! I said that I would let him come along, but I will not tolerate him hitting you!" Effie screams, staring Cato directly into his eyes.

Cato almost lunges at her for the outrageous accusation she made. I can't really blame her. It does look like the result of a beating. "Who the fuck do you think you are?!" he yells back. "I would never hit her!"

"Then what is this?!" The prep team sits back quietly, watching the entertainment unfold. They chewed silently on their food as if it was popcorn, enjoying the show.

"It's nothing," I say, trying to defend my helpless boyfriend. No one could overcome Effie's wrath, not even him. "I just fell off of the bed and hit my back."

Effie eyes me warily, clearly not believing me. "Are you sure?" she asks slowly. I loved that she was being so protective over me, like she really cared for my well-being.

I nod. "Cato didn't hurt me. I just fell." I sounded like I was making an excuse anyone would make to cover up for someone abusing them, but it's true. I mean, he is the reason that I fell, but he, himself, did not put his hands on me.

"Okay," Effie nods, but I know she didn't fully agree, "but know that I will not tolerate that type of behavior. Especially not on my star." She glares at Cato as she says these words, making sure every word seeped into his skin.

Cato understood. Nobody messes with Effie. She always gets her way.

"I understa—-"

There is a loud thud against the window, interrupting us all from the commotion. More suddenly erupts along the sides of the train and I step back carefully.

There's the sound of rocks hitting the windows, and I know what's happening before anyone can say anything. We've arrived in District 1, and people are throwing things at my train.

Where are the Peacekeepers when you need them? I mean, I know that I was enemies with Glimmer, but I didn't kill her. Why would they be upset with me? Because I won...?

Cato wraps a hand around me protectively as he stares out the window. As people make eye-contact with him, they cease throwing eggs, rocks and anything else. Everyone knows that Cato means business.

"What in heavens is all of this for?" Effie asks, seemingly appauled at the reactions we were getting as we enter the District.

Cato is obviously mad, but what can they expect? I'm everyone's enemy.

—

Finally, after yeeaaaarrsssss, this chapter is finally done. I really hope you enjoyed it! I'm gonna go, cuz I kinda made bad decisions tonight and am literally on the verge of deep sleep.

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

Cheers. Laters, baby.

Myesha xx