There was banging on my door, waking me up from my deep slumber. It must have been early in the morning, seeing as the sun wasn't peeking through the shades yet.

I sat up, and almost immediately fell back down on the bed. My lower body felt like it was literally on fire. My hips burned, and all I felt was the soreness radiating from my core. I don't regret giving myself to Cato, but what I did not realize was that it was going to hurt so much. Cato was as gentle as he possibly could be, but that didn't change the way it made me feel.

I tried sitting up again, but my body wouldn't allow it. I had to get up so that I can get started on day two of the tour.

Effie knocked on the door again before peeking her head inside. "Time to get up my star. We have too much to do in so little time," she says.

She closes the door behind her and I slowly sit up. It was hard, seeing as half of Cato's body was slung over mine, his heavy arm weighing me down.

I tried discreetly moving his arm, but it woke him up. He shuffled before squinting his eyes up at me. I look away and push his arm off while sitting up. I bite down on my tongue to keep from crying or yelling out in pain.

"Where are you going?" Cato asks with a rasp in his voice.

"I have to get ready," I mumble, avoiding eye-contact with him.

"No. Stay with me for a moment."

"I can't."

I stand, willing myself not to fall. I feel Cato's hand pulling me back and I accidentally cry out.

"Are... are you okay?" he asks.

I have to blink back my tears. "Mhm," I lie.

Cato lays me down again, facing me towards him. We were both still naked, so I quickly covered myself with the sheets around me. Cato doesn't hesitate to wrap his arms around my waist, tracing small, soothing circles on my back.

I sigh and place my arm over his, tracing the same circles he was giving me. The bed shook lightly due to the train rushing over the tracks.

"Thank you." Cato places a kiss onto my temple.

I frown. "For what?"

"Last night," he admits. "Even though it wasn't all that great for you, now and last night, but it was amazing for me." Cato smiles, tucking my hair behind my ear.

I look away. I just couldn't ignore the burning from the insides. "Yeah," I sigh.

Cato tries pulling me forward but I whimper and shove him away impulsively. I couldn't help it. He squeezed too hard at my hips. He lets go and stares back at me questioningly.

I turn away again, ashamed of the way I feel. I was hoping to be sitting on cloud nine, reeling in my first time making love to someone I love. Instead, I'm crying and can barely look at my partner without being embarrassed.

"You look like you're in so much pain," Cato comments, sitting up on his elbow.

"I'm sorry," I apologize. "I didn't mean to do it wrong, and I know it's supposed to feel good."

"You think you did something wrong?" Cato scoffs and sits up even more.

"I just..." I stutter, not really knowing what to say. "I just thought that, you know... since it hurt, and I cried—"

"You did nothing wrong, nothing at all," Cato tries to reassure me. He takes my hand, placing a gentle kiss on my knuckles. "Last night was the second best night of my life."

I look down at our hands, entwining my fingers in his. "And what was the first?"

"Meeting you."

I ignore the pain and scoot forward to kiss him. It absolutely made me smile.

Cato pulls away and moves to stand, completely nude. He walks to my side of the bed and bends down, scooping me into his arms. I hiss slightly but wrap my arms around his neck, the sweat generated from last night causing my bare skin to stick to Cato's.

"What are we doing?"

"Taking a bath. Sitting in steaming water can release some of the pain."

Cato sits me down on the toilet and hands me a towel to cover myself, but he remains naked. He's so comfortable with his body,so much that he can strut his stuff in front of anyone. Granted, he has an amazing physique, while I am not so great in the department, so I would probably feel the same if I was in the same position as him.

The bath fills up with water and Cato presses a button to add soap and a fragrance to it. After it fills up, Cato returns to me and lifts me, carrying me to the tub. He places me inside it and I lower myself slowly into the scalding hot water.

"Ooh," I wince as I finally sit inside the tub. The steam in the water finds its way inside me and lifts the stinging away almost instantly. "Ahh."

"Good?"

I nod, rolling my eyes closed. It feels so incredibly good.

Cato steps into the tub with me, sitting behind me. He places me in-between his legs and starts rubbing my back. He starts at my shoulders, pressing out all of the tension from last night.

"Today is all about you," he whispers, kissing my neck. I moaned in pleasure, feeling relaxed for the first time since last night. "Since you made last night happen for me."

Cato's hands reach down my back and move to my front. He grasps my chest in both hands, kneading my breasts slowly. I lean back, pressing my back into his chest. Cato's hands move down from my chest, tracing down my stomach to my legs. He rubs my thighs up and down before leading one of his hands up to my sex.

I mewl as he makes contact with my most private area, and I almost forget that I was ever hurting in the first place.

"You don't know how much I love that sound, Rose."

His hands move away too soon and he finishes his massage.

"Do you want me to do you?"

"No, baby, I'm good. Could you check out my back, though? It's sore for some reason."

I nod and move so that Cato can turn around. I immediately see the long red lines dragging down his back, all the result of my nails digging into his skin last night.

"Oh..."

"Fingernail cuts?" Cato asks with a chuckle.

I smile apologetically. "I didn't know... I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. You don't have to keep apologizing for having sex with me."

"I know," I sigh. I was going to say sorry again, but I thought against it.

Cato stands, grabbing a towel for himself. "We should probably get out before Effie comes in and drags you out of here naked."

He throws me a towel and I wrap it around myself. It was so much easier to walk after sitting in the water and getting that massage, but I was still incredibly sore.

After throwing on random clothes and washing up, I leisurely made my way out of my room and to the dining cart, with Cato standing very close to me. I rubbed some healing cream and bandaged the scars on his back so he was fine.

Effie was sitting at the table, filling her plate up with food while searching through the stack of papers attached to her clipboard. I sat down opposite her with Cato on my right. He didn't hesitate to pull my chair closer to him and place his hand on my thigh. Cato was actually in a very good mood today. He's relaxed, being very caring and sweet, and for the first time ever, he smiled at Effie. Looks like intimacy is the way to crack his shell.

"Good morning, you two," Effie says, finally looking up at us after almost five minutes. "Are you feeling better today, Primrose? I heard some noises coming from your room last night."

I almost choke on my orange juice. She heard the sounds of losing my virginity.

Cato laughs and I elbow him in the gut.

"I'm fine, it was just a bad case of nightmares," I lie. Effie scowls at Cato laughing but nods.

"Trust me, it'll get better," Effie says. "I've dealt with this so much, but there's nothing a little spa day can't fix."

I roll my eyes when she's not looking. "Can we just get started with the schedule?"

"Of course."

As soon as Effie starts talking, I tune her out. I didn't need to hear about yet another round of speeches that I would have to give in Two. The only thing I was worried about was if Cato's mother and brother are okay. Charlie may not be old enough to remember anything about his father, but Cato's mother was married to the guy. No matter what happens, she must still love him, through everything he may have put her through.

I was hoping she was okay. That's what I cared for, just as I cared for how my mother was coping at home, all alone. Surely, the people in the District were keeping her company, taking care of her now that she's by herself. I can't imagine what would happen to her if I died by some miracle.

"Why don't we get you ready now, instead of having to go through what we had to in District One?"

I shrug. "Doesn't matter to me."

Effie takes me by the hand, pulling me into another cart that I haven't really been in before. All the while, she's chatting away about what I'm going to wear, completely oblivious to the hesitance in my step. I wasn't hurting nearly as much as before, but I still wasn't able to walk normally.

Cato stayed behind, much more interested in his eggs than me.

"And another thing," Effie yells, sitting me down in front of the vanity, "we will not have another incident like in District One! You must stick to everything on the note-cards, or else who knows what more can go wrong."

"Yes, Effie I know," I groan, beginning to remove my clothing. "It's not like I would want to say anything about Clove anyway."

Effie raises her orange eyebrows at me. "And why not?"

"Really?" Did she not watch the Games? Actually, was she missing all the time before that? "She had it out for me since the Reaping."

"Oh well. She's gone, and you need to say something nice of her, at least out of respect for her family. They dud watch you kill her."

"Yeah, yeah." I roll my eyes and slip on the robe waiting for me on the seat. The prep team was probably going to be here soon.

"How long until we get into Two?" I ask, twiddling with the necklace I got for my birthday.

"Just a couple hours. Hopefully this place will have a little more class," Effie states disgustingly.

I pick up a brush and begin untangling my hair. Last nights events really did a number on my body, but my hair was even worse. It was in knots all around, sitting up and all around my head.

"Will Cato and I be able to see his family?" I ask just as Effie is about to leave and the prep team is walking in.

Effie purses her lips in thought. "If we have some time, then yes, you may."

"Thanks," I smile.

My speech was awkward. I stood on stage, and while I should have been looking back at Clove's family, I was reverting my eyes anywhere but at them. They seemed angry, and it had to have been for multiple reasons. It could be that I killed her, especially because she hated me. It could be that Cato was able to live and she wasn't. Or, it could have been that they were upset that I got to be with Cato instead of Clove, because everyone knew that Clove liked him.

Either way, they weren't happy. I didn't stray from the note-cards, just like Effie said. I talked about the Games, how honored I was to fight against Clove, and a lot of other stuff that I really didn't mean. During my speech, I was distracted because I was too busy looking around for Cato's family. They weren't in the audience, and from behind the stage, Cato was shaking nervously. He wanted to see them so badly.

Once my speech was done, I hurriedly got off of the stage, as fast as I could of under the circumstances, and walked up to Effie.

"There's some things you need to improve on. We need to make sure you believe what you are saying, because that performance was horrid."

I wave Effie off with my hand and move to a fervent Cato. "You okay?" I ask, placing a hand on his arm.

Cato rubs his palms against his jeans. "Yeah," he nods quickly.

"Do you want to go—-"

"Yes!" Cato interrupts me, taking me by the arm and pulling me forward.

"You have only thirty minutes and then it's back on the tracks!" Effie called after us. I waved her off again and tried to keep up the pace with Cato.

As I was pulled through the crowd, people stopped me to get pictures, sign things, kiss their babies. I was literally bombarded, but Cato didn't pay any attention. Instead of waiting for me, he let go of my hand and left me in the swarming crowd. I understood that he really wanted to go home, but he didn't have to leave me alone with all of these strangers.

"I absolutely love you!"

"I knew you would win from the start!"

"Will you go out on a date with me?!"

Too many things were yelled at me from every direction. I made sure to get a picture with every fan, sign every piece of paper, and kiss every baby. By the time the crowd had begun to disperse, I was absolutely winded. On top of that, I had no clue how to get to Cato's home.

There were a few stragglers watching me as I took my last picture, so I went up to them. There were two young girls standing with a little boy, his thumb stuck in his mouth. "Do you guys know how to get to Cato's home?" I asked anxiously.

Their eyes widened and they nodded eagerly. "Of course!"

"Can you take me there?" I ask hopefully. I mean, I knew they would take me, but there was no harm in asking anyway.

"Sure. It's just this way," the blond girl told me, beginning to walk ahead of me. I started following them, keeping up light conversation about games and school and such. The little boy latched his hand onto mine, his other one still stuck in his mouth. There were people following us, constantly snapping photos of me.

So this is what fame looks like, huh?

We made it to Cato's house, which I still recognized, and I thanked the girls, making sure to hug each one of them. The little boy was somewhat reluctant; he didn't want to let go of me.

Once the girls were able to pry the baby off of me, I walked up the steps and knocked on the front door.

There was no answer, so I knocked again.

After a few seconds, the door opened, and I was staring down at Charlie.

"Rosie!" He jumped forward and fastened himself onto my legs, hugging me closely.

"Hi Charlie."

"I missed you so so so so much!" he yelled, letting go of me.

"Really? How come?"

"Because you played trucks with me!"

I nod, remembering the last time I was here.

"Where's your Mommy and Cato?"

Charlie points to the kitchen. "They're in there. Mummy started crying about something and Cato started hugging her."

I quietly make my way to the kitchen. Cato's back was turned and he was holding on to his mother, who was violently sobbing in his arms. I guess the death of his father really did take a toll on his poor Mom. She seemed extremely hurt, like she didn't know what to do with herself anymore.

I inaudibly step away from the kitchen, making my way back to the front door.

"Tell Cato I'm waiting for him at the train, okay Charlie?"

Charlie gasps. "Aren't you going to stay and play with me?"

"Next time, I promise," I say, crossing my heart.

Cato needed his alone time with his family, and me being there would just be a distraction from what they needed to work out together.

—-

Hey guys! I finally finished this chapter, but with MAJOR writer's block! This is more of a filler chapter, and I promise that things will pick up from here!

If you guys ever have ideas on what I should write, let me know! Sometimes I really need help figuring out what you guys want to see and read!

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

Cheers. Laters, baby.

Myesha xx