OK, PLEASE NOTE: that Cato and clove have known each other for about a month and a half not a couple of days . . . sorry for the confusion!
chapter eight
Protective
p.s this is the same day, it starts with Cato and Clove walking home.
Clove's POV
I sneak a glance at Cato. His hands are stuffed in his pockets and his eyes are set on the road in front of us. Training together after the um, incident was different. Neither me nor Cato said anything during training, but I felt … odd. I almost feel closer to him. I have to admit, besides punching our trainer in the face, he's really sweet.
I feel almost guilty for letting Cato give me that uniform. It was really nice of him to do that. But I'm still puzzled with the fact that Cato attacked our trainer.
But what did Maxwell say to Cato to make him explode like that? If I learned anything today, it's do not make Cato angry. Did I fear him yesterday? No. Do I fear him today? No. Ok, well maybe a little.
I sigh quietly and force my gaze back on the road.
"Clove?"
"Hmmm?" I say as I turn to look at Cato.
"Do you think that, uhh, I should have hit Maxwell?" He asks. I can see traces of anger in his features when he says his name.
Answer carefully. I tell myself.
"Uhmm, Yeah?" I say. It comes out like a question. Wow, what happened to answering carefully Clove? I ask myself.
"Well, I don't know what he said, so I can't really answer." I say slowly.
"He said something about you." He says sounding very, very, angry.
"Me?" I ask surprised.
"Yes." He says through gritted teeth.
"What did he say about me?" I ask, feeling slightly flattered that he punched Maxwell on my behalf.
I see the rage in Cato's eyes. Those beautiful blue eyes dilate and he clenches his jaw, as if he's stopping himself from saying what he really wants.
For a moment I'm scared.
If looks could kill . . .
"He said something about why your training uniform was ripped." Says Cato, sounding scarier by the second. I see his fist ball up in his pockets.
" I'm not really following you." I tell him.
"He basically called you a prostitute." He says, clenching his jaw tighter.
I feel my face grow bright red. Wow I've never even kissed anyone and people are calling me a prostitute?
Why does he care what people call me anyway?
"Why does that bother you so much?" I ask quietly.
"It just does." He mumbles.
We turn on to his street and I sneak another glance at Cato. My cheeks heat when I realize he's already looking at me. His eyes look softer now, not so angry like they were before. I see the little flicks of gold and green that make his eyes so unique. Uhhh, I could look at them for hours. I think. I realize I'm beginning to stare so I break eye contact with him but I can still feel his gaze on me.
As we approach his house I hear Cato sigh quietly. We walk up his drive way and he takes out the key under the mat.
I feel the coolness of the air conditioning when we step inside.
Cato closes the door and turns to face me. "Do you want me to show you the upstairs?" He asks me. I nod my head.
He leads me down a hall past the kitchen to a dead end hallway with a single door. He turns the knob and my jaw drops.
It's a spiral glass stair case with a golden railing. It's beautiful.
I have never walk up stairs before, giving that two story homes are for the rich, but the fact that this one is made of glass make me scared. Which is stupid because I'm not afraid of anything. Except Cato. He only went crazy on Maxwell because he was being protective. I tell myself. Oh god, did I really just think that? My cheeks heat slightly.
"Ladies first." Says Cato in very gentlemen – like fashion.
I feel very terrified right now that I will fall through but there's no way I'd tell him that. I hesitantly put my foot on the first step to make sure it'll hold. It does so I add my other foot. I stand there for a second, making sure it won't cave in. It's glass after all. I carefully take my next step. I stand there, making sure I'm balanced. Just as I'm about to take another step I hear a quite laugh.
I turn around to face a smirking Cato.
"What?" I ask annoyed and slightly embarrassed.
"Why are you walking like that?" He asks me while trying not to laugh.
"I-I, it's glass!" I say angrily.
"So . . ." Cato say while trying to hold in another holding in a laugh.
My face turns bright red.
"Are you afraid?" He ask me, this time serious.
"No." I mumble while looking down.
"Awww, you know what, you don't have to walk up the stairs." He says.
I'm about to yell at him for making fun of me when he picks me up and proceeds to carry me up the stairs bridal style.
"Cato, put me down!" I say, starting to panic. God, pull yourself together Clove. I tell myself. But my brain doesn't get the message and my arms are wrapped tightly around Cato's torso, holding on for dear life.
"Don't drop me." I plead. I must sound very pathetic right now but all I can think about is falling through this glass stair case and breaking my neck on the tile.
"I won't let you go Clover." He tells me. I would have blushed but my thoughts are other wise occupied.
He walks up the stairs nice and slow. I calm down a little but not much. I look up at him to find him looking at me intently.
"Why are you so scared?" He ask me softly.
"I-I never climbed stairs, let alone glass ones before a-and I don't want to fall through." I tell him.
"You never walked up stairs before?" He asks, sounding surprised, but his tone is still soft.
"Stairs are for rich people." I say.
He nods. "You don't have to be afraid when you're with me Clove, I won't let anything happen to you." He tells me sincerely. "These stairs are made of a special kind of glass produced in the capitol, they do something to the glass to allow it to hold a lot of weight." He tells me.
I just nod.
I don't even realize when we reach the top of the stair case.
Cato gently puts me back on my two feet and I don't want to admit it but I miss his warmth.
I take a look around.
The walls are red and the carpet is a deep royal blue with golden stitching. There's no furniture, just a lot of doors.
"Pretty." I say. Cato smiles.
"This first room is my parents, but they're never here so it's kind of a wast of space." He says while sounding slightly upset, though he tries to hide it.
"Where are they?" I ask as we continue walking.
"They went to the capitol for vacation, they should be back in about five months." He tells me. "They're staying there so they can see the Games, and after that they're going to 'tour'." He says while shaking his head.
We continue walking till we reach the next door.
"This is the library." He says while turning the door knob. We walk inside and I look around the room. You can't see the walls because it's covered with shelves and shelves of books. Besides that there's a leather sofa and a fire place.
Wordlessly we both take a seat next to each other on the sofa.
At that moment I realize that I don't want to work for Cato any more.
He pays me to cook him dinner every night and then I just leave. I rather do it for free.
"Cato, I don't want to work for you any more." I say. His eyes shoot up at me and he looks sad.
"But if it's ok with you can we still walk to your house together?" I ask shyly.
He smiles a little and nods.
"We can still have dinner together if you want to." I say quietly.
His smile widens and he nods again.
We don't say anything for a little while.
I think about how Cato lives alone most of the time. Does it bother him like it bothers me?
"Do you wish your parents were here more?" I ask him.
"Sometimes – I just wish that they loved me." he says while frowning.
"If it makes you feel any better my father never loved me, in fact he almost killed me." I say while showing him the scar on my leg.
His eyes go wide. "You were the girl that was crying the first day of training?" He asks me.
"Yeah, I didn't have a high endurance for pain back then." I say.
"Do you know how many times I thought about you after that?" He asks. "I always wanted to know what happened to you, you know, 'cause you wouldn't tell me." He says.
"Well, I burned breakfast, my dad got mad and killed my mother, them tried to kill me, but we all know I'm quicker with a knife." I say darkly.
"You killed him?" He asks sounding surprised.
"Yeah." I say, suddenly feeling very over whelmed.
I bit my lower lip because I realize I'm about to cry.
No. no. no. Crying shows weakness. Don't cry. don't cry. Don't – to late.
The tears fall anyway. In one swift motion Cato wraps his arms around my shoulder and pulls me in closer to him.
My tears soak through his training uniform but he doesn't seem to care.
I feel him place a light kiss on top of my head. "It's ok." He whispers.
I was right, He is really sweet.