I originally wrote this story because I was tired of Cato and Clove being portrayed as blood thirsty killers. I wanted them to have a soft side :D
Also I have to thank Clato-crazies because their review made me cry...twice. a) because I'm kinda sensitive (no hate LOL.) and b) because that made the list of the top ten nicest things people have ever said to me :D I love ya' babe ;) Also thank you to my other reviewers. I want to let you guys know that if you guys give me an idea and I don't use it for the next chapter I'm not blowing you off. I'm actually going to use an idea someone gave me awhile ago for the next chapter. One more thing, I re-read your reviews while I write so I know what you want. Remember, this story is for you so if you want something to happen tell me in a review or PM me.
Chapter 20 word count: 3,730
Cato's POV
Rays of light stream through my bedroom window causing me to stir slightly. I tighten my grip on Clove's waist as I will my body to let me fall back asleep for just a few more minutes. Her small hand holds my arm close to her as she mumbles something incomprehensible in her drowsy state. I feel the bed dip slightly and my eyes flutter open to find her sleeping form curled up next to me.
I take the opportunity to study her. I drink in her long dark hair that's splayed loosely across the mattress. Up close I can see the light freckles the cover the bridge of her nose and her full eyelashes that occasionally flicker as if she's about to wake up. Her pale skin complements her high cheek bones and I can't help myself from running a finger across the line of her jaw.
Her eyes open at this and I promptly roll over so I'm on top of her.
"Cato." She mumbles sleepily.
I shift my legs so they're on either side of her waist before leaning over her and placing a few soft kisses along her collarbone. She wiggles beneath me causing a sly grin to break out across my face.
"Cato." She repeats, this time with a little more clarity.
"Hmmm?" I say against her skin as I leave a trail of open-mouthed kisses along the side of her neck.
"What are you doing?" She asks me. Her voice is shaky, almost weak.
"Nothing." I respond as I lightly nip her neck. She whimpers below me and I smirk against her as she continues making small sounds of pleasure that I can tell she's trying to hold back.
She gasps quietly when I begin sucking on the fading scar that resides at her neck.
"Cato..." My name falls from her lips quickly, and I decide I want to hear it more often, in a variety of situations similar to this...
"What is it?" I ask her.
She doesn't answer me, instead she just stares up at me, breathing heavily. I move my lips to her jaw and brush them back and forth slowly. I place and open mouth kiss at the corner of her lips and feel a little surprised when she grabs the back of my head and crashes our lips together.
"Is that wanted?" I ask against her mouth.
"Mhhm." She answers.
Our lips move softly together at a slow comfortable pace. It feels right with her, but I can't help but feel something else. Something that makes me want to wrap my arms around her and keep her close to me...forever.
I briefly turn my head in the direction of my bedroom door when I hear a loud banging coming from downstairs.
"Someone's at the door." Clove mumbles.
"Whatever, they'll leave soon." I tell her as I lean in to capture her lips in another slow passionate kiss.
The banging on the door gets louder and Clove lightly pushes my shoulder.
"Go see who it is." She tells me.
"I'm kinda in the middle of something." I say as I press my lips against hers once more.
She kisses me back halfheartedly. "What if it's something important?" She asks.
"I don't care." I tell her.
I lean back so I'm still on top of her and stare down at her.
"Why are you so beautiful?" I murmur to myself as I trace her profile.
Her face heats slightly at my words.
The banging against the front door increases.
"Go."
I groan as I roll off her. I touch two fingers to my lips before pressing them against hers.
"Be right back." I tell her as I slip out bed and walk out my open door. The moment I reach the stair case the knocking starts again.
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" I yell as I take the steps two at a time. By the time I reach the bottom I'm about to rip someone's throat out. I walk quickly in aggravation as the knocking continues.
When I reach the front door I unlock it and swing it open.
"What the fuck is your problem?" I ask the man that's standing before me. He's dressed in an official District Two mailing service uniform while his messenger bag hangs loosely over his shoulder.
"Good morning sir! I have a-" I cut him off by pulling my fist back.
I hear a slight crack as my knuckle makes contact with his jaw. He groans in pain and doubles over while cupping the side of his face. I roughly push his shoulder causing him to fall to the ground.
"You know what that was for?" I ask him. He looks up at me from his spot on the floor but appears to be in too much pain to answer.
"I was in the middle of making out with my girlfriend when your knocking interrupted us." I tell him as I clench my jaw.
I bend down and rip the letter out of his hand.
"Thanks for ruining my morning." I tell him as I turn around and slam the door shut with a little too much force. I lock it behind me and grumble to myself as I head down the hall to the stairs.
Who the fuck does this guy think he is? You don't go to someone's house at nine o'clock in the morning and bang on the door and not expect to get punched in the face.
As I walk up the steps I rip open the side of the envelope and hastily pull out a piece of white paper. I come to a slow stop in the middle of the staircase as I begin reading the letter.
Dear Cato-kins,- I stop reading and roll my eyes. Only my mother would send me a letter instead of actually coming to my house to see me in person.
I find my place and continue reading.
Dear Cato-kins, I would like to inform you that last week I have a very detailed conversation with this year's Gamemaker. Without directly stating what I wanted, I was able to ensure that you will be District Two's male tribute for the seventy-fourth annual Hunger Games! I also slipped a word in about your little friend Clove for next year.
See you in a few months, love mommy xoxox
I practically gag. I'm sixteen years old and she's referring to herself as my 'mommy'? Get real. I haven't called her mommy since I was five. Though, I can't help but feel grateful that she was able to get me into the arena for the upcoming Games.
When I win, which I will, I'll finally get out of this house and have my very own home at Victor's Village. I'll bring pride to District Two and make my trainer's down at the Academy proud. And maybe, just maybe, my parents will be proud of me too. Then I'll sponsor Clove the year after and make sure she wins.
I scoff. Who am I kidding? Clove doesn't need my help to win. In fact, she's almost as dangerous as me. She'll have no problem getting out of there alive, though it couldn't hurt if I spent a few thousand dollars to insure her safety.
I stuff the letter back inside the envelope and proceed to head back to my bedroom. When I reach my room I push open the door to find the bed completely empty. The sheets are ruffled and the plush mattress is dipped slightly in the form of her body.
"Clove?" I call uncertainly. I step deeper into the room and stop when I hear the faint sound of running water.
"I'm in the shower!" I hear her shout through the bathroom door. I smirk and press my lips against the slight crack between the door frame and the edge of the door.
"You should let me join you so we can save water!" I yell back through the door.
"NO CATO!" She yells back at me.
"Damn." I mutter.
"I heard that!" She calls.
"No you didn't." I say to myself as I walk back out to the hall. I head over to the guest bedroom to shower there instead.
She should really think more about the environment, no one should waste so much water when you have a perfectly large master bathroom that has more than enough room for two people. Like really, it's just common sense. Or at least it makes sense to me.
The door to the guest room squeaks slightly as I push it open. It's almost identical to my room except for the layout. The walls are the same blue and an identical dresser is pressed up against the wall.
I make my way over to the bathroom and swing open the door. I flick on the light and quickly pull my shirt over my head. The shower in this room is different than the one in my own. It's motion activated so I don't have to press a million buttons to get hot water.
I finish undressing and step into the shower. The shower head whizzes before a warm stream of water makes my contact with my face. I duck my head and let the water run through my hair. I waste no time lathering myself in soap and scrubbing it into my skin. I open the bottle of shampoo and drench it into my hair while rubbing it in with my other hand. Halfway through I catch a whiff of something. I bring my arm to my noise and smell.
Vanilla. I smell like fucking vanilla. You have got to be kidding me. Since when do I own vanilla scented soap?
Not wanting to smell like a girl, I quickly rinse it off. Even after the last soap sub has gone down the drain I'm still violently rubbing my arm to get the lingering scent off me.
Eventually I give up. I sigh in defeat as I duck my head to wash out the shampoo.
I grumble to myself in annoyance as I step out the shower and grab a towel. The shower shuts off automatically after a few seconds. I do a poor job of drying my hair and shake my head back and forth sending water droplets across the counter tops.
I open the medicine cabinet and take out a spare toothbrush. As I brush my teeth I hear the faint sound of a door closing. Clove probably finished her shower right after mine. I guess I'll just give her minute to get finished.
I place the toothbrush back on the counter and walk out of the bathroom to get dressed.
I walk over to the dresser that sits in the corner of the room. I open the top drawer and find everything except a shirt.
I don't even bother looking at the cloths as I quickly get dressed. I shake my head in a final attempt to dry my hair before heading to the door.
I open the door and walk directly across the hall to my bedroom. I hesitate a moment before I pull open the door.
My eyes find Clove sitting crises-crossed in the center of my bed. Her hair falls loosely to the side of her face and a few bits of water drip of the ends. She's wearing one of my nice button down shirts along with a pair of my pajama bottoms.
"What's with you and wearing my cloths?" I ask her.
She looks up at me. "What's with you and not wearing a shirt?" She counters.
"I'm just showing off my fabulous body." I tell her.
She rolls her eyes. "Yeah, you look totally fabulous in those sweat pants." She says.
I automatically look down. "Hey, it's not my fault I didn't have any cloths in the guest room, plus these are really conformable." I say in defense.
"Whatever." She says while shaking her head. "Who was that knocking at the door before?" She asks me.
"Some stupid mail guy came to give me a letter." I tell her. "I don't think he'll be coming back here any time soon." I finish smugly.
She groans. "What did you do?" She says while wincing as if she's bracing herself for what I'm about to tell her.
"Well, I kinda punched him in the face." I explain.
Her jaw drops. "You punched the mail guy?" She says in shock.
I nod. "Hey, I was busy and he just kept knocking and knocking and knocking and knocking..." I trail off.
"Ok, I get it, he kept knocking." She says. "But you didn't have to punch him."
I shrug as I walk over to her and flop down onto the bed. I stare up at the ceiling as she scoots closer to me and rest her head on my chest.
"Why do you smell like vanilla?" She asks me abruptly.
"That stupid soap." I mutter.
"You use vanilla scented soap?" She asks me skeptically.
"No, I just grabbed the first one I touched, I don't even know how it got in there." I explain, feeling slightly embarrassed.
"Well it smells good." She tells me.
"Gee, thanks." I say sarcastically.
We both go quite for a moment.
"So what did the letter say?" She asks.
"My mom went to this charity event and basically paid for me to get reaped this year." I explain.
"Oh, well that's good." She says. I don't know what it is but something about her words makes it seem like she doesn't think it's that good at all.
"So do you um, have a plan once you're in the arena?" She asks as she shifts her head to look up at me.
"Kill everyone." I say simply.
"I guess that will work." She mutters. "But I meant to say do you have a strategy."
I sigh. "Let's see...first I'll form an alliance with Districts One, Three, Four, and of course who ever my district partner is, then I'll just pick them off one by one." I say casually.
"What will you do after you win?" She asks me in a small voice.
"I'll sponsor you next year." I tell her.
"Oh. What if we both die in the arena?" She asks.
"We won't." I tell her firmly.
"But what if we do?"
"Then I'll see you in hell." I tell her.
"I don't believe in hell."
"Neither do I, it was a joke." I explain.
"It wasn't very funny." She says.
"Are you always gonna be this difficult?" I ask her.
She hesitates before she answers.
"...Yes."
"Well thanks for letting me know what I'm in for." I say while grabbing her waist and pulling her on top of me.
"You're welcome." She mutters while looking down at the bed sheets. The angle of her face causing me to notice a patch of red marks on her neck.
"What happened to your neck?" I ask her in confusion.
"Oh, someone just climbed on top of me the second I woke up and started kissing me." She says.
"Oh, I did that?" I say with a laugh.
"Yeah."
"I actually wasn't finished." I tell her as I pull her body up closer to mine so I can press my lips against against her cheek.
"Stop it Cato." She mutters why pulling away from me.
"Awwww, you're being shy." I teases her.
"I am not." She says firmly.
"Don't lie." I tell her.
"I'm not lying!" She insists.
"Then kiss me." I counter.
She leans forward and presses her lips quickly against mine. She pulls away before I even have a chance to react.
I frown. "That wasn't far." I say with a pout.
"You expect a lot from me." She says.
"Hey, you're the one who insisted on sleeping next to me."
"That has absolutely nothing to do with what we're talking about. And don't pretend like you don't like sleeping next to me." She shoots back.
I roll my eyes. "I won't deny it, but sometimes you just won't shut up."
"What?" She hisses.
"In your sleep, you just keep talking and talking and I'm too busy watching you to get any rest!" I tell her.
"What is it with you and watching me sleep?" She says, sounding a little annoyed.
"I don't know, like I said, you talk a lot."
"Well sorry, I can't help it." She says.
"Whatever, lets just drop it." I say.
We stare at each other for a few moments.
"Do you wanna give me a make-up kiss?" I ask her.
She sighs heavily. "Will it shut you up?"
"Yeah, for about half an hour." I tell her with a grin.
"Fine." She mutters.
She leans in and presses our lips together once more. She moves her lips slowly against my own for a few seconds before she starts to pull away.
I knot my fingers in her hair before not-so-gently forcing her mouth on mine. She doesn't try to resist me, she knows she's not capable of pushing me away. But part of me wonders if she was capable of it, would she? The thought leaves me when I feel Clove prying my fingers from where they tightly grasp her hair. My hands fall limply at my sides as she breaks the kiss and stares down at me.
I watch her as she presses her lips against my forehead before pulling away and running her hand softly over my hair.
"Are you happy now?" She asks me. She acts as if she's talking to someone much younger than her, almost like a mother would.
I nod slowly.
"Good." She tells me while kissing my cheek. "Mwah." She say says as she pulls her lips from my face.
I continue staring at her. She's the only person that cares about me in the entire world. The only person I trust. And at that moment, I realize I have absolutely no one except her. I move my hands to her waist and and pull her forward so she laying on my chest with her cheek pressed against me.
"Clove..." I say hesitantly.
"Mhhhm?"
I take a deep breath. "I think I lo-...never mind." I say quickly as I avoid her eyes.
"What?" She says as she tries to sit up to look at me. I tighten my grip on her and gently push her head to the side so she's once again resting on my chest.
"I forgot what I was gonna say." I mumble.
"No you didn't." She calls me out.
"I was gonna say I think I lost something but I remember where I put it now." I say lamely.
"Oh. What did you lose?" She asks me skeptically as she tries to use her peripheral vision to look at me.
"Umm, a umm...necklace." I say quickly.
"A necklace? What kind of necklace?" She says as her eyebrows furrow.
"I don't remember." I tell her. I'm sounding dumber every second. I think.
"You're not making any sense." She says while breaking my grip and turning her head to the side so she can see me better.
"Yeah, I realized that." I say with a sigh.
"Start from the beginning." She suggest.
"I forgot."
"You just told me it was about a necklace." She says. "You're really confusing me Cato."
"Ha. You're the one that's confusing me." I tell her.
"How am I confusing you? You're the one that's not making any sense." She points out.
"Yeah...but you're the one that makes me feel-." I cut myself off before I say anything I'm going to regret.
"Makes you feel what?" She questions.
"Confused." I answer her slowly.
"How do I confuse you?" She asks me.
I take a deep breathe. "I don't know if you want me to tell you."
Is this considered a cliff hanger? I'm not quite sure... Give me some ideas for the next chapter, I'll try to make it longer too.
Don't forget to vote in my poll :) Some poor person accidentally clicked the 'no' button in my poll :/ I bet they meant to click yes button but their finger slipped...Yeah! That's it!...*Laughs nervously* Um ok, you guys still want me to write my AU right? Because I got a whole note book full of ideas...
Have an awesome day full of rainbows and smiles and I'll see you all next week! :D
Ps, I love you like Cato loves Clove. WAIT! Does he love Clove? He's not sure yet! He's still confused! MWHAAAAA!
maybe you'll find out soon ;)