So so so so so sorry for not updating! I have had so much school work :( Plus my internet was down :( I love my reviewers. NEVER think that I don't appreciate you. EVER. Also this chapter is late because I have been working on my AU story! So far I've got 2,757 words for the first chapter! I HOPE YOU ALL LIKE IT! Just so you know Cato and Clove are both 16. Ps, I'm a idiot. I've been spelling 'wipes' wrong. I've been writing 'whips'. wtf is wrong with me? Also don't forget to vote in my poll!

Chapter 26

Word count:2,745

Clove's POV

When I wake I feel the soft comfort of warm bed sheets around me. I instinctively reach out for Cato to confirm that everything was just a dream. I'm met with a flutter of confusing thoughts as I feel the spot beside me is cold.

My eyes slowly open to find myself looking at red bedsheets- not blue. My eyebrows knit together as I try to sort out why the color has changed. I lift my head to find that the entire room is a deep crimson color with soft velvet drapes hanging over a large window.

"Cato?" I question in a whisper as I sit up. I see a light pink color out of the corner of my eye causing me to automatically look down. My eyes find a pare of baby pink pajamas with white stripes covering me.

"Huh?" I breathe. I don't own anything pink. In fact, I prefer to stay a good distance from anyone who wears the retched color.

With shaky hands I pull the sheet back and step out of the bed. My head feels light as I try to remember the last thing that happened. I was with Cato, at home, getting ready for the reaping. . . .right?

The memory seems blurred and confusing. Almost like that in between phase of being awake and dreaming. I feel a bead of sweat drip down my forehead as I tip toe to the metal door of the unknown room. I grasp the cold handle tightly before slowly pulling it open.

I appear to be in some sort of apartment. My breathing picks up as I feel myself beginning to panic. I hesitantly step out of the room and into a poorly lit hallway.

"Pssst."

I whip my head around in the direction of the noise to see absolutely nothing. Before I can react someone is pulling me back into the bedroom I woke up in. A large callused hand muffles my cries of protest.

"Clove." A voice whispers.

I stop trying to fight and remain still. "Cato?" I question shakily. My voice comes out muffled.

He releases me and I quickly turn around to face him. He wasn't in the room when I woke up, was he?

My face scrunches up at his current appearance, though I feel a unmeasurable amount of relief that he's here. He looks somewhat sick. He has bags underneath his eyes and his skin looks blotchy. A light purple bruise is beginning to form on his cheek and his eyes are slightly red.

"You gave me a heart attack. What the hell's going on?" I say as I hold a hand to my heart, feeling its irregular rhythm.

"I screwed up." He says while running a hand through his hair.

His words cause me to feel nervous. "Cato, what happened?" I ask him slowly.

He doesn't respond, instead he takes a step forward and wraps his arms around me. I feel confused by the gesture. I want to know where I am how I got here. I don't have time for hugs. I need to know why I woke up in a strange room wearing pink and why Cato seems to be so upset.

"I'm sorry." He whispers into my hair.

My arms remain limp at my sides.

"What?" I mumble out in confusion.

"I'm so sorry Clove." He tells me while hugging me tighter.

"Cato where are we?" I ask hesitantly.

He pulls back and looks at me. "You might want to sit down for this." He says slowly. I give him a confused look as I take a seat on the end of the bed. He sits down next to me and lets out a long sigh.

"We're on the Capitol train." He says quietly after a few moments of silence.

I feel my body tense up.

"What?" I gasp.

"Don't you remember anything?" He says with a humorless laugh.

I shake my head slowly. "Are you saying that-. . . . . . ?" I trail off.

The look on his face says it all. He reaches for my hand but I harshly pull it away.

"No." I say firmly. "You're lying." I accuse him.

"Then how do you explain what's happening right now?" He snaps with a surprising amount of anger.

"It's just a dream." I say while turning my head the other way. I refuse to believe the words that have just come out of his mouth. "All my dreams feel real, this is just one of them." I say while brushing off the glare he gives me.

Without warning he grabs my arm and roughly pinches the skin.

"Ow!" I exclaim as I pull away with a grimace.

"Still dreaming?" He questions.

I blink several times as I try to find a reason to why I'm not waking up.

No.

This is not happening. Things like this don't happen to me. No. No. No. No. No. He can't be right. He can't.

"Cato?" I say in a small whisper as tears begin to form in my eyes. I blink them back furiously.

"Yes?" He says in a gruff voice.

"Why are we here?" I murmur.

"Because the odds weren't exactly in our favor." He whispers back.

I feel like a knife is twisting in my gut. Without a second's hesitation I jump on top of him and bury my face into the fabric of his shirt as small sobs begin to wreck my body. His arms wrap tightly around me as he holds me close to his chest.

"Don't worry, you gonna make it home, I promise." He says firmly.

"B-but I d-don't w-wanna g-go home without y-you." I sob as I cling to him. I have no one. And I will not let the Capitol take away the only thing I love in my life.

"Shhhh. Calm down." He says softly as he places a kiss on my head.

"I don't want you to die." I say shakily as another round of tears begin to flow freely from my eyes at the thought.

"I don't want to die either, but if it gets you home it'll be worth it." He says quietly.

I pull back so I can look at him.

"You don't get it. I h-have n-no home without y-you." I whimper with quivering lips.

The pad of his callused thumb wipes away a salty teardrop.

"Well, we're going to end up being the final two, and you are going to win." He says while giving me a fake smile. I can see the pain in his eyes and it fucking breaks my heart.

"No Cato." I whine.

Before I can say anything else his lips softly brush against mine. They linger there for a moment before he pulls away and rest his forehead against my own. His eyes light up suddenly causing my brow to furrow at his sudden excitement.

"I could always bribe the Gamemakers." He breaths.

"What?" I mumble in between sniffles.

"You know, pay them off." He whispers.

"You think that would work?" I question, perking up slightly at the option.

"Maybe. When we get to the Capitol I'm going to have a meeting with my parents. We'll see what they can do." He says as he leans in and wipes away another tear. This time he uses his lips.

I allow the feeling of hope to fill me. "Promise?" I whisper. My voice cracks.

"I swear on my life." He says Solemnly.

I look down at my feet and say nothing in response. I feel so many emotions at once it's over whelming. I feel angry at the Capitol, upset with myself, depressed about the Games, and above all, scared. I hate admitting things like this but I'm terrified. I really don't care about winning right now, I just want to go home. And home doesn't exist without Cato.

I rub my palm against my cheek as I wipe away the final trace of tears. As I stare at my feet, I'm reminded once again that I'm dressed in pink.

"Cato." I say hesitantly as I look up.

"Hmmm?" He says in response. He seems to be deep in thought and almost bothered that I interrupted his thinking.

"Who changed my cloths?" I ask him.

His face goes pale slightly. "Well. . . .after they knocked you out your stylist insisted on getting you into something else to wear, but I told her that if you woke up you'd attacked her like you attacked me at the reaping, so she left." He says with a shrug.

"I attacked you?" I say in shock. My voice breaks due to my previous out burst. When will I stop hurting him?

He waves me off. "Don't worry about it, I'll explain later." He says while turning to look at the door.

"So. . . .who ended up changing my cloths?" I mumble while glancing curiously at him.

"Ok, in my defense, I really didn't want them touching you anyway." He says innocently.

I feel my face heat at his confession. "You took my cloths off?" I squeak.

"I didn't look." He says quickly. "Well. . . . .I kinda had to look to get your arms though the sleeves but that's it." He insists.

I turn away from him in embarrassment.

"Are you blushing?" He asks me, sounding genuinely surprised. "You don't have to be embarrassed, I don't wear a shirt half the time." He says with a shrug.

"That's different! You're a guy. And I was passed out so the whole situation just seems creepy." I say, adding a forced shiver for effect.

"I'm not creepy." He says with a pout as he envelops me in his arms. I rest my head against his shoulder as he does so.

"No, you're not creepy, just a little psychotic." I whisper.

"Well, you must be right because I don't think a sane person could love you like I do." He says while pressing his lips against my cheek.

"Stop being so goddamn sweet." I mumble. His words cause a few tear drops to drip down my face.

"You taste salty." He says with a laugh as he begins to pepper my face with soft, slow, kisses. I let him do as he pleases. Frankly, it feels nice. And the small action makes me feel as if everything might work out.

"We're going to be just fine Clover." He breathes. "Have a little faith in me." He whispers as he presses his lips against my forehead.

We lock eyes. Blue meeting green. I desperately want to feel closer to him, to feel his lips against mine. It's the only thing that will successfully calm my nerves. Cato seems to feel the same way because his next move doesn't surprise me at all.

He places one hand on my waist and the other on the nape of my neck, pulling me forward so I'm firmly sitting on his lap. He stares at me for a moment before our lips finally make contact. His lips brush against mine softly at first, but his movements soon become desperate and rough. I can feel his anger over taking him as he crashes his lips against mine with a heated combination of insanity and desire. His hate for the Capitol is over powering everything at the moment, which causes him to become extremely sadistic in his actions towards me. He bites harshly on my lower lip causing me to whimper in pain at the sting of his teeth. A warm pool of red liquid begins dripping from the fresh wound which he promptly removes with his tongue before sucking lightly on the newly exposed flesh. His tongue then slides past my lips as he begins to explore the depth of my mouth. I part my lips to allow him better access. He purposely strokes my tongue with his own so I'm forced to taste my blood on his lips. I grip his shoulders as I try to regain control of my senses. I feel so many things at once it hurts. I decide to cut off my thought process and focus solely on Cato. I have time to cry about everything later. But now, I'm only allowed to focus on him and what he's doing to me. Everyone deals with pain a different way. Cato and I prefer to ignore our problems, but I have a feeling that what we're going to have a little bit of difficulty ignoring what we're going to face in a few days.

I place my attention back on him, or his lips rather. They feel warm despite their roughness and soft despite his anger. He lets out a low growl of approval when I shift my position on his lap. As our lips move together he begins leaning back causing me to grip his shoulders a little tighter. He continues leaning back till I fall on top of him with a small 'ooof'. His legs lock around my thighs as his hands trail down to my ass. I knot my fingers in his hair and pull harshly at the roots as our mouths battle for dominance. This is no lovely-dovey kiss. It's purely composed of hatred and love. . . .Hatred aimed entirely at the Capitol and love being the mutual feeling we share.

"I. . . love. . . . you." He says in between kisses.

I let his words fill me up inside.

"Love you." I murmur as I rest my hand against his cheek.

In one smooth movement he flips me so I'm on my back. His knees are on either side of my waist making him seem somewhat intimidating as he leans over me. He pins my arms above my head before leaving a trail of open mouthed kisses along my neck line. My eyes wander around the room as he does so.

"Cato." I say quickly.

"Hmmm?" He hums as he nips at my skin.

". . . . the door is open." I whisper. He groans as he climbs off me. He makes it to the door faster than humanly possible before slamming it shut and locking it with a small 'click'. He slowly turns to face me with a look I've never seen him wear. It's a mixture of hunger and. . . .excitement? I'm not sure. He trudges back to the bed, pulling he shirt over his head as he does so. My breathing becomes slightly heavy at the sight of his perfectly sculpted chest.

"See something you like?" He asks with a smirk.

I quickly turn my head towards the closet as I feel my face heat. I watch out of the corner of my eye as he crawls back over to me. The bed dips under his weight and only then do I finally meet his stare.

"I think I want to try something. . . . . ." He muses as he settles himself over me and once again brings his lips to mine.

Cliff hanger! I think it's a cliff hanger. . . Anyway, this chapter was sad mixed with a little fluff! I want to thank everyone that reviewed the last chapter. It means the world to me. It seriously is the high light of my week.

PLEASE GIVE ME IDEAS for when Cato and Clove are in the Games together. Should they be open about their relationship? Should they pretend to hate each other? Let me know!

Also are we still going with IMPLIED lemons?

PS: . . . I love you