This one is for @Kiko_and_Clato :)
Authour's Note: Sorry I keep changing Clove's mom's name... It was Reagan in one and Diane in this one and another one as well, and in my Panem High story, it's Lauren... I am thinking I will go in and change it to Diane in everything.
The clap of thunder startled Clove, causing her to spill her hot chocolate all over her white hoodie. She groaned and stood up, exasperated. She slipped out of the hoodie and into a black one with light pink cursive letters spelling out Coastal Performing Arts Academy, one of the half-dozen of Glimmer's sweatshirts currently residing in Clove's closet (as opposed to the 9 of her sweaters in Glimmer's closet).
She paused her music and put her earbuds in her pocket, sprinting down the stairs with light footsteps, cocoa mug in one hand, dirty hoodie in the other, to the kitchen, tossing the hoodie into the laundry room as she passed it.
She placed the ceramic mug on the counter and grabbed the cocoa powder and chocolate chips from the pantry and the milk and maple syrup from the fridge. She turned on one of the burners on the stovetop and placed a saucepan on it, filling it up halfway with milk to heat that up before she added the rest. She put some cocoa powder and maple syrup in a liquid measuring cup and mixed it together with a fork, and when she was satisfied with the smooth consistency, she melted a bowlful of chocolate chips in the microwave for thirty seconds. She mixed them around a bit before scraping the melted chocolate into the cocoa-and-syrup mixture with a spatula, then poured the combined chocolate into the hot milk. She whisked it together and filled her mug and another, which she brought to her mom.
"Thanks, love," Diane smiled.
"No problem."
Clove was about to head upstairs when her phone chimed. She pulled it out of the pocket of her fuzzy black and white polka-dot pyjama pants and checked the message. It was from Cato, and it read Can I come over?. Clove replied quickly with a thumbs-up emoji and covered the saucepan so the hot chocolate wouldn't cool down before Cato arrived.
A few minutes later, when she had already had a mugful of cocoa, there was a knock at the door, which Clove answered to reveal Cato, sopping wet in his track pants and hoodie and holding a broken umbrella.
"Oh my god," Clove groaned, rolling her eyes. "Want to explain?"
Cato shot her a tentative smile. "Can I come in first?"
She rolled her eyes and he stepped in, shutting the door behind him.
"Soccer practice," he said. "My parents are stuck at work and couldn't pick me up and I wanted to see you."
"Aw," she smiled, rubbing her thumb along his jawline.
"Um, I'm a bit cold, and you know, soaked... so..."
"Oh, shut up, I'll get you some of my dad's pyjamas," Clove scoffed, and Cato dropped a kiss on her forehead with a grin.
Clove rushed upstairs into her parents' room. She went into the closet and opened the bottom drawer of her dad's dresser, pulling out a pair of black and white plaid pyjama pants and a thick Toronto Maple Leafs crew neck sweatshirt (a team that Clove hated with a passion but her entire family supported. If her dad so happened to have an Anaheim Ducks or Boston Bruins sweatshirt, she most definitely would have chosen that instead).
She sprinted downstairs and handed the clothes to Cato, who slipped into the bathroom to change. He emerged a minute later in the pyjamas and Clove put his soaked clothing in the dryer with an extra drying sheet.
"Let's get some hot chocolate," she said, trying not to pay attention to how cozy and snuggly he looked.
She ladled some cocoa into her burgundy mug and got a Bruins mug out of the cupboard and filled it up for Cato.
"Thanks," he whispered with a knowing grin.
She rolled her eyes at him. "Let's go upstairs." They walked up the stairs and into Clove's room. She picked her Chromebook up off of her desk and Cato sat in the corner of Clove's bed, which was nestled in the corner of the room. Clove sat next to him and logged into her Chromebook.
"Netflix or Disney?" she asked.
"Hmmm..."
"Let me put it this way," Clove said. "Back to the Future or Peter Pan?"
"Peter Pan," Cato replied after some deliberation, so Clove opened Disney+ and searched the movie's title.
Cato took a sip of his hot chocolate and looked at her.
"What?" she asked sharply.
"Nothing," Cato laughed.
"What?" Clove asked again.
"You're cute," Cato grinned.
"Call me that again and I will stick a knife in your stomach, and we'll see how 'cute' I am then," she said, green eyes flashing dangerously as she took a sip of her hot chocolate, clicked on Peter Pan and pressed the play button.
"I can't believe you like this movie," Cato said.
"I can't believe you like this movie," she replied nonchalantly over a sudden clap of thunder.
"Just come here," he said, rolling his eyes and extending his arm as lightning flashed outside.
Clove leaned into him and lifted her computer so he could cover the two of them with blankets.
"I am just going to make one thing clear," she said calmly. "If you call me cute again I will spit in your hot chocolate."
