We Are Free ~Clato~ (3 Of 3)

Chapter 76: Clove

Three days. That's how long we have until the Hunger Games for Snow's loyalists and everyone's excited. Cato and I have since moved back to District 2, but we often travel to help out in the poorer districts, since we have open travel now. We've decided that we'll go to the Capitol for the Reaping, since it's an 'important event', as my mother says.

"Cato we need to pack" I say from our room. He walks out of the bathroom in only a pair of shorts and smirks. He grabs his gray duffel bag, one of the ones we used before the Hunger Games, And drops it on the bed. He looks around a while and smirks at me creepily. I smile awkwardly and he picks me up gently and carries me to the bed. Instead of dumping me on the bed he drops me in the bag and tucks the sides around me.

"What are you doing?" I ask, trying to hold in my fear. He just continues until I'm perfectly fit into the bag and starts to zip it up slowly. I thrash a little but he plants a soft kiss, stopping me immediately.

"You're all I need, so I need to take you" he says laughing lightly. I smirk wildly and he laughs harder.

"How long have you been planning that one?" I ask climbing out of the bag and sitting up. He shrugs and pulls me up softly. He pushes me, a little roughly, onto the wall and starts to kiss me repeatedly. I try to catch my breath but that's almost impossible. His hands roams my body roughly and he pulls me close, too close.

"Cato, calm down" I say pushing him back. He looks into my eyes, almost hurt, and backs off slowly. "I'm not leaving you, if that's what you're thinking" I say smiling lightly. He nods and holds me close.

"I'm sorry" he says looking away. I smile and kiss his cheek softly, which means standing on my tip-toes to reach. "I just get really protective and-" he stops to think carefully "I need you, probably more than you need me" he says sadly. I smile and start packing. I stuff about a week's worth of clothes and toiletries into my matching bag and watch as Cato packs his stuff.

I lay on the bed and he circles his bag carefully, probably trying to remember what he hasn't packed. He smiles finally and lays next to me slowly. I curl around him and squeeze him tightly.

"I am never leaving you" I say quietly "And you will never leave me" I say and intimidatingly as I can. He laughs lightly and rolls over to face me. 

'Why are you so cute?' I ask myself, well it's true. He's like an adorable mutt pup, cute but viscous. I lean close to his ear to tease him and start to whisper.

"Cato, guess what" I say running my lips against his ears softly, trying to tickle him. I feel him smile and I smirk "You're so-" I stop myself and breath in lightly "Adorable" I say quickly and he grabs me playfully but the waist. He pulls me to him and growls jokingly.

"I am not adorable" he says deeply but with a smile "I'm sexy" he adds, ferociously. I try to roll my eyes but he's right. He is sexy, so of course I nod. I kiss him lightly and roll onto him.

"We should get ready to go, we have to leave early in the morning tomorrow" I say boredly. He nods and we sit up slowly. I stand up and walk downstairs, to Dagger waiting by her food bowl. Yep, she's back. After we moved back in to District 2, my mom gave us our dog back. I feed her some of the raw chicken I'm going to cook and she gobbles it down almost instantly.

"Sorry girl, that's it" I say as she starts to whine for more. I start to rub the chicken with some seasoning that my mom call her 'secret weapon' and put it in the oven. I start to make some salad but stop as 2 strong hands grab my waist. I freak out and look back quickly, just Cato, I sigh loudly.

"Sorry I didn't mean to scare you" he says holding me tightly, but not painfully tight. I snuggle into him and he kisses my forehead. I look up at him and he sneaks a kiss on my lips. I turn, still kissing, so it's more comfortable.

The oven starts to ring, breaking our kiss and I walk quickly to pull out the meal. I start to rush to make the salad but Cato pull me away gently. He tells me he'd do it, since it was easy enough, and I started to carve the chicken. I plate it as 'beautifully' as I can and he serves us both some colorful salad.

"We're good together" I say and take a bite of the chicken, yep tastes like home. Well the taste reminds me of home, not that my home tastes like chicken. Cato laughs, with a mouth full of salad which is new. He's usually the one that eats the meat while I gorge myself with salad. I like change but it still feels too new.

"Can you eat the meat" I say suddenly, he nods carefully as if not sure what I just did. I look at him and try to say sorry, I don't know why this would bother me so much. I smile weakly and his eyes gleam with joy, he must really like the chicken.

Dagger starts to bark angrily and runs to the door. I stand up and follow Cato carefully. There's a strange, almost unrecognizable woman at the door. I gasp quietly and open the door quickly.

"My dear" Wilma says as we hug tightly "We're going to go now, the Reaping is set for the morning so we have to leave now" she says happily. I nod and look at Cato, who looks back at Wilma unsure. I smile lightly and she looks down at Dagger nervously.

"Dagger, calm down" Cato says deeply, and of course she does. She whines silently and Wilma passes her, very carefully.

"You want some chicken and salad?" Cato asks, but already walking to kitchen. Wilma says her usual 'please and thank you' and looks back at me, now joined by Dagger. Dagger lays her head on my legs and huffs, annoyed.

"Your mother and brothers will meet us on the train" she says excitedly " but we do have to go soon" I nod plainly and look down at Dagger, who's going to take her?

"Oh and Cato" Wilma says as she sits up suddenly. "Your parents are in the Capitol, you can see them when you get there" she says calmly. As if she doesn't care as much. He nods quietly and sits on my other side.

"We should get going" Wilma says as she gets up, with some incredible swiftness. We nod and I run upstairs to get our bags and make a call.

"Gunnar! I need something important, I have to go to the Capitol Reaping" I start quickly "Can you take care of Dagger?" I wait quietly and he agrees quickly "I'll come over in about 2 minutes, hope you have fun" he says jokingly and I hang up. Cato walks in slowly, as if nervous and I hand him a bag.

"Gunnar is going to take Dagger so we can get going" I say as we walk downstairs and he nods, almost bitterly. He's jealous, that's cute. I laugh at him lightly and Dagger walks to the door carefully, as if sensing the future.

"Clove?" I hear a very familiar voice through the door. I grab Dagger's leash from the table and open the door to Gunnar smiling wildly. I clip Dagger's leash to her collar, and hand it to him. He grabs the bag of food from next to door and they leave hastily. I look back and Cato and he huffs, his chest expanding in spite.

"We need to go" Wilma says as she claps her dainty hands excitedly. I nod and grab one of the bags and we head down the streets to the train tracks. We board and I sit next to Cato on the couch, with our bags at our feet.

"Same train as usual" Wilma says sitting in the chair across from us. Same train? So that means same train I was raped in and I lost Cato in? Great, I sigh loudly. "Both of your families should be around" she adds and walks, well trots off, casually. I look back at Cato and grin, causing him to smirk. He grabs my waist firmly, but not to a painful point, and pulls me on top of him. I smirk and he pulls me close, planting a rough kiss on my lips. His hands slip to my waist and he tugs at my shirt softly.