Dangerous Affection- The Hunger Games- A Cato Love Story

Chapter 23: The More the Merrier

The boys do what I ask, of course, and we walk the mile in the direction I had indicated.

"Okay. Stop. Stop walking, moving, breathing, blinking. Just stop." I tell them.

Cato does all of the above, suddenly becoming straight as a rod, his face strained with fake effort. I slap him and roll my eyes, and then shut them.

I can hear the slight hum of the fence of District 11 slightly to my right, slightly ahead of me. I don't wait for Cato and Ryder, I walk to the sound, correctly assuming they will follow.

Not too soon later, the electric fence was in our line of sight, and you could see the apple orchards on the other side. I pick my way to our left, parallel to the fence.

"So... Where are we? What are you doing?" Cato asks.

"She was right. District 11. Or well, outside of it anyway. Those are the orchards. Alexandra here is leading us back in the direction of the houses." Ryder speaks up.

"Alex... What are you planning on doing?" Cato reaches out and puts a hand on my shoulder to stop me in my tracks.

"I don't know yet. I just want to see it. I have a very dangerous, very irrational need to see my home, and I'm going to obey it. I don't care what you do. Follow me or don't. You aren't changing my mind either." I shake off his hand, and continue on.

Cato sighs and shakes his head, and he and Ryder follow without a word.

Not too long later, I stop behind some brush and crouch down, already seeing the guards lounging around my house like they owned the place. I grit my teeth in frustration, wishing I could go up there and slap every single one of them for invading my family's lives.

"Is that it...?" Cato trails off, already knowing the answer by my expression of longing and hatred directed at the place.

I look at him, feeling the tears burning in my eyes, threatening to break free. Cato reaches up and cups my face in his hand, stroking my cheek with his thumb. I lean into it and close my eyes, while a tear tries to make its way down my face before Cato catches it.

"What do you want to do, my Princess? I'd live out here away from everybody just me and you if that's what you wanted and you know it. I don't think you could do that though. Your brothers mean too much to you, and you can't argue with me." He speaks softly, and I find myself wishing Ryder wasn't there, wishing I could break down and let everything I've been holding in go right then.

But he was, even though he had stepped away, and it wasn't the time or place for dramatic mental break downs.

"I... I have to go in there. I know I'll be caught. Hell, they might even shoot me down. But I'll take that over staying out here, never seeing them again. You don't have to come with me and I don't really expect you to. If they question me, I won't know where you are. You can be safe out here. Both of you." I speak up slightly, knowing full well that Ryder is listening in.

"I'm not leaving you. Who knows, torture could be fun," Cato smiles a bit.

Ryder sighs. "Well. I'm screwed out here on my own. I don't know what you have in store for us here, Alexandra, but I don't have much of a choice but to join in it."

"The more the merrier," Cato grins.

I scrub at my eyes and stand up, a smile breaking out across my face without permission. "Well, whatever. No point in standing out here any longer."

We stash our weapons a few yards beyond the fence. There is no way we will be able to fight off the guards, and we silently agreed it was better to leave them where they could be of use to us in the future, or in any case to my family.

As we turn back towards the fence, Cato catches my wrist suddenly, and pulls me in for a soft yet... Hungry kiss, if that's even possible. It only lasts seconds until he breaks away, leaving me staring at him open mouthed and with a startled expression on my face. His eyes flick across mine a few times before he turns and heads towards the fence. I make myself blink a couple times, not quite registering yet what just happened, then follow with Ryder trailing behind me.

I jog up to Cato the last few feet, getting ahead of him to lead them to where we could enter. We slip under, and are half way across the field before the guards from the Capital notice us. They start yelling and shouting, and we drop to our knees as they instruct.

*Xavier's P.O.V.*

It's one of those few days where neither Trevor nor I could get any extra work, and we were all at home plopped down on the couch, watching Marco play with his toys.

Then the shouting began.

"IT'S HER!" We hear one of them yell. "What- holy crap! Uh, what did we decide?! Kill or capture?!"

All of us are on our feet, and the one guy, the one who had always been on the side to capture Alex and not kill her, started shouting across the field, to wherever she was.

"GET DOWN! STOP ADVANCING! DOWN ON YOUR KNEES OR WE FIRE!" He shouted, all having their weapons ready now.

"Trevor, get Marco and go into the bedroom. Now." I say through clenched teeth.

Marco starts to object, but Trevor grabs him and hauls him into the bedroom, shutting the door behind them. I move towards the door and yank it open, daring any one of the guards to stop me.

They barely take any notice of me, the four of them trying to seem in control while trembling with fear as they cross the few yards to where Alex, Cato and Ryder kneel in the grass, hands behind their heads. One each went to Alex and Ryder, two to Cato. I give them slight props for having enough sense there.

I meet Alex's eyes, and she shakes her head slightly. She doesn't want me to stop them. Doesn't want me doing something stupid. Her eyes flick to the house, and it takes every ounce of will power not to start attacking the men grabbing my sister like an animal, every part of me screaming at myself that she would kill me if I left Trevor and Marco alone.

One of them gets in contact with the Capital. I know there are only minutes before one of the cars in the city of District 11 get here. I stare Alex down as the minutes past, and only when the car pulls up does she mouth something to me.

"I love you."