Forbearance • A Cato Hadley Story

1.05

Livia stood there as Annette adjusted her dress, fixing any last details on her dress that needed to be fixed. A few places here and there on the dress had bunched up in the 20 minutes she had been out of her dressing room but that was a quick and easy fix. "Alright remember to smile, remember to just be you, and remember that this first impression could get you sponsors. So be good." Annette told the girl in a rushed manner before shoving the blonde onto the chariot next to Cato.

The shorter girl glanced at the boy next to her for a moment. He kept a straight face and kept his attention in front of him, not sparing the small girl a glance as he stood tall and proud. As it was clear that she wasn't going to gain the boy's attention, she just took a deep breath and turned her head forward as well. A minute or so passed and people started clearing from the path of the chariots, signaling that the Tribute Parade would soon start.

The blonde carefully wrapped her fingers around the edge of the chariot, bracing herself for the movement just in case the sudden jerk of being pulled forward caused her to lose her balance. Thankfully her instincts were correct and just as she had managed to get a full grip in the chariot she started moving forward. She still wobbled backwards slightly but didn't go far and was able to regain her balance quickly.

"You good?" Cato asked from beside her, leaning down slightly so she could hear him over the screams and hollers from the crowd which only got louder as they got closer to the end of the tunnel. Livia looked up at the boy, questioning his sudden worries for her but simply nodded, assuming that with her being quiet as it was and the crowd growing louder that he probably wouldn't hear her; And if he did, he probably wouldn't be able to understand her anyways.

Without any nod of understanding from him, Cato looked straight forward again and let his usual smirk appear on his face just as they exited the tunnel. Livia smiled at the crowd, waving at Capitol citizens as she passed by, just as her district partner was doing. As she waved, some people in the stands waved back, some blew kisses, some shouted at her and the other tributes, and some even threw roses in her direction.

Drawn into being in the spotlight for the first time in her entire life, Cato pulled her out of it by nudging her upper arm. Livia threw him a confused look as she brought her hand down and onto the edge of the carriage. Once more, the well built boy leaned down some and spoke in her ear. "Give me your hand." he told her. Now even more confused, the girl squinted her eyes at the demand. It didn't make sense to her what holding hands was supposed to do.

"They'll love it." he reassured her. The blonde thought for a short moment before hesitantly reaching for his hand. As she gripped his hand in hers, her mind was brought back to the reaping. That weird feeling in her stomach had returned, though it wasn't as hard to ignore now as it had been the day before. With one last deep breath, Livia took their hands and raised them high into the air with a bright smile on her face.

Not a genuine smile but one believable to someone who didn't know her well; One believable enough for the crowd. The moment the pair's hands were lifted into the air, the crowd went wild. Cato looked at the blonde with a smile, grateful that she had a small idea of how to get going. Three quarters of the crowd were chanting the words 'District Two' for a few moments before they started screaming and cheering louder than before.

Livia, for a split second, assumed that it had been for her and Cato. That was until she noticed that all eyes were focused on something towards the end of the line of chariots. She wondered what could have been so captivating with the last few districts not being anything special. The girl quickly turned to face the back of the line to see what the big deal was and as far as she was concerned, nothing interesting.

Until she realized that it was the pair from District Twelve that had caught everyone's attention. There was a bright light coming from their chariot and being so far ahead in line being from District Two, it took a few seconds to realize that those 'lights' weren't just lights. They were on fire. Livia's eyes widened when she realized this piece of information. "What the fuck?" she spoke aloud and gaining Cato's attention.

"What is it?" he asked confused, also turning to understand what had her so bewildered. When he caught sight of it, his face immediately filled with anger as he watched the two at the end of the line. "Fucking kiss ups." he said before both of them turned back around and the horses pulling the chariot came to a stop. At the stillness between the two, Livia looked down at her hand which was still being held in Cato's.

Not that it mattered, she just didn't see him as one who was willing to be in contact with people for any longer than a minute. After the District Twelve chariot pulled into its spot the crowd went quiet. A moment passed and Livia caught sight of President Snow stepping up to a podium quite high up and far away from the twenty four tributes in the chariots on the ground. Snow took a moment and observed all twenty four children, silently debating with himself on who would win this year's games.

"Tributes, we welcome you. We salute your courage and your sacrifice." Snow started. "And we wish you Happy Hunger Games. And may the odds be ever in your favor." he told the tributes before leaving the podium. Each chariot one by one started it's path back into the tunnel, the crowd cheering once more as each pair of teens from the twelve existing districts disappeared into the depths of the tunnel.

Once Livia's chariot came to a full stop she immediately hopped down onto the cement floor, followed by Cato, only getting off from the force of her pulling him, still holding hands. In pure nervousness Livia let go of his hand, which felt odd in some way or another, and helped Cato take the gold piece of material off of his head. The taller boy laughed as she slipped the headband off of his head, mostly amused by the fact that she knew that he wasn't fond of it.

"Thanks," he laughed out. Livia suddenly felt a pair of eyes on her, but not any sort of welcoming pair of eyes. To the girls right, she caught sight of Katniss staring at both her and Cato. The taller boy noticed her looking over and followed her line of eyesight, also catching the girl from Twelve staring at him and his district partner. Instantly, Cato followed Livia's actions and glared at the girl from Twelve, pushing the small girl slightly behind him, both holding their stance.

Katniss uncomfortably turned away from the two and went back to talking with her mentor. "Oh, you two did wonderful! The crowd loved you!" Annette said as she walked up to the pair with a wide smile across her face, proud of the two tributes and how they had done. Livia smiled at the blue haired woman as a thank you while Cato kept a straight face and glanced over at Katniss every so often.

It was almost as if he was set to keep an eye on her just in case she had a change of heart and tried anything. Livia took a glance at her every few seconds or so as well, making sure she kept her game face on. "Well then, let's head up to where you'll be staying the next two weeks." Augusta said as she walked up to the three. The four then walked down a somewhat secluded hallway, only passing someone every once and a while.

The elevator was quite fast and their room was only on level three so the ride up was quite short as well as silent. Upon arriving in the room, Livia was taken aback. Never before had she lived somewhere so big and elegant. It was beautiful. "Alright, Livia, you're going to be staying in the room over here to the left. Cato, the same on the right. Enobaria's just down the hall if you need her." Augusta told the pair.

But Livia wasn't paying attention. She just went straight to her room and slammed the door behind her. All she wanted was to be alone. Livia's room was big. Much bigger than her room back in District Two. A king sized bed sat in the middle of the room in between two tan colored nightstands, each with a lamp on top. The blonde tried to admire the room but all that filled her head were the thoughts that reminded her that in two weeks she wouldn't be there to enjoy these things anymore.