Forbearance • A Cato Hadley Story

1.15

That next morning Livia was the first one up. In general she was an early riser so it was no surprise that she was up before the others. The only other person awake was Peeta, as he had been keeping watch all night. But with her eyes still closed, she didn't realize he was up. The first thing she noticed when her mind started processing everything around her was that her backpack, which she used as a makeshift pillow, was much more comfortable than when she had fallen asleep the night before.

It was comfortable enough to where she decided she didn't need to be awake yet and she snuggled closer to the pillow. But the pillow moved closer as well. In fright, the blonde shot up from the ground to get a better look at what she had been laying on. Of course, she just had to be laying with Cato. She let out a breath of relief at the realization it had just been him but she couldn't help but smile to herself at the thought of being so close to him.

She heard a sudden tired sounding, light hearted chuckle from a few feet away. With a snap of her head the baker's boy came into view. He had an exhausted smirk on his face as he watched the girl and it surprisingly didn't disappear when they locked eyes. Squinting her eyes that were a bit blurry she tried to focus on him, waiting until she could properly see. "What?" she asked curiously in a whisper, only making the baker chuckle more.

She didn't understand what was so funny to him. He leaned forward a bit, resting his elbows on his knees so she could hear him better. "Nothing. It's just that you clearly like him but you get scared any time you get too close to him." explained to her with a smile on his face. The blonde just rolled her eyes at this, annoyed at the comment. Sure she liked Cato but she knew it was best not to get too close with him, which she had unknowingly already failed at.

Although she wouldn't admit it to herself because of the games, she knew that if they were home in District Two and knew each other that maybe it would be different. But they weren't home. They were in an arena trying not to die. And no one needed to know how she felt. "I don't like him like that." she grumbled, sitting up properly in her sleeping bag. Her eyes stayed focused on her hands which now sat in her lap as she played with her fingernails.

He didn't believe her for a second. Anyone could clearly see, even without knowing the pair, that they liked each other whether or not they would say or do anything about it. "Whatever helps you sleep at night." he joked just before yawning tiredly. The girl didn't respond to this. She wasn't going to let herself have this kind of conversation with someone that she didn't trust, let alone someone that she didn't even like.

It was eerily quiet for a moment before Peeta yawned for the second time since Livia had woken up. "You should get some sleep. I'll keep watch." she told the sleep deprived boy. He looked up at her with raised eyebrows and grew confused momentarily. "What?" he asked. The girl rolled her eyes at him and repeated herself which only seemed to confuse him more. He did understand what she was saying but he assumed she would make him stay up anyways.

"You're tired and I can't go back to sleep now anyways. I'll keep watch, it's fine. So get some rest before I change my mind." she explained to him. Hesitantly the boy from Twelve put his weapon down next to him and laid on the ground, letting himself drift off to sleep, leaving the blond to bask in the silence around her. An hour or so later was when Marvel woke up. He couldn't sit up all the way with Glimmer on his chest but he lifted his head just enough to see that it was not the boy keeping watch, but Livia.

The girl still hadn't noticed that he was up as she was more focused on what was in front of her. While everyone was sleeping, she had taken it upon herself to pull out a few knives so she could kill squirrels to eat for breakfast. Already, she had gotten three under her belt and just needed two more. She had considered not getting one for Peeta but decided it would be in their best interest to let him eat so he wouldn't have any reasons not to trust the group.

"Livia?" Marvel spoke in a deep morning voice. Though she heard him, she kept her focus forward hoping another squirrel would run by sometime soon, so she simply hummed in response. Carefully, Marvel lifted Glimmer off of him and onto the ground so he could sit up properly. "Why are you keeping watch?" he asked just as Livia had hit a fourth squirrel in the center of its head.

She then got up and walked over to the now dead animal, picking it up by the handle of the knife. Once she sat back down she pulled the knife from the squirrel's body and set it with the others. "I woke up early and Baker Boy looked tired so I thought I'd let him sleep." she explained to the boy plainly.

The rest of the day was mostly uneventful for the group. They had looked through the woods all day for other tributes, ultimately not finding anyone else. Near sundown everyone agreed that they were in need of water and that they would go to a small river of water near where their camp was. Cato and Livia were at the front of the group, his arm around her shoulders as usual, followed by Glimmer and Marvel while Peeta, as usual, dragged along behind the group.

Four out of five of them were all giggling and messing around as they exited the woods and stepped onto the rocks by the river. Almost immediately the group spotted Katniss who seemed to be taking a dip in the water. Livia was the first to start running, and ended up quite far away from the group. She was so far ahead that she was actually able to catch up with the girl from Twelve. She, for a split second, thought she would be able to kill the girl, just as she had wanted to since she laid eyes on her.

But her luck was instantly put to rest when she grabbed Katniss, only to be elbowed in the face and knocked to the ground as Katniss kept running. Moments later the careers passed by her, chasing after Katniss. Cato noticed the blonde on the ground and stayed behind to help her up. Livia laid on the ground groaning as she held the side of her head in pain. "Are you okay?" the boy asked, resting his hand on the small of her back. He knew she was in pain but both of them were aware that they needed to catch up with the rest of the group.

Carefully, Cato helped the blonde off of the ground. She was clearly dizzy and stumbled after forcing herself off the ground so the taller boy held her up by the waist to help her walk. When the pair reached the group the girl from Twelve had somehow gotten herself up a tree where Glimmer and Marvel mocked her and Peeta stood silent behind them. "Where ya going?" Glimmer mocked as the girl from Twelve placed herself on a large branch.

Cato quickly passed Livia to Marvel, who she hung onto tightly, and started climbing up the tree with Glimmer and Marvel cheering him on as he climbed. He reached around a quarter of the way before falling to the ground below him with a grunt of discomfort. It was now Livia's turn to kneel down, setting her bow on the ground, and check on him making sure he was okay. He just nodded and picked himself up off the ground, pulling her up with him before holding her waist to keep her up once more.

Glimmer then grabbed an arrow from her back quiver and shot an arrow up at the girl just barely missing. "Maybe you should let someone who can actually shoot an arrow come for me!" the girl mocked from her spot high up in the trees. Livia was instantly angered by the comment and pushed herself from Cato's hold, taking a moment to regain her balance before grabbing her bow and an arrow and shooting straight up at the girl.

She would have hit Katniss but the girl had moved to her right just barely dodging the arrow that was now lodged into the tree right next to her head. "Let's just wait her out." Peeta suggested. The four other tributes looked at him weirdly, wondering what he was trying to do. "She's got to come down at some point, it's that or starve to death. Let's kill her then." he told the group. Livia looked at Cato momentarily and the boy simply shrugged to her. "Okay. Somebody make a fire."