Forbearance • A Cato Hadley Story

1.20

Sunrise thankfully came sooner than expected. The pair had mutually decided that Livia would be the one to leave for the Cornucopia and gather what they needed. Cato was hesitant letting her go but he knew she could handle herself against whoever was left, as none of them really came as a threat. As the blonde prepared to leave the muscular boy held her tightly, silently praying that she would be alright.

After a moment of holding each other in an embrace the boy placed a gentle kiss on her forehead and let her head out to get their needed items. The walk to the open field was eerily quiet. She could feel a sort of lingering presence around her as she neared the Cornucopia but she couldn't place her finger just where it was. And though it didn't seem like anything to be worried about, she kept her eyes open for anything out of the ordinary.

The field was quite peaceful when the girl stepped onto the warm, green grass. Her eyes immediately moved toward a table with four bags. One each was a number. Two, Five, Eleven and Twelve. She almost stepped out into the open plain but quickly stopped herself from advancing forward when she caught sight of Katniss going for her item. A smile found its way to the blonde's face as she prepared herself to take down the brunette.

She had been given her one chance and Livia was ready to make sure her time was up. It took only a split second for her to start sprinting towards the girl. The girl from Twelve ran to the table to grab her designated bag, not bothering to stop, and ran to the other side of the small building only to be met with the girl from Two. Livia wasted no time grabbing a knife from her back pocket and chucking it at the girl. Unfortunately she barely grazed the teens forehead, causing the dark haired girl to fall backwards and onto the ground.

So as Katniss tried to pull herself to her feet the blonde used this to her advantage and charged at the older girl. The brunette managed to bring herself to her knees and shoot an arrow at Livia but completely missed and was tackled to the ground. Both girls stumbled to the ground as they collided and started fighting the other, rolling on the ground as they each tried to keep the other on the ground. After a minute or so of trying to pin the other down on the grass, the girl from Two had gotten Katniss almost glued to the floor.

Katniss now had a knife to her neck. And this wasn't one of Livia's usual knives. It was much bigger; one that she had found in the woods somewhere. "Where's lover boy?" she taunted, feeling Katniss try and free her arms from under her feet. Livia knew she had hit a soft spot and she liked it. This was it. She could end it for the girl from Twelve right then and there. "Oh, I see. You were gonna help him. Well that's sweet! Well, it's too bad that you couldn't help your little friend." the blonde continued.

The brunette whimpered at the mention of Rue, trying once more to break free of Livia's hold. But both teens knew she wasn't going anywhere. "That little girl, what was her name again? Rue? Yeah, well Marvel killed her. And you killed Marvel. And now, I'm gonna kill you." she finished as she slowly started to push the knife into Katniss' neck.

Unfortunately she wasn't going to be able to know the victory of killing the girl just yet as a strong pair of hands pulled her off of the ground and slammed her against the Cornucopia. It was Thresh. Not that the blonde was scared of him per say but he was much bigger and much stronger than her. "You kill her?" he yelled, shoving the small girl farther onto the metal structure. She frantically shook her head no in hopes that the boy would free her.

"I heard you!" he shouted, his voice growing deeper and angrier with each time he spoke. "Get off me!" she demanded just before kneeing him in the stomach which caused him to let go of her and fall to the ground. In that moment the girl was grateful that she had somehow kept a hold of her bow the entire time because it certainly came in handy. Swiftly she pulled an arrow out of her back quiver and aimed at the final tribute from Eleven, shooting him straight in the chest.

She felt horrible but she knew she had no choice. The teen slowly fell to the ground and stiffened after a few moments. The cannon went off after fifteen seconds or so, signaling the boy was dead. Now it was silent. Almost too silent. The girl from Twelve was gone. But Livia didn't care at the moment. She just sighed and grabbed the bag with the two on it, trudging back to the cave where Cato remained.

When she arrived back at the cave Cato didn't hesitate to engulf the girl in a hug, almost knocking her off of her feet. "I thought it was you. I heard the cannon and I thought it was you." he whispered into the crook of her neck. The two lingered in the hug in silence, or at least Livia thought it was silent. She could hear the teen sniffle quietly and she pulled back a bot so she could look at him questioningly.

"Are you crying?" she asked him as she moved her left hand to cradle his rosy cheek. "No I don't cry." he joked, causing both of them to laugh. The small girl looked up at him, not uttering a word, and leaned close to him. She cautiously leaned towards him and placed a swift kiss on his lips, making the moment quick yet still comforting for the both of them. "I'm right here." she reassured him quietly, smiles forming on their faces.

With little to no warning, Cato captured the blonde's lips in his just as she had done moments before, only this time lingering a bit longer, although neither of them would complain. The girl always remembered how in books she had read in the past always talked about the main character feeling butterflies in their stomach when they finally kissed the love interest. When one really thinks about it, it is sweet.

But that isn't the reality of the situation. Livia didn't feel butterflies. If she felt butterflies that would mean she was nervous. Moments like this shouldn't make anyone feel nervous and it didn't feel like that to her. She just felt safe. Being in his arms; in his embrace. It felt safe. And he felt it too. Once parting, Livia looked at the boy seriously and grabbed his hands in hers. "I'm not going anywhere. Not now. Not ever. And neither are you." she told him. But he didn't need to know that. He knew she wasn't leaving him.