Forbearance • A Cato Hadley Story

2.02

When the pair woke up that morning the sun had already begun to rise into the morning sky. The calming colors of the sun peeked through the window of the boy's room, resulting in the small girl sitting up in his bed as she rubbed her eyes as they were sensitive to the light. With a groan the girl pushed herself into a sitting position and rubbed the boy's shoulder softly in attempts to wake him up. It took a moment to get any reaction out of him but he was up.

Cato turned toward the girl tiredly, pulling her on top of him to which she chuckled and looked at the boy straight on. "Morning, Bub." she whispered with a half awake smile. Her hair hung to the right side of her face, the side facing the window, letting the boy's right hand cup her left cheek. "Morning." the boy replied quietly, his voice a few octave's in which Livia couldn't help but smile when she heard it.

Cautiously Cato lifted his head from the pillow under him and leaned up to the blonde, placing a short but sweet kiss on her lips. The girl definitely felt better than she had in the middle of the night. Being in the boy's arms made her feel safer and allowed her to sleep peacefully throughout the night. He was almost a sort of barrier to any negativity that tried to consume her and she was the barrier for him.

"How are you feeling, Hun?" the boy asked, tightening his grip on the girl's waist, though not tight enough to harm her in any way. The muscular boy gently tucked her blonde locks behind her right ear and placed another comforting kiss on her forehead, making her smile sweetly. "Better. Much better now." she answered as they both sat up, letting her head drop tiredly onto the boy's left shoulder. The two sat still for a moment, allowing them time to mentally wake up.

The girl sat next to the boy silently, her eyes starting to shut as they grew heavier and heavier. When she wasn't paying attention Cato lifted the girl onto his lap so she faced him, letting her wrap her arms around his neck and cuddle closer to him. "Do you want to make breakfast?" he asked quietly, rubbing her back comfortingly as they sat in the queen sized bed. Livia nodded slightly and buried her head into the crook of his neck.

Around an hour or so later the two teens sat at the dining room table eating the assortments of berries and some eggs they made along with some orange juice. In the middle of eating their meal a knock came from the front door. The pair looked at each other questioningly, unsure of who was at the front door as neither of them were expecting anyone. Both got up and went to the door, cautiously opening it to reveal Chloe.

The little girl wore a dark blue dress with a tan cover up for the cold and a pair of brown, knee high boots. Her hair was pulled into a loose side braid on the left of her head. She pulled her arms closer to her in an attempt to keep herself warm and looked at the pair urgently. "Hey, Chlo." Livia greeted awkwardly, as she had barely spoken to her sister in weeks. But it was clear her little sister wasn't in the talking mood.

"We have visitors. We need to go. Now." Chloe said, not daring to make eye contact with the older girl. Livia was just about to ask who the visitor could have been but the now thirteen year old girl simply turned around and walked down the steps, heading back to their house. "Well then I guess I'm going." the blonde told the muscular boy, turning to face him, standing on the balls of her feet so she could quickly peck his lips before going on her way.

When she arrived in her house her eyes instantly landed on two tall, buff, intimidating men wearing all black. They wore almost bodyguard type clothing and stood as tall as humanly possible. The teen quickly found herself growing uncomfortable in the presence of the men. "Miss Perez, this way please." one of the guards spoke plainly, turning on his heels and walking down the hallway, Livia following behind.

She was quick to realize that whoever this visitor was was in the office of her home. And as soon as the visitor was revealed she could feel her heart drop rapidly and her eyes widened. She suddenly remembered how she was dressed. She was much too underdressed. All the blonde had on were a pair of white sneakers, some black shorts and one of Cato's sweatshirts.

The girl could almost feel the man's disappointment in her. "President Snow. What an honor." she greeted, nodding her head slightly as she walked over to the man sitting at the office desk watching the final moments of her games. She sat nervously as he turned off the recording and looked at her with his usual sickening smile he gave to everyone around him.

"My dear, I think we can make this so much simpler. If we agree not to lie to each other, what do you think?" he started. Livia nodded her head stiffly, too stunned to speak. She was scared; frightened. The president had always intimidated her. Only now he was much closer. And much more intimidating. "Yes, I think that would save time." she agreed, keeping her voice low.

Not a whisper, but low. The older man smiled wickedly and examined the bouquet of white roses to his left, which the girl assumed had been put there by the president himself as they weren't there before. Something about the aesthetically pleasing flowers unsettled her. She couldn't lay her finger on what it was, but it wasn't comforting.

"I have a problem, Miss Perez. A problem that began the moment you revealed those poison berries in the arena. If our head gamemaker Seneca Crane had any brains at all, he would have blown you to bits then and there. But here you are, I expect you can guess where he is." the president tried to joke, only for his words to turn into tension so thick that you could cut it with a knife. Livia nodded uncomfortably, knowing exactly what the man meant.

The gamemaker was dead. They killed him. All because they had one extra victor. "Yes, I think so." she pondered, internally not wanting to imagine the scenario. If the president thought the previous gamemaker's choice of the poisonous berries was a poor choice on his end, using those berries to end the man's life was the most obvious path Snow had to have taken. And it was her fault. It was because of her that Crane was dead.

She felt a twinge of guilt come across her, yet at the same time she didn't want to feel bad for the man. After all, he was part of the reason she was sent into that arena. "After that fiasco there was nothing left to do but to let you play out your little scenario. And you were very good. That whole down crazed besotted school girl routine. Impressive. Truly. You convinced the people in the Capitol. Unfortunately not everyone in the districts fell for it. I mean, you can't know this, but in several of them." he spoke in a tone that made what he said seem almost obvious.

Livia didn't understand his words. She was yet to hear of anyone not believing that they truly did love each other. Not that either of them would admit it just yet, but they did. "Act? Fell for what?" she asked, leaning forward in her seat, almost as if to listen closer. Snow sighed and shut his eyes a moment longer than usual in annoyance to the question. "People viewed your little trick with the berries as an act of defiance, not as an act of love." he told her. The blonde shook her head, unsure of how to process the information.

"With all due respect, sir, what happened in that arena was not an act. I wasn't going to leave that arena without him." she corrected the man, her voice raising slightly, though it wasn't yet coming off as rude. But the president wasn't buying it. And she knew that. She was completely aware that he didn't and had no intention of believing her feelings for the boy. She went to continue speaking but the man held up his finger, signaling for her to stop and silently confirming that he had no interest in hearing what she had to say.

"And if a small, measly girl from District Two can defy the Capitol and walk away unharmed, what is to prevent them from doing the same? What is to prevent say an uprising? That can lead to revolution. And then in a fraction of time the whole system collapses." he spoke politically, his facial expression staying completely the same. Livia fought back the urge to smile at his words. It was almost amusing to her that someone such as herself could bring down the government so easily. Like snapping a twig.