Melting Ice

Chapter 55

"Okay", I give in, "Come on". I grab her hand and pull her into the kitchen;Clove sits on top of the counter and waits for me as I gather eggs, bowls, flour and other essentials.
"First of all, venue?". We all sit around the table, pizza, cookies and drinks placed in the middle. Isabelle sits next to Jay, Carla next to Cane, I'm next Kayla and Cloves sitting on my lap. Clove turns to look at me and our eyes meet. Her soft smile breaks out, creating dimples which I can't help but love.
"We were thinking district 4, by the beach", I say and Clove nods.
"Imagine the sun setting behind them!", Carla excitedly says.
"What do you think Kayla?", asks Clove.
Kayla barely looks up from her phone before saying, "What? Oh, um...sounds great", then goes back to typing.
"Okay, time of the year?".
Clove squeezes my hand,"I don't know, would it be easier to have it before or after the baby?".
"So it was positive?", Cane asks almost excitedly.
"Yep", Clove says with a little laugh.
"Wait, your pregnant?", asks Kayla.
"Yeah".
"Oh...I didn't know".
"You were on your phone", laughs Clove.
"Teenagers!", I laugh.
"Your a teenager", Kayla says.
"Just about. Next year I won't be".
"Should we have the wedding before the baby then?", Clove asks.
"Whatever you wish Clovers".
"But it's your wedding to...".
"And yours".
"I think having it after is the best choice, less stress", Isabelle says.
"After it is then", I say, smiling at Clove.
"Have you thought about a colour theme or bridesmaids?", asks Cane.
"Or a best man", Jay adds.
"Well, we would love for you Jay to be Cato's best man and Isabelle my maid of honer. Would you, Carla and Kayla be bridesmaids?", asks Clove
"Oh my god yes!", squeals Carla, getting up to hug Clove and I.
"Kayla?".
"Of course I do!", she says excitedly, "Have you thought about a colour theme?".
"Black and white", Clove and I say together. Black is for our dark side; the fighting and killing, the knives and the spears. The White is for purity, everyone has it. Some people just show more of their dark side, like Clove and I.
"Ooo, I can picture it now! A hot summers day-", starts Carla.
"Actually, we want it in winter. So it's all snowy", interrupts Clove.
"But I will be freezing!".
"We will get the Capitol to sort that out", I say, "They are paying for it, after all".
"True".
They all leave at about 8:45pm and all the pizza and cookies have been eaten.
"Cato!", Clove calls from the kitchen as I'm about to bring my coat upstairs.
"Yes beautiful?", I ask, letting my coat drop to the floor so I can hug her from behind. I love how she smiles into the distance whenever I touch her like this, even though I can see her in the mirror. Her piercing eyes turn to mine,"We need food".
"Can't we go in the morning?".
"But we need food".
"Kiss me and I'll go".
"Blackmail...", but she does kiss me and it feels so good to have her lips up against mine, my body rubbing against hers.
We don't even get into the bakery before Clove spots a batch of cupcakes,through the lit up windows, and gets excited.
"Good evening Cato and Clove!", welcomes the store owner, "A bit of evening shopping I see". When Clove and I were younger, we would come here after school and pretend that we were buying food for our family. Clove would buy 2 cupcakes and a roll, I would buy sliced meat and milk. This would be our own little feast, we would go into the middle of the plaza, lean against the massive wishing fountain and eat. Sometimes, we would bring a bit of extra money to throw into the fountain.
"I wish that the Hunger Games would stop", I remember wishing and I kept wishing for it, using all my pocket money from doing chores. Clove, on the other hand never wished, she always said she had all she could ever want.
I look down at the list:
4 cupcakes
4 wholemeal rolls
2 cheese buns
1 loaf of tiger bread

"Anything else?", the man asks.
"That's all thank you", Clove says with a smile. I smile when I see Clove leave a tip. Sure, it's a small amount of money to us victors but to him, he could buy some essentials to keep himself alive. When we are outside, I slip my hand into the back pocket of Cloves jeans and walk over to the grocery store.

I apologise for not updating like I said I would last night but my guinea pig died and I feel sick. I'm losing everyone I love.