Starcrossed Lovers -Cato Hadley-

Four

Abigail Hawthorne

I headed to the balcony again, it was the only time I'd felt free, I wrapped my silk housecoat around me as I sat, leaning against the wall. "I thought I'd find you here." I jumped realising Cato had joined me. "What? Thought I'd embarrassed you? Made you weak?" I hissed, he sat across from me.

"Abi, I told you... where I'm from you can't show weakness." Cato whispered and I looked up at him. "What do you want, Cato?" I whispered and he leaned closer. "You." Cato whispered and my mouth parted in shock, the gap suddenly closed between us as I felt Cato's soft lips on mine.

"Cato, 23 of us will be dead." I said and he looked down at me. "And I'm gonna make sure that's you." Cato whispered, one minute Cato was like this and the other it was like he was the vicious monster from District 2. His lips found mine, kissing me softly, I ran my hands through his blonde hair as his found my waist, squeezing gently.

"Ready for our private training tomorrow?" Cato asked and I shrugged. "I mean, I hunt at home so how different can it be?" I asked and he smirked. "Get some sleep." Cato whispered, and I looked up at him. "You too." I said and watched him leave the rooftop.

"He's a career." Haymitch said, pointing to Cato as we were watching the other reapings. "You know what that is?" Haymitch asked and I nodded. "From District 1 and 2." I said and Haymitch nodded. "They train in a special academy until they're eighteen then they volunteer, By that point, they're pretty lethal." Haymitch said and I grimaced at the thought. "But they don't receive any special treatment. they stay in the exact same apartment as you do. And I don't think they let them have desert, and you can." Effie said and I snorted.

"So how good are they?" I asked, knowing Cato portrayed himself as this lethal monster. "They win it almost every year, but they can be arrogant. And arrogance can be a big problem. I hear you can shoot." Haymitch said, pointing to me, I gulped. "I'm alright." I said, not wanting any attention on me. "She's better than alright, my father buys her squirrels. He say she hits them right in the eye everytime." Peeta said and I stared at him. "Peeta's strong."

"What?" Peeta asked, turning to face me. "He can throw a hundred pound sack of flour right over his head. I've seen it." I said and he looked at me with narrowed eyes. "Okay, well I'm not gonna kill anybody with a sack of flour." Peeta said with a huff, I bit my lip. "No, you might have a better chance of winning if somebody comes after you with a knife." I retorted and he glared at me. "I have no chance of winning. None! Alright? It's true. Everybody knows it. You know what my mother said? She said, "District 12 might finally have a winner!" But she wasn't talking about me. She was talking about you."

I felt sick to my stomach, I pushed my plate of food away from me. "I'm not hungry." I said and Peeta threw his napkin on the table. "I'm done too." Peeta said as we headed to our rooms to get changed for the final practice before the private training session tonight. "Hey, twelve." Cato said as we were at the rope tying course. "Hey, two." I copied his tone causing him to smirk. "This is Glimmer, Marvel and Clove." Cato said, pointing to the other three who were smirking at me.

"Hey, I'm Abi." I said and they looked me up and down when Peeta fell from the climbing frame, I waved goodbye and walked over to him. "Throw that metal thing over there." I said, pointing to the big spheres in the room. "What? No. Haymitch says we're not supposed to show our skills." Peeta said but I rolled my eyes. "I don't care what Haymitch said. Those guys are looking at you like you're a meal. Throw it." I said, Peeta headed to the heavy sphere and picked it up with ease, then threw it over his head.

I went to a few other stations before meeting Peeta in the camoflauge. "How did you do that?" I asked in awe, he'd made his arm look like the bark of a tree. "I uh, I used to take care of the cakes down at the bakery." Peeta said and looked at me. "I'll show you, see?" Peeta asked and my mouth parted in shock, it really was amazing. "I think you have a shadow." Peeta soon commented, I turned around noticing the little girl from 11 staring at me, she could be Prim's age.

We queued up for our private training session, I rested my head on my hands so I looked merely bored even though I felt terrified inside. "Remember twelve, shoot straight." Cato said before he was called. "What did he want?" Peeta asked and I felt the blush rising to my cheeks. "Don't fall for him Abi, he's a career." Peeta said and I rolled my eyes, there was only Peeta and I left now. "Abigail Hawthorne."

"Good luck." Peeta said and I nodded towards him before making my way inside. "Abigail Hawthorne, District 12." I said and went to retrieve my bow and arrows. I shot an arrow at the dummy but missed, I was overthinking too much as I never miss, the game makers laughed and turned to watch the pig being brought out, anger bubbled up inside me as they were more interested in the pig than me, I loaded another arrow and shot it through the apple in the pigs mouth, Ceneca and a few of the others turned to face me, their mouths open in shock. "Thank you, for your consideration."

I waited for Peeta as we got the lift back to the penthouse. "Are you crazy?" Effie asked as I'd told her what happened. "I just got mad." I said which was true. "Mad? You realize that your actions reflect badly on all of us, not just you." Effie said and I looked at her, rolling my eyes. "They just want a good show, it's fine." Cinna said and I smiled in thanks at him. "How about it's just bad manner, Cinna? How about that! Well, finally!" Effie shouted, raising her arms in the air as Haymitch had entered the room.

"I hope you noticed, we have a serious situation." Effie said when Haymitch winked at me. "Nice shooting sweetheart! Wha.. Wha..,.. What did they... What did they do when you shot the apple?" Haymitch asked, holding back his laughter. "Well, they look pretty startled." I said with a smirk. "What did you say..,.. "Thanks for... your consideration. Genius! Genius." Haymitch laughed and I rolled my eyes. "I don't think we're gonna find this funny if the game makers decided to take it out..." Effie said but Haymitch cut her off. "On who? On her? On him? I think they already have. Loosen your corset and have a drink. I would have given anything to see it."