Clato: The Cost of a Broken Heart

Chapter 16

I make Cato shower at my house and run to his for fresh clothes. I sprint there and back, afraid Cato will leave while I am gone. I freeze only a moment in the living room of his house. It is a disaster. Splinters cover the floor along with the demolished remains of all his furniture. It looks like someone has set mutts lose in the house, and in a way, maybe they have.

I grab some clothes from his closet, noticing how little possessions Cato actually owns considering his parents' immense wealth and the Victor's reward. When I get home I am relieved to find Cato still in the shower. When the water shuts off I knock on the door and hold out a bundle of clothes.

Cato opens the door halfway and sticks his head out. Water cascades off his blonde hair. I shove the clothes at him, blushing. His chest is bare and coated in a sheen of water. He has a towel wrapped around his wait and I have to remind myself that Cato is not mine to look at. He can never be.

When Cato comes out, fully dressed, I duck past him into the shower. "Stay right here," I command. I shower off the blood quickly. There's still a nagging fear that Cato will leave in the back of my mind. Much as I know it's a bad idea for us to be together right now, I am terrified to leave him alone. I don't want him hurt.

Thankfully, Cato is waiting for me when I emerge in a black leather skirt and red sweater. I don't know what problems Cordelia has with my clothes because these are just fine. "C'mon," I call to him, "we're going to visit Old Ella." Cato hops off the couch and follows me. Neither one of us voices what a terrible idea this is. Scarlett's death is just too fresh, too raw. I can't let Cato deal with this alone and he doesn't seem to want to leave. . .anymore.

In order to avoid being noticed I put on a beaded knit cap and Cato slides on sunglasses. Still, I am afraid. But I am always afraid.

We walk to Old Ella's in silence. No one recognizes us and for that I am grateful. Only when we reach Old Ella's shut down shop do I realize something is horribly wrong. Not again, I think. I can't take much more of this.

On the doorstep is a single white rose. I kneel beside it and find a key tied to the stem. Cato and I can't look at each other. We both know what this means. It says, "Don't ever go to each other's houses ever again or there will be consequences." I know this because the key is to my house. And the rose is from Snow.

"Oh god Cato," I choked, "what have we done?" He looks at me, opens his mouth, and closes it. He shoves past me into the house. Her books lay shredded on the ground. We search the house frantically but she is no where to be found. The last time I was here she saved my life, this time I have cost Old Ella hers.

Cato tears at his hair in grief. "Everything we touch," he shouts, "we destroy everything we touch." I have nothing to say. This is punishment for Cato staying at my house last night. The price of nightmareless sleep is Old Ella's life. And that is not a price I am willing to pay. Cato turns to face me.

"We can't do this anymore. I can't lose anyone else Clover," Cato continues. What I don't say is that by leaving each other alone he is losing someone. Me. And maybe that's how it was meant to be all along. I can't live with the guilt of knowing I am responsible for the death or at very least disappearance of Old Ella and Scarlet.

Cato rushes out of the house and I follow him. We stand on the street in our misery. "This has to stop," I say. He nods in agreement. So we do what we should have done all along.

"I guess this is goodbye," Cato says. He won't look at me. I think of the way it felt to wake up with his arms around me and my heart hurts. He turns away before I can answer, shoulders hunched against the wind.

"Goodbye," I whisper. But he is already gone.
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A/N please comment and vote!