𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲.Cato Hadley

13.

~•~•~•~
𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭...
~•~•~•~

Without even knowing when it happened, I'm in Haymitch's arms. I'm happy to finally hear good news after a long time. I forget about all the bad things I had to go through to get here. It was worth it. Now I need to see that Cato is okay and that the Capitol hasn't damaged him for life.

I pull away from the hug and begin to question him excitedly.

"Who will go there?"

"Gale," Haymitch answers. "He was the first to volunteer."

Uh-oh. I didn't expect to hear that answer. Gale is going to save Cato?  But what if their mission fails and they both end up in danger? Then not only will I not get Cato back, but I will also lose a friend. And not just a friend, but my best friend's brother. Layla won't stand for it if anything happens to him.

Now my hands are starting to shake, which means that anxiety is taking over again. The risk of losing another important person of mine is high, and I'm not sure if I can take another loss. Now instead of having the peace of mind that they're going to save Cato, I'll have to worry about Gale, as well as Layla and the rest of their family.

"Do you want to tell them to sedate you until it's all over?" Haymitch asks me.

"No. I'll be more relaxed if I go with them," I begin to plead with him. "Please, Haymitch, send me with them. Maybe I can catch up with them and-"

"No, no, you're too important, and everyone in the Capitol will want to kill you," He explains to me.

"But, Haymitch... If something bad happens, at least I want to be by Cato's side," I'm already whimpering. I'm ready to do anything to see him finally. And I know that if the mission fails and they get me too, at least Snow will torture me, not Cato.

"It's settled, Melanie. We can't let you in there."

That means that the only thing I can do is to wait. And it will be a painful waiting.

~•~

Haymitch and I enter the Command and I see that Finnick is on the screen. I look over at my former mentor who looks worried, but I can't find a reason why. It's like he understood what Finnick was up to.

"Oh, shit," Haymitch says.

"What is he doing? Why is Finnick doing a propo?" I ask. We are in the room together with Beetee, Plutarch, and Coin. They seem to know what's going on too.

"Just watch," Haymitch tells me. "Now you're going to learn a lot about the life after the Games."

"This is Finnick Odair. Winner of the 65th Hunger Games," Finnick begins. "And I'm coming to you from District 13, alive and well. We've survived an assault from the Capitol. But I'm not here to give you recent news."