The Things We Lost In The Games- A Clato story

7.

Cato
He knew he did something stupid. Something ridiculously dumb. But he was mad, and extremely hot headed. He knew that about himself. He noticed there was blood on his hands, so he went to a well to wash it off. It wasn't his blood. And wasn't Cloves either. It was her dad's. He wanted to kill him, for doing this to Clove. But of course, he didn't. He just broke the door, broke his nose, then left. In that moment, that seemed like it was the right thing to do. Now, that he realised how much trouble Clove could get because of this, it only seemed dump. But he won't let her go home. Never. Even if she would hate him for the rest of his life. He swore to her, when she was asleep. And not only to her, to himself too. That he will never let him touch Clove ever again.
When Cato got home, he heard singing. It came from upstairs, so he started to climb the stairs. He didn't know who was singing, but her voice was beautiful. The he realised, the song came from his room. Cato stood in the doorway and watched Clove singing a lullaby for his little sister. She was beautiful, and Cato couldn't stop staring at her. But he knew he should. When Lucy fell asleep, Clove looked up, and when she saw Cato, they looked into eachothers eyes. And Cato got scared. Really scared. He didn't know how he was going to hold up, being her friend, without kissing her. But he had to.

Clove
"How are you feeling princess?" Whispered Cato to Clove, trying not to wake up the sleeping Lucy.
"I'm fine, as always. And I think I already warned you about things I will do if you call me princess." Clove started to say, but Cato interrupted.
"You say you're fine every day, but we both know, that most of the time it's not true. So tell me how are you really feeling."
"Honestly?" Asked Clove. "I'm feeling pretty fucked up right now. I mean, my father never beat me this much, except for the time I broke the window. But I'll sort it out with him tomorrow." She saw that Cato gulped, so she nervously asked him a question.
"Cato, is everything okay?" Cato took a deep breath before answering.
"No, nothing is. I did something really really really stupid, and I'm scared you'll hate me forever because of it." Clove knew she shouldn't say things like this to her district partner, but it was true, so she said it anyway.
"I could never hate you Cato. No matter what you will do, no matter what you did, but you have to tell me what's going on."
Cato nodded, then started talking.
"When your dad hit you, I heard you moan from outside. And I knew you wouldn't want me to go in, but I couldn't take it anymore, I had to see if you were okay. That's why I started knocking on the door. And after I took care of you, I went back, and broke the door. When I found your dad upstairs, I felt so mad, like not ever in my life before. And I'm sorry Clove, I'm so sorry, but I hit him, until he started to bleed, and I was yelling at him the whole time. I'm so so sorry, I know I shouldn't have done that, but I hated him at the moment. Fuck it, I hate him now. I screamed at him, told him he was insane for hurting someone that precious, like you. And when I was walking home, I promised myself something, that I will now promise to you. I don't care if you hate me for what I did, or will never talk to me again, but I promise you, Clove Kentwell, that I will never let him touch you ever again. So I'm sorry Clove but you can't go home tomorrow. Or ever. Not when he's there, not when I'm still alive." As Cato finished, Clove looked into his eyes, and asked one thing.
"Why, Cato? Why did you do it?" And Cato told her the truth.
"Because I care about you Clove. When I saw you opening that door, covered in blood and tears, I just lost it. I couldn't think straight, the only thing in my mind was that he hurt you, and I just couldn't stand it anymore." Clove was staring into Catos eyes, then she couldn't hold it back anymore, she started crying. Cato wanted to apologise, but Clove didn't let him.
"Cato, please stop apologising. I don't care about my father. I never did. In the whole world there is only two person I actually care about. One of them is my brother, the other one is you. It's always been you. Ever since we became friends, you were the only person I felt safe with. When we couldn't talk to eachother, I felt more alone than ever. When we spent time together, sometimes I forgot about my father, forgot about my bruises and scars. They didn't matter anymore. Nothing did when I was with you. But I never opened up, because I was scared. Scared to get attached, to anyone, even to you. Because I was scared you'd leave. Just like my mum did. Just like every one of my friends did. Except you. You never left. And even though after that my biggest fear was to get attached, I still did." As she said those words, she felt exposed. Now Cato knew everything, he could easily hurt her. It could all be an act, like it was with every other girl. But Clove had a feeling he didn't want her to be hurt. Because he helped. Helped her, took care of her and beat her father. And he said he cared. He was the first person who ever told Clove that. And she knew that he meant it. And because of that, it didn't matter that no one else cared about her, because Cato did. And that was enough for her. This time Clove held Catos hand while falling asleep.

I loved this part guys, I hope you like it too❤️