Careers Have Feelings Too | CLATO | GLARVEL |

Chapter 22

CLOVE POV

Cato.

Before the Games, that name game me a little fuzzy feeling in my stomach. Now, it fills me up with hatred.

We finally found Rue. Came across her picking berries. Luckily she wasn't with Fire Girl. That girl kinda scares me.

Nobody hesitated this time because nobody can afford to show mercy. There are less than half the number of tributes left, and everything is getting shorter. These Games won't go on for long. Cato stuck Rue with his sword, wincing as he did it and standing by helplessly as the blood came out. Glimmer ran forward and held Rue's hand, but she pulled away and spluttered alone on the floor, screaming for Katniss.

And Katniss came running. She shot Cato in the arm with this home-made bow, but obviously realised she couldn't take on all of us at once, so she was off like a rocket as quickly as she appeared. We tried to follow, but missed our chance. She was too fast.

So now we're all angry with Cato, and nobody really cares about his arm wound that isn't that deep but he keeps going on about even though he knows we have nothing to treat it with.

And our 'friendly alliance' is really going out the window.

I'm thinking of getting backstabbing Cato in his sleep. Marvel and Glimmer won't care. It'll do us all a whole lot of good. Marvel and Glimmer are softies. They wouldn't try to kill me if I just said goodbye and left. So I could leave this nightmare, go out and be on my own for the rest of the Games, and I wouldn't have to actually ever fight Cato, because I don't want to do that.

It would be quicker for me to just kill him. I know Marvel and Glimmer want to leave, and I'd hope that they're finished off by Twelve or Thresh, so it wouldn't have to be me.

But as we're walking through the woods, Cato grumbling about his arm, the loudspeaker comes on. We stop, confused. It's the middle of the day. Surely we aren't going to have a feast, not already?

"Congratulations to the seven remaining contestants. There has been a slight rule change. The rule regarding that only one victor may be allowed has been revoked. Two winners may be crowned if both originate from the same District," it says.

We all stop.

What?

At first it doesn't quite go in. A rule change? Two victors? This makes no sense. Why are they doing this? Questions run though my head like mad. Both from the same District.

That's Cato and me.

Dread is the next thing that runs through my head. I have to team up with Cato. I have to team up with Cato. If we win, we'll both go home. And just a minute I was thinking about killing him.

Marvel and Glimmer stare at each other for about a second before Glimmer bursts into tears and hugs him so tightly she must have cut off his circulation. He kisses her passionately, again and again. My mind is blank with astonishment as Cato and I stare at each other, reality setting in. This can't happen. The Gamemakers can't do this.

But they have.

I look at Glimmer. She breaks away from Marvel and walks up to us. "We should split," she says confidently, and those words make my stomach drop despite the fact that I knew they were coming. Her smile is breathtaking, radiating with light.

"Yeah," I reluctantly agree, the dark pit in my stomach turning into knots. I feel sick.

Not one part of me trusts Cato in the slightest, or wants to be with him. I wish I was from District One.

To my surprise, Glimmer gives me a massive hug. "Thank you for everything," she whispers in my ear, and I hug her back. She's warm, and kind, and this is likely to be the last time I ever see her.

Marvel hugs me too. "Good luck, Clove. Really, good luck."

They say goodbye to Cato as well, and in minutes, it's the two of us. That's it. Days of planning, scheming, killing together, and the alliance is finished just like that. I know most alliances end with murder, but this one simply disbanded like leaves in a gust of wind. Cato and I watch the two of them walk further and further away, until the final flash of Glimmer's hair in the distance is gone. They're happy, and they've left me here.

"Lake?" Cato asks, shifting on his feet as he looks down on me. The last time we were alone together, besides once after the Tracker Jackers, was when we had that fight. When I saw through his pathetic act of caring.

"Ok,"

We begin to walk, the silence between us deafening.

When Cato finally speaks, it's something I've been expecting and almost desire, but instead it makes me realise how isolated we are. Just me and the boy I hate, roaming the woods.

"I just wanted to say, we could both go home. I mean, we probably will. We could make a really good team, but, we won't if we're at each other's throats. I know I've been a dick. I know I took a lot of anger out on you, not on Marvel and Glimmer, and it's not fair. So I won't do it anymore. So, I'm sorry," he says quietly.

Wow, that was almost heartfelt, I want to say.

"I want to go home. I want us to go home, and then we don't ever have to see each other, if you don't want to," he adds hastily. I notice his breathing speeding up, and it's making me nervous.

What would my sister say? Don't let him back in.

"Yeah, we can work together. But it's not going to be like it was in the Capitol. It's never going to be like that," I snap at him, expecting a sarcastic reply, but one doesn't come. I turn my head to look at him and catch his eye only for a moment. He turns away, his expression hollow.

"That's fine," he answers meekly, and. we return to the lake in silence.

CATO POV

 I have no idea how to take it from here. I hate Clove. Can't stand her. Every time she opens her mouth I want to punch it closed. There I was, trying to be nice so maybe we could get along a tiny bit better than we have, and she assumes I'm chatting her up again. Newsflash, Clove: I'm not that desperate.

But at the same time, part of me wants her to tell me to go back to how we were in the Capitol. A small side of me is wondering if she'd ever give up on this distance, and tell me she wants it to be like it was before. 

Marvel and Glimmer get that. They get the warmth, the protection, the feeling of mutual safety in the face of hell. I wish I'd never tried to go further with Clove after the interviews, or shouted at her in the arena, or let her slowly drift away from me. 

But nothing is how it was before the Games. Even the Games themselves: before, they filled me with anticipation at the honour and glory I would gain. The other tributes instilled in me an unprecedented hatred and urge to survive. Now, I'm wondering where the version of myself that looked forward to this moment has gone, and if I'd ever get him back. 

"How many are left?" I break the awkward silence between us.

"Us, Marvel and Glim, District 12, and that District 11 guy," she says shortly. "Seven."

"Right."

"It's getting dark."

"I'll keep watch," I suggest.

She just nods and settles down far away from me. I sigh and look up to the artificial stars.

A/N: Edited up to here! Sooooo the rule change has happened and they're stuck together!! anything can happen...