Reprogram (Hunger Games Cato/OC)

Chapter 5

Reprogram 5

"I think you are." I replied, crossing my arms across my chest.

"And what are you saying?" He looked a little nervous. I pondered for a minute. Then I remembered. This was the Hunger Games. I could be dead by morning. What was the harm in one little relationship? Plus it could earn more sponsors.

"Sure," I said. His eyes snapped up to meet mine, and I could see the excitement in them. He almost jumped for joy.

"Really? I thought with me stalking you, and since-" I cut him off by pressing my finger against his lips. He looked startled, a little angry, and then he looked down at me. He cleared his throat. "Uhm, I should probably get back to the others now. I'll make an excuse around 4:00 and come see you at the cave. If you're not there and I hear a cannon, I'm going to assume the worst. Alright?" A smirk played across his lips, and I nodded.

I turned to go, but Cato grabbed my wrist and spun me around so I was looking up into his gorgeous eyes. I bit my lip. He didn't kiss me this time, simply crushed my body to his rock-hard chest. I snuggled closer to him; it was warm in his arms! He brought his lips to my head and kissed my hair. I wrapped my arms around him and squeezed tightly. Who knew that the boy who, one day ago, had been threatening to kill me, would now be holding me gently, but powerfully, like he was defending me. He released me, and I really turned to go. I strutted to the edge of the clearing and picked up my axe.

"Don't die before four!" Cato called to me from the other end of the clearing, picking up his sword and leaving. I smiled after him and left, into the woods. But before I got ten yards, a slim figure with blonde curls stepped out in front of me with a bow and arrow.

Glimmer smiled maliciously at me and spoke,

"Where do you think you're going?" I stepped back, swinging my axe. "I heard the whole thing," Glimmer said, unfazed. She began circling around me, twirling an arrow in her fingers. "Cato is mine," she snarled in my face. I jabbed her chest with my axe.

"Bring it on," I growled. She almost called out in pain, but stopped herself. The arrow in her hands buried itself in my thigh, and I whimpered. Then, she tried to load the bow. I was already raring to go, so I sliced off her arm at the elbow, knocking her lower arm to the ground. She screamed in pain and blindly stabbed at me with another arrow, and I sliced a thin line across her face, blood getting into her eyes. Then she stumbled and fell, unbalanced without her arm. I stepped on her stomach and buried my axe heavily in her chest. Her cannon fired.

I pulled my axe out of Glimmer's corpse and continued on my way. I glanced down at the arrow in my thigh. I'd pull it out and clean it off when I got back to the cave. Eventually I got there and collapsed on my sleeping bag, yanked out the arrow, and cleaned my wounds with water and bandaged them up. I was pretty sleepy, and I laid down on the blanket, axe in hand. 'Just for a minute,' I told myself. I woke up what felt like a few hours later.

Springing up, I ran outside. Three o'clock, maybe, judging from the sun. Cato would be here in an hour. I looked for Axel, and found a small note carved into a tree. Seven letters. Snares. -A. I was pretty thirsty, so I darted to the cave and grabbed an empty water bottle, sneaking to the cornucopia and stealing water from the lake. I purified some in the bottle and drank my fill of the rest. Then I walked back to the cave. Axel still wasn't back.

I sat in a tree and watched the woods, just letting my mind be blank for once. Then a huge crash happened before five minutes had passed. A hulking figure stormed through the woods, crushing every leaf, snapping every twig. Cato crashed through the woods, frantically looking for something. "Hazel!" He called out. Me? "Hazel?!" I climbed down from the tree and watched as Cato began climbing down in the cave.

"I'm right here, Cato," I said. He spun instantly, dropping his sword and embracing me. His strong muscles pressed me flush against his rock-hard abs. I wrapped my arms around his back. "What's wrong?" He stroked his fingers through my hair a few times before he answered.

"I've told you numerous times what happens when I hear a cannon and I'm not with you. I was so afraid for you." He let me go.

"That was hours ago!"

"I suspected somebody was following me, and I didn't know if you were alive-" he said.

"Think about it. When did you last see Glimmer?" I saw him put two and two together in his head.

"You? You killed her?" I nodded.

"She started it. She was fighting me over you, and I was ready to just kill her." Cato was silent for a few seconds.

"Just be more careful." He was looking at the arrow wounds in my leg. I shifted my weight.

"Ok, fine."

"I can't live with myself if anything happens to you." I faltered in what I was about to say, shellshocked by Cato's sudden proclamation.

"Cato... I don't know what to say."

"Then don't say anything. Just let yourself feel." Before I could ask what that meant, he slipped his arms around my waist, pulling me close to him. He looked at me for a long moment, and then leaned in and kissed me softly. The note of urgency from his first kiss was still there, but subdued, unlike then.

He was as surprised as I was when I slipped my arms around his neck and pressed my body to his. I yelped a little when his large fingers probed my still-aching cut where he'd marked me. He pulled away, but didn't break the embrace. "I'm so sorry," he whispered against my lips. "I thought you were in love with that Axel kid, and I panicked. You kept turning me down for him, and I thought I'd lost my chance. I wanted to make sure I still could get you. I went about it the wrong way, and almost destroyed my chances with the girl I love."

My eyes went wide. Either this was a massive scam, or Cato had just confessed his love to me. He grabbed my head with one hand, kissing me again. I reacted slower this time, but knotted my hands in his hair as his big hand massaged my cut. We pulled away breathlessly, and he half-smiled at me. At that moment, all the pieces of the puzzle fell into their allotted place. The reason I couldn't stop thinking about Cato. The reason his eyes captivated me more than his almost split-personality. The way I loved how he held me gently, and sometimes roughly. The way I didn't mind anymore how he'd sliced his first initial into my flesh. I was in love with Cato, one of the most vicious boys in the arena, aside from Axel. I was in love with Cato, and I didn't even know his last name. I was in love with Cato, and I didn't care.

"I love you," I whispered to him. He just smiled hugely and pulled me tightly against his chest. I smiled and hugged him tightly. His lips pressed against my hair again, and I felt an overwhelming sense of completeness. We stayed like that for a few minutes, and I never wanted to move. He pulled back and kissed me softly on the lips again, and sparks shot through my body.

"HAZEL! OH NO!" We broke apart, and I saw Axel drop his game from the snares and lunge at Cato with his knife. What do I do? I was aware of my battle axe ten feet away, but would Cato want to reveal our relationship? He shook his head at me and retreated silently into the woods, Axel watching from behind, panting heavily.

He spun and ran towards me. "Are you hurt?!" He demanded. I shook my head. He shook my shoulders.

"Hazel, talk to me! What's going on?" I shook my head again. Cato didn't want him to know, so I'd follow Cato's directions. I was quite aware this could backfire, but for now, I was fine just acting the victim.

"He came here to check on my cut and make sure I'm still his." I told a half-truth. Axel exhaled slowly.

"All right. Just... be careful." I nodded and he looked relieved. "Help me cook these squirrels." I nodded and followed him into the cave, skinning the squirrels. We ate, and I picked up my axe. "Going somewhere?" Axel cocked an eyebrow at me. I nodded.

"Tribute hunting." He paused a second, then shook his head.

"No." My jaw dropped in shock.

"What?! You can't stop me from going and killing other tributes! This is the Hunger Games!"

"Hazel," he said calmly, "Cato could easily get you if you're off alone. I'm not leaving you." So I sighed a huge sigh, because I knew Axel. He wasn't going to give up. We went to go tribute hunting, but found no one. When we returned to the cave, it was dark.