"So, why are you two down here?" Cato asks. All 5 of us were sitting in a circle, talking about what happened while we were apart and such.
"Well we tried looking for the campsite." Marvel replies almost instantly.
I decide to chime in. "But it started getting light outside and we thought we needed to get some sleep." I say, "We were hunting and eating before you guys got here." I look over to see Cato staring at my arm. "What?" I ask.
"Your arm." He replies. "It's bleeding." He turns his attention over, "Damnit Clove!" He groans accusingly.
"I didn't think I hit anything!" She screetches. "Or anyone!" She flails her arms.
"Both of you, calm down!" I assure them, "I'm fine. It's not even that bad. Just a little graze."
"No, you're not okay. That's more than a graze, Arriana! We have to get you some medicine." Cato panicks. I try to soothe him but it's just not happening.
Marvel scoots over to my side and whispers in my ear. "Kiss me." I look over at him, with the shock obviously written all over my face.
"W-What?" I studder.
"What'd he say?!" Cato demands, following with Clove and Luke. I shrug it off and wait for Marvel to explain.
"Trust me. Just do it." Marvel says. "Do you want your arm fixed?" I nod. "Then just go along with it. And I promise I will explain later." Even Cato's staring at us. No words have left his mouth. Or anyone else's for that matter.
Marvel and I stare at eachother for a few seconds. He nods his head and inches closer to me. He leans in and the suspense is killing me. I just want to get it over and done with. I grab the collar of his jacket and bring his lips to mine. I don't feel a thing as our lips are pressed against one another's....nothing. There's absolutely nothing there. My feelings for Cato are too strong. But I wonder and hope he doesn't feel anything. I pull away and look over to a shocked Cato. My gaze turns to face the floor. I'm disappointed that I had to do that just to get medicine.
But, sure enough, the familiar beeping of a sponsor parachute was outside the cave. I stand up but Cato stops me. "I'll get it." He states, crawling up the cave to retrieve the medicine. I'm still in shock and recieving dirty looks from Clove and Luke. And it hurts.
Marvel notices it as well. "Look guys, I'll explain when Cato gets back down here. To all of you. Because I even owe Arriana an explanation." He says to us. I shake my head. He doesn't need to explain to me. I kind of understand why he did it. To get a sponsor for my arm. Capitol people love drama and romance, so why not put the two togethter? And I mean, it worked. Cato comes back into the cave with a small silver canister.
"Here." He says, unscrewing the lid. He dips a finger into the medicine. "Sit still." He demands before rubbing it onto my cut from Clove's knife. I don't know why everyone was making a big deal out of it. I couldn't even feel it. "So, Marvel... Now will you explain why you kissed my girlfriend?" Cato asks, still applying medicine to my arm.
"Well.. you needed a sponsor, right? And the Capitol wants more drama, but they still wanted romance. So, in order for a sponsor, I told her to kiss me." Marvel explains, as if it were no big deal. News flash, it's always a big deal to Cato. How does Marvel not see that?
"I respect you for helping her. And I'm very thankful. But I'm not just forgiving and forgetting." Cato takes a glance at Marvel. "I can't just unsee things."
"Why not, Cato?!" I speak up. "It's not like we felt anything there. I love you too much. Nothing. There's nothing with him, I swear. And I feel terrible for kissing him, but it had to be done." I turn to Marvel, "Please, please tell me you didn'y feel anything either." I implore. He just shakes his head. His eyes move from me, to Clove, to Luke, and then to Cato. "Please." I repeat.
Marvel stares at the ground for another second or two. "I-I felt nothing, either." A smile plasters on his face. I'm sure the others bought it, but I didn't. His smile was fake, he did feel something. And now I feel terrible for admitting my true feelings out loud in front of everyone. In fron of Panem. I nod, pretending to believe him.
"Well, thanks for helping my girl out. I'm really tired. So, I'm going to bed." Cato sighs.
"I am, too." I say. There's no reason to stay up if Cato's not gonna be up with me.
"Okay, then go sleep with Marvel in his sleeping bag." He replies to me. His eyes don't even make the attempt to meet mine. He doesn't even try to see the pain in my eyes, in my heart.
"Damnit Cato," I cry "You can't be like that. You can't be mad... at either of us. He was trying to help me. You should be glad that he helped." I groan. Cato ignores me and turns to stare at the wall. I look over at Clove for help, but she just shrugs and cuddles up to Luke.
There's a cough breaking the silence. "Come here." I hear Cato mutter, his voice slightly muffled. He rolls back over to face me. I wait for a second, unsure if he was directing it towards me. "Arriana, come on." He lifts up the top of the sleeping bag and pats the inside. A smile slightly appears on his face. I scoot over and slide into the sleeping bag next to Cato. His arms instinctively wrap around my waist. I cuddle against his chest and fall asleep.
A knife grazes past my head. But this time, instead of just Cato chasing me, Marvel was after me as well. Marvel throwing his spear, misses nearly everytime. Except once. It strikes the back of my leg. I cry out in pain. But, no one's there to save me. A cannon goes off and I know I'm dead.
My head falls limp and everything is blurry. There's lips against my forehead one last time before a large pressure is up against my chest. My heart fails and this time, my whole body's limp.
Mockingjays, I can hear them repeat my screams as I'm falling through the clouds. I try to catch one before I get too close to the ground. But they manage to make the pain sound somewhat beautiful. There's a word repeating through the screams... Cato. I hear it over and over. Cato. Cato. Cato. He's everywhere my head turns.. in the clouds, in the sun. I squeeze my eyes shut tight.
"Get up. Get up. Get up." Cato slightly nudges me repeatedly. I sit up to see Marvel staring at the ground of the cave.
"I'm up. Why?" I groan.
"You were having a nightmare. And kept mumbling our names. What was it about?" Marvel answers, his eyes meet mine for a split second and return the the floor.
"Both of you were chasing me. Throwing your knives and spears in my direction. Then, one of Marvel's spear got me, and that was it." I sob, trying the contain the tears so badly wanting to escape.
Cato can tell I'm ready to break. "Shhhhh, I'm here. Right here. I'll always be here. Don't cry. Here, we'll stay up and let Marvel sleep for a bit." He whispers in my ear. It calms me down enough to nod my head. Marvel closes his eyes, still sitting against the wall.
"We can't stay here forever." I tell Cato, forcing his eyes to meet mine. "There's 10 of us left. After we find the other 5, what are we gonna do? We're all going to turn on eachother. We have to leave while we can."
"But, we can't." Cato argues. "Marvel decided that when we're the final 5, Clove and Luke go, and then Marvel and I kill eachother. We want you out alive."
"I can't be the victor if you're not winning with me. I refuse to do it."
