Melissa Fae Knight is best friends with the Everdeens and Gale. When Prim is reaped, Mel doesn't hesitate to take her place. Entering the Hunger Games she never expected to meet the eyes of her soul's missing half. Cato Hadley x OC Soulmate AU
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Haymitch, Effie, Peeta and I calmly eat dinner together when Haymitch begins informing us about the Careers. “They’re from Districts 1 and 2 and they train in a special academy until they’re 18. Then they volunteer. By that point. They’re pretty lethal.” Effie cuts in, “But they don’t receive any special treatment. In fact, they stay in the exact same apartment as you do. And I don’t think they let them have dessert. And you can.” I roll my eyes at Effie when Peeta asks. “So how good are they?” Haymitch shrugs, “Obviously they’re pretty good. They win it almost every year, but…” “Almost,” Effie interrupts. Haymitch shrugs her off before continuing his sentence, “...they can be arrogant. And arrogance can be a big problem.” Haymitch turns his attention to me, “I know you can shoot, Princess.” I look at him and smile before shrugging, “I’m alright and I can also throw daggers pretty well. Hopefully, my skills are good enough to help me survive in the arena.” Peeta looks at me in disbelief and scoffs, “She’s better than all right. My father buys her squirrels.” I look at Peeta with confusion. ‘What is he doing?’ “He says she hits them right in the eye every time.” “It’s the fastest way to kill them so that they don’t suffer. It hurts my heart to watch them suffering so I never miss my mark. That is different than going against people though. That will take a whole other mindset. Anyways, Peeta has his strengths too. He is very strong, I’ve seen him throw a 100-pound sack of flour over his head before. Also, he is very skilled at decorating the cakes in the bakery,” I add. “Okay, well, I’m not gonna kill anybody with a sack of flour or decorating skills,” He pops at me with a scoff. I look at him with confusion at his obvious rise in temper, “No, but you might have a better chance of winning if you could camouflage yourself or if someone comes after you with a knife.” “I have no chance of winning! None! All right?” He snaps at me causing me to flinch. Haymitch rests his hand on my knee in comfort but continues to silently observe. Peeta gauges all of our reactions before shrugging, “It’s true. Everyone knows it.” Peeta looks me deeply in the eyes and I can see the hopelessness and envy swimming in his muddy brown orbs. Peeta chuckles humorously and continues, “You know what my mother said? She said District 12 might finally have a winner. But she wasn’t talking about me. She was talking about you.” Peeta glares at me as he says the word “you” with such malice. I can’t hold his glare so I look down at my folded hands in my lap. “I’m not very hungry,” Peeta says before excusing himself from the table. I don’t look up from my hands until Haymitch gently squeezes my knee causing me to turn my attention to him but the frown never leaves my face. Haymitch smiles at me softly, “This goes hand in hand with what I told you earlier, Sweetheart. It’s best to part ways from him and sever ties now because you can’t come out of that arena together. It may not even be you that ends up killing him; but, if it comes down to it you can’t hesitate because from what I just saw he sure as hell won’t.” I smile at him sadly, “I understand, Haymitch. Effie, may I be excused?” Effie looks at me with saddened eyes but nods. I stand up from my chair and turn to Haymitch. “If you need me you know where I’ll be.” Effie looks at us with confusion but Haymitch nods at me so I leave and make my way to the elevator heading to the roof. Hey, Baby. Is everything okay? You feel sad. Not really. Some stuff went down at dinner that’s getting to me. I’m just trying to clear my head right now. I’ll be right there. You’re the best. I plop myself in the same spot where Cato and I sat last night and stare up at the stars. I continue to gaze up at the stars as I let my voice out.
Everybody's waiting Everybody's watching Even when you're sleeping Keep your eyes open The tricky thing Is yesterday we were just children Playing soldiers just pretending Dreaming dreams with happy endings In backyards, winning battles with our wooden swords But now we've stepped into a cruel world Where everybody stands and keeps score Keep your eyes open Suddenly a voice joins mine and I look up to find Cato standing above me holding a hand out to me. I grab it and he lifts me to my feet where we continue to sing out our thoughts and emotions. Everybody's waiting for you to breakdown Everybody's watching to see the fallout Even when you're sleeping, sleeping Keep your ey-eyes open Keep your ey-eyes open Keep your ey-eyes open Cato lets go of my hand to let me express myself and vent freely through dance as well as song. So here we are, two steps ahead and staying on guard I gesture to Cato and I before dropping into a fighting stance with him following my lead as I continue to sing. Every lesson forms a new scar They never thought we'd make it this far But turn around (turn around), oh they've surrounded us It's a showdown (showdown) and nobody comes to save us now I turn Cato to where he is facing the opposite direction and we are back to back. But we've got something they don't Cato turns and faces me and gently cradles my face while looking deeply into my eyes showing me how much he cares for me causing me to smile at him. Yeah we've got something they don't You've just gotta keep your eyes open Everybody's waiting for you to breakdown (Cato sings with me again as I hold my head and sing in frustration at the situation we’ve been put in.) Everybody's watching to see the fallout Even when you're sleeping, sleeping Keep your ey-eyes open Keep your ey-eyes open Keep your ey-eyes Cato watches me closely as I sit against the elevator shaft like last night and sing out my feelings while looking out at the stars. Keep your feet ready Heartbeat steady Keep your eyes open Keep your aim locked The night goes dark Keep your eyes open Cato sits next to me and sings with me. Everybody's waiting for you to breakdown Everybody's watching to see the fallout Even when you're sleeping, sleeping Keep your ey-eyes open Keep your ey-eyes open Keep your ey-eyes open I lay my head on Cato’s shoulder as I let out a deep breath. Cato wraps his arm securely around my waist and kisses my head before speaking to me softly, “You have a beautiful voice, Baby. Do you want to tell me what got you so worked up?” Without speaking I open up my connection to him and replay the incident at dinner. After I finish showing him his grip on my waist tightens slightly. “Cato, I hate that we are being forced to be in this situation. I understand that I will have to kill once I enter that arena but it doesn’t change the fact that it doesn’t feel right. We will be killing someone’s child. Hell, we could be killing someone else’s soulmate. I will fight to make sure that we are the ones that come out of that arena but in all honesty, I don’t think I will come out of that arena the same as I’m going in,” I tell him honestly. Cato sighs, “You know...the Careers are trained to go into this game with pride and a thirst for blood. The more people you kill the more honor you bring to the district. I’ve never understood it but because my dad is a peace keeper I had to pretend to go along with the crowd.” Cato lifts my face to where I am staring deeply into his bright blue eyes that once again captivate me just like the first time. “I feel the same way that you do about this but also like you I will fight my damndest to get us out of that arena. I know that neither one of us will come out of there the same but don’t forget I will always be by your side. I will always be here to pick you up when you fall and you can always rely on me to be your rock because I love you, Melissa Fae Knight. I couldn’t ask for a kinder, more caring, beautiful, or insightful person to be my other half. I know for a fact we will make it out of that arena together and we will be just fine as long as I have you standing by my side.” I don’t even know I’m crying until Cato gently begins to wipe the tears from my face. I stare deeply into his eyes as I relay my feelings to him through them as well as through my words, “I love you too, Cato Hadley. I’ve been waiting to meet my soulmate for so long that I almost gave up all hope. After finally finding you-- though it was in such a crappy circumstance— you blew away any and every expectation I had of my soulmate. You are so much better than I could have ever imagined. I know that we only met a few days ago but I know that we are meant to be together and it is okay to let myself fall so fast because I can feel you falling alongside me. I know I have nothing to worry about with you by my side and I wouldn’t want it any other way.” Cato smiles at me gently and I return the smile before resting my head on his shoulder once again. Cato gently kisses my head and I close my eyes relishing in the moment eventually drifting off to sleep in bliss.
