star crossed lovers ➸ cato hadley

x. life or death

Tears fell down Natalie's cheek as she continued to beg Peeta to wake up. She refused to believe that her brother would just leave her. She didn't want to think about her life without her brother. She didn't want her child to grow up without her uncle. Natalie tried to remember the CPR training she learnt but her brain went blank.

Finnick looked at the trembling female before sharing a look with Rosen. No longer than a second later, Natalie felt Finnick crouch down beside her. He pinched Peeta's nostrils shut and pressed his lips against Peeta's, blowing air into his lungs.

Natalie watched as her brother's chest rose and fell with every breath Finnick put inside him. Finnick pulled away and began to pump the spot over Peeta's heart with the heels of his hands.

After a few agonizing minutes, Natalie felt like she was about to give up until Peeta let out a soft cough. The female flung herself towards Peeta's body, giving him the biggest hug she could muster. "Don't you ever do that to me again, I can't loose you."

Peeta's lashes fluttered and his eyes met Natalie's. "Careful," Peeta spoke, his voice groggy. "There's a force field ahead." Natalie pulled away and slapped his arm.

"That's not even funny. You were dead," Natalie spoke, her chest heaving from crying, making it harder for her to speak and to breathe. "Your heart stopped."

The Mellark twins were two sides of the same coin, two peas in a pod. Without each other, they were nothing. All within a second, Natalie's world went crashing. Her brother could've died all because of the Hunger Games and there was nothing she could do about it. It was all her fault. If she had just died the first time, then no one would be in this position. Her brother's life would've never been at risk.

"It's all my fault." She mumbled, the fear deep in her bones. Her lungs gasping for air as she tried desperately to get as much air as she could. "It's all my fault." She repeated.

Her hands shook as various of hands reached for her. She was quick to push them away, not wanting to hurt the people she loved. Natalie brought her knees to her chest, put her hands over her ears and forced her eyes shut as she tried to calm her breathing.

Rosen sat beside her and stroked her back, trying to help in any way she could but it was like Natalie was trapped inside in her own little bubble and she was listening through muffled sounds. The sound of her erratic breathing was enough to block everything out.

Cato knelt down in front of Natalie, moving Natalie's hands away from her ears and held them softly. "Natalie, just listen to my voice."

Natalie tried her hardest to fight the fear and the panic she felt. But it was no use, the more she thought, the worse it got. Then, in the amidst of darkness and madness, the light bloom with a single kiss. Her eyes flew open as Cato pulled away and it was like their first kiss all over again.

The star-crossed lovers stared at each other for a moment, like they were the only two people in the arena. That was until Rosen cleared her throat. "Let's go lovebirds."

➳

After walking for miles, they finally stopped at a large slope, that had enough coverage from the victors who would attempt to hunt them down. Still shaken from the previous events, the Mellark twins sat side by side with Cato on the other side of Natalie, like the protective father figure he adopted within a short space of time.

A faint beeping entered their ears as Rosen looked around for the source. A parachute landed a few yards from them and immediately Finnick rushed over. He opened it and grabbed the two sliver of papers, one marked with an 'N', the other with an 'R'.

Once Rosen had read her note, she had ripped it up and refused to say anything about it. It had made Natalie slightly worried to read hers but once she saw the familiar writing of Haymitch, she knew it was okay.

Drink up - H

"Here." Finnick spoke, handing the metal object to Rosen, their hands lingering longer than deemed just friends. Natalie didn't know if the pair caught her looking but she turned away before they could catch her.

"What is it?" Cato asked, looking at the unfamiliar object.

"It's a spile." Rosen blurted out. She had been forced to watch all the games and to study all the gifts that sponsors could give to the tributes. It wasn't long ago that Rosen had been one the people that sponsored Cato, Peeta and Natalie.

Everyone had watched as Rosen stood up and walked over to the nearest tree and had shoved the spile in a large vein. Nothing had happened at first but then a thin trail of water began to form. One by one, they all took a turn drinking from the spile. Finnick and Cato had given it to Mags and Natalie on a leaf, despite the latter claiming she was able to stand up.

Once they were all hydrated, they began to settle down for the night. Naturally, Natalie and Cato laid next together with his arm wrapped around her stomach protectively. The anthem of the dead started to play and Natalie did her best to ignore it. She had heard it often enough in her nightmares, that she didn't want to add anymore names and faces to the list.

And for the first time in a while, Natalie had managed to fall asleep almost instantly with the last thing she saw being Finnick and Rosen holding hands.

XXX
can y'all tell i didn't have any muse?