I'll Be Beside You (Sequel to I'll Be Watching You)

In the Arena Once Again

CATO POV

We woke up, our limbs tangled up in the sheets of Brooke's bed. I didn't know that angry sex was so much better than normal sex and now I want to make her angry again. But I can't. We're heading into the arena again soon. I lever myself out of the bed and crack the muscles in my neck. In an instant, her arms wrapped around my neck and I felt a kiss on the top of my head.

"Baby, I'm so sorry for losing my shit at you last night. My hormones, ya know?"

"It's alright, I'm just glad I got something out of it."

I smirked and turned to kiss her lips. She sat back down on the duvet and looked down at her hands.

"Cato, should I be scared?"

"You'd be an idiot not to be scared. I'm not trying to scare you but the Capitol is not gonna let this go."

"I know. They won't let the same mistake happen again, they killed Seneca Crane for it. Only one will escape the arena this year."

"And it will be you. I will absolutely make sure of that."

"What about you?! I can't live without you, you know that!"

"Brooke, we don't have any other choice. You are pregnant and I will do whatever I can to make sure you make it out. Should I die, you will still have a piece of me in our little princess."

I placed my hand onto her stomach and she sighed.

"So it's a girl, is it?"

"I want a girl, don't you?"

"I don't care what the baby is, as long as it is healthy and has your eyes, I'll be happy."

"My eyes?"

"Yeah, I love your eyes."

She gave me another kiss before getting up off the bed. She pulled on a white tank top and khaki pants before pulling her hair up into a ponytail.

"Well? Aren't you gonna get ready, Mr Hadley? We're going back into the arena."

****
BROOKE POV

Cato and I walked hand in hand towards the huge chopper waiting for the tributes. Brutus and Enobaria looked up at our entrance and they gave a Cato a curt nod. He nodded back and we took our seats across from Finnick and Johanna. Johanna gave me a nasty smile while Finnick had this sort of smug look on his face. It was a very long chopper ride to say the least.

They dragged me and Cato apart to take us to our stylists. Cinna sat in the room waiting for me, engulfing me in a hug when I arrived.

"Why didn't you tell me about the pregnancy?"

"I'm sorry Cinna, it must've slipped my mind. I'm so clueless about this, I don't even know how far along I am."

"I would say maybe 4 or 5 months, you and Cato have been together for almost a year after all. This outfit seems to be suited to the tropics, so expect trees and water. Of course, I'm always rooting for you."

"Oh Cinna, I'm so lucky to have you, and my baby will have the best clothes in District 12."

"You know it."

I gave him another big hug and step up to the podium. The glass surrounded me, but the plate doesn't move. I turned sharply to see Peacekeepers swarming into the room. One of them smacks Cinna across the face with a baton, his face making contact with the glass that surrounds me. I'm too stunned to move as Cinna slipped down the glass onto the floor, leaving a trail of blood right in front of my face. It was like time slowed down as the Peacekeepers bashed into Cinna over and over again. I pressed my hands to the glass, trying to find some way out of my glass prison. I could feel the tears pouring down my face as I tried to reach the man who became my father figure. His eyes found mine before closing, the soldiers dragged his limp body from the room while I screamed his name.

"CINNA! CINNA! CINNA, PLEASE!"

****

The plate lifted me up into the bright sunlight. My eyes finally adjusted and I looked around the arena. A large body of water with the silver Cornucopia protruding from the middle of it, strips of land coming out like the spokes of a wheel, meeting the circle of jungle around the arena. The tributes were on podiums, 2 by 2 in between each strip of land. To my left, Gloss from District 1 and to my right, Cecelia from District 8.
I found Finnick, Johanna, Wiress, Mags and Beetee easily, but I was not able to find Cato. Before I knew it, the gong went off and I plunged into the water below.