Dangerous Affection- The Hunger Games- A Cato Love Story

Chapter 20: A New Beginning

I wake up groggily, shaking my head and try to get my bearings.

"Cato...?" I call out hesitantly.

I hear rustling behind me, and soon see Cato crouched down in front of me. "Alexandra? Are you awake?"

I cough, and get out: "Nope. Still asleep."

Cato laughs a little. "It was an honest question. You talk a lot when you're... Asleep? Unconscious?"

I feel my face warm, and quickly avert my eyes. "What... Do I want to know what you hear?"

He smiles. "You just talked about who I assume was your family... My name did come in a time or two."

I bring my hands to my face. "Oh gosh..." I look back at him. "How are you awake before me?"

"I was only stung once." Cato shrugs. "Ask the tracker jackers."

I shiver. "No thank you."

"Come on, stand up. I didn't pass out as quickly as you, but I did. And I didn't carry you but a short ways before I did... We need to get moving. They'll find us soon."

He helps me to my feet, and I take a shaky step forward. He refuses to let go until I prove I can handle walking, and he releases everything but my hand.

We walk in silence for a moment, Cato leaving me time to think on my own.

I want to go home. There wasn't much more to it. I miss my brothers terribly, and I know they are worried about me now too. I finger Xavier's ring, thinking of how I'd probably never get to see him again. Admittedly, I went into the Games thinking the same thing, but I expected to be dead with no worries. Not alive with hundreds.

I jerk back to reality as Cato squeezes my hand. "Something bothering you?"

I laugh humorlessly. "Just a lot."

Cato sighs. "I suppose it was a rather stupid question. Specifics?"

I kick the ground as we walk. "Well... I miss my brothers terribly."

He nods. "I would imagine so. Maybe one day you'll be able to see them again... What are they like?"

I blink, wondering if I'd ever talked about my family with Cato. If I had, I didn't recall it. "I have three. Xavier is my twin brother... We're so much alike, yet complete opposites. Its... Strange."

Cato smiles,  "Sounds like it."

"Then there's my younger brothers, Trevor and Marco. Trevor is nine and Marco is almost five... He's birthday should be pretty soon. Xavier and I have practically raised them for the past 5 years since... Since my mother died." I grow quiet.

"What was she like?" Cato urges me gently.

"Beautiful. Loving. Caring. She knew just how to make me laugh... She would set aside time for just me and her. It was our 'girl time'. She always thought I should learn how to be a girl before my brothers influenced me too badly. Plus it was a good change from the guy domination." A small smile slips to my lips as I remember the blurry memory's of the times we shared.

"She sounds like you."

I do a double take. "What?"

Cato shrugs. "You hide the real you. You've got this shell around you that only people who know where to look can find the way to break it. You've built this... Protective barrier around you. You're afraid of losing someone that meant so much to you again, of being hurt that badly again. That's got to be tiring... Being brave and strong all the time."

I'm left speechless, never hearing anything more accurate in my life. "How..."

Cato looks at me. "I just pay attention. Sometimes. Well... To you anyway."

I'm too lost to think about blushing. I can feel my defenses start to weaken. "I was raising a four year old and a practical new born at the age of ten..." I almost whimper to myself. "My dad shut out the rest of the world... He shut his children out... I remember him always giving me what I asked for... Whatever his little girl wanted, he did the best to get... He shut me out, too..."

His arm squeezes my shoulders. "We all sort of get delt a bad hand, don't we...?"

I jump. "What could possibly be hard about your life?! You're a District Two boy! They treat you like their future- which you are!" 

Cato looks taken aback. "Hey! It isn't all fun and games there, you know! They work us to death from the day we can walk! They treat our education like a joke! It all about training, and if you aren't good enough, your life is going to be even worse! I may not have lost any of my family, but life isn't as easy as people outside of my District think..."

I bite my lip. "Sorry... Sorry... I just... You're right... All the upper Districts think pretty... Awfully of yours... We just figure you've got it better..."

Cato relaxes a little. "In some ways we do. But family is pretty big where you are, no?"

I nod.

Cato sighs. "Well. Family isn't all that close in District Two. I listen to you talk about your brothers and everything... And I can't say my sister and I are even near as close."

I cough. "You have a sister?"

He chuckles. "Don't act so surprised. I never said I didn't. She's eleven- her names Rosaline."

"Oh..." I didn't know what to say.

"I can't say I know everything about her, like I probably should... I feel bad, looking at it now. Next year her name goes into the drawing..." He trails off.

"No matter how close you are or aren't, that's never going to be easy..." I mumble.

Cato inhales deeply, and exhales slowly. "Well... Maybe after this, they'll have to rethink having their little Games."