Never As Far Away As It May Seem

Summary – When Peeta is left in the cave on his own while Katniss gets the medicine, he thinks that Cato comes to find him to finish the job but he couldn't be more wrong. Told in Peeta's POV. A/U. OOC. Slash. Peeta/Cato. I regret absolutely nothing.

Warning – SLASH and Swearing

Rating – T

Pairing – Cato/Peeta

Genre – Romance, Hurt/Comfort, Friendship (Kind of) and Drama.

I was in pain, I was sick and I was most probably dying. I couldn't even move properly, it hurt that much. I hated Cato for this, that ignorant maniac! I can't even understand why I started helping him anyway. It was pathetic for me to think that they wouldn't turn on me and that I would be able to take them out myself. I was nothing. I was a failure. I couldn't even convince Katniss to stay here instead of getting the medicine. She was out there, dead for all I know, and here I am, slowly dying in a hole.

I heard something break on the ground and quickly re-shut my eyes, hoping that whoever it was would think I was sleeping or better yet dead. I heard someone crouch down next to me and tried my hardest not to move. I didn't want to die like this. At least with an illness I wouldn't be seen as weak. I felt something warm brush against my cheek and soon realized it was someone's fingertips. They were rough but soothing as they continued to gently glide against my cheek.

I let out a small sigh before realizing what I had done and praying that they wouldn't do anything to me. I heard a light chuckle and decided that I couldn't take it anymore. I opened my eyes slowly and turned my head towards them. I stared wide eyed at the person to blame for this, Cato.

I gulp as I sat up and tried to move back slowly, he did nothing, just watched me. There was something in his eyes, something that seemed far too familiar to me. He reached into his pocket before pulling out a small tin. He unscrewed the top and held it up for me to see.

It was medicine.

I let out a small laugh before shutting my eyes again in relief. I reached towards the tin with a smile on my face, but he held it out of reach. I stared at him in confusion before he slowly ran his fingers across the top of the medicine and ran it over my still sore wound; I hissed in pain and could have sworn I heard him whisper a small apology. The silence was killing me and I knew that if one of us didn't say anything soon I would scream in annoyance.

"That should do it," Cato stated almost as if he had read my mind, "Can you stand?" I shook my head, unable to form words as he stared at me with a look in his eyes that I couldn't quite figure out. Friendship? Sympathy? Compassion? I hadn't realized that he had still been speaking until he gave me an expecting look.

"Um, what?" I asked embarrassed by my short attention span.

He laughed, "I said, do you need anything else? Food or water? Stuff like that,"

"Oh, no, no I'm fine," I looked around quickly before turning back to the boy in front of me, "Where is Katniss?" Cato appeared to role his eyes.

"I snuck passed her. She'll probably be in the clearing right now collecting the sake filled with medicine. Why?"

"What do you mean why? She's my partner, I need to make sure she's OK," I stated as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

"Well, what makes her so important, huh? What makes her so amazing that she's all you ever think about? Why is always 'Katniss this' and 'Katniss that'?" The tone in his voice was unmistakable. Jealousy. Why was he jealous though? He didn't want Katniss two, did he? Of course not, he only saw her as pray.

"Are you even fucking listening to me?" He shouted down at me making me jump in shock. He ran a hand through his hair before kneeling down next to me again, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled...it's just. I don't like how much you care about her," He apologized.

"Why?"

"...Because – Because I need you. I love you." I stared into his eyes and saw nothing but honesty. I saw complete and utter honesty and it scared the crap out of me.

"You...You what?" I yelled up at him, "You think this is funny? You think this is some tactic or something? You can't mess with people's heads like this you son of a bitch!" I practically screamed over at him.

I was about to give him another earful before he pulled me towards him and force his lips against mine. They were rough and hot, completely dominating my own. He was stronger then I was which meant it was easier for him to hold me place. One of his hands gripped onto the back of my neck tightly while the other was placed next to my own hand.

Soon enough, I found myself sinking into his touch, reaching up to run my hands through his slightly dirty hair. He ran his tongue across my bottom lip and I instantly opened my month slightly, allowing him access. I moaned loudly at the feel of his tongue running across my own. I had to pull away or else I would faint from the need of air. As I stared into his eyes I noticed that his hair was now extremely messy and his lips were bruised, I assumed I looked almost the same, but possibly worse.

We just stared at each other for a moment before I opened my big mouth and decided to ruin the moment.

"Why...why would you hurt me in the first place if you love me?" I challenged, still unsure whether or not I should believe his confession.

"Look, I get it, you don't believe me, you probably never will, but the reason I was so cruel to you in practice was because I was afraid to meet you, when I did meet you though, I was afraid to like you, when I did start liking you, I was afraid to hurt you," He hesitated as he stared down at the ground in shame, "When I did – When I did hurt you...I was afraid to loose you." The small side of me that was slightly skeptic hesitated while the romantic inside of me leaned towards him again.

"I know it's too late to apologize, but I want you to know something, I'm never as far away as it may seem. If you ever need anything, help, supplies, anything. You call my name and I'll come running." He swore to me truthfully. He brushed his lips against mine once more before leaving me with a small smile on his face, almost as if he knew that he had won me over that quickly.