Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story, only the plot and universe in which they reside and have their fun... And they're having way more fun than they had in the Hunger Games... I think...

A/N: ... SOOOO... Hi? Let's start with that XD So, I have to apologise - I have been away from FanFiction for over a month :O And by away, I meant posting, I did still read stories *guilty as charged* I have had a massive writer's block. I haven't written anything in a month (on the up side, my studies have been going better than ever XD) and today, I felt like writing, so this was actually the first thing I wrote after, hopefully, defeating my writer's block with a fist of iron... I have no idea if my creative juices will run low once more, so I'm sorry if posting is a little slow for now, but I am trying . I kept trying to write the next chapter, but I kept on deleting it because I felt it wasn't up to my usual standard. I'm pretty happy with this, so I decided, rather than scrapping it again, I would actually post this XD It may just be my slight OCD tendencies making me feel that this chapter isn't so good, I don't know, you tell me!

Thank you for all your reviews whilst I was away - you have NO IDEA of how guilty I felt after reading each one :P I kept on wincing when I saw one in my inbox because I just thought 'I'm letting this person down *cries*' BUT THEY HAVE HELPED ME TREMENDOUSLY. And to the new people who are now following me and favouriting me, WELCOME ABOARD!

I will reiterate this: I do not plan on quitting this story until the ending, so don't worry, even if I go on hiatus for forevers, I will come back to finish it! :D Because I dislike stories that just end - unless the writer has a good reason, that is... Unfortunately, I don't have one so you're stuck with me until maybe next year when I have A-Levels... I'm kind of hoping this will be finished by next year though... Hopefully before my exams start in twelve weeks... But that's an unrealistic target... (Y'know a characteristic of being a psychopath is unrealistic long-term goals?)

ANYWAY! On with the chapter! As always, thank yous are at the bottom now! ^^

-R

PART 1

Chapter 9

Clove slammed her front door shut, leaning back against it when it was closed. Slowly, she slid down into a crouching position, hugging her knees to her chest. Instinctively, she brought the arm not holding her knees and touched her bottom lip gently.

What was that? she thought, closing her eyes and letting her head loll backwards, hitting the door gently. She was shell-shocked, more than that, so confused, so very confused. Why had he done that? Why had he ruined their perfect night? They were well on their way to being able to stand each other, maybe to becoming friends and he had to ruin it, didn't he? So many fucking questions and she wouldn't dare to voice any of them. She didn't know how they were supposed to act together from the on, were they still sort-of enemies, or was it now some unwelcome complicated relationship she hadn't wanted? And what about her unspoken wish to not have any sort of romantic interaction until university? Where had that gone?

Completely and utterly out the window.

"That bastard!" Cato watched as she slammed the door shut and sighed, his grip around the car wheel tightening, making his knuckles appear white. This was not the reaction he had expected. Hell, he hadn't expected her to kiss him back or anything, but running away?! Was he really so repulsive?

He banged his head down on the wheel, thankful it didn't make the car honk or beep, and turned his head slightly in the direction of her house, looking at it guiltily. He'd probably screwed everything up now, like usual. He could just hear Gale's voice in his head,

"Well you fucked that up nicely. What's she going to do now? Run to Marvel?"

Cato gasped. Fuck. Marvel. He ran a hand through his hair. You have to be kidding me. How could so much happen because of one fucking kiss?

"Ugh, I am so screwed." And whipped. he added mentally.

"I'm home!" Clove finally announced, which led to her mother and father frowning as they popped their heads around the doorframe.

Her father stormed up to her, restrained by her mother slightly tugging on his hoodie's hood.

"Who drove you home?!"

Luckily, Clove already had an answer prepared. "Rye, because Peeta can't drive yet. Duh."

Her father's expression relaxed instantly, Ah, the middle Mellark. Has a girlfriend... Good, good...

Clove could see his thoughts etched on to his face. She flicked his forehead. "I don't plan on getting a boyfriend at least until I'm in university and out of this house, father. You have nothing to worry about."

Her mother pouted, "But boys aren't as adorable then!"

Clove merely rolled her eyes; she was fairly certain she'd avoided a major crisis until her father gasped.

"But if you get a boyfriend after you've moved, how will I be able to keep tabs on you two?!"

"Father!" she cried out. Of course, he'd be worried about that. "You really are stupid, aren't you?"

"Only when boys want to get into my little girl's pants-"

"ARGH! JUST SHUT UP!"

"Please do, honey," her mother broke in. "Besides, we weren't that old when-"

"AH, FOR FUCK'S SAKE." Clove used her hands to block her ears before stomping up the stairs.

PARENTS.

That night was a sleepless one, which didn't surprise Clove at all – she'd been fairly certain her brain would try to analyse the situation over a hundred time before it finally let her sleep, and she'd been right. However, she did have one thing to be thankful for: her dreams at least contained nothing but bunnies and rainbows (and by bunnies and rainbows, she actually meant knives and targets – the target being Cato's head numerous times – obviously, she had been very reluctant to wake up from a dream like that). But wake up she did, but earlier than usual because of her phone. Apparently she wasn't the only one getting up at ridiculous times.

Scrambling for her phone, she caught sight of the time and mentally applauded whoever was texting her, not realising she could be applauding Cato of all people.

Hi. Well, this didn't feel familiar at all.

It's Glimmer. Clove's mouth dropped open with an audible pop and the mental applauding stops. How the actual fuck was everyone getting her number?!

Hi, Clove texted back quickly before mentally face-palming herself. She was just about writing a less stupid text out asking how she got her number when Glimmer beat her to the chase,

I got your number from Mellark. Clove groaned out loud, again? What was this, some kind of a joke?

(To clarify, Peeta was still blissfully ignorant his phone had been stolen from him then returned. Twice.)

What do you want? Clove resigned herself to replying.

To know about the relationship between you and Cato. Clove nearly punched the wall. Of course he had to be at the centre of things once again.

There is no relationship. And please remind Cato of that at every single opportunity you are given.

There was a pause for a few minutes, almost like Glimmer was contemplating what to put in reply. And when she does, Clove started coughing from inhaling too quickly.

Spluttering, she read the text once more.

Too bad; you're quite cute together.

…

Were her classmates all bipolar or something?

Clove didn't get back to sleep. Even her father could see that when she trudged into the kitchen, more grumpy than usual. She shoved the capsule of coffee into the coffee machine, grumbling to herself that it was way too slow and they should buy a new one.

"It is brand new, sweetie, remember? You chose it."

Her answer was a glare that could burn through walls. The machine beeped and spat out the dark sludge, thick and... a very small amount. Suspiciously small.

"Just how strong is that coffee?" She gulped down a mouthful, grimacing slightly, before shoving the capsule in her father's face.

"Jesus, Clove, I don't think you need it that strong."

She rolled her eyes, "Oh, believe me; I do."

She ate quickly and in silence, the air filled with her father's constant babble and chatter – he was a morning person. She sometimes uhmmed and ahhed, but that was the extent of her social skills early in the morning. Grabbing her school bag, packed from the night before, she stepped out of the house, met by a cold chill. Winter was coming, and boy, was it coming early.

She arrived at the shut gates huffing and puffing, having walked faster than usual to get the walk to school over and done with. After she had vaulted the gates, she sat by the doors, almost regretting her choice to be always early. She looked down at her phone, after taking it out of her pocket (that thing had seemed to have made itself part of the family, with the number of times she had to use it on a daily basis), pausing when her background slide-show brought up the image of Cato and the tea, and the cupcakes – she couldn't forget the cupcakes. She wanted to delete the photo, to delete it and never even think about last night ever again. But she couldn't. Why? She reasoned it was so she had something to blackmail him with. Something told her that was a lie. She ignored that something, quickly scrolling away, choosing to play games of Sudoku until the caretaker or someone finally unlocked the school.

Around half an hour later, the caretaker showed up, 'Beetee' printed in bold letters on name tag – the kind that said 'Hello, my name is...'. She had talked to him numerous times, not full conversations, but bits of small talk like 'The weather is getting worse' and 'You any good at I.C.T?' and 'You get taught by Wiress?' The caretaker had quickly lost interest once he realised she was not one of his wife's students. How biased, Clove had thought at the time. Now, she didn't really mind much, because he opened the doors for her in a morning, so she had let it go.

She spent the remainder of her time before school officially started in the library, the librarian ignoring her purposely, reading up on athletes and injuries – she was completely dedicated to her dream. Begrudgingly, when the bell rang, she walked back to her classroom, dragging her feet, half-wanting to run away, and half-wanting to run into the classroom, if not to just beat up Peeta and then leave again. Unfortunately for Clove, Peeta had strategically placed himself with Marvel and Katniss in her way, and there was no way she was going to push them out of the way.

She jumped upwards over and over, each time saying another word as she saw Peeta cowering behind them.

"You."

"Are."

"A."

"Wimp."

"I."

"Will."

"Get."

"You!" She punctuated her last jump with a slitting-throat motion, and Peeta shivered, wondering what had gone so wrong on her 'date' with Cato. Well, they were definitely not a couple, he decided.

Cato sauntered into school, trying to not look like he wasn't constantly checking behind his back, waiting for Clove to come and kick (haha I originally wrote 'kiss his ass' – wouldn't he love that? :P) his ass.

Finch sighed and prodded him in the side as he turned around for the billionth time. "What the fuck have you done now?"

Cato dragged a hand through his hair and smiled wryly. "Pissed off someone."

"Who?"

"Does it matter...?"

"Not if I'm going to be your look-out."

He sighed, "Clove."

"Oh, Flower-girl. Huh, you're on your own, buddy."

"Hey!"

"I do not want to find out why she has a knife-like cut across her pretty face. Neither do you, I imagine."

He grimaced. "Not particularly, but if I find out I can kick the guy's ass."

She snorted delicately, "More like he'd kick your ass."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes." A venomous voice joined in their conversation, coming from behind Cato. He whirled around, and a kick was directed at his stomach. Had he not have been surprised, he may have managed to dodge it, but, he was, and so it hit him squarely.

"What the hell?" he spluttered.

"Fuck you." Clove spat, before stalking back into her classroom.

Back to Marvel, he thought numbly.

Finch merely laughed. "I told you she would bite."

Cato sighed. "Is it bad I like her even more now?"

"Considering you're on her kill list, yes."

Cato shrugged. "Well, whatever. She'll become my girlfriend soon enough anyway."

He stared into her classroom, only to be met by Marvel's gaze. Clove was frowning at his face, asking about the one purple bruise on his jaw. He was shrugging, answering with some excuse.

Marvel had seen the whole exchange with Clove and Cato, and he jerked his chin up, a small smirk gracing his lips.

And Cato hated him for it.

He had not lost the battle yet.

So Cato hasn't quite wooed Clove yet; but that's to be expected XD Marvel is going to make his move VERY SOON my friends, so sorry to all those people who dislike Clarvel (looking at Emma, right now)

ANYWAY. TO MY AWESOME REVIEWERS!

NeonHedgehog: YES! CLATO FTW ^^

catoandclove4eva: Glad you liked last chapter... a month ago . I am so sorry for not posting this sooner!

Clato123: Oh, believe me, there will be A LOT of confusion :) I'm just evil like that mwahahahahaha *ahem*

Kato45: Haha, it seemed a very Cato-thing to do. Don't worry, I won't :) It will eventually come up... When I manage to fit it in...

craig mabbitt is HOT: I was really confused as to what 'ermergod' was until I read it out loud XD I feel so stupid *facepalm* Lol Clato is not happening yet, so Marvel doesn't need to get someone else just yet. Sorry! XP

Phillipa: 1) Lol Marvel was not joking XP I imagine he'd punch Cato for what he's done. 2) I'm sorry for giving you withdrawal symptoms! Pray, tell me what they are? XD 3) Lol Cato sounds like a caveman rofl

Clatoforeverinmyheart: I really wanted to give Cato a more... nice side... Nah, I just wanted to humiliate him XD Love always, rachemma :P

Guest (1): I have updated now ^^ Thanks for your review!

OdairBear: Er.. Hi? Haha I was laughing when I saw how many reviews you posted, and very confused XD Then I realised it was for different chapters :P THE FEELS is right XD Thanks for reviewing (lots of times)!

Guest (2): I have, I have!

Guest (3): I'm not giving up! Ever! :D Lol, thanks for the compliment - means a lot :3

Ibbonray: I have wrote more! Haha! I thought it'd be pretty funny to compare Cato to a bunny ^^" I enjoyed writing that chapter :) Glad you liked it!

Guest (4): I will continue to write! ... Unless I break my hands or something... That would be awkward.

Guest (5): Thank you~ I'm not going to stop any time soon, don't worry! :D

Phew, that is it! Thank you all for your overwhelming support! I'll see you again soon! Review, favourite and follow :D

-R