The sound of birds chirping early in the next morning made you sleepily open your eyes, and you were greeted with the sight of a bright sunny blue sky, sunlight just peeking through the tree branches. You shifted in your sleeping bag, surprised to feel a pair of arms still wrapped strongly around your body, and you turned to see Cato, mumbling in his sleep as he held you tight, his breath tickling your skin. As romantic as it probably sounded, it kind of ticked you off, especially since you turned your head and saw everyone else already up and on guard.

"Cato," you hissed, pushing on him. "Cato. Get up. Everyone else is up."

Cato seemed to refuse, though. He only buried his head further in your shoulder. "Safe...keep you safe..."

"Cato." You rose your voice just slightly as you pushed him with greater force. "Wake up!"

"AHHH!" Cato bolted up, his eyes snapping open as he let go of you, grabbed his sword, and got onto his feet immediately, looking around the arena like a wild dog for tributes to kill.

You shook your head as you got out of the sleeping bag as well, picking up your bow and quiver of arrows. "There's nothing there. Relax."

"Then why'd you call me up?" Cato asked exasperatedly as he sheathed his sword.

You nodded at the other Careers, who were only smirking at the both of you.

"AWWW! You two looked adorable in your sleep!" Pearl gushed, her face turning pink as she grinned like a maniac, trying her best not to squeal.

You only glanced at her with confusion. "Pearl, really?"

Everyone nodded in assent, which made the both of you blush. You knew Cato wasn't going to be friendly to you if he didn't promise to get you and Peeta back together. But the fact that everyone else was shipping the both of you pretty much made you feel embarrassed. It was then that you suddenly realized your mistake--your mistake of not forgiving Peeta. Who knew how much he could have seen of you and Cato? He could move around too. Not like he'd be rooted in one place anyway trying to avoid all the other tributes. Instantly, you felt a twinge of guilt in your heart, but it's too late to try and find him now. You're with the Careers, not Peeta. Best be able to stick with your current band of allies.

"Anyone else died yet?" Cato asked the group.

Glimmer and Clove shook their heads. "Not yet. But anything can happen today, right?"

You nodded grimly, recalling the gory death of the girl from District 8 last night, and shivered.

"Who's left?" Marvel asked, picking up his spear.

"Let's see." Glimmer sat down on a fallen trunk to think. "There's us, the boy from 3, the girl from District 5, the boy from District 10, both from 11, and the boy from 12."

"Peeta," you corrected her under your breath.

"So...12 of us," Marvel nodded. "Ah. Okay."

"Why? Were you planning on finding someone else today?" Clove asked him.

"No no," Marvel said lightly, shaking his head. "I mean, maybe. The faster the tributes die, the quicker one of all of us can get out of here."

"Oh god. Don't remind me," you groaned, about to laugh when you stopped short. Another memory of your past with Peeta flashed through your mind--the day before the reaping, when you and he joked about the stylists...

By this point, Cato seemed to sense your pain so quickly that he soon hovered over you with an arm around you again.

"Really?" you murmured to Cato.

Cato nodded. "I can't have you going around here in pain now, can I?"

Of course, everyone only assumed Cato did this just to protect you. But you knew this went farther. After all, Cato did swear to the entire Career band that he wanted to protect you, and wouldn't hurt you. But you knew he wanted to get you and Peeta back together. You trusted him in hopes he'd keep that promise. What if he doesn't, though?

At the moment, though, no one else seemed to know of this plan except you and Cato. Better only you both know this than everyone in the pack.

"It'll be okay," Cato murmured to you, rubbing his hand on your arm again, which made you relax and nod with further confidence. Of course you'll see Peeta again in here. Hope he'll be ready to accept your forgiveness.

"Quit it already with your mush, and let's go!" Clove finally cried. But you and Cato just chuckled.

"Of course, Clove," you smiled. "There's nothing romantic here anyway. Just him caring for me, me feeling grateful about it." And it was the truth.

Clove shrugged. "Okay then. I can't argue. Though you two look very cute," she added smugly, nodding at the both of you before turning away with the rest of the group.

As soon as they disappeared down the forest, having already packed up, you and Cato stayed behind at the camp and packed up your final sleeping bag, and you even scattered a lot of leaves around the area so that no one knew you were there. The entire time, though, you felt Cato's stare burn into you, and you looked up.

"What's wrong?" you asked him suspiciously.

Cato's eyes seemed to flicker with slight anger and sadness as he looked at you, then turned away, heaving a big sigh. "(Y/N), this may sound pretty stupid, but how would you feel if you promised to help someone, only to realize that with the promise came a price that you didn't know you would pay?"

You nodded. "I...I'd feel really conflicted. I mean, I wouldn't give it much thought at first, but if the feeling grows stronger it would be harder to contain and eventually you just don't know how to deal with it. It's like that with me and Peeta. Why do you ask?"

Cato sighed as he slowly reached a hand out and grasped your fingers in his, not with a strong death grip like you knew he probably would, but with a gentle pressure on your hand as he held it in his own. Silence ensued between the both of you before he finally spoke the words in his mind.

"I feel that way about you, (Y/N)."

The morning came by too quickly for me to register, and by the time I do open my eyes I realize just how late in the day it must have been. My face was now sticky with tears, and as I reached up to feel my cheeks, sticky with the residue of sadness and hurt from seeing (Y/N) with Cato, I heard some commotion going down beneath me, and I turned in my sleeping bag to see what was going on.

(Y/N) and Cato were down there, clearing up their campsite, just a few feet away from where I am. Cato was staring at her the entire time, which seemed to bug her, and she looked at him with worry.

"What's wrong?" I heard her ask him after a bit.

Cato only looked at her wistfully, sighing heavily as he looked away from her. "(Y/N), this may sound pretty stupid, but how would you feel if you promised to help someone, only to realize that with the promise came a price that you didn't know you would pay?"

Immediately, my senses were on high alert, and my body tensed in my sleeping bag. I couldn't even move, however much I wanted to just turn away from the scene. It was like watching a truck about to crash into me, end my life completely, yet I couldn't even move. I was scared. I was paralyzed.

"I..." I heard (Y/N) speak up hollowly, making me clench my fists. "I'd feel really conflicted. I wouldn't give it much thought at first, but if the feeling grows stronger it would be harder to contain and eventually you just don't know how to deal with it. It's like that with me and Peeta. Why do you ask?" she finally asked him.

Oh god, I thought. Please don't say the words that are on my mind. I knew I made a big mistake that night anyway, the night I said I loved Katniss. But I feel nothing for her. The more I thought about that incident, the more depressed I felt. I've only helped her that once, and I gave up talking with her a long time ago. Why continue to harp my feelings on Katniss? I only just realized now that the reason I avoided confessing to (Y/N) was because I didn't know how to cope with my feelings. Would she figure it out?

I watched as Cato went over to her and took her hand gently in his. Knowing Cato, he can kill someone with a death grip. A single twist in the neck could end someone's life, and I did manage to see that yesterday at the Cornucopia. But when it came to (Y/N), he's somehow really...gentle. When he opened his mouth next and said the very words that graced my thoughts, I felt an icy dagger pierce through my heart immediately.

"I feel that way about you, (Y/N)," Cato responded.

For a moment, time stopped. Not just for the two down there (or so I think), but for me too. If only it was me down there, telling (Y/N) that. But (Y/N) seemed to have a bit of sense in her.

"Conflicted about me and Peeta, or you and me?" she asked quietly.

Cato shrugged. "Maybe both."

To this, I saw (Y/N) laugh as she squeezed Cato's hand. "We'll have it all figured out. I'm still learning to try and forgive myself for hurting Peeta." She then let it go, stuffing it back into her pocket, and looked away from him. "And I know you don't want to hurt me. So...let's just let it go, okay? We have more than just feelings to cope with right now."

I was stunned at her response, at her reaction to Cato's possible confession to her. Was it even a confession? And did she...

"Alright," Cato smiled, though I could tell from afar that it was forced. But even with that forced smile, he was still able to wrap an arm around her as they walked away from the campsite.

So...she didn't want to kill me after all, joining the Careers. She wanted time to cope with her feelings. And in the process, Cato fell for her. I have to get her back before he kills her, should he not mean every word he said.

I don't want her to get hurt.

Slowly, after a few more moments in the tree, I had the sense to get up, pack my things, and head down and further around the arena--hopefully farther from more tributes and danger. I needed to clear my head.

I wanted to get out of here.

"It's not that I don't accept you, you know," you finally whispered to Cato as you tried to catch up with the others. "It's just that you and I made this promise to help me mend things with Peeta. Whatever made you fall for me?"

"Just thinking about that night," Cato whispered. "I'm sorry if--"

"No no! It's fine, really," you assured him. "Just...it meant nothing but gratitude to me, really. A friend would do that, right?"

Cato nodded. "Yeah. I guess."

"HEY! Where were you guys?!"

Suddenly, you jerked your head to see the rest of the Career pack backtracking, looking for you. A single look at their worried expressions made the two of you laugh.

"Just clearing things up," you shrugged. "Nothing romantic or anything."

This made everyone smirk and chuckle silently. "We'll see," Glimmer teased.

"HEY!"

"We'd better get a move on," Marvel reminded you. "There's only so much to do before dark."

You nodded, and turned to Cato. "What say you?"

"I'd agree," Cato said. "Let's go."

So this time, you and Cato took the lead, while Clove and Pearl took left and right flank (respectively) and Glimmer and Marvel were at the back of the pack. You gave Glimmer the bow and arrows now, and Clove gave you a few knives this time to fend for yourself, which wasn't too bad considering how well you've been improving in blade throwing. And for the rest of the day, you kept yourselves alert and on the lookout now for more tributes, more animals, more plants...and more dangers.