Rescue Me

Thirty Four

"Cato?" I said in disbelief.

"Nice to see you too sweetheart," He walked towards me, keeping contact with my eyes. A scoff would've escaped my lips if I wasn't so shocked to see him. I noticed the smirk on his lips as he got close to me.

"You think this is a joke?" I asked. I didn't want him here.

"No," He said flatly. He took another step towards me, keeping his hands behind his back. "Where's my hug?"

"Cato," his name rolled off my tongue so effortlessly. The air in between us became very heavy as he got an arms length away from me. "You're not supposed to be here."

"My dad told me to come," He explained. I felt his hands touch my arms, shocks ran up and down my body. "I came to bring you home."

"No."

"Yes."

"I'm not going anywhere," I told him sternly. I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Then neither am I," He said stubbornly. I ran my tongue across my teeth.

"Why do you care?" I asked. He rolled his eyes.

"Not this again," the smirk was still plastered on his face. I felt my jaw tighten as he touched the side of my face. "Didn't we already argue about this?"

"Go home Cato." I took his hand off my face.

"Come on, let's get out of the open space," I glared at his stubbornness. He grinned out in front of him as he hooked onto my arm. I felt him turn me around, Finnick was still watching the two of us. Everyone else was inside already.

"You okay Kat?" He asked protectively. Cato eyed him - was he threatened by Finnick?

"She's fine," He said for me.

"I wasn't talking to you," Finnick snapped back. Cato rolled his eyes. Finnick blocked our pathway and looked down at me. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine Finnick," I reassured him. He didn't look convinced. Cato stepped around him, lightly pulling me along with him. I swallowed something hard in my throat as the cool shade shadowed down my body. I walked past the protection detail that was around the one that wanted to kill Katniss. I was shocked Coin allowed him to come. Finnick sat down next to Dolan and they shook hands.

We both sat down on a boxes across from one another. I noticed Boggs was talking with Cato's dad across the way. So they both came?

"You've got a lot of boy friends," Cato noted.

"Jealous?" I asked. He chuckled. "Because you have no right to be."

"I can feel however I want sweetheart," He leaned back against the wall.

"Stop calling me that," I told him. He wasn't acting like the sweet Cato I had saw a couple of days ago. This was someone else.

"What would you like me to call you? Kitty Kat?"

"No," I gave him a dirty look which caused him to chuckle. "You're not acting like you."

"Like what? When I kissed you?" My eyes narrowed into slits. "Does that upset you Kitty?"

"Stop."

"I'll give you another kiss if you want. All you have to do is ask."

"Enough," I hissed. He laughed and took a sip of his water.

"I'm just joking around with you Kat," He screwed the lid back on and set his bottle down. I looked down at my fingers and pulled at the skin around my nails. "Except for the kiss part."

"It was a mistake to kiss you," I clarified coldly. He smirked immediately. He knew I didn't mean it. "It's not going to happen again, especially if you're acting like this."

"Well why not?" He asked confidently. "You clearly enjoyed it." I rolled my eyes.

"Why don't you go kiss Terra?" He chuckled.

"Who's jealous now?" He asked with his brows raised.

"That's not fair," I shook my head. "You don't get to be jealous. I was your girlfriend."

"Why do you say it as if it's the past tense?" He asked. He's unbelievable. He can't come waltzing in acting like this.

"Maybe I don't want to be your girlfriend anymore Cato," I say. His eyes flashed up to mine, determining to see if I was lying.

"You've always been a bad liar."

"You wouldn't know."

"Even if I don't remember, I can tell now." His eyes flashed down to my lips again. "I make you nervous."

"Even if you do, it's not like you acted on it."

"I was preoccupied," He went with. I rolled my eyes. "But that's over with now."

"Oh is it?" I asked. "Why because you got tired of her? Coming back to me now?"

"No," He answered. "I don't like Terra." Sure he doesn't. I'm starting to think he'll never like anyone again.

"Your indecisiveness is giving me whip lash." He chuckled. "Don't think I'll allow you to just walk back into my life Cato."

"I wasn't expecting you to." He looked away, and this was when I finally took a good look at him. The bruises that had covered his face were mostly healed by now. His hair was styled as before, his muscles were taking back their shape again. He was becoming him again, without actually being himself. If that makes sense. "I've seen that look you're giving me before."

"You don't remember me," I told him.

"I do," He answered. My heart rate started to pick up. "You're blurry, but you're there - in my memories."

"When did this start to happen?"

"After I kissed you," He kept his head glued to his hands. "I saw us under that willow tree outside my friend Connor's house." Connor was the boy that was my neighbor. This was the night before we got reaped.

"How are you sure it was me?" I asked.

"At first I thought it wasn't," He explained. He looked up, meeting my blue eyes. "I thought it was Terra. All of the memories that I remember I thought they were of her and I, but they've changed now. It's you who I was kissing."

"You don't sound sure of that," I studied him. It's like he's freaked out or something.

"All I can see is bright blue eyes. Terra doesn't have blue eyes." I looked over at the rest of our squad, Dolan was intently staring at us. He might've been listening to our conversation even.

"What do you expect me to do? Run to you and kiss you?" I asked. He shrugged.

"Maybe." I rolled my eyes.

"Things are different between us now," I told him. It felt good to stand my ground with him. "You can thank yourself for that." He wetted his lips with his tongue.

"I know I have to earn back your trust Kat." I pursed my lips as I let my eyes run down his body. "That's why I came here."

"Okay," I said shortly. I'll believe it when I see it. When Cato's actions match his words, I'll start to believe him. That's how he'll gain my trust back. "I'm going to rest. I haven't gotten a good nights sleep in days."

"Okay," He said back. "I'm taking first watch anyway." He always did. I heard someone's voice raise, I looked up to see that it was dark out now. Peeta and Katniss were talking, arguing it seemed like.

"I can't do this," I heard her say. I watched her walk towards Gale. I got up to follow her, feeling Cato's eyes on me the whole time.

"You okay?" I asked as I sank down next to her.

"Not really," She explained. I heard her sigh. "You?"

"Cato told me he was done with Terra," I explained. She glanced at me as I stared ahead. "So not really."

"Guess we're not leaving anymore," Gale announced, resting his head back against the wall.

"Guess not."