Victory - Cato Hadley

chapter eight

"Where are we going?" I ask him giggling. He's holding my hand, pulling me somewhere.
"I can't see anything" I add. He tied a black cloth around my head, so I'm not able to see a damn thing.
"We're almost here" he says laughing. 

Suddenly, he stops walking and lets go of my hand. He takes the cloth off my face and I stare at the moment in front of me. We're a little high up somewhere in the forest. I'm not even sure if we're still in district two. We could be behind the fence somewhere.
There's a big, black blanket laid out on the ground with a few candles on it. There's a wooden basket with food in it standing there too.
"That's for me?" I ask a little speechless.
"Yes. Take a seat" he says, and guides me over. He helps me to sit down and takes out two plates. He puts one infront of me and then takes out a few other things. He takes out two sandwiches and hands me one.
"I thought you'd be hungry after training" he says holding it in front of me.
I take it and say: "Of course I am. Training all these kids by myself isn't easy"
"I figured that out. You don't need to be so mean though"
"What do you mean by 'mean'?" I ask pulling an eyebrow up.
He nervously starts scratching his neck with one hand.
"Well, you're very strict. And your training is very hard. And you are kind of mean. I mean, what you did to Lav today was a little too much"
"Oh, you mean the girl who bullied me my whole life and called me a bitch infront of everyone? Shit, she deserved that and even more. You know what would've happend if she said that to Enobaria" I say getting mad again.
"But you are not Enobaria" he says.
"Really? We are both victors and are deemed to be mentors for these ungrateful shitheads till the day we die"
"Athena, that's not what I meant. You're a very nice person and so caring. She isn't"
"Cato, get it into your head. The weak and pathetic Athena isn't existing anymore. The arena made me strong. It gave me power and confidence. I'm not going to let a bitch like Lavender talk to me like that. And I'm not gonna let you embarass me infront of everybody like that again. In school, we can be friends, lovers whatever. But in training, I am your mentor and nothing more"
"I know, I'm sorry. She was just very scared afterwards" he says looking down.
"I hope she was"
"What happend with you two, that you hate eachother that bad?" 
"Well, first of all she used to beat me up when we were little kids. She always picked on me, ever since I can remember. She used to tell everyone shit about me. I don't like her. I never did. I once got a new dress from my parents. It was for my birthday. It was way too expensive for us but my parents wanted me to get it. I wore it to school that day. When Lavender saw, she pushed me into an empty classroom, took it off of me, laughed into my face about how ugly I am, and then cut it up into tiny little pieces. That day, was one of the worst days in my life. Dolion found me crying alone in the classroom with nothing but my underwear on. He immediately gave me some new clothes and I went home. And that's only one of the things she did to me"
"I-, I didn't know Athena" he says.
"Oh, cut the crap. Of course you knew. You stood next to her that very day in training and laughed at me with her"
"I'm sorry Athena. I didn't know"
"Cato, I'm not mad at you for what you did in the past. You've stopped and we're very good friends now. I belive people can change and you proved that to me. Well, not entirely but we're working on it. I want you to be a better person but when you're with her... Cato, I can't even stand to look at you then. I hate person you are with these idiots. When we're alone you're sweet and caring but with them you're just another one of these idiots"
"I didn't know Athena. I just laugh along with them most of the time"
"I know. That's part of the reason why I'm not entirely ready to date you. I don't want to say yes only for you to abandon me when you're with them. I don't want to make a fool out of myself"
"I promise you, you won't. Please give me a chance. I'm thankfull that you told me that. I wasn't aware of the asshole I am when I'm with them. Give me a chance, and I'll show you how good I am" 
"How good you are?" I say, and chuckle.
"Well, I could be a great boyfriend" he says proudly.
"So, you want to be my boyfriend?" I ask, a grin forming on my face.
"Maybe" he says coming closer.
"Promise me to be the better Cato in the future. Oh, and I don't want to see her around you again or I'm going to rip both of your heads off"
"I love how sassy you are. I promise to be the better Cato" he says, and holds out his pinky. I laugh at it but give him my pinky.

We continue eating the sandwiches until we're both finished. He then takes out a few strawberries and some melt chocolate. He hands me one of the berries and dips another one into the chocolate.
"You really put a lot of effort into this" I say dipping my starberry into the chocolate too.
"Of course. It's our first official date" he says, and smiles at me. A huge smile appears on my face.
"So, you think there'll be another date?" I ask.
"Oh, there are going to be a few other dates" he says, and laughs. I stuff one of the strawberries into my mouth. 
"You have a bit of chocolate here" he says and points to one of my cheecks. I try to wipe it off but only get it onto my cheeck more.
"Wait, I'll help you" he says laughing, and comes closer. He wipes the chocolate off with a napkin. My skin tingles, as he touches my face. His motions become closer and closer, as he stares into my eyes. He moves even closer and puts a hand onto the cheeck, where the chocolate had just been. I stare into his ocean blue eyes.
"Can I kiss you Athena?" he asks. His voice sounds soft.
"Yeah" I whisper out and lean in. We both close our eyes and I feel his lips on mine. They're soft and warm. He pulls me even closer and kisses me again. I obviously kiss him back. My body is almost exploding with all these feelings inside off me. My belly is tingling like crazy.
I feel his tongue asking permission to enter my mouth. I pull away and look into his eyes. We're both breathing heavily.
"I'm sorry Athena, I-" he starts nervously. 
"Shut up" I say and pulls him in again, kissing him harder. Our bodies start moving in synchro. I lay back on the blanket with him leaning above me. My hands are making their way through his messy hair and he lets out a groan. It causes me to giggle a little.
"Are you okay with that?" he asks me inbetween kisses.
"Mhm" I mumble trailing his body with my hands. They are making their way down his back towards his abs. God, that man is muscular. Holy shit.
I make my way down to his pants and start to unbuckle them. He stops kissing me and looks down at me with a soft look.
"Are you sure Athena?" 
"Yes"
"Really?"
"Yes" I say, and a smile crosses his face. He leans back down, taking off his shirt and kissing me again.