Clato: The Cost of a Broken Heart

Chapter 43

CLOVE

I roll over in bed, grumbling at the early January light. My arm reaches automatically to pull Cato closer for warmth and lands in something wet. What on earth? I roll over groggily. "Cato?" He lays next to me, still. Sitting up, I see that his eyes are open. He doesn't move. I move to shake him, my hand landing in the liquid on his far side. My hand comes back red with blood.

"Cato," I shout, panicked. "Cato wake up." I shake him but he doesn't move. His blue eyes stare through this world and into the next. "Wake up. Wake up godammit! Cato!" Bile rises in my throat. No, no, no, no, no. What happened?

I scramble on top of him, inspecting the wound in his side. A ten in knife slices open his right rib cage. Blood pools on the sheets. I recognize the knife. It's one of Favian's.

"Wake up!" I scream again so loudly my throat becomes raw. Even though it doesn't make any sense I lean over and try to breathe the life back into him. Cato remain prone. Dead.

"Cato. Cato," I shout, "No! You can't do this to me; he can't do this. Wake up! Wake up! Cato!"

"Wake up," says a voice, not my own. "It's a dream, Clover. Wake up." My eyes snap open, my body forced from its position into an alert one. My eyes scan the room wildly. It's dark. The sun hasn't yet come up. Most importantly, Cato is beside me, alive and extremely concerned. It was just a nightmare.

When will they stop happening? I've been plagued by them my entire life. I thought that sleeping with Cato had driven them away but apparently not. I can't escape the arena. I can't escape Favian.

Putting my head between my knees, I breathe deeply. Cato's seen me like this many times, he knows exactly how to help. Cato rubs my back and whispers soothingly. He knows I'll talk when I'm ready. I take another deep breath and hug him tightly. He smells like pine and chocolate. In the cold winter night he is a blazing fire of warmth. I don't want to leave his warmth so I press my back against his chest and he curls our legs and arms around each other. Only now do I feel safe.

"I thought you were dead," I whisper.

"I'm here." He brushes his nose against my cheek.

"Did I ever tell you I used to sleep with a hoodie on so it felt like I was being hugged?"

"No," his voice is ragged, "you never told me that." Cato tightens his arms around me. "Was it bad, at night?" I nod.

"That was the worst time. I was usually too scared to fall asleep or in too much pain. My head would go over every little thing until I couldn't take it anymore. It was so lonely. I had no one." I stop so my voice doesn't break.

"I had no idea. For so long I thought you were just a quiet girl who was good at knife throwing. I wish I would have known. If I'd known how amazing you are or what you were going through I would have raced to the end where we are now. I wouldn't have waited until it was safe to let you know how I felt. Maybe we wouldn't have even gone into the games."

"I'm glad we did. I'm glad for everything we went through because it brought me to you." Cato untangles himself and walks to the closet. He keeps some clothes here, not a ton. We haven't really had the guts to talk about moving in together officially. He takes something off the rack and comes back over.

"Here," he tosses a bundle at me. It's one of his hoodies. The one he put on me the day Favian hurt me so badly I finally left that house. "It's yours now."

"I don't need it to sleep in anymore, I have you."

"Then wear it during the day, whenever we have to be apart." I smile and press the material to my face.

"It smells like you," I tell him. Pine needles and chocolate.

"I wish I had something that smelled like you," he says quietly.

"What do I smell like?" I hope it isn't bad. He doesn't even pause to think, as if he has my smell memorized.

"Paper and falling snow."

"I hope that's at good thing." Cato smirks and lays down, pulling me on top of him. I nestle into his warmth, relieved to hear his heartbeat against my ear. "I love you."

"I love you too," Cato says. And the best part is, I know he means it.

A/N This is a bit of cute filler. I wanted to update but didn't have time to develop plot so you got this cute scene. Hope you enjoyed! Please comment and vote.