𝙢𝙮 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙤𝙧 | c. hadley (on hold)

06. weakness

"i'll handle it," i added after a few moments of awkward silence. cato had abruptly left the table rather dramatically. "he just needs some time to calm down."

the others nodded, leaving the table dangerously quiet. i finished my meal and took one last sip of my drink before excusing myself and heading back towards my bedroom. i changed into a pair of grey leggings and a long sleeved black t-shirt. i washed the makeup off of my face, brushed my teeth, and threw my hair into a low ponytail. i walked barefooted across the cold floor and gently knocked on cato's door.

"it's drew," i called out to him through the door. "please let me in."

the door opened slowly, cato blocking the doorway with his muscular figure. he had changed into a pair of sweatpants and no shirt. my eyes first found his abs, before slowly making their way up to his eyes. taking in the view. i placed a hand on his chest as he pulled me in, wrapping his strong arms around me. his chin rested on top of my head.

we stayed like that for a long time before i finally
pulled away first. i closed his door behind me and looked up at him again. my eyes met his blue ones and i finally questioned his statement that had almost flipped my world upside down.

"i'm your.. weakness?" i asked cautiously. i was careful not to make him angry. the last thing i wanted was to enrage him for bringing up the subject again, but i genuinely needed an answer.

he sighed. "yes, you are." his head fell, looking at the ground as if he were embarrassed.

i took a moment to let his words sink in, not taking my eyes off of his face. i grabbed his hands as we both sat down on the bed.

"why didn't you tell me?" i muttered. "i mean, we spend plenty of time together.. it's not like you didn't have the chance."

"i didn't want to throw away what we had. or scare you away," he voice softer. "i'm good at scaring people off."

i scoffed slightly. "if you were gonna scare me aaah it would've been one of those times you beat up kids at the training facility for taking your sword."

cato chuckled. "i'm protective of what's mine." he grazed his eyes over me before barely licking his lips.

i blushed as i gently bit the inside of my lip and ducked my head.

"you're the only one i've never been able to scare away. you're the only one that i've let get this close to me, drew," i studied his face as he refused to look me in the eyes.

"i know," i whispered as i brushed his blonde hair out of his eyes.

"that scares me, drew. it scares the hell out of me," he voice shook slightly. "knowing that only one of us comes out of here alive."

"cato, i-"

"as soon as you volunteered for clove, i couldn't stop thinking about only one of us coming out alive. if either of us do and-"

i cut off cato's sentence by smashing my lips onto his. i couldn't take hearing anymore of his mushy, straight from the heart, problems. he was ranting now, as he did when he got into his feelings. i had to stop him somehow. or he wouldn't stop.

my mouth moved with his like a rhythm. my stomach doing somersaults. it was so right, his lips on mine. it wasn't the first time i'd ever kissed him, but this one felt like more.

it might have been the adrenaline rush from the million things that had happened today, or maybe the thought that we could both be dead by this time next week. whatever it was, upped the intensity.

i pulled away slowly. cato's sapphire eyes gazing into my brown ones. "are you better now?" i asked with a smirk.

"i don't know.." cato shook his head. "i think i could use another."

i giggled slightly before leaning in again, only leaving a peck on his lips this time.

somewhere in the back of my mind, i had always had feelings for cato. and part of me knew he had feelings for me too. but we pushed them away. we were strictly friends and training partners. we'd been close forever. he was there when nobody else was. we'd run all over our district at two o'clock in the morning just because we had nothing else to do. however, never in my life did i ever think that we would take our feelings seriously. yet here we are.

"you're all i have, drew," i whispered in my ear as i shivered slightly.

"you're all i have, cato," i breathed in response. he pecked a small kiss on my cheek before leaving another on my lips.

we had kissed for what seemed like hours, but it had really only been a few minutes. i placed my hand on his cheek as he pulled away slowly. my eyes fluttering open, meeting his gaze. i took his hand and pulled him to lean back on the bed, as I did the same. 

"can i ask you a question?" i asked, my voice soft and quiet.  he nodded in response.

"if we both obviously feel something for the other, why are you so against the star-crossed lover gimmick?" my eyes studied his face.

"way to ruin the moment," he chuckled as i grinned a little bit. "i don't want the tributes putting an extra target on your back. if nobody knows i feel, it decreases my chances of losing you."

i nodded in understanding. "you realize only one of us can come out of these games alive. i'm targeted anyways."

"think of it this way, you pointed out that girl from district one checking me out earlier, if we go public and tell everyone how we feel about the other, she wouldn't rest until you're dead," cato further explained.

"well trust me, i'm gonna kill that skank before she even touches me. just you wait," i cracked my knuckles at the thought of the blonde girl.

"i know you will," cato laughed, his eyes admiring my facial features, his hand shaking around my waist, pulling me closer to him. i curled into his side, taking in his scent. i felt his fingers take through my hair as i looked up to find his eyes.

"i hope you know, you're my weakness too," i whispered before finding his lips again

___

//final rewrite! a new chapter will be here soon!! i hope you guys enjoy:))