"Oh, please," I laughed as Cato pulled the red hot end of his sword from the fire and spat on it, satisfied at the small sizzling sound produced by his rather disgusting actions.

We were at the base of a tree containing that stupid district twelve 'fire girl', or whatever her stupid name was. I wondered how it would feel to actually watch her burn, the thought filled me with pleasure and I shivered with longing. It had been a full day since any blood had spilled on any of our hands. They were itching with desire. I twirled one of my blonde pigtails around my finger, glancing sideways at Cato who was still prodding the fire with his sword. We were bored waiting for district twelve to come down from the tree, she could be up there for days for all we knew. I had a feeling that Clove would be up that tree by morning if the girl was still up there, her patience wasn't a strong point, but maybe this was one time where we could appreciate that about her.

Marvel, my district partner, was off collecting fire wood, along with the boy from twelve who had been helping us find his own district partner, but I was skeptical of whether he had actually lead us to her, or whether we had come across her by chance. Oh well. Now that he had done what we needed him to, we could kill him. Or rather, Cato could kill him. He'd already claimed the honours, and we all knew better than to argue.

My legs were beginning to fall asleep from sitting still too long, I needed to move, so I stood slowly, stretching my arms out. We were in for a long night. I was already exhausted, the adrenaline that accompanied a good kill was slowly wearing off, leaving me with a feeling of heavy fatigue. I slipped a knife into my belt, just in case, and headed a short distance in to the woods, needing just a few minutes to myself. Watching Cato stabbing the fire, and Clove throwing knives at wildlife, was mind numbing. I needed action, boredom was my worst enemy.

What I wouldn't give for a hot shower, and my own bed. Hell, I'd settle for a blanket at this point. The arena was so darn cold at night, I could literally feel my body freezing. Most nights I couldn't feel my toes, my fingers, or most of my face. My back ached from sleeping on the cold, hard ground. When they'd told us in training that exposure could kill as easily as a knife they hadn't been kidding. Even the fire we lit didn't provide much warmth against the frosty air, whatever the gamemakers were doing with the weather was cruel and unusual punishment.

I heard a stick crack a few metres away, and leapt to my feet, gripping my knife close to my chest.

"Glimmer, chill the hell out, it's just me."

Cato. Sexy, strong, powerful Cato. My type of guy.

"Why'd you follow me?" I asked, a small smirk playing on my lips. Cato and I had been flirting since we first laid eyes on each other at the opening ceremony. Harmless flirting, really, since neither of us was in any hurry to admit that we liked each other. At least, I think he likes me, it's hard to tell as he so easily changes from flirty Cato to obnoxious, sexist Cato.

He shrugged, before answering me, "I wanted to make sure you're okay. Didn't know if you would be able to look after yourself out here alone." So it was sexist Cato tonight. Wonderful, just bloody wonderful.

"I'm more than capable of looking after myself, so if you'll excuse me..." I muttered angrily, attempting to storm past him back to camp. I'd tried flirting with this Cato, but mostly it was a waste of time, and completely tiresome. Plenty of guys would actually kill to be at the receiving end of my flirting, but not Cato. At least, not all of the time.

I pulled up short when he grabbed my arm, forcing me to stop, and when he spoke his voice had lost the patronising tone he had all but perfected, "Hey, wait, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you or anything."

Wow. That was a quick change. Keeping up with Cato's moods was dizzying. I'd never even met a girl with as many mood changes as Cato. I just didn't understand why he was so back and forth with his emotions. Was it so hard to just be honest with himself?

I sighed, deciding to let it go, so I smiled, and replied in a light, flirty tone, "Good, 'cause I'd hate to have to prove it to you."

"Prove what to me?" Cato challenged, smirking as he took a step closer to me.

Shivering at the close proximity of our bodies, I flashed a knowing smile, before answering him, "My ability to look after myself."

He laughed loudly, startling any nearby wildlife, and took another step towards me, his chest practically brushing against mine.

I put my hands on his chest, trying to push him away, half-joking, half-seriously trying to prove my strength to him, but he, of course, didn't even budge. He had strength in his favour, along with his size. He was buff, muscular, and tall. I was thin, petite and dainty. What we did have in common was our ability to kill. Ruthlessly, viciously. Our longing for each other. Our drive to win the games, regardless of the consequences.

His hands found my waist, and he rested them on my side lightly brushing them up to sit under the hem of my shirt. I trembled under his touch, my hands sliding up his chest to rest on his shoulders. I glanced up, looking into his baby blue eyes, clouded with desire. I raised myself up on tiptoe to close the gap between my lips and his, and saw him duck his head towards me. We were so close. So close to sealing our bond. But a crashing in the surrounding woods broke us apart, Cato pushing me behind him, to protect me as he drew his sword. But it was Marvel. Brilliant timing, Marvel.

"What are you guys doing? We're going to eat..." Marvel started to speak, but looked as though he realised he had interrupted something so he trailed off.

Cato was quick to cover our tracks, "Glimmer went for a walk, and I just came to make sure she was okay. You never know with these girls."

Marvel chuckled, obviously he agreed that I was weak. Jerk. I would show him the first chance I got just how long I could draw out his death, in the most painful way possible.

"Come on, the anthem will be on soon," Cato spoke, and we followed Marvel back towards camp. I hadn't realised before how far I had walked, but it took almost five minutes before we broke through the clearing that led back to the tree.

"About time! I'm starving!" Clove exclaimed loudly, handing out chunks of bread, and beef strips, just as the seal appeared in the sky. No deaths. So no one else had killed anyone. More blood for the rest of us to spill. The thought was oddly exciting.

We ate in silence, most of us too tired to be able to come up with intelligible conversation. Besides, Clove was not much of a chatterbox unless she was describing how she would kill you if she got the chance, which was slightly frightening, and Marvel was too dim-witted to say anything interesting at the best of times. None of us had anything to say to lover boy, what he had nicknamed the boy from twelve, now that we had found his girlfriend. He'd probably be dead by this time tomorrow. Maybe Cato would let me help, I was handy with a knife.

"I say we get some sleep, she's not coming down tonight, we'll deal with her tomorrow," Cato announced once we'd all eaten, and no one argued, everyone needed a good nights sleep. Especially with what we had planned for the following day; annihilating district twelve, both of them.

Clove stretched out first, gripping her knife in her hand, the way she always slept, and pulled her jacket tighter around her tiny body. It was beyond cold by this point, even with the fire. Lover boy fell asleep next, his face pointed to where his district partner was perched in the tree.

"I'll go get some more wood for the fire first," Marvel offered, heading off into a patch of trees only a hundred metres away, our stockpile of wood was growing increasingly smaller, and we would definitely need the warmth of the fire to make it through the night without turning into human icicles.

Cato spread out a safe distance from the fire, lying on his back with his head resting on his hands, staring at the stars. I couldn't help but keep glancing at him, wondering what would have happened had we not been interrupted earlier. Would he have kissed me? I thought so, but with Cato... you could never really tell what he was going to do. He looked back up at me, a smile on his lips, the moon washing his face with a pale light.

Marvel returned, throwing some wood on to the pile, and laid down near Clove. He was asleep in moments, his heavy breathing the indication that now Cato and I were close enough to alone. Could we maybe continue where we left off? I wasn't going to make the first move. Yes, I was a flirt, but I also liked to be pursued rather than be the pursuer.

"Aren't you tired?" Cato's voice broke into my daydream, and I jumped slightly, hoping he hadn't seen. I was still sitting up against the tree, whereas everyone else had already settled for the night.

I shook my head, before whispering back, "I'm exhausted, I just don't know if I can sleep."

"Why?" Cato inquired, pushing himself up on to one elbow to get a better look at me.

I shrugged, "It's cold, and the ground is hard."

Cato laughed quietly, "You're such a girl. Sometimes I find it hard to believe you're actually a career!"

He wasn't laughing a second later when I launched a rock at his head, missing by mere inches, "Sorry, sorry," he was quick to apologise now.

Cato patted the ground next to him, and he was on the softest part of it, "Come over here."

"Why? You don't think I need protection through the night, surely?" I smirked as I put on a strong facade.

"Maybe I do," Cato teased back, also smirking at me. Some girls may find his smile charming, for me his smirk was my undoing. I found it utterly irresistible.

"Oh, in that case..." I was flirting for all I was worth, perfecting my lash fluttering, my seductive face, the way I sauntered over to him, even the way I settled down next to him.

"Hey," he whispered as I lay down and rolled over to face him.

I smiled, and replied in a breathy whisper, "Hey yourself."

Try as I might, I couldn't stop shivering. The temperature seemed to be dropping by the minute, and I could see every breath become a cold frost in front of my face.

Cato noticed, and leaned over to speak quietly, "Big spoon or little spoon?"

"Huh?" I tried to work out what he meant, but really couldn't think of what it might mean.

He looked surprised, "You've never spooned?"

Of course I had. What the hell, "Duh."

"Big spoon is outside, little spoon is inside." He explained like it was the most simple thing in the world, the smirk on his face growing just as fast as the temperature was dropping.

Oh. Well, of course. Silly me.

"Little spoon," I replied, smiling flirtatiously.

"Roll over," he ordered, and I turned to face the base of the tree, feeling his warm, strong arms wrapping around my waist, his chest pressed into my back, his face nuzzling into my neck.

It was amazing. So amazing. I could lie like this forever. I felt... safe. Warm. Content. Strange feelings for where we currently were, for what we were here to do. For the fact that at least one of us would die. But that was irrelevant, at least for now. Right now I wanted to focus on this moment. This moment curled into Cato.

"You okay?" His breath tickled my ear as he pressed himself closer to me.

"Wonderful," I let out a breathy sigh, "You?"

"Same," his lips pressed against my neck, and it took a lot of willpower to control my urge to roll myself on top of him, and take advantage. Not that he'd resist, that I'm sure of.