Hey guys! I can hear the pitchforks being sharpened and the torches being lit right this second. I'm so horrible at updating, I'm sorry. I just have this thing where everything has to be perfect. And then add tumblr and school and stress and youtube and sports and sleep on top of that and it gives me zero time to write. Hope you enjoy :)

The late November rain beats down on me as I hurry down the abandoned street. After being stranded at the library for two hours, I decided not to wait any longer for the rain to clear or my mother to answer her phone.

"'It'll be sunny' they said," I mumbled to myself as I think back to the weather report from this morning. I pull my drenched jacket tighter around me and dial my mom's phone one last time, hoping that it's lucky call number nine and I won't have to hear her voice mail again. When there is no answer, I hang up. I silently curse the library for being 5 miles from my house and my need to read books.

The icy downpour and strong winds seem to be relentless. Only three miles left. I sigh and lean against a nearby tree trunk.

"What does a girl need to do to get a ride around here?" I complain sarcastically to myself as I kick a rock that was resting at my feet into the road. A low engine roars over the sound of rain on concrete as bright headlights turn down the street. "I was just kidding!" I yell to the sky as the car slowly stops in front of me.

The window rolls down and I hear his cocky, arrogant voice laugh, "Need a ride?" His messy blonde hair sits perfectly on his head and his smile makes me freeze. "You look a little damp." I'm suddenly flooded back to the memory of what Annie told me a few months back. You can't trust him.

I lead Annie down the street to the deserted park by my house. The smell of freshly cut grass fills the early September air. We sit down on an old, splintering park bench.

"Why can't I trust him Annie?" She's silent and stares at her washed-out, blue vans. "Why can't trust Cato?"

She breathes deeply and runs a hand through her hair like she had when she first told me last week. "You just can't, okay? Trust me on this one."

I throw my head back and groan. "I'm not going to listen to you unless you give the reasons why, An." I get up from the wooden bench and cross my arms, tapping my toe impatiently.

"Do you realize how many girls he's been with? Let's not forget all the girls he has lead on. Every girl is just another toy for him to play with until he gets bored and chooses another. He's an asshole, douche bag, and a jerk. And he has no respect for anyone at all, Clove." She huffs and purses her lips, moving her eyes back to the ground. I've never seen quiet Annie quite like this ever in my life. I choose to nod in agreement and sit back down next to her.

I turn toward her and hold up my hand. "I swear I won't trust him Annie."

She stands up and looks back at me. "Good."

I stare at Cato and his dry car one last time and sigh. "Fine , Cato. This one time."

My eyes stay locked in place staring at the rain ferociously rolling down the passenger side window in Cato's expensive car. I feel out of place here, like I don't belong. That's probably because I'm poor and am drenched in rain water.

We don't speak the whole car ride until we reach the turning to get to my house and I awkwardly break the silence. "Take a right here." Cato drives straight through the light, ignoring me. "Are you deaf? You missed my turn."

He smirks and laughs slightly like what I said was a pathetic joke to him. "Well," he starts as his car slows and turns left down an unfamiliar road. "I can't just bring you home like that. Now that would be so inconsiderate and not gentleman-like at all."

"This can be considered kidnapping," I huff and cross my arms defensively. The car takes a sharp right before pulling into a long paved driveway, leading up to a large mansion of a house.

"I'll bring you home when you're dry, Clove." He parks the car and walks around to open up the door on my side. I step out and quickly run under the shelter of the roof. Cato opens the door and leads me inside.

"Do you live here?" I gasp and gape at the high ceilings and hardwood floors. Nothing is out of place, it's all perfect, like a house pulled straight out of a magazine.

"No, Clove, we just broke into someone's house." Cato opens a white door, revealing a large tiled bathroom. He walks over to the other end of the room and grabs a towel. "Of course I live here." He jogs back over to me. "Here you go." Cato places the towel on my head and smiles. "Now let's go get you some dry clothes."

"Clothes? What?" I chase Cato down the hall and up the stairs before I realize I've that he's not in front of me anymore. "Cato," I shout. "Your house is a maze." I keep walking, in hopes of finding a way out. "I really don't need clothes. Mine are fine, thank you very much."

Something grazes my left arms lightly and I whip my head around to see Cato, towering over me, holding sweats and a sweatshirt. "Come on Clove, you'll get a cold." I sigh and take the clothes from him. "You can change in the bathroom downstairs." I walk silently behind Cato back through the house and down the stairs. "I'll be waiting here." He gestures to the living room.

I reach the bathroom and slip into his clothes quickly. I have to fix them so they don't fall off of my tiny frame. Why am I still here? Just leave, Clove.

I try turning on my cell phone, but it doesn't work. Broken phone. I leave my wet clothes in a corner of the bathroom to pick up when I leave. Correction, if I leave, seeing that Cato is as stubborn as a mule.

I silently walk back to the living room. I take my seat on the end of the couch, as far away from Cato as I can possibly make myself.

"Why were you walking around, miles away from your house, in the rain? Hoping to catch a cold?" Cato's eyes drill into the side of my head.

"Why were you driving around, miles away from your house, in the rain? Hoping to pick up chicks?" I turn my head to glare at him.

Cato chuckles. "What you don't know about me is that I like to kidnap teenage girls in my free time." I find myself muffling my laughter at his comment and looking away from him again.

There's a flash of lightening outside of the window, illuminating the sky. My body tenses and I pull my knees up to my chest. I cringe at the sound of the thunder that follows. Breathe, Clove.

"Hey hey what's wrong." Cato stand up from his end of the couch and kneels beside me. "It's okay." He places his hand on my shoulder like a dad would've if he were talking to their small child. "Are you afraid of thunder?"

I nod slowly. "And lightening." My eyes squeeze shut as more lightening strikes. Cato lifts himself up from the floor and back onto the couch, but this time, he's next to me. "This isn't a time to be hitting on me, Cato. I will punch you in the face."

My chin rests on my knees now as I look over to him. Cato sits two feet away with his arms open towards me. "I'm not hitting on you. We're friends." He pats the seat next to him and gestures toward me. He's just drawing you in don't fall for it. If you run now, you can make it to the door. Thunder roars outside and I make the split second decision to move over to him.

His muscular arm wraps around my shoulder, pulling me closer to him. Heat emanates from his body and his strong arms make me feel safe from the world. Clove. Just friends. But I can't help myself; I feel safe, like nothing can hurt me.

"Are you okay?"

I nod. "But I did just want a ride back to my house, you know?"

"I know."

We sit there in silence as the storm goes on. I flinch at every stroke of lightening and beat of thunder. My heartbeat races and I can almost not handle the storm anymore.

Cato squeezes my shoulder in reassurance. "Talk to me." My eyes flicker up to his piercing blue ones. "Distract yourself."

"I can't distract myself. Why can't you see that?" Tears start to fall down my cheeks. I try to hide it, but Cato notices instantly.

Cato wipes my eyes with his sleeve and smiles softly. "Yes you can."

"I'm ridiculous," I mutter softly as I turn away.

"What's ridiculous?"

"This," I laugh. "I'm afraid of some silly thunder and lightening."

"It's not silly." Cato insists. "It's different." He pulls me in closer to his side making me tense up, but soon enough, I relax. "Most girls are afraid of spiders."

A clap of thunder roars outside, making me cringe. A few more tears slip from my eyes onto Cato's shirt. "Being different isn't necessarily a good thing," I sigh.

"It can be." We sit on the couch in silence for a while, his arm around my shoulder, keeping my body pressed against his.

Just friends. Just. Friends. My body relaxes and my eyes slowly flutter shut. For the first time ever, I've slept through my fears, and it is all because of him.

The ringing of a phone awakens me slightly into a sleepy daze. I groan and stretch out on the couch. Wait, why am I on a couch? I sit up straight and rub my eyes. Where am I? Cato walks in holding his cell phone to his ear. Oh right.

"Finnick, calm down! She's fine," Cato yells. My ears perk up to the sound of my best friend's name. "Here. Talk to her." Cato hands to phone to me and slumps down on the couch next to me.

"Hello?" I hold the phone to my ear and brush a hand through my hair with the other.

"Clove!" Finn's relieved voice fills my ear. "We've been worried sick." I trace my finger along the edge of the cushion I'm sitting on when Finnick asks the question I was dreading. "Why the hell are you at Cato's?"

I take a deep breath and sigh. "He picked me up when I was stuck out in the rain and took me back to his place. It was my fault, Finnick, I was the one who walked to the library and I was the one who fell asleep on the couch at Cato's. I should have told someone where I was."

"Clove I'm coming to pick you up." Finnick's voice is gruff and demanding.

"You don't need to drive over, I can get myself home," I yell.

His car engine revs on the other end of the line. "I'm coming to get you." The line goes dead and I thrust the phone over to Cato.

"Nothing happened yesterday. I got to your house and fell asleep. Got it?" Cato nods in agreement. Silence falls between us and I place my head in my hands, awaiting Finnick's arrival.

"We're friends right?" Cato blurts out. "After everything that has happened between us, does this classify us as friends?"

I lift my head up and stare into his icy blue eyes. My lips twitch upward into a small smile. "Yes. Friends."

There is a loud pounding at the front door, followed by an angry shout. "Clove!" Cato walks to the door calmly as I stand back with my arms crossed protectively over my stomach. Finn shoves past Cato towards me. He places his hands on my shoulders , gripping them tightly. "You're okay," he breathes. His eyes soften and only show worry for me. "Let's go home."

Finnick places an arm over my shoulder and leads me towards the door that is held open by Cato. "Thank you for having me," I politely thank. Cato opens up his arms and leans in for a hug. Finnick growls and mumbles under his breath.

"We're friends!" Cato and I shout in unison before exchanging a friendly hug. He hands me a plastic bag filled with my clothes from yesterday that were still drenched in rain water. I wave back at Cato as I head towards Finnick's car.

I sit myself down in the passenger seat as I wait for Finn. He stands at the front door talking to Cato, probably something about staying away from me for the rest of eternity.

Finnick finishes scaring away Cato and climbs into the driver's seat. He shifts the car in dive and heads back down the paved driveway. "What is going on between you two? Last time I checked, you wanted nothing to do with him. You're also wearing his clothes."

"Are you saying that you're the only guy friend I can have? He gave me his clothes to wear because mine were soaked. It took me awhile to convince myself he was okay to trust!" Our voices are raised to the point where we are yelling in each others' faces.

"Of course I'm not saying I'm the only guy friend you can have. I'm just trying to protect you from this becoming another 'Gale relationship!' This is exactly what happened last time, Clove."

"He's not Gale, okay?" He parks the car outside my house. I try to leave but I'm stopped by Finn's hand gently placed on my shoulder.

"I'm here for you, Clove. Talk to me, okay?" Finnick's eyes are solemn and his face is fallen. "I'm sorry I shouted."

"It's okay Finn." We both silently exit the car and walk into my house. My mom, Katniss, Marvel, and Annie sit in the living room and whip their heads toward the door when we walk in.

Annie walks over to me and shakes her head. "You promised, Clove." She pushes her way around me, out the open door and Finnick runs after her. I betrayed my friend.

My mom is next to make a move towards me. "Baby," she whispers. Her hands wrap around me and through my hair. "You're okay." She chokes her tears back.

"My phone is kind of damaged from the rain." I pull the phone out from the bag that also contains my clothes.

Katniss and Marvel make their way to me now, enveloping me in their arms. "We are all glad you're okay," Katniss stated.

Even though everyone is happy, I only can think about the one who isn't. Annie trusted me, and I let her down. She will never forgive me for ignoring her, and I will never forgive myself for it either.

The front door opens back up again, but to my dismay, only one person stands in the doorway. Finnick ruffles his hair and walks past us. "She left." Finnick brushes past solemnly and into the kitchen.

I wave Katniss and Marvel goodbye and jog into the kitchen. Finnick sits at the table with his face resting in his hands.

"Finnick." I rest my hand on his shoulder and sit in the adjacent chair. "It's okay."

"No it's not," he moans. "You don't understand." He lifts his head up off of his hands and stares at me. His green eyes are starting to tear up at the slightest. "I try so hard and it's like she doesn't even care."

"Finn, just let Annie know about your feelings for her." Finn's love for Annie has been going on for a few years now, and because Annie doesn't tell anyone anything, no one knows her feelings about anything.

Finnick sighs into his hands and mumbles. "What if she doesn't feel the same?"

I stand up from my chair and walk away from the table sighing. "I thought you were The Finnick Odair, the man who can woo any girl with a flip of the hair and a gleaming smile." I pour myself a cup of coffee and sip on the black liquid excitedly. "I guess I thought wrong."

Finnick kicks the chair back and walks over to me briskly. "Oh no, I am Finnick Odair," he boasts with the cocky attitude he was missing just a few minutes ago.

"No you're not." A smile forms on my lips and I push Finn's chest back.

"Yes I am," he yells. "I. Am. Finnick. Odair."

"Then what are you going to do about it?" I yell, matching his volume.

A gleam of hope has been replaced in his eyes and his lips pull themselves into a smile. "I'm going to ask out Annie Cresta."

Ooooohhh! Possible Finnick or Annie POV chapter next? Maybe?
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I just want to thank each and every one of you for the reviews and I hope you understand that writing takes a lot of time for me. Sorry to keep you waiting. See you guys next update!