༺☙༻
'His hands are in my hair,
his clothes are in my room
And his voice is a familiar sound
Nothing lasts forever
But this is getting good now'
⁻ᵗᵃʸˡᵒʳ ˢʷⁱᶠᵗ; ʷⁱˡᵈᵉˢᵗ ᵈʳᵉᵃᵐˢ
"YOU DON'T even know how to swim." River stated, kicking off her socks and shoes, turning to him with a teasing smile.
Cato shrugged, doing the same. "You can teach me." He replied with a smirk, making River let out a small laugh.
She untied the rubber bands in her hair, taking it out of the braids and running her hands through it. She cringed as she felt just how dirty it was.
When she reached to pull off her shirt, Cato couldn't help but stare until turning away.
For some odd reason, she didn't care about his opinion when he saw her body. It was the least of her worries and in all honesty, she just wanted to cool off.
When River threw it on the ground, she noticed Cato's awkward demeanor, resting her hands on her hips as she looked at him.
"It's no different than a bathing suit, Hadley." At the use of his last name, he turned back to her, keeping his eyes glued to hers in attempts to not make her feel uncomfortable.
"I guess Panem gets a treat, too." She chuckled, shimmying off her pants and walking towards the chilling water that felt refreshing against her hot skin.
He found himself staring again before pulling off his shirt and following her lead, wading in with caution, seeing as he didn't know where the drop off was.
River reached the edge, falling into the cool water and going under. When she surfaced, she pushed her now wet hair back, opening her eyes to find Cato's gaze stuck on her.
"When do these swim lessons start?" She called, a smile prominent on her lips. Cato finally snapped out of it, returning to his normal self.
"You're the teacher." He called back, making it waist deep as she swam back to the sandy ledge, standing up and grabbing both his hands.
"Well, first you're going to keep kicking your feet and use your arms to hold yourself up." She instructed, absentmindedly repeating the same words Finnick had told her when he taught her how to swim for the very first time.
Cato nodded, his attention purely focused on her, completely ignoring what she had just said.
When he stepped off the drop off, he immediately went under, a panic arising within him with the inability to keep himself up.
River laughed, keeping a hold of his hands to assure him that he was fine. Trying to remember what she had told him, he began using her words and hauling himself to the surface.
Shaking the water from his face, Cato opened his eyes wide with the shock of almost drowning.
"So Mr. Perfect can't swim? I'm shocked." River joked, making Cato playfully shove her head away before desperately grabbing her hand again, almost as if it were his life support.
"You're a terrible teacher." He stated with a cocky smirk making River laugh. "You're just distracted." She teased, not failing to notice the way his eyes occasionally drifted down.
"How could I not? You're beautiful." A deep blush covered her cheeks, not missing how both of them leaned closer to each other before she snapped out of it.
"My brother's watching. How bout' we keep it PG, yeah?" She joked, patting his cheek and holding his hand again.
"Now, you need to use your arms so I have to let go." Cato felt his heart beat faster as her hands slowly slipped from his, now having to rely on himself to keep afloat.
River watched him struggle, quickly grabbing his hands once again. "Just look at me, you can do it." She flashed a comforting smile and he took a deep breath, nodding.
With his eyes on hers now, he managed to keep himself above the water, making River congratulate him.
After some time, the two were both casually swimming around, occasionally splashing one another and when he really got confident, the two made a battle to see who could drown one another in a pretend manner.
It seemed as though they weren't even in the Hunger Games, making River so desperately wish they were in District 4 and not in the arena.
Since Cato couldn't swim under water yet, River took this to her advantage, silently diving under and surprising him as she jumped on his back and pushed him under by his shoulders.
When they resurfaced, he swiftly turned around, grabbing her hips, making a loud laugh escape her as the touch tickled her skin, her head falling back as laughs poured from her mouth.
Cato was smiling like a mad man at her smile that could light up all of Panem. This girl would be the death of him, whether it be literal or not.
He had never met any such girl that had his heart racing as much as it did in this moment or had made him feel so happy in a time of havoc.
This was the one thing he forbid himself to do but with River in his grasp, smiling because of him, it didn't seem to matter. The fact he was disappointing his district never occurred to him. They could go wail and complain all they wanted.
The fact millions of people were most likely watching them made it feel weird but only for a moment because Rivers happiness was much more important than a couple pissed off Panem citizens.
When she met his eyes again, the smile never left her face, only wrapping her legs around his body and ruffling his wet hair.
"You're an awfully quick learner." River stated, looking down into his eyes instead of up.
"Only for you." Cato replied, the cliche of it making her only smile wider until her cheeks hurt.
The two only remained looking at each other, lost in the moment that they never wanted to end. It wouldn't have had to, given they were in different circumstances.
With the serenity of the moment, River took a moment to fully grasp the situation. From his large hands keeping her up by her thighs to her almost exposed chest touching his to the gaze he had on her, it was more than enough.
She was completely relaxed in his hold, hoping he could tell. She never wanted him to take his hands off her.
A warmth flooded through her just like it had the night before, leaving her to connect their lips to fully capture just how much the moment meant to her.
When he kissed back, it was far from lacking passion, showing that whatever River was feeling was mutual.
One of his calloused hands moved to her back, the feeling starkly contrasting between the bitter cold water and his warm hands, sending goosebumps to shoot across her skin.
River cupped the sides of his neck, trailing her thumb along his jawline, keeping herself as close to him as possible.
A small groan left his mouth as the kiss only intensified, both putting every feeling they couldn't put into words into the kiss.
His hand found the clasp of her bra, so desperately wanting to unclip it but knowing it'd be a step too much for what they were only just experiencing.
River wanted to tell him to but she had to push away the temptation, considering it'd be wrong and immoral to show herself to more than just the person in front of her in which she trusted.
Instead, the two pulled back for air, their lips swollen and their breathing heavy.
Not even in their wildest dreams have they ever once thought about feeling attracted towards someone in the brutal Hunger Games.
River placed her forehead against his, Cato brushing back pieces of her now dark blonde hair behind her shoulder as it fell forward.
"We've got watchers." She joked, thinking back to one of their very first encounters after the tribute parade.
He hummed in reply, placing a short kiss to her plump lips before River smiled.
She threw her head back again, Cato finding the sight too attractive for him to handle, thankful when she looked back at him.
"What am I doing?" She laughed, thinking of how disappointed both their districts probably were.
She didn't think Finnick was disappointed, in fact she knew he was probably laughing his ass off with Brutus and Enobaria at how much of a twist the Games had taken between the tributes of 2 and 4; complete opposites.
"Don't worry, the entire country is thriving off of this." Cato's laugh vibrated through her, the same fuzzy feeling from the previous night making another appearance.
"I hope so." She replied, a subtle smile laid on her lips before she suddenly slipped out of his grasp and swam away, coaxing him to follow her.
He chuckled, giving in only to be met with water sprayed in his face. When he looked back at River, she was laughing.
A sharp gasp left her as Cato's firm grip grabbed her sides, purposely tickling the girls sides as she pleaded for him to stop.
When he finally loosened his grip, she quickly pulled herself through the water to get away but due to his long limbs, he was close behind.
Only a few minutes passed and eventually they simmered down, River piggy backing off his neck, peppering small kisses to his shoulders and neck.
He gently held under her knees to avoid making the pain from her fall resurface, enjoying the affection she was showering him with.
His usually tense muscles relaxed under her touch and found himself wishing that this could be every day life.
Maybe in another universe they could be in living in a small cottage by the coast in District 4, not having to worry about being reaped or taken from their families.
Though it felt like they'd known each other for a lifetime, it had only been two weeks but there was longing in both of them for more time together.
Eventually, River felt the coldness settle in, both emerging from the water.
With no towels, they just sat on the sandy shore, knowing the sun would dry them off within minutes.
River laid on her back, letting the scorching sun soak into her skin, reminiscing about her days in District 4 where her and Finnick would catch fish with their bare hands before laying out on their sailboat, letting the sun dry up the moister and letting the salt wreck their hair.
Cato snuck glances at her, remembering how she had told him that the girls in her district deemed her ugly because of their own insecurities.
He couldn't and wouldn't believe it. Yes, River had a beautiful figure in his eyes but not only was her body beautiful, so was her face, her personality, and most importantly, her heart.
It was her most beautiful quality. Unfortunately, it could be quickly changed but River wouldn't let that happen.
River sat up on her elbows, sand falling from her skin but some sticking. She opened her palm that was covered in a soggy bandage, a familiar pain surging within.
She only looked to Cato before looking up at the sun hanging low in the sky.
"We should probably get back to the others." River said, brushing the sand from her hair and bringing her shirt back over her head.
As much as he didn't want to, Cato knew the others would start getting suspicious of their outing sooner than later, following River after they clothed themselves again.
When they arrived back at the camp, Clove and Marvel were sparring while the District 6 kid was still working away at some confusing looking wires.
When they caught Marvels eye, he held his hand up for Clove to stop, the girl turning to look at them.
"Took you guys awhile to just "cool off." I was starting to think y'all dipped." Marvel laughed, throwing his spear on the grass.
"Apparently he didn't know how to swim." River responded, sipping her water.
Cato only nodded, the two sharing a knowing look, a blush appearing on her face that luckily went unnoticed by Clove and Marvel.