I get out of bed and make my way into the bathroom fully nude. I press one of the many buttons for the soapy water on the shower wall. The water falls from the ceiling as if it was raining and I let the warm water relax my muscles. I quickly try to wash off the white release of my latest...customer and rid my body of the cold sweat that's been covering me.

My name is Peeta Mellark, I'm 17 and a citizen of District 12. About a few months ago I became the victor of the 74th Annual Hunger Games along with my friend Katniss Everdeen. Our way of winning was a bit... unorthodox, and it completely pissed the Capitol off. When I got home, I thought I would be able to live in peace; they say that when you win, you're bathed in riches and glory. What a bunch of bullshit they fed us, no one ever wins the games. The real winners are the ones who died quickly and painlessly in the arena. But definitely not the victors, during the games we win the hearts of the Capitol to gain sponsors, but after the games, after all the Pomps and Circumstances, we become the Capitol's trophy. We're basically celebrities and they'll pay any amount to have us. We lose the games and our humanity; we become commodities for these people, just lifeless things.

And President Snow used this to his advantage. Snow was livid by the way Katniss and me won, he saw it as an act of treason. And as a way of punishing me, Snow found it appropriate to sell me to the highest bidder. Turns out he thought that the smooth talker of the games would be just as smooth during pillow talk.

I let the vanilla scented water run through my hair before I pull it back and turn off the water. I walk out the shower and onto the giant blow dryer. After I'm dry I walk back into the bedroom to find my customer not in bed and my clothes missing. I walk into the hallway and find him walking, in the nude, from some room with my clothes in his hand. He hands it to me "while you were in the shower, I took the liberty of cleaning your clothes." I nod and take it from his hands, he was a young guy, probably mid 20s and his body was adorn with tribal tattoos. I guess it's better than some of the other crazy things I've seen some of these Capitol weirdos paint onto their bodies.

I quickly put on the clothes: black briefs, tight jeans, white t-shirt, and a black jacket; just the way he ordered for me to come. He stares at me while I get dressed, I roll my eyes. Creep. I stand up straight after putting everything on, he's still looking at me weirdly. He closes the gap between us and slips his hand under my shirt and lifts its, feeling my abs and chest. "You know, my profession is tattooing, and you'd be a fine canvas to work on. From one painter to another." Oh yea, did I mention that not only does the Capitol want to sleep with me but they also love my oil on canvas works?

He takes out his hand and lets my shirt fall in place "Then again, I wouldn't want to ruin such a perfect specimen." He said with that odd Capitol accent and a hungry smile. Don't worry, that wasn't the creepiest thing a customer has said to me. I politely thank him and he directs me to the exit.

It's 3 a.m. and the streets are empty, the next train won't depart for 2 more hours. I've been here so many time for business, so I know my way around the city well enough. There's this botanical garden by the main square I like to sit at, there are lush flowers and a giant fountain in the middle. It takes me a few minutes to walk through the cool, night air but I find the entrance gates.

I follow a random trail, they all lead to the fountain, and I take in the sights and smells of the garden. The moon is bright enough that I can see the beautiful flowers clearly, I never get a chance to come in here during the day, usually cause when my train arrives I have to go straight to the customer's house. I hear the fountain in the distance and make a b-line for it. I go to edge and take a seat, there's foam in the water tonight. You don't know how many times I've thought about not going on the train or just hiding out somewhere in the Capitol and then leaving into the surrounding forests. But I'm too smart for that, they'd instantly kill my entire family and my friends, and besides, they're probably always watching me.

I lay down on the edge with my hands behind my head and look at the clock situated on top of giant building in the distance. I hear someone walking and look over, it's Joanna Mason. She's like me, another thing for the Capitol to buy for a good time. She's wearing a slim back dress, very short, very revealing. "So how was it" I ask, she shrugged "boring as fuck, just some old geezer that wanted to show off at some dumbass Capitol party." She and I always meet here when we have business at the same time, her district is right between mine and the Capitol so we try to ride together.

She took a seat next to my head and starting running her fingers through my hair. During the months she and I have gotten to know each other. She said she absolutely hates how I'm so young but the Capitol forces me to do this. She's only a few years older than me but she has this weird maternal instinct over me. You couldn't tell by her brash actions and vulgar mouth, but she's kinda motherly and protective over me.

"How was your night?" She asked, I shrug my shoulders too "I'm just glad he wasn't into anything weird" I was truly grateful for that, some if these people are so weird and creepy. This one lady made me wear animal ears and a tale and this other guy made me dye my hair black and wear my district's coal miner outfit, which included the pick axe and the helmet. Joanna even told me of a time where she had a guy that wanted her and another victor at the same time. I hope I'm never with a third person.

"Do you know if Finnick is here?" I asked. His district is in another direction so we don't take the train with him, but we sometimes bump into him at a party during business and we always go to a club to blow off steam. I've even shared hotel rooms with him when the train was planning to depart later in the day. Sadly, he's here more often than Joanna and me, so whenever any of us two are here, he most likely is too.

Finnick's this great guy, and he was beautiful. When I started out, he was always there to help me through it. I remember the first time I finished with a customer he told me to meet him here at the fountain. I cried for about an hour that night, I felt so disgusting and dirty and I remember I wouldn't look at myself in the mirror. But he was there for me, he would let me cry into his chest while he rubbed my back, he even cried with me.

We cared for each other, a lot. But I never tried acting on my feelings for him, I was tainted, I wanted him to have better. "No I haven't seen your little boyfriend around, we would've been at The District by now." The District was both of their favorite club, I wasn't one for dancing and drinking, but the liquor does help a lot. "I've told you before , he's not my boyfriend." I said as I got up to look at her with that stupid smirk she has.

"I'm just saying, I see the way you two look at each other, and you two would look hot together." I rolled my eyes at her, I've had this conversation with her already. "Even if I wanted to be his boyfriend, it wouldn't matter, I'm engaged to be engaged to Katniss and we both live on completely different parts of Panem. It would never work." She scoffed at that, she always claims that be an excuse "God Peeta, you're such a pussy. Just talk to him and hook up. He'd be willing to move to 12 for you."

The thought of that actually made me a little happy. But Snow hates me, and there's no way he would allow for Finnick to stay in 12, victors never leave their district for good. I look over at the giant clock and it strikes 4, an hour before we leave. I stand up, "we should head to the station, the train leaves at five and its gonna take us a while to get there." She took off her heels and held them before getting up "Fuck, I don't know why you're in such a rush to get home." "I have to get ready for the Victory Tour." I say dryly, I hate the tour, it's just another way to shove everyone's face back into the horrors of the games. And it means that I have to put on the star-crossed lovers show for the nation, it also means that I have to look at the parents of the victims, something else to add to my nightmare induced restless sleep.

She wrapped an arm around my shoulders "I'm sorry Peeta, I remember that. Fucking sucks dick." I put my arms in my jacket pockets and look up, "It sucks major dick." Then she punched me on the arm,"Ow the hell?" "You better fucking spend the night at my house. If you bitch enough they let you spend an extra day at a district, just give some shit excuse like you want to learn about the culture. That's how Finnick and I get to hang whenever one of our tributes win."

I nod, that'll be nice to hang out with the two of them in their own homes instead of in this weird circus of a city. "I've always wanted to go to the beach, and I've always wanted to have seafood." Joanna looks at me like she's expecting more from me "And I guess your district has stuff to do" I laugh while she smacks my chest "Don't be a little baker bitch." I rub where she smacks and I calm down.

"Joanna calm down, the only fun thing in my district is the black market and the field trips to the coal mines. And don't call me that." Baker bitch is a nickname Finnick made up and I fucking hate it. We walked the all too familiar streets in silence, enjoying each other's company. It's 4:30 by the time we make it the station and we take a seat on the train platform. I bought us both some food while we waited. Joanna turned and looked at me "So what do you tell everyone when you leave?"

I looked at my food "Nothing elaborate, I just tell them that I have victor business to take care of, if they ask for anything specific I just make something." "What's your excuse this trip?" "There's an inauguration of a senator and he wanted some of his favorite victors to attend." She looked at me oddly "Do they even have senators?" I shrugged my shoulders, "I think they had senators before the dark days" Joanna started laughing at that and I joined her.

"What do you tell your family?" "Pff, I bought them their own damn house a long time ago, I love them and all but they got on my nerves easily." I laughed first this time, I know how family can be annoying sometimes, I have a ball busting mother and two big brothers that always want to 'man me up'. We go back and forth telling stories about each others family, all the way until we get to her stop in 7. District 7 is really close to the Capitol so it only took about an hour to get there, we hug and say our good byes.

I go into my room and close the shades, the sun is just rising but I want to sleep. I strip off my jacket and shoes and lay down on the bed and try to have some sleep. It's takes about a day to get home. It's a little past seven and I make my way home in the morning sun. The Seam is bustling with people doing their morning errand and stuff. I cut through some streets and find the entrance for Victor's Village. I walk into my designated house and find my family eating breakfast. We still run the bakery, but with my winnings, it isn't imperative that we sell every loaf of bread we have.

"Look who it is!" Says my mom as she gets up to give me a hug. "How was your trip? Was the Senator nice?" "Sweetie, leave the boy alone, he's just got back, let him rest a bit." Says my dad walking out of the kitchen with a plate of food. He hugs me and seats himself at the dining table. My brothers wave at me, both their mouths stuffed with food. "Peeta you had two calls while you were gone. One was from your stylist, Portia, she said she's going to send you a bunch of outfits for your tour. And you had another from Finnick Odair. I didn't know you two knew each other."

I nod at her, "Yea, some of the victors are really tight knit." I say as I make my way upstairs into my room and grabbed the phone and dial the operator. The phones are typically used for victors and their stylist, victors weren't really meant to be friends and stay in contact with each other but... "Yes how may I help you" "Hi, Finnick Odair, District 4 please." I say politely, I hear a few clicks and then a ring. Then I heard his voice, "Hello?" "Finnick?" "Peeta! Joanna called me yesterday telling me that you two were together at the Capitol. I'm sorry I wasn't there with you." Is he stupid? "I'm glad you wasn't there, you shouldn't be there at all!"

I heard him chuckling on the other side "Don't blow a fuse Peeta. I just don't like you going through this without me there. But anyway, how are you feeling, Joanna didn't want to tell me much." I blushed a little, like I said, he really cares for me. "I'm fine, nothing bad happened this time, just a quick job." I heard him sigh in relief, he's knows as much as I do how crazy these customers can get. "So I hear you're gonna try to immerse yourself in some of the districts' culture. I can't wait to see you, Joanna says you've never been to the beach." "Yea I've always wanted to go, I don't even know how to swim nor been on a boat." "So it's decided, you'll be staying with me during your stay and you'll be my next student." I smiled at the thought of being with Finnick, all we do when at the Capitol is feel sorry about ourselves and drink at the club. Being with Finnick at his home will be great.

We talk a few more minutes about nothing in particular until he decided he wanted me to rest. As a victor, he knows how much sleep we actually get, and the restlessness was evident in my voice. "We'll ill see you within the month, I can't wait." he says. "Yea, I can't wait to see you too, bye Finnick." "Bye Peeta, sweet dreams." I hung up and take off my custom picked outfit and place it in the trash, I put on some of my own clothes and lay down on my bed. The last thing I think of before going to sleep is Finnick and me on the beach.

I was inspired to write this when I saw Catching Fire during the scene where Joanna asked Peeta about everyone wanting to sleep with him. So please let me know if you guys like this or hate this. Tell me of any questions or concerns you have. Thanks for reading!