The door clickes shut firmly behind us and as I push on the handle, my suspicions are confirmed: they have locked us inside. Peeta looks at me carefully and says softly,

"It really isn't that surprising."

"I know," I answer.

Peeta takes several steps towards me and lightly kisses my forehead before he heads to the bathroom.

"I'll be right back."

I nod my head and sit down at the vanity in front of the mirror. I begin to take off the pearls and veil that completed the wedding gown turned Mockingjay dress that Cinna made for me. While I sit, I stare at my reflection. I remember the night before the first Games and think about how much my position has changed in a year. This time last year, I was prepared to kill Peeta Mellark if it meant I could go home to my mother and Prim. This year, I would do anything to protect him. I take off my shoes and Peeta emerges from the bathroom in his underwear and undershirt that he must have worn beneath his suit. I turn around as he enters the room and ask,

"Can you unbutton me?"

Peeta comes up behind me and slowly undoes each button on the gown. He stops right before my rear end, in the true gentlemanly fashion he uses in all of our interactions.

"Thank you."

I go to the closet and pull out a nightshirt and clean undergarments and head to the bathroom. As I step into the shower, I think about how this feels like our wedding night: the one that will never happen now. I selfishly hope that Peeta's expectations of tonight aren't those of a newlywed couple. But as a wrap a towel around myself, I know that he wouldn't expect that of me. He is the kindest, most gentle person I've ever known and he wouldn't assume I'd do anything more than sleep with him, in the purest sense of the word.

As I come back into the bedroom, I see Peeta sitting on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands.

"Peeta?" I ask. "What's wrong?"

He looks up at me with his eyebrows furrowed in pain,

"I was really hoping they would let you go after I announced that you were pregnant," he says in a voice just above a whisper.

"You know they never would let anyone go, Peeta."

"I can't believe they'd really send you in to the arena pregnant," he says.
"Well children killing children is their form of entertainment so this just adds to the drama I suppose," I say bitterly. "But I appreciate you trying to save me."

Peeta puts his head back to his hands and says,

"Don't think I don't know what your plan is, that you're going to die to save me."

I look at the anguish on his face and see how my decision to save Peeta is tormenting him. I sit on the edge of the bed next to him and gently take his hand in mine and murmur,

"Let's not talk about that right now Peeta, let's just try to get some rest."

I pull him back to lie on the pillows and turn onto my side. I pull his arm around me and say,

"Let's just try to sleep, Peeta."

I stare at the wall in the darkness for a long time, listening to Peeta breathe. I can tell he's not sleeping either from the quickness of his breath. I turn into face him and look up into his eyes. His clear blue eyes look into mine. He gently brushes a strand of hair off of my forehead and says,

"I know what you think you're going to do for me in the arena tomorrow Katniss, but I won't let you."

I sigh gently and stare at him. He truly is a better person than me. He's saved my life too many times for me to ever repay him. I lean forward to kiss him. As I pull back,

I look at the fierce gaze in his eyes and realize that this isn't about me repaying him or him repaying me for acts of kindness. This is what you do for someone you love. And I do love Peeta. Until this moment, I wasn't sure what kind of love that was but I know now. I lean in again kiss him and run my fingers through his blonde hair. He stops me after a minute.

"Katniss, I don't want you to do this just because-"

"Peeta, I want to, I really do." I interrupt him.

I press my body into his and kiss him for the third time. I softly lick his bottom lip asking for permission, which he grants. He pulls me closer, this time running his fingers through my hair. I can feel the energy changing between us, we have mere hours left to live and we can both feel it. Peeta turns me onto my back without breaking our kiss. I gently explore under his shirt, feeling his muscles. I pull lightly on his shirt and he understands what I want. He pulls back from me to discard his shirt on the floor. He quickly returns to me and begins to kiss my neck. I can feel that thing I felt in the cave, building in my chest. Peeta returns to my mouth and we fight for dominance over the kiss. He pulls my body up into the pillows where he lays half on top of me. My nightshirt rode up in the process and Peeta takes the opportunity to run his hands over my stomach. He looks at me seriously as he grips the bottom of the nightshirt and I nod. I lean forward as he pulls it over my head and he throws it onto the floor with his shirt. Peeta looks at my body and smiles. I suddenly feel my face turn red with embarrassment and try cover my breasts with my arms. He takes my arms in his hands and says,

"Katniss, don't. You're beautiful. We can stop if you want to."

I relax my arms and he kisses me lightly on the lips. He trails kisses down my neck and stops at my chest and slowly runs his thumb over my nipple. The fire in my chests jumps down to my center. I moan too loudly and he grins. He continues to rub the nipple while he takes the other in his mouth and licks it. I feel my breath start to quicken. He sucks on the same nipple and I gasp. He repeats this on the other side and I shudder. Peeta lays kisses down my stomach and stops when he comes to my underwear.

"I want to try something," he says.

"Okay." I manage to get out.

He rubbed my center overtop of my underwear. I moan loudly. If Peeta was smiling before, he was positively grinning now. I had overheard girls at school talking about things like this but I wrote it off as a waste of time when I had to feed my family. Peeta grasped the band of my underwear and tugged it; I pushed my hips up off the bed to help him. I was naked and I never before felt so vulnerable. I kissed Peeta on the lips and pulled him on top of me. He runs his hands down my sides while I rub his back. I reach the band of his underwear and snap it playfully. He pulls away from me and slides off his own underwear. I have never seen a boy like this before. His erection was a new site for me and I couldn't help but stare at him. He looks at me blushingly. He draws me onto his lap as we resumed kissing. My core rubs against his member and he hisses. I had no idea that we had this kind of power over each other. That the only thing we want to do was please the other. Peeta lays me back on the pillows and lightly pulls my legs apart. I didn't know what he was going to do until he took his finger and began to rub my mound.

"You're so wet, Katniss," he said with a little pride.

"Shut up" I snap at him.

He laughs quietly. He inserts a finger inside me and my hips buckle. I moan again and he stops. Peeta opens my legs a little wider and licks my clit. I shiver in pleasure. He alternates between kissing, licking, and sucking. Peeta looks up while he pleasures me and our eyes lock. He takes one of my nipples in his hands and begins to massage it. My breath is ragged and uneven now and I can feel my body begin contract.

"Peeta, I-" I begin to say.

Before I can finish my sentence, I come. I look at him curiously as he emerges from between my legs. He wipes his mouth off on the back of his hand quickly. I chuckle and said,

"I guess baking bread isn't your only talent."

He responded with a short laugh.

"I guess not."

Then I have a disturbing thought. How many other girls had he done this to? I am quiet for several minutes, my mind racing, before Peeta interrupts my thoughts.

"Katniss, what's wrong?"

It takes all the strength I have to look him in the eye.

"I guess I was wondering how you became so at this," I whisper.

He laughs and says "Katniss, I have two older brothers who love to brag."

The jealousy I feel about these apparently non-existent other girls melted away.

"You're the only girl I've ever wanted to do this with."

I kissed him and taste myself on his mouth. I want to make him feel as good as he made me feel. I push him to the end of the bed so that his feet are on the ground and then wrap my legs around his from behind. I kiss his neck and suck on his earlobe. I whisper in his ear,

"It's your turn."

I run my hands down his stomach until I reach his erection. I wrap my hands around him and then lose some of my confidence.

"You're going to have to help me a little."

Peeta obliges and puts his hands over mind and begins to pump them up and down. When I get the hang of it, he lets go and moans. I run a finger back and forth over the tip and he leans back into me. I can feel his heart beating as I pumped him harder. I rub myself against his lower back, trying to create some friction for me too. He comes into my hands and he goes slack against me.

"That was amazing Katniss, thank you."

He reaches onto the ground and picks up his undershirt. He wipes off my hands and his, and then crawls back onto the bed. He kisses my lips and I excuse myself to the bathroom. When I return, he has his underwear on and laid my nightshirt and underwear on the bed. I put them on and got under the covers with him. We have given each other a final gift before one of us dies, each of us willing it to be them. I turn into him and he holds me close, neither one of us saying anything. For the rest of the night, we fall in and out of sleep. Comforting each other one last time before the prep team comes for us at dawn.