Back at home, only my mother remains. I smile at her as I walk in and receive a grimace in return. I sigh hopelessly and go upstairs to my room.
If Haymitch won't take a shower, then I at least should. Even though we have hot running water in the Victors Village, the showers at home are nothing compared to the Capitol's. Lemon foam and flower petals and any shampoo you could think of.
I hop into the shower, leaving my clothes on the floor and my muscles unwind in the hot water. I let out another sigh, but this one sounds more contempt and more me.
As I stand under the water, I think of the time Katniss had washed me to save me. She was comical, as she tried to disguise her disgust at my wounds and although I joked with her about it, I was so grateful for what she did.
She blames herself for my artificial leg but I know that without her, not only would I have no leg, I'd probably be dead in the ground.
I turn the water off and wrap a towel around my torso. I scoop up my clothes as I walk back to my bedroom and I fall onto my bed.
The next few months will be a blur of districts and crowds. We'll have to make our act even more convincing. Shouldn't be tough for me though, I don't have to act.
There's a knock at the door which makes me jump and I am confused for a minute as to why my mother would want to talk to me. Let alone come into my bedroom. She tries to stay away from any of us as much as possible. My mother mystifies me.
But then I realise that I must be Portia. I jump up to open the door and she dazzles me with her smile. She hugs me warmly and then motions for me to follow her downstairs.
"How have you been Peeta? I can just tell you that everyone in the Capitol loves you. Just loves you!" She waves her hands around her in a frenzied motion but she isn't like the other Capitol people. She's sweet and kind and smart.
"I've been good. And yourself Portia? I've missed you!" I grin at her as we go into the living room and she sits me down on the stool.
"Where are Mercury and the others?" I ask her, looking around for my usually excitable prep team.
"I called them off; I knew that there wouldn't be too much to do with you and I was right by the looks of things." She circles me and asks me to stand for her. I am naked now, but I don't feel embarrassed or self-conscious, not in front of Portia. I wonder if Katniss does in front of Cinna, where she is surely doing exactly the same thing as me.
She hands me a robe and pull it on before sitting back down again. "We'll leave your hair to dry naturally and no make up today, so don't worry." She winks at me, knowing I'm not too fond of eye-liner and the likes.
We spend the next half an hour dressing me in simple clothes which as usual, I'm sure will compliment Katniss and we will match.
"It's still snowing out, and you'll be outside for the shot so I have a coat for you." She goes out the door and comes back in again quickly with a massive fur-lined coat in her arms that looks like it weighs 100 pounds!
"Wow. That is something." I say, eyeing the coat sceptically, fashion isn't my thing, it's actually Katniss' talent which I find odd for her but everything she wears looks amazing.
"Come on now, it's only for a while." She shrugs me into the coat and we look at each other for awhile appraisingly before walking through the house to wait outside.
As excepted, the garden is a white forest and it looks beautiful in the light from the cameras and the special effects they have put in place.
I can hear Effie from all the way inside Katniss' house and know what's coming next.
Sure enough, out she walks. Dressed like me in simple clothes under a stunning coat and her hair in her amazing intricate braid down her back.
She is smiling right at me, and I can't help but smile right back, this isn't an act at all and as she walks towards me I forgive her for not feeling the same way as me, I never really held it against her. I love her for her and it doesn't matter what she thinks in return.
Soon she is running towards me and I reach out to grab hold of her, but before I even know it we are spinning, her in my arms, a foot above my head and laughing and smiling and gazing at each other. It's a perfect moment.
Until I slip on the ice underfoot and we fall in the white fluff. But it doesn't matter because then we are kissing, for the first time in what feels like eternity. I don't want to stop but we need to and she pulls me up from the heap on the ground and we link arms, marching together, the star crossed lovers, for our next journey.