The train pulled to an easy stop. We walked on the platform, surrounded by a throng of happy, welcoming faces. We smile, hold hands, and run through the crowd, eager to get home and refresh ourselves. So we head to victor village, where we are now assigned houses, and we part ways for the first time since the Games.
A small part of me is crushed when his door shuts behind him. I hesitate at the door to my new home,not knowing what lies beyond. I twist the shiny knob, expecting the worst; a welcome party. I didn't want to be welcomed back. I wanted to act like I'd never left. But I knew that wouldn't happen. Things were different now. I loved Peeta, and I had changed. So life could never be the same. I take a deep breath, and brace myself for the fake smiles and the nightmares to come. I open the door. It's a party alright. Everyone is there, from Madge to Greasy Sae. I start making my way around the room, getting congratulations and hugs from everyone. A few minutes later, Peeta comes in.
"Aw guys, you shouldn't have." He says as he goes around the living room, saying hello to everyone, making his way around to me: on the other side of the room. When he finally reached the chair I was sitting in, he came up behind me, and put his hands on my shoulders. From where he touched me, that strange warmth that I'd been feeling over the last few days spread over me again. There was a flutter in my chest. I blushed, and he bent to whisper in my ear.
"They want us to have a toasting, and you've got to talk to your mother when this is over.I'll be right there with you, don't worry." He said so quickly that the words barely had time to sink in before it happened. One by one, our guests started to leave,and as I hugged people good-bye, I was thinking of what I could say to my mother. I can imagine what she'll say. How Peeta and I are too young to know anything about love, and what it really means. My thoughts race, and I freeze at the thought of loosing contact with him, or being forced to forget about him. But most of all, I shrink within myself at the idea of never feeling this way again. So safe, and secure. Like I could concur almost anything.
Then I remember that Peeta will be there to help me convince her. She has to understand. Him being here soothes me. As all of this rushes through my head, our last guest shuts the door behind them. I automatically rise from the chair,and start to clean this unfamiliar room, when my mother calls us from the kitchen.
"Katniss, Peeta. I'd like to speak to you."