Valentine's Day is coming up, you guys. Hope you have someone special for that day. I don't so if anyone wanted to send me flowers and chocolate, feel free. :D

oOo

I came out of the bathroom at 6:50. To my surprise, Peeta was on the floor had a small canvas out in his lap and was staring at it. When he heard me come out, he frantically shoved it back into the bottom drawer of the wardrobe.

"What was that?" I asked curiously, sitting down with him on the ground.

"Just, uh… Nothing." Peeta smiled casually, and expertly changed the subject. "Dinner is in a few minutes. You want to go, right?"

It's going to take some getting used to, having to actually get up and go to the cafeteria for food. Blinking, I shook the cobwebs out of my head. "Yeah, I do."

Offering a charming smile and his hand, Peeta and I stood up, the whole mystery-painting ordeal forgotten.

As we walked the halls of District 13, for the first time in forever, we had no contact. It wasn't in awkwardness or upset. No, we stuck close by each other's side, walking along casually. But instead of linked hands, a mutual feeling of companionship coupled us. It felt good.

When we made it to the cafeteria, Peeta held the door open for me and we walked in. What we saw took us aback. At a table off to the left, had all our families laughing together. Mother, Primrose, Mr. Mellark, Hazelle, Rory, Vick, and little Posy. The Hawthorne family didn't look quite as unperturbed as the rest of them.

My mother had obviously said something funny. Primrose giggled like mad, Mr. Mellark was chuckling, and even Hazelle smiled a little bit.

Peeta and I exchanged flabbergasted looks. It was a known fact that his father was incredibly unsocial and quiet, but there he was chuckling along with everyone else. He didn't even have any family other than Peeta, yet he sat with the group, like any other. The only explanation I could think of was that he was waiting for his son to come to dinner.

Adjusting my face into one of casualness, I walked with Peeta over to the table and joined the troop. All eyes were trained onto us as we sat down.

Mother greeted us in the normal way. "How's everything?"

"Good." It was the usual answer.

Mr. Mellark nodded his head in our direction. "Peeta. Katniss." Another common greeting, but still curious for his type of personality.

Hazelle smiled at me, though sadness painted her face. "How have you been, Katniss? I haven't seen you in quite a while."

"It's been tough." I admitted. "But we've faired nicely."

"So, um…" She took an awkward breath, poked at her meat, and tried to make conversation. "Are you excited about going back home?"

My eyes flicked over to Peeta, who was now chatting with my family casually, so I turned back to Ms. Hawthorne. "Yeah. Yeah, I am, but there's something going on that I worry about."

Tired gray eyes blinked, eyebrows raising.

"The rumors going around." I tried to explain. "About the Capitol. They have me on edge, though I don't see why no one else is."

Hazelle cast her eyes around the room, otherwise occupied, but attempting to stay attentive. "It never hurts to be careful, I suppose, but they are rumors after all."

"I suppose." It was obvious Ms. Hawthorne's heart wasn't into the conversation, so I let it drop for her sake. It had only been a little over a month since her eldest son had died, after all. I wasn't the only one it had affected.

"So, Katniss," My mother laced her bony fingers under her chin and looked at me with warm, motherly eyes. "Are you enjoying not being stuffed in the hospital anymore? You get your own room, freedom… It must feel good."

Though she spoke me a little too casual to pass off as normal, I went with it. "It's been wonderful. Peeta and I have, uh…" I suddenly realized that sharing a room with Peeta might affect Mother. But the harm was already done. "We've thought that since we're leaving soon, it'll make things easier to share a room for now…" I rushed through my words, and ended up with a funny look from Peeta. Like, why did you say it so fast? It was only the truth.

"Oh." Mother nodded in an attempt to be blasé. The silence following was so completely awkward, it hurt. "That's…okay. Saves time for when we actually do have to pack up, I guess."

I smiled uneasily. "Yeah…"

We ate, occasionally swapping words between the nine of us. After our plates were wiped clean, there wasn't much to talk about. Hazelle and her three children left for their rooms, and after a polite farewell and smile to us, Mr. Mellark left as well.

There was a pause once Peeta's father left, which Mother interrupted. "Come on, Prim. I expect you to take a bath before bedtime." She stood up and put a slim arm around her youngest daughter.

"I'll see you two." Primrose smiled sweetly at Peeta and me, and then left.

"Shall we go?" Peeta wasted no time in wanting to get back to our room. He seems to have been effected as well, the unsocial-ness and agoraphobia.

Instead of wasting breath telling him "yeah, sure" and so on, I gave Peeta a kiss on the cheek and stood up. He looked happy.

This time, going back to our room, our fingers were laced, steps matched. When the door finally slammed shut after us, I breathed a sigh of relief. Going out in public was not my thing.

Peeta took in my relieved face, and put his arms around me. "It's hard for me, too. Trust me. We have some time alone before bedtime, now."

Grateful to have him, I just nodded and wound my arms around his neck, putting my head on his chest. I was getting used to this kind of relationship. Peeta's body was so familiar; I had no problem with contact. Before, I hadn't even hugged Gale until I was dragged off to the Games, and we had been friends for years.

But there was nothing wrong with being with Peeta now, feeling the smooth skin of his neck with my thumb, resting my head on his stomach when he laid down, running my hand through his disheveled blond hair. It didn't feel awkward or even unusual to do that anymore.

Part of me felt guilty I never became that open with Gale. After all, we were friends first and longer, but it was explainable. Opposites attract, right? Gale and I were too alike to ever have anything work out. But with Peeta, he was carefree and kind, I was stiff and wary. We push and pulled each others' existence, making it work. It was going to be Peeta even if I had a choice.

Thinking of my old friend made me upset, so I pulled away from Peeta and gave him a brief kiss. "I'm going to take a bath."

"Didn't you take a shower just before dinner?" He seemed confused.

"I haven't had a real bath in a month." I said as I pulled a lightweight nightdress from the wardrobe. "I'm taking one right now. Don't expect to see me for another five hours."

Peeta laughed, but before I disappeared into the bathroom, I heard him mutter, "Women…"

A few months before, my mother had given me a small box of bath supplies she had brought from the Victors' Village. I've never used it, mostly because baths didn't really mean too much to me. I got in, washed, got out. But since I hadn't had one in a month, I took out the box.

After starting the water, I poured half a bottle of baby oil and a handful of rose petals in the tub. But the water wouldn't be full for another few minutes, so I decided to go back out to the room.

When Peeta saw me step out of the bathroom, he frowned. "What happened to five hours?"

"The tub's filling."

"Ah." He grinned for a brief moment, but then wrinkled his nose. "You're making it smell girly in here."

"Well, my apologies." I said sarcastically. "Does that mean you don't want any oil or petals for your bath?"

Peeta grinned again, but didn't say anything, because it sounded as though my tub was done.

For an hour I luxuriated in the warm water of my bath, watching the rose petals float around on the water, bumping into each other. I could hear Peeta humming casually to himself in the bedroom, doing who-knows-what. Probably painting.

Sliding further down in the water, I closed my eyes... This was so niiicce…. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside, like I wanted to go and hug everyone within a five-mile radius.

My braid was done up on top of my head so it wouldn't get wet, but for the occasion, I undid it and let it down. Raven-black strands of hair fanned out in the silky water around me.

I was so content and unperturbed; I didn't even hear the murmur of words exchanged in my room, or the door close behind someone as they left. So when I floated out of the bathroom in my nice nightdress smelling like roses and with a dazed smile on, I was mildly shocked to find Primrose sitting on my bed instead of Peeta. It took a few seconds for me to register it.

"Hey, Katniss." My little sister greeted me with a slightly melancholy smile, and stood up. "I never get to see you any more, yet alone spend any time with you."

I felt guilty, and put my arms comfortingly around her. "I'm sorry, Primrose. You know how busy it's been. With my…stuff happening and all."

"I know. I'm not accusing you." Prim drew away and pulled a hairbrush from her pocket. "I just thought that I could do your hair."

And just like old times, I sat on the end of the bed, letting Primrose brush my hair, talking to her like I did so many moons ago. She had a lot to say about the Capitol rumors.

"I don't think they're rumors." She explained while working on a tiny braid near the front of my part. "I just think everyone's in denial, and just aren't prepared or something. You were gone for the big trial, y'know."

I blinked in confusion. "What 'big trial'?"

"For your old prep team." Primrose held one end of the tiny braid, and got to work on another, exactly opposite that one on the other side of my head. "Everyone was brought to the massive courthouse in the Main Quarter to trial Octavia and Venia."

My body froze, and I strained my ears in preparation for the news. "What happened? Tell me everything, Primrose."

"Well…" Prim stuck the ends of the two braids next to one another and snapped a band around both ends, letting them fall into a V-shape at the back of my head. Once that was done, she crawled around to sit cross-legged in front of me. "In front of the whole of District 13, they told everyone what President Snows planning, and how they are up in Alaska with the troop of over 100."

"Wait, wait, wait." I contorted my face. "Octavia told me they only had four dozen."

"That's what she said at first, but when the guard threatened her with this…this weird metal thing, she cried, and Venia told them it was about 120."

I nodded my head, urging for her to keep going.

"They said that there was a war coming up, and even though their numbers are small, President Snow had something up his sleeve that was inescapable. But even when the guard threatened them that time, they wouldn't tell, saying that it would only make matters worse."

Primrose's eyebrows puckered, but she continued. "The judge thought that they were lying just to scare us all. But anyways, Octavia was pretty much unable to speak the rest of the time, so Venia took over. She said that in exchange for killing you and Peeta, President Snow offered them to be second in command or whatever. Second to himself."

I didn't care about that stuff, really. "Tell me more about the so called 'invasion'."

"There isn't much more to tell. Just that everyone should be expecting the Capitol soon, and they'd better get themselves prepared for hell on earth." Prim looked like that was absolutely absurd. "I believe that we're going to be attacked, but 120 people against a good thousand."

"Bombs aren't going to do any good against an underground, metal refuge." I agreed. "There must be something else, something huge they're planning, or else Venia and Octavia wouldn't have been so…frightened."

My little sister looked bothered by something.

"What?"

She looked up. "They said that President Snow by some means got a hold of District 13's blueprint. I think somehow that is included in their big plan."

Uh-oh. If they have the blueprint of a supposed 'secret haven', something bad is bound to happen. There is a reason why everyone thought District 13 was annihilated. All of the secret rooms or whatnot are no longer secret. There's no where safe anymore…

"Katniss?" Primrose was looking at me with a concerned look on. "Why are your eyes like that?"

I blinked, and found that the surfaces of my eyes were starch-dry. They had been so wide open from the news, I think I had forgotten to blink…

"I had better go." She said abruptly, glancing back at the door with her large blue eyes. Then back at me. "I'll see you tomorrow at breakfast, right Katniss?"

"Er... Right." I wrapped my arms around her for one last hug before she hopped off the bed and vanished back behind through the door, leaving it open behind her.

Funnily enough, not five seconds after she left, Peeta appeared in the doorway. Maybe Prim had known he was coming somehow…

Dropping the thought, I smiled up at Peeta. "Hi."

His eyes flicked up to my hair, and flicked back down, sparkling. "Your hair is lovely."

I hoped that wasn't sarcasm.

Peeta stretched out his back briefly and walked over to sit next to me. "Did you have a good bath?"

"It was fine. What about you? What were you doing while I was talking to Prim?"

"Mmm…." Peeta pressed his cheek to the top of my head and rolled his eyes up to the ceiling in false thought. "Baking."

Just out of sheer curiosity, I pressed my face into his shirt and inhaled. He smelled like frosting. I looked up at him. "You smell like frosting."

He laughed, eyes sparkling merrily "You smell like a girl."

I didn't reply, only inwardly thought of how many times this conversation has happened, in my head or for real. Rattling on about how each other smell. Mentally shrugging, I put my feet under the edge of the blankets and awkwardly wriggled under them (I was sitting on it, see).

Peeta, seeing me close my eyes wearily, laid down too and slipped his hand around mine. "Are you feeling okay?"

Opening my eyes again, I told him what Prim had. And if he already knew it, I was going to be embarrassed.

When I finished, Peeta seemed surprised. "…That is not good."

"No duh…" I muttered, but quickly changed the subject. "I just don't feel like going through all that again. The mental—not to mention emotional—exhaustion all that brought. It's put everyone in danger, too…" The happy feeling had gone away, replaced by worry and fear. "I've seen the people I love die too many times."

"Aw, Katniss." Peeta turned on his side and hugged me against him. "Those were just dreams. Everything will be alright in the end."

Sometimes I really wished Peeta wasn't such a cup-half-full kinda of guy. "Don't' you remember in the Quarter Quell?" He frowned. "When you—literally—ran face-first into the force field and Finnick had to save you?"

Peeta blinked, and then his eyebrows scrunched together in a deep frown. "Ah, yes. It wasn't very nice opening my eyes to that. I would have rather you—"

"Peeta." I was unamused, though secretly smiling inside. "That's not my point.

"Sorry."

"My point is that I won't be able to stand it if I had to watch you die again. And Finnick won't be there to save you." I put my arms around his waist and tightened my fists on the material of his shirt.

He said nothing, just rubbed my back comfortingly and lightly swept a strand of hair away from my temple. Even when it was tucked behind my ear, he kept trailing his fingers down to my jaw and back up.

I felt like crying, because he was my life. Well, no, saying that makes me sound weird and it isn't true. I love Mother and Primrose, but if I lost him, I would lose myself. He was my everything… And I won't put myself through the possibility of losing him.

I willed myself not to cry, not to lose it in front of Peeta. Being strong use to come so naturally, but now… A cold tear blurred my vision and dissolved onto his shirt. This was not the way I wanted things.

Peeta touched the tip of his finger to my cheek, though nothing was said. He then scooted halfway-upright, leaning slightly on the headboard of the bead, and pulled me onto his chest. I gratefully curled myself around him, and held one of his hands in both my own. I didn't cry any more, though.

With the beat of Peeta's heart under my fingertips, I nodded off, feeling the leftover tear dry on my face.

oOo

Hehehe it was weird. I had so much trouble beginning the chapter; I was stuck on the first page for DAYS. And then once I got over that little two-paragraph block, I couldn't stop. It was so hard to end this chapter, that's why it's so long. Hope you guys didn't mind! Happy Tuesday to you all, and to all a good Wednesday.