I DON'T OWN NUFFIN!

(Sera)

After Katniss goes to bed, we don't talk. Peeta keeps wrapping my abdomen, and holding the washcloth on my eye with one hand.

"Thank You." I murmur, again.

"Of course. I told you I'd always protect you and I will."

"No, you won't. When we get into the arena, you'll protect her. We both know that is what will happen." I whisper.

"Sera…" he starts.

"No. I'm not arguing with you about this again. This is what separated us for so long here in the first place." I let my head hand and link my fingers together in my lap. Peeta grabs both sides of my face and looks straight in my eyes.

"Sera. I love you, OK? God, is that what you want me to say?"

"I don't want you to say anything you don't mean. Look, I'm done. Okay? I've given up. She wins."

"But, Ser-"

"Shut up." I find myself saying, grabbing a pillow from the couch and jerking out of his hold on my cheeks. I curl my broken body around it and hide my face, "Why is it that everyone I love hurts me?" I say loud enough for him to hear. He leans over and presses his lips against my cheek.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what to do to change it."

"Can you just stay down here with me tonight and pretend that we're still home? No more talking about her, or Cato, or Glimmer, or the Games." I say, honestly, peeking above the pillow.

"Yeah. You have to ditch the pillow, though." He smirks at me. I scoot forward on the couch and he slides in behind me, wrapping both arms gently around me. I close my eyes, rolling over and hiding my face in his chest. I don't think of the feelings I have for him, I just clutch onto my best friend and fall into an uneasy sleep. Even as I shift into a dream, I still feel his arms wrapped around me. I am pulled into the swirl of terrifying images of the mine after it caved in.

The air filled with a thick pungent smell and cloud of gray ash. As my 13 year old self, I run toward the mine to see mom and daddy. Just before I reach it, Gale wraps both arms around me to stop me from going.

"Gale! What are you doing?"

"Sera…the mine…it caved in…" he told me. My eyes widened.

"NO!" I screamed. The 14 year old Gale pulled me tightly into his arms while I sobbed.

The second memory that worms its way into my dreams is the day Mister Mellark took pity on me.

I curled up against the side of their fence, my knees drawn to my chest, and an ache in my belly. Sure, I still had my home, with my things. But what does a kid do at home with no parents? Nothing. The ache grew stronger, raw nothingness.

"You're Sera Rosen, right?" a deep voice, the Baker's voice, said.

"Yes, sir."

"Are you by yourself at home?" I nodded. "Tell you what, why don't you start by staying here for dinner? And then, if you like it enough, why don't you just stay with us? No-one should have to be alone." He offered his large hand to help me up. I reached out and let the kind man pull me to my feet. He walked me gently to the door and guided me inside. The first and only, kind words I ever heard Misses Mellark say come out of her mouth in that moment.

"Sera, dear, it's wonderful to see you." She then turned to the stairs, "Peeta, Callum, Dean! Food, you monsters!" her voice is shrill. A blonde haired, blue eyed boy from school comes down the stairs and walks right over to me.

"I told you they'd let you stay." he whispered. I grinned, letting the boy take my hand in his and sitting down beside him and his brothers whom looked like mirror, older clones, of him.

The last image I recognize is the first time Peeta and I kissed, a year after I moved in:

I sat cross-legged on my bed, finishing homework. He leaned against the doorway, just staring.

"Stop." I grumbled. He came in and plops down facing me on my bed.

"Sera, have you ever kissed anyone?"

"Once, when I was really little…have you?"

"No…" his face turns slightly pink, "What if no-one wants me because I can't kiss?"

"You're afraid of that too?" I remember asking.

"Yeah."

"What if….we practiced with eachother?" I said. He looked up at me in shock.

"You…you want to?" His voice trembled. I nodded, leaning in and kissing him. My heart raced with nerves, and then I pulled back slightly. His fingers closed around the back of my neck and he pulled me back to him. This time, his lips moved against mine nervously. I kissed back harder, sweeping my tongue against his lips. To my surprise, Peeta groaned, and opened his mouth. Before I knew it, I was on my back and he was on top of me kissing me.

It was right then that Misses Mellark entered the room and screamed at the sight. I didn't know why, I mean, the week before that Peeta, Mrs. Mellark, and I came home to Callum having sex with his girlfriend right on the kitchen floor and they didn't stop when we came in. I had covered Peeta's eyes with my hands and we'd run upstairs.

When I open my eyes, I'm laying facing the ceiling and Peeta's on the floor curled up. I bend down and seal my lips to his gently while he sleeps. After I move away, I slam the side of my fist against his stomach.

"Wha-?" he asks sleepily, "You look awful!"

"Thanks, that's what every girl wants to hear, bud. Good morning to you too." I smirk nastily.

"I didn't mean…I just meant you look like you were hit by a truck from t-the in-injuries." He stammered.

"Aw, I bet Glimmer looks worse." I grinned, "But, my face hurts like a bitch." He smirks, reaching up and brushing his fingers along my cheekbone just under the bandage. Goosebumps erupt across my skin and I move away.

"Katniss!" I yell as the TV flashes on, "They're gonna give scores, hurry your little ass up!" I hear her laugh at me before she rushes down and plops down beside me. She pats my hand gently, and my best friend sits on my other side. I only listen for the scores that matter to me.

"From District 1: Marvel, 9, Glimmer, 9. From District 2: Cato, 10, Clove, 10. From District 11: Thresh, 10, Rue, 7. From District 12: Peeta, 8, Katniss, 11, and last, but certainly not least our Token Tribute; 12." Twelve! ME? I gasp, covering my mouth with my hand. Katniss's eyes flash toward me.

"Twelve? Damn." She says, "What did you do in there?"

"Well, I shot four arrows into a dummy's face, chest, and thighs, and I climbed up to the ceiling and slit the dummy's throat." I tell her honestly.

"You're still gonna be a target in the Arena, you know." She replies just as honestly. I nod.

"I know. But that Glimmer bitch will be the first in line, and I'll kill her before she even has the chance to blink." I growl, fisting my hands, "Ugh, I need to shower."

"I'll help you in." Katniss says, kindly. I nod, slowly. She wraps one of my arms around her shoulders and we limp toward the stairs. Peeta slides up on my other side, helping lift me up the stairs. He lets go of me when we get outside of Katniss' room and she helps me get into the large bathroom. I limp toward the shower and she turns the water on quickly.

"Frick!" I suddenly shout, remembering. All my clothes are down in Cato's room.

"What?"

"All my freaking clothes are in Cato's room!"

"Mine won't fit you, you're 7 inches shorter than me and way different shaped…"

"Um, will you ask Peeta if I can borrow one of his tee shirts?" I ask carefully.

"Yeah, I'll set it down on the toilet after you get in." she nods.

"Thanks." I say, stripping the disgusting clothes off of me and staring at my body in the mirror now. My rib sticks out at an odd angle now, the skin purple all over my ribcage. Not to mention my eye. My eye is no longer puffy, but an ugly pink and purple mixture. I touch it in terror. Good lord, Glimmer! I think, covering my mouth with my hand as nausea rolls through my stomach. I hope she's worse off than me. I slip into the shower, ignoring how my entire body aches from a small movement. I keep my eyes shut, letting the heat overtake me. After I wash my hair and body and dry off with a towel, I hear shouting down the stairs. I grab Peeta's tee shirt off of the toilet and run down the stairs. I find Peeta and Cato being separated. My Uncle Haymitch holds Cato back and Katniss holds Peeta's arms back. When Cato's eyes meet the short shirt that clings to me, he struggles even harder.

"You son of a bitch! You screwed my girl? How dare you touch her!" Cato screams at Peeta. Peeta moves to get away from Katniss.

"I'm the son of a bitch? You're the one who was screwing district 1 just because Sera sat next to me! You didn't stop the fighting with Glimmer. Look at her! She's like this because of you!" he bellows at Cato. Katniss' hands start to slip.

"Peeta," I say slowly, standing in front of him and facing him. I lean in close to him, and continue "He isn't worth it. You are so much better of a person than him: you don't need to fight to say what you need to." He nods slowly, the tension in his muscles fading. I kiss his cheekbone and turn to the other blonde.

"Cato. What the hell are you doing here?" I growl. Katniss releases Peeta and he wraps his arm around my shoulder.

"I wanted to say I'm sorry." He tells me slowly, brown eyes locked on mine. Tears well up in my eyes, blurring my vision. I shake my head no. Peeta draws me against his side fully.

"Sera, I didn't know what I was doing; I was angry. She came onto me. I was pushing her off when you came in the room."

"Bull Crap." Peeta growls, pulling me slightly behind me.

"Why didn't you just say that instead of watching us fight?" I ask quietly.

"I didn't know what to do."

"Liar." I growl, pulling away from my best friend, grabbing the front of his shirt and slamming him against the wall.

"You were planning this since I apologized to Peeta, weren't you? You wanted to do something to hurt me and sex with Glimmer seemed like a good way to hurt me. Well, congrats, Cato Marx, it worked. I'm hurt. Happy?" I say, dropping my hand from him and sobbing. This time, much to my surprise, Katniss rushes forward and lets me cry on her. She smoothes out my hair and rubs my back.

"No. Sera, I love you. You may not believe me after everything, but it's true. I've been in love with you my whole life. I screwed up, I know." He tells me, moving slowly toward us, "I brought your stuff for you. I figured you'd be leaving…" I face him one last time, and he leans in and kisses my lips briefly before he turns to the elevator and leaves.