Hi Guys,

I cannot even begin to tell you all how much I appreciate your patience. I've been slacking, and that's not good, but I do try to post as often as I can. Hearing your feedback certainly helps. In any event, I think next chapter I'm going to switch back to first person because I like writing in that style better. I'll try it out again for a couple of chapters, and we'll go from there. I'm sorry for typos, or anything like that. I figured tonight was a good time to post since Mockingjay Part 1 comes out at midnight! Again, I appreciate your patience so much! And now...chapter 7!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything belonging to the Hunger Games, that credit all goes to Suzanne Collins. I also do not own the lyrics or song by Maroon 5.

Tap on my window knock on my door
I want to make you feel beautiful

I don't mind spending every day
Out on your corner in the pouring rain, oh.
Look for the girl with the broken smile
Ask her if she wants to stay awhile
And she will be loved
And she will be loved

Rue.

Katniss let the word linger in her mind as her brain tried to keep up with her heart.

"Rue, as in the girl who died in my arms in the 74th Hunger Games?" Katniss asked breathlessly.

"That's the one," Gale responded blankly. Still in shock, Katniss began to pace back and forth.

"It's impossible, there must be some mistake. I saw her die, I felt her die; I know she died. How can she be alive? Is this some sort of trick, some sick joke you're playing on me to tamper with my emotions?"

"Would I ever, ever lie to you about something so important?" Katniss let out a grunt of agreement, but remained skeptical.

"Besides, she has the bracelet." Gale continued. "It's the same one Madge and Blake had years ago. It's really her, unquestionably." The silence on the other end of the phone continued. Katniss paused for what felt like hours, but was probably just minutes, before she spoke again.

"You know what this could mean, Gale? Other past tributes could be alive; people from the Rebellion could be alive. This is a total game changer!"

"I know, " Gale confessesd, "Which is what worries me."

"Why—What do you mean?"

"This is too easy. Rue shows up out of the blue in an unstable condition and suddenly we go from being on the defensive to being offensive players. This doesn't add up, it doesn't make any sense."

"You think it's a trap." Katniss inquired.

"Precisely." Gale replied.

"Then we better use our hunting skills and not fall for it."


Lily still wondered what had overcome her last night and allowed her to be so open. Sure, she trusted Arianna wholeheartedly and didn't mind talking to her about Finn, but never had Lily admitted that she loved Finn. Well, at least never out loud. Somehow, uttering it aloud made it feel all the more true. It was as though a heavyweight had been lifted off her shoulders, and now the air she breathed felt clearer as it passed through her lungs.

Their conversation hadn't lasted long after Lily's declaration, but Lily had laid awake thinking instead of going to bed. She wasn't thinking of anything in particular, and yet her mind was spinning. She felt like she was mentally checking off a grocery list, trying to figure out the next step. The question was, what was the next step if you weren't even sure where you stood? How was she supposed to find Prim, figure out her feelings with Finn, and still retain a sense of self even as her birthday approached? She'd almost forgotten about it, given everything the fab five had been up to lately, but just like all her other tucked away thoughts, it somehow found an escape route and managed to journey to the front of her mind. That was the point of this whole trip, wasn't it? She was supposed to go to the Odair's home for a week and celebrate her golden birthday. The thought seemed almost frivolous now.

The moon shone brightly through her window, and Lily could hear Zac and Finn roaming around the penthouse. She'd given up on the idea of sleep, and it wasn't even midnight, so Lily decided to clear her head and stroll around the penthouse for a bit. She was delighted to find Finn alone on the couch. He was tucked into the corner as usual. He claimed that the crevice was the most comfortable part because it was like getting a hug from the furniture. No matter how many times he'd explained this to her, she still rolled her eyes.

When he saw her approaching, his eyes lit up like the stars outside. Lily felt a hot blush settling over her cheeks, but smiled back all the same. He motioned for her to sit beside him by tapping the cushion. She slid in next to him.

"Hey you," Finn said while poking at her arm playfully, "Finally done with girl talk?" Lily's shoulders tensed momentarily, wondering how much he'd heard before realizing that he meant girl talk in the general sense. He didn't know what she'd said; he just assumed that they'd been talking. "Say anything about me?"

"I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you." She replied while trying to keep a straight face. Lily felt bad about lying to Finn, but frankly it wasn't exactly lying. If he knew what she'd said, she'd probably die on the spot.

"It's always the same with you girls," Zac chimed in from the kitchen area, startling them both. Lily had almost forgotten he was even there. "Secrets, secrets, love, boys, quests, blah blah blah." He took a triumphant bite out of the chocolate frosted doughnut in his hand.

"That's the spirit, Zac!" Finn agreed. "Now hit me up with one of those scrumptious pieces of paradise."

"Coming right up!" Zac replied, and in a "ZAM" as he put, he was handing Finn a doughnut.

"Would you mind grabbing me one—"

"No can do sister dearest. Places to go, people to see." Zac left the room rapidly, leaving Lily alone with Finn, pouting slightly about her doughnut drought.

"It's okay," Finn smiled broadly at her, "We can share mine." She smiled back; terrified by how much she'd been hoping he'd say that.


Finn's idea of sharing a doughnut was significantly different than Lily's. He insisted that they each take a bite and then hand it to the other. As usual, Finn made eating a doughnut a philosophical event.

"Have you ever noticed how some abstract things just can't be explained?" Finn asked as he stole the doughnut from Lily.

"Like the feeling you get when you come home from school and there's freshly backed cookies on the table" Lily replied as she snatched it back.

"Or the feeling you get when it snows for the first time and you have this crazy desire to run outside just like you did when you were a little kid!" Finn didn't even bother retrieving the doughnut this time. He leaned in and bit from the opposite side so that each of them held a side of the doughnut in their mouth. The space between their lips was barely the size of an ice cube.

Or the feeling of wanting to kiss someone so badly it hurts, Lily thought but didn't dare say aloud. Finn chewed the last bite of doughnut, making their lips painfully close. She could feel his nose pressed against hers, his hot breath across her face, and she let her eyes flutter shut.

"Us," Lily whispered against his lips so quietly, she hoped he hadn't heard.

"Yeah," Finn agreed with a grin, "kind of like us." She felt his hands come up and brush against her cheeks before gripping her face between them.

Knock, knock, knock!

The knocking sounded distant to Lily, almost like it hadn't even happened. There was only Finn and her.

Knock, knock, knock!

"We should—we should probably get that." Finn declared hoarsely. Lily was surprised by how satisfied his voice made her.

"Yeah, we probably should." She replied softly. Neither of them moved. And to be honest, Lily didn't want to move. She wanted nothing more than to desperately close the space between them and feel his mouth on hers.

Knock, knock, knock, knock!

With a groan of frustration, Finn pulled away and the spell was broken. He winked at her and sauntered over to the door. A look of shock passed over his face as he opened the door and found Olivia standing there looking anything but happy.


"Ol—Olivia," Finn stammered, "What—what are you doing here?" At least he had the decency to blush, Lily thought as she felt the customary heat rise to her own face.

"No note, no call, no nothing." Olivia said drawing out each syllable as she stomped into the room.

"Excuse me?" Finn asked.

"You miss school, don't respond to my messages, and when I come to check on you at your house it looks like everyone has just picked up and left. Do you have any idea how worried everyone is about you? How worried I am about you?" A sob escaped her, and she fell into Finn's tight embrace.

"I'm—I'm sorry Olivia, I didn't realize it was such a big deal. Everything happened so fast, I didn't have a chance to contact anyone—"

"It doesn't matter," Olivia sighed. "You're safe, and that's what's important." Lily felt her armor begin to crumble, felt all the emotions she felt moments ago beginning to slip away as she felt reality sliding back into place. There's always a reason, always a reason we can't be together. She snuck away to the roof before either of them could notice, though she thought she heard Finn faintly calling her name from the bottom of the staircase.


The midnight air was cool on Lily's skin as she creaked open the door to the roof. She hadn't bothered to wipe away the tears she felt rolling down her cheeks, or to respond to Finn when she heard him calling her name. There was no point for both of them to hurt, and her presence in his life seemed only to confuse him. He had Olivia, and she made him happy. She had no right to ruin their happiness, even if it meant sacrificing her own. A distraction, a nuisance; that's all she was. She was hurting Finn, and Lily couldn't stand to watch that. No, it was better this way. Better not to kiss him, better not to meddle. Better to stay away.

And yet…

"Ah-hem." Lily whirled around to find Liam at the other end of the roof staring at her. In her surge of emotion Lily hadn't even bothered to check to see if the roof was empty. She was embarrassed and angry that he'd seen her cry; that he'd invaded a private moment.

"Is everything okay?" He asked tentatively.

"You don't get to ask me that." She snapped. It came out harsher than she'd meant it to, but she wanted him to know how much pain he'd caused her.

"You're right, I don't. In fact, you don't owe me anything. I wouldn't even blame you if you walked away right now and never spoke to me again. You have every right to do that. But while you may not owe me anything, I owe you everything. I hurt you, Lily. I hurt you big time. And I'm so sorry. I can't even begin to tell you how sorry I am for everything that happened. It was stupid, I was naïve, and all of it was a mistake. But that doesn't make it excusable." He took a couple of steps toward her. When she didn't retreat, he took a few more. "I saw the way you looked at me after you found out. That look in your eye is burned into my memory, and I swore I'd never see it there again. And here you, by some weird twisted moment of fate, standing in front of me with that same look, and I want to do everything in my power to make it go away." By now he was standing before her, and he reached out and grabbed her hands. "Please, let me fix this. Let me fix what I couldn't before." He pulled her into his shoulder just as a sob erupted from within her. She'd promised herself that he would never see her cry, never see her show weakness, but here she was crying into his shoulder, letting him soothe her. Maybe she'd been wrong, maybe he wasn't as horrible as his one mistake.

"It's okay, it's going to be okay." He whispered into her hair. "He can't hurt you anymore, you're safe here with me."

He can't hurt you anymore, Lily thought. But who's really hurting me?

"Wait, I never said anyone was hurting me…" Lily began.

"I just assumed. Finn, right?" Lily nodded. "I mean, you talk about him, and I just figured that this was all about that. You're better than him, Lily. Besides, he chose Olivia, so you're wasting your time." Lily pulled away harshly.

"How did you know Olivia was here?" She asked, disbelief covering her face.

"I mean, who do you think she came with? We both had agendas, both had people standing in our way, are you really that surprised?"

"Get away from me!" Lily screamed. Liam's grip tightened on her arm.

"Listen to me, Lily. He's only going to hurt you, it's all Odair's know how to do. Come back home with me, we can get back together, forget everything that happened. It doesn't matter. A new start, that's all."

"Let go of me! Let me go!" She writhed in his hands and felt his grip begin to loosen.

"You don't even have a chance with him, Lily!" He screamed back.

"You're wrong, you're so wrong!" She tore away from him and bolted for the door.

"You know, maybe you are your father's daughter" Liam spat. "Because you don't seem to know the difference between that which is real, and that which is not real." She didn't look back, even though she heard him still screaming at her.

Was he right?