Katniss

Katniss shrugged off what seemed like the 20th outfit option of the day. "Prim I don't understand why it's so important that I look," she held up her fingers in a quote, "perfect."

The blonde rolled her eyes at her sister from the bed. The two of them had been going back on forth, with Katniss insisting that jeans were fine, and Prim insisting that jeans were absolutely not fine.

"You said it yourself, you're getting 'assessed' or whatever, you might as well look good. You're also probably going to be photographed, and I'm sure you don't want America to think you're trash."

It was Katniss's turn to roll her eyes. "I'm just going to text Peeta, ask him how formal I should be dressed." Prim stuck her tongue out at her sister, flopping down on her bed. Katniss typed out a quick text to Peeta, then climbed into bed along with Prim. She looked at the blonde. "I can't believe I'm actually doing this," she whispered. Prim grabbed her hand.

"Me either. Could you imagine what dad would say?" Katniss squeezed her sister's hand at the mention of their father.

"Probably something along the lines of, 'I may be a firefighter, but I still know how to work a gun'," Katniss said in an imitation of the late Mr. Everdeen's voice. Prim smiled in response.

The two girls shared a silence in the memory of their dad. The silence was interrupted by the chime of Katniss' phone. She sat up to read the text message.

Peeta M: Jeans and a sweater are fine! Youll look gr8 in anything ;)

Katniss shoved the phone in her sister's face. "I told you so!"

Two sweater switches and a train ride later, Katniss found herself standing in front of a large glass building dressed in dark wash denim jeans, a white chiffon button down covered by a soft orange sweater. She knew orange was Peeta's favorite color, and she figured if she couldn't charm Effie, she could at least seem desirable to Peeta. The line of photographers across the street showed her that Peeta had already been inside the building.

With a deep breath, Katniss entered the building. She cleared her throat as she approached the information desk. "Hi, I'm here for a 11:15 meeting at Capitol Management?"

The woman behind the desk stopped typing on her phone, and looked at Katniss disinterestedly. "Name?" She sighed, tapping her acrylic nails on the desk.

"Katniss Everdeen?"

"Spell it?"

Katniss internally rolled her eyes. How hard could it be to spell Katniss? "K-A-T-N-" The woman instantly stopped typing on the computer, and stared at Katniss with wide eyes.

"Oh my god, You're Katniss?" Katniss froze. The woman had recognized her name from Peeta's speech and she was sure the second she walked away the woman would be texting TMZ.

"Yes, I know, I am Katniss but could you please just tell me which floor it's on? I'm about to be late."

The woman stared at her unresponsively before snapping back into reality. "Yes of course, 74th floor, elevators are straight ahead to the right."

Walking quickly to the elevator, Katniss felt her heart slamming into her ribcage. If it felt like that every time someone recognized her, how would she deal with paparazzi screaming her name and shoving cameras in her face? "Deep breaths Katniss," she chanted to herself on the way to the 74th floor. Startled by the ding signaling her arrival at Capitol Management, Katniss stumbled out of the elevator.

Amazed, Katniss looked at her surroundings. The whole floor was made of glass - from the windows to the desks - but the people in it seemed even more dainty. Half the men and women working looked as if they hadn't seen food in weeks, and as if the gym was their best friend. The women walked around in sky high heels, with bright colors and weird designs that Katniss could only assume were classified as 'high fashion.'

Katniss slowly found her way to the receptionist's desk, hoping this woman would not react the same way the woman downstairs did. "Hi, 11:15 appointment with Effie Trinket under Everdeen?" She omitted her first name in hopes of avoiding a reaction.

The red-headed woman didn't blink. "Oh yes, Katniss Everdeen. Miss Trinket, Mr. Abernathy and Mr. Mellark are waiting. Make two rights and it should be the second door to the left." Her casual tone lead Katniss to believe that she dealt with celebrities even bigger than Peeta on the daily. Sending a curt smile to the receptionist, Katniss mentally prepared herself for what she was about to walk into. Peeta had warned her that Haymitch was blunt, and hard to like. Effie on the other hand was petty and annoying, but generally harmless.

With a deep breath, she opened the door. Peeta, Effie and Haymitch instantly quieted. Katniss smiled awkwardly, pausing in the doorframe. Peeta came to his senses first.

"Katniss!" He said, standing up to give her a kiss on the cheek. She saw Effie send Haymitch a pointed look. Peeta took her hand and lead her to the chairs around the table before giving it a squeeze.

Surged with courage from Peeta's warm welcome, Katniss stuck her hand out for a handshake. "Hi, I'm Katniss Everdeen." Haymitch eyed Katniss, but she gave him an equally hard look back. He accepted her hand.

"Haymitch Abernathy."

Effie stood up to shake her hand next. "Effie Trinket, but I'm sure you know that already. Lets get down to business, we have a big, big day!"

Katniss shrugged off her jacket and sat down across from Haymitch, and next to Peeta. She shifted in her chair. "So... Do you want to know more about me?"

Effie scoffed, leading Katniss to send a glance to Peeta. He shrugged. "Your name is Katniss Everdeen, you grew up in Brooklyn's 12th District, otherwise known as Park Slope, with your mother, father and sister. Your Father was Arnold Everdeen, a dedicated member of the District 12 Fire Department, deceased in 2008 in a building collapse." Katniss felt Peeta's and Haymitch's eyes on her, looking at her reaction. She gripped Peeta's hand, but kept a straight face. Effie took the silence as a signal to continue.

"Your mother is Bristol Everdeen, former nurse. Suffered from a psychotic break of bi-polar 1 disorder in 2008 after the death of her husband. She was placed in a mental-ward after becoming non-compliant and refusing medication after being deemed unable to care for her youngest daughter, Primrose Everdeen." Katniss felt her face turn bright red and instantly regretted her choice of a sweater. The room felt like it was closing in on her, all the oxygen seemingly sucked out.

Peeta took notice of her distress. He looked across the table. "Effie, I think that's enough."

Effie started to speak, but Haymitch cut her off. "If sweetheart here thinks this is bad, wait until the world finds out her name. Do you know how easy it was to find this? Anybody could find out this information about you. And if you're dating America's hottest actor over here, you're going to have a lot of targets on your back."

"But Haymitch, I don't think it's necess-" He argued, but Katniss cut him off.

"Peeta its fine," she said through gritted teeth. "I'm a big girl." He looked her in the eyes for a confirmation, and raised his eyebrows at Haymitch and Effie.

Effie looked back down at the papers in front of her. "Oh where was I? Yes, so, Primrose was removed from the home by ACS after her teachers noticed she came to school without a jacket in the middle of winter, and had supposedly "forgotten" her lunch for the past month. Further investigation showed that the Everdeen household was in a state of dismay, with no food, heat, or electricity. Primrose remained in foster care until the end of the year, when you graduated from University of Massachusetts and moved back to New York. Going back to Katniss, you graduated with a BA in landscape architecture, but you currently work at The Hob, which is where you met Peeta. All this is correct?"

"Yes," Katniss said sharply. Effie pretended not to hear the edge in her voice, but Haymitch cracked a smile. Peeta rubbed patterns on her hand with his thumb, sending her a concerned look she refused to meet.

Peeta tried his hand again. "I still don't see why this was necessary."

Effie laughed, a weird accent Katniss couldn't quite place coming out. "I had to make sure she wasn't some serial killer, Peeta. She is an investment in your career, do you think I'd have let you pull that stunt on the Caesar Flickerman show if I hadn't run a background check on her? What would you have done had she secretly been a stripper? Seriously Peeta you've got to give me more credit."

"So now that you've humiliated me, have you decided I'm up to your hollywood standards? Because I'm pretty sure that is what this meeting was supposed to be about," Katniss fired back sarcastically, channeling her embarrassment to anger.

Missing the sarcasm in her voice, Effie raised her eyebrows in shock. "Oh god no, not even close. You look like you dressed yourself in the dark and your eyebrows haven't been plucked in at least a year. But that's fixable stuff," she said as she reached out to examine Katniss's face. "I don't even think you'll have to get any surgery! Except for maybe those ears, yikes!" She said, as if it was obvious.

Katniss shoved Effie's hands away from her face and shot up from her seat. "That's it, I'm drawing the line there. I am not getting plastic surgery on my ears!"

Haymitch started to crack up laughing from his seat. Katniss looked around - Peeta looked as confused as she did, and Effie looked offended at the rejection of her suggestion. He took a swig from a flask before speaking. "Sit down sweetheart," he said. Katniss hesitantly lowered herself. "Look. Effie's on the fence, and Peeta is obviously smitten. But I like you, and that's the only opinion that really matters here."

"Hey!" Effie and Peeta simultaneously cried out. He held out a hand to shush them.

"Anyway. Theres something about you, but I can't quite put a finger on it. You look like a fighter, and in this business, you're going to know how to throw a few punches. I just hope you know what you two are getting yourself into. You are opening the door to tabloids, blatant lies, people you thought were your friends and family selling informations about you to magazines and paparazzi for a couple dollars. You two better start being honest with each other because nothing is a secret. Got it?"

Katniss reached for Peeta's hand. The pair nodded. "Got it."


Peeta

Leaving Haymitch and Effie with some other business to attend to, Katniss and Peeta found themselves alone in a descending elevator. Katniss looked straight ahead watching the numbers, but Peeta pulled her closer to him, hugging her from behind and laying his head on her shoulder. He kissed her cheek. "You ok?" While Katniss had cooled down while they discussed future plans, her demeanor was still icy.

Katniss sighed. "Not really. Effie just read out my fucked up life like it was a story. I don't even know why you still want this."

Peeta spun Katniss around so he could look her in the eyes. "I told you, I don't care. You are the person you are now because your life sucked. Nobody really has an ideal life." Katniss smiled before standing on her toes to kiss him. "And anyway, I always wondered why you always wear those FDNY shirts."

Katniss looked at him strangely. "So you didn't know all those things about me before today? Did you seriously not google me or anything?"

Peeta shook his head in confusion. "No, was I supposed to?" Katniss laughed before kissing him again.

"You sure are cute when you're confused." She stole a glance at the screen. They were on the 40th floor, still descending. Katniss suddenly remembered her encounter when entering the building and let out a gasp. "The woman downstairs recognized me. Theres going to be so many photographers downstairs, I could tell she was itching to call the paparazzi the second I said my name. What are we supposed to do?"

Peeta groaned outwardly. "I hate when this happens. This building doesn't have any back entrances," he said pointedly. "Goddamn it, this happens every time, theres no escape."

Katniss looked up at him as the elevator descended. 25, 24, 23. "So what do we do?"

Peeta looked up at the ceiling trying to think of a plan. "Theres a car waiting out front, the driver should be inside the building waiting to escort us. Theres no way to avoid the paparazzi. They can't come inside the building so there's just going to be a lot of them right at the entrance. Just hold my hand, ok? It doesn't matter if you can't see me, I'll be right next to you."

10, 9, 8.

Katniss nodded, and hugged Peeta. He smelled like vanilla and cinnamon, like he had been baking all morning. He kissed the top of her head.

6, 5, 4.

The pair could hear the noise coming from the lobby. "Remember, head down, don't say anything."

3,2, 1.

The doors opened at the lobby and Katniss was blinded by the flashing lights coming through the glass. She even spotted the woman at the information desk snapping pictures with her iPhone. Peeta struggled to refrain from flipping her off before nodding to the driver who was waiting in the corner. The driver, standing at around 6'5 and 250 pounds was not someone you wanted to meet in a dark alley way.

"Thanks man, It's a mob out there." The guy nodded.

"All this commotion for this one? Not even pretty," he joked, a Russian accent coming out. He marveled at Katniss's look of shock. "Jokes! This one very very pretty, lucky guy." Katniss scowled at Peeta, who put his hands up defensively. She instantly grabbed it back. "Here we go," the driver said as the doormen opened the building doors.

Katniss and Peeta were instantly assaulted by the screams of fans and paparazzi, shoving their cameras in their faces. "Is this Katniss? Is this Katniss?" They all shouted in their faces. The driver tried to lead the way through the crowd, pushing paparazzi aside.

"Step aside, step aside. Hey, hey don't get too close."

Peeta gripped Katniss's hand harder as he pulled her through the dense crowd of flashing lights. "Damn Katniss you look fine today!" Someone exclaimed, putting their hands on Katniss' waist. Katniss swatted his hands off of herself.

"Don't touch me!" Peeta paused for a second to look behind him, but the person responsible had already blended into the crowd. Eventually, he felt himself being pushed in to the awaiting car, Katniss following shortly.

He didn't breathe until he felt the driver climb in the front and pull out. Peeta felt Katniss rest her head on his shoulder, breathing deeply. He rubbed her hand with his. "Next time somebody touches you tell me exactly who they are and I'll beat the shit out of them then drag their ass to court for sexual assault."

"Thanks for the concern but I'd rather not have you arrested, I need someone to bail me out of jail when I kick their ass." The two let out a laugh, releasing any remaining tension.

The driver turned behind them at a the next stoplight. "Sorry for the interruption, but the paparazzo are going to catch us soon, so where you like to go?"

Katniss turned to Peeta and shrugged. "Do you wanna go to my house?" He suggested. "We can take a nap, invite the boys over, bang, whatever you like." He wagged his eyebrows at the last suggestion.

"Add dinner, subtract your friends and I'm 100% in."


Katniss

Katniss enveloped Prim in a massive hug, tucking the blonde's shirt into her skirt with her hands. "The driver is waiting for me outside, but just a heads up: I took on extra shifts at The Hob this last week so theres some extra money; I left it in the kitchen. Fire extinguisher's under the sink, baseball bat in the closet." Prim nodded, humoring Katniss. She caught her sister's smile. "You know what to do, who am I kidding!"

"Katniss I'm 22, not 12. I know how to take care of myself for a couple of days."

Katniss turned around to check everything she needed was in her bag. "I mean, it's more than a couple of days. Its Tuesday night, the premiere is on Thursday evening, and I'll be back Friday night for my Saturday afternoon shift." She blew air from her mouth. "Jesus Christ I hate that job," Katniss whispered to herself before turning back to her sister.

Prim smiled as Katniss kissed her on the cheek. "Go, go!" She said as she pushed her sister away. "You're gonna miss your flight - oh wait you're flying private, I forgot." Katniss rolled her eyes at Prim.

"Ok, Ok! I love you so much, try not to burn the house down, remember, don't buzz anybody up, theres hoards of paparazzi staked outside. I'll call you after we land." The two girls heard a knock on the door.

Katniss opened it to Cray, one of the body guards that Katniss learned in the past two weeks that Capitol Management uses to protect the talent. Peeta had named them peace-keepers, but their appearance made it look as if they wanted to do anything but "peace keep." His exterior was hard and unwavering, but ever so often Katniss catches him cracking a smile at a joke.

"Good evening Miss Everdeen. May I take your bags?" Katniss smiled at him as he grabbed her two bags, then turned to her sister for one last hug.

"Stay good little duck, don't have too much fun."

Cray moved down the stairs with ease, especially for someone carrying two heavy suitcases. He turned to her at the first floor landing. "Theres not too many paparazzi hanging around here, just the ones that followed us from Mr. Mellark's apartment. Just stay behind me."

Katniss walked down her stoop gripping the railings, afraid of falling. Prim had forced her into heels, and she was immediately regretting that decision. Walking down stairs in heels was no easy feat when being blinded by cameras. Even the sunglasses that Peeta urged her to wear did not solve the problem of flashing lights.

Cray opened the Escalade door for Katniss before moving to put her bags in the back. She slid in next to Peeta, releasing a breath when the door closed. She could still hear the audible clicks and flashes of cameras. "Hey babe," Peeta said as he pulled his headphones out of his ears, and leaned over to give her a kiss. She jumped at the sound of the trunk shutting and the car moving out of its place.

"I can't wait to get out of here, is it this bad in L.A. too?"

He shook his head. "Don't worry, in L.A. theres like tons of more people for them to stalk. And plenty of stars are coming in for the premiere, so the paparazzi will keep themselves busy." He looked her in the eye. "How are you?"

"Tired as hell. Johanna let me cover her shifts at the Hob this whole week so I could pick up extra tips. My boss wants to fire me so badly for missing this week but the place has been SO incredibly busy since you made a point to mention it in an interview. Thanks for that, by the way."

"No problem. But if you hate the job, why don't you quit?" Katniss rolled her eyes at her boyfriend.

"Maybe for you, but for me and the rest of the word who are not blessed with your good looks - it does not work like that. You can't just quit your job because you don't like it. There are bills, taxes, and not to mention the price of living. I'd love to quit this shit job, but that's just not an option right now." Katniss felt uncomfortable talking about money with Peeta. She doubt he understood concepts of money, most of it was probably managed for him. His parents had always been well off, and he probably has never had to worry about money a day in his life.

Peeta attempted to reason with her anyway. "You said Prim is starting her residency next September, won't you have some extra money then? I'm not trying to tell you how to live your life but I'm sure I could talk to someone, you know, help you get involved in the landscape architecture work." Katniss swatted him on the leg.

"I am not going to let you make someone give me a job, don't be stupid. Do you not think I can do it myself?" Katniss realized the harshness of her words as soon as they left her mouth. Peeta looked hurt. "I'm sorry, that came out wrong. You're not stupid, and I know you know I can do it myself. Forgive me?" She cooed, pouting.

He let out a sigh and leaned over to kiss her. "You think I can stay mad at you with that face?" Katniss stuck out her tongue before resting her head on Peeta's lap and closing her eyes.

The next thing she felt was shaking and the noises of planes taking off. She sat up in the car, and looked at Peeta. He let out a yawn. "C'mon Katniss, we've gotta board the plane."

She looked at her surroundings. They were on the tarmac, parked infront of a medium sized plane. She rubbed the salt out of her eyes. "What about security?"

"Theres an I.D. check inside to make sure you're not a terrorist, but other than that we take off in 20 minutes. It's 10:30 right now, but with time differences we should arrive at LAX around 1 A.M. Then from there it's a 45 minute drive to my house. We should go, Haymitch and Effie are already on the plane and you do not want to see Haymitch get cranky."


chapter 9! i felt bad for not updating in so long, so i worked extra hard to turn out a chapter this week.

please please please review - i haven't been getting many and i really want to know how you guys feel about this story - if theres someone you want me to keep doing/stop doing.

thank you to everyone who has followed/favorited this story! ur great!