Eve watched as Cato walked off, her nails once again digging into the flesh of her palms. He'd made it seem so easy, just sauntering up there and gushing his heart out with fake love for her.

"Now for the lovely lady Cato was telling us about! Ladies and gentlemen, Eve Hadley!" Caesar chimed, and Eve growled before walking up.

She blocked out the cheering and the screaming as she walked over to the arm-chair, a massive, eccentric grin dominating her features. She was focusing on what she was going to say. She felt the white fabric of her dress brushing against her thigh and her hair against her bare back as she walked, both sensations so familiar and soothing that the anger was starting to subside.

"And here she is, looking as beautiful as ever!" Caesar laughed, and Eve did too as he gestured to the love seat behind her. He sat in his own chair as she drifted down on to hers.

"Thank you Caesar." She beamed. "And you're looking equally beautiful."

The crowd laughed, and Caesar leant back in his chair. "My dear, Capitol remedies do a lot of things but they don't sort out split ends!" He chuckled and stroked his pony tail. "Now, on to more pressing subjects! Is it true that you and Cato hated each other until the Tribute Parade?"

She beamed at the crowd before turning her attention back to him. "Yes." She smiled. "He was always such an idiot. You know, rude, mean, selfish, cocky, arrogant... That was Cato." She laughed nervously.

"But is he different now? Surely he must be if you started caring so much." Caesar grinned.

"Not really."

The crowd began laughing hysterically, and Eve smiled falsely, weakly. She was stumbling for words and her heart was fluttering in panic. "So we've heard about when you both declared your love for one another from the man himself. What were you thinking when Cato pulled you up to the roof that night?"

"Well at first I thought he was going to pick a fight with me." She chuckled. "But I knew he'd never be stupid enough to do that." Caesar laughed. "And then when he said 'I love you', I was partially just relieved not to have to knock him out." The crowd roared happily. She continued. "And after I got over the shock, I realised that I felt the same, and I told him that. We were going to try and keep it a secret, but then Brutus found out and decided to spread it around." She had to bite back the venom. At least she'd thrown some truth into that.

People in the crowd began cooing again, just like they had for Cato, and Eve knew she'd done okay, though something about the way Caesar was looking at her made her unsure. Nevertheless, the host wiped at his eyes with his sleeve. "That's truly beautiful."

"It's just as unfortunate though." Eve reminded him as she flicked a strand of hair out of her eye.

"Yes yes, it is indeed." He agreed. "Anyway, we don't have much time left so let's continue, hmm? Do you think this bond between you and Cato will affect your chances of winning?"

"Of course it will." She grinned maliciously. "It will make us invincible. We're both such good fighters, and with us being in love, we'll be unstoppable." She tilted her head up proudly. "And we'll be doing it together."

"But what will you do if you two are the last ones left?" Caesar gasped.

She looked to the crowd and saw people on the verge of tears. "Well we'll just have to wait and see." She said. Caesar nodded, and then he stood. Eve quickly got up off the white love seat and stood next to him, smiling as beautifully as she could.

"Ladies and gentlemen of Panem, Eve Hadley!" The crowd was in hysterics. Claps, cheers, whistles, the thudding of feet against the floor, all sounds echoing around the massive room. Caesar bowed and kissed her hand, and after another few seconds Eve was walking off to the opposite wing.


Lucille watched as Crellis effortlessly answered his questions, winking at ladies in the crowd. She grinned a toothy, sinister grin. At least one of them was going to put effort into their answers; she had the intention of just brushing the non-violent ones aside.

Eve and Cato had gone through their interviews all lovey-dovey, and she'd felt like throwing up. It was repulsing and weak to claim they had some sort of fling going on, and if anybody else had noticed the way they glared at each other and balled up their fists when the other one spoke, they would realise that it was just as fake as Lucille knew it to be.

Yes, they were good with weapons. Yes, they were skilled. But this charade was just low. It ruined their chances, and Lucille was almost disappointed in them.

She'd been so looking forward to fighting an equal fight with the tributes from Two, and now they'd gone and taken away her mercy. She'd just have to kill them.

"People of Panem, please welcome to the stage, Lucille DeBleur!"


"From District Twelve. District Twelve, you know her as the Girl on Fire! But we know her as the lovely Katniss Everdeen!" Caesar flourished his hand towards the wing, and out came Katniss in a bright red, absolutely hideous dress.

Eve sunk into the sofa. She was back in the apartment, in the living room to be exact. Cato was next to her drinking a repulsing kind of broth made to subside the pain in his head from when Eve had attacked, and it was making Eve's nose wrinkle. Brutus and Enobaria sat down the other end of the couch, each completely silent. The only sounds rushing around the apartment were Caesar's voice blaring from the television and the four of them breathing raggedly.

The TV had been replaced after it was ripped off the wall, and the living room and Eve and Cato's bedrooms had also been righted along with it.

Eve scowled at the screen as Katniss walked out onto the stage, her face completely blank and lifeless. Caesar's expression of excitement barely covered the two of them, but it was enough to keep the crowd cheering. "So Katniss, that was some entrance you made at the Tribute Parade." He smiled, his blue hair wobbling uncertainly. "Would you like to tell what your thoughts were when you emerged?"

She stared at him and he raised an eyebrow. Eve started to laugh, but the stench of Cato's drink wafted around her and the smirk disappeared. "What?" Katniss looked puzzled, and the Capitol crowd laughed. Caesar grinned kindly.

"I think someone's a little nervous. I said, that was quite an entrance that you made at the Tribute Parade the other day. Do you want to tell us about it?"

She looked flustered. "Well I was just... hoping that I wouldn't burn to death." The crowd laughed.

Caesar smiled at her. "When you came out of that chariot, I have to say, my heart stopped. Did any of you experience this as well." He turned to the audience and was rewarded with a roar of whistling and cheering. "My heart stopped." He looked at Katniss, who just sat there lifeless.

Then her shoulders sagged and she smiled weakly. "So did mine." Caesar and the crowd both laughed.

"Now tell me about the flames, are they real?"

"Yes." She looked out at the crowd, and Eve heard Brutus huff.

"This is so pathetic." He snarled at the screen. Eve turned her attention back to Katniss.

"In fact I'm wearing them today. Would you like to see?"

Eve grunted; it was so obvious she'd rehearsed that hundreds of times.

The crowd roared, but Caesar hesitated. "Wait, wait, wait. Is it safe?"

Katniss giggled. Eve was beginning to hate gigglers. "Yes."

"What do you think folks?" The crowd went wild, and Katniss stood up and stepped slightly forward. "I think that's a yes!"

"This is bullshit." Enobaria began picking at her teeth.

Katniss started twirling. Flames rose up from her ankles and lapped up to her thighs, not even singing the fabric. Eve heard Cato start choking up his broth. People in the crowd ooh-ed and ahh-ed, but Eve just brought her knees up to her chest and held them tightly, even as her arms began to shake. Katniss began smiling as she slowed the turns. She stumbled back to her seat, obviously dizzy.

"Whoah! Steady, steady!" Caesar guided her back down. "Lovely, thank you!" He yelled above the crowds hysteria. "That was really something. That... that was something. That was something. Thank you for that." He repeated the words, almost as if he was trying to believe his eyes.

Cato slammed his mug down on the coffee table. "That was something? That was pathetic, girly shit! That's what it was! What the fuck is she-"

"Shut it!" Eve leered at him before focusing fully on the screen.

"I have one more question for you." Caesar leaned forward. "It's about your sister. We were all very moved, I think, when you volunteered for her at the Reaping. Did she come and say goodbye to you?

Eve felt a pang of guilt at first; this was the first time she'd found out that Katniss had volunteered for her sister. She felt small, uneducated, and almost guilty that she felt so angry at Twelve, when all she was trying to do was go home to her sister. But she brushed the feeling aside. She didn't care about the mushy stories, she didn't care about love. All she cared about was winning.

Katniss' facade faltered for a minute and Eve noticed her nervous blinking, but soon Blank Katniss was back, and she stared at Caesar like he was a wall. "Yes. She did."

"She did. And what did you say to her, in the end?"

"I told her that I would try to win. That I would try to win for her." The crowd gushed.

"Of course you did. And try you will." He leant down and kissed her hand. "Ladies and gentlemen, from District Twelve, Katniss Everdeen, the Girl on Fire!" He held her hand up to the sky and the Capitol crowd boomed louder than it had for her and Cato combined. She dug her nails into her legs as Katniss walked off.

"I've had enough." Cato announced, and grabbed his drink before walking out to his room. Eve somehow knew that he would watch Peeta's interview on the TV in his room, but she couldn't care any less what he did.

"And now, also from District Twelve, please welcome Peeta Mellark!" Caesar laughed happily as the crowd went nuts. "Peeta, welcome! Now, how are you finding the Capitol? Don't say really bad." He said with joke warning.

"It's uh... it's different! It's very different from back home."

"Different. In what way? Give us an example."

Peeta took a breath as he considered it. "Uh, okay. Well the uh, the showers here are weird." Despite all the pauses and 'uh's, Peeta seemed confident and happy. Eve dug her nails in deeper.

"Showers!" The crowd started laughing along with Caesar.

"Yes." Peeta smiled widely.

"We have different showers." The laughing increased.

"I have a question for you, Caesar. Do I smell like roses to you?" The people in the crowd laughed uncontrollably, and Brutus sighed.

"Hell." Brutus muttered. "They weren't that loud for you."

Eve glared at him, but he just shrugged.

"Take a whiff!" Peeta offered his neck to the host as he smiled at the crowd.

"Um, alright..." Caesar said in-between confused expressions. He leant in and sniffed Peeta, then backed away with a stupid grin on his face.

"Hmm, do I? Yes! Do I smell like..." Caesar leant towards Peeta and waited to be smelt. The crowd was going berserk.

Peeta smiled. "You definitely smell better than I do."

"Well I've lived here longer." Caesar, Peeta and the crowd's laughs and cheers all bounced around the apartment, and Eve slumped further down into the sofa. As the volume of the crowd lowered, Caesar spoke again "So Peeta, tell me. Is there a special girl back home?"

Peeta was smiling sadly. "No... no, not really."

"No? I don't believe it for a second! Look at that face! Handsome man like you! Peeta." He said, his tone serious. "Tell me."

Peeta sighed. "Well, there uh, there is this one girl that I've had a crush on forever." He took a deep breath, and Caesar hummed out in understanding before he continued. "But I don't think she actually recognised me until the Reaping."

The screen showed people in the crowd who were wiping away tears, just like they had for her and Cato. She seethed. "Well I'll tell you what, Peeta." He pointed at him. "You go out there and you win this thing, and when you get home... She'll have to go out with you. Right folks?" He raised his eyebrows at the audience, who cheered loudly. Caesar laughed merrily, but when Peeta started speaking every single person fell silent.

"Thanks, but uh, I don't think winning's going to help me at all." He frowned into his lap, then at Caesar.

"And why not?"

Peeta was breathing deeply, almost as if considering whether to say the next few words. Eve's head spun. Winning wouldn't help him at all? She considered all the options. The girl had died after he had left, she already loved someone else, she was somebody out of his league that he couldn't be with... And then, with her eyes wide, the realisation dawned on her.

"Because she came here with me." He said after a long pause.

Brutus and Enobaria both started screeching things, but Eve couldn't make sense of their yells over the sound of the blood pumping in her ears. White spots clouded her vision as she stood up, hatred flowing through her, but she didn't tear down the television. She didn't shatter the window. She didn't punch Esme's face in. Instead, she walked out to her room with whatever dignity she had, Caesar and Peeta still talking through the screen, and locked the door behind her.

In the safety of her room, Eve cried.


And that was Chapter 9! I just love Eve and Cato's thoughts towards Katniss and how the Peeniss relationship has been tied into this. But it isn't about my opinion. It's about yours. So let me know. Leave a review, leave a PM.

THANKS A BUNCH YOU LOVELY, GORGEOUS, BEAUTIFUL READERS!

Eva xox