I'm so, so sorry I haven't been able to keep up with my publishing schedule! But it's finals week at college and I've been busy studying like mad. As usual, I want to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter: Undertaker's Wife, Bubbly Llama, XxEyelinerHeartsxX, and Lightning at Noon. I hope you like this one as well, and I'll try to update soon!

Chapter 10

Serena

"Come on," I beg, as Glimmer pulls my hair back and vigorously wraps it around her curling iron. "Can't you give me a clue? It's not funny anymore."

"Shush!" Glimmer reaches her arm and carefully picks up the slice she's cut from my birthday cake. She takes a small bite and puts it down again, before returning to my hair. "If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise."

"But…" I drop my shoulders in defeat. I have no idea if she's making sure I look good just because she wants to, or if she's going to drag me to a party.

Anything but a party. Please.

"Alright, you're ready," Glimmer finally says after a while. I don't even have time to try and catch a glimpse of my reflection to see how I look before she pulls me up and motions for me to twirl once so she can appreciate her work. "Perfect," she praises. "You look like a doll!"

"Is that good or bad?" I ask, glancing down at my new dress, which hugs my body all the way down to my waist and then flares, the hem brushing the skin above my knees. I'm pretty sure that if Glimmer had won the Games, she would have become the best stylist in the Capitol .

Glimmer rolls her eyes. "Of course it's good." She lowers her voice and amusingly mutters- to herself, but my ears are alert and I catch it anyway- "Someone's going to have a stroke when he sees you."

My heart leaps a little in my chest at her words. I'm still slightly nervous, but now I'm kind of anticipating what's to come- if I'm not mistaken, Marvel has planned something, and that's why I haven't seen him all day. The alternative, which I can't help but having present in the back of my mind, nagging me - that he's simply forgotten- is too awful for me to consider.

Half an hour later, I'm sitting on the couch, twisting my hands on my lap, as Glimmer paces back and forth, frowning. As the minutes go by, I'm getting colder, and the dress and hairdo just seem like a waste of time.

He's actually forgotten.

Or worse, I suddenly think. He's in trouble.

"I'm going out," I announce, getting up. "And looking for Marvel."

Glimmer instantly turns her head. "What? Why?"

"Because it's not like him to be this silent. I just want to check if he's okay."

"You're such a worrier." She places herself in front of me so that I can't keep walking. "Why wouldn't he be okay?"

"Because he lives with a psycho, that's why," I reply, trying to dodge her, but to no avail.

"I'm pretty sure he's fi-" She doesn't get to finish the sentence, because someone chooses that moment to ring the bell. "You should check who it is," Glimmer says in a different, relieved tone.

I glare at her before walking towards the door and opening it- my first reaction being giving a startled jump and stifling a cry of surprise.

"Sorry I'm late," Marvel says sheepishly, peering over a bouquet of white lilies.

"Took you long enough!" I hear Glimmer say from behind me. "She was about to burst out of the door and make sure you hadn't gotten yourself in one of your shenanigans."

"I had a few technical problems," he says defensively, before turning his attention back to me and holding out the flowers. "That's why I have been kind of absent all day. Please accept this extremely cliché present as a proof of my penitence."

I carefully grab the bouquet and take it to my nose, sniffing the scent that emanates from the delicate petals- I recognize it from Cassius's shop, from sometimes going there with Rue. I barely have time to mutter a "Thank you" before Marvel pulls me against him and lowers his lips to my ear.

"Happy birthday," he whispers, and I can feel him smile against my skin as I relax in his embrace.

"Hey, I'm still here!" Glimmer points out, probably fearing we may forget about her and break into an intimate moment right under her nose.

"We know that," Marvel snorts. "And thank you, by the way. For keeping her busy."

I look from him to Glimmer, confused, and then at him again. "Keeping me busy?"

"Yeah." Marvel smiles mischievously, his eyes gleaming. "I couldn't risk having you running into me while I prepared… Well, you'll see."

"I'm expecting you to make a jewelry line to go with my designs as a reward," Glimmer warns him.

"We didn't agree to that!" Marvel widens his eyes in panic. "And I don't design them, I just make them!"

"I'm just kidding." Glimmer walks up to us and practically shoves Marvel, along with me, out of the apartment. "It was my pleasure to help. Now go and have fun!"

With that, she shuts the door, leaving me alone in the hallway with Marvel, who places his hand on my lower back and begins leading me towards the elevator. "Where are we going?" I ask with curiosity.

"I told you," Marvel smiles down at me. "You'll see. Now close your eyes."

I raise an eyebrow- I was never comfortable with the idea of letting my guard down like this, probably due to the fact that whenever one of my sisters asked me to close my eyes, she would tickle me until I was on the floor and trying to kick her off. "Don't you trust me?" he asks amusingly.

"O-of course I do," I stammer.

"Then come on," Marvel insists, before bending over again and whispering, "Or are you scared?" as he runs a hand over my waist.

I cross my arms. "I'm not scared," I say, shutting my eyes and praying that he's not one to tickle unguarded girls just for the hell of it.

Actually, now that I think about it, he probably is. Catching me off-guard is undoubtedly one of Marvel's favorite hobbies. Crap.

However, nothing happens- he keeps his hand on my waist and begins leading me in silence to the outside. I try to keep track of where we're going, but it reveals to be an impossible task in total darkness. Keeping myself from tripping is tricky as well- if it weren't for Marvel's proximity, I would have fallen face first the moment I left the block. It is only when the ground suddenly cracks under our feet that I start to feel that I'm not as lost as I thought I was.

"No peeking!" Marvel warns me, apparently sensing this. "Just follow my voice," he adds jokingly.

"Easier said than do-"

I don't get to finish the sentence because suddenly my foot gets stuck in what I presume is a tree root. Thankfully, he catches me before I land not on my face, as I thought, but on my ass. "We're almost there. Can you make it without breaking anything or do you need me to carry you?" Marvel asks, and I can practically hear him smirk.

Since I still have my eyes closed, I have to resort to roll them mentally. "Ha ha. Very funny."

"I'm serious! I don't mind it, really. It would be my pleasure."

"I know that." I cling tighter to Marvel's arm as the texture of the ground changes and it becomes even harder to walk in total darkness. "In fact, you seem to have some kind of obsession over whether my feet touch the ground or not."

The cool, salty smell of ocean breeze is now much stronger than it was just a few moments ago, confirming my suspicions about where we're heading; I try to ignore my first instinct, which is to open my eyes and race to the water.

"Well, I'm worried that you might be in pain for every step you take. After all, you're a mermaid, aren't you?"

I smile, slightly taken aback by the fact that he still remembers the story I told him so long ago. "No, I'm not. Unfortunately."

"You're not?" Marvel gasps, trying to sound shocked. "This was a waste of time, then."

"What are you talking about?" We have now stopped, and I can no longer feel his guiding hand. I reach out my own hands but only manage to grab air. "Hey!"

"Wait just a second…" Marvel pleads, sounding as if he's just a few feet ahead of me. "Alright, you can open your eyes."

Tired of not seeing anything, I immediately do as he says; I still have to blink twice for my eyes to adapt to the light of the surprisingly full moon and the torches Marvel has lit around what seems like a picnic. Then, I cover my mouth- all of my favorite food, set over a blanket on a flat rock, so close to the waves that if I decided to climb down- it's not very high, so I wouldn't have a problem with that- I could touch the water with my feet.

"Is this… Did you do all of this today?" I ask.

Marvel shrugs. "It's not like I didn't have enough time. So… What do you think?"

I fling my arms around his neck and place a kiss on his lips. "It's perfect."

Marvel

Neither I nor Serena are ones to talk while we're eating, so we spend our meal in silence. Actually, she finishes before I do-man, does she eat fast when she's hungry- and just sits there waiting for me to join her, shifting slightly closer to me every second that goes by. Her gaze, however, is fixed on the waves that gently graze the base of the rock beneath us.

The curls that someone- I suppose it was Glimmer- unnecessarily made on her hair have completely fallen apart, and now Serena looks more like herself. I let my eyes wander over the silver glow that both the moon and its reflection on the water cast over her features, making her actually resemble a mermaid so much that I find myself half expecting her to grow a fishtail and jump into the water.

"What?" Serena asks, when she catches me staring at her.

I swallow the last bit of my meal. "Nothing," I say sheepishly.

Serena eyes me for a second before focusing back on the sea, absent-mindedly playing with her hair as she does so. "I want to go home," she suddenly whispers, so low that I have to crawl to the spot next to her so I can hear it.

"Home?" I ask worriedly. She's abnormally quiet, which is never a good sign- maybe I shouldn't have brought here, but how should I know that Serena would choose today to be homesick?

Okay, perhaps it wasn't the best idea. After all, I got homesick on my birthday too.

"Yes. I miss District 4," she admits. "And I bet you miss District 1 as well."

I flinch, but don't let her see that. "You know that we can't go back, right? The Capitol would probably have us killed if we just got back to our old lives," I point out, trying to be reasonable. "Besides…" I add, unable to help feeling a bit hurt by her desire to return to Panem, even though I fully understand it, "Exactly how far is District 4 from District 1, anyway?"

Serena turns her head quickly and widens her eyes at me. "I didn't mean to… I-I know we can't go back. I was just saying it would be nice to see my sisters and my friends." She gestures towards the beach behind us, and the darkness beyond, which conceals the houses of Ceres. "I know this is my… home now." Serena reaches for my hand and squeezes it, the warmth emanating from her skin contrasting with the surprisingly cold- at least for this time of year- night air. "Our home," she adds, as if by saying it out loud she can convince herself it's true.

I put an arm around Serena's shoulders and she instantly nestles against me, so that we are both facing the ocean. "Our home? I like the sound of that." I look down and brush my lips against her forehead, getting yet another of those soothing wafts of her smell.

Damn, I've really got it bad for this girl.

"Look on the bright side," I say. "Here we don't have to worry about the Hunger Games. Never again."

"What happened to that Career who wanted to win so badly?" Serena chuckles. But I know she's not joking.

"He changed his mind," I reply grimly.

Serena looks up and lets out a sigh before disentangling herself from my arm and laying on her back. "Good." She smiles. "You were really full of yourself back then."

I lay down next to her. "I don't know what you're talking about," I say lightly.

Serena looks at me through the corner of her eye. "You still are full of yourself."

"You say that as if it's a bad thing." I sigh noisily. "It's not my fault if I'm so amazing, and you're not able to resist my awesomeness."

Serena pokes my arm jokingly, laughing. "How can you be so sure of that?"

"Oh, I don't know…" I say sarcastically, presenting her with my best smirk. "Maybe because we've been a couple for three months now and I can still make you blush?"

"That's not true!" Serena snorts, crossing her arms- but even in the faint light from the torches I can see that her cheeks are bright red.

"Aha! See?" I exclaim triumphantly. "Don't even try to deny it- you find me irresistible."

"You never change, do you?" she grumbles.

"Nope!" I reply cheerfully. Serena doesn't say anything and simply lies by my side, her gaze directed at the sky above us. Then she stretches out her arm and points her finger at the stars, as she murmurs something. "What are you doing?" I ask with curiosity.

"I'm looking for the North Star."

I get up on one elbow. "The what?"

"The North Star." Serena drags herself closer to me so that she can indicate a particularly bright star. "It points to the North. We used it to guide us when we went out to the sea and we didn't have a compass."

"I didn't know that," I grumble, feeling stupid; perhaps I was too lazy to pay attention in school the whole time, but something tells me that teachers didn't even bother about this kind of stuff. After all, I wasn't even taught how to swim- people around me, including my father, were more concerned about getting me to throw a spear with perfect aim before I even lost my baby teeth.

"We had a machine that turned graphite into diamonds," I blurt out, causing Serena to shoot me a curious glance. I'm not sure why I said it- probably because I want to make my district sound special too.

Nice move, genius.

"Really? How did it work?"

I shrug. "I have no idea. All I know is that your set of drawing pencils is probably worth a fortune."

Serena chuckles. "They're more useful the way they are now."

"So… No diamonds for you, then?"

"No diamonds for me, then," she repeats, shaking her head.

"What a strange girl you are, Baby-face." I pull her against me and lower my lips to explore her neck, despite the fact that by now I know it to the point that I can tell how many moles Serena has, and where. But it's just too pleasant for me- and for her, if the faint moan that has just escaped from her lips is any indication- for me to care. "And that's why I love you so much."

Once again, Serena doesn't say anything- she seems completely lost in her own thoughts, despite her body's reaction to my kisses, and I realize she's probably still thinking about her family. The only way to make her snap out of it, I know from experience, is to have her talking about one of her passions.

"Tell me a story," I plead quietly.

Serena shoots me a confused glance. "Uh?"

"Tell me a story," I repeat. "Better yet, that one you like so much. The one your grandmother used to tell you."

"I've already told you that one," Serena points out.

"I know." I put on the most innocent face I can pull off- which, let's face it, is probably everything but , given the circumstances. "But I forgot how it ended. And I really like hearing you talk."

"Alright, then." Serena takes a deep breath and starts, "Once upon a time, there was a king, who lived under the sea with his six daughters…"

"Keep going," I murmur. I feel Serena relax against me and let myself go too, lulled by her words. I don't dare to speak until she's finished telling me how the heroine of her favorite story died without anyone even noticing it. "I think there's something missing in that ending," I say.

"Is it so?" Serena raises her eyebrows and smiles. "And just what does the king of I-know-it-all have to say about it?"

"Are you daring me to finish your tale?" I ask. Serena nods, amused, and I clear my throat. "Well then… The little mermaid's spirit travelled very, very far, until she came to an island, much like the one we are in. There, she met a very rich, talented, and absurdly handsome prince named Marvel- who wasn't dumb enough to mistake her for another girl- and fell madly in love with him. And they lived happily ever after. The end."

I hear a slapping sound and look down to find Serena with her hand covering her eyes, her body shaking with silent laughter. "I won't even dare to comment," she says, recomposing herself.

"Why? I think it's a brilliant ending!" I snort.

"So this 'absurdly handsome' prince is called Marvel just by pure coincidence?" Serena raises an eyebrow, an amused smile upon her lips.

I shrug. "It's a very common name, you know?"

"Of course it is." Serena rolls her eyes. "I bet he thought he was hilarious, charming, and everything a woman could ever ask for."

"Oh, but he was." I roll over on top of her and wink. "He was also an excellent kisser."

Serena grins and looks up at me through half-lidded eyes. "Oh yeah? Then prove it."

Serena

He proves it alright. I don't know how it's possible, but it feels as if kissing Marvel is always a brand-new experience, like it's the first time he's got his hands roaming over my hips while he leaves a burning trail with his lips over my collarbone.

Really, how does he do that?

Not that I'm complaining- except where it concerns the occasions he decides to creep up on me. Marvel's ability to surprise me is one of the things I love the most about him.

Suddenly, he pulls away. "There's still another thing I want to give you." Marvel gets up and walks back to what's left of our picnic, kneeling back with his back turned to me so I don't see what he's doing.

I sit up, shivering- I was enjoying the warmth coming off his body, and the pressure of his weight on me. "What is it?" I ask with curiosity, my lips still throbbing slightly.

Marvel approaches me with his hands behind his back, and gives me a mischievous smile. "Give me your hand," he asks. I do as he says and he gently grabs my hand, hiding it from my sight as he locks something around my wrist- the one that doesn't have a tattoo. When I look closer, a second later, there's a silver bracelet, much like the one he's wearing- only the chain is even more delicate-looking- gleaming over my skin in the moonlight.

"Marvel, did… Did you make this?" I ask, as I take a closer look at the bracelet; where his has a heart and a little flower, mine has the kind of stuff one would find dangling from a District 4 charm bracelet ,except the ones we had were made of rope, not silver: a starfish, a miniature trident, an anchor.

I turn my wrist, wondering if Marvel has added his own personal touch… Yes, there they are, the heart and the lily. The sight of them brings a clump to my throat, as they remind me of the circumstances in which we met, surrounded by people who wanted to see us dead (well, their wish was granted, kind of).

"It was my therapeutic project," Marvel says proudly. "I thought I might as well use it as an excuse to make your birthday gift."

"You shouldn't have!" I gasp, suddenly stricken by how flimsy my gift to him was compared to this. "I mean…" I add, lowering my eyes and fidgeting with the starfish, "Thank you. It's beautiful."

"I'm glad you like it." Marvel picks up the bouquet I put down when we started eating, and holds it out for me. "Now you have two unoriginal presents, but since they've been sprayed with some Marvel Magic they are now a thousand times better."

I tilt my head back and laugh. "Please don't ruin the moment," I say jokingly.

"I never ruin the moment, Baby-face. I just improve it."