A/N: I need to stop procrastinating. I'm pretty sure I have a mountainload of Chem homework and now the procrastination has migrated into my writing. Ah well, at least I got a chapter up... Enjoy!

I am not Suzanne Collins, Suzanne Collins wouldn't have let 4 days worth of Chem homework pile up because she was reading Cyanide and Happiness...


When I unlock the front door and walk in, I know something is horribly wrong. Finn's cries are coming from his room and Annie sits on the couch with a stony face. Her dinner I set out sits untouched on the kitchen table. She makes no effort to acknowledge my presence.

I first run to Finn's room and get him out of his crib. He's red in the face from screaming his little heart out and, based on the smell of diaper, needs to be changed. I walk out into the kitchen holding him and grab a bottle out of the refrigerator. Thank goodness Annie started weaning him onto normal milk. As soon as the bottle's in his mouth, he stops fussing and calms down.

Once he's finished and he has a clean diaper, Finn falls asleep and I lay him down in his crib. I now tend to Annie.

"Annie, what happened?"

She turns to me with her glassy eyes clearing up. "You didn't come back last night."

Shit. I knew I forgot to do something. "Oh Annie, I'm sorry. I should've called. I was with Gale. Remember I told you I was going to go meet him." She nods slowly. "How long have you been sitting here."

"All night. They showed a program last night. It was about the war." Oh, Shit. If it was about the war, then they showed him. At least once. I really should've called. I think of Finn's cries that I heard this morning.

"Annie, how long has it been since Finn was fed?"

She thinks for a moment. "Yesterday at lunch. I'm sorry Jo. I forgot."

I hug her, but notice how tired she looks. Like she didn't sleep all night.

"Come on, you need to sleep." She nods and walks back to her room.

I turn back to the TV that she was staring at. Some Capitol show is on, with a purple hair woman reading the news.

"... In other news, tomorrow is the 1 year anniversary of Panem's independence. All broadcasts will be canceled in order to display all names of those who passed fighting valiantly for their country. Also a memorial building commemorating the innocent lives lost in The Hunger Games and in the War that is at the moment finishing construction, will be opened in two weeks for all of Panem to enjoy."

A Hunger Games memorial. And to think the same woman was probably betting on who would win just last year. The phone rings and I grab it before it can wake Annie.

"What?"

"Johanna, did you see the news?"

"Mellark. Hey. Yeah I saw it. What about it?"

"Effie called our house and said all the victors were invited out for the opening the night before."

Fuck. I have no intention of setting foot in the Capitol again. And I tell Peeta exactly that.

"Well, I didn't either but at least you and Annie can get away with not going."

I grimace. I forget he's worse off than me. "I would just stand in the back, stuffing my face and not be noticed by anybody." He laughs.

"I suppose that's true." After a pause, he says "Maybe it will be good for all of us. A little bit of closure. How's Annie doing?"

My stomach turns at the thought of how I found her when I got home. "I thought she was doing great at first but I wasn't here last night and when I got home this morning, she was just sitting there. Finn was crying because she didn't feed him dinner while she was staring at the TV all night. They showed a war story too. I'm positive Finnick was mentioned."

"Are they ok?"

"Yes. It was only about thirteen hours Finn didn't have food and they're both sleeping now but-" I can't finish my sentence for some reason.

"You wonder what would happen if you were gone longer." Peeta finishes for me."

"Yeah."

"Where were you last night?"

My cheeks burn with shame. "You're gonna love this Mellark. Annie was having a nervous breakdown because I forgot to call her to tell her I was fucking Hawthorne. Aren't I the absolute best?"

He lets a chuckle out. "You're not the worst. You didn't know that the program would be on or that Annie would see it. You're both adults, no need to tell each other where you are and when you'll be back." He pauses and I can hear him ask through gritted teeth. "How is Gale?"

"He's good. You don't have to be wary of him, Peeta. Trust me, he's plenty occupied,"

This time he laughs full-heartedly. "Thank you, for letting me in on your sex life." I laugh, but its cut short. I ask him,"Peeta, how do you think that we got so messed up?"

"We just are. All of us. But I think that our parents beating us our entire childhoods is a contributing factor."

I smile and grab a muffin from the counter. "You're right. We're both pretty messed up. How's Katniss?"

"She's good. We're good. It's good."

His voice is strained. I know he's holding something back. "Spit it out Peeta" I say, mouth full of muffin.

"I ordered a ring from One. It came today." I'm frozen. I can't move or speak. "Johanna? Are you there?"

I finally get the words to come out. "Yeah I heard you. That's pretty fast don't you think, but you guys were about to go at it on MY kitchen table right when you started dating so-"

"Whoa! I'm not proposing just yet. I bought it just as an idea. Johanna, were both only 18. Marriage is not on the table for a couple years."

"Then why buy the ring? She will find it, you know."

"Don't worry. I hid it well. It was either the best or worst decision I've ever made. Who knows? Maybe in a year or two it'll be the best. You never know." I hear a door slam in the background. Peeta?! Who are talking to? "Hey I gotta go, Katniss just got back. Don't tell her what I said."

"I'm not that heartless, Mellark." He says goodbye and we hang up. I check on Annie and Finn, who both are sleeping, and then I leave for the square to clear my head.


The square is one of the things I actually enjoy about District Four. It's surrounded by small merchant shops and carts of other citizens. The Justice Building is the north point of the square. It wasn't this carefree before, Annie told me, it was a constant reminder of the reaping for this career district and someone would always be in the stocks that used to be on the front steps of the justice building. It was the same for District Seven, I told her, leaving out the part where there was a bloody stump with an ax stuck in it to remind us of constant executions.

"Would you like to buy something, miss?"

My head snaps up. I've somehow wandered into a crafts shop and the owner is smiling at me, hoping I'll get something.

"I'm just looking." The shop is filled with wooden crafts ranging from jewelry boxes to instruments. My eyes travel around the room, admiring the details in carved figures when I see the guitar. They started allowing free trade that wasn't necessities after the war was over, so I knew it was made in District Seven. "How much for this?"

The owner tells me a price and I hand over the money from my pocket. As I walk down the street over to the Victor's Village with the guitar in hand, I notice the people. Fisherman trading with merchants in the street. Children skipping along while their mother's chase after them. None seem to have a care in the world, as if they forgot the past year. Or are trying to forget, like me. I decide Peeta's right. You do never know what will happen. This still doesn't mean anything for a cynic like me. For now, at least.


A/N: as usual: R&R! I now am going to collapse from exhaustion. Thanks for reading!