...

So, I've got no idea what happened during this chapter. I was just writing and imagining and then - BOOM. This happened. What'cha think, HAWTgeek? Pres. Snow meeting, by the way, will be next chapter, praise God. :)

God bless, love and cheetos!

~Future

"Ready?" Blondie asked, straightening my jacket as we traveled down the elevator at five AM that next morning.

Dimitri hadn't taken what I'd said well. He hadn't taken the plan well. He begged me to stay. But I couldn't. I had to do this. I had to set the record straight. If I didn't, then who would?

I nodded, biting my lip again to keep from saying what I was really thinking. No, I wasn't ready. Who could be? I was going to see the man who could easily decide my death and kill me in a moment's notice.

"You sure?" I nodded again, avoiding his glare.

"Annie," he grabbed my shoulders and stood in front of me, staring hard into my eyes, unlocking every secret.

"I'll be fine," I insisted, pushing around him as the elevator dinged open and I walked outside, ignoring the look the guards gave us as we made our way out. Blondie flashed a completely false ID, forcing them to let us through.

Blondie opened the door of his personal limo (turns out being the President's nephew came with a few excellent perks) and allowed me inside. I scooted as far as I could to the opposite window, and he sat down next to me.

I was bouncing in my seat, clenching my hands together as the car began to move. I bit my lip so hard I thought I tasted blood.

He grabbed my hand, catching me by surprise and I swiveled to look at him. "Calm down," he said, holding my hand away from the other. "It's going to be fine."

"But what if it isn't?" I asked. "What if he doesn't agree? What, what if he kills us both? What if – "

"What if, what if, what if. They're just ifs Anastasia. They're things that could happen. They aren't guaranteed. Okay?"

I gulped and nodded.

"Now, pull yourself together. Don't you know what good a rep I've got around here?"

I slapped him, laughing.

"I mean, if I walk you into the mansion with you all bouncing around, looking like you're about to pee yourself, and let's say some famous movie star sees me and – "

I cupped my hand over his mouth.

It was funny, sure.

I just wasn't in the mood for funny.

"Tell me something," he said, glaring playfully and tossing my limp hand to the side. "What's up with you and the chair and the 'oh look I can walk now' thing? I know you explained before, but, with the nosebleed and all…"

I ran and hand through my hair, getting my fingers caught because it was in a tight braid at the nap of my neck.

"Let's just say God has blessed me." I left it at that.

"So…" he trailed off and looked out of the window. "Okay, we've got a fifty minute ride just to get to the train. We're not going to sit here and just be awkward teens. Hey, Jamsey!"

That's what he called James, the butler who drove Snow's private limo. Jamsey was a cute name, and I usually would've smiled.

I didn't smile.

"Yes, sir?" James' ancient voice gargled from the intercom as he slid down the black window separating our part from his. He eyed Blondie with malice, though his expression never changed.

"Music, maestro!" Blondie commanded, and immediately loud tunes began roaring in the back where we were. The jolt and beat of speakers scared me so much I jumped hallway across the back of the limo. It started with some kind of pop music, followed by a slower moving classic gospel, and finally ending up on a country song. It was slow and moved with a graceful rhythm. Its title was "Hello World", by a group called Lady Antebellum. It wasn't long until I caught on to the lyrics, and began to sing along on the chorus.

"Hello world, how you been? Good to see you my old friend…"

Blondie's mouth was wide as he gaped at me. "Holy crap!" he shouted. "You're amazing!"

I just rolled my eyes.

"Sometimes I forget what living's for, and I hear my life through my front door…"

"Either shut up or admit it," Blondie said, smiling at me in that sideways way of his. I laughed.

And, to be honest, if felt pretty good.

It didn't feel good to get back on a train. For a moment, things felt so surreal, like I was going back home and none of it had even happened. Seeing Blondie, though, and realizing what I was really up against made it leave rather quick, though.

The rickety train car kept tossing us back and forth. I was too lost in thought to care.

The plan itself was simple. I request a meeting with President Snow. I explain why I'm there and my concerns. I tell him to take Trisha out of the Games, and my brother, too, if that's possible. Don't ask me why I felt the need to do what I did. It just felt right. I had to do it, or I at least had to try.

It was ludicrous, now that I thought about it. How stupid was I, really? To think this could actually work. What was my motive? He was sure to ask me that. Why.

Why?

I didn't know why. I just knew what I felt and what had to be done. End of story.

"Brendon…" I mumbled, wondering if he'd even respond. I never called him Brendon. He was just Blondie.

"Yeah?" he turned and looked me up and down. "You okay?"

He really thought I was fine. Okay. Not the reaction I was expecting.

"Yeah." I said dryly. "Just great. Can we turn on some music?"

Blondie shrugged.

I felt so alone. I'd never felt so alone. Alone was something that I didn't like to feel. This wasn't me. I wasn't being me. I needed to be.

No, I thought sourly. Not anymore. I'm not that weak child who started this. I'm the girl in the stars.

"Let's make our own, then," I smiled. "Now, you know "Your Mercy Endureth Forever"?"

"Sing a couple of verses," he said slowly.

"Okay," I cleared my throat, my palms already sweating. "Lord you are good and Your mercy endureth forever…" I ended up singing the whole song, and he clapped excitedly.

"I think I just found a way for you to win the games," Blondie said, smirking. "You sing, Dimitri shoots, instant take-down!"

"Oh, ha-ha," I rolled my eyes.

"I wish you believed me. Is it really that hard for you to actually believe in something for once?"

"I – what do you mean, for once?"

"When you were little, all the way up to now, you always had to have proof that you could believe, none of this "because I said so" crap. You always had to know; you couldn't trust or believe in it unless you saw it."

"Oh…"

"Not that that's a bad thing, really. It's just a little weird and strenuous at times. Like my p – "

I raised my hand. "Enough, enough, enough." I was smiling, though, so he smiled back.

"You're so perverted," I said, kicking off my shoes. They were starting to hurt my feet.

"I know. I take pride in it."

I laughed, nestling up on the side of a plush, installed couch. "Wake me when we get there," I said softly, closing my eyes and curling into a fetal position.

Just before I was asleep, I heard something shift, felt my hair move from my forehead, and someone placing a gentle kiss on my temple.

I smiled.

The train lurched forward, and I fell into the floor with a hard tha-dump! I shook my head and wiped the sleep out of my eyes. Blondie was still sleeping like a baby on the opposite couch.

"Hey, blonde boy!" I shouted, tossing his shoe at him. He bopped him in the face, and he sat up, swinging out his arms.

"Oh," he said, his cheeks turning a shade of crimson. "Sorry you had to see that."

"Yeah, I thought you had a little insecurity showing."

"Oh, blah-ha. What time is it?"

I glanced at my naked wrist. "Let's try about half-past it's time for you to get a watch?"

He stuck his tongue out at me. "I miss the less mouthy you."

"You're not the first."

"See, there you go again!"

"I haven't moved an inch, perhaps you need glasses. And apply the bandage slowly to the burn." I felt like I needed to put grease in my hair and comb it back. I was becoming a hoodlum.

"Now you're just taking it too far," I could tell that he was joking, but he was also right. I needed to simmer down a little.

I told myself it was just nerves from going to the Capitol's capital.

"Sorry," I said, brushing my hair back, when I realized I could still feel the ghost of his lips on my forehead. I decided not to mention it. More than likely, it was an affectionate, brother-sister kiss. Dimitri gave me those all the time.

But that was Dimitri. This was Blondie.

"All ashore that's going ashore!" shouted the captain, and I thought how funny it was that we were on a train and not a ship.

Blondie – I almost called him Dimitri – yanked on his shoes and grabbed his small bag, shoving us both out of the doorway and unto busy Capitol streets.

I'd always pictured the Capitol as this rotten, nasty place, filled with neon lights and hopeless drunks and cars and crowded, smug filled air.

It wasn't anything like that.

People, parents with children, grandchildren, laughed and played in the park. A homeless couple, content to be so, was seated next to a cardboard-and-trash-can house, holding each other close. They were elders, with grey, thinning hair and broad glasses. I'd never seen anyone so happy. They didn't mind the fact that they were dressing in rags and kept warm with age-old newspapers, ate from the trash cans which doubled as shelter. No, they had each other, and that was enough for them.

I said a small prayer for them as Blondie drug me away, not being able to get an answer out of me for the past five minutes.

The next place I quit moving was a local bakery. Smells of cinnamon and raisin muffins and bagels wafted out, sucking me into them. I stared at each pastry individually, imagining their taste. I'd never had anything fresh from a bakery. Maybe if I had some money? Or maybe I could trade a crumpet for working and –

"Come on, Annie!" Blondie grabbed my wrist again, and I had to dash to keep up.

"Geez, sorry, sorry." None of this was new to him. He'd seen it all countless times, even called a few shop owners by name.

"Why didn't you tell me that the heart of the Capitol was so…so…"

"Lively? Friendly? Homely? Because."

"Because why?"

He smirked, "My point exactly."

I rolled my eyes. "Why?"

"I don't know," he answered truthfully. "It just didn't seem right. Plus, I kind of knew you wouldn't believe me. Not without the evidence."

I bumped him with my hip, which he returned back, and thus began our slap/hit/shove/bump war against each other. Finally, after many dirty looks and a few choice curse words, we agreed to just walk in silence and no-bumping, though it wasn't half as fun.

"So, the walking thing? It just cuts out sometimes?"

Speak of the dirty, rotten devil.

I bet you can just guess what happened next, can't you?

I crashed into Blondie's arms just as I was about to answer, and our lips collided against the others'. We could've stopped at any time we wanted.

Neither of us stopped.