Author Notes: I have to offer my deepest apologies for never finishing this story. While I was working on this chapter, I had a family emergency and forgot all about this story. Even after everything was back to normal, Fanfiction just was never a priority. Yesterday, I was flipping through my notebook and saw my notes for this story and felt horrible for never finishing it. So, four years later, here it is.

After rereading my writing so many years later, let me just say I have a LOT of problems with this story. I went back and changed a few elements, but I've decided to leave it mostly alone. Instead, I'll be doing my best to steer this story in a better direction for the finale. I really like some of my ideas for this story, and will be incorporating parts of it into my upcoming fanfic. Anyways, I hope you enjoy.

Peeta's POV, 17:45

My lips hadn't even left Finnick's before I realized that I had just colossally fucked up. I pushed myself off the stunned teenager in self-loathing. Why would I kiss him? I knew that my advance was unwanted, and even if it was, I had no business trying to drive a wedge between him and Sam. I was being completely unfair to them, not to mention to Cato. I could tell Finnick was trying to think of something to say, but he was at a complete loss for words. Tentatively, I broke the silence.

"Finnick… I'm so sorry. I don't know what made me do that" I began, trying to think of something better to say. "I-I guess I have a bit of a crush on you, but it was not cool of me to kiss you,"

Finnick seemed to process what I was saying, eventually nodding slowly in acknowledgement.

"Ok… I don't know what happened there, but I guess I forgive you. And look, I'm flattered that you're attracted to me, but this is not going to happen between us. I am with Sam," He stated, trying his best to be gentle. I nodded my head in agreement. Finnick scanned the room, presumably trying to see if we were being watched. From the looks of it, not one eye in the crowd was turned our way.

"Look, I have to tell Sam about this. I'm really sorry if this hurts your relationship with him, but I'm his boyfriend and I need to be honest with him,"

I grimaced slightly, but I knew he was right. Sam had a right to know about this, and I had only myself to blame for whatever consequences might ensue. Quickly, I tried to think of a way to make Sam not hate me too much.

"Would it be alright if I told him instead?" I asked. "I want to explain what happened. You know, let him know how sorry I am," Finnick considered this for a moment, probably worried about what might happen if Sam didn't hear it from him first. Finally, he nodded his head in agreement. "I guess, but do it now. Last time I saw him, he was headed towards the kitchen,"

With Finnick's blessing, I made my way across the dancefloor and towards the kitchen. As I reached to open the door, I felt my stomach churn while my brain thought of every possible way that Sam could react. Not one of them ended well for me. Sure enough, as I walked in, I found Sam sitting on the island counter, buried in his phone as his legs swayed back and forth, as if he were riding an imaginary swing. As I stepped in, he looked up in momentary alarm before realizing who I was. For once, he looked relieved to see me.

"Hey," he offered, giving me what I presume to be a genuine smile.

"Hey," I replied, making my way over towards him, propping myself next to him. "Not too big on parties?" It didn't seem like a typical popular-kid move to isolate themselves in the kitchen. He shrugged in response.

"They're alright. I guess I'm just not really feeling it tonight," he replied. Fair enough, I suppose, cheating death can do that to a person. Suddenly, Sam turned his head away from me.

"Did you hear that?" he asked, staring towards the far end of the kitchen.

"No," I replied. I had no idea what he was talking about. Sam looked around for a few more seconds before shrugging and turning back around to look at me. After a brief pause, I realized he was waiting for me to say what I wanted.

"Look, Sam. I don't know how to tell you this so I'm just going to. I kissed Finnick, and I'm really sorry about it. It was completely my fault. I promise I will never do anything like that again," Sam looked at me in shock, but he quickly recovered as he took a few deep breaths and processed what I said. For a moment, he opened his mouth as if to speak, but he closed it again just as quickly. Finally, he stood up from the counter and pointed himself towards me.

"Peeta..." he started, still searching for the right words. He tilted his head so he was looking up to me, and my heart sank when I realized he wasn't angry at me. He was just hurt.

"Look, Peeta. You can have Cato. He should be with someone who makes him happy, and it's not my job to decide who deserves him. But please, stay away from Finnick. I don't have a whole lot, and I don't know what I would do without him. I know that I always bitch about how I'm stronger than people think and how I can make it on my own, but let's face it. I can't,"

Of all the ways I feared Sam might reply to my confession, I would have never guessed this. Why would Sam doubt Finnick's love for him? Furthermore, how could Sam possibly think that I was stealing Cato away from him? I had only spent the last few days with him, and it was still debatable if he was even serious about me. Even if I was Cato's boyfriend, that doesn't mean take away from Sam's relationship with him. Does it? It wasn't until then when I looked down at Sam's teary, pleading eyes that I realized just how vulnerable Sam really was. Maybe he was right. Maybe he doesn't have a whole lot after all. While I bet plenty of people would claim to be best friends with Sam, the only ones he seemed to truly care about were Finnick, Cato, and Glimmer. And here I was, in his eyes, trying to take away not one but two of them. Suddenly, all of Sam's coldness towards me made sense. Instinctively, I pulled him into my embrace.

"Sam," I hushed, trying my best to comfort him. "Finnick is in love with you. He's not leaving you for anyone or anything, trust me. And Cato will always be your brother. He will always be there for you; whatever happens between me and him won't change that,"

Slowly, he began to hug me back, as if to accept what I'm saying. Just as he began to open his mouth in reply, there was a sudden banging from the behind us, probably from the pantry. Sam practically yelped as he jumped out of the hug and looked around for the source of the noise.

"Well, did you hear that one?" He whispered, inching towards the other side of the room. I nodded my head in confirmation. At first, I didn't really think much of the noise, but seeing the fear in Sam's eyes started to make me feel just as nervous. He stood there, staring at the door for a few seconds, as if waiting for something to happen. Suddenly, there was another bang. At this, Sam sprung for the door that I came in from and began shaking furiously at the knob, only to find it locked.

"Shit," he whispered, returning his gaze towards the pantry door.

Another bang.

It wasn't until now that I realized how much danger we might be in. Sam and I exchanged looks for a second before he signaled me over, tiptoeing his way towards the door. Unsure of what to do, I followed behind him.

Another bang.

Suddenly, Sam positioned himself so he was standing by the door, his back to the wall. He reached for his ring, pulling out the blade and preparing to strike. He looked up at me and motioned for me to open the door. Slowly, I reached for the doorknob.

Another bang.

I swung the door open, finding myself face to face with a tied up, bloodied, and gagged Dominic. It looked like he had partially freed himself and had managed to stand up. I could hardly recognize his blood-drenched face as he looked down upon me. Without thinking, I screamed in horror at the sight before me. How could I, in that split second, remembered that Sam was positioned so that he couldn't see into the pantry, waiting to strike? Before I could stop him, Sam extended his arm and slammed the ring's point into Dominic's torso.

Sam turned around to look into the doorway. When he saw what he had done, he dropped to his knees, petrified. Dominic looked down and met Sam's gaze, obviously trying to communicate something. Once I removed the gag from his mouth, he spent a few moments gasping for air before he finally spoke.

"Sam…. Your ring,"

"I know," Sam replied in a barely audible croak "I'm so sorry Dominic. I didn't know it was you," Tears welled up in his eyes once more as he bowed his head.

"No, Sam. Look at your ring," Slowly, as if he hadn't fully processed what Dominic had said, Sam raised his arm to his face, staring at the crumbling blue dust where a sapphire was supposed to be.

"I don't understand," I gasped. "How can you break a sapphire with your bare hands?" Sam shook his head at me, his terror morphing into confusion.

"You Can't,"

Suddenly, he rose and lifted Dominic's shirt, revealing his chest. Sam hadn't even left a mark. Looking down at his finger, Sam slowly processed what had happened.

"It's a fake," he finally exclaimed, his mouth agape. "Someone switched my real one with this one,"

"Why would they do that?" Dominic and I asked in unison. We hadn't fully caught up to Sam's train of thought.

"So that I wouldn't be able to defend myself with it, duh," Sam half-shouted, suddenly full of glee at the realization that he didn't just murder someone. "I bet they had this dream scenario where I'd try to stab them with it, break the fake gem, and be completely vulnerable to them," Suddenly, only minutes after fearing for our lives and seconds after almost committing a murder, Sam and I laughed. Partly in relief, partly from leftover nerves, and partly at the realization that the killer just inadvertently saved someone's life. Even if that someone was Dominic. A few minutes passed before Dominic decided to interrupt our celebration.

"Ok, don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled that you didn't kill me too. But… do you think you could untie me?"

"Oh shit sorry," I exclaimed, getting to work on Dominic's knots. Sam was a little more tentative. It seems that Dominic was back on Sam's shit list now that he wasn't dying. Finally, he joined in. As Sam and I untied, Dominic explained to us that he had woken up here a few minutes ago. He heard us talking, and had been trying to get his attention since then. He couldn't remember how he got in the pantry; the last thing he remembers was getting into his car.

As we worked on the last few knots, Sam suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong?" I asked. Without responding, Sam rose up and made his way towards the exit, only to find that the door was still locked. Perplexed, he looked at the two of us.

"If the killer wasn't in the pantry, why did he lock us in here?"

We all stood there, looking at each other. Sam was right, it made no sense. Trapping us in here wouldn't do him any good if he wasn't here to kill us.

That's when I smelled the gas.