As the crowd cheers, I walk off the stage. Passing Gale he winks at me, "Thanks for warming them up."

"Mhm."

"See you soon."

"Mhm." Away from the stage, I let out a heavy sigh. It feels good to be away from the spotlight for a few moments. Did I do well? Was I convincing? Was I too convincing? Should I even worry about that?

"Good job out there." Aaron, from District 11, comments. "Not a dry eye in the house."

"Being honest isn't difficult."

"No? I should try it sometime."

"Oh, definitely." I glance at the twins behind him and they glare at me. "Erm, I just need some water-"

"You're missing Gale's interview."

"Not the important part." He looks at me oddly and I smile, signalling for a stage hand to bring me some water. I drink it quickly before I'm being ushered back near the stage.

This time the lights aren't difficult to see through. Gale is giving Caesar a short answer to something. Caesar looks at the audience, "Well, do you think we should bring her back on stage?" I nearly cover my ears from the shouts of encouragement. The two in the middle of their interview stand and look over to where I am.

I'm pushed out and I force myself to look confused and excited. Gale takes my hand immediately and I ask, "What's going on?"

Gale smiles and we look to Caesar. He just grins, "Well, you two! Finish your interview with a flourish!"

Gale turns back to me, my hands in his. He kisses my forehead then looks into my eyes. "Meg, you know I love you. I should have asked you this four years ago. At the festival. When I gave you this-" his left hand lightly touches the little heart clip that's on the dresses single strap on my right before taking my hand again, "or any time before or after that. I've always loved you, Meg. I always will."

There's a single moment of silence so I tell him, "I love you, too. You know I do!"

"Then will you, finally, officially, be mine?"

My heart skips a beat. I don't know why, it's not like I'm happy. It's nerves. It's fear. It's Jack watching me as I open my mouth and whisper, "Yes."

I don't hear the audience but I see them rise in their seats before Gale is crushing me against him, his lips firmly molded with mine. I kiss him back easily, more interested in keeping the outside world away than actually kissing him. It's uncomfortable, like it's been the other times. I don't like it. But I can't pull back. Not yet.

After another moment Gale takes a step back and curls a finger in my hair, "You're beautiful, Megan." I choke on my words and just smile at him, trying to tell him with my eyes to get me out of this situation. He nods at Caesar, "I think she's overwhelmed."

"She certainly is." Caesar turns to the audience, "Ladies and gentlemen. Let me introduce to you, finally a couple, the remarkable duo; Gale Hawthorne and Megan Theia!"

They cheer, we leave. I hurry away from Gale but he keeps up and so does our mentors and Polly. The latter of which is chirping on about how well it all went. In the elevator I feel cramped and it takes way too long to get to the apartments. As soon as we're out I run from them and into my bathroom where I promptly lose whatever I had left in my stomach.

It's over. All the foreplay is over. There are no more days of training, no more scores or interviews. No more nights with Jack, no more arguing with Gale and Caelus. No more fine dining or silk sheets. There's nothing but the games now. The bloodbath, the tributes, the feast, the mutts, my likely death. There's nothing but a terrible fate. Maybe I'm not as ready for this as I thought.

A 5 minute session with my toothbrush and a very long shower later, I collapse on the couch beside Gale, "Sorry."

"I felt the exact same way."

I stare at him, surprised, "You really think so?"

"I don't enjoy kissing you, Meg. You're great at it, like I said, but your lips aren't the ones I want. And, quite frankly, they never will be." His voice is usually a more serious, even grim, tone, but now it's just cold.

"Ouch." I say, with a lot less emotion than I feel. "So that whole love thing really is an act? So much for being family?"

"That was never my decision. It was our parents- Well, your adoptive parents. And I'm just telling you the truth. I don't know who would ever want to kiss you."

"Shut up, Gale." I huff at him and move to my left, away from him.

"I hear you finally manipulated Jack into giving you a kiss."

"Shut. Up." I stare away from him and through the window, not really seeing anything.

"I feel sorry for the guy-" I stand, step in front of him, and slap him hard across the face. "What the hell, flat-chest?!"

"I want you to apologise, pig." I say, sitting on the armchair.

"There is no way-"

I stand, then quickly flop onto the couch beside him, "Okay. Let's talk about how much we hate each other. You go first."

He lifts his head to stare at me like I've gone insane, "Okay. I hate you so much-"

"I was kidding; shut up." I lean over and kiss his cheek. He doesn't move so I pull his face to mine and put my nose within an inch of his.

"Okay, okay!" he pushes me away, rubbing at his nose like there was a leaf on it, "I hate it when you do that!"

"It's probably the one thing I learnt from science class. The sensitive body and close objects. Remember when I used to balance pencils on my nose? It was conditioning. Getting used to close encounters so I don't flinch or- or feel like I'm going to sneeze because of a basic defense mechanism."

"Why do you sound so smart right now?"

"Because you're being an idiot. Apologise to me."

He stares for a minute then falls against me, his head on my shoulder and mumbles, "Sorry. You're not really that flat." Well that's part of the apology I wanted. He sits up straight again, "After the countdown... Run for the cornucopia. Whoever is nearest will cover you. If it's Toby, just make sure you're within someone elses view before putting your trust in him."

"Got it. Toby is a bad boy. And not the good kind."

"You're not into bad boys, Meg. That's why you and me never worked out." After a moment he continues, "I'm going to protect you. I promise."

"But-"

"I'm serious. You know that I can't protect you forever but while I can; I will."

"You've been protecting me this whole time, Gale. I think it might be my turn to protect you..."

"What do you mean?"

I lean back against the couch and sigh, "I'm a target. That will make you a target. And the others. It's probably best if I-"

"We are all our own targets, Meg. You're not putting us in any more danger than we're already in."

"But-"

"We have a better chance of surviving past the bloodbath if we stick together. And you have a better chance if you're with us- with me."

"I have no chance, Gale."

"You do if you play it smart. Meg, this is why we've gone through all of the trouble of pretending to be lovers- You're my girlfriend now so you can't just run away from me. Our sponsors won't like it and neither will the other tributes. Stay with me, Meg. It's our best hope." He rests his hand on my knee and stares at me with a big question mark on his face. A big, handsome, protective, question mark.

"You've convinced me." I sigh. "But-"

"You're not staying with the careers through the entire thing. I know. I have the same plan. As long as you're with them; you're with me. Is there anything else we need to talk about?"

"I can't think of anything. I'm tired. And stressed. And scared."

"I am, too. As soon as we're in the games, we're free. The Capitol doesn't interfere as long as we stay in line. As long as we give them a good show. Whatever we want to do; we can go ahead and do it. Whatever we want to take; it's ours."

"This is both the beginning and the end blablabla." I stand up, "Okay, I need some sleep. I'll see you in the morning. Actually, do you have any guesses at what the arena will be?"

He stands and takes my elbow, leading me towards the rooms, "I'm thinking jungle. You?"

Frowning, I stop in front of my door and tell him, "I was thinking the same. Ancient ruins, perhaps."

"Perhaps." Gale mocks me. "Meg, this isn't goodbye. We have plenty of time to say that later."

"I don't want to say it. And what do you mean plenty of time? One of us will be dead in a week-"

"It's more than some people get."

I sigh, then nod at him slowly, "Goodnight, Gale."

"Goodnight, Megan."

But how is it possible for a tribute to sleep on the last night? I can't stop tossing and turning, and I keep craving different foods- this is a really bad time to develop a nervous eating habit. I can't shut my brain off no matter how hard I try and the most insignificant thoughts become overblown.

The cheering outside does nothing to help. It sounds like they're right outside the window, watching me as I cling to the pillows in silent fear. I don't want them watching me, I don't want them judging me, and I don't want them cheering me on. I don't want to be involved in this at all. None of us do- well, maybe some of the careers who actually volunteered. But I can bet that they don't want to die, either. That they are having just as much trouble sleeping as I am.

Are career losers considered disappointments? I think losers, in general, are simply mourned. It wouldn't be right for anyone to consider a loser a disappointment. But for someone who gave everyone hope- who made so many promises- For someone like me, who nearly escaped- will I be a disappointment? I was the first to make it that far, so have I given people -districts- hope of an escape? Have I made anyone think that maybe the Capitol isn't as fearsome or absolute as they have tried to be for nearly a century now? If that's the case then I'll be letting everyone down even more than I already thought I was.

Out of everyone I could be disappointing -Liam, Jack, Caelus, my adoptive parents- I think I'm much more afraid of disappointing myself. This whole time I've been fighting and to give up or allow myself to be defeated is about the worst thing I can do now. I've come this far, I can go a little further.