CuteBrunetteThatLovesHG192: It isn't long, sorry! Don't worry though, I am revising it and when it is complete it will be very, VERY, long. Give me a week though. Don't be bummed out, I am giving you an Author's Vow to make the final draft perfect, thorough, and lengthy. :)

e-owusuu: You bet your sweet- ahem, I mean,uh . . . Yes, there will be a sequel. I plan on making a story to go along with the three books. Author's Vow!

ilovethemanofsteel: You have been my cheerleader throughout this story and you've gotten me out of writer's block multiple times. I owe a huge thank you to you for that! As does everyone else because this story would've been dead had you not given me ideas. :)

*****DISCLAIMER!*****

Peeta; HOW COULD YOU!

Me: It wasn't me! It was Suzanne Collins! She wrote it not me!

Peeta: But she didn't write it like you did!

Me: Sucks to suck, babe.

Previously:

"I don't know," I say, "I guess we just try to forget."

He looks back at the train and says, "I don't want to forget," then retreats to the doors.

"You promised you wouldn't leave me here alone," I say, even though he can no longer hear me.

Not Real

102313

LovelyUnderland

(PPOV)

If I'm being honest, which apparently I'm the only one who is capable of honesty, it feels like I've had my heart ripped out. Melodramatic, right? It's my fault, really. I should've known that the feeling wasn't mutual. It never is. I think the worst part about this whole thing is that, subconsciously, I knew that she didn't feel the same. Yet I let myself believe her lies.

The truth is as plain as day. Katniss Snow does not love me. Katniss Snow loves Gale Hawthorne. A guy who became her best friend after only two weeks of knowing her. They love each other. Anyone with a brain can see that.

A part of me wants to hurt her the way she has hurt me, but I can't do that. Not to her. As much as I hate to admit it, I understand why she lied. Self-preservation. She wanted to get out of the arena. She did it to stay alive. Anyone would do whatever they had to do in order to live. Katniss Snow only wanted to survive.

"Peeta, please, talk to me," Katniss drawls as she walks into my compartment.

She sits next to me on the bed, but I can't bring myself to look at her, let alone talk to her. Why can't she understand that I want to be left alone? Doesn't she understand the pain she has caused me? All I can do is stare at the ceiling until she gives up and leaves. It takes her a good ten minutes to get the point and when she does, she begins to sniffle. I know that she's trying to suppress the sobs, but the moment a whimper gets out, she darts out of the room crying.

Katniss is a hard person to break. Almost everyone knows that even after just learning about her six months ago. She isn't someone who is brought to tears easily. Rumour has it that she has never cried because of a single person, but it seems I've done the impossible. I have made Katniss Snow cry. I have hurt the girl that I've been in love with since kindergarten.

When the train pulls up to the station, Katniss and I are brought side by side. This is the last time, until the Victory Tour, that we will be together. I take her hand in mine and try to speak in a calm, confident tone, but my voice fails me. The pain in my voice is obvious when I say, "One more time? For the audience?"

My voice sounds so empty and broken. Katniss winces at the sound and guilt flashes across her face. Effie looks at us with curiosity, but says nothing and stands beside me. Haymitch, however, makes a comment about Katniss that causes her to turn pink. Whatever he said must've crossed some line because he quickly mumbled an apology before taking her side.

We all step out of the train when the announcer booms, "Ladies and gentlemen, District Twelve's victors of the Seventy-Fourth annual Hunger Games, Katniss Snow and Peeta Mellark!"

Lights blind us and the roaring crowd takes our hearing as we walk onto the platform. Both Katniss and I put on our proud façade. The false smiles are plastered on our faces as we wave to random members of the crowd. Almost instantly, I see the Everdeen family with the Hawthornes and point them out to Katniss.

At the sight of them, Katniss beams and her smile becomes genuine. That's all it takes. The happiness radiating off of her. The breath-taking smile. The sparkle in her eyes. That's all it takes to get me to forgive her; to, momentarily, forget the pain she caused me. Because, for the first time since the Games, Katniss Snow is actually happy.

This feeling, however, is short lived. Katniss wraps her arms around me and rests her head against my chest. My heart breaks all over again because I now know that it's not for me. This display of affection is not for me. It's for the audience. It's all an act. It's all a lie. It isn't real. None of it is real.