The train Back to Twelve

by Periwinckles

After the war ends, a group of rebuilders goes back to district twelve, and there's not enough liquor. Not enough condoms either. Thom and Delly's story post canon (we'll still get a few chapters of Peeta/Katniss, but Thom/Delly are the main pair). Prequel to "Letters from New Panem", but they can both be read on their own.

4. Chapter 4

WEEK 6 - THOM

"How many of you?" Cyrus asks, as we circle around the clairing, Purnia leading the way through a well trained path.

"Thirty six, the night we left. We lost twelve in the first twenty four hours. We buried them in the clearing." She says, pointing out to our right. "Three more, a couple of days later. There's twenty one of us now."

I'm following behind, Cyrus and Purnia walking side by side. They walk purposefully, almost in sync. Purnia's talking to him, but she's keeping her voice loud enough for me to hear. She looks behind her shoulder towards me, several times, until Cyrus' tells her off.

"I told you can trust him."

"I figured as much, when I saw you were bringing him along."

It feels completely surreal. Twenty one survivors. Not that many when you think of how many died, but still. It's twenty one more who managed to escape that terrible night.

"We were all on the south side of the district. The bombs hit town... there was fire everywhere... we couldn't cross the square. That's when Max and I gathered as many as we could and headed out this way."

"Max is alive?" Cyrus asks incredulously. Another peacekeeper I take.

"Yeah. Lupo and Claudia, too. And Felix, Marcus, Julian and Adria."

"All peacekeepers?" I finally ask.

"Those I mentioned, yeah." She answers back, turning to me. "But the rest are mostly Seam folks. We have a couple of merchants too. Plus one of the school teachers."

I think I'll never forget the panic around us that night. Her story makes sense. Those that were on the town square or close to it stood no chance. Rumor has it that the first bomb hit the bakery, the second one the Mayor's house. Seam residents had a heads up, but not by much, as soon the bombs started to hit there too. Only those that were far enough were able to escape, like Cyrus who was at the peacekeepers headquarters. I was one of the lucky ones too. I stayed home that

night, but being a single worker with no family and no house, meant I lived in one of the common

houses near the mines and not the Seam. Once I realized what was going on, I tried to reach the community home, but like Purnia said, once the fire started it was impossible to cross. The only way to go was out of the district.

"Unbelievable." Cyrus breathes out. "Why didn't you show yourselves to us, once you figured out we were back?"

Purnia pauses, and I notice Cyrus eyeing a small group of boulders. I would probably miss it if not for his telling gaze. We've reached the bunker, apparently, but Purnia is in no hurry to get inside.

"First you need to understand what it was like for us. We managed to reach the bunker and we were completely oblivious to what was going on for days. We only came out to bury the dead. Then after a few days, Lupo managed to catch some radio transmission on the bunker's device. It took us a while to piece together the snippets of information we were getting, but we ended up figuring out District Thirteen was alive and leading everyone to rebellion. We considered making the trek there. We probably would have if it was just the peacekeepers."

She takes a sit on the ground and we follow her lead. I guess we won't be getting inside anytime soon.

"But you were scared the Capitol might get to you first, if you took the trip."

"We were. Most of them are just miners, untrained in the woods. We have a couple of teenagers too, and two kids, brother and sister, a 5 and a 7 year old. We thought it would be better to stay put."

I would have been too. Our own trip to the lake was more than eventful and that was just a few hours walk. District Thirteen managed to get to us, but what if we had to make the whole journey by ourselves?

"Then what?" Cyrus asks, urging her to keep talking. She takes a small stick from the ground and starts to draw random circles with it.

"A couple of months ago we lost communication. We thought the device might be faulty at first. We tried to bring it above ground, Lupo tinkered with it, and still nothing."

"The war ended on January fifteenth. That's why you stopped getting communications." I tell her.

"We guessed as much after a few weeks of radio silence. But we still didn't know who had won at this point."

The small laugh that comes out of my mouth is inevitable. I know they must have survived a lot of hardship to be here, but still. Hiding in a bunker until the war was done? That's a real piece of luck, right there. I would gladly trade with one of them.

"What made you move, then?" Cyrus asks curious.

"We were getting low on supplies. We sent two scouts to check on the district. It was deserted. But Victor's village was still standing."

Realization hits us both at the same time.

"You're the thieves."

"You can't really blame us, Cyrus. We were slowly starving. They broke into Peeta Mellark's house and it had a bursting pantry. They took what they could and we rationed it. It lasted us a couple of weeks. We ended up deciding to move into the houses when we went the second time."

"Except the houses weren't empty any more." I conclude, and she nods in agreement.

"Half of us went to Mellark's, the other half to Abernathy's. Some of the men wanted liquor, and Mellark had a full pantry but not a drop of alcohol on sight. They wandered around the house for a bit, until they finally spotted him, passed out behind the couch."

"How could you not see him right away?… how is that even possible?" Cyrus asks dumbfounded, and Purnia and I both share a chuckle.

"Have you seen the state of his house? It's a miracle someone spotted him amidst all the chaos. "

"I understand why you took the food, I would probably do the same." I tell her. "Even the condoms and the booze, I get. But the watch?"

Her eyes lift at my mention, and I know she knows what I'm talking about. " That's not just about surviving, that's taking something for personal gain."

She doesn't answer and after a few minutes goes on with her story where she left it.

"We got scared and we left unnoticed. We still didn't know who had won the war at this point."

"Abernathy was one of the rebellion leaders." Cyrus says

"We didn't know. Everyone headed back to the bunker with what we gathered before coming across Abernathy on the floor. Max and I stayed behind to make a recognition of the district again. That's when we spotted your camp, on the North side. For days we tried to get to you alone Cyrus, but you never left camp, and when you did you were always glued at the hip with this one." She says, pointing her thumb to me. "Then last week, Max left the glove behind. He knew you would connect the dots."

"Why wait two weeks to leave the glove?" I ask

"That's how long it took for the thief to come clean. '' She says as she places a gold pocket watch on my hand. Haymitch's watch for sure, as no one in District Twelve could ever afford such an extravagance.

"We figured something was wrong when we saw you doing a tent search. But we wanted whoever took it to come clean, out of their own will. They did, once the food ran out again and we were out of options."

"But you were still scared we might not welcome you in our midst." Cyrus finishes for her and she nods.

"We still are."

Cyrus takes a deep breath "What do you want, Purnia?" He asks, running a hand through his hair.

"You know what we want. We want to go back. We want to join you. You need help, and most of us are strong and young."

He exchanges a glance with me, and we don't need words at this point to know we're thinking the same thing.

"We'll welcome everyone that wants to come back to District Twelve with open arms" I tell her. "But we're not taking any thieves."

I expect her to protest but she remains silent. She was expecting this, that's why she kept us outside until we heard the whole story. After a while she lifts her eyes to Cyrus and I think she might be silently asking him to talk to him alone, but he's either not getting it or ignoring it.

"We spent the last nine months together. We're tight knit at this point. You can't expect us to leave one of us behind, no matter how stupid their actions were. "

"And you can't expect us to take someone untrustworthy. We are barely scraping by, as is." He points out.

"What happened to the old you? The one that went on and on about the merciless Capitol? Where's your mercy now, Cyrus?"

He stays silent, their gazes unwavering from each other. She's pleading with him and he's giving in.

"Word?" I tell him, and we sidestep away from Purnia.

"What do you think?" He asks me when we're out of earshot.

"We can't leave them here. They're our people and they need food. I don't think anyone will object to them joining us."

"And the thief?"

His eyes are pleading with me as well and I know she made her case to convince him.

"It's not just me you have to convince. Jack will never go for it. Haymitch too. And you know people will follow them. "

Purnia is staring at us intently as we decide their fate. Of course we have no real authority to banish anyone from the District. But they want to come back on good terms. They didn't approach us until they had the watch to return. And for that they have my respect.

"We have to take them with us." I conclude. It's our only viable choice for now.

"I say we circle around the district when we go back. We take them to the train station. If we enter through Victor's village or the slag heap, someone might assume we are under attack."

"That's a good choice. They'll have water, and shelter at the station, at least until we get a green light from the residents. If all reasoning fails, we can at least give the thief a one way train ticket to another District."

"That seems fair."

We approach Purnia again, and we tell her that we're taking them back with us to the train station. I see her smile for the first time since we've met.

"We can't promise anything else, not until we have a district voting."

"Thank you."

We follow her inside. The entrance is low and I have to duck to pass through it. But once we cross a narrow door we find ourselves inside some sort of common room. The walls are gray and cold, and there are several doors on one side of the compound. A small kitchen on the left with a few benches and tables. It reminds me of district thirteen's cafeteria.

Cyrus is instantly surrounded. There's a lot of cheers and back claps by what I gather are his peacekeeper friends. In the meantime I take my time to observe the rest of the survivors. Mostly Seam folks, nearly all of them young men and women. I recognize a few faces, but none of them were really my acquaintances. A girl with short hair stares at me, and I realize she might have been a classmate of mine, though I can't really recall her name. Gale would have known her for sure. I spot a couple of teenagers, and a middle aged merchant couple. Two Seam kids hide behind a blonde young woman. Miss Smoak. She was our history teacher, but I only had her for my last year, when old Mr Crawley retired. She's from the Capitol I think, but she was well liked among the students. It figures the kid's would grow attached to her if they became orphans.

What I don't expect is to hear my name called out.

"Thom!"

I turn around and I laugh as soon as I spot her. Mrs Kearney.

"Oh my dear boy!" She's hugging me and laughing, pulling my face to kiss, which is remarkably uncomfortable when I have at least a foot on her.

"Mrs Kearney! What… you're here! Ned is in our camp!" I tell her as soon as she releases me.

"Ned?" She looks shocked as if she can't dare to believe what I'm telling her. She probably mourned for her entire family months ago. "My Ned?" She brings a hand to her open mouth and tears are running down through her face. "And Billy and his wife?" Billy was Ned's older brother, but he never made it. I shake my head but I don't get the chance to properly tell her before I'm cut off.

"Who else is alive? Who is there with you?"

"Do you have a list of names for the survivors?"

The peacekeepers stay aside, but everyone else surrounds me. They want names, they want to hold on to that last piece of hope that someone they loved might have survived. They want the tears Mrs Kearney has. Tears of joy.

"EVERYONE CALM DOWN." Purnia raises her voice and everyone grows silent. She's clearly the leader here.

"There were 856 survivors that fled to Thirteen." Cyrus says and even though the group remains silent, there's a look of hope in the air. 856 survivors may have seemed a small number to us, but to them it's massive. "Only 47 of us came back to rebuild, the rest are scattered throughout the rest of the districts. We'll give you the names of the ones that are with us."

"In a couple of days we'll get a call from the government, I can try to get a full list of survivors and their current locations by then." I tell them.

We go on to report on every single person that currently stays in camp. Turns out my former classmate (Cassie, her name is Cassie) is related to the Steiners. A middle aged man is Davy's father. And Mrs Kearney is Ned's mom. No other relations come up, but people recognize each name with excitement. These are friends, neighbors, coworkers.

"How long since you've eaten?" Cyrus asks Purnia and she makes a strained look.

"We've been mostly eating meat that we hunt."

I open my backpack and Cyrus does the same. Each of us has a sandwich that we brought in case we weren't back in time for dinner, but we'll gladly give it up. She takes it from our hands and offers it to Miss Smoak.

"Angie?"

Miss Smoak takes the sandwiches and cuts them both in half. One half for each of the kids, another half for each of the teenagers.

"Thank you." She tells us with an earnest smile.

We gather whatever seems useful from the bunker's supplies. There's clothes, shoes and sleeping bags. I take a full sewing kit for Delly. Flashlights and rain jackets. There's about half a dozen tents. They're not enough, but they'll have to make do until we get a new shipment from the train. There's guns. Lots of them. Purnia has them locked in a trunk, and only a couple of peacekeepers carry them around.

"You need to leave the guns behind, they won't trust you if you show up armed."

I'm glad Cyrus is the one to point that out. One of the peacekeepers (Julian? Max?) takes a hard time convincing, but ultimately he places his gun inside the trunk and Purnia locks it up and gives me the key.

"As a show of good will." She tells me.

We head back but it is a slow trek. We're a big group and not all of them are as fit as Cyrus and I. The kids are slowing us down too, and they cling to Miss Smoak whenever Cyrus or I are near. We also need to circle around the district and that makes our journey at least three hours long.

When we finally reach the train station it's starting to get dark.

"You need to stay here. You can use the bathroom, and there's a working water fountain near the clock. We'll be back with news as soon as we can." Cyrus' tells them and Purnia looks at us gravely. She knows we still need to talk to everyone else before taking them back, but some of them are taken by surprise.

"What? We're not going with you?" Mrs Kearney asks "You need to let me see my Ned."

"You will, Mrs Kearney. In a bit. We need to trust Cyrus and Thom." Purnia assures her, as she places a hand on her shoulder and makes her sit down next to her.

"We'll bring food down, when we can." Cyrus says before we head to camp.

When we reach it, the fire is not the only source of light. Everyone is gathered around the flames, in the middle of some sort of discussion. Several men are wearing headlights. The three victors are all here, even Katniss, who has an arm around Delly's shoulder, both of them sitting on one of the logs.

"They're back!"

Danny Thompson is the first to spot us. Once he does, everyone else runs to us.

"Where have you been? We were ready to send out a search party." Jack tells us as he circles an arm around our shoulders and breathes out with relief. I can't take my eyes off of Delly. She looks distressed and I think she may have been crying.

"Wait until you hear what we have to tell you."

—-

We can't reach an agreement.

"They're district twelve residents like the rest of us, why are they still waiting by the train station?" Ned asks exasperated. He nearly ran off when I told him his mom was alive, but Jack pointed out that if he left he wouldn't be here for the voting and his vote wouldn't count.

Leevy tries to calm him down, but I don't think it's working.

"Ned's right, we can't stop them from coming back, they have as much right to be here as everyone else." Peeta points out.

"I don't have a problem with them joining us!" Ray answers back. "But do we really want to harbor a thief?"

"And who made you Mayor?" Ned is once more standing and for once I'm scared we might have a scuffle.

"Let's just calm down!" I say again. It finally works but I credit it more to their exhaustion than to my assertiveness.

"We'll take this one thing at a time. Let's keep the thief aside for now. All those in favor of accepting the Seam and Merchant residents?" I ask raising my hand.

"The teacher too." Cyrus whispers behind me.

"Plus the school teacher." I add. It 's unanimous. All hands raise.

"Good. That 's settled. Now for the peacekeepers…"

The talking starts again.

"No offense to Cyrus." Mr McDonald starts with a cautious tone "You, we know. You ran away with us, and we spent months with you on Thirteen. But it's one thing to have one peacekeeper among us. It's another to have nine of them."

"They're not really peacekeepers anymore, are they?" Peeta asks and several people agree with him.

"I say we ship them back to district two." Someone says.

"Agreed."

"Listen up everyone. They had weapons in that bunker and they chose to lock them up and give me the key." I tell them. "Cyrus can vouch for them, and if that's not enough, what does it tell you that Thread left them here to die, just like the rest of us? They weren't part of his crew…"

"They did Cray's bidding!" Mrs Thompson retorts and the crowd is once more divided.

"Let's take a vote, everyone." Jack demands. "We won't get a unanimous vote on this one, so we'll decide on a majority of votes. We can take them back and give them the choice to stay or leave as they please, or we politely demand of them that they leave to another district."

"How do we know they'll leave if we ask them to?" Steiner asks

"Because they don't want to stay in a place they are unwelcome!" Cyrus finally says in an outburst, and I place a hand on his shoulder to placate him.

"All those in favor of taking in the peacekeepers?" I ask, and this time we actually have to count the hands that are raised.

Ten, eleven, twelve. Peeta's hand is up, thirteen. Katniss has her hand down, but they exchange a look and she slowly raises hers. Fourteen, Fifteen. Thirty. Thirty one.

"Thirty one against sixteen. The peacekeepers stay, if they choose to do so." I breathe out in relief. "That leaves only the matter of the thief to discuss."

We saved the hardest for the end, and now I'm not sure that was a smart move. The crowd is divided once more.

"Haymitch has his watch back. People should be allowed a second chance…" Peeta is advocating for mercy and second chances, but this time most people aren't following.

"It's not about the watch, it's about having someone untrustworthy in camp." I counter back, even though in fact I agree with him.

For the first time, Jack voices his opinion on the matter.

"We're a small community. We rely on each other. I'm not naive enough to think we'll remain crime-free forever. But do you remember how hard it was those first few weeks, when we didn't trust each other? I do. And I'm not going back to that. I say we ship the thief off to another district. We can even let him choose, and that's quite a bargain for him."

When he finishes he looks to Haymitch for validation. The old victor nods his head once, and I know without a hand count everyone else will swing that way. In the end we have thirty nine votes against eight.

"We should still allow for a reunion, just in case the thief is related to one of ours." Jack tells us with a somber look and we all agree.

Some of us gather food to take to them, but most are already going down the lane towards the train station. When we finally reach it, it is a happy sight. There's hugging, laughing and crying. Mrs Kearney is sobbing as Ned introduces her to Leevy. The Steiners surround Cassie in a hug. The merchants stand all to a corner, the middle aged couple, Delly and Saul, Jack and Peeta. Katniss and Haymitch stand beside them. I don't think they're related, but the merchants were such a small group I suppose they all knew each other from before.

"It almost feels cruel to let them know the news, right?" Cyrus' asks behind me. I know he 's right. We can't delay it any longer.

As soon as I voice it out loud, They all grow quiet. Everyone is allowed to stay, except for the watch thief.

"We'll let them catch the train to wherever it pleases them. But that's it." Jack finishes and the crowd remains silent for several minutes.

"I did it. I took the watch."

Everyone stares in shock but I don't have to look up to know who is speaking, for I know that voice quite well. I heard it for hours and hours of lectures. Miss Smoak.

"I apologize for taking it Mr Abernathy. We thought the house was empty. It's a beautiful watch. I am deeply sorry I took it, and I am grateful for you to allow me to return to the Capitol."

"NO! NO, YOU CAN'T LEAVE US!"

The little girl is clinging to her legs, and her brother has tears running down his face.

"You can't go! You said you wouldn't leave us! You promised!"

"It's alright Reed. I'll be fine. I'll be going home. And Purnia will look after you. And Mrs Kearney, and Cassie, and …"

"No, no! You're a liar! You're a liar!

They go on as if we weren't standing here, but every single pair of eyes is trained on them. Several of the newcomers are silently crying as well. Jack crosses eyes with me and he has an intense look on his face as he withdraws from his group to approach me and Cyrus. Haymitch notices this and follows him.

"That's a fake confession if I ever saw one." Haymitch says once he reaches our side, low enough that only we can hear him.

"That's exactly what I was thinking." Jack says. "She's covering for someone. She's not from around, it won't be so much of a punishment for her to be sent away. "

"One of the kids?" I ask

"Possibly both." Jack says.

As if on cue, the little girl releases Miss Smoak and runs to Haymitch.

"She 's lying! We took it! We're sorry Mr Victor! Please don't send her away! I'll work for you! I'll clean your house! We're sorry!"

"Maddy… you and Reed can come with me to the Capitol, ok sweetie?" Miss Smoak says, kneeling down beside her and pulling her away from Haymitch.

"But you said we would all stay here!" The boy answers back.

Peeta and Katniss make their way to our side and Katniss is whispering furiously to Haymitch, but I can only catch a few snippets.

"... else will do as you say…"

"It's one thing to have a grown thief wandering around." I say turning to Jack. "That girl is 5. The boy is 7. All Seam kids stole something at one point or another in their lives. It's not fair to send the teacher away, so she can look after them either. So what? We're sending them to a community home? They have no one left. "

All around us people are talking, arguing, advocating for them to be forgiven.

In the end we end up taking another vote.

When the night is over, District Twelve has twenty one more residents.

—

I can't believe he did that. He had a new life ahead of him, a new girl that was in love with him, and she didn't even care that he was always wandering around bare chested with an open flannel shirt. And he leaves her to go after his old flame? You stupid, stupid lumberjack.

I take another cookie from the jar as I curl up even more under the blanket. I'm sitting in the dark, the small TV set the only source of light around me. It's cold tonight, but I didn't bother to light the fire when I was the only one here to enjoy it. If Prim was here she would demand the fire be lit. She would want a lit fireplace in August if we let her have her way.

I look at the watch above the fireplace. A quarter to midnight. The show will be over soon and then what will I do? I'll have no other choice but to go to bed.

A noise at the door startles me, but only for a second. He 's finally home.

As soon as he enters, Peeta's eyes are drawn to me, curled up on his couch. He stammers for a few seconds but finally blurts out.

"Katniss, what are you doing here?"

He takes off his jacket and his shoes and carefully places them next to the door and suddenly I feel conscious of the way my own boots are haphazardly laying on his living room floor.

"The lumberjack show is on." I tell him, pointing to the tv set.

He opens and closes his mouth a couple of times, but ends up deciding against it in the end. I know what he wants to ask. Don't I have a TV set?

"You had cookies." I say as a way of explanation, lifting the jar set on the small coffee table beside me.

"Right. Had, being the key word in that sentence." He says taking a seat next to me.

"I left you one." I say holding the lid open. "How did it go with the newcomers?"

He takes it and carefully snaps it in half, offering me a piece. "Good. They had half a dozen tents from the bunker, and Cyrus had to shuffle the others around a bit to make room for everyone, but they're all settled for now."

He takes part of my blanket to cover his legs and leans back into the couch. "What did I miss?"

Once it was settled the newcomers were all staying, Haymitch and I excused ourselves and made our way back to Victor's village. We never dealt well with crowds. Peeta, however, stayed to help set up the new tents in camp. Haymitch went to his house without a word, but I hesitated in front of mine. Dr Aurelius says it's good to have a routine. I only spoke to him twice, but he always stresses the importance of a routine.

Peeta and I have a routine. It took us a few days to get there, but it's efficient and comfortable.

He comes every morning with bread to my house. We have breakfast with Sae. He goes off to his house to bake for the rest of the residents. I hunt for something for dinner. I spend the afternoons on the front porch. Sometimes Delly joins me and we knit all afternoon. Sometimes I just enjoy the sun on my face. On occasion, I want to stay inside and commiserate on the couch. But Peeta has a clear view from his kitchen window to my front porch and whenever he notices I'm not there, he comes to get me and forces me outside.

It's Impossible to commiserate while sunbathing. I know, I've tried.

A few days ago we started a new routine. We started to have dinner together, always at his place. After dinner I knit and he draws. At eleven o'clock when we're both too tired to do anything productive we watch The Lumberjack. And then I say goodbye and go to my empty house to sleep on my empty bed.

Rinse, Repeat.

So tonight, when I left him at the rebuilders camp I had no idea what to do with my evening. I ended up coming to his place, making myself a plate of leftovers from his fridge, and waiting for him on the couch.

We fall into silence watching the TV screen. Soon enough my eyes grow tired. The day was exhausting and emotionally draining. I think I might rest them for a while.

–

When I wake up I can smell him and feel him before opening my eyes. My head is resting on his belly, which is a strange resting place. I can feel the weight of one of his arms on my back, and his torso goes up and down with his heavy breathing. He 's still asleep.

I feel lighter than ever. My head, my eyes, even my expanding lungs… everything feels… light and effortless. It takes me only a few minutes to realize why. I slept through the night. I have a vague memory of a dream, but not an unpleasant one. Something about Buttercup, but I can't remember exactly. I don't know why but the dream seems important. It's my first dream in months. So I take my time, and I stay put with my eyes closed, and try to remember what it was.

Peeta's breathing shifts and I know he's awake. I lift my head and when I look at him his blue eyes are looking back at me. I expect him to say something but he doesn't. He just stays silent and stares back at me. Then I remember what he said about how sometimes he has trouble getting his bearings right after he wakes up. But the more I look at him the more he seems… fine. I don't wonder for long about his self awareness because his lips start to curve in a soft smile.

He shifts and I sit up to make room for him to stretch his legs. That wasn't a comfortable position for him for sure. But he shows no weakness as he gets up and extends a hand to me.

"Breakfast?"

He's completely at ease in the kitchen. It's not just that he's a good cook. My mom was a good cook, and I'm a fairly decent one too. But he enjoys it.

"Pancakes?"

"Sure."

I try to sound nonplussed but he grins at my lack of ability to keep a neutral face. I always loved when he made me pancakes.

"You're using cinnamon right?" I ask as I pull a chair next to him. He prefers to work standing, he usually only sits down after a few hours of work when his leg is killing him.

"Do you want me to use cinnamon?"

"Yes, please." I say with a smile, and this time I don't hide my eagerness.

Finally he sits next to me and we take our time to savor them. Half way through our breakfast we hear a knock.

"Yes?" Peeta says as he opens the door.

"Peeta, good morning. I don't know where Katniss is and you didn't show up either at her place and…"

It's Sae. I would recognize her voice anywhere. Peeta wordlessly opens the door wide and she spots me sitting at his kitchen table, making her stop mid sentence.

"Well, I guess it was about time you started to cook your own breakfast.'

She leaves with a wink and Peeta awkwardly stares at her leaving for a while.

"I'm gonna… it's getting late, I like to hunt early."

"I'll see you tonight?"

It's a question, and I would rather it wasn't.

"I'll see you tonight."

—

On the second night, I notice more pillows and blankets magically appear next to his couch. We watch the show and we fall asleep together.

—

On the third night I ask him if his leg is bothering him.

"Maybe it would help if you kept it stretched."

He tries to prop it on top of a side table while we watch the show. He says it helps to alleviate the pressure, but the height is off. I put a pillow under his fake foot. We fall asleep together.

—

On the fourth night I suggest we take the TV set to his bedroom.

"We could watch the show there. It's easier to keep your legs stretched on your bed."

He thinks it's a good idea. We fall asleep together.

—

On the fifth night we stop watching that stupid show.

—-

Week 7 - Thom

"Can I sit here?"

I lift my eyes from my breakfast to see him standing next to me, a bowl of oatmeal in his hand. He's biting his lip as if he feels he's not allowed to talk to me anymore and I am brought back to that afternoon, when I first saw him on the train.

"Sure, have a seat."

He plops himself next to me on the log, with a grin.

"I miss hanging out with you." He tells me, between mouthfuls. "You never talk to me, now that Delly isn't your girlfriend anymore."

I choke a little at his statement. "Your sister was never my girlfriend, Saul." I say bitterly. "We're just friends."

He shakes his head like he doesn't believe me, and I suppose he did catch one or two things that might've led him to believe otherwise. It fooled me too, for a blissful morning.

"You want to hang out today? I'll be working in town, sorting out stones and bricks." There's not a lot of construction materials that we can salvage from the rubble, but we have a good stock of bricks growing, and in a few weeks, we'll start with the first constructions. His eyes lit up at the mention of town. He's been there a few times, mostly carrying water to the workers, but I know he wants to work there, not on camp.

"You'll let me come with you?"

"Yeah, but you'll be carrying bricks all day."

"I don't mind!"

We eat, and he asks me how the new town will be. We're still working on the planning, but we have a rough draft. I start drawing on the ground with a stick and he follows it attentive.

"We're thinking about a gazebo in the main square, with a garden. Then a residential zone here, a market here and…"

"Thom!" Jack walks purposely in our direction, Cyrus right at his tail, both already done with breakfast.

"I'm heading to town with my crew. Better start early before it gets too hot, it will be warm today." Jack speaks in a hurry. "I need a favor from you and Cyrus, before I leave." He eyes Saul with caution, and I think the kid might be a little intimidated by him as he rises from the log and excuses himself to go wash his bowl. "I'll wash yours too, Thom."

"We'll be starting to clean the school building today." Jack says after Saul leaves. That will be good work, the school was mostly masonry. And it was closed when the bombs hit so… no dead bodies. Cyrus and I look confused at what seems to be the problem.

"We're also cleaning the bakery. And the cobbler shop right next to it. I need you to forewarn the Cartwrights and Peeta, in case they want to be there."

I close my eyes in a grimace. Talk to Delly or talk to Peeta? Cyrus gives me a side glance and huffs at my discomfort. "Fine, I'll talk to the one you don't want to."

"I'll talk to Peeta." I finally say, getting up. We were always civil, friendly even. I think we might have been friends if we were in school together. Or maybe not. His brother was in my class and I think I never spoke to him at all. "Saul is with me for the day, so I'll talk to him, too." I tell Cyrus and he throws his hands in the air in annoyance.

"Fine, I'll tell Delly." He says.

"Excuse me, Mr Norbert?"

The three of us turn, surprised by the soft voice.

"Yes, that's me." Jack answers.

"I was told you're the person to talk to, about the work in town."

Jack furrows his brows in confusion and Cyrus and I share an amused glance, as I purse my lips to constrain my smile.

"I'm sorry…" Jack says with a half nervous half annoyed laugh. "Miss…"

"Smoak. Angelina Smoak. You can call me Angie."

"Right. Miss Smoak. I'm running an all male team here." Jack says, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

I bite my lip again and Cyrus is doing a shitty job at hiding his smirk.

"And I am sure you are doing a fine job. But I heard you were starting with the school building today…"

"That 's right."

"Yeah, well. The school is my jurisdiction."

He looks at us, begging for help, but we're quick to dismiss him.

"I gotta… find Delly." Cyrus says, giving a clap on Jack's back and taking off.

I take his cue and take my leave as well. "I'll go find Saul and head to Victor's village."

—-

"So, why aren't you with my sister anymore?"

As we make our way to Victor's village, I'm beginning to question my decision to let Saul hang out with me the whole day. I like the kid, and I even find amusing all the talking he does, but he could choose another subject of discussion.

"I told you, we were never together."

"Does she know? Because I don't think she thinks what you think."

The lane that leads to Victor's village is steep and I pause midway to let him catch his breath.

"Saul… Your sister likes someone else. I'm sorry if you hoped for a different outcome, but she's made it clear…"

"What?" He asks with a loud voice "No, she doesn't! You're everything she ever talks about. And the garden. And the book she's reading. Ok, she talks about a lot of things but… she doesn't like anybody else!"

I eye him carefully but I don't respond. I really shouldn't let a twelve year old argue with me on matters such as this. What does he know?

"She's at Peeta's all the time." I tell him but I regret it as soon as it comes out of my mouth. Because I don't want to be that petty guy, do I? She's made her choice, and it never really was much of a choice to begin with, was it? They have a shared childhood, he's someone her parents would surely approve of, and now that he and Katniss don't have to keep up with the showmance, he's free to be with her.

"What are you talking about? Haven't you seen the games? Peeta and Katniss love each other."

"I don't expect you to understand Saul, but that was just for show, their whole engagement was a sham.."

"No, it wasn't!"

We reach the entrance door for Peeta's house and as I brace myself to knock I am certain I made a stupid choice in bringing Saul along. Because now I have to look at the victor's face after having this discussion.

I knock once. Twice. I look around to check if I have the right house. I think so. I knock the third time and the door finally opens.

He's just in his boxers and a t-shirt, clearly just out of bed. His hair is wild and tousled, and he runs a hand through his face.

"Thom, hey! Hey Saul!" He greets us with a smile.

"You know my name?"

He laughs and runs a hand through his hair. "Yeah, maybe you don't remember, but we spoke a couple of times before the quarter quell…"

"Oh I remember, I just assumed you didn't." I tell him earnestly. Merchants never paid much attention to Seam folks. And when I met him he wasn't just a merchant anymore, he was a victor. And Gale said they messed with his head in the capitol, but I suppose memories of a poor miner weren't their target choice.

"Yeah, well, Delly talks about you a lot too, so…" He bites his lip and cringes as if he feels he spoke too much and Saul looks at me with a pointed look and I can hear his mind screaming I TOLD YOU SO!

"Who's there? Is it Sae?"

Katniss comes down the stairs, wisps of hair coming out of her braid.

"Oh I'm sorry…" I tell them, completely taken aback. "I didn't… Did I? I'm sorry… I didn't mean to wake you." I'm stammering, I know I am, but they act as if nothing is amiss.

"Don't worry Thom, you didn't wake us, we were about to get up." Peeta tells me, as Katniss makes her way to the kitchen, out of our sight.

She slept here. With him? Does that mean that Delly isn't just hanging out with Peeta, but wth the both of them? I shake my head to get my bearings, and I try to stick to the script I had in my head.

"Anyway, I just wanted to give you a heads up that we'll be cleaning the bakery site today."

His expression shifts instantly and he closes his eyes in evident pain. Katniss must have heard me as she makes her way to the door and takes his hand.

"I don't know if you want to be there, but if you do… We thought you should know. I'll be with Saul at the cobbler shop too."

Peeta still has his eyes closed and Katniss holds his arm with both hands.

"Thank you Thom." She tells me. "We'll be there in a bit."

—

Saul stays to the side as we do the first sweep, but the first bomb hit the bakery and everything around it is completely scorched to the point we find no human remains. Once I am sure the coast is clear I call him to the site.

He kneels to the ground and runs his hand through the ashes.

"Delly wanted a needle."

"What?" I ask him

"She wanted one of my dad's needles. I wouldn't mind having one either. But I don't think we'll find one in this mess."

I kneel beside him and I start to sift through the ashes.

"Don't worry. I'll help you look."

–+++

Week 7 - Delly

"Saul, where have you been? You nearly missed lunch!"

I'm already sitting down with my plate next to Leevy, who's by herself today. In fact the camp is mostly deserted, even at lunch time. That's not usually the case, but because they are working on the far side of town today, Mr Norbert asked us to deliver their lunch there. I, of course, excused myself. Not even the cleaning of our old house site was enough to encourage me to go there. Luckily, the Steiners volunteered to run the errand.

"I haven't seen you all morning, where were you?" I ask running a hand through his sweaty forehead. He tries to dodge it, and gives me a pointed look. Right, no affection in front of others.

"I was in town. At the cobbler shop. " He tells me slowly as he waits expectantly for me to comprehend each word. He's waiting for my scolding, but how could I scold him, really? Not because of this. Never because of this.

"You shouldn't have gone by yourself. " I finally tell him.

"I wasn't alone. Thom was with me the whole time. "

I am filled with relief and warmth. It brings me back to our first day here, on the train ride, Thom looking out for Saul even before he officially met him. If I'm being honest, I'd say by the end of the first day I already had a soft spot for the gentle miner. And the thing about Thom Campbell is that he would probably do that for every single person in this camp. And that just makes me fall for him even harder.

I run my hand through Saul's hair, trying to comb it a bit and this time he doesn't try to escape.

"How are you?" I ask him.

He looks at me, and for a moment it seems like my mom's eyes are piercing me.

" I'm ok. It wasn't… I thought it would be unbearable, but… it wasn't. I cried for a while but not as much as in Thirteen. It was like… like finishing a chapter and turning a page in a book. "

I notice him fighting back tears again, but he's also putting on a brave front for me.

"That 's profound." I say.

"Actually, I heard Thom say it to Peeta, but I thought it sounded good. And accurate." He tells me with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Peeta was there?"

"Yeah, they were cleaning the bakery site too."

I don't know if I should feel proud of him or scared something might have gone wrong. He's doing a lot better than he was last year, but I was the one to tell Peeta what happened to his family and it escalated to one of the worst attacks he ever had.

"How was he? Did it trigger an attack or something?"

"He seemed fine. I mean not fine, but… not crazy. Katniss was with him."

"I should probably still check on them, after lunch."

Luckily he has Katniss now, but she still has a lot of bad days too, and who knows what sort of a spiral that visit might have thrown her into.

"No way! Don't you dare Delly, I FORBID YOU TO GO!" Saul gets up, his loud voice drawing every pair of eyes around camp to us.

"What? Saul, I just want to check if they're alright, they went through a lot already and…"

"And you'll make Thom upset again, Delly! He thinks you like Peeta!"

I stare at him with an open mouth as his words hit me with full force.

"What? How… how do you know …?"

"He told me! Because I actually talked to him! He thinks you like Peeta and he thought you two had something going on before Peeta's games." Saul's angry at me ever since Thom backed off, and it shows. He argued that I probably did something to push him away and it's only now that I realize he might have had a point.

"Why would he…"

"You're sort of there all the time, Delly." Leevy tells me and I almost forgot she was here. "To be honest, I was your classmate for years and I kind of thought you and Peeta were an item too, before the games happened."

I sit completely dumbfounded. I start backtracking in my mind to that fateful storm when Saul and I took refuge in Thom's tent. Peeta arrived

the following day. I wasn't there when Thom woke up because I went to Victor's village to help Peeta settle down.

"He thinks…"

"Yep." Saul answers with a loud popping sound

"Did you tell him nothing ever …"

"Yep."

"Did he believe you?"

"You tell me." He says, as he takes something from his pocket and extends his hand towards me.

Two needles. Not regular sewing needles. Large and curved, like the ones we used for the shoe soles.

"Where did you get that?" I ask him, my eyes instantly filling with tears.

"I sifted through the ashes. Thom helped. The first one was actually a stroke of luck, we found it just after about half an hour. The other one took us the whole morning and half of lunch break, but Thom didn't want to give up, he wanted you to have one too."

Thom, you stupid fool.

I get up abruptly, shoving my plate into Saul's hands. "That's it, I'm going to town." And I take off on a run.

—-

I spot him before he spots me. He's sitting cross legged on the ground, in lively conversation with the other workers, while taking a swig from his water bottle. He's covered in dirt and sweat, and that just makes the needle burn a hole in my pocket.

I do not go unnoticed.

Well I do, because Thom still hasn't looked my way. Everyone else that I pass though is not even bothering to try not to stare. It's my first time here, ever since the bombing, and by now everyone knows how adamant I am of avoiding town.

When he finally sees me scurrying his way he immediately gets up with a confused and concerned look.

"Delly! Is something wrong? What are you…"

I grab his shirt and I slant my mouth to his. It's our first kiss, and I hit him so hard he actually takes a step back to balance himself. Before giving it another thought I go in a second time, but I just have to lean in a few inches before I feel his lips gently brushing mine. He kisses me once, twice, three times until I can feel his arms encircling my back and pressing our bodies together. The wolf whistles and cheers around us bring us back to our senses and it's over way too soon.

"Can we go someplace else?" I ask him quietly. He nods and takes my hand pulling me towards a more secluded area, next to the building blocks that are set aside.

As soon as we're out of everyone's sight I pull him towards me again.

"You stupid, stupid fool."

His mouth is on me again and I actually feel him lift me in the air. I nibble on his lower lip and that's all the incentive he needs to slip in his tongue, in search of mine. My heart is pounding and I sneak a hand between our bodies to search for his heartbeat as well.

"Thom…" I try to speak, coming out for air, but he kisses me once more, and I'm having a hard time concentrating on my speech. "Thom… Thom, you need to listen to me!"

He draws back a little, his lips moist and flushed, and his eyes dark as night. We're both breathing heavily and as soon as we lock eyes with each other we both break into a grin.

"Number one, Peeta and Katniss belong to each other, and they always will."

He nods and rests his forehead against mine, with his eyes closed and still panting. "Delly, I'm so sorry."

"Number two, Saul and I are a pack. And I am not up for anything casual, for his sake and mine. If you're not ok with it, say it now, because either you take both of us or…"

He cuts me off with another soft kiss. "I'm taking you both."

"Number three, you better make sure the newcomers around camp know I'm yours and you're mine, because I'm not going back to those first days when I had to fend off a guy every five minutes and I'm not in the mood to deal with thirsty girls lusting after you either."

"Consider it done." He tells me with a nod and an amused look. He leans in to kiss me again, but I stop him with a hand on his chest.

"I'm not done, mister. Four, I expect you to move back to your tent before tonight." His mouth curves slightly in a shy smile and I feel my face grow warm. "I know it's not… Saul will be there and… If you want, I can move out, or we could just…"

"I don't mind. I don't want you to move out." He says leaning in and this time I let him kiss me for as long as he wants. His hands grab me at my waist and my lower back and he pulls me close to him until we're completely pressed against each other. I feel… wanted, and that's new. I never felt like this, not really. He wants me, but not like the stupid merchant boys used to. They just wanted to have a bit of fun, and they moved on to the next one when they realized I wouldn't go further than second base. But Thom wants me, and I can see it now. He wanted me next to him, when he needed to wait by the phone for hours, he wanted me close to him, when a storm had us locked inside our tents for days, and he wouldn't go more than half a day without checking on us. And as the kiss slows down and he runs his hand gently through my hair, I am undoubtedly sure of it. He wants me now too.

"We'll need boundaries." I tell him when we finally part for air. "At the tent. With Saul there…"

"Yeah, we definitely need boundaries."

We both release a nervous laugh and I bury my face in his neck. He holds me close and I'm thinking I never want to let go when I feel his breath on my ear.

"I really need to get back to work."

We make our way back to the work site and it would be just our luck that the Steiners are toying around with Jack's megaphone.

"ATTENTION TO ALL WORKERS, ATTENTION TO ALL WORKERS, LET'S HAVE A ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR THOM CAMPBELL FOR FINALLY GETTING OUT OF THE FRIENDZONE!"

"Just ignore them." I tell him as his lips linger at my temple in a goodbye kiss.

"I don't mind. At least we have number three covered right?" He tells me with a grin before releasing me and heading off to work.

—-

"So the rumors are true?"

Cyrus is standing outside his tent and I can only see his legs, but I can picture the smug look on his face.

"Depends on what the rumors say."

I can't stop a grin from splitting my face as I step outside. If that's not enough giveaway I guess the fact that l have all of my possessions shoved inside a duffel bag, and my sleeping bag rolled under my arm should be a clear indication of the day's events.

"So you're finally moving out?"

I silently gesture to the duffel bag and he envelopes me in a hug. "Man, I could just kiss you right now."

"Please don't."

"No, I'll leave it to her." He says with a nod to my left, and when I turn I see Delly approaching us. Cyrus takes off, probably to come up with a way to discreetly let Fern know I'm out of his tent for good.

"Hi!"

She gives this cute little bounce when she reaches me and I think it's the most adorable thing I have ever seen. I drop my bag on the ground as she takes my hands and holds them behind her back, pulling me to a close embrace.

"You sure you want to do that? I'm kind of smelly right now."

"I don't mind." She tells me as she leans in for a kiss. It's warm and gentle and full of excitement, just like her. I could hardly focus during the rest of the afternoon, as I kept replaying her kisses over and over again in my head, and I swear I'll never get enough of this.

"I wanted to take my things back to the tent, before heading for the showers." I explain.

"I can deal with it if you want. Go, I'll get your things organized in our tent."

I throw my head backwards in elation. I still can't believe this is happening. I pull her closer, our hands still connected behind her back, and I kiss her again. "I love hearing you say that." I say, my lips still brushing hers.

"What? Our tent?"

We stare at each other for a few seconds, before we both give in to wide smiles.

"I spent all afternoon wondering if this was really happening or if I was just out in the sun too much." I tell her "But it's real, right?"

She moves her hands to my shoulders and gives that happy little jump again.

"Well I really hope so, because I've been calling you my boyfriend all afternoon. I've been casually dropping hints around every girl in camp." I laugh out loud at this and it earns me another quick kiss. "What?" she asks me "I'm not taking any chances, these girls are kind of thirsty."

There's a lot of new girls in camp, but they're still the minority, and for every new girl, there's about five different guys calling dibs on her. I couldn't care less.

"I really need to head to the shower, before I miss my time slot."

"Go! I'll take this!" She says taking my things and giving me a soft lingering kiss.

We're teased mercilessly during dinner time. I'm not used to being the center of gossip, but Delly finds it amusing and she makes a point to hold my hand in clear sight the entire time.

Our relationship triggers discussion about the former Seam-Merchant divide, and we end up dinner with an unplanned brainstorming about what the new town setup should be like, and how to prevent social feuds. Sae has a lot on her mind about this, and we end up making a few changes to our original plans.

"We're not divided now, but what happens in a generation or two? We need to make sure everyone is treated equally when splitting the land and the new houses." One of the newcomers says, and everyone nods in approval.

We expect the construction materials to start arriving in the next few weeks, and we'll be starting on the first houses as soon as we have everything we need. We end up taking a vote regarding the construction, and I'll be taking charge of the construction crew. Zac Steiner will take over the suppliers team, but he still reports to me and I'm still the one to contact the government. Delly is officially out of the suppliers and she's the head of a team of five women that tend to the garden.

"I say we build houses for the families first. I know everyone is dying to move to a house, and hopefully we all will have a roof over our heads before winter, but we need to make choices, and I say families with kids are top priority. Then

families without kids. Then single folks."

I've been thinking about this for a while now, and I'm glad to find out everyone else agrees. Soon the fire starts to die out and we end our impromptu meeting. I linger a bit by the firepit, to make sure the fire is out, Saul right beside me, while Delly has her privacy on the tent. After a while, we join her inside.

The tent is not huge, but it can fit the three of us quite nicely. Our sleeping bags are all lined up, Delly in the middle, Saul to the right and me to the left. Our clothes are neatly folded into three piles on the far side from the door. She is wearing my gray hoodie again.

"So I'm losing that again, uh?"

She doesn't answer me but makes a point to roll over facing Saul so I can undress myself.

"So you're giving Thom privacy but not me?" Saul complaints. I think he's not serious though, as he shows no qualms in changing clothes in front of her.

"I've seen you naked before." She tells him.

"Yeah, but I have chest hair now."

"Oh Saul, trust me, we'll be back in a house before you have chest hair."

We all settle down for sleep. I'm still not sure exactly on her stance for physical affection inside the tent, so I take my time to lay down, but once I do she laces her fingers around mine.

Saul's voice is the last thing I hear, before falling asleep.

"Just for the record, I want my own room when we get a house, Delly."

—-

Saul is an early riser, and he's not quiet either. I feel like a herd of elephants is shaking the whole tent as he gets up and gets dressed. Delly's head is resting on my arm and I can feel her sighing against my shoulder. She's awake for sure, and I hope the smile that lurks in my lips doesn't alert Saul to my state of consciousness too.

"Saul, you're up?"

Danny Thompson waits for him outside, and someone needs to teach these kids how to be quiet. What they need to do at six a.m. is beyond me, but since it's working to my advantage I'm not complaining.

"Coming!" Saul tells him in an attempted whisper.

As soon as we hear the tent zipper close again her breath is in my ear.

"If you're sleeping through this Thom, I swear I'll slap you."

I keep my eyes closed but find her lips and we share a soft kiss.

"You'll never let me live that morning down will you?" I tell her in a rusty voice. Waking up besides her feels like a luxury and we make the most of the few minutes of peace we have before we need to get up and start with our day. Her lips mold to mine as I deepen the kiss. It's lazy and tentative, but my heartbeat quickens just the same. I don't know how long we stay wrapped in each other but as soon as I start listening to the bustling around us, I know I have to get up.

"It 's Tuesday." I tell her as I run my fingers through her hair "I'll be at the train station all afternoon, waiting for the phone calls."

"Meaning…?" She knows what I mean but she's gonna force me to say it.

"Meaning… I wouldn't mind having company there. And we want to make a new announcement throughout the Districts, asking for refugees to come back. Do you want to help me write that down?"

"That 's awesome!" She says sitting up immediately. "We need more people, and we're starting with the houses soon, and… oh, you know who would be great to write the advertising?"

She's excited, but with a sudden gasp she closes off. I know why. She's thinking of Peeta.

"You think Peeta would help us with this? He sure has a way with words. Can you run by his house this morning to ask him for some pointers?"

The look of relief in her face is immediate. She grabs my neck and showers me with kisses. My face, my forehead, my nose and finally my lips.

"Thank you for not being jealous."

I close my eyes and I brush my nose against hers.

"I'm sorry for being jealous before. It won't happen again. Not if I can help it."

—

Two weeks go by and we are on a new routine. We start with the first two houses, one for Sae and her granddaughter and another one for Miss Smoak and her two adopted children. The Capitol sent us half a dozen different house layouts to choose from. For now, these two are exactly the same, so building them simultaneously actually works better. Between the construction work and orienting Zac with the supplies, I have little time left for Delly. But we manage to get some alone time every morning after Saul leaves the tent, and when the weather is nice we take a walk around the district after dinner while the others play cards. We reserve our Saturdays to spend time with Saul. I'm teaching him how to carve wood, and we're trying to make a chess set. Sundays are for Delly.

Once a week we have dinner at Victor's village with Peeta and Katniss. I was a bit wary of it at first, but it didn't last long. Sae's cooking is great, but Peeta is nothing to be compared to. He always has some sort of delicacy for dessert, all of them things I never tasted before. I'm surprised when Delly tells me she never had them before either.

"None of the merchants could afford regular pastries from the bakery." Peeta tells us. "That included us bakers. We mainly supplied the peacekeepers and the Mayor's house."

"My family could only afford a birthday cake once a year, and that was just for me and Saul."

I cross looks with Katniss and she gives me a sympathetic smile. We couldn't afford a cake ever. But I suppose she also had misconceptions about merchant life before meeting Peeta.

The train still comes every Thursday and the phone calls on Tuesdays. I handle the phone calls with the government and today I don't have Delly with me, as the vegetable garden and her sewing keeps her pretty busy.

We got big news this week. The announcement was made, and some people have shown interest in coming back. More portable bathrooms and showers are being delivered this coming Thursday, as well as more tents. A new wave of refugees is due to arrive by the end of April.

When I get back to our tent, Delly is inside, a concentrated look in her face as she folds laundry.

She is smiling as soon as she sees me and I still can't believe I'm on the receiving end of that smile, or that I'm the cause for it. Dinner isn't due in another hour and it's rare for us to get privacy like this for more than ten minutes at a time.

"Please tell me you're done for the day." She tells me as she grabs my neck and kisses me.

"Completely done, and I showered already at the train station. You?"

"Just socks to fold, but who needs socks anyway?"

We've been official for two weeks now, and I still get chills at the thought of her as my girlfriend. We're growing closer everyday and when I'm not with her I catch myself thinking about her, dreaming of her, craving for her.

"I thought you said no funny business inside the tent." I tell her in the few seconds her mouth leaves mine to drop a kiss in my jaw. I pull her on top of my lap and she straddles me as I leave a trail of kisses on her neck.

"Yeah, but Saul isn't here."

Her mouth is on mine again and I'm trying to keep things under control. Hands on her hips. Keep her close, but not too much. I try to slow down the kiss, and I succeed to a point, but not the way I intended. Because the slow movements of her lips, her tongue and her hands are nothing but agonizing.

We should be heading for dinner. We really should.

But we're not.

I grab a hold of her and I roll us both, her laying on her back and me on top of her. When my hand touches the small sliver of exposed skin above her waistband she snaps out of it.

"I can't do this!"

She tells me as she pushes me with a hand and we both sit up.

"We don't have to… I don't expect you to do anything Delly… I…"

"That's not what I mean." She says, pulling her knees to her chest and burying her face in her arms. "We can't have more misunderstandings between us, right? And I wasn't going to say anything, but I can't, Thom. I've been holding on to this for days now, I need to know!"

I kneel beside her and gently caress her hair and she finally looks at me with a sigh.

"Delly, I don't know what's wrong but whatever it is, we'll talk it out. I don't ever want us not to talk to each other."

She nods once and with an outstretched arm she pulls my sleeping bag open. The box of condoms is inside.

Oh shit.

"That is not what it looks like."

"I opened it. The box is marked as a 48 pack, and there's only 3 left inside." I close my eyes and wince at my own stupidity. I should have told her everything right from the start, and now who knows if she'll believe me?

"I'm not jumping to conclusions, and I know it's none of my business what you may or may not have done before we were together, but I can't… I need to know!"

I sit in front of her and I take her hand and lace our fingers together. She grabs my hand with purpose and I take it as a sign that she's choosing not to doubt me.

"Haymitch. When his house was robbed they took a pack of condoms from him too, and he wanted us to restock him. So I ordered two packs from the Capitol." She nods and I feel like she wants to say something but I keep talking as fast as I can. "A smaller one to give back to him, and the other… because I figured it was smart to have them around. Not for me. For everyone else. All the guys know I have them. I'm just the condoms guardian. I've been mainly supplying the married couples, but ever since the newcomers got here a few weeks ago, well… Like you said, there's only three left. And that's because I cut everyone off a couple of days ago and I'm saving those for the married couples, until we get a new shipment."

I take a deep breath trying to gauge her expression and she breaks into a small grin.

"That's a lot of sex going around."

"I know." I tell her as I let my forehead rest against hers.

She's toying with my fingers in her lap. She bites her lower lip and it would turn me on if I didn't know that's a clear sign she has something else to ask.

"You can ask me anything, Delly."

She takes a peek at me, and I take her other hand, placing my elbows in her knees. She was bouncing them nervously but as my arms weight settle them down, she seems calmer too.

"You didn't use any?"

"No. You were the only one in my mind ever since we got here."

It's true, and I thought it was more than obvious, but apparently she needs reassurance. "You had me from our first conversation. There was something about you, I would catch myself staring at you, watching you from afar. You were always so happy, and I was so happy whenever you were around. There was never, ever someone else."

"But you've had sex before, haven't you?"

I stay silent, because I'm not sure how I can give an honest answer to that.

"I know it's painfully obvious that I'm a virgin." She goes on. "But... the way you just held me right now, how you moved us,... you know what you're doing, don't you?" She finally asks with a dreadful look on her face.

"You want the truth?" I ask her

"Yes." Delly says, staring me right in the eye. "I don't care either way, but I… I want to know." She says with a shake of her head.

"I'm… mostly a virgin."

"What?" She asks with an amused look. "How can you be mostly a virgin?"

"Do you want details?"

"No!"

"Good!"

"Good then!" She takes the last bunch of socks that she was folding when I got here, but that lasts for about half a minute.

"Of course I want details!" she says while she tosses them aside.

I lean back into my backpack for support and I pull her towards me. I try not to laugh as I still don't know how safe that is. But she leans into me softly as I swaddle her in my arms.

"I kissed Janice Morgan once, behind the school cafeteria, when I was twelve."

She smacks my shoulder with a sock and a playful look.

"What? You wanted details, I'm giving them to you." I lean in for a soft kiss and she responds to it immediately. "You're a much better kisser than her."

She gives me a pointed look and I go on.

"I made out with the grocer's daughter once, when I was fifteen."

I did it on a dare, actually, and it was so stupid at the time, but I was young and curious, and she was willing.

"What? Cherry? You're kidding me! Her brother was my second kiss. Well first, if you don't count Rye Mellark, which I don't, because that kiss was ungracious, uncomfortable and uncalled for."

"Is this your story or mine? Wait, Rye Mellark kissed you?" I ask dumbfounded.

She purses her lips together and urges me to go on.

"Then Janice Morgan again, when I was out of the community house. But we went on one date, and it didn't really go very well."

"And after Janice? Someone else?" she asks

I nod.

"We were friends for a long time, but nothing more. She was in my crew at the mines, and we both survived the bombing. We grew closer in Thirteen and we… We never really put a label on what was going on between us, but I suppose you can say we were together for a while. " She looks at me expectantly and I run a hand through her cheek "We never had sex..."

"...but you did more than just make out?"

"Yes."

She brushes the hair out of my forehead, carefully avoiding my gaze.

"Why didn't you?" She asks.

"Honestly? Because there was no birth control back in Thirteen and I wasn't stupid enough to risk leaving a child in this world without knowing if I was going to survive the war."

She's toying with my fingers again, and when I press a kiss into her hair she leans into me.

"You're not going to tell me her name?"

"I rather not."

"Why not?"

"Because she's still alive, and I would like her to stay that way."

"Is she here?" She suddenly moves to stare at me with a worried look on her face.

"No, she's not here. I don't even know for sure what district she went to. We parted as friends before the war ended, and after it was all over, we wanted different things."

She leans into me again and we stay like this, in a close embrace for a few minutes.

"You know you're the first guy I ever made out with more than once. All the other guys just wanted to feel my boobs and that was it."

"I find that hard to believe." I tell her with a chuckle. How this amazing girl didn't have the entire district at her feet surpasses me. In a way I'm glad I never met Delly before the war was over, because if I did, how could I ever live my life, in love with a girl I knew I couldn't have?

"Why is that? I have awesome boobs. You don't think they're awesome?"

"Is that a trick question?"

We both laugh nervously and I pull her to a kiss that she happily reciprocates. It turns into a heated one in less than half a minute. She pushes my shoulders and she straddles me again, as I run my hands across her back. She gasps, as I move my hand to her ribcage, and she lifts her shirt in an open invitation.

"You guys know I can't cover for you any longer right?" Leevy's voice comes from outside the tent. "Dinner is almost over and Saul keeps asking about you guys."

"In a minute!" I tell Leevy as I bury my face into Delly's neck to cool myself down.

Maybe two minutes.

—-.

Week 10 - Katniss

When I wake up, the bed is empty beside me, and I sit up with a jolt. I'm always scared when I wake up and I don't see him right away, but the noise coming from the kitchen is enough reassurance.

He can't help himself from getting up early, and he beats me to it most of the time, but I'm still terrified every single time I wake up and he's not there. Of course I don't tell him this. He has enough burdens to carry and baking for the district is one of the few things that keeps him going.

When I reach the kitchen, I lean into one of the cabinets and silently observe him. He has his back turned to me, several loaves of bread already set aside on the counter, and several more inside the oven. He's still working on something, but it's not bread. I know his kneading movements by heart and that's not what he's doing right now.

The oven dings and when he opens it the familiar scent makes my mouth water.

"You made cheese buns?"

He's startled by my voice but quickly turns to a smile.

"Good morning! Did you sleep well?"

When I reach the counter I notice he has a tray set up, with a handful of berries I collected yesterday and some scrambled eggs sprinkled with rosemary. The plate is decorated with mustard flowers that he must have foraged close to Haymitch's backyard.

"The flowers are edible, I double checked your father's book. I know how particular you are with frivolous things." He tells me with a shy glance. Old Peeta would have smirked at this, maybe even given me a flirty wink. I need him to be back at his old self and sometimes I dare myself to believe he has. I told Dr Aurelius this the last time I talked to him and all he asked me was "Does it really matter if he never goes back to his old self? Are you going back to your old self?"

I guess not. But we still have this. Peeta making me cheese buns, like he used to.

"Is this for me? " I ask, but the answer is so obvious he doesn't bother to say it.

He finishes pouring the batter he was working with into a pan and placing it inside the oven.

"Is that a cake?" I ask curious as I try to catch a glimpse at the oven door.

"Yeah. Hum. Thom and Delly are coming for dinner tonight and I thought… Do you remember how last week he said he never tasted a birthday cake? I thought about making one for dessert today."

I smile at his thoughtfulness, and I am sure Delly will be delighted at his attempts to make Thom feel welcomed. This is just another thing that is so like old Peeta that it makes me hope again.

"So we're having birthday cake on a regular Friday?"

"That's the point of surviving isn't it? Enjoying life?" He asks me and we stay silent for a while. There are so many people who will never taste life again but I suppose he is right. That's what surviving is all about isn't it? Living?

"That cake is huge, I don't think the four of us can eat all of that." I tell him as he carefully places the cheese buns on the breakfast tray.

"Haymitch is coming too, he's been dying to have a chess match with Thom. And I thought they could take all the leftover cake back for the kids in camp. "

Peeta picks up the breakfast tray and then looks around unsure of himself.

"Well, you're out of bed now, so I guess the tray is useless…huh… do you want to…" He gestures to the kitchen table but an idea pops into my mind. He tried to do something special for me today and I don't want it to go to waste.

"Why don't we eat outside on the porch? It's nice today, and we'll get a bit of early morning sunlight."

The smile he gives me is so heartwarming that it's almost like I made him breakfast myself.

Peeta's house is the last one in Victor's village, and being on a high point means we get a full view of the forest. We watch it come to life as we savor each bite of our food.

"What day is it today?" I ask him. "I thought it was Thursday."

"It is." He tells me, popping a blueberry in his mouth.

That's strange, Delly and Thom usually come on Fridays. I ask him about it but he shrugs his shoulders in confusion as well.

"I don't know, I guess something must have come up and they can't make it tomorrow."

The wind picks up a bit, but other than that it's a beautiful spring day. Wildflowers are beginning to bloom everywhere. These were my mom's favorite days as I would be able to gather most of her medicinal plants around this time of year.

"So what are your plans for the rest of the day? From the looks of it you already baked everything you needed to."

He looks at me with a smile and nods.

"Yeah, I was up early and I thought I might as well get that out of the way. I have to help for a bit, at the construction site this afternoon. Thom wants my help to draw some changes on the capitol's blueprints for the buildings. Other than that, I'm free. "

Peeta has been back for more than a month now. We have breakfast and dinner together and we spend the nights together in the same bed, sometimes clinging to each other like the other's arms was the only thing keeping us tethered to the world. But we never spend time together during the day.

"Do you want to come to the woods with me?" I ask him before I back down.

"For real?"

"Yeah, I don't have to hunt today, yesterday's spoil was big enough. I might still catch something for Sae, but you won't be a bother. We can bring the memory book and work on it for a bit, in the forest."

We spend the day in the woods. We didn't bring lunch with us, as we were just planning for a morning excursion. But once we were out in the open, breathing fresh air, we didn't want to go back for something as mundane as lunch. I ended up hunting for a squirrel and Peeta made a quick fire. We cut the meat into small cubes and roasted them over the fire, with wild onions and garlic.

We play a stupid word game the kids used to play when we were in middle school. I remember all the kids in my class being obsessed with it, but I never gave it much thought. Peeta makes me play, for "memory revival reasons."

By midafternoon we really need to get back, so Peeta can help out with the blueprints. I haven't been to the construction site since last week. The progress from one week to another is astounding. I take a look around and I end up wandering to Thom.

"Katniss, hi!"

He greets me with a wave and a smile.

"Hey Thom! How's Delly?"

"Great! She's at the campsite, trying to finish Peeta's sweater for tonight. You want to see the houses on the inside?"

He steps inside one of the houses and I follow him.

"She's knitting him a sweater?" I ask furrowing my brows. Peeta taught us how to knit and we're still pretty amateur, but we knit together once a week on my front porch. We made a dozen hats by now, for all the kids in camp, but I don't recall her ever mentioning she was knitting him a sweater.

"Actually she was knitting me one, but this morning she realized she didn't have a birthday gift for Peeta so she's using the one she…"

Thom stops talking when he notices the look of confusion in my face.

"It's Peeta's birthday?" I ask dumbfounded.

Suddenly everything makes sense. Thom and Delly, coming to dinner tonight, instead of tomorrow. Haymitch, coming as well.

The cake.

I gasp for air and before I know it, I'm kneeling on the floor crying uncontrollably. It's his birthday. And he made ME breakfast. And he made a birthday cake big enough to share with everyone. And I made him go to the woods with me when he probably had something else planned for today.

"Katniss, do you want me to go get Peeta? He's right outside…"

"No, Thom, I don't want him to see me crying." I say with a shake of my head, but that elicits a new wave of despair, and I'm bawling again. I sob uncontrollably, and Thom hovers around me.

"I can take you home, so you can calm down, if you prefer."

I nod my head, as words fail me at this moment. We leave through a backdoor and I have little recollection of what happens afterwards, because next thing I know I'm sitting on my couch, alone.

I'm not crying anymore, but I don't get up. I know it must be late afternoon because the sun isn't hitting my window anymore. How long have I been sitting here?

There's a knock at the door. Whoever it is, comes inside without waiting for an invitation. So it's either Sae, Peeta or Haymitch.

They go to the kitchen and I hear the faucet working. They walk towards me, with well balanced footsteps. It's not Peeta. The strides are fast and determined, so it's not Sae. They hold a glass of water in front of me, so it's definitely not Haymitch.

"Thom told you about my breakdown?" I ask her.

"Yeah."

I think it's the first time I hear Delly Cartwright utter a single word sentence, and in other circumstances that would make me smile. Right now all I can think of is how will I ever be what Peeta needs me to be.

"I don't even have a birthday gift for him." I tell her.

"Yeah, you do. You have yourself. That's all he wants! I mean... Not in a physical sense, though that's probably what I'm doing for Thom's birthday next month."

I laugh. It's a bitter one, because Delly knows when Thom's birthday is and she's only met him three months ago. And I only found out Peeta's today, and that's just because Thom casually mentioned it.

"He made me breakfast today. He was going to bring it to me in bed and everything. I should have been the one to do that for him."

Delly sits next to me and wraps an arm around my shoulders. My first instinct is to recoil, but I suppose we're friends by association now, and friends hug each other.

"Have you stopped to consider maybe what he wished for his birthday was for you to be happy?"

I consider her words and deep down I know she's right. This was his way all along, wasn't it? To make me happy, to protect me, to get me the life he thought I deserved?

All the while never asking for anything in return. I'm angry at him for being selfless like this and angry at me for allowing it.

"I need to get him something." I tell her after several minutes go by.

Delly opens her mouth but I stop her before she even speaks her mind.

"Not that. We haven't even kissed since he came back."

I know I kissed him more than I can count in our first arena, on our victory tour, the quarter quell. I also know that we only kissed twice without it being for the audience's benefit. Once, in the morning before the quell, when they separated us for prepping. And then in the Capitol, when I was trying to hold on to him and make him come back to me. I've thought about kissing him numerous times, since he came back. But I'm scared I'll ruin whatever we still have left.

"I was actually going to say… give him something that brings him back to the first moment he loved you. That'll make him happy."

Delly Cartwright, you are a genius.

_—-

Week 10 - Peeta

When I get home from the construction site, Katniss and Delly are already there. It's not out of the ordinary for them to hang out at my house. But it's too early for our dinner arrangements and they definitely never cook. As I watch them wandering around the stove, I think that's exactly what they are doing.

"What are you two up to?"

Delly turns, her face instantly turning to a wide smile, and she flungs herself at me in a tight hug. "Happy birthday!" She whispers in my ear. As if I don't know she is incapable of keeping a secret, and she must have ratted me out to Katniss by now.

Katniss slowly turns to acknowledge my arrival with a nod but she keeps her eyes on the stew she is stirring. "We're cooking dinner tonight. We thought you might want a break. You did spend the afternoon at the construction site. " She says, trying to blow a loose strand of hair off her face. Damn. She knows.

"Why don't you go take a shower, Peeta? Don't worry about dinner, we've got it covered." Delly tells me as she starts to sprinkle a greens salad with herbs and salt.

"I guess… ok, I'll do that. Thom went to take a shower as well, he said he wouldn't take long."

As I make my way upstairs I can hear them whisper in the kitchen, but I can't make out what they are saying. I don't know whether or not I should hope for them to be talking about me, but I suppose given the unbalanced ratio of Delly's voice vs Katniss' voice they are probably talking about Thom and Delly.

I take my time with my shower. I ended up helping out to carry some of the bricks and it feels good to let the hot water run down my sore muscles. It's strange to admit it, but soreness feels so good. There was a time when I couldn't really feel anything, either emotionally or physically. All I remember is feeling enveloped by a sense of numbness.

I push that thought aside. Not today. Today I'll think about hot water, sore muscles, and teenage girls gossiping in the kitchen. As I get dressed I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror. Eighteen. I'm officially an adult, but I've been one for two years now, haven't I?

On a whim, I take a razor blade and I start shaving. Uselessly, of course. Only a few hairs are stubborn enough to grow, despite the procedure they subjected me to for the arenas. Haymitch tells me it wears off over time, but his only started to grow back after five years or so.

Shaving used to be a big thing at the Mellark household. We were bakers and "bakers can't have facial hair". As I stand in front of the mirror I'm thrown back in time, to a much cluttered bathroom, and a shaving mirror that served four different Mellarks. I used to hate having to shave everyday, but my dad was unbendable about that. Ironically, now that I'm back to being a baker, I miss the mundane task of shaving.

When I get downstairs, Haymitch is already there with a sour face.

"Happy Thursday, kid."

Delly's eyes widen, and Katniss pretends to ignore it. So we're going on with the claim that she doesn't know. Ok.

"I want to make it clear I was lured here under false pretenses. "

"What are you talking about Haymitch?" I ask him as I inspect Katniss stew. Wild rabbit with potatoes. The scent is enough to make me hungry.

"I was promised a fine home cooked meal. It was implied you would be cooking. "

"You never complained about my food before!" Katniss strikes back, looking offended.

"You'll still get a fine meal Mr Abernathy!" Delly assures him. "We just thought Peeta could use a break, after all it's his…" She looks around unsure of what to say "... Thursday."

Haymitch huffs at this, but takes a seat at the table anyway.

I take a loaf of bread and as I begin to slice it Thom finally arrives.

We talk about the construction and the new wave of residents coming, as we savor the food.

I've been thinking about opening the bakery again, and Thom agreed to take a look at my plans after dinner. Houses for the residents are the priority right now, but once that's taken care of they will start with other buildings.

I don't know if it's the heavy lifting I did today that made me so hungry, but the food is excellent, better than anything I might have made myself

Haymitch fills his plate a second time, but he's still a tough nut to crack.

"I suppose it's not that bad."

"The food is great!" Thom says as he extends his compliments to the girls. "I think it's the first time I ate something you cooked." He says turning to Delly, and her cheeks turn a slight shade of pink.

"You're not disappointed?" She asks with a cringe "I know you love Peeta's cooking. He goes on and on about it for days, every time we eat here." She tells me and I feel a little swell of pride.

"Not disappointed at all." Thom answers back as Delly locks eyes with him again. But whatever silent conversation they're engaging in is interrupted by Haymitch, who drags Thom to a chess match.

I make a point to be the one handling the dishes, but I'm leaving those in the sink for later. I cut the cake like a regular dessert and bring it to the living room so everyone can get a slice. When I get there everyone looks thoroughly amused except for Thom.

"Check." Haymitch says, leaning back into his chair with his arms crossed.

"How is that even possible? We only made three moves. Three moves. That's not… that's got to be illegal or something right?" Thom looks to me asking for help, but there's nothing I can do. I was never able to beat Haymitch at chess and I'm beginning to think I never will.

They end up playing three more games as we sit on the couch. Delly tells us all about the progress on her vegetable garden. "It's much easier now, with more hands to help, and I think I'll be able to get another five or so workers with the new wave of residents."

"How does that work? Will people be able to choose what to do?" Katniss asks and I'm curious myself. Thom told us a new group of former residents is coming back next week, another 63 to add to the current 68. With the three of us in Victor's village, we'll have 134 residents in the entire district.

"Jack is working with a list of available positions. Most will have to be directed to construction with Thom or cleaning with Jack. But there will be openings for suppliers, they need more cooks with so many mouths to feed. And the garden will have openings as well. The newcomers will be able to choose according to the available slots. "

As Delly keeps talking Katniss softly places her hand on top of mine. I try not to react. Delly appears to not have noticed it, as she keeps talking, but I'm way off track by now. Katniss and I never touch each other unless we are sleeping or the other is either crying or fighting with a nightmare. I notice a small smile on her, out of the corner of my eye as I entwine my fingers with hers.

"And we want to try our way with preserves in the fall, to make provisions for winter. Ideally we would be completely independent from the Capitol foodwise, but who knows how long that's gonna take us, right?"

Delly looks at us, waiting for an answer but we both fail to deliver. Her eyes dart to our joined hands and a grin appears in her face, as I try to hide mine behind pursed lips.

"I give up!" Thom flails his hands in the air and slumps to his chair. "He's undefeatable!"

"I told you." I remind him, with a shrug of my shoulders.

"I'll take that as my leave." Haymitch says, getting up. He takes his jacket and produces a small package from his pocket. "Catch."

He throws the package to me and I catch it easily. It's lightweight and wrapped with a repurposed newspaper sheet.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

As he goes, Katniss excuses herself to go to the bathroom. I start unwrapping the package, but as soon as I catch a glimpse of the inside I wrap it back again and hide it inside a drawer.

He's giving me more condoms? This feels like Victory tour all over again. Hopefully my deep shade of red will wear off before Katniss comes back.

'I've got a present for you too!" Delly beams, clapping her hands together. "It's from the both of us!" She carefully explains when Thom narrows his eyes at her. Delly takes a small package from her pants pocket and when I open it a small strand of red yarn falls off.

"You're giving me yarn?"

"Not yarn, silly. Something I made with the yarn. You're getting it later, it's in your bedroom."

She made me a quilt? No, that can't be, she would need an endless supply of yarn and free time for that.

"In fact, why don't you go check it out? See if it fits. We'll wait here." She tells me as she plops herself in Thom's lap. Thom looks a bit uneasy by Delly's public displays of affection, but he wraps his arms around her waist anyway. I figure I should give them a few minutes of privacy. I guess that must have been Delly's plan all along.

My bedroom door is closed. That can't be right. I never close doors, except the front entrance one. Being locked up for six weeks in the Capitol, and then two more months after that, in Thirteen, made me wary of closed doors.

As soon as I turn the knob I listen to her voice.

Sometimes I wake up with a sadness

Other days it feels like madness

Oh, what would I do without you?

She's standing by the window, her hair falling gently on her shoulders. It's still a lot shorter than it used to be, not long enough for a braid. Her eyes are closed as she goes on with the song, one I never heard before.

When colors turn to shades of gray

With the weight of the world at the end of the day

Oh, what would I do without you?

She's wearing a knitted red sweater, at least two sizes too big for her as it reaches her thighs and nearly covers her hands fully.

A decade goes by without a warning

And there's still a kindness in your eyes

Amidst the questions and the worries

A peace of mind always takes me by surprise.

I take two steps forward and the creaking of the wood floor beneath me makes her eyes fly open. They are moist with unshed tears and I can feel my own fill up as well.

I feel like I'm walking with eyes as blind

As a man without a lantern in a coal mine

Oh, what would I do without you?

I take my time to get to her, one step at a time, as she keeps singing. She can stop me any time. But her own reaction is to take a step forward as well.

The difference between what I've said and done

And you're still standing by my side

A guilty soul and a worried mind

I will never make it if I'm on my own.

I reach her and I take her hand softly in mine, and she clings to it with force. Her eyes close again but tears start running nonetheless.

So you got the morning, I've got midnight

You are patient, I'm always on time

Oh, what would I do without you?

You got your sunshine, I've got rain clouds

You got hope, I've got my doubts

Oh, what would I do without you?

I cradle her cheek with my free hand and she leans into it. She's practically sobbing, the words barely leaving her lips.

Oh, what would I do without you?

It's almost a whisper now.

Oh, what would I do with…

I Kiss her.

—-

Week 10 - Katniss (extra snippet)

"What exactly are you wearing?"

Peeta pulls lightly at the sweater's collar. It's huge on me, to the point where it slipped off my shoulder and he's able to run a thumb against my skin.

"Delly made it for you. Well, actually she was making it for Thom, then it became your gift. But I had nothing red to wear, so …"

"Shit, I forgot about them!"

"Don't worry!" I tell him with a chuckle. "They're long gone."

Peeta breathes out with relief, a smile dancing on his lips and reaching his eyes. He's staring intently at me and I allow myself to stare back. Somehow, during the last hour (Hour? Minutes? I don't know.) we ended up on his bed, him sitting against the headboard and me sitting on his lap. But it's only now that we finally look into each other's eyes again. A couple of months ago I would have been happy to just have his friendship back. I can't really say I mind all the kissing though.

"I think the fit might be a little off." He says, stroking my bare shoulder again. I can't stop myself from smiling against his neck as I feel it again. Happiness rushing through me, heating up every inch of my body better than any sweater ever could.

"Yeah, and I don't think it will fit you that well either. Or Thom, for that matter. But it's the thought that counts right?"

"You know the great thing about knitting? When things don't turn out ok, you can just… unravel it and start all over again."

He cradles my cheek as he leans in for a kiss, this time a softer and deliberate one.

"Thank you, Peeta."

"For what?"

"Unraveling me."

—++

Week 12 - Delly

It would just be my luck that the minute I decide to finally take things to the next level with Thom I can't seem to take it out of my mind.

I think about him all the time. When we wake up in the morning, even if all he can spare is a couple of minutes, before he has to run off to get everything ready for the new residents coming. During the day, when I'm working out in the sun, my hands dirty with soil. In the evenings, when we stay around the fire to chat with everyone else, and I can hardly concentrate on the conversations around me.

My original plan was to save it for his birthday. But that's still two weeks from now and I suppose we should be… maybe building up to it? We still haven't done more than just making out and a little wandering hands.

Saul is up and running and surprisingly or not,Thom is still asleep. He's been wearing himself out again, with work. They were doing a bit of overtime to try and finish the first houses, which they succeeded a couple of days ago. But instead of taking a couple of days off, they jumped right into two new houses, one for the McDonalds and one for the Thompsons. Add that to the stress of doubling our population and you get a very tired crew chief.

Any other day I would let him sleep in. But not today. It 's Thursday. The train is due to arrive, with the week's provisions and sixty three new residents. So I gently nudge him with my nose and gentle pecks on the corner of his mouth.

"Good morning…" I tell him once he opens one eye to look at me.

In a second he rolls on top of me, and it's impressive how he can do that without his sleeping bag getting in the way.

"Good morning…" he answers back as he gives me a slow and lingering kiss. "What time is it?"

I take a look at his watch, placed just above my head. Each crew chief carries one now, courtesy of Peeta Mellark, or should I say his sponsors.

"Six twenty."

"Ugh." He grunts burying his head into my neck. "Ten minutes is too short a time to spend with you in the morning."

"I'm sorry for not waking you earlier, but I thought you could use some rest. You looked so peaceful in your sleep." I tell him.

"But these are the only private moments we have all day. I can rest tomorrow once everyone is settled." He mumbles against my skin as he settles himself against the crook of my neck. If I don't move, he'll probably doze off again.

"What happens if you skip your meeting with Jack and Cyrus?" I ask him. They have a quick meeting at 6:45 to plan out the day. It's efficient and well structured of them but a true nuisance to my plans. This brings him to alertness and he lifts his head to look at me.

"They'll realize how stupid it is to have a twenty year old in charge of the construction crew and in the district council?"

I run my hand through his hair as I lift my head up to him. "Just kiss me, will you?"

I don't need to ask him twice. We have little time, so the kiss progresses faster than usual. His mouth is hot and demanding as I open his sleeping back, and a moan escapes my mouth when finally he settles on top of me. We freeze for a few seconds, his eyes searching my face for signs of discomfort. This is new. I move slightly, my legs bent at the knees to allow him to settle better and this time it's him that moans, his breath hot in my neck.

"Is this ok?" He asks as he tentatively rocks his hips against me.

"Yes." Is all I manage to say.

He does it again as his lips clash against mine, his hand going beneath my shirt. I'm about to make a move to take it off when his alarm goes off.

"I really need to go." He says, leaning his forehead against mine.

"Don't go." I manage to say, while leaving a trail in his neck, and pulling his shirt to suck on his collarbone.

"I have to, Delly."

"I'm not wearing a bra."

I feel his hand tensing against my ribcage. This is new too. He skims his hand to my back and up, probably to be sure. I giggle when I see the pained look on his face when he realizes I'm telling the truth.

"I have two minutes, and that's already stretching it."

"I guess you should be making the most out of those two minutes then, shouldn't you?"

His reaction is immediate. I was just expecting some fondling but he lifts my shirt up to my neck and brings his mouth down to suck on my nipple. I'm so caught off hard that a loud moan escapes my lips.

"You need to keep quiet, or everyone will hear you." He tells me as he moves to the other one. As quick as it starts, it's over. He gets up, and I lift myself on my elbows to look at him.

He undresses himself in front of me. He keeps his eyes on me the whole time, as he changes shirts and pants.

"I'll see you later at the train station, right?" he tells me as he makes a move to leave the tent.

"Aren't you going to kiss me goodbye?" I ask him.

"If I do, I'll never leave."