Hahaha, people were split pretty evenly about whether they loved or hated the ending to the last chapter. But I liked it so…

Suck it fools! Hahaha, jk, thanks for the thoughts

Chapter 6

Prim. Prim. Prim. Prim. Primrose. Prim. Prim. Primrose. Ms. Mellark. Prim. That was all I could think. She had completely taken over my mind. I couldn't think of anything or anyone else. I kept kissing her, occasionally remembering to breathe. Ahhh, Prim. My Prim.

I was sad when she pulled away from me. "What's wrong, did I do something? I swear, I can fix it," I leaned in to kiss her again.

She laughed and put her hand on my chest keeping me back, "My lips hurt Nicky."

I sat back upright and sighed, "Oh."

She nuzzled herself in my arms and rest her head on my shoulder. For the first time I look right in front of me. There's a pond. It has beautiful water lilies. The water is clear and welcoming. Being a resident of District 4, I immediately want to go swimming. I get up on my feet. Prim stands with me. I almost regret pulling away from her and use my now free arms to take off my shirt and pants. I walk into the water in my boxers. It's warmer than the air. It feels absolutely wonderful. I am now waist deep. I turn behind me and see Prim is just standing at the water's edge watching me. I reach out my hand, motioning for her to come in.

She shakes her head, "I can't swim, remember?"

I come out and take her into a hug, purposely soaking her. She shivers slightly. "I can teach you if you want."

She looks at me with terrified eyes. Then I decide that they look more determined than scared. She takes off her dress and takes my hand. I slowly lead her into the water. She doesn't hesitate until she's in at her waist.

I try to take another step, but she won't budge. "Prim come on, just a little bit further, please?"

She stands there for a while, and then full on grabs my arm. She hangs on it, giving it most of her weight. I gently pull her until we're chest deep in water. "Okay, now let go of me."

She shakes her head, "What if I fall and drown."

I laugh, "You might fall." She shoots me a slightly angered look, "Prim I promise, if you go under, I'll save you. You can't drown under my watch."

She looks at me a few seconds longer and then releases her grip on me. I put one hand on her stomach and one on her back, "Okay, were going to lean you forward and you're going to put your legs out behind you," she silently obeys which way I lean her with my hands. She lets out a small yelp as the water touches her face. She stands back up quickly. "Prim, it's ok, nothing will happen, I promise."

I slowly coax her into the same position as before. She only flinches a little as the water hits her chin. "Ok, now do little small kicks with your feet and move your arms in big circles, try to swim a circle around me." I help continue to guide her and help her float as she does what I say.

She starts laughing, "Hey, this is kind of fun."

I laugh with her, "You ready for me to take my hands away?"

She nods and I let go. She instantly goes under. She thrashes as she tries to get back on her feet. I have to help her. She looks at me, a combination of being frightened and angry, "Do you want to try again Prim?"

"No."

"Oh come one it's just-"

"No," she takes my hand to lead me out of the water. She sits on the shore, letting her feet soak next to some water lilies.

I sit down next to her, "We can try again in a few minutes," she takes me up into a kiss. I kiss her back slightly confused. I pull away, "What happened to your lips hurting?"

She smiled, "I figured hurt lips were better than drowning again."

I laugh, "You did not drown."

"Almost."

"Not even close, like I said, if you were drowning, I would save you."

She pretends not to hear me and looks up at the sky. "It will be dark in 2 hours, we should get back."

"Back?"

"Yeah, we should go back."

"What if my mom's still trying to kill you?"

She shrugs, "I guess we'll have to take our chances."

I quietly mumble under my breath, "Why can't we just live out here?"

I know she's heard me because she's answering my question, "Hey, I'd like to never go back as much as you would. But, well, we can't do that to our families. The Capitol would kill them in a second. You know that."

I look up at her. I know she truly cares for her family. I on the other hand, well when your mom is crazy, it's hard not to imagine how much easier life would be if she were gone. But what matters to Prim matters to me, "Okay, we'll go back to 4. But there is no way I'll be taking you back in my house over the next couple of days."

She nods thinking it over, "So…where would we sleep?"

I give her a dark look.

Her eyes turn gray; she already knows what I'm thinking, "No. No I can't. I mean, hobos go there, I've seen the way those old men look at me."

"Prim, the community center is the only chance we got. Do you know how cold it gets at night? We can't just sleep on the streets."

She tenderly wraps her arms around me, "We can if we keep each other warm." I frown and hold up my purity ring. "What? But that thing is… well no offense but it's kind of a joke. I know you, that's not true."

"But I wish it were," she keeps staring at me, very obviously confused, "What I mean is, is that now that I have the choice and wouldn't be forced. Well, with you I want to wait."

"Wait?"

"Yeah, you know, sort of like we have two lives. There's the one where we work for the Capitol. And then we have a second life. One in which I'd like to stay a virgin until I'm married. I think keeping the two lives as separate as possible will just, you know help with my…well-being."

She nods, trying to understand. She doesn't talk for a long time. Then she makes a very disgusted face, "The community center?"

I nod, "It's not as bad as 12's, I swear."

"Yeah, it better not be."

We get dressed again and walk back at a slow even pace. The late afternoon sun turns everything a bright golden color. The leaves on the trees reflect the light perfectly in their orange and red hues. Soon, things start to seem familiar, we are no more than a mile away from town, but we still have quite a bit of daylight left.

Prim smiles, "You know what I haven't done since before I was 11?"

"What?"

"Well, Thresh, my little brother, and I use to play hide 'n seek."

I had no idea what this was. I didn't even know if I hadn't heard of it because I was an only child or because of the district I grew up in. "Prim… what is that?"

She laughs sweetly, "It's fun! One person closes their eyes and counts. The other person goes and hides. Once the counter reaches one hundred, they have to find the hiding person. I'll hide first."

"What if I can't find you?"

"Then I win."

I start to bring my hands up to my eyes slowly, "Just don't go far ok?" Right before I cover my face I see her roll her eyes at me, "One, Two, Three," my heart starts pounding rapidly, this game sure gets your adrenaline flowing. I start to grow impatient in counting, "Thirty-four, Thirty-five," I wonder how far she could get in the time I reach one hundred, "Fifty-two, fifty-three," too far, "One hundred," I blurt out before actually reaching the number.

I look about me wildly. She doesn't seem to be anywhere. Suddenly this game didn't seem like such a fun idea. Not knowing where Prim is worries me. I mean, what if my mom was still out here hunting?

I run aimlessly around a fifty yard radius from where I counted. I end up back in the same spot I had started. I can't find her anywhere. Oh no, what if my mom really was still out here? Would I hear Prim scream? Would she even scream? Would my mom sneak up on her and slit her throat? What if Prim was trapped somewhere, hoping my mom would go by without finding her. Just as I finished this thought I was tackled to the ground. Soft leaves cushioned my fall. I turn onto my back to see who had attacked me. Prim sits on my stomach smiling brightly, "I win."

I laugh nervously, still trying to calm my heart rate, "Where were you?"

Without saying a word, she puts her ear up to my chest and listens. After a second she giggles, "Yeah that game really gets the blood pumping. I heard that they invented it a long time ago to prepare kids for the Hunger Games."

"Wow Prim, that game is really messed up."

She smiles devilishly, "I know, right?"

"So where were you? You worried me."

She gets off of me, "Oh calm down, I was waiting for you in that tree there the whole time," she points to the tree right behind me.

She stands and dusts herself off, I do the same. She smiles, "So do you want to hide now?"

I shake my head, "Not a chance. Half way through the game I started wondering if my mom was still out here."

She takes my hand, "Then let's go back," she wrinkles her nose, "Do we really have to go to the community center?" I nod.

We reach its doors right as the sun sets. There are hundreds of beds lined up row upon row in the huge building. In between each bed is a cheap wall divider, allowing people privacy to change. Almost all of them are full. I knew that District 4 was heavily populated and that we had homeless people, but I never, not until now, understood how many there really were.

We walk down every row, looking for two vacant beds. I notice the way the men look at Prim. I hate it. They watch her every move. Look at every part of her. It makes me sick. I lean in to whisper in her ear, "Don't go anywhere alone, got it?"

"Wasn't planning on it."

After what felt like hours of wandering the room, we found one bed in the corner of the room. The dividers block off every other bed around it. Prim smiles and looks up at me, "Looks like I get my wish."

"It's okay; I'll sleep on the floor."

I lay down on the ground and turn on my side, waiting for sleep to overcome me. I see her frown, take off her dress and work her way under the thin sheets of the small bed in her undergarments. I take off my stiff, uncomfortable shirt. The ground is concrete and is freezing cold; it's going to be a long night.

Well? You like? You don't like? Let me know!