A/N: Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoy this installment.

It takes some time adjusting to our new schedule for provisions. On the third day, we have a busy day with distribution at the local site, but it runs surprisingly smoothly and we don't even need to stay late. When we close up at the end of the day, we can actually relax knowing we will be able to catch up on the other work tomorrow. I take provisions for me and Bear home with me to restock the kitchen.

When I get home Bear isn't around. At first I assume he's asleep, but after I cook some fish and heat up some canned vegetables he still hasn't appeared, so I head toward the bedroom to see if he is there. After a few tentative knocks, I call to him through the door, "Bear? You in there?" and knock a little louder, but there's still no answer. Tentatively I peek in to the room. It's dark, and it takes a moment to determine that he's not there. Where is he?

I try not to worry. It's not like District 4 is an active war zone. I eat my dinner and watch the broadcasts, keeping an eye out for any familiar faces but seeing none. Watching the rebel reporters talk about the preparations to move troops further into the Capitol doesn't improve my mood. Finally I hear the door open and Bear bursts into the apartment, breathless.

"Are you okay?" I ask, running over. He looks fine, although he's not dressed for the brisk night and under a light jacket his shirt is soaked in sweat. I've been waiting so long I'd practically convinced myself something terrible had happened.

"I'm fine. Really. I'm sorry, I lost track of time." He answers, setting down a small backpack to hug me.

"I was so scared. I know it's stupid…"

"Hey, no it's not. I should have left a note or something. I didn't think I'd be gone so long."

I kiss him, sliding my arms inside the open front of his jacket and pressing my hands … on his damp, sweaty shirt. I wrinkle my nose and jerk my hands back. "Maybe you should clean up." I tell him. He smirks at me. "I will, but is there any dinner left? I'm starving."

I want to ask him about where he's been, but I also want to let him eat and get cleaned up. At the rate he's gulping down the food left over from earlier, he must be hungry. He must have been been running because he wasn't cold when he got here, but now that he's sitting still I bet that damp shirt is cooling him off pretty quickly. I force myself to let him eat.

After his late dinner, he heads down the hall to get out of his sweaty clothes and shower. I can hear the thuds of the bedroom and bathroom doors closing in turn as I watch the broadcasts which seem to be in repeats. There's nothing new being reported, and I realize I still don't know if Spinner sent a message today. I was so relieved to see Bear I forgot to even ask him. Since Bear didn't say anything, chances are he got a message and everything is fine, but it would be nice to know for sure. Once the idea is in my head, it won't leave, and I decide to check the bedroom to see if Bear left the communicuff in there. Bear's clothes are strewn across the floor. Rolling my eyes, I pick it up piece by piece and throw it in a neater pile. Then I get to his underwear. I just kind of stare at it without even meaning to, embarrassed even though he's not even here. Instead of adding them to the pile, I throw all the other clothes on top of them. The communicuff, I remind myself. It wasn't with any of the clothes, so I think maybe he set it by the bed. I'm just spinning around to check when the door opens and unconsciously I look toward it and get a glimpse of Bear in the doorway before he sees me. He's naked except for a towel around his waist. He almost immediately steps back into the hall, swinging the door most of the way shut behind him. "Sorry! Didn't know you were in there," he calls, humor evident in his voice.

The image of Bear in the towel, water dripping from his hair, is still front and center in my mind. I didn't even hear the shower stop running. Come to think of it I guess you can't really hear it from in here. I look around the room frantically, as if for something to hide under. "No! Uhh … it's okay … Sorry … I was just uhh, looking for the communicuff. I just wanted to check … "

"Oh. I think it's on the table by the bed. Spinner messaged earlier," he tells me. Now that I'm looking in the right place, I spot the communicuff immediately. I wonder why I didn't think to just check there first. It's really pointless now, since Bear just told me he got a message from Spinner already, but I pick up the device.

"Uhh, yeah. Thanks. I'll just, ummm. I'll get out of here so you can .. you know. Is it, uhh, is it okay …"

I can hear his laugh through the door. "Coast is clear. Go ahead."

Holding the communicuff in one hand, I pull the door open, carefully averting my eyes to the floor and toward the front room as I hastily beat a retreat. Mortified, I wait on the couch while he gets dressed. I don't even know why I'm so embarrassed. It just brought home to me how it's just us here now. Usually Bear showers or changes clothes while I'm out, which now that I think about it is nice because I haven't had to deal with feeling this before. Sitting out here knowing that he is here in the apartment, that it's just him and me, and he is in a bedroom that we share, sort of, and he is completely naked. With Bear, those kinds of thoughts half thrill me and half scare me. Bear might not think anything of it, but I don't think I can deal with that, not yet anyway.

When I first came to four, anytime I showered I was extremely aware of being naked in an apartment full of guys. Even with Marai, it was definitely not something my father ever envisioned as part of his plan. I always took my clothes in the bathroom with me and changed there. I even locked the door just in case. Not that I thought any of them would come in intentionally - I was just being cautious. I still do that, but it's more form habit than anything else. And there have been a few times when I've forgotten something and gone scurrying across the hall in just a towel.

I try to distract myself reading Spinner's message, but all he sent was "DESTROYING PODS. NO NEWS." We've heard a little about the pods that have turned the Capitol into a psychotic obstacle course. The rebels have information on locations of at least some of them, but apparently it's still slow going pushing into the Capitol. At least they're safe. Bear comes back out to the front room fully dressed in flannel pajama bottoms and a plain gray t-shirt. "Are you okay?" he asks me, smirking. "Thanks for not laughing. I don't think my self-esteem could take it."

I can't help but smile at that, rolling my eyes at him.

"Look," he says. "I didn't mean to ..."

"I know," I sigh. "It's my fault. I know I'm being stupid."

"Hey, don't talk about my girlfriend that way," he teases me, nudging me with an elbow. "Seriously. It's not stupid."

I still don't want to talk about it, so I try to see if he'll let me change the topic. "So where did you go today anyway?"

Bear laughs. "I do leave the apartment you know."

I flush, embarrassed. "I know." Well, not really, but of course he does. I just hadn't thought about it because he's always here when I am.

"I went for a run, that's all. I was just going to get some air. But I ran into a few of Spinner's friends by the school."

"You went for a run? It's so cold out."

"Doesn't bother me. I'm not gonna stay cooped up in here all winter. Anyway it turns out some of those musicians are sort of using the school as a place to play."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It makes sense - It's indoors and sheltered, big enough for whoever wants to come, and it's not being used for anything else right now. So why not?"

"They aren't using the school at all? So are all the kids just staying at home? I know Rose's siblings are in sector 3 but …"

"What? No - Not all the schools are empty, in fact I think most are still open. This is one of a few they shut down, because it was in the middle of the battle over the district. There are other schools for the kids to go to though. Most of the schools still have classes, at least what they can manage. Anyway, I thought you might want to go watch them play sometime so I stayed to find out where and when they usually meet up."

"That sounds nice," I tell him. It would be a good change of pace for us, to get out and do something other than watch the war broadcasts.

It's a few nights later that we walk down to the school together and find a group of musicians improvising together in the large room where the wedding celebration took place. It's really interesting to hear the way they can play off of each other and add new twists to the music as they go. There are a few other people listening along with us, mostly friends of the musicians. A few of them turn out to be musicians themselves; every once in a while an instrument will get passed into new hands. It's fun, but after awhile my mind wanders to this big empty building we're in. Eventually, I nudge Bear and quietly ask him, "Want to explore a little?" He looks at me quizzically, so I smile encouragingly and twitch my head toward the door. Bear shrugs in agreement and we quietly sneak out, Bear waving goodbyes to a few people he knows. The hallway is dark, but we brought a flashlight for the walk home anyway, so I snap it on and flick the beam of light down the hall. I take Bear's hand in mine. He asks me, "You want to explore the school?"

"Yeah," I whisper, "who knows what's in here." Giggling, I pull him down the hall. Down the hall, he ushers me into a dark, empty classroom. I walk up and down the rows of desks, shining the flashlight around to study the room, mentally comparing it to the school in district 12. All my classrooms were bare and utilitarian. Here, it's mostly the same basic components, though things seem a little newer and nicer. Of course, here there's a fishing theme instead of a mining theme, which means that any posters on the walls are more interesting and colorful, at least to me.

"We could turn on the lights," Bear tells me from where he's leaning against the teacher's desk at the front of the classroom. I roll my eyes even though he can't see it. His arms are crossed casually across his chest as he watches me wandering around the classroom.

"What would be the fun in that?" I tease him back.

When I'm done exploring the room, we continue down the hall and poke our heads into each unlocked door. Most of the rooms are classrooms, similar to the one I explored more thoroughly. Until I glance into one room and let out a gasp of delight. Bear is at a door across the hall, and immediately turns. "What?"

"There's a piano in here." I say, almost to myself. I go into the room and right up to it, but then just stand there, disbelieving. It's an old upright piano. I'm almost afraid to touch it.

Bear comes through the doorway behind me, asking, "What? Why would there be a piano?" He flicks on the lights, blinding me until my eyes can adjust, and I reach out to balance myself.

"I don't know. We had one in our school, though. They used it for music assembly. You probably have something like that here too, right?" My fingertips rest on the wooden ledge in front of the keys. I can't bring myself to touch the keys.

"Huh. Yeah, I guess. We didn't have a piano at my school, but we had music assembly. To be honest I never paid much attention," Bear tells me. "So, you like pianos or something?"

I jerk my head around in surprise, before the realization dawns on me that the piano just hasn't come up before. "I play - or, I did. We had one in my house growing up. My dad used to play, before he became Mayor. I hardly ever saw him play it - he was always so busy, and my mom's headaches... well anyway, he insisted I learn."

Bear grins, and pulls a couple of chairs over in front of the piano. "Well," he says, "what are you waiting for?"

A/N: Apologies for any typos! You didn't think Madge was going to make it all the way through the war without finding a piano did you? Let me know what you think.