5 WEEKS LATER

"Come on now! It's gotten a little tight on you, hasn't it, Katniss?" My mother was busy helping me into a neat forest green dress for the dinner celebrating the anniversary of the Games, or lack thereof. Everyone seemed inclined to celebrate the ending of the Games, and a feast seemed in order. There are that many lives saved.

I shrugged "I've had it for a while." I tried to suck my stomach in, which helped a bit.

"Time to cut down on the pudding, isn't it?" she laughed as the long green dress slid neatly into place on my hips.

"Mother, you know I don't like the pudding here." I ran a hand over my stomach, feeling guilty that I had been eating more than I should. I was a bit pudgier; I had to admit, but just in the stomach area.

My mother dusted my shoulders. "Prim, dear, are you ready?" she called to my little sister Prim, who was in the bathroom. Prim skipped out, holding her orange cat, Buttercup, to her chest. The cat leaped out of her arms and wound its tail around my legs. Strangely enough, he had grown considerably warmer towards me ever since I left for the Quarter Quell.

Mother eventually found nothing else that she could fix with me, so she said, "There we are. Well, we still have a little bit until the feast, so if you want to go see Gale and Peeta, Prim and I can just meet you at the feast."

"Okay, then. See you there," I kissed Prim on her forehead, patted the cat at my feet, hugged my mom, and left the room.

I stopped at Gale's door and knocked. Things had become really awkward between us, but we both tried to put the moment behind us.

"Hey, Catnip!" Gale opened the door to his room and smiled.

"Hi! You are going to the dinner, right?" I attempted to be cheerful.

"Wouldn't miss it! To be honest, I haven't even started getting ready for it," Gale pointed to his clothes, which were dirty and had a few rips. Certainly not suited for a celebration dinner.

I laughed."My mother woke me up really early so I have been ready for a while. I suppose I will see you there then?"

"Yeah," Gale hesitantly opened his arms and I hugged him tightly around the waist.

"See you there!" I let go of him and waved goodbye as I walked off.

When I got to Peeta's room, I knocked on the door.

"You can come in, Katniss," he called. I walked into his room and shut the door behind me. Peeta was standing in front of a small wall mirror, adjusting a dark blue tie around his neck. I had only seen those on the mayor, so I assumed they were expensive.

You look nice Peeta!" I complimented him, walking up to his side.

"Thanks. My dad let me borrow this tie. You look nice too." Peeta put his arm around my shoulders. "How are you? You seem tired."

"I am. My mother woke me up at 7:30 this morning, and insisted I eat only a tiny breakfast. Last night Prim had a nightmare and wanted to sleep with me. She brought Buttercup, who was very hard to calm down."

Peeta laughed loudly. He had a nice laugh. "You get about that much sleep every night seeing as how your family doesn't give you any privacy until eleven at night. That only changed about two days ago."

"I know, but lately I have been so exhausted and hungry! Mother said it was the stress of the dinner, but dinners aren't stressful. I tried to tell her that, but she wouldn't have it."

He laughed again. "Roast duck or minced lamb? I just can't choose, the pressure is killing me!"

"Shut up," I said half-heartedly, but still smiled. "Let's go to dinner; it should have started by now."

Peeta threw on a light jacket and, with a flourish, offered his arm to me. No boy has ever done that and I didn't know how I should accept it. "Umm…."

"You're right," Instead, he dropped his arm and took my hand in his, and we went to dinner.