This chapter goes to my friend Sophie who helped me so much on figuring out where this story is going, and thanks to her, I have the best idea in the whole entire world. So thank you so much Sophie and I love you! But also, thank you to all of the…something like 20 people who reviewed last chapter. :DD

oOo

"We should probably be getting to bed." Peeta sighed, looking at the miniscule clock hanging on the wall.

Both of us were laying on the floor belly-down next to each other, talking about shallow, easy topics. Neither one of us strayed towards the subject of memory loss or children, though we talked for a while about our deal that I so willingly agreed to. We go back to District 12, try to be normal, and when the time comes, fight in the war. Winning apparently classifies us as 'mature enough to handle the consequences', or so Peeta puts it, so we would be able to live with each other land live like normal adults for the rest of our lives.

He was proud of his side of the argument, but when I pointed out that losing the war means death, so either we die or we live together. Meaning I ultimately win. After I made that point, he dropped the subject of our agreement abruptly.

"Mm, yeah." I nearly groaned. I didn't want this day to end. Ending it meant that I would have to get surgery. And as much as I've denied it, I am scared to death of what might happen. Dr. Tyrwhitt says the chance of losing my memory is slim, but my past experiences with doctors had told me never, ever trust what they say. Ever. I scooted my knees under me and sat up, Peeta doing the same. "I really don't want to do the surgery tomorrow. It's not enough time."

Peeta laced his fingers with mine and kissed me on the top of the head sympathetically. "I know, love. But pretty soon, you'll open your eyes and it'll be all over."

"Yeah, but—Crap!" I put my head in my hands. "Crap, crap, crap!"

"What is it?" Peeta couldn't hide the panic in his voice.

"My pre-op was this morning. Crap! And I missed it." This was just not my day.

He couldn't help but looked relived, since I wasn't having another attack or anything. "Oh. If that's just it… Maybe we can go in late and apologize. Maybe they'd still do it."

"I don't know…" I said skeptically. "If it is too late they would have a cow for being out of my room unsupervised."

"You're supervised." Peeta leaned forward so the tip of his nose grazed mine. "I don't count as supervision?"

"Er…" Giving a shaky laugh, I returned his gaze with my own. "No. Sorry, Peeta, but I don't think so."

"Oh." He blinked and leaned away. "But still, maybe they'll let you in."

But before I could really object, he took my hand and we were walking down the hospital corridor. I whispered, "Peeta, it's 11:00, I seriously doubt I could do the pre-op now."

"It's okay." Peeta looked smug. "They'll have to. They can't just send you back to your room."

When we approached the front desk, the tired-looking secretary lady eyed us threateningly. "You missed your pre-operation appointment, Ms. Everdeen."

I gritted my teeth. "It's Mrs. Mellark."

"Whatever. I seriously doubt you'd be able to do it now. The doctor probably already went home."

"She has to do it now." Peeta gripped my hand. "Her surgery is tomorrow."

"We'll have to postpone it then. Pre-ops are important."

My mouth popped open, half in anger, half disbelief. "Get someone else to do it then."

The secretary sighed in annoyance. "I can see if there's anyone available, but don't be surprised when—"

"You can do it." Said a voice behind me.

Spinning around, Peeta and I saw Dr. Tyrwhitt standing there in his usual blue scrubs, far from looking as though he were going home.

"Come, Mrs. Mellark." He waved a big hand towards the hallways in front of him and Peeta and I followed him with weird looks on our faces. As we walked, the doctor spoke. "You had skipped your pre-op this morning, but it really isn't that big of a deal since the only thing we're doing is getting your scalp disinfected and your room situated. Which I have already done."

Stopping at an average-looking wooden door, he put his hand in his pocket and drew out two items. The first one he handed to me was identical to the one I used last night for my hair.

"You will wash your scalp with this just like you did yesterday. You did use it yesterday, right?" He eyed me suspiciously.

"Yeah." I said quickly.

"And this one…" He handed me a small white tube with no writing one it. "Is for after washing your hair. You will let it dry on the operation site overnight and wash it off right before the surgery."

I nodded.

:"You can use this bathroom." Dr. Tyrwhitt motioned to the door beside us. "There is a special hair-washing sink in there for you to use."

I didn't say anything to that, my only thought that it was strange. I could have done this in my room just as well as in this bathroom. Shrugging, I walked into the bathroom and glanced around. In the corner, there was indeed a basin tucked on the wall with a mini shower-nozzle above it.

After scrubbing the life out of my hair with the clear soap, I wrung the water from it and walked out of the bathroom, smelling of hospitals.

Peeta and Dr. Tyrwhitt were leaning against the wall waiting for me. I held up the tube awkwardly. "You wanted me to put this on the operation site. Where is that?"

"Ah." The doctor smiled and took the tube from me. "Here you are, Mrs. Mellark." And when Dr. Tyrwhitt squeezed a glob of thick, colorless paste, he began smearing it on a 2-by-5 square inch of my skin on the hairline above my right ear. After applying all of the tube, he threw it into a nearby trashcan. "There you go. Let that dry and make an effort to not mess with it too much."

I nodded, wanting to go back to my room. Fatigue was already weighing my eyes down. "And…My room? You already did it?"

"Yes, I did." The doctor began walking in the direction we came, and Peeta and I followed. "Now, do you still have the paper I gave you yesterday?"

"Er…" I frowned sheepishly. "No. I don't. Sorry."

"That's okay. Just… Be here tomorrow at 8:30 to sign in." He stopped at the front desk. "And, it is okay to come without an escort. As long as Mr. Mellark is with you, you should be fine." Dr. Tyrwhitt smiled at Peeta and turned around. "See you tomorrow."

Once the doctor turned the corner, Peeta put his arm around me and let me lean on him. "Let's get you to bed. It's late."

I didn't object. I was about to pass out.

We got to the room in one piece, and I managed to stay upright before collapsing onto the bed. Peeta straightened me out on the bed and pulled the covers up to my chin.

"Mmm… thanks, Peeta." I mumbled, eyes closed.

He gave me a soft goodnight kiss. "Any time." The half-cylindrical bed tilted slightly sideways as Peeta crawled in next to me and slid his feet in next to mine. "Sleep well, Katniss. I'll be here next to you through all of it."

As the blackness began enveloping me, I slipped my hand around his and felt the returned pressure. Then I dropped off.

"Katniss." A soft voice roused me from my restless sleep. "Wake up, Katniss. Breakfast is here."

I murmured something unintelligible and was just about to drift off again when I felt warm, salty pressure on my lips, accompanied by a melting sensation in my brain. Darn Peeta. I forced my eyes open and found myself staring into brilliant blue ones. Sighing, I said, "Not fair. Not fair at all."

"I do what I have to." He gave me a small smile and his head left my line of sight, compelling me to sit up.

Peeta was sitting casually on the other end of the bed, sparkly clean, without any shirt. The breakfast tray was sitting on his lap and I could see his eyebrows were raised at me, as if saying, you aren't going to try to go back to sleep? Weird…

After I scooted myself into a supportive sitting position, I accepted the tray from him even though I had no appetite. "Thanks." I picked at my apple with a fingernail, trying not to think of later today.

Peeta frowned concernedly at me. "You should eat, Katniss. Really."

I pushed the tray away from me and hugged my arms to my chest. "You're not supposed to eat before a surgery."

He looked dubious. "Dr. Tyrwhitt never told you that." When I still said nothing, he set the tray to the left of us and scooted his body next to mine. "Don't be afraid, Katniss." Peeta slid his arm around my waist and brushed a stray hair from my braid behind my ear. "I'll be with you."

"I know." I debated whether to admit how frightened I was. "It's just….really hard to imagine what would happen if I didn't remember you. Or the Games." I tried to direct my sadness to something else besides him. "Haymitch said that if I lost my memory I would still have to be the Mockingjay."

Peeta put on a face. "That horrible. How the heck are you supposed to do that?"

I shrugged, feeling a small lump beginning to grow in my throat. "He'll find a way."

"I want to help you. I want you to be happy." Still looking upset, Peeta pulled my head onto his shoulder.

"You have." My throat-lump had gotten bigger. So much that my voice cracked and I had to inhale deeply before continuing. "More than you think."

"Is that why you scowl so much?"

I scowled.

The corners of his mouth twitched up into an apologetic smile. "Sorry."

I looked away, brows still furrowed in offense. "I was trying to tell you something, Peeta."

"I'm sorry, love." Peeta put his face close to mine and held me gently to him. "Truly. Please continue."

"I—" Of course, I immediately forgave him. But I tried to find a way how to tell him this without sounded corny and 'too open'. "I guess I need to say thank you, that's one thing."

"For what?" Peeta murmured distractingly, lips nearly two inches from mine.

"For-For being so… supportive and sturdy. After all the crap that's happened, you're still here. When after the first Games, when I said I didn't love you after all, you shook it off and wanted to stay with me, just as friends, despite me breaking your heart into pieces."

"There wasn't really a choice, Katniss." His blue eyes met mine. "I couldn't mope forever, especially with the Quell coming up."

"But you stayed with me even in my private life away from the cameras. And if you hadn't done that, you wouldn't have grown on me. You taught me how to love, and unfortunately you were the victim."

"Unfortunately?" Peeta laughed quietly, brows raised. "Victim?"

"Yes." Though I was 100% serious, I couldn't help but smiling, too. "Because all sorts of drama follow me everywhere I go. And you had no choice but to accept my baggage along with me."

Quietly, so I barely heard it, he said, "It was worth it."

"Now that I am positive that I love you, all of my problems become yours. Bad things happen to you, yet, you stuck with me. I am not good at loving, but I'm learning."

"You aren't bad at loving." He insisted. "I'm still alive, aren't I?"

"Just barely." I felt a smile slowly spread across my face. "And I intend to keep you that way."

Peeta then wrapped his other arm around my waist and pulled me into a sideways hug. "I'm sure you'll do a fantastic job."

"Not necessarily…" Now that I poured my heart out all over Peeta, I could feel my angst creeping up on me when the truth began setting in again. "Now that the Capitol isn't down, they'll be coming after me. But in order to completely get rid of the Fire Girl, they're going to have to get all of me."

"What do you mean?" Peeta frowned.

"They're targeting you, too, Peeta."

"What does that have to do with killing all of you?"

I swallowed. "You have my heart."

There was an awkward pause after that, when I realized what I had just said. That was so cheesy.

"I'm sorry." I said, resisting the urge to giggle. "That was shallow."

But the look on Peeta's face was not silly, or looked as though he thought I was. Instead, affection, confusion, and hurt painted his expression.

"Peeta?" I said softly, smile fading from my lips. I gently pulled away from him and put my hand on his cheek. "What's wrong?"

For another split-second, he didn't say anything, but then our eyes met. "I don't think… I'd be able to live if you lost your memory."

I blinked, utterly puzzled. "Well, why?"

He folded his hand on top of mine, which was still on his face. "You hold my heart as well."

My heart seemed to do the exact opposite of skipping a beat. The thud it was on seemed to have slowed down and made a heavy, painful glug noise. Trying not to cry, I wound my arms around Peeta's middle and pressed him to me.

Peeta embraced me as well, hands spreading out, one in between my shoulder blades and the other in the middle of my spine. He rubbed my back comfortingly, breathing softly into my hair.

Taking advantage of the moment, I gently pressed my lips to the base of Peeta's neck. "I won't lose my memory, Peeta."

He pulled away just enough to lock his watery eyes with mine. "How can you be so sure, Katniss?"

"Because I have something to live for."

oOo

Alright, bad news everybody. My poor computer has broken down and so I need to take it into the shop. Yep, you guessed it. I won't be able to type for as long as they have it, which will be about a week if all goes well. Plus the time it takes to actually type the next chapter, so there will be a delay on updating. I'm sorry! It just gives you something to look forward to.