New Year's chapter! Decided to get this up before erryone parties away like they're Ke$sha.

Enjoy!

It's now December 31st, or New Year's Eve. It's hard to believe that we've been back for over a year, and have actually been together for almost seven months. Normally, none of this would mean a thing to me, but this year Peeta has decided to throw a New Year's party/fund in the name of the bakery for all of District Twelve. Not only will it bring the District together, but for every person that comes, we'll donate $100 to the orphanage, who still has trouble getting food for all of the children, and good conditions concerning bedding and whatnot.

So many adults had died in the bombing, and despite the better circumstances in the Districts, there are simply too many orphans to keep up the best care available. If enough people come, we should raise enough money to keep them sustained for more than a while. Of course, we could just donate a bunch of money right off the bat, but as I said, Peeta wants to bring the District together. The new Justice Building was kind enough to let us rent out their community hall so we'll have enough room for everyone.

"All right, I went shopping and got all the drinks we're going to need. Some cocktail foods and stuff, too." Peeta drops the bags on one of the side tables in the hall, and I'm impressed that he carried all of those bags by himself. I didn't think it would be humanly possible with how many there are. It was already six o' clock and the party started at eight-thirty, so we got dressed right before coming over here, and then Peeta went shopping. I'm sure that if people didn't know about the party, they'd be a bit confused about him shopping in a tux. I always make him unbutton the top few buttons and get rid of the bowtie, though, because – and I can't believe I'm saying this – I think he looks unbelievably sexy.

I decided to actually dress up for this party. The dress is covered in small silver sequins and is short sleeved, so I definitely sparkle. It comes mid-thigh and has an open back; one of Cinna's creations that I keep in the house. It's not something I'd usually wear, but I figured when the opportunity arises, might as well make the best of it – decided to keep my hair in my braid, though. I'm sure we're a bit overkill since we are in District 12, but there are the few Capitol folk that moved here, mostly just because we're here. All those Capitol parties messed us up. Especially these silver heels I'm walking in. I still can't believe I can walk in them, no matter how low the heel is.

I grab the drinks and ice cream I'll use to make the punch, while Peeta places some snacks in bowls, and then other foods on platters. I think I even saw that raw fish thing we had in District Four, sushi, though not all of it is raw. We spread everything out on the table, and then put all of the champagne bottles and glasses on a separate table. We have a mini bar, which Haymitch offered his help on (no doubt he knows how to make a good amount of drinks, and this way he doesn't have to socialize as much, which will be good for everyone).

On a table next to the food is where Peeta has laid out all of his pastries – macaroons, cupcakes, a New Year's cake that will be cut later, an assortment of cookies, slices of cinnamon bread, pie that is already sliced, and different types of brownies. We made sure to place what's in each item, in case of allergies.

There are tables all along the sides so that a dance floor is cleared, silver streamers and decorations adorning every inch. We have a bucket of New Year's toys as well, with silver horns and tiaras. There's a large television that will be lowered from the center of the ceiling for the countdown. In the Capitol they adopted some sort of traditions from the days of America where they drop a large ball at the new year, so we'll televise it for the countdown.

Once everything is laid out and the music is set up, it's already eight o'clock. Peeta comes over to me and puts an arm around my shoulders, admiring our work. "I think we've done a pretty good job."

I nod and lean into him with a sigh. "Let's just hope things don't get too wild."

He chuckles and kisses my forehead, right before we hear the clacking of swish of feet walking across the floor. We turn to see Haymitch walking through, surprisingly only half drunk. When I raise an eyebrow, he shrugs. "Rather drink of your alcohol so I don't have to buy my own." He heads to the mini bar without another word.

I look at Peeta and roll my eyes. "Was it really a good idea to give him this job? He'll end up spilling drinks all over the place."

Peeta smiles and shakes his head. "Don't worry, I hired one of the men at the bakery to help out for that exact reason."

FGTHG

A good 300 people show up to the party. You can definitely tell the difference between the District and Capitol citizens by what they're wearing, and sometimes the color of their skin. I think I even saw one woman with rainbow skin. Peeta and I separated a while ago, both being dragged around by different people.

"Katniss Everdeen! Oh my gawd!"

I turn around swiftly when I hear my voice, and fight off rolling my eyes when a petite woman with bright pink hair and a light-up dress bounces over to me. Her heels have to be at least five inches tall. I put on my best fake smile and clasp my hands in front of me. "Yes?"

She's now fanning herself once she's in front of me, an almost dreamy smile on her face. "I've just wanted to meet you for so long. I moved here a couple months ago to hope we'd become best friends, but I never see you! I mean, I don't know how you lived here for so long! I was almost ready to go back, but then you threw this party, and I just knew for sure I'd see you here!" She's speaking so quickly I'm surprised I even caught all that she said.

"Um…here I am, I guess." I've never really known how to deal with these kinds of people, which is unfortunate because there are so many of them

She grabs my hand and shakes it, her smile so wide it looks like a grimace. "That dress is gorgeous! Who is it made by?"

"Cinna made it for me."

She looks only slightly sympathetic, and maybe a little mad. "Ugh, it sucks that he died. His clothes would be sooo in!"

Now I want to slap this woman. Everything is just materialistic for these people, like they lack full human emotion in their genes. It pisses me off to no end. "I'm sure it would. He was an amazing stylist."

She nods once and then dives into her enormous clutch, and I'm kind of afraid of what she'll pull out. When she comes back with a piece of paper and a fuzzy pen and shoves it toward me, I'm relieved. I was almost expected a "friends forever" bracelet or something. "Could you please sign this? I would be so happy. You have no idea."

I grab the pen and quickly sign it, then shove it back in her hand. "All right. Well, I really need to find Peeta, so maybe I'll see you later." Or maybe not.

Her eyes glisten, and I know what's coming. "Oh, he is so cute! And you guys…when are you getting married? Will you invite me? Oh my gawd, I would be so honored to go."

I blink, then turn and walk away. I'm not even going to start on that. I start walking through the crowd and am stopped again by a male hand. I'm about to come up with some excuse to leave, when I see who it is. "Oh, Thom. Hey."

He smiles at me and nods. "How're you? I haven't really seen you around in a bit, except around the time Gale stopped by."

I smile and shrug. "I guess I've been just staying in, apparently more than I realized. How about you?" I really have been a bit of recluse ever since Peeta's birthday, spending most of my time hunting. Whenever I wanted to offer meat up to people in the District, Peeta usually brings it since he has to go to work, anyway. So, it's not so much that I just don't want to, but there's really no need to.

"Pretty well. Ah, got engaged."

I'm surprised, since I didn't even know he had a girlfriend. My smile is genuine when I congratulate him, and I ask him where his fiancée is.

He looks behind him and points to a pretty blonde girl talking to an older man. "Her. I guess she was a merchant daughter, but you know how that all went."

I nod sympathetically. We all knew how that went, the one way our District was split. "I'm glad you found someone. When's the wedding?"

He shrugs. "We actually just got engaged, so we haven't figured all that out yet. But when we do, you and Peeta and invited. Maybe even Haymitch, for entertainment."

I laugh at that and nod. "You'd definitely get that, all right. Might as well just invite him to the reception for some real fun." We share another laugh, when the girl calls him.

He turns and nods. "Well, I'll see you around. Don't be a stranger."

I nod and say goodbye. The last time I heard those words was with Plutarch, but this time I intend to keep the promise. I continue on my quest to find my boyfriend, actually making it through. When I find him, he's talking to one of the guys he works with. When he sees me, his smile becomes larger and he waves me over. I come over to them and greet the man.

"I've been looking for you. Seems we're pretty popular, though." He winks and grabs my hand. I let him, even though I'm a bit uncomfortable by the public display. Now that it's real, it makes everything different; I might as well get used to it, though.

"You're telling me. Some crazy Capitol girl stopped me and told me a wonderful story about how she moved here so we could be best friends."

He laughs loudly at that. "I'm pretty sure half of the Capitol population wants to be your best friend."

We all talk for a while, and then I excuse myself to go get a drink at the bar. There's this fruity concoction Haymitch made me once that was absolutely delicious; you couldn't even tell there was alcohol in it.

I sit on one of the stools next to a man that looks Capitol, and order the drink. As I wait there, I can feel the man's eyes on me. I try to ignore it, but it's starting to get unnerving, so I finally glance over at him.

When he catches my eye, he sees that as an opportunity to introduce himself. "Hi, I'm Titus." He sounds somewhere between nervous and excited, and he's now unable to meet my eyes.

"Um, hi." I never know whether I should introduce myself out of common courtesy, or just leave it be since it's no secret that everyone knows who we are. We sit there in silence for a bit. I bounce my leg up and down on the ring around the bar stool, wishing Haymitch would hurry.

Everything happens so quickly.

The man is right next to me and pulling out his wallet. I see a picture of me right in the front, which he takes out and sets in front of me. He grabs a pen from the table over and sets it on top. "Could you sign this for me? I just absolutely love you, I'm so sorry. You probably hate this, oh I'm sorry, but could you?" He continues to ramble on a bit before turning red and glancing away.

I look at the picture warily, since it's not often that you meet a stranger with a picture of you in their wallet. It's a picture of me at the second Quarter Quell, in my Mockingjay dress that sealed Cinna's fate. I never really got to look at the whole thing, or appreciate it, since I was wearing it and I was so worried about Cinna. It's absolutely beautiful; I truly did look like a Mockingjay.

I clear my thoughts and sign in quickly, sliding it over to him. "Uh, here. Signed the picture you have of me in your wallet…" Just then Haymitch has my drink, and I glare at the smirk he's giving me. "Gotta go!" I flash an awkward smile at the man and one more glare at Haymitch, then hurry back over to Peeta.

When I find him he's by the pastries, seemingly explaining something to one of our guests. I scurry next to him and smile at the woman he's talking to, then take him aside. "You have no idea what just happened?"

He raises an eyebrow with a smirk. "Worse than before?"

I think it over for a minute, then nod. "You can say that." I clear my throat and lean closer so no one can hear me. "There's a man that carries a picture of me in his wallet. He had me sign it." I look at him, waiting for a reaction.

I can see he's hiding a smirk, and his eyes twinkle. "Was it hot?"

I huff and hit him on the arm, but I'm not mad. The situation is simply too odd to actually be mad. I open my mouth to say something, when cheering starts. I look up and see that the television is being lowered, which means it's almost time for the ball drop.

When I look at Peeta, he's smiling. "Time to start the new year, huh?" He pulls me to him as we both watch the telecast start. They talk a little about the old tradition while we wait the ten minutes, and then the countdown is starting. Everyone's chanting, and even I decide to join in.

When the countdown is over, everyone is cheering and blowing their horns, so I take the opportunity to share a lingering kiss with Peeta.

He smiles and says, "Happy New Year."

I can't imagine how annoying those Capitol folk are. Price of celebrity, and all.

Read and Review, and Happy New Year's Eve (or maybe New Year, depending where you are)!