I tried not to scream, but in all honesty I was terrified and confused. What had just happened? Who else had died? What had I done?

A Peacekeeper started to harshly pull me backwards, but then a softer hand took my arm. I bit my lip to stop the sobs coming out of my mouth. What if Rue's family was next? Or Thresh's? Had I caused all this?

"I'll take care of her," Haymitch said, gently holding my arm. The Peacekeeper looked reluctant to let Haymitch take me, but eventually he allowed me to go. Peeta tugged himself away from a Peacekeeper and rushed forward to me, ripping my arm away from Haymitch and holding me tightly to him.

"Are you okay?" he whispered desperately in my ear. I nodded into his shoulder, not sure if I was okay. What if the gun had been trained on him or me? The Peacekeepers looked like they were okay with shooting anyone. I started to cry, so rattled up from what had just happened. The tears fell on my orange dress, leaving dark stains on the shimmery fabric. Peeta held me closer and stroked my head rhythmically, helping me calm down.

The Peacekeepers cleared the area, supposedly leaving us alone. I heard a cough and looked up from Peeta's shoulder. Haymitch gestured for us to follow him. Before we started to move, he was off. Peeta and I almost had to run to follow him. He led us up a couple of stairways until we were in the very top of the Justice Building. The dome.

It was dusty, with small streaks of sunlight escaping into the room. There were a couple old statues and chairs, but everything was either covered in sheets or dust. The only sound was my heavy breathing; I was still not recovered from what had happened yet. I reached out to steady myself on a table, but Haymitch stopped me.

"Don't touch anything. And stay quiet," Haymitch warned. I stayed standing in one place and did not move. Peeta still had an arm around me; I melted into his side, clutching his shirt.

"Haymitch. What happened?" I asked. Peeta and Haymitch exchanged a glance. It looked like they were talking telepathically. And I wasn't included.

I took one step away from Peeta, making his arm drop from around my waist. They were keeping something from me. I stood with my hands on my hips, waiting for an answer to my question.

"Well, sweetheart. A man was shot," Haymitch stated bluntly.

"What are you keeping from me?"

Neither of them answered me at first. But I waited, not sure if I should feel angry or hurt.

"Nothing," Peeta muttered, looking down.

"We're a team. Why can't I know whatever it is?" I cried. I stared at Peeta until he met my gaze.

"It's nothing…" Peeta trailed off. I didn't believe him. My arms crossed, and I turned away from Peeta, looking back at the door on the ground we had climbed up through. I wanted to run. And not just downstairs, but away. I didn't want to be a part of this Tour anymore. Not if it meant killing innocent people.

We stood in silence. I stayed turned away from both of them. No doubt they were communicating with stares without me. My fingers fiddled with the hem of my dress. Why couldn't I just get a straight answer from them? Peeta and I had survived the Games; we were in this together.

"No, she's right. We are a team. And she is involved in it," Haymitch finally reasoned. I gave him a grateful nod before turning to Peeta. Peeta gave Haymitch a scared expression before turning back to me. We stood a couple of feet away from each other, but I wanted to be right next to him. Just as I took a step near him, he took one towards me. Peeta took a deep breath to calm himself.

"Snow visited me the day before the Victory Tour. He threatened me. And he said he could easily kill anyone in 12," Peeta grabbed my hand. "Katniss, Prim, Gale, my family, your family. They could all die. We have to convince him. We have to fix everything on this tour."

I took my hand away from his and crossed my arms again, trying to protect myself.

"Everything?" I asked, looking at Haymitch. Haymitch gestured again to Peeta, who sighed.

"There's apparently unrest in the districts. It all started with our stunt with the berries. Snow told me to try and dim things. To use the Tour to try and show everyone that we only acted out of love, not rebellion," he told me.

"Unrest?" I gasped. Unrest as in people fighting the Capitol? Rebellions? Death?

"Yes," Peeta muttered, looking shameful.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" I breathed.

"We thought it would change how you acted on the tour. We needed you to be all lovey-dovey with Peeta," Haymitch explained. I thought about that. I wasn't sure if I would act differently knowing this. I loved Peeta. I would act my part no matter what.

But I realized we were supposed to dim the flames. Not add fire.

"Then, me blurting out to the families like that was bad," I put my head down. I tried not to cry. But my stupid speech to the families had only caused death for the man and who knows how many other people out in the 11. I immediately pictured Rue's sisters lying dead on the ground, and tears slid down my cheeks. I ran my hands through my hair and squeezed my eyes shut. The image wouldn't go away.

"That's our fault, sweetheart. We didn't tell you about Snow," Haymitch said.

"And even though I did know about the unrest, I still spoke out, Ivy. It's my fault, not yours," Peeta sighed. It didn't make me feel much better. "Well… what do we do now?" Peeta asked. Haymitch sighed.

"Just try and erase what happened. Stick to the scripted speeches. Act delirious with love! You both have to play your parts perfectly for us to convince Snow," Haymitch muttered.

I peeked at Peeta. Did he actually love me? I knew I could make this seem real. And if Peeta was telling the truth, he would be able to as well.

I forgave him and Haymitch.

I walked up and wrapped my arms around Peeta. He didn't hesitate to hold me back.

"Keep me in the loop from now on, okay? I don't want to mess up anymore. I don't want any more death," I murmured.

"I promise," he replied, "but only if you don't keep secrets from me too." I almost agreed right away, but then I remember I had a secret: Gale's kiss.

I looked over his shoulder at Haymitch, silently asking him if I should tell Peeta about Gale. He raised his eyebrows, allowing me to decide.

I didn't know when to tell Peeta about Gale, but Snow didn't visit me. So I assumed that it wasn't important right now. I decided to keep it a secret until the time was right.

"Okay."

Haymitch escorted me to Cinna, who was going to help me get ready for the dinner. The prep team redid my hair and applied some more makeup.

Then, Cinna brought a gown to me. It was green. He had never made me a green dress before. I set my hand on it. It was soft and light. One corner of my mouth lifted up in a small smile.

"What is it?" Cinna asked as he helped me put it on.

"This is my favorite color," I whispered. It didn't have a voluminous skirt or puffy sleeves. It was a simple, strapless dress that went straight down and clung to my body in all the right spots.

"I had a little help with the color, actually," Cinna said absentmindedly as he circled me, making sure everything was perfect. When my "inspection" was done, Cinna led me to a mirror. He added a pair of elbow-length white gloves.

The color was almost exactly the color of my eyes.

"It's… stunning," I smiled.

"Don't you want to know about the color?" he asked in a wondering tone. I bit my lip, trying to stop smiling.

"I think I know who told you," I smiled. Cinna gave me a knowing smile.

"Seems Mr. Mellark does have feelings for you after all," Cinna said, fluffing my hair a little. Cinna had told me last year that he thought Peeta might have some feelings for me, since he was willing to commit suicide with me.

"I love it, Cinna," I turned to embrace him. He seemed surprised at first, but then hugged me in return.

"I thought it would be a nice change. To see the Girl on Fire in green," he smiled. I smiled too. Maybe this would help dim the unrest too, the rebels seeing me in a calmer color like green. I felt pretty.

I hoped that Peeta would like it.

Cinna took me to meet the rest of the group so we could walk to the dinner. Peeta came up to me and took my hand.

"You look… amazing," he said, seeming to have a loss for words. He was wearing a plain black suit, but he had green embellishments here and there to match my dress.

"My favorite color," I smiled at him. He blushed.

"I may have said something about it to Cinna," he muttered.

"Thank you," I said sincerely to him. It was nice that he remembered my favorite color, and that he even talked to Cinna about me. He reached down and kissed me on the cheek. I felt my cheeks burn, and Peeta's fingers traced my blush. I felt my blood pump through my veins faster when he touched my face.

Realizing we had been whispering to each other, we turned to face everyone else. Effie seemed to be freaking out about something.

"Effie, are you okay?" Peeta asked. She shook her head, wiping a tear from under her eye.

"It's just that we're being treated weirdly. I was checking out the building, making sure that the mold and rot wouldn't do anything to my skin. And then a Peacekeeper came up to me, yelled at me for looking at the building, and poked me with his gun!" she exclaimed. Peeta and I exchanged glances with Haymitch.

"I'm sorry, Effie," I muttered, my voice dripping with sympathy. Effie gave me a smile.

"It's okay, Ivy. It's not anything that you did! There's no need to apologize!" she cried. Peeta almost laughed. Because it was our fault that we were treated this way. We had unconsciously sparked a rebellion. And now we were paying for it.

Effie blew her nose and arranged us in our entrance formation. I didn't know that there was a whole entrance ceremony to the dinner. But Peeta and I walked last, so we had more time to ourselves.

"Ivy."

"Peeta?"

"I really am sorry that I kept the Snow thing from you," he whispered directly into my ear.

"I would have done the same thing. It's really okay, Peeta," I said. He wrapped his arm around my waist and held me close to him.

"Okay," he replied, almost as if he was still not satisfied that I had forgiven him. Maybe he saw how easily I forgave him. What if he knew that I was keeping a secret from him? What would he do when he learned that Gale and I had kissed? I realized that the only way my secret would hurt him would be if he actually loved me.

Why was I still skeptical that he actually loved me? Was it because he wouldn't kiss me unless there was a camera? Because he already lied to me? Either way, I wasn't going to believe him too easily. But, it wasn't hurting anyone to pretend like I believed him.

"Oh, we have to go," I said, grabbing his hand and leading him to the dinner.