Effie escorted us to the dinner but left us alone as soon as she entered the room. Since we had won the Games, her popularity had gone up. She went around and began to mingle with almost anyone she could find.

Peeta and I didn't try and talk to people, but a lot of people came up and talked to us. We were soon separated by mobs of people. Once the mobs thinned out, I found myself on the middle of the dance floor with no Peeta in sight. I stood there, trying not to look too awkward standing there alone. I slowly circled around, looking for Peeta. I found him standing over by a table of cakes. He was talking to some bakers, and I smiled at him.

Just as I began to walk towards him, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I spun around quickly, making my dress flare out a little. I felt the fabric hit against my legs, and my nose clogged up when I saw who had tapped me. I straightened my back and breathed through my mouth.

"President Snow," I said with a large, incredibly fake smile.

"Miss Undersee… or should I say, Mellark?" he said, returning my smile. His lips were unnaturally puffy, as if he had too much work done on them.

I laughed, "Thank you for throwing us this dinner."

"It was no trouble for our victors." He let the 's' continue on as he spoke, sounding like a hissing reptile, emphasizing the fact that we had both won and beat him.

I didn't respond; I only smiled.

"May I have a dance?" Snow asked.

"Of course, President Snow," I said, trying to make my voice sound cordial.

President Snow took of one my hands and held it in his. He set his other hand on my waist. I tried not to cringe. I let my hand sit gently on his shoulder, not wanting to touch him. I was afraid I would begin to smell like blood, or that my hand would burn where it touched him. I kept my head turned away from Snow, constantly shifting my eyes around the crowd, seeing who would help me if I screamed right now.

"Tell me, Miss Undersee, whom do you know here tonight?" he asked. My eyes shifted towards him; I was confused by the question.

"My prep team, Cinna, Portia, Haymitch Abernathy, Effie Trinket, and Peeta," I responded in a cautious, low tone.

"So little friends here," Snow leaned in and whispered, "A snap of my fingers would end their lives."

I pulled back from him, my mouth hanging open in surprise. It had come out of nowhere, his threat. Had he been planning to do this the whole time? Ruin my night? Kill everyone I love?

"Why… why would you do that?"

"Because. You lied to me," he stated, sounding like he was scolding a child.

"No, I didn't," I snarled. "I did not lie."

"Let us not be dishonest with one another, it just makes everything take so much longer. You and Mr. Mellark both have been lying to me and to everyone," he murmured in my ear. I wondered why he was doing this here and now.

"How?" I breathed, trembling with either fear or rage. He wasn't doing this now; Snow couldn't be doing this now. It was the best day of my life. How could anyone take that away from me?

"Obviously the berries. They were out of rebellion, not love," he said as if he knew everything.

"You're wrong, President Snow. Peeta and I are in love, something I doubt you would know anything about," I said as I let my hand drop from his shoulder. He let my other hand go. I looked around trying to find Peeta again. I needed him.

Where was he?

Snow chuckled, "I had a wife once."

I turned to stare at him with dark eyes, "Good. I'm going to get married and become one." My words were choppy. Why couldn't I speak correctly? Was it the stench? Was it shock?

Was it possibly because… I believed Snow? No. Impossible.

My head began to hurt from the pounding inside.

"Oh, but first you must ask your mother," Snow said. I wondered why he was still talking. We had already established that we hated each other. And he had already threatened to kill everyone I loved. What else could there possibly be?

"My mother doesn't care for me," I answered, lifting my chin up. I wanted to seem stronger than Snow was making me out to be.

"Who does care for you, Miss Undersee? Hmm? The boy from the pond?" Snow asked. The room seemed to darken until I could only see Snow and myself. And we were spinning. Spinning so quickly I couldn't even really see him; he was just a blur. I clutched at my stomach, trying not to throw up.

Snow knew about Gale.

"He kissed me," I breathed. "You can't blame Peeta for that."

"Oh, but Peeta kissed another girl. Don't you remember? You were there weren't you?" he asked me, putting venom in each word. He was trying to hurt me. I felt as if I had been bitten. And Snow's poison was slowly spreading through me, making me ache and burn.

"I remember," I said weakly, "but he loves me."

"I wouldn't be so sure, Miss Undersee," Snow said as the room came back into my focus. I found Snow's eyes and glared, my anger again replacing my fear and doubt.

"How would you know?" I spat. Snow laughed like we had been telling jokes this whole time. People had started to watch and wonder, whacking each other with their absurd handbags to point at the president and the victor in the middle of the floor.

"Because Mr. Mellark is watching you and me right now, yet he doesn't come to save you," Snow responded, looking behind me. I turned to see Peeta glancing at us from one of the many food tables. I came with an excuse fast. My hands started to get clammy.

"Well, I told him I would meet him when I was done talking with everyone," I gave the president a curtsey. "Goodbye, President Snow."

As I walked away, Snow called out, "Have a lovely night, Mrs. Mellark."

Phrases and words I had heard from Haymitch and Peeta began to fly through my head.

We have to convince him.

Use the Tour… try and show… we only acted out of love… not rebellion.

We thought it would change how you acted on the tour.

We needed you to be all lovey-dovey with Peeta.

Act delirious with love… play your parts perfectly… to convince Snow.

You're not doing enough.

We wanted you to react the right way.

It was our last attempt at settling everything, you know?

It was all a game. It wasn't real. Peeta was lying, because he needed me to act my part. I wouldn't forgive him so he lied. I started to hyperventilate. It was always about convincing Snow. It was never about me. He never loved me again. Everything was a lie. My head began to throb. I couldn't find Peeta. I stopped where I was and leaned against the nearby table.

Get it together. Compose yourself.

I started to feel sweat on my forehead. My stomach hurt, and I felt sick. I hunched over, feeling sweat beginning to form all over my body. I felt a hand touch my back, and I didn't turn around. Tears were sliding down my cheeks, and whichever Capitol person wanted to talk to me now couldn't see me crying.

"Ivy?"

I almost smiled. I turned around and quickly hugged Haymitch. I secretly wiped my face on his jacket, before standing up. Haymitch looked at me confused. I looked at my reflection on a shiny plate; my makeup wasn't smeared.

"Have you seen Peeta?" I asked. Haymitch, still looking completely confused, pointed towards a different food table. I found Peeta standing there, chatting with a man I had never seen before. I slowly walked up, deciding whether or not to join their conversation. Peeta spotted me and waved me over.

"Ivy, this is Plutarch Heavensbee. He's the new Head Gamemaker," Peeta said. I made a mental note to ask Haymitch later why there was a new Head Gamemaker. He gestured to me, "I'm sure you heard of my fiancée, Ivy Undersee."

"Of course! Who hasn't? It's nice to see you again," Plutarch said, shaking my hand.

"Again?" I laughed. He didn't look offended that I didn't remember him.

"I've been avoiding punch ever since," he hinted. My eyes widened.

"Oh! You're the one who fell into the punch!" I said, finally remembering. I hadn't seen his face very well because I had thrown spears at the lights. But there was no doubt in my mind that he was the one who fell.

"And I'd like to let you know that I never fully recovered," he smiled. Peeta chuckled. There was a small chirpy sound. Plutarch's hand flew to his pocket, and he pulled out a small pocket watch. He opened it up and looked at the time. It was almost midnight.

"That's a very nice watch," Peeta commented.

"Thank you. I had it specially made," his fingers ran over the surface and for a second I thought I saw a mockingjay. But the thought was impossible, and I brushed it aside. "If you'll excuse me, I have a Gamemakers' meeting to attend to. It starts at midnight. No one's supposed to know about it, but I think I can trust you two," he said, the sides of his mouth curling up.

"Pleasure meeting you," Peeta said, sticking his hand out. The Head Gamemaker shook it.

"Congratulations again on your engagement!" Plutarch said as he walked away.

"Wow, Head Gamemaker. What an honor," I commented. Peeta nodded.

"Are you hungry?" he asked. I looked at all the tables with piles and piles of food, and suddenly my stomach growled.

"I guess that's a yes," I laughed. Peeta took my hand, and I almost wanted to pull it away again.

I kept fooling myself into thinking everything was okay. But I couldn't just tell Peeta now that I knew the truth, yet if I pretended much longer, I feared the outcome would hurt us both.

"Where do we start?" Peeta wondered. I pointed out a random table, and we began to sample the food. More people would wander up to us and congratulate us and touch my hair and compliment our looks and our Games.

Too soon, my stomach was full.

"Why aren't you eating?" Flavius asked

"We have been," Peeta answered.

"But we're full," I added. Venia laughed at us.

"Here, drink this!" she said, picking up a two small glasses of a clear liquid and handing them to us. Peeta put the glass to his mouth.

"Stop!" Octavia yelled, causing people to stare at us.

"Not here!" Flavius whined.

"Why?" Peeta asked, looking into the glass with a scared look.

"You have to drink it in there," Octavia said as she pointed to the bathrooms. Peeta set down his glass. I stared at my glass with horror.

"You want me to…"

"Come on, Ivy. Let's dance," Peeta grabbed the glass from my hand and set it on the table. He pulled me onto the dance floor. He set his hands on my waist.

I always loved with Peeta was close, but now I was unhappy. More than unhappy, I was heartbroken. Because I knew it was all a game now. I lightly set my hands on his shoulders and turned my head to the side, not being able to look Peeta in the eye. My gaze was focused on one spot outside the window, a brightly glowing star in the middle of the lit up Capitol sky. Defiant.

I felt Peeta's cheek touch mine, and he whispered in my ear.

"You start to think they're okay, and then they go and do something like that," he said. I forced a short laugh.

"You're talking about the people who watch kids kill each other for entertainment. Really, puking up food is nothing by comparison," I pointed out.

"But, back in 12… everyone is starving. And here, they're puking up food to eat even more and more," Peeta murmured.

"I know," I replied.

"Ivy… what if we're wrong?" he paused to look at my face. I was confused. "What if we're wrong to subdue things?"

"Shh," I whispered. Peeta nodded and apologized.

But I thought hard about what he said. Should we just let a rebellion happen? No more Hunger Games or President Snow. Maybe there would be more food for the poorer districts. For 12.

But then I thought of all the death that would happen in a war against the Capitol. No, we're not wrong. We needed to stop the unrest. But if this "proposal" didn't work, we were all out of ideas. We danced for a couple more minutes before Effie came up to us.

"We have to get back on the train at one. Here, follow me," she exclaimed, leading us through the crowd. I looked at Peeta confused. It couldn't be one yet.

But I saw why she had us start to leave so early. We had many people to say goodbye to, not to mention the many people who stopped us to say congratulations.

But, we got on the train by one o'clock and were off for 12 in no time. As soon as I changed in comfortable pajamas, I went to find Haymitch. I needed to ask him what he knew about Peeta's lying to me. Knowing Haymitch, he was probably the one who told Peeta to lie to me. He was passed out drunk in his room, so I decided to just wait until morning, though I wished I didn't have to wait that long. I got back to my room and found Peeta standing by the window waiting for me.

"There you are! I was worried you had sleep-walked off the back of the train," Peeta joked. I shook my head and crossed my arms. "Are you okay, Ivy?"

"I think I can manage tonight… alone," I stuttered out. Peeta stared at me with big eyes.

"Are you okay?" he repeated. I nodded.

"Yeah… yes. I'm okay," I murmured, knowing he could see through my lie.

"If you're not okay, just say so," Peeta said, stepping forward towards me. My eyes squeezed close. Gale had said that to me too. Tears fell from my closed eyes.

"I'm not okay," I admitted. Something shifted in the room, and Peeta almost seemed to turn desperate.

"I'm here! Ivy, I can help!" he exclaimed, holding my arms.

"No, you can't," I said softly. Peeta's eyes scanned over my face, despairingly. He couldn't help, because he was the reason.

"I don't understand. Ivy, tell me what's wrong," he said. I tried to shrug off his grip on my arms, but Peeta wouldn't let go.

"I just… please leave," I begged. The tears were blurring my vision now. Peeta refused to leave, so I shoved him out of the door, despite his arguing and resisting, and locked it behind him. I slid down against the door, listening to Peeta knock on my door over and over again.

"Ivy! Why can't I help?" Peeta cried. I didn't answer. "I can't just wait out here! You can't be alone!"

The pain of the truth hit me hard just now. It was the Games all over again. I was set up for heartbreak. My feelings didn't even matter to Peeta anymore. He just wanted to save himself. And when he felt his own life threatened, he lied to me again just to save himself.

I had opened my heart once again, even after I had sworn to myself it would remain closed. And it hurt worse getting broken a second time.

Eventually, Peeta stopped knocking. I heard his hand slide down the door, defeated.

"Ivy, I'm going to go to my room. But I'm here for you. Always," he choked out. I listened for the footsteps leading him away. There was a pause, and then, Peeta left.

I knew I couldn't cope with the nightmares alone. So I sat against my door all night, staring out my window. Unblinking.

His promise.

I love you, and I'm never going to leave you, Ivy Undersee. And that is something I can promise you.

And his lie.

You have me now.

Because I didn't. I didn't have him now, or ever. I was alone again. And I would always end up alone. And that was something I could promise myself.