"You ready sweetheart?" Peeta murmurs as we're reunited again before our arrival in district 11. I nod, sighing slightly, but unable to stop smiling; I loved when he called me sweetheart, it made me feel so safe.

"Ready for our first stop? Or ready to admit that I'm in love with you?" I asked, and I could tell my question had caught him off guard. I could feel him start to get cautious, and I reassured him with a kiss. This would be the millionth time I've kissed Peeta, but the first knowing exactly that I knew it was what we both wanted. Last night was the best night of my existence. He moaned slightly and pulled away with a sigh.

"You continue to surprise and amaze me Katniss, and you know I love you right?" he whispered, stroking my cheek delicately with his fingertips. The action rose goosebumps on my arms.

"I love you too," I answered, trying to contain myself.

"But do you...?" he wondered, dropping his hand.

"Do I what?" I pushed. What could he possibly be unsure about?

"I didn't lose my virginity last night just to please the capitol...did I?" he asked, settling down on the bed and looking up at me with those eyes, those beautiful pure eyes. I closed my eyes and ran my fingers through my hair, stopping as soon as I realized that touching it would mess it up and Cinna and Portia would murder me. It hurt that Peeta would suggest that, that Peeta is confused about what we did last night. I sat next to him and touched his shoulder.

"No, it wasn't for the capitol. It was for us...love," I explained. He sighed and kissed me urgently, passionately.

"Thank god! What made you change your mind? What made you want to? I mean, what made you love me?" his last question was asked softly, he was legitimately curious, but I could still feel the relief coated heavily on his tone. Had I really defiled Peeta this much? Would he really consider that I'd do that to him for the viewers and Snow?

"I've always loved you," I murmured, realizing that Cinna had been so right. "I've loved you since the day you gave me bread. It's just, I, I mean, Gale...he got in the way of that...," I trailed off. I could've left Gale out of this.

"I get it," he whispers, "you love him."

"But I'm not in love with him," I explain, looking him in the eyes. "I'm in love with you!" He smiled uncontrollably. I've never seen a boy this happy, and it made me feel happy that I could do this. I can do this...

I didn't know if I could face Rues home, her family. I feel as though I'd let her down, and that I didn't deserve the praise they were going to give me.

As the speaker in my room comes to life we're informed that we're nearing the district and will be there shortly.

"I'm sorry Peeta," I whisper, feeling tears form in my eyes. What was wrong with me, why do I always cry? He hugs me tightly and strokes my hair, repeating shhh over and over again.

"Why are you sorry?"

"Because I hurt you! I should've let you know what was happening when we first went into the games." He knew what I'd been talking about.

"It's all over now. Do you wanna talk about something else?" he suggests, wiping the tears off of my cheeks. I smiled at him, so thankful. I looked down, noticing the dull color of his artificial leg. It made me upset all over again, I hadn't noticed he wasn't wearing it last night.

"Does it ever hurt?" I asked, stroking it, admiring the top-notch quality that the capitol had provided for him. I hated it.

"No. It's kind of like hair, you cut it, and when you reach up to touch it it's just gone. Useless." He looked at it with me. "I don't regret anything that happened. Everything that happened in that arena happened for a reason, happened because if it didn't, we both might not be alive," he explained with a warm smile. I looked up at him, into his hopeful eyes.

"You didn't have to be hurt to be where we are," I murmured, touching his chest, his thick muscles sculpted underneath the warm pale flesh.

"Yes I did," he whispered. "If I hadn't the audience wouldn't have had so much sympathy for us, it would've never given us the time to bond that we needed," he told me.

" 'We'?" I quoted suspiciously.

"Well, technically the viewers, but personally it's always been about you and I," he smiled, kissing me gently. He cupped my face in his hands, his beautiful artists hands cradling me as if I were a delicate diamond. Artist... I hadn't yet seen his art! I couldn't imagine anything other than the tiny pictures he'd had on cookies, and the believable scenery painted on his body as he hid from Cato in the games.

"Why haven't I ever seen your paintings?" I wondered, pulling away and grinning at the surprised look on his face.

Shrugging, "you never seemed interested before."

"Well I am," I smiled, and he took my hand eagerly.

"Follow me."

He watched my reaction as I observed all of his paintings. They were gruesome, the detail exquisite and the realistic quality of it terrifying. Everything represented on these canvases were a part of my past, a part of his past. They were the games. They were the Cornucopia, Clove placing knives in her jacket, the mutts...those terrifying mutts...one in particular. The blond, green-eyed one meant to be Glimmer, and me. I was everywhere! I couldn't believe how many paintings of me Peeta had magnificently brought to life.

"What do you think?" he asks.

"I hate them," I say. He's quiet. I turn and look at him. "I've spent so many nights trying to escape the games, and here they are. How do you remember them so clearly?" I wonder, taking his hand and kissing it, trying to cheer him up.

"I see them every night," he whispers. I sighed and hugged him, holding him tightly and burying my head in his neck as he was slightly taller than me. I inhaled his scent, treasuring him.

"They're extraordinary, Peeta, really," I say.

Effie bursts in the door and groans.

"You guys! I've been looking everywhere for you!" I chuckled at her always hilarious accent and worried appearance. "I don't see how this is funny in any way," she scolded, hurrying us out of the train car and into a new one. "I found them!" she calls to everyone else and they all rush to me, muttering unintelligible words and demands.

"Why don't you ever do this to him!" I whine, pointing at Peeta. He grins that beautiful smile and I'm overwhelmed with pride. He's mine. Peeta Mellark is mine.

"Because Peeta knows what to do, unlike you and your constant act of defiance against anything fun," Effie mutters, shooing everybody away but backing up as Cinna takes his place in front of me. He starts to make the finishing touches on my outfit, placing the mockingjay pin to my dress and adding a metallic gold headband to my getup. He's quiet, and I'm grateful, he's the only one on this train that gets me.

Eight peacekeepers are waiting for us on the platform in the station, and they direct us into the back of an armored truck. Effie looked uncomfortable, and as I laughed I realized exactly how greatful I was that I wasn't crying right now. It was as if Peeta had made everything right in me.

Soon the truck arrives at the Justice Building and we're hurried inside, the food and welcoming committee all very inviting. But there's no time to stop and admire the workings of this ancient building, and we make our way to the front entrance, the sound of the anthem roaring in our ears. There are flashbacks from my dream, from the cave, and it's as if my eyes have been opened. I've never felt so lucky to be alive. To have my friend with me, the boy with the bread. Someone places a microphone on my dress and Peeta grasps my hand, squeezing it reassuringly. It's then that I start to feel the panic. I smile as he pecks my cheek. What would I do without him?

"Big smiles!" Effie encourages, nudging us onto the stage through the massive doors after the mayor introduces us. I think to myself this is it, this is where I have to convince everybody how in love I am with Peeta.

It shouldn't be too hard...I did love him, anyway. He was everything, he was everything that I'd been silently missing my entire life.