A/N: In case you're still lost, I redid Chapters 16-19.

Finnick's gone. My mother looks at me, confused. "Did he break up with you? The girl on the phone didn't sound like him. Oh my god. He's cheating on you, isn't he? That little piece of... I knew he was no good. He's a man ho-"

I groan, and cut her off. "Good to know you think so nicely of my boyfriend. The girl on the phone was his sister. He's missing. He's not just wandering around, and he's not out at sea. Finnick would never cheat on me. Honestly. Give him a chance, would you?"

"Oh." is all she says. Just a second later, the phone rings. I'm about to rip it off the wall, like Haymitch did with his years ago. I never have five minutes without it ringing. I jump to pick it up. It's Madge.

"Katniss." She says. "You need to come over. I have something you need to see." I tell her I'll be there in a minute, and tell my mom where I'm going. I've spent a lot of time with Madge over the past year, mostly because we both have so much spare time on our hands. I sprint through the paved road. When I get to her house, which isn't very far from the victor's village, I'm winded. I haven't ran, or hunted in forever. She answers the door, and pulls me into her room before she talks. She throws me one of the Capitol magazines she gets sent to her house. On the front page, is a picture of Finnick kissing a Capitol woman. They're horizonal. It's taken through a bedroom window, and I can tell that it's one of his buyers. The caption says: Panem's Star-crossed Victors, broken up. I read the article. It says how Finnick cheated on me, and after I found out, I broke up with him.

"That isn't true." I say, dumbfounded. "We didn't break up."

Madge smiles sadly. "I think you two should talk it over. He's really cute, and I'm sure he's a nice guy, but a picture is worth a lot. I don't want you to get hurt. You look pale. Want some water?" She stands up to get me some.

"I'll go with you." We walk downstairs, and Madge pours us some water. I'm contemplating telling her that he didn't cheat on me, and how the pieces all fit together. But Mayor Undersee and someone else are coming downstairs. "Who is that?" I ask. Madge shrugs. When they come down the stairs into the kitchen, I can see who he was talking to. And I'm not that happy. Of course, it's the President. He smiles politely at me and Madge. He kisses both of our cheeks in Capitol fashion. Madge curtseys.

"Hello, Miss Undersee. Miss Everdeen. So nice to see you here. I was just… looking for you. I was just on my way out. Would you mind walking with me?" He says it like a question, but it's obvious it's a command. I hug Madge goodbye and shake hands with the Mayor.

We talk as soon as we've left the house. "Did you have that article published?" I ask him, sounding very confrontational. I have to remind myself that I'm talking to the President. I'm in no position of power when it comes to him. I have absolutely no control over any of this.

He raises an eyebrow at me. "Why of course. Things didn't… go as planned. If you and Mr. Odair aren't making public appearances, you can be booked more." The way he says it makes it seem so simply obvious. He pauses for a moment before continuing. "You know, the more you cooperate, the easier this will be. There have been incidents in the past, and I assure you they haven't ended well." I get a sinking feeling in my stomach. As we reach the house, President Snow pulls out a folded piece of paper. "All your appointments for the next month. They will be in District 12." I take the paper and put it in my pocket.

He knocks on the door, and mother answers. "Why, Mr. President. Please come in. Would you like anything to eat or drink?"

"No, thank you. I was just walking Miss Everdeen home. It's getting quite dark out." He smiles at her, charmingly and then turns to me. "We will be in touch, Miss Everdeen. Remember, the world will be watching." I nod, unable to form words. "Oh, and send my regards to Mister Odair?" A peacekeeper comes to escort him out.

"What was that about?" My mother asks. I ignore her.

"What did he mean by sending his regards to Finnick?" Gale asks me. I didn't even see him behind me. I point to upstairs, and he follows me to my room. Prim is doing her homework in the study. I guess she didn't need Gale anymore, and he was on his way home. When I'm sure nobody else is around, I toss him the magazine Madge gave me, with Finnick and the pink-skinned girl on the front cover. When Gale sees it, he clenches his fists so hard his knuckles turn white. "That little- I'm gonna beat the crap out of him. He can't do that to you..."

I run a hand through my knotted hair. "That's one of Finnick's buyers. He didn't cheat on me. Snow had this published, and Finnick's been missing ever since." I drag him out of the house, and next door. Haymitch and Johanna are playing cards. "Take out the good stuff, Haymitch."

Johanna raises her eyebrows. "What, do we have a new member of the whore crew?"

"That... no. Well I guess we don't no for sure." I answer, shaking my head. I take a sip of whatever Johanna passed me. It's strong, and my eyes water from it. I hold it out to Gale. "Ever had vodka?"

Gale takes a small sip and wrinkles her nose in disgust. "That's disgusting. You guys like drinking this crap? It burns your throat like something poisonous."

Haymitch guffaws. "Nobody drinks it for the taste, they drink it because it gets you drunk. And it's supposed to do that." He states it like its the most obvious thing in the world. I take the bottle from Gale and chug a quarter of it, ignoring the sheer pain it brings. Johanna and Haymitch look at me, stunned. "What's gotten into you?"

I wipe my mouth on the back of my hand. "My relationship got fucked up by a psychotic president and now Finnick's missing." Johanna takes a deep breath.

"You don't know where he is?" She asks, her voice eerily calm. It sounds more like a statement than a question, to tell the truth. I shake my head, no. "Well that's shitty."

"Katniss, don't you have somewhere to be tonight?" Haymitch reminds me. I have an appointment in a little less than an hour. Shit. I stand up quickly, but lose my balance. The liquors getting to me.

"I'll see you two later. I gotta go fuck some random guy. Because now I'm a single lady." Am I drunk? I sound like it. Gale walks me back to the house, and luckily we don't run into my mother or Prim. They went to help a small child, who's come down with a really bad cold. "Don't do anything stupid." Gale warns me. He gives me a hug, and kisses my forehead. The gesture reminds me of something a parent or older sibling would do. Maybe I can pretend he doesn't have feelings for me that I'll never be able to reciprocate.

I pick out a short red dress and flat shoes- District 12 isn't paved like the Capitol, and I don't have a driver. She does my eye makeup while I curl my hair. According to the clock, I have twenty minutes to get a few doors down. They use the unoccupied victor's village homes for these type of meetings. I touch up my lipstick, and throw on a wool coat. I'm walking out, when I'm stopped by my mother, and Prim.

"Where are you going?" She asks me.

I groan. Prim says hello, and jolts upstairs. She probably can tell this won't end nicely. "I don't want to lie to you. So I'm not going to answer that." I'm halfway out the door, but my mother grabs my arm. I can tell she wants a real explanation.

"You're going to tell me." She demands. I can't tell her.

"In Panem you're considered an adult at sixteen. I'm seventeen, I can make my own choices. And I don't need your consent to do so." I realize how icy I sound, and feel bad. She's just being a mother. "I'll tell you when I'm ready." I slam the door behind me. I pull my jacket over my body tightly. It's almost autumn now, and it's getting fairly chilly at night. I make my way to the address on the piece of paper Snow gave me, sticking to the dimly-lit path. While I'd choose District 12 over the Capitol any day, I do enjoy being driven anywhere. Also when I'm in the Capitol, people aren't scared of me. They treat me like some type of celebrity. I get to the house of the man, and knock on the door.

As soon as he rolls off of me, I stand up, and put my dress back on. I take a quick look at my appearance, and make sure I look alright. I throw on my jacket and graciously accept a secret from him about the president's daughter. I walk the short distance home and into the house, ignoring my mother waiting for me. I throw my clothes in the laundry basket, and climb into the shower. As usual, the hot water is soothing, and calms me down. But I don't cry. I don't think I can cry anymore. I just feel hollow inside. I change into one of Finnick's shirts and a pair of sweatpants, and head downstairs to talk to my mother. "Alright. Say whatever you want to. My ears are open." I tell her.

My mother sighs, beginning. I can tell she's chosen her words very carefully. "I'm worried about you. You go off to God-knows-where late at night and half-drunk, and then come back and act like everything's normal. Nothing's normal. You're not okay."

"The first guy I ever liked is dead, everyone in this district is terrified of me, my boyfriend is missing, and the press won't leave me alone. Of course I'm not okay!" I feel bad for yelling at her, but that's quickly replaced with apathy. "And on top of that, there's a freaking Quarter Quell coming up. You have no right to tell me what I can and can't do, when you have no idea what I'm going through." I storm into my room, and slam the door. I lay in bed, dreading for when sleep will find me. Sleeping is the only way to escape from my life for a while, but it brings nightmares, which bring back terrible memories. I'm trapped wherever I go.

Sadly, I fall asleep very quickly. I dream of Finnick's death, or rather, that they find his body outside of District Eight. Annie's sobbing, and Johanna's solemn. Adrienne won't leave her room. I wake up, screaming for him. Prim rushes in the room. She shakes me until I wake up. She asks me eyes wide, "Are you alright?"

I nod. "Yeah, I'm fine. It was just a nightmare. Did I wake you? You should go back to sleep."

"I don't think I can fall back asleep…" Prim mutters. She ties her hair up into a bun.

"You can stay with me." I tell her. We try to fall back asleep. There's no way I can - between not being able to forget the people I killed, Peeta included, not knowing where Finnick is, and knowing that the lives of all the people I care about are on the line based on how well I can sleep with sleazy men - it's almost not even worth trying.

I wake up to the sound of someone banging the door outside. I was having nightmares, but they weren't able to wake me up. Sometimes I'm just trapped in them, until they play out. My room is closest the door, so there's no way anyone else can hear it. It must be around six in the morning. Prim's in the shower, I hear the water running. She has school. I tiptoe downstairs, and open the door. I'm surprised at who I see. Finnick's holding a few bags of stuff. He's wrapped in a jacket, and looks like he hasn't showered or slept in days. He's still better looking than most guys. "Finnick!" I make some combination of a noise between a squeal and a sob, and wrap my arms around him. I pull him to the wall, and his lips are on mine. The whole world seems to melt away, and its just him and I. I think I hear someone walking around, but I don't bother to look. "What- what's going on? What happened?" I turn around and see Prim.

"Hello." She grins. "I'll leave you two alone…"

"Hi Prim." Finnick grins at her. She blushes, and runs off. He sits me down at the table, and holds my hand. "Juliette is psychotic. We all knew it, but she totally lost it when I got home. I wasn't expecting smiles and happy family time when I got home, but they could have at least been sympathetic. Dad and Adrienne weren't a problem. They knew I couldn't control some things. But Juliette went crazy - she said that all of her friends were boasting about how they heard who I was sleeping with. Without knowing the real story. She basically called me out on sleeping around when I should have been protecting her daughter. I was planning on staying with Annie for a while. And then, I see the article. I knew she was behind it. Or had something to do with it. So I needed to get away. I took a small train here. How is everyone?"

"Johanna moved in with Haymitch. Our favorite President stopped by. Gale's future is unsure of." I tell him. Finnick nods, understandingly.

"That shirt looks familiar." Finnick grins at me. I'm so happy to know he's safe. "Now something more important. I need a shower. And a nap."

"Later I need to Annie and Adrienne. About that shower..." I say, dragging Finnick into the bathroom. The steam is calming. Feeling the hot water beat down on my back is nice. Seeing Finnick naked is nicer. He puts his hand on the back of my neck, and pushes me up against the tiled wall. My hands get tangled in his golden-bronze hair. We just hold each other close like that for a while, saying nothing. There isn't anything to say. Being is so much more tolerable around him. "You know," I tell him, "I think I'm in love with you."

A smile plays on Finnick's lips. "You think? Katniss Everdeen, I know I'm in love with you." I don't know what to say, so I opt for saying nothing at all. My lips find his, and I kiss him like I haven't ever before. I've never been reserved around him when it comes to doing anything. But this kiss is so overwhelmingly powerful. All of the emotions we feel are getting put into this. I put legs around his waist, and he thrusts into me. I've never really thought about shower sex. But hopefully my mother and Prim can't hear us. That would be interesting. And not in a good way. "Guess you really missed me." He grins, kissing my neck, sucking on my pulse point. I rake my nails down his back, so hard I might draw blood. That isn't even a concern right now.

"I did. A lot." I tell Finnick. I try to stifle a loud moan by kissing him again. It doesn't work as well as I'd hope. I fall undone in his arms. What seems like an eternity later, I stand up, leaning against the shower wall. My legs feel like jelly. "I'm ready for a nap." I tell him. I shut off the water, and we dry ourselves off. I comb through my hair and put on the shirt he was wearing. I think I'm going to start a collection of his clothes. "Can I call you Finn?" I ask him.

Finnick nods. "Only people I really care about call me Finn. Like my family. And you're one of the people who I care about. So why not." He kisses my forehead, and then picks me up. "I think I'm gonna carry you to bed." I giggle as he picks me up, and carries my down the hall. It's a pretty long walk to the school from the Victor's village, so Prim must have just left. My mother is still asleep. He drops me on the bed, and turns off the lamp by the bed. "I love sleeping with you." Finnick yawns. "In both ways." I curl closer to him, letting him wrap his arms around my waist. I sleep a lot better when he's there.

"You're not too bad yourself." I say, grinning. "Finn?"

"Yeah?" Finn responds.

I put my head on his chest, and pull the soft blanket up to my chin. "I really missed you. A lot."

"I missed you too. But I'm here now." Finnick tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear. I have a feeling that maybe, for once, things are going to be alright. Maybe I'll get through this, and things will get better. I just need to take it one day at a time.

I wake up to bright sunlight coming in through the window. The first thing I register is how warm and fuzzy I feel in Finnick's arms. I feel safe. I'm really happy he's okay. I shift a little, and I feel him stir. "Morning again." He smiles at me, half-asleep. His arms wrap tighter around me. I kiss him and slide out of bed reluctantly.
"I need to call Annie and Adrienne. I'll be right back." I tiptoe down the hall. I see my mother. She looks me up and down, and shakes her head, disapprovingly. "Finn's okay." I tell her, smiling. My mother gives a small smile back, and I go to the phone. I dial Annie first. When I tell her, she sounds relieved. Adrienne cries a little, saying how glad she is that Finn's safe. She asks if I'll have him call to talk to her, and and I tell her I'll have Finnick do that when he wakes up. On my way back upstairs, Prim stops me. It must be the afternoon already since she's home from school. Her amused smile worries me. She pulls me down the hallway, out of the kitchen where our mother is. She leans against the wall, smiling the way Rue did when she asked about Peeta and I. I know this is going to be an interesting conversation.

A/N: After this, all I can promise is weekly updates.

Reviews = love.