A/N: Hooray, a long chapter for you wonderful people for reviewing and because there was no natural break! :D Here you go-reviewing inspires us to put up the new chapter faster! :D (Starts Peeta's POV)

You were right, Terra. You were right.

I pace through the streets, keeping my hood up and glancing around at all of the shops, trying to figure out somewhere to sit down that I wouldn't have to buy anything. I have no money, after all. Eventually, I find a coffee shop that has a small, table for one in the corner that I sit myself at, resting my head on the table. I did all of this for nothing. Maybe my dad could've hid me at home, and I could've lived. But I believed him. I believed he loved me. And I wasted everything to come see him. And now, I'll die for it. ~

How he was able to get all those tears out, I don't know. But however he did it, it was convincing. I'll give him credit for that. The crying, talking about people hating him...

He said that all in the Games. People in District Twelve hate him. He could've made it up now, but back in the Hunger Games, there would've been no reason for that. Pass that off and ignore it. Maybe he was just using it to his advantage to make the story believable.

Maybe. ~

People in the shop ask me if I want everything, but I just keep my head down and shake it. I just sit there and cry for almost an hour. One forty-five. I'm just so numb, I've lost all sense of time. Maybe I could've gone on, but not without him. Not knowing that he lied. Maybe if there was some chance that he did love me... or that I could be with him again, like he said...then I'd be okay. But this...this is a point of no return. I stand, staring emotionless at the clock, and leave the shop, right onto a busy street. I could care less if people see me anymore. What's done is done. ~

No. He must've been serious. Even if he was still only lying...I have to find him. He was upset even before I told him I didn't like him. Real tears flooded my bedroom. I'll go with him...we can make it work. Hiding, sneaking around...we can make it work. If it doesn't work out, then we both die. Together. Because I already miss him.

If he was telling the truth, then he'll be at the Justice Building in only fifteen minutes. That's not too far away from here, but I'll have to run like hell.

Before I leave, though, I go into my closet and take off the only thing actually on a hanger: his jacket from District Twelve. Carefully, I place it in that bent up box that mine came in and rewrap the box with the reverse side of his brown paper. Then, I dig in my nightstand drawer for a marker or a pen. Nothing comes up but pencils and beige notepad paper, so I take out the paper and the sharpest pencil I could find. The first thing I do is write his name in large letters on the top of the box. Next, I put the paper on the box and start writing:

Dear Peeta,

You're still my Lover Boy if I'm still yours, because you're still, and you'll always be...my boyfriend.

I'm sorry about before. I'm just really bad with words, like you said, so I'll write this letter for you. Telling you that I don't hate you. Telling you that I love you. I have ever since I first told you. Don't think I lied. I didn't. I do love you.

I love you so much that I was willing to break your heart so that you would leave and be safe. But I don't really think before I act, so when you broke down and started to cry, I didn't think you were serious. If you were, I'm so sorry.

I understand if you hate me now...but please, just give me a chance. We can go. Everything for you, dear.

Love, Cato (your boyfriend...?)

I put the note in my pocket and run out the door with the gift, not forgetting to take my own jacket off the front lawn and put it on. One forty-five. ~

One fifty-five. I'm coming up on the Justice building now, and the crowds are thicker. This is it. I can't even say I've accomplished anything I wanted to in my life. It...it's kind of sad. But maybe I over expected. Maybe I dreamed too big. Love. A family. I dreamed too big. ~

Never have I ran this fast in my life before. Not during the Hunger Games. Not during training. But when your motivation is love, you're desperate enough to do anything. I'm afraid of even tripping over my own two feet. If I do that, or get held back in some way...I might not make it. I want to make it, though. For that boy. So I keep going. Package in hand...I keep going.

I know I'm coming up on the Justice Building. I've been by it so many times, either by just casually walking by, or visiting my dad...it's around the corner. Right up ahead. And when I turn, I see him walking to it. So, I continue to pick up speed to get to him. "Wait!" If I call his name, everyone will know it's him and everything will collapse and they'll kill him. But I have to let him know I'm talking to him. "Wait!...Happy birthday!" ~

At the top of the steps, I hear it. And I know it's him. I look behind me, and sure enough, it's him. All I can do is shake my head and keep walking. ~

"No!" I leap up the stairs, three at a time, and drag him down the side steps into an empty alley. "Are you insane? You actually went there?" ~

"Why do you even care?" I pull out of his grasp. "Haven't you done enough?" ~

Holding the box behind my back, I stick my empty hand into my right pocket and take out the letter. "I wrote you a birthday card," I say as I hand it to him. ~

"Stop trying to screw with me." I throw it back at him. "Just let me go, okay?" ~

"Keep your voice down!" I yell in a hushed tone. "Read it, Peeta." I give him the paper. "I spent like three minutes writing that. Don't let those three minutes be wasted." ~

"You wasted three months of my life. I think you can afford three minutes." I say coldly. ~

"No, not these three minutes...I can't afford to have those wasted. Don't make me live my life wishing you had read this." I look down at my feet. "Please...for me." ~

"Why? Why should I?" I shut my eyes and turn from him. "You've opened up wounds. And I know you don't care. Just...take your stupid present and your stupid letter and go to your girlfriend." I've had enough hateful letters for a lifetime. ~

"I don't have a girlfriend!" I grab his wrist and turn him to face me. "Just...a boyfriend." Once more, I try to give him the letter. ~

"What happened to not being gay, huh?" I'm tearing a bit, partially because I don't want to hear this. I'm afraid to hear it. Because it'll only hurt. ~

"Just read it...I'm not good with words." ~

Reluctantly, I take the note and open it up.

"...How do I know you're not lying now to humiliate me later?" I want to believe him. But it hurts to. ~

"Because..." I hold both of his hands up against the wall and lay a sweet, long kiss on him. "Did that have feeling?" ~

Yes. Yes, it did.

I nod a little, shaky. "You have to know that I'd rather die than be without you. I've been alone before...and death seems much more pleasant." ~

Without saying a word at first, I hand him the box. Then I add, "In case you doubt it, here...what's inside should get rid of any doubt at all in your head." ~

I look at him warily before taking the box. It's my box, the one I sent him.

Inside, it's my jacket from the Games. "You...kept this? They let you?" I got his. He got mine. They brought us back together, essentially. ~

"I begged them to let me keep it. Because it was the only part of you I had left...up 'til now?" I hold out my hand, asking him to either take it or leave it. ~

"Always." I take it. ~

"I'm so sorry for earlier...I didn't think you would try to get yourself killed. I just thought you would go away somewhere else. If you went to the Justice Building, they probably wouldn't have killed you...without doing something worse first." It's good to hold his hand again, so I swing it back and forth a few times, smiling. "I like this." ~

"I understand, just... It might not have been so bad. You just cut open a lot of wounds from back home...which you didn't know about, so I can't blame you...it just made things a lot worse than they were." I squeeze his hand. "I like you." I pause. "Just know that...If I ever told you to go, I'd never mean it. It just means I want you to kiss me and love me more. Never leave me...Always love me."~

"I love you." I'm not even sure if I want to ask about what happened back home. He's had enough crying for one day. "I didn't even think you'd fall for that so easily...was my love for you in the Games not convincing enough?" I laugh. ~

"No, no...definitely not." I smile. "I've just been lied to a lot. So I almost prepare myself for the worst when things happen, so I don't get disappointed too much when they don't work out." ~

"Well, we'll work out. I choose together." At least he has one thing going for him. ~

"No matter what?" ~

"No matter what." Even if I have to die...at least it'll be with him instead of alone. "How can I make it up to you?" ~

I'm about to say 'nothing', because really, deep down, I know he was trying to protect me, but then my stomach rumbles. "Food?" I give him a hopeful smile. "I haven't eaten in a few days." ~

"Instead of home, how about we go out to eat?" I know a place that's dark, so even if he is recognizable, no one can really get a good look at him. ~

"That sounds nice." I smile. "You know, that's the first 'happy birthday' I've gotten in two years?" I reach out to take his hand and begin walking. ~

"That's...sad." Before taking him out of the alley, I look out into the street to make sure there are no Peacekeepers around. "This way," I say, leading him to the right, away from the front of the Justice Building. ~

"Kinda is, isn't it?" I sigh, keeping my head down as we walk hand in hand. "You know, people in the Capitol are going to be all over this new mystery boyfriend of yours." ~

I let go of his hand. "Then maybe it's best that I don't have a new mystery boyfriend. Attracting attention to you is a bad thing, remember?" ~

"I mean, if they don't know or see me...What I mean is, people already just saw you holding my hand. Rumors spread like wildfire. Let them wonder." ~

I groan, "Fuck everything. Now no one's going to leave me alone." ~

"We can lock them away. I mean...what are we going to do now? Where are we going to go?" ~

"Away. I don't know. Wherever you go." When we get to the corner, I take him down a less busier side street. ~

"Well, that doesn't help." ~

"Can we think about this later?" It's hard to think now. My mind is clogged with everything that's been said today. And we're both starving. "We'll figure it out." ~

"Fine, then let's get food!" I pull him along faster. "When I said I haven't eaten in days, I wasn't exaggerating!" ~

"Same here." ~

"You have that house filled with food, and you weren't eating?" ~

"I wasn't in the eating kind of mood," I shrug. ~

"I usually eat my feelings, so I guess we balance each other out." ~

"We always have. That's why we're perfect for each other, you know." ~

"That's true." I lean my head on his shoulder since he won't hold my hand. "So, you don't have a girlfriend, right? You like me. A guy. And you want to stay with me? I'm just making sure we're on the same terms here." I laugh quietly, joking with him. ~

"You mean I can't have both?" I fake a shocked face. ~

"It's me or her. You've gotta make a choice." ~

"Her! Her! That's the easiest choice!" I laugh. "Boobs over dicks, man. Any time. All day, every day." I make it clear that I'm only joking. Don't want another mishap like before. ~

"And that's why you almost had sex with a guy on live television?" ~

"You're essentially a girl, so it's okay." ~

"Am not!" ~

"You act like one enough." He's so goddamn emotional. ~

"Just because I have feelings and stuff." I can't even blame it on the bullying. That partially happened because they thought I was gay because of the 'femininity'. ~

"You got me all feely, too. You bitch." Like I said. Before the second day in the Games, I hadn't cried since I was nine. ~

"You decided to stick with me. You can't blame me for anything anymore." ~

"Don't make me leave you, Peeta." Then I could blame him for everything, if I wanted to. ~

"Neither of us wants that." ~

"You're right." We turn the corner again onto a street that has lots of shops for food and such. "It's only a little farther ahead...which is good, because it looks like rain." ~

"Is it just me, or is it always raining when we're together?" ~

"That's because even in the rain, you're the brightest thing out there. It's trying to enhance you." ~

"Well, now I've got you and Mother Nature helping me out. That's two people. Three, if you count my dad." ~

"You can count my mom, if you want." Maybe before we leave, I'll introduce them to each other. She knows I really love him. All she wants is for me to be happy, and I can't just leave her without saying goodbye, so... "I think she'd like you." ~

"She did seem really nice," I say. The woman reminded me of the side of Cato I'd gotten out during the Games. Probably where he got it from. "Sounds like the kind of mother I wished I had." ~

"You never really mentioned your mom. Is she a real bi-" And the downpour starts. "Let's go!" I take his hand, not caring about anyone willing to pay attention, and run down the street. I don't want to get sick again. ~

"Hurry!" I laugh, getting dragged along behind him and almost falling along the way. ~

Finally, I find the place I was looking for and pull him into the building. "We're kinda soaked a little, but we're safe from the storm. I thought little you would blow away out there." ~

"Because I'm so short, right?" I pull the hood down for a moment, shaking my head like a wet dog. ~

"Short for life." He's all wet now. His sweatshirt isn't exactly waterproof, nor does it look warm. "You should put that jacket on underneath your hoodie. You'll catch a cold if you sit around all wet." ~

I pull the jacket out of the box and unzip the hoodie. It's heavy now from all of the water weight. "I still can't believe you managed to keep it." ~

"I have a picture back home, of me wearing it. I didn't take it off until I had that interview before I went home. It smells like you." I pause. "And like seven or eight other people." ~

I smile a bit at him. "Then...you wear this one. And I get yours. So we'll always have a part of one another with us." ~

That's cute. "Well, that'll keep away people wondering how I all of a sudden acquired my old jacket. Just...zip your hoodie over it so that people won't see." I unzip mine and pull it off, handing it to him in exchange for his. ~

"It works out." I pull the jacket over me, basking in the warmth from his body. "I'm gonna let the hoodie dry while we eat, though, okay?" ~

"Of course." I put on the familiar, beat up, slightly bloodied jacket. It's still nice on the inside. "Ready?" ~

"I've been ready." I laugh, taking his hand. "Let's eat!" ~

"Alright." I take him into the large room. As I suspected, it's dark except for a few dim lights around the place. "This is the kinda place where you uh, order at the counter and bring food over. They don't really wait on you, so...you can go get a seat. I'll get food. What do you want?" I take a tiny menu off the counter and hand it to him. "There are some good things on there. Not Capitol standards, but close enough for me." ~

"Food." I put the menu down. "I want food. Anything. Surprise me." ~

"Demanding." I wave him off to the corner. "Go sit." ~

"Fine, fine." I sigh, going over to the booth and sliding in, laying my head down on the table. ~

I order spaghetti, fried potatoes, dinner rolls, and two waters. Not sure about Peeta, but I hate seafood so much, so I avoided about a page of the menu. It's not like there's a lot anyway. We only have small samplings of food from other places. But since we don't make or grow food in District Two, we need to get it from somewhere.

After I pay for everything and take the tray back to our table, with the guy behind the counter giving me an odd look as I walk away. "I'm back." ~

"I missed you." I look up at him and smile, cracking my back slightly as I sit up. "Looks good." My mouth is already water. How pathetic. ~

I set the plate down and sit. "One giant plate of spaghetti. You like?" ~

"Most definitely!" I can't object to any hot food. Ever. ~

"Yay! Then we get to share." I put a straw into my glass and take a sip. I can't drink without a straw. ~

"I'm not picky at all with food," I laugh. "When you really don't get options besides eating or not eating, you learn to not be choosy." ~

"No matter what, I'd be choosy. Like I refuse to eat things that came from the ocean." I eat one of the smaller potatoes. "Oh, salty," I laugh. ~

"Fish is expensive! I never got a taste for it because I've never tasted it!" I laugh, immediately taking a fork to the pasta. "I never had any in the Capitol though because I didn't think I'd like it." ~

"I wish there was Capitol food here. Much larger selection and way better quality." I steal a strand of pasta from his fork. "Watch out." ~

"Food is food!" I stick a large forkful into my mouth. ~

"I guess." I take my first full bite of food. It's not that bad. "I'm glad we get dinner together. Happy birthday, Peeta." Underneath the table, I start tapping my foot on his and start playing around with it. ~

"Me too..." I smile up at him, some pasta sticking out of my mouth. "Thank you." It's a really nice thing to hear. Because it is a happy birthday. A complete 180 from last year. ~

"You don't need to thank me. I should be thanking you for forgiving me. I wasn't sure you would or not." I take a napkin and wipe his face a little bit. Damn, he must have been very hungry. ~

"You just have to know that...in the past, I've gone through a lot." Understatement of the year. "And I never really had anyone. I don't ever want that again. Now that I have you...I'll never let you go." ~

"And I won't let you go." But they'll still go looking for me in two months when I don't show up for the Victory Tour. My entire reason for trying to send him away. "Hey, Peeta?" ~

Taking a bite of one of the rolls, I glance up at him. "Mm-hm?" ~

"So um...we still have that problem with where to go." I can't leave. They'd look for me and find him. "I was thinking..." Hiding him can't be too difficult. "Maybe you can live at my house." ~

What? "You mean like...living together?" I nearly choke on the bread. ~

"Nevermind," I say quickly, looking down at the table and stuffing bread in my mouth. Stupid. ~

"W-wait, what, why?" I compose myself. "You just...caught me off guard." ~

"Well, we can't be apart and I can't go with you really, so the only other option would be to stay here, and well, what better place than at my house?" I just have to hide him well enough. Understatement. "My mom wouldn't mind." ~

"You're sure?" I put down my fork. "I mean, you think it'd be safe? I'd want to..." ~

"My mom wouldn't mind." Didn't say it would be safe, but I didn't say it wouldn't. "I can keep you safe there. So...will you move in with me?" ~

"I would really like that." I smile, reaching for his hand. ~

"Score," I whisper, taking his hand. ~

"You're wonderful," I say, laughing at him. ~

"So are you!" I pick his hand up to my face and kiss it. "Incredibly." ~

"Where would I be without you?" ~

"District Twelve. Ripped to shreds by other Career tributes. Dead for real." Well, it's true. "Where would I be without you?" ~

"Here. Alive. But...alone. But alive." ~

Yeah, that's what you think. "Mhm, alone. For the rest of my life. Wouldn't want anyone but you." ~

"That's what I like to tell myself, anyway." ~

"What do you mean?" ~

"That we were meant for each other. That if we'd never met, we wouldn't have been with other people." I sigh, holding my head in my hands, sighing. "I'm a hopeless romantic." ~

"I wouldn't have been with anyone else. I can tell you that right now." In fact, I've never wanted anyone. Love is pointless until you find that one person who needs yours the most. That's what I like to tell myself. "No one else." ~

"You think?" I sigh. "Even if I hadn't gotten Reaped or made it out... I don't think I would have been with anyone. I'm sure of it." ~

"No, I don't think. I know." ~

"How?" ~

"Because love is something you know." And because no one in the world deserves love as much as this boy does. ~

"I said that to you, once." I smile in the dim light, squeezing his hand. He has no idea what he's done for me. ~

"I know. I remember everything you've said to me." ~

"Oh great, even the embarrassing, stupid things?" ~

"Like what?" I don't really find anything he said embarrassing. Or at least, none of it is exactly laughable. ~

"Like before I came out to you, how stupid and nervous I was." ~

"I thought that was all really cute. It's what made me like you, you know." ~

"What, that I was a nervous wreck around you?" ~

"Mhm." To anyone else, he probably made a fool of himself. To me, he didn't. "You were nervous but you were still brave enough to talk to me. And you came out to me on national television, when you expected me to kill you afterward. That's the best kind of bravery there is. You won, in my mind." ~

"Sounds kinda silly now, doesn't it?" I sigh. "Now that we're together, I mean." ~

"No, it's not silly at all." I let go of his hand so that I could resume eating. The pasta here is better than it was last time I came. "Now that we're together, it's a million times cuter...almost as cute as you." ~

"You're crazy." I laugh. "But...thanks." ~

"Crazy about you." ~

"Clever." I smile, taking some potato. "I'm...really back. With you. On my birthday. I can't believe it." ~

"I can't believe it." Only this morning I was moping around looking for a way out of this hell...and here he is. "I...I'm in love with you, Peeta." ~

"And I'm in love with you, Cato." ~

"No, you don't understand how much..." He saved my life. "It's just...so much." ~

"Neither do you." ~

"I want to kiss you...but we can't until we get back home." To our home. ~

"Why?" It's fairly dark in here... It couldn't be that bad. ~

"Because if they see me making out with a person, no matter who it is, people will start talking. I just want things to finally quiet down." ~

"I understand." I laugh. "Your new mystery boyfriend." ~

"Sneaking around. Secret relationship. That's hot." I look up at him, and in all seriousness, I say, "You're hot." ~

The thought makes me laugh. "Yeah, right." ~

"But you are...your blonde hair is cute." I pause. "Was cute, but the dark hair is nice too." Now, I kinda miss his old hair. "That jaw. That smile...your height." ~

"Or lack thereof." ~

"There we go. Your sense of humor is cute. Your kisses are sexy...your chest is sexy. Your arms." Everything. "You're a very attractive individual." ~

"Whatever you say, Cato." I shake my head. He flatters me far too much. ~

"I'm only telling you the truth." ~

"Maybe one day, I'll believe you." ~

"But...I mean it." ~

"It's just hard for me to hear it." I sigh. I've only been used to the opposite. ~

"Then take the compliment while you can!" I take a sip of the water. Good thing the drinks at my house aren't as tasteless as this. "Get used to it." ~

"Bleh." I sigh, resting my head on a table, still chewing on some bread. ~

"What?" I lay my head on the table, level with his. "Take the compliment." ~

"Sure." I'm not good with compliments. ~

"Cheer up! It's your birthday, and you got your boyfriend, and I got my hot boyfriend. What more could you ask for?" I'll try to give him anything. ~

"Nothing, really." It's perfect. "It's the best birthday I've ever had." ~

"I'm glad to be a part of it." ~

"It wouldn't have been the best if you weren't." ~

"Oh, you," I laugh. ~

"You've completely changed my life. You have no idea." ~

"You changed mine, too," I sigh. "Maybe one day, we can tell each other all about it. When the time comes." ~

"Yeah, now we have the time for it..." I thought I wouldn't get the chance. ~

"You're going to live a long, healthy, loved life." We both are. ~

"With you?" It's what I want. I know it's a big thing to ask, but... ~

"Well, duh." ~

"I've never assumed." ~

"If I didn't want to be with you, I wouldn't be wasting your time here." ~

"But I mean..." Forever. Is this for the long run? But I won't ask. I'm too afraid of the answer. ~

"You mean...?" I finish off my food and wipe the huge mess off my face. Saving some food for him is probably the best idea right now. ~

"Forget it." I give a convincing smile. ~

"No, tell me!" He has a lot to learn about me. Like how I don't let these things go. ~

"Someday." ~

"Please?" I stick out my bottom lip and give him a sad look. "For me?" ~

"It's not the time. You will know. I promise." ~

"Peeta, I just took you out to dinner. Now tell me!" ~

"It's really nothing. I actually forgot." I lie. ~

Damn it. "Alright...just try to remember, kay? I mean, we have the rest of forever for you to remember it, but I'm kinda impatient, if you haven't noticed yet." ~

"I'll try." I smile. "I promise." ~

"And Peeta Mellark does not break promises," I laugh, quoting him. "This is what the rest of our lives will be like..." Laughing, loving, kissing, living-it all sounds good to me. And I think he likes that idea, too. ~

"Sounds like a good life to me." Maybe things are going to turn around from here. ~

"And as you know already...I'll still love you even after you're long gone." Not that I want it to happen any time soon. ~

"No matter what happens." I agree. It's hard to think about, but after what's happened, every day has to be lived like it's the last. ~

"Great." I smile. He's so lovable that I can barely take it. "So...did you happen to catch any clips of the Games?" ~

"A few...not a lot though. Enough to know that you won. I was so afraid waking up that I was alive and you didn't make it out, so it was the first thing I looked for." ~

Oh. "Did you see...which parts did you see?" ~

"Some stuff with us, you after...what happened, you with the other two Careers, you just as you won, and your exit interview." ~

"You saw after...?" This is kinda embarrassing now. "Forget you saw that," I laugh nervously. I made a huge fucking scene. ~

"I was worried." I admit. "It was so unlike what I knew you to be." He was insecure. Scared. Nervous. ~

"You died, Peeta. When people I love die, I tend to go a little crazy and upset." It doesn't happen often, either, so of course it would seem unlike me. ~

"I just...it was the first thing I saw. So, I didn't know if you'd won..." ~

"I guess you could say I was not happy with your death, Peeta." Not one bit. ~

"That was obvious." ~

"And you so easily doubted my love today?" Something's wrong there. ~

"It's...complicated." The words were exactly the same as over a year ago. Of course I'd doubt. ~

"Okay. I won't pressure you to tell me." It's his birthday and we just got reunited. I don't want to force anything on him. ~

"All in time, love." I can't think about that or anything now. Just us. ~

"Great. Finish up your food before I do!" I laugh. ~

"You're just so distracting, that's all." I laugh back at him, taking a large fork of food and eating it quickly. "Not that I mind." ~

"I'm distracting?" I reach underneath the table with my cleaner hand and 'accidentally' brush his leg with it. ~

"Very." I swing my feet and entangle my legs with his. ~

"Are you trying something under there?" Whatever it is, it's not going to work. ~

"Just playin' footsie," I laugh. "No ulterior motive in that." ~

"I don't fuck or anything on the first date, if that was your ulterior motive." I put my hand back on the table, trapping his legs between my own. "Now where your legs gonna go?" ~

"It wasn't! I didn't have one. Now I'm stuck with you for the rest of forever ..oh well." ~

"Ugh, forever?" I laugh and immediately open my legs, releasing his. "I'd say I'm stuck with you forever." ~

"Why's that?" ~

"Because you trapped me! Duh." ~

"Of course." My cheesiness really did rub off on him. My dork. I take another big bite. "So...What's the plan when we get back to your house?" ~

"Ugh..." I groan. I really hate thinking of plans. "I don't think my mom would mind. Like I said. She'd like you." ~

"But...I'm 'dead'." ~

"But you see, you aren't," I shrug. I don't really see the problem. ~

"She won't freak out?" ~

"Eh, I dunno. If she does, probably not as bad as I did." Understandable. ~

"But...she won't, like, report me to the Peacekeepers or something, right?" ~

"...No," I say, looking up at the ceiling. If anything, she won't have to report him to the Peacekeepers, if one just happens to conveniently come across him. "I think she hates seeing me sad, and if she made you go away, I'd be sad again, so..." ~

"She sounds like a good mom." I smile at him across the table. ~

"She's awesome! My favorite person in the whole world, besides you." Not that you can really compare the two of them. They're my favorites in their own right. ~

"Well," I finish off the rest of the plate. "I can't wait to formally meet her." ~

"Neither can I! Oh, oh, and I can show you what I mean when I told you about the cakes she bakes! Remember, I told you they were really good." You'd think growing up in a bakery would make you sick of sweets, but he seems to really love that stuff. ~

"That's great! And I can finally bake for you." ~

I take one last sip of my drink and push everything to the side. "Ready to go?" He's going to bake something for me. What a great kid I managed to pick up. ~

"Yeah! Lead the way home." Home. ~

"Well, not like I'd let you lead the way." I push my chair back and stand up, glancing behind me. "Okay, it's clear for us to go." ~

"I feel like we're back in the Games, hiding like this." I laugh, standing by him. "Go!" ~

"Not like we did much hiding." I tug on his damp sweatshirt and pull him along the way towards the door. "But get used to it. We'll be hiding out for a long time." ~

A/N: Questions or concerns? Leave them in the reviews! :) xx