A/N: More chapters, yay! This one starts with Cato.

"Peeta?" He's already asleep. I don't think he'll be haunted by nightmares tonight. But if he is, I'll be here to calm him down. After all, I'll still be up all night, probably. ~

I hear his voice a bit as I drift off, but I'm already deep into sleep. The day was so long, and the poor excuse for sleep before this was horrifying, I was just happy to be with Cato again. I'm always happy to be with him. For a few moments, my mind drifts to the idea of him dying, but after about ten minutes, I push that out of my head and think about how amazing life together will be when he gets back, if he goes. ~

I'm guessing that it's probably three in the morning when I finally knock out. This is good, because I wasn't expecting to sleep at all, so I make sure to live it up while I can. I'm still semi-awake because I can register Peeta sleeping next to me, but I'm definitely asleep. I think of dying-both me and Peeta, sometimes only one of us-but mostly it's just us surviving until the end of the rebellion and living together. Living in Thirteen, in Twelve, or Two, I don't care. As long as it comes true, I'm fine with it. ~

"Peeta?" I hear a voice say as I'm asleep. It's not Cato, which disappoints me, but that means it must be morning. "Lovefest is over, wake up." Haymitch, of course. I slowly open my eyes, but then shut them as soon as brightness starts to enter.

"Whaaaaaaat?" I groan, stretching a little to crack my back. ~

"I'm trying to sleep over here, if you don't mind," I whine, scolding whoever keeps making so much noise. I need all the sleep I can get. ~

"Catooooooo," I yawn. "It's morning and Haymitch is here." I run my hand through his hair once. "C'mon..." Now that I'm not as exhausted and emotional as I was last night, I realize that we're both just here in our boxers. This is awkward. I could blush thinking about it-the last time we were really this undressed in a public setting was back in the cave during the Games. At least this was one district, and not the whole country. I realize the look Haymitch is giving me, and all I can manage to say is, "This is not what it looks like." ~

"What's wrong, Peeta? Embarrassed to be with me?" I sit up in bed, yawning. Without the blankets covering me, I feel oddly cold. When I look down to get the blanket, I notice that we're both almost completely naked. "...Oh." ~

"It isn't? Then what is it?"

"...Two guys who are dating completely innocently sleeping in the same bed together in only their underwear?" Because that's exactly what it was. ~

I put both my hands up in defense. "I swore to his dad that I'd be a perfect gentleman to him." ~

Did he? That made me smile, before I quickly add, "And being a perfect gentleman does not involve sex in a public hospital bed."

Haymitch immediately smacks his face. "Whatever you both say. Just...get some clothes on before I have to bring you up to HQ."

"But we don't have clothes. Cato has a jacket, and that's about it. The nurses took them all away." ~

"I don't mind going like this." I whip the blanket off of me completely. "I can always go for the jacket-tied-around-the-waist look. Or I can tie it around my neck like a cape like I used to do when I was four. Or just go like this." ~

"You may not mind, but I mind, the President minds, and the rest of the board here minds." He sighs agitatedly. "I'll find you both something, just get the hell out of bed already." ~

"Nooo," I whine again, rolling over almost completely onto Peeta. "Let me stay here." ~

Well then. After last night, this is already making me a tad uncomfortable, but I won't object.

"Seriously, get out of bed. Now." Haymitch puts on his serious voice, reserved only for when I was acting like a wimp during training or practice for interviews. "Both of you."

"I'm unable." I call from under Cato.

"I'll kick you off the bed, I swear, kid." He may seem like a lazy drunk, but Haymitch is honestly terrifying in combat. ~

"Fine." I continue rolling in the same direction and onto the floor. "I'm out, you happy?" I'm on the floor in my underwear. How classy. ~

"Ecstatic." He says unamused. "I'll find you clothes, you get shorty out of bed." He walks away. I open my mouth to protest, but he's so far gone that all I can do is pout. ~

"Peeta, you pushed me onto the floor." I look up innocently to him on the bed. ~

"No I didn't...!" I sigh, and look at his face as I sit up. "You rolled off." ~

"I distinctly felt you push me." Laughing, I hold my hand out to him to help me up. "Or, I felt a little something poke me and push me off." ~

I blush slightly before taking a deep breath and swinging my legs over the side of the bed and grabbing his hand. "Come on," I say as I glance down. Safe. "You don't really need my help to get up, but I'll do it anyway because I love you," I laugh. ~

I slowly pull myself up to a standing position and smile. "I just wanted someone strong to help me up. Geez." ~

"Well, you're asking the wrong guy." I laugh, standing. "But I'm happy to help." ~

"No, noooo! I asked the right guy." Looking up to his face, I see that his hair is completely disheveled from last night's sleep. "You need a haircut." ~

I reach up and feel the hair on my head. It's way longer than it's ever been in my life, but it's not terrible. "I got my hair cut...the day before the Reaping." I think back. "Yeah, that was the last time." ~

"That's a pretty long time ago. You know, at this point, you can cut off most of the darker hair. Especially the singed part." I take some of his hair in my hand and examine it. "Don't worry. I'd still be able to play with it and best of all, it'll finally be blonde again." I laugh. ~

"Yeah, my dad would be happy about that." I laugh. "I don't think the three colored look suits me that well. Maybe dangerous runaway Peeta, but the Peeta everyone knows is blonde." ~

"But the Peeta I know and love looks good with any of the three." I take the back of his head in my hands and pull him closer to me, giving him a very long good morning kiss. ~

I pull back from the kiss a minute or two later exasperated. "Well then." I smile, wrapping my arms around his waist. "Good morning to you, too." ~

"I knew you'd enjoy that," I say, smirking. "Speaking of enjoying me, how was your sleep last night? Was it okay?" ~

"Ha-ha." I say, blushing slightly. "Yes, yes." I smile. "Seeing as you had to ask, I assume you weren't awake to hear. Shame." I wink innocently. ~

"Awwww, damn it!" Whatever he was dreaming about, I missed it. But it must've been good. "Oh well...at least you stopped crying and stuff from last night...and about last night, we said things that may or may not have been said seriously." Seeing his face right now reminds me that I don't hate him and never can. Only myself. "And um...you said something that kinda hurt my feelings, and I've been wondering if you meant it..." ~

"Yeah...?" I try to go through all of the terrible things I said to him last night that I didn't mean. "What was it?" ~

"Do I really have an ego the size of Panem?" Out of all the things he said last night, that's probably the only one that I would believe. He said he hates me...which I know he doesn't, so I don't worry about that. But he's mentioned my ego before so this sticks out in my mind the most. ~

"Just the fact that you're asking me that means you don't, love." I kiss him gently. "No...I said a lot of things I didn't mean. I'm sorry..." ~

"Okay, good." I laugh. "And no, I said things too. After that last time I said I hated you, I should've learned my lesson..." Actually, the last time I said I hated him, he was going to turn himself in to the Peacekeepers in District Two. He would've turned himself in to my father without even knowing it. "Come to think of it, I say a lot of things without thinking it through first." Though, I was serious about wanting to go fight. I still am, but he'll never go for it, so I guess I'll have to stay here. ~

"I wasn't respecting how you felt and what you wanted to do...it was selfish, and I'm sorry." I look down. I still don't want him to fight, but if he must... I'll let him go. ~

"But I said you were the most selfless person I've ever met..." Has that changed? After everything I've done for him, I was asking for one thing and he flat out said no. Maybe I should've given my decision more thought. Maybe he is selfish. "You were just worried about me, like you always are." He was just worried about you, I tell myself, he isn't selfish; you're just being an asshole. "I was just being an asshole." ~

"I...have my moments." I say. "I want you to do what you want." I whisper. "I'm just always going to worry. I have to recognize that some things are out of my control. This is one of them." ~

He's giving me permission to do it. He's allowing me to go out and fight! "But I promised you I wouldn't if I didn't have to." This changes things, though. Now I have to think carefully about whether I should or not. "I promised on your life." ~

"That you wouldn't do anything unnecessary.." I pause. "I was wrong for making you do that. If you go...just be careful." I rest my head on his chest by his heart. "You're the most important thing in the world to me." ~

"Thank you so much." I take his bare back and pull him closer to me. "I won't go if they don't want me to...because I'd rather be with the most important thing in the world to me." But I have to go-I can feel it inside. I was born to kill, but now, I finally have a reason. Peeta's the only thing holding me back, and I'm completely okay with that now. "And I hate to ask you for another favor, but it's really important, so...please listen to me closely." ~

What on earth could it be? "...yes?" I say to him, biting my lip in anticipation. ~

"We've talked about this before, but times have changed, correct?" ~

"A...about what?" ~

Picturing his reaction to this makes me want to scream, but it has to be said. "Consider this...my dying wish, okay? If I do have to go out there, and I d-and I can't come back to you for some reason..." ~

My heart stops. But I can't react the way I want to. I don't want him to be afraid to tell me. But I can't help showing some of the horror on my face. "...o...okay.." ~

I take in a very deep breath and hold it in for a few seconds. He looks scared, but I won't blame him for it, considering what I'm going to ask of him. And to make the situation worse, my hands and legs are shaking just thinking about it. "If I don't come back...please don't die. Don't kill yourself, I mean-don't hurt yourself, or..." I stumble trying to find the right words. "If I die, please go on with life." ~

Somewhere in my mind, I saw it coming. Even though we said together, live or die, I knew he would ask me to. My first instinct is to snap back with a no, but then I think about what he's said. When he thought I was gone, he lived-miserably, but he did. Because he was strong. I was not nearly as strong as he was...but he believed me to be. Gave me confidence to be. And I'd have to be strong for him, too. I didn't want the only thing on his mind when he was out fighting to be that more than one life was in his hands. For a moment, I just look at him blankly, trying not to cry at the mere thought that any day now could be our last together. I don't want to cry. I am strong. Then, I kiss him. I kiss him with desperation as if it's our final kiss, our final chance at what was supposed to be forever. I hold onto him as if letting go would kill us both. When I finally feel as if it is safe to pull away from him, I realize I'd allowed the tears to flow during our kiss. My hands are shaking, but they're still grasped tightly to his arms. Our eyes make contact, and my shaking voice cracks out, "As long as you promise to wait for me. Because eventually, I'll come. I'll wait, too." I could never love anyone else as long as I live is what I'm trying to tell him. ~

"Uh huh..." is all I'm able to get out before breaking down. I almost started to sob during the kiss. Almost. Because if I go out there, I'm going to die. I'll die. The Capitol would make me their very first target because Peeta and I are the reason for this. They'd shoot me down without hesitation. Or they'd blow me to bits and send the pieces back to District Thirteen for Peeta to see. Or they'd change me and use me. Then, just pulling away and seeing his face drenched with tears...just that. "You better not be fucking lying to me, Peeta...I know it would be hard, but you can make it...maybe in the future, if I find that living is too hard for you, I can find a way to let you know you can go...but I swear to fucking god, if you're lying to me, and consider yourself weak, and take your own life-I'll never forgive you or myself." I won't. I would be the reason for his death, then. "Or...at least try three months after. Like I did. I made it, so you can, too." ~

I try to give him a weak smile, but I can't even manage with both of us crying now. "I...I said no more lies, didn't I?" I take my shaking hands to gently wipe the tears off of his face. "Please don't cry. Please. I promise, I'll go on. I'll go on and win this, and make sure the Capitol goes down for you." Because I know that's what he would want. It's what we both want. "If you can't, I'll make sure he's dead." My voice is shaking like the rest of me. "I'll see this through to the end. I swear on my love for you. I swear, love." My voice cracks on 'love', like I expect it to. I never lose his eyes through all of this. ~

"I'll stop crying if you stop." Because seeing him like this definitely isn't helping. "Thank you so much, Peeta. But, remember...I haven't left yet. I don't even know if I'm going...this was just in case." If he's this torn apart, I really don't want to see him if I die. "I'll try my best, though...I love you so much, no matter what I say. If I ever say that I hate your ugly face, that just means I love you so fucking much and want to kiss you all night long." I laugh a little bit. "Do what you can, but don't get yourself killed out there." ~

"You know I'm a big crybaby." I smile. "Don't worry about me...I'm almost 100% sure that what they want me to do doesn't involve fighting on the front lines." I laugh a bit, choking on tears. "I'm just going to think about it all as if I'm sure you're coming back. That when you do come back, we'll have all the time in the world. All the nights to kiss through. All the days to relax in. We'll...have peace. Your mom can meet my dad." I laugh again at the thought. "It'll be perfect, I promise. I'll have a cake waiting." ~

"Maybe I'll finally get to eat it this time, since I missed my last welcome home cake." I doubt I'll be coming back, if I leave. He's right. The Capitol is cruel out of wartime, but during, I can't even imagine. Just look at what they did to District Thirteen. "Don't lose sleep frosting that damn cake, though." ~

"I promise I won't." I know we're both just saying this to be optimistic, but it's the only thing we can both do to keep from sobbing. "They'll probably have me doing enough here that I'll just have enough time to work on it. But I'll pull it off. You know me." I put my hand on his cheek. "Come on, smile. Please?" ~

Shaking my head, I say, "I can't, after seeing you like that. I can't get it all out of my head now. I don't want to die." ~

"You won't," I say, trying to convince myself and him. "You've got to come back to me, remember? Our story can't just end like that. I mean, we haven't even done it yet." I say, laughing a bit and trying to get some reaction out of him. ~

"We haven't even held hands in public with you being you and me being me." Originally, it was kinda funny, but now we may not even have that chance ever. I half-smile at his comment, though. The Capitol will never give us the chance to have sex. ~

"That's what I like to see." I'm trying to joke with him now, because whenever I got depressing, he'd always do anything to make me smile. "Come on, if that asshole Capitol is gonna take you from me, I don't want the last I see of you to be you pouting like a girl. That's my job." ~

"I'm not a girl." I cross my arms and look away from him, trying not to laugh. ~

"Neither am I. But you're being all sad like one now, when nothing's set in stone. I promise, there'll be much more time for tears if something does happen. There's no reason to be sad now." ~

"You are a girl." I push him back onto the bed. "You are." ~

"I told you the last time you called me a girl that I could show you things that'd say otherwise." I warn him, looking up. ~

"You wouldn't! Anyone could walk in this room. Any second now!" ~

"Actually, there's a warning bell if people do, so..." I noticed that when Coin had come in the day before. The elevator had given a beep a good thirty seconds before she appeared in the doorway. ~

"You wouldn't dare pull down those boxers..." I've already seen the tent enough to know he's a boy, but... "...girl." ~

"Is that a threat?" ~

"I know you wouldn't do it. You're to shy to show anyone, even me." He wouldn't. ~

I raise my eyebrows. "That's a challenge." ~

"Is that so?" ~

"Mm-hm." I put my thumbs on the waistband of my boxers. "I will." ~

"You're bluffing." I can't help but think he might do it. "Stop fooling around." ~

He thinks I'm bluffing? Ha. "Fine, I'll stop fooling around." And in one swift motion, they're on the ground. ~

The very second I see him start to pull his underwear down, I turn away and cover my eyes. "Put your lady parts away, Peeta!" ~

I begin laughing really hard. "Embarrassed?" ~

"You're asking if I'm embarrassed?" Still not looking-because if I look, I'll want to just fuck him right here-I turn my back completely to him and yell, "YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S NAKED, PEETA MELLARK!" ~

"I'm not a girl." I snicker, pulling them back up. "Fine, fine, I'm decent, you can look again. You'd think that after everything we've been through, you wouldn't be embarrassed to see me with my pants down. I mean, you took notes on my sex dreams." ~

Hesitantly, I turn back to him and take a peek at him. Okay, he's telling the truth; he's decent now. "I'm not embarrassed! I just want it to be a special time, okay?" I should just glue his underwear to his skin. ~

Hearing that second part immediately drops my mood, but I try not to show it too much on my face. Because deep inside, as much as I hope I'm wrong, I'm almost sure they'll want him to fight. And if he fights, they're going to kill him. And we'll never get the chance to do that together. "Right.." I laugh quietly. "Okay." ~

"We'll get it one day. I promise." Whether it's tomorrow, or the day after, or years from now-even tonight, maybe-it'll happen and it will be glorious. But sex after all this crying and talking about death...those things kill the mood. "Don't worry, Peeta Bread." ~

"I'll hold you to that." I laugh a little, kissing his cheek. As if on cue, the little bell sounds, and I know it's Haymitch with clothes, so I quickly take one last look of his perfect, muscular body, smiling a bit and knowing that it's mine, when the time comes. ~

"Wait, no," I whisper. "More kissies for me." I push him back onto the bed and full-on make out with him just to spite Haymitch when he walks in the room. He thinks I'm over the top and ridiculous? Well...what about now? ~

I don't think he has any idea the effect he can have on me. But I kiss him back, not knowing when we'll get this chance or privacy again.

"Ah-em." ~

I briefly come up for air, saying, "Ahem yourself...you should've knocked first." It's not like he's the President or another high-ranking official here (that I know of), so I'm not afraid to be a jerk in front of him. ~

"I can do whatever the hell I want." He tosses a pile of cloth at Cato and I. "Come on, we're going to be late. We've got to be there in ten minutes." He says, completely unamused with Cato. ~

Groaning, I get off of Peeta and pick up the clothes. "What are we going to be late for?" I ask, examining the dull-looking articles of clothing. "Not really my style. Got any red?" ~

He sighs. "The meeting at HQ that I told you about just before I left?" He ignores the second part of Cato's comment. I sit up, pulling on the smaller shirt. It's tight and grey with a v-neck, and there's a pair of bluish pants in a fabric I've never seen before. It's kind of rough and not really stretchy. I stand and pull them on, zipping and buttoning them up. They're a peculiar shape, too. Whereas most pants I've seen or worn were baggy and got bigger as they went down the leg, these got smaller. These people in Thirteen dressed weird. ~

"But...what is it a meeting for? Do I have to have a speech prepared, or...?" I'm going to make an ass of myself in front of all the higher-ups. I just know it. I start getting dressed while watching Peeta as well, making weird faces at the clothes. I say to him, "They're pants." ~

"I know that, but..." I stick my leg out and feel reach towards my foot. "They're like, tight to my ankles. That's so weird." The whole thing was pretty comfortable, though, I couldn't deny that. ~

"They're tight everywhere. Probably to make sure you don't strip down to nothing in the middle of the meeting." What is even happening at this meeting? "But really, my problem is the shirt. It couldn't hurt to put color into it, damn." ~

"Ha-ha."

"Fashion isn't the point. You're meeting with everyone at HQ. You won't need to do much talking. It's mostly them outlining the plan for the rebellion and potential wartime we're going to face, and what they expect of each of you."

I look at Cato warily. So we'll know today. ~

"Oh...kay." As much as I wanted to go before, seeing his crying changed my mind completely. I can't go. But we'll know today, so, until then...we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed. "Alright. The less talking, the better, I suppose." ~

"Good. Now, if you're both ready..." He looks at the two of us before clicking the button. The doors slide open and he gives us a motion to go through. I reach out my hand for Cato to take, first. ~

Hold his hand, I think, because it may be the last time you get to. "Ready." I take Peeta's hand and grip it maybe a little too tightly, but I'm anxious, so I can't help it. ~

I nod, because I know if I say anything, I could break down. And I can't. Not now. Not in front of him. We enter the doors back into the pristine elevator with Haymitch, and the doors close behind us. ~

A/N: Well, there ya go. You'll like the next few chapters, because more characters come in! Hooray! Reviews are LOVED. 3