So sorry for taking so long! I have my reasons but you don't actually care about them so I'll just get on with the story.
Johanna's POV
"So let me get this straight - you're asking me to go to your cousin's wedding with you, even though I cheated on you, and we broke up over two months ago?"
Remy bites his lip awkwardly. "Yes. . ."
"Why?" I question.
"Because I'm the oldest person in my family who hasn't found anybody, and it's embarrassing to go alone."
"Your family hates me," I remind him.
"My parents would rather I be with someone they hate than alone. They want, like, ten grandchildren, and insist that if I don't get hitched soon, I'll be too old and no one will want to have ten kids with me."
"What is it with Italians and big families?!"
"That's racist," he informs me.
"I don't see why you can't go with someone else!" I say.
"You know my family interrogates whoever I go out with! They already know you! Please, Johanna!"
I sigh. "This isn't an attempt to get back together with me, right? Because it won't work."
He crosses his arms. "You know I'm over you."
I weigh my options for a moment. "Fine, but you owe me."
"Whatever," he mutters. "I'll pick you up at three next Sunday."
"What should I wear?" I ask him.
He rolls his eyes. "It's a wedding, Johanna. What do you think you're supposed wear? Your pajamas?"
I cross my arms. "No need to be rude about it."
He mimics my stance. "It was completely necessary to be rude."
Katniss's POV
"Prim!" I call as I open the door. "Prim, where are you?"
Peeta walks passed me holding a tray of pastries. "She's in the living room," he tells me.
I follow him in and immediately see my sister on the couch with a tear-stained face. I rush over and wrap her in my arms.
"Are you okay? What happened?" I question.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Peeta put the tray on our coffee table, before politely leaving the room. He closes the door behind him, to give us privacy. How nice of him, I think.
Prim looks of at me with wide, watery eyes. She sniffs. "I-I think Rory's cheating on me."
"Oh, Prim. Why do you think that?"
"He's being really secretive and doing weird things. He'll leave the room when he answers the phone and disappear for hours at a time! I don't know what to do!"
"There could be a lot of different reasons for that . . ." I try to calm her down.
"That's what I thought until this morning! He didn't come home last night, so I waited up for him. At around three in the morning, I called the cops, but they said I couldn't report him as missing until seventy-two hours have passed. I was so scared! So when he walked in at five-thirty - sopping wet - I asked him where he was and what happened! He told me it wasn't something I needed to worry about. Then I asked him if he was cheating on me, and he just stared at me. He didn't deny it or anything. That's when I left and got on the first plane coming here!"
"Have you heard from him since you left?" I ask.
"He's called but I haven't answered the phone. I wanted to hear what you thought first."
"I think that you're tired and need to go to sleep. You can stay in my bed for the next day or so. When you get upstairs, my bedroom is the first door on the left."
Prim nods. "Thank you, Katniss. I love you."
"I love you too. Now, go to sleep."
Peeta's POV
After I left Katniss and Prim in the living room, I left the house. I wanted them to have complete privacy, but now I have no idea what to do.
I eventually decide to go for a walk on the beach, because it's a cooler day, and there aren't as many tourists crowding it.
Before I get out of my car, I grab a cardigan from the back seat, knowing the ocean breeze will make the coast rather chilly.
After about a mile, I see someone who I surprisingly recognize. Finnick's doing a shoot in the water, and - since he's just being shown what he's supposed to do - is shivering. He's soaking wet, so I assume he's already done a shoot in the water, and he's only wearing swim trunks.
I see Annie sitting in an alcove made of rocks about fifty yards away from me, so I walk over to her.
"Hey," I say. She looks up and smiles at me.
"Hi," she says.
"Mind if I sit?" I ask, gesturing to the space beside her.
"Not at all," she replies.
I sit, then remain quiet for a minute. "So . . ." I begin awkwardly. "Finnick looks cold."
Annie laughs. "Yeah, he's freezing. The poor guy was just finishing up his last shoot when I got here. That was ten minutes ago."
"It looks miserable," I say. "I'm cold and I'm wearing a jacket and pants. Plus I'm dry."
Annie grins. "Am I a horrible girlfriend if I'm entertained by his suffering?"
"No, you're human. It's always fun to watch people we have no chance of ever being as attractive as struggling."
"You think?"
"Definitely."
Annie pauses for a moment in thought. "I wonder what it's like being the hottest person in every room."
"It's probably easier for him than the rest of us guys. We have to compete with him. You, Katniss, and Johanna are lucky."
"In some ways, I guess."
"In pretty much every way."
"Are you arguing that women have it easier than men? Because you'd be wrong."
"In a lot of ways, it's true."
"Peeta, trust me on this. Women have it harder."
"Do not."
"Do to."
"Do not."
"Do to."
"When did we turn into three-year-olds?"
"When we started arguing about things that can't be measured."
Gale's POV
I've hardly opened the door before Katniss drags me into the kitchen.
"You're brother is cheating on Prim," she says.
"Rory would never do that," I instinctively defend.
"He's been taking suspicious phone calls and going on mysterious outings. He practically admitted it. Prim asked him, and he didn't deny it."
Oh God, I think. Rory really screwed this up.
"Trust me, he's not cheating on her."
"How can you even say that?!" Katniss questions.
"I know what's actually going on. I told him to tell your sister, but I guess he didn't listen."
"Well, if he's not cheating on her, what is he doing?!" Katniss is still fuming.
I look around the room before lowering my voice. "He owes someone twenty thousand dollars."
Her eyes widen. "For what?"
"I don't know. He didn't say."
"Probably to buy some lingerie for his mistress!"
"He's not cheating!"
"How do you explain the secretive phone calls?!" she demands.
"I've been talking to him! I'm trying to get him the money, Katniss!"
"What?"
"I'm trying to get him the money. I have five thousand right now, but I have no idea how I'm going to be able to get him fifteen thousand more by the end of the month."
She pauses and bites her lip. "I'm only doing this because I care about my sister, understand? I'm going to help you get the money."
I actually started writing this chapter a week ago . . . Sorry about the wait . . . I'll give you a little sneak peek for the next chapter because I made you wait:
"I'm so fucking scared and I don't know what to do. I mean - I'm not sure, but I think - God, I don't know! All I know is that I'm terrified of what's going to happen."
So, there you go. Please review!