The train took us to District Four through the Capitol, which was the main reason we got away with being able to use the train. Though the government was slowly working on opening up travel between the districts, it was still early in the developmental period and space aboard was limited. The powers that be were half convinced they would be able to change our plans between the time we left Twelve and when we stopped at the Capitol.

Neither one of us budged in our resolve. The Capitol was still fresh on Peeta's mind. Though he didn't speak a word of it when the train slowed and we neared the city, I could tell it weighed heavily on him. His breathing wasn't quite even, and his hand sought out mine in a firm grasp as the train entered the station. Squeezing his hand back in support, I off-handily suggested we get up and stretch our legs while the train was stopped. We had a bit of time, as it would refuel before it departed.

We wondered through the halls of the train until we reached the back. It was by far my favorite location, and it had emptied of the delegates and dignitaries that had been en route to the Capitol. The train was bound to be less crowded heading out of the Capitol, so I suggested we stay once we reached it. Only once Peeta had sunk into the padded seats lining the perimeter of the train car did I realize the error in my judgment. The rounded, large windows afforded us a larger than life view of the station. And though the windows were tinted while we were docked, we could still make out the hustle and bustle of people entering and leaving.

"Distract me," I told him, though he was the one I was trying to distract.

"How?" he asked. Though he tried to hide it, I watched his eyes dart around as he studied the people outside the window.

"Anyway. With anything."

"The other night. In the bakery..."

It was my fault entirely, for leaving the topic of discussion so open ended. Clearing a sudden tickle from my throat, I tried to compose a facade of calm and ease, "Yes?"

"Why?"

It was the stupidest response, but it was all I could think of because it was the truth, "I wanted to."

He chuckled softly, leaning further back into his seat and propping one ankle up on the other knee. "Well, of course."

"I probably shouldn't do it again," I confessed. It was a thought I had all the time. In fact, if I were to be honest with myself, it was the only thing that kept me from doing it more often. That fear of him having another episode at my expense was engrained in my brain. Though he hardly had them anymore, they hadn't disappeared entirely. And I didn't want to be the source of pain for Peeta ever again.

But sometimes I was selfish. More often than I had the right to be. The other evening, while Haymitch tended to his flock and thus forced me to intrude upon the bakery for company, something had flipped a switch in my brain. Peeta hadn't even been talking to me, or even paying attention to me. His entire focus had been centered on the task at hand. I think that's what drew me to him so completely, that focus of his. It had been like watching a master perfect his art, and I had been floored.

"Probably not," he agreed, though he didn't sound convincing. He was eyeing me with just a hint of a sly smile.

I saw that same confidence in him on the train as I had the other night in the bakery. While his confidence in the bakery stemmed from his ability as a baker, his confidence on the train seemed to come from the fact that he assumed he'd finally won me over. Perhaps he had. I still wasn't completely sure of what my jumbled feelings meant in the light of day.

"You're doing it again," I told him softly. I knew no one else was present in the car, and yet I had to fight the urge to check once more.

"Doing what?" he asked, and there was definitely a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

"Looking at me like that."

"Like what, Katniss?"

Like he wanted me to be selfish. Like he wanted to indulge in our feelings as much as I did, damn the consequences. And I knew I had to be the rational one, because Peeta had always ruled with emotion over reason. But when he looked at me like that, I had a hard time finding ration myself.

"Like what, Katniss?" he probed again when I didn't respond, and I knew he was teasing me now. Forever mocking my naivety, even though it was probably one of the only favorable traits I possessed.

"Like the way I want to look at you." Somehow, I managed to get the words out without making myself sick. My stomach twisted in knots at the confession, but it seemed ridiculous to be self-conscious with my feelings. Peeta had been adamant about his, almost straight from the beginning two years ago. I was the one still toeing the line, unsure. Between friends or something more, I couldn't decide.

He leaned in slowly, giving me the opportunity to pull away if I wanted. And I should have, but I didn't want to. If our roles had been reversed, Peeta wouldn't have hesitated for a moment. He wouldn't have given into his own feelings at the potential cost of hurting me. He never would have done anything to hurt me, even if I were a willing participant.

But Peeta had always been the better person, and I had always been selfish when it came to myself or to Prim. And I welcomed the opportunity to test my own feelings. Plus, I loved the way his lips pressed against mine, and the way his fingers explored when we afforded ourselves this indulgence.

Instead of pulling away, I leaned into him. He pressed further, and our bodies slid against the seats as I shifted and laid down on my back, pulling Peeta with me. His leg slid in the space between mine, the other dangling off the edge of the seat. And those fingers, so expertly trained in the kitchen of his bakery, seemed to float across the fabric of my shirt.

I had never been afforded this luxury before the War. Abandoned time to spend as wantonly as I wanted, with no worries about starving or dying plaguing the back of my mind. The only thought that clouded the moment was Peeta, always Peeta, but he showed no signs of cracks as he pressed down upon me.

Though we spent every night together in the dark, collected together beneath the sheets, we had never explored this type of interaction horizontally before. I had never dared to cross the boundary between friendship and more in the bedroom, afraid of what it could lead to. And on that train, in that moment, I was glad we never had. From the way my body reacted to his, I knew instantly it would have led down a path I was not prepared for.

"Eh-hem." The possibility of where the path before led next was interrupted by the strangest of sounds. The speed with which Peeta untangled himself from me and straightened back up on the seat was a marvel. My body reacted slower under the haze of sensations I was feeling. Then my eyes focused on what had produced the sound, and embarrassment slammed into me fully.

"Effie," I said. Her hair was a shade of lime green I'd never seen before and it looked hideous, but almost in a good way. It was a style only Effie could pull off. She looked better. So much better than the last time I had seen her. Her cheekbones were now properly hidden beneath a filled out face, and not a single bruise could be seen on his delicate, perfect skin.

"You should be more careful in public," Effie scolded, though she was beaming. "No telling the rumors that would have spread if someone else had walked in to find you that way."

"We aren't strangers to rumors about our behavior on the train," I said, which only furthered my own embarrassment.

Peeta leaned in closer and before he could ask I answered, "Real." Because I knew the next logical question, which was why I'd made the statement in the first place. I wanted to ground him in the here and now as much as possible, leaving no chance for breaking.

"Well," Effie said, clearly not prepared for that particular response. I couldn't help a small smile. She had such a unique way of taking almost anything and everything personally, and yet I loved her for it. Even as she was preparing us for the slaughter - twice - she had been kind to us, always. "I have been sent at the Capitol's request to once again ask for your attendance at the memorial celebration for the tributes." Her words were curt and brisk in her high pitched voice, and it was such a relief to see her back to her old self, professional and on a schedule. I still didn't know what exactly, if anything, had happened to her in the Capitol after our escape from the arena, but I was comforted by the fact that she was seemingly back to normal without much damage done.

"We would," Peeta said, though I certainly would never, "but we already called Annie and arranged the visit. I'd hate to cancel and leave her all alone. We victors have to stick together." Leave it to Peeta to play the victors card. He was taking the Capitol's cause, turning it on its head, and using it as an excuse back against them. Sometimes, it still felt like we were playing a game.

"Annie. Of course," Effie said. Her eyes blinked rapidly a few times in succession under her bright green eyeshadow. "This will, of course, be a difficult time for her. Of course you should go." She plastered a wide, fake smile on her face as she conceded to Peeta's argument.

"It is so good to see you, Effie," Peeta said sincerely. I nodded in agreement. I wanted to leap from the seat, cross the train car, and hug her. Wanted to wrap my arms around her to make sure she was really there, and not just a figment of my imagination. Instead I said, "You should come visit us in Twelve, Effie. You're always welcome to stay with us, even if it's only for a dinner."

"Yes," she mused, "I must. At some point," she added. "They are keeping me so busy in the Capitol these days. Though of course my old position of escort for the Games has been dissolved, I'm an ambassador to the Capitol now. It's far more prestigious, though it does grow a bit tiresome sometimes."

"I'll trade with you," I told her. "Sometimes I lose my mind just trying to think of something to do to occupy my time. We aren't all skillful bakers."

"I saw that on the newsfeeds!" Effie exclaimed as she clasped her hands together. "I most certainly do have to come and try something from your bakery, Peeta. It all looks so wonderfully delicious."

"It'll be on the house," Peeta promised.

"Well I must be off," Effie clapped her hands before returning them to her sides. "But I'm sure we'll get the two of your lovebirds to a Capitol event soon enough!" She departed with a flair as my face burned at the word 'lovebirds'.

"You don't think she'll tell anyone about how she found us, do you?" I asked.

"Oh, it'll be all over the feeds by suppertime," Peeta assured me, leaning back into the seat and tilting his head toward the roof. "But hopefully by then we'll be in Four, and I doubt Annie will have any feeds running there."