Thanks for sticking with me, guys! As promised, I am continuing and making a new chapter...better late than never. I know some of you are still reading, so whatever, but here's the new chapter...have fun. Hope you like it...if you don't...let me know and as per usual, TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! I NEED TO KNOW! Ok...thanks. Okay, bye.

PS. There's a time skip. Hope you don't mind. I'll fill you in, don't worry, darlings.

ONE MONTH AFTER LUKE WAS PUT INTO THE TRADE-APPROXIMATELY 1 MONTH INTO LIZ'S PREGNANCY

Michael POV-

I am standing outside the door of a hotel room, trying not to scream. The noises in the room are none of my business. The people that are in the room are none of my business. None of this is supposed to be my business, unless someone gets a little bit too clingy. Which is most every night, really.

I am the bodyguard to a lover's nest. And by lover's, I mean Luke and whatever man/woman/horny human being with an unspecified gender is laying beside him in the bed that night. He has become the most wanted man in the Capitol besides Finnick Odair. Maybe even more popular than the merman. All I know is that I am beyond pissed off.

And before you ask, Liz knows about all of this. I don't know how she is taking it, because the reporters have not gotten to her at all, and as far as I know, she hasn't come outside in at least a few weeks. She was so heartbroken, I am sure. But I'm not allowed to go and find her. Snow doesn't want her to be connected to any of the reliving tributes, so of course, none of us have heard anything from her. I thought I saw her come out of the elevator once here at the hotel, but naturally, it was just a Capitol woman pretending to be Liz, trying to get in and see Luke. I almost let her, too! I mean, she had everything right-the skin, the hair color, the eye color-you can truly get anything done here- but she messed up at her name.

Yeah...Liz's name is definitely not Aqua. Capitol girls can be so dumb sometimes.

I don't know how I got dragged into this, but somehow, making sure whoever is with Luke doesn't a)try and kill him, b) try and marry him, and/or c) try and kill him after he refuses to get married to them-has become my priority. I guess it was because I was assigned to be a Peacekeeper when I came back to life, and because the underlings to my Peacekeeper operation are far too immature to be in charge of something as crazy as this.

Tonight's lucky bachelorette is in fact a girl(it's always a bit awkward when a man goes in there, because I know Luke is straight as anything), and she seems like a complete nitwit, just like the night before, and the last few nights of the previous week. He's been at this almost every night. So far nobody has come out as being pregnant, but I suppose if things are going that way, it'll come out a little later...mother nature and all...and as of yesterday, there has only been one girl who has been the least bit shy. The others have kissed, hugged, humped and screwed with Luke Mellark to their heart's delight-or as much as they can get for one night. I don't know how much Snow is charging for him, anymore. I stopped caring. All I can think about it how Liz must be feeling. She has barely seen him, for goodness sake. And she should be the only one he has ever touched.

A squeal comes from the room, and I pretend it's Luke. I've started to think such horrible things about him. How Liz deserves so much better. How he must be infected with every disease in the world, now, though they give him shots against all of that after every night, so I am starting to doubt that option, as entertaining as it is. I also have starting thinking that Snow has to stop this eventually.

Thank god, there is a lot less screwing than there are girls and boys who just want to kiss. Some of them seem to understand that even though Luke is on the market, he is most definitely still married. There are rumors of a baby coming along, but Liz hasn't been around to confirm or deny them, so all we're getting are Clove and Cato's shouting at the press to leave their daughter alone. I can't blame them.

The girl skitters out, as it is 3 in the morning, which is when most of them start getting smarter about the fact that they aren't wanting. Or their husbands are Peacekeepers who work for me, and they will need to get back and lay down next to the men they are really married to before they notice they were gone. Cheating sluts...I hate people.

This girl, Linzy, passes me a 50 with a wink and tells me not to tell Harold, her husband, who is the nicest man alive, and does not deserve a cheating wife in the slightest. Maybe Liz and Harold could get together. They would have loads to talk about, with their cheating spouses. They'd get along wonderfully.

Anyway, Luke comes out to stand in the hall.

"Screwing or kissing?" I ask, having no filter.

He smiles slightly. "Kissing. Neck and up. She didn't want much."

"Good. She's married. So are you." I am almost hissing at him.

He sighs. "Mike, I don't mean to hurt her. You know I don't want to do this. He'll hurt Liz if I don't."

"No!" I shout back. "He wouldn't hurt her. He would try, but Liz would kill everyone he ever sends after her. You know why? Because she LOVES YOU, YOU IDIOT! She loves you so much, and she must be dying every time she sees one of those stupid posters."

He looks down. I know I've struck a nerve. I wait for him to start crying, and he doesn't disappoint, tears running down his face. "Have you heard from her?"

He asks every night, but I can tell that the more I say no, the less hope he has the next night. He's almost lost his hope. And it almost makes me feel worse for him than I do Liz. Almost. But then, Liz doesn't know how many women and men are sharing her husband with her.

I shake my head. "I'm sorry...I haven't heard anything."

"She was feeling sick...is she...she's okay, isn't she?"

I nod, because that is what he wants to see, even if it isn't true, and he knows I don't know the right answer. "I'm sure she's doing great, Luke."

He collapses on the floor, right there in front of me, and nobody else is on the floor to see it, so I sit down next to him and rub his back.

"Tell me about her..." he says, and for a moment I don't understand.

"I keep forgetting what she looks like..."

It's that that makes me the saddest.

Because I know even though he isn't here that Snow is winning. Every time someone comes to Luke, he's winning.

Luke is slowly forgetting who he left behind.

Effie POV-

"Breakfast!" I call up the stairs. We've all been staying at my house this last month. Clove and Cato, Katniss and Peeta, Haymitch, Liz, and I. Nobody wants to state the obvious- we are not leaving anytime soon. Cato has tried packing twice now, but he only gets as far as the car before Clove comes out and screams at him to come back in. Liz has started crying again. She's always crying these days. I don't know what happened to the girl she used to be, the one who was terrified to let anyone see her show emotion.

She's showing emotion constantly, nowadays. Most of the time she is crying. She doesn't sleep most nights for long, the nightmares making her wake up screaming, half the house with her. I have lay down next to her many a time, trying to console her. It's useless to ask what her dreams are about. It's always the same. Luke. Wrapped up with some other woman or man, and her watching. She can't escape it. Even her parents have given up trying to tell her that Luke loves her and only her. That he would never hurt her. She sees him day after day in the advertisements, like a common prostitute, at a higher price.

He's a hot commodity. A few of my friends have been with him. I don't want to tell them I hate when they talk about it. I have my own image to keep. So I listen as they give me a play by play of what happened. Most of them have enough class to not get too far in the middle of Luke's marriage. One was not, and I hung up almost immediately, telling her later I was helping with urgent plans for Liz.

Sadly, that is the only way I have news of Luke.

Another day has started, and unfortunately, I have news of a new client of Luke's, my friend Linzy. She called me as soon as she started heading home.

"Breakfast!" I try again.

"COMING!" Haymitch screams, and a minute later comes half tumbling down the steps.

"Food..." Cato slurs, groaning and coming down as well.

"Effie, there better be bacon." Clove is next, with the constant bacon cravings. I have tried to tell her how unhealthy it is, but she doesn't care.

Peeta and Katniss come down holding hands, both of them sitting down and going straight for the orange juice.

"Is Liz coming down?" Katniss asks, ever hopeful.

I blink. "I'm not sure."

"Liz, darling, I've made your favorite." I try, and wait. When I don't hear anything, I come back to the table.

"She's eaten hardly anything..." Peeta says. "That can't be healthy."

Cato groans and lays his arms and head on the table. "I don't care, anymore. I just want her to stop crying."

"It's like having a baby again." Clove mumbles. I know these two are both so concerned they can't even voice it. Peeta has turned into being more father to her than Cato, but Cato doesn't mind. Clove has become her biggest defender.

"She'll come down when she wants to." she insists, as Katniss tries to persuade her to try and get Liz again.

I hear a click from the top of the stairs, and everything stops. You could hear anything in this room now, deadly silent.

Soft footsteps come down the steps, and Liz emerges a minute later, dark circles under her eyes, looking like a frightened child. She is squinting in the light.

"Has the sun always been this bright?" she asks quietly. I think it's the first words she's said since she left the dead tributes' house.

I nod, wide-eyed, because what else do you say when she hasn't said anything or seen anyone in weeks?

"Oh..." she sits down on one of the counters, and I instantly go and start making her a plate of French toast with cream cheese and strawberries, one of the only things she's eaten, and thankfully, one of the things I make well. I do not believe in an Avox for my home.

"Thanks." she mumbles, and takes large bites. We all watch her eat, like she might just disappear when she's done.

"I've been thinking," she announces. I lean in to try and hear better what she's saying.

"I want Luke." she says. "And I want him now."

Clove nods. "Half the Capitol does." she comments.

Liz's eyes darken in a murderous haze that Clove sometimes gets. I could swear she is a younger version of Clove right now. "I get that," she says. "But what I mean is I am going to him."

"No." Cato says, quiet. Liz narrows her eyes. "Yes."

"No." Cato says, more firm this time. "I won't allow it."

"He's my husband." Liz says. "I'm going to see him."

"They won't let you anywhere near him." Katniss says. "I know you want to see him...but there's no way to get close enough to him unless you're a client."

I blink. "If I may contribute..." I say, knowing the terms of how Linzy got to Luke. "My friend Linzy was with him last night..."

"I DON'T CARE IF YOUR SLUT FRIEND WAS WITH HIM!" Liz screams. "I just want to get to him, Effie!"

I jump. "Manners, Elizabeth!" I can't be too angry with her, but it really is an instinct. She is slicing the counter to try and relieve frustration.

Mahogany...I think. "All I meant was that I know how you can get to him."

She looks up. "You do?!"

I nod. "But you're angry, you won't want-"

"Tell me, Effie, please! I'm begging." she hops down from her spot on the counter and sits at my feet. "Please tell me."

"You need to become a client."

"I don't want to be a client...I don't want people to know it's me..."

I brighten. "You'll need a disguise, then." I head to my bedroom for my wig collection. It's time to make Liz a Capitolite.

Liz POV-

"Oh, he is going to love me..." I mutter, as I stare at my reflection. I am wearing so much makeup I could keep a company running for a year. Effie did my makeup, so I look very similar to her, all shades of blue and green and various shades between. My hair has been pinned beneath a powder blue wig, my lashes covered with larger, fake blue lashes. I have been practicing my Capitol accent for hours, to perfect the phone call I will have to make.

I am halfway through punching in the number when it hits me, what I am doing. I am calling to order a prostitute. And that prostitute is my husband. The pain in my chest is the only reminder that he is the man I once loved. If my heart didn't protest so much, my brain would have been faxing him the divorce papers by now. But I can't now. I am too invested in this. I have been getting sick almost every morning for the last few weeks, eating when I can't sleep in the middle of the night on the rare occasion when nobody else is in the kitchen. I need them all to think I am damaged. It makes me seem less crazy. It seems like my plan this morning was a thought, something just thrown together.

But I have been plotting this for a long time now. And I have memorized every detail. Or, every detail, I believe, except for one.

My name. What name is my home-wrecking Capitolite girl? I can't use any name, it'll seem fake. I need a name that will make me hard to trace, with so many girls with the same name. But not so common that they will be able to just find me anywhere.

Shine. There are plenty of girls in the Capitol named Shine, and it takes me a moment to adjust. "Hello, my name is Shine." I say, as the person on Luke's publicity team answers the phone. "I would like to buy one night with Luke Mellark." I add a fake giggle for effect, my eyes closing. Tears are trying to fall, and I am squeezing them back for everything it's worth. It hurts so bad, having to see Luke like this. But I have to see him.

"Alright, he seems to be free next Thursday at-"

"Oh, no no no, darling. I need him TONIGHT. It is very urgent." I have practiced this so many times it feels natural.

"Well, miss, he's all booked for toni-"

"I will pay anything for him. Please, he's so perfect, I need to see him tonight!" the key is to not pause between words. Talk, talk, talk, and mention lots of money. Money is what Snow wants. Power. The influence.

"I am prepared to pay top dollar," I add.

"Well, in that case, miss, we seem to have an availability." the man on the other end is chuckling, and I giggle in response. "Oh, lovely. Lovely. Thank you so much. Where should I be?"

"The Arena Hotel, on West. 8pm."

"Oh, thank you! Thank you!" I squeal and hang up, my heart racing.

"I've got an appointment." I say breathlessly.

Katniss hugs me. "You look amazing." she says.

"Well...nobody will recognize me, if that's what you mean by amazing."

She nods. "You and him...have a good night. Make him remember why he picked you."

I smirk for the first time in a long time. "Oh, I will." she says. "And then I am going to kick his ass, for making me sneak around like this."