Author's Note at bottom.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games or it's characters.

"Sorry to interrupt," Cressida says sheepishly. She stands in the doorway with her head tilted slightly. "We need you two back out here for the meeting."

I look from Cressida to Peeta who still stands in front of me. His eyes now studying the lines in the flooring with an express I can't place. Defeat? Regret? I don't know. Pushing past him, I follow Cressida back into the living room making a point of shutting the door.

"Where's my drink?" Haymitch demands as soon as I emerge from the room. I point behind me and sit down on the solo seat that Effie was previously occupying. He gets to his feet then staggers over to the closed door and wrestles it open. As the door closes behind him, you faintly hear him ask where his bottle is.

"I certainly hope Haymitch doesn't give Peeta any trouble," Effie says. A collection of sighs can be heard around the room. "We're already running a bit behind schedule. The meeting is supposed to be dismissed in . . ."

She fishes something round out of her pocket. It's a small golden disk attached to a long golden chain. Her thumb grazes the top of the disk before it splits revealing the face of a clock inside. It's a pocket watch. There looks to be some kind of floral design on the outsides of the watch, but I can't make them out.

Just as fast as she whipped it out, the pocket watch is tucked safely back in her dress pocket. She informs us that the meeting is to be dismissed in seven minutes. Exactly one minute passes before Effie begins pacing the room.

"Truthfully I think Haymitch should have been paired with a bottle from the beginning instead of . . what was her name?" She says rubbing her temple as if in deep thought. "Donner I believe. Maysilee Donner."

This is the first time someone has said her name or openly mentioned her. "Have you ever meet her, Effie?" I ask in the off-chance that their lives may have overlapped at least once. I've watched a few Star Couples be invited to the Capitol. Not one of them turned down the offer.

"No, but I do remember watching them on the show with my parents when I was just a girl," Effie smiles but it's a sad sort of smile. "It was during my adolescent years where I realized that a lady deserves a good man. I never believed that a man like Haymitch deserved a lady like Maysilee."

Her harsh tone shocks me. The only time I've ever heard Effie speak like this is when she witnesses bad manners. Maybe not even then. When it comes to bad manners, she sounds irritated. Just now, she sounded almost angry. It's a tone that certainly does not suit her.

"Why do you-" I don't get to finish my question to Effie because just then Haymitch bursts into the room with Peeta in tow. The door bangs loudly against the wall. Haymitch's bottle now gripped tightly in his rough hands. He stomps over to me and jabs his index finger at my shoulder.

"You're a fool," Haymitch says before exiting the house. We all jump at the sound of the front door slamming. The room remains silent until Effie speaks up.

"Let's begin the meeting shall we?"

The meeting turns out to be rather short. Effie presents Peeta and me with our first month's payment. According to Effie, we're given money at the end of each month for our two year commitment to the show. After that we'll receive half the amount monthly for the rest of our lives.

What does this mean? It means I'll never go hungry again. It means that I won't have to go hunting anymore. With this money, anything Prim and Mom need I can buy for them. I could except for one problem. That money is also Peeta's. It's my pride that keeps me from reaching out for the slip of paper.

Hunting is my life. Providing for my family is all I've known since I was eleven. With the cameras around and the meetings I haven't had much time out in the woods this past month. I went once with Gale but that was it. I quickly decide that tomorrow I'll spend the day in the woods. When I don't make a move for the paper, Effie hands it to Peeta. He glances at me before taking it with a polite thank you. Effie informs him that we'll have to take that paper to the Justice Building and there it will be exchanged for the real money. Peeta promises that it'll be taken care of soon.

"Wonderful," she grins. "Now that money will need to be kept in a safe place. No one is to ever know exactly how much given to you or the location you keep it. All the details you two can discuss privately later. For now, here is the container you can keep it in."

A crew member carries in a large metal box and sets it on the table. Cressida hands us a paper that will instruct us on setting a security code to prevent others from opening it. Peeta reads the paper before folding it in half and passing it to me. I place it on the table next to the box without bothering to read it.

The meeting concludes with Cressida informing us that we'll be filmed separately for the next episode. Cressida will work with me. Messalla with Peeta. When she asks if we have any objections or concerns, neither of us speaks. You can practically feel the blistering tension in the room.

Once everyone leaves, Peeta excuses himself mumbling about showering before dinner and going to bed early. I watch as he goes upstairs to the room we're suppose to share and comes back down with his clothes bundled in his arms.

I don't move from my spot by the door until Peeta disappears into the hallway. I hastily make my way up the stairs and lock the bedroom door behind me. Flinging myself onto the bed, I take deep breathes as I try to calm myself. My thoughts jumble as I try to make sense of today.

Everything was going fine until Peeta had to make that comment towards the end of the interview. After he said it, I was surprised and dare I say it flattered, but when I saw myself on the projector I felt angry. That blushing idiot on the screen looked nothing like me. That girl looked like a weak lovesick schoolgirl. Those girls I would see giggling down the hallways trying to catch their crush's attention. I used to roll my eyes at them, but somehow in that brief moment I had become one of them. That was what infuriated me.

Then there was my confrontation with Peeta. Where I yelled at him and he admitted that he meant what he said in the interview. Listening to him during the interview was so much easier than hearing him say he meant every word. Because now I have the confirmation that his comment wasn't for the cameras. I was stunned. I didn't know how to respond to that. I'm grateful for Cressida's interruption because I wouldn't have known how to escape that room. Escape that conversation.

Footsteps from downstairs let me know that he must be done with his shower. Certainly, he must be starting dinner because I can hear clattering of pots and pans. I use this time to shower myself. I scrub off the makeup, run my fingers through my soapy hair, and for a few moments just stand there under the warm rain sprinkling down from the shower head.

To say that dinner is awkward would be an understatement. We couldn't hold eye contact for longer than three seconds. There was no sound other than our forks occasionally scrapping against the plate.

The next day, Saturday, I wake up before dawn and make my way through the shadows of the district until I'm safely in the woods. I stay out in the woods until the sun sets. I feel someone staring daggers at me as I cross the few lawns of the houses in the Victor's Village. I turn to see Haymitch sitting on his front porch with a bottle in hand. I can feel him watching me all up until I close the front door. In the house, I can still feel his eyes through the walls.

Sunday, I'm out in the woods again with Gale. This time, he tells me about his work in the mines. It may be hard for both of us, but I can tell that he's been waiting to confide in someone who understands. We both lost our fathers down there. We share that pain.

When he asks about how everything is going for me, I almost don't want to tell him. I feel ashamed how easy my life seems compared to his. I get an exchangeable money slip once a month while he gets a meager paycheck every two weeks. I prance around in front of cameras while he's deep underground mining coal.

As I walk towards the Victor's Village with the sun setting behind the woods I had just exited a few hours ago, I ponder the shame I had felt while listening to Gale talking about his rough time in the mines. Somehow as I'm thinking, I feel wrong.

I see Haymitch again on his porch glaring at me from a distance. I glare back at him this time as I pass his house. Haymitch's razor sharp gaze cutting into my back serves as a reminder that my new life here in the Victor's Village isn't all how it appears onscreen. Things aren't so cheery here in this glamorized ghost town or should I say village.

No. I shouldn't have felt ashamed. My life has never been easy. I grew up in the seam. Because of my dad we were better off than most, but it was still a hard life to live. Then my dad died and my mother mentally clocked out and I was left alone to raise my little sister. Every day I was out there in the woods trying to keep my family alive, I was breaking the law which is punishable by death.

Now, I have to deal with marriage. Like that isn't complicated enough, I have to deal with my marriage onscreen for the whole country to see. Marriage with a man who may have real feelings for me. That may delight and relieve other wives but it frightens me.

I don't know how to be around Peeta if he does have feelings for me. The hand holding and jacket thing after our dinner with the mayor I was fine with it because I knew that was what people wanted to see. The garden fight was okay because we were just goofing off almost like we were friends. According to Cressida, people loved that episode. All of that I knew, to a certain degree, wasn't real. But for Peeta all of that could have meant something entirely different to him.

Early the next morning, Peeta isn't even there when I come downstairs. Clearly, he's avoiding me like he has all weekend. Well, I was technically avoiding him, but it can work both ways. A steaming plate of eggs, shredded fried potatoes, and a slice of bread rests on the counter in his absence. A note sticks out from under the plate. I almost crumple it up but I stop as I recognize one as the money slip Effie gave us on Friday. Still, I almost crumple up Peeta's note. Almost.

Katniss,

Today I will be working first shift at the bakery so I'll be able to get off at one. We can go to the Justice Building to exchange the money slip when my shift ends. If you prefer to go yourself, that's fine too. I left the slip with you in case you do. If you want to go together meet me in front of the bakery at one.

Peeta

There is the very overdue chapter I had promised in July. I had the chapter ready and everything, but my parents took me on a family vacation for my birthday. I'm happy to say I am now sixteen! Yeah! I was still in vacation mode when I got back so I kept delaying the update. Then I read it over and I didn't like it so I rewrote it. This chapter was rewritten eight times. I still don't feel completely happy with it. I feel like it's lacking, but I'm just ready to move on to the next chapter.

Here is a SNEAK PEEK:

It remains like that until Peeta sighing calls my attention. He puts his fork down and looks me right in the eye. Even from this distance, I can feel the intensity behind his gaze.

"Katniss, we need to talk," he says. His blue eyes boring into mine.

I put my own fork down and forcibly swallow the piece of squirrel I was chewing before answering, "Fine, let's talk."

If any of you have any suggestions/ideas that you'd like to see or you have the time to let me know how you feel about the story please tell me in a review or PM me. I absolutely loooove feedback. So don't be shy!

~ secretTHGluver ~