Peeta and Katniss had barely spoken to each other since returning from the Games, so they were understandably nervous as they sat next to each other in Haymitch's kitchen. With the Victory Tour only a month away, Haymitch had summoned them both for what he called a strategy session.

They sat in stony silence as Haymitch regarded his tributes. His victors. Katniss and Peeta were careful to look straight at Haymitch, and not at each other.

"Brrr. You two have got a lot of warming up to do before showtime," Haymitch said, breaking the tense silence.

"We'll be fine, Haymitch. We got through the interviews just fine, we can get through the tour," Katniss said. Peeta said nothing.

Haymitch studied the pair for another minute, then he stood from his chair. "You two have got to talk it out," he said, walking to a cupboard. When he returned, he deposited three glasses and a full bottle of white liquor on the table.

"What are you doing, Haymitch?" asked Peeta.

"I need a drink," he said. "And so do you."

"What?" Katniss said. "I'm not drinking that stuff."

"You two need to talk this out," Haymitch reiterated as he cracked the seal on the bottle and poured three drinks. "If you're not willing to do it sober, then we'll have to lubricate your tongues."

"I really don't think Katniss and I have anything to say to each other," Peeta said, eyeing the liquor warily.

"Come on, Loverboy," Haymitch said, holding out a glass. "Best thing for a broken heart."

Peeta stared at him for a long moment. "Does that stuff really make the pain go away?"

"Only one way to find out," Haymitch said.

With a small shrug, Peeta took the proffered glass. Haymitch slid another one front of Katniss, but she made no move to take it.

Peeta raised his glass to Katniss and spoke to her for the first time that afternoon. "Bottoms up, Sweetheart." Then he downed his shot. He coughed, twice, and his eyes watered, but he kept it down.

"Your turn, Sweetheart," Haymitch said, downing his own shot.

Katniss still had no interest in the liquor, but something about being shown up by Peeta rankled her. Acting on impulse, she grabbed the glass and drank it quickly, then coughed so much that she thought she would vomit. "That stuff is vile!"

"The only cure for what ails ya," Haymitch said with a laugh. He quickly poured himself a full glass and downed it before pouring three more shots.

"How many more of these do I have to drink before it stops hurting?" Peeta asked as he took his glass.

"I'll let you know when I get there," Haymitch said as he knocked back his own drink.

Ten minutes later, the liquor bottle was half empty. Katniss had downed a second shot, Peeta had had three, and Haymitch had drunk the rest. Of the three, Katniss and Peeta were both obviously feeling the effects of the alcohol, though they were not quite drunk yet, while Haymitch didn't seem any more or less intoxicated than he had before they'd started.

"Okay you two," Haymitch said, "time to clear the air before this all blows up in our faces on the tour."

Peeta huffed loudly. "Thought we did that on the train," he said bitterly. "What more is there to clear up?"

"You can't act like this on the tour, you'll get us all killed!" Haymitch said.

"We'll be fine," Katniss insisted, not trusting herself to say more without slurring her words.

Peeta, rather than fighting his growing intoxication, was starting to embrace it. "Yeah, just fine. Just like the interviews, right? I'll act like all my dreams have come true, you coach her on how to string me along like a fool, and we'll all be just fine."

Katniss scowled at him. "That's not how it was."

"Yeah, whatever," Peeta said dismissively, downing his fourth drink.

"You can't keep acting like this, Peeta," Katniss said, her voice almost sounding like a plea. "I know you were hurt, but you need to get over yourself."

"Well, excuse me for loving you," Peeta said bitterly.

"You never really loved me," spilled from Katniss's mouth before her alcohol-dulled brain could stop it.

Peeta gaped at her. "What are you talking about?"

Katniss scoffed. "If you really loved me, you would have told me at some point before right now."

"What are you talking about?" Peeta asked angrily. "I told the entire country I loved you!"

Katniss began to shake her head, then quickly stopped. "No, you told them you had a crush on me. And you only told them that as part of your stupid star crossed lovers act."

"Well, it wasn't an act for me," Peeta said sullenly.

"Then that's another thing you should have told me."

"Yeah, cause you're such an expert on communication."

Haymitch sat back with his drink and smiled as Katniss and Peeta continued bickering back and forth. They were finally talking about all the issues they had with each other, and it was the liquor that got them talking. He noticed that Katniss had finished her third shot and quickly refilled her glass. He knew liquor would do the trick. Liquor was always the answer.

"What do you know about love?" Peeta asked as Haymitch's attention returned to the conversation taking place in his kitchen.

"I know more about it than you!" Katniss's raised voice was rapidly approaching a yell. "I certainly know how to love people. I know you don't abandon the people you love, not the way you abandoned me."

Peeta was too shocked by her accusation to be angry. "When did I ever abandon you?"

"Ever since we got home!" she shouted. "Ever since that train ride, when we finally had our one and only real, truthful conversation. Ever since then you've completely avoided me. After everything we went through together, you completely abandoned me when we got home."

"You made it very clear in that conversation that you had no interest in us being together. You were pretending the whole time," Peeta said.

"I did what I had to do," Katniss insisted. "That was your idea, to pretend to be together for the sponsors, remember? It's not my fault that you forgot it was an act."

"No, everything that happened was clearly my fault," Peeta said in a mocking tone. "My mother tells me the same thing."

"Don't you dare compare me to that witch!" Katniss exclaimed. "I followed your lead. I went with your strategy. I did whatever I had to do to get us both home alive."

Katniss meant to stop there, she really did, but that third shot of white liquor was working its magic, and a whole speech tumbled from her slightly-slurring mouth. "You're welcome for that, by the way. You're welcome for threatening to take my own life rather than let you die and win on my own, the way you begged me to. Obviously I did that because I don't care about you at all."

Haymitch and Peeta made no attempt to interrupt, too stunned by Katniss's outburst. This was the most either one of them had heard her say in the six months since they'd all met. Katniss, oblivious to their reactions, continued speaking. "So, here's where we are now: I do what's necessary for us both to come home, for two people to survive the Hunger Games for the first time in history, but that's not good enough for almighty Peeta! No no no! I also have to fall madly in love in ten seconds flat, and be one hundred percent sure about how I really feel, even when my survival depends on pretending to feel a certain way. And if that causes any doubt or confusion for me, if I'm not one hundred percent sure of myself mere hours after we escape, if I want to go home first and try to clear my head and think for a few days before deciding anything, well then I'm no longer worth your precious time. Then you won't be part of my life at all. Then you'll just go back to avoiding all contact with me, just like you had for the previous eleven years. If that's what you want to do, then fine. Do whatever the hell you want. But don't call it love. That's not love, Peeta."

The room was quiet for a moment. Peeta's jaw hung slightly open; he'd been blindsided by her outburst and had no idea how to respond. Haymitch sat back with a grin; that was working out even better than he had hoped.

Katniss, embarrassed by her outburst, stood so quickly that she knocked her chair over backwards. She swayed for just a moment before reaching out to the table to steady herself. "I'm done here," she spat out before turning and stalking out of the house.

She left silence in her wake. Peeta was still trying to process everything she had said. He loved her, he would do anything for her, he had done everything for her. And yet, everything she said was right. He had been treating her like crap. He had been taking his pain out on her. But none of this was her fault; if anyone was at fault, it was the Capitol, for forcing them into a situation where they had to keep so many secrets and tell so many lies. It wasn't her fault he had believed the lies and forgotten the secrets, but he had been taking it out on her, ever since they got home.

"She's right, you know," Haymitch said, interrupting his thoughts even as he confirmed them.

"I know," Peeta replied.

"About all of it," Haymitch added.

"I know!" Peeta said. "So what do I do?"

Haymitch sighed. He hadn't signed up for this. He was supposed to prepare two kids a year for dying in the arena, not coach a couple of clueless teenagers through their love life. And yet, here he was. "Same thing you should have done when you were five. Go talk to her. Try to be her friend. Hell, ask her out on a date. These things aren't that complicated, boy. If they were, we'd have a lot fewer people around."

Peeta nodded, but the motion made his head swim. When he stood, he realized that intoxication and balancing on his artificial leg were not a good combination.

Haymitch could see him struggling to stay upright. "But do that tomorrow. First, the both of you need to sleep this off"

Peeta shot Haymitch a lopsided smirk as he finally gained his balance. "That's for sure. Do me a favor, Haymitch: Never let me drink again." With that, he slowly made his way outside and back to his own house.

"That'd be the best lesson I ever teach you," Haymitch muttered to himself as he regarded the remaining half-bottle of white liquor. With his guests gone, he eschewed the glasses and drank the rest straight from the bottle.