"I can't find my hair clips" a tear slid down my cheek as I scrambled around my room.

"Hey, hey, hey, it's not your fault" Peeta soothed, as he picked up my hair clips.

As I deftly started to pile my hair on the top of my head, as instructed, more tears escaped my eyes.

"Tributes die" Haymitch growled. "If you haven't noticed, that is the aim of this whole thing."

I knew that, of course I did. I didn't even know what was wrong with me. Not only did I see people being killed last year, but I also killed – surely this shouldn't affect me like this.

"You still have one more Tribute in there," Haymitch continued. "The smart thing is to put your effort into making sure you don't lose the other one."

After grabbing his glass, he left the room, complaining about women and their feelings. I ignored him and just continued putting up my hair.

"Look, you have somewhere else to be," Peeta said in softer tone than that of Haymitch as he helped me into the lush red robe and wiped away thee tears that were still making their way down my face. "And I must go back to the Viewing Rooms to try and keep Delphi alive. Are you ok to get there?"

"I'll be fine. How do I look?" I asked, smiling through my tears.

"Stunning, as always. Now I must go, see you later tonight?"

I nodded as he too left me alone. I knew he was taking Alto's death hard too, he could barely look me in the eye since we saw Alto's picture had appeared to confirm his death. But he wasn't the one blubbering like a baby.

I moped up my face and put on some of the rouge that had been provided for me. Seemingly, pallor wasn't attractive. Once I looked some way reasonable, I began my short walk to the rooms dedicated to things of this sort.

The rooms were in the top floor of the Mentor's Building. It was for ease of access more than anything, I guess. The people who were making the purchase for the night were able to go in a side entrance, to avoid suspicion. We were able to travel in a plush escalator to the top rooms. An Avox then directed us towards our assigned room, which was decorated however the purchaser requested. Sometimes I would be first, sometimes the purchaser would be waiting.

In this instance, I was first.

I looked around my assigned room. It was ostentatious. Everything was cream with gold trimmings from the bed clothes to the furniture. A bottle of champagne stood chilling in the centre of a small round table, adorned by chocolates and strawberries. There was a little sofa at the end of the bed, with small scatter cushions festooned across it. No sooner had I taken a seat on it than the door creaked ajar.

A man strutted inside the door. He had jet black hair, which curled loosely. It looked so normal that he would have looked bizarre surrounded by the people that inhabit the Capital. His eyes shone under the candles that lit up the room and when he saw me, his lips spread into a small smile.

"Tenney Wellwood, at your service," he said in a smarmy tone.

"Hello" I said icily.

Seemingly not noticing my standoffish attitude, he continued over to the table.

"Champagne?" he offered.

"No…thank you."

That did not stop him. He helped himself to a generous glass of wine, and three strawberries before he joined me over on the sofa.

"So, sofa, floor or bed first?" he asked. "I asked for these carpets to be put in, makes it a lot more comfortable don't you think."

At this point his face was so close to mine, I could smell the alcohol off his breath. His hand found my cheek and it took everything I had not to flinch at his touch.

"Aren't you going to kiss me?" he questioned, you could practically hear the oil in his voice. It was phrased like a question, but I was very aware that it was not a request. I pressed my lips to his carefully, but he did not allow it remain a chaste kiss. Before I knew it, I was on the floor. I felt a pain in my back from where I had landed when he pushed me.

Wonderful. Bruise number one.

It didn't take me long to realise that Mr Wellwood was a biter. By the time I left, hours later, every inch of me was covered in bites. I silently hoped that the Capitol provided a cream for that as well as bruises.

Peeta wasn't in the room when I returned. Knowing where he would be, I slipped on my normal clothes and snuck down to the viewing room.

The viewing room had a big screen at the front of the room which showed what the people in the Districts were able to see. Each District had a table with two chairs and a monitor. This gave Mentors a chance to zoom into specific parts of the Arena so that we could monitor our Tributes – or in our case Tribute. Peeta was the only one who was there, staring at his screen.

"Hi," I croaked as I took the seat next to Peeta making sure to settle myself on a cushion. "How's she doing?"

"She found a cave and settled there," he yawned. "It's not too far from dawn now. It won't be long until she wakes."

"They let her sleep?" I was incredulous.

"There was a bloodbath when the Careers found five Tributes gathered around a fire. One Career died and three on the others. It seems that that entertained the masses and gave our girl a fighting chance."

"Our girl?"

"She's all on our own out there" he said sadly, "she needs someone on her side."

I studied Peeta for a moment. He was hunched over, with his arms literally holding up his head. He looked like he may keel over at any moment, and yet he was so focused on the screen. There were worry lines etched across his face and bags under his eyes.

"Go to bed, Peeta. I'll stay here for a while."

"It's okay. You've had a long night. How did it go by the way?"

Pulling my cardigan closer to myself self-consciously, I gave him a weak smile. "There were carpets" I informed him knowing this wouldn't suffice. He just seemed so down about everything I didn't want him worrying about me.

"Katniss?" a mixture of pity and worry crossing his face.

"It's nothing. Well, nothing I haven't dealt with before."

"Sure?" He cupped my face in his hands as his eyes searched my face for something.

"We've both just had a really long day. Go on, sleep and I will keep an eye on…our girl."

"Our girl" he sighed regretfully, walking away.

I settled myself down in the chair and reached for the notes that Peeta had made.

There was a whisper from the doorway but when I turned around there was no Peeta there. I thought for a moment, trying desperately hard to unscramble the whisper that I had just heard. I thought I knew what I had heard but I couldn't possibly be right. I thought I had heard I do love you, you know?

Thanks for reading

xxx