I woke up the next morning at sunrise, feeling extremely content. I sat up, dangling my legs over the edge of the bed, stretching my lazy muscles. Suddenly, the events of the night before hit me like a ton of bricks. I whipped my head round to the other side of the bed, expecting a sleeping Peeta. However, all that was there were empty sheets as a reminder that he was here.

A wave of sadness and disappointment washed over me as I stood up and strode into the bathroom. Looking into the mirror above the sink, I stared at my reflection. As I analysed every part of my appearance, I noticed a deep red area on my left hip. He had marked me!

Speechless, I climbed into the shower, as naked as the night before. Tears poured down my cheeks as the water pounded against my skin. I scrubbed every inch of my skin that I could reach; his lack of explanation and presence made me feel dirty.

I continued scrubbing until the water ran cold. Feeling slightly satisfied with my freshly cleaned body, I put the dryer on high to completely dry myself. My hair fell in shiny, sleek curls down my back.

As I stared into the mirror again, I vowed to harden myself when it came to Peeta. He stole my innocence after blinding me with his words, before leaving me to wake up all alone, as though it never happened. The unfamiliar and painful ache between my legs was proof enough that it wasn't a dream.
I strode out of the bathroom with my newfound confidence and changed into the outfit I had chosen the previous day; which consisted of a brown blazer, cream blouse, beige skinny chinos, and brown ankle boots. My hair remained down, which was a refreshing change from my usual bun hairstyle. Just as I was heading to the bedroom door, I passed a small desk-like table with an antique mirror sat on top. I had never seen this type of furniture before, so naturally curiosity took the better of me. I was surprised to find the drawers full of make-up as I explored it. Feeling daring, I used brown eye shadow, black liquid eyeliner and black mascara to create a dark, smoky eye effect that I had learnt from my mother. I chose a scarlet red lipstick to wear instead of a plain nude colour, in order to emphasise my point of being a powerful woman and not a vulnerable girl.
After applying a small amount of foundation, I strode through the train to the main lounge, surprised to find three people occupying the stunning antique dinning table in the corner of the room. Haymitch seemed hung-over, Effie ate her breakfast enthusiastically, and the person that hurt me the most smiled at me. I was furious on the inside, but outside I appeared natural. This boy was digging the knife deeper into my gut than it already was, killing me slowly and painfully.
"Good morning," I said with a forced smile on my face. "How is everyone today?"
I stared pointedly at Peeta, awaiting his wonderfully pathetic excuse. Looking confused, Peeta replied with, "I'm fine, thank you. I couldn't seem to get much sleep last night though, how about you Katniss?"
"Fine, thanks, I wish I was still at home, with someone else as tribute, though," I replied, trying to appear as nonchalant as I possible could at that moment in time. Needless to say, I was cursing him in my mind, for acting like nothing happened.
After only eating one of my four pancakes, I walked out of the room, shoving my plate forward on the table beforehand, perhaps too harshly. I stormed back to my bedroom feeling sick with disgust at Peeta's behaviour. How he could act oblivious was beyond me, but I know that I won't allow myself to fall for him again.
Somebody must have followed me because as I sat down on my bed, there was a faint tapping at the door. I opened the door to find my tormentor staring at me with worried eyes. I hardened my expression, trying to build a defence to his penetrating gaze.
"What are you here for, Peeta?" I asked, sounding as hostile as I could without showing him how upset I truly was.
"I came to see if you were okay, what's wrong?" He asked me.
"You are unbelievable! How can you stand there and act oblivious to last night's event?" I yelled in reply, too furious to even remember my vow. "I woke up to an empty bed with no explanation as to why you weren't there, and then you go and ask me a question like that? Are you serious?"
Peeta looked as though I had slapped him across the face. The funny part was that I wasn't feeling nearly as satisfied than if I had. His mouth began to open and close, making him look like a fish gasping for air. Unfortunately he was gasping for words; no where near close enough to suffocation.
"Hurry up, I haven't got all day," I spat out harshly, heavy on the sarcasm.
"I didn't think to leave you a note; I couldn't sleep so I got dressed again in my own bedroom and went for a walk. I ended up staring out of the window in the lounge and before I knew it, the sun had risen. I was going to come back but Effie came into the lounge; it would have been odd if I had gone back to my bedroom without having eaten breakfast. I am terribly sorry for making you feel used, I never intended on that," he said as he stared into my eyes with regret written all over his features. I didn't know how to reply to his little speech; I was completely speechless.

I turned my back to him and closed my eyes in order to clear my mind a little; I needed to process everything he was telling me. I could feel Peeta press his lips onto my neck lightly, leaving a small kiss. Giving into my heart, I softly spoke, 'So now that you've got me, what are you going to do with me?"

He turned me to face him and, looking into my eyes, he said, 'Put you somewhere you can't get hurt."

I wish I could have frozen that moment, right then, in that very second, and lived in it forever. Unfortunately, the fire had already caught on; all I needed to remember was that hope is the only thing stronger than fear.