Thicker Than Water

Day Five: the Last Night

(Warning: Sexual themes in this chapter!)

The tributes quickly got ushered off the stage. What a telling moment for the Capitol. All night they act like they love these victors, their pride and joy, but at the end of the day they're tributes again, and no one really cared what happened to them. What really told her that was a peacekeeper pushing Kallan off the stage and on their way down a dark hallway, making her nearly trip in her uncomfortable heels.

"Hey!" She snapped, turning back to him, but her brother had her arm in his hand before she could do anything. "They can't just-"

"I know," Finnick pulled her ahead, and she shook off his arm the first chance she got. Kallan let it roll off her back, which was exposed in this dress. The peacekeeper's touch lingered there in a way that made her feel like exactly what she was. She took a breath, kept walking with Finnick. She looked at the tributes around her. There were 6 ahead of her, they were going in order. But behind them, the districts were getting jumbled. Kallan slowed down, but the peacekeeper was thankfully gone. No one was around to keep her in line. There was only one way to go in this hallway anyway.

"I'll meet you back there," she said to Finnick, who looked at her immediately, not liking the idea he knew was in her head. He stood to the side with her for a moment, districts 5 and 6 passing them.

"This is dangerous, Kallie," he warned, and Kallan just looked up at him.

"Not more than what we're doing tomorrow," she reminded him. He couldn't argue with that, so he found Johanna and started walking with her.

When Kallan found the man she was looking for, she was surprised to see Katniss not with him. Of course she wasn't, she wasn't one of them. She didn't know it, but she wasn't.

Peeta spotted her quickly. His eyes met hers, just as she wanted. "Kallan," he said quietly, and she just turned and started to walk with him.

"Quite the interview," she told him, walking without looking at him.

"Thank you," he nodded. Kallan chuckled under her breath.

"A wedding? A baby?"

He glanced over at her, she saw it out of the corner of her eye.

"No," Peeta said succinctly. "Just saying what I can," he reminded her.

"Yours was definitely the most effective," she muttered. Peeta blew out air.

"We'll see," he muttered.

"Please, Peeta," she rolled her eyes. "They're not canceling the games just because your wife is pregnant," she said. She didn't need to be poking so much fun, but she was frustrated. By what, she didn't know. Perhaps the notion he held that it was possible to cancel the games. Or by the fact that there was another girl supposedly married to the first boy she had an actual crush on. Maybe she was also a little frustrated that she had a crush at all. But Peeta did something she wasn't expecting.

"Kallan," he grabbed her arm. With a bit of force. Not an alarming force, but a strong one. She turned and looked at him instantly, moving a little closer because he didn't give her a choice. She swallowed, trying to hide the alarm on her face. "Will you meet me back here?" He asked quietly, and she could no longer hide her shock, not with him.

"What?" She whispered.

"Meet me back here."

"Here."

He nodded. Here? In this hallway? What for? There was bound to be someone down here who could see them anyway.

"When?"