The Epilogue - Katniss and Peeta

Choose Me.

*Willow's POV*

I wait until I see his door close to step through mine, and I shut the door behind myself quietly.
I try my best not to awaken my brother or my father as I leave the house, and I make sure none of the lights are on inside the house before walking away.

I know I shouldn't be doing this, but he said he had to talk to me. And his apology was so sincere that I believe him.

He said that he had drank too much, and he never wanted to hurt me. He said he didn't even remember doing it to me until one of his friends told him the next day.

He also said he has been trying to apologize for a while now, but Flynn had Roone keeping him away from me.

Speaking of which, Flynn doesn't know that I'm doing this. I knew he'd never let me go if he found out, so this one's going to have to be a secret.

But secrets are okay, right?

"Willow." I hear his voice call out from in front of me, and I look into the darkness until I see him.

"Why am I here, Lucian?" I ask, noticing only some of the street lights on.

"I want to make it up to you." He says, and I look up at his dark brown eyes. He moves closer, but I back away from him.

"Flynn's waiting for me at home—"

I decide that maybe this isn't such a good idea, and I use Flynn as an excuse to start to leave.

"Not like that, Willow." He laughs, and I stop moving backwards. "I want to be friends."

"Friends?" I ask, not being familiar with the idea, due to my years of being unliked.

"You know," he starts, "we just hang out because we are friends."

"Is this your way of apologizing?" I remark, and he flashes me a small smile before nodding his head.

It takes me a while to get used to this new person, one that's so different than the one that attacked me at Odette's party.

It's hard to believe that they're the same person, because the Lucian that I begin to hang out with almost every day is so kind and funny. I start to think of him as one of my friends, and I even talk to him at school.

Of course, Flynn doesn't know that I hang out with him after he leaves my house, but it's not like I'm doing anything wrong.

All I'm doing is finally having a friend.

He can't be mad at me over something like that.

_

*Flynn's POV*

She's pushing me away.

She's pushing me away, asking me to not come over because she wants to be 'alone,' and barely focusing on us anymore.

I don't know what I did—I thought everything was fine. I thought we were doing okay, and then all of a sudden she hits me with this coldness.

I've tried talking to her, but all she says is that nothing has changed and that it's in my head.

I know something's going on, and I just wish she would tell me what's happening.

Maybe it's something with her mom, and maybe she's just trying to deal with it by herself. But why would she hide something like that from me?

What is she hiding?

There's a knock on my door, and I quickly stand up and reach for the door—praying that it's her.