A Fresh Start-After Mockingjay (Before the Epilogue)

Chapter Forty-Seven

Katniss POV- (A few weeks later, in the Capitol)

"I can do most of the talking if you want?" Peeta suggests softly into my ear. I nod my head and he pulls me into a hug. "You know, we really don't have to do this." He says quietly into my hair.

"I don't want to have people following us around the rest of our lives either." I say, pulling away from him and sitting down on the fancy Capitol couch.

"But you know it's going to happen, Katniss. Even if we do this. It just may not be as bad but it's possible now that they know we are together, they're going to be following us around even more."

"Why now? I didn't really see one thing about either of us until that day."

"Katniss, you were on the news a lot before I came home. I would see you on the news all the time. And you never watched tv so you never knew."

"I never left my house either." I say truthfully.

"But when you did, someone was watching you." I groan, I didn't know. I honestly thought when I came home, this press stuff would all be over. That nobody would care enough to keep in touch with the Mockingjay but I should've known. I'll never escape it. Peeta and I will never escape what was guaranteed to us before the War; a lifetime of publicity. "I've even seen myself on the news. I had no idea people were watching me or taking pictures. Once Delly went to town with me and they tried to say we were dating." He says, sitting on the arm of the couch I'm sitting on. I shift uncomfortably and Peeta senses my discomfort at the mention of her name. "You know how the media likes to twist innocent things. Don't worry. I haven't seen her or heard from her since she disappeared that day."

"I still can't believe that she took it that far." I tell him angrily, but not at him, at her. She crossed so many lines but she was foolish to cross it in front of me.

"It still hurts but obviously she wasn't really my friend or else she wouldn't have lied to me in her favor." I look at the floor and swallow hard. "I don't want her ever back in my life. What she did was unforgivable." I look up at him. Delly must've really hurt Peeta a lot by lying to him if he won't even forgive her or let her back into his life. I thought that I hurt him worse and what I did was unforgivable, yet, he still always welcomed me back with open arms. Maybe it's because she did what she did to be despicable and I did what I did because I didn't know better. I never hurt him on purpose but she did. "There's no reason for you to be jealous of her ever again." Peeta says, rubbing my back gently.

I bring my head back up and give him a look, "What?" I ask, annoyed that he thinks the reason I don't like Delly is because I was jealous of her. Maybe that's how it started but now, it's not that at all. Not after our encounter months and months ago. I don't like Delly because she lied to Peeta.

"Don't be mad." He mumbles.

I roll my eyes, "I'm not."

"Five minutes!" Someone opens the door and yells.

Peeta sighs and looks at me again, waiting for an answer. "I'm not mad at you and I'm not jealous of anyone, especially Delly." I state to him, crossing my arms.

"I was only kidding." I shrug, turning away from him. "Hey, I don't want to argue with you. We have five minutes until we have to tell everyone that we are back together. If we are fighting, how are we going to be able to tell them that?"

"Peeta, this feels so wrong." I mumble.

"What do you mean?" He asks me.

I groan, "I thought that after the Games ended, we could have a more private life, not having to still broadcast every detail." I tell him frustratedly.

"Well, I don't know what you expected, Katniss. Plus, you agreed to this too."

I frown, "I don't really want to do it but if it even makes a dent in keeping our privacy, I want to try."

"Katniss, I know this feels like it use to but there's nothing to worry about and nothing to talk up." I nod my head, he's right. There's nothing to get right out there. Nothing to be afraid of if we don't tell them exactly what they want to here. "We will just tell them that we've been helping each other get better and we tried to not be more than friends for as long as we could and now we are together. It's as simple as that." He says confidently but it's not as simple as that. They're going to want to know more, Caesar is going to ask questions and demand answers. I look down at the floor and cross my arms again. "We already agreed to come on the show. If you don't want to talk, you don't have to say a word." Peeta says. I haven't quite figured out why he's so persistent in doing this.

I sigh, just wanting to get this over with. I'll talk to Peeta more about it later. "I'm sorry." I say, feeling guilty for the way I've treated him since we left home. I'm just stressing out about the interview and being back, I guess.

"It's okay. I haven't been all that nice about this. I'm nervous too." He says and leans down and kisses the top of my head.

I lean my forehead against his leg and he rubs my back gently. "Let's just get through this and go home." I mumble and bring my head up.

He leans down and pulls my lips to his, "I love you."

"I love you, Peeta." I say softly, just as someone from Caesar's show comes in.

"I need you both to come out. We start in 30 seconds." He says.

Peeta and I stand up and head backstage. Right when we get there, Caesar goes in and the crowd goes wild. I feel my heart begin to race and Peeta holds onto my hand and I can feel how badly we are both shaking. "Are you sure you want to do this?" I ask Peeta.

He sighs, "It's not my favorite thing to be doing but if it keeps our life a little more private, I'll do it."

"It's not private if we go on national television to tell them about our life." I say truthfully.

He smirks, shaking his head, "You're right but now, we get to decide what story to tell."