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Peeta smiles then, his free arm just gently resting across her hip. "We'll keep on going together."

She shifted, setting her feet on either side of him so they were face to face. The position was so close to how they had sat on the roof, and she reached out, cupping both his hands in hers.

"We're gonna make it through."

The bed was clearly far too small for the both of them but he didn't really care in this moment. He wanted to be close to her.

Her touch made him smile more and scoot closer if it was even possible.

"We can take a night not to think about it."

"Do you want to try to push the beds together?"

She wasn't about to pass out on him, not when this might be the last peaceful night they got. She wanted to make it last.

She also wanted to stretch out and relax. This was going to be their place, now, and she was going to settle into it. No matter what.

"Probably would be more comfortable," he agrees with a sheepish look, having to force himself to pull away from her and get up. Because even though they weren't obligated to behave like a couple for an audience here, this had nothing to do with a show or cameras or convincing anyone of anything. He knew they both needed it.

Walking to the other bed, he begins to pull it closer to the center of the room. The room itself is small and cramped, but not that bad for two people. It was... clean. Private (for all he knew). Warm. Those things mattered more.

Glad they weren't bolted down, she went to her's, pushing it towards Peeta's till the two were next to each other, making a decent bed in the middle where they meet.

She looked through the drawers, finding simple, plain pajamas for both of them. Simple and plain seemed to be how this place operated. She wasn't complaining.

"I'll be right back." She tossed him his PJs, slipping to the bathroom to change and wash up.

He was ready to tease her about not wanting to change in the same room as him, but she was gone before he could, just smiling to himself instead. He was quickly able to change and pull back the covers, trying to somehow mesh them all together to make the makeshift bed more comfortable. Sleep was something he wanted to avoid for as long as possible tonight, even though his mind was exhausted with all the new information that was pounded into them today.

The fantasy of escaping forever with just her was sounding really nice right now.

Even if they had still been pant-less.

With a sigh, he flopped onto the bigger bed on his back, staring up at an equally dull ceiling as he waited for her.

She wasn't gone long, quickly slipping back into bed with him. It took a moment to figure out the gap, before she settled her head into the crook of his arm with a deep sigh.

Had it really only been a few weeks since they'd laid like this?

But this time, the future held a lot more hope..

He gladly wrapped both arms around her, kissing the top of her head. This was nice. It always felt right with her.

"I'll be honest... It feels nice when you let me do this."

She let out a little grunt of laughter, not sure what to say.

"I...it's the only way I really sleep, anymore." She finally confided, twisting so her face was turned up to his. It was more candid then she usually was, but Peeta...she could tell him.

"Then we'll just have to keep doing it, won't we?" He said with a grin, completely content with that fact. "It really helps me too. You calm down the nightmares."

The soft laugh became a big grin, as she laid her hand on his chest.

"I have no plans to do anything differently."

And clearly no one higher up objected to this either, since they were given a room together without asking.

That brought up something he'd been thinking of in the back of his mind, something that hadn't been as important as any current events until now when they were finally truly alone.

"So this doesn't bother you away from pretending anymore?" He wanted to be sure. They had held each other more times than he could remember, kissed, held hands, embraced, but he was never sure how comfortable Katniss really was with it all when they weren't obligated to behave like this. When they weren't lying about marriage and babies or acting so unlike themselves.

She shrugged, trying to find the words to express what she needed.

"This...isn't fake." Was what she finally settled on. "All of that was for...other people. This is for us."

Their own little world. It was the only place without all this pressure. Without the whole world trying to push them.

Peeta smiled. "I can work with that."

"Well, that's good..." She looked up, teasing. A little. Because this was their own little world, and if they could leave this awful day like this, it wouldn't be so bad.

He laughed lightly in return, fingers idly playing with the ends of her hair.

"You're... my whole world now. I still want to just spend every possible moment with you and only you."

Not that it was possible with the reality of the world's current status. But he could dream about it.

"I can't imagine we wouldn't eventually get on each other nerves." She said with a soft chuckle, relaxing back into the crook of his arm.

Still. It wasn't the worst though. Her mind drifted back, to her and Haymitch's discussion. On how for being forced into marriage she'd still made out fairly well.

"I think that's normal to happen," he says with a smile up at the ceiling, feeling so much more at ease like this. It was so easy to forget what was going on out there when they were in their little world. "But it would take a lot for you to get on my nerves."

"That's pretty easy to say now. You just wait."

Her eyes had adjusted to the scan light, and she traced the patterns of the ceiling panels.

What would life had been like if they had been left to their own devices?

"...do you think you would have ever come and talked to me? If we hadn't been reaped?"

Well that was an interesting question. He had to think about it for a long moment. "Maybe. Eventually." A pause then. "But it would have been something really lame. I wouldn't have impressed you at all."

She chuckled.

"I'm not...that hard to impress you know." She glanced up at him again. "You could have just like...brought me cookies. Or something."

A blond eyebrow rose up at that. "So I could have just easily baked some sugar cookies with 'I ♥ U' frosted on them? Damn..." He couldn't help but tease, despite the serious question. To even imagine them getting close any other way without the Games felt odd. They never would have been as tightly knit as they are now, he was sure of it, even though the circumstances weren't all that great.

"Eh, maybe not that..." She laughed again, trying to imagine that. Maybe he was right. Maybe they had needed this to knit them together.

"I can't...I don't want to but I think a lot about...what ifs."

"I do too sometimes." Another pause as he considered her question on a deeper level. Without the reaping, who knew how long it would have taken for either of them to speak on a personal level? And with her close relationship to Gale, he was positive they would have ended up together somehow. They still could. This war was only starting and what if he ended up...

Ah. Thinking about the outside again.

"It would have been really easy to just be the boy who gave you bread forever. But I'd always have wanted something else... wished to have at least said something to you, even if it was as lame as the... weather or something like that."

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oh katniss. those words you just...can't find to express your feelings for Peeta. Oh those words.

you'll figure them out one day... one day...

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