Baby of Panem

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We get off the elevator on our floor and I walk as quickly as possible in the opposite direction as Peeta and Haymitch. I hear them talking behind me and then hear Peeta approaching me. He catches up to me and walks beside me, matching my pace, not saying anything, and just reaching for my hand. I let him grab it, but make sure to squeeze harder than usual. I'm not happy with him, but he should know this. We make it into my room, and I walk into the bathroom, fumbling to get my dress off to shower. I feel Peeta's hands on my back as he unzips my dress, kissing my neck as he does so.

"I like taking your dress off a lot more than anyone else's dress," He smiles and kisses my neck more.

"You think this is funny?"

"Katniss... it wasn't a big deal."

"It wasn't a big deal? You undressed her, in front of me!" Peeta laughs at my response, "What the hell is funny about this?"

"Don't you get it?"

"Get what?"

"All of the tributes are acting like this because they think you're innocent."

"Innocent? I've been practically ripping your clothes off in every interview, actually ripping them off when the cameras aren't around, and I'm pregnant with your kid. What the hell do you mean I'm innocent?"

"I know that, but none of them know that. They're just trying to get a reaction out of you."

What he says make sense, Finnick with the sugar cube and Johanna in the elevator, but Finnick knew about the baby, so this can't be the right reason. I start to feel dizzy and decide that I don't care enough to argue about this right now. At this point, all I want to do is take a shower and go to bed. I shrug my dress the rest of the way off and remove the rest of my clothes, making sure to look directly at Peeta as I do so, taking in how he reacts to seeing my body in front of him. I lean in close to him, trailing kissing from his lips to his ear, and down his neck, my hand finding its way down his stomach to his waistline. I can hear his breath catch as he presses closer to me. I lean up to him and whisper in his ear.

"Don't even think about it tonight." I pull away from him and get into the shower.

As I shower, I try to scrub the memories of Johanna's body and the scent of the capital off of my skin with the makeup. I wash my hair out, the scent making me feel nauseous. I make a note not to use the strawberry scented soaps here anymore. I cup my stomach, letting the water pool around the bottom of it. I can feel my baby kick against the water, they must like it. I stay like this for a few minutes, enjoying the feeling of my baby kicking against me. When I start getting too tired, I turn off the water and reach for a towel, drying off and exiting the bathroom. I don't bother to look at the bed to see if Peeta is still here. I reach into the dresser and pull out a loose top and shorts, pulling them on quickly and walking over to the bed. Peeta is laying on his side, I notice some uneven movement of his arm and once I get closer, realize what he is doing. His eyes are closed so he must not have realized I'd walked out yet. I slowly and carefully slide into the bed beside him, startling him without meaning to.

"Shit. Katniss, I didn't know you... I wasn't..." I just my press my lips to his to make him stop talking and reach around him, grasping him in my hand to finish what he had been doing.

"Did I make you need me? Or were you lusting over Johanna?"

"You. Definitely you."

I kiss him deeply, letting myself fall into the kiss and giving him what he needs. Afterwards, we lay on the bed, nothing but the blanket covering our bodies. He runs his fingers through my hair as he kisses my cheek. I lay against him, he is the one thing that makes me feel safe in the capital. He raises his head to look at me, making direct eye contact. This is not something he does often, I push up on my elbows, looking at him.