[the hunger games series: catching fire]
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        Cameron felt a wave of relief wash over her as she was ushered off the stage by Malini. "See, that wasn't that bad, was it?" she asked.

"I need a drink," Cameron expressed. "Or five."

Malini shook her head, "Not on the night before the games you don't," she said, ushering the girl back to her seat.

Mitchell looked over at Cameron, who immediately began fixing her hair, "You said nice things about me," he pointed out, his right brow raised.

"Well, I heard you said nice things about me too," Cameron responded.

"Some kind words may have slipped out of my mouth," Mitchell admitted. "So, I'm the strongest person you know?" he asked in a light tone.

Cameron rolled her eyes, "Shut up," she huffed lightly, crossing her arms over her chest. She sank back into her chair as she hers wandered over to the two tributes who had just walked in. Any chatter in the room that was going on had been silenced. It seemed like everyone was staring at Katniss in her beautiful white gown. Peeta was outfitted in a similar manner, his white gloves and tuxedo matched his partner's dress perfectly. "Oh my god," Cameron muttered.

"There's no way," Mitchell said, his eyes wide.

Finnick was the first person to address Katniss directly, "I can't believe Cinna put you in that thing," he said, his voice carrying throughout the backstage area.

Katniss frowned, "He didn't have a choice. President Snow made him," she said defensively.

"Well, you look ridiculous," another tribute by the name of Cashmere chimed in.

Cameron rolled her eyes, knowing how cliquey some of the tributes could be. "Tell Katniss I like her dress," she whispered to Peeta as he passed by Mitchell and herself.

Peeta nodded as Katniss was pushed onto the stage by their escort Effie. Cameron watched intently as the crowd erupted into a roar of applause, signaling the beginning of Katniss's three minutes with Caesar.

"So, Katniss," Caesar spoke. "Obviously this is a very emotional night for everyone. Is there anything you'd like to say?"

Cameron could hear a slight tremble in Katniss' voice as she began to answer his question. "Only that I'm so sorry you won't get to be at my wedding," she expressed. "But I'm so glad you at least get to see me in my dress. Isn't it just, the most beautiful thing?"

Katniss began twirling around, lifting her dress sleeves into the air. Cameron gasped as a cloud of smoke appeared around the girl, a strange color flames engulfing her dress and the girl. When the smoke dissipated, Katniss was left with a sleek black dress and white sleeves that oddly resembled wings.

"Feathers," Caesar commented. "You're like a bird."

"A Mockingjay, I think," Katniss sounded. "It's the bird on the pin I wear as a token."

Cameron smiled, "Clever," she whispered to Mitchell.

"Cinna's a hell of a designer," Mitchell responded. "Not very subtle, but I like it."

"It's dangerous, is what it is," Finnick said suddenly, poking his head between the two tributes. He pointed a finger towards Cinna, who had been told to rise and take a bow by Caesar. "He's got a target on his back now."

Cameron turned her head to look at him, "Don't we all?" she said in a small voice.

"Yes, and it's not good," Finnick replied, looking between Cameron and Mitchell. "But that was an outright act of rebellion. He's a dead man walking," he pointed out as Katniss walked off the stage, passing by Peeta, who was the last interview of the night.

Caesar smiled as Peeta walked out onto the stage. "So, Peeta," he started instantly, getting right into the gossip (as he always does). "What was it like when, after all you've been through, you found out about the Quell?"

"I was in shock. I mean, one minute I'm seeing Katniss looking so beautiful in all these wedding gowns, and then the next-" Peeta's voice stopped.

"You realized there was never going to be a wedding?" Caesar finished from him.

Cameron couldn't tell if Peeta looked uncomfortable or if he was deep in thought. It was probably both. Peeta looked out into the audience and then back at Caesar. "Caesar, do you think all our friends here can keep a secret?" he asked.

"I feel quite certain of it," Caesar replied.

"We're already married," Peeta said quietly.

Cameron blinked, "What the fuck?"

"Holy shit," Mitchell said at the same time.
"But, how can that be?" Caesar said, matching the tribute's confused tones.

"Oh, it's not an official marriage," Peeta began to explain. "We didn't go to the Justice Building or anything. But we have this marriage ritual in District Twelve. I don't know what it's like in the other districts. But there's this thing we do." He began to explain this toasting that Cameron honestly didn't understand. The only thing they did in District Nine was the 'braiding of the crowns' where the couple takes a piece of wheat and make each other a small crown. It was small but sweet, she was sure that the Capitol had a more elaborate ceremony.

Caesar seemed intrigued by the wedding idea, "Were your families there?" Caesar asked.

"No, we didn't tell anyone. Not even Haymitch. And Katniss's mother would have never approved. But you see, we knew if we were married in the Capitol, there wouldn't be a toasting. And neither of us really wanted to wait any longer. So one day, we just did it. And to us, we're more married than any piece of paper or big party could make us."

"So this was before the Quell?" Caesar continued.

"Of course before the Quell," Peeta responded, waving off Caesar's comment. "I'm sure we'd never have done it after we knew. But who could've seen it coming? No one. We went through the Games, we were victors, everyone seemed so thrilled to see us, and then out of nowhere- I mean, how could we anticipate such a thing?"

"You couldn't Peeta," Caesar said instantly, consoling the man as he put his arm around Peeta's shoulders. "As you say, no one could've. But I have to confess, I'm glad you two had at least a few months of happiness together."

The crowd began to erupt into applause, with a few small shouts of approval from the biggest fans of the couple. Cameron couldn't say she was surprised by the reaction. The Capitol had been obsessed with Katniss and Peeta's relationship after they won.

"I'm not glad," Peeta said suddenly. "I wish we had waited until the whole thing was done officially," he admitted.

Caesar looked a little confused, "Surely even a brief time is better than no time?"

"Maybe I'd think that too, Caesar," Peeta said bitterly. "If it weren't for the baby."

Cameron's mouth would drop to the floor if it could. "B-baby?" she stuttered.

"Yes, Cam, that's what the man said," Finnick, who was still sitting near the two, said. Cameron was too shocked to correct him at the moment.

"The hell, what the hell?" Cameron sounded. "Mitch, pinch me, I'm dreaming."

Mitchell raised his brow, "Sorry, can't do. Because apparently all three of us are having the same dream. Or Katniss is actually pregnant."

Caesar tried to begin to talk over the crowd, but they were completely rioting. Cries about how they should cancel the games, about how cruel this whole thing was. The sound of the buzzer couldn't even calm the crowd down. Cameron felt extremely dizzy as all of the tributes were ushered back onto the stage once more. She honestly wasn't sure what was going on. Usually, they would all stand and take a bow, one by one. But this time it was different.

Mitchell reached down to grab her hand, Cameron looked over to the right as more of the tributes began to join hands. Cameron reached towards the other hand next to her, not looking to see who it was. Soon enough, all twenty-four of the tributes linked hands. Like they were one: united. Something that they hadn't been since the Dark Days.

Cameron watched as the screen that was board-casting all of this went dark. But the people had seen it, and that's all that matters. The tributes were immediately enveloped in darkness, left to stumble around on the dimly lit stage.

"Good luck out there, in the arena. And make sure to look for me," Cameron heard Finnick whisper in her ear. She wanted to say something back, but before she could she was pulled away by another force.

"Come on," Mitchell hissed. "Let's go before they try to separate us."

"Snow'll hate it, won't he?" Cameron asked as the two rushed into an elevator to tale them up to their lounge. "The unity."

"I don't know," Mitchell admitted. "But it's not going to end well, Cam."

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"The pregnancy rouse wasn't enough," Wilbur announced to the two tributes later that night. "The Games are still on. But they've canceled the reruns of the interviews, the Capitol doesn't want them to see that."

"That whole thing was a rouse?" Cameron asked, her eyes wide. "That's fucking genius. Why didn't we think of that?"

Mitchell snorted, "Because no one would believe that you are pregnant," he pointed out. "Plus they would all think I was the father, and that's just crossing a line Cam."

"I don't know if I should be relieved or deeply offended," Cameron said frowning.

Wilbur gave them both a look to tell them to stop talking as he cleared his throat. "Yes, of course, it was a rouse, why else would Peeta say that?"

"I don't know, because it's the truth?!" Cameron asked flabbergasted. "Well, I guess it's not the truth anymore. A lot of people thought it was the truth. Including me, and I feel very fucking dumb now."

"Wow, Cam, I can't believe you bought that obvious lie," Mitchell teased.

Cameron scowled, flipping the man off. "You bought that obvious lie too, Mitchell," she said, emphasizing every syllabus in his name.

"Stop spreading lies about me, Cameron," Mitchell responded in the same exact tone.

"It's not a lie, you literally whispered to me, 'I can't believe that she's pregnant,'" Cameron said shaking her head. "So, maybe you're lying to yourself, and I honestly should be surprised by that."

Mitchell groaned, "Wow, I'm starting to miss the Cam that said nice things about me in her interview. When can I get that Cam back? She was cool."

"I regret everything I said by the way," Cameron said, sitting up on the couch. "I don't actually like you that much, and I decided we are no longer friends," she lied.

Mitchell scoffed, knowing that she wasn't telling the truth, "Sure, whatever you say, Cam," he retorted.

Wilbur sighed, "You two should get some sleep. The games are tomorrow. You want to be well-rested, just in case."

"We die," Cameron stated nonchalantly. "Yeah. I got it. We both got it, Wil. It's all I've been able to think about for the past few weeks. Thanks for the reminder," she said sourly, pursing her lips as she lifted herself off of the couch and stalked off into her room.

"Cameron, wait!" Wilbur said in a loud voice.

She turned around, snapping her head back towards her mentor. "What?" Cameron asked sassily.

"Try not to think about it," Wilbur offered as if that was supposed to comfort her at all.

"Thanks," she said insincerely. "That's so fucking helpful." Cameron swallowed the lump in her throat as she walked into her room.

She heard Mitchell say something to Wilbur, but Cam couldn't tell what it was. She closed her eyes as her body fell onto her bed. She tried to ignore the sound of footsteps as she rolled over, facing the wall instead of her doorway. "You know, you don't have to be all brooding and shit?" Mitchell reminded her as he stood outside her door.

"I didn't mean what I said," Cameron mumbled. "I'm glad we're friends."

"I already know that," Mitchell reminded her, sitting on the edge of his bed. "And that wasn't what I was talking about."

"I know the risks Mitch, I didn't need to be reminded of them," Cameron said, turning her head to look up at him. "We both know that risks, which is why we took Haymitch's deal. I spend every single hour thinking about that. Every time I close my eyes, I see you dying, or Jaz, or Wilbur, or me," she said quickly. "And I can't do that. I don't need to be reminded that those things can happen, okay? Because I already know. And I'm fucking terrified."

Mitchell didn't say anything, he just nodded as he pulled the girl into a tight embrace. "Me too, Cam. Me too," he responded in a voice that she could barely hear.

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Cameron felt very uncomfortable in her skin-tight suit that the Capitol supplied for her Games. It was dark blue with a long purple belt down the middle of it. "I didn't get to say goodbye to Wilbur," she mumbled to Gaia, as she touched up Cameron's tight ponytail. "Guess the Capitol doesn't really care for us that much to let us say-"

Gaia shushed her, "It's okay Sweetie, you'll be able to see him when you win," she said hopefully. "You got this."

"You have too much faith in me, Gaia," Cameron said slowly. "I'm nothing compared to the others. They're stronger, faster, they have connections. I hate to say it, but I'm worried. I don't know if I can do it."

Gaia clicked her tongue, "That's not what Mitchell told me earlier," she said, smoothing out the bunched-up fabric on Cameron's shoulders.

"Don't listen to him," Cameron said, shaking her head as she pulled out two small strands from her ponytail to give it a more natural look. Not that it would matter. After all, in a matter of minutes, she would be covered in blood, dirt, water, and whatever the Capitol had to throw at them. After the stunt that they pulled last night, the Capitol would probably do their best to make it as difficult for them as possible. "Mitchell's a dumbass and he doesn't know what he's talking about."

"I think you could gain something by listening to your friend, sweetie," Gaia reminded her as Cameron stepped into the metal tube that was going to lift her up into The Arena.

"If I listened to everything Mitchell said, I would be dead already," Cameron joked as the cylinder began to slide around her, cutting off the last part of her sentence. Cameron looked straight ahead as the metal plate she was standing on began to rise.

Cameron was biting the inside of her mouth so hard that her mouth began to fill with a familiar metallic taste. Blood. She swallowed it quickly as she tried to focus. She could hear her heartbeat in her ears, Cameron tried to shake the feeling that something was going horribly wrong, but she couldn't. There was no time to think about that now. She had to focus. 'Focus,' Cameron thought as she was now fully in the arena.

She was immediately greeted with the smell of salt, and a breeze of fresh hair. Cameron's head spun around and the first thing that she noticed was the waves crashing around her feet. Water. It was practically everywhere. There were twelve small paths of rocks emerging from the middle of the cornucopia. Cameron thought that she would be able to fun straight towards the middle, but she was wrong.

A long patch of water was standing between her and her best chance of survival. Cameron looked to her left and saw Johanna Mason, who Cameron could've swore sent her a small smile. She tried to return one as she looked to her right, where she was greeted once again by a large passage of water. She caught a glimpse of the two tributes on the island next to her. She tried to make out who it was but the sunlight was too bright, obscuring the majority of her vision.

Cameron tried to take it all in as the announcer began to speak, but she could only think about one thing.

It was the beginning of the end.

Say you'll remember me,
standing in a nice dress, staring at the sunset,
babe ☁︎

Grace talks ig: I know I promised Games content but the ending here was too perfect. So the next chapter, and I promise you it will hit y'all like a ton of bricks. WOOHOOO! I'm actually so fucking excited but I can't wait to write more of Cam being a badass (because she is). And if she kills people it's only because they deserve it so, I'm going to be a Cam apologist no matter what happens (actually I know what happens but I'm not going to spoil anything even though I want to). Anyways, I don't know if I say this in the last update, but thanks for 1K reads on this story! I didn't think I would reach it so soon in the book, but I DID. SO THANKKKSSSS BAES <3. YAY! Vote and comment if you liked this chapter. I am gonna go, but probably not sleep because I had a latte at like 6pm and I am flying rn (its 2 am lol, i am not good at handling caffeine anymore). sOOOOOO see y'all sooner rather than later. BYEEE!