His words go along perfectly with everything that he's been saying. That she needs to live. She needs to embrace life here in Alpha Complex - especially given what little remains of any life she could have back home. No District, no sister. Too much guilt weighing down on her, guilt for mistakes that she doubts that she'll ever be able to atone for. She needs to stop using all of that pain from her past as an excuse. No matter how hard doing that might be.

Katniss is ready to call him an idiot but Derek doesn't give her a chance. The kiss is chaste but it's still a kiss, his lips warm and soft against her own. She finds herself smiling when he pulls away. This isn't like that last kiss. That one had been the result of all the HappiTime pills and the other drug slipped in the coffee. This one is real. And her reaction, the way her heart seems to skip a beat, is real too.

Life does go on. That's the most terrifying part of all.

"I'm not afraid of you," she clarifies quietly, glancing at his lips and wondering what it might take to get him to kiss her again. And feeling just a little uncomfortable that that she's considering just taking that kiss herself. "It's that other thing. Hurting you."