A/N: I realize I have two other stories I haven't been working on.. and I apologize to anyone reading those. I'm kind of stuck mentally on them both so... I figured I'd post something new, hopefully get my mind refreshed and full of new ideas. Also, this series of one-shots/drabbles will take place in either Peeta or Katniss' POV. It's their life after the series ends. I apologize in advance for this being so short, but there will be more to come! Please feel free to review/comment. I'd love the feedback (:
Peeta's POV:
It hadn't been long since we had returned to District Twelve. It was still in shambles thanks to the bombs but like always, it was home to us. Despite what had been a heartfelt reunion with the girl I loved, it had become a mutual agreement to remain in our individual victor's homes. I would've abided by that except for the screams. I heard her from across the way and it tugged at my heart in ways I would've never imagined. My brain was still a bit.. fuzzy, I guess you could say. Some nights I wanted to run across the few feet separating us and hold her like it seemed so natural to do. Other nights, I willed myself to fall asleep; muttering that the torture I endured was just messing with my mind again. It was the eighth night since we had come home and I couldn't stand it any longer. Like clockwork, her screams sounded and filled the still air. I sat up, shaking my head, muttering to myself that I needed to go. I needed to be with her. I swung my legs off my bed, not bothering with shoes or a shirt as I ran toward that house. As I ran, quick flashes of images pulsed through my head. The shocks, my screams, her face, the chilling feeling I got when I had believed she was the enemy. Then my own words resonated through my skull, 'You love me. Real or not real?' As I opened the door to her home, I rushed up the stairs, frowning at her squirming form. I slowly stepped up to her bed, noting her troubled expression. Her dreams had been bothering her since we first left the games and through my clouded memory, I vaguely remembered holding her as she slept on a train. Or was that all just a dream? A memory that got messed up along with everything else inside of me? I decided it wasn't time to dwell on what was real or made up, instead I let my calloused hand fall lightly on her cheek, my thumb brushing against her brow. Almost instantly, her face relaxed but I could tell it wasn't enough. She still rustled under her sheets and I swore I heard her faintly whimper my name, "Peeta." I carefully crawled over her, getting under her sheets, allowing my legs to tangle with hers to keep her still as my arms wrapped around her waist. I buried my nose into her neck and I smiled as she faintly smelled of the forest, a part of District Twelve I still found a mystery. Just like her expression, her body went limp in my arms, her back pressing itself against my bare chest. With disregard to my faulty memory and awkwardness toward her, I knew I belonged by her side like this. As I closed my eyes, I suddenly remembered my question to her again and knew I agreed with her answer. My lips brushed against the back of her neck lightly as I whispered, "Real."