Somewhere in the haze of sleep, I feel someone move, then I hear a scream. One word comes to my head: Katniss. Sadly, this is the fourth time this week, and it's only Tuesday. I sit up as quickly as I can only to find her almost off the bed, tangled in the sheets with sweat covering her face. I grab her as she is about to roll off and rock her back and forth.
"Shhhhh Katniss, baby, it's all right. It's just a nightmare. It's not real." I repeat over and over, smoothing her hair back. She continues to whimper and let out strangled cries, but they slowly diminish. She still keeps her eyes clamped shut and the fists are grabbing on to my shirt. I hate to see her like this. It breaks my very heart in two to think of what the Capitol has done to her. I hate them for ruining our life.
I kiss Katniss on the forehead, and her eyes flutter open. "Peeta?" She says cautiously, almost as if I'm not supposed to be here, holding her. I cringe at what she could have dreamed to think I wasn't there.
"Yes, baby, I'm right here. I will not go anywhere" I soothe, trying to get her to calm down.
" Oh Peeta! I thought you were dead. The mutts came out and…and…a…a…..a…n..d" A new round of sobs wrack throughout her body and I clutch her tighter to my chest, she doesn't have to continue for me to know what the nightmare was about. Ones of me dying aren't uncommon for Katniss's typical nightmare.
"Shhhhh baby, It's alright, I'm never gonna leave you and you know it."
"B…B….but it was s…s…so real!"
"You know it wasn't honey, calm down, I'm right here."
"Promise me…Promise me… Promise that you'll always be here…with me…Promise"
"I promise…Forever and Always" and that's a promise I plan to keep. Forever and Always