The Hunger Games
The Aftermath
I woke up from dreams of terror. I saw the pleading in Rue's eyes, my hands guide the thin arrow that pierced the boy's neck, the cannon blasts, and the faces of our fellow tributes projected in the sky with the anthem, twenty-two of which were dead. I looked over to my window and saw the tip of a mockingjay's wing in the trees. I looked to the other side of the bed where Peeta sat, staring at me solemnly.
"You had the dreams again, didn't you?" Peeta asked me. I lied but immediately knew that it was useless. Peeta could see through all but two of my lies, one of which had almost broke us apart.
"You can't lie, Katniss. The arena was the exception, but we promised not to lie anymore." Peeta said.
"Do you remember why I lied?" I tested, "If I remember correctly, I saved your life by lying. You would have never let me go, even though it meant you dying. I would never have been able to live with myself if you had died knowing I could have done something about it. That's why I lied, to protect you. If I hadn't lived up to their expectations, you would have gotten hurt."
Peeta closed his eyes and turned away. I could tell that I hurt him, but this had happened before. I had hurt him too much for him to still love me, but I guess that just isn't the way love works with him. The games had changed me. The quarter quell had damaged me. But the thing that messed me up the most was almost losing Peeta over and over again.