Katniss sat in the living room of her house, she didn't know what to do with herself. She couldn't sleep, she didn't want to eat, she wasn't exactly hungry. She sat at the table in her kitchen, her head in her hands. She sighed, running her fingers through her hair, which wasn't in her signature braid for once. Her boots were lying by the door, next to her jacket which was hung up on a small hook. She watched as her mother moved through their small house, helping Prim with some herbs that she had picked. Katniss closed her eyes, just trying to forget what she had seen in the last month.
She tried to forget the way the mutts looked, the corpses that were lying around the arena. She tried to forget her thoughts about Peeta, about her fear of him dying. She tried to forget about how desperately she needed him to stay alive. She tried to forget how easily she gave into his plan. How much she needed him, she tried to forget everything.
The thing about forgetting, is that it's never simple. It's forever implanted in your mind, until it seems to reach the back. Katniss sighed as she opened her eyes once more, she looked toward the door. No one was standing there, of course. She took another deep breath, just trying to get her mind to quiet down, even if it was just for a little bit. Ever since she got back from the arena, sleep didn't come easy to her, not that it ever had before. But it seemed more difficult to her, her mind would never keep quiet, just reminding her of things that she would like to forget.
Katniss knew what was to come. She knew that she had defied the Capitol. She knew that things would not be easy from now on. She knew that President Snow would be back, and he would be back with a vengeance. When she got back to District Twelve, she heard about the death of Seneca Crane. She couldn't help but somehow think that it was her fault, that she had caused it. After all, if Peeta and herself had never used the nightlock in the last few minutes of the games, Seneca Crane would have still been able to be Gamemaker. But that's all out of the window now, he's dead because the games did not go as planned.
Katniss got up from her place at the table, heading over to the door pulling her boots on. Maybe a walk in the woods would clear her head, or at least, a walk in the district. There was talk lately of more peacekeepers, and everything being more strict than it had been in the past. Katniss was already on the radar for the Capitol, she didn't need to give them any more reason to kill her.
When she opened the door, on the other side of it was Peeta. Katniss didn't understand what happened from the second that she opened the door to the moment she found herself in his arms. The three seconds that it had taken didn't exactly process in her mind. Her arms wound themselves around his shoulders softly. There was nothing to say, and even if there was, she wouldn't say anything. There was something about being in Peeta's arms that made everything okay. She took a small calming breath, before opening her mouth to speak.
"What are you doing here?" She asked him as she looked into his face, there was flour in his hair, and she couldn't help but let out a small laugh. She reached one of her hands into his hair in order to get it out. Her smile soon faded as she realized that he wasn't smiling. "Peeta, are you okay?" She asked him. He shook his head softly.
"No, I'm not... Katniss... We need to get out of the District."
The words didn't exactly process in her mind correctly, she just stared at him for what seemed to be hours. Her eyes moved from him, to the floor, back to him. She didn't understand why they had to leave. "Peeta... Why? Why do we have to leave the district?" She asked, her voice raising a small octave. Something that seemed to happen when she panicked, or whenever it came to Peeta for that matter. Her arms moved from his shoulders as she stepped aside to let him come in. "Peeta... what's going on?" She asked him, as she led him to the table.
She watched him as he put his head in his hands, he took a deep breath. Katniss sighed softly. "Are you going to tell me why we need to leave?" She asked him again as she put a bowl of stew in front of him. She watched him as he shook his head softly. "Peeta..." She pleaded with him as she took a seat across from him.
He sighed, running a hand through his hair. He knew that Katniss would never leave if a reason wasn't attached. He understood that. "Katniss... I don't know how to tell you." He whispered as he looked up to find her eyes. "I just..." His voice trailed off. His eyes casted down again to the table, taking a spoonful of the stew. After he swallowed the spoonful, he cleared his throat. "President Snow... He's looking for me, Katniss." He said, defeated.
Her eyes widened softly, she didn't know what to do. Her heart seemed to stop as she processed those words. "What do you mean... That he's 'looking for you'?" She asked him, grabbing his hand on top of the table. She couldn't even lie to herself, her fear had set far under her skin at this point. "What does he want with you?" She asked him.
Peeta's hands were shaking softly, he couldn't even get another spoonful into his mouth. Peeta was terrified for his life, again. It was as if he had gone through another reaping. He didn't know how to make sense of anything. He just knew to be scared. "Katniss, he wants to kill me. He thinks we're planning a rebellion, I know nothing about a damn rebellion!" He exclaimed to her, tears forming in his eyes. "I didn't plan to try and defy the gamemakers! I didn't plan for the riots to happen in District Eleven! Shit, I didn't plan to still be alive!"
Katniss' heart seemed to be breaking at the sound of every word, she didn't know what was happening, all she knew was that she needed him to be safe. If worse came to worse, it would be her that needed to die, not him, never him. Her own tears formed as she looked at him. "Where would we go?" She asked him. Her hand reaching up to wipe his eyes.
"That's the problem, I don't exactly know yet." He said, his voice shaking. "But we need to get out of here, Katniss." He said to her, as he put his head in his hands. "Katniss, what if Snow is going to kill me, like I've heard? Then what do I-" He didn't even get the chance to finish his sentence before Katniss cut him off.
"You're not going to be murdered, I won't allow it, okay?" She said, wiping her own tears. She stood up from her spot at the table, pulling off her boots that she had put on. "We'll figure something out, I promise. Nothing is going to happen to you. Nothing." She said softly. Her voice was never this soft, unless she was talking to Prim. She tried her best to hide her tears from him, but it was no use. "You'll be f-fine." She said, her voice cracking.
She wiped her eyes, trying her best to conceal her tears, but nothing seemed to be working. Just when she thought everything was safe, the boy with the bread was in danger, once again.