Okay, so I know there are many fanfics out there about The Hunger Games and I'm not sure if any of them have the same story line as what I have running through my head at the moment. Here's to hoping y'all like it. Rated M for language and sexual content (but not quite yet)
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to The Hunger Games….that honor is all Suzanne Collins…READ ON!
The In Between
Chapter 1-Welcome back
I wake with a start…..
"You're back," Katniss can feel her heart in her stomach. This isn't a figment of her imagination. He's here; thin, scarred, covered in dirt and sweat, but his eyes have become clear again…no longer tortured and clouded with hatred for her. "Dr. Aurelius kept me in the Capital and wouldn't let me leave until yesterday. Oh and I have a message for you. He says he can't keep pretending he's treating you; pick up the phone next time he calls." Katniss notices the way he is looking at her and she remembers herself that she hasn't showered or even attempted to put a brush through her rats nest. She self-consciously attempts to push her hair out of her face and behind her ears, and she can feel the matted clumps and her face gets hot. "What are you doing in front of my house anyway?"
I went to the woods this morning because I couldn't rest. I came across these," he holds up the bush in his hands. Her stomach twisted as the word "rose" registers in her brain. "They're for her; they're primroses. I thought we could plant them together along the side of your house." Peeta looked to Katniss for approval and can see her nod her approval, but then she runs back into her house and he frowns. He can hear the sound of her running up her stairs. A few minutes later he hears a crash and fights himself not to jump up and run into her house to check on her, but in the end he knows she needs space right now. Katniss opens the windows upstairs and he can hear the sounds of a door slam shut and then water running. He smiles to himself; the thought that she is showering, touching her skin, her hair. He begins to blush as he pictures her naked. He finishes planting the evening primrose and gets up just as Greasy Sae is coming up the road.
"Hello, boy...It's good to see you back in Twelve," she greets Peeta with a surprising hug. "Hey, Sae, it's great to see a familiar face." Peeta doesn't think he's ever seen her smile as she is right now. Maybe it's because they have their freedom again. She no longer needs to fear that her granddaughter will be reaped; Katniss and countless others had seen to that. "Have you seen the girl?" Peeta nods. "She's a sight that one. I keep telling her to get up and go into the woods or something; shower maybe. It's no good. I feel like she's been waiting for something," Sae look at Peeta and rose her eyebrow, "Or someone." Peeta didn't know what to say to this so he turned towards his home and said goodbye to Sae. He couldn't get his hopes up. Katniss couldn't have been waiting for him. After the way he had treated her; no, not him, the hijacked version that once was Peeta Mellark. He'd always loved her; never stopped. She was the only light in his life back then. After one of his mother's beatings, the thoughts of Katniss and her voice were what got him through it all. If his mother knew that, she'd have beaten him all over again for loving a "seam girl."
Peeta jumped in the shower and washed the dirt and sweat off of him. He decided he would try again with Katniss later. He didn't want to suffocate her with his return. She was still skittish and it would take her more time to get acclimated with him being back in Twelve. He looked out his window and watched Katniss leaving her house and out of The Victors Village. He wondered where she was headed and thought about following her, but he stopped himself. "She needs space, Peeta! God, what is wrong with you! Get yourself together!" He admonished himself. He wished it was different. In his head he thought their reunion would go so differently. "Peeta! You're home! I've missed you!" she'd said in his dream version of their reunion. "Oh, Katniss! I couldn't stay away a minute longer! I need you in my arms!" Peeta had said and then she jumped off her porch and ran into his waiting arms. Then he'd kiss her with as much passion as he did that night on the beach…. Peeta laughed at himself. "Yeah right, Mellark!" He shook his head and began to bake.
Katniss walked through Twelve and she noticed people were beginning to come back. They were rebuilding homes and business. The Hob was gone, but it looked like they were building a bunch of new shops for those who sold at The Hob. They no longer needed to fear making their own goods and money without The Capital coming in to regulate and destroy their livelihood. She also saw carts with dead, burnt bodies and she shuddered. She saw Thom in front of one familiar home. "Thom, anyone found in the Mayor's house?" She had hoped he'd have said no, but she knew better. "Whole family and the two people that worked for them. Guess the odds weren't exactly in his favor even being the Mayor, huh?" He shrugged and continued his work. "Poor, Madge, gone." She thought to herself. Madge had been the only friend Katniss really had. She'd given her the pin that was her namesake. Katniss went into the woods and wept for her friend; she wept for all of the ones that were killed in the name of freedom. She wanted to blame herself for their deaths, but that felt selfish. She couldn't keep blaming herself or she would never truly heal. She wanted to heal; wanted to become someone that Prim, Finnick, Boggs, her father could be proud of. She wanted to see Peeta; hold him. Her heart began to race and her face became flushed as that thought came into her head. She can't run away from him. She needed him and she should tell him, but not today.
Katniss left the woods and began to walk back. By the time she had made it to The Seam she had become sick and dizzy. Thom saw her and offered her a ride in his "death cart" and she had no choice but to accept since she was about to collapse. He didn't talk to her as they rode back to her house in The Victors Village and Katniss was thankful. When they arrived, Thom helped her into her house. Greasy Sae was just leaving, but she stayed to get Katniss settled in with some toast and tea on the couch. She lay there not eating or drinking; just staring into space in a vegetative state. Then she heard it; the familiar hiss of a stubborn tabby cat. "Buttercup? He must have been kicked out of Thirteen or escaped so he could find…" her thoughts fell away as her sisters name threatened to escape it. "She's not here so you can stop your hissing. She's not here; there's nothing for you here! Get out you stupid cat! Go away; she's never coming back! NEVER!" Katniss collapsed to the floor as the tears flooded her eyes and finally spilled over. She choked on her sobs and began screaming and crying out for everyone that she had lost. She heard her front door burst open and Peeta came running in and engulfed her into his arms. They cried together, and held each other. Buttercup rubbed himself against their legs for comfort as well. They stay like that for what seems like hours, when all of a sudden Peeta picks Katniss up and carries her upstairs to her room.
He places her in her bed and covers her up with the blanket. He turns to leave, but she jumps up to stop him. "Where are you going, Peeta?" she asks. "I was going to let you sleep and go back to my house. I don't want to overstay my welcome; actually you should be mad at me for bursting into your home unannounced." He looked upset as he said it. He is so noble, she thought to herself. "No, it's fine. Really, I want you to stay. Will you stay with me, Peeta?" A memory flashed into his head; a memory of a night on the train where she asked this same question and he couldn't stop the smile that came over him. He climbs into her bed and she lies down next to him. He kisses the top of her head and whispers, "Always."
Okay so let me know what you think! Please review and let me know if you have any request for what should happen next! "Be excellent to each other!"