AN: Wow…so yet another HG fic. I'm not sure whether to be proud or scared. Yes, peoples, I am in fact that obsessed with The Hunger Games currently. Katniss and Peeta being my favorite couple and my museeeeee for all these stories that just wouldn't seem to get out of my head. This one especially wouldn't leave me alone and I even did a picture of it, too, so…
Anyway, I'm rambling again…critique is greatly appreciated. I do not own The Hunger Games. The rights and characters belong to Suzanne Collins. I just write about her lovely characters with much drooling, fangirling and affection.~ Enjoy!
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"Katniss!" The sound of the blood-curdling scream was so loud, so strong, so…real that I immediately felt my heart stop. Peeta. It was Peeta. I whirled around multiple times, trying futilely to regain my bearings, to try and figure out where the sound was coming from, but it was hopeless. The world began to spin around and around viciously, the screams coming louder and echoing faster inside my eardrums.
I collapsed onto my knees, dirt scraping roughly against my palms. The sounds…the horrible sounds just wouldn't stop. And the longer the sounds continued…images began to form in my brain. Images of me holding a dead Peeta in my arms while sobbing uncontrollably. Images of a bloody, deathly pale Peeta begging for me to end his misery. Images of Peeta in so much pain that his eyes were completely glassy and unable to recognize me...
"Make it stop…make it stop." I clutched my ears tightly, willing the sounds to go away but to no avail. I felt air rushing by me in gusts and I opened my eyes only to see an enormous flock of birds flying all around the area. I realized with a start that they were Jabberjays. Which meant that this wasn't real. It wasn't real. But that didn't make the tightening of my chest ease at all.
I bit my bottom lip hard and couldn't even relax my jaw when I felt the tang of blood splash onto my tongue. I needed some form of life support. I needed something to hold onto and I had nothing except myself. I wasn't really anywhere near water at the moment but I felt as if I was drowning. It was bringing back all the horrible memories of mine and Peeta's first Hunger Games. Why wouldn't it stop? His leg slashed almost to pieces. His face muddy and caked with blood. Him being taken away from me as soon as we were retrieved from that first arena. They were all on a dangerous loop of repeat inside my head. And soon, my real and soul-shattering scream joined the sickening harmony of fake but still heart-wrenching screams that the birds were making.
Scream after scream after scream. Soon there wasn't anything left of my voice, my vocal cords stretched and torn beyond belief. I had to get out of here. I managed to heave myself to my feet, my hands going to tightly cover my ears once I was up, and I made my way away from the nest of grayish-black birds. Even if I was walking right back into the acid mist, I didn't really care. Physical pain was better than this any day.
I slammed into something and was pushed down onto my backside. I could vaguely still hear Finnick behind me, only now becoming aware of his presence once more. From what I could understand, he was hearing Annie's voice. The voice of his lover. And even though it was all supposed to be an act…it was like I was hearing the voice of my lover, too. I don't know why I was suddenly able to think of Peeta that way, what with the fact that countless screams of his were still resonating inside my head. All I knew was that I would take anyone else's screams over his. If I had been expecting this, I would have thought the voice would be Prim's for sure. But it wasn't. What did that mean?
Why were these screams not only irrevocably horrifying me but also making me question how I really felt for Peeta? With a quiet sigh that sounded much like a pained whimper, I curled up into a tight ball on the muddy ground. Just waiting for the torment to end. And slowly…it did. The screams slowly turned to lower-pitched shouts and then to whimpers, and then finally…nothing.
"Katniss!" My eyes snapped open, widening in utter terror. I thought it had stopped. Except this time after the scream sounded, I was immediately caught up in someone's arms mere seconds afterward. I tensed but took a deep breath in, calming almost instantly. I recognized that scent…Peeta. "Katniss, what happened? What's wrong?!" I managed to focus my gaze on his terribly frightened face, my expression dazed and glassy. "There were screams….tortured…" I managed to murmur, my shaking hands reaching up to cup his cheeks to make sure he was real. When skin met skin, I became comforted.
Peeta's expression turned grim, his lips pursed into a straight line. He immediately understood what I was talking about. "Jabberjays. Katniss, they don't have your sister. You know they have so many tricks up their sleeve and this is just another one of those tricks, alright? They don't have her." I gave a weak laugh, my arms going to encircle his broad shoulders tightly. "The screams weren't Prim's, surprisingly." Even with my head now buried in his neck, I could tell he was giving me a confused look. "They were yours. And it brought back all those memories from when we were in the other arena. It brought back the nightmares that come back to haunt me every night. It brought back everything…"
His arms tightened their hold around my waist, his lips pressing gently to my hair. I could tell he was still confused. But to be honest, so was I. Or…maybe I really wasn't. Maybe the real truth was that I knew why it had been him screaming and no one else and I just didn't want to admit it to myself. But…there were cameras watching us. Everyone…the Capitol…the Districts….I couldn't just admit that I was finally falling in love with him for real. Could I?
"Peeta...hearing your scream…it made my heart stop. It broke me." I looked into his stunning blue eyes, begging for him to understand, silently pleading for him to realize that I was speaking the truth. "It's okay," he murmured softly, gently, as if he were speaking to a child. "It would have brought back the nightmares for me, too. It would have killed me to hear you scream." I clenched my eyes shut tightly, my fingers digging fiercely into his back. He thought I meant that if he was gone, I would have no one to comfort me after the nightmares. He thought I was just saying this because we were the only ones that understood one another in that respect. But that wasn't the reason. And hearing the raw, aching agony in his voice made my chest clench even tighter.
"Peeta, I don't feel the way I do because you understand me. I feel the way I do because you're…you. I never thought that you'd be chosen alongside me after I volunteered and once in the arena…it only made me realize that I could never stand to lose you." Each word I was speaking was heartfelt and honest, though I had to heavily tweak the way I wanted to word certain things because of our audience. But I could only hope and for the first time in my life-pray that he would understand. He buried his face in my wet, tangled hair, breathing in deeply. "When I saw you huddled on the ground, I didn't need to be able to hear your scream to have a knife twist itself in my heart. I've already almost lost you too many times to count and I think it's taken years off my life." I snorted weakly. "I think the arena's done that to us, too." He shook his head. "No. Nothing could ever happen in this arena and be even remotely close to how scared I feel whenever your life is threatened or you're hurting…Katniss, I love you."
I looked up at him with a soft expression. "You think seeing you in pain is any easier for me? I don't know how it is that those birds seemed to realize that you're one of the most important people in my life." He looked at me with an intense, heated gaze, his face inching closer to mine. I leaned closer and met his lips with mine, a spark instantly igniting. Had I always felt this…hot whenever we kissed before? Peeta seemed to realize something seemed different as well because he broke the kiss almost instantly, making me whimper pitifully. I l blushed a stark crimson at the fact that I had allowed myself to utter such a sound. But I hadn't been able to help it.
He brushed my cheek gently, as if not daring to believe that this was real. His expression was hopeful but also guarded. He was still afraid that this was all an act for the Games. "You're an idiot," I couldn't help but whisper before brushing our lips together once more. It felt odd to realize that a bunch of screaming birds were the reason I had finally admitted these feelings. But…even with another arena surrounding us, I couldn't help but feel content in Peeta's arms. If only we could stay like this forever, and not have to worry about near death or what our next challenge would be. But the odds weren't in our favor. And yet…I still allowed the words to leave my lips. "I love you, too."
…
I feel like this is really…messy. Raw? Is that the word I want to use? I'm not sure if I'm just being paranoid but I felt like I was sucking while writing this and I feel like I might've drifted off topic a bit near the end. What do you think? Critique would be immensely appreciated. ;w; Anyways…this is just my take on if Katniss had heard Peeta's screams in the Quarter Quell arena instead of Prim's. Oh, and I apologize profusely to all the Finnick fans for mentioning him but not really including him. I love Finnick, too, but he wasn't really important to this little ficlet. Anyways…hope you enjoyed, even if it does seem like a messy, quick ball of…something. ^^;
~Cutevampirecollie