Hmmm, where do I start? Well, hi! I'm Bex and this is pretty much a one shot from after the games (like back in district twelve at the end of Mockingjay)! Woo, let's get started!
"Okay," Peeta says from his seat on the opposite side of the couch. We were working on our book of honour but he still doesn't trust himself with the nightmares to come to close. "I gave you this." He held up the disk with the photos of my mother and prim and Gale he gave me on our second trip to the arena. "On the beach in the 75th games, real or not real."
I blush, thinking of what happened after he gave it to me. "Real," I answer. "You wanted me to go home to my family but I wouldn't let you die for me."
"You were being stubborn and as I tried again to convince you, you kissed me," He continues and I smile. I scoot over towards him against his protests.
"It was the first time I knew how I felt about you," I whisper.
He begins to smile but just as the corners of his lips started to curl up sweat coats his forehead. Peeta throws himself out of the seat and gripped the seat we were using as a makeshift table.
"Peeta," I say as his knuckles begin to turn white. I knew what was happening, he was having a flashback, and the shiny memories were mixing with the real ones. I had seen them before, he'd see something, like my bow out of the cupboard and grip something and mumble facts about himself until it went away, but this was different. You didn't need to be as smart as Beetee to figure that one out.
I know I should have left the room, I could tell it was me who set off the bad memory, but I couldn't find it in myself to leave him alone in the state he was.
After about ten minutes his grip began to loosen on the chair. "Who am I?" He puffed.
I suck in a deep breath. "You're Peeta Mellark, the baker's son. You're seventeen. We were in the 74th and 75th Hunger Games together and we survived. You told me you loved me before the first and taken by the Capitol after the second. The Hijacked your brain and put in fake memories. We rescued you and, together, we took down the Capitol," I tell him
"To help you figure out the difference between the real and 'shiny' memories we play real or not real."
"You saved me in the first games, real or not real?" He asks.
"Real, Cato, the district 2 Tribute cut you when you saved me," I explain.
"You tried to kill me, real or not real?"
"Not real," I say.
"I know," Peeta Whispers. "It seemed different. Like someone has tried to magnify a small detail and then add something."
He sits down at the very end of the couch but seems a bit less tense.
We work on the book for a few more hours until we begin to grow weary.
"I should go," Peeta says. I nod and walk him to the door. We both reach for the handle and our hands brush, the first time we've touched in over six months. I look up at him, expecting him to recoil and go through the system of pulling apart the real and fake memories again but he just looked back down at me smiling.
"No shinnies?" I ask hopefully.
"No shinnies," he responds and I'm so happy I can't help but hug him. I think Peeta was unsure of what to do but after a few seconds his arms slowly snaked around my waist and pulled me tight into him.
I don't know how long we stood like that, caught up in one another's embrace but after what I guess was about ten minutes Peeta drew back and turned the door knob but stopped short.
"You love me," He whispers. "Real or not real?"
I think for a moment, about the past two or so years, the loss, the feelings, the confusion, with the exception of when he was trying to kill me, Peeta was there. He was the poppy in the war zone called my life, he never died out.
So before I'd even realise the answer slipped out of my lips. "Real," I found myself telling him.
He smiled and leaned down to peck me on the lips but I moved so it reached as far as my cheek. He pulled back surprised.
"Let's take it one step at a time," I suggest. He nods in agreement and goes home.
So this was originally longer but I cut it off because it didn't run as smoothly.
Um, why not submit a tribute on my SYOT, it'd mean a lot. Just click on my profile and go down to my stories. It's called Buzz kill: The 81st Hunger Games and here's a little summary:
Summary: Everyone thinks the story of the hunger games ended with the winning of the rebellion, what they don't know is that there was actually a 14th district. They were forgotten about, neglected by the capitol and laughed at by all of the districts. The people of 14 have taken over Panem and are bringing back the Hunger games with a new twist. 28 tributes, TWO Victors, SYOT!
So check that one out too, please? I've got some others for the Mortal Instruments and Maximum Ride too.
Hope you enjoyed