Hey guys! I'm back after a year or so :)) been busy :/
I have a new fandom and it's Peeta x Katniss! And this is just a short fic. Happened during the 74th Hunger Games.
Peeta woke up from the loud noise coming from outside. Did a tribute get killed again? Then there was the noise again. He stirred and opened his eyes. It was raining and the noise he kept hearing was thunder. He tried sitting up, wincing in pain from his injuries. He scanned the dark cave for her. She, the one who had saved her from that river bank, the one who gave him hope, the reason he kept fighting in this game when it was so easy to just kill himself to end his misery.
"Katniss?" He whispered. Only silence responded his call.
Lightning cracked revealing a figure by the mouth of the cave. Peeta scrambled to get a weapon just in case it was one of the remaining tributes. "Calm down Peeta, it's only me..." Katniss said, stepping forward with a small sack in hand. "Where have you been?" Peeta asked. "Picking fruit, there's nothing left to hunt here plus we can't make fire to cook considering everything's wet. We can't afford giving out our location considering your condition "Katniss answered sitting down. She took something from the sack. It looked like soup.
"The sponsors sent us something. Apparently they are pleased with the show we're giving" She whispered as she let Peeta have the soup. This was all for show just to gain sponsors, just to survive. None of it was real for her but to him... everything he had been doing, everything he had been saying was real. His love and affection for her was real and it shattered him to know that it was just pretend for her.
Peeta observed her. She was soaking wet and was shivering from the cold. She must've been in the rain for hours looking for something to eat. She handed him a fruit but he didn't move. "You need to eat Peeta. You're sick and injured. You need some energy." She said with a cough or two. Peeta stared at the cave floor, feeling guilty. Now she's sick and it's because of him.
He was nothing compared to her. She was strong, confident, fiery while he... what was he but a baker's son? No one expects him to win this, his family, Haymitch nor Effie. They all expected Katniss to win, not him. Now he's a hindrance for her victory. There she was caring for him because he was weak, he was a coward when she could've let him die and killed the remaining tributes and win.
Peeta couldn't take the guilt anymore. He won't allow Katniss to suffer any further because of him.
"That's the point! I'm sick and injured!" He shouted. This startled Katniss. "quiet down will you? The others might here you!" Katniss loudly whispered.
"Let them! You could just run off and leave me! I'm weak and no use to you so why don't you just leave me here to die? You could've won the game days ago! I'm... I'm just a burden to you at this point..." Peeta broke down, tears streaming down his face. He grabbed her bow and arrows and shoved it in her arms. Katniss looked at him questioningly.
"Do it! Just do it please... I don't want to see you like this... I don't want you to suffer because of me..." He said closing his eyes, waiting for Katniss to end his life.
Here was Katniss, sitting across the boy who saved her family from starvation, asking her to just kill him. How could she when he owed him so much? If she wanted to, she could've just killed him right then and there but she didn't... she couldn't. Katniss didn't know why but there's something about that boy. Something she had not seen in anyone else... not even in Gale. If she was thinking straight she would've confessed that somewhere deep down, she had feelings for this boy. Yes, she loves Peeta but it's too early to say so. Peeta wouldn't even believe it if she confessed to him right now especially when they started this pretend romance just to gain sponsors and survive this game. But yes she has feelings from him and maybe that's the reason she couldn't fathom the thought of killing him.
"Do it! Just do it please... I don't want to see you like this... I don't want you to suffer because of me..." He said closing his eyes, waiting for her to end his life.
What has become of them? The Capitol did this to him, to her, to Rue and all those who are dead for the world's entertainment. The Capitol, the dark shadow that kills the light in every victim and every family. "You're much stronger than this Peeta..." She thought. What had the games done to him? To both of them? She always knew Peeta was the type of person who would never give up. The pressure of the games, the fear of dying, everything got the better of him and it frustrates her so.
Katniss won't allow it.
He heard the clanging of metal on the cave floor then a soft touch against his cheek. Peeta opened his eyes and met those tantalizing gray eyes Katniss had.
"You're much stronger than this Peeta... don't give up..." Katniss said in a comforting tone as more tears streamed down Peeta's face. "Just go..." Peeta whispered. She wiped the tears away, cupped his face and rested her forehead on his. Peeta stared into her eyes and reached up to caress her cheek. A tear escaped her eye and Peeta wiped it away. She looked straight in his eyes "Peeta... I'll never let you go... never. We're going to finish this game together." Katniss said staring deeply into his blue eyes.
Why doesn't she just leave him there? Why does she still care? This girl in front of him, the girl he's been in love with since they were 5 and the girl he would want to spend forever with won't let go. The remaining question is... Why?
The next event told him why.
Katniss leaned in closer for a kiss. It was passionate. It was as if the world just stopped for that moment, like they were not in the god forsaken arena fighting for their lives, it was just... magical. The kiss was very different from the previous ones, it actually felt like it was intentional, not for show... not forced out of her. It felt like an eternity before the broke the kiss. "I'm sorry Katniss... I wasn't thinking straight, must've been the tracker jacker venom." Peeta apologized. "That's okay. We must get some sleep." Katniss said giving him a chaste kiss.
Katniss laid her head on his chest as Peeta placed an arm around her while his other hand entwined with hers. Katniss sighed then began to sing. It was the song that when he heard her sing that day... he knew he was a goner.
Deep in the meadow, under the willow
A bed of grass, a soft green pillow
Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes
And when again they open, the sun will rise.
He continued to listen to her soft voice. He closed his eyes but never really went to sleep. He just wanted to stay like this forever. Him with Katniss, the girl he loved, in this cave.
Here it's safe, here it's warm
Here the daisies guard you from every harm
Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true
Here is the place where...
Katniss stopped singing. She looked up and saw that Peeta's eyes were closed. She thought he was sleeping but he wasn't. She cuddled closer to his body and continued singing.
Here it's safe, here it's warm
Here the daisies guard you from every harm
Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true
Here is the place where I love you...
"I love you Peeta... believe me, I do." She whispered before going to sleep. Peeta smiled and fell asleep with her in his arms.
