I am Peeta Mellark. I am the baker's son. But I've fallen in love with someone I shouldn't have. I've fallen in love with Katniss Everdeen.
Ever since that day in the rain, when we were younger, when I tossed her the burnt bread, I've been in love with her. I loved her that day when her cheeks were hollow, and I could see her ribs through her shirt.
When we were reaped, I thought it was the worst day of my life. But then our drunken mentor, Haymitch, gave me the idea to act as star-crossed lovers. I jumped on the opportunity and refused to free it from my grasp.
Then, in the arena, when Katniss would kiss me so sweetly, so wonderful was the feeling. But when reality struck me, and I realized that she was only doing that to keep us alive, it was all I could do not to stop. But I, too, knew that our romance was necessary to keep us alive.
When we became victors, and then I fake proposed, and she fake accepted the offer, I felt truly happy inside. We would be married, even if it was all a show. I would get Katniss to fall in love with me. So help me I would do it. I would get her to be the mother of my children. I would get her to give me her world, as I had already given her mine, even if she didn't know it yet.
But then I had to go back in the arena, where she and I had to pretend we were expecting a baby. We teamed up together, as expected. Johanna and Finnick were part of our group as well, but Katniss was the one of all of us who I wanted to live. I didn't care if I died; I just wanted her to live. If she couldn't live, then neither could I.
Of course, the next thing to happen to us was my hijacking. After a long time of them torturing me, and distorting my memories, the team from District 13 rescued me. I tried to kill her when I first saw her again. I'll never forget it. I regret it more than anything else I've ever done. I hated her for the longest time. I thought she would end up with Gale. I wanted that for her deep down. I wanted it even though I didn't know it. I wanted her to not end up with me because deep down I knew that I was a monster, and she didn't deserve to love, marry, and have children with the horrible monster that I was.
I watch Katniss suffer, then. I watch her mourn over the loss of her sister, Prim. Prim was everything to her. Prim was the one reason that she got into all of this in the first place. When we returned to District 12, I started planting primrose bushes outside her house. She appreciated the gesture, I know, even if she didn't show it.
I would hear her have nightmares from my house nearby in Victor's Village. I run to her and wrap her in my arms. Eventually, my lips are there, too. The monster within me has tamed down quite a bit, and it's when I ask her, "You love me. Real or not real?" and she replies, "Real," that I know my worth, and also that I've won. I've won something that nobody can take away. I've won Katniss' heart.
When she marries me, and blesses me with two beautiful children many years later, I know that I've found true happiness and comfort. Katniss and I never really will heal emotionally and physically from the wounds the Games and the rebellion have placed upon us, but we have each other, and that's enough. That's more than enough, in fact. That's everything. As our children play in the meadow, I sit back and wonder how a happy ending ever came to us when so many tragedies plagued us. But when you're given a blessing, you shouldn't question why it came. And I'm not one to toy with fate.