Peeta's POV
The rain doesn't seem to want to stop. It's been going on for a few hours now, and I was starting to worry about my neighbours. Well, Haymitch, for all I know, is drunk right now and probably slumped on a chair. Katniss on the other hand went out earlier, and I don't recall seeing her get back before the rain started. I'm also starting to worry that the laundry I had hung earlier this morning was never gonna be dry, as I have only one clean spare shirt left.
I close the window and pull back the curtains with a sigh. I sure hope they're both okay. It's been a few days since I came back to Twelve, and Katniss and I still don't know how to speak properly to each other. Most of my nights have been tainted with confusion and a weird sense of longing I couldn't understand, and I have a feeling it's all because of her. I haven't had an episode since I came back, and I didn't want to go out and tempt fate.
Before I could decide whether to bake something, I hear someone knocking. I opened the door to find a very wet, very exhausted Katniss.
"Peeta," she panted, then closed her eyes and leaned forward. I catch her before she falls, and she seems to have been completely knocked out. Before I could overthink this – whatever this was - I quickly scooped her up and carried her to the couch.
As I set her in front of the fireplace, my hands touched her face and noticed she was burning. Her clothes were soaked and I thought, this isn't good, and with all the willpower I could muster, took off her layers one by one until all she had left were her underclothes. I quickly grab my last clean shirt and put it on her, then started covering her in a multitude of blankets. While tucking her in, I started feeling extremely confused, and I got worried that maybe I'd have another fit of rage. But not before I fix her up, I think to myself. I don't care how fast my heart is beating. Once I finish, I decide to go to my room and lock myself, for her safety of course, but I was stopped by the sight of the creases on her forehead. Almost instinctively, I run my thumb through them. Surprisingly they disappeared at my touch, and I surprised myself by not ending up in a fit. Curious.
She turns her head to my direction, eyes still closed, but a tear rolls down her cheek, and she whispered, "Peeta." A light snore tells me she's really asleep this time, and I chuckle as I go to the kitchen to bake. Cheese buns, I think. Those would be nice.
Katniss' POV
I haven't had a good sleep in a while, so it feels almost foreign to me to wake up without nightmares. I slowly open my eyes, and I am met by a flickering fireplace. I almost smile, and then try to sit up. My hand flies to my head when I realize it hurts like hell, and I notice that I am trapped in a cocoon of blankets. Looking around I notice that this is not my house, and no, I did not fall asleep here.
I was in the woods earlier today. I guess you could say it was a really bad morning for me. A fresh, disturbing, and utterly scarring nightmare woke me up, and this time it was really bad, because everyone who died in the past year was in it. Even those who didn't really die died in that nightmare. It was horrible, and I was weak. I frantically run out of my house because it felt like a cage, and run as fast as I could to the woods. Then the rain started, and I thought, well might as well drown here in this storm, and sat down next to a tree, sobbing. I could feel my vision getting lost in my tears and in the rain when I notice a little yellow flower by a rock. I could barely make out what it was with my eyes but I knew in my heart its name. That's when I stood up and started walking.
Almost half drunk, I groggily walk the path to the Victor's Village. The rain filled the streets and soon after I stood up, I almost regret my decision. Luckily my feet have taken me as far as the entrance, and I knock on the first door I see. It opened and I saw Peeta, and before I could think about how stupid I was for doing this, I couldn't fight the drowsiness anymore, and almost fall face first until he catches me. Everything is blurry after that.
Blinking a few more times, I hold a hand up to my forehead and find a wet cloth there, still warm. I guess I must have a fever, and I put a hand up to my neck. Sure enough, it's burning, and I feel so queasy. Too tired to protest the circumstances, I give up and lie down again, but awake. As if on cue, I hear Peeta shuffling into the living room and see him holding a plate of cheese buns, a glass of water, and a few fever pills. I try to lift my head but my body doesn't want to budge. He pushes me back to the couch gently, saying, "You just let me take care of you for a while." My eyes start to burn with tears as my thoughts go back to that time in the cave, when he said exactly that. When he loved me, I thought bitterly. I look up to his face and see his jaw clenched. He caught himself. "I've said that to you before, in our first Hunger Games. Real or not real?" I nod and fight the tears threatening to fall. He shakes his head.
"Maybe you'd want to sit up," he says, gesturing to the water and the pills. I do so with his help, and I notice that the shirt I was wearing was not my own. I could feel myself burn up more as I turned to look at his face. "Your clothes were wet, and you had a fever," he said with a nervous gulp. I tried not to look at his slowly reddening cheeks and just nodded. He hands me the medicine and I take it. We sit there for a few more minutes in silence.
With a deep breath, I say, "Thank you." I'm disappointed with myself that that's all I could say, but even so he smiles and pats my shoulder. "Anytime." He helps me lie down again and tucks me in, and as the drowsiness kicks in and I lose some of my inhibitions, I ask him, "You're still trying to protect me. Real or not real?" Through my tired eyes I see him smile, really smile, for the first time in a long time as he answers, "Real." I sigh contentedly, and before I let sleep take me, I can hear him whisper, "Cause that's what you and I do – protect each other."
Peeta's POV
It can be a long time before Katniss and I go back to normal, whatever that's gonna be for us now. But seeing her look so peaceful brings my heart to a time when it wasn't tainted with confusion and sorrow. I feel a tugging at my chest as I bring my lips to her brow, and the creases disappear almost instantly. Before I could get another basin of water I see her lips curve into a smile, and feel my own doing the same. Maybe there's hope for us after all.