Preface:

She stands outside of the Justice Building, her back to the wall. She knows she should go in, tell him thank you for that bread all those years ago or good luck or something but all the words she can think of sound lackluster. Hey, Peeta, remember when you saved my life and I didn't say anything? Thanks for that. I hope you don't die out there. No, she shouldn't say anything if it's not at least good, she thinks. She waits too long, thinks about it too hard, because then he's being led out by Peacekeepers. He glances over his shoulder, his eyes meeting hers, and she stares at the ground, embarrassed. When she does manage to look back up, he's in the car, turned completely around in his seat to look at her. She reaches up, giving him a wave, and he gives her a small, sad smile and she knows it's not good enough but then the car is pulling away, and he's gone.

Her sister and mother treat her strangely that night, asking her if she's okay and looking at each other like they don't believe her when she says yes. Why shouldn't she be okay? She's never spoken to him. Their only real interaction was that day with the bread, and that was years ago.

"I told you," she says after Prim asks her again. "I'm fine. Okay? Fine."

The breath she didn't realize she was holding all comes out in a rush when he comes out on fire. Her mother and sister exchange glances, but they don't say anything. His costume is stunning, and she wonders what it would look like up close. He's the star of the show. His chariot is shown far more than any of the others through the president's speech, which suits her just fine. The only problem is that she can't tell why.

"A nine. That's not bad," she says, more to herself than anyone else.

"No," Prim muses, tugging at her braid. "Not really. Why, do you think he has a shot at this?"

"I don't know," she says quickly. "I mean, it's just nice to see someone from here with one. Don't you think?"

"Yeah," she says, giving her a strange, steady look. "I guess it is."

If she thought that he had a shot at it after his score, she's sure that he does after his interview.

He has the audience eating out of the palm of his hand from the start, talking about life as a baker's son, how strange he thinks the showers is. There's even a whole bit where he and Caesar smell each other that has people in the Capitol howling with laughter. She even finds herself smiling. The real moment, though, where she knows that he has it, is when Caesar asks if he has a girl waiting for him back home. He thinks about it for a second, and then gives an unconvincing shake of his head.

"Come on," Caesar prompts. "A handsome boy like you, there has to be someone. What's her name?"

"Well, there is this one girl," he says. "I've liked her for as long as I can remember, but I don't think she knew I was alive until the reaping,"

There are sighs in the audience. She wonders how there could be a girl in Twelve that wouldn't notice him.

"Well, here's what you do, then," Caesar says, leaning forward, like it's a secret. "You win, and then you come home. She can't turn you down then, eh?"

He chuckles. "I sure hope not."

He fares pretty well in the games, sticking to himself. Eventually, though, he's found, and one of the careers cuts him in the leg, leaving him to bleed out. He doesn't, but she can tell it's bad. Her sister and mother exchange theories about blood poisoning quietly. It seems like everyone that's ever spoken to him records interviews, talking about how great he is, what a pleasure he was to have in the classroom, how great he's always been at wrestling.

One day, when the interviewers are in town, Delly Cartwright all but shoves her at a camera while she waits for Prim to finish talking to one of her friends. She stammers for a little while about how nice Peeta has always been and how they had History class together. She can tell that the interviewer is about to call it quits and she's desperate to say something, anything that might help.

"Peeta saved my life once," she says quickly, making sure that the camera stays on. "It was a long time ago, before we were in the reaping. My family and I, we were starving. My father had just died, and…" she trails off, swallowing hard. She's never talked about this out loud, ever, but she has to do something, anything, to try to save his leg. "My father had just died, and my mother was… heartbroken and we had no idea how to take care of ourselves. I was trying to find something to eat, something to bring home. I wound up behind the bakery, hoping for some scraps or something in the trash – but the bins were empty, and I just… I sat there, underneath his apple tree and I was scared and I was hungry and he came out… And he gave me bread. And he saved my life."

It's quiet for a few seconds as what she's saying sinks in.

"And I never thanked him. I was always too scared. And… I just really want a chance to."

It's not long after that when she leaves – she has to leave, before she does something stupid like cry. Her interview airs in full that night, and her mother and Prim exchange the looks again. He gets a parachute, one with a syringe full of medicine for his leg. Her mother knows what it is, but Katniss isn't even listening to the conversation that she and Prim have about it. She can't tear her eyes away from him and the look on his face when he presses it down into his leg.

Once his leg is healed up, it's anyone's game, really. She finds herself wishing that the two could just take care of each other so that he could go home and this whole thing could be done.

They don't destroy each other, but they come pretty close. Peeta had heard the fighting, and, though she can't imagine why, limped over to where the two guys were struggling. One of them manages to sink his knife into Peeta's leg, either reopening the wound of making a new one, and she feels tears sting her eyes at the noise he makes. The same one that cut him again, he's from One, manages to wrestle the other to the ground and, before he does anything, begins to sneer at Peeta, calling him loverboy and saying that he's next. The one that was pinned down manages to flip them over, getting a nasty cut down his arm in the process. The cannon booms and he stands up, wiping his hands off on his pants. He tries to tease Peeta, calling him the same nickname, but it's obvious that it's weak, because Peeta doesn't even budge.

"Come on," he says, lunging for him. "Don't you want to just get it over with and go home? Get back to your little girlfriend?"

"More than anything," he says, taking a step backwards. She's reminded of watching him during wrestling, the way that he and his opponent would circle each other.

"Then do it," he says. "We both knew you were going to win, didn't we? Get it over with! Don't be a coward! I'll bet she doesn't even like you… She'll like you even less if you come back in a casket. Oh! Oh, that one works then, doesn't it?"

Peeta is staring at him now.

"Are you going to finish this now?" he asks, stepping towards him. "Come on and fight me like a man, loverboy."

He does, wrestling h

im to the ground easily enough. It's only there for a second, flashing in his eyes, but she sees it, sees how hard this is. Then he starts taunting him again.

"What's the matter, loverboy? Aren't you man enough? Come on! Just get this over with!"

He pulls the knife from his leg, and she squeezes Prim's hand tightly, watching as he gets it over with.

They show him some of the interviews during the recap, and she can't quite get a read on his face while she tells the story, just that his smile is slightly different than it was when he saw Delly, or his brothers. He talks about his girl during the final interview, not revealing much other than how gorgeous she is and how he's noticed her ever since the first day of school.

Prim insists on leaving early for his homecoming, so that they can get a good spot, and they're still to the back. She thought that a lot of people showed up to record interviews, but even more came out to see him come back. She's amazed, really, by how loudly everyone cheers for him when the train whips into the station. She's not sure, but she thinks that he looks at her from the platform. She looks away, embarrassed, unable to think of anything other than how she was too stupid to say anything before he left.

Author's Note:
This story is a retelling, I guess, of another one I had posted a while back, called "Playing the Odds". I've altered so many events in the timeline of the story that I thought it needed to be retold from the start, so here's this. The title is a variation of a lyric from "Always" by Panic! at The Disco. Check me out on Tumblr! I'm .com, or, if all you want are the fanfic updates, you can also follow me at .com. Either way, I don't bite, and I'd love to chat!