Her eyes flickered as beams of cool white moon caught her face, caressing every inch of her perfect features, beaten, burned but still glowing with beauty. No smile found her lips. She just sat there across from me, I could feel her eyes scanning what was left of my mangled leg; she knew it was bad but she'd never admit it. I tilted my head more directly to her and pain crossed her as my eyes fixed on her. Katniss Everdeen. Fighter. Defender. Survivor. I was no one, a measly baker's son, I was nothing. At least how I see myself, but before I blinked out of my thoughts she was no longer across the uneven, cold surface of the cave but right by my side. I took my hand and embraced her cheek; propping myself up on one elbow. I started to see the corner of her mouth creep up; I had made her smile and it sent a spark through my entire being, I slowly edged my palm down her knotted braid, savouring every second. Now was the time. Time to tell her everything. I ran my hand down the waterproof material that engulfed her body until I placed it on top of hers, she didn't move away.

"Katniss…I…" I had never thought about how anxious I would be, I stuttered and shifted my sight down. I felt warm fingers under my chin and they raised my head to gaze into her beautiful, yet pain laced grey eyes; she wanted me to continue, holding my chin until I got lost in those eyes, the warm finger moved on top of my hand that still gently held hers. I moved my thumb smoothly back and forth over her skin that had been damaged by years of hunting.

"Katniss," even her name sent chills down my spine "You never cease to amaze me, your strength, your instinct, your hidden worry, your unavoidable beauty; it's overwhelming."

"…Peeta," she murmurs, worry in her eyes that she can't hide from me.

"I love you, I'm in love with you, I'm so lost and completely in love with you. I have been ever since you belted out the valley song in assembly. You, Katniss Everdeen, are my everything. And I know it scares you because you've never had the opportunity to stop and think about what you want because you've had to focus solely on keeping your family alive, but you have to understand that you're not just what I want, you're what I need. I know that only one of us makes it out of here, and when you do you should think about what you want; you won't need anything anymore, you'll have plenty. Find who or what makes your heart beat unstoppably fast, what makes your body ache in a good way, what makes those perfect eyes glisten, what makes your radiant smile appear, Katniss you should be happy. I want…I need you to be happy when you go home."

Her eyes were starting to drown in tears as she glanced down at me: pulling at her bottom lip with her teeth, she knows I'm telling the truth.

"Peeta,"

"Katniss you don't have to say anyt…" She cut my off mid-sentence.

"Why I it me that gets out? What about you?" Her eyebrows furrowed a look of anger and guilt all in one.

"Because I'm not letting you lose. You have Prim and your mother…and Gale. They need you, I'm not needed by anyone. You deserve to go home."

"You are needed, Peeta. I need you. I…" Before she can finish the anthem sounds and Claudius's voice booms through the arena:

'Tributes. We've had a…slight rule change. The 74th annual hunger games will now allow two tributes to become victors if originating from the same district. That will be all. And as always…may the odds be ever in your favour.'

My eyes immediately shoot towards Katniss.

"We could do it. We could go home…Together."

"Together." I return. Her hands began to tremble ever so slightly.

She leans down onto her forearm and I stretch out one arm and reel her into me, resting her hed on my other arm as a pillow and move strands of dark hair from her face. She holds onto my shirt and gazes at me.

"Together." I repeat.

"Together." She softly echoes as she rolls further into my arms.

Together. Together. Together. My head replays, processing the information. Together. My mind starts to shut off. Together. And I drift off.

I'm bolted awake by the jerk movements of Katniss; I throw myself around her without a second thought. I will protect her.

"Katniss?!" My arms still sheltering her.

"Peeta, it's okay, I'm-I'm okay," she says breathing heavily.

"What happened?" Relief in my previously strained vocals.

"I-I don't know. Prim. They had Prim. My Prim, innocent Prim. She was an avox, screaming for help without sound. She-" She panted as she buries her face into my shoulder.

"It's okay. It wasn't real, it was a nightmare, it's over now. I'm here, I'm always going to be here." I reassure her as I straighten out my legs and pull her closer to my chest, wrapping my arms around her frame tighter; her grip strengthening on my shirt that was now bunched up in her fist. We sat there for a few moments until her head slowly pulled back from my shoulder to see me. I give her a gradual and subtle smile and open my moth to soothe her further when her soft lips press against mine. I try to question but she breaks my speech with her lips. I give up willingly. She is so warm and tender, so sweet and unharmed unlike her tough exterior suggests. Katniss Everdeen: the girl setting my heart on fire.

The next few days were pretty inactive for us; something interesting must be going on elsewhere causing them to leave us alone. My leg was getting worse and getting more painful, I didn't tell Katniss, I didn't want her to worry more about me than she already did; it was banged up thanks to Katniss, she claims not to have the healing gene like her mother and sister but it seems to me that she does. We spent our nights curled up together in Katniss's sleeping bag. I didn't think I could be so thankful for a piece of material; it has its practical uses but most importantly it keeps me close to the girl that holds my heart. We were so close tonight that our noses were almost touching. I wonder if she knows the effect she has over me. She is so peaceful in sleep, such juxtaposition to the situation we were in. I moved a dark, wavy section of her hair from her face and pushed it behind her ear, her eyelashes fluttered open steadily.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," I whispered.

"I'd rather be awake…" she whispered back, her eyes starting to glisten in the powerful sunlight seeping through the gap in the roof of the cave.

"Why?"

"Because, when I'm awake…I'm with you." She says putting her finger on the edge of my chin "And there's nowhere else I would rather be." She concluded.

My heart must have stopped for a split second and I could only reason one way to reply to it. I kissed her more passionately than the last time; she equalled my eagerness and held her hand around the back of my neck, intertwining into my hair. We were, without a doubt, on screens all over Panem. I can imagine the overdressed Capitol tearing up at our affection, they love the star-crossed lovers from district 12, and right now so do I. Katniss's hand slid down to my chest and I wrapped myself around her, holding her hips snugly and held our embrace with all my being. I unintentionally lost my hand under the hem of her shirt and drew it back, suddenly I felt her palm on my knuckles as she placed it back to where it was but further under her shirt this time. This part of her body was so different to her scarred arms and hands, it was even, no burns or calluses, no cuts, and it was untouched. She trusted me with a part of her that no one had before. I'm snapped out of my paradise by a loud bang outside. Katniss grabbed her bow and shoots out of the sleeping bag.

"Don't move." She demands. I don't argue. I would be nothing but a burden to her with my leg in this state. I see goose bumps form on Katniss's bear arms; she didn't have her jacket on as she crept up through the crack in the cave. Silence. No sounds of arrows whooshing through the air. No cries of defeated tributes. No cannon. Then there was a rustle of bushes and Katniss dropped through into the cave carrying a silver canister, we had gotten a parachute. Thank you Haymitch. The berries and squirrels we were living on were lacking sustenance . Katniss popped it open and inside was a small pot of gel, there was a note inside, it read; Stay alive –H.

"It's for your leg, its medicine. My mother used to use it on some people with bad burns and cuts from the mines, but only a little because it's so expensive to get. Get it out," she says.

"On television…now, now, Katniss." I teased and she giggled, Katniss Everdeen giggles?

"I meant your leg!" She retorts trying to sound unimpressed but unsuccessfully hiding her smirk from me.

I slid out from the sleeping bag and began to slip my ripped cargo pants up my leg and the pain was immense, making me wince but I carried on to unwrap the bandages. Once the wound was exposed she looked at me and stroked my cheek,

"This is going to hurt a bit." A look of pity and guilt dazed her face.

"It's okay." I replied as I closed my eyes and bit my lip in preparation. She rubbed the gel on my leg and it stung more than my expectations could imagine, the pain radiated up my leg but progressively it shifted to a feeling of relief.

"It's done. By tomorrow it'll be better, I promise." She soothed as she leant down and placed her forehead against mine.

"Thank you." I mumble. I kiss her nose lightly and she smiles, not a little smile, a real, shining smile, provoking the same on me.

We lie back down, using coasts as makeshift pillows; the air was warmer tonight, humid, uncomfortable. The game makers must be playing with the temperature controls. The heat didn't halt my arms from circling Katniss or halt her from folding her body to fit mine. We must have been asleep for a few hours, maybe; time is hard to track here; when three cannons went off. The sky became illuminated with pictures of the now dead tributes, we didn't have to move, we could see from where we were. That meant there were two tributes left and us. Katniss sat up, her thick dark hair falling down her back and pieces breaking out of the braid. She turned to me and reached for my trouser leg and rolled it up, it doesn't hurt now, Katniss gasped and it made me panic; but once I looked down my fear was absent, my leg was almost completely healed.

Thunder clapped above and lighting brightened the pitch black sky, there must be a tribute without shelter. Katniss was still sat up, I shifted my weight to one elbow and admired every part of her, she was still so magical to me, so incredible.

"Is everything alright?" she hadn't moved in a while.

"I'm just so hot." She breathed with bead of sweat developing on her brow.

"Me too," I say flapping my shirt hoping to feel some form of cool relief, no luck.

"I'm done." I looked at her confused, then I realised what she meant. She ran her finger tips along her shirt seam, getting a grip and then bunching it up as she pulled it up over her head; as much as I knew I should, I couldn't look away. The shirt dropped to the floor.

"Oh," I let out, immediately regretting it, and then I spied her cheeks turning pinker than the heat had made them – I made Katniss Everdeen blush. I didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable so I followed suit, removing my shirt. I don't know why but I stood up and eased my way over to her, holding out my hands, gesturing for her to do the same, she did and I clasped her hands in mine and lifted her to face me. I pushed her hair behind one of her ears, our gaze unbroken, I dipped my head down closely to her ear and gently spoke,

"Dance with me, Katniss Everdeen," she opened her mouth to speak but I kept her silent by pressing my lips to hers and then carefully released,

"Peeta…I-I," I stopped her once more "Okay." She had given in and I held my hands on her lower back as she held hers around my neck and tangled her fingers into the base of my hair, I felt myself being reeled into to her. Our lips were like opposite pols of a magnet, unable to separate. She pulled me to her harder, deepening our kiss. This is what it felt like to be wanted, Katniss Everdeen wanted me. She broke apart from me and I could sense my expression becoming puppy dog like.

"Peeta...I think, I think I love you…" She said locking our sights together.

I saw her eyes dim and she began to slump in my arms. I heard a loud chink, like metal hitting something, before I knew it Katniss's weight was held up by my arms, looking at me with tears streaming, she sunk to the floor still in my arms.

"Katniss! Katniss! What…Katniss? I don't-" I lost speech ability and my eyes shot to her side where her hand was grasping something black. It was a knife handle sticking out from above her hip. My eyes shot upward, the tribute from 3 stood confidently smiling down at me.

"Oh no, lover boy. Something happen to the girl on fire? You do know that this is a battle, right? Not a strip club." He sniggered to himself. Katniss's torso was now dripping with blood and she let out a heart wrenching cry. This made him cackle further, a he skimmed his knife across the floor behind him.

"Let's do this the old fashion way, shall we?" he hissed and cracked his knuckles. He wanted to fight. Katniss whimpered in sheer agony and this made my blood boil and I hurtled towards him taking him off his feet onto a rock, his hands crushing my neck now, I pelted him with force driven punches and my palm was shoved in his face trying to push him off me. I was losing air fast and the pressure was making my eyes budge. I fumbled my hand across the floor, his knife had to be here somewhere, he kneed me in the chest and I felt my ribs concave slightly. Unexpectedly I felt something col, I grabbed it and a pain shot through my palm and fingers, I must have gripped the knife blade, I shuffle it in my hand until I clutch the handle. I lost control of my mind as Katniss let out another shriek and plunged the knife into his neck, the clamp of his hands around my throat loosened and his body flopped. Katniss. The canon roared signalling his death as I sprinted to Katniss, blood was everywhere, I couldn't tell how much was hers, his or mine. I tried to see my shirt to attempt to stop the bleeding but the odds were not in our favour. I used my hands and overlapped them around the knife.

"Katniss stay with me. Katniss, come on, look at me!" I screech, her eyes slowly look in my direction as she blinked painfully and tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Hey, Hey. It's okay, it's okay. Stay with me. You've got to stay awake! We're getting out of here, together remember? We've got our whole life ahead of us. Together," I panted struggling to be reassuring through my panic. Her mouth opened to speak,

"Don't try to speak, just keep looking at me, okay, we're going to be fine."

"I-I-I love you, Pee-Peeta." She choked, I couldn't hold back the tears pricking my eyes.

"I love you too. More than anything, more than everything, so just stay with me, okay? Please."

The howl of a beast made my neck snap around as screams engulfed the arena, the canon sounded.

I jerked back down to Katniss, she was still blinking, it wasn't her canon.

"We won. Katniss, we're going home! We're going home, together. We're going home now!" I could hear the buzz overhead of hovercraft; I had to get us out of the cave or it wouldn't be able to pick us up.

"Katniss we have to get out of here," I put my arm under her knees and the other under her wilting arms, I lifted her as she whimpered in distress, this was the only way to save her. I had to keep going.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I have to, I'm sorry." I wheezed.

"I'm fi-ne," she strained, she wasn't.

I got to the opening of the cave and stood on a rock and eased up the incline until we were exposed to the arena, the hovercraft was still above. Katniss still in my arms as the beam came down with the ladder. I supported her legs with my knee as I linked my arm with the ladder and then picked them back up and mounted my feet on the bottom bar. The beam froze us in place reliving our combined weight.

"We're fine, Katniss, we're going home. Together. I love you, I love you so much. Don't you dare shut those beautiful eyes, don't leave me." I sternly whispered as tears flooded my eyes. "Katniss! Katniss!" my heart plunged as her eyes closed. "Katniss!" I cried as someone detached her from me. I fought as hard as I could to keep the people in white from preventing me from chasing whoever took Katniss out of my arms. I squirmed aggressively, "Katniss!" something pricked the skin in my arm. "Katni-" my vision clouded as my legs gave way.