Prologue
I wake up. I check the time. 3:30, good. I put my father's hunting jacket on, in hope that it will show Gale that I did see the good things; the bad things just outweighed them. I close the door to my room quietly and tiptoe down the stairs in my hunting boots. Before I open the door I take a deep breath. This is the last time I will ever see this place. Ever. But I can't think about that. I can't think of the tears in Prim's eyes when she sees my cold, stiff body. I can't imagine what my mother, who has already lost everything, will go through. I force myself to keep moving. I keep my right hand on the note in my pocket. The note that will explain to Gale why I decided to give up. The note to Madge that will tell her that no matter where I am I will be thinking about her. When I reach the end of the block I see Peeta. We walk in silence, hoping that the quiet that fills the district will also fill our thoughts. I don't know why I told him. But one day, a couple weeks ago I said it, and he admitted that he had been thinking along the same lines. So we decided to go together. Our last act of defiance. We step up to the podium where Gale was whipped. "Are you ready?" Peeta asks in a barely audible whisper. I swallow down the guilt in my throat, willing the images of a crying Prim being held by a Gale being strong for only her, out of my mind. I manage a nod, and pull out the berries that I took from the woods yesterday from my jacket. We both wordlessly take out our notes. "Any last words?" I ask him. "I love you." "I love you too." We place the berries in our mouths and swallow. Our lips meet for one last time, each of us trying to drink in the last moments of our senses. The dim lighting of the square, the song of a mockingjay… And then it all goes black.
A/N: Hi! This was an idea that started off as a oneshot in my head, but then I had all these other ideas about what to do with it so... yeah! Anyhow please review!