Nightlock
Katniss's POV
He was gone. The boy with the bread was nowhere in sight. The jacket all of the tributes had been issued was laid out on the spongy forest floor, a handful of small blue berries in the middle of it. Terror tore through me like a bullet, because I recognized the berries immediately; I didn't have to be more than a few feet away to know that they were what we in District 12 called nightlock.
I abandoned all worries about the remaining Careers who were still hunting Peeta and I; I screamed his name into the forest. "Peeta! Peeta!" I cupped my hands over my mouth and screamed as loud as I could, holding onto to a shred of hope that he was still alive, gurgling on his last breath as the nightlock killed him.
I had told him to stay put! With his still weak leg, he wouldn't have been able to get very far and he was too loud when he walked; I suddenly regretted the basic human need for food. If I hadn't left him to go hunting, Peeta would still be alive. Tears rolled down my cheeks, leaving two tracks in the dirt that stained my face. I fell to my knees and clutched my head between my hands, trying to keep my pathetic sobbing under control. If every camera available for the Hunger Games wasn't on me before, it was now.
I stood up and began to tear through the brush, still calling out for Peeta in my broken voice. I had just started to elude myself into thinking that he could have just wondered off to find more berries when the canon fired. I fell on my knees again, wailing into the forest like a dying animal. I wrapped my arms around my torso to keep my entrails from exploding out of my stomach. My body shook so violently that I knew I wouldn't be able to stand, even if I wanted to.
In the back of my mind, I thought of how all of Panem would be in tears with me; the girl on fire has lost the boy with the bread. Haymitch would believe that my tears and violent shaking were all for the cameras, but it wasn't. Emotional pain so severe that it physically hurt had overcome me. I had never felt this amount of grief before in my life, even after my father died.
And it became clear to me, in that moment, that I was in love with Peeta Mellark.
Another wail was about to tear its way out of my throat when he appeared, stumbling through the brush to reach me, his eyes wild and scared. "Katniss?" he asked quietly, observing my vulnerable position and obvious break down. I shot to my feet so fast that I got dizzy and stumbled toward an unharmed Peeta, whose hands were full of nightlock.
"That's nightlock, Peeta!" I slapped the poisonous berries out of his hands; they had left purple stains on his fingers and palms. "You'll be dead in a minute!" Peeta looked stunned and he opened his mouth to speak, but I had started to cry again.
"I didn't know - " he began, obviously not knowing what to say about my reaction. I took a step toward him and my body shook still, even upon seeing him alive.
"You scared me to death," I practically whimpered. I went to him, wrapping my arms tightly around his neck. "Damn you." Peeta's strong, reassuring arms wound around my waist and he crushed my body to his. I felt him trembling as well, no doubt about seeing me a mess.
"I'm sorry," he murmured into my hair. We held one another for a while until I wanted more than just a hug. I pulled away from him slightly and cupped his bruised face in my hands, kissing his mouth. He responded immediately, our heads tilting to lock our lips, and his arms tightened even more around me.
In the back of my mind, I knew that the audiences of Panem were eating this up, and I almost physically shook my head to clear it of those thoughts. Stop thinking about the audience, I scolded myself. Right now, it's only me and Peeta; only us.
"We better go before the Careers find us," I whispered, my lips brushing against Peeta's as I spoke. He planted one more kiss on my lips and then nodded, simply answering, "Okay."
A/N: Just a little one shot dedicated to Peeta x Katniss. Please review!