Katniss and I hold hands as I read Bram's gravestone. Bram Mellark, it reads, Good son and brother. Those four words aren't enough to describe him, they shouldn't be what people remember him for. Bram was honourable, annoying as hell and selfless, not a good son and brother.
It should be my body buried here. I curse Bram for volunteering for me. It was his final year, after this he was supposed to be happy, marry Sera and live a long and happy life. Instead, he got the inside of a casket. I feel a burning rage for the Capitol, stronger than what I felt before. I kick Bram's name on the gravestone. He shouldn't be in there.
"This needs to end!" I shout.
Katniss looks at me questioningly, "We can go, if you want."
"No, not this. The Games, the Capitol, why do we even go along with this!" I'm angry, angry at every Capitolian, for enjoying the games, for cheering when Bram died, for making us live in poverty while they live in luxury.
"Because if we don't we get killed," Katniss responds bluntly.
"But it's sick. They've turned Bram into a killer. You're a murderer, Katniss! Why haven't we revolted by now? Rebelled?"
Katniss pulls her hand away from mine, "Don't call me that!" She's breathing heavily and glaring at me.
"It's true. The sooner you accept it, the sooner life can go back to normal!"
"Normal? Peeta, normal doesn't exist for me anymore! I'm going back to the Capitol in four months for the victory tour and then I'll be dragged back there every year, to watch two more kids die!" She screams, fire in her eyes.
"I mean when you can sleep a whole night without any nightmares, when we can announce our relationship to our families," I try to explain.
Katniss is beyond mad now, "But the nightmares don't go away, Peeta! You said it yourself, I'm a murderer! How can I sleep when I know that your brother's blood is on my hands?"
"Bram's death isn't your fault, it's the Games," I say.
"It was my fault that he saved Rue, not me." Katniss gets teary. I remember the little girl form Eleven, she was only twelve and when she, Bram and Katniss joined made an alliance, Rue got caught in a net. Katniss was on the other side of the arena, but Bram managed to get her out. The guy from District One appeared a second after and threw his spear. Bram pushed Rue out of the way and a second later, Katniss killed District One. Bram collapsed, with a spear through his chest, blood all over him. He died a few minutes later, after telling Katniss to tell his family goodbye. It was an honourable death, but it still hurt. Rue ended up getting killed by a mutt on the final day of the Games.
"Bram didn't think he would win, Katniss. He made his mark, sacrificing himself for another district's tribute," I say. I'm lying though, as much as I hate myself thinking it, a part of me hates Katniss for letting my brother die. I shake the thought out of my head and take her hand again.
"We need to end this, Peeta," Katniss says, hesitantly.
"I thought you said we'd get killed," I tell her.
"No. You will if we don't stop though," She tells me. I furrow my brows, what can she be talking about?
"What ever we're doing," She gestures to our connected hands.
"What? Katniss, this is the only good thing in our lives!"
"We can't even visit your brother's grave without fighting and we still can't tell anyone about us either, how is this a good thing" She asks.
"Why don't we tell our families then? Greer already suspects us," I try to convince her.
"Your brother died a month ago and we hooked up a week afterwards. Don't you think your family will have a little to say on that? And if the Capitol gets word of us, you'll be reaped again, but no one will be able to volunteer for you!" Katniss states.
"They won't fix the reapings, Katniss. I'm not that important," I tell her. Why would they? I didn't have parents who rebelled or committed a crime against Panem.
Katniss looks defeated as she says, "The boyfriend of a victor and the brother of a dead tribute? You'll be asking to be reaped."
"But Katniss!"
She cuts me off, "I can't have someone else's blood on my hands, Peeta." She drops my hand and starts to leave.
"Wait, Katniss! Please!" I scream. She ignores me and starts running. Soon enough, I'm in an empty graveyard, staring at Bram's gravestone. Good son and brother, loving boyfriend. I scowl as I look at it. Life would be so much better if I was the tribute instead of Bram. Maybe I'd tell Katniss I loved her on national television, instead of a dreary room with an ugly coat of olive coloured paint. Maybe we'd of found a way to become victors together. I laugh. It's cold and distant laugh, nothing like how it was a month ago. Don't be a moron, I tell myself. There can only be one victor of the Hunger Games.
Yes, this chapter is so much shorter than the last one. I'm sorry, I tried to make it longer, but it kept getting worse and worse, so quality over quantity won over in the end. This is the final chapter of the story, I hope you liked it and please review and tell me what you thought about it.