Mrs. Everdeen hurried in front of them on the way to the Seam. She kept glancing back as if surprised at how far behind they were, but her anxiety kept her going before they had caught up with her.

Katniss kept her eyes ahead, glancing at Prim occasionally to check on her but never at Peeta. Eventually, though, the silence had stretched for too long, and Peeta couldn't keep himself from speaking.

"I wonder if we'll to get home early enough to watch tonight's Hunger Games recap."

No response.

"It's not like I enjoy watching it, but the last thing any of us needs is a peacekeeper finding us outside and reporting us. Of all the things to get in trouble for, not staring at a television screen is not how I want to go down."

Katniss allowed only a small grunt in reply, but Prim offered him a small smile. He smiled back, thankful that his attempt at conversation hadn't completely fallen through.

The year's games were still in their early stages. The initial bloodbath at the Cornucopia had been two days previously, and only one person had died since then. An unusually slow start. During the last recap, one of the Careers had begun hunting the youngest of the tributes. Tonight, they would find out what had become of the Career's quest.

"The games," Prim said, "aren't fun. I don't like them."

Peeta gave her a woeful smile.

"Neither do I," he assured her. "It's hard to understand people who do."

Prim gave a short hum of agreement, but she didn't waste more of her breath on speaking. Every twenty steps or so, they would have to pause for longer than they had walked to let her regain her energy. Throughout all of it, Peeta only spoke to ask Prim how she was or if she needed anything. Katniss did the same.

Though he knew he shouldn't, Peeta couldn't stop himself from glancing over Prim's head at Katniss time and time again as they walked. She had to have felt his gaze, but she steadfastly avoided looking in his direction.

He could take a hint, and he couldn't say that he was surprised. This was precisely why he'd never been able to work up the courage to speak to Katniss in the past.

Eventually, the Everdeens' house came into view. Prim let out a gasp of relief when she saw it.

"We'll get you lying down, and I bet you won't have to get back up until you absolutely want to," Peeta assured her.

"Probably longer than that," she managed to get out.

Katniss shot her a reproachful look, but Prim was oblivious to it as she hurried as best she could to the front door, taking Katniss and Peeta along with her.

It wasn't until they'd gotten Prim ensconced in blankets on one of the beds, that Peeta was able to take a closer look at the house.

Despite the worn nature of the place, it felt comfortable. Everything was as clean as its age would allow, and someone had placed a jar of cut flowers on the dining table.

Mrs. Everdeen was busy hovering around Prim and making sure she had everything she needed. For a few moments, Katniss watched. Prim refused her mother's offers of food and protested even her mother's insistence that she down an entire glass of water.

Peeta took a hesitant step towards the door, wondering if he should make his exit without calling attention to himself. It would have been the wiser choice, but he couldn't resist the opportunity to speak with Katniss again. He'd heard her voice more in the past couple of hours than he had in years, and it was too tempting to hear it once more.

But it wasn't Katniss that he spoke to first. Instead, he caught Prim's eye.

"I hope you feel better soon," he told her. Turning to Katniss, he continued, "I'll see you at school tomorrow?"

Katniss gave a slight nod, though her attention was taken up by Prim.

"Bye," he said, ostensibly to the entire room.

Prim offered him a tired wave while Mrs. Everdeen gave him a small smile that didn't reach her eyes as she patted a wet rag against Prim's forehead.

He turned to leave, resigning himself to receiving no acknowledgement from Katniss, but she surprised him by following him out the door and tugging it closed, leaving them alone except for a group of children playing at the other end of the street.

"Thank you," Katniss said, looking at the ground instead of him.

Her shoulders straightened after she'd said the words aloud.

"You didn't have to do any of that," she continued. "It was unnecessary, but...I do appreciate it."

"Of course," he said. "Prim's a nice girl. I'm sorry that she isn't well right now."

"Who here is well?" Katniss asked sharply.

She glanced at the children down the street. Peeta kept his eyes on her, but he knew what details of the children's appearances she was zeroing in on, the ones that were always there in Twelve: the bones that were too visible to be healthy, the way many of the children were shorter than Capitol children of the same age. They'd both seen it their entire lives, though Peeta knew he'd never experienced it as intimately as Katniss had living in the Seam.

Peeta hadn't had nutritious, well-rounded meals in his life, but he had had enough calories to build some muscle. There were few in the Seam who had been afforded that luxury. They were strong, but you often couldn't tell by looking at their bodies.

When he had been very young, Peeta had believed that the lower-numbered districts, such as One and Two, sent older tributes into the arena year after year.

He looked at Katniss. Her attention wasn't on the kids anymore. She was looking into the distance, not focused on anything but what was running through her own mind.

"I guess I need to go," Peeta said.

Katniss didn't look at him as she nodded her head. She said a quick, "Goodbye," before disappearing into the house and leaving Peeta to go wherever he wished except for after her.