A/N: FINALLY! It took me so long to update because I have a scattered mind and actually ended up writing a lot of chapter 5 before I wrote this. Sorry for the wait! Thanks for all the reviews, please keep them coming I love knowing what you think.

Also, I know this isn't exactly how Buttercup shows up in the book, and at first I wasn't going to have him show up at all...but I decided to work it into the story.

Once again...I don't own the hunger games. And excuse any typos/grammatical errors I may have missed!

Enjoy!

Peeta spends the next week making sure we have enough bread to feed a small army. Seeing as my hand is still pretty banged up and I can't hunt, we have to rely on ordering meat and eggs from the supply train every two weeks so Greasy Sae really enjoys having the bread to go with her dishes.

I haven't witnessed one of Peeta's flashbacks since the first time he had dinner with us. He seems to be doing better and it's probably because he actually picks up the phone when Dr. Aurelius calls, and takes his pills regularly. Dr. Aurelius rewards him by sending him art supplies and tools and ingredients for decorating cakes. I wonder if I would get a reward for actually keeping up my telephone appointments. Peeta immediately begins to use his art supplies and it surprises me that after all he's been through he can still paint.

One night after Peeta leaves I walk outside to water the primrose bushes. I hear muffled meows and when I look closer I see a pair of ugly yellow eyes staring at me from the bushes. Buttercup. I'm convinced I am hallucinating so I close my eyes and bring my hands up to cover my ears trying to make the cat go away. Buttercup keeps on meowing and the more I try to drown out the sound of his wild cries, the louder he gets. When I open my eyes again I see the cat is at my feet staring up at me. I tell him to go away as I begin to cry. I tell him Prim is gone forever and isn't coming back. That there's nothing for him here, and before I know it I am kneeling on the ground and the cat is in my arms. I take Buttercup inside and feed him the scraps that are left from tonight's' dinner. I make my way to bed with Buttercup meowing behind me.

"Go away!" I tell the cat.

"She's dead! She's not here!" I am now screaming.

My vision is blurred with tears and I end up curled up on the floor at the foot of my bed sobbing as Buttercup cries and meows next to me.

The next morning I wake up screaming from a nightmare. Buttercup is startled and begins to hiss. I see him and realize he's really back. I immediately begin to sob remembering the nightmare that woke me. Peeta, who is already busy making bread hears my scream and comes running up the stairs. Buttercup hisses at him when he walks in. Peeta tries to shoo him out of the room but Buttercup doesn't leave my side and continues hissing. After a few moments Peeta picks the cat up and throws him out. I'm sitting up now with my head in between my knees. Peeta sits next to me on the floor and puts his arm around my shoulders. I'm startled by his touch and it only makes me cry harder.

"Katniss, what's wrong?"

"I know how it must feel for you" I tell him in between sobs.

I look up to meet his gaze and he looks at me with questioning eyes so I wait until I've stopped sobbing to elaborate.

"The feeling you get, when you have a flashback. Not knowing if something is real or not. In my nightmare. It was so real...Prim…she was a mutt and I had to kill her. I didn't want to but I had to. I killed Prim." I am sobbing again and he pulls me to his chest. Being in his arms brings back memories of the nights on the train when he would chase the nightmares away.

Peeta pulls me up and I end up on his lap, cradled in his arms like a child and in that moment I realize how much I've missed him. I drift off to sleep in between sobs but wake up as Peeta sets me down on my bed. He kneels down next to the bed and moves a strand of hair out of my face. He is getting up to leave but I grab his hand. I want to tell him to stay with me but nothing comes out. He gives my hand a squeeze and kisses my forehead before he walks out of the room.

I spend the next few days in bed. Peeta and Greasy Sae take turns checking on me and waking me up to make sure I eat. I feed most of my food to Buttercup who hasn't left my side.

"That girl is gonna be the death of you, boy!" I hear Haymitch's voice say and I don't know if it's a dream or he's really at my house. I conclude it must be a dream because his speech wasn't slurred.

I don't know how many days it's been when Greasy Sae comes in my room and opens the curtains to let the light in.

"Katniss, you best get up right now young lady. If you stay in that bed much longer you're gonna get bedsores. Get up!" she takes my covers and I pretend I'm still asleep.

"Don't make me get the water! Haymitch told me what you do to wake him up. Don't make me do the same thing to you!"

"I'm up" I sit up in bed.

"How long was I out?"

"Four days"

"Go take a shower, and come down to the kitchen when you're ready." She tells me as she walks out of the room taking my cover with her.

I lie in bed for a while before I finally make my way to my bathroom. I notice my protruding ribs and hipbones when I'm in the shower. It's the first time I am aware of my body and of the fact that I must look emaciated.
Greasy Sae's granddaughter is waves and smiles at me from her seat in the living room but that's the only friendly greeting I get.

When I walk into the kitchen I find Greasy Sae is busy cooking but my mouth falls open when I see Haymitch standing there too.

"What the hell is he doing here!" I ask outraged.

"Nice to see you too, sweetheart"

"Don't talk to me!"

"You're not still mad I forgot to tell you the boy was comin' back are ya?"

"Katniss! Stop being a child!" Greasy Sae is holding her wooden spoon up in the air and pointing it at me. She's scolded me before but she's never raised her voice at me.

"You are an adult now! You are alive!" she says frustrated.

"We put a hell of an effort trying to keep you alive, sweetheart. The least you could do is try and keep living." Haymitch says and I notice there's no slur when he speaks.

"I didn't ask anyone to keep me alive." I say bitterly.

"What right do you have to lecture me about wasting my life away anyway! You spend your days drowning in booze!"

"I ain't got anyone to make an effort for, sweetheart. I'm allowed to be selfish."

"In case you haven't noticed I have no one either. My mother deserted me; my little sister is dead. I have nothing left!"

"In case you haven't noticed, Katniss, you have us. And there's a nice boy next door who spent two nights looking after you." Greasy Sae's words stun me and I become speechless.

I drop my gaze to the ground because I'm ashamed and it hits me that I haven't seen Peeta in days, except for the couple times when he tried to wake me up to eat. I suddenly remember Haymitch's words when I was drifting in and out of sleep.

"Where is he?"

Greasy Sae turns back to her cooking and I have the feeling there's something she doesn't want to tell me.

"Where is he? What happened to him!"

Haymitch doesn't say anything either, and their silence makes me anxious.

"It doesn't even matter…I'll go figure it out myself." I say but Haymitch gabs me by the shirt and pulls me back in the kitchen.

"You ain't going anywhere, sweetheart. Boy's in no condition to take visitors right now."

"Let go of me right now and tell me what happened to him" I am furious now and have the desire to punch Haymitch square in the face, but I hold back.

"He came down with a bad case of the flashbacks while you were having your little pity party. Found him clenching a knife in your kitchen. He cut his hands pretty bad. Blood everywhere."

"Why…why can't I go see him?" I asked confused.

"Shrink's orders. Apparently he's temporarily gone back to thinking you're the spawn of Satan. Though I don't blame him, I'm starting to believe that myself."

I glare at him before I walk out of the kitchen and towards my hardly used phone. I dial the number and within seconds I hear Dr. Aurelius' voice.

"It's Katniss," I begin.

"Ah Yes, I was expecting your call. How can I help today, Katniss?"

"When can I see Peeta?"

"Let's talk about you first."

"When can I see him?"

"Katniss, cooperate with me, and I'll cooperate with you. How are you feeling?"

I know he is not going to budge unless I answer all his questions first so I give in to his demands.

"Good, I guess."

"I heard you refused to get out of bed for a few days. What happened?"

"Nothing happened, I was just tired." I lie.

"Katniss, humor me. Why do you think you were in bed for so long?"

"I had a nightmare."

"I see you're still having those. Are you taking your sleep medication?"

"No! If I take those pills I can't wake up from the nightmares. It's ten times worse.

"Alright, alright, I'll have to find you a different medication. Was your nightmare about your sister?"
"Yes."

"Have you talked to anyone about it?"

"I talked to Peeta about it when I woke up from it. He was there."

"Interesting. Did talking about it make you feel better?"

"What does that mean…'Interesting?' It was nothing he was there, I was upset and he asked me what was wrong so I told him."

"Alright, Katniss, focus on answering my question. Did it make you feel better?"

"Yes"

"You should try talking to him more often then. Seems to me you both could help each other out."

"I thought I wasn't allowed to see Peeta."

"You're not. Not right now at least. Wait until tomorrow. The flashback he experienced was stronger than all the others. It was hard to make him snap out of it because he wouldn't tell me what it was he remembered."

"What was it this time?" I ask.

"If he wants you to know he'll tell you himself."

When I finally get off the phone Greasy Sae, her granddaughter and Haymitch are all seated at the table waiting for me to start eating.

"So, what did the shrink say?" Haymitch asks.

"He says I can see him tomorrow" I tell him as I take a seat across from him.

"Good."

We eat our food in silence. When we finish eating Haymitch grabs a few rolls of bread to take home. He turns to me before he steps out.

"That boy needs a hell of a lot more lookin' after than you do, Katniss. It's about time you realize that."

Greasy Sae clears the table and I tell her to leave the dish washing to me but she refuses and tells me she's staying all day to make sure I don't go back to sleep. I keep myself busy helping her clean the kitchen and step outside for a while to take care of the primroses. We even go on a walk before it's time to start making dinner.

I tell Greasy Sae I'm not really hungry but she tells me I'm starting to look like a walking skeleton and makes me eat anyway. And after dinner she forces me to sit with her and her granddaughter while they watch TV. I stare at the ceiling until Greasy Sae is gets up from her spot on the couch.

"I'll be by tomorrow." She tells me before leaving with her granddaughter.

I sit in the chair staring off into space until I decide I'm not waiting till tomorrow to see Peeta. I'm trying to think of what I will say when I see him but decide it's pointless. I'm never good with words.

I walk in the house. It's dark and silent; Peeta must be in his room sleeping. I begin to make my way toward the stairs when the lights turn on and I see Haymitch sitting in the living room.

"Where do you think you're goin', sweetheart?"