She slams the front door behind her and makes her way for the stairs, bypassing Johanna napping on the couch.

"Katniss!" She calls after her but Katniss doesn't stop.

She sees Lila asleep in the cot and she quickly packs their things into the suitcases.

"What do you think you're doing?" Johanna hisses.

Katniss throws the last of their things into the suitcase, zips them up and sets them on the floor. She lifts Lila out of the cot waking her from her sleep and tries to soothe her daughter as she cries from the sudden disturbance.

"Katniss, you're not leaving." Johanna says, stopping her from passing. "Not again."

"Please let me go." Katniss pleads, tears falling down her cheeks as she bounces Lila against her chest. "We shouldn't have come back here."

Johanna lets her go and Katniss picks up one of the suitcases and drags it behind her.

"Come on Lila, we're going to go back home to Madge and James." She tells her daughter, placing a kiss to her cheek.

Lila is strapped into her car seat, wailing loudly and Katniss bags as much of their other things that are strewn across the living room.

"What happened Katniss?" Johanna asks.

"I don't want to talk about it." She cries. "Can you please help me?"

Johanna exhales and nods her head, helping Katniss collect and gather their things.

"Hold on Lila." Katniss tells the baby as she cries from the car seat. "Hang on."

Johanna sets down the bouncer and goes for Lila in the car seat, lifting the baby out and comforting her.

"Put her back!"

Johanna shakes her head and pats the baby's back and holds her against her chest.

"Katniss, you're not thinking right." Johanna whispers, hoping to calm both mother and daughter down. "Come sit down and tell me what happened."

"No, we should get on the road now. The roads are going to get bad tonight."

"Don't you think you should just stay for another night? You're putting yourself and Lila at risk." Johanna reasons just as Lila begins to calm down.

"We'll be in New York in a couple of hours. We should go before it gets too late." Katniss plucks Lila from Johanna and straps her back into the car seat, buckling her in as the crying begins again.

A knock sounds at the front door.

"I'm not answering it." Katniss tells her flatly.

Johanna rolls her eyes and steps to the hallway, opening up the front door.

Katniss looks up from the packing to see Effie enter with Johanna behind her. Effie looks at Lila and her eyes droop. Her lips turn downwards and Effie shakes her head, reaching down to take Lila from the car seat.

"Don't touch her. She'll stop crying when we get in the car."

"Katniss."

"Don't. Nothing you say will change my mind." She tells her. "We're going back to New York. We should have never left."

"Katniss, you did the right thing."

"No, I fucked up. I shouldn't have done that."

"Katniss, I'm just going to take Lila to the kitchen." Johanna says picking up the car seat and leaving the two of them alone.

She feels a headache coming on and she presses her temples and then resumes the packing.

"Katniss, Peeta deserved to know. You did the right thing." Effie tells her. "How'd you think he'd react?" Katniss doesn't say anything. "You knew he'd react like this, didn't you?" Effie says. "If you knew he would act like this, was it in your plan to leave right after. Drop the bomb and go and disappear again?"

Katniss drops the baby clothes and falls onto the ground, cradling her face in her hands as she sobs.

Effie is there to comfort her quickly and she holds her niece in her arms.

"You did a good thing." Effie whispers to her. "You did such a good thing, no matter how he reacted, he knows. Take comfort that he knows he has a daughter. Lila and Peeta both deserve to know about each other. It's going to be a shock to Peeta and he needs some time to process this." She squeezes her tighter. "And if he finds out you ran again, it'll break him and he's just slowly putting himself together again. Don't leave until you speak to him again."

Katniss nods and hears Lila's cries cease. Katniss looks in the direction of the kitchen and then back to Effie.

"Is he alright?"

"He's with Haymitch. Haymitch knows how to help him."

"What should I do Effie?"

"Just give it some time. Time is all that can be done right now." She offers. "It's in his court now."

Katniss nods and takes the offered handkerchief from Effie, wiping her eyes.

"I should probably check on Lila."

Katniss walks to the kitchen and sees Johanna feeding Lila a bottle.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you."

"S'ok." Johanna replies. "You're scared, it's natural."

"Want me to take her?"

Johanna shakes her head. "We're right. You go and spend some time with Effie."

Katniss makes them cups of tea and they settle in the living room.

"You need to stop worrying." Effie tells her. "You've told him, you should find some relief in that."

"I'm just scared of what he's going to do. How he's going to take the news."

"I know. Waiting is the hardest part."

Effie leaves shortly after and hugs Katniss tightly goodbye.

"Stop your worrying sweetheart." She whispers. "You focus on Lila for now and then whatever comes next."

She falls down beside Johanna on the couch. Lila is in her bouncer asleep and Katniss has slowly unpacked everything again.

"Leo would be two this Sunday." Katniss says aloud.

"I know." Johanna says, gripping her friend's hand and offering her supportive smile. "He'd be an incredible kid."

"He would be." Katniss agrees and chokes out a sob. She manages to smile at the thought of Leo.

They prepare dinner together. The first home cooked meal Katniss has had in a long while. They make the most of it. Playing music and mucking around just like old times sake. Lila soon makes her way into her mother's arms and she giggles and smiles at the nonsense the two women have created.

"I can't wait for you to be older so we have dance parties in the living room with our pj's on." Katniss whispers to Lila before kissing her cheek.

A knock sounds at the front door and Katniss moves to the front door with Lila on her hip.

She opens the front door and sees Peeta standing there. He goes to speak but stops when his eyes land on Lila.

"Hi." Katniss offers.

"I should have called." He claims. "I'm sorry. I'll go."

He turns on his heels.

"Peeta, wait!"

Johanna takes Lila and Katniss chases after him.

"Peeta!"

He braces his hands on the hood of his car and Katniss lingers, not wanting to startle him or crowd him.

"I should have called." He claims.

"It's Ok." Katniss reassures him.

"After the way I left you this afternoon I should have called." He says.

"I was expecting you. A call or visit." She admits to him. "You have every right to visit." She tells him. "Peeta, if you don't want anything to do with us then I understand. I'll go back to New York, I'll disappear, and you'll never have to see us again."

"I don't want that." He admits to her, finally looking up at her.

"Then what do you want?"

He looks towards the house briefly and then back to Katniss.

"I think we should talk."

"We should." She agrees. "Do you want to come inside?"

"Um…"

"You can come in? Maybe meet Lila properly."

He shakes his head. "Tomorrow I think will be better."

"Ok."

"I better be going. It's dinner time."

She nods and smiles at me. "Call me, will you?"

"Of course." He smiles and moves to the driver's side. "Thank you for telling me about her."

"You deserved to know."

He's gone quickly and Katniss watches the road long after his taillights have disappeared.

"You'll catch a cold." Johanna scolds her, bringing out a coat and wrapping it around her shoulders. "Get inside."

Dinner has been dished up and they dig into a bowlful of spaghetti. They both feed Lila together and Johanna asks about lunch, Katniss having not told her anything about yet.

Nothing else is said and Johanna urges Katniss to get Lila ready for bed while she does the dishes.

Katniss bathes Lila and the two of them get into their pyjamas. Katniss knowing she wouldn't be too far behind Lila, today's events having tired her out. She switches on the bedside lamp and climbs into bed, under the covers and brings Lila to her breast to nurse. Her phone buzzes and she reaches for it seeing a text from Peeta.

She unlocks her phone and opens the text.

P- I'm reading the journal. Thank you for creating it.

P- I can't stop thinking about how beautiful she is. I saw her for thirty seconds and I'm blown away at how beautiful she is.

P – I know we said we'd talk tomorrow but I need to see you tonight. Only if you're not busy.

She hesitates a reply, wondering if it'd be appropriate to see him for the night.

K – I'm just nursing Lila now. She should be down soon. We can maybe have a mug of hot chocolate?

P – I'll make it for us. I'll see you soon.

Lila goes down quickly after and Katniss gets her settled into her cot with a belly rub. She slips her feet onto her slippers and finds one of Peeta's hoodies. She carries the baby monitor and her phone downstairs.

Johanna is in the study, catching up on some of her missed work.

"Peeta's coming over." Katniss tells her.

Johanna jumps and turns around touching her chest. "Geez, I forgot how quiet you are on your feet. You gave me a heart attack."

"Sorry."

"Why's Peeta coming over?"

"He wanted to see me."

"Want me to put Lila's cot in my room?"

"What? Why?"

"It's been 15 months. You two have undeniable chemistry. I remember when he used to go on overnight assignments and you two were close to jumping each other's bones in the middle of the work floor. You two could hardly go three days without sex."

"We've got other issues to deal with. It'd be irresponsible to jump into sex."

"But you'd feel better. Release some of that pent up energy. 15 months is a long time, especially for someone who has had quite an active sex life."

Katniss looks down at her slippers and avoids eye contact as her cheeks go red as a light knock sounds at the door.

"Like I said before, I can't believe how shy you get when people talk about sex." Johanna laughs. "Go talk to your husband."

She walks quietly to the front door, opening it to Peeta. He looks tired. The type of tiredness that comes from crying, stress and wonder. She understands this type of tired.

"Come on in." She tells him with a small smile.

He slips his shoes off and hangs his coat over the rack. Katniss leads him into the kitchen and he produces a thermos of hot chocolate. She pulls down two mugs and Peeta pours the sweet hot drink into their mugs.

"She asleep?" He asks.

"Yeah, went down like a light." She tells him. "I think she's due to teethe again."

He doesn't say anything and she reaches for the sugar pot. She drops half a teaspoon of raw sugar into her mug.

"I see you've cut back." He laughs.

She smiles and stirs the spoon throughout her mug. "Yeah, too much sugar this time of night doesn't help me or Lila sleep. I avoid it this time of night especially when she has her night feeds."

"Well half a teaspoon is better than your regular 3." He teases.

She blushes. "Living room?"

"Lead the way."

They sit on the black couch, Peeta occupying one end and Katniss the other. She brings her feet under her body and watches him take in the living room that has been hit with the baby tornado. Something that is a strange sight, especially in Johanna's living room. He picks up one of Lila's blankets that hangs from over the back of the couch beside him and he picks it up, smiling and running his fingers over the cotton.

She watches him slowly bring it to his nose and he sniffs the blanket and slowly lowers it back down to his lap.

"It smells of her." Katniss smiles. "I know, the smell is intoxicating."

His chest heaves slightly and he nods trying to avoid the tears from spilling down his cheeks.

She reaches across and squeezes his hand. "I know. It gets me every time." She reassures him. "You can take that blanket home with you, if you'd like."

"No, she needs it."

"She has plenty. I insist."

He folds it up and holds it in his fist. "Thank you."

They sip their hot chocolate in silence and she rests her head against the cushion, watching him.

"You look exhausted." He says. "You should have gone to bed."

"It's fine. I wouldn't have been able to sleep anyway." She tells him.

"Is she a good sleeper?" He asks.

Katniss nods, smiling proudly. "Yeah, she is. She'll wake once during the night for a feed and a change and I'll bring her back to bed with me where she'll sleep right through. If she has a fussy night she might want more feedings or such but she's good. A great baby. Easy to take care of."

He smiles and looks away from her and towards the stairs before he looks back at her.

"I thought I'd be strong enough and resist to see her but she's been all I could think about."

"I can take you upstairs, if you like."

"No. I made a promise. Tomorrow." He states. "Besides, we have some things we need to discuss first."

"Of course." She agrees. "Peeta, I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am."

"Katniss, please stop saying you're sorry." He tells her. "OK? Please, stop being sorry."

"But I didn't even tell you."

"I'm upset about that. Upset that I didn't know. But we were both going through a lot and I understand why you left. But I'm starting to understand why you kept her a secret from me. Why everyone else kept her a secret from me. It was to protect our daughter and me. Haymitch helped me realise why this happened. And I still remember how vulnerable and emotional you were when you were pregnant with Leo. I've put that into perspective and the fact that you were grieving and still are." He says.

"Are you mad at me?" She asks him.

He shakes his head. "At myself actually. If I weren't a mess then maybe I would have known sooner. If I hadn't said those words to you, then maybe it might have been better."

"We weren't ourselves then Peeta." She adds sadly. "We had planned this life… our future. We were becoming parents… we went into the hospital expecting something and came out without anything. And we both reacted so differently. We didn't know how to live our lives without the life we had made together."

"I told you I didn't want any children. I scared you."

"You weren't yourself." She reminds him.

He nods and looks down at the blanket in his lap. "I sometimes imagine what our lives would be like if Leo was here." He admits to her quietly. "Do you?" He asks looking up.

"All the time."

"Even with Lila here?" He questions.

"Yes."

"If he was here, Lila wouldn't be."

Her heart clenches in her chest, she felt sick imagining Lila not being here. "Lila would be, she'd make an appearance eventually."

"Has she helped you?"

"Very much so." She says. "She's helped me in more ways than I could imagine. Than therapists and grievance counsellors could. She's become my therapy."

"Do you think you're over Leo's death?"

"I don't think I ever will be." She tells him. "Lila hasn't replaced him. No one will ever replace him." She swallows the lump in her throat. "What about you?"

"It's a strange thing losing a baby."

"It is." Katniss agrees.

"I don't think the storm will ever pass."

"I hope it does." Katniss tells him. "Because Lila is the rainbow after the storm. The big bright rainbow that follows a storm and gives hope of things getting better." She explains. "I've only just started to believe this. The storm has happened and nothing can change the experience. Storm-clouds still linger as we continue to cope with the loss but something colourful and bright has emerged from the darkness and misery." She grips his hand. "I hope you find the rainbow Peeta."

"Me too."

They sip their drinks and she inches closer to him. "Are you going to tell your family?"

"I haven't really thought about that yet." He admits. "But they've pretty much abandoned me."

"I know. I'm so sorry."

"I was the one who fucked it up. Once Leo died and then dad, it put a wedge between us. The boys had their own families to focus on but we had nothing. They didn't agree with my drinking and the disgrace I was becoming to the family. They didn't want any toxicity and they all but blamed me for you leaving." He tells her and she cringes. "They're ashamed of me for turning into the family fuck up."

"You're not."

"It's true." He says. "But I don't need them in my life. I have my other family who make up for their absence." He turns to her and swallows the lump in his throat. "Especially you. You're my family. And now I suppose Lila is."

"I don't want you to be uncomfortable with this. Do anything your uncomfortable with. You don't have to be in her life if it's too hard. I understand that. I just thought you deserved to know she exists and there is the spot to have a relationship with her."

"And I want that." He assures me. "I want to be in her life. I want to be in your life again." He admits, scrubbing his hand across his face. "I know we have a long way to go and nearly two years of distance to get back but I know I want to be in her life, even if we're not together."

"Peeta…"

"It's perfectly fine if you don't want to be with me. I understand. I hurt you. It'll hurt to be apart but I understand."

"I'm committed to this Peeta. Us. I know there's a lot we have to get over but I want this to work and for things to be right between us. Especially for Lila."

"The heart of our relationship has to be strong for Lila." He agrees.

"But I think for now we should be there for Lila before we focus on our relationship. I don't want her being hurt if it doesn't work out between us."

He nods. "I just hope time hasn't affected us too much and we can still love each other like we have for the last decade."

"We've faced a lot but we always come back stronger than before." She reminds him. "There's always hope. Especially when I have you."

He smiles and then drops his gaze down to his mug. "Katniss."

"Yeah?"

"Sunday."

She nods, her heart becoming heavy, her stomach filling with dread.

"He'd be 2 on Sunday. It also marks a full year since I committed to getting myself sober. Haymitch has suggested a celebration of sorts to mark 365 days. I want you to be there, so I can show you my recovery and commitment to sobriety."

"Of course I'll be there. I'm proud of what you've done."

"I also think we should take a couple of hours out to celebrate Leo. Maybe create a birthday we would have given him for his 2nd birthday. I want to celebrate his life even if he's not with us. And even if it's just the two of us, we should do something for him."

"Three." She says wiping her eyes with the sleeve of his hoodie. "Lila as well. He's her brother too. I want her to grow up knowing about him. I think we should go low key. Nothing too extreme." She says.

He pulls her close to his body, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and kissing her temple.

"I miss him so much, it hurts." He admits against her temple.

"All I can think of is his tiny hands and ears."

"And his toes."

"His toes especially." She sniffles. "He had big feet."

"Swimmers feet." Peeta adds chuckling slightly. "I've reflected them a lot in my drawings."

"You've been drawing?"

"It's been good therapy." He tells her and reaches into his pocket. "I brought a couple over for you. That's partially why I wanted to see you." He opens the two drawings, revealing charcoal drawings. "This one is Leo. And this one is Lila." He says pointing out their children. "I copied the first picture in the journal and I can see a huge resemblance between the two of them."

Katniss looks at the two drawings with tears in her eyes. The dark lines sketched onto the white paper were beautiful. She carefully tried to not smudge the drawings and looked between the two. "I haven't thought to compare the two of them. They look like twins."

He nods and inches closer to her. "Exactly what I thought."

They sit in an almost complete silence for close to an hour with damp eyes and cheeks. They exchange a few words when needed but the familiar silence is comforting for them both. Johanna had long disappeared upstairs for bed, leaving the two of them alone.

A crackle over the baby monitor breaks them apart and she looks over to see Lila fussing in her cot.

"Oh, it's late. I should be going."

"Hang on. She does this sometimes." Katniss tells him as she watches the monitor and Lila fuss about before she settles herself back to sleep. "She's fine."

He smiles and checks his watch. "I still should be getting home."

"Ok." She agrees and hands him the pictures. "You better take these."

"You keep them."

"Thank you." She says with tears in her eyes.

He shakes his head with a soft smile. "Thank you for giving me two beautiful children."

She smiles at him and they get lost in each other's eyes for a few seconds too long before he clears his throat. They drop their mugs into the sink and she hands him his empty thermos. She follows him back to the foyer, switching off the lights.

"Come with me." She holds out her hand for him and he takes it.

She takes him upstairs quietly and into her bedroom. The room is dark and Katniss places her finger to her lips to tell him to be quiet. They creep over to the corner where the port-a-cot is and look down at Lila who lies flat on her back with her hands up near her head balled into fists. Her eyebrows do the crinkly thing as she sleeps. As she dreams.

The same thing Peeta does.

She hears him gasp at the sight of their daughter and he pulls Katniss close to his side. He leans over and softly traces the balled up fist and then the hair on his daughter's crown. He's gentle and soft and retreats back slowly.

He kisses Katniss' hair and squeezes her to his side for a moment while he watches his daughter sleep. He had seen his daughter this afternoon for a couple of seconds but now he truly admired her. Was more prepared. And the look on his face was beautiful.

He tears himself away ten minutes later. "I'll be here all night if I don't leave now." He whispers. "I should get home and sleep before tomorrow."

She nods understanding and they leave the room quietly and back downstairs. He slips into his shoes and his coat silently and then pulls Katniss in for an embrace. She melts into his warmth and embrace and doesn't want to let him go.

"Thank you for seeing me tonight. It was nice."

"It was." She agrees. "I'll see you tomorrow. I'll make sure she's on her best behaviour."

He smiles and kisses her forehead. "Bye Katniss."

"Bye Peeta."

She watches him from the front porch and waves to him as he drives off. She locks up the house and heads upstairs. She sees the light still on in Johanna's room and enters it. Johanna sits up in bed with her iPad and looks up at Katniss as she crosses to her bed and collapses down beside her. Katniss buries her face into the pillow.

Johanna sets her iPad down and shuts off the bedside lamp, pulling the covers over Katniss.

In the darkness they lay there. Katniss having moved her face out from the pillow and looks over at Johanna.

"I almost kissed someone in New York." She whispers. Johanna's eyes shoot open. "I had found out I was pregnant and was feeling pretty shitty about myself. I was at a coffee shop late one evening. I don't even know why, I think I was trying to go through the motions. I was about 10 weeks pregnant then and this guy started up a conversation with me. He too was going through some things. He enlightened me in these things but I kept it brief, told him I was new to town and felt lonely. I was missing Peeta a lot then too, especially as I knew I was carrying his baby. We leant in to kiss but the wait staff dropped a teapot and we jumped apart, realising how wrong it was. I felt sick and went green, he asked if I was Ok and I told him I was pregnant. He saw my wedding ring and then I saw his. We both apologised to each other and we stayed in that booth talking the whole night. Darius became my friend and eventually my editor."

Johanna smiles at her. "I'm glad you found a friend."

"He had found his wife cheating on him the weekend before. She didn't know he knew and he was trying to figure out if he should approach her about it. I think he was looking to get back at her but knew it was all for the wrong reason." The baby monitor sounds and she smiles. "Milk duty. I'll see you in the morning."

Katniss slips out from the covers and grabs the monitor.

"I'm here if you want to talk." Johanna tells her.

"I know." Katniss replies. "Thank you. For everything."

She picks Lila up out of the cot and lies down in bed, getting her daughter situated beside her. Lila quickly attaches for her nurse and Katniss kisses Lila's forehead and keeps her lips pressed to her daughter's forehead.

Lila lets go of her mother soon after and Katniss lays her on her back gently. She rubs Lila's belly softly and than reaches for her phone.

She scrolls through her camera roll and opens up onto a picture of Prim and her. She feels the tears spring to her eyes and dabs her sleeve at her eyes gently.

Dartmouth College, 6th of February, 2005

"My parents died in an accident." She tells him late one evening under the comfort of her duvet, in the darkness of her dorm room. He strokes her face tenderly and offers her a look of sorrow. He's been the first boy she has openly told this too, it had been easier to go along with the fact that Haymitch and Effie were her biological parents.

"It was when I was 5. Prim and I were with Effie and Haymitch at the family home in New York. They had been taking care of us while Mom and Dad went to my father's school reunion. It had been a long winter and the roads were still icy and slippery. Dad was driving them home from upstate and it was late at night. A girl had broken down and Dad pulled over to help her out and try and get her car off of the road. A speeding car came around the bend, lost control and slammed into Dad's car and then the girl's. Dad was crushed between the cars and Mom was hit by the speeding car while pushing the girl out of the way."

"I'm so sorry." He says, kissing her forehead.

"It was a while ago now. I don't really remember much of it. I just remember these two people I share a few memories with but they're all but distant ones." She recalls. "I just know they died heroes. The girl survived thanks to them."

Peeta brushes her hair from her eyes. "Is that why you moved to Boston?"

She nods. "Haymitch and Effie were the only family we had left. Prim was only a baby and doesn't remember Mom and Dad. Effie and Haymitch eventually became her parents as they were there for her. It was weird at first but they grew to the idea and loved us like their own."

"Did they have any kids?"

"Effie had this condition called adenomyosis. It's where the cells that normally form a lining on the inside of the uterus grow in the muscle wall of the uterus. It caused a lot of pain for her, pelvic pain, painful menstruation, heavy bleeding and things. She wasn't well most of the time as the blood loss lead to anaemia. The doctors tried everything to stop it from contraception and a hormone that stopped ovulation. None of it worked and it made it worse. The only other option was a hysterectomy. It was a painful decision for her as she was only 28 then. The doctors tried to talk her out of it but it was for her quality of life really."

"So she decided to end her fertility at 28?" Peeta asks.

"Yeah. It was a brave thing to do. And without a uterus she couldn't conceive."

"Did they take everything?"

"They did. She didn't want them to harvest her eggs either. And even if she didn't get a hysterectomy her chances of conceiving would be hard and carrying a child to full-term would be unlikely."

"How soon after did she meet Haymitch?"

"A couple of months. She was able to get a job and work. She met Haymitch when he was still on the floor. She tells me it was a lot of playful banters before they finally went out. It was within a year that they moved in together and were engaged quite soon after."

"How'd he take the news of her infertility?"

"Hard." She tells him. "And he suggested surrogacy or adoption but they agreed it wasn't for them. They were happy together." She smiles. "But then we moved in with them and that hole they didn't realise they had inside of their chests was filled and they got their family."

"Was it hard for you though, living without your parents and being thrown into this new world?"

"At first but they did everything they could to make sure we were happy and loved. They were great parents to us and treated us like their own." She smiles. "There's nothing in the world that I'd be able to repay them with, for what they did for us."

"I'm sure they don't need any repayment. Seeing you happy and healthy would be the best gift anyone could ask for." He tells her with a sad smile. "I didn't grow up in a loving home."

"You don't have to tell me this." She tells him.

"I do. You opened up to me, I opened up to you." He claims with a small smie. "My relationship with my mother was strained for as long as I can remember. I remember being young, maybe a toddler and meeting her short fuse. She didn't appreciate anything I did and would usually tell me how wrong or terrible I was. It hurt, the love she didn't give me, especially from such a young age when I used to see my friends and their relationships with their mothers. I never knew why she disliked me until I was 12. I ended up with a bruised cheek and the police stopping by the bakery."

"What happened?"

"I had a twin. She died a few days after birth." He says. "She came out first in a brows up condition. Instead of her chin being tucked to her chest, she was looking up with the largest part of her head trying to fit through the cervix. It caused a massive brain haemorrhage. The doctors should have performed a caesarean to get her out safely but it was too late by the time they realised. Mom and Dad turned her life support off a few days later as she was brain dead."

"I'm sorry."

"I always felt like I was missing a piece of myself and when I found out it all made sense."

"Why'd your mother hit you though?"

"I confronted her, asked her why I never knew. She blew up, said I didn't deserve to know that I killed my sister."

"Peeta, you didn't kill her."

"I did believe for a while, believed I was the reason it happened."

"It's one of those things that happen in life. Unexplainable and unfortunate."

"I know." He replies.

"Was there any other physical abuse?"

"No. Just the once. The visit by the police was enough to stop the physical but it never stopped the verbal and emotional."

She stares at him, unable to fight the tears from falling. She kisses his lips softly, unable to use words to speak her feelings.

He pulls her close to his chest and holds her in his strong arms.

"Did your father try to do anything?"

"He never knew. She did it when he wasn't around." He explains. "Mom and dad weren't never meant to be together but they remained together for the purpose of us boys."

"Don't say that."

"It was a marriage of convenience. They both had their hearts set on someone else but it never worked. I've learnt you shouldn't fix something that is way beyond repair."

"Peeta…"

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't channel my emotions into wrestling. I'd never be in your bed if I had nothing to be angry about. I'm sure I'll find friends who'll become my family and show me that blood doesn't mean anything. That there are friends who will do anything for each other no matter the situation. Some friends are better than family."

She kisses his forehead and smiles at him. It was these moments, late at night when their bodies warmed each other and the clocked ticked past midnight when they shared their fears and ghosts. Where nothing was left unsaid. They were falling fast for each other and she knew she wanted to spend a lifetime laying in the darkness with Peeta sharing secrets and stories.

They fall asleep wrapped in each other's arms. Their bare skin pressed together, their spoken words in the back of their minds.

"Katniss."

"Hmm?"

"Your phone." He mumbles to her.

She reaches across Peeta, fumbling for her phone. It's 3am.

Haymitch's name appears on the screen and she wonders why he is calling so late.

"Haymitch?"

"Prim's been admitted to the hospital."

"What's wrong with her?"

"She hasn't been well for a few weeks now. She had a fever all day today and woke up vomiting an hour ago. She's been complaining of a headache. She had a seizure at home. A pretty bad one. The doctors are doing tests on her now." He explains. "You should probably get here Katniss."

"Is she going to be OK?"

He exhales and it's silent before he replies. "It doesn't look good Katniss."

"I'm getting on the next bus. She needs me." She tells him, sitting up and climbing out of bed. "If she's sick, she needs me."

"Stay calm Katniss." Haymitch urges her. "Take a breath."

"What's going on Katniss?" Peeta asks, leaning up on his elbows.

"Prim's in the hospital."

He's out of bed quickly, reaching for his clothes. "I'll drive you. I'll go grab a few things. We'll be on the road in ten minutes." He tells her.

"No, I can't let you do that."

"Katniss?" She hears Haymitch say.

"Grab your things. I'll meet you here in ten minutes." He tells her, zipping his jeans up. "I'm serious Kat."

Peeta drives her to Boston in the early hour of the morning. The two of them hadn't even been together all that long and he was driving her hours away to be with her sister. She knew this man would be the start of her second family. The family she'd call on when she was upset or in trouble. The family that she'd love unconditionally. He'd stick by her side, pull her through the tough times and comfort her when she felt alone.

He reaches across for her hand and holds it, never letting her go. She knew he'd never let her go, even in the early stages of their relationship. He'd be there for years to come, holding her hand because this was meant to happen.

She smiles at their joined hands and then up at him.

"Thank you."