Thanks for the reviews and whoever favourited this story! You're amazing!

I'm sorry if this is a bit too melodramatic – I promise the next one will lighten the mood up a little! Also, this might be a bit unlike Peeta, so sorry if it is. Please review and say if I need to improve in anything! Thank you!

Chapter Four

PEETA

"Primrose Everdeen."

After Effie Trinket said those words, Peeta was shocked. This was Katniss's little sister, who everybody loved, even his father. He remembered seeing her as a baby with short blonde curls in the Hob with Mrs Everdeen and Katniss, and watching her cry.

And now little Primrose was reaped.

He saw her face, all shaken and ghostly pale. She slowly made her way towards the stage, her blouse slightly out of place, forming a duck-tail.

"Prim!" Katniss shouted, girls making way for her as she ran towards her sister. "Prim!"

She pushed Prim behind. "I volunteer!" she screamed. "I volunteer as tribute!"

*…*…*

He was a child again, holding his father's warm hand. It was nice to stand next to him, for a change, and not his cruel and stressed mother.

"See that little girl?" his father said, nodding towards a pretty girl who was running around with another, laughing, her two hazel plaits flowing behind her as she ran.

"Yes," he answered.

"I wanted to marry her mother once," he said as Peeta's small hands gripped his father's beefy ones, "but she ran off with a coal miner."

"A coal miner?" he said, confused. He examined the girl, whose eyes were now glistening, as she had just fallen. He presumed it was her mother that picked her up, while baby with light blond curls giggling while standing, holding onto the woman's leg for support. "Why did she want a coal miner when she could've had you?"

"Because when he sings," his father said shakily, inhaling a big breath, "even the birds stop the listen."

*…*…*

He watched as Katniss, now sixteen, walking up the stairs, desperately trying to hold in her emotions. He could hear Prim's cries as Gale carried her away, but his eyes were fixed on her.

Effie makes an unnecessarily cheerful comment, and then gets to the point: "What's your name?"

Katniss swallows hard. "Katniss Everdeen."

"I bet my buttons that was your sister. Don't want her to steal all the glory, do we?" she waits for a cheer that would never ever come, like she always did in all the other reapings. "Come on, everybody! Let's give a big round of applause to our newest tribute!"

Peeta then immediately kissed his three fingers and put them in the air, some others following his lead. Then more. Gradually, everyone, including the people who bet on them, did the same.

He could see Katniss's gray eyes starting to tear up, but she managed to keep it in.

Right on cue, the drunken Haymitch came to the stage, staggering, clearly drunk. His black, curly hair is greasy, his Seam eyes, like Katniss's but more piercing, scans through the crowd and yelled something Peeta couldn't make out at the camera, then dived, head first, into the crowd.

Well, Peeta thought. The love of my life had just volunteered. District 12's mentor is drunk, who's supposedly going to save District 12's tributes' life in the arena. And I'm volunteering! Oh, what a lovely day it is!

Effie then trots towards the boy's bowl of slips, making Peeta's muscles tense up, even though he was the one going anyway. "…but more excitement to come!" she trills, her hand diving into the glass bowl.

All the boys were glaring at her hand, as Effie examined all the slips. She plucks out one.

He suddenly wished that it's Gale. Gale, Gale, Gale. He could protect Katniss extremely well. What was Peeta thinking? How could he, the baker's son, kill people?

Gale, Gale, Gale.

Gale Hawthorne, she said, in his mind. It's him, it's him! He did his victory dance, right there on the spot. He threw flowers at both of District 12's heartthrobs, as they passionately kiss on stage.

It's Gale! he paraded.

"Peeta Mellark," Effie said.

Really, he should've seen it coming. His father being unusually conscious about him and his brother, the odds having a slight chance of being in his favor, and above all, the illusion of Gale being picked. It was obvious.

Yet he thought that the world was wrong. It couldn't have been him. It shouldn't. He only had 2 slips, in that bowl, right?

A boy nudged him, making him move. Peeta nodded gratefully as he began to make his way to the stage. So this is how it feels like, he thought, thinking about Prim's frightened face when Effie announced her name. He then felt guilty. What was he doing, feeling sorry for himself? He tried to imagine how it would be like being picked only being 12 years old.

Effie glanced at her watch and looked at Peeta expectedly, tapping it, but he didn't care. The Capitol can wait. They'd have plenty of time seeing him die.

He finally was on stage, looking at Katniss. He saw recognition in her eyes, probably thinking about the raining day he gave her the burnt bread. But she'll always thinking of me as the boy with the bread, nothing more, nothing less.

He shook her cold hands. She will win.

*…*…*

He sat on the plush red couch, thinking about his father and his brothers while staring at his hands clenched together. His mother was probably dancing around all of District 12, singing, "Peeta's going to die! Whipee!"

The whole place was so rich and lush. Red carpets, chandeliers, fancy paintings of the bombing of District 13, the works. Peeta felt angry that there were people starving here, and that Mayor Undersee spends all his money on his precious Justice Building instead of his subjects.

He shook the thought off as he saw his brothers. They just awkwardly stood there, looking at him for what seemed like ages, Peeta doing the same. Weren't they going to do a sober goodbye hug or something?

Then someone piped up. "Good luck," said the oldest, patting him on the back. "You'll need it."

"Great way to cheer me on," he replied sarcastically, making his brothers crack a smile. They shook hands tightly, all trying to smile.

When they left, he could've sworn he saw them wiping a tear. At least two people care about me, he thought, looking at the door in a daze. That was the last time he was going to see them.

Then his father charged through, giving him a huge warm hug. He sobbed on Peeta's shoulders, surprising him. His father never cried, at least in front of him, anyway. Then Peeta began to cry, too, on his beefy shoulders.

"I love you, son," he said gruffly, breaking away from their embrace. "Don't you ever forget that."

"Love you too," he managed to say, as they gripped each other's arm. Then the thought of Katniss's cold hands came into his mind, as he added, "Give Katniss's family –"

"I will," he said, nodding. Then he understood why he said it, fear coming into his mind. "Don't you dare try and protect someone else, Peeta. Protect yourself, okay? You'll come back, you hear me? Make some paint and camouflage yourself, just like you do with cakes, but lose the intricate patterns, they'll spot you for that. Peeta, listen to me, if you try hard enough –"

"I won't be coming back. Katniss –"

"I don't care, Peeta!" he yelled painfully. "Try hard, for your family."

"I'll make you proud somehow, I'll promise," he said, tearing up.

"You already have, son," his father whispered, a stream of flowing freely down his cheeks. Peeta spotted the Peacekeepers waiting for his father, and it was then when Peeta started to cry quietly, his father pleading, "He's sixteen, he's sixteen!" as they took him away.

They slammed shut the door, Peeta banging on it as he cried. He thought this goodbye thing was going to be a lot straight forward, with just a 'bye'. But now, as he slumped down on the floor, his head in his hands, he kept on thinking that he was never going to see District 12's sunset setting in the meadow, his brother's quiet yet caring ways, his father's smile, the warm fire coming from the oven, the birds chirping, everything. Every single thing he cared about was taken away by the Capitol.

Except from Katniss.

He stood back up, his sadness now replaced by rage. How could they do this to 24 children each year? He wondered if President Snow felt guilty, for all the innocent kids he'd killed, and all the families' mourning. This was inhumane, savage, brutal, and extremely heartless. This was worse than he imagined.

To fit with his rage, his mother paraded in. "Well done, Pea-Brain," she teased. "You've made your mother finally proud."

"You're not my mother," he said.

She laughed wickedly. "If we had the time, I'd tell you millions of reasons why I shouldn't be your mother. But, darling, five minutes isn't a long time, so let's get down to business."

He was befuddled. How could his father, the most gentle, subtle and genuine man he ever known, marry such a cruel woman like her?

She grabbed Peeta's wrist in a painful grasp, and dragged him towards the red sofa. They both sat down, his mother still beaming. "You're a hopeless little boy, you know that. But if you and Katniss are smart enough, District 12 might win this year."

He smiled, thinking that this was the nicest thing she'd ever said. Every day would start with Peeta doing the slightest thing wrong, and a rolling pin smashed into his cheeks. Now suddenly she was supporting him, saying he'll win. Has his mother changed? Does she love –

"Get out," he said distastefully, pushing her to the floor. "GET OUT!"

*...*...*

In the train, he feels sick, and Katniss does too. No wonder, with all the soups, fruits and chocolate cake they've eaten. It was too rich for Peeta's taste, too over the top. He wondered how the Capitol could eat those things every day, and if they ever had simple bread to eat.

They sat down on one of the luxurious chairs that were placed in front of the television, Effie intently goggling her eyes at it, probably wondering if he wig looked alright for all of Panem to see. Katniss looked distressed, clearly thinking about her sister and mother. Peeta presumed Haymitch was throwing up in the bathroom, or drinking some more alcohol.

The programme came on, making Effie jump out of her skin. Peeta tried hard not to laugh. He looked at Katniss to see if she was smiling, but she was looking as almost as intent as Effie was a moment ago.

A girl from District 1, Glimmer, stood out. Volunteering, she practically glided towards the stage in her daffodil-yellow dress, he golden hair flowing behind her and smiling perfectly. The boy in a pink casino-like tux grinned cheekily as his name got read out, and when they shook hands, he seemed to know her well enough to do a special handshake.

District 2's girl was small but looked vicious, and she dressed in a stained dress. She kept on smirking at Cato, the boy tribute, who gave one back. They seemed to know each other well, too, which made Peeta feel even more nervous. Was he supposed to be close friends with Katniss?

He kept on thinking about how he was going to die in the bloodbath by one of the massive bulky guys that was twice his size, maybe even have his neck broken by one of them like pulling a cork from a wine bottle.

District 4's reaping was the one that stood out the most. There was a girl with blonde curly hair tied loosely in a ponytail and a boy with sea-green eyes that appeared with green smoke at the back of the crowd, looking out of place. They were wearing strange shoes and an orange top, which was weird.

He could hear conversation and shrieks from the crowd of 12-13 year olds. They eventually found their way towards the front, befuddled, and Peeta decided they were either aliens or had amnesia.

"The green smoke was probably an entrance for them both," Effie commented.

The girl volunteered, but she obviously didn't know what the whole 'Hunger Games' shebang was, calling the escort 'octopus-face'. He smiled at her courage. She was going to get killed by President Snow somehow for name-calling on live television or something, he just knew it. He heard that she was called Annabeth Chase, and he had to remember it; she was someone who could kill anyone like breaking a twig, he could tell.

Although the boy got picked like everyone else, he and Annabeth looked shocked. Luckily they were silent as they shook hands, making the atmosphere awkward and confused. The boy smiled at her reassuringly and she replied with crossing her eyebrows, concerned, and Peeta was sure they were more than just friends.

Some of the rest stuck out. A girl with slick ginger hair from District 5, who was quiet and emotionless. A huge muscular boy with dark skin from District 11, and Katniss stifled a gasp when the young 12-year-old girl was picked, who had a resemblance of the boy but was small and bony, no doubt flexible. Her name was Rue.