I am so happy with myself! I got this chapter up earlier than I expected.
Chapter Six:
Peeta. I have to think about Peeta right now. I have to push Gale out of my head for now.
Peeta and I did it! We fooled the Capitol, and made them believe we are in love. We can both go home now as victors!
I have to find him. He has to be somewhere near water, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to survive this long. So I begin by retracing my steps back to the water hole I first saw with Rue.
It takes me around two or three hours. My head hurts right where I was cut, and it continues to bleed. I ripped off a piece of cloth from my shirt, and wrapped it around my head. It didn't do anything for the pain. I knew if I didn't have some sort of remedy on it, it'd become infected.
While I'm walking, I take down one small groosling, and gut it, and clean it. Once it's clean, and free of feathers, I carry it with me, until it gets dark, and I'm so hungry, I heat up some rocks, and cook it.
After I'm done eating, and I've had a few sips of my water, I continue my journey towards the water hole. I get to it just before it gets dark, and sit down on a rock, leaning down, and splashing water in my face.
"Lily?" I quickly jump up, readying my bow and arrow, and look around.
"Who's there?" I call out.
A low chuckle sounds, and I see two blue eyes step out from in front of a tree.
Peeta!
"Peeta?" I asked, lowering my bow. He nods. He camouflaged himself into the tree! How clever. He is really good at that.
I have a feeling the cameras are on us - The star-crossed lovers from District 12, found each other after a week and a half in the arena, watching others being killed. Hoping we were both safe – so I run into him, wrapping my arms around him tightly.
"Peeta! You're safe!" I exclaim. I couldn't pretend I was happy. I legitimately was. I was happy he was alive. He would be able to go back to Katniss, to make her happy, and to keep her safe.
"And you are too!" He says, running a hand down my hair. I smile, and pull away, putting the arrow back in its sheath.
"Nice camouflage." I smile, jokingly. He smiles back at me.
"Thanks. Did you hear the rule change?" He asks. I nod happily.
"Yes! We can both go home!" I say. He reaches for my hands, and pulls me into a hug. After a few seconds, I pull away.
"Have you eaten?" I ask, looking at him. He looks so much smaller. He looks like he lost about twenty pounds. That can't be healthy. But I highly doubt the Capitol cares.
"Not in the past two days. I've had to hide from Cato. He cut me across my right arm, and I can't really do much."
"Alright, well, let's get that paint off of you." I say. He nods, and walks towards the water. He doesn't hesitate to slide right in. He winces as his right arm lowers into the water. He goes under water, and comes back up, most of the paint gone.
I can see he has a bruise on his cheek, a cut on his collarbone, a deep cut on his arm.
"Are you sure you're okay? Those don't look good…" I say. He nods, and then stands up.
"I'm fine now that I know you're here and safe…What happened to your forehead?" He reached out, and lightly pressed my cut.
I winced. "Clove cut me." I said. I forgot about it until now, and I suddenly felt dizzy.
"I think we need to find a place to stay. A safer place then here." He says. I nod in agreement. I would suggest a place high in the trees, but I don't think I can climb with the dizziness threatening to overtake me, and make me pass out at any moment, or with the deep cut in Peeta's arm, leaving him pretty much useless.
"I saw some rocks. We might be able to find a place for shelter there." Peeta says. I shrug, and follow him. I hand him the rest of the groosling and he begins to eat it.
He eats it with his left hand, and reaches for my hand with his right. I try not to look over at our hands intertwined. It didn't feel right at all. I could feel Gale and Katniss watching us.
I took a deep breath, and ignored the urge to pull my hand away. That wouldn't go over well with Snow.
We climbed the rocks slowly, until we made it to an opening. It looked like a cave. We decided it would be good enough, so we hid in it, and I got a bunch of long leaves, and blocked the entrance.
It looked manmade, but it wouldn't make people look twice at it. So we'd be good…for now.
Peeta sat down, and held his right arm. I walked over to him, and slowly lowered myself to the cold floor. Everything was beginning to spin in circles. My head felt fuzzy.
"Lily?" Peeta shook me once before I blacked out.
"You can't catch me, Lily!" Mitch taunted, before turning around, and running towards the meadow in District 12. It was the place Mitch and I liked to escape to after school. It was the one place me and him could ignore the world, and be calm. Our mother would take us here to pick wild flowers. It was our one good memory of her. His only memory.
He passed the meadow, and headed for the fence. He never went beyond that. He was too scared, and he knew that. Only Katniss, Gale and I ventured off behind that fence. Nobody else dared to.
I looked up, and saw Cato, sword in hand, running towards Mitch.
"No! Mitch, run!" I tried to scream, but nothing came out. He couldn't hear me. "Mitch!" I tried to scream again, tears pouring down my cheeks.
He turned around, and Cato brought down his sword.
I jerked myself awake, unaware of the place I was at. I looked around. Oh, the cave. That's right.
I looked around, and realized it was dark outside. I tried to sit up, but somebody was restraining me.
"You're hurt. If you sit up, you're going to get dizzy again." I looked up to see Peeta holding my shoulders down. I realized the cut on his collarbone was gone; all that was left was a light pink scab.
"What happened?" I asked, confused.
"You passed out. You've been unconscious for an entire day."
A day?
"How did your cut heal so quickly?" I asked.
"Sponsors." He said, holding up the silver parachute. He reached into the container, and dipping his fingers into a pinkish ointment, before rubbing it in. I closed my eyes. It felt so good. It took the burning feeling away.
"Better?" He asked. I nodded. I reached up, running my hand down the length of his face.
"Thank you." I whispered. He smiled, and sat back down next to me. "How's your arm?" I ask. He shrugged.
"It's not getting any better…" He said. "I can't use it at all now." I bit my lip, and frowned.
I wouldn't be able to do anything for it. I was completely useless on his part.
"I'm sorry, Peeta." I said, tears springing to my eyes.
"Why? It's not your fault." He wiped away the tears, and leaned down, pressing his lips to mine.
This felt extremely wrong. No matter how wrong it felt, I had to follow along, and act, so we could make it home.
He pulled away, and smiled at me. There was a loud clap of thunder, causing us both to jump. I laughed, and sat up, wiping my eyes again.
My head began to spin, but it soon calmed down. Peeta handed me my canteen with water, and I took a few sips.
There was a clatter outside the cave, and I reached for my bow and arrow, loading the bow, and pointing it at the cave entrance.
Peeta stood up slowly, and walked towards it. "Be careful!" I whispered.
He poked his head out of the cave, and then looked around. He stepped out into the pouring rain, and came back in with a basket.
"What is that?" I asked.
"A gift from a sponsor…" He said. He hurried back over to where I was sitting, and opened the basket. There was a pot with my favorite stew in the middle, apples, pears, and bread surrounding it.
"It's a whole meal!" I exclaimed. My stomach rumbled, and both Peeta and I laughed.
"We have to be careful with it. It could last us a few days." I said. He nodded, and we had a spoonful of the stew, an apple and pear each, and then we split a piece of bread.
When we were semi-satisfied, we packed up the basket, and I laid out my sleeping bag.
"You can sleep first, and I'll do the first lookout." I said. Peeta shook his head.
"No, I'm fine. You need sleep."
"Peeta, I've gotten a lot of sleep since the first day. You look like you're about to pass out at any second. Besides, I'm much more capable of defending us if Cato attacks." I say, and smile at him.
He rolled his eyes, but didn't argue. I was right. He sighed, as he slid under the sleeping bag.
I leaned against a large rock, and faced the entrance of the cave, holding my bow on my lap, keeping my hands on it, ready to shoot at a moment's notice.
"Lily?" I looked down at Peeta.
"Yes?"
"Tell me a story. A happy story." He said. I looked at him, confused. Why did he want to hear a story? Especially a happy one. I didn't have one, from what I remember. Ever since my mom died, I've pretty much ignored everybody except Mitch, Gale and Katniss. I couldn't tell a story involving Gale and Katniss. I don't think illegally hunting in the woods would play over well with the Capitol, and it would put those two in danger. I couldn't risk it.
"What was the happiest moment of your life?" He asked, sensing my hesitation. That one was easy.
"The day Mitch was born." I couldn't help but to smile at the memory.
"I was so worried I was going to end up an only child. I wanted to have somebody to talk to when I was upset, or to help me through something. So when my mom told me what was going on, and that I would have a little brother or sister soon, I was so happy."
Peeta smiled, and reached for my hand, holding it against his cheek. I didn't try to pull away. I could feel the Capitol citizens on the edge of their seat, listening to our every word.
"I waited days, and months, and I would always ask my mom when my brother or sister would arrive. She would always smile, and laugh, and say soon. Nothing else, just soon. I loved to hear her laughter. It made me smile, and it was the greatest sound in the world.
During April, my mom began to feel sick, and she was put on bed rest. I didn't like seeing my mom stuck in bed. It worried me. She seemed weaker every day. I wasn't just worried about her; I was worried about my baby sibling. Not knowing if he – or she – would make it. My father tried to keep me busy by giving me work around the house to do. Keep the house clean, sweep, dust, go to the meadow to pick flowers to make the house pretty. Something to keep my mind off of my mom. He tried to keep me out their bedroom, because my mom just got worse and worse with each passing day.
Then, on April 15th, we had other mothers – most of whom had kids around my age – coming in and out of the house. Mrs. Hawthorne would come in with a small bucket of water, and just nod at my father, who would sit in the living room, holding me in his arms.
It seemed like forever – for a four and a half year old – when Gale's mother came out, holding my little brother. She handed him to my father, and he murmured "Mitch". I helped pick out the name. Though I didn't have too much say in it." I laughed at the memory of my parents glancing at each other at every name I came up with. Four-year-olds are very imaginative.
"My father let me hold him for a few minutes, before Mrs. Hawthorne took him away to clean him off, and to make sure he was healthy." I finished then. I didn't want to rethink the last part. It was too sad.
"What happened after that?" Peeta asked. I took a deep breath. I wanted to explain to him what happened. But I knew the cameras were on us. They won't leave us until the games are over, or until tomorrow morning. The Capitol doesn't need to know what happened after that, but they live on sad things, don't they?
"I kept asking to see my Mother. Father was getting very irritated, because I was starting to throw a fit. What child wouldn't? Not being able to see their own mother after a whole day? So while my dad was in his bedroom with my mother, I asked Mrs. Hawthorne why I couldn't see my Mother.
She tried to tell me that my mom was just sleeping. But her oldest son, Gale – who was there with his younger brother – would just look at me, and frown. I knew something was wrong.
So, I did what anybody else would do. I ignored everything, and walked into their bedroom. I didn't know what to expect. I was confused. My Father was holding my Mother's hand, crying. I was so confused, so I started to cry. My Father looked up, and was speechless. He was about to reach me, when I ran out the door, and out back, curling up against the door, and crying.
My Father came out, and tried to explain to me what happened, he said that my Mother got very sick when she was pregnant with Mitch. She ended up making it in time to give birth to Mitch, but she just wasn't strong enough to do anything else afterwards."
I didn't realize I was crying, until Peeta sat up, and pressed his lips to my tear-stained cheek.
Peeta laid back down in the sleeping bag, pulling me down next to him.
"Peeta, I have to stay awake to keep watch." I said, trying to pull away.
"We'll be fine. You have your bow and arrow ready. Nobody will try to attack in this weather."
I didn't try to fight him; instead, I curled up next to his warm body. He was comforting me, and right now, I needed it. I didn't like to think of the story of my Mother dying. It made me too upset. Every time I heard it, or even thought about it, I wanted to hide in the woods, and just be by myself.
But this, the kiss from Peeta, and him pulling me into his arms, I welcomed it graciously. There wasn't anything romantic between us. I could see that. We both loved other people. This was like sibling love. We protect each other, and keep each other happy, and make sure we get back to the ones we love.
My mind was elsewhere; when I heard the cannon go off. I quickly jumped up, gripping my arrow, and slowly walked to the cavern entrance. I peered out the opening, and looked up into the sky. The rain slowed enough for me to see the face.
"Who is it?" Peeta asked, though from the disappointment in his tone, I could tell he already knew who it was. I knew right before I saw the familiar face.
"Thresh…"
How'd you like it? Reviews would be better than receiving a kiss from Peeta Mellark himself!(;