Author's Note: New year, new chapter! Now that's a great start to 2013! I just want to thank everyone who reads this story, you are awesome! And again, thanks to my beta AMayes.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but a healthy obsession with The Hunger Games Trilogy, which belong in their entirety to Suzanne Collins. No copyright infringement or disrespect intended.


Chapter 9

The storm raged before finally letting up on the third day. During that time, Mrs. Everdeen and Prim diligently continued Peeta's treatment. They changed his bandages and administered the morphling sparingly. Katniss felt useless sitting idly by watching her capable mother and sister do more for Peeta than she could. Mrs. Everdeen sensed her daughter's unrest and so enlisted Katniss' help.

"You w-want me to do what?" She asked incredulously.

Mrs. Everdeen poured water from a hot kettle into a basin adding snow and some herbs until the brew was just right. She then settled a few washcloths in the mixture before placing it on the table next to Peeta.

"You can do this Katniss, it's really very simple. One doesn't need to be a healer to bathe someone."

"What if I hurt him, or tear open the skin on his back? Why can't you or Prim do this?" she nearly whined.

"I'm tired, Katniss. Your sister has finally gotten a full night's sleep and I'm not entirely sure Mr. Abernathy didn't spike her tea. I'm not going to wake her up when you are fully capable of doing this. I trust that you won't hurt him."

Katniss bit her lip, looking back and forth between Peeta's sleeping form and her mother's weary face. Mrs. Everdeen's eyes were glassy and bloodshot and greasy wisps of her blond hair had loosed themselves from the coiled braid at the nape of her neck. Her mother was still wearing the same dress she had on when they brought Peeta to her home that first night.

She looked at Peeta. Her mother and Prim had done an excellent job of stitching his torn skin back together and keeping his wounds clean, but his hair was dark and limp with grease. Lines of sweat streaked his body.

She had balked at the idea when her mother first suggested that she bathe Peeta, it had made her strangely shy and nervous but the look on her mother's face brooked no argument. Peeta needed to be cleaned up and she was in a position to do it. It wouldn't be the first time after all.

At least all of Panem wouldn't be watching this time.

Katniss' olive skin paled when her mother pointed out that the greatest danger to his recovery was infection.

She immediately began pacing the room frantically until Mrs. Everdeen placed a hand on her daughter's arm and smiled wearily, "We're not going the let that happen Katniss. I promise he won't get sick like that again. We can take care of him."

"You're sure of it? He won't get..." she dropped her voice to a whisper, "He won't get blood poisoning?"

"It's most unlikely. We got to him quickly this time and treated his wounds immediately. All we've got to do is keep him clean, keep applying these herbs and his body should do the rest."

Finally convinced of the necessity of the situation, Katniss nodded her consent. She averted her eyes when her mother took a pair of scissors and removed Peeta's trousers and underclothes before covering him with a large, white sheet.

Mrs. Everdeen grabbed a washcloth and instructed Katniss to gently but thoroughly cleanse Peeta of all the sweat and grime that had accumulated on his body since the whipping.

Katniss moved to stand at the head of the table. Once she began the task her mother went upstairs to let exhaustion claim her. Katniss set a large pot on a chair positioned directly below Peeta's head and began gently pouring water over his blond locks. The water collecting in the pot darkened quickly. When the golden hue of his hair was once again visible, she leaned down to whisper his own words in his ear, "Don't die for me. You won't be doing me any favors. All right?"

She froze when Peeta stirred slightly. When he didn't wake she continued with her ministrations. She wiped his face and his brow and moved down to his neck and shoulders. Perhaps he wasn't lithe and agile like Gale but he had always been so strong, so sturdy. She traced the muscular planes of his arms and torso with the washcloth and felt waves of heat wash over her. Her breathing hitched as her hands moved lower to wash the lines of his hip. She moved the cloth covering his bottom half lower until the curve of his buttock was revealed. She had no idea bathing Peeta like this would be so intimate. She was grateful for the sleep syrup and morphling rendering him unconscious, she didn't think she could do this — let her hands and eyes roam his body — with his blue eyes watching her.

Was this how he felt when he looked at her? Chaotic heat stole the breath from her body, making her ache for his touch. She had always liked kissing Peeta and there had been the few times she wanted more but lately it was different. She felt like all those stolen moments were just fanning a fire between them, a fire she felt licking at her insides this very moment. A fire she was so very tempted to let consume her. As her hands gently moved down his legs to wash his toned and firm thighs, her mind flashed back to the memory of what occurred in their kitchen the other day. The sensation of his hands on her breasts had felt devastatingly good, deliciously right. She hadn't meant for it to become the heated exchange that it did. She just couldn't help herself in the moment. She had missed Peeta, missed his warmth and what had begun as an innocent effort at reconciliation spiraled into so much more.

She shook her head to rid herself of the lustful memories and continued her task with renewed focus. She washed his bad leg and neared the juncture where the prosthetic met his flesh. She'd never seen it fully exposed before. She didn't think Peeta intentionally hid it from her, it wasn't in his nature to be self-conscious, but she imagined he tried to keep it from her because he knew she blamed herself.

She finished bathing him and had just tucked a soft, warm blanket around his lower half when Katniss heard someone pounding furiously on the front door.

She walked into the living room. Peeta's brothers were facing off in a game of chess, struggling to occupy their worried minds. Haymitch and Mr. Mellark simply sat staring into the fire, sharing silence and occasionally the flask tucked away in her mentor's pocket.

The impatient knocking continued and Katniss grew angry with whoever was disturbing them. She yanked the door open forcefully and scowled at the person on the other side.

The witch stood outside their door, pursing her lips in disgust. Her graying blonde hair was pulled back so tightly it made her face look pinched. It suited her. Mrs. Mellark stared at Katniss disdainfully for a moment before she forcefully brushed past her. She stalked into the living room where she glanced furiously at her husband and two elder sons before her enraged gaze settled on Katniss.

"I should have known! I should have known my family would be shacked up with the likes of you!" she shrieked.

"For two days a blizzard has raged through District 12 and where was my family? Not home with me, not helping with the damn bakery! That's for sure!

"I was alone and freezing in that godforsaken house and my husband and sons have been here in the lap of luxury with the Everdeens!" She said their name like a curse.

The woman's venomous tone and hateful words reverberated through the room. Mr. Mellark rose from the couch and began speaking to her in hushed tones, trying to calm her down but to no avail. The fire of Mrs. Mellark's rage had never burned so brightly.

Katniss could not believe the cruelty and careless disregard of the women standing before her. Her son had nearly died and all she cared about was herself. How could she be Peeta's mother? How could she possibly have brought such goodness into the world?

Haymitch wasn't scared of Mrs. Mellark's rage or the threat of her clenched fists, "The boy nearly died woman, don't you feel a damn thing?"

She screeched her reply, "He's a fool, nothing but a damn fool for that girl. It's his own fault he got beaten in the middle of the square. It's humiliating!"

Something within Katniss broke at the cruel woman's careless words and despite all her efforts to ignore the witch she snapped, "He was nearly beaten within an inch of his life and all you care about is public humiliation?"

"No!" She yelled, directing her rage at Katniss. "I care that time and again my stupid son puts himself in harm's way for you! That he puts our dignity on the line for you! Telling all of Panem that he loves you, getting stabbed by that Cato boy, getting whipped to protect you and your filthy Seam lover!

"You think that I don't know he burned that bread on purpose? To save his little Seam slut? He should have let you starve and saved us all a world of trouble!"

Before a strangled gasp could escape Katniss, before anyone else could react to his mother's venomous words, Peeta's voice rang out clearly, with more force than he had spoken in days, "Get out." The absolutely cold and steely tone of his voice sent shivers down Katniss' spine, but it was nothing compared to the ice in his blue eyes.

He stood leaning on the archway in between the kitchen and living room, clutching the blanket around his middle. "Get out and don't ever talk to my wife like that again."

Peeta's mother stood aghast, the rage in her eyes subdued by shock. Peeta had never seemed so fearsome or menacing before. Katniss had never known him to be so intimidating or fierce, not even during their time in the arena. Though, perhaps the danger emanating from him in this moment was a result of their experience in the Games. Every trace of his easy smile and affable nature were gone and in that moment everyone was reminded that he was not any ordinary boy but a victor of the Hunger Games: a fighter, a survivor — a killer.

Even if it was only a technicality; even if it was only because of circumstance and those damn berries, Katniss knew Foxface's fate weighed heavily upon him.

The witch recovered from her shock and turned on Peeta, letting him feel the lash of her tongue like Thread's whip. "History is going to repeat itself isn't it, boy? You just watch. That wife of yours is just like her mother. She's going to break the baker's heart and run off with a coal miner!"

Peeta was faltering, his grip on the archway tightened and a light sheen of sweat covered his skin but he kept himself steady. He growled, "Get out!" He looked to his father, an anguished look of commiseration passing between them. "Get her out of here and don't ever bring her back." The baker nodded to his son and escorted his huffing wife out of the house, Peeta's brothers followed behind with sympathetic looks on their faces.

As soon as she heard the slam of the front door Katniss rushed to Peeta's side, just in time for him to collapse into her arms. Together they hobbled back over to the kitchen table.

"Peeta what were you thinking?" She looked over his shoulder to his back and saw blood soaking his bandages. Her mother helped Katniss lay him down on the table before tending to the newly torn flesh on his back. "Why would you do that? You shouldn't be walking around for weeks! Why do keep getting hurt for me?" Katniss whispered the last words, pushing his hair from his eyes.

Peeta held her hand while Mrs. Everdeen redressed the wounds, sending apologetic looks her daughter's way — apologizing for the hurtful accusations the baker's wife had leveled at her daughter on her behalf, wishing they weren't true. Katniss simply nodded at her mother, acknowledging the elder woman's attempts to make amends in this mess of a situation before returning her attention to Peeta. "Why Peeta?" She repeated the question, her voice breaking in witness to his agony.

His reply was a whisper, a tender declaration, "You're my wife. I'll always protect you."

"We protect each other," Katniss said, placing a kiss on his temple before her mother gave him another draught of sleep syrup. Their grey and blue gazes locked until he drifted off to sleep. Once she was sure there was no chance of him waking she kissed him lightly on the mouth, noting that the sweetness of his lips had nothing to do with the medicine he had just taken.


Katniss woke the next morning to the scent of the woods, oranges and coal dust. Gale had silently entered the kitchen sometime before. He stood watching her sleep sitting contorted uncomfortably in a chair next to the table, her right hand entwined with Peeta's, her left buried in his hair and her face impossibly close to his, their eyelashes nearly tangling. He watched with a painful swelling in his chest, a petty jealously rising within him, wishing he were the one lying on that table if only to have Katniss so close.

He pulled a chair out from the table, letting the legs drag lightly across the floor to wake her, knowing her hunter's senses would alert her to his presence. "You should go to bed and get some sleep Catnip. He won't wake for hours and it'll be a few days more 'til he can leave that table from what I hear. Especially considering last night's festivities."

She sleepily wiped her sleeve along the side of her mouth. "I take it you heard about the witch's visit?" She asked wearily, taking in Gale's appearance and realizing that there was no snow in his dark hair and the water he tracked in on his boots had nearly dried completely. How long had he been there, she wondered.

"I did. I also heard about his heroics on your behalf. I guess we really shouldn't expect any less." Gale tried to joke, but it was too close to the truth to be funny.

Katniss and Gale sat in silence for a long moment until she let her head rest heavily upon the table. She felt so drained; she never thought she'd feel this tired again outside of the arena.

"Really Catnip, I can watch him. Go to bed. You need sleep. You won't be doing him any favors if you don't take care of yourself."

Katniss didn't raise her head and with closed eyes spoke so quietly she may have been talking to the table rather than Gale, "I can't. I can't sleep in our bed without him."

Our bed.

Katniss didn't see Gale wince at her words. He recovered quickly, his face slipping into an impassive mask just in time before Prim entered the room. She offered Gale a small smile but then dutifully tended to her patient.

It was time to change Peeta's bandages. She removed the old cloths and gently applied an herbal mixture along the rows of neat stitches on his back.

Gale wanted to tear his eyes away but couldn't. He felt like he was intruding on a moment he had no right to be a part of but at the same time he couldn't help but admire Mellark's foolhardy bravery. Those lashes should have been his. The stitches and the eventual scars should have been his. He didn't want to be indebted to the baker's son, but he would be — eternally.

Katniss' eyes were likewise glued to Peeta's back until Prim laid new, clean, white bandages on over his wounds and declared her work done.

"I can stay with Peeta. Why don't you two go for a walk? It'll be good for you get some fresh air Katniss. You haven't left the house in days."

"Prim, I can't."

"She's right Catnip. Come on." Gale tugged lightly on her arm until she rose from her chair.

At the door she put on her boots and coat and listened to Prim chatter away from the kitchen. Whether she was talking to an unconscious Peeta or her mangy cat Buttercup she didn't know, but she couldn't help but smile at her sister's eternal optimism.

Katniss and Gale walked around the Victor's Village in mutual silence for several long moments until she sighed heavily and turned to Gale. She looked at him sadly, mournfully. "I'm so sorry Gale. It's my fault. Everything is all my fault."

"Don't say things like that Catnip."

"You should hate me."

"But I don't."

Her voice was filled with frustration. "We can't go into the woods Gale. How are you going to feed your family? I know you won't take my Victor's winnings."

He smirked. "No, I won't. But I'll figure something out. I always do. We always do." He said the last word slowly, carefully.

"How Gale? Your pay from the mines and Hazelle doing all the laundry in the Seam won't feed the five of you through winter."

Gale's face betrayed him.

"What? What is it? They can't fire you from the mines. They wouldn't!"

"No, it's not that," he hedged, nervously running his hand along the back of his neck and up through his dark hair.

"Tell me." Katniss said through gritted teeth.

"It's just that, Mom's lost a few clients lately. It's not a big deal, really. It's a lean winter for everyone" he explained, his voice placating.

Katniss stood silently for a moment, absorbing the implications of Gale's confession. And she knew, she knew, the reason people stopped hiring Hazelle out as a laundress was because of her, because they feared a blowback from Thread.

Rage coiled inside her and she wanted nothing more than to send an arrow directly into the Head Peacekeeper's chest.

Gale grabbed her shoulders and forced her to look directly into his eyes. He took deep, calming breaths encouraging her to the same.

"Easy Catnip. Calm down. Don't worry, we'll make do."

"You have to let me help you."

"No."

"Gale, please!"

"No! I don't want anything from the Capitol!" He spit out.

"Don't think of it like that, it's my money. Take it!"

"You would never take a hand out!" He shouted.

"Yes I would!" Katniss' matching shout was so loud it echoed across the empty Village.

They were silent for a long moment, their chests heaving with the force of their outbursts. When Katniss next spoke it was barely above a whisper. "You have no idea, Gale. I would…I-I have," she choked out.

His brow furrowed in confusion, but he silently willed her to go on.

She could not easily form the words of her confession — the story of when Peeta gave her the bread. The words felt heavy on her tongue, forcing her speak slowly. "It was a long time ago, before I met you but…"

A loud whistle rang out from across the Victor's Village, interrupting her tale.

She looked over to see Haymitch on his front porch. She could tell by the parcels he carried that he had just returned from town.

"Come here Sweetheart, and bring tall, dark and brooding with ya."

Gale rolled his eyes at the name but they dutifully crossed the snowy expanse of the Village and followed Haymitch inside. The house was its typical mess but warm, a hearty fire crackling in the hearth. At least her mentor wasn't going to let himself freeze to death in a drunken stupor.

"Goddamn this house is filthy," Gale muttered under his breath to Katniss.

"You want to clean it boy?" Haymitch asked looking over his shoulder.

Gale shook his head sheepishly, not thinking the aging Victor would hear his remark.

They followed him into the kitchen where he set a few brown paper bags on the table. One was clearly several bottles of white liquor, probably the last Ripper would make for a long time with the new Head cracking down on everyone. There were a few cuts of meat wrapped in tell-tale white butcher paper and, lastly, a loaf of bread neatly tucked into its sleeve.

Haymitch ambled around putting his provisions away. He seemed to be taking his time about it and Katniss and Gale were growing impatient, wondering why he had called them over.

"What do you want Abernathy?" Gale questioned first.

He pointed at them and then at the chairs surrounding his filthy kitchen table. "You two, sit."

They did as he said. Gale sat stiffly waiting as Haymitch grabbed a glass from a nearby countertop, held it up to light and judged it clean enough before pouring himself a hearty serving of white liquor. Then he grabbed a knife and cleaned it off with his sweater before slicing the loaf of bread, placing it on the center of the table before them.

He sat heavily in his chair and took a long drink before motioning to the bread, "Have some. It's fresh. Still warm. Don't know why, damn fool baker should be giving me moldy bricks after all I've done to help but the man's so decent he thinks he owes me. As if it's not the other way around entirely." Haymitch shook his head as if to clear it before taking another long drink.

"What's your point Abernathy?" Gale asked, his tone rising in frustration.

"My point is there isn't a single person at this table who doesn't owe something to Peeta Mellark. Now just calm your britches for one minute Hawthorne and listen to what I'm about to tell you. Something's going to happen. What happened to Peeta is just the beginning."

"You mean more whippings?" Gale questioned.

"Not exactly. I mean it's possible but I think something bigger is coming. There's a storm on the horizon."

"I don't understand," Katniss spoke quietly. "I thought we took care of it. I thought we did what we needed to do to appease Snow." She threw her mentor a knowing look, "I thought he was convinced."

"I guess not anymore Sweetheart. Doesn't surprise me though, that the rumors swirling around here reached him in the Capitol."

"What do you mean?"

Haymitch rubbed his jaw thoughtfully before turning to Gale, ignoring Katniss' question. "Hunting is out of the question. You can't go back into the woods. Neither of you." He said, emphasizing his last words.

Gale shook his head. "I know."

"Well what are you going to do?"

"I don't…what do you mean?"

"I mean how are you going to feed your family? I know what a miner makes and I know together you and your mama, no matter how hard she works, can't stretch your pennies enough to feed five mouths."

Gale scowled at the older man for his intrusion. "It's none of your damn business. We'll make do."

"Hm hmm. Right." Haymitch's tone was doubtful but not mocking, which was the only thing that kept Gale from storming out of his house.

Haymitch looked around his house, thinking quietly for a long moment. "When the weather lets up, why don't you send your mama over here? Maybe we can work out a deal and she can clean my damn 'filthy' house."

Gale looked taken aback, surprised by the surly drunk's generosity. "Why? Why would you do that?"

Haymitch looked sharply at Gale. Their Seam grey eyes reflecting back at each other. "I don't like condemning the children of this district to death any more than I already have to."

Katniss was stunned by her mentor's brutal honesty but moved by his kindness. Gale wasn't his kin or even his responsibility in the way that she and Peeta were. Hell, she didn't even think Haymitch liked him all that much, but he was doing a good thing by helping the Hawthornes. It would be honest work for Hazelle and probably a lot less back breaking.

"Alright, I'll let her know…sir." The words tumbled awkwardly out his mouth.

"Don't patronize me boy. None of that 'sir' crap, you hear?"

"Yeah. Yes." Gale shook his head affirmatively along with his words.

"Now, like I was saying. Something is coming. Just about everyone at the Hob is battening down the hatches. It would be wise for us to do the same."

"You," he looked at Gale, "You keep your mouth shut and your head down but keep your eyes and ears open in those mines, you understand?"

Gale nodded in understanding.

"Good, now why don't you head on home. Give my best to your mama."

Gale's face showed his displeasure at being dismissed but he did as he was told.

As soon as the door closed behind Gale, Katniss turned to her mentor, questions spilling forth from her in a jumble.

"Easy, Sweetheart. Give me a minute. Sure you don't want a drink? It might make the news go down a little smoother."

She scowled at her mentor, clearly not amused.

"Fine. You want it straight then." He ran his hands through his long, greasy hair before continuing. "Things don't look so good Sweetheart. There are a lot rumors swirling around and none of them good for you."

"What are you talking about Haymitch? Just tell me!"

"Rumor has it you and your lover set Peeta up to take the fall with Thread. That you intended for him to get hurt, hoping he might die so you two could be together."

"Me and my lover? What? Who…?" Katniss' eyes widened in realization. "You mean Gale and me? People think that I…that we…w-would do something like that?"

"You think I'm lying? That I'm making this up? Go into town Sweetheart and you'll see. There's a tide turning against you, it's a small number of people but real nonetheless. If the people of Twelve think you're skirting around on the boy, what do you think Snow believes? That Mellark woman is peddling her gossip to anyone who will buy it. Considering damn near everyone needs bread she's got a pretty captive audience."

"But everyone knows that she's a miserable witch. They can't possibly believe her!"

"Look, it's a shitty situation and she's trying to come out smelling like a rose. Keep her family name clean if this all goes south. Think about it. You run off into the woods all the time with a boy that ain't your husband. A boy you've been hanging around for years. What do you expect people to think? It's not a very farfetched notion to think you and Hawthorne did more than hunt out there, now is it?"

"But we didn't! I swear we didn't. It was never like that."

"Never?" Haymitch looked down his nose at her and she wondered how he knew. Because there was no mistaking the look in his eyes, he knew about the one transgression she had ever made.

"I-I...it's not…" she stumbled around the words. "I would never betray Peeta."

"I know, Sweetheart, believe me. You don't have it in you to be a seductress, no matter what that vile bitch is telling people."

"It was just a kiss. It didn't mean anything, Haymitch. I didn't feel anything." She dropped her head into her hands.

"I've said it before, I'll say it again. You could do a lot worse than that boy. In fact, you couldn't possibly do better, but dammit Sweetheart sometimes you just don't see the forest through the trees. It's because of that you still don't deserve him."

"I-I want to," she whispered quietly.

"Yeah?" Haymitch took another long drag from his drink. "Tell me straight girl. I know what I think but you tell me. Do you care for that boy?" For once, there was no mocking in her mentor's tone. His eyes were glassy but still surprisingly clear. "I mean differently than you care for Hawthorne. Do you have the kind of feelings a wife should for a husband?"

"I-I don't know. I think so…sometimes."

He nearly choked on his drink at that. "Ha, I don't want to know about that Sweetheart. Though it's about damn time if I do say so."

She blushed furiously at her mentor's implication.

Haymitch laid his hand on top of hers and willed her to look him in the eyes. "Things are happening Sweetheart and I want you and the boy to survive it. Just take care of him, alright?"

She twisted the wedding ring on her finger. "I can do that."

Haymitch tipped his drink in her direction before finishing the contents of the glass. "Good girl."


Several days later Mrs. Everdeen declared that Peeta was well enough to return home and sleep in his own bed on the strict condition that Katniss should tend to him dutifully and not allow him to do anything that would open or aggravate his wounds.

The morning he was set to return to their house in the Victor's Village, Madge and Gale arrived.

Katniss was surprised to find the mayor's daughter on her doorstep. Especially with Gale. She imagined after Madge's help with the morphling she wouldn't see the girl again. In light of the circumstances she had prepared for their friendship to be over.

"I wasn't expecting you," Katniss said as Madge entered the doorway with Gale behind her pulling a red wagon full of food.

"I ran into Gale on my way over. He offered to help me bring this to the Village," she said as she began to unload boxes and baskets from the wagon.

"Madge, what is this? You didn't need to do this. We don't need charity," Katniss said defensively.

"Katniss, it's not charity," she said softly. "It's traditional neighborly manners." Katniss was going to argue that they weren't exactly neighbors when Madge continued. "You're going to be busy tending to Peeta, you'll need to eat. I even had our chef prepare lamb stew because I remembered it was your favorite."

"Your chef?" Gale questioned incredulously.

Madge looked down sheepishly but continued to unload the basket of food. Soon the icebox was nearly bursting but she still had more in the cart. "I guess I brought too much."

"Gale, you should take it," Katniss offered.

He rolled his shoulders defensively. "I don't need…"

"Don't be stupid, Gale. Take it." Katniss reprimanded him.

"Yes, please, take it. There's more than enough." Madge added pleadingly and Katniss wondered if that hadn't been her plan all along.

She grabbed a small white box from the wagon and handed it to Katniss, along with a jar of what seemed to be some kind of cream.

When Katniss read the labels she realized it was more Capitol medicine. The box held small glass vials of morphling and the cream would help Peeta's wounds heal.

Katniss was speechless at the blonde girl's generosity. "I don't know what to say…to thank you…it must have been hard for you to get this so quickly."

Madge played with her blonde curls shyly before quietly responding that she "just wanted to help." Katniss realized how badly her friend must want to be useful.

"Thank you, Madge."

"When's Peeta coming home?" she asked.

"His father and brothers should be here within the hour."

"I can help if you need it," Gale offered. "It's why I made my way over."

"No, it should be fine. Why don't you and Madge take this food home? I'm sure your brothers will go crazy."

Gale chuckled. "I'm sure my brothers will make pigs of themselves."

Madge laughed sweetly at his joke. "I've never met them…your family that is. I'd be more than happy to help you get this home," she offered.

Gale nervously ran his hand over the back of his neck before shrugging his shoulders. "Sure, if you want."

"Okay, let me grab my coat."

Just as Gale and Madge left the Victor's Village, Mr. Mellark and Peeta's brothers arrived. They too thought like Madge and carried several loaves of bread and a box of cheese buns.

Mr. Mellark hid a cookie in his coat pocket for Prim and had her look through them all until she finally found it. It made Katniss happy to see that her little sister wasn't too old for such games yet.

Katniss was grateful for their kindness and levity but the mood turned serious when they congregated in the kitchen to prepare Peeta for the move.

Her mother had taken him off the morphling and sleep syrup some hours ago so he would be clear-headed enough to make the short journey but the lack of medicine was evident in the grimace on his face.

It hurt Katniss to see him in pain.

His father and brothers were gentle and easy with Peeta. His muscles were tense and sore from lack of use and he couldn't stand on his bad leg yet, which still ached from being contorted the night of the whipping. His father and eldest brother took either side and braced him on their shoulders.

Mrs. Everdeen gently placed a blanket around his shoulders to ward off the cold as he still couldn't wear a shirt for fear of irritating the stitches.

His middle brother led the way, choosing his path carefully to avoid ice or other mishaps that could cause Peeta more injury.

Katniss followed behind, clutching her sister tightly to her. Every groan and hiss that escaped Peeta reminded her of the one lash she had taken to the cheek, the pain had been blinding and fierce. She could only imagine how that must have been multiplied for Peeta.

Peeta was panting and sweaty when they finally made their way to the top of the stairs. His father carefully laid him face down on the mattress. After, Mrs. Everdeen looked him over, checking to see if his stitches had torn. Satisfied that none of them had she began to unpack the supplies Katniss would need to look after him for the next few weeks.

Katniss sat gently down beside him on the mattress. He turned his face to her and smiled though through the pain. She softly swept his hair back from his face while reaching for his hand. He clutched her tightly, waiting for the morphling her mother administered to take effect.

His middle brother moved to close the window that was partially open but Katniss stopped him. "Don't. Leave it."

"Are you crazy? It's freezing outside."

She smiled softly at Peeta before curling up on her side next to him, staring into his blue eyes which were fluttering in drowsiness. "He likes to sleep with the windows open."


AN: After this chapter, the story will take a bit of turning point but I think you'll like it, I really do! Again, please continue to read and review! :)