Hey everyone, Paradigm of Writing here with drabble #10: Compromise in the drabble set, Evergreen Youth Spoiled by Bread! Now, this one-shot/drabble might have a happy ending, but the road leading to it won't be as happy as you think. This one is rather dark, a romance/tragedy. Please enjoy it if you can. Alas, this is the end of our road of Katniss x Peeta. I don't know when my next one-shot or even story featuring them will be considering how busy my schedule is till at least February 2016, so I'll try my hardest to get something there for all of the fans who love them so much, and technically as do I. I actually have a Katniss/Peeta one-shot. They didn't fall in love in that one, but it was still a campy, humorous story of trying to kick out a roommate who is ruining your life from the inside out. But anyways, that's not important. What is important is this chapter. Enjoy!

Peeta stabbed the chicken on his plate with his fork before looking up at his wife. Katniss Everdeen sat on the other side of the table, slowly sipping and stirring her iced tea. He narrowed his eyes, staring at his wife. She looked normal, nothing seemed erroneous. Her brown hair was still let loose down her back, the iconic hunters jacket still on her body. Her eyes lit an alluring emerald like they normally did. Then what was wrong?

He set his fork down, picked up his knife and twirled it in his hands. He stared harder at Katniss, his eyes drawing to her neck. Hidden in the crook of her neck, covered lightly by her hair and the hunting jacket dress was a hickie. A blue and purple bruise plastered right on her neck. Peeta nearly screamed. He hadn't made love to her in nearly a week. She also didn't have the blemish on her skin last night at dinner, nor this morning at breakfast.

She cheated on him during the day. He cut the piece of chicken on his plate before stuffing it in his mouth. "Katniss, darling, what's that on your neck?"

Katniss froze, the sounds of metal scraping against metal ceasing in one quick halt. "What do you mean? It's my hair."

Peeta's nostrils flared. She was lying. "Not your hair. The bruise. The bruise that wasn't there this morning. The sickening blue, purple, and black hickie slapped across the mar of your neck. That thing on your neck."

Katniss's eyes widened as she scooted back from the dining table. "Are you accusing me of something?"

"Perhaps," Peeta sneered. "If it's not a hickie, what is it?"

"Well, it's a bruise." Katniss stated stupidly.

He rolled his eyes. "Duh. I see that. But, how did you get it? Better yet, who gave it to you?"

"Someone you don't know."

"Who?" his voice was filled with steel venom. He was not letting her off the hook that easily.

"My boss."

"Your boss, huh? You mean, that sickening male Cato Hardy who runs the insurance firm you work at? Did he hit you?"

"Not on purpose," Katniss whispered, looking down at her plate. She picked up the piece of chicken on her plate with her knife. "The meal is wonderful."

"Thanks, but stop trying to avoid the subject," Peeta said sweetly, setting his utensils down. "How did Cato hit you in the neck?"

"He accidently slammed his fist into it."

"Sure." Peeta answered.

"It's true! I arrived for work, set my stuff down and then I went over to Cato to say hello. He turned around quickly from a call, didn't realize how close I was, and then slammed his fist into my neck." Katniss explained, still not meeting her husband's face.

"Well, tell him to be careful. What happened next?" Peeta asked, lifting his wine glass up to his lips, the tart and bitter maroon liquid vanishing into his mouth and down his throat.

"We made love against the cabinets," she said hurriedly. The wine glass in Peeta's hand shattered, crimson rivers streaming down his fingers and into a puddle onto his plate. Katniss's mouth hung open, realizing what she said. "I mean, we got ice from the freezer."

"You're office doesn't have any ice in the freezer. That's for the dump out back," Peeta hissed. "Did I hear you correctly? You and your boss had sex this morning, at your office, against a filing cabinet. Don't try and lie to me either, Katniss! That's not something that just casually slips out of a person's mouth."

Katniss looked down at her hands, wringing her napkin. "Yes. We did. Cato and I had sexual intercourse this morning. Not the first time this has happened. We did it yesterday, and the day before. You're right, that statement isn't something that normally spills out of people's mouths. Maybe you haven't noticed, but saying 'I love you' isn't that hard either."

Peeta's eyes narrowed, and he stood up. "What does that mean?"

"You haven't told me you love me." Katniss answered, straightening her back to look formidable.

Peeta thought fast, and grabbed his steak knife. He felt a lone tear slide down his face as he pointed the knife at his heart. "Well, I love you Katniss. Now, tell me you love me."

She paled. "Peeta, what are you-"

"TELL ME YOU LOVE ME! TELL ME YOU'RE MY WIFE!" he screamed.

Katniss rushed forward, grabbing her husband's wrist as the knife inched closer to his skin. "Peeta, stop!"

The couple stumbled to the ground, and Peeta yelled out in agony. When Katniss parted, her mouth dried up. Peeta was staring at his waist, blood spurting out of an incision right above his hip. "I- I got stabbed" he whispered.

Katniss placed her hands down over the wound. "Hold pressure to it. I'll call 9-1-1."

"No," Peeta insisted, grabbing his wife's wrist. "Tell me you love me. Stop lying about our love. Tell me you love me."

"I love you."

"I don't believe you," Peeta rasped, arching his back in pain. "Make me believe you."

Katniss kissed her husband, trying to ignore the cold feeling of blood sliding down her fingers. When the two broke apart, Katniss looked at Peeta's diamond eyes, a smile etched on her face. "I love you Peeta Mellark, you're the best thing that's ever happened to me. I'm glad to be married to you."

Peeta's lips parted, trying to ignore the pain. "I love you too, Katniss. I'll never leave you."

Katniss didn't believe the words coming out her mouth, but she pushed the doubting thought back into a file cabinet stored away in her mind. "I'll never leave you," she lowered her head to lay against his chest. "I'll always stay."

Huh. That was longer than what I hoped for, but oh well! Stories are stories. Sorry if this seemed rushed, I just was experimenting with some ideas I had and jumbled them all together. Well, I really do hope that meant a lot to you all out there who ship Katniss and Peeta. I had done this earlier before, and then realized that I had other fandoms I could do it for as well as experimenting on how many times I could write the same pairing over and over again without getting sick of it, lol. Please review you guys, it'll make my life a lot easier knowing people actually enjoy my writing for once. I'm sad letting this project go, but times are a changing, and they are changing fast. I love you all, my readers soooo much you have no idea. Thanks again you guys, and I'll see you when I FINALLY for the fourth time return to The Gamemaker's Plan Part II which must be done by October 1st so I can finally start posting Death Under the Sky. Bye everyone! See you in the near future!

~ Paradigm