~Katniss

I wake up, but it's still dark out. What woke me up? That did. I feel Peeta restlessly tossing and turning next to me. I turn to fully face him and I lightly touch his arm.

"Sorry," Peeta says, "Did I wake you?"

"Yeah but it's okay," I say, "What's wrong?"

"I um...couldn't sleep," Peeta says, with a reassuring smile that doesn't reach his eyes

"Peeta," I say, "You can tell me what's wrong,"

"Its just...it's frustrating," he says, "not being able to remember, I've been trying so hard to remember, I want to know if what she said is true, I can't stand how blank it feels. Why can't I remember? I want to remember!"

"I know you do," I say, "I'm sorry you can't remember, I can't say I understand what you're going through, but I understand feeling lost. Peeta I'm going to help you, we all are, we're going to try everything to help you, I know it must be frustrating, not knowing if your mom is lying or not, and not being able to remember what happened, you can talk to us, we want you to talk to us,"

"I know but," Peeta sighs, "I just feel like you guys will just end up giving up on me, I don't want to show how weak I feel because I feel like I have to be strong-"

"Stop," I say firmly, I climb on top of him so that my hips are just above his, I'm basically straddling him, my hands go to his shoulders, "Stop right there, you listen to me Mellark. You are one of the strongest people I know, and I know you can get through this. You don't have to pretend with us, we care so much about you, and all we want is to help you. I'm not leaving this hospital without you. I will never give up on you. We're in this together, no matter what, we're leaving this place together and if I have to strap myself to that chair I will. I'm going to be there with you every step of the way, you don't have to pretend in front of me, feeling weak isn't something to be ashamed of. We're in this together," I say, his hand comes up to caress my face

"Together. Always," Peeta says,

Our lips meet in a rush and the kiss is frantic. It's as if we can't breath without each other, we're all each other needs to survive as we cling desperately to each other, neither wanting to be the first to let go. I know he wants to flip us over, but he can't because of his leg. I run my fingers through his hair.

Eventually the need for oxygen overpowers us and we pull away breathing heavily, we stare into each others eyes, Peeta's eyes a darker blue than normal.

"I should wake you up more often," Peeta say with a smirk, I playfully smack his arm and laugh

I enter Peeta's room in a rush almost spilling the coffee in the progress, when I'm safely inside I let out a breath of relief that turns into a laugh. Peeta looks at me with a smile.

"Still haven't gotten caught?" Peeta asks me

"Nope!" I say proudly, "Guess I'm pretty good at sneaking around," I say. it's been two weeks and I've stood by my word. I've only left his room when he's taking a nap or when his family goes to visit, I give them some privacy to talk. Peeta's mom comes too visit too, but she simply sits there, and never talks. I think she's scared he'll yell at her to get out if she tries to talk to him, he's still wary of her, he's not sure what to believe. His memory has improved slightly. The thing is, the past two weeks that I've been here, I've been on winter break, but school start again on Monday, which means I'm expected to teach kids on Monday. I don't want to leave though. As weird as it sounds, being this close to him comforts me, I want to help him get better and I want to be with him. I can't just quit my job though.

"What are you gonna do if one day they come in earlier than they say and find you here?" Peeta asks

"I don't know," I say, "Wing it, I guess,"

"good luck coming up with an excuse," Peeta says, "You're a terrible liar,"

"I am not," I say with a scowl

Peeta laughs, "You'd make a terrible actress,"

"I'm not so sure how I feel about my boyfriend insulting me," I say with a pouty face

"I'm just messing with you," He says, "Besides, you're cute when you're all riled up,"

I walk over to the bed and sit down next to him.

"Actually I wanted to ask you something," Peeta says hesitantly

"What's up?" I ask him

"I was hoping you'd talk to my mom for me," Peeta says slowly, "It's been nagging me for a long time and I was hoping you could ask her to maybe bring a photo of her and her sister, maybe it could help me figure things out,"

"Can I ask why you won't ask her yourself?" I ask

"Well, when they visit, she doesn't make eye contact with me, she only looks at me when she thinks I'm not looking, and she never talks, I was hoping you could talk to her," Peeta says

"Peeta, she doesn't talk because she thinks you might kick her out if she tries to talk to you," I say

"I kind of figured," Peeta admits, "Will you talk to her? Please?"

"Okay, I'll talk to her," I say

"Thank you," Peeta says kissing me softly, "You're the best,"

I wait outside Peeta's room as his family walk towards it, when his mom goes towards the door I reach out to her, "I was hoping I could talk to you," I say

"Oh, alright," She says shakily and follows me to the waiting room, "What's this about?"

"Peeta," I respond

"He doesn't want me visiting him anymore, does he?" His mom asks

"No that's not it," I reassure her, I see her sigh in relief

"I was worried that might happen," His mom admits

"No actually Peeta asked me to talk to you for him," I explain, "He's been having trouble remembering what happened and he was hoping you could bring a photo of you and your sister sometime, he thinks maybe seeing that could help him remember,"

"I could look for one," His mom says

"That's great, I can tell it's really bugging him," I say

"It's been bugging me too," She admits, "Peeta and I never had a perfect relationship, but I love him, I love him a lot, and it hurts to see him hate me,"

"He doesn't hate you," I say, "he hates not knowing."

"Can I ask you something?" His mom asks

"Sure," I say

"How long have you two been together?" His mom asks

"Not long," I say blushing, "A few weeks,"

"I'll admit I wasn't too happy about you, It's never easy when your baby boy finds a woman, but I see you care about him a lot,"

"Yeah I really do," I say

"May I ask what that scar on your face is from? I've been curious, " She says

"Um..yeah...," I hesitate, "It's from my previous relationship, actually it's what ended the relationship,"

"Oh dear I'm sorry," She says, "I hope you know Peeta would never do that to you,"

"I do know," I say, "Actually it happened at your family restaurant, that's where I met Peeta, I got drunk and he gave me a ride home when he found me on the street,"

"He's always had a good heart," she says, "It's terrible this happened to him,"

"It really is," I say

Hey guys! Just a little something for now...Peeta's mom isn't a total Bitch in this story.