When he heard my response, Peeta automatically pulled away from me and stretched out on the bed, letting out a sigh of exasperation. That was definitely not the answer he was looking for.
"Who did he threaten this time?" he asked. By this point he had joined me in staring up at the ceiling. The moment had made it too awkward to look one another in the eye.
"Prim," I muttered painfully.
"He came by the house a week ago, while you were out working in the bakery. He told me that if we didn't put enough effort into convincing him of our—relationship—he would make sure that this year's Quarter Quell would consist of only relatives of the district's prior victors. There would be no way around it, Peeta. He would make it law, and there would be no one to step in for her this time," I explained softly, trying my best to keep the panic in my voice at a minimum.
I turned to look at Peeta. He had one hand around his temple, taking my words in with heavy consideration.
Still staring up at the ceiling, after what seemed like a lifetime, he finally responded trying to keep his voice steady.
"So you married me to spare Gale's life, and now you want to have my children….in order to spare Prim's, " he concluded with a grim laugh.
Yeah, that was basically it. What he said made me sound so heartless, and yet it was so true that I could think of nothing else to respond with. I took a big gulp to contain my guilt and just continued staring up at the ceiling.