I'm trembling with shock and horror as Peeta walks toward the bodies and takes back his knife. He avoids my eyes as he cleans it on the sparse grass. When he does face me, his eyes are very difficult to read. "It's down to us," he says.
He's right. We're the last two tributes alive. I didn't want it to happen like this! I was meant to disappear in the bloodbath and be nothing more than one name among countless others who had met the same fate. Not one of the final two, and certainly not with Peeta – the impossibly good person, and impossible to kill – as my only opponent.
"Yeah," I get out.
A long moment passes before he speaks. "Let's move so they can collect the bodies." I nod and we go to stand in front of the mouth of the Cornucopia. Peeta takes a deep breath. "I think we'd better come clean. There's no point in pretending we don't know what the other is doing."
So he's figured it out. Of course he has. "Okay. You first."
"You have to go home, Prim. You have the rest of your life ahead of you. Think of your family."
"I can't go home. Not like this. My family will be all right eventually." I almost choke on my next words. "I won't really be living the rest of my life. I killed Feli, Peeta. I killed her. She's dead and I see her face every time I close my eyes!" A sob bursts from my throat.
"You're a strong girl. You'll find a way to make peace with it all somehow." He's a horrible liar. The false note in his voice is so obvious.
"Right. I'll end up drunk like Haymitch, or worse."
Peeta shakes his head. "No, Prim. You won't – you'll have your sister to help you through."
It's interesting that he doesn't mention my mother. He must know how far gone she is, has been, and will always be. I'm reminded of my second defense. "You love Katniss. Go home and it'll be like Caesar said: she won't be able to say no."
"Do you really think she'd take me if you were dead? You know as well as I do that she values you over me."
I remain silent, clearly indicating that he's right. But I'm not giving up yet, and he sees that.
"You're only twelve, Prim. You can't die here, today. That's not what's supposed to happen." He can tell I'm not buying it. "What do you gain by this? Why?"
My voice is broken and ragged. "I gain peace. I'll be free of the blood on my hands." Free of the Capitol, I think, but I don't say it.
Peeta stares at me, and I think he may be accepting the truth, when he pulls out a knife. I see in his eyes what he's about to do and launch myself forward, using my good arm to wrench the dagger from his hand a second before it would have sliced him open. Before he has a chance to respond, I plunge the blade into my own chest.
A/N: Ha ha! You are all hanging on my every word!
please review and tell me if you thought that was going to happen!