Secrets

Peeta sat up, panting. He looked around, and remembered that he had detached himself from the couch once his family got home from the bakery. He ate a small bit of dinner and then went to his room and crawled under his sheets, exhausted. He fell instantly asleep, but his sleep was stained with fear.

He rubbed a hand over his face and sighed shakily. He could still see the dream. He climbed out of bed and crept downstairs to his painting room. He picked up his paintbrush, mixed some new paint and started to paint inside the outlines that he had started to draw in pencil. He felt a little ashamed still, the memory of Katniss's face when she saw it was fresh in his mind. He sighed, but was determined to keep painting.

It had taken him four hours but he had finally finished the painting. He looked at it and exhaled. He hated it. He couldn't stand to look at it. He wanted to get rid of it.

He picked it up, found some matches in the kitchen, and walked into the back yard. He chucked the painting over the fence, looked back at the house, and jumped over the fence himself. He picked up the painting and walked a little ways away from the house and once he was hidden under a covering of trees, he dropped the painting to ground. A piece of it was torn, right over the painted Peeta's heart. Peeta looked at it and knitted his eyebrows together. Weird, he thought. But Peeta didn't care; he just wanted to get this painting out of his life.

He struck a few matches and let them drop onto the canvas. Colourful flames rose and lit up the dark forest. Peeta stood and watched the painting he worked on for hours burn away until there was only ashes and charred wood left. He picked up a sliver of blackened wood, looked at it for a bit and then threw it. It was too dark to see where it landed and Peeta decided that he should head back. The darkness didn't faze him before because he was so resolute on burning the painting, but now he could barely see where he was going.

He tripped over a root and stumbled. He felt a sharp twig puncture the skin of his cheek. He got up and felt his face. His middle and ring fingers brushed the wound, his other fingers sliding down his face, and he winced as he felt pain and blood run down his cheek. He held his sleeve to it as he walked back to his house, and it stopped hurting. He took his sleeve away and it came away with a circle of redness. He sighed but when he felt the wound it had closed up; it was just a little raw.

He saw the fence and jogged over to it. He hopped over it without much effort and slipped back into his house, ditching his shoes on the rug. He tiptoed into his room and stripped off his dirty clothes, leaving himself in just his boxers. Then he fell into bed and slept with no dreams.

Peeta was on the edge of sleep where he could hear and feel things going on around him but he was still asleep and he couldn't do anything. He could hear someone softly calling his name. The voice called again and Peeta recognized it… he knew that voice even if he were asleep… which he was. Katniss called once more and then he felt a hand rest on his shoulder. Then the hand moved up to his face and brushed hair back from his forehead. She bent over and kissed his forehead and whispered, "Peeta, wake up!"

He finally overcame his sleep and he opened his eyes. He was staring right into Katniss's gray eyes. They looked a little worried. He turned his head into his pillow and exhaled sleepily. "Morning, sleepyhead." Katniss said softly.

"Morning," Peeta's reply was muffled by the pillow.

Katniss laughed. Peeta peeked a look from his pillow. She was wearing a white jumpsuit romper, her hair down and she was twisting her hands in front of her. Peeta held out a hand to her. She reached out to take it and then Peeta pulled her onto him. She yelped and he rolled over onto his side so that Katniss was lying beside him. He held her against him and kissed her softly. She smiled at him and then gasped.

"Peeta! What happened to you?" She reached out timidly and brushed her fingers over his cheek. "And why is there soot on your face?" She rubbed the skin under his temple and showed him that they came away black. She looked at him with alarm.

Peeta looked at her for a minute before he explained what happened. "Oh, Peeta. Are you okay?" she asked concernedly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm glad I burned the painting, though, it made me feel better." He said turning onto his back.

"That's good."

"Yeah. So," he looked over at her, "why are you here? Not that I mind," Peeta grinned. Katniss didn't smile and blush like she usually did. She looked like she was about to throw up, or something. "Katniss? What's wrong, did I do something?" Peeta asked worriedly, rolling back onto his side and holding her hand.

"No, no. I came here because I have to tell you something." She said without looking at him.

"What is it?" Peeta asked, trying to catch her eye and failing.

Katniss looked really distressed. She exhaled and looked up into his eyes. "I… I'm scared to tell you," she whispered, her voice full of shame.

"Katniss," he said soothingly, "it's alright; you can tell me anything." He reached up and brushed her loose hair from her face. "Don't worry." He kissed her hand.

Katniss let go of his hand and twined her hands around his neck and shifted so that she was very close to him, the only barrier between them was the sheet that Peeta had on him. Her skin felt cold. She pressed her forehead against his. Peeta felt his skin burn. It was strangely intimate being this close to Katniss on his bed, him only dressed in his boxers and covered in a sheet. He felt his face flush.

"Katniss, what's wrong?" He pulled his head away from hers and she looked at him with sad, dazed eyes. "Please tell me what's going on." Katniss looked at him but didn't say anything. Peeta felt the hair on the back of his neck begin to prickle. "You're starting to scare me." He moved his hands from her waist to her face.

Her eyes glistened. She let out a shaky breath and closed her eyes. She was silent and still for a moment before she opened her eyes again. "Gale kissed me."