Couldn't


"Peeta. Back in Snow's hands. Tortured and tormented until no bits of his former self will ever emerge again."


I open door to the bakery, still holding the bouquet of celandines in my hands.

Peeta rushes over, gasping, "Where were you two? I was looking all over town!"

I firmly grasp him by the shoulders and say, "We were in the woods. You didn't have to worry about us."

He nods and replies, "I was…just so worried. That you might have left."

I nod.

Peeta clears his throat and says, "I'll be closing the bakery in a few, so you guys can head on home."

I shrug and reply, "I'll wait here for you."

With a wave and a short bye, Celandine leaves, walking into the distance.


"Hey Katniss," he says, "It's raining. Good thing you came back just before it started."

Small talk. Typical Peeta. "Huh, I guess you are right. Hopefully Celandine doesn't live too far from the bakery," I reply.

"She lives down the street, I believe. She lives alone."

I nod, knowing how it feels, to be alone. "Maybe we can invite her over for dinner, one day. That would be nice. I really like her, you know. She…understands me."

Peeta looks at me and says, "I understand you too, Katniss. Don't ever forget that."

I nod. No one understands me better than Peeta. Not Gale. Not my mother. Not even Prim.

Locking the door, Peeta grabs the bouquet of flowers from my hand and whispers in my ear, "For me?"

I whisper back, "Always."


We walk to the Victor's Village, holding hands, whispering in each other's ears, and laughing. Like nothing bad had ever happened.

When we stop at the door of my house, Peeta says nervously, "I guess I'll go now."

Out of nowhere, Peeta cups my face in his palms and leans in. His lips touch mine and for the third time, I feel a spark. It was an innocent kiss. But, it was like no other.

He blushes. "I'm sorry," he whispers, not looking into my eyes, "I…just had to."

I feel my cheeks heat up. I murmur, "It's all right."

"Bye then," he says, leaning forward to give me another kiss, this time on the cheek. My cheeks grow even hotter. I wave back.

As soon as he is out of sight, I rush into my house, locking the door quickly. I sit down on the couch. What just happened? Maybe this is it. Peeta, he's coming back to me. He really is.


I sigh. I pull out a letter from the side table next to me and began reading, trying to clear my mind.

Dear Katniss,

You didn't want to kill me. No one wanted to. Why? Is it because they think I deserve to live? Well, I don't. Honestly, all of us don't. We, the victors, have all killed, ripped apart families and souls. We deserve to die. To disappear from this world. But, why do you want to live? Is it because of Prim? Prim, she's wonderful. I have no one. Absolutely no one. They're all gone. Dead. In the ashes that are scattered across District 12. You think we'll fix this mess Snow made? I don't know if we will. I don't want to suffer anymore. I don't want anyone to suffer from me and my actions. I still don't understand. You don't want to kill me. Tell me, Katniss. Maybe I'll understand. Since I won't be dying at this moment, maybe you can help make my life worth living.

Sincerely,

Peeta


Boggs wanted to kill you. I never did. Maybe you weren't the Peeta I knew, but you were still you, deep down, no matter how tortured you were. You were still that pure angel who threw me the bread. I guess, I couldn't let you go. I couldn't. In the first arena, I couldn't just let you die, in that cold cave that was our home. In the second arena, I couldn't bear with the fact that I let you go. I believed you would never come back, but you did. I still blame myself to this second, for leaving you. It was never your fault. Don't blame yourself. But now, it's okay. We're together now, aren't we? You're not alone.


A/N: Finally. The kiss, the one we've all been waiting for, right? And on an extremely important note: I have a Tumblr now! So if you want to contact me outside of Fanfiction, you can go follow me on Tumblr. My username is thestarswillstillshine (now has changed to chris-and-becca) and the link is also on my profile. Thank you so much for reading and I wish you a happy holidays!