Peeta's finally convinced himself to leave his house, abandoning awful thoughts of Katniss's possible love for someone else. On his way to his front door he pauses at the kitchen counter. His fingers brush by the ring once, twice, and finally he shoves it in his pocket, a forbidden, terrifying idea forming in his mind. Peeta knows what he wants to do with the ring; he doesn't know what he's going to do with the ring, but isn't that the beauty of most great things? The thrill of having so many options, but being undecided, not knowing what may happen next?
The ring feels heavy in his pocket, weighing his prosthetic leg down considerably (he thinks), and he anxiously switches pockets. His heart is thudding in his chest as he walks the familiar path to town, and when he sees Katniss walking the streets, too, the nervous feeling becomes a thousand times worse.
He doesn't know what he'll say, why he's giving her the ring, what it means— it's all too soon and doesn't make sense— but Peeta forces himself to continue strolling to her. A part of him is begging to be recognized as it screams for him to stop, claiming this is a bad idea, and maybe it is. But Peeta refuses to listen to the chatter in his head as he nears her, now only three shops away—
A dark arm is thrown over Katniss's shoulders as someone exits the butcher's shop, and Peeta halts, his throat constricting as he believes it to be Gale.
But the laugh that sounds isn't the same as the older boy's, and Peeta finally realizes it is Rory Hawthorne.
A/N: I forgot to mention last chapter about the whole ruined childhood: I felt that way about Disney's Pocahontas. I was unaware that there was a second one, and then all of a sudden she doesn't end up with John Smith?! Say what now?! It broke my heart. T_T
Note: This chapter was originally over 1,000 words. So I split it up.
So there.
(Hah. Dying to say that.)
And we've reached over 100 reviews! Whoo! (106, actually!)
I'll post the other chapter later as a thank you for such awesome readers(: