Hello peeps! I'm starting a new Everlark AU (leaving two others unfinished, which I hope to get back to soon oof). This is just another idea I've been dying to write. I hope you all would please read and review! I'm trying to keep this fandom ALIVE. I also enjoy helpful criticism, so tbh hit me with it. Thanks for the support!

Katniss's POV

The sickening pang in my stomach refuses to disappear as I trudge down the dirt road to the Victor's Village. It didn't work. We've failed. I glare at the pretty, sparkling diamond on my finger. Pointless now. I yank it off of my finger and threaten to throw it in the muddy snow, but at the last second think better of it. There are more practical ways to get rid of such an expensive object.

I could probably exchange it for materials when we escape. By we, I mean my family, Gale and his family, Peeta, and maybe even Haymitch. I have already calculated in my head the prefect way for us to run away. I fantasized it on the train ride home. Once I convince everyone, gather our supplies, and schedule the safest time to leave, we'll depart into the woods and travel past Panem's borders. Just like Gale and I once envisioned, we'll live off of the earth secluded from the Capitol.

I enter my house on the right, ignoring the usual hisses from Buttercup in the foyer. My mother is cooking up some stew for supper, and we eat in silence while watching a replay of the clip of my engagement. I initially protested, but Prim hadn't seen the footage because she was in school. Why should it matter whether she watches it, when we are leaving anyway?

I've already informed them. My mother and Prim seem terrified by the idea, but they know I've taken charge of the matter of their safety. They're aware I believe this is the only way. Next, I need to convince Gale, and then on to Peeta and Haymitch.

After I finish my stew, I quietly slip out for the evening to meet up with Gale. The house lights glow misty in the winter night beneath me as I climb up the small hill of the meadow. I almost don't notice another set of footprints crunching in snow behind me. I freeze.

Dammit. Where to hide? I can't risk the thought of the footsteps being Gale's. I casually make a right towards the Seam and pretend to be on a late night stroll.

"Subtle," I hear a voice snicker. I side glance at Peeta clambering up the hill. I turn, resisting a smile.

"Well, how was I to know you weren't a Peacekeeper trying to spy on me?" I reply lightly.

"True." He reaches me, his light hair dusted with snow.

"What are you doing over here?" I ask.

"Had nothing to do, thought I'd might take a walk until I spotted you," he says with a shrug. I tap my foot, considering whether or not to just tell him about my plan now.

"Come with me," I mouth. Peeta raises an eyebrow, but soon understands and follows me to the fence. I dip underneath the usual gap and wait for him to follow. I lead him through the thick, dead maples and prickly pine trees until we approach the rock where I usually meet Gale for hunting sessions.

"Never been around here," he whispers, surveying the forest.

I nod. "You can talk at a normal volume, we're relatively safe here," I tell him.

"So, what is it?" Peeta leans against the rock.

I swallow. "Our engagement didn't work, Peeta. I know. I saw Snow's face."

Peeta shakes his head. "Okay... what more can we do? Speed up the marriage?"

"No, I don't think anything will convince him now. I think we need to run." I look at him dead in the face. Saying it out loud terrifies me even more. Peeta's ocean eyes widen slightly.

"Katniss, where would we go?"

I gnaw at the inside of my cheek.

"Past Panem's borders? I'm still working that out," I admit. Peeta ponders this.

"Who would come? You're family? Haymitch? Gale, too?"

"Yes, and we-" A twig snaps. Peeta grabs my arm, forcing the two of us down behind the boulder.

"Hey, just me," Gale's voice surfaces from the shadows of the trees. I awkwardly force myself to my feet.

"Sorry, we thought you were-"

"I know." He cuts me off rather coldly. He spots Peeta.

"Is there a reason he's here?" Gale asks.

"Um, yeah. I had to tell him the plan to him as well," I explain.

"What plan?" Gale folds his arms. I glance from him to Peeta.

"I want-I want us to run away, Gale. You, you're family, my family, Peeta, and maybe Haymitch," I inform him.

"... Like we always talked about?" Gale questions. I nod.

"Snow doesn't believe in our love story," I explain. Gale doesn't reply. I observe by his harsh expression that he's thinking about Peeta and I and not my plan to escape.

"Gale," I attempt to break him from his trance.

"We need to keep our families safe. This is the only way. Snow will kill us," my voice shakes slightly.

"I don't see how we can pull it off. They're bound to notice us leaving-we'd have, what, around twelve people on the run?" Gale says, exasperated.

"We'll plan it out thoroughly. Katniss and I can continue playing the game, distract everyone until we go," Peeta speaks up, nodding. Gale bites his lip.

"No, no I can't see how we'd do it."

"Why, Gale?" I ask, my temper rising.

Doesn't he understand? We can't remain in Twelve any longer.

"Because Twelve could suffer, Katniss! The Capitol would punish the district because of our escape! Katniss, people look to you to lead-"

"No, Gale, they don't! I'm just some stupid girl who made a mistake with those God damn berries! Peeta should've just killed me and gone home safe," I snap at him sharply.

Both Peeta and Gale begin to protest, but I stare daggers at them until they stop. I don't need their persuasions to why I should still be alive. Because, in reality, I shouldn't. That's how the games work. One winner. One surviver. And of course, it should've been Peeta.

"I can't protect our entire district," I mutter quietly after some time. Besides, how could President Snow punish Twelve? When it's already considered beneath dirt to the Capitol? Logically, it wouldn't be wise of Snow to waste some firebombs on Twelve to punish me, when I won't even be here.

Gale leans his shoulder against a pine tree.

"I'll... think it over," he finally concludes.

"Good," I reply. I turn to Peeta, who has been relatively quiet.

"You?"

He scratches his chin.

"I-I want to get my family to come, too. If that's okay," he says. The images of Peeta's quiet, yet gentle father, his brothers I hardly know, and his wicked mother surface my head. How could I say no when he wants to protect them, too? Even his horrible mother.

"Of course it is," I answer.

After our discussion about my plan, it's a strange walk back to the fence. I've never been in the company of both Peeta and Gale in the forest. I guess it's just going to prepare me for actually living in the woods with them. The tension feels like an electric current between the three of us, and I dread every step towards home. Gale finally parts ways with us at the bottom of the meadow, and I can't help but catch his frustrated, yet melancholy glance my way as I walk in the other direction with Peeta.

Guilt penetrates me, but I force myself to suppress it. It's Gale's problem, anyway. He knows what my relationship with Peeta is like. He had to have known our engagement was nothing but for staying on the Capitol's good side and maintaining protection for our families.

Peeta's fingers brush against mine as our feet crunch along the pathway, breaking my thoughts. My eyes flicker down at our hands side by side. Strangely, I suddenly feel sad about him and our engagement. I'm sure he feels upset that it's not real. What will become of us when we run away? I can't just slip beside Peeta when my nightmares haunt me and indulge in his comfort when Gale will be around.

Gale and Peeta. That's one thing I'll have to decide if we all run away. I've been using our present circumstances as an excuse for hiding my feelings. It's shameful, but true.

Peeta and I reach the small, dry, stone fountain separating our houses. The sun left the sky long ago, revealing the bright stars surrounding us and the blue moon lying hazily in the sky. My house is dark. My mother and Prim must have gone to bed by now, knowing that I would be along soon.

"Well, we'll talk more later," Peeta says quietly, secretly referring to my plan of escape. I nod.

"I'll also need to tell Haymitch at some point."

Peeta chuckles.

"Yeah, have you thought about how you're gonna haul all of his liquor?"

"God, no. And I can't believe he'd go sober for good, either," I grin.

I'm about to turn around and head home, but the thought of sleeping alone again makes my stomach twist. Peeta and I didn't slept apart the entire train ride home from the tour. Yesterday we arrived at the station, and last night I didn't sleep an ounce.

"Hey, my mom won't know I'm gone if I get back home around 5," I quietly tell him. Peeta shakes his head.

"Oh, so you want to sleep over?" He smirks. I shove his arm.

"Shut up. But... yeah, if you want me to," I respond.

"Well, I can't sleep without you either," he smiles.

Peeta leads me up to his front door and warmth exudes from his house as we step inside. The soothing scent of baked goods, polished wood floors, and something familiar and sweet that I can't recall waft up my nose. I secretly love Peeta's house. It offers the welcoming atmosphere of a large, happy household of people when there's only one person living in it. I'm not sure how that's possible, but frankly, I don't care. It's a good feeling.

I slip my shoes off and we silently creep upstairs. Peeta rummages through his drawers and tosses me a spare t-shirt.

"You're so weird that you wear socks to bed," he grins as I slip into bed with him. I look down at my covered feet.

"Well, do you want to feel my freezing toes?"

"Maybe not," he laughs. Following the usual routine, Peeta turns off the light and opens up his arms for me to fall into. Instantly, my body relaxes against his. In the darkness, I sense his fingers gently brush my hair back.

I never pictured our instances in bed as romantic moments. Yet, sometimes, when I can't sleep, my mind wanders to our time in the cave during the first games. I remember the heat of the sleeping bag as we twisted our limbs together to keep warm, Peeta's raspy breathing when he was ill, the soft touch of our lips. Then, I try to force the thoughts from my mind, oddly uncomfortable and repulsed by them.

Somehow tonight, I can't help but remember.

Peeta soon drifts off. I feel safe, calm, yet my plan refuses to allow me to sleep. I play it over again and again in my head. Around midnight, my eyes finally droop and I'm nearly asleep when I suddenly hear the roaring of moving trucks not far away.

I tense, my quiet breathing now incredibly loud.

"Peeta," I gently shake him awake. Peeta's eyelids flutter open, his expression changing as he hears the noise, too.

"What is that?" He whispers. We abruptly sit up. A single gunshot fires clear and loud outside, ripping through the silent night. I jerk at the horrible sound, biting hard on my lip to keep from shrieking. Throwing the covers off of me, I rush to the window. Peeta follows close behind me. I peer through the opening of the curtains, looking across at my house, which remains dark and quiet.

Oh god, they better be okay.

In the distance, down the narrow dirt road, dim lights blare up into the sky. They sway like rays, but then suddenly disappear. Everything goes quiet. I glance at Peeta, whose eyebrows furrow. A slight breeze slips through the crack of the window, causing the hairs on my arms and legs to stand upright.

The sky flashes brightly as Peeta and I witness the spark of a bright fire near the Seam and hear the steady eruption of screams.

"What the hell," Peeta breathes. Blindly, I shove on my crumpled up jeans from the floor and sprint down the stairs.