The pain in my side was intensifying. I didn't understand how Peeta was managing to keep up with me– in fact, he was actually catching up to me. His footsteps were closing in on my own. I knew it would be just a matter of seconds before his hands would be back around my throat. I turned another corner, opening to a hallway.

The hallway was long, but not so long that I couldn't see the end of it and see what lay at the end. There were a few doors along the walls, but no lights on inside. Based on the musky smell and mostly broken bulbs along the walls, this hallway wasn't used for anything but storage. About fifteen feet off the ground to my right was a long, narrow, metal platform. I could see a ladder up to it twenty-five yards away from me. I knew it wasn't the best option but given that this was a dead-end and that facing Peeta was my only other option, climbing the ladder up to the rusty old platform sounded pretty good to me.

My palms slammed into the ladder's exhausted metal rods and I tightly clenched my fists around each rod as I went up as fast as my body would allow. In that moment, I was more grateful than ever to be familiar with climbing. While I was used to climbing trees rather than ladders, I knew Peeta wasn't going to be able to climb up as fast as me. I did however feel his hand on my ankle.

"Mutt!" He roared, his nails digging into the flesh around my ankle. I kicked my leg as hard as I could, trying to shake his grasp off. I broke free, resuming my climb. I didn't exactly have a plan as far as what I would do once I got up there. My hands found the top of the platform and I scrambled to stand upright. I looked down; Peeta was working his way up to me. I was panicking now. I didn't have any more places to run. I looked back down at Peeta, watching him grip his hand around another metal rod, and listened as the metal groaned against the sudden interruption of use by the two of us. I saw it shaking and wondered if maybe it would fall loose with enough force. I braced my back against the wall and kicked the top of the ladder hard with the bottom of my right boot. It trembled, giving me a glimpse of hope. I hit it again, making Peeta curse as he had to pause to hold on while it shook. This was working; he realized it just as I did. I gave it one final kick, shouting as I did so, and the ladder gave out.

Peeta jumped back, dodging some to avoid the ladder as it smacked onto the concrete with a loud clang. A layer of rust rose off of it as it hit the unforgiving hard ground. He was enraged now, grabbing the ladder and trying to brace it back up where it was. But it was no use; Peeta was strong, but the steel metal was too much for him to move by himself, in his current condition. He could barely get it more than a few feet off the ground, and there was no chance of him standing it upright. He was panting, as was I, and I watched him drop the ladder in defeat.

I stayed exactly where I was, against the wall, as I tried to catch my breath. My eyes were locked on him. He was running his hands over his head, pausing to grab fistfuls of his dirty blonde hair, pulling at it in frustration. He looked up at me, a snarl on his lips.

"I will kill you! I will! I'll rip the life out of you the same way you ripped the life out of everyone I loved!" He was pacing now as he looked up at me with his hands clenched into fists at his sides. I stared at him, blinking my eyes with my mouth gaping open. My lips moved some, but I had no voice right now. I shook my head as he continued.

"You're a mutt! A filthy mutt!"

Why was he calling me a mutt? What did that mean? Why did he think I killed everyone he loved? How could he think that? He'd been with me in the arena– he'd been directly in the Capitol's hands!

"What are you talking about!" I shouted; my lost voice was now found. "Peeta– what–what are you talking about!?"

His face was wiped off emotion then. He was looking at me and I watched his eyes narrow.

"That's a bold question of you to ask. I can't believe you would even think you had the right to play dumb–" I cut him off.

"Peeta stop it. Stop it! What did I do? Why are you trying to kill me? I wanted to help rescue you but I couldn't–" This time, he cut me off.

"Rescue me?" He sneered. He shook his head, holding fistfuls of his hair again for a moment before letting go. He shook his head quickly. "No." He said.

"No? Yes! Yes. Peeta what did I do? I couldn't stop the bombing in twelve– I would have! It happened after we were taken from the arena; I wasn't even conscious. I woke up and–and you weren't there," I swallowed, feeling the dryness of my throat now more than ever. I kept my gaze on him as I looked down, watching him process my words. I saw his face register more emotion now: Anger, sadness, and confusion. He blinked, looking at me.

"You did it. You are the one who bombed district twelve. You tried to kill me in the arena!" I shook my head.

"No. No I didn't! I stood by your side and fought with you! I fought for you!" I said. My throat was starting to lock up. He was so far gone from the Peeta I remembered. I didn't even know how this was possible. I stepped forward some on shaky legs and touched the handrail, being careful not to put any weight against it in fear of falling right into Peeta's hands.

We both looked down the hall the way we'd come, hearing voices and boots against the ground. I breathed a shaky sigh of relief; at least someone would be able to get Peeta tamed. He looked back up at me, breathing hard. For a moment his eyes softened, and I saw the boy with the bread from district twelve again.

"It hurts. It hurts, Katniss." He breathed.

/AN: No clue if I should continue this or just leave it as a one-shot. Reviews are appreciated! Thanks for reading.