Piepie1289: These are entertaining, haha. Be patient, Loveling! :)
ilovethemanofsteel: Teeheeheeheehee :)
Wisegirl13: I know! I was like that when I was reading to books. As an author myself, situations like this can be extremely, extremely annoying. The thing is that, it's in her character to be so confused and it's very difficult to break character in the middle of everything without making the readers get their knickers in a twist. Thanks for reading. :)
Oreocookielove2468: Dun, dun, dun. Haha, since you asked so nicely. . . .
Eliley: Thank you! :)
Browniangel: Oh my gosh, I absolutely love your reviews! I'm sorry that I'm rewriting the chapters, but I promise I will make it better! Thank you!
*****DISCLAIMER*****
Me: *Rams shoulder into bars* Lemme outta here! Let me out!
Peeta: She's still going at it?
Haymitch: Has been for a good hour now.
Peeta: Wouldn't that - *Loud Bang*
Me: I'M FREE MUTH FUCKAS!
Peeta: Get her!
Katniss: *Shouts* RUN, LOVELY, RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN!
Haymitch: Katniss!
Katniss: All you guys will do is the disclaimer.
Peeta: But we have to. People need to know that she doesn't own the Hunger Games Trilogy.
Katniss: Yeah, but forcing her to say it or saying for her will only annoy Lovely.
Haymitch: Look. Sweetheart. I know you're being thoughtful and all, but the fact is that LovelyUnderland is not Suzanne Collins. Lovely owns no part of the Hunger Games Trilogy.
Katniss: No, but she owns the fan fiction plot. Just let her be. She'll come to terms with it.
Peeta: Yeah, the moment I stop loving you.
Previously:
I have words on the tip of my tongue, but no matter my efforts, I can't speak.
"This 'romance' you two have is set in stone. You will never be able to escape it. They will revisit it every year. You and Peeta are stuck together, whether or not you like it. It is forever."
Despite the cold snow on the tracks, I lower myself to the ground. My legs are weak and wobbly, and standing doesn't seem like an option for me. I have no choice but to stay with Peeta forever– to love him forever. He's an amazing guy, there is no doubt about that. Peeta could make any girl fall for him and love him. But I don't. I don't love him. . . . because love isn't real. It is just a fairytale.
Chapter Four: Let The Tour Begin
012914
LovelyUnderland
(KPOV)
I never went to sleep, yet I didn't exactly stay awake either. The in-between. That's what I like to call being stuck in my flashbacks. As much as I would like to say that I have gotten over the Hunger Games and forgotten, I can't. It would be a lie. It's a matter of living with the memories.
By the time I find my way back to the land of the living, I am drenched in sweat, hair plastered to my flushed cheeks. . .and standing in the doorway, glass in hand, is Peeta. Haymitch's words come back to me and I feel the pit of my stomach turning cold. I'm still just a kid. He's still just a kid. Yet, it seems like our lives are already set out for us.
"Here," he murmurs in a soft voice, handing me the glass of water.
"What time is it?" I ask, trying to focus my eyes, but I am so exhausted that I can't seem to do so.
"Breakfast time. You had me scared," he says.
"How so?" I ask, sipping the water. I hadn't realized how thirsty I was until then.
"Well," he begins, taking a seat on the edge of the bed, "Your eyes were open from the moment I walked into the room, but you weren't blinking. I, uh, got worried."
"What, that I was dead? I'm not that lucky," I muse into the glass.
Peeta shoots me a glare that tells me to keep my morbid comments to myself. It's funny how he cares more about my life than I do.
"Something simple," he mutters, and walks to the closet.
He pulls out a sleeveless blue dress for me to wear. I remember Cinna saying that I wasn't going to have much prepping done for the tour. Gently, Peeta lifts me and carries me to the shower. As he scrubs my skin, I think about all we've been through. Comparing him to Gale.
Gale didn't go through the Games. He's stable, and that's what I need. A smile graces my face at the thought of having a stable life. A normal life. And as quick as it appears, it goes, because Gale wouldn't be able to understand my nightmares or flashbacks.
"You're thinking of him," Peeta says softly.
"Who?" I reply dumbly.
"Gale."
Even though my back is to him, the pain is clear in his voice.
"Yes," I answer, in a voice so quiet that it's almost inaudible. "He kissed me. . .and I kissed him back."
Peeta freezes with his hands in my hair. He stays like that for an eternity. I want him to say something, anything. Yell at me, call me names. Why I said it, I don't know. Keeping it from him only made me feel guilty. I guess I thought that admitting to it would ease that, but I was wrong.
The warm comfort of the water around me changes as Peeta removes his hands and pours water onto my hair to remove the suds. Then, I hear him walking to the sink. After the long minutes of silence, I turn to see him clutching the edge of the glass sink. His knuckles are white and he's breathing heavily, but the worst are the tear stains on his face.
"Peeta," I murmur, standing from the tub. He's seen me bare before, so nothing would surprise him now.
He tenses as I rest my hand on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry," I whisper with a kiss to his neck. When he pulls away from me it's like nothing I've ever felt before.
"No, Katniss. You aren't sorry," Peeta hisses and, without even glancing my way, he leaves the room.
The pain I feel in my stomach is different then before. Almost like men - shit.
The smell of warm soup brings little comfort as I walk into the dining cart. Haymitch and Effie look up and, as luck would have it, Effie has that annoying, joyous look on her face. I've barely put four spoonfuls of soup in my mouth when she starts going on about the schedule. I try to block her out to the best of my ability, but her high tone breaks through my barriers. I'm relieved when she exits the room to speak to one of the workers.
Cinna and Portia, who entered shortly after me, try to make small talk with Peeta and I, but neither of us are having it. I don't think anything could cut through the tension in the room. Haymitch forced us to Peeta and I to sit together. While he is basically sitting on Portia's lap, I'm literally on Cinna's. The only reason he hasn't complained is because of the death glare I shot at him when he tried.
"Can you believe it?" Effie's piercing voice sounds. "The train has to stop because something went wrong. Oh, this is going to mess with our entire schedule! We will only have twenty minutes to each district– barely any time for relaxation– prep and dressing– Oh, no! This is horrible! I can't even begin to– "
"Effie, shut the hell up!" I shout, startling everyone.
Ignoring the looks centred onto me I stand, so quickly that my chair falls with a loud thud, and walk out of the train. There is very little snow on the ground, but it's still bitter out. Four more days until we reach District 11. Four days between each district and the capitol. . . .that's almost two months, plus the eleven days it takes to get back to District 12. This tour will take two months.
I have to deal with everyone for two -
I keep walking until I can no longer see the train and plant myself on the tracks. Not a minute later I can hear someone walking up from behind me. I assume that it's Haymitch coming to chew me out.
"Leave me alone, I don't care to hear your lecture," I snap.
"I'll save the speech, then."
"I - I thought you were Haymitch," I mumble, embarrassed.
Peeta sighs and sits beside me.
"If you were trying to break another person, you succeeded," he bit out, in a voice so cold that the metal tracks feel like fire in comparison.
"I never meant to hurt–" I begin.
"Katniss, I'm not so sure about that. You seem to have a good record going against that statement. It's funny, actually, how I could still care for you."
Ouch.
It's true though and I can't argue against fact. He says nothing else and my voice doesn't seem to be working. It's Haymitch that finds us and makes me apologize to Effie. While it sounds all too forced, but she accepts it anyway and hugs me. I want to shove her off, but I hold my ground.
The rest of the day, I avoid everyone, even Cinna. The next morning, I'm the one that is avoided. It's a good thing, too, because I'm in a mood where I will snap at anyone that gets in my way. Haymitch made the mistake of saying that it was PMS, but I set him straight. It wasn't that. It was aunt Flow. No, they are not the same thing.
Anyway, Effie continues to cry over what I said to her earlier. She stepped on my foot with those damn towers of hers and I chewed her out for it. Sure, I felt a little guilty when I saw the tears in her eyes, but she should've felt bad for breaking my foot. Peeta was by her side comforting her, right away, and sending glares at me. I just left. Everyone acted like I had committed a crime.
Once again, I am alone in my room, waiting for the train put me to sleep. I've wrapped a towel around my head as a sort of gag. As much as they've all pissed me off, I don't want to wake them up with my screams.
"You killed him!" a woman cries holding Marvel's limp body.
Dropping my bow, I say, "I-I'm sorry! He killed her! He sent the spear-"
"HE WAS MY SON! YOU MONSTER!" she screams.
"I-"
"Katniss how could you do this? He was innocent!" Peeta spits with disgust.
"Peeta, it was instinct. I was just trying to protect Rue."
"I didn't need your protection. I was going to die anyway," says Rue who is beside me.
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!"
"I have to do this, Katniss. You don't deserve to live," Peeta says as he lifts a gun to my head.
"NO!"
My throat is sore and I've fallen into a coughing fit. Ripping away the gag, I sprint off of the bed and to the bathroom. The cool water relieves my throat, but I nearly choke when I see a figure sitting on the bed. Instinct takes over and I start to scream. I feel a warm hand cover my mouth and then. . . .nothing.
