I felt bad about giving you all a chapter with no progression to the story so here it is, the overdue talk between Peeta and Katniss. I hope you like it cuz I really do.

Suzanne Collins owns The Hunger Games

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Peeta is standing there and he looks like hell. I'm fairly certain he looks worse than I do. The dark circles under his eyes are extremely noticeable, his blonde hair is sticking up in all directions and his white t-shirt has all kinds of smears from different colors. I assume he's been painting because the smears are in the kind of lines that his fingers would make if he were wiping them off. His tan pants aren't in any better condition and the stubble on his face has completely grown in. I feel so stupid for him catching me standing here so I look anywhere but at his face because I know what I'll find there: Hurt, pain, desperation, and so many other emotions. Peeta was always good for wearing how he felt on his face.

Somehow, I find the courage to look at his face and all I see his sadness. It breaks my heart for him to look like that. I slowly walk towards him leery of setting off another hallucination. He steps back and for a moment I think he's going to shut the door on me, but to my surprise he opens the door wider. Peeta ushers me into his house and if I hadn't spent so much time in my own I would have thought this was the same thing. But this house looks different and smells differently too. I smell flour and cinnamon and fresh dough. I smell a hint of his paints and my suspicions about him painting earlier are confirmed.

When I walk by him he grabs my wrist, the same one he grabbed while hallucinating and I flinch. Of course Peeta saw me do this and he said, "You're afraid of me now because I hurt you." It wasn't a question and it wasn't a real or not real situation. The fact he thinks this saddens me. I just look at him confused. I say only the truth because I know he needs to hear it, "No, Peeta. I'm not afraid of you. And you didn't hurt me. I'm afraid of myself and inflicting that kind of pain on you again.. That's what I'm afraid of..." I had trailed off into almost a whisper.

I walk into his living room before he could say anymore. I feel awkward enough for him catching me staring at his house. I sit on the couch and realize that mine is much more comfortable. The structure may be the same, but the furniture is different.

I just sit and feel the couch to occupy my mind. Peeta comes over to me and sits down. It had been a few minutes since our first exchange at his door. He takes my hand that had been memorizing the couch and holds it. He's looking into my eyes with his clear, blue ones and begins to speak, "Don't blame yourself for what happened. What happened to me, it wasn't the first time. That's why I sometimes leave suddenly from tending to the primroses. You did nothing wrong, I startled you remember? You could never inflict pain on me... don't ever be fearful of that. I was the one that was wrong... I did this... I have hurt you..." I shake my head and tell him he didn't hurt me. He closes his eyes and puts his forehead on my hand. That's something the old Peeta would do and for a moment I think he's come back to love me again.

In this moment I want to cry. I'm reminded of how much he loved me despite my flaws. He would always say the perfect things, that unknown to him, would let me know how much I didn't deserve him, like I don't deserve him now. He would hold my hand on the train to the Quarter Quell and the warmth and strength that is only Peeta would envelope my whole hand and spread throughout my body. I felt safe with him.

He's suddenly looking at me and quietly says, "Don't cry, Katniss.." and he lifts a finger to wipe away a stray tear that I thought I had under control. He's holding my hand and wiping my tears and right now I feel like Peeta has come back to me. I need to feel some sort of safety, some sort of normalcy. I had an idea and didn't properly think it through just so I couldn't decide against it. I take my left hand away from his and instead wrap my arm around his back. I lay my head on his shoulder and bring my right arm around to meet my left. Very slowly I have leaned into him and I fear I'm holding on too tight to this moment, to him. But he puts one hand on my lower back and the other around my shoulders.

Ouch.

I remember then the wound on my right shoulder blade and wince. Peeta slowly leans away from my grasp.

"What's wrong?" He asks.

"Nothing, it's nothing just forget it okay? Please?" I say and I'm trying to hold onto him for a moment longer. I try to bring his arms back around because I need the security. He wouldn't have it though and continued to ask about it.

"You winced when I touched your shoulders.. What's the matter? I won't just forget it, why are you hurting?" The clear concern in his eyes is too overwhelming so I relent and tell him enough to satisfy his curiosity.

"I just hurt my shoulder, it's really nothing. I didn't know how sore it was until you touched it."

"Did I do this to you? Is this from me throwing you against the wall?" I look away from his face because I can't handle the self hatred there. "Katniss answer me. Did I do this?" He took my lack of response as his answer. He got up and walked away from the couch. He's pinching the bridge of his nose and he looks so lost. I feel the emptiness in my arms and decide to hold them to myself. I won't let myself miss his embrace. I won't let myself feel sad.

"You lied to me." He said and then continued, "This part of me won't ever go away. I can't have you near me when something like that happens. You mean too much to me to hurt. I can't have you lying to me telling me I didn't do something when I did. My brain already can't tell what is real and not real enough as it is." He's right. I'm not helping him. I'm still only hurting him. Why did I start this? Peeta interrupts my thoughts, "I don't blame you so please don't look like that." As it turns out my face gives away more than I thought it did. And with that I'm out the door heading to the woods. That is the only place I can go to clear my mind.

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Okay first who loved the idea of Josh Hutcherson looking like Peeta how she described him in the beginning? Haha I loved it, I won't lie. Well where are they going to go from here? Don't fret, I have a plan so bear with me. Please review and let me know what you think :)