A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for being patient as I took a short vacation. I thought long and hard about this chapter while I was camping. I hope you enjoy it! Please review, thanks so much!

I awoke a few mornings after spending the day in Peeta's bakery, shaking from a nightmare. I had given up asking myself when they would stop. I had turned to Haymitch one afternoon of his rare sobriety asking him what I should do for them. He looked me in the eyes.

"There's nothing you can do about them, sweetheart. They come with the games." He had muttered in a gruff, but soft, tone. I had felt his light touch on my shoulder, gently patting. He had then stood up with a grunt and lumbered off.

I sighed and slouched out of bed, I could hear Greasy Sae in the kitchen making breakfast. As I slowly moved down the stairs, I remembered the way Peeta looked at me. His eyes, glassed over and sharp. I realized then that he was suffering just as much as I was. He, too, had lost his family. All of his family. I not only wanted to comfort him, I needed him to comfort me.

I was met at the table with a plate of eggs and potatoes. "Good morning, Sae." I smiled up at her slightly, still feeling the nightmare.

Sae returned the small gesture. "Good morning, Katniss. Peeta made some delicious sourdough bread this morning." I took a few bites of potatoes and a slice of sourdough bread. Sae was delighted to see my appetite returning, and I was glad there was one less person that I disappointed every day. I invited her to stay with me for a few minutes and have a cup of coffee, Sae gladly accepted and took a seat next to me at the breakfast bar. "So how is Peeta doing?" She asked as she took a sip of black coffee.

I glanced up at her quickly, and stared at my potatoes as I spoke. "Uh…I went to visit him the day before yesterday. At the bakery. It was nice, we chatted a little while he worked, but…" I trailed off.

Sae looked deeply concerned, the wrinkles in her aged skin growing deeper. "But? But what?" She was hesitant.

"He had a flashback. I haven't been around him for so long that I didn't know what to do…I usually comfort him during…but he told me to leave." I buried my head in my hands. "So I did."

The feel of Sae's warm hand on my shoulder comforted me slightly. I had had almost no human contact in the past three months. "Katniss, anyone would have done what you did. Maybe it was better for Peeta that you did leave…you know, you could always visit him again. If you spend enough time with him, I bet you a turkey and a pig that the flashbacks will begin to go away." She eyed me with confidence.

"You think so?" I lifted my head, shifting my body to face her.

She smiled a delicate smile. "I bet you a turkey and a pig, didn't I?"

A short, light laugh escaped my lips and my hand flew to my mouth. I was so shocked to hear laughter coming from me, it was almost foreign. Greasy Sae raised an eyebrow and her smile widened. "And I'm sure Peeta wants to see you, too."

I felt something twitch in my stomach and brushed it away. "Thanks Sae." I said genuinely. "For everything." The food, the advice, the company.

"Anytime, dear." She replied patting my shoulder. She slid off the stool with a small grunt and hobbled to the door. "I left some of that turkey stew on your counter…there's enough for two people." She smiled wryly and I shook my head at her, but couldn't help smiling. "I will see you tomorrow." The door closed behind her and the room was silent again.

I sighed as I stood from the stool and walked slowly around the living, my mind wandering. The sun was almost in the middle of sky, and warming the world. I sighed and plopped down on the sofa. I thought of all the people I hadn't heard from or seen since I shut myself in my house, wanting to be a recluse forever. There was my mother, who I longed to talked to but was scared of my little sister being brought up. Gale, who was off in District Four…probably with the most beautiful girl in the world. Effie, who was in the Capitol doing who knows what. And then there's Haymitch…drunk, old Haymitch that lived one house down from me and I still hadn't seen him. Sometimes I did worry about him, in that house, drunk most of the time with no one to check up on him…

I quickly sat up on the sofa and made a swift decision. I was going to go check up on Haymitch. That will kill some time and put my mind at ease. Even if Haymitch was irritating and we argued most of the time, he was still my mentor and I thought of him as family. After all, sometimes you don't like your family members.

I changed out of my nightgown into a pair of pants, a light tunic and some shoes. On my way out the door, I saw Peeta on his front step. He should be at the bakery by now…maybe he forgot something. I stopped in my tracks and backed into the house, trying to avoid him. The last thing I wanted to do right now was cause him to have a flashback. He entered his house and I sprinted off my front porch, past Peeta's house and into Haymitch's yard.

The yard was untidy compared to mine and Peeta's, for Peeta tends to them every so often. Just one more thing I owed him.

I knocked on the white door to the house. Not hearing anything, I knocked again. And again. Until I opened the door and almost vomited. The house had a putrid air and was covered in old food and spots of what looked like contents of a stomach. Haymitch was lying on the ground, pale and twitching. He was choking.

I panicked and rushed to him, crouching at his side. "Haymitch? Haymitch!" I was yelling now, trying to wake him up. I took action and struggled to remember what my mother would do. I bent my head, pressed my ear to his chest and listened to his breathing, it was slow and uneven. "Haymitch! Haymitch! Wake up, dammitt!" I screamed. For some reason, it killed me to think of this man I did not like dying. Without hesitation, I stuck my two fingers in his throat and forced him to vomit. He did but his breathing was still shallow and rough. I listened to his heart and heard slow beats. Too slow. "Haymi-"

The door burst open, slamming against the wall next to it. Peeta stood in the threshold, shock and confusion covering his expression. "Katniss?" He whispered. "What's…" His voice trailed off as he saw Haymitch and he rushed to kneel beside me. "We have to get him to the clinic."

The medical clinic in District Twelve was new but unfinished. They had a few doctors and a small supply of medical equipment, but it was part of the districts attempt to become more useful and modern. "But…will they know what he needs?" I murmured.

"It's worth a shot," he sighed and hooked his arm under Haymitch. Together we half carried, half dragged the unconscious man to the clinic as quick as we could. In the clinic, a short, dark haired nurse fluttered about when she saw us and led us to a room titled "Emergency Care" where we sat Haymitch on the bed. A doctor hastily ushered us out of the room and shut the door behind him with a short, "you two may wait in the lobby."

I sat in one of the small, blocky arm chairs with a huff. The nurse asked Peeta to fill out some paper work and he did, standing at the desk. I raked my eyes down his body and noticed he was gaining back his muscle and his stocky build.

He handed the papers back to the nurse and took a seat next to me. "When did you decide to check on Haymitch?" He asked me, his eyes focused on mine.

"I felt like I needed to for some reason." I admitted, shrugging.

"Well, we're lucky you did." He laughed.

I smiled at the happy sound. Oh, how I missed that laugh. "Yea, we are. Why did you come over?"

"I heard you screaming, I got worried." He mumbled, looking down.

"Oh," was all I said.

"Yep." He replied. "So," he turned his body towards me. "H-how are you? How have you been?"

The casual question caught me off guard. Honestly, I didn't know how I had been. My emotions were so derailed. "I guess I've been better," I let out a small laugh. Peeta didn't follow in suit. His eyes were sad. He could see right through me and I knew he detected I was only skimming the surface of how I felt.

"Katniss," he whispered. He didn't say it in a scolding town, but one that said 'I'm here for you.' At least, that's what I hoped it meant. "I'm so sorry." He rested a hand on mine, extremely cautiously. Not for me, but for himself. He didn't know how he would react. After a moment, he relaxed and curled his fingers around mine. I relished in the feeling, realizing how much I truly missed it. I turned my hand to link my fingers with his. "You don't know how much I miss you." He whispered, barely audible.

I felt my heart warm, but at the same time it ached. And I didn't know why. I finally met his gaze and the ache disappeared. "I know how much I miss you."

Peeta's beautiful eyes softened and he gave my hand a light squeeze, the small smile returning to his lips. So we sat and waited, our hands still linked, talking occasionally.

Almost three hours had passed before a doctor entered the small lobby and called us. Peeta and I released each others hands and walked towards the doctor. "Ms. Everdeen, Mr. Mellark. My name is Dr. Nirdect. First, I must say I am extremely moved by the courage you two had throughout the games and the rebellion."

I sucked in a ragged breath, expecting Peeta to have a flashback but was surprised to feel him move closer to me so our arms touched once. If it was meant as comfort, it worked. "Thank you, sir. We couldn't have done it without the support of the people here in District Twelve." Peeta spoke, always so smooth with words. I glanced at his face and saw his jaw clenched. His hands were tightened into fists and I understood that he was trying his hardest to stay in the moment and fight the glassy eyes, the tense body, the memories that were altered so violently.

The doctor nodded with a smile on his face. "Right, well we owe it all to you two." A moment passed before the doctor cleared his throat and changed the subject, to my relief. "As you both probably know, Mr. Abernathy had a minor but still serious case of alcohol poisoning. We were lucky to have the equipment needed to pump his stomach and remove most of the alcohol. We had him swallow a coal substance to penetrate the rest of the alcohol. He did not like that at all." I heard myself let out one quiet laugh and saw Peeta smile. "But we gave him strict orders to stay off alcohol for a week or so and to finish this bottle of pills. They will help the craving for liquor remain small for at least a few days."

"Thank you so much, Dr. Nirdect." I spoke, reaching my hand out to shake his.

"You are more than welcome, Ms. Everdeen. Give me a call if anything worries you. I would like to keep Mr. Abernathy here overnight to monitor him. Make sure everything is well."

Peeta and I agreed that would be best, bid the doctor goodbye and left the clinic. The sun was beginning to hide behind the mountains as we walked home, close to each other, but not touching. We walked in comfortable silence to my house. At the door, I felt myself become sad knowing that Peeta had to return home.

"Peeta?" I called to him before he stepped off the stairs of my porch. He turned back to me, that sly smile playing on his lips. I couldn't help but grin. My mind was stuck on the turkey stew sitting on my counter. "Would you like to join me for dinner? Greasy Sae made turkey stew…enough for two people." I laughed nervously.

"I'd love to." The sly smile turned into a grin as he walked towards me. He gestured for me to go ahead of him and I did, leading the way to the kitchen. I warmed up the stew as I felt Peeta's eyes watch me. I spooned the stew into two bowls and sliced up some sourdough bread. We sat at the table and enjoyed the stew and bread.

"You shot this turkey, right?" Peeta asked, breaking the silence.

"Yep. I brought it to Sae and she made the stew."

"It's good." Peeta murmured, shoveling another spoonful into his mouth. I hummed in agreement.

"You made this bread, right?" I joked. Peeta laughed and nodded.

"Yea, it was a tough kill." He teased back. I laughed along, realizing that I had laughed more in one day than I had in months.

We enjoyed the rest of our dinner, and afterwards sat on the couch, a safe distance apart. Peeta had made a quick batch of sugar cookies and we were munching on the warm snack.

"Katniss," he started after finishing his cookie. "I want to apologize for the other night…at the bakery, I am so s-"

"It's okay, you we-" I quickly tried to reassure him, but he interrupted, placing a hand on my arm.

"Let me finish." He said sternly, but still kind. I clamped my mouth shut. "The sound of that bowl crashing, and then knowing you were there right next to me….In the cave during the first Hunger Games, you fed me poisonous syrup to try and kill me. Real or not real?"

I felt a rage burn through my body. I thought I'd known how sick and twisted the Capitol was, but each time Peeta asked me these questions, I hated them more. They would do anything to hurt the ones I loved.

I looked into his eyes and the rage vanished. "Not real. That was sleep syrup. I used it because you wouldn't let me go to the feast and get you the medicine you needed for your cut. I think you forgave me though."

Peetas eyes flitted across my face, he looked as if he was racking his brain, trying to remember. After a moment he smiled. "I remember now…and yes, I did forgive you. I also remember something about other guys being my competition…and you saying something like," he tried to imitate my voice, but it sounded like a boy crazy schoolgirl. " 'Oh Peeta! You have no competition at all, anywhere! You are absolutely amazing!"

I burst into a huge laughing fit and smacked his arm. "First," I began, saying words that were garbled with laughter. "I sound nothing like that, and second, that was a bit different from what I said!" I laughed harder, clutching my stomach.

Peeta chuckled along, grinning as he watched me. "Well, it was close to what you said."

I looked at him and shook my head, my laughs slowly subsiding. His smile faded but his face was still warm and kind. He scooted a bit closer to me. "Is…is that still true?"

I felt my stomach flutter and began to lose myself in his ocean colored eyes. I smiled slyly, not knowing how to answer the question. "Well…" I knew I had to answer honestly, and since there were no cameras watching our every move, no people to satisfy, I did. "Let's just say, if there was a competition, you'd be the winner."

Peeta grinned and nodded. "You have no idea how happy that makes me." I laughed once again and he continued to smile as he stood up and yawned. "I better get going, I'm pretty tired." I suddenly felt tired as well. I stood up with him and we walked to the door together. The air was humid and I heard thunder rolling in the distance.

"Goodnight," Peeta murmured to me as we stood on the porch. I looked up at him, remembering how tall he was.

"Goodnight," I say in a whisper.

It was so fast that I'm not sure if it even happened. I felt Peeta's warm breath by my ear and his soft lips press against my cheek, then his body was a few feet away and he was smiling.

"See you soon." And he was gone, walking through the warm air to his house.

His words hung in the silence and I clung to them. See you soon.

When I was inside, I shut the door and leaned up against it. This feeling was so different. How could one little kiss on the cheek make my neck and cheeks turn pink and hot, when he and I had kissed passionately before?

It occurred to me when I was laying in bed that night, this feeling was different because it wasn't forced. It was happening naturally, the way it should happen. And I felt as though the way Peeta imitated me was true…I felt like a boy crazy schoolgirl.

A/N: Thanks so much for reading! I really appreciate each and every one of you. Also, suggestions are gladly accepted! Reviews are happiness…thanks again!

Xo

Hyper Maiden