HEY GUYS! I WAS KIND OF DISAPPOINTED WITH THE REVIEWS FOR THE LAST CHAPTER. THE LAST TIME I CHEKCED THERE WAS ONLY 2 NEW REVIEWS. I PROMISED THIS CHAPTER WOULD BE EARLY, BUT I HELD IT BACK A FEW DAYS BECAUSE OF THE WHOLE REVIEW THING. THE NEXT ONE SHOULD BE UP BY THURSDAY. THANK YOU TO THOSE WHO DID REVIEW. THEY ARE SOME OF MY CONSTANT READERS. I DON'T OWN THE HUNGER GAMES. I HOPE YOU LIKE IT!

PEETA POV

The sweet song of a bird whistling woke me up in the morning. I was still on the couch, crushed up against the back. Katniss was in stirring also in my arms, turning in towards me. I smiled a little. No nightmares. Just like before. 'Real or Not Real?' I thought. Katniss's eyes opened slowly and she looked down when she saw me looking at her. She sat up and got off the couch. I sat up, looking up at her. She was looking at the ground. Her face was hard.

"Um," she said awkwardly.

"Don't worry about it. Best sleep I've gotten since we've been home," I said, trying to sound at ease. It sounded more forced than I hoped for.

"Yeah well you always were good at comforting me," she said. She sounded like herself. She started walking to the door and I gently followed her.

"Can_" I said, but then stopped. She turned to look at me, her eyes guarded. Then I realized why she was acting so hard. She was protecting herself. She didn't know if I had heard her say she loved me last night and she didn't want to lose me again. I was finally able to read her expressions again. "Can I walk you home?" She nodded and I opened the door for her. It was quiet as we walked across the yard to her house. I watched her hair swing in the wind. Even matted and unwashed it was still beautiful. I felt myself reaching up to touch it. She whipped around to look at me. Her eyes were questioning. She had thought I was going to hurt her. I took a step back, looking at the dirt path.

"Don't ever cut your hair Katniss," I whispered. "Please? It's beautiful." Katniss was looking at me with tears in her eyes. She reached out for me, touching me like you would an injured animal. Her little hand closed around mine.

"Ok," she said. We kept walking and when we got to her door we dropped hands. I didn't know how to tell her. It just came out.

"I heard you last night," I said, biting my lip. "When you said you…" I trailed off. I had meant to be smoother than that.

"When I said I loved you," she finished for me.

"You said that, Real or Not Real?" I asked.

"Real." It was a whisper, a feather blowing in the wind. I looked up at her then. She tried to smile. It looked sort of like a smirk. A memory flashed across my mind. That was how Katniss always smiled. A smirk. I smiled then, a real smile. I pulled her close to me, not caring about being gentle. We broke away, our eyes meeting shyly. She opened her unlocked door and started to step inside.

"Katniss," I called after her. She turned around, looking a little out of breath. "I- I love you."

"I love you too Peeta."

KATNISS POV

I was looking into the mirror again, this time for a new purpose. What did Peeta see in me? What does he still see in me; after all I've done to him? My hair was ratty and looked dirty. It definitely wasn't beautiful. My skin was not smooth or soft anymore, but then again neither was his. Images of fire mutts flashed through my brain and I shuddered. I was plain.

I decided I wanted to go into town. To see how it was being rebuilt. I don't remember how long ago the remaining town's members had returned. A month maybe? I turned on the shower, stripping free of my wrinkled clothes. I tried not to look at my scared body in the mirror. I took my time washing my hair, trying to detangle it. I scrubbed my skin clean until it smelled fresh. I hadn't cleaned myself up in a while. I wrapped myself in a fluffy white towel and walked barefoot into my room. I hadn't opened this part of my closet since I brought Annie Odair here to find a wedding dress. The clothes that Cinna had designed for me. I slipped on fresh underclothes and found a pair of beige capris. They had been small on me then, now they were at least one size too big. I found a plain orange shirt and slipped it over my head. There was a brush sitting on my vanity, something I hadn't used in a month at least. I pulled it gently through my hair now, trying to untangle the mess. I was surprised when I was finished. It was its natural curly style, flowing down my back. I didn't put make-up on. I never do.

I wondered if I should ask Peeta to come with me. Would he be able to handle seeing the sight of Mellark's burned to the ground? That was his home. I didn't want to lose him, not when I was finally getting him back. I decided to ask him. He would know if he could stand the trip.

I walked over to Peeta's house, the gravel crunching familiarly beneath my boots. My hair blew around my face and I wished I had braided it. I didn't want it to tangle again. My pink splotchy skin burned a little from the sun, but I ignored it. Maybe it would return to a normal color if it saw sunlight more. I knocked on his door, feeling my stomach do a flip. I couldn't help but feel that this was what it could have been like. If we were never reaped we could have fallen in love slowly, shyly. There was no answer. I knocked again and the house stayed quiet. I felt my eyebrows pull together in confusion. I walked around to the back of the house. I saw his blonde curls sitting in the far corner of the yard, blown by the wind. I straightened out my hair and walked over slowly so I wouldn't catch him off guard.

I knew something was wrong as I got closer. He wasn't moving. It was quiet.

"Peeta?" I asked gently. He didn't move to look at me. I walked over to his side. His eyes were blank, staring at something I couldn't see. I touched his arm lightly, causing him to jump out of his skin.

"Katniss!" he gasped. "Sorry. I- I was just," he paused.

"It's alright," I said. He noticed my appearance.

"You look really good," he said. "You cleaned up didn't you?" I nodded, blushing a little. One of his rough fingers curled around a strand of my hair. I took a seat next to him, looking out into the forest.

"I was thinking of going into town," I said. My heart ached. "You know, to see how the rebuild is going. I haven't seen it yet."

"Me either. Haymitch has been trying to tell me about it, but I'm not sure if I wanna hear it." I nodded.

"Would you like to come with me?" I asked, picking at the grass. "Maybe we could face it together."Peeta was silent for a minute and I watched the wind blow his hair.

"Sure," he said. "Maybe that would be good for me... for us." I followed him into his house and waited for him to get dressed. I saw that notebook sitting on the table. This time it was open. I knew Peeta didn't want me to read it. It couldn't help but catch the few words on the open page.

Katniss is not a mutt. Katniss loves me. I am a mutt. How can she love me?

I frowned. There was more on the page, but I stopped reading. Those were his private thoughts. It was a good thing I stopped because I heard Peeta's familiar, heavy footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Ready?" I asked, standing up quickly as he came into the room. I felt bad for reading part of his notebook. He looked at me a little unsurely.

"Yeah," he said.

We walked quietly towards the town. I bit my lip as we neared the edge. I could see Peeta craning his neck. I knew what he was looking for. He wanted to see where Mellark's had been. I grabbed his hand gently and he squeezed mine so tight I thought it might cut off the circulation. I gently brushed my thumb across the back of his hand and he let loose a little. I could see where Mellark's had been. As soon as Peeta saw it he let go of my hand and started running. He stopped where the steps started to crumble away to almost nothing. I walked towards him, speeding up as he sank slowly to the ground. When I got to his side his face was in his hands. I didn't know what to do. I kneeled down next to him, sitting on my knees.

"Peeta," I whispered. He didn't move. "I'm right here Peeta, ok?" I asked gently. He nodded, keeping his face in his hands. I put my hand on his shoulder, causing him to look up at me. Tears were streaming out of his bright blue eyes, falling onto his shirt.

He looks so young when he cries. It makes it hard for me to understand how anyone could hurt him. I opened my arms up and he crawled over to me, leaning his head against my chest. He was shaking. I brought one of my hands up to his face, holding him to me. He had wrapped his arms around my waist. When he had stopped crying I helped him up and we walked down the path to the main road together. When we got back to the road he stopped to take one last look. I grabbed his hand gently.

"Are you alright Peeta?" I asked. He shook his head, closing his eyes. We began walking forward, away from his memories. I hoped he wasn't going to have a hijacking attack. The town was demolished; worse than the Seam had been before. We had all been used to the Town being sparkling and clean compared to the Seam. Now it was just piles of rubble. I looked over at Peeta.

I shouldn't have brought him. He wasn't ready for this. He had grown up here, known all the families that lived in the shops. Almost all of the Townies had died. Peeta didn't know very many survivors. He lost everything. His eyes were flashing around the street. The butcher shop, the seamstress, the depot store; all were blown to pieces. He stopped in front of a particular building. It was one of the luckier ones, charcoaled but not completely gone like the bakery.

"Oh my god," Peeta said. He was walking forward, towards the opening where a door had once been.

"Peeta," I called after him as he stepped inside. "Peeta! Don't go in there, it's dangerous." He was already gone. I sighed and followed him in. I was surprised at what I saw. The inside was still almost fully intact. I remembered this building now. The Blacksmith. I saw Peeta standing by what looked like a table. He had ventured through the store and into the blacksmith's home.

I stepped over charred furniture and ashy welding tools. Peeta had picked something up off of the table and was looking down blankly at it. I slowly walked up behind him and looked over his shoulder. It was a picture, in a carved wooden frame. It was too young faces laughing into the camera. One had bright blue eyes, curly ash blonde hair, and the cutest smile a child could have. Peeta. His little cheeks were rosy with joy and he was laughing over at the other boy.

I knew this boy too. Everyone knew this boy. He had unmistakable dark locks and emerald green eyes. Freckles dotted his perfect nose and he had his arm around Peeta, laughing along with him. This was Micah Hansen. Micah was the kid that everyone wanted to be friends with. The goofy kid that could make anything fun. Peeta's eyes were watering. He sank down to his knees, clutching the picture to his chest.

"Peeta," I whispered. He was crying hard now. Suddenly I remembered. They were best friends; always by each other's side. If Peeta was at the bakery Micah would be there to, keeping him company while he frosted the cakes. If Micah was delivering something for his father, Peeta would tag along.

"Katniss," Peeta gasped. "Is he alive? Have you seen him? Please tell me that he's not gone." I bit my lip. I hadn't seen Micah. I hadn't seen him since before our first games. Of course there was a chance he could be alive, but it wasn't a good one. Micah was the kind of person who wasn't afraid to fight for what he thought was right. Micah had probably been assigned to a group of rebels, if he had even escaped the fire. There was no chance he could have survived all that. Peeta noticed that I hadn't answered him. "Katniss?" He asked, tears mixing with the ash smearing his face.

"I don't know Peeta," I said. I was crying now. I wished that I could tell him the Micah was alive. That he had survived, like us, because he was a part of Peeta. Micah was like a brother to Peeta. If I, an unsocial girl from the Seam, could see that, then anyone could. "I don't know!" I sat down next to Peeta and we cried.

I wasn't crying only for Micah. I was crying for Peeta, for Prim, for everyone who I had hurt to save my own life. Micah Hansen had been killed because of me, just like everyone else from the town. Even people from my own family were gone because of me. Eventually it got dark and the stars came out. We stopped crying. The only thing I knew was that Peeta's arms were around me and his tears had made my shirt cold. A shadow appeared in the doorway, a light shining from its hand.

"Come on," the gruff voice said. "Let's go kiddos." I felt a rough hand pulling me up. Then Peeta was standing beside me. The shadow led us out into the night, back towards the Victor's Village. I only realized who it was when we headed for the only other occupied house in the Village.

Haymitch.

THAT'S IT! PLEASE REVIEW, IT REALLY MOTIVATES ME TO UPDATE FASTER. SUGGESTIONS? LEAVE ME A REVIEW OR PM ME! KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER!