Hi Everyone. I know I haven't updated this story in forever, but I am continuing with it. The next chapter to my story BURNED will also be up in the next few days. Here is the chapter! I don't own the Hunger Games or its characters! The song is part of Josh Groban's song, To Where You Are. I just changed it up a little. Hope you like it!

CHAPTER 5

His house is dark, smelly, and- to tell the truth- disgusting; but somehow it feels like a safe place. Peeta and I sit down on the old couch and Haymitch sits across from us. He looks at us, eyes searching deep into ours. I sneak a look at Peeta. I wish I didn't. His eyes are red and still watery. He still grasps the picture from Micah's house in his hands, but Haymitch ignores it for now. Peeta looks terrible and I'm sure I look just the same. We are both covered in thick sheets of ash and grime. So much for my shower lasting a few days.

"What did you think you were doing?" He asked. His was question as directed to both of us, but his hard eyes were on me. "Don't you know what could have happened if that old building fell in on you?" Peeta and I are silent. The danger hadn't crossed Peeta's mind and I see his eyes flash quickly to me. In response to his worry I grab his hand and nod solemnly. Haymitch looks at our linked hands for a second and then looks back to us.

"I wanted to go into to town, to see the rebuild. I asked Peeta to come with me and he agreed. We decided that maybe we could face it together. But," I stop. Haymitch lifts an eyebrow.

"We got lost in memories." Peeta's voice was quiet and hollow. I squeeze his hand and I am relieved when he squeezes back. Haymitch looks at us one last time.

"I don't want you two going there again unless I am with you. Got it?" Peeta nods, but I'm not so quick to agree.

"We're not children Haymitch," I say. He answers right away.

"But you are. Only 17? Not even legal yet," He says.

"Peeta will be eighteen soon," I say a little more coldly than I intended. Peeta looks over at me with questioning eyes.

"You know my birthday?" He asks. I nod gently.

"May 11th." I catch a hint of a smile after I answer.

"Well Peeta already agreed. I expect that means you will eventually agree too. Go home," He says the first sentence a little gruffly, but his voice softens. "You two could use a shower. And some sleep." We stand and Haymitch walks us to the door. It is quiet.

"Thank you," I say to him. He nods and I know what he would be saying. 'That's what the three of us do; we look out for each other'. I hold Peeta's hand as we walk across to the next house, which is his. When we get to his doorstep I stand on my tip-toes to kiss his cheek. He blinks, but doesn't smile. How could he? What must he be feeling right now? I ruffle his dusty hair and start to turn to walk to my house. I make it down the steps and a few feet towards my house before I hear his heavy feet following me. It has started to rain and I jump as thunder crashes above us.

"Katniss," I hear his voice, barely a yell. I turn to look at him. He is standing in between his porch and where I'm standing. We are already soaked from the rain and I wonder how the weather can change this quickly. "Stay with me." I can see the pain and need in his eyes and I run towards him. I practically jump on him and capture his lips in mine. He seems a little startled at first, but not enough to have a hijacking attack. Soon his lips move against mine, seeking comfort and understanding. I am happy to provide this for him. I will do anything to make him feel better right now. He backs up and lifts me up the porch steps and into the house. Somehow our lips never break contact. The door slams behind us and our kiss deepens. The electricity flowing between us is waking up something I haven't felt in a long time; fire.

And this is why I love Peeta. He can bring out my fire even when I think it may be gone forever. He always knows what I need and I always know what he needs. I can feel his hands wrap into my hair and he leans back on the hallway wall. Eventually we both pull away to breath, but our foreheads press together and I can feel Peeta's breath on my face.

"I love you." I whisper.

"I love you," He returns quietly.

Peeta POV

Her lips feel cracked and dry; I can taste the ash and dust on them. I'm glad she stayed because I really need her right now. I've never felt more alone, but she makes me feel important. One of her hands brushes my curls off of my face gently. I close my eyes and lean my head back against the wall. All this time I had never thought about what had happened to my best friend. There was no way he could be alive. He could have been dead for months now. I just hope he didn't die alone. No one deserves to die alone, especially not Micah. I feel a tear running down my cheek and I look away from Katniss, hoping she wouldn't see.

"Don't cry," she whispers, rubbing the tear away from my cheek. "I hate it when you cry." I bit me lip and look at her. I press my lips to hers gently and she returns the kiss. "Do you really want to know?" She asks as she pulls away.

"What?" I mumble. She takes a deep breath.

"Do you want to know… what happened to him? To Micah." I close my eyes. Do I really want to know? Somehow I think it would be better if I knew for sure, so I can get past it someday; because if I don't find out I'll always be wondering if he really did survive. I'll always have that hope that will eventually be crushed.

"Yes." I say. "But how?" She takes a deep breath.

"I'll call Gale; ask him if he knows anything. Maybe he knows if Micah made it out of the fire. Or maybe he saw Micah in District 13. He knew almost everyone there." I can see the pain in her eyes. She was betrayed by her best friend. I know she feels like Prim's death was her fault, but she also blames Gale. He was the one who invented those bombs. She would never know for sure, but I think she's right. That bomb was Gale's. I could see how cold he had turned. He didn't care who he hurt anymore.

"You don't have to," I say quietly grabbing onto her hand. She shakes her head.

"But I will. For you," she whispers. I'm lucky. I'm so lucky that she loves me. She has no idea how much I love her. She walks over to the couch and sits down by the phone. She curls up and grabs it, dialing the number.

"It's kinda late Katniss, are you sure he will_" I start.

"Hello? Gale it's_" she sighs "It's Katniss." She listens to his response slowly, closing her eyes at one point. Its quiet and I can hear what he's saying if I listen, but I don't want to invade her privacy. "Gale," she sighs. But he keeps talking and I accidently catch what he's saying.

"Catnip, I'm so sorry. I-I didn't know. How could I? The bomb might not have even been mine. It could have been one form the," he says.

"Gale!" Katniss says annoyed. "I don't care about this right now. Things haven't changed. I just need to ask you something." Gale is quiet, but I assume he says something I couldn't hear. "Do you know if Micah Hansen made it out of the bombing?" I wish I didn't hear what Gale said.

"This is for him isn't it?" Gale's voice cuts through the phone. Katniss rolls her eyes.

"So what if it is. He's important to me. I love him and he needs this and if you don't tell me I'll find out one way or another," she says menacingly. Gale says something on the other line and Katniss's face is blank. "What happened to him in 13? What pod was he assigned to?" He survived the fire. Micah didn't burn down with our little town. He had made it to 13. "The one that got…?" She asked quietly.

"Raided by the Capitol soldiers." My eyes close and I lean my head on Katniss's shoulder. One of her small hands comes up to my cheek, holding my head close. My eyes start to burn with the tears I'm holding back.

"What happened to him?" She asks. I don't want to hear this. I changed my mind. Katniss nods to the response I can't hear. "Okay. Okay. Bye Gale." She hangs up the phone and looks over at me. "Are you sure Peeta?" She asks. I know that he's dead now. If he wasn't she would have told me already. I nod, keeping my eyes closed.

"Tell me everything Katniss. Don't be nice. I want to know what happened to him." She grabs my hand and I take a breath before she starts.

"Micah was one of the few people from town to escape the fire. He wasn't at home when the bombs hit, he was delivering something for his father. Gale didn't say if they made it or not. The bombs hit and Micah followed all the Seam kids to the meadow. He made it to 13 and was put onto Pod 25 when the last battle was starting. They were on the frontline of the battle, all fighting, not playing around like us. The second night they were out the Capitol soldiers raided their camp sight.

From what Gale knows Micah had some serious injuries. They brought him back to District 13 and healed him up. They thought that he was going to be fine, but one night his body stopped functioning and his heart shut down. When they finally found the cause he had been gone for too long. They told everyone that it was a small needle in his back that had poisonous Tracker-Jacker venom in it." She smirked and rubbed her thumb on my hand gently.

"He's gone," I say quietly.

"He's gone." She agrees. I feel a few tears leak down my cheeks and I feel Katniss curling into me. I wrap my arms around her and pull her as close as she can get to me. "He's in a better place now Peeta." It is quiet as I lean my head down to rest on her shoulder.

"I know." We sit still until a thought crosses my mind. "I want to do something." I say. Katniss's eyes are caring and determined. She will help me.

KATNISS POV

We spent the night outside, digging a small hole. Then, as Peeta sat down with a rock and began carving words into it, I roamed around, looking for any flowers I could find. When I had a big enough bunch I tied them together with some thin bark strips and then walked over to where Peeta was standing. The hole was still empty, and I didn't know what he was going to place in it, but it didn't matter really. This was what we were doing to honor Micah. I walked up to Peeta. He stood motionless and I wrapped my arms around his waist. Only then did I see the picture in Peeta's hands. He was going to bury it. I felt my eyes stinging with tears, but I held them back. The rock was now lying at the head of the hole, a few words neatly scratched into it.

Micah Drew Hansen

Friend, Son, Neighbor

Peeta kneeled down and my arm slipped away. He sat now, on both knees and I crouched down to be with him. I watched in silence as he gently placed the photo into the hole. His voice startled me, even thought it was barely a whisper.

"Should we… say something?" He asks. His voice is shaking.

"I can sing. I remember the song they sang at my father's funeral. I could try to sing it." Peeta only nods. I stand, leaving Peeta to say whatever words he needs to say below me.

"Fly me up to where you are, beyond the distant stars. I wish upon tonight to see you smile. If only for a while to know your there. A breath away is not far to where you are.

'Cuz you are ours and we forever love you. Watching down on us form up above. And I believe that angels breathe and that you will live on and never leave.

Fly me up to where you are beyond the distant wish upon tonight to see you smile. Fly us up tonight, way beyond the stars. Fly us up to where you are tonight."

It is quiet for a few seconds, completely quiet. No birds made any noise and I looked into the trees for them. I gasped when I saw the mockingjays. There were at least a hundred, sitting on the trees surrounding us. None of them were making any noise. They were all just sitting; watching us. I kneeled down next to Peeta. His blue eyes were bloodshot and I could see tear tracks on his cheeks. I grabbed one of his hands in both of mine. He looked at me and I looked up at the birds, sitting all around us. Peeta's eyes followed mine and slowly, as he looked around, all the mockingjays started copying my song. They sang it in beautiful harmony and I was positive the whole town could hear it.

Peeta and I stood up and said our last goodbyes and then walked back into his house. The mockingjays were still singing and they continued to sing while Peeta and I climbed into his bed and fell asleep in each other's arms. My dreams that morning were full of singing Mockingjays, Micah's joking smiles, and bright, swirling stars.

That's it! Please Please Please review! Look out for the next chapters for both my Hunger Games stories!