Sorry, it's been so long!
I tried to make this chapter a little more... well... better. :)
Thanks for all the comments, and I will
definitely take your thoughts into consideration.
Enjoy this chapter! :D

After Rye disappeared behind the hill, I broke down in tears. Silent ones, you know, the ones that you try to keep back but can't, and they just spill out while you silently weep to yourself about how much your life sucks.

Now, I'm back home, on the couch, with Peeta, talking about what we should do next. "We almost had him, Peeta!" I shout to him over the crackling fire. "Katniss, I know! But what can we do now? Nothing we do now can change anything in the past!" he snaps back. I scoff and turn around. I see Willow's doors ajar, and a gentle face peering at me. "Willow, shut your door," I say, not hesitant to yell at her. "She's only caused us frustration since Rye's left," I turn back around. Peeta shrugs. "She hasn't caused me any frustration," he says. "Okay, fine," I correct myself, "she's caused me frustration."
Peeta looks down at the fireplace, and sighs.

"Then what do we do?" he asks. I cross my arms. "We bring her to Haymitch," I say matter-of-factly. "Why? She has school... tomorrow is Monday," Peeta says, "That'll give us a good few hours to look for Rye."
I shake my head. "We need days. Hours just isn't enough," I say. Peeta looks out the window and swallows hard. "Okay," he nods. "We can bring her to Haymitch's at dawn, and leave Willow there for three days. And then we look for Rye," I offer. Peeta nods again. "But shouldn't we tell Haymitch first, and not just... show up at his door with Willow?" he asks. I shrug. "What's the worst he can do?"

Me and Peeta wake up at five in the morning the next day. While he gets dressed, I pop on my robe and walk into Willow's room. "Wake up," I tell her, turning the light on. "Ugh... just five more minutes..." Willow groans, turning onto her side. "You're not going to school," I tell her. She slowly opens her eyes and asks, "Why?" Then she smiles and says, "Wait, never mind. Any day home from school is a good day."

And with that, she buries herself under her quilts, falling back asleep. "You're not staying home either," I say, dragging the quilts off of my daughter. Willow bolts upright. "Where am I going?" she shouts. "You'll see," I tell her. She gets dressed, and I do, too.

Haymitch doesn't live far from our house. It takes about fifteen minutes to walk to his home, and by then, Willow is getting frustrated. "Why won't you tell us where we are going?!" she stops abruptly. Peeta and I refuse to answer her redundant question, and as we continue walking, Willow is forced to keep up.

Eventually, we see Haymitch's house at the end of a dirt road. He got a new one built, close to mine, just in case I needed help with anything.

Peeta, Willow, and I let ourselves inside the house, and we can see Haymitch, sleeping on the couch- his hand gripped tightly around his knife. "Haymitch!" I shout to him. He stirs, and when the door slams shut behind us, he wakes up. "Wha...?" he mumbles. Then, his eyes meet Willow's. "Well, hello, sweetheart," he says, "You must be Willow Mellark."
Willow glances at me. "How does he know my name...?" she whispers. I sigh. Willow never met Haymitch before, but I've told him everything about her. Haymitch turns to Peeta and I and asks, "What do you need?"

"Rye is gone," I say through gritted teeth. Haymitch pouts. "How unfortunate," he shrugs, reaching for his bottle of liquor on the table. How unfortu- what the hell does that mean?!

Tears build up in my eyes, and Peeta must see them, because he quickly says, "It's not just 'unfortunate'. It's a big deal."
Haymitch grunts. "Sweetheart, tell me why you're here. You need help finding the kid? Need a drink? What?" he asks. I look down at Willow, and then to Peeta, and then Haymitch. "We're leaving Willow with you for three days," I say. Willow throws her arms in the air.

"WHAT?!" she screams. Haymitch shrugs. "Alright, sweetheart. But three days at the most- or else she's going out on the curb," he chuckles. I sigh, having to hear Willow's cries of disapproval. "No, no, no! You are not leaving me with this drunk! Not for three days, not for two days, not for one day! I am not going to-"

Peeta grabs her shoulder and shouts, "Listen to me, Willow! We are your parents and you are going to do what we tell you! Not the other way other way around! Always nagging us, always needing things your way!"

Willow's bottom lip quivers as Peeta's voice echoes throughout the house.

"Not anymore, Willow! Just because you're a teenager now, it doesn't mean that you can do whatever you want! So when Katniss and I tell you do something, you do it! Am I clear?!"

When he finishes talking...well, screaming... Willow wipes a tear from her cheek and nods.
Haymitch looks at him for a second, and says, "A little frustrated, aren't we?"

Peeta lets out an exhausted sigh. "Haymitch, deal with her yourself. Katniss and I have to go."

Haymitch lays back down on the couch and closes his eyes. "Darling, can you get me a bottle of liquor from the cabinets?" he asks. Willow trudges into the kitchen, where the bottle-filled cabinets hang on the walls.

Peeta and I walk out of the house. A flurry of snowflakes fall from the sky.
"We need to go back at the meadow," I tell Peeta. "Didn't he run away from the meadow yesterday?" he lifts his eyebrows. "Okay, fine. Where do you think we should look?" I snap. "Um..."

"Exactly. That's why we're going to the meadow."

I drag him along with me, and the snow starts to get worse. By the time we get to the meadow, the snow is so thick we can barely see each other.

"How will we find him we can't see three feet in front of us?" Peeta grunts.

For a long while, we don't speak to each other, we just search. Behind trees, across the river, in the mossy logs. We look everywhere.

"We aren't going to find him," Peeta finally says. "Can you not say that?" I ask. Peeta reaches out and touches my arm. "Katniss, listen," he tells me, "He could literally be anywhere. I say we go home, cuddle up, and search in the morning."

"And what? Make this whole trip worth nothing?"

I groan, throwing my head back. I was so discouraged. Peeta was angry at me. And Willow probably wanted to slap me. "Okay, fine. Do you want to keep looking? We'll probably get hypothermia and we won't be able to look for Rye for a week," Peeta says. I hold onto his arm, just so I know where he is. Not that I didn't hate him at the moment.

"Go home, Peeta. I don't care. But I'm still looking. I don't care if I freeze to death, but I'm not going to stop until I find my son," I tell Peeta. His eyes widen, and he shakes his arm from my grip. "Goodbye, Katniss. Pick up Willow from Haymitch's when you come to your senses," he says.
And with that, he disappears into the snow.

"Peeta, wait! I didn't actually mean it!" I shout. But he's gone. And I don't really have a choice of what I do now.