Regrets and Returns)
Chap 2
It has been 2 years. Two years since she left. Two years since she ran away, after her father was murdered. Two years since I've looked into those beautiful grey Seam eyes, since I ran my hands through her long, silky dark tresses, kissed her luscious pink lips.
Every day, I hope and pray that maybe today, maybe today is the day that she'll come home. The day I'll see her again. Every day, for the last two years. The day she left was the day of her father's funeral. She cried the whole day, understandable of course when one has just lost their father, especially to such tragic circumstances. I stayed by her side the whole day, like any good boyfriend should, and walked her home. She was still crying on our way back to her house in the Seam, from the Justice Building in the town square, but every so often, she would start muttering things under her breath, "It's all my fault. I should have listened to him." It worried me, but because she was so stressed, I didn't push her. When I dropped her off at her house, into the care of her mother and sister, I kissed her softly good-bye, and left her for the night, promising that I would stop by tomorrow, to see how she was doing.
That was the last time I saw her.
The next day, when I arrived at her house to check on her, her mother was frantic with worry and her sister, Primrose, was just running out of the house, with tears pouring down her face. Her mother broke the news to me.
"Katniss is gone. All her things are missing as well. It looks like she's run away. Peeta, I'm sorry."
I immediately went out to help Prim search for Katniss, but she must have left late in the night, because we could find no signs of her anywhere. Not in the town, or in the Seam, or near the mines. Prim and I even scoured the woods, although neither of us knew where to look, because we had never been with her in the woods when she wanted to be alone, so basically it was just a stab in the dark.
That day has stayed with me, and I can still recall it in pristine detail, for 2 years, and still never once have I believed she didn't have a good reason for leaving. All the other girls in Twelve, since Katniss was "out of the picture" as they all said, tried to "ease my sadness", but I was never interested in any of them. They weren't my Girl on Fire. The only girl I even let get remotely close to me was Madge Undersee. We had been friends since we were little, and the only reason I would spend any time with her was because she wasn't trying to make me forget Katniss, and maybe because she was Katniss' best friend. She knew I still loved Katniss, and missed her with all my heart, and understood, because she missed her best friend too. Besides, Madge had a boyfriend, Katniss' cousin and hunting partner, Gale Hawthorne.
It was today, exactly 2 years after she left, that I was lost in my thoughts, decorating cakes for this week's window display, wallowing in my ever-present grief, just after Madge left, after our yearly 'we miss her so much' hug and I had kissed her on the cheek, when I felt the presence of someone staring through the window at me. There were no cakes in the window at the moment, because I was doing the new ones right now, so they must be staring at me. I glanced up just as the person was turning away, but my eyes locked with hers. They were instantly recognisable. Those Seam grey eyes, flecked with silver that made them so unique. The eyes snapped away from mine, and the girl, or should I say woman now, turned on her heel, and fled across the square, with me still frozen in shock. It was her. She was finally home, after 2 years of hoping and praying, she was home. One word escaped from my mouth, her name.
"Katniss."