Well that did not take very long at all for people to read the first chapter of my little fic. I am so very happy and excited to have something back up and active since it has been such a long time since I have had anything decent to publish. I see all those lovely hits, but not many reviews, remember they feed me happiness! Perhaps I am a bit cautious about writing in a different ficdom than where I started originally and have hopes to have a positive reception here as well as where I started.

Well, anyways on to the story, this is how Katniss and Peeta ended up together. This is still pretty condensed, but much more expanded than what was in the book. I picked out a few specific times that I felt were the most important and moved the story along at a quick enough pace. Enjoy!

Chapter 23

How it came to pass…

It had been a long hard road to recovery for both myself and Peeta. We were still so very broken, and in some ways I wondered if there was any way to be completely unbroken; if normal was something that we would ever be able to grasp or attain. It had been a very bleak first six months of my return to District 12, seeming to spend the first month waiting for Peeta to arrive back. Then spending the next five walking on eggshells, for whose benefit I am unsure, but eggshells none the less. We were both so broken that even though we somehow recognized we needed the other to heal, yet we were so unsure of the other. We were afraid that if we were to reach out to fast or maybe even if we did reached out at all, that we would break in our fragileness, either ourselves or each other.

At first we interacted three or four days a week, both looking haggard and generally drawn from our lack of quality sleep, alone. Then he began to come over for breakfasts and then I began to be invited over for dinners at his home, Greasy Sae deciding that switching it up would be better for the both of us. Some days were good, and some days were bad, and some days were very bad. Watching Peeta in a flashback was the hardest, but after running the first few times from them, I learned that my presence helped. I clung to his back, rubbing the spot between his shoulders and petting his hair, speaking comforting words and reminding him "Not real, Not real". After a flashback it would take me a day or two to get him to open up again and get him to trust himself enough to be near me again. Those had been some very bad days.

But the instances where the gripping depression and the flashbacks reached out to rend us and threaten to tear us back down into the deep abyss became less and less, especially as spring wore into early summer. Though truthfully neither of us seemed to have gotten a decent night sleep; we were still sleeping separately and in different houses. We both knew deep down the only way to chase away the nightmares was to sleep in each other's arms. But both of us were too scared or proud to admit that need to each other. It was actually Haymitch that had pointed this out to us, though how he had informed us, or at least me, of this was less than tactful.

"When are you actually going to get over yourself sweetheart?" He had asked one morning after he had joined us for breakfast, taking a long draw from a flask that smelled suspiciously of whiskey. Peeta had left earlier on some errand. I gifted him with a scowl that would have sent most sensible human beings scurrying out of my way. Haymitch was not a sensible human being and merely chuckled at my darkened mood. "I am your neighbors you know."

"And what does that have to do with anything?" I snapped at him.

"Everything." Haymitch said as if it did in fact explain everything. But upon seeming my continued scowl he elaborated after another draw. "In this heat everyone has their windows open and sound travels. Between the two of you, I don't get a decent night's sleep. If it isn't you screaming in terror in the dark it is him."

"We both know you don't sleep at night." I grumbled at him. But in my head I was piecing things together. It had not changed too much from when we came back from our first Hunger Games. We both had nightmares that would wake us up, and now even Peeta was sent into screaming terrors in the night as well as me.

"That is a moot point." He belched, after shoveling more food into his stomach.

"Than what is your point?" I asked as he broke into my thoughts and I gripped the bridge of my nose in annoyance.

"My point is that I know that you and him found a way to keep the nightmares away, or at least at bay. I may have spent most of the time drunk, but you both were in far better shape mentally and rested wise on the Victory Tour than I had seen you in the months since you arrived back home. And now after the war and everything else that has happened, you two are looking worse than you have in a long time from lack of sleep. Since neither of you have picked up my drinking habit, I suggest that you both find some way to reconcile back to each other sweetheart. Because neither one of you are doing a very good job of it on your own. Now if you don't mind I am going to be back at my home, and drinking myself into a stupor." With that he grabbed the last couple pieces of bacon from his plate and sauntered his way out the door and across the green towards his house.

It had still taken three weeks before anything came to be resolved, sort of. It had been an extremely hot and muggy day, but I had been out in the woods all day. I had gone early in the morning, while it was still dusk into the comforting embrace of the woods. I couldn't sleep anyways, so I might as well make myself useful. I had found myself back by the lake deep in the woods. I had shot a couple rabbits and a half dozen squirrels on the way and then a startled wild turkey that had been foraging in the fenced off area of strawberries. Setting my game aside I had foraged for various plants in the woods, both medicinal and food. Gathering berries and then katniss roots from the edge of the lake as the sun climbed higher and the day became over heated.

Finally in the afternoon I gave up all pretenses and stripped down and went spear fishing for the afternoon. By the time I had finished the sun was beginning to dip towards the horizon and I had a variable feast that hung from my belt and filled my game bag. I made it back to the fence just as the sun was beginning to set and trekked home in the dusk. I stopped by Greasy Sae's to drop off some of my catch and then went to Peetas house. I had been out later than I had intended and was surprised when I was met at the door by a frazzled looking Peeta, covered in flour and looking rather disheveled.

"Where have you been?" He asked in a worried tone, lines etched in his face that I had not seen in a long time. Then he stood back and looking at me, bow, quiver and game bag thrown over my shoulder and my face streaked with dirt.

"I was hunting. Where did you think I went?" I asked perplexed, he knew I went hunting.

"You were gone all day. You were not at breakfast, not at dinner. Nothing." He looked tired and worn, and worry clung to him like a second skin.

"Oh Peeta…" I said softly and reached out my hand to touch his jaw as he looked down at his shoes. His eyes glanced back up to mine as I was the first to reach out and initiate physical contact, hoping to sooth the muscles that clenched beneath his skin. He searched my eyes and face for a moment, what he was looking for I don't know, but he must have found it. "I woke early and decided to go hunting before breakfast. I guess I lost track of time." Why I was up early was left unspoken, but still understood none the less. "I am truly sorry for any worry that I caused you. Can you forgive me?" He reached up with one hand and laid it over mine on his jaw and leaned into it, letting his eyes close for a moment longer than a blink. He looked so tired and drawn.

"Come in. I have just pulled some cookies out of the oven." He said after a moment of staring back at me. I watched some of the tension flow out of his features. He took my hand from his jaw and grasped it in his own and drew me over there threshold and towards the kitchen.

My first impression of walking in to the house was that it was an inferno. How he kept going in the heat was amazing. Why he was baking on one of the hottest days of the year so far was a mystery to me, but then again baking and painting was for him what hunting was for me, a means of escape, from many, many things, or at least some sort of short term distraction. It would appear that he had been busy, there was a basket full of cheesy buns off to the side, at least three dozen sugar cookies in various states of iced decoration and I could smell some sort of fruit pie baking in the oven. I looked quizzically at him as I surveyed the kitchen in its ordered chaos.

"I felt the need to do something." He said a bit too stiffly. I merely nodded. He must have been quite worried to be putting that much heat back into his house. "Have you eaten yet?" he said after a moment of watching me survey the kitchen. I shook my head. "Well, then at least let me warm up something for you. Go put your game away and be back in ten, I will have something ready for you." He said tiredly looking around at the mess.

I nodded with a smile and left for my own house. I stored away my game and sorted out my foraging into separate bowls and put what needed to be kept cool in the fridge. Then I sprinted up the stairs and changed into something that was more suited to the muggy night and the inferno that was Peeta's kitchen, a pair of comfortable shorts and a tank top. Then I grabbed the bowl of strawberries as I headed out the door, to add my contribution to the meal. By the time I had made it back to Peeta's it was full dark and had been for nearly an hour, or more. As I entered to kitchen Peeta was just taking out the pie and the kitchen had been cleaned. The cookies were in a container and the basket of cheese buns sat in the center of the table.

"I brought us some strawberries that I gathered today." I offered with a small smile, showing him the medium bowl of the lush red fruit. He turned and smiled when he saw me.

"Thank you." He said. "Put them on the table and sit down." He motioned as he grabbed a bowl and filled it with stew from the pot on the stove and placed it down in front of me. He filled another bowl and sat across from me

The meal had passed pleasantly enough after they had both offered up their apologies and then moved to lighter things and how their days had gone. After the stew Peeta was in a much better mood and Katniss, warn from months of lack of sleep and her early day, as well as warm and well fed was beginning to get drowsy. But she did not refuse the offer of warm berry pie when Peeta offered it. With a smile that was beginning to come back to Peeta's face when he interacted with her, he told her to go sit on the couch and he would bring her dessert. She smiled back and obeyed, snuggling onto the couch before the empty fireplace.

Within five minutes Peeta swept in with plates with warm pie, vanilla ice cream, a sugar cookie and a hand full of strawberries as garnish. He was delighted to see the smile that lit up the room upon his arrival. Handing her a plate he sat down on the opposite end of the couch. Thinking this was too far away, Katniss moved to sit beside him, close enough to almost touch, but far enough that they had room to move. This was found to be relaxing and amenable to all parties involved.

After polishing off the pie the plates were set aside and Peeta encouraged her to lean against his shoulder as she began to feel the effects of sleep deprivation and a full belly. Before either one of them knew it they were both asleep and slept the whole night through. It had been both their first night of undisturbed sleep in many, many months.

After the first night, there had been some awkwardness, but within a week it was decided that if they ever planned on getting a good night's sleep that it was going to be together, and not apart. With some discussion it was decided that Katniss would move in with Peeta. He had already personalized and made his house into a home and he had far more things in his home than Katniss. She also felt that her home had too many memories and ghosts of those she had lost to have Peeta move in with her. So after a few trips across the green she was installed in Peeta's home. She did technically have her own bed room, a place where she could retreat when she felt the need or a flashback sent him reeling and he felt that space was needed.

Just as they did on the train during the victory tour, they slept in their clothes and all they did in the bed was sleep. That is all they could do. They were both still so broken that anything beyond sleep was laughable. They did not and could not go any farther than chasing the elusive good night's sleep together.

Well I hope you enjoyed year one of Katniss and Peeta's relationship. This originally was going to be a one shot, but when it evolved into 10+ pages I split it up into three chapters. So that means the next chapter is the last. It will cover year two to the 'story present' and tell you all what was in the package that arrived in chapter 1. I know I had fun writing this and I hope you are all enjoying it. Please remember to o leave me a review they are the life blood for us fic writers who like to know that their work is like an appreciated. Reviews also help to inspire me to write more, so you never know, more reviews might mean more fics from me! Please Review!

I have also written another one shot called Mosaic that you can go read to pass the time before I post again on next Friday or Saturday. Hope you enjoy both Hunger Games fics I have written so far! Live, Laugh, Love. Dragons Quill