I'm so sorry I didn't update sooner, but I've been really busy lately with school and stuff. So, here's the next chapter, and I hope you like it! Please review.
I wake up and look around, my eyes searching for any sign that yesterday was a dream. They rest on Peeta's sleeping form beside me, and I gently rest a hand on his arm. This makes his eyes flicker open, and he smiles sleepily up at me.
"Good morning," he mutters, his eyes once again closing. I brush the hair out of his eyes and can't help but smile, too. Yesterday was real, and that's the only thing that matters at this moment.
"It's better than good. It's one of the best mornings of my life," I say, curling up next to him and resting my head on his shoulder. His arm wraps itself around my waist, holding me to him. His eyes open once again, and turn amused.
"What makes it one of the best?" he asks, the hint of a smile starting to creep up onto his lips.
"Because I finally have you back," I say simply, and he smiles. I lean over and kiss him softly for a moment. "And you're never leaving me again."
"I don't want to leave," he says. "I want to stay with you for the rest of my life." There's a loud knock on the door, but I ignore it. Nobody is going to ruin this moment for me, nobody.
"Katniss!" Haymitch calls from the other side of the door, knocking again, and quickly making me mad.
"Go away!" I call back. Unfortunately, the door is unlocked, and he opens it and stomps over to us.
"Get up!" he says, shoving us off the bed. Peeta sighs, but gets up and heads over to the closet to find a pair of clean clothes. However, I don't accept the interruption so easily. I get up and push Haymitch towards the door.
"Get out!" I say angrily, my hands balling into fists. He grabs me wrists, hard, and presses them into my sides.
"You've got ten minutes to get ready and come down to breakfast," he says.
"And if I don't?" I growl, my patience running out. He leans down close to my face, his eyes menacing and quickly losing patience. His breath reaches my nose, and I flinch at the horrible smell of it.
"If you don't, then I think it's time for Peeta to get his own room. You can sleep by yourself," he says, and my eyes narrow.
"You wouldn't dare," I say, but my voice shakes just the tiniest bit. Haymitch releases my wrists and takes a step away from me.
"Oh, yes I would," he replies, and I can see the sincerity in his eyes.
"No fair," I mutter, and he laughs.
"All is fair in love and war, Sweetheart, and this is definitely war," he says, heading out the door. "Ten minutes!" I slam the door, and the loud echo bounces around the walls of my room. Peeta's arms wrap around me from behind, and he rests his head on my shoulder.
"Come on, Katniss. Go get dressed. We don't want to make any angrier than he already is," he says, releasing me and instead taking my hand. He leads me over to the closet, and I sigh. Why does Haymitch have to ruin everything? Peeta heads to the bathroom, the door singing softly closed behind him. I dig through the pile of clothes until I find a pair of jeans and a dark green, long sleeved shirt. I'm putting my hair into its usual braid when Peeta comes out of the bathroom, his hair combed and laying flat on his head. I feel his eyes watching me, but I don't turn to look at him until my braid is finished. When I do finally look over at him, there's a small frown on his face.
"What?" I ask, my eyebrows raising in question. His eyes meet mine, and he smiles slightly.
"Nothing. I just think you should leave your hair down more often," he replies.
"Hmm, well it's more convenient this way," I say, walking over to him. "But maybe I'll wear it down for special occasions." His eyes light up and I smirk at him before heading over to the door. Peeta follows and we head out into the hall, which seems more crowded than usual, or maybe it's just me. Either way, it takes us longer than usual to reach the cafeteria, and when we do, almost all the tables are filled. I find a spot next to Prim and pull Peeta in next to me. Haymitch is sitting across from us, a smug look on his face. I scowl at him, and then feel eyes on me. I look to Haymitch's left and see Gale. His eyes travel down to his plate when he sees me looking, and my stomach gives a small twinge. After all, my being with Peeta now kind of makes my decision final, and I didn't choose him. He has every right to be saddened by my choice, but it still makes me feel like crap inside. I finish my breakfast quickly and get up to leave, but Haymitch's voice stops me.
"Not so fast, Katniss," he says. "There's a meeting today, and you and Peeta have to attend."
"A meeting? When?" I ask.
"In about five minutes," he replies, and I frown. Why does it have to be so soon?
"Fine," I mutter. "I'll head to the conference room now." I feel eyes on me as I leave the table, but I don't look back. I don't really see what's so amazing about me heading to the conference room, anyway. When I'm about to open the door to the conference room and walk in, there's a hand on my shoulder, holding me back. I whip myself around, ready to defend myself from attack, but it's just Peeta. I relax, and fall into his outstretched arms.
"I'm sorry. Did I startle you?" he asks, and I look up at him.
"Kind of, but it's okay. I've been really jumpy lately, what with the war and everything," I reply, and pull away from him. The other members of our conference are starting to come down the hall, so I walk into the room and sit down at the table. Peeta takes a seat next to me, and soon enough the table is filled. I'm surprised to see my mother and Prim. They usually are working in the infirmary during our meetings, unless something really bad has happened, or something important. I sink lower in my chair, preparing for what news might come. Haymitch clears his throat, signaling that he's about to speak.
"As you know," he begins. "Peeta has recently been given back to us." The table is quiet as we try to see where this conversation is heading. "However, we don't know a lot about this matter, or what the Capital's been up to." Peeta looks down at his hands, starting to see what his role in this conference will be. "Peeta, can you please tell us any information that you have attained from your time at the Capital?" Peeta looks around the table, and takes a deep breath.
Well, they didn't really tell me much. When I first woke up, I wasn't sure where I was. The room I was in was dark and cold, and there were no windows or anything. It was just bricks all the way around. I was probably in there for hours, maybe even days, just trying to remember what had happened, where I was, how I got there. At one point, the door opened and in walked President Snow. He told me all I had to do was give him information on the rebels, and then he would let me go, but I had no idea what he was talking about." He looks to Haymitch for a second before continuing. "I was tortured for about two weeks before they decided that I didn't know anything. They sent me back to my room and I stayed there for a long time. When Snow finally came in one day, I didn't know what to expect. He told me about a new chemical they had created that literally freezes the body, makes you seem like you're dead. He told me that they were going to inject it into me, and then ship me to district thirteen for the rebels to burry. I fought, really I did, but they were too strong. They told me you would burry me alive, thinking I was dead, and then they would send Katniss a letter telling her that they wouldn't hurt anyone else she loved, if she came to the Capital. And, well, now I'm here." No one says a word for a few minutes, trying to process this new information. I take Peeta's hand under the table, and give it a small squeeze. He doesn't look at me, seemingly deep in his own thoughts.
"What about the other prisoners?" Haymitch asks finally. "What happened to Enobaria and Johanna?"
"Enobaria's dead. They killed her a few days after they started my torture. They forced me to watch…" Peeta's voice trails away, and he's lost in his thoughts again.
"What about Johanna?" I ask him, because I need to know. I may not be the best of friends with the girl, but it would be my fault if she was killed. I'm the one that sent the arrow into the force field, not her.
"I don't know. The last time I saw her, she was pretty bad looking. They were harder on her than they were to me," Peeta replies before looking at Haymitch. "Can I go now?" Haymitch blinks, but nods his head after a moment and Peeta gets up and leaves the room. I want to go after him, but I know I have to stay for the rest of the meeting.
"Well, um, think about that new information and start coming up with strategies," Haymitch says, and then he leaves the room, signaling that the meeting is over. I quickly get up and head out into the hallway, hoping to see Peeta, but he's nowhere to be found. I head off down the hall, my eyes searching for him. He seemed pretty upset at the meeting, and I know that what he experienced at the Capital has changed him, made him see things he never should have had to seen. Finally, I just head back to my room, starting to let myself worry. Why couldn't I find him? I know all of the places there are to hide in down here in district thirteen. Where could he have gone? I plop myself down on the bed with a sigh.
"Katniss?" calls a voice from the bathroom. I sit up and head over t the bathroom door, flinging it open without even thinking. Peeta is sitting there on the toilet, his hair wet. The air is steamy, and there's a damp towel on the floor. He must have taken a shower. Thank god he'd already gotten dressed before I came in. I'd make sure to knock next time.
"I was looking all aver for you!" I say, exasperated. "And you were in here the whole time?" I sigh and lean my back against the wall.
"Sorry," he says. "I just needed to get out of there, and this is the only place I could think of to go, so I came here and decided to take a shower." He gets up and walks out the door, leaving me behind in the bathroom. I pick up the towel and head out, too, throwing it into the dirty clothes pile, which is basically just a pile of clothes on the f=ground at the foot of my bed. He's sitting on the bed, staring at his hands.
"Are you okay?" I ask him, taking a seat next to him. I rest a hand on his shoulder. He doesn't answer right away, and the awkwardness makes me fidget.
"I'm fine," he says softly. "It's just, there's a lot I experienced at the Capital, things I wanted to forget, and talking about them today at the meeting, it's brought them all back." He looks miserable, and I wish I knew what to do, but I've never been all that good at comforting others. So, I say the only thing that I can think of, the only thing that will take his mind completely off of the Capital and his experiences there.
"A few days ago, when I thought you were dead, I had a daydream," I start softly, looking down at my feet. I feel Peeta's eyes look up at me, curious. I take a deep breath and continue. "You and I were at a house, our house. You had a baby in your arms, and I could tell it was ours. I was at the kitchen table, watching you. You were feeding it." I look up at him, and he's staring intently at me, his eyes curious, questioning. There's more to the dream, but it feels too strange to say it out loud, even if it is Peeta that I'm talking to. The hint of a smile plays on his lips, and his eyes light up a bit.
"So, what are you trying to say?" he asks.
"Nothing. I was just trying to comfort you," I say quickly, my cheeks starting to burn. He laughs, and I look up at him, my eyes starting to narrow. "Oh, be quiet!" This just makes him laugh harder, and makes me more annoyed. Finally, I simply lean over and kiss him, cutting off the sounds of his laughter, and officially ending that conversation. When I finally pull away, he's still smiling, but I think it has more to do with the kiss than the previous conversation.
"Maybe I should laugh at you more often," he says jokingly, and I punch him in the arm. I don't hit him hard, but he still flinches.
"Yeah, maybe," I mutter. "Next time I won't be so easy on you."
"Whatever you say, Katniss, whatever you say."
There you go! Review, please! I need to know what you guys think of the story. Do you have any suggestions? Review me any ideas that you have, and I'll see if I can fit them into the story.