Peeta-

Finally, it's Saturday! My dad was a little shocked that Katniss had agreed to come help with the shed. I told him that she said something about 'not owing' me'. He shook his head, he understood. He said that people from the Seam don't always have much, and they don't like having the fact that they have to repay someone in the back of their mind.

While, I understand this, I don't want her to feel like she owes me when I do things for her. I want her to know that I do them, because I want to. Because she is special to me.

I'm too excited to stay in bed. I hurry down stairs and start on the list of items needed for the day in the bakery. Cheese buns are first on the list. Father and I take a quick break to go assess the shed, he shows me the shelves that need repairing as well as the roofing that needs patching.

I don't plan on asking Katniss for help, I truly just want her there with me while I work. Maybe I can get her to open up to me, to just talk with me.

We head back in, the sweet cinnamon buns should be finishing proofing and ready for the ovens.

"Where have you two been? There are things that need to be done. Saturdays are our busiest days and you two are doing who knows what..." My mother is awake. Last night when she came home from, well – wherever she was - she reeked of white liquor and this morning I can tell she is feeling the effects of it now.

"Margaret, Peeta is going to be fixing up the shed for me. I was showing him what needed to be done. Will you be helping out with the front counter today?" Oh, no. If she stays, I'm afraid that she will see Katniss. That would not turn out well.

"No, Maurine needs my help. She's been feeling ill and needs someone to run the house for the weekend. I will be back Sunday evening after I help prepare their dinner. Wheaton, I've told you that she's taken a turn for the worse. She needs me there." I can tell she doesn't really care; she just doesn't want to be here…with us. "Besides, the weather looks very poor so it would be best for me to stay the night. I know you wouldn't want me walking alone in the rain."

"Of course, no one wants that, dear. We will make do without you. Give our love to Maurine and take some crackers for her as well." I do not know why my dad stays with her. She clearly doesn't care about any of us, including him. "Peeta, please pack up some bread and crackers for Aunt Maurine, and put in some of those danishes that your mother likes."

Begrudgedly but obediently, I start packing a parchment pouch with things for my mother to carry with her. I can hear her tapping her foot – taunting me - waiting for me to finish and then her voice screeches in my ear "Hurry Peeta, I don't have all day! I would have done it myself if I'd known it would take you all morning."

I feel my anxiety start to boil up through my chest. I know she is standing right behind me. I quickly try to finish. The sooner she leaves, the better. I turn just in time to see her swing the floury rolling pin right into the side of my face.

Almost immediately my eye starts to swell, something warm trickling down my face and I can feel my dad guiding me to the table where we roll and cut dough. I lay my head down and darkness finds me.

Katniss-

I head out to the woods a little early this morning, not waiting to see if anyone is going to join me. Mother and Prim know that I will be home late, after I help at the Mellark's bakery. There aren't too many squirrels out and about, it seems like a storm is coming. I can see the tops of the trees swaying and the air is starting to cool.

I get a couple of pheasant and a few stray squirrels from the traps I had set two days ago. With no one there to distract me, skinning them takes almost no time at all. Thankfully with the cool air, it won't be too hot while Peeta and I are working on the shed.

Walking up to the back of the bakery, I can hear raised voices with stressful yells. Looking through the back door of the bakery, Mr. Mellark meets my wide eyes as he's standing beside a slumped over Peeta. He's bleeding? Mr. Mellark quickly sweeps around the table and blocks my view of Peeta.

"Katniss, hurry and get your mother!"

"M-Mr. Mellark, what happened?" there is clear desperation in my voice. "W-was there an accident?

"Katniss, please go now. Let her know we need her. He's bleeding and we can't wake him!"

I don't wait for another word. I drop my kill bag inside and sprint as fast as I can home, back to the Seam. I take the fastest route that I know home. By the time I get there, I'm completely out of breath. Prim runs in and probes me about the problem.

"Prim, Mom…. Mr. Mellark…. Peeta, bleeding!" I have to compose myself, I can't talk through my panting. "Mr. Mellark sent me, Peeta was bleeding from his head and they said they couldn't wake him. I don't know what happened!"

Suddenly my mother jumps into action, the only time I see her this coherent is when they bring injured men into our home from the mines. "Get my bag, Katniss! Prim, you stay here incase Mrs. Drea starts having contractions. Go check on her in an hour, makes sure she drinks the mint water. Come get me before she starts to push."

I carry my mother's bag and she runs with her skirt hiked up. No words are said and she bursts through the back of the bakery. Mr. Mellark is there to meet her. He puts his hands on her arms and thanks her for coming so quickly.

"Eva, thank you so much for coming! There was – um – an incident and Peeta was hit…he hit his head. I got him here to the table, but he hasn't woken up since."

Oddly, my mother placed her hand over his and said "Wheat, don't worry. I'm here and you know I'll take the best care of him. Please get me some warm water, clean rags and some white liquor, if you have any."

I have never heard my mother speak of Mr. Mellark, and she's calling him Wheat? Touching his hand? I am snapped back to the present, "Katniss, hurry! Help me get him onto the table. I need to look over his cut and the bruising."

Rye and I take Peeta under the arms and try to drag him up onto the table. I knew he would be heavy just by how broad and tall he is, but I completely underestimated how much his muscle would weigh. We finally get him centered, stomach side down. My mother and Mr. Mellark come back with ample towels, the liquor and bowls of warm water. Warm water is something that we are not privileged to in the Seam, we have to boil it by the pot full even to take baths. During summer we pump the water in the morning and leave it in the sunlight during the daytime.

I help hold Peeta's head to the side, resting my forehead on his to block my view of the stitches my mother is putting into his cheek and over his ear. I can see the visible swelling as she tries carefully to clean the blood from his curls. My mom gives him a half shot of morphling into the wound.

Two years ago my friend, Madge, broke her arm and they traded a whole box of morphling from her mother's medicine cabinet for her care. Madge's mother gets very bad headaches, being the mayor's wife has a lot of privileges – including complete medical care.

Peeta's face and muscles in his neck immediately relax and I can tell that the morphling is doing its job. I cleaned up the rest of the blood from Peeta's face and most of it off the table. As I was rinsing the rags in the family bathroom, I hear my mother and Mr. Mellark talking in the family room.

"Wheat, what happened? He hit…or something hit his head very hard. I honestly don't know when he will come to. If this wasn't a simple fall, I need to know so I can take care of him properly. Please tell me, you know that you can trust me."

"Eva, I'm so sorry to drag you into this. You were the first person I thought of. Margaret just gets so angry and she takes it out on Peeta." I can hear the strain in his voice and the pleading with my mom. "Eva, she hit him w-with a rolling pin." My mother's gasp scares him, but he continues on... "I promise you that this hasn't happened before. She was even angrier with him when he started bleeding on the table. I-I've asked her to move into her sister's house permanently. Danish is going to help me with the shop during the week days."

"Wheat, I am so sorry this happened. Poor Peeta, I hate that he doesn't have a mother that cares about him. I'm so sorry Wheat, I will do anything that I can to help him. Please believe that."

A lump starts to rise in my throat. I knew his mother was a terrible woman, she hates anyone from the Seam, chases us off with a broom. But, why would anyone do this to someone, let alone their own child? How does he manage to be so sweet to me, to Prim? My heart aches for him.

Just then, I hear Prim's voice from the kitchen. "Mom, momma! It's Mrs. Drea! I think the baby might be stuck, she's hurting so bad! Momma!"

My mom rushes past me and Mr. Mellark is right behind her. He turns and runs straight into me. "Oh, um, Katniss… I – uh…" I can see his red rimmed eyes; he was crying to my mother. Why to her? Why could he talk so openly with her? "Please don't tell Peeta that I said anything, let him tell you on his own. You mean so much to him, thank you for coming."

Just like that, he left me there. I mean so much to Peeta? Why would be think that?

Back in the kitchen, my mother is packing her bag and setting aside some herbs and a bottle of morphling. "Katniss will stay to watch over Peeta, if that's alright. Prim and I will tend to the baby and I will be back first thing in the morning. With the morphling that we gave him earlier, he should only be out another hour. Katniss –" turning to me, "see if he knows who you are, if he's hurting too badly or doesn't know what happened please give him another half vile into his thigh."

"Yes ma'am, I'll stay with him. Do you think I can handle it?" I sound so distraught. Is it even my own voice, trembling like that?

"I think you don't give yourself enough credit for what you can handle. There is a tea sachet on the table for Wh-Mr. Mellark's tea. I'll see you in the morning."

I finished cleaning up the kitchen and Rye helped me take off Peeta's apron and blood soaked shirt. Both Rye and Dan left. I'm not sure that they could handle what their mother did to their baby brother. I made some tea for Mr. Mellark with the tea sachet that my mom left. I told him that I would wake him if anything happened. He left me with some sleeping clothes, his wife's things I assume. She has a more womanly figure than I do, so her sleeping pants hang off my hip bones and her night shirt drips over my shoulder.

The only light that is left on is in the pantry, where I normally stand to trade with Mr. Mellark. Now here I am sitting at the table watching over Peeta. My eyes are so heavy, but I want to be ready if he wakes and needs another shot of morphling. Slowly I rest my arms on the table and I watch as Peeta's long blonde lashes flutter and his fingers twitch. I take his hand between mine and wonder if he could hear me.

"Peeta?" trying to talk as softly as I can, to not wake Mr. Mellark or to startle Peeta. "Can you hear me? I am so sorry this happened to you. I was looking forward to spending the afternoon with you, but not like this." I don't know when it happened, but my tears are dripping down my cheeks, leaving clean stripes down to my chin. I press my face into Peeta's shoulder and sob into his shirt.

He moans and purses his lips. Without thinking, I press my lips, wet with my tears, to the corner of his mouth. I can feel his lips pulse under my own, his hand leaves mine and goes to the back of my neck. Peeta repositions his head and lightly sucks on my bottom lip between his. He gently pulls the back of my head towards his to deepen the kiss. My short, quiet moan is swallowed by his lips. When I pull away his eyes are still closed but there is smile across his flawless face. I move his curls off of his forehead, away from his laceration, and I lay my head back down by his.

Peeta-

There is an ache on the side of my head, then I remember turning my head as the crack of the rolling pin collided with my temple. My father was yelling and my mom sounded annoyed, "he's fine, I didn't hit him that hard." My dad told her to take the package of things that she needed, as well as some clothes and to please leave. He would deliver the rest of her things to her later on. I could feel a smile on my face as I slipped into a dreamless sleep. He finally stood up for me against her.

I can smell her without even opening my eyes. The smell of the wind and the woods. I hear the sweetest voice calling me to wake up…"Peeta? Can you hear me?" Katniss is here, with me. Holding my hand. Did she just say she wanted to spend time with me today? Then, the most unexpected moment. Her lips on mine. I couldn't help but to savor it, I place my hand up through her hair on the nape of her neck and pull her closer to me. Her lips taste so sweet, like honey. I'm sure she can feel the smile under my lips as she rests her head back down onto the table and holds tightly onto my hand. I fall back asleep and dream of the honeysuckles in the meadow.

I hope she's there when I wake up.