A/n: So this chapter is a little different. I do apologize, it's got some OOC-ness in it. I see this story slowly going into a different direction than I originally thought it would but I'm liking it so far. I just wanted to give warning now, don't say I didn't tell you so. Also, more lemony goodness in this chapter.

On Another Note: I just went through this chapter, tried to edit some times, changed a bit around in the lemon.

Saving Butt- I keep forgetting about this! Anyways, I do not own the Hungry Games triolgy, characters, plot, etc they all belong to the wonderful Susan Collins! I merely am using them to create a story! This fan fiction is mine and I did write it, so please don't steal. :)

A Lullaby to Soothe the Demons Within

Chapter 8

Peeta's POV

3 Years 2 Months since returning to District 12

I'm wiping sweat off my forehead once more as I finish decorating the cupcakes for the display case at the front of the store. It's a hot day out and the heat from the ovens is only intensifying the heat wave. I sigh and put down the piping bag I had been using, pick up the tray and bring it out front. The icing is starting to melt a little and it would be a waste if all melted. No one likes buying messy cup cakes or cakes.

We're getting the store ready to open for the day, we usually opened at seven AM though most of us were here by five to get things baked and ready to go for those who were getting bread for their breakfast meal. We had ten minutes until the store opened. It's amazing how hot it already is outside when the sun's barely been up yet. I'm sure Katniss will be please, now that she's back to her more normal self and hunting again there should be plenty of game out today for her to target. I smile a bit, thinking she probably is also cursing this heat wave.

Things were better; she seemed a little better. She was back to her routine, I was back to mine and it had especially helped her when her mother came. She had stayed for a week and watched Katniss while I was at work. I think the time they spent together brought them a little closer. It had surprised me when I came home one night, Katniss and her mother were in our bathroom upstairs together. I had heard the soft melody floating in the air as I reached near the top of the stairs. Katniss was singing softly to her mum, the melody of the Hanging Tree. A song her father had taught her. As far as I knew, she had stopped singing it when her mother had gotten angry at her and her father over it. I suppose she was over that as she hummed along with Katniss' melodic voice. I peaked by as I walked to our room to change to see her mom washing her brown locks for her. Katniss had her eyes closed and for a minute I saw the girl who was five again. The one who I met our first day of school who knew the Valley song. My love for her grew ten times more that night.

By the end of the week when we were sending her mother off back to Four Katniss cried and told her mum that we'd visit next time. That she wouldn't wait so long to see her next time. I realized that something in my fire girl had changed since our last talk, since her last break down and I really had hope that this time it would be a permanent and good change.

I finished placing the last cupcake in the display and closed it back up in time to see our first customer of the day enter the shop. I was a little more than surprised to see Delly here so early. I hadn't seen her much lately, trying to focus my spare time on Katniss. We'd see each other briefly when she came in to get bread in the morning for her and her brother.

"Morning, Delly, what can I get you today? You're up a bit early." I say in a cheerful tone as I move back behind the counter. Normally when she did come in, it wasn't so early, I normally expected to see her around nine or so. What could I say though? I change my normal routine around some times too.

She clasps her hands together and looks at me, a look of worry flashes through her eyes and I wonder what she wants to say. She sighs quietly before she finally speaks.

"I wanted to let you know, Gale is going to look for Katniss tomorrow in the woods. He's planning to come by here first and have a talk with you. I wanted to give you the heads up though so you wouldn't be caught off guard." I soak it in, turning it over in my head as it begins to click. I always hated Gale's approach to Katniss. He may have known her well when we were young, but he knew nothing of her now. He didn't know present Katniss and I did. I am the one that understood her best, knew the pain she's gone through and went through half of it myself while by her side. I'm brought back by my thoughts when Delly is speaking again. "-doing?" I shake my head a bit.

"Sorry, what?" I had missed what she asked. My thoughts were occupying my mind, replaying scenes of us from the games, the war, my time in the capitol. I can't stop them and I can feel my hands shaking a bit. It's no wonder she doesn't want to see Gale, not when he induces such strong memories. "I'm sorry, um, t-thanks for the information. I need to go." I'm a bit rude and my voice is shaking as I speak. I almost run up the stairs, but they're not stairs, I'm not in the upstairs room of my bakery any more. All I can see is the sterile light blue walls of the room I was kept in during my days in the capitol.

I feel the needles touching the skin of my arm, piercing through my flesh, and I'm trying to fight them off desperately as they puncture my skin, injecting the venom into my veins, letting it mingle into my blood stream. I'm crying out, screaming for them to stop. The people in the white suits are gone as quickly as they came but those voices, sinister and unrelenting are there immediately. I hear her voice, seductive yet condescending.

"Such a fool, Peeta."

"How could you have loved a mutt like me, how stupid do you have to be to fall in love with me?" "Remember all those kisses we had in the cave Peeta? I faked everything. I was only playing you."

"I never liked you, never loved you, never will love you."

"Our baby I was pregnant with, you remember right? The one we had before the quarter quell? I killed it."

"If I ever loved anyone, it couldn't have possibly been you."

"Gale, he's much better than you. Him and I have been together this entire time, I just needed you so I could live. You were never important to me."

"Gale is better than you, stronger, and knows me much better. He's obviously a better fit for me. Gosh Peeta," the voice laughs before continuing, "you don't think you could actually compete with him do you? What a joke!"

Her laughs are horrible as she tells me how much she loved Gale, not me. Laughing again and again when she tells me I was a fool. I'm turning the only table in the room upside down, throwing whatever my hands land on against the wall. I'm muffling my screams with my fist, biting it so hard that I'm bleeding into my mouth. I don't know how long I am like this before I realize my surroundings once more and see my destroyed room. There's really not a whole lot to break in here any more, no, I've already gotten to them ages ago.

I hope no one had heard me, I can never look into their eyes when I come back down. I can only imagine the things I shout out during those times. My leg is sore, my arms are heavy and my head throbs as it does every time after an episode. Working just wasn't going to happen today. I stand up and and wipe my face off. Tears and sweat mingle together. Even to have an episode has caused the sweat to pour down a little more. Yes, home it was today. I make it downstairs, Delly long gone by now and my guys are pretending to be too busy to notice I was gone. I'm sure they heard every scream and word I threw out there. I don't say anything about it though. They know how I am and I appreciate that they don't treat me any differently because of it.

"Hey, thinking today is just not a working day for me guys. Think you'll be ok on your own?"

"Sure, it's not like we don't know how to bake." My second in command, so to say, Lukus, teases first, down playing anything that has gone on.

"Yeah, we promise we won't burn the place down." Rory joins in. Rory was new to the bakery. He had been doing odd jobs around town and cleaning clothes with his mum for the last while before coming in here about a job. Rory was also one of Gale's younger brothers. I wasn't sure if he knew about it. Katniss had told me to give him the job, he'd be a hard worker and good for the bakery. She was ok with Gale's family just not him.

Gale. Well that brought up the problem again. I decided to push it back and gave a wave to my guys before heading out. I'd find him tonight and have a talk with him about his supposed plan. Right now I just wanted to go home and get away from the public. I felt drained emotionally and wanted to be in the comfort of something I knew well. Home.

I'm a little surprised to find Katniss' hunting gear at the door. How long had I been at the bakery? I see the clock in the hallway reads almost ten AM. It's too early for her to be home yet. I wonder what was up with her. I shut the door, leaving my shoes by it as I walk into our house. "Katniss? You home?" I call out but don't get an answer. I move through the house towards the kitchen. It's empty and as spotless as when I left it this morning. I see our back door cracked open a bit. We never use it or open it so it's odd. I walk towards it and open the door slowly, the sun is still rising but it's glare is already enough for me to squint.

One thing about us is that we don't use our backyard often. Our garden is out front and we're already outside enough in a day that the backyard is kind of useless most of the time. Yes it is nice because the fences surrounding it are high and private.

My eyes are adjusting when I see her back there dripping with water. She's in nothing more than a tanned tank top and black knee length shorts as she pours another bucket of water over her, smiling as she does so. Her hair is loose from it's usual braid and hangs down just to the middle of her back. Her hair was always one thing I loved the most about her. It's also soaking wet and looks like it'll probably be a tangled mess later. What was she doing? I'm a little confused as I watch her and decide I should let her know I'm here, watching her almost like a creep.

"Don't get me wrong, I love the sight I'm seeing but this seems a bit odd to be doing." She jumps as she sees me now standing at the edge of the deck that was built onto the house, for those who wanted to sit outside.

She gives me a soft smile and runs over to me, hugging her wet body to mine as our lips meet. She's in a very good mood today. I decide happy, wet Katniss was a good Katniss even if she was getting my clothes soaked now too. She pulls back and looks at me. A fire I haven't seen in her eyes in a long time is there, burning brightly through her silver eyes. It was breath taking.

"What are you doing home so early?" She asks me.

"I could ask you the same thing." I reply quietly, trying to keep the moment the way it is. But she pulls away and gives a small laugh.

"It was too hot out today to be out there. As much as I wanted to go and maybe swim for a bit at the meadow I decided I wanted to be home for most of the day. I saw some kids down at the old seam doing this outside when I passed by this morning. Oh, well I did actually go out for a bit. I got a couple rabbits and a wild turkey, gave the turkey to Hazelle and the rest to Greasy Sae. She always makes sure it goes to the right people. I saw the kids on my way back home. It looked fun and by that point I was sweating profusely. I just got back not long ago." I want to hug her to me again. I only imagined her being so carefree in my dreams. To see her like this in the flesh was beyond anything I ever expected. I wanted to hold her to me, laugh with her as I swung her around in my arms.

I must have been staring to long, not replying because she decides to break the silence. "So now that I've told you why I'm home, it's your turn." But I don't want to answer. I don't want to ruin this moment. I'm acting before I even think about it, pulling her to me and crushing my lips to hers. I feel her sigh and lean into me more as she gives in, deciding to drop the topic all together. But she's pulling back again before I can stop her. "You're really sweaty." She's pulling away, moving her body away from mine and I'm following her down, trying to grab her back to me.

She's bending down and I don't have time to stop her as she dumps a cold bucket of water over my head. Water seeps into my clothes and plasters my hair to my head. I sputter and spit out water as I wipe it out of my eyes. I freeze. Her laughs fill my ears and seeps into my bones and her body is flush to mine as my lips crush to hers before I grasp what's going on. The girl I fell in love with when we were children was standing in front of me right now and I didn't want the moment to pass, especially after the episode I had endured only an hour or so ago. I feel her responding as her arms wrap around my neck, willing to deepen our kiss. Our surroundings are but a care floating in the wind as my shirt is pulled over my head and hers follows quickly after. Our cooled down chests meet and the grip I had on my control is gone, floating away along with our cares into the warm breeze.

I pull her closer until I realize we are as close as possible, until I lift her up, her legs automatically wrapping around my waist as I hold her butt firmly with my hands. We break apart, panting, wanting and she moves her lips down my jaw line to the pulse in my neck, licking, sucking and nipping it before moving to my collar bone, nipping at it and then licking it to soothe it. I let out a moan as I feel her lips making work of my skin. I am hers to do whatever she feels like. I can feel her hips thrusting a little against mine, her want evident.

I slowly carry her and make my way into our house, not even bothering to make it far as I knock things off our kitchen table to the floor and lay her body down upon it. I tune out the clangs as pots, pans, and utensils fall to the ground. She keeps her legs wrapped around me, not wanting me to leave. I watch the way her breast move as she breaths heavily. I say nothing but strip off my pants and boxers, my erection springs free and her eyes don't look away as they take in the rigid member between my legs. I let her look a little longer before I move, hooking my thumbs in the waist line of her shorts and pulling at them, she unwraps her legs immediately from my body and lifts herself a bit so I can remove the garments. Her shorts and underwear are discarded in the general direction of my own pants but we don't bother to pay any attention to that right now.

Our eyes are locked and we are watching one another, daring the other to make the first move. I refuse to give in, wanting her to come to me, to beg me. I want her to come to me so that I can fist my hand in her chocolate locks as I enter her, make her mine completely with my body. I'm not sure where this is all coming from and I'm almost a bit afraid of how controlling I want to be right now but I can see her resolve slipping as she leans up, tangling her nimble fingers into my wet hair that rests against my neck, urging me to come to her, needing that human contact again and I know I have won. I let her lead me to her lips when they capture mine again, her bare legs encircling my hips again as she thrusts up so our hips meet. I let out throaty groan, my voice doesn't even sound like me right now.

But my thoughts are long gone when I feel the wetness between her legs as my member runs against her warm and very wet crevice. It raises an animistic instinct in me to claim her and before either of us knows what's going on I'm positioned the head of my member to her hole and thrusting forward in one swift, fluid motion, seating myself fully inside her. She breaks our kiss and almost screams out. I'm back to my sense instantly and looking down at her, fear that I've hurt her. Grey eyes are squeezed shut tightly, finger nails digging into the flesh of my back but the heels of her feet are holding me in place. I don't move or breath, for that matter, just wait for her to say some thing. She's panting hard, her chest rises up and down quickly in an effort to will away the pain I've caused her. I want to stop but her legs prohibit me from moving at all.

"Katniss?" My voice is barely a whisper as I speak her name. Silver eyes open and look into mine, hands move from my back to around my neck once more and she's leaning up to kiss me again.

"I'm fine, it was just... sudden." She breathes against my lips and I can feel her slowly trying to mold our bodies together, her hips thrusting erratically against mine, telling me to move, to do something. My hands trail down her body, brushes against her damp hair on her back, and then envelop her around her waist, pulling her up against me as I stand. I don't know what we're doing, where I was going but I wanted our bodies to be connected as much as possible. As much skin on skin contact as we could possibly manage. My need to claim her rising once more in the pit of my stomach. I wonder if this was a result of the episode earlier.

I slam into a wall, my back making contact with the hard surface and flip us so that she's against it. I'm pulling out quickly only to slam back into her and I feel her cry out again, not as pained sounding as the first time and I take that as a sign that this is ok. Her fingers tug at my hair as she slams her hips down to meet my rising ones. Our lips are every where, I take in a perk, dark nipple into my mouth as I thrust into her, causing her to throw her head back, banging it against the wall in the process. We don't stop though, not matter if we hurt ourselves or not. It's not like our usual love making, no this is much deeper and darker than love making. It's what they call, fucking. The word itself only turns me on more as I thinking about it and relish in what we are doing right now.

My hips are only becoming more erratic as they thrust hard into her willing body, causing noises that don't normally exist to her to come out of her rosy full lips. I want her to come, to know I've caused her great pleasure. I want to release myself into her, showing her the claim I have.

I'm thrusting harder, faster as she tries to keep up with pace. I know she's close and I decide to taste the skin of her neck once more, biting down hard at the crook of her neck. She screams out and I feel her walls around me clamp down violently, convulsing as she cries out more. Her body wracks with spasms as I try to thrust inside her again, but she is too tight around me and I only manage to sheath myself inside her fully as her body is unwilling to loosen around me. I feel her walls start to loosen and begin to thrust again out of instinct; not quite ready to cum inside her though I can feel myself closer.

I've almost surprised her at the movement as she moans out, I wasn't expecting her to be ready again so quickly but her body is already thrusting down onto me in slow, drawn out movements and if possible I'm even more turned on now than I was before. She's much slicker as I move in and out of her, the wetness only spurring me on more as I continue to thrust into her, her body responding more and more to every thrust with it's own. I hear the noises come from below us as I move my hips, I like it. My body is on fire as I listen to everything from the noises from our connected bodies, to the moans escaping my mouth and then the cries and pleas coming from hers. She's begging. The word is barely a thought and my hips jerk up hard, her begs become louder. I almost want to growl. She's begging me, her Peeta, to make her cum. I never expected to bring her to such a point. The fire in my lower body is burning more with every jerk of my hip, wanting to hear more from her wanting mouth.

Our lips touch and our breaths mingle with one another's as we move against each other, willing the other to have their release. She's thrusting down hard and I know she's close again, this time I am as well. Her moans are getting louder as I hold her stare with my own, wanting her to look at me until the very last moment. Her begging has gone down to a whisper as she stares in my eyes, I see my name pass her lips every time she speaks. In this moment I know she is mine, she is Katniss, she is the girl I have and always will love. The tightness in my lower area is too much and I'm yelling out my release, with her name on the tip of my tongue as I dispense myself into her, she is holding me flush against her and I feel her walls once more tightening around me as I pump myself into her.

My head is already falling to her shoulder as my pumps slow down. She's holding onto me tightly and I know I must move us before I collapse. I get as far as the living room before collapsing onto the couch, pulling her down with me. She unwinds her legs from around me and I feel my soften member slip out of her as she moves so that she can cuddle up against my chest. Our laboured breathing fills the quiet room as we bask in the after glow. In our state of peace I realize this is the first time our love making was so rough. I wouldn't question it for now, not wanting to break what was between us right now.

It was already almost ten at night when I told Katniss I had to head out to the bakery to get some thing for tomorrow morning. I didn't want to leave her at home by herself, but I also knew I had to do this. Hell, even I didn't want to do this. Talk to him that is.

I made my way over to Hazelle's home, knowing he was staying there until their new house was finished. Walking up to the door, I gave it a light knock, crossing my arms over my chest as I waited.

The door opened and I was greeted by the guy I was looking for, though he stood taller than me I was not intimidated by him, no, because I had won long ago. That need for possession was rising in me once more and I had to do everything in my power to push it down. No, this conversation needed to be without yelling, snippy comments, or fists. It was a conversation between two grown men.

"We need to talk." I say to him. He gives me a once over before nodding, grabbing his boots from inside and walked out, shutting the door behind him. I lead him a few feet away from the house before I turn back around to face him. "You plan to corner Katniss tomorrow in the woods, correct?" I cut the chase, not bothering to play cat and mouse with this conversation.

He gives me a hard look before speaking up. "How did you find out?" I give a chuckle. He didn't realize I had friends every where in this district.

"Not the point. Answer the question. Yes or no?" I'm really in no mood for this. I want to be home with my Katniss and I wanted this conversation to be as quick as possible.

"And what if I was?" I sigh. Again, I didn't feel like playing cat and mouse right now.

"I'm saying don't then. Don't bother. You want to talk to her, you have to wait for her to come to terms then. Forcing her won't help her."

"You think that's how she works? Force has always been the reason she's accomplished things!" His voice is rising and I can feel myself getting angry at him.

"Maybe the old Katniss was like that, but she's not any more. She has to come to her own terms before she actually moves forward. Forcing her to talk to you while she's in her own space is only going to create problems. And if I find out you did go out to seek her tomorrow you'll be a dead man. I promise you that." These words... they're not me, but they are coming out of my mouth, using my voice and I'm a bit scared of them. I see his grey eyes widen, they're so much like hers. They really could have been cousins.

"Are you threatening me?"

"Is it working?" I ask back

"No."

"Then yes, I am. Stay away from her Gale, wait until she comes to you. Don't fuck up her progress for your own selfishness. If you've ever loved her, then do this for her. Stop thinking of your own damn feelings."

"I didn't think her progress included fucking outside in the back yard." His words are sharp and for just a moment he's caught me off guard as I think back to earlier today, while we were still outside. No one should have been able to see us, not with the fences, but maybe he had been walking by and heard. I want to smile a little at the fact that he either saw or heard us, knew where he stood in all of this.

"Well, we are married. You know we have sex Gale, she was pregnant after all. It's not our fault you happened to be in the neighbourhood this afternoon. That should tell you where you stand with her Gale. My warning stays the same and I won't hesitate to come after you."

I walk away, leaving him behind and hoping he understands the dark meaning behind my words. For an instance, I can imagine myself killing him if he did find Katniss. I know my mood is sour and I'm trying to shake it before I go back home.. I should stop at the bakery first, grab something from there so it looks like I actually did go there. I hate lying to Katniss but tonight was necessary for her and I silently apologize to her for going behind her back. But I can't afford to lose the progress we've had so far together because of him. I don't want to lose my Katniss again.

TBC

A/N: I want to thank all the reviewers so far for this story, you guys are awesome! I want to thank one of my reviewers for giving me some ideas on where to go in this chapter, it helped, a lot! So thank you for that! Also, this chapter is much longer than I thought it would be... but I actually really like this chapter, it might be one of my favourites so far. Anyways, I'm still looking for an official beta for this story. If you or someone you know might be able to help please PM me. I'm looking for someone who is good with grammar, spelling, very familiar with the Hunger Games Trilogy, and may even be familiar with canadian/ british spelling as I'm canadian and usually spell things the canadian way. (like favour instead of Favor or favourite instead of favorite.) So again, please PM me! Anyways, please review! I've been getting a lot of favourites and story alerts for this story, but not as many reviews. If you like this story, please tell me! Reviews encourage me to write on!