Woo that was a lot of reviews! Thanks to everyone who did and for grins I'll name the first three: Peeta-Mellark-Loves-ME, Zelda12343, and PeetaLuvrAlways. From now until who-knows-when it'll be in Peeta's POV.

PEETA'S POV

It was complete chaos. People were yelling, grabbing other people, shoving things out of their way to get to her. To Katniss. I tried desperately to weed my way through the crowd, reaching out for her, but multiple hands grabbed my wrists, twisted them behind my back, and forced me onto my knees. I cried out for Katniss. The last thing I saw was her getting pulled off of Dr. Longarden's neck and having a needle jammed into her arm. Then a needle was forced into my own arm, immediately knocking me out.

I woke up in a hospital bed, completely naked. The sedation drugs were already wearing off, making my head feel heavy. To my left, a nurse was looking at a computer screen and writing something down on a clipboard. Using up most of my energy, I opened my mouth and forced words to come rasping out. "Where is Katniss?"

The nurse eyed me with piercing black eyes. "She is currently under strict examination in the Mental Instability Labs."

"I have to—I have to see her." With shaky arms, I propped myself up on my elbows, but my muscles were so weak, I just fell right back down.

"No, no." The lady put her hand on my shoulder. "She is not to be seen until she is in a more stable condition."

"What do you classify as 'stable'?" I gritted my teeth at her.

"Right now she is in the process of being evaluated for three days. After the three days are up and she shows no sign of declining mental health, we will give her a more permanent room. That is when she is allowed to have visitors."

"I have to see her!" Ignoring the needle in the crook of my elbow and the rush of vertigo, I sat up. "She will think I abandoned her! That's the last thing both of us need."

"Mr. Mellark, please." The nurse forced me to lie back down. "Your test results will come back in an hour, and by that time the drugs should wear off enough for you to be released. Until then, you are to stay in here."

"But, Katniss n—"

"This will be good for Katniss." The lady reassured me. "It'll give her some time away to think, and rest. All of the stress in her life lately must have been bad for her. She has a nice, peaceful place to heal. Be thankful."

My distraught mood wavered. Was this actually helping Katniss? "But she'll think I abandoned her."

"Don't worry." The smile I received wasn't necessarily comforting. "I will make sure Katniss knows that you haven't abandoned her."

I sighed and laid back on my pillow. I suppose that was the best I could ask for since I couldn't see her in person.

Exactly one hour and thirteen minutes later, a little beep came from the computer in front of my nurse. She blinked and I listened to her mouse click a few times.

Then she sat back in her chair, satisfied. "Your test results came in, Mr. Mellark."

"What exactly did you test for?" I asked dryly.

"Mostly different functions of the brain to see if it was working properly. We also did brain wave scans to test mental stability, stress levels, and just the overall condition of your psychological wellbeing."

I blinked. Some of those words just went into one ear and out the other. But I got the gist of it. "So what were the results?"

"They came back fairly positive. There were some minor stress levels indicated, but your general psychological health is good."

"Does that mean I can go?" My heart lifted slightly.

"After signing you out and removing your IV. Not in that particular order." She typed something on the computer and then wheeled her little stool up to the side of the bed. I held out my arm with the IV in it. Even though I was use to getting stuck, needles definitely weren't my thing.

After working the sticky adhesive off, the nurse slid the IV out of my arm with a slight sting. Then she stuck a piece of cotton on the dot of blood and wrapped stretchy green tape around it. "Since you are one of our minor patients, it is possible to sign out by computer, so let me do that real fast." She went back over to her computer.

But before I could be any more relived about getting out, a simple fact halted me; I was not wearing any clothes. At all. I turned, slightly embarrassed, to the nurse. "Do you—Do you have my clothes?"

For a split second she just sat there, but then she smirked. "Yeah, I have them." But she didn't make any move to go and retrieve them.

Well, this was certainly awkward. "Can…I have them?"

With a look (I'm not sure what exactly it was), she reached under the cabinet and threw them at me. "Just crack open the door when you're done changing." And she walked out the room.

I certainly did not like this nurse at all. After hastily pulling on my clothes and opening the door, I got led out of the hospital.

Despite my constant worries and yearnings for Katniss, I had some free time to myself the next three days. Mostly I baked, but I also took some time to paint, clean a little, and spend time with Primrose and Ms. Everdeen. Apparently they weren't allowed to see Katniss either, so we were both left in the dust, waiting to see what will happen.

Ms. Everdeen was in the process of applying for a job in the hospital, so it was mainly me and Prim hanging out. We talked, took short walks around the Refuge Quarter, and I often took her to the kitchens to let her help me bake. It turns out she wasn't too bad at it. The head cook even agreed to let some of her better breads to be used for mealtimes.

In result of the time we spent together, Prim and I grew slowly closer together. I could tell why Katniss loved her so much. Of course I could before, but I had a feeling Prim didn't tell just anyone what we had talked about in the past few days.

On the third day, we were lounging around on our stomachs on Katniss' bed (we had taken to spending a lot of our time there, strangely enough) chatting lightly about home. It didn't seem to affect Primrose as much as I thought it would.

"I just feel bad for helpless Lady, tied up at the back of our old house. She didn't even have the choice to run when the bombs were dropped." She crossed her ankles in the air, looking slightly sad and wistful.

"Don't feel bad, Prim." I comforted her. "You gave her the best life she could have possibly had. I bet she didn't even feel a thing."

She gave me a look. "I suppose you're right, but…"

"At least you still have your cat." That seemed to do the trick.

Primrose perked up immediately. "That's true. Buttercup is such a good kitty." She crooned, almost as if Buttercup was actually there.

But something dawned on me. "I haven't seen him in a while. Have you?"

She frowned as well. "No. Not in a week or so. I hope he is okay…" Primrose looked very worried.

"I'm sure he is just out catching fat mice and eating fine suppers every night with a lovely girl cat he met."

Prim giggled at the thought. "I'm surprised he didn't find a girlfriend back in District Twelve. He is a very handsome cat."

I nodded distractedly and let my mind wander back home. Maybe… District 12 could be rebuilt. The ashes could be cleared and a whole town could blossom from the dust. Katniss and I could go back to our house in the Victor's Village. She would move in with me and we could try again. I would be able to ask her to marry me properly. No foolish excuses this time. We could do it right. We could sit in our little house together by the fire, eating homemade bread and talking about children.

When Katniss brought up the idea of purposefully having kids, I was excited, but I could see it in her eyes that she wasn't ready yet. She just said that for me because she assumed all I ever wanted was just a kid. But I cared what she thought, and I knew she wasn't prepared to raise children. But if our district gets constructed again we could live happily together again, no stress or the pressure that we have now upon us. If we gave it just a year before we started thinking of children again, we would have time to settle in. Katniss deserves a break from being the girl on fire. Everyone is expecting so much out of her. But for just one year, if we could be a normal couple, I think both of us would like that.

I could plant a garden for her, with vegetables and flowers of all sorts. We could sit out in the middle of it together, talking. Just talking. And I could open up a new bakery, which I would support the both of us off of. I closed my eyes and imagined that. Me and her, a beautiful house of our own, with blossoming gardens, and maybe even a pet of some sort. All of us in our own little patch of heaven…

"Peeta? Are you listening to me, Peeta?" Prim waved her hand in front of my face.

"Wh-? Oh, yeah, sorry." I glanced at the look she gave me and amended. "No, sorry I wasn't."

"I was saying that I was actually glad the Games happened that year." Prim looked only the tiniest bit annoyed that I wasn't paying attention to her. "Sure, I didn't like that so many nice people died, but you and Katniss got chosen, and I think that right there was the biggest blessing to everyone in Panem."

I listened closely to her now, intent on not being so rude this time.

"If it was just you, or just Katniss it wouldn't have worked, but every single thing that had happened to you two from since you were kids until then has saved everyone's butts. If Katniss hadn't sung up on that stool in kindergarten, you may not have noticed her, or your dad might not have pointed her out. And-and with the bread when you two were eleven. She says it's always the first gift that is the hardest to repay, but I think that if it wasn't you who threw the bread for her she wouldn't have felt a connection towards you. And so in the Games, Katniss wouldn't have felt so compelled to yell your name and find you when the rules were changed. So if that hadn't happened, you two wouldn't have fallen in love and saved Panem."

I felt my eyebrows shoot up in surprise. For an almost-fourteen-year-old, Prim was extremely intuitive. Sure, everything she said was true and somewhat obvious, but I hadn't really taken time to think of that. Yes, I had an eye for Katniss for a very long time, but it was only when she found me laying half-dead in the mud, when I had fallen in love, hard. But for Prim to say it so casually and matter-of-factly took me off guard because until then, I hadn't realized what solid of facts I held in my hands. What I was facing here wasn't difficult to understand, or even complicated. I was in love with Katniss.

"Peeta?" Prim was frowning slightly at me. "Are you okay?"

"I-I am, Primrose." I slowly rolled off the bed and stood up. "Actually, I think I'm a little better than fine."

Now she had a funny look on. "Right…"

"So," I looked at her with a determined face on. "Let's go to the hospital. I think we have someone to see."

Looking back and reading that chapter I noticed how…not good I was at writing stuff in Peeta's POV. But don't worry. With a little practice, I'll be as good as new. I hoped you guys didn't think this chapter was too boring or long. You'll like the next one better, I promise. Well, there is a big blue "review" button down there just waiting to be pressed!