"Peeta, wake up," Dad's voice dragged me out of sleep. It was Sunday morning and I still hadn't quite recovered from the dance Friday, let alone working most of the day in the bakery on Saturday. I groaned, sitting up and rubbing my hands over my face. "I could use your help downstairs with the cleaning. Rye took off, and I'd like to get it done before everyone gets here."
I murmured and nodded, his statement not quite registering until he'd already started down the hall. Everyone. Sunday. Phyl, Darla, and LT were coming to dinner, and Dad had invited Mrs. Everdeen, Katniss, and Prim as well. I swore quietly and looked over at the clock. The morning was already nearly over. As I eased out of bed I remembered another piece of the plans for the day. Katniss was would be over early to help get the cleaning done, and that meant more time with her. That made getting out of bed a little more worthwhile. After taking a few minutes to get dressed, feed Buddy, and choke back my fistful of morning medications, I went downstairs.
I paused at the bottom of the stairs, watching Dad rake the soot out of the big oven and into the trash barrel leaning against the mouth. He swept a pile of it too far to one side, missing the barrel completely and sending a black puff to the floor and down the front of his pants. A memory started to come back to me as he muttered and swore under his breath, dusting himself off before crouching to clean the floor.
Rye and I had been doing the same job a few years before. It was just after Phyl had moved out and we still weren't quite used to dealing with cleaning the kitchen without him, our pace wasn't as fast as Mom would have liked, and we rushed parts of it in favor of just getting the job done before running off to do better things on the one day a week we ever really got a break from the work. Rye had turned cleaning the ovens into a competition to see who could leave the darkest streaks of soot on the other without getting caught or spilling any on the floor and creating more work for ourselves, and I was losing. I swore at him, the word still new and big and tough, and wiped a greasy black streak down the front of his shirt. It was his laughter that got Mom's attention. She stormed in from the storefront, knees and elbows dirty and wet from scrubbing the floor, demanding to know what the hell we were doing. Why we weren't finished. Why we were so damn dirty.
It was the streak on Rye's shirt and my criminally sooty hand that tipped her over the edge. I couldn't remember what she said. A blur of useless and stupid and don't you know how hard it is to get your fucking clothes clean as it is as she stomped across the kitchen toward us raising her hand. I closed my eyes and shrank back against the ovens, but the blow didn't come down on me. Rye took that hit, standing in front of me and staring her down, just recently having finally outgrown her. He didn't even wince, and I remember how much that scared me. The silence after the hard smack of the back of her hand against his face. And as soon as she left the first thing he did was ask if I was okay, his lips and teeth still red with blood.
"Peet?" Dad's hands were on my shoulders, his face a few inches from mine, and I couldn't remember how he got there. I pressed my eyes closed, fighting back a wave of nausea and the threat of an oncoming headache. "Peeta, are you okay?"
"Y—yeah," I said, forcing myself to open my eyes and focus on him. It took a concentrated effort to stop seeing two of him. "I'm f-fine."
"You sure?" he pushed my hair off my forehead, frowning as he pressed the back of his knuckles to my skin. "You had a seizure."
"I'm fine," I snapped, pushing his hand away. How did he know what had happened? I'd just gotten caught up in bad memory. I was tired. That was all.
"Okay, you're fine," he sighed, taking a step back. "I'd like you to start out front. Katniss will be here soon to help. The broom's in th-"
"I know how to clean the storefront," I cut him off, brushing past him to the storage room to retrieve the dustpan and broom. I had worked all damn day Saturday, something I hadn't been able to do in months. Then one small time loss happened and suddenly he thought I'd have forgotten where to find the fucking broom. I'd thought we were past treating me like a child who needed their hand held for every little thing
"Well, excuse me," he muttered, returning to the ovens as I went out to the storefront. I started from the back, sweeping toward the front and pushing together a pile of dust and crumbs and dirt to be pushed out the door before the floor could be mopped. My headache steadily receded as I focused on the work. Katniss arrived as I was hesitating by the front door, my fingers curled around the handle as I glanced out the picture windows to be sure there wouldn't be anyone walking by. The square was all but deserted on a Sunday, anyway, but I didn't want to run any risk of having to speak to someone. Especially knowing that I'd been bumped back up the town gossip chain after Friday.
"Hey," Katniss said, sliding her hand over my arm and greeting me with a soft kiss.
"Hi," I smiled, letting her take the dustpan and broom from my hands and save me from the door opening debate still raging in my head.
"Wanna go get that stuff to clean the floor?" she nodded toward the back room, waiting for me to step out of the way. I nodded in relief, disappearing until I was sure she'd finished and locked back up again. When I returned with the mop and a bucket of the watered down vinegar and oil mixture we used to rub down the wood floors she leaned close to me, lowering her voice to a whisper as she took the mop from my hands. "What's with your dad?"
"What do you mean?" I asked, glancing back toward the kitchen.
"He's kind of, um, I don't know. In a mood," she said. "Is he hung over or something?"
"Probably," I said, setting down the bucket and looking back toward the kitchen again, wondering if the supposed seizure I'd had played any part in his sour mood. It was just as likely to do with Rye being missing, or nerves over this dinner plan of his, as it was anything else. I didn't remember him being overly drunk when he finally got home the night before.
"It's just weird seeing him like this," she said quietly. "It makes me feel like I did something wrong."
"Sh-showing up early on your d-day off," I gave her a look. "How d-dare you." Katniss laughed, shoving my arm playfully before we got back to work. It went much faster with two.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Dad snapped. Katniss and I looked up at each other from the cases we were cleaning before looking back toward the door into the kitchen. She stood, holding her hand out to help me to my feet, and we crept into the doorway as Dad whipped the towel in his hands into the sink and stormed out to the back porch. "What the hell is this? Get in the fucking house, asshole."
"Ow! Cut the shit," Rye snapped, stumbling into the kitchen as Dad shoved him forward.
"Sorry about this, Twain," the peacekeeper that lived next door to Phyl stepped in behind Dad. He stopped when he caught sight of Katniss, a smile spreading across his face. "Hey, Katniss."
"Hi, Darius," Katniss said, though she didn't seem as thrilled to see him as he was to see her. I looked over at her, furrowing my brow in question. She lowered her voice, leaning closer to me. "He's at the Hob all the time and he's just... annoying." I nodded, turning back to the kitchen as Dad pointed Rye toward one of the stools.
"You'd better fucking tell me what this is about before he does," Dad snapped, pointing at Rye and gesturing to Darius, respectively.
"It's bullshit is what it is," Rye spat. Darius folded his arms across his chest, grinning and pinching his tongue between his teeth. As soon as Dad turned toward him the expression dropped into stony professionalism.
"What did he do?" Dad said.
"There was a noise complaint down at the train yard," Darius said. "We found him and a few of his buddies getting a little too rowdy passing around a couple of bottles of moonshine." Dad clenched his jaw, turning his head to glare at Rye. "We, uh, took the rest of them in. Rye was the only one who managed to pass a sobriety test."
"Hey, you let that little Maynard fucker go," Rye said, pointing at Darius. His movements were a little less controlled than usual; he definitely wasn't sober. Dad slapped his hand down.
"Don't worry about him," Darius said. "Just be glad I got you out of there before Purnia heard your commentary on her ass."
"Those stupid white pants are flattering," Rye chuckled.
"Thank you," Darius said. "Not interested though."
"You fuckin' wish," Rye narrowed his eyes, dangerously close to slurring.
"Maybe you should arrest him," Dad shook his head.
"He's not in any trouble. Not yet, anyway," Darius said, smirking at Rye, the expression vanishing the minute Dad turned back to him.
"Well, thank you, I guess," Dad said. "I'd offer you something but we're cleared out for the day."
"It's fine," Darius smiled. "I'd feel a little guilty accepting anything as thanks for dragging your boy home drunk."
"Boy? We are practically the same age you condescending little prick," Rye snapped. Dad shot him a look that shut him up immediately, then turned to lead Darius back out.
"You're a dumbass," Katniss said as soon as we were left alone in the kitchen. I could hear the faint murmurs of Darius and my father's voices out back. Rye looked up at us.
"Spare me," he rolled his eyes.
"D-didn't he, uh, specifically mention this?" I smirked. "The d-drunk thing."
"I am not drunk," he snapped, dropping his hands heavily against the tabletop. Katniss and I both snorted. "Just, y'know. Buzzed."
"Yeah, okay," Katniss said. The back door slammed and Dad returned a moment later.
"Rye, are you fucking kidding me?" he bellowed, completely ignoring Katniss and I as he advanced on Rye. "Today. You pull this shit. Today. What the hell is wrong with you?" Rye didn't answer, just stared straight ahead, his lips twisting with the threat of laughter. He glanced over toward Katniss and I and Dad followed his gaze. "Both of you get upstairs. Rye's going to finish your work to help him sober up. As soon as we have a little talk."
Katniss and I retreated up the stairs without a word. Buddy was sitting at the top, ears perked up, his tail twitching back and forth. He took off down the hall ahead of us, skidding as he took the turn into my bedroom. Katniss shut the door behind us as I scooped Buddy up off the floor before he could disappear under the bed. He mewled indignantly, squirming until I sat down on the bed and set him beside me. I scooted myself back to lean against the wall and Katniss did the same, leaning against me and draping her knees across my lap. We both sat in silence, listening to the sound of Rye and Dad's increasingly loud fighting in the kitchen below us.
"Yeah? Really? And what the fuck were you doing yesterday?" Rye shouted over whatever Dad was saying.
"I have been busting my ass in this bakery for two decades without so much as a fucking thank you, don't you dare pitch that shit in my face," Dad shouted right back.
"Wow," Katniss said, finally losing the battle against her laughter. "I'm sorry. I know you don't like yelling but. Wow. Your dad's a little stressed lately, huh?"
"Yeah, a little," I smirked. It was hard not to feel guilty. Rye may have been intentionally instigating it, but too much of his stress was entirely because of me, and there wasn't anything I could do about it. I couldn't take back my injury or make the symptoms go away, and I couldn't make work in the bakery any easier on him. I looked down as Buddy awkwardly climbed over my lap, his rear leg slipping on the fabric of my pants and sending him tumbling into Katniss' thigh. He was starting to look more like a cat and less like a kitten, but it hadn't done much for his coordination.
"So, um," I bit my lip, watching Katniss drum her fingers across her legs, smirking at Buddy's complete lack of interest. "How long d-do you think we have before your mom t-turns up?"
"Probably a little while, still. Why?" Katniss said, though the smile on her face told me she knew exactly what I had in mind. I picked Buddy up, depositing him on the pillows. He immediately headed for the dresser, stepping up onto it and continuing to the windowsill, stretching himself out along the edge to stare out into the yard.
"No reason," I smirked, snaking my arm around her waist. Katniss shifted to straddle my lap, taking my face in her hands as she kissed me. I smiled against her mouth, sliding my hands over her thighs to her hips. She tilted them into my hands, pressing against me as I pulled her closer, slipping my tongue into her mouth. We hadn't had sex since we'd been caught, and feeling her weight settling against my cock made me ache to be inside her. The feeling only intensified when she whimpered softly into the kiss and rolled her hips against me.
I slipped my hands under the back of her shirt, smoothing them over her soft, bare skin. I had to restrain myself from lifting her shirt off, and instead let my fingers trace the lower edge of her bra, moving my hands to cup her breasts. She gasped quietly when I did, rocking her hips on mine and crushing her lips against my own. I looped one arm around her waist, holding her against me.
"Hey, guys," Dad opened my door, stopping short at the sight of us. Katniss and I froze, looking over at him as his expression darkened and his shoulders sagged. "Seriously? Her mother is here." The mere mention of Mrs. Everdeen made my dick wilt immediately. Katniss swore quietly and scrambled off of my lap, getting to her feet and straightening out her shirt. Dad dropped his voice to a hiss. "Leave this door open. Get your shit together. Get out here."
"Okay," I said quietly.
"I need to learn to fucking knock before I go blind," he muttered as he turned away, running his hand through his hair. Katniss helped me to my feet as we heard Prim and her mother reach the top of the stairs at the other end of the house. We barely contained our laughter. We sat in the living room with Prim, fielding a barrage of curious questions about the bakery, about living in town, about Phyl and Darla and the baby, and about why Rye was stuck downstairs and in such a bad mood. Mrs. Everdeen joined my father in the kitchen to cook.
Phyl and Darla arrived shortly after with the baby in tow. Phyl barely paused in the living room for a terse, brief greeting before passing LT off to Darla and disappearing into the kitchen. I frowned and watched him, straining to hear the conversation going on in the next room and just barely making out my mother's name before Darla redirected my attention.
"So how was the dance?" she asked, giving Katniss and I a knowing smile and bouncing LT on her lap.
"Painful," Katniss said.
"It was n-not," I chuckled, looking over at her. She just smirked and rolled her eyes.
"I bet you're glad you didn't have to take your brother's girlfriend again," Darla said, her attention pulled away for a moment as Little Twain squirmed out of her lap and onto the floor. He took a few wobbly steps toward the coffee table before catching sight of Prim and stopping short to stare at her.
"Very," I said. Katniss bumped her elbow against mine and leaned against me. I slipped my arm around her waist, watching LT point at Prim and look back toward Darla.
"Who is that?" Darla asked. LT just pointed more emphatically. "I've heard so much about you, Prim, that I keep forgetting this is the first time we've actually met."
"Really? I don't hear much about you," Prim said, giving Katniss a pointed look as she slid off of her chair to sit cross-legged on the floor, holding her arms out to Little Twain. He ran to her, stopping just short of crashing into her.
"Well then," Darla laughed, raising her eyebrows and looking over at Katniss. Katniss rolled her eyes, shaking her head and looking over at me. The loud clatter of a pot being dropped into the sink drew our attention toward the kitchen. Darla frowned, heaving a sigh and looking over toward me and Katniss. "Would you mind keeping an eye on him?" she asked, gesturing toward where LT stood with both of his hands on Prim's face.
"Sure," Katniss said. Darla smiled gratefully before getting up and disappearing into the kitchen.
"Remember when Posy was this little?" Prim said, tickling the side of LT's neck and making him giggle as he shied away from her.
"Prim you were like, six, how do you even remember when Posy was that little?" Katniss said, earning an indignant stare before Prim turned her attention back to the baby. "This is so weird."
"What?" I asked.
"Just—I don't know. Everyone together, I guess," she shrugged. I watched her, waiting for her to continue. "It's always just us. Or the Hawthornes. But that's different. It's not bad. Just... weird."
"Good weird?" I asked, holding back a smirk and waiting for her to realize how contradictory that sounded. She looked over at me, backhanding my stomach when she saw the look on my face. I laughed, pressing a kiss to her cheek as Rye noisily made his way upstairs. LT shrieked with delight as soon as he saw him.
"Hey, little man!" Rye leaned down, scooping LT off the floor and slinging him over his shoulder to blow raspberries against his side. His shrieks dissolved into laughter as Rye dropped down to sit on the floor beside Prim. He nodded toward the kitchen, setting LT back down on his feet. "Are the grown ups too cool to hang out with us?"
"S-seems like it," I said, glancing toward the kitchen door and trying not to read too much into hearing my mother's name or the frown on Darla's face before she went in. Dad appeared in the doorway a moment later, smiling brightly at LT as soon as he turned toward him.
"Rye, go with Phyl and get the extra leaf for the table from the basement, please," he said, his smile fading and his voice tightening for a minute.
"Seriously?" Rye said, his shoulders sagging.
"I'll get it, princess," Phyl said, giving Rye a look as he slipped out through the doorway behind Dad.
"Who the fuck are you calling princess?" Rye snapped, getting to his feet and following Phyl to the stairs.
"Language," Dad snapped, staring after the two of them and turning an exasperated look over his shoulder into the kitchen.
"Relax and sit with your grandson," Darla said, making an appearance long enough to shove Dad further into the living room. "We'll deal with dinner." Dad sighed, crossing the room to where LT stood and reaching down to pick up him.
"I'm sorry my sons are so rude, Primrose," he said, lifting LT up over his head and making faces at him until his happy babbling turned into giggles.
"They're boys," Prim said. "They're supposed to be."
"Apparently," he muttered, sitting down in one of the armchairs with LT in his lap. "You'll never be that rude, right Little Me?" LT stared at him for a moment before launching into an excited string of half formed words and nonsensical syllables. Dad nodded attentively until he stopped. "Ah, so you're just perfecting your Dad's gift for bull, then. Good. You'll make an excellent government employee too, buddy."
Rye and Phyl's bickering was audible before they even reached the second floor, each of them carrying an end of the heavy oak insert to make our kitchen table longer. It was so infrequently used it was barely even the same color as the rest of the table, the finish far darker and free of the scratches years of use had left behind. Dad only put up with the two of them working together for a few minutes before returning LT to where he'd stood by Prim and going into the kitchen to take over, sending a grinning Rye back out to the living room a moment later.
Even with the extra leaf in the table it still felt crowded. I sat beside Katniss, clinging to her hand under the table and trying not to get too overwhelmed with the increase in noise. My mind kept going back to Phyl's abrupt trip into the kitchen when they first arrived, to the hushed way I'd heard him say our mother's name. He'd apparently adopted Rye's new habit of referring to her by her first name, making me the lone holdout to still think of her as mom. I didn't know what to make of that, or what to make of Phyl still having things to say about her. Things that apparently couldn't wait longer than the time it took him to get through the door. Katniss stroked her thumb over the back of my hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze whenever I started to zone out and dragging me back into the moment. I couldn't help but wonder how she knew, but if she even acknowledged the looks I gave her all I got in return was a small smile.
"Finals start in a week, don't they?" Phyl asked. I nodded, hoping the nonverbal answer might drop the hint I had no desire to talk about it. Not that that strategy had ever worked on Phyl. "You ready for that?"
"N-no," I said, glancing up from my plate briefly.
"Phyl, don't. I'm sure he's nervous enough," Darla said, turning away from Little Twain long enough to give him a look. "Besides, birthdays are more fun and that's next week, too." Darla smiled at me. "Let's talk about that, instead."
"Let's not," I said, shifting in my chair uncomfortably. Birthdays had never gone very well in the past, and even with Mom long gone I didn't have much hope for this year.
"Fair warning, Delly's planning something," Dad said.
"Wait—what?" I looked at him, then Rye, then Katniss, wondering why the hell either of them hadn't told me first.
"I didn't know," Katniss shrugged. I looked toward Rye again.
"Dell knows better than to try to talk to me about that sort of shit," Rye said without bothering to look up from his meal.
"Can you give the cussing a rest for one afternoon?" Dad muttered.
"Fuck no," Rye retorted, snorting and biting back a chuckle when Dad kicked the leg of his chair.
"I heard about your little stunt today, by the way," Phyl said, setting down his fork and folding his arms against the edge of the table. "Darius was just getting home when we left to come here."
"Good news travels fast," Rye bared his teeth at Phyl in a sarcastic grin. Mrs. Everdeen raised her eyebrows, looking between Rye and Phyl before settling her gaze on my father.
"You need to stay away from that Gaskin kid before he gets you in serious trouble," Phyl said.
"You need to jump up my ass," Rye shot back, stabbing his fork into what was left of his cut of beef and narrowing his eyes at Phyl.
"This is what you're putting up with out of him?" Phyl turned to Dad, gesturing to Rye. "How the hell did you even let him get like this? What is going on over here?"
"You know what," Dad snapped, dropping his fork to his plate with a loud clatter. He pointed in Phyl's face. "Stop trying to tell me how to run my own damn household." He turned to Rye, slapping the table to get his attention before pointing in his face as well. "Stop being such a little prick every waking minute of your life. And you keep your hands off your girlfriend for five fucking minutes." He finished off by pointing at me before shoving his chair back with a loud scrape, whipping his napkin to the table, and storming out of the room. His bedroom door slammed a moment later. The rest of us sat in awkward silence, and I tried to dissolve into the back of my chair as Mrs. Everdeen stared me down.
"Mom," Prim said quietly, diverting her attention. She nodded in the direction my father had left.
"You're right," she sighed, setting her own napkin on the table beside her plate and getting up to follow Dad. We listened until the bedroom door opened and closed quietly before anyone even moved again.
"So, who wants dessert?" Rye asked.
"You really are a prick," Phyl hissed, getting up to rescue Little Twain from his high chair, where he'd been watching the entire scene in wide-eyed silence.
"Rye, help me with the dishes, please," Darla said, giving Phyl a look as she got up from her chair. The two of them bickered in a near-whisper, the argument ending swiftly with Phyl rolling his eyes and carrying LT out to the living room. Katniss, Prim and I followed, settling into a card game as we waited for our parents to reappear. Rye managed to weasel his way out of dishwashing duty long before that happened, taking a seat on the floor beside Prim and demanding to be dealt into the next hand. Dad came in first, dropping down onto the couch beside me with a heavy sigh.
"I'm sorry, Peet," he said. "Those other two deserved it. You didn't."
"It's f-fine," I smirked, though the expression fell as soon as I saw Mrs. Everdeen in the doorway to the kitchen. She raised an eyebrow at me, and I snapped my attention back to my cards.
"I didn't deserve it," Rye said.
"Keep telling yourself that," Dad said, leaning back and watching our game for a moment. "Rye's cheating."
"Dammit," Rye snapped, whipping his cards down and crossing his arms over his chest.
The school week drifted by in a blur. Between the mountain of last minute work we had to complete and turn in, and the hours Katniss and I spent studying for the upcoming finals, I felt like all I was doing was school work and sleeping. It probably wasn't that far from the truth. Katniss hardly did any bakery work, and for the first time since she'd started helping me with school we actually spent the entire time we holed up in my room studying, much to Dad's relief.
"Peeta," she said, slapping her text book closed and tossing it to the side. It was nearly noon on Saturday, and I was struggling to work my way through the practice test we'd put together for math. I looked up at her, setting down my pencil and flexing the cramp out of my hand. "I can't do this anymore. Are you feeling up for a walk?"
"Sure," I said, tucking the test into my notebook and tossing it aside.
"A long one?" she asked, getting to her feet and holding her hands out to help me up.
"I guess," I said cautiously. "Why?"
"I want to show you something," she said, a faint smile on her face. "But it's a lot of work to get there."
"Okay," I shrugged. She smiled and kissed me, keeping hold of my hand and leading me out the door. While I told Dad what we were doing, Katniss retrieved her game bag from the mudroom, pulling out her water skin and refilling it at the sink. She just smiled at the confused look I gave her, and led the way out the back door.
"Where are we going?" I finally asked when we were halfway to the Seam, taking a different route than the one that led to her house.
"It's a surprise," she said, shifting her game bag behind her hip and taking my hand. "I was going to do this on your birthday, but I think we needed it more today." I gave her a puzzled look and she just changed the subject, telling me how enamored Prim was with Darla and Little Twain. The houses we passed grew steadily smaller and more spread apart. As the trees grew thicker, the homes were clearly more frequently abandoned than not. Katniss looked back over our shoulders and tugged my hand, pulling me into a copse of trees nestled against the fence. I finally realized where we were going.
"Really?" I said quietly, looking behind us again as she slipped through the wire.
"Yes," she smiled. She held up one of the strands of wire and pointed to my cane. "Give me that, and be careful. The barbs are sharp." I nodded, staring at the rusted twist of wire in her hand as I passed the cane through to her. I'd never even had reason to be this close to the fence, and I reached out to touch the wire hesitantly.
"How d-do you know when it's—um—electrified?" I asked, ducking under the wire in her hand to step through.
"The noise," she said, taking my arm to steady me on my feet as I straightened up. My heart hammered in my chest as I looked around. Outside the District. For the first time in my life. "It sounds like a hornet's nest when it's on, it's hard to miss." I nodded, remembering the noise of the nest Rye had dislodged from our porch last year. Harsh and high and intimidating. Katniss handed me my cane and I looked back at the fence, somehow amazed that it was so simple to slip away. "Come on. Hanging around right here isn't very smart."
"Sorry," I said, snapping out of my daze and following her as she led the way into the woods. She told me about her mornings spent out here, about how different it was from one season to the next. I could barely speak, too fascinated by everything around me and near breathless from the exertion. It was another harsh reality. This time last year Delly and I were making weekend trips to the track behind the school, where she sat on the bleachers and read and heckled me as I prepared for the upcoming season. This would have been easy then; maybe as easy as it was for Katniss, who hardly seemed bothered by the uphill hike. I felt guilty for the stops to rest we had to make, and grateful for the water she'd had the foresight to bring.
"It's not much further," she said, smiling at me as she took the water skin back, taking a drink herself before tucking it back into her bag.
"This isn't what you wanted t-to show me?" I asked, trying to hide my breathlessness and taking a deep breath of air. It was easier to breathe; cleaner out here than even in town. There wasn't even a trace of the coal dust that tainted the air in the Seam or blew through town when the wind shifted. The rush of nervous adrenaline that had kept me moving as far and fast as I had was starting to die down, and my legs felt heavy and numb. I hoped Katniss' idea of how close we were wasn't an overestimation. "Okay. Let's g-go." I pushed myself away from the tree I was leaning against, wanting to keep moving before exhaustion truly caught up to me.
"Okay," Katniss imitated my tone, smiling and hooking her arm through mine. She was more relaxed than I'd ever seen her, a broad, easy smile on her face that lit up her eyes. She put me even further at ease, and every minute I didn't have to watch the ground in front of my feet I kept my eyes on her. The trek got steeper for a stretch, then leveled out into a gently curving hillside that sloped down into a wide valley. I stopped short, my breath catching at the view.
"Wow," I said quietly, staring in awe at the sea of green before us. I'd never seen so much open space, or color so deep and rich in nature. The vibrant green of the trees faded to blue on the distant mountainsides, the furthest of them nearly disappearing into the low-lying clouds on the horizon. I squeezed Katniss' hand, leaning against her as I tried to take it all in; the flash of reflected sunlight in a stream that cut through the hills, the spray of color from wildflowers to the south, the grassy meadow in the basin of the valley.
"This is what I wanted to show you," she said quietly. I turned to look at her, the smile on her face proving contagious. She kissed me gently before leading me a bit further, to a series of boulders jutting out of the meadow. We sat as I caught my breath, leaning against each other and drinking in the view. "Was it worth the walk?"
"Yes," I breathed, chuckling at the idea that she'd think for a moment that it wasn't. She squeezed my knee, pointing ahead of us to a pair of hawks wheeling over the valley. I had only ever seen them once or twice, high above the District on their way to someplace better. I slipped my arm around Katniss' waist as we watched them, and she laid her head on my shoulder.
Thank you guys, as always, for all your follows, favorites, and reviews. As always you can find me and my husband on tumblr. He's yourpeetaisshowing, I'm alonglineofbread.