A/N- Ahhh! Sorry for the late update! I've been really busy lately and also suffered from a mild case of Writers' Block... sorry again :(
But I've finally finished this chapter and beaten away my block! Hurrah. Well, this chapter is quite dialoguey (if that's even a word), so if you love dialogue, then enjoy this very much! But, if you don't... then sorry, but this needed to be said :D
I have not committed fraud, so I'm still not the owner of the Hunger Games x
I wake up early the next morning, inadequate slithers of light peeping out from behind the sheeted curtains, pausing awkwardly into my eyes. I blink a few times, wishing the light would shine in another direction rather than in my eyes. But, obviously, the light doesn't respond to my subtle mind nudges. So I just turn my head out the way of the beams, my nose bumping into something firm and white.
My body sits up straight, and for the first time since I woke, I look around at my surroundings. I'm sitting on a large plush chair, drawn next to a bed. Ethan's bed to be exact. I sit up, confused as to how exactly I got here, but doesn't take long for me to jog my memory...
Last night, I'd left the house, sat on a wall, argued with Katniss, turned the argument into a rational conversation and visited Ethan; there, I must have fallen asleep, my head resting on the bed. And that is how I woke up here.
Running my fingers through my tangled hair, I stand up from the chair and rub my eyes. They're damp. My eyes are damp. This can only mean one of two things...
I scuttle over to the chest of drawers, where a small hand mirror sits on top, reflecting the morning's light around the room. I snatch it from the surface and hold it in front of my face.
Sure enough, my eyes are clearly moist... and also, bloodshot. I've undoubtedly been crying; for whatever reason, I'm not sure of yet. Pulling out a tissue from the box beside me, I attempt to dry the dampness on my face and hopefully, cover up the fact that I've been crying. Even through my cautiousness, I seem to rouse Ethan. Oops.
He stifles a yawn and rubs his eyes, before sitting up and seeing me, scrubbing my face with the GODDAMNED TISSUE THAT REFUSES TO ABSORB THE MOISTURE ON MY FACE.
"Zinny?" He yawns, looking at me in confusion. "What the heck are you doing to your face?"
"Oh, erm... nothing" I reply awkwardly, stuffing the tissue in my pocket. "Just, um, cleansing"
"Cleansing..."He repeats, clearly seeing through my excuse.
"Ok, fine, you've caught me out. I forgot to take my makeup off last night" I quickly cover up. "Lazy me"
Ethan looks back at me, his eyebrows slightly raised in disapproval. "You don't wear makeup"
I feel my cheeks turn a pale shade of pink and I avert my eyes.
"What's really wrong, Zinny?" He asks, standing up and walking over to me.
His good arm reaches out and a finger strokes down my cheek. I flinch ever so slightly, but I don't think he notices as he tilts my face towards his.
"Have you been crying?" He questions, peering into my eyes.
I look away from his eyes. "Um, no..."
He doesn't buy it.
"Yes you have. I can see the bloodshot in your eyes - and your eyelids are slightly swollen" He points out. "Why?"
"Oh, I don't know Ethan. I really don't" I answer, pulling back from him.
He appears to take this personally and looks upset.
"Zinny, what's wrong with you? Have I said something; done something?"
"No, it's not you, it's-" I mutter.
"No, not the whole it's-not-you-it's-me routine. Let's not go there" He says, sighing.
"But it's not you..." I begin.
"And it's not you, either" He cuts me off before I can finish. "What's changed between us, Zinny?"
"Nothing..."
"Then why are you acting different?"
"I'm not..."
"Yes you are; you're acting weird around me"
"I must have had a bad night's sleep, that's all"
Ethan steps towards me, hugging me close with one arm.
"Ok, I'm sorry" He whispers to me.
"Me too" I agree.
"I love you; you know that?"
"I do now"
He lets out a small chuckle and releases me.
"And you?"
"I...erm..." I stammer. "Oh my gosh, is that the time already?"
Ethan looks at me, surprised. He must have been expecting me to confess my love for him as well... But how can I when I don't think I do love him? Do I love him? I'm not sure. Now, I have a pretty good idea why I wept last night. I don't think I love him, not like that, but I can't bear to tell him. Instead, I just avoid the situation by hurrying out of the house.
I run out the house, leaving the door swinging on it's hinges behind me. I don't look back as I open the gate, heading as far away from the house as I can. I can hear Ethan calling my name, but my head is spinning and I ignore it. I block it out as I create more distance between me and the house. Luckily, Ethan doesn't follow me far; he must have realised that the best thing to do is let me be.
I'm not sure where I'm going, nor where I want my destination to be. Anywhere is fine, just not the Victors' Village. I just keep running forward, forward, forward. No looking back, just looking ahead; but even that's hard with the water welling up in my eyes, blurring my vision.
I don't bother to stop and wipe away the tears; I just can't stop my legs from moving beneath me. My body doesn't want to stop going, not until I get away from everyone's watching eyes and predictable minds.
By now, my vision is so blurred, I can't even tell whether I'm heading in a straight direction, never mind see the person I'm about to crash into. It's not until I've ran head first into their arm that I notice them standing before me.
"Woahhh, slow down. You almost knocked me over" The person says, laughing.
"Oh, I'm sorry...I just...um" I stumble over my words, feeling embarrassed.
They turn around to face me, but as soon as his face comes into view, I realise this is no stranger.
It's Peeta.
"Zinny?" Peeta says, staring at me in shock.
"Peeta" I mumble, staring back at him, blinking back the tears.
Peeta steps towards me and takes my arms, hugging my body tightly. I can feel his muscles trembling as he almost crushes me to death. I let out a small cough and his grip instantly loosens.
"Sorry, am I crushing you?" He apologises.
"A little, but I don't really mind. I'm just so happy to see you" I reply, hugging him hard too.
"Me too. I just can't believe you're here" He tells me, tears welling up in his eyes as well.
I pull back from his embrace, catching a tear that falls down his cheek.
"Don't you cry too" I say, my lip quivering. "You'll set me off again"
"I'm not" He sniffs. "It's just so amazing to see you again; I thought you were in the Capitol"
"Well, I was for almost a year, but I escaped and arrived here yesterday. You weren't home though" I explain.
"Oh, I needed some space, that's all" He shrugs. "It can get pretty hectic in my life at the moment, being a new Victor and all that"
I'm not sure what to say next, so I start chewing my lip awkwardly, until Peeta spots my bandaged arm.
"Hey, what happened to your arm?" He asks, gently prodding my arm.
"Um...I kinda sprained it when I jumped out a moving train on the way here" I tell him, frowning at my own stupidity.
"Right... well, I'm not gonna ask why, it could be a long story. I'm sure we'll find plenty of time to talk about it later"
"Later?" I ask. "What are we doing now?"
"I wanna show you something"
And with those words said, he takes my upper arm and walks off, me trailing behind my his grip.
The room we enter is dark. When I say dark, I mean literally pitch black. Not even one tiny little slither of light I can use to navigate my way safely.
Peeta stands behind me, guiding me by the shoulders. He seems to know his way around this place even without seeing it, so I let him take me further into the blackness. After a few steps, probably about a couple metres into the room, Peeta stops me. He removes his hands from my shoulder and I can no longer sense him near me.
"Peeta? You still here" I whisper anxiously into the darkness.
There's a slight shuffle from somewhere in the room and Peeta replies. "Uh huh, just finding the light switch"
He finds it seconds later and the light bulb flickers on. It blinks a few times, before staying at a dim glow. It's not much light, but it's enough to see perfectly fine.
And what I see is an art gallery.
Masses of paint covered canvasses scatter around the room. Some hang on the wall, some sit on stands, waiting to be completed. There's pots of paint in every shade of every colour and stained brushes lie lifelessly on the floor and tables.
Cautious not to break anything, I walk over to one of the paintings. I look at it in awe, my jaw practically touching the floor. It's amazing. It's looks like a photograph that's been printed on a canvass, it's that life-like. The way the colours are gently blended together is mesmerising and I can barely take my eyes off it. Even through it's beauty, I can see sadness and death in the painting. It's a painting of the sweet twelve year old from last years Games. Rue, I think her name was. In the painting, she's lying (presumably dead), surrounded by delicately painted white flowers. Exactly like she lay when she died.
"Peeta, that's just, amazing" I say, unable to avert my eyes from the painting.
"Thanks" He mumbles, chewing his bottom lip.
I send him a warm smile and look through all the other paintings around the room. Some are more peaceful, like the first one I saw, but others are vivid images of death, death and more death. But they're all so real that it sends shivers down my spine. It's as if I'm in the picture and death is all I see. It doesn't take me long to realise that every picture I see is related to the Games. This must be Peeta's way of dealing with the flashbacks and the nightmares. He must have to paint out his thoughts and memories, in a hope to face his fears.
"Peeta" I say, walking over to him, crouched on the floor with his head in his hands. "Are you alright?"
His head lifts up. "Oh, I'm fine. Just thinking"
I drop to my knees beside him. "About what?"
"Doesn't matter" He murmurs, dismissing his thoughts.
"It's ok, you can tell me. I'm here for you now" I smile at him.
"Thanks" He smiles back.
"No problem, little brother"
I stand up again and hold my hand out to him. His hand grips onto mine and I pull him to his feet. We stand silent for a few minutes, thinking our own thoughts. The room seems full of sadness and depression, so I attempt to lighten the mood with a positive statement.
"It's my birthday tomorrow, you know" I say to Peeta.
"How could I forget?" He answers, but he doesn't seem particularly happy about it.
"Peeta? What is it?" I ask him, sensing that something's not right here.
"It's just, your birthday" He shrugs. "It's always the week before the reaping"
I let out a deep sigh. How could I forget that? My birthday had always been exactly a week before the reaping, so why of all years should I forget now? I can't believe I just said that. I tried to lighten the mood, but I only made it worse. I've just reminded him that this is his last week in District 12, before he's thrust back into that arena again. Only this time, he probably won't come out again.
"Oh, Peeta... I didn't mean to remind you" I begin to apologise.
"Nah, it's fine. I hadn't forgotten that my life will end in a few weeks" He says, glancing to the floor.
"Don't say that"
"But it's true and you know it"
"You've still got a 50-50 chance of not being chosen. Haymitch might be reaped"
"Then I'll volunteer"
"Peeta, you can't..."
"I can and I will"
"It's not fair on Mother and Father. It's not fair on me"
"But it's fair on Katniss"
I don't say anything.
"Zinny, I need to go with her. We need to stay together and prove-" Peeta tries to convince me.
"Prove what exactly?" I demand.
"Oh, just things you wouldn't understand..."
"No, Peeta. I've lived in the Capitol for the past year, so I think I of all people would understand"
He sighs. "Yeah, but it's more complicated than that..."
"No. The only complicated thing now is you. No-one gets why you want to go back in that arena, especially when you're chances of coming out are even slimmer than last time"
"But, Zinny, I have to!"
"No, Peeta, you don't"
There's a silence.
Peeta doesn't seem like he's going to say anything back, so I turn and walk slowly towards the door. When I reach the door, I pause in the doorway and look back at him.
"You're right. I don't understand"
A/N- Gah, I'm finding it hard to think of what to write in these notes at the moment... other than PLEASE CONTINUE READING AND REVIEWING.
Oh, and I love you all :D
Thanks, FireflyLlama x