Hey guys, it's Mari. I apologize for not writing for a while, but we all have real lives outside of this website. Anyway, I think that you will really like this next chapter. ITS PEETA'S TURN! He makes me happy and it's really fun to write in his point of view. MARI'S 'MY LIFE' WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE: This week I have gotten some awesome new glasses, but not just any glasses; HIPSTER GLASSES. Also, my school has started term 3 of my school year this week and my classes are ok. Nothing too extremely hard (thank gosh). Alright, well, ENJOY the most recent chapter of The District Chronicles
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO ANY OF THE HUNGER GAMES CHARACTERS OR STORY LINES
Home (Peeta's POV)
Today was the day that we were expected to return home. I was so relieved when I heard that Katniss and I were to go on the welcome stage together. I could have never faced the huge cheering crowds without her hand in mine. We were extremely compatible.
There was a soft tap on my door and in walked my beautiful Katniss, "Good morning Peeta. Sweet dreams I presume?"
"I wish."
"What was it? Cato again? The cornucopia or when he stabbed you?"
"Yes, but I was just running from him this time. He always catches up and kills me. It makes me wonder if we were never meant to survive."
"Well, we sure proved them wrong, didn't we?"
"Ya, but I'm still not sure that we are completely safe; completely protected. I'm worried Katniss. What if we defied their rules, but also their plan?"
"Peeta! We are victors and I promise that I will be with you for as long as possible. How could they have planned for us to die? Why are we so important?"
"I don't know, but we might be valuable to the capitol. They want us dead and had planned it that way in the games, but somehow we strayed from what they desired. We broke the chain of control."
Katniss sighed and walked over to sit on my bed. "Peeta, relax! We just survived the freakin' Hunger Games for gosh sake. It's ok. If you notice some strange things every now and then, I promise that it does not mean the end of the world. Just relax!"
"Katniss, list-," but I was stopped short by her lips pressing against mine. I could tell that she had just done it to shut me up, but it sure felt good. Damn I loved her, and I didn't have to kiss her to reassure myself of that.
She pulled my in by my shirt and stood up from the bed. I was so caught up in all this stupid mess, and now the kiss, that I had forgotten we were very close to home. Finally, I took a breath, "Ok, I think that I can relax now."
"Thats what I thought. Lets go Mr. Victor, we have an entrance to make!"
She reached over to grab my hand, but I made her job a bit easier by putting my arm around her waist instead. We strode over to the door and unlike earlier this week, it turned perfectly.
Together, Katniss and I walked toward the outside door of the train. I could already hear the crowds shouting our names at the top of their lungs. The satisfaction of how I survived and who I was holding by the waist was soaking into my mind. I had really defeated the Hunger Games and come out with the most wonderful girl possible.
Slowly and as proud as can be, we walked into the frame of the door while the groups of people yelled.
Although it was fun, the announcing of the victors flashed through my mind very fast and most was a blur.
The next thing that I remembered was walking into my parents old bakery. They didn't need it anymore because the winnings from my victory had been enough to live off for at least until I die. This place gave me so many great memories like decorating the cakes and cookies, having Katniss deliver game, and giving her that bread in a street. I think that was the first time that she really noticed me.
Before I upset myself too much though, I decided to leave my old home and go for a walk around District 12. Victor's Village could wait.
Walking around the Seam was lonely and sad because of the starved children running in the streets and the frail adults who had inhuman glints in their eyes. I was just going through an alley as a short cut back to Victor's Village when I heard someone murmur behind me, "Welcome home bread boy." It was Gale, the very man I had hoped to not encounter this day. Usually I would face a person during a conversation, but right now I was definitely not in the mood.
"Thanks."
"Long trip home, huh?"
"Ya, I guess, why do you care?"
"Just wanted to congratulate District 12's very own victor."
"Katniss is a victor too and last I checked you and her were on better terms than I."
For a moment, he seemed to lose his cool, nonchalant manor, "Shut up," he said with a fire in his eyes. I could tell that the conversation had shifted to an unsafe topic and my best chance of survival was to get out as fast as possible. I was still curious though...
"What was that?"
"I said shut up Peeta, just shut up!"
"I can do what I want Gale!"
"Anything? Like fall in love with Katniss?" Now he was angry, but I could not stand here and watch him say things about me.
"Why do you care?"
As soon as the words left my mouth, Gale ran up and held me tightly by the lining of my shirt. My hand went directly on top of his in an attempt to free myself, but he was too quick. His other hand pinned my forearm to the wall. He was in control now.
The hatred in his eyes shone through like mist during a sunset and for a split second, it felt as though he might reach over and kill me right then.
"Like you don't know. I bet you don't even love her. Just some way to get stupid sponsors to save your pathetic life," Gale spat, being sure to get his sweat and grit all over my face. This was stupid, but saying that I did not love Katniss was definitely crossing a personal line.
"Big mistake."
I pulled my good leg up and was just fast enough to knee him in the stomach as I took off running. It would only be a matter of time before he caught up with me, for he had an extra leg than I did.
Sprinting down the alley, I soon felt an impact of 150 pounds of Gale pulling me downward. Shit, he was faster than I thought.
My face collided with the concrete ground and I most certainly heard my own nose break as a sharp pain moved throughout my body. So this is what it felt like to get your ass kicked.
"Your the one who made a mistake... the minute you confessed your love for her I started to hate you more and more," he stifled out as he flipped my body to the sky rather harshly, "not that we were on good terms anyway."
His legs were secured firmly on top of mine, pinning me to the ground completely. With my injury, there was no route of escape, but I just hoped that he wouldn't kill me. I doubted that he would though. Katniss loved me and if she knew that Gale had killed me, she might kill him just to feel some justice.
I struggled so hard that I thought my ribs would concave, but Gale was in control. He put one of his legs on top of my stomach, so I had no place that I could escape and no places to punch or even kick him.
"Get off of me!"
"Never. I'll stay on top of you all night if I have to and if I go down your coming with me!"
"Why the hell do want me dead Gale?"
"No, not dead, just in a whole lot of pain," he said, purposely putting more pressure on my hip, close to the place where they chopped my leg off. I flinched, making the mistake of showing him that I am, in fact, in pain. "Oh, sorry, I am hurting you?"
"What do you think? I bet you've never faced off with someone your own size."
"You are my size, but I guess you're at a bit of an bit of a disadvantage," he whispered as he dug even harder into my hip.
"I can't believe Katniss ever liked you, even as just a friend," I yelled as loud as I could with a teenage boy on my chest, but as soon as I said the words, I knew they were the wrong choice. A hard hand come down on my face with so much power that I had to re-a-just my eyes to the sky after.
"Wrong, she liked me long before you and I am pretty sure she still does. And no one is going to change that, not even you bread boy. If you say one word about this to her... well, your gonna miss your teeth if you know what I mean, got it?"
I was silent. No angry jerk was going to tell me that I can't talk to Katniss. I can do whatever I want.
Another punch made contact with my face, this time making sure that my nose was broken, but by now it might be double broken if that's possible.
"Why so quiet? Kat-niss got your tongue? Ya, pun intended...," he murmured as I once again struggled against my human bonds.
"Shut up and just kill me already Gale."
"No. I am going to enjoy this as much as possible. This may be the only time I ever get to beat the living crap out of you."
"Great, this will be fun. I wish you had a weapon so we could make this faster! Maybe take away another of my limbs?"
Just then, a glint of shinning light came from Gale's pocket. Oh no... he has a knife. Not just any knife, but a switch blade. Why do my opponents always have weapons?
"Be careful what you wish for Peeta..."
"Why don't you just go hunt something and then fall onto your own knife!"
"Cut the crap before your teeth get the treatment a bit early! So far they are the only weapon you have against me."
"You seriously think that I would bite you? That is gross. Who would willingly order 'Chunk of Gale'?"
"Someone who wants to live... unlike you."
I was about to retort something back, but once again, my hairy enemy struck first. His lightning fast punches were enough to seriously damage my senses and my brain. I was running out of strength and comebacks, but mostly strength.
I was about to just close my eyes and wait for the worst to be over, but then I heard him yelling things as he continually struck blows all over my body: "This is for all of the times you stared at Katniss when she was walking home, this is for all of the dumb googliy eyes you made at her whenever she came to sell you food...," and the list went on and on.
One particularly long phrase caught my attention though:
"And this is for when you and her were in the cave during the games. She was determined on saving your life and set out to go get that healing cream. If that had been me, I would have never let her go like that... I would have insisted that she not risk her life for me, unlike you. If I had to die than at least she would be in my arms while it happened. You made her risk her own life for no reason and almost died because of it."
I wanted to yell at him and object and tell him how wrong he was, but I was out of breath and my jaw was certainly not in the right place. I could tell that he was sad now, but still full of rage.
"Now that I have stated my reasons and given you a nice long shower from hell, its time for baby to go to bed."
He stopped the punches, stood up, and released me from his grip, but I was too weak to get up and he knew it. I lie there, feeling as if I were a painting in the alley that we were in. I could not move, but I was there.
I awaited what I was sure would come next. One, two, three, four... and there it was. Gale's iron fist coming at me with more speed than it had for the last ten minutes. He had jumped up and was planning to smash in my face. The power had been collected from six feet above and was about to come raining down on the street painting.
"Lights out lover boy."
As pain exploded from all parts of my head, I recognized a broken face frame, broken nose, an off track jaw, a cracked skull, and possibly a concussion. Recovery would be hard and excruciatingly painful. I thought that the Hunger Games were over, but I guess not.
As you might have expected, I blacked out without a single thought in my brain.