A/N: I'm the worst person ever. I'm sorry for not updating for more than a month—don't worry, I hate me too. Just blame my sudden writer's block! (And I'm really sorry that this chapter is only a filler. My brain is just… ugh.)

But anyway, happy summer :D

If you don't mind, I'm going to promote something here. So, starting a few weeks ago, I'm writing a story on Wattpad. It's called "Seven Months to Fall in Love". I really hope you guys have time to check it out. Here's the synopsis:

Abigail Brooks never dates anyone in her entire life. The reason is simple; she doesn't trust boys. But when the handsome, red-haired Matt Broody steps into the school, everything changes.

She finds herself having a stupid little crush on Matt, and it seems like it won't go away. It becomes harder for her to try to forget Matt when his cousin, Jeremy, steps in and finds out that she likes the redhead, and goes to challenge her to date Matt within the school year.

If she suceeds, Jeremy swears on his grandmother's grave he'll do anything she wants him to do, no matter how stupid it is. And if she fails, she has to go on a date with him instead.

But what if she falls for Jeremy instead? And what if she finds out that she only has seven months left to live?

www. wattpad story / 1407568-seven-months-to-fall-in-love (remove all the spaces)

I hope you're interested :)

Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games, nope.

I thought that dreams belonged to other men
Cause each time I got close
They'd fall apart again

I feared my heart would beat in secrecy
I faced the nights alone
Oh, how could I have known
That all my life I only needed you

"Almost Paradise" – Victoria Justice ft. Hunter Hayes

You know damn well you don't deserve to be alive.

Those words keep ringing in my ears , blocking me from thinking of anything else. She's right. I know I don't deserve to be alive, not when Peeta and the other tributes are dead. So why not kill me now? Why is she loosening her grip on my neck? Why did she stop slamming my head against the wall? Why did she stop kicking and hitting my abdomen, my leg, my thighs, my whole body?

I see a form of a man dragging Mrs. Mellark away from me while she screams and fights and struggles, and then I feel myself slump down against the wall. My head feels dizzy, my eyes are blurry, and all these voices around me are making my ears ache. I feel blood running from the back of my head down my neck, but I couldn't care less. I deserve to die, why am I not dead?

"Katniss? Katniss, can you hear me?" I hear a girl's voice calling my name over and over again. It could be Prim, but I'm not sure because my eyes can't see very clearly. She's crying and I really want her to stop. I don't like seeing her cry. I don't want to see people get hurt. But why won't she stop crying?

Another voice calls my name, but now it's a boy. No, not a boy, but more like a man. A different man, not the one who dragged that woman away. I blink my eyes a few times and—thank God, my eyes finally start to focus. The man who's kneeling in front of me is Gale, and the girl is really Prim. Gale is putting his arm around my neck, but then he freezes. He must've touched my blood. He pulls back his arm and stares at it. His eyes widen but then he gently turns my head to examine it, and I can feel his muscles tense. He closes his eyes for a moment before re-putting his arm around my neck more carefully, and then he puts his other arm under my leg and he carries me to my bed.

As gentle as he tries to be, I still moan when my head meets my bed. "I'm sorry, Catnip," he whispers shakily. I want to speak but I can't. It hurts. Everything hurts. I want it to stop hurting, but I deserve the pain anyway.

Slowly, I turn my head to Prim. "Prim…" I manage to say. She squeezes my hand, letting me know that she's still there and not going anywhere. "M-mom…?"

"She's alright, Katniss. She'll be here soon, don't worry."

Suddenly, the throbbing in my head intensifies. If one second ago it felt horrible, right now it's ten times more painful. I wince and grit my teeth. "H-hurts…"

"I know. Sssh, it's gonna be alright, Katniss," Prim says between her quiet sobs. She wipes at her eyes and buries her face on Gale's chest, who remains silent. He just stares at me for a while before shaking his head and looking down, and then he kisses the top of Prim's head. I want to cry, but crying hurts. Everything hurts like hell.

I hear the door open and Mom comes in, though her steps look a little limp. I guess her healer sense is kicking in, because she immediately shooes Gale and orders Prim to get her medical kit.

They leave the room so there's only me and Mom here. I notice the slight bump on her forehead and I know right away that it was really her who hit the floor. Mrs. Mellark hurt her, probably pushed her down to the floor harshly. But I'm thankful that Mom doesn't seem to be in a pain.

She gently examines my injuries and takes a deep breath. "Katniss, honey…" she begins, and then much like Gale, she shakes her head and looks down. "I'm so… sorry. I should've tried harder to stop her, I should have—"

"Mom," I whisper hoarsely. My throat hurts. It hurts to breath too. I don't know if Mrs. Mellark crushed my windpipe but it hurts. "It—it's okay. I… deserve this."

"No, Katniss, you don't. Listen to me. Whatever that woman said was not true. You shouldn't put the blame on yourself, okay? She's wrong. Don't believe every single word that came out of her mouth."

I don't have time to argue because Gale rushes back into the room and taps Mom on the shoulder. She turns around and they talk for a while. Gale gives something to Mom and turns to leave, and then she looks back at me and smiles softly.

"Now, just rest, okay? Everything will be fine. I promise."

I feel a prick on my arm, and then I feel nothing but darkness.

When I wake up, the throbbing in my head hasn't gone, but the pain has lessened. My eyes are also blurry, but not as bad as before. I hear Prim talking with Mom, and then she stops once she realizes that I'm awake.

Prim wipes her eyes and smiles. "Hi, Katniss."

"Hi, little duck," I speak with my hoarse voice. "Water?"

She nods and gets a glass of water from my bedside table, and I take a few gulps. After mumbling my thanks, Prim clutches my hand. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," I automatically say. But I don't wanna lie to Prim, so I correct myself. "Better."

I slowly sit up and let her help me find the most comfortable position. But then I notice that mom is no longer in the room. "Where's mom?" I ask Prim.

"She just went downstairs. Do you want me to get her?"

I think about it for a moment, and then slightly shake my head. "No, it's okay. Is mom…?"

"She's fine, Katniss. Mrs. Mellark didn't do anything to her," she tells me softly. But I know she's wrong. That woman laid a hand on my mom, who has nothing to do with her son's death. I feel rage building inside me and I try to calm myself by smiling at Prim.

"What about you, little duck? Are you okay?" I ask, stroking her hair.

"I am now that I know you're feeling better," she gives me a big smile that makes me chuckle. "Katniss, will you be okay if I go downstairs for a moment? I'll be back really fast."

I tell her that it's okay and she leaves my room, closing the door behind her. For a while I just lay there on my new bed, in my new bedroom, in my new, huge house. It feels strange. I'm used to sleeping with Prim on a tiny old bed, in a small room, but now I have a double bed, and a bedroom as wide as my old house. I run my hand on the thick blanket that's covering my body, and I shudder at its softness. I remember the dirty blanket that we used to have. It was much thinner than this.

Carefully, I try to sit up without hurting my head. Once I can rest my back on the headboard, I relax and close my eyes.

My life is different now, and it's not just about the crazy amount of money that I have. I've changed, too. I'm not a hunter anymore, but a victor. A killer, a monster, and a soon-to-be Haymitch Abernathy. With guilt heaving on my hands, I can imagine how hard it is to be him—or actually, I don't. I haven't mentored anyone. I have never failed anyone other than Peeta and his family. Yet.

But Haymitch? For years he hadn't managed to bring his tributes back home. Now I understand why he needs all those bottles of alcohol.

"You don't need to be Haymitch," Peeta's voice filled the emptiness in this room. "One Haymitch is enough for this district," he adds lightly.

I shrug. "I think he's not that bad."

He pauses for a while, and then he says softly. "I'm sorry about my mom."

I shrug again. "Not her fault that you died."

"I thought—I really thought —we were past this," Peeta grunts.

"Her son was killed. It's okay for her to go mad. Especially at me," I mumble quietly.

"She has no right to put the blame on you and hurt you like that. She doesn't understand that—ugh, Katniss, do I really have to tell you again?—I made the choice, I wanted you to win. She doesn't understand that you weren't the one who chose the way things happened," he states firmly. And then he mutters, "And it's not that she ever cared when I was alive."

At that, I look up to see him. And then I whisper really softly. "I'm sorry, Peeta."

He chuckles dryly. "It's okay, Katniss. I just don't understand why she started to care when I was no longer alive."

I pause for a moment and close my eyes. Flashes of the night when he saved me start to flood back into my mind. "She hit you that night, when you gave me the bread. Because you burned it."

"Yeah," he nods.

"It wasn't the first time," I say, and he nods. "And it wasn't the last time either." He nods again. "I hate her."

He just smiles sadly. "At least now she can't hurt me anymore," he says. "And I guarantee you that she will never ever hurt you like that ever again."

I raise an eyebrow at him. "How?"

He lifts the corner of his lips into a smirk. "The same way I scared the crap outta you. Sort of."

I feel myself smiling too. I know it's bad to joke about his death and his… "ability" as a ghost, but the way he looks at me just makes me want to smile and joke along. "You scared the crap outta her too? How? Visiting her on Friday the 13th?"

He shakes his head and laughs. "Good one, but no. She's not you, I can't just visit her like that. But I might have come to her dream last night. And I saw her when she woke up this morning; she was deathly pale. She might have pissed her pants in her sleep."

"God, Peeta," I chuckle. "I can't believe you."

He shrugs, "Oh, well." And then he suddenly snaps his head toward the door. "Someone's coming."

"You'll be back later, right?" I ask in a small voice. I like being with him, even though he's not completely here. But his presence just helps me think straighter than when I am alone. He reminds me that he never blames me. He lets me know that he can keep me safe. He makes me smile and laugh despite the circumstances.

I just need to see him. He makes me feel safe. He make me feel better.

When he turns back to me, a smile is playing on his lips. "Of course, Katniss."

Gale never comes.

Almost two weeks has passed since the incident happened, and he never came to see me. The last time I saw him was before mom gave me drug to fall asleep. Morphling, Prim told me. Madge came a few days ago and told me that the morphling belonged to her mother. But Gale never did come, not even once.

I think I miss him.

My head is getting better now. Sometimes it still hurts, but not as bad. Mom told me that the injuries that I have aren't as bad as she thought they were. I should be fine soon. In fact, I think I am fine now. This Sunday I'm planning on visiting the woods. Maybe I will hunt, maybe I won't. But I've missed that place so much, and there's a chance that Gale will be there too.

Other than Madge, surprisingly, Haymitch came to see me yesterday, holding a flask in his hand. He just sat on the chair next to my bed and taking sips of his liquor. He said a few words, asking me if I was okay, and then the room fell silent again. Before he finally left half an hour later, he awkwardly patted my shoulder and walked away.

Peeta wasn't lying when he said that he would be back. That night, he did come again, and stayed with me until my eyes fluttered shut. A while later, I woke up from a nightmare of Prim being eaten by mutts with Cato's eyes, and Peeta was there to tell me that Prim was fine, that what I saw in my dreams weren't real. He whispered soothing words in my ear, and soon, I fell into a dreamless sleep.

Not like Gale, Peeta is always here. Sometimes, it makes me feel better, but sometimes it just grows a weird feeling inside my chest. Something like longing, something that I've never felt before, something that I completely don't understand. Sometimes when he whispered those reassuring words when I was awoken from the nightmares, I felt myself wishing that I could touch him, that he would hold me in his arms and let the heat radiates from his body until I fall asleep.

If he was really here only to finish his business that he left in this world, then I never want him to. What will happen once he's done? Will he leave me alone? I don't want him to go. I need him to keep me sane. I need him to keep me from breaking into pieces. I need him to make me whole again, to fix what's left of me. Without him, I don't know what I'm gonna be.

He's all I have now, the only person who understands me. Gale left me, or at least I think he did. But even if he still wants to be my friend, my best friend, our relationship will be different because I'm not the same person I used to be. He wouldn't understand. Prim is too young to understand the pressure that I have, the guilt that I have to carry everyday until the day I die. Mom is out of the options; I can't trust her anymore, especially with this issue. And the relationship that I have with Madge isn't the kind where I can just tell her everything that I have in mind.

I only have Peeta, and I want him to always be with me. Simply because I need him.

A/N: Yes, she finally realizes that she needs him :)

Nope, this is far from the end. And sorry if this was suckish. But tell me what you think of this chapter!