A/N: This chapter is a back and forth between Peeta and his dad. Take it. Starts with Peeta.

"My mom isn't nearly as supportive." I stifle a quiet laugh. "She's actually really similar in stance on it to Cato's father." I shiver on even mentioning him. "But my dad loved-loves Cato." I correct myself.

"I'm sure he's a great man, Peeta."

That he is. There's a knock on the door. ~

"Peeta?" his father asks through the door. "Are you okay?" ~

I quickly stand. "Dad.." I run over and crack open the door a bit. "Yeah, I'm fine." I lie. I'm fine comparatively, but I'll never really be fine again. "There's just...someone I want you to meet." I open the door a bit wider and let him in. "This is Cato's mom. Remember? I told you about her." I told him about every little thing she did for me back when Cato was on the Victory Tour. Every bit of kindness, lie, hiding spot, cover...all of it. ~

"Yes, I remember..." He walks in and over to her, just staring for a moment. Then he says, "Thank you for everything...Peeta probably wouldn't be...here if it weren't for you." ~

I take a step back as she stands, both of them confused as to how to greet the other. "It's...It's not a problem." She says. "Peeta made my son happier than he'd ever been in his entire life. I can't repay that joy." ~

"Then they're a good match." They are. Not were. "Cato saved Peeta's life a million times over...in more than one sense." ~

"Very." She smiles. "They really are quite the pair." I go back to my seat on the bed, smiling. "Your son really is an incredible baker." That's probably the only thing my dad'll ever need to hear to be happy for the rest of his life. "But he says you're bounds better. To be honest, my son nor I thought there was a way to make cake other than the box mix."

It reminds me of him, and how surprised he was that day. How he begged to eat the cake before it'd even begun baking, the spoon, and how often he ate the thing in the one day. I remember the cake back in District Two I'd slaved for hours over. How he never did get to see it. I wonder if she ever ate any. "Told you." I whisper to my dad. ~

"Well, how else did you think they made the mix?" He laughs quietly. "Thank you, though..." He sighs. He knows that Peeta's thinking about the welcome home cake that was made for after the Victory Tour. ~

"It's really nothing at all."

"I just thought you'd both want to meet. I mean...you're the fifty percent of Cato and I's parents who just...got it, you know? Got us..." I clasp my hands together nervously. "So...now you're both here...thanks." I glance in the corner, getting a nod from Cato. "From both of us." ~

"I know," he says, following Peeta's eyes to the corner. "He would be thankful." ~

It gets very quiet for a minute, and I stare down at my hands and look up at the corner of the room occasionally. "Well...I should probably go get settled in my room for the night." Cato's mother stands. "Thank you again...both of you." I smile and nod, somewhat dazed. "I'll see you in the morning." And she leaves, giving a small awkward wave. Just. Like. Him. ~

"Goodbye," Mr. Mellark says, moving out of the way of the door. When she leaves, he turns back to Peeta. "Peeta..." ~

I look up at him. "What is it?" I start fiddling my thumbs to distract myself. ~

"Your arm." ~

"Listen, I don't really want to talk about it." I stare at my feet, rushing out my words to try and get a different subject going, moving my body to make sure I was sitting on the blood stain that'd made it on the sheets. ~

"I stayed with you almost the entire night..." He sits next to Peeta on the right side. "You said you wouldn't." ~

"Well, I stopped myself, didn't I?" I snap a little before looking away ashamedly. I want to tell him that I plan on ending it in three weeks anyway, but I can't. ~

His father jumps a little at his tone. "Yes, I'm proud of you for taking control this time..." He turns and pulls Peeta into a tight hug. "Please don't try again...you're strong." Just like he's always been told. ~

"It's so hard." I whisper. "I...I'm not that strong, dad. The..only reason I stopped is because I remembered that..that he asked me if something were to happen to him, for me to wait at least three months to see if I could handle it. I..saw him. I see him." I'm shaking, staring at Cato over my father's shoulder. "I'm not strong. Just insane." ~

"What do you mean...you see him?" Color drains from his face. His son is officially insane. ~

"He's..." I pull away from him, nodding my head to the corner. "He's right there. I see him. Touch him. I held his hands. Slept in his arms. He...stopped me. I wouldn't have stopped on my own." I admit. ~

"He's..." He looks over into the empty corner, about to say he isn't there...but he doesn't want to upset Peeta anymore than he already is. "He stopped you...how?" ~

I begin unwrapping the sheet from my wrist to show my dad. "I'd gotten this far, but...but then I heard his voice. Calling me an idiot, reminding me I promised not to do anything crazy." I pause. "At least for three months. And..if I can't bear it then, he wouldn't hold it against me." I look away. "I know he isn't really there, dad." I stare at the bottom drawer, where I'd stored the letters again. "I told him about last time, when he was alive..." ~

"He's here," he says, pointing to Peeta's chest, right where his heart is. "Just...please don't ever again." ~

"I can't promise that." I can't lie to him. I wouldn't. ~

"Yes, you have to." His father is on the verge of tears. "If you won't listen to me, listen to him." He glances over to the corner that he knows is empty. "For Cato." ~

Immediately, I want to cry. "You can't do that to me. You can't give me that choice." I crack. ~

"It's not a choice." He may be completely sympathetic, but he's not letting Peeta kill himself. "Life, living...it's not a choice. It's something you do, that you have to do...you have to understand." ~

"Then why have I lived my entire life in hell, then finally..finally when I get one thing that makes me happy... that's taken away too!" I cry out. ~

"Peeta...you have to find something to do...there's a reason for everything." They both hate that phrase when it concerns something as dire as this, but it's necessary. "There are others who care about you." ~

"I know that..." I whisper. "I do. But nothing...nothing has ever gone right for me completely. Maybe it would've been easier if I'd died that day. Cato could've lived. Everyone would've gone on unchanged." The scariest part is that I could be right. I stare at the corner of the room, and Cato's there, just shaking his head. He'd always object when I'd think like this. ~

"I know...but you've got to keep living." He bites his bottom lip and takes in a deep breath. "If...didn't you promise him three months? What would he want for you, Peeta...?" ~

"He told me to wait three months. To see if it was still as terrible as it was the first day. And if it was, and...and I wasn't happy, then he'd...he wouldn't be upset if I did it." I look him in the eyes. "I don't know if I can even make it that long, dad. I feel like nothing. Nothing at all." ~

He hugs him again. "You're much more than you think you are...and I'm sure I'm not the only one who's told you that." Never has he heard anything like that directly, but he just knows. "You can make it. You can make it longer than that. I believe in you. We...we can bake. Or I'll try to find you some paints. Something to occupy you for large blocks of time..." ~

Maybe something to occupy time would be good. I nod at him apprehensively. "But...I don't believe in myself." I can't tell him that I'm struggling to just last three weeks. It would destroy him. "I'm just empty and...and sad. I miss him." ~

"I know." He pats Peeta on the back a few times. "But I think that's the problem here. Over the past few months, I know he's given you part of him...and that should be that you know how great you are. He had to have told you. You're strong, and talented, and..." Finally, he lets out a sob. "I've had to deal with my own son nearly dying once, then dying supposedly for real twice...not one more. Please not another one." ~

Don't worry dad. This time, it'll be for good. "Not another." I whisper, wrapping my arms around him. And I allow myself to cry, too. For Cato's death. For still being alive. For hurting my father. For lying to my father. For the fact that I'll be dead in three weeks. For the fact that he thinks I'm going to try otherwise. ~

"I'd hold you to that," he says seriously. ~

Don't. "Okay." ~

Shaking his head, he releases Peeta. "I'm your father. I know when you're lying." ~

"I'm not." I whisper, trying not to let my voice shake with my cries. ~

"Peeta, if I have to get someone from Thirteen to keep an eye on you 24/7...I wouldn't be against that idea. You haven't even tried living first. The first days will always be the roughest, I know...but it gets better. Trust me." ~

"You wouldn't put me on suicide watch!" I cry out. "I'm seventeen! I can take care of my own decisions on these things..!" ~

"I would. Yes, you're seventeen. Which means you're still young enough to still live under my household. And even though we don't live in the same compartment, you're still under my authority." It's serious business when it concerns Peeta's life. "You're...delusional, Peeta...you can't make your own decisions in this state." ~

"I'm not delusional!" I move away from him, standing from my spot on the bed, revealing the blood stain I was sitting on. "I'm not! Everyone keeps calling me crazy, and I'm not crazy!" I back away from him and the bed slightly. ~

"I'm...not calling you crazy. It's normal to be in denial when these things happen...you just need to give it some time so you can accept it and try to move on..." He tries reasoning. ~

"I'm not in denial, either!" I shake my head. "He's dead! I get it! H-he's dead..! See?" I back up some more towards the back of the room. "I'm not denying anything!" I hold my arms out. ~

"You...still see him, don't you?" Seeing dead people makes you slightly delusional at the least. Not that it's a bad thing, if it keeps him company, but it's still a delusion and a blockage preventing him from moving on. ~

"Yeah-I don't see how that's relevant, though!" ~

"He's...d-dead, Peeta. You just said so...so he can't be there. That's a delusion." He cautiously takes a step forward. "It isn't bad. You just need to keep that in mind." ~

"But I see him!" I point in the corner towards Cato, who's now shutting his eyes and shaking his head. "What?!"

You have to relax, Peeta.

"Don't tell me to relax! I'm fine! Perfectly fine!" ~

Confused at first, his father realizes that Peeta's talking to the corner. "I know you see him." ~

"And there's nothing wrong with it!" I step further away from him, towards my dresser.

Let it go, Peeta. He's not trying to hurt you.

"They're all trying to make me forget you, love! I can't forget you! You can't go away..!" I sob. ~

"Peeta, Peeta, please!" He rushes over to him and puts his hand on Peeta's shoulder. "We're not asking you to forget him...I know you won't ever be able to. I'm just asking you, please...he'd want you to try. Ask him right now." ~

"No, no, no!" I push him away. "Everyone's telling me to calm down, and let go, and I don't want to listen anymore!" I shout, looking to the the dresser and grabbing the razor from last night. "Don't touch me!" I cry. ~

He doesn't dare move forward. Not even an inch. "I-I won't...just...talk to him right now." Maybe he'll tell Peeta to stop, he thinks, then this will stop. ~

"No!" I hold the razor in the air with my left hand, shaking. "He's telling me the same things all of you are! I'm done with other people telling me what's good for me!" ~

"PEETA MELLARK!" He finally snaps. After all these years, he finally snaps. "You need others to tell you what's good for you because you don't even know what's good for you!" Being taller and having better reflexes than his son, he quickly reaches over and takes the razor from his hand. "You think this is good? Leaving others distraught over your suicide because you didn't believe in yourself? That isn't good!" ~

"Give that back!" I go to reach for the razor, but to no avail. "No one would be distraught if I just slit my throat..No one! Not even you!" I sob. "Maybe if I were dead, you and mom would stop fighting! Everyone would be much better off!" ~

"No Peeta, stop talking like that!" He stuffs the razor in his pant pocket and zips it shut. "I would always care! Don't you dare say I wouldn't! And Annie? Finnick? Haymitch? All of them, Peeta! Not because they need you for the rebellion. It's because they truly care for you. Even your brothers! Maybe they seem like they wouldn't, but you didn't see them when we came back from the Capitol that one day! They gained respect for you, finally, and you're throwing it away!" He pauses. "Cato would care." ~

"Everyone else here has someone else that's just theirs. Everyone. Maybe they'd care, but they'd go on with life! It wouldn't be that big of a deal!" I choke on my words when I try to talk about Cato. "Yes, Cato'd care...but Cato's dead!" I sob, taking hard, deep breaths. "He's dead, damn it, and I just want the same!" ~

"That's it. I'm taking you down to the hospital. They have to have something to give you. Anything." ~

"No!" I back away from him. "There are more of those!" I cry out. "I swear, if you take me down there, I'll find a way!" ~

Swiftly, he grabs Peeta by both wrists and holds them behind the boy's back so that he can't flail his arms. "You're going to the hospital." He drags him over to the door and leans awkwardly to twist the doorknob, opening it and pulling Peeta out into the hallway. ~

I use every bit of strength I have in a poor attempt to break out of his grip before just giving up and sobbing as he pulls me along. I don't want to go to the hospital. The last time I was down there, I was with Cato. On our first night here. We fought. I regret every moment. Then he came into my bed, and we slept at peace. I wasn't expecting anything nearly as nice this time. ~

"Let him occupy you for the time being, if you don't want to listen to me talk about how your life is valuable." He pushes the elevator button. "I'll get you through this if it's the only thing I ever have to do in my life. Ever since she first hit you...I swore I'd protect you to the end of life. I'm not done protecting you, Peeta. I didn't have many chances to." ~

"Why?" I whisper, defeated. "Why didn't you ever stop her?" ~

"I tried...haven't you ever paid attention? All the fighting, it was all for you...I'm against physical fighting, as you know...so I could never hit her back." The elevator door opens, so he walks Peeta in. "I tried everything I could..." ~

"She tried to kill me because she suspected I was maybe gay." My voice is shaking. I hate this room. This wide, open room. "We could've left." ~

"To go where? The bakery was our living." He drags his son through to the nearest table with a doctor. "We were never completely sure this place existed." ~

"Then make her leave." ~

"I...I can't do that." He shakes his head, raising his arm to call for medics to pay attention to the boy at hand. "You know I can't, with the other two..." ~

"Okay." That's all I say. I want to ask if he'd just wait for her to actually finish me off. Maybe then, he'd make her go. Would he? I wanted to ask. But now I'm just hounding him. And all he's ever done is good for me. ~

While Peeta stands there, his father talks to a doctor about his current state. They both discuss medication to calm him down.

"Morphling usually does the trick," the doctor says. "I'll be right back." ~

"Morphling?" I hear mentioned. "You can't put that stuff in me." ~

"It sounds like it'll numb your pain for a while." His father sighs. "It can't hurt trying." ~

"I'd rather hurt than feel nothing...!" ~

"I'd rather you be alive and drugged up than dead and hurt." His voice is shaking as he tries reasoning with his youngest son. ~

"I won't do anything!" I shake my head. "I don't need to be drugged." ~

"You said you wanted to die, Peeta...you threatened with a razor. It hurts me to say this, but I don't think I can trust you to be alone or without meds." He's always trusted Peeta. Not anymore. ~

"I'm not a kid." I whisper. "I'm just screwed up. That's not my fault." ~

"I know." He nods. "But you'll just try to...end it again. He...wouldn't want you to." He avoids saying Cato's name. "None of us do. Deep inside, I know you don't want to. It hurts, I know...but he made you keep that promise for a reason. Don't break it." ~

Peeta...

"Stop talking to me. I know you're not real."

I'm just trying to help you.

"You're only making things worse."

I never meant for that. You know that.

"If you don't want to hurt me anymore, you'd get away. And never come back."

I can't do that, dear, and you know it. ~

Mr. Mellark awkwardly stands by Peeta while the doctor talks to a couple other medics, who are sorting through morphling tablets and deciding whether or not to set him up with an IV. He doesn't say anything; he just pats Peeta on the back a few times. Talking to him will only make him feel worse. ~

"Please just go..." I whisper, looking up at him and completely oblivious to the rest of the world.

Do you really want me to go on terms like this, Peeta?

"What do you mean?"

We said no more lies.

"So?"

You promised. Breaking a promise is a terrible lie.

"But I can't, love...I can't."

Is this pain worth breaking my last wish to you? Is it?

"It hurts!" I cry out loud, causing everyone to stare. ~

"Please, hurry!" His father shouts to the doctor, who is now scrambling to get everything together. He can't stand seeing Peeta like this anymore. "Please, just bring him anything!"

The doctor rushes back over to the pair with what looks to be a thousand sheets of paper and a couple small pill bottles. "These are for other days. They're strong, so moderate his usage. No more than two tablets a day." He puts the white bottles into Mr. Mellark's shaking hands. "We'd like to put him on an IV for at least part of today so that we can monitor him. Would that be okay?"

"Well, I think he was supposed to shoot propos today...but if it's only for part of the day, then it should be fine. They have to understand, up in HQ. After all, they can't shoot when he's in this condition..." He'll beg Coin to let Peeta stay in the hospital, if he has to. He really doesn't care about the propos at this point. They would just make Peeta even more unstable. "Please, save him." ~

"Please," I cry. "Don't put me under. I don't want it." I don't want to not feel. I wish I could just get away. Be on my own for a while. "I don't want the drugs." I whisper, shaking my head as they put me onto the bed. But I don't fight. That's what got me here. ~

"It's not about what you what," his father says, "it's about what you need."

"He's right." The doctor brings over a machine that has an IV attached to it. "By the sound of it, you need this. At least for a little while, you do. Don't worry...it's not a large enough dose to knock you out completely. Only to ease the pain." Physically and emotionally. ~

"You're lying." I say, looking between the both of them.

It's not like you haven't lied lately.

"I know you're just putting this in me to get me to stop being so angry and sad so I won't off myself." I mutter.

They want to help you, you idiot!

"No one's helping me." ~

"Shh...we're all helping you, Peeta. You'll realize it soon." His father takes deep breaths as to not start tearing up again. Peeta won't ruin his life, if he has anything to do with it.

A few medics strap Peeta's ankles and wrists to the bed so that he can't leave-tightly, but not too much that it will hurt him. Then, the doctor starts cleaning off the needle for good measure and loads a liquid form of morphling into the machine.

"Life won't always be happy...I know, I know, you've had lots of sad...and only some happy. But I saw how happy he makes you. Enough happy to last a lifetime, if you'd let it. Smile because you had him, you always had him...you always will have him. Please, Peeta, be a little bit more reasonable." ~

I glance up at the iv and see the needle. "No!" I struggle against the restraints. No. I hate being tied up like this. All I can think about is the torture. No. No. No. My breathing gets heavier and I start hyperventilating. I'm getting nervous. "Oh god. Oh god." ~

"Peeta, shh...they aren't going to hurt you. They're just numbing the pain." His father pulls up a chair next to Peeta's bed and sits next to him. "I wouldn't let them hurt you."

The doctor sticks Peeta's right arm. ~

"Stop!" I cry out, tears falling down my face. Suddenly, I don't see the hospital anymore. I'm back in that terrible, bright room and Cato's there and they're sticking me with that huge needle filled with tracker jacker venom. "Just set me on fire again, please!" I sob. "I'm begging you!" ~

The doctor had only just turned on the machine when Peeta started yelling. He says, "Just remain calm..."

Mr. Mellark just shakes his head. Neither of them can remain calm at this point. But he persists in trying to get the correct mind frame back. "This is what life is, Peeta...it's living, and getting through it. There are ups and downs, but you have to make it through...you've been through so much and remained strong. It'll get much better if you'd just stick around. I promise you that it'll get better."

The sobbing persists.

He understands what Peeta is saying. "Shh, don't think about that...you have to try to think happy thoughts. You can push those memories away." ~

"No!" I shake violently. "Please, please bring him back!" I cry to the Peacekeepers. "I just want Cato back! Please, no more...no more..." ~

"I-I know you want him back..." His father bites his lip while considering whether or not he should try to bring back delusional Peeta or not. He just wants him to be happy. "Just think of him...think happy thoughts about him, and he'll come back to you. If you let him in, he'll come back." ~

"Not if you keep putting this damn stuff in my body!" They won't stop with the venom. I can feel it pulsing through my blood. "He's gone! Now he won't come back, you've done too much! You damn Capitol people, are you happy now?! Are you fucking happy?" I sob. ~

"Peeta!" That swear is a no-no around the Mellark household...even if this isn't their home. "They're not the Capitol, they're just trying to help..." ~

"You call all these Peacekeepers not the Capitol?! I'm not the crazy one!" ~

"They're from District Thirteen, Peeta!" He cries out. "Take it out of him, please!" ~

I just sit there and sob. "You're horrible... all of you. I hate you." ~

"Take it out! There has to be another way!"

On command, the doctor stops the machine and carefully pulls the needle out of Peeta's arm. "That's supposed to calm him," he says obviously.

"He can't calm down if that's how they tortured him..." He takes a dry tissue from the box on the table and dries off Peeta's sweaty, tear-stained face. "Shh...you're not in the Capitol." ~

My eyes snap open, and I see my dad and immediately go to hug him, but I'm held back by my restraints. As I feel myself pull against them, my heart starts to pound again. "Dad. Dad." ~

"Shh, I'm here! I'm here...stop pulling." He leans down and kisses Peeta's forehead. "You're okay." ~

"Get me out of these, please, please." I'm shaking, looking around to make sure this isn't the Capitol. "We're...we're still in Thirteen, right?" ~

"Yes, everybody here is from Thirteen. We're in District Thirteen...it's just the hospital." He motions for the doctor to at least unstrap the restraints on Peeta's wrists, which he does. "It's not the Capitol...you can sit up." ~

Immediately, I sit up and wrap my arms around him. "You can't let them take me back there, Dad. They took..." And for that time, I had forgotten about everything with Cato. And it came back to me. "Cato. Cato..." ~

"I know." He holds him tightly and strokes the back of his head. That's always calmed him down. "You won't go back there." ~

"Promise?" ~

"Do you promise to behave and not...take your own life?" ~

"That isn't fair." ~

"That's completely fair." He lets go and pulls away, putting his hands firmly on Peeta's shoulders. "There has to be something else worth living for...you just have to find it. Believe me. I've never given you a reason to not trust me. So you have to understand what I'm saying when I tell you there's something else out there." ~

"He was everything, dad. He went out there for me. Us." I can't help but to feel partially responsible. I gave him the okay to go. "Why him?" ~

"He had to leave. He, Johanna, Finnick...they all had to go." He sits back in his seat. "I don't know why, Peeta. He gave it his all so that you can live. I'm sorry, Peeta, I really am..." ~

"But I don't want to live without him." I whisper. ~

"You have to. Sometimes, things like this will happen. You'll just have to go on with life realizing that it can only get better from here." ~

"It could get worse." ~

"How?" ~

I shut my eyes at the thought of such horrible things. "We could lose the war. I could lose you, Finnick, Annie, Haymitch... I could get taken by the Capitol and forced to watch clips of Cato and I for the rest of my life. Forced into some delusion he's alive every night only to wake up and realize he's dead...there are so many ways it could get worse." ~

"That won't happen. I promise it will get better." He turns to the doctor. "Unstrap his legs."

Apprehensively, the doctors bends down and takes the restraints off of Peeta's legs, finally releasing him.

"You can hold me to that." ~

"And you..." I look up at him. "Have no reason to trust me like I do you." I whisper, shaking my head and laying back down. "Just do it. I don't trust myself." ~

"Not the IV. Not here. Come on, I'll take you back up to your room." He holds up the bottles of morphling tablets. "No IV." ~

"How can you trust me to take them?" I wouldn't. ~

"I'll be there to watch you, keep you company. I'll make sure you take them. I'll check underneath your tongue, your upper lip...everywhere, to make sure you took them. Just give it a chance. Give life a chance, Peeta." ~

I look at him apprehensively, but pause before nodding my head slowly. "O..Okay. I'll...try."

Okay life. You've got three weeks of a chance, and if you don't start shaping up, we're through. ~

For the first time all day, a smile spreads across his father's face. "Thank you so much, Peeta. Come on, up up." ~

I reach out for his hands to pull myself off the bed. They're so high that my feet don't touch the ground.

Not like that's saying anything.

That's my Cato. And I smile. Not because he's gone. Because once upon a time, I had him. ~

A/N: A positive note to end all of this on, right?...Review. xx