Katniss pulled the car into the driveway of the Hawthorne house, relieved to see there were lights on in the windows. She hadn't thought to call ahead and Gale was often away, his work as a forester and consultant in forest management taking him all over the country.

She ran up the steps to the front door and knocked briefly before using her key to unlock the door and let herself in. Knocking was only a formality, she had been best friends with Gale since she was eleven. He had given her a key to the house when they were still in high school. She didn't need an invitation to let herself into his home, the Hawthornes were like family.

"Gale?" she called out as she entered, "are you home?"

"Katniss?" she heard in reply, but the voice that greeted her definitely wasn't Gale's, it belonged to an older woman.

Katniss turned to see Hazelle coming towards her, a warm smile on her face and her arms open to welcome her. "We weren't expecting you! Is everything alright? " she said as she enveloped Katniss in a tight hug.

"Hazelle," Katniss responded, returning the hug and resting her cheek against Hazelle's shoulder, squeezing her eyes shut. She promptly burst into tears. She couldn't help it, the instant feeling of warmth and comfort she got from the other woman's motherly greeting broke some kind of dam inside her.

"Oh, my lord!" Hazelle said, pulling back and holding Katniss at arm's length to look at her. "Katniss Everdeen crying? Whatever has brought this on? Katniss, what's wrong, has something happened? Is it Peeta? The kids? Oh no, it's not Prim is it?" Hazelle's tone raised slightly, a hint of apprehension creeping into her voice.

"No, no, they're all fine Hazelle, honestly... " Katniss reassured her, "it's me, I just... um... I just need... I needed to escape for a little while," she said, forcing the words out between the sobs now threatening to overcome her. She took a few deep breaths to try and get her emotions back under control.

"Alright, come into the kitchen and sit down." Hazelle comforted. "Talk to me. You know we're always here for you Katniss."

"I know," Katniss said, mopping at her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt, attempting to dry her tears. She allowed the older woman to lead her by the hand into the cozy kitchen. "That's why I'm here," she continued wanly, forcing herself to smile through her tears.

"Sit." Hazelle said, pushing Katniss gently into a seat at the kitchen table before going over to the stove. She spooned something hot and steaming into a bowl and placed it in front of Katniss. "Now eat." She directed. "I bet you haven't eaten, and by the looks of you, you haven't been sleeping very well lately either," she said.

"No, not really," Katniss replied, looking down at the hearty bowl of stew Hazelle had placed in front of her. Her stomach growled at the mouth-watering aroma rising up from the bowl. Katniss realized she hadn't eaten anything since the cheese buns Peeta had left for breakfast that morning. Peeta. The thought of how he was going to react to what she had just done made her appetite disappear again and she wanted to push the bowl away.

But Hazelle was watching. So she dipped a spoon into the bowl and lifted it to her mouth, savoring the flavors of the tender meat, potatoes and vegetables in Hazelle's famous stew and allowing the warmth of the familiar comfort food to soothe her. It reminded her of many meals she had shared with the Hawthornes while growing up. Hazelle sat and watched quietly while Katniss ate. "Feel better?" she said, within minutes, Katniss finished a second helping.

"Yes." Katniss sighed, pushing the bowl away and rubbing her stomach. "I forgot to eat before I left and I didn't know how hungry I was."

"Do you feel like telling me what brought you up here tonight?" Hazelle asked. "It's been a few years since you just turned up out of the blue on the doorstep like this. Has something happened? Where are Peeta and the kids?"

"They're at home." Katniss said. "They're fine, honestly, everyone's okay Hazelle, it's really me who is... not so good. I just... I feel like I haven't been coping very well for a while and today it all got too much and I just needed to escape, you know?"

"Mhm." Hazelle said, nodding her head. "Sometimes everyday life can get a bit overwhelming for all of us. What does Peeta think?"

"I didn't exactly tell him I was coming up here before I left" Katniss admitted, lowering her eyes at the look that crossed Hazelle's face. She felt a blush creeping up her face.

"Oh Katniss, no, tell me you didn't?" Hazelle said. "Don't tell me you took off without telling him? Katniss, he's going to be so upset with you!"

"I know." Katniss nodded. "But I'll call him later and explain it to him".

"Well, just make sure you do that, and let him know you got here safe. He will be worried!"

"I couldn't help it Hazelle," Katniss pleaded, finally raising her head to meet the older woman's eyes. Her tone begged for understanding. She shook her head. "It was a snap decision and I didn't think ahead or plan anything. I just had to get out of that house, I had to get away from..." she stopped herself abruptly. She didn't want to admit what she was feeling out loud. That she had to get away from her own son. It felt wrong to even think it.

"Get away from what Katniss?" Hazelle asked gently, taking her hand, her eyes searching her face. "Is it Peeta? Has something happened between the two of you, do you need time away from him? If it is, you can tell me. You know you can tell me anything."

"No!" Katniss almost shouted in her haste to deny there was anything wrong with their relationship. "It's not him…"

"Catnip?" Both women turned their heads sharply at the sound of a deep, masculine voice interrupting them. Her friend still moved on hunter's feet, and neither of them had heard him coming in.

"Gale!" Katniss cried as she got up from the table and went to hug her friend. "It's good to see you." She smiled, pressing her head into his chest and inhaling the familiar woodsy scent of the outdoors that clung to her friend's clothes.

"You too," he replied, hugging her back. "What brings you all the way up here?" There was surprised tone obvious in his voice. He released her from the hug and looked around. "Did you come alone?" he asked.

"Yeah, I came on my own, I'm just… um… taking a break for a couple of days. I need to catch up on some sleep, thought I'd come up here and maybe do some hunting, find a few high trees to climb. It all happened at the very last-minute, and it was either come visit you or go visit Haymitch, and Hazelle's a better cook then he is," she glanced over at Hazelle. She hoped her flimsy explanation for being there sounded believable to Gale.

"Well, it is good to see you." He said again, sitting down at the table and bending to remove his heavy work boots. "It's been too long. How's Peeta and the kids?"

"They're good" Katniss said, swallowing the lump starting to rise in her throat and forcing a fake smile on to her face.

"And everything else is okay?"

"Everything is fine Gale," she said looking over at Hazelle again, imploring with her eyes not to say anything that might make him think differently. Hazelle nodded almost imperceptibly at Katniss and got up to fetch Gale a bowl of stew from the stove. Katniss knew she understood, and that they could talk later. She could trust Hazelle to keep her confidence.

"Okay then, glad to hear it." Gale responded with a wide grin as he settled in to eat. "You picked a good time to visit. It's warm enough to swim in the lake, and there is plenty of game teeming around, if you're really want to do some hunting while you're here. I miss my old hunting partner. You're probably pretty rusty though, seeing as it's been years since you last picked up a bow," his tone was teasing her now as he flashed her another grin.

"I'm up for it" Katniss smiled. "And I bet I can still out shoot you Hawthorne," she replied, a challenge in her voice.

"Challenge accepted," he said with a wink, still grinning.

The rest of the evening was spent catching up with Gale and Hazelle, and there was no opportunity for Katniss and Hazelle to talk alone again. It was some time later when Katniss was settling into bed in the guest room, finally feeling calmed down enough to call Peeta, when she discovered that her phone battery must have died on the way to Gale's. She searched her bag for the charger, heaving a sigh of relief when she found it buried in the bottom, panicking for a moment that she might have forgotten to throw it in when she had left so hastily.

She plugged the phone in to charge and lay back on the soft pillows, closing her eyes and thinking about what to say to Peeta when she called him. She felt physically and emotionally exhausted. How was she going to make him understand how she was feeling without sounding like she was the most selfish person in the world for leaving him to pick up the pieces the way she did? She was so exhausted that she didn't even realize when her eyes fluttered closed and she drifted from consciousness.

Peeta lay in bed staring at the ceiling. He couldn't sleep. Despite his best efforts to soothe him, Aran had eventually cried himself to sleep. He had decided the best thing he could do was to lie down and try to get some rest himself for however long the baby slept.

He'd kept trying Katniss' phone all night, but all he was getting was her voicemail. For whatever reason, she wasn't answering. He thought about calling the cops, but surely if she had been involved in an accident someone would have been in touch with him by now? He felt physically sick at the terrifying thought of opening his door and finding cops standing there. Loosing Katniss somehow was the stuff his nightmares were made of. He tried to push those thoughts out of his mind.

So he lay there awake, going back and forth between worrying whether Katniss was okay, to feeling angry at her for pulling a stunt like this without talking to him first. If she was okay he just might kill her himself for terrifying him like this. Skye would be upset in the morning when her Mama wasn't home yet. How was he going to explain that to her?

He couldn't help but wonder what had happened differently yesterday that would cause Katniss to snap and run off like this. He thought back to the morning before, wondering if there where any signs he had missed, but he couldn't remember any. She had seemed okay when she went back to bed. Sure, she had looked tired and stressed, and there was no doubt Aran was wearing her out, but he thought she was coping pretty well. He was doing all he could to help, wasn't he? Why didn't she talk to him if things were so bad that she thought she had to run away?

There was a small voice of doubt in his head that made him question himself. Was he really pulling his weight at home? He felt under pressure at the bakery, too. His Dad relied on him more than ever now that he was practically retired. He hadn't told Katniss the full extent of Michael's worsening health. It would only upset her, and she had enough to deal with looking after the kids.

He sighed and looked down at the baby sleeping beside him and gently stroked the little boy's blond curls with his fingertips. If only Aran slept better and didn't cry as much. Katniss didn't really like it when he let the kids sleep in with them, claiming their bed should be their space, but Aran was still so small. If it gave him comfort, Peeta didn't mind, and it wouldn't be long now until he was walking and talking. Peeta had been secretly holding out hope that once Aran started doing those things he would tire out more easily and sleep better. Then life would get a little easier for them all, especially Katniss.

His mind went back to her again. He couldn't understand why she hadn't called him back or replied to any of his messages. She could have at least picked up the phone and let him know she was okay. There were only two places she would go - to Gale, or to Haymitch. While his instinct told him she would go to her best friend first, he had already tried calling her Uncle Haymitch in case she had gone there. But there was no reply, which meant she probably wasn't there, or the old coot was passed out peacefully somewhere with his favorite bottle of liquor, not bothering to answer his phone.

He decided if he didn't hear from her in the morning he'd ask Prim to call the Hawthorne's place. Peeta wasn't going to call Gale himself, not with the way he was sure the other man still felt about his wife. He wasn't going to give Hawthorne an opportunity to gloat over her running away.

Shortly before 5am, he gave up on trying to get any sleep and went to take a shower. He'd have to call Rye or his Dad to open the bakery. There was no way he could do it with two small kids in tow and besides, he'd been awake for nearly 24 hours straight. He wasn't really fit for work, though he'd probably have to go in later if he could find someone to watch the kids.

This wasn't going to go down well. He dialed Rye's number and waited for him to pick up.

"Whoever you are, you better have a damn good reason for calling me this early in the morning," he heard as Rye's muffled, sleep-filled voice come across the line.

"Rye, it's me," Peeta said.

"Jesus Peeta, its 5am. Could you not have waited until I saw you at work?" Rye grumbled.

Peeta just sat back and said nothing for a minute, waiting for Rye's brain to kick in. Despite being a baker's son, Rye was not a morning person. He had never been good at rising early, even when they were kids growing up in a bakery.

"Wait, Peeta – is everything okay? What's wrong?"

There it is, he thought.

"Um, I'm going to need you to go open up the bakery this morning," he replied.

"What, why? Peeta, has something happened? Is it Dad?" Rye asked.

"No, Rye... its Katniss. She...she kind of took off last night and left me with the kids."

"Took off? What do you mean she took off?"

He could tell he had Rye's full attention now.

"Took off, as in I got home from work, she wasn't here, the kids were left with our neighbor and I haven't heard a damn word from her since." Peeta couldn't help the angry tone that crept into his voice.

"Fuck bro. Have you called the cops?"

"No. I think she has gone to Hawthorne's place, or maybe her Uncle's, but I'll find out for sure today."

One way or another he thought to himself.

"Okay. I'm sorry bro. Look, I'll open up today. Don't worry about that."

"I'll get there as soon as I can organize someone to watch the kids. Thanks Rye." he promised.

"Fucking 5am. You owe me."

It felt like only a few minutes had passed when Katniss opened her eyes again, but the room looked completely different. She raised her head from the pillow and blinked, feeling disoriented. Sunlight was streaming in through the open curtains at the window. Katniss could tell by the level of light in the room that the sun was fully risen and for the first time in over a year, it looked like she had slept a whole night through without waking once.

"Oh no!" she shot into an upright position when it dawned on her that she must have fallen asleep without calling Peeta first.

She grabbed her phone from the bedside table, anxiously powering it on and looked at the time. 8:12am. When was the last time she had slept so late?

As soon as the phone switched on, it started to beep repeatedly with unread message notifications. She sat back down on the bed and opted to listen to the voice mail messages first. Her heart clenched in her chest when she heard the frantic tone in Peeta's voice. He had left five voice mails begging for her to call him, as well as multiple texts pleading with her to let him know that she was safe. There were also texts from Prim and Annie.

When she heard his panicked message telling her he was about to start calling hospitals, she let her head sink down to her chest as her eyes filled with tears. She groaned, and dropped the phone on the bed beside her. She had never felt so guilty about anything in her whole life. How could she have let herself fall asleep without calling him first?

She couldn't believe that she'd scared him so badly, and she knew she couldn't face calling him at that moment. Her heart sank even further when she imagined how she would feel if Peeta didn't come home from work and then didn't call to let her know he was safe.

Any apology she made would need to be sincere and heartfelt, but right now all she felt was ashamed and heartsick. She knew it was cowardly, but she took the easy way out. She picked up the phone again and quickly typed out a text.

Katniss: "I'm so sorry I didn't call you last night. My battery died. But I'm okay and I'm safe. I just need to get some rest. I'm staying with Haymitch for a few days. Please don't worry. I'll be home soon. I love you."

Peeta and Gale had never really been friends, and she was aware Peeta would be even more upset if he knew she had sought refuge at Gale's. She thought it was kindest to tell Peeta a little white lie and let him think she was staying with Haymitch. It will only be for a few days, she reasoned with herself, there was no point in upsetting Peeta any more than she already had. Within a minute of her pressing send on her text, her phone began to ring and Peeta's face flashed on the screen, but she let the call ring out. She just didn't know what to say to him. She didn't have the words. She wasn't ready to face him yet so she simply stared at his picture.

Another minute passed before another new text message alert popped up on her screen.

Peeta: "Thank God you're okay. I've been up all night worrying. Please Katniss, pick up the phone, I need to talk to you. Tell me what's wrong and whatever it is, I promise, we'll fix it."

She stared at his words. She knew the melancholy and utter exhaustion she was feeling weren't things that Peeta could fix. She sat on the bed, holding the phone, still looking at his handsome face on the screen. He must be so disappointed in her. A few minutes later, another text came through.

Peeta: "Okay, I get it. I know you. You're not answering me because you need to figure out how you're feeling. Call me when you're ready to talk to me. I will come to you if you need me to. I love you, too, but you scared me. Be safe."

She knew that despite his offer to come to her, he was hurt and angry with her now. He knew her so well. Why did she feel so frozen like this? She knew Peeta didn't deserve this from her.

Climbing out of bed, she headed for the shower and got dressed for a hike in the woods. She hoped that it might help her clear her head and figure out what she was feeling.

Katniss trekked her way silently through the woods, her bow in one hand and her quiver slung over her shoulder. She felt like she could actually breathe for the first time in months. She'd only been in the woods for a few days, but already she was feeling revived by a few nights of unbroken sleep and the peacefulness of her surroundings. She had missed this place and the way she used to be able to just take off and disappear miles into the woods where she could swim in the lake, or just find a tall tree to climb into and sit and think for hours.

It wasn't that she was a stranger to having responsibilities. After her father died and her mother disappeared into her own world, she had to take on most of the responsibility for raising her little sister. At the time, she shouldn't have had to shoulder that much responsibility when she was barely more than a child herself. She couldn't remember a time when someone else wasn't relying on her for something, and sometimes all she wanted was to throw off all her responsibilities for just a little while. With two small children to care for all day, that had become impossible.

She knew Gale would let her stay for as long as she needed to, like before, with no questions asked. They'd hunted together a couple of times since she arrived, and it felt good to silently move through the woods with her old friend – a time when speaking wasn't necessary. He had thrown her a few questioning looks, and she knew he was wondering what was really going on, but Gale wouldn't pressure her for explanations about why she was there. He knew when not to pry and just let her be.

If Katniss said she needed some time, then that was all he needed to know. If she wanted to talk, he would let her. They'd always been able to communicate almost wordlessly. Katniss wasn't good with words anyway, and this wasn't the first time she had arrived at his place without warning. Though it was the first time it had happened since her children had been born.

Hazelle was a different story. She wouldn't let Katniss off the hook so easily. Since her own mother had become ill, Hazelle had tried to be a kind of motherly presence in the lives of the Everdeen girls if they ever needed one. Two years earlier, Prim had married Hazelle's younger son Rory, and though Katniss wasn't formally related to her the way Prim now was, she knew Hazelle still considered her wellbeing as important as she would if she was one of her own children. So it was no surprise when earlier that morning Hazelle had captured her alone in the kitchen and brought up the subject of her unexpected visit again.

"How are things with Peeta?" Hazelle asked, pulling out a chair opposite Katniss and sitting two cups of coffee down on the table. Katniss got the message. Hazelle wanted to talk, and she was never one to mince her words.

"Fine," Katniss said with a sincere smile, picking up her cup and sipping her coffee. "He works very hard, and he helps with the kids. He's a great father. I love him more than ever when I see how good he is with them."

"It's true some women think that there's nothing sexier than a man holding a baby," Hazelle chuckled. "Especially if the man is making sure the baby's mother gets enough sleep."

"He tries to do just that," Katniss added, thinking back to the last morning she spent at home, when Peeta had sent her back to bed. "But it's hard on him too. He works such long hours at the bakery".

"So, you aren't having any problems in your marriage?" Hazelle asked, getting straight to the heart of the matter in her forthright way.

"No, we're very happy. Sometimes it's hard to find time to spend together, you know, just for the two of us." Katniss blushed slightly. "Sure, we have disagreements occasionally, like all couples, but mostly we agree, and when we don't we settle our differences quickly. He usually lets me win." Katniss grinned.

"He sounds like a great husband, you're a very lucky woman." Hazelle chuckled again and slapped her with the dish towel she was holding in her hand, a twinkle in her eye.

"He's the best." Katniss said quietly. She wondered silently if Gale had prompted Hazelle to ask these questions because he didn't want to ask them. But why would Gale go that far to get the answers?

"What about the kids? How are they doing?"

"They're doing well," Katniss lied, picking up her cup again and lowering her eyes to avoid Hazelle's gaze, not wanting to admit what a failure she felt she was as a mother. She certainly didn't want Hazelle to know she couldn't handle a cranky baby. Katniss could feel herself starting to squirm under the weight of the older woman's scrutiny. There was no fooling Hazelle Hawthorne.

"I'm glad to hear that," Hazelle said slowly, "because I know that going from one to two children in a home can be very difficult, Katniss. I remember what it was like. You know, Gale was a handful. He was very jealous of Rory."

"Yeah?" Katniss looked up.

"Oh, yes. He wanted me to 'take him back to the midwife.' Then he told me he didn't want any brothers or sisters."

"Wow, he sure didn't get what he wanted," Katniss added.

Hazelle raised her eyebrows, "He certainly didn't," she said. "Most of us don't know what we want, Katniss, even when we grow up."

Katniss thought about that for a minute, remembering a time when she believed she would never marry or have children of her own. But that was before she had met Peeta. When they first met, she had tried to resist her growing feelings for him, but it wasn't long before she had known she wanted him. But what had she wanted before then? She didn't know.

The first time she hiked all the way out to the lake, Katniss had been in the woods for a week. The day was so warm that she was sweating when she got there and the sunlight danced off the water, tempting her. Quickly, she stripped down to her underwear and waded in. She swam for a while, turning to float lazily on her back, before climbing out and lying on the bank to let the sun dry her off. She lay back on the grassy bank and let her thoughts turn to home, wondering what Peeta, Skye, and Aran were doing now. The guilt she felt for leaving them the way she had still weighed heavily on her, for Aran especially. He was just a baby.

Katniss had wanted both her babies, even though Peeta had to spend some time convincing her to try for Skye. When they found out she was pregnant the first time, Peeta had been ecstatic, but she'd been nervous and terrified that she didn't have what it took to be a good mother. Neither Katniss nor Peeta had great experiences with their own mothers growing up. Katniss knew what kind of mother she wanted to be, and it wasn't like either of theirs.

Right now she could feel all those old fears and insecurities creeping up on her again, but knew she had to fight them. She couldn't give up on herself. She sat up and pulled her knees up to her chest, staring out at the water, deep in thought. Since Aran had been born, she felt she hadn't been able to follow through on being the type of mother she wanted to be. That was an admission she wasn't ready to make to anyone else yet.

Thinking back, Katniss realized they'd had it easy with Skye. She'd been such a happy, content baby. She was sleeping through the night early on, hardly cried, and ate well. When they found out Katniss was pregnant again, it had been a surprise, but a happy one. She was not as nervous the second time around, though the pregnancy was more tiring.

It hadn't helped that Peeta's father had semi-retired shortly before Aran was born. Ever since, he had relied more and more on Peeta to manage the running of the bakery. Rye, Peeta's older brother worked there too, but Peeta was the talent that brought in the customers. His specialty breads, pastries and custom cakes were the bakery's biggest sellers.

Katniss let her thoughts drift to her son again. She had not expected to find things so much tougher with Aran. Looking after a small, cranky baby was much harder to do when you had a toddler who needed your constant attention at the same time, too. It had overwhelmed her, and it was that feeling that had brought her to her knees and to the woods.

Despite being the spitting image of his father, with his soft blond hair and beautiful smile, the similarities between Peeta and Aran were few. Aran had inherited Katniss' fiery temper and restless nature, along with her gray eyes. Skye, with her glossy dark hair and shining blue eyes, was more like Peeta, gentle and calm.

Katniss felt she owed it to her children to find a way to make herself strong for them again. To be the type of mother they deserved, not one who couldn't get through the day because one of them was having a bad day. She didn't want to turn into a mother like hers, one who totally forgot about her children's needs. She hadn't abandoned them. They would be perfectly safe with Peeta for now. She trusted him completely and she knew he would take the best care of them while she got stronger.

Sitting up, she pulled her phone from the pocket of her jeans, checking for a signal. She had to stop delaying the inevitable and call Peeta. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves and dialed him. The call had barely connected on the other end when it was picked up.

"Katniss?" she could hear the anxiety in his voice and tears pricked at the back of her eyes immediately. She was doing this to him. This is what she had tried to avoid facing.

"Hi Peeta," she greeted quietly. "I'm sorry I haven't called you."

"Oh God Katniss, baby, it's so good to hear your voice. Please tell me what's going on with you. You're scaring the hell out of me."

She could hear him exhale loudly, clearly relieved at finally being able to talk to her. He had called and texted her every day, but until now she had been unable to face answering his calls.

"I know, and I'm really sorry about just taking off like that. I'm sorry about everything. I didn't mean to scare you. I just need to get my head on straight. The day I left... Aran... I just couldn't cope anymore Peeta. I don't know how to explain it to you to make you understand, but I just couldn't..." she let her voice trail off.

"Katniss please, just come home. Don't stay away from us like this. Running away is not going to solve anything. I miss you, they miss you, and you should be home with us. I want to help, I really do but you need to come home so we can work this out." His tone was pleading.

"I'll be home soon okay?" she whispered. "I promise. I'm not giving up or walking away Peeta. I just need to rest up a little longer and get my strength back so I can be the mother they deserve. Then I'll come home okay? I promise."

"Katniss, you are already the mother they deserve, you're a great mother, what are you talking about?" his voice was shaky with emotion. "I'm really struggling without you."

Katniss closed her eyes. Oh God. She didn't need to hear that. It just piled more pressure on top of the guilt she was already carrying.

"I miss you, too. And I really am sorry Peeta, but I can't come home just yet. Just a few more days okay? Please. I need this. I didn't know how much I needed it until I got here." She hoped he understood.

Peeta sighed heavily on the other end of the phone. In her mind's eye she could see him running the fingers of his free hand through his hair then rubbing his forehead, the way he did when he was stressed. It made her want to run her fingers through his hair while she kissed away his worries. She missed him and she hated what she was doing to him. If only she had half his strength.

"I can hear the birds singing behind you Katniss," he said quietly. "Where are you now?"

"I'm sitting at the side of the lake I used to visit with my father. I've just been in swimming, and I spent the morning hiking in the woods."

"Swimming huh? Sounds nice," his voice sounded hurt. "Are you alone?" An awkward silence stretched out, as neither of them said anything for a minute.

"Yes," she replied, wondering what the point of that question was.

After another brief pause Peeta continued, his voice low and surprisingly gentle. "Look Katniss, I know it's been hard on you lately, and if a break is what you think you need, then maybe you should stay where you are for a few more days, just...don't stay away too long okay? I need you, too. The kids miss you. And we'll still need to talk when you come home."

"I know. I love you Peeta."

"I love you, too. Call me soon, okay?"

"I will...bye..." she cut the call off, dropped her head in her hands and let the tears flow, feeling even worse than she did before she called.

A/N: Thanks to all who have reviewed, favorited and followed so far, it is much appreciated. As always, (constructive) comments and questions are welcome. Thank you again to my awesome beta Kismet4891 and my friend KnottedEnergy, for their patience and endless encouragement. :) Have a great week!