It's morning, and Peeta, who hasn't slept a wink gets up out of bed, pulls his leg on and heads down to his kitchen. The thoughts that never seem to stop, are ever present in their torture today. Every time he thought that he was getting to another level with Katniss, it seemed that something always pulled her away from him again…like Gale. He didn't owe Gale a damn thing, but he couldn't stand around and do nothing while Katniss was hurting either…even if the cause was directly linked to Gale. But any time he thought about that kiss from the day before…she had to love him. She has to. He shakes his head and tries to think only of bread as he bakes, he'll bring them over to Katniss later, then maybe they could talk.
A couple hours later, he's got two fresh loaves of bread ready to take to Katniss's. He wraps them in a towel and heads out into the weather. He debates stopping at Haymitch's on the way, but says he'll stop in on his way back home. His thoughts have been everywhere and with no one there to answer them, he gives his head a firm shake and makes his way up Katniss's steps and taps lightly on the door. Prim lets him in and points over to Katniss and gives a "shh" gesture with her finger. He nods.
Walking into the kitchen he stops dead in his tracks. Katniss is asleep and sitting in a chair with her head near Gale's and her hand is interlocked tightly with his. No, maybe he read too much into that kiss…or maybe Gale's injury is too much for her to separate her feelings out…maybe she won't because of this. He wasted so much time pining over Katniss, so much time he could have talked to her. All the time they could have had, if he'd just said something sooner. If he'd just had the guts to tell her how he felt, perhaps, not in front of the entire country. If he had for one moment, just listened to Delly and walked over to Katniss instead of looking at her from across the schoolyard, or as he watched her walk back home to the Seam. He never thought she'd care about him the way he did her, never mind their eyes seemed to find each other a lot, but it always felt guilty when they'd make eye contact and look away.
He walks nimbly around the table and places the bread on the counter, then walks back over beside her. He'd loved her unequivocally since they were five. Hadn't she noticed him too? She said as much to Haymitch, didn't she? Maybe it didn't matter to her. Slowly, he walks up to her and gives her shoulder a gentle shake. She slowly opens her eyes and there's a jolt of recognition in her face. She lets go of Gale's hand.
"Go on up to bed, Katniss," he says. "I'll look after him now."
She raises her head, "Peeta. About what I said yesterday, about running—"
"I know," he says. "There's nothing left to explain."
"Peeta—"
"Just go to bed, okay?" He says. He's annoyed, but he doesn't let it show. He watches her walk out of the room and then turns to face Gale, who is looking at him. "I sent her to bed." Gale blinks to show understanding. "I'm just going to sit here," says Peeta. "You sleep. If you need more snow, let me know." Gale nods and is out again. Kinda hard to hate him, when he looks so pitiful, thinks Peeta. He sits there in silence for hours, after a while Prim and her mother come in to check on Gale.
Both are momentarily surprised by Peeta's presence, but just give him polite nods. Finally Prim walks over to him and pats his arm.
"Hey," he says, smiling down at her.
"Is Katniss okay?" she asks.
"Yeah," nods Peeta. "She had just fallen asleep in an awkward position, so I sent her to bed."
Prim nods, but looks back and forth between Gale and Peeta, stopping on Peeta. "You mean a lot to her, you know?" She asks him, sincerely. "This doesn't change that." Peeta nods. "Did you want to talk, Peeta?"
"No," he says. "I'm okay. Thanks though." She steps forward and gives him a hug.
"Sorry," she apologizes as she rests her head on him, "you just looked like you could use one." Peeta's arms tighten around her for a moment before he releases her and gently pats her head. Smiling up at him she goes back to helping her mother with Gale.
Peeta decides to pace the room, but he hears a noise from Katniss's room, a noise he knows far too well, she's having a nightmare. He's almost to her door when he stops himself…he punches his palm with his other fist and slowly heads back down the stairs. If she needed him, she knew where to find him. He wouldn't force the issue, not here, not now. No, there would be time at another point to talk about it, he didn't have to do that now. He didn't want to force her to talk about it before she was ready, he only hoped that when she was ready, she would talk to him.
With the storm picking up, Peeta decides it would be best to be in his home for the storm. So he tells the Everdeen's if they need him, they know where he is. Asterid gives him a mournful look and he heads out into the elements. Extremely over the current situation, and not wanting to sit there and watch Katniss and Gale….do whatever they're going to do. His heart was already hurting, and he didn't want to make it any worse. He throws on a coat and heads back to his home.
After a very brief stop to make sure Haymitch was still alive, Peeta made it back home. In plenty of time for the snow to pick up.
When he gets inside, he starts a fire and sits down on the couch. Turning the tv on he sees the face of Caesar Flickerman and listens to a few of his interviews before he falls asleep. About an hour later his phone rings. Getting up, he walks over to his telephone and pulls it off the wall. "Hello?"
"Hey," says Katniss. "I just wanted to make sure you got home."
"Katniss," says Peeta. "I live three houses away." He finds it only a little annoying, but mostly humorous. It really wasn't that far of a walk. Definitely not as far as Madge had to walk, but that wasn't really the point.
"I know," she says. "But with the weather and all."
"Well I'm fine, thank you for checking." There's a long pause. "How's Gale?"
"All right. My mother and Prim are giving him snow coat now," she says.
"And your face?"
"I've got some, too," she says. "Have you seen Haymitch today?"
"I checked in on him. Dead drunk. But I built up his fire and left him some bread," Peeta says.
"I wanted to talk to — to both of you."
"Probably have to wait until the weather calms down," he says. "Nothing will happen before that, anyway."
"No, nothing much," she says, agreeing.
"Peeta —" she starts.
"It's okay, Katniss," he says. "I understand."
They sit there in silence for several minutes before Peeta tells her that he needs to get the cheese buns so they don't burn, if that is something she's interested in. Katniss agrees that she definitely doesn't want burnt cheese buns, but that she knows they'd still be good because he'd made them.
"Have a good rest of your day, Katniss," says Peeta.
"You, too." She says, sighing heavily. "Thank you for being willing to go with me."
"Katniss," he says, unironically, "I'll go anywhere, whenever, and wherever you tell me to go. I'm with you, always." He meant every word of that, hoping it didn't need to be said, but knowing that he'd rather die than have her think he'd let her go anywhere on this planet without him.
She feels a warmness in her chest at his comment, and of course she knows it's the truth, but it always sounds so nice, and sweet, and genuine coming from him. He sure knew how to make a girl blush and feel special. A thought dawns on her, Gale had admitted to kissing other girls, had Peeta? She'd never even thought about it, just assumed that he'd put her on this unattainable pedestal so that no one else could compete…but maybe she was sloppy seconds or thirds? If he had kissed other lips, whose were they, and who did she need to confront? The thought catches her so off guard that she quickly has to reel in her emotions because he's checking to make sure she's still on the phone.
"Sorry," she says. "Just a little distracted."
"It's okay," says Peeta. "I'll let you go."
"Peeta," she says, to make sure he's still listening. "Thanks for the kiss." She meant it, but immediately felt embarrassed. "Have a good day." She hangs up the phone abruptly and he's left with a dial tone.
Amused but distracted, the next several days pass very slowly and it's all he can do not to go crazy being cooped up in that house. Katniss calls once a day to check in on him, he's fine. She's fine, her face is feeling a bit better. Gale is doing better. The snow has finally stopped and like clockwork, Katniss is knocking at the door. Pulling his jacket up from the chair at the door, he opens the door to see her looking up at him expectantly.
"Hi," she smiles up at him.
"Hey," he smiles back. "Fancy a walk to town?"
"Yes," she nods, reaching for his arm and pulling him out the door behind her, he pulls the door shut behind him. "But we need to get Haymitch too."
"Would it be a proper outing without him?" Peeta teases.
"Think he's drunk again?" she asks, sincerely.
"I think I'd be more surprised if he wasn't," says Peeta. "And it's been so bad we haven't exactly had the chance to go see him with all the weather." She nods. "But I'm sure he's fine, drunk as a skunk, but fine."
After forcing Haymitch to make himself presentable, forcing a cup of coffee at him, the three make their way toward the town. Katniss in the middle, holding Peeta's hand and her other arm looped in the crook of Haymitch's elbow. These two had come to mean so much to her, she couldn't even imagine what she would do if anything happened to either one of them. They were her family. An odd little family, full of broken people, but a family nonetheless.
"So we're heading off into the great unknown, are we?" Haymitch asks her.
"No," she says, slowly. "Not anymore."
"Worked through the flaws in that plan, did you, sweetheart?" he asks. "Any new ideas?"
"I want to start an uprising," she says.
Haymitch laughs, could she be anymore like him? Of course she wants to start an uprising. She's figured out that it's about more than just her, and her handful of important people. She's finally realized it's about everyone in District 12, it's about every other district, hell, it even included the Capitol. Implicit submission. Of course, Plutarch had always been right, maybe he'd found his 'luckier'? Plutarch himself had called to vaguely discuss it. Never enough to make any real sense, but after over two decades of coding back and forth, it was secondhand to him.
"Well, I want a drink. You let me know how that works out for you, though." He says, knowing he cannot let her start an uprising on her own. They'd had so many failed attempts since the Dark Days, but that wasn't something they'd decided to share with Peeta and Katniss. Some days he wished they knew, but that would require more alcohol than he ever had at one time, to go into the details about that…especially his Games, and about his Ma, Sid, and Lenore Dove. He wasn't ready for that yet, but he admitted to himself, if it became imperative for them to know…he'd waste no time telling them.
"Then what's your plan?" she spits back at him.
"My plan is to make sure everything is just perfect for your wedding," he says. Safe. If Snow was still letting them get married they were still as safe as he could ensure for the time being. "I called and rescheduled the photo shoot without giving too many details."
"You don't even have a phone," she says.
"Effie had that fixed," he says. Again. "So you know she asked me if I'd like to give you away?" Frankly, there's no one he'd rather give her away to. He didn't see a single other person — including Gale — who would treat her better than Peeta, but she was Brudock's to give away, not his. She was his family, but she had a family, she didn't need him. At least, that's what he liked to tell himself daily. "I told her the sooner the better." Because then Snow will hopefully leave them alone.
"Haymitch," she says, almost pleading.
"Katniss," he copies her. "It won't work."
The three stop up short. The snow hadn't slowed down Peacekeeper Threads unspoken promise of torture. The square is completely transformed from what it looked like just a few days prior. A huge banner with the seal of Panem hangs off the roof of the Justice Building. Peacekeepers, in pristine white uniforms, march on the cleanly swept cobblestones. Along the rooftops, more of them occupy nests of machine guns. Most unnerving is a line of new constructions — an official whipping post, several stockades, and a gallows — set up in the center of the square.
"Thread's a quick worker," says Haymitch.
They glance down the street to see the Hob going up in smoke.
"Haymitch, you don't think everyone was still in —" she says, stopping.
"Nah, they're smarter than that. You'd be, too, if you'd been around longer," he says. "Well, I better go see how much rubbing alcohol the apothecary can spare." He gently pats her hand as he pulls it from his arm and sets it at her side, and then he's off.
"What's he want that for?" Katniss asks, looking up at Peeta, their hands still connected. "We can't let him drink it. He'll kill himself, or at the very least go blind. I've got some white liqueur put away at home."
"Me, too," says Peeta. "Maybe that will hold him until Ripper finds a way to be back in business. I need to check on my family."
"I need to go see Hazelle," says Katniss.
"I'll go, too." Not willing to let her out of his sight with the new Peacekeeper regime. "Drop by the bakery on my way home."
"Thanks," she says. Scared at what she might find, and what else they might see on the way. There's no one anywhere. Peeta grips her hand a little more firmly, ensuring that he's not going to lose her walking through the square, and silently daring anyone to try and take her away from him. The looks directed at Katniss going through the square, the ones they do see, tell the clear story that this is her fault and they hold her entirely responsible. Peeta doesn't like the intensity in which the looks are being directed her way, he as much as she - especially after what happened in District 11 during the Victory Tour - for the way things were hitting Twelve now…but they didn't seem to hold him responsible for it in the way they did her. He wanted to tell them they were wrong…but he knew there was truth there, the argument would be moot.
They make it to the Hawthorne's and find out that Posy has the measles and that was why Hazelle hadn't rushed over the second the snow had melted. Her once thriving laundry business had been all but shut down because of the whipping. The people of District 12 weren't capable of an uprising, were barely capable of breaking a law as simple as going to the Hob, for most of them. How silly she felt now, thinking that they would rise up against the Capitol. They clearly thought it was her fault, and no one had outwardly come at her for it. She supposed she couldn't blame them, and were it someone else, she'd probably feel the same way.
"My mother will send something for Posy," Katniss says as they part. When they're back outside, she turns to Peeta. "You go on back. I want to walk by the Hob."
"I'll go with you," he says.
"No. I've dragged you into enough trouble," she says, though even she has to admit, things are a lot easier to deal with whenever Peeta is around. What the exact reasons were, she hadn't quite figured out, but if she had to face something…she certainly felt better about the situation with him nearby. There was a sense of warmth, a feel of protection, of his undying love for her…she never felt she deserved it. She did know, however, that she would find living extremely hard without him in her life. How angry she had been with herself for ignoring him after they got back from the Games, how distant and how alone she felt. Peeta was always there when she needed him, even when she didn't know she needed him, he was there.
"And avoiding a stroll by the Hob … that's going to fix things for me?" He smiles and takes her hand. Together they wind through the streets of the Seam until they reach the burning building. They stop to stare at the flames, realizing that part of what made Katniss so likeable in the District, was burning away.
"I want to check on Greasy Sae," says Katniss, feeling guilty.
"Not today, Katniss. I don't think we'd be helping anyone by dropping in on them," he says. She nods, understanding that he's right. "Come on, I'll get you some cakes at the bakery on our way back. They're not as pretty, my brothers decorated them, but they eat the same…and it's the only way my parents will accept my money."
"I'm sorry, Peeta," she says.
"It's okay, Katniss," he says. "Come on," he says, tightening his grip on her hand and they make it back to the square, cross by the humiliation devices, and over to the bakery. Katniss can just make out Madge in her window waving, she waves back. "Hey, Pa," says Peeta, as the little bell announces their arrival. His father nods, noticing their interlocked hands. "Here to pick up some cakes for myself, the Everdeen's, and Haymitch." He nods.
"Bit gloomy?" Otho asks his son.
"Yeah," says Peeta. "Quite a bit."
After a few more moments of brief conversation, Peeta retrieves the cakes from his father, holds his hand out to Katniss — which she grabs — and they head back out into the square. The walk back to Victor's Village is mostly quiet, they don't really say much until they get close to the archway leading to the houses, when Peeta pulls Katniss gently to a stop.
"I'm not asking you for anything, Katniss," he says, almost guilty. "I don't expect anything because of that kiss. It may not have even felt any different to you. But I just want you to know, I'm not expecting any declarations or anything from you." She nods, not quite sure what to say. "If I overstepped, please tell me."
"No," she shakes her head. "You didn't overstep. And I kissed you, so why would that be your fault?" She leans her head onto his arm. "It was nice, but more than that, it was ours." He nods at her and they resume their walk.
They stop off at Haymitch's to drop off a cake for him, he begrudgingly accepts, but they both know the cakes are his favorite thing at the bakery. He does make a fleeting comment about how lousy they look, and vows he'll complain, but they both know he's only teasing. They tell him they both have some liquor stocked up, for such a time as this, and they'll be bringing it over so he doesn't get any crazy ideas about drinking rubbing alcohol, in fact, Katniss picks up the rubbing alcohol and says that her mom could use this for more important things than trying to kill oneself, Haymitch laughs dryly and nods.
When Peeta walks Katniss back to her door, he gently kisses her forehead. "It's nice to do normal things with you, when we're not vying for the attention of people we don't care about."
"It is," she says. Drinking in the warmth of his lips on her skin. The feel of his lips touching hers, was the only feeling that could outdo this. But the gentle way that he places one on her forehead, was nothing short of the epitome of sweetness and heat. Expecting nothing and giving only everything all the time. Wishing he would do more, but Peeta isn't crass, he'd never do anything that she didn't initiate. She looks up at him, gently grabs the zipper on his coat, pulls his face down to hers, gives him a lengthy kiss and then pulls away. "We're supposed to be engaged, so you can kiss me anytime you want." She winks at him, remembering something similar he'd said in the arena. She lets go of his hand, takes the cakes from him and is about to turn back to the door when he twists her back around to face him, pulls her chin up toward him, kisses her softly and then lets go.
"Good to know," he says, with a wink. "See you tomorrow, Katniss."
"See you tomorrow, Peeta," she says.
He walks down the steps with his own cake and heads off to his house.
The days go by and things in the square only get worse. Katniss hasn't seen Madge in days and the most they do is call on the phone to say a brief hello, check on the other, and get off the phone. Peeta comes by every day with bread, he and Katniss talk, Gale says nothing. Gale is still stewing from the idea that Katniss wouldn't leave without Peeta, and from the fact that she said she wouldn't leave Peeta, but didn't answer when he asked about himself. The fact that she might just take her mom, Prim, Peeta and Haymitch and run off plagued him constantly. He'd always thought they were one team, together, inseparable…but it was hard to ignore the fact that Peeta had come between them. A concept he couldn't understand. They lost their fathers at the same time, they suffered and struggled to feed their family, they had needed each other. But here she was, going on daily walks with Peeta. Spending hours with Peeta. If he didn't know any better, he'd think they were a couple. The thought made his insides boil. Katniss was his, the arena hadn't changed that, and a Baker's kid from town wasn't going to change that. Even now Peeta was over, bringing her cheese bread as always, and talking like he wasn't even there. The conversations he'd overheard in the past few days, about this person or that person, about her stupid little friends in the Capitol, about that idiot Haymitch. He couldn't understand why she didn't hate the Capitol as much as he did. How could she not loathe every single one of them? Every single one of them could die, and he would happily take care of that, and it wouldn't bother him one bit.
"How's Gale?" Peeta asks from the other room.
"He's doing better," Katniss answers. "He hasn't been talking much."
"Ah," says Peeta. "Too much pain or by choice?"
"I'm not sure," she says. "Maybe both?"
"Is he still mad about the running away thing?" Peeta whispers and Gale barely catches it. "Does he not know that idea isn't going forward? That we're staying?" Gale can't help but show his confusion on his face, clearly he had the wrong reaction, because by the way they were talking…Peeta had agreed to go, regardless. Did Katniss tell him that the plan included the Hawthorne's? She must have. So he, Gale, had yelled at Katniss because she wanted to include Peeta and Haymitch…and he, Peeta, had accepted and probably without hesitation. Another loss. Another time that Peeta has blown him out of the water, by being a 'decent human being', and by indulging Katniss's delusions. Gale was angry, when wasn't he these days? The Capitol and her association with Peeta and Haymitch were changing her into another person entirely, and he didn't approve. He wanted his Katniss back, not this muted version who cared about the people who sent her to the Hunger Games. How often he wished he'd gone in with her, he didn't know. Maybe things would be different then.
"I haven't exactly had the chance to talk about it," says Katniss.
"Oh," says Peeta. "You might want to."
"I'm still here," she says. "That alone should be the answer."
"Well," says Peeta. "Does he think you'd leave him behind?" Gale doesn't hear a response so he assumes a non-verbal answer. "Oh, would you leave without him?" Katniss remains silent. "Did you tell him you'd leave him behind?" Silence. "Okay, Katniss," he says with some level of finality. "He's your friend, not mine. I'll leave that decision up to you, but I think you should tell him, regardless of what your answer is. It's hard not knowing, trust me."
"Well," she says sheepishly. "I kind of said I was going to stay and cause all kinds of trouble."
"Well," Peeta laughs. "That's a given." You can hear the sound of a gentle slap on an arm. "You're always causing trouble," teases Peeta. "I mean you decided to save me in the arena, drugged me to get medicine, and then there's that whole thing with the berries. I mean you're always causing some kind of trouble."
"I suppose there's some truth in that," she laughs. "But I really did mess things up."
"How do you figure that," says Peeta. "And I'm not talking about Snow's visit or him not being 'convinced'. I mean, Katniss, he's not here all the time. I don't think he's that obsessed with you that he's watching all of the cameras. Plus, while I don't like it, I can understand why him kissing you had the effect on Snow that it did, I mean it probably would have for myself, if I'd seen it. Mercifully, however, I did not." They have an awkwardly long silence. "Katniss, we kiss all the time. I doubt he pays much attention to us." Gale winces at the comment. They kiss all the time? He thinks to himself. Unprovoked? Clearly he needed to step up his game a bit. If she was kissing Peeta voluntarily, then he had a problem.
"Is that good or bad though?" she asks.
"I guess I don't know," says Peeta. "Maybe it does matter to him. Maybe he does watch. Odd, and a bit uncomfortable, but maybe that could change his mind. Maybe he'll see something and he'll change his mind." Katniss must be shaking her head because he continues, "I can't read his mind, thankfully, but because I can't, I don't know what to tell you."
"The wedding didn't even convince him of anything," she says. "Well, I mean the engagement. Wedding hasn't really happened yet, so I guess we can't use that." There's a long silence between them and Gale imagines any number of things going on in the other room. Hugs. Kisses. Both. "How come you agreed to it anyway?" she asks. "The engagement? I know this wasn't how you wanted it."
"Katniss," he says. "If it will help me protect you, I'm fine. You're my best friend, where you go, I go. That includes all the Snow stuff. We're going to be mentors in a few months, and we're going to have to figure out how to keep at least one of those kids alive. What worked for us the last time, isn't going to work a second time…especially here in Twelve. And there's that thing where I love you, but he's never doubted that from me. Plus, if and when we do get married, at least we won't have to sleep alone."
"I know. I just hate that we have to participate another way, now," she sighs. "I don't want kids, Peeta. I couldn't handle that. I can barely handle the idea of trying to keep other people's kids alive. I mean, Delly and Madge are still young enough…what if it's either of them? How are we supposed to protect or help anyone when we can't even do it for ourselves?"
"I know," says Peeta. "I understand. Want to take a walk?"
"Yeah," she says.
"Let's go," Peeta says and Gale pretends to be asleep as he watches them walk hand in hand through the room toward the front door, and wills himself to sleep before he has a chance to get any more mad.
Katniss and Peeta get to the front door, pull on their coats, scarves, and boots and head out into the cold. Peeta grabs her hand again as they walk. They go on for several minutes not speaking, when Peeta notices a tear on her face. He stops, turns toward her and wipes it off, then he pulls her into a hug where she cries all the tears she's been holding in since Snow's visit. After she's cried herself out, she wipes her eyes off with his scarf, disengages from the hug, grabs his hand for support and pulls him forward as they head into the square.
"We don't ever have to do anything you don't want to do," he finally says.
"Do we even have control over that?" she asks, and then meets his gaze. "Ha ha. You know what I meant."
"I do," he says, winking at her.
"What I mean is," she says, "Would Snow even allow that, or would he somehow force the issue?"
"Katniss," says Peeta slowly. "I really want to say that I know he wouldn't because I know that's what you want to hear…but I think we both know, if he wants that, and it involves threats to life and limb, we're gonna have to." Her shoulders slump, he drops her hand, wraps it around her shoulder and pulls her closer as they continue to walk. "Katniss, we can talk about something else."
"I know," she says. "But I'll just keep thinking about it anyway." She thinks for a moment about Haymitch and how alone he is. "Do you think Haymitch had friends when he was younger? I mean, he had to have a family, maybe even a girlfriend, but he doesn't talk about them. I don't want to pry, but do you think that's why he's always drinking?"
"Katniss," says Peeta. "If something happened to you, and I was left here alone, I'd probably become the same. I'd lose my reason for living, I simply couldn't go on by myself. The nightmares alone would be too much for me."
"No," says Katniss. "You'd find something and you'd keep living. Maybe get married, have your own family. Find someone who actually wants kids. Live the rest of your life living out your dreams." She says it, but doesn't like the image it presents. Peeta is hers. She wasn't about to share him with anyone, even this fake girl she's imagining…but maybe it's not a fake girl…he had friends in town. Perhaps he could love someone else, she wouldn't want him to be miserable if something happened to her. She really would want him to keep on living, just alone, but not like Haymitch alone…just without a girl.
"Katniss," says Peeta. "I'd never be happy again, if something happened to you." He pauses because she's staring up at him. "I don't want anyone else." He means it. The idea is crushing him, the mere thought of having to live his life without her. He's wasted so much time not saying something, but now that they had something — even something started to keep them alive — he couldn't bear the idea of having a life with anyone else, doubted even that he was capable of loving someone else. It had always been Katniss or bust for him, now more than ever. "You're my whole life."
Katniss is about to pull him into a kiss when they reach the square and their jaws drop.
"Peeta!" she gasps. "How is it worse?"
"Snow must be pretty pissed," he says, flatly. Katniss starts to pull out of his grip, but he tightens it and pulls her back. "No, we can't help anyone. We might even get someone killed. I think we may be more helpless now than we ever have been." He admits. They walk around and run into a couple people from the Seam trying to get food, finding out there is barely anything left, stores are running out. Nothing is coming in. The mines have finally reopened, but there's been a pay cut and they've extended the hours. They're being sent into blatantly dangerous work sites. The number of children signing up for tesserae has increased exponentially. Parcel Day came and the food was spoiled and filled with rodents. The number of people that have been dragged in and punished for offenses that had been so long overlooked that no one even remembered those things were illegal.
With heavy hearts, they stop into every shop and pay two or three times as much for the things they usually get, to help as much as possible. Some, however, still refuse to accept their money. They end up with so many things, they stop by the bakery to get a flour sack to carry it all back home. No words are exchanged until Peeta hands his father some money and insists he take it. Then just as quietly, they leave. The walk back to Victor's Village is gloomy, at best. Neither of them know what to say. At different points they both open their mouths to speak, but end up closing them again anyway. Nothing can be said for what was going on. Nothing they said could change it. They part with the usual kiss from Peeta to Katniss's forehead and Peeta goes to his home while Katniss walks up the stairs to hers.
She walks in the door to see Gale pulling on his boots.
"Where are you going?" she asks.
"Home," he says, plainly.
"Are you okay doing that?" she says. "Did my mother okay it?"
"Yes," says Gale. "A couple of days ago, actually."
"Oh," she says. "Want me to walk you home?"
"You and Peeta just got back," he says. "It's okay, Katniss, I can walk by myself."
"Stay out of the woods," she insists.
"That's one place you can count on me not going to," he says caustically.
Without a word. Without further comment he walks out the front door. As she watches him go, she worries that everything he sees in the square will only strengthen his resolve to fight back. The hardships in the mines, the tortured bodies in the square, the hunger on the faces of his family. Rory signs up for tesserae, something Gale won't even talk about, but it's still enough with the inconsistent availability and ever-increasing price of food.
Katniss convinces Haymitch to hire Hazelle as a housekeeper, some small way to help them, while simultaneously making his home more livable. Haymitch barely notices her, Lenore Dove appears to him often, telling him to never let the sun rise on another Reaping. The liquor Peeta and Katniss rationed out for him was almost gone and last time Katniss even saw Ripper, she was in the stocks.
Walking through the streets, everyone avoids Katniss, Peeta too, by association. The only people who still talk to them are Delly and Madge, and those conversations are often arduous and painful. They can't talk about anything important with a Peacekeeper every couple of yards. All conversations have devolved into comments about the wedding and dresses, and the most basic and superficial things. However much the rest of the residents hate her, they continue to bring the ill and injured to her mother. Asterid Everdeen no longer charges for her services. With the uptick in patients, her stocks of remedies to treat them begin to run low, and soon all she'll have is snow.
The woods are forbidden. Absolutely. No question. Gale doesn't challenge it. Katniss doesn't challenge it, until one day when a crate of wedding dresses shows up with a note from Effie that tells her how President Snow personally approved them. Grabbing all of the insulated winter gear Cinna made for her for the Victory Tour. Waterproof boots, a snowsuit that covers her from head to toe, and thermal gloves. She sneaks downstairs and makes it to the weak spot in the fence and crawls under. For a few hours, at least, she could be alone with her thoughts.
