Hunger Games 1. Chapter 1

One Day

Chapter One

For many years Katniss Everdeen wondered how it was that her mother had become so completely numb after the death of her father. How she lost all will to function, to care for her children, to do nothing for not only her children, but she herself barely made it through the dark cold winters on the borderline of starving. Katniss had spent years in silent anger at her mother. For forgetting that she and Prim still needed someone, for not being a mother but a zombie that functioned. Gone were the days that she would run her fingers through Katniss' hair and tell her how beautiful she was. Gone were trips to the village to see cakes in Mellark's Bakery window or treasures at the Hob. She had become a shell of a person that no one could get through to. Not even Katniss.

It was only after the war, when District 12 had become her home prison that she finally understood. How monumental is felt just to get up and go downstairs to the living room, curling up in front of the flames of the fire that Sae would light to warm the house. It never did much good to sit and watch the fire dance, memories overwhelming her of seeing Prim scream as flames engulfed her. But anywhere she turned something else would trigger memories, would shut her down and take away any spark of life she may have felt. The bedroom door she couldn't even bring herself to open. The kitchen she saw Prim help save Gale's mutilated flesh after the public lashing. The damn cat she couldn't rid herself of no matter how much she hated it.

But at this point it wasn't even the memories of just Prim anymore. The nightmares were the only time she used her voice anymore. The echoed screams that no one helped save her from anymore. The pair of arms that use to envelop her to keep them at bay were gone. The person she had lost herself in, which she had hurt so deeply was probably never coming back. She couldn't even get his name to cross her lips unless it was screamed in terror from a nightmare.

Haymitch had given up trying to get her to speak. He wandered into the house at least once a day to check on her, trying to remain patient with her despite her lack of words. He knew how screwed up her head had become, how lost she was. The paternal role he had become as their mentor had shifted into their everyday lives now. He was gruff with her if she didn't at least attempt to eat the food that Sae left for her each day; gentle with her if he was mentioning news of anything from the outside world. It was he who told her Annie had given birth to a boy that she had named Finnick II, as well as the news that Johanna had moved in with Annie to help her.

But it was the day he hesitated a moment too long that Katniss felt a pit settle into her stomach as he looked at her with apprehension on his face.

"Sweetheart. The boy is coming home within the next few days."

Peeta.

Peeta was returning to Twelve.

She drew her knees to her chest, the closest thing to the fetal position that she could achieve sitting in the kitchen chair across from him. Saying nothing Haymitch reached and patted her hand softly.

"I want to tell you something after all this, because I should have said it sooner. Before the Quarter Quell I told you in a hundred lifetimes you couldn't deserve that boy. But I was wrong. Very wrong and for that I'm sorry. You spent so long closing yourself off from everybody, and making sure no one got through that façade of the rough and tough I don't need anyone charade that everyone believed it. You didn't want anyone to love you because in the end, we've lost everyone we've loved haven't we? But that boy, he's alive. Hearty alive and is coming back here because to this day he fought to come back to you. I just hope you remember that when he steps off the train. We were all tortured in our own way, but he's coming home. Let him just…come home sweetheart."

Standing, Haymitch waited a beat to see if she would say anything. Circling the table, he leaned down to kiss her hair softly before he left out the side door. Before the door had shut she could feel herself start to shake. What could he possibly come home to? She couldn't allow someone like Peeta to try and be with her. She had become her mother. A mute shell of a woman who couldn't even bother with the outside world anymore. A recluse that found no solace in the world she had once been so immersed in.

The progression of days seemed to slip in importance in her life. She could barely tell if a day or week had passed paying no mind to the world outside her window. It was only the day that she had jolted from a nightmare that she saw the smoke rising from the chimney across the way. He was home. Peeta had slipped back into town without any pomp and circumstance.

The dull ache that formed in her chest at seeing the simple smoke from the floo had convinced her even more that she needed to draw even further into herself. Moving from the sitting room with the fire, she had made her way upstairs, closing the door and slipping under layers upon layers of blankets that she had thrown onto her bed. She could barely keep herself warm these days despite all the layers. She knew it was because she had become cold from the inside out. No amount of fire or down blankets could warm her.

A day or two must have passed, or more likely a week, when she emerged to eat something. It was when she descended into the kitchen that she audibly heard her voice break into a heartbroken moan upon seeing the gift on her counter.

Cheese buns. Her favorite.

Tears welled in her eyes as she lifted one to her nose, inhaling deeply as the aroma smacked her in the empty stomach she had been ignoring for days. She knew the plate of them would be gone in mere moments.

After she drank a glass of water to ease the saltiness of the cheese, she went and drew a bath for herself for the first time in what seemed years. Sae had been the one to coax her into a bath at least once every two weeks, but this was the first time she had allowed consciousness to slip back in her mind. Just something simple. Crawl into a bath, clean the sweat, nightmares and flakiness of the new skin off herself. Wash your hair. Braid it again. Put on some fresh clothes. Crawl onto the couch downstairs to try and get through the rest of today.

It was when she came downstairs to crawl on the couch that she saw him. She didn't realize it was spring outside because of how cold she had been. Every day she had been freezing, wrapped in blankets to fight off the inner chill she couldn't get rid of. But there he was with a wheel barrel, walking in a gentle stride to her house. He was wearing only a t-shirt and shorts as he dropped to his knees in front of her home, a shovel in hand as he started digging a hole. Approaching the window quietly, it was when she saw what was in the wheel barrel that tears started spilling from her eyes.

Primroses.

He was giving her the only piece that he could find that might help fix her.

Her emotions smacked her like a freight train.

Opening the door, his eyes met hers as she stumbled out onto the top step of the flight in front of her. It was maddeningly bright as she shielded her eyes, trying to find him through the haze of vision she couldn't get to clear. Tears still ran from her eyes as she saw the flowers, and then looked at him as he struggled to get to his feet.

"Katniss… I didn't mean to disturb you. I just, I found these in the meadow, and I knew they were meant to be here. I figured I'd just get to work to avoid them from wilting."

She nodded, her mouth opening as she tried to remember how to speak. It had been so long that she struggled for a mere moment before going on impulse instead. Rocketing down the stairs she wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug as her head nestled in the place between his neck and collarbone. Her entire body was shaking from the will to use words for the first time in forever. She shook like she had when Finnick had revived him in the quarter quell. She heard him let out a shaky breath as he wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her close to him.

Her entire body relaxed as her mind finally stopped struggling for words. Her head seemed to clear of some of the fogginess that had been a constant since the moment Prim had died. He kissed her forehead softly as she opened her mouth once more.

"Thank you."

It was a mere whisper, it was all her voice would allow, but he heard her as he gasped gently.

"Did you just…? Haymitch said he… I'm sorry I don't mean to confuse you. He just said he hadn't heard you say a word since the Capitol."

She nodded. Coaxing herself once more, she met the deep blue eyes of her victor and whispered again.

"I….haven't…"

His eyes glazed over with tears as he nodded slowly. Taking a breath he steadied himself as he looked at her again. A new spark had ignited in his eye as he looked at her like he had what seemed like years prior.

"Would you like to help me?"

Her voice escaped her again as she fell to her knees to help him plant the floors he had so carefully gotten from the meadows outside of her beloved woods. They worked in a relaxed silence, so in sync with one another it made Katniss ache on the inside again. Why should she be allowed to have him back after everything she had done? She was a murderer. A monster. Too poisoned for a dandelion in the spring. Too enveloped in the night for the orange rays of sunrise and sunset.

She hadn't realized she started crying again until her tears started to mix with the soil Peeta was using to settle the primroses down until he reached up with dirty fingers to wipe them away. A soft whimper left her as his skin made contact with hers for the first time in so very long. She wanted him. Needed him. Didn't think she could live another moment without him.

Helping her to her feet as they finished, Peeta looked at her with a sad smile.

"It's never going to be enough to remember her. But they remind me of when she came to the hospital wing to visit me in 13. My hands were cuffed to the bed but she sat down next to me and she slid her hand into mine. She had this sad smile on her face as she told me what I had done to you after I begged her to tell me why everyone there was scared of me. Why I had to be restrained. But she wasn't afraid. She just held my hand as she told me that what the Capitol had done to me had effected the way I remembered you. But she smiled, this brilliant little knowing smile and said she knew I'd find my way back you. That no matter what Snow had done, she knew what she saw hadn't been a lie. That her sister had fallen in love with the baker's son. That nothing else mattered but that. She told me I'd find my way back to you. Somehow. In whatever way it took so I could love you as much as I had before everything happened."

A second whimper escaped her as she struggled with a single word.

"Pe…Peeta…"

"I just…I need to ask you a single question. It's not something that I'd ever force you to answer, but I've seen every single moment of footage from our games. From the Victory Tour, from the Quell. Shimmering moments of fake thoughts forced in my head that make me believe things that I know aren't true. But I see it. And I know she saw it too. So I just, I need to know. Did you love me? Was it real?"

Tears freely cascaded down from her as she looked him in the eye, knowing she could break him with a single word. She could free him from the monster she was. Push him away so that he could find someone better. Someone who wasn't shattered into a billion irreparable pieces. But she knew he already saw the answer he needed from her without her saying anything. If nothing else, he deserved to know that everything he went through wasn't in vain.

"R…re….real."

A flood of breath escaped from him as he let go of the breath he was holding waiting for her answer. He had known it already somewhere within himself. She needed him just like she had confessed on the beach in the Quell. He was the person she couldn't survive without. She had chosen him.

Stepping toward her, he saw her cower. She was as open, as vulnerable and as low as he had ever seen her. He had once tossed bread to a dying girl in the rain, and even that girl looked like a warrior compared to what he saw in front of him. Raising his hand, he allowed his fingers to drift softly across the patchwork skin he saw crisscross her entire body. Her face turned into the caress and suddenly, he felt himself engulfed in her arms, her body shaking with the force with which she held him. Her body was weak, malnourished, but her will and resolve never wavered. He held her under the sunshine before kissing her forehead and loosening her death grip on him by only a fraction.

"Dinner? I'd like to see you eat something…"

Her head shook against his shoulder as his brow furrowed.

"Why no?"

Pulling away from him, her hand fell against her stomach as she looked at him with a slightly guilty expression.

"Ch…che…cheese buns."

A short laugh escaped him as his hand fell against her stomach as well.

"The entire plate?"

Biting her lip, he could see the barest hint of a smile on her face as she nodded.

"Have you eaten anything besides cheese buns in the past week?"

Her eyes drifted away as the question answered itself.

He pulled her back into his embrace as he leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"It's my turn to take care of you Katniss Everdeen."

Her eyes widened as she pulled back to look at him. He had no idea the mess he was trying to re-enter. No clue as to what he was promising.

"I can't promise that it will be easy. I can't promise that I'm whole or fixed yet. But I'm working on it. They told me I needed to practice saying what I knew to be true in the morning to myself to get me through the day. But this is what I know. My name is Peeta Mellark. I'm a few days shy of 18 years old. I had a loving father and abusive mother and two brothers who owned the local bakery. I've decorated cakes and have loved art since I was a child. I have loved exactly one girl my entire life and her name is Katniss Everdeen. I was a tribute in the 74th Hunger Games and in the following Quarter Quell. I was tortured by the Capitol and was rescued by the girl they trained me to hate. But I love her still. And today, I get to add at the end that when I asked if she loved me too, she said it was real."

Dipping his head, he gently kissed her as she shook in his arms. She felt his lips against hers again and it was the first time she felt home in too long. He smiled against her lips as she pulled away.

"One day, I'll get you to smile for me again."

Feeling a fraction of herself fall back into place, a tiny piece that he repaired with his kiss her lips upturned only minutely as she felt the words slide from her tongue.

"One day."

Hi Guys! This is my first Katniss/Peeta fanfiction. Although I've read many a fanfic for this genre, I've had an idea swirling in my head for quite some time of post Mockingjay pre-epilogue. This will be a few chapters, and I will try to update it quickly. Reviews are always welcome =)

Xoxoxo

Piercedstarling


	2. Chapter 2

One Day

Chapter Two

It had been two weeks since Peeta had brought the primroses to her yard. Time still seemed like such a trivial thing even if she had a piece of herself back. Peeta coming back to Twelve had been like someone drawing open the curtains on the darkness that had been her life. She needed to breath, needed to see beyond the madness that she had driven herself to. Peeta had become her lifeline once again. His patience with her, a kindness that she never thought would be bestowed upon her again, was lightening a load on her shoulders that she didn't think she could bear.

He understood that she still didn't have words. Most days they did things with very few words spoken at all. He often asked her only yes or no questions so she could nod or shake her head. He wanted only simple things from her these days. He would ask to hold her hand if they went on walks, but they only often got as far as where the old Hob was before her anxiety would spike and the only word she could muster was "Home." He asked if he could make her dinner every night since his return. He knew she still didn't eat as much as she should, aside from what they made and if Sae still came by.

He could see it, deep down inside her, how numb she was. He had prayed to be so often following the Quarter Quell and everything that had happened. But if he was numb, he would forget. Forget why he fought through all the false memories that would pop into his brain. Forget why this girl was worth fighting until his last breath for. Forget the sound of her whispering words of comfort to him if he woke from a nightmare. He was afraid for her, despite all the evil in his own life, he still thought of her first.

They were sitting in his house one evening after dinner, a warm spring breeze making the filmy curtains of his living room dance in the fading light of twilight. They were curled up on his couch, her head nestled in the crook of his neck as her hand laid flat on his chest. She felt the steady gallop of his heart beneath her fingertips as her eyelids began to droop. They still hadn't shared a bed and Katniss knew she did it to hold him at arms' length. She didn't want him to only hear her voice when she screamed from nightmares. She knew that wasn't fair to him. Her thoughts were interrupted when he leaned down and spoke gently in her ear.

"What's your favorite memory of Finnick?"

It felt like he had punched her in the stomach. Pushing herself off his chest, she sat up quickly. Before she could get away though, his fingers had intertwined with her own and he brought his hand up to cup her face.

"I don't want to forget. I'm worried with all the hurt and anger that has happened to us, that we'll forget to keep living sometimes. They died so we could have a better future. They fought for something. But that doesn't mean I want to file them away somewhere in my head so it doesn't hurt. I think it should hurt. But I need to remember Katniss. Even if it's the simplest thing. I just… I don't want it to be in vain."

Her exact thoughts from the weeks prior on why she should tell Peeta the word "Real." came floating to the forefront of her mind. She didn't want to forget any of them. But they were all the ones she couldn't save. All the ones she had failed. How many times was she going to be haunted by their voices and deaths? Despite all that though, she already knew the answer to his question before she could halt the stuttering words that escaped her.

"Wh-when he sa…wh-when he saved you in the Qu-Quell."

"When I hit the forcefield?"

Her head bounced as she nodded.

"Why?"

She gave him an incredulous look as she knew that explaining why would be difficult. She never realized speech could be so foreign. That stopping her voice altogether meant fighting to gain it back. She hadn't gone past a few words back and forth with him. Now his eyes asked for an explanation. Especially since her answer was revolving around him.

"He dr-dropped to his kn-knees and st…he started saving you. I…I wa- I watched him bre-breathe life back into you. He did it fo-for me. Hay-Haymitch told him th-that I wo-would…I would…"

She stopped a moment, trying to focus as he looked at her so intently. Taking a deep breath she started again.

"I wouldn't be the Mockingjay if so-something happ-happened to you. But it w…was the look he ga-gave me after you woke. Wh-when I pulled you up and into my arms."

He interrupted her, his eyes faraway as he tried to pull the memories that weren't real away from the image that came back to him from in the arena.

"You were shaking. Uncontrollably shaking. And you were wrapped around me so tightly that I could do nothing but hold you. You were crying…"

"Your…your heart st-stopped!"

Sliding his fingers gently across her cheek he felt a smile reach his lips.

"What look did he give you?"

Biting her lip she took another breath before finishing.

"Like he…like he knew. He knew I…I cou…couldn't survive …with…without you. He told me later Annie use to look at him li-like that. Es….especially after she won. Sh-she stopped ta-talking too."

"But you're talking now."

"Sometimes."

Leaning over, he set his forehead against her own as he kissed her slowly, just enough to bring a blush to her cheeks.

"I could listen to you talk all night. Even if you stutter, even if you can't find the words. Even if it's a word at a time. I want to hear it."

Rolling her eyes, she felt the brush of a smile reach her lips as he looked at her. Breaking out into one of his full fledged smiles, he laughed heartily as he kissed her again gently.

"One day wasn't so far away now was it? Was that a smile I saw Miss Everdeen?"

Smacking his chest lightly, she made to get off the couch again as he tugged her by the connection of their hands. Falling into his lap, her arms wound around his neck as he brushed the hair out of her eyes.

"So I have an idea…and I think it might help both of us."

Peaking her interest, her eyebrow raised, telling him to continue.

"I asked you what your favorite memory of Finnick was because I'd like to start a memory book. I remember the plant book you showed me that your father had started. I'd like to do something similar. But of everyone we lost. I can draw the pictures of them. And you can write down our happiest memories, or what they did. What they died for. I just…I don't want to forget Katniss. Little things I find slipping lately. The exact hazel of Cinna's eyes. The soft lines around my father's eyes. Finnick's smile when he and Annie officially got married. The color of Prim's hair on a summer afternoon when I'd see you showing her the cakes in the bakery. I want to write what's real because when those shimmering memories come, those times I'm not myself, I don't want to scare you. But something to help would be nice…"

Brushing her fingers across his forehead, sweeping his growing blonde tresses away from his eyes, she nodded softly as his words hit home. She knew those things were slipping from her too. And if nothing else, she needed those memories to put herself back together again. One day, they wouldn't be her ghosts anymore. One day, they wouldn't haunt her dreams.

"That sou-sounds like a gr-great idea."

Kissing her again, he let a content sigh slip from his lips. His eyes were growing heavy as he set his head against her shoulder, allowing himself to place a soft kiss there as well.

"Could I go so far as to ask one more thing of you?"

Tilting her head to the side, she waited only a moment for his question.

"Would you stay with me tonight? My…well my dreams as of late have been painful. I haven't been getting much sleep. I just…I just want to make it through a night. I just need to sleep."

Biting her lip, she felt empathy for him on the grandest scale. She had been sleeping better since Peeta's return to Twelve, but by better she knew only getting two hours at most of sleep per night was going to continue to damage her. His offer was like a long forgotten dream.

Kissing his cheek softly, her mouth moved down to whisper in his ear.

"Always."

She swore she saw tears well in his eyes, but they remained unshed. Standing, he took her hand and led her upstairs and into his bedroom. Giving her a t-shirt of his to sleep in, he crawled into his bed as she made quick use of the bathroom before opening the windows for him in the bedroom. Laying down into his heavenly soft bed, he nestled against her until his head rested on her chest, his ear laying flat upon her heart. His arms would around her waist, as her fingers descended into his hair, gently stroking the soft locks in her fingers.

"Goodnight Katniss… I love you."

"Goodnight Peeta. I love you too."

Chapter two in only one day?! I think I'm going to like this =P

Read and review my lovelies!

Xoxoxo

Piercedstarling


	3. Chapter 3

One Day

Chapter Three

It shouldn't have surprised her that she wouldn't be able to sleep. She had hoped that he would be a cure for her. She dreamed that her body would react like his, he was almost immediately asleep. She found it was the most relaxed she had felt in ages, but still, sleep eluded her. She had made a promise that she would stay though, so she continued to run her fingers through his hair, or switched to running them over whatever skin was open to her touch.

She felt the breeze sweep in from outside like she had downstairs, making the light of the moon dance across different angles of his room. She saw it light his face, the creamy tan skin of his face a whole different hue in this light. But it was that light that shone upon him that revealed he might be headed for a nightmare. She hadn't noticed his eyebrows furrow together as her fingers had played with his skin. Or how tight his jaw had become as he tried to hold onto composure. It was the sound of a whimper, a soft pleading sound escaping him that almost broke her heart.

Gently leaning down to whisper in his ear, she tried to rouse him quietly.

"Pe…Peeta."

Her quiet, withdrawn voice did little to help him as she saw the terror in his face escalate.

"Peeta."

A bit more forcefully, and he thrashed away from her, turning his body to run or hide from whatever evil his mind was seeing. Holding his shoulder as leverage, she tried to get him to turn back around.

"Peeta. Peeta please!"

"Katniss! Katniss where are you?!"

She felt Finnick's words resound in her head as she tried to swallow down her own terror. The Quell was over. Finnick was gone. They had won the war. But what Peeta was dreaming was an arena all his own. So she used what she could and leaned over to whisper in his ear.

"I'm right here Peeta. You fou…you found me."

Gasping with a start, Peeta's eyes flew open as he nearly fell off the bed. He scrambled away from her as quickly as he could, locking down into a fetal position as he sat on the floor.

"You're not real. You're a mutt. She died. She died in the arena. I didn't save her. You're a mutt, you're a mutt…"

She didn't know what else to do. For how many times this boy had saved her, all logic flew out the window when she realized even love couldn't undo the Capitol's damage. Falling to her knees next to him, she took his hand placing it on her heart.

"I'm real Peeta. Real! Real! Please! Real!"

Tears were streaming down her face as she waited to see if he'd respond.

"Please. I'm real. I'm not a mutt. I'm not a mutt. I'm real. Please…"

She realized if he didn't believe her, this could end very badly with one of them hurt. He was always going to be stronger than she was despite what strength she knew she had. She was quick, but part of him was fueled by anger, and hatred. By venom.

He took several more deep breaths before he looked up at her. This crying broken girl, shivering as she held his hand against her heart, clad only in his t-shirt, and trying desperately to bring him back to himself. She looked petrified.

"Oh shit I'm so sorry. Of course you aren't a mutt. I'm so sorry…"

She launched herself at him, kissing him with every ounce she had within her. Wrapping her arms around his neck, and sitting in his lap, she shook in his arms as he tried to calm the tremors he had coursing through him. Pulling away, she rested her forehead against his as they inhaled and exhaled the breath shared between them.

She sighed softly as she made to get off his lap. However, he only gripped her tighter, his hands wrapped around the back of her thighs as she sat on his lap.

"Please. I know you were going to get up, and probably put your clothes back on and go back over to your house because you're scared of what just happened."

He felt her head nod minutely against his shoulder as he continued to hold her.

"I need you. I need to prove the angry drug induced side of my head wrong. I know you aren't a mutt. I know you weren't made to kill me. I know you are Katniss Everdeen. The Girl on Fire. I know I love you. So please. I need you."

She had never been good at the emotional side of anything. She was use to having to be cold and calculated. The most fun she truly had after the age of ten was hunting with Gale. He would make her smile, or make her laugh. But until the very end, nothing had been emotional with Gale. They were starving angry children feeding themselves. The only person that ever needed her was Prim, and she had failed her.

Thinking of all these things at once, tears continued to pour from her.

"Don't….don't you know by n-now Peeta Mel-Mellark? The pe-people who ne-need m-me, who lo-love me, th-they o-only w-wind up de-dead."

She hated this stuttering. Hated how trying to prove a point made her lose precious time as she tried to think of a way to escape this room. She loved him, there was no point denying that. But to have someone need her again when she herself felt like she was barely holding on…she knew she would fail him. Fail him as she had failed every other person who had once needed or loved her.

She tried to pull away from him, disentangle herself and push him away as she always had.

"NO!"

The word had come like a roar from his chest.

"You don't get to do this. Not again. You made a choice Katniss. By saying you loved me, that you're real and here. You came outside to me. You made the comment less than 4 hours ago. "Always." You said it! You don't get to go away again. You don't get to leave me again…"

It was his turn to have tears come pouring from somewhere deep within himself. Shocked into silence, she saw him as he let his pain be as blatant as his scars. Tears gathered in his eyes as he fought to compose himself. Sitting back on her haunches she saw him as he fought for his words.

"That was how the venom worked. Fueled from my own sadness. My own anger. He used it and used it against me because he always knew in my own mind I would never be the person you chose. The person you wanted most. I knew that even in the Quarter Quell. You would choose the person you couldn't live without. I always knew that should've been Gale. It didn't make sense that you would choose me. Even if I loved you, even if I would've died for you."

Gasping for breath, he finally looked up at her.

"But you didn't. You didn't pick him. And to this day I don't know why. But you're telling me you love me, and running away at the first sign that I'm still screwed up. You're the last person I have. The only family I have is a drunk mentor who drinks to hide his pain and a girl who told me that at one time she loved me. That she loves me. I don't know. But I need you to make some kind of choice in your head Katniss. Either I'm worth not running away from or I am. I know you love me. But you can still leave behind someone you love."

A choked sob left her. She knew he was right. She had left him behind before. A few more times than she ever cared to remember. Leaning forward she let her hand cup his face. She tried to steel her resolve as she begged her words not to stutter.

"You are the first orange rays of dawn in my woods. You are the dandelion in the sp-spring. You are pa-patience, and kindness. You are the bo-boy with the bre-bread. You loved me when I had no idea what lo-love was. You were my wo-words when I had none. You were the heart-heartbeat that lulled me to sl-sleep after every nigh-nightmare. You sac-sacrificed yourself for me. I will ne-never und-understand what I did to des-deserve your love. Hay-Haymitch once told me I could live a hun-hundred lifetimes and never deserve you. And he's right. But I'm ess-essentially a selfish person. I gr-grew to love you more than I could ever love Gale. He w-was an-anger. He was fi-fire. He fu-fueled me, pushed me. I may have lo-loved him once. Bu-but I will lo-love you always. I need you too."

She leaned down and kissed him once more. Once more, it felt as if a part of the load she had been bearing was lifted from her. Pulling away, she stood from where they had hidden themselves on the floor. At his noise of protest, she only held up a single finger to silence him. Walking into the bathroom, she brought back a wet wash cloth to wipe his face, and a glass of water for him to drink. Motioning him back onto the bed, she leaned down softly and started wiping away the tears and stress from his face. Handing him the water, she saw as he eagerly gulped it down before leaning his head back onto the headboard. She set the glass down on the bedside table before sliding back under the blanket and setting her head down on his chest as she had done so many times before.

"You'll still be here…when I wake up in the morning right?"

His words made her heart constrict in her chest. She knew that none of this was going to be easy. His mind may hold doubts that had been built over years. She was going to try her best to break every single one of them down.

Lifting her head from his chest, she leaned forward to brush her lips against his once more.

"Right."

Read. Review. You lovelies know the drill.

Xoxoxo

Piercedstarling


	4. Chapter 4

One Day

Chapter Four

She knew it had only been a few hours since they revealed everything in the moonlight. Somewhere in the back of her head she knew this. His steady heartbeat and loving embrace had done the job of lulling her into a realm of sleep. But as was every night, she felt her nightmares returning. Every night it was someone new. Someone she had failed. They lived in an endless circuit in her brain, revisiting her in intervals.

Tonight however, was different. She had many strange dreams, but this one was new. She had run through a maze of prison cells, trying to find the screaming that she knew to be his. Jabberjays had sent her through an endless path, confusing which direction to go in. Every direction she turned she heard his screams never knowing which path to take. After following every route she could find, she slammed open a door to find him on the other side, his lifeless body swinging from a length of rope on a lonely tree in an open meadow. Scrawled in his terrible hand writing he had written the words to The Hanging Tree with a note underneath.

"I can't take anymore Katniss. I love you. Remember me."

Waking with a gasp, she found him still asleep next to her. Her hand went first to his heart, then cheek to feel the beat beneath her fingers, and the warmth of his skin. Climbing from the bed, she made her way to the window ledge of his open window, the first rays of dawn fast approaching. She could feel the sun in her blood from how many times she had been up and out of the house before it ever rose. How many times she had known she would meet Gale before the first rays of dawn ever touched the sky.

Sitting down, she brought her knees to her chest as she saw the first colors of the sunrise. She remembered the morphling in the Quell who Peeta had caressed into death by watching the morning colors of the sky. She wondered if there would ever be a day where something didn't draw her memories to the pain held within the arenas. Or the aftermath from it.

Her head came to rest on her knees as she continued to watch the sky. First the soft oranges that Peeta loved most, followed by the burning pinks and purples, drawing the blue into the open. It was like watching Peeta paint. Speaking of whom, she heard draw a deep breath of consciousness as she turned her head to look at him. It was in that moment between awake and asleep she saw him reach for her, his face falling before his eyes even opened.

"Hi."

The word had been simple, but his eyes snapped open as he turned to look at her sitting perched on his window seat. Relief flooded his face as he saw her.

"Hi. What are you doing?"

Holding out her hand to him instead, his slipped from the bed and hobbled over to her as the brilliance of the sunrise just started to show. He slid onto the ledge behind her as she felt herself immediately lay herself back against him.

"Oh wow."

Resting her head under his chin as his arms came around her to rest on her stomach, he silently watched the morning break through. It didn't disappoint. Even after the sun had fully risen, they rested there, watching the day as twelve seemed to wake up. She could hear the construction in the distance, started even now early in the morning. She could tell it was going to be a beautiful day. The wind coming through the window was a soft and playful breeze that seemed to breathe life into her. Turning her head, she looked at him as he finally glanced down at her.

"Would you like to go somewhere with me?"

She felt like it was the first sentence she had finally pushed through without stuttering. Smiling, he nodded his head.

"Of course I would. And somehow I have a feeling we're headed out into those."

Gesturing with his chin, she saw her beloved woods off in the distance. Nodding her head, she felt them calling to her. It had been so long since she had silently walked through their beauty. She didn't know if she could bring herself to hunt yet. But for now, she'd be content for a day wandering through them.

Moving to stand from the ledge, her hand was caught as he spun her around and kissed her softly.

"I don't know if there will ever be a day where I tire from being allowed to do that."

Rolling her eyes, she smiled despite herself.

"And I don't think there will ever be a time my heart doesn't swell knowing I helped make you smile again."

She felt her heart pound in her chest as she drew him close, her arms wrapping around his neck as she held him for a moment. Pulling away she kissed him once more for good measure before grabbing her clothes from the floor.

"Me-meet me at my house in a few min-minutes?"

Nodding softly, he walked her downstairs to the door as she threw on her pants. He let out a small laugh as she struggled with them a moment, but headed to get ready quickly. Even if it was mere moments, he hated being away from her.

Opening the door to her own house, Katniss immediately felt the difference between the two houses. Being in Peeta's felt like home. Being in her own felt like a haunting of memories, of laughter that never made it to these halls. Of terror that had only just begun when they were gifted this place.

Hurrying to get changed and get ready, her thoughts wandered the possibility that eventually she and Peeta could just move in together. They didn't need to stay in the Victors Village. Hell neither did Haymitch. It was only a memory of reaping the benefits of murder. They had more than enough money…they could build something. They could level this haunted place to the ground. One day.

She washed her face and changed her clothes, stopping momentarily to take a deep breath of the t-shirt she had worn. It still smelled like him. Heavenly, and soft. Like fresh baked bread and the cooling breeze of spring. Like home.

She had just been lacing her boots when she heard the tap at the door. Walking to it, she opened it to see him standing there, something wrapped in a cloth in his hand.

"Cmon, we're gonna go have breakfast with Haymitch first."

Handing her the bread, she opened it only to peek and saw the dried fruit and hearty bread hidden inside. Her breath catching in her throat, she brought it up to her nose to inhale the deep fresh smell. It was the same kind of bread he had once thrown her that saved her life.

"Katniss?"

Looking up, she saw the quizzical look in his eye.

"Are you alright?"

She knew, she knew she had to quit hiding her little emotions inside. She knew the time had come that she needed to speak again, and tell him all the things she never had before. If he had fought so hard to come back to her, she could gift him with the words she had rarely ever given him.

"This was the kind of br-bread you threw me in the rain that day. I ran all the way ho-home with it tucked in my father's hunting jacket. Prim was so hungry that I had to force her to eat only a little bit at a time for how ba-badly our stomachs had shrunken. I even softened the burnt pa-parts with water so I could eat those too. The smell of it right now… smells like…like…long forgotten memories."

He reached over to tuck a lose strand of hair behind her ear as he listened to her. Smiling, he looked away as he heard her describe that day.

"My mother beat the hell out of me for burning that bread. I remember the look on her face when I pulled them out of the oven burnt. I can still feel the backhand she left on my cheek when she saw the blackened ends, screaming at me to just give them to the pigs because no one was going to eat them. But I had seen her screaming at you to get away from our trash cans. I saw how skinny you had gotten at school. It killed me to watch you deteriorate before my very eyes when I knew I could do something about it. I should have walked it outside to you. I should have told her that nothing she could do, no matter how times she would hit me, was going to stop me. So I took a cowards way out."

"No. No no no no no. You sa-saved my life that day. You saved Prim. You have to kn-know that. You ne-need to know that. I would have never wa-wanted you to take a beating for me."

"It didn't matter. I knew you had something to eat. That was all that mattered."

Shaking her head, she looked at him sorrowfully.

"Saving my life for so many years already…"

"I'll happily do it for a lifetime if you'll let me."

Gapping at him, she sighed softly before kissing him again.

"Let's go have breakfast."

Read. Review. We'll get this routine down lovelies.

Xoxoxo

Piercedstarling


	5. Chapter 5

One Day

Chapter Five

They made their way through breakfast without too many jabs from Haymitch which was saying something. He looked genuinely pleased to see Katniss start to emerge from the darkness she had gone to. And having Peeta home to Haymitch was like welcoming his own son home. They sat mostly in silence aside from news Haymitch had heard and what they had planned on doing for the day. It was during that time that Haymitch told them both that something peculiar was about to happen.

"Someone is moving to twelve."

Both Katniss and Peeta tensed as they turned to look at him with inquisitive eyes. Katniss' hand locked around Peeta's beneath the table, and it was Peeta who finally offered the reply.

"Who?"

"One Effie Trinket. Minus the extreme Capitol get up."

Katniss didn't think her mouth could open any further in astonishment. Effie. Here. In Twelve.

"Does she even remember what she looked like underneath all of that?"

Katniss felt a giggle bubble up through her throat at Peeta's comment. She couldn't help it. Bursting into a fit of giggles, she felt both Peeta and Haymitch look at her in wonder. She hadn't realized until then, but it was the first time she had actually laughed in too long. And once she started, it seemed, she couldn't stop. Picturing Effie with no wig, no makeup, no heels, no Capitol clothes, she was close to rolling on the floor in laughter. Haymitch followed soon after and so did Peeta, the picture painted within their minds giving way to the first fun any of them had had in too long.

As always, the jab hadn't meant to be hurtful. Haymitch had been the only one to see her without any of the clothing and makeup that had defined the escort. It was part of the reason she was moving here. She wasn't a part of that world anymore.

"She's actually quite beautiful without all of that crap on her face."

Peeta and Katniss both turned to eye Haymitch, eyebrows raised as they heard the words slip from his mouth. They both considered briefly that he may be drunk, or still drunk from the previous evening, but he had become quite serious after hearing his own words.

"Yo-you fell for her di-didn't you? That's what your co-comment was to me wh-when Peeta came home w-was about."

Haymitch gifted Katniss with a small half smile as he shrugged his shoulder.

"Can't always just be me and the geese can it Sweetheart? Everyone finds their home sometime."

She wanted to have the heart to tease him. But all she felt was the weight of Peeta's hand in her own, their fingers intertwining

"I th-think so too old man. When wi-will she be here?"

"Day after tomorrow. Maybe sooner. She's pretty antsy to leave."

Katniss laughed again quietly, a small chuckle brushing past her lips.

"So-sounds like she hasn't cha-changed much."

A gruff laugh left his mouth as he nodded his head.

"A little more relaxed, a bit more quiet. But still Effie."

"I can't wait to see her."

Peeta's words were soft, the depth of them misunderstood by both Katniss and Haymitch.

"I never…I never saw her, but I heard her screams. I know they hurt her… it will be nice to see she survived. That she's happy."

Haymitch had a tightened grip on his cutlery before placing them down on his half finished plate. Pushing it away, both Katniss and Peeta followed suit. How they went from laughter to such wicked memories, it was too easy. A perpetual black cloud that followed the both of them. It was with Katniss' next words the tension finally broke.

"I hope she's as beautiful as I imagined."

Haymitch sighed softly before meeting her eye.

"She is."

Getting up, they cleared breakfast before Haymitch bid them farewell. Katniss felt her arms wrap around him in a hug that lasted a moment too long. They both needed it. The father she never thought she'd have again. The man who thought he'd never have another family. Telling them he'd see them for dinner, they left hand in hand as they made their way towards Katniss' beloved woods. Now that the fence had come down, her route to find them took even less time than before. She didn't mind that they walked slowly with Peeta's bum leg. To her, it felt like a slow building anticipation. Getting to greet an old friend one step at a time.

They wandered in to the massive expansive of forest leisurely, each path a memory. She would tell him bits and pieces as they wandered. Where her father had showed her how to shoot her first squirrel. Where she and Gale had met most mornings since she was eleven. The path to take to the frozen lake that held her father's secret hut. It was when they passed the tree that she held her bow and arrow in that she faltered. Her most faithful companion. Pulling it from the tree, she caressed it softly as reached for the arrows behind it as well. Running her fingers over the feathered ends of each arrow, she saw Peeta crack a smile as he picked up a stone, tossing it lightly in his hand. Her curiosity peaked once more as he threw the stone aiming for a nearby tree.

She saw the flock of birds flutter in the air as her senses slowed down, the arrow was loaded and arched to shoot before she realized she had done so. Her aim was impeccable, the arrow slicing through the air and into the eye of the bird, dropping to the forest floor only twenty yards from her. Standing, she turned to look at Peeta as he smiled lightly as her.

"I had to see if you were still in there. Sometimes, you're so quiet, and so timid I think you forget you were once the start of a rebellion. A force to be reckoned with. But there you are…just hiding behind the surface."

She held the bow in her hand a moment longer as she stared at it. Her hand felt complete again, as if the wood of the bow had pledged itself to her. She had fed many starving families with the aid of it, and had helped save her own as well. She owed this simple tool her life. Walking to Peeta, she kissed him soundly as she threw the handle of the arrow case over her shoulder. For the first time in her life, she could bring her father's gift home.

It was as she kissed him that she felt the familiar ache start to fire in the pit of her stomach. The ache for Peeta, for his arms to be around her, for his hands to never leave her body. She wondered if she would ever feel it go away, the desire she had for him. They were finally free. Free to be…anything really. They could live their lives to a ripe old age together. She could maybe dream about tomorrow instead of yesterday one of these days. He would break her of this spell she had fallen under, just as she would soothe him of the poison they had altered him with. They had been given another chance. Her one day was now, it was tomorrow, it was every breathe she drew in her lungs.

They were alive.

Xoxoxo

Piercedstarling


	6. Chapter 6

One Day

Chapter Six

They had spent almost the entire afternoon in the forest. They wandered whatever direction they chose, eventually finding the path back to town. It was before they left the woods that she pulled Peeta flush against her body once more as she leaned against a mighty oak tree. Resting her fingers lightly against his cheek, she kissed him softly, a slow kindling fire starting in her heart as his lips joined hers more urgently. His forefinger tilted her head at precisely the right angle so they could continue this connection they felt. It was as if every single one of his kisses released another bit of sadness and poison from her. She was reminded of the effect the water had on the poisoned fog. Every kiss was a drop of water, releasing her anger, her distress, and her regret.

It was when she felt his body's reaction to her that she stifled a groan of pleasure. His body came alive under her hands, and under her kisses. It was a moment of bliss that had been denied to her for so long. The satisfaction that came from fulfilling what her body wanted from her. Being selfish in knowing that he was hers alone. The solid weight of him pressed against her, her breath labored as she felt her breasts flush against him. He was a gentleman, never straying from keeping one of her hands tight within his own as the other cupped her face gently to continue kissing her. But she still felt the reaction his body had to hers. The growing need that stirred from him pressing insistently against her was proof enough.

Pulling away from her hesitantly, Peeta set his forehead against her own as they attempted to catch their breath. It took everything in him not to touch her, to bring every bit of skin into contact with his own, to hold her against him and make her moan like that again. No matter how hard she had tried to stifle it, he still heard that sound leave her mouth. Brushing his lips lightly against hers once more, he pulled away to look at her. The lustful haze that settle over her Seam grey irises as she stared into the dancing blue waters that bore back into her made him temporarily forget everything outside of this little world they had found themselves in. All he could feel was the ragged uneven breaths that entered and escaped her.

"Peeta…"

"Katniss…"

"Ar…are we ready for this?"

Leaning towards her, his lips brushed her cheek as he left a chaste kiss there.

"I don't know. But what I do know is, if nothing else, I want to explore every inch of your body someday. Today, tomorrow, a year from now. And I truly want to make you make that noise again. Just…louder, and only for me to hear…"

She groaned again quietly as she rested her head against his shoulder. There wasn't an inch between the two of them where their bodies weren't molded together. But they fit together too perfectly to deny. She wanted to feel him, every bit of him. She wanted to count his freckles, and trace her fingers over every inch of his skin. She wanted to run her fingers through his hair and kiss every bit of him. She wondered what sex with him would feel like, and if it might make him lose control. That thought alone stopped her in her tracks a moment as she looked up at him. His pupils were blown wide but his eyes were dancing in pleasure. He was still her Peeta.

"Are you okay?"

Ever the gentleman, Katniss smiled softly as she placed her hand over his hammering heart.

"I wa-was worried that th-this might be too mu-much for you."

She had noticed that speaking was only difficult now when she needed to push through the wall she had created; when she needed to give a damn about him before herself. Her thoughts would get jumbled and her words would slip through stuttered lips. But with time, she was hoping her eloquence would be better.

He cracked a small half smile as he kissed her forehead softly.

"I've dreamed of this moment since I was a kid. Katniss Everdeen wrapped in my arms, kissing me, wanting me. I went through two arenas, torture, memory loss, war and separation from the only person I've ever loved and she's still in my arms. Truthfully I kind of feel like the cat that got the canary right now. Maybe you should pinch me and I'll wake up."

She felt a quick batch of tears spring to her eyes after hearing him, and could do nothing but fling her arms around him again. How he was so lighthearted about stuff like this some days, she couldn't fathom. But here he was. She was still his dream. Haymitch would always be right. A hundred lifetimes and she couldn't ever deserve him.

"I like this better than a pinch."

His whispered words caused a laugh to escape her as she pulled away from him. Lacing their fingers together she started directing them out of the woods.

"Oh, and Peeta?"

"Hmm?"

"I would really like you to make me make that noise again too…"

She heard him groan softly as he walked a pace behind her, another small laugh escaping her again. Tugging their laced fingers, Peeta kissed the back of her hand as they kept walking, leaning to whisper in her ear despite the silence that surrounded them.

"Tonight, after dinner…even if it's only to touch all the places I've dreamt about."

It was her turn now, to stifle another moan that begged to leave her lips.

"Peeta…"

His knowing smirk had her a mess as they continued making their way into the Victor's Village. Steering towards his house, they wandered in to start dinner. She cleaned the bird she had gotten that morning, and started a big pot of soup. The rhythm that they found in the kitchen was much as they had in everyday life. It seemed like a well practiced dance as they moved around each other, Katniss chopping and adding vegetables to the soup as Peeta stood at the counter kneading out bread. She watched the way the sinews of his muscles rippled as he kneaded, flipped and worked the dough in his hands. She could only imagine what he could do with his hands.

Shaking the thoughts from her head, she finished all her preparations and wandered into the living room as Peeta placed the bread in the oven to bake. He had hung most of his paintings throughout the halls and rooms of his house. Reminders, he called them. His family portrait hung in the living room, his color usage giving away how he felt about those he lost. His father's face was painted warmly, with a hint of a smile that Peeta had inherited. His brothers, much in a similar fashion. His mother however, was painted as a cross stern woman who seemed to hold not a drop of warmth in her. It made Katniss shiver at what appeared to be one of Peeta's many ghosts.

Moving around the room, she saw many sunrises and sunsets, several people they had lost, and several of just her. Moments she couldn't place, and other's she remembered as if it had just happened. All done to make her appear warm, and beautiful. If only she could see through his eyes.

So lost in her thought, she didn't even hear him sneak up behind her. That was saying an awful lot when a hunter didn't hear an elephant clomp into the room. Wrapping his arms around her waist, she startled as his hands came to rest on her stomach.

"You scared me!"

"Says the hunter who use to be able to hear a pin drop. Didn't the Capitol give you sonic hearing that made you able to hear a forcefield?"

The sarcasm was dripping from his tongue as he grinned at her. She smacked his arm playfully as they went to sit in front of the television, waiting on dinner. She curled up into his side as they turned on mindless drabble in the background but she couldn't have told anyone a single thing that had played. All she could concentrate on was the path his hand had taken to caress the skin from her fingers all the way up her arm to her shoulder and down again. When he tired of that, his hand dipped to her waist, his fingers trailing the path of skin left exposed from where her shirt rode up. She felt his touch even after his fingers had left her skin, and moved onto another part of her. She felt goosebumps begin a trail on every patch he had brought his attention to, and couldn't fathom how she was going to survive him touching all of her if only this brought her to a quivering mess.

"You are going to drive me mad."

"Oh I very much hope so."

Leaning over to kiss her, she was lost to him. She wanted to touch him and hopefully drive him as crazy. She was about to tell Haymitch to stay home when a pounding on their door had her jumping once more. Smiling at him softly, she stood to head to the door. Haymitch never knocked, and she hadn't had many visitors from twelve since her return. Curiosity got the best of her as she opened the door, and a small gasp left her lips.

"I was gonna just open the damn door, but someone told me I had to have some manners."

Katniss smiled as she opened the door fully to let their two guests in. A day early, and more lovely than ever, Haymitch had a hand wound within his own as Katniss finally got to see her real escort. Effie Trinket had found her way home to Twelve.

I'm really hoping to get some more reviews for this story. I hope you enjoy it!

xoxoxo

Piercestarling


	7. Chapter 7

One Day

Chapter Seven

Katniss knew her manners were poor as she could do nothing but stare at Effie. It was like meeting her escort in some parallel universe, or an actress who you met off stage. She had long lovely blonde hair, but in the way Prim's had been a beautiful rich blonde, hers was brilliant white blonde that fell in rolling waves around her face. She had gorgeous creamy white skin with a natural blush that hinted her cheeks. Pale pink lips hinted at a smile as she looked at Katniss through the curtain of her hair. Her clothes were plain, a long pale blue sundress that she had paired with a simple pair of sandals. She was more beautiful than Katniss could have ever imagined in her head. Although Effie had her hand locked tightly into Haymitch's own, she was still the same old Effie underneath.

"It is proper manners to knock before one enters someone else's home Haymitch."

"Yea yea yea sweetheart. Once I've had to break down a door though, I don't consider it someone else's home anymore. We are pretty much all on a merry go round of open doors here."

Katniss felt a rush of a blush to her face as she recalled the incident that Haymitch was talking about. She had locked all the doors and windows in the house, not letting anyone in for over a week. She hadn't eaten, and had been living on the sleeping pills that Doctor Aurelius had prescribed to her before she left the Captiol. On day 8 of no one hearing from her and having driven himself to madness thinking she had killed herself, Haymitch had broken down the front door, finding her passed out in the living room. That was when the deal with Greasy Sae had started. No more locked doors, and he would show up at least once a day to make sure she took the initiative to eat at least one meal a day.

Peeta rounded the corner from the living room, only to stop short as he saw Effie in the hallway. His hand found its way over his heart as he truly looked at her for the first time in so many months. Limping forward, he had her wrapped in a hug before he said a word. Whispering something into her ear, Katniss saw tears spring to Effie's eyes as Peeta pulled away. Bringing her hand up to cup his cheek, she smiled through the tears that fell from her eyes as she looked at both of them.

"Well my dears, it's been too long. I'm quite glad to finally be….home. I hear you've made dinner."

Her manners finally springing forward through her shock, Katniss finally woke up enough to be polite.

"Yes! Sorry, we just weren't expecting you until tomorrow! It's just a soup, but I think it turned out ok…"

"I'm sure it's lovely."

Her smile was softer, more real without all the layers of makeup and wigs and costumes. She looked as if she had shed all of it to become even more angelic than any of them could've possibly imagined. Katniss saw that Haymitch hadn't taken his eyes off her since they walked through the door.

Showing them into the dining room, Katniss grabbed an extra plate to set the table, fumbling before their guest as she tried to be courteous towards Effie who she knew must be adapting to an entirely new way of life. Turning the soup off the slow simmer it had been on, Katniss turned to grab a towel when she was startled. Effie must have snuck up behind her, and with a gasp Katniss dropped the ladle she was holding. Twice in one day…her reputation was on its way to be tarnished.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry I didn't mean to frighten you! It just smelled so good and I was going to see if you'd like any help… I feel a bit useless nowadays. Idle hands idle minds…."

Katniss placed her hand on Effie's shoulder, a smile finally reaching her lips.

"I…it's ok. I-I'm ok. I'm ju-just a qu-quick spook as of recently."

Effie pulled her into a tight hug, the breath escaping her lungs as she felt the small woman's arms wrap around her.

"I know none of us are okay darling. We're all trying to pick up the pieces and put them back together. But I'm so glad to know you found your way back to him, and he to you. It's all worth it in the end if we have love."

Pulling away from her, Effie tucked a strand of hair away from Katniss' face as they stood in their embrace. Feeling tears spring to her eyes yet again that day, her face cracked into a watery smile as she looked at her escort, alive and attempting to thrive before her eyes. Her team was complete again. Giving a small laugh, she wiped her eyes as she squeezed Effie's hand before turning back to the stove to bring the soup to the table.

"Would you mind bringing the bread to the table? Peeta will slice it there. But otherwise we have everything set."

With a dip of her head, Effie did as requested and followed Katniss to the dining room to have her first meal in her new home. District Twelve.

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Several hours had passed as they sat talking and laughing. They passed through dinner, broke out some wine for dessert and talked well into the evening. They had cleaned up, found their way into the living room and had nestled in continuing their endless discussion there. Effie was everything she had always been. Girlish with an ability to laugh quickly, scold for poor manners and push through tears when they had come. Both Katniss and Peeta loved the fact that she was still the same person underneath it all. And neither had ever seen their mentor so enraptured in a person. Her hand was constantly interlaced within his own and he seemed younger and happier than he had ever been before. His alcohol consumption had been kept at a minimum all night long and both were quick to wonder if it would become a more permanent thing. When she had finally admitted she was becoming tired, a smile graced her face as she turned to look at them both.

"For the first time in a very long time, I can look at the both of you without worry or without fear. I love the fact that I can look at you both now and say I'll see you tomorrow without thinking of an impending doom. And the day after and so on and so on. I'm so thankful for that. You're the only family I have left, and thank you for a wonderful evening."

Both walked the other couple to the door as Effie turned and kissed each cheek of both of them, another little smile on her face.

"I'll see you tomorrow yes?"

"Of course. Breakfast. 8am sharp Miss Trinkett. Put that in your planner."

Effie laughed at Peeta as she grabbed Haymitch and pulled him out the door. With a two finger salute Haymitch quickly followed, a mirthful twinkle in his eye that Katniss prayed would stay there. Finally closing the door, she turned to find Peeta closer than she realized. His skin was blissfully warm as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her flush against him.

"We seemed to have started something in the woods, and again on the couch several hours ago that I'd very much like to continue if you would."

Kissing her lightly, as if only to tease her, Peeta pulled away from her to see pupils blown wide and a hungry look in the eye of his love. Interlacing their fingers, she tugged his hand as she made for the stairs. She felt like she had waited an eternity to have him come back to her, and now she didn't want to wait another moment…

Xoxoxo

Piercedstarling

Sorry if it's a tease but I'd really like this story to actually get some reviews. Hardly any! =(


	8. Chapter 8

One Day

(Warning! Dirty smut time!)

Chapter Eight

By the time they had reached the bedroom, Peeta's lingering patience had vanished as he tugged her hand to turn her into his embrace. Her lips crashed into his as his arms wound around her waist, his hands holding her curved hips to ground him. Her arms fell around his neck as she tilted her head to return his kiss, her lips hungry for his touch. The poison that was her mind ebbed and flowed away as his lips feasted on her neck and collarbone leaving a blaze of fire wherever his lips landed. Fumbling through the doorway to the bedroom, her fingers grazed bare skin as she held on to him in the semi darkness.

The cool breeze of the spring evening did nothing to quell the fire within her. The open window let in the shining illumination of the full moon, stars glimmering behind the majestic orb. His normally golden skin and hair turned a haunting silver as he watched her with hooded eyes. Her warm hands on his bare skin felt like heaven and they had barely begun anything. She must have seen the reaction he had to her, for in that moment she was pulling his shirt up over his head. Her deft fingers ran over the broadened chest before her, drinking in the muscle he had gained from hundred pound bags of flour and two arenas. He trembled under her touch, his pupils blown wide in the darkness as he slid his own hands under her shirt, skimming from her back all the way up as he dragged her shirt off as well.

He had seen her in magnificent dresses, materials of every kind, even the wedding gown that never met a toasting. But he knew he had never seen her more beautiful than when she stood before him. Her luscious breasts were contained within a simple bra and her pants had sunk low on her hips sometime that evening. Running his fingers underneath the bra, his rough fingers teased across hardened nipples. The reaction she gave, a small gasp as she tightened her hold on his biceps, had him stiffening even more. He couldn't imagine the noises she would make with him buried deep inside her, if the simple skimming of her skin elicited a noise like that.

Laying her gently on the bed, Peeta hovered above her as he leaned down to capture her lips with his. Her legs opened as he settled between them, trying his best not to crush her with his weight. Her arms begged different however as she pulled him closer, half lying on top of her as she kissed him over and again.

"I feel…I feel safe with you like this. Like no one would ever be able to take you from me again if I just kept…if I just kept…"

Her breath caught as her mind begged to stay where they were. She didn't want to remember, not then.

"If you kept me where?"

His words whispered roughly into her ear as his lips descended onto her neck. He nibbled and kissed his way further as his hands slid under her bra, sweeping it up and over her head. His eyes widened in pleasure as he darted his tongue to sweep across her nipple, a moan erupting from her throat as he asked again.

"Where would you keep me Katniss?"

He wrapped his lips around her nipple as his fingers came up to play with the other. Her back arched as she slid her fingers into his hair, holding his head in place.

"Ohhhh! Oh Peeta I'd keep you locked in my arms. That way I'd know no one could take you from me. Not again."

Her legs wrapped around his waist as her arms locked around his shoulders. Caged in her arms as he did all the things he had fantasized about as a child. Her fingers dug into his shoulder blades as he began to rock his hips into hers. She keened, her bare breasts rubbing against the smooth planes of his chest as she knew there was no way they was a chance of stopping what they started. She had never wanted him more, never dreamt of him fulfilling the heart breaking love she felt for him more than in this very moment.

"Peeta, please…I need, oh I need you…"

She felt like an oncoming storm, needing to unleash the pure need she felt within herself. She felt half mad with the want she had coursing through her. If only she could memorize his body like she had done with all the memories that plagued her. She'd remember every sinew of muscle, every sunshine freckle, every strand of silky blonde hair that slid through her fingers. Using the strength she had in her legs, she flipped them over, both hands coming to rest on the expanse of his chest. Sitting back on her haunches, she was rewarded with the overbearing lust and need Peeta had painted across his face. She felt him, hard and ready, nestled between her legs, encased in the trousers he had worn that day. Sliding down his legs, she undid the button and zipper of his laps. Reaching to grab his pants and boxers, she had a blush covering her face as she issued her instruction.

"Lift your hips."

Tugging everything off, carefully over his prosthetic, and off Katniss felt the blush from her cheeks spread across her entire body. She wasn't ignorant about sexual education, but Peeta would be the first person she allowed to take her body. Make love to her. She couldn't gauge his size against another partner because he was it for her, but still she hadn't expected him to be so big. He was thick and heavy in her hand as she traced her fingers over him. His hand reached down, his much larger hands wrapping around hers as he showed her how to hold and stroke him. It was only a moment before she batted his hand away, using her thumb to glide over the tip and use the pearly liquid as a lubricant as she kept going. He groaned softly as she picked up a pace. In a matter of moments he was warning her of his inability to hold on much longer.

"Let me take care of you for once…"

The murmur that left her lips, the soft words that rung in his ears had him groaning as she kept the same tempo with her hand. Leaning up, her lips collided with his as he felt the warm spray of cum hit his stomach. He panted as they parted, the wash of his orgasm still flooding over him. All he saw was her. All her felt was her. Like a man possessed, he had her flipped onto her back before he had even cleaned himself off. Her pants were wrenched from her hips as he dragged them off of her. His lips descended down her body as he kissed over her breasts and down her stomach. He could smell her desire and his mouth watered as he passed where she needed the most attention. He began to tease the inside of her thighs with nips and kisses, passing over her heated core as he paid equal attention to her other leg. He could feel how erratic her breathing was, her anticipation of feeling everything causing her body to shake.

He had never done this before, and prayed he could bring her as much pleasure as she had brought him. Having her so open to him, he knew her vulnerability was at an all time high. Darting his tongue out, he tasted her for the first time before a moan left both of their mouths at once. She tasted like honey nectar. Sweet and blossoming as her taste settled on his tongue. He kept his attention at the little bundle of nerves he felt as he allowed one, then two fingers to slide into her wet heat. She was positively soaked as he sunk both fingers inside her tightness. Her walls clenched down as her hips began to rock, riding his fingers. A gasp left her lips as her back arched off the bed, feelings she had never experienced coursing through her. She never knew her damaged body could actually feel such pleasure instead of enduring so much pain.

Her hands slid into his hair, holding him in place as he continued his ministrations on her body. She felt the slow burning build inside of herself as he kept going. It was like standing on the precipice of a cliff, knowing she wouldn't fall, but fly. Finally, she let go, her climax coming in rolling waves as her body shook and pulsed around him. She saw him withdraw his fingers as he licked them clean. Shifting upward, he laid on top of her, his head resting against her heart. He listened to the racing gallop of her heart beats as a smile came to his face.

"Did I do that?"

His look was innocent, but she cracked an eye to see the mischievous smirk he had gracing his face. It was then she noticed his prominent erection pressing into her leg, a new kind of need written all over his face.

"Di-Did I do that?"

Popping her hips, she heard him groan softly as he slipped even closer to the heat that radiated from her center… they were in for a long night…

Xoxoxo

Piercedstarling

Part two of their "evening" will be in the next chapter =) reviews are love!


	9. Chapter 9

One Day

Chapter Nine

(warning, dirty smut time part two!)

"Did I do that?"

His look was innocent, but she cracked an eye to see the mischievous smirk he had gracing his face. It was then she noticed his prominent erection pressing into her leg, a new kind of need written all over his face.

"Di-Did I do that?"

Popping her hips, she heard him groan softly as he slipped even closer to the heat that radiated from her center… they were in for a long night…

He had her body intertwined within his own as they lay there, readying themselves to continue on with what they had begun. She had him cradled against her chest as her fingers ran through his blonde hair, the bed a mess of limbs as he pulled her impossibly closer to him as he slowly began kissing from the base of her throat, across her collarbone and down her arms. He kissed each of her fingers before he playfully bit her forefinger. She laughed softly as her hand came to cup his face, bringing him closer so she could kiss him. Trailing her lips off of his own she made her way to whisper quietly in his ear.

"Love me…real or not real…"

He had slid between her legs as they locked around his hips. Looking at her for reassurance that she wanted this, he pulled back to look into her eyes as his thick erection slid into her for the first time. Groaning as he sunk into her tight hot wet core, the word became a mantra on his lips.

"Real. Always real. Forever real."

She whimpered as he found a rhythm, a deliciously slow pace that had her feeling all of him deep inside her soul. Before she couldn't have dreamed she would've lived long enough to find happiness. To find love. Her survival and keeping Prim alive had been her sole focus for so many years. But now, now she could feel him moving inside of her, locked together as one as their hips began to rock and push for more. More feeling, more pleasure.

Her legs fell from around his waist, opening to him further as he drove in to her body. His fingers dropped from the grip he maintained on her waist, to play with the bundle of nerves between her legs. She groaned loudly, the noise he so desperately wanted to hear again from the forest falling from her lips as she begged softly.

"Oh Peeta please….please yes, oh ohh!"

Gaining confidence, she pushed him onto his back as she slid on top of him. She directed his weeping erection back between her legs as she started riding him in the pitch blackness of the room. Sitting up against the headboard, he held her close as she rode him. His fingers reached out, untangling the cord that held her hair in the infamous braid she always wore. Running his fingers through her hair, it fell in rolling curls down her back. Pulling her to him, he felt the curtain of her hair hide them as he kissed her softly, his hands falling to hold her hips as he started meeting her thrust for thrust from beneath her. Her mouth fell open in a whimper as she grabbed onto his shoulders to steady herself.

"Pe…Peeta I'm…I'm gonna…"

"You're gonna what Katniss…"

He felt cocky holding her so close, watching her begin to fall apart as his hard on throbbed inside of her, aching for release. His pride wouldn't allow him to finish before her. He wanted to see her come apart before him again.

"Oh Peeta make me…make me cum…"

His fingers dropped to her clit once more as he rubbed tormenting circles against it. It took barely a moment before he felt her. Making her cum was one thing, but being inside of her as she did so was an entirely separate bliss he didn't think he could describe. Her already impossibly tight walls clamped down on him as two words kept leaving her lips.

"Yes! Real…..ohhh yes, real so real….yes!"

It took only a few more thrusts of his hips before he was spilling inside of her, his arms locked around her as he shook from the force of it. Her arms were wrapped around his shoulders as she held on to him, her body having no clue as to how to process such pleasure. She felt tears spring to her eyes as she felt herself shaking slightly in his arms. She didn't think something could make her so thoroughly pleasured, happy and sad at the same time. Looking him in the eye, she immediately saw worry spring to his eyes as he saw the tears gathered in her own.

"Did I hurt you? Are you okay?"

A watery smile came to her face as she kissed him soundly.

"I think this is the happiest I've been in so long…that it makes me sad for the girl who spent so many years in anger and fear. You've made me so ridiculously happy Peeta Mellark. I don't know if I can put in to words the fact that I couldn't imagine this moment with anyone else. Having you inside me…it really is where I know that no one and nothing would be able to take you from me…"

She slid off of him as he kissed her forehead gently. Holding her close, they slid further under the covers as the words began to slip from him.

"I've dreamt of you since I was a child. Once as a child with two braids instead of one, once as a boy when I saw a starving girl in the rain. Once again as an adult when I entered an arena with you. And now, now as a free man I finally get to make love to you. You are my dream Katniss Everdeen. Even when you drive me to madness I've loved you. To feel you, to touch you to hold you, I'll live a hundred lifetimes and never feel worthy. But I'll prove over a hundred lifetimes that I love you the most, and I'll show you every day, in any way I know how. Now, maybe, both of us might dream well tonight…because you've worn me out."

She laughed softly as she saw him yawn. Wrapping her arms around him her eyes fell shut as she knew that tonight wouldn't be tarnished by nightmares.

xoxoxo

Piercedstarling

I was slackin so I decided to update both of my stories today =)


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