Maybe It Can Be Real

Chapter 22

ALL RIGHTS GO TO SUZANNE COLLINS. I OWN NOTHING.

ENDING OF LAST CHAPTER:

I walk over to the primrose bush and pluck a bud from the bush. I place it on my father's headstone. I kneel down and kiss each headstone.

"Can we go back now?", I snivel. "I love it, I really do, but it hurts," I say.

"Yeah, I understand," he replies.

We walk back to my house hand in hand, silent except for my hiccuping cries.

****

"Do you need or want anything?", Peeta asks me quietly as we sit together on our couch.

"I'm kinda hungry," I say with little to no emotion.

"What do you want?"

"I dunno," I say with a quick shrug.

"Well then I can't help you," he says with a small laugh. My head flops down onto his shoulder, and he kisses the top of my head before resting his on mine. "Lemme know when you figure it out."

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I stifle a yawn.

After a few minutes of silence, I open my eyes and stand up. Peeta looks at me quizzically.

"I'm gonna go take a nap," I explain. I bend down and give him a short kiss.

"Are you sure? It's only noon," he asks after I break away. I nod my head in response and head up the stairs. I kick my shoes off and crawl into bed, wrapping the covers tightly around me. Within a few minutes, before my thoughts can overwhelm me, I fall asleep.

****

My eyes spring open. I let a shaky breath out my mouth, and I take one in through my nose. I start coughing slightly when tears go up my nose. Idiot, I think to myself. My thumbs brush the rest of the tears away. Why do I have to have nightmares so often? I'm absolutely sick of it.

My eyes wander around the room. They land on the clock on my nightstand. 2:04. I wasn't asleep that long.

Eventually I decide to get up. Goosebumps form on my arms when my bare feet touch the cold hardwood floor. I gently rub my arms to get rid of them. A hint of yellow catches my eye when I pass the window, so I look out.

A soft sigh escapes my mouth when I realize what it is.

A small patch of dandelions.

"Oh," I breathe out quietly. I didn't realize they would be springing up so soon. I guess it makes sense, though, as it's always near my father's death anniversary. It's usually after, most of the time.

"It's.... It's not a coincidence that I saw them today. Right?", I whisper to myself, a little choked up.

Before another thought crosses my mind, I'm running out of my room and down the stairs. I turn the sharp corner at the bottom of the stairs, slipping a little along the way.

"Uhm, Katniss....?", Peeta says as I pass him. I don't say anything back - I just continue running. I throw open the front door and run over to the patch in the adjoining house's yard.

"Katniss? What are you doing?", I hear Peeta call from behind me. Again, I don't say anything back. I wipe some more tears away as I run.

I come to a stop at the edge of the patch. I can hear Peeta coming up behind me.

"Oh my God," I whisper.

"W-why.... Wh-what? I'm so lost, Katniss," he says with a laugh. He drags his hand down the side of his face.