--» 𝔡𝔞𝔫𝔡𝔢𝔩𝔦𝔬𝔫𝔰 «--

Chapter Twenty Seven

I take a moment to create the visual in my head; the boy, ripped from life so fast, while she just had to watch. I imagine myself in his place. No goodbye to my family. No last hugs. Everything gone, in just a second.

"Did they see you?" I ask anxiously.

"I don't know. We were under a shelf of rock," she says, but something in her voice tells me she does know. I turn my head and get a good look at her, realising she's shivering.

"You're shivering," I say. Tugging at the sleeves of my jacket, I pull it off my body and wrap it around her shoulders. For a moment she resists, but slowly accepts the warmth.

"They were from here?" I ask, looping the hole in the fabric around a button near her neck. She doesn't say a word and only nods. I try and form another question, one that involves an explanation, in the hopes she'll open up.

"Where do you suppose they were going?"

"I don't know that," she says quickly. "Or why they would leave here."

"I'd leave here," I say. Right after the words leave my tongue, I notice it wasn't the right thing to say. I'm too honest, sometimes. I look around, making sure there aren't any Peacekeepers on me immediately. I laugh, trying to lighten the mood, but Katniss looks paralysed in fear.

"I'd go home now if they'd let me. But you have to admit, the food's prime." I cover, hoping that was enough to blanket my mistake. Katniss's face eases and returns to a slim smile.

"It's getting chilly we should probably head back inside," I say, standing, offering my hand down to her. She takes it without a second thought. Maybe she really is warming up to me, I hope. We walk through the heavy door, and as we descend the stairs, I ask, "So Gale's the one that took your sister away at the reaping?" She nods her head.

"Do you know him?"

"No, but the girls talk a lot about him at school. I used to think he might've been your cousin or something," I say, wishing that were the case.

"No, we aren't related," she replies, sounding a bit offended. I nod, masking the emotions that are trying to slowly spread over my face.

"And he came to say goodbye to you?" I ask, keeping the blank stare at the ground as we make our way down the hallway.

"Yes," she says, "and so did your father. He brought me cookies." A hint of confusion touches her eyebrows, making them furrow, while mine perk in surprise.

"Really?" I ask. "Well, I always knew he liked you and your sister, I'm sure he'd prefer a daughter over a household full of boys anyway." A gleam flickers in her eyes. "He knew your mom when they were kids,"

"Yeah, she grew up in town," Katniss says with an awkward smile.

We reach Katniss's door, and she pulls my jacket off. She reaches to hand it to me, her arm outstretched, but I push it back into her arms. She smiles warmly and folds it over her arm.

"See you in the morning, then," she says, her hand placed gently on the cool metal of the doorknob.

"See you," I say. She opens her door, walks through, and shuts it without turning back. I'm left standing outside her door, the silence only broken by the whirring of the air conditioning. I walk a few doors past hers and open mine. The boy that gave us our dinner is standing inside at the foot of my bed, grabbing my outfit. I smile and give him a kind nod. His eyes widen in fear, and he scurries out of the doorway past me. I shake my head and slide off my slippers.

As I crawl into bed, I can't get the image of the boy out of my head. I pull the covers over myself, thinking about the field, the cookies, and the boy. It's going to be a long night,