peeta mellark ༄

7. just the two of us

lyrics, just the two of us by grover washington jr

you awoke the next day with a dry and scratchy throat. swallowing, you rubbed your eyes to rid of the tiredness. today you had to find water. stretching, you almost forgot you were sleeping in a tree. good thing no one saw me, you thought.

you jumped down after making sure you couldn't see any of the other tributes, stumbling as you landed. quickly, you put the contents of thresh's bag into yours, and left the empty bag hanging from a tree branch tauntingly.

you chewed on some of the jerky your pack contained as you walked. although you were very hungry, you dare not eat all of it. you would have to rely on the jerky and your minimal knowledge of edible plants to last a few days at most.

you thought of peeta. where was he? was he okay? was he with anyone? you barely saw or thought of him yesterday. you didn't have the time. technically, you didn't have the time now, but it came natural to you to worry about your district partner.

suddenly, you heard laughter. thinking fast, you sped towards a suitable tree and began to haul yourself up it's branches, hoping that the leaves would cover you.

prancing along, you saw the careers. they were smiling and skipping, their happy faces smeared with dried blood. it was eerie.

your heart dropped. you squinted and furrowed your brows, picking apart a face in the small cluster of careers. short stature, blonde hair, and dark hazel eyes. it was peeta, moseying along with the careers. the only thing different about him and them was that he didn't look happy. he had a stone stiff expression, like he was taking the games more seriously. you clutched the bark of the tree, feeling it scratch your palms. your chest flared with something similar to anger.

"good thing we found water," marvel barked loudly. you winced. he could at least be a little more secretive about it. the other careers agreed, and peeta stayed silent. you scanned each and every one of them, including peeta. glimmer, the girl, had a bow at her side. cato, a long sword, and marvel, a spear. peeta carried a spear like marvel. you waited for them to pass, until they were completely out of sight, their chirps and banter quieting with every second.

the anger came again, fiercer this time. and surprisingly, it was at peeta. you closed your eyes, your heart racing and pounding in your eyes, your fingernails scratching against the tree. you recalled what he had said during training, and the night on the roof. "you're the one who i would choose first as an ally," he told you. and you believed him. it was hard not to, with those heart-crushing puppy dog eyes of his. he was sincere. but yet you saw him with the careers. if he wanted you as an ally so bad, you thought angrily, why didn't he come and find you? you couldn't have been far, clearly. he could have followed you after you ran. but he didn't.

maybe he was smarter than you, joining the careers. he had a group. but that didn't stop your disappointed rage. grunting, you stepped down the tree, landing more gracefully this time. in one last act of defiance, you hacked once at the tree with the crescent knife. feeling embarrassed afterwards, you tucked it in your back pocket within reach. you were aware of the cameras surrounding you, and looked around blindly. "help me out here," you announced sarcastically for the people watching. you imagined the laughter of the capitol during the interview playing in your head. sighing, you fixed the straps of your backpack.

there was a searing pain on your neck. you let out a cry, swatting at the area and falling on your back. blinking back tears, you stared up at a nest of tracker jackers. your heart stopping, you scrambled up, only for you to be stung once again on your hand. you let out a groan, sliding on the leaves and beginning to run with the strength that was quickly draining out of you.