Fluid Heart, Firey Soul (Peeta Mellark x Reader)

Chapter 22 - Awake

The sound of ocean waves crashing against the shore tugs at my consciousness. I resist, clinging to the warmth of the blankets surrounding me, safe at home. My head throbs with pain, aching and foggy. Maybe I caught the flu, which explains why I'm lying in bed rather than helping my father. My father's hand softly caresses my cheek, its touch instantly comforting and familiar. "(Y/N)," he says, only it's not my father's. "(Y/N), can you hear me?"

As my eyes snap open, I look around and realize I'm no longer home. Instead, I find myself in a dark cave, the air thick with the metallic scent of blood. The pale face of a boy slides into view and after an initial jolt of shock, I've calmed down. "Peeta," I say, my voice hoarse.

"Hey," he responds softly, "it's good to see your eyes again."

"How long have I been out?" I ask, my mind still fuzzy.

"Not sure," he replies, "I woke up yesterday and you were lying in a very scary pool of blood. It's stopped now, but you shouldn't try to move too much."

I gingerly lift my hand to my head and feel some sort of fabric wrapped tightly around it. This simple action leaves me weak and dizzy. Peeta holds a bottle to my lips and I drink greedily.

"Your bag had a needle in it," he tells me, "I injected whatever it was into your arm. I'm assuming it was medicine." My hand instinctively reaches for both of my jackets, trying to remove them on my own but Peeta notices and assists me. To my surprise, there is no pain.

"Oh, wow," I say quietly. The swelling in my arm has completely disappeared and the angry red color has faded. The initial puncture mark is still visible, but it looks much better than before.

"I feel better, too," he tells me, "whatever that was, it did the trick. By this morning, all the swelling was gone. Despite having tricked him and drugged him before running off to the feast, he doesn't seem angry about it at all. Perhaps I'm still too dazed and disoriented for him to confront me and I'll hear about it later. But for the moment, he is gentle.

"Did you eat?" I ask him.

He lets out a small sigh before responding, "I'm sorry to say that I ate three of those little fish before I realized it might have to last a while. But don't worry, I'm back on a strict diet now."

"It's okay, you need to eat. I'll go fishing soon," I reassure him.

He looks at me with grateful eyes and says, "not too soon, okay? Let me take care of you for a while."

The thought of protesting crosses my mind, but I know that I don't have much choice. Peeta feeds me small bites of fish and roots, and I drink the water he hands me. A loud clap of thunder booms above us and I catch a glimpse of lighting flashing through an opening in the rocks. "I wonder who brought this on?" Peeta ponders aloud, "I mean, who's their target?"

"Cato and Thresh," I respond quickly, "Finch is probably in her den somewhere. And Clove... she cut me and then..." My voice trails off as the memories flood back.

"I know she's dead. I saw her in the sky last night," he says, "did you kill her?"

"No," I mumble, the image of Thresh swinging a rock at Clove's skull pops into my mind. I decide to leave this detail out.

"Lucky he didn't catch you, too," Peeta says, his tone laced with relief.

But the memory of the feast comes crashing back and I feel sick all over again. "He did catch me, but he let me go." And then I have to explain why, about how he was paying back a debt of sorts.

"So, he let you go because he didn't want to owe you anything?" Peeta asks in disbelief.

"Well, I was there for Rue, " I respond, "so he was there for me. But if I run into him again I'm as good as dead."