You Only Live Once

Chapter 7

The car is silent. The only thing I can hear is Peeta's breathing and the occasional buzzing of the radio signaling there's no signal of any radio stations nearby.

After Peeta called the tow to bring the car to the gas station we drove another mile or two.
After that Peeta decided we should take a break from traveling and sleep for a while. I agreed immediatly, specially because I couldn't put up with the awkward atmosphere between us. So we stopped at a trucking station to have some rest.

But the truth is that I'm restless, I can't keep my eyes closed for long. I don't know if it's about the guilt I feel about my recent fight with Peeta, or something else. The thing is, I have this nagging feeling in the back of my head telling me to do something. About what, I don't know. I hate the fact that I can't even understand myself.

I sight, and devert my gaze from the dashboard of the car to Peeta. He is fast asleep, squashed up in a odd position in the backseats of the car. The way he is so under makes me almost laugh since in the first day we started our little 'adventure' Peeta said he didn't need to sleep, ever. But I guess everyone has their breaking point, and Peeta finally fell to the side with tiredness. I stay watching him for a whiel, my mind gone blank, until he grunts and changes fidgets a little in his place, trying to find a more comfortable way of sleeping in the backseats of a buggy.

There's another buzz from the radio and I finally turn it off, "I'm done with you" I mumble to nothing in particular. I fidget a little in my seat, trying to find a more comfortable position to sleep. I close my eyes, that are starting to sting with weariness, and let myself dose off.

A whistle, I can hear someone whistling some melody. I drowsily open my eyes to immediatly close them again, because of the light. I grunt and open y eyes again, squinting them.

"Would you knock it off, i's annoying." I say, referring to the whistles. I groggily rub my eyes and stretch myself.

"Good morning to you too." Peeta greets sarcasticaly.

"What time is it?" I ask, ignoring his tease.

"Almost eleven a.m." Peeta answers not taking his eyes of the road. "I woke uo at six a.m and I figgured we'd save time and start travelling early."

I nod, brushing my hair with my fingers,and redoing my bread. Suddenley I remember I have yet to apolagize Peeta about what happened yesterday. "Look, about yesterday" I start but Peeta stops me.

"It's fine, there's nothing to talk about. Let's just forget it." he says. I sigh in relief hoping that maybe the guilt of hurting his feeliings dissipates. I look at Peeta, his nose is still swollen and purple, but I see he has placed a band aid there, though I'm not sure what's its use at this very moment.

"How long is it till Philadelphia?" I ask, looking out the window.

"We should be there by sundown." Peeta answers, glancing at me and the back at the road. "Are you hungry? There's a bagel I bought in a station in the gloves compartment." he adds.

I thank him quietly opening the gloves compartment and taking out a small package with the bagel inside. I eat it in small bites, trying to ignore the silence that has been set between me and Peeta.

"Did you sleep okay?" I ask, desperate to cast the awkwardness and silence away.

"Yeah, kinda. My back hurts a little bit and the stump to, I really odd to take the prosthetic off some time soon." he says.

His last statement catches me off guard. I raise my eyebrows and look at him. "What stump?" I ask incredulously.

Peeta looks at me questioningly, as if he can't understand my reaction. Those two seconds where he is gazzing at me make me blush furiously without reason, but I stand on my ground. Then his expression changes to realization. "Oh, you didn't know?" he asks, somewhat stupidely. "I lost a leg." he says. The way he says it makes his statement sound weird, but I try to ignore it.