Kindred

Chapter Thirteen

A/N: I'm sorry guys. I didn't have time to proof read this or anything. Hence why it's published so early. I'm super busy later on and won't have time.

Side note: If I created a twitter with updates about my stories; writer's tips; Hunger Games news and other random bits would any of you follow me?? Let me know! :)

Chapter Thirteen

Katniss walked back to her house, almost in a trance. She felt almost . . . shell shocked. Like the news Johanna had just given was something she had been dreading ever since Willow had been left on her doorstep. Which was ludicrous. This was the sort of news she had been waiting for since the beginning. So why did she feel so sick?

As soon as she entered the house, she was met with Willow's giggles and Peeta's laughs. It made her stomach churn. She shuffled into the kitchen. Peeta had pinned Willow's drawing to the fridge and Willow was pointing at it and laughing. She grabbed another crayon and went speeding off into the living room again, practically soaring in her little walkie.

"Did I have any cherries?" Peeta asked. The way he was smiling made Katniss want to turn around and run away. She didn't know how to break this to him. He did say that he wanted to find Willow's family too. However, Katniss never believed that he wouldn't find it hard. And after everything that had been going on over the past few days this wasn't the sort of news that he needed.

Katniss wordlessly handed over the cherries. She could see Peeta's confusion at her silence. His frown was small but she spotted it. She looked away from him, her eyes falling onto the chocolate mixture in the mixing bowl. It looked so tempting, even in its sloppy form. Maybe it was just because she hadn't had chocolate in what felt like years. It had hardly been a priority but now that she was faced by it, she felt the overwhelming urge to stick her face in it and eat it all before it was even cooked properly.

"Johanna called," Katniss said, her eyes locked on the bowl of chocolate.

"She did?" asked Peeta. "What did she say?"

"She was asking about you," Katniss muttered.

Peeta opened the cherries but left them on the counter. He put both hands on the islet and stared at Katniss. She felt his eyes on her even when she wasn't looking at him. "There's something wrong," Peeta stated.

"Is there?" Katniss asked.

"You look distressed," Peeta said.

"I do?" Katniss replied.

Peeta closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. Katniss frowned, breaking her gaze from the bowl to stare at him. When he exhaled and opened his eyes again, he said, "Please don't be vague like that. If there's something wrong you need to tell me so I can help you."

"How do you know there's anything wrong?" Katniss challenged.

"Because I know you," Peeta answered. "And you're upset. What happened?" Katniss walked around the islet and hugged Peeta. She didn't know why she wanted to do this but the action came so naturally to her that it felt like second nature. "Now I definitely know there's something wrong."

"We're idiots," Katniss muttered into his chest.

"Tell me something I don't know," Peeta weakly replied. His arms came around Katniss and held her securely, worry beginning to set in for him.

"Willow's mother is still in the District," Katniss said.

There was a pause that felt like it stretched for a thousand years after she said this. Katniss listened to Peeta's breathing, to his heart which was fluttering like a butterfly inside of him. She was worried about how he was going to react. Would he be upset? Broken hearted? Devastated? She didn't want Peeta to be sad. She wouldn't be able to take it.