You Said Always

Chapter Eleven

Peeta's POV:

I hear a faint scream coming from the woods.

"Katniss." I mumble to myself.

"Katniss!" I scream louder. I spring into the dark woods, jumping over logs and rocks in the process.

I hear another faint scream. The lake! I think to myself. I've only been there once, but I can follow the sounds of Katniss's bloodcurdling screams.

When I reach the concrete house, I hear two faint voices. I hide behind a bush near the house, and close enough to hear the conversation.

". . . Peeta needs you." I hear a male voice say. Gale.

"He should've thought of that before he knocked up his ex." I hear her yell back. The door flings open and I scurry back farther into the bushes. A steaming Katniss quickly stomps out of the house.

"Katniss." I whisper, barely audible, but she doesn't turn around. She just keeps walking farther into the woods.

"Katniss!" I hear Gale yell. This must be really important. He's never used her first name before. Except for some occasions where she was about to be killed. I push the thought out of my mind. I try to run after her, but I'm stopped by gales large figure.

"Hello Peeta." He says coldly. He turns to me, his face hollow.

"Hello Gale." I reply just as cold.

"What were you doing watching us?" He asks me, staring down at my smaller, but still muscular, body.

"She ran away and I had went to find her. I heard her screams and ran here." I tell him truthfully, leaving out the part of me hiding behind the bush, listening to their conversation.

"Okay." He says, but I know he doesn't believe me. "Why did she pick you over me?" He asks, but not thinking about himself. He was thinking about love.

"I don't know." I say, sighing.

"You're lucky." Gale says, patting my back. "You deserve it." I close my eyes to stop the tears from coming.

"No I don't." I croak. "I've tried to kill her multiple times." I look over at him, but his far shows no emotion.

"But that wasn't you." He whispers, bit loud enough for me to hear it. "Remember, she chose the one she couldn't live with out." And with that, he walks away, back into the woods, but the other way Katniss had went.

"I don't deserve her." I sigh to myself.

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Katniss's POV:

I ran off into the woods again, but this time I'm lost. I'm walking around blindly, hoping for someone to find me. I eventually find a clearing that I wish I hadn't seen. It's full of the corpses of the District 12 bombing.

"I'm sorry." I sob to the corpses, my knees buckling. I collapse onto the ground, asking myself why I was born.

"I killed you, and you." I whisper, pointing at the decaying bodies, because I did. I killed every single one of them.

"Katniss!" I hear someone scream, but I'm too overwhelmed by the sight. I can't answer. I silently cry into my scarred hands. My body is overcome by drowsiness, so I start to fall into a deep sleep.

"Katniss?" I hear again, but this time it was asked. Before darkness overcomes me, I see blonde hair floating above my face. That's when I fall into sleep, hoping to not wake up.

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Peeta's POV:

I ran off into the woods to search for Katniss again.