Chapter 23 (Peeta's POV)

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PEETA'S POV

I waited outside the door for Katniss to come back out. I trust her, I just don't trust Gale. I'm afraid he'll steal her from me. I couldn't imagine what I would do if that happened. Once I know it's been at least 15 minutes, I start to get a little worried. She said it would only be 10. I knock on the door, but there is no response. "Katniss? Is everything alright?" I yell from outside the room. I can't hear anything, so I open the door to find nothing. "Katniss?" I look around and see the room is completely empty. Panic rushes through me and the next thing I know, I'm running for Haymitch. I finally see him at the end of the hallway.

"Haymitch!" I yell and run towards him. "Woah, what's got your panties in a twist?" he asks. "Katniss is gone." I reply. The way his face changes from annoyed to worried is kind of scary. "What do you mean she's gone, boy?" He retorts. "Gale wanted to talk to her for 10 minutes privately so they went into this room and I waited patiently until it had been 15. I decided to look and they were both gone!" I practically yell. Anything could be happening to her right now. I just want to find her and never let her go. She doesn't deserve any of this. She deserves the entire world. She deserves to be happy, but sadly, I don't think she's happy at this moment. But what if she wanted to run? Maybe they agreed to runaway togeth- no. Stop it. She didn't do that. She agreed to marry you, so why would she decide to run off with Gale?

That was a stupid thought. I look up at Haymitch to see him on the phone. "No, just-" "Yes, please.... Th-" "Just put the train on lockdown! Nobody comes in, nobody goes out, it's that simple!" "Okay, whatever, show no respect to your mockingjay. We'll find her ourselves." He yells into the phone then ends the call. "Who were you talking to?" I ask impatiently. I would much rather be looking for her than be standing here asking for details about his phone call. "The workers on the train. They can't put it on lockdown, so there's a chance Gale could get off with her. We need to start looking, and fast." He says angrily. I'm angry too. Especially since they can't even do a simple thing for us. "Okay, you get the front half of the train and I'll get the back?" I ask confirming our searching where abouts. "Yes, now lets go." He says while running towards the front.

I start opening doors and searching rooms hoping that I'll find her, but I haven't. You wouldn't know how heartbreaking it is to have the girl you have loved your whole life taken away from you until it happens. I don't know what Gale's intentions are, but I know they aren't good. Why am I so stupid? I shouldn't have let her go talk to Gale. We would be together right now going back home if I would've just said 'No thanks Gale, we aren't interested.' And to make matters worse, she's in a hijacked form, so she could have a random melt down right in front of him and he wouldn't know what was going on because he hasn't experienced it.

I need her presence. I need to know she's safe. I need to know she's okay and happy.

But how am I suppose to know any of that if she isn't with me? Especially since she was practically kidnapped. I must have been in very deep thought because next thing I know, I run into a wall. Well, I think it's a wall. I look to see it was indeed not a wall, but a person. "What are you still doing on the train?" The man asks me. "I could ask you the same thing." I retort. He's blocking my path. He's the same height as me and has dark brown hair. "Can you move? I'm in a hurry." I yell. I mean, who wouldn't be angry? "What's the rush?" He asks while smirking. He knows I'm angry, and he knows he's pushing my limits, so I lightly shove him to the side and continue looking.

I just wish she would pop out of no where and come and kiss me. Tell me everything is alright and that she is just fine. But, I can only dream of that. She will never be okay. If it's physically or emotionally. She'll always be broken because of the games, the rebellion, and her sister. But, at least I can try and help her. Seeing her smile is really something. Just thinking about her makes me smile, but as soon as I remember what I'm doing it turns into a frown. I'm at my last door, and I just hope that she's in this room. I open up the door to be proven wrong. She isn't in here. I pull out my phone and call Haymitch quickly.

He answers immediately. "Did you find her?" He asks anxiously. "No, I didn't. Did you?" I ask. I don't want to get my hopes up too high. "No, I didn't. I think he got off." Haymitch says with no emotion. My heart breaks right there. Knowing he could be anywhere doing who knows what with her, is really devastating. "Meet me outside the train, we'll decide what to do then." I say sadly. He agrees and I hang up. I quickly exit the train and find Haymitch. He looks pretty upset. I mean, Katniss is like a daughter to him. He doesn't want her getting hurt. He just wants her to be happy, like me. "Should we search the district?" I ask with no emotion.

"No, that would take too long. I don't know what we should do at this point. With two groups against us, I don't know what our options are. We can't just tell everyone, because word would get back to Snow and he could do something with that information." Haymitch says depressingly. He just wants to give up? No way. "You better not be telling me to give up." I say. The anger is rising through me. "There's nothing else we can do, Peeta." Haymitch whispers. "I'm not giving up. When life gets tough, you don't just 'give up' you get up and you do something about it!

I'm not just going to leave her to suffer! I'm going to do everything in my power to find her and make sure she's safe! We need to keep looking! We can't just stop! She needs us! I need her! I can't just let her slip away from me! You don't do that. I love her! You don't just let your loved ones go! You fight and fight! We aren't going to give up. I don't know about you, but I'm searching. I'm going to search until I find her. You're welcome to help if you want." I yell letting off my anger and start walking away. I can't believe he would just give up like that. Knowing the possibilities of what's happening to her right now. I run around town, stopping at every shop or building she could be in.

I check her house, but I find nothing. I head to my house to see if she happens to be there. When I open the door, I don't find her, I find Haymitch, Katniss' mother, Annie, and Johanna. "What are you guys doing here?" I ask. "We came to help search." Annie says. "We've checked the woods and found nothing." Katniss' mother says. "I checked throughout the town and in the buildings. Didn't find anything either." I say. All the sudden I hear the phone ring. I get up and answer it. "Hello?" I say while everyone in the room looks over at me. "Ahh, Peeta. It's been awhile hasn't it?" The voice asks. I know this voice too well. But how can it be them? "I-I thought you were d-dead!" I say into the phone shocked.

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Heyyyy! I'm back! Sorry for the wait! I've been really busy! Once school's out, I'll be able to update more! Yay! Oh, and I have a question for all you readers out there. I've had some people tell me I should write another book. I want you to comment your opinions. Would you like me to write another book non hunger games related? I would continue writing this book, but write another one as well? I have an idea for the story, I just want to know your thoughts! Feel free to comment and let me know! Thanks for reading! I love you if you are reading this! You my friend, are awesome! Okayyyy! Byee!

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