The Hunger Games - I'm Still Burning

Chapter 4

Smoke sputters from the chopped up wood that Peeta has built into an intricate pile. He's positioned on his hands and knees, his head bent low, blowing on the matches that he has just thrown in. A spark begins to ignite, starting out tame before it gives way to a flickering blaze.

I pull the blanket that rests on my shoulders tighter around my body, stopping the cool night air from causing me to shiver. My white dress has long gone, replaced by soft, cotton trousers and one of Peeta's t-shirts. He moves away from the fire and sits down beside me on the cushions that we have laid out on the grass.

He insisted on toasting the bread outside in the open. I have to admit, there's something enchanting about sitting under the stars in the dead of the night. His arm is wrapped around my waist, my head leans on his shoulder. Somewhere in the distance, an owl hoots, informing the other forest creatures that the coast is clear. That they can roam without fear of being hunted. I imagine her flying through the canopies, back to the hole in her tree where her family awaits. They'll be huddled together in their cosy, little house. Safe and sound. Home.

That's what I feel like when I'm with Peeta, home. As long as I have him, nothing bad can happen. To have the certainty that he will never be taken away from me again, leaves me light-headed. It's almost too good to be true. And isn't that what I really always wanted? For Peeta to be mine? It's not always been clear, but that's understandable after being dragged through two games. The endless amount of innocent blood that was shed made me doubt that there was any good left in the world. I doubted Peeta. But it's not like that anymore. Now he is the one thing I am sure of, I know him better than I know myself. The ring on my finger that indefinitely seals us together feels like it has always been there.

"What are you thinking about?" Peeta asks. Against the sound of the flames, his voice sounds dreamlike. We are both walking on cloud nine, in awe of that fact that this has become our reality.

"Just wondering why it took me so long to realise that I loved you," I reply.

"I've wondered that a couple of times too," he laughs. "When did you know?"

I exhale loudly.

"That's a hard one to pin point," I say. "I don't think it was just one moment, there were lots of them. When you held me on the train through my nightmares, when you were willing to runaway with me, when you hit the force field in the quarter quell. It was always there but I tried to hide it. To admit it would have been going against everything I ever stood for. I never intended to fall in love because I never wanted to get married and have kids. And then you had to be the one Effie picked out of the reaping bowl, with your blonde hair and blue eyes and turn everything upside down."

"Some people find my blonde hair and blue eyes quite attractive," Peeta says, charmingly.

"I know, that was the problem," I laugh, leaning up and planting a kiss on his cheek.

He pulls me in closer to him and moves the blanket round so that it covers his shoulders too. The two ends of it meet in the middle with our hands, sealing the warmth of our bodies inside. We stare up at the twinkling diamonds in the sky, they are nothing in comparison with the glittering of the moon. He is the main act, the victor. The stars are just his servants, waiting in line to be called for.

"Have you ever tried to paint the stars?" I ask.

"Not on their own, they're mostly just in the backgrounds," he says. "I don't think the paint could ever do them justice."

"But I bet the artist could," I say.

This makes him smile and sends the butterflies waltzing through my stomach.