A Fresh Start-After Mockingjay (Before the Epilogue)

Chapter Seventeen

Katniss POV- (The next morning)

"Morning." Peeta smiles tiredly.

"Good morning." I mumble.

"How are you feeling?"

"Just a little sore from the tumble I took yesterday." I say, silently cursing Haymitch and his stupid geese.

Peeta rushes over and grabs my forearm, helping me sit down on the couch. He sits on the coffee table across from me and carefully lifts my legs up onto his lap and pulls up one of my pant legs, examining the damage. "Besides the wounds on your knees, your entire leg is bruised up pretty bad." He says, gently running his finger over my bruised skin and I make a face.

I groan, "The other one is probably the same and my arms are too, I'm sure." I warn.

He looks at my hands, "You should've left all the bandages on too, Katniss. And we should've put ice on everything yesterday." Peeta sighs and let's go of me.

"We've both had worse injuries. I'll be okay, I promise."

Peeta sighs, "Well, you need to get some rest today and relax a little for once. I know you've been wanting to go hunting but your wounds need to heal first."

"I'll be fine, Peeta."

"I know you will be but you still are in pain. Relax for once, because you can." Peeta says. I know he's saying that to me because before, neither of us had an opportunity to relax or even merely recover from an injury in the Games or during the War. Now, I have all the time I want to recover and no agenda otherwise.

"I'm going to go make us some breakfast. You stay in here." Peeta says, standing up.

I look up, "I really can't come watch you cook?"

"No. My kitchen chairs aren't very comfortable." He teases me. I can't help but to muster up a half smile and he returns it.

"Well, don't you worry about me. After we eat, you go do whatever you want to do today or what you intended to do." I say to him. I don't want him to think he has to stay here with me all day even though he's forcing me to stay put.

"I hoped to do nothing but stay here with you today anyways. So, that's what I intend to do." Peeta says simply, then disappears into the kitchen. My face heats up and I can't help but to smile like an idiot, anyone outside would think I'm insane. Which, being 'mentally disabled' is pretty much the same thing as being insane but any flies on the walls would think I'm just plain evil. I killed all these people and have horrible PTSD from the War and the Games is what Dr. Aurelius told me, so why would I be smiling? Peeta Mellark is why I would be smiling. Before Peeta came back, I had no intentions of recovering. Just hoping I would die and maybe eventually, someone would find me. Figuring that more than half of Panem would probably be delighted by the news of my death. But now, Peeta is back and my will to live is stronger than ever.

He comes back in a while later, with our breakfast. Peeta carefully hands me the plate of food and sits down next to me, not saying a word. "Thank you." I say and he smiles shyly at me. I bite my lip and pick up the fork and carefully start picking up small bites of food with it. I stop after a minute when I feel his eyes on me. I turn and look at him.

"You know that I've seen you eat before. You don't have to eat all proper around me, I don't care. Besides, I'm not Effie." Peeta tells me. I feel a smile creep up on my face and I glance at him again, he's smiling. "Manners are the least of my worries as long as you eat. I'm just glad you're doing it." He says, taking a piece of bread and shoving it in his mouth. "You inhale your food sometimes. Real or not real?" He asks me playfully, a mouthful of food.
The look on his face tells me he knows the answer.