Rising Storm

Chapter 2

Peeta

"You two need to stop fighting so much," Haymitch growls as we pull out of the station at Twelve. "Had someone seen that little spat you two had at the house, they'd doubt your love even more than they do now. It's bad enough that you've kept your distance from each other for six months." Katniss crosses her arms over her chest and glares at him.

"Yeah, yeah," she says. "We get it. Be more careful next time. Now I'm tired. Can I go to my room?"

"No, I'm not finished," Haymitch says, but she turns around anyways and stomps out. "Everdeen! Get back here!"

"Let her go," I say. "If there's anything I've learned about her the last few months, it's that if she doesn't want to talk to you, there's no use in trying. She won't listen."

"Have you even tried?" He asks.

"Of course I have," I say looking out the window. "Once a week, I send a letter with her cousin, Gale, whenever he comes to trade for bread. He leaves them under her door for me. But I don't think she's even looked at any of them."

"Did she even see them?" He asks. "Are you sure Gale didn't just get rid of them?" I shake my head.

"No, I've seen him give them to her more than once," I say. "Besides, that was kinda why we were fighting today."

"Well, you two need to figure out how get over it," he says. "If another fight like that happens in public, I'm not sure I can just pass it off as some little lovers' quarrel." I look down. "I want you to go get her and make some sort of arrangement that won't end up getting us publicly executed." I glare at him.

"What part of she doesn't want to talk hasn't gotten through your drunken skull?" I say.

"What part of I don't care hasn't gotten through yours, boy?" He says. "Either you talk to her, or I do. And I can promise, I won't be nice about it." He walks out after that and I turn my head back to the window.

The world goes by in a flash and I feel angry and confused. She hasn't left my thoughts in all these months. I tried not to let her, but that last day in the Capital when she was screaming at me that she never wanted speak to me again, it broke my heart. That time in the cave changed how I saw her. She was no longer the lovesick girl who announced her love for me to the whole world.

She was one I grew to love. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, but they never say how much it hurt to hear the words we said to each other when we parted. I know she was angry. Had I lost my leg as she had, I most likely would have been bitter too. But I've hated not talking to her for so long.

I sigh and slowly make my way back to our car. The right side belongs to me, the left to Katniss. I get up to her door and just as I'm about to knock, I hear her talking inside.

"-and I know that the last person you would want to talk to is me. You've made that perfectly clear a month ago. But I really feel I must talk to you, Katniss. It was never my intention to hurt you, but in my playing with your heart, I've done just that. I wish everything was different. I wish it were me who had been grabbed by that monster. I know you wouldn't have been able to pull me up like I did you, and then we would have been all set. You would have killed Cato and it would all be over," she says softly, with great curiosity and confusion. I take a step back. Why she'd be doing this, I haven't got a clue. Stomping away and glaring at me earlier as she announced she was going to her room didn't even suggest she would be sitting in her room, reading one of my letters. The fact that she has it at all is a shock in itself. The very thing we fought over, and here she is doing what I accused her of not doing.

"If I could have been me who lost their leg, I would have gladly taken your place. But since I can't, and I know you don't want anyone to look at you with sorrow or pity, I want to promise you that I will not be one of them. Inside, you are still the girl I threw the bread to, leg or not. You are no different, though I cannot promise I will not look at you differently. Because ever since you walked away, you took half of my heart that I didn't know you possessed with you. I need to talk to you, Katniss. Please just let me explain everything.