An Unfinished Battle (The Hunger Games FanFiction)

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

I wake up, screaming. I jump at the sound at my own screams, bewildered. I quickly bring my hand up to cover my mouth. 'How can I scream?' I wonder to myself. Just seconds ago I was mute. How can this be? I reach up and feel my face, remembering the stinging of my cheek when Cato slapped me. It doesn't tingle anymore, in fact, I can't feel anything. It must've just been a dream. A dream! It was only a dream.

The tension in my muscles slightly subsides, however, I'm still terrified. My chest heaves up and down, searching to the oxygen that will prove to me that my dream wasn't real. My T-Shirt and bed sheets are soaked in sweat and my face saturated with fresh tears. There's still a slight tremble in my bottom lip, that extends throughout my entire body.

I feel tossing and turning next to me. Peeta. Peeta! He's here, and he's safe, and alive. He's my real Peeta.

"Katniss," He whispers with a hint of urgency in voice, "What happened?"

"Peeta," I say, with tears overflowing my eyes and streaming down my face. My cries are fueled by both terror, and joy. Half terror from the vividness of my dream and half joy that Peeta here, safe. "Oh Peeta!" I throw my arms around him and snuggle my hot, tear dampened, face into his neck. "They were gonna kill you!" I sobbed "And-And- and you were missing...and I found...you-you.." I stuttered. I was trying to explain, but it was just all too much. Every word I spoke was just drowned by another sob. I struggled to find air between each cry.

"Shhh shhh shh" Peeta says soothingly, he runs his fingers through my dark waves, massaging my scalp with his finger nails. "It's was just a dream. I'm right here...I'm right here.." His voice is deep and heavy with sleep - dead sexy. It reminds me of the low purr Buttercup hummed when Prim used to scratch his under belly.

Peeta sits up in the bed, shifting the sheets around. I watch his silhouette in the darkness and let out a sniffle. He reaches out his Warm, Strong, arms to me and tucks his right arm underneath my back, just below my shoulder blades, and his left under my knees. He lifts me up and places me in his lap. With one hand, he cradles my head, the other he uses to rub my back in slow, comforting, strokes. I bury my face into his bare chest, and let myself absorb his entirety. The feeling of his hand pressed to my back makes the tears stop running, and his soft, gentle coos cease the quivering in my body.

"Do you want to try to go back to sleep?" Peeta questions in a hushed whisper. I shake my head. I still feel exhausted from everything that happened last night at Annie's party and my body aches and begs for more rest, but I just can't go back to sleep. The fear of having another realistic nightmare crawls inside of me like a tiger on the prowl.

"What time is it?" I ask looking up at Peeta.

I see the muscles in Peeta's neck flex as he tilts his head to glance over at the clock, "5:43" he says My eyelids flutter shut, I inhale a sweet, deep, long breath filling my nostrils with the smell of Peeta and then exhale.

"Well," I say "Do you think we could head home early?

"Sure. If that's what you want to do, that's what we'll do." Peeta says.

It's still semi-dark in the room, but there's enough light streaming in through the cracked window that I can see Peeta's facial features. I clutch the back of his head and twist my fingers around his curls. I gaze into his mesmerizing, blue eyes. God, they're so beautiful. I can't stop a smile from creeping on my face.

"What?!" Peeta questions with a laugh.

I feel the happiness of my smile spread throughout my entire body. "Oh it's nothing," I giggle, teasing him.

"Come on, tell me! What is it?" He begs playfully.

I bite my lower lip, trying to hold back my beaming smile. I shakemy head back and forth. "I'm not gonna tell you."

He sticks out his bottom lip, pouting like a baby who doesn't have it's teddy bear "Pleeeaaassee!?"

I stick out my index finger and tap the tip of his nose, "Nope." I say with a laugh.

He smirks, revealing his pearly white teeth and holds up his hands, wriggling his fingers back and forth. "Don't make me!" He throws me off of his lap and onto the bed. I land on the mattress rather hard, and it bounces me a few times before I'm completely still. He lunges his hands down to my tummy and starts tickling me in the stomach.

"Stop it!!" I squeal.

My protest for him to stop is useless and he tickles me even harder. I can't contain the laughter inside of me and it all pours out. I flail my head back and forth laughing so hard it's getting hard to breathe. I'm sure my cackles are loud enough to wake everyone else in the hotel.

"Peeta... Please...STOP!!" I say playfully in between fits of laughter. "We're gonna wake up the neighbors!"

He hovers over me and pins me down, "Then tell me why you were smiling!"

I look into his eyes once more. I feel as if I'm hypnotized by their beauty. The Azure orbs stare back at me. They swallow me up and engulf me like the strong tide of the ocean. A lock of his Blonde hair falls onto his forehead and I lightly brush it away. I run my hands through the rest of his golden curls and pull him closer, until the tips of our noses are touching. The space in between us is tiny, it almost doesn't even exist. Our heavy breaths mingle and intertwine with one another until we are breathing the same air, recycling it between ourselves. His exhales are warm and tingle against my lips.

"Its just, I love you so much," I whisper into his lips. I pull him towards me until the space that separates has perished. I feel his soft, smooth lips press softly against my slightly chapped ones. His lips are so gentle, so warm, that they cause my insides to melt and leak down my entire my like hot wax from a burning candle.

He pulls away after a few moments of our soft, passionate kiss, "I love you too." He murmurs into my neck. He plants a trail of wet kisses up and down my neck. He brings his lips back up to mine and we roll over, so I'm the one that pins him down. I continue to run, and twist my fingers through Peeta's hair. He cradles my face with one hand, rubbing my jawline with his thumb and his other presses against the small of my back, pulling me closer to him. I feel my chest press into his as the kiss intensifies. The burning hunger inside of me swells like a flaming fire in the pit of my stomach. Our lips soon fid a rhythm, as we take turns nibbling on the other's lower lip. Peeta's tongue glides along the seam of my lips, asking for permission to explore the inside of my mouth. Kissing Peeta gets better and better each time. I never grow tired of his lips. They're like your favorite book; you know the story so well, but you can never get enough, you find new, tiny detail every time you reread and you just want more and more. You never want the story end. I never want our kisses to end.

For that moment I had forgot everything. My mind was liberated from all of my thoughts of Gale, and of my horrible nightmare. I just let everything go.I let myself be happy. On rare occasions do I let myself do this; I'm always so serious about everything, I always think too much, and I'm always so stressed. But Peeta takes that all away. He brings out the better in me, and lets my heart roam free. He brings out the happiness in me, and I need him. I need him every minute of every hour of everyday, and nothing can change that.

I need him, Always.