Mockingjay - 4 weeks after Peeta's rescue

13. The idea

A night later Katniss and Peeta awake by the smash of a door and loud screaming voices. They jump out of the bed to take a look out of the window.

At the corner they see Effie leaving into the direction of the train station and lying on the grass in front of his house Haymitch.

“Stay here, I go and check out what happened.” Peeta says and sends Katniss back under the warm sheets.

“Haymitch! Are you alright?” Peeta shouts running over to him.

“I messed it up! Now I lost her like I lose everything in my life except of you” Haymitch whimpers.

Peeta drags him into the house and places him on the sofa. He gets a chair and sits opposite him “So, now tell me what happened.”

“I promised her to stay sober and I did since today. I hide only one little bottle under my socks and this evening I take only a sip when she was in the bath. I don’t know how but she realized it immediately. Then she searched for the bottle and found it. She began to scream at me packed her things and left cursing at me.” Haymitch starts to cry.

“She’ll come back.” Peeta starts.

“No, I lost her. I know it.” Haymitch turns on the sofa and shows Peeta his back. A minute later he snorts. Peeta lays a blanket over him and leaves the house.

Back home he finds Katniss also asleep and crouches beside her under the sheets.

The next day Peeta awakes alone. He rubs his eyes and stands up to go downstairs to look for Katniss. He finds her in the office speaking with someone on the phone.

He walks into the kitchen and makes breakfast. Half an hour later Katniss walks in, gives him a kiss on the neck and sits down at the table.

“That was Effie, I think we know now two sides of what happened last night. Let’s compare them while eating.”

They find out that Haymitch not only hides one little bottle but two more bottles in the closet with his Capitol suits and that Effie’s afraid he could start drinking again as he used to the last years. She now wants to teach him a lesson that he hopefully think about it and get clear about their relationship.

“Peeta we must help them. I really wish them together again. They both earned to start a new life.” Katniss says.

“The only thing we can do right now is to find his entire liqueur and throw it away before he starts to get familiar with drinking again.” Peeta stands up. “Come on, let’s do it.”

Four weeks later. Effie still wasn’t in Twelve yet again but calls Haymitch every evening.

“Peeta, I’m going to hunt today would you like to come with me?” Katniss asks.

“Thank you, but you know when I’m with you you wouldn’t get anything. It’s better I’ll stay. Today I want to finish my painting and later I’ll go to the hob. I need some new colors. Be careful, I love you, Katniss.” He answers and watches her going through the front door.

After nearly five hours Katniss returns home with two rabbits, three squirrels and one turkey. Peeta isn’t at home. She goes into the kitchen and prepares the game thinking about Peeta and why he isn’t back yet.  The more she waits for him the more afraid she gets.

She runs over to Haymitch. “Have you seen Peeta? He doesn’t came back yet, there must be something happened” she screams running through his door.

“I last saw him at two o’clock walking in the direction of the hob.” Haymitch answers. “Don’t worry sweetheart he’ll be fine. Maybe he met someone and forgot the time” he tries to calm her down. “Have you searched everywhere?” he asks.

“YES, Haymitch!” she shouts at him “Wait…. NO, there is the little hill with the wooden bench..” Katniss murmurs and turns to run to this place.

With tears running over her cheeks she arrives at the hill to find Peeta sitting on the bench under the old tree.

She runs to him and sits down beside him laying her hand on his back.

Peeta takes his head in his hands and whispers “You remember what I told you at the roof one day before the first games? I never wanted to be changed by them but now I am. I was a baker and now look at me I’m nothing. I can’t even go near the old bakery without getting flashbacks. Every time I walk through the place in front of the bakery I see my father and my brothers standing beside the oven and then… then I see the fire killing them. But that’s not all, right after they died in front of my eyes I see Snow walking through the ashes smiling and waving at me. I’m a mut and I’m crying more than I used to in my whole life before.” He sobs with his hands over his face.

“Shh, Peeta. I can imagine how you feel, we’ve all changed after the things we’ve been through, we’re not the innocent children like before. But if we let those thoughts and feelings take over our life he’ll win although he’s dead and that’s what I never want to permit.” Katniss rubs over Peeta’s back trying to calm him down.

“Come here to me” she pulls him into her arms and gives him a light kiss on his cheek. “I love you more than my life, you know that and that’s why I thought a long time how I could help you.” Katniss pulls him tighter into her arms.

“I have an idea and I hope you can agree to it.”

“What idea?” Peeta says loudly sobbing into her chest.

“After Prim, Finnick and Annie left we’re all alone with Haymitch and I miss them badly. There’s actually no reason for us to stay her in Twelve where all bad memories catch us every day again. I suggest we move to District Four. What do you think?”

Peeta pulls away from her and looks at her with wide eyes. “You would leave Twelve, your home, for me?”

“Peeta, I wouldn’t leave my home. My home is where you are.” Now she’s crying too. “In Four we were close to our friends and Prim lives in the next District and we can see her more often.”

A small smile creeps over his face as Peeta looks up at Katniss “You want us to move to Four? Really?” New tears filling his eyes. “That would be great. I miss them so badly, not only Finnick and Annie also our little God son Ryan. It would be awesome to see him grow besides the one time we’re in Four I was impressed by the sea. I would love to see it again. So, yes I agree, Katniss I love you so much!” Overwhelming joy spreads through his face.

“And I love you, Peeta” Katniss says before she puts her hands on his cheeks and pulls him in for a passionate kiss.

“There is only one problem. We have to convince Haymitch to come with us. I don’t want him to stay here alone but I have no idea how that can be done.” Katniss shakes her head.

“Katniss, I’ll do it, I convince him with a little help from Effie it’ll be easy. Come on let’s go now, there’s a lot to do. First I call Finnick to tell him the news. Maybe he can help us to find a house.” Peeta calls out pulling Katniss up, grabs her hand and starts running back home like a little boy.