Secret Daughter [the hunger games; incomplete]

Sudden Realisations -

Peeta's POV -

I knew there was more to the story than what she was telling me, I wasn't an idiot and I wished Katniss would stop treating me like I was.

Annie may have given her the picture, but that doesn't explain why she's constantly crying over the picture or why she's always so quiet whenever I'm around Destiny.

She treats me like I'm her enemy when, in actual fact, I'm the only one who has really been there for her since Finnick's death. The only one who bothered to stick around, even when everyone else tossed her to the side. The only one that could love her in the way that I do.

"What's up with Katniss?" I heard someone ask from behind me, turning around to see Annie with her arms over her chest.

"Nothing. She's just being Katniss." I muttered, pretending that I was busy with something in the hope that I wouldn't have to engage in any form of conversation with her.

"Peeta. Tell me. What's wrong with Katniss?" Annie asked again and, as hard as I tried to ignore her, it wasn't going to happen because she didn't like to be the one that didn't know what was going on with her friends.

"There's nothing, Annie, she's just in one of her moods." I stated.

"Don't treat me like an idiot. What the hell is wrong with her?" Annie snapped.

"Just leave it, it's nothing to do with you." I argued, attempting to push past her and out of the room, but she was stronger than she looked and managed to force me back into the room.

"When one of my best friends is crying then it becomes everything to do with me." Annie retorted.

"I need to see to Destiny. Just leave it." I sighed, finding the strength from somewhere to push her out of my way and walk down the hallway to Destiny's bedroom, where she happened to have already fallen asleep.

It had been a long day and she had obviously worn herself out with all the running around she had been doing with Finnick Jnr, but at least she was going to sleep well tonight; it would be nice to get into bed without worrying about the fact she was still wide awake in her bedroom.

Destiny might not have been that old, but she was still as stubborn as Katniss and I'm sure she wasn't going to change; even as she grew up and became older.

You were always going to be able to tell who her mother was, but there was no telling that I was her father, since there was nothing about her which reminded me of myself.

Her hair was the same dark colour as Katniss' and she often wore it in a similar style to her mother, her eyes were the most beautiful shade of green and her attitude. Well, you could certainly tell it was Katniss who spent more time with her than I did.

I still loved her though. I loved her more than anything and I had never been happier to have something so sweet in my life, especially after everything I went through before Katniss told me she was pregnant.

I was prone to violence, even having to sleep downstairs so there was no risk of me hurting Katniss in the middle of the night when the nightmares haunted me; reminding me of how Katniss was the reason my entire family was dead and the reason that most of District Twelve was still in ruins.

But, the moment she told me she was pregnant with Destiny, something inside me clicked and forced me to be a better person. I didn't want to be the person that hurt Katniss anymore and I didn't want to be the reason for her tears, I wanted to be the one that was there for her and the one that could protect our daughter from anything which threatened to hurt her.

"You might not tell me what's wrong, but Katniss will do." Annie whispered, appearing beside me once again, looking at Destiny with a smile on her face.

"I accused her of loving someone other me." I sighed.

"What?" Annie shouted, but also keeping her voice low at the same time because she didn't want to wake Destiny up.

"I don't know why I did it. I guess, after everything, I just still get jealous at the thought of her being with anyone other then me. I love her Annie, I really do, I don't want to lose her." I explained, this being the first time I had told someone just how I was feeling and how much I loved Katniss.

"You just need to remember that she does love you. If she didn't, then she wouldn't have stuck around through the hell which you put her through before Destiny. Don't throw it away for the sake of jealousy." Annie replied.

"It might be too late for that. She might already want to leave me." I muttered, turning out of the room and closing her door slightly behind me, leaving enough of a gap for me to be able to hear if she did wake up.

"Trust me, Peeta, she doesn't want to leave you. You and Destiny are her world. I think you just need to show her how much you love her, rather than pushing her away all the time." Annie smiled, putting a reassuring hand on my shoulder as we walked downstairs.

Johanna was playing peek-a-boo with Finnick Jnr and, considering she was one of the people who said she didn't like children and was never going to have children either, she actually looked like she was enjoying herself more than she wanted us to know she did.

If she ever changed her mind, then she was going to be one of them people who were going to make an amazing mother and she would be able to take to it easily; it would be even easier with two of her friends already being mothers themselves.

"Someone's having fun." Annie chuckled, causing Johanna to jump up and pretend she wasn't doing anything.

"Erm, he was upset, I was only trying to make him smile." Johanna explained herself awkwardly.

"Yeah. Yeah. Of course he was upset, of course he was." I mocked her slightly with a laugh.

"Oh. Leave me alone." Johanna muttered, throwing herself onto the sofa and going into one of her sulks when she knew that people were right.

"Right, I had better be off now, need to get him to bed. Thanks for a good day and, hopefully, we'll see you soon." Annie spoke, picking her son up from the floor and holding him close to her body; protecting him from anything that could happen to him on their walk to the train station.

"Thanks for coming and I'll make sure we see you soon." I smiled.

"Don't forget what I said Peeta. Don't let her skip through your fingers." was the last thing Annie said before she disappeared into the setting sun of District Twelve with a smile on her face; I knew she was right and I needed to do something to make sure I didn't lose Katniss.

I needed to show her that I loved her, no matter what happened.