Chapter 10

995 22 18
                                    

Katniss P.O.V.

"Good morning," Peeta says as I walk into the kitchen. I take a deep breath and sit down in a chair at the table.

"Good morning," I mumble. Peeta frowns at me.

"Are you okay?"

I sigh and roll my eyes. "Do you have to ask me that every morning?"

Peeta gives me a shocked look before slowly turning back to face the stove.

"Sorry," he says.

We're both quiet for a moment, and I can feel the tears burning in my eyes.

"I'm sorry, Peeta," I say as tears fall down my cheeks. He turns the stove off and walks over to me. Peeta takes both of my hands in his and kneels down beside of me on the ground.

"Let's try this again," he says softly. "Are you okay?"

"I… I don't know."

"What's wrong?"

I swallow hard and look at Peeta. "It's been a month."

"Katniss…"

"I've only got three months left with my Mom."

"You don't know that, Katniss," Peeta says. "Just have some faith."

"That's what you keep telling me," I say. "But Mom just keeps getting sicker and weaker."

"And I understand why that upsets you, Katniss, but please don't let it change you," Peeta tells me. "I can already feel you slipping away from me. Honey, we promised each other that we'd never do that to us and our kids."

"I know," I say as more tears fall down my face. "But it's not as easy to stop as I thought it was."

"Please try," Peeta says. I just look at him for a moment before taking a deep breath.

"I need to be alone for a moment."

"No," Peeta says as he grabs my wrists before I can stand up. "Baby, please talk to me."

"I just did," I say as I yank my wrists out of his grasp and stand up. I start up the stairs, but I can hear Peeta's footsteps as he follows close behind me.

"Katniss. Katniss, please," Peeta says as he grabs my wrist again. I let out a sob, but I don't turn around to face him.

"Katniss, please don't," Peeta begs. "The more you shut us out, the easier it will get."

I don't listen to him. I free myself again before practically running up the steps. I run into our bedroom and shut and lock the door, but it only takes seconds before Peeta is knocking on it.

"Katniss."

"Please go away," I cry. "I'll come out when I'm ready."

"Daddy?" I hear Willow say from out in the hallway.

I walk away from the door and over to the bed. I lay down, placing my hands over my ears so I can block out Peeta's voice.

I know he's worried about me, but he has no reason to be. I just need some time, then everything will be okay. We'll go on and act as if nothing's happened.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It takes me half the day to decide to come out of my room. As soon as I open the door, Peeta walks over to me from where he was sitting up against the wall. He puts his hand on the door and holds it open so I can't close it on him.

"You might not want to talk, but I want you to listen," Peeta says as he gently grabs the top of my arms. "You are so strong, Katniss. I understand that after everything that's happened to us, you'd need a break. I'm not blaming you for being upset. I'm not mad because you need some time alone. I'm scared because you won't talk to me. I can tell that you're… drifting away, Katniss. Wether you're talking, or laughing, or whatever it is you're doing, I know that you're not completely in it.

"You're starting to get depresssed. Don't you know that you're not hiding it as well as you think you are? Katniss, you are my wife. I just want you to be honest with me. Even if you want to put on a show for the kids' sakes, fine. But please just start telling me when things get overwhelming instead of getting mad when I as you if you're okay."

I look up at Peeta as tears fall slowly down my cheeks.

"I'm sorry," I say in a tone just barely above a whisper. "It's just that…" I stop to take a deep breath. "When Mom first told me, I was sad and angry that she had to go through this again. But even with those emotions, it didn't sink in good.

"But after seeing her get so sick and weak, it's really starting to occur to me that this is real. I'm not dreaming. This isn't some sick joke. My Mother is actually dying."

"All I want you to do is talk to me and be honest with me like you are right now," Peeta tells me. "If there are days where you don't feel like getting up out of bed, say so. If you want me to watch the kids while you go do whatever you need to do, tell me. But you have got to start communicating with me, and stop getting mad when I make the wrong move."

Peeta puts his hand under my chin and looks me in the eyes.

"I love you," Peeta says softly. "And I always will. No matter what."

I swallow hard. "I love you too."

"Come here," Peeta says as he wraps me up tightly in his arms. I rest my head against his chest and close my eyes.

"I want to try to help you, Katniss," Peeta tells me. "But I can't help you unless you tell me what you need."

"I just need you to hold me tighter," I say.

And he does.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Guys. I've been catching up on Supernatural and I just watched the episode where Dean's acting like a dog and starts talking to that pigeon 😂 Me and my friend were laughing so hard we couldn't breathe.

Then she showed me last Thursday's episode where Castiel is in the big empty or whatever it was called and he was basically arguing with himself. Oh my gosh. Misha's accents are the best 😂

CompleteWhere stories live. Discover now