Complete

Chapter 20

Here's that big chapter I've been talking about! Please don't hate me too much.

Peeta P.O.V.

"Daddy!" Willow squeals as I walk through the front door. I smile and kneel down on the floor, wrapping my arms around her.

"Hey, kiddo. How's your eye feeling?"

"Better," Willow says as she smiles up at me.

"See? It's already looking a lot better than it did yesterday."

"Wi-oh!" Rye says in an aggravated tone of voice. I look over to see Rye standing by the coffee table with a crayon in his hand.

"Rye," I say. "Are you coloring?"

"No," he says seriously as he nods his head.

I have to bite my tongue to keep from laughing. "Rye, say 'yes.'"

"No," he repeats. 

"Rye, can you say 'color?'" Willow asks him.

Rye thinks about it for a moment before trying it out. "Cow-er."

I chuckle. "Close enough," I say. "Willow, where's Momma at?"

"Upstairs," Willow answers.

"Okay. Do you think you could watch your brother for a moment so I can talk to Mommy?"

"Yeah. We'll be okay, Daddy."

"Thank you, baby girl," I tell Willow as I kiss her cheek.

I quickly lock the door before heading upstairs. 

"Katniss?" I say as I enter our bedroom.

I stop in my tracks when I see her. She's standing by the bed packing her clothes into a halfway-full suitcase.

My heart drops.

"Katniss," I say as I shut the bedroom door. I begin to walk over to her. "What are you doing?"

She looks up at me with tears in her eyes.

"I can't take this anymore."

"What are you talking about? What is going on?"

Katniss takes a deep breath. "I promise I love you," she says weakly. "But I keep hurting you."

"Katniss..."

"I'm going crazy."

"No, Katniss..."

"You were right yesterday," she tells me. "I'm okay for a few days, and then I lose it. And I keep hurting you. I can't do that anymore."

"So what?" I ask her. "You're going to leave?"

"I have to do what's best for you."

"And what about the kids? Huh? They need you, Katniss."

"I know that. Once I find somewhere to go, we'll figure something out."

"Are you hearing yourself right now?" I ask her. "Katniss, what... What did I do wrong? What do I need to do to fix this?"

"Peeta, you did nothing wrong."

I reach out and gently grab both of Katniss's wrists with my hands. "Please tell me how to fix this. I will do anything to fix this."

"Peeta, this isn't something you can fix," Katniss says, avoiding my gaze. "Listen, this has nothing to do with me being mad at you. This has nothing to do with me doubting your love or devotion to me. This isn't our problem, it's my problem. I lost my mother and I let my emotions get the best of me. I have taken it out on you, and I feel terrible for that, so I'm doing something about it. I can't keep hurting you, so the best thing would be for me to leave until I can get this under control. So I can't hurt you."