Our Life After

A Deafening Silence

*Peeta' s POV*

After about a week of Katniss sitting in bed, she started to walk around, get out of bed every now and then. She would eat breakfast in the kitchen, and feed Lizzie when necessary. If she had nothing to do, she would often sit on the couch, very still.

Whenever I came by her, I would tell her, "Hello Katniss." And she wouldn't respond, but I expected it.

I never called a doctor. Unless Katniss tried to do something irrational, I would just leave her alone.

Sometimes I would just tell her hello, then watch the news or something, but sometimes I would have whole conversations with her. Either way, she never responded.

After about another week, she would start doing normal activities, like sweeping the floors or washing dishes. Still, no sound came from her mouth.

This pattern continued for about two weeks, and then one day, I saw her changing Lizzie's diaper, and I heard her humming. I kind of did a double take. I walked in slowly, and said hello. She stopped humming immediately, and didn't do it again for many weeks.

One day, I woke up to her body missing in bed, so I walked downstairs to find all the rooms empty. I panicked. Lizzie was still asleep, so I went to see if she visited Haymitch. No sign of her. I was very worried. She hadn't left the house in about a month.

I was going to call for help, from anyone, but refrained. She would come back, or I would go find her.

*Katniss's POV*

I was running, as fast as I could to wherever I could go. Eventually I decided to go to the lake. I sat in the mud on the edge of the lake in my pajamas, and I was rather cold. It was only the beginning of March, so it was still a little cold.

I felt bad for leaving Peeta without any note or something to tell him I was okay, but I knew he'd find me.

I wasn't sure why I had kept quiet for so long. I just knew that I was broken, and I needed time to heal. And that would take a while. But I knew that I would have to be better soon, because I now had a family to take care of. Today, I decided, I would talk. I would explain to Peeta everything, and I would apologize for being so shut up and distant, and I would try to make things normal.

That had to be today. But the thought still scared me. I want sure I could explain. I could barely even explain it to myself. I wasn't sure why I was so torn about my mom. She pretty much left me and Prim for dead when we were little. She left. And I'm not sure why she meant that much to me.

We were never extremely close. But I guess in the end, you love your family, and I would just have to let her go, just like I let Prim go. And I could work through it. I could get better. I couldn't be like she was all those years ago. I couldn't abandon my family. I had to change.

At about noon, judging by the sun, I heard someone yelling in the distance. I knew who it was immediately.

"KATNISS!" He yelled, "Katniss where are you?!?"

"Here." I whispered. It was the first word is spoken in a month. "I'm here." I said again, equally as quiet.

I sat there, curled in a ball, until he found me. He stood behind me for a minute or two, before walking up calmly to my side.

"Hello Katniss." He said, and I knew that I had to do it. I had to be okay. I could do it.

I forced the words out, "Hello Peeta."

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