Peeta's Cure ( Hunger Games fanfiction)

Chapter 1

One month. I've waited one month for this day, but it has felt like an eternity. This is the day Peeta will come back from recovery from his cure from hijacking. Everyday waking up, I'd tell myself I'm one more day closer. Everyday for a month and it's finally here. He should arrive in about 3 hours, and I jump out of bed. I slept with my hair in a braid and it is now a tangled mess. I walk into the bathroom and take a shower. I want to look presentable for Peeta. I wash my hair with what ever soap there is and scrub my self clean. When I'm done I dress in a white shirt and pants. I comb my wet hair, dry it with a towel and braid it down my back. Silently I go down stairs and find a bowl of stew that Greasy Sae must have left for me. It's still steaming and my stomach growls at the smell. I eat hungrily and stare at the clock. I finish and I still have 2 hours to kill. I gnaw my lip and grill my brain on something to do. I can't think of a single thing so I just sit down on a couch and stare at my hands. Soon, I will have Peeta back. My Peeta, I think. The Peeta that loves me. Not the one who was convinced I was a mutt. The one with warm and steady arms. I can't wait to feel those arms wrap around me. To press my lips against his. To see his smile, to hear his laugh. To get my boy with the bread back. 

Some how, 2 hours pass. There's a light knock on the door. I jump right out of my seat. Peeta! I feel my mouth spread in a large smile. I rush to the door and open it. Haymitch stands before me. My smile diminishes. 

"Oh, it's you," I say.

"A hello or a greeting would have been nice," says Haymitch. 

"Sorry. I was expecting Peeta," I confess. He breaks our eye contact. 

"Look, I've got some bad news," he starts.

"What? What is it? Is it about Peeta?" the words rush out of my mouth. 

"Yes," he says. "The bad news is that..." he trails off when he sees my expression. He takes a deep breath. "Is that, something went wrong during his curing. He no longer thinks you're a mutt but," he says.

"But what?" I say, panicking.  "Did he die?" I say quickly, looking into his eyes. 

"No," he says. Relief washes over me, but then I remember Haymitch still hasn't told me the bad news yet. "But... Peeta lost his memory in the process. He doesn't remember anything that happened, but he still remembers who he is, and how to speak, eat and all that. He doesn't remember anyone," he says slowly. 

The news sinks in and despair hits me hard. Peeta does not remember me. Does not remember he is in love with me. Does not remember all we had been through. I feel my legs go weak and Haymitch catches me. He lies me down on a couch. 

"Look sweetheart, I know it's-" he says.

"Where is Peeta?" I whisper, interrupting him. He sits me up and hands me a glass of water, which I sip. 

"I dropped him off at his house," he replies. 

"I want to see him," I say immediately. I hear Haymitch sigh. 

"Fine. But you'll have to introduce yourself," he says.

"Alright," I say. Haymitch disappears to go fetch Peeta. I smooth back my hair and prepare myself to meet Peeta. When I see Haymitch return, Peeta follows behind him, looking around, taking in his surroundings. My chest tightens at the sight of him. Haymitch enters and so does Peeta. Peeta frowns.

"Where are we?" he asks. I bite my lip and force myself to rise. I put on a friendly smile. He see's me and turns to Haymitch. "Who's she?" 

"I'm Katniss," I say, and smile. 

"Katniss," he repeats. "That's a nice name. Nice to meet you Katniss." 

"Nice to meet you too," I say, and Peeta holds his hand out to me. I shoot Haymitch a glance, unsure. He nods at me and I take Peeta's hand and shake it. His warm and steady hand grips mine and I force myself to keep a calm face. Haymitch clears his throat.

"Excuse me, Peeta. Me and Katniss need to talk, privately," he says.

"Okay," Peeta says. Haymitch grabs my wrist and leads me upstairs and chooses a room at random, a guest bedroom and gestures me in and closes the door behind him. I sink down onto the bed. 

"The doctors that worked on him, they said that we could help him remember," he says. 

"How?" I ask, the desperation in my voice is palpable. 

"We have to re jog his memory, slowly though. It might take a while, but eventually we could have the old Peeta back," he says. "You might want to find anything that could help out with that." 

I nod. Hope. There is hope. 

"Well, I should probably get going now," he says.

"Okay," I say. Before I can say good bye he clicks the door behind him and I hear him and Peeta exit. I pounce onto my feet and get out. I shut the door behind me and lean against it. My mind desperately tries to think of something, anything that could help Peeta. The list goes through my head. Peeta. What do I know about Peeta?

His favourite colour is orange, like sunset.

He's a baker.

He's a painter. 

He likes to sleep with the windows open.

He never takes sugar in his tea.

He always double knots his shoe laces. 

He won the 74th Hunger Games, along with me. 

The Games. I suddenly get an idea. I run down the stairs and grab the phone and furiously jab a number into it. I put it against my ear. Effie's voice answers. 

"Effie. Can you send me the tapes of me and Peeta's games? As fast as possible?" I ask.

"Yes, of course, Katniss! Why do you need them?" she asks. 

"I- um... I..." I fumble. "I need it for personal reasons." 

"Oh, I won't ask then. They'll arrive in about a day," she says.

"Great. Thank you, Effie!" I say quickly and hang up. 

I run down to the market and buy ingredients to make a loaf of bread. Hauling the things back I knock on Peeta's door. He opens it and frowns at me.

"Hello, Peeta. It's me, Katniss, from earlier, can I come in?" I ask. 

"Oh, okay. I guess so," he says and lets me in. I walk in and set all the ingredients onto his table. 

"What's all that for?" he asks. 

"We're going to bake some bread," I say. 

"Bread? Why are we going to bake bread?" he asks, confused. I draw a deep breath.

"Because, something happened to you. Something that made you forget all that happened in your life before," I say slowly, making sure he takes in all my words. "And I'm going to help you remember."