Twisted Perfection ~ Everlark

Embrace.

Katniss' Pov:
After I shoot my third squirrel, Peeta speaks up again.

"Can you teach me? To shoot." He asks.

I ponder his question for moment. He's a painter and baker. He can hold a thin paint brush and can decorate the most intricate designs. He's good with his hands. So I say, "Yeah sure."

So, I hand him the bow. At first he looks terrified of it. "Peeta, it's a curved wooden stick, not a nuclear bomb."
"But it can kill people." He says.
"Only if you aim it right." I continue.
I hand him an arrow and he positions it into the bow. At first when he lifts it up, the arrow is loose and behind the bow, almost as if it's hiding from its shot. So, I quickly correct him.

"The arrow needs to be visible but secure."
Peeta moves the arrow up slightly and pulls back. But he does it far to slow, and the arrow becomes lose. It's makes me laugh inside because everything he seems to do is with very little speed and if it needs to be done fast, he still does it slow with meticulous care.

"It's needs to be a quick pull back, to get a good and secure lock of the arrow into the bow." I tell him.

"You're not one for keeping advice, are you?" He says, laughing. I laugh with him. It feels so good to laugh.

He starts to pull the bow back and as he does, his grasp loosens. So, I go to the back of him and overlap my hands onto his. He flinches slightly, but doesn't hesitate to lock a grip onto the bow. Together, we pull the bow firmly back and aim it towards the squirrel, and let the arrow fly. It quickly pierces the squirrel in its chest.
"Not quite the eye, but you'll get there in the end." I say.

Peeta's PoV:
Her breath tickles my neck. All I want is for her to kiss me. For a second after we separate from our embrace, I swear she's about to. But then, she just smiles at my lips and then into my eyes. I wish I could tell her how beautiful she is. How even though I know she doesn't see it, that her brown hair, the colour of dark oak trees, is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Those gray eyes, the colour of ashes and smoke blowing in the wind coming from a fire that burned everything to the ground. They were intense, coming from that fire that burned deep within her soul. That fire that resolved peace and burnt out the evil in this world.
"We should head back." She says.
"Sure, I don't mind." I reply.
We make our way back and we don't speak a word, until we reach home. The silence is peaceful. It's not awkward though, because we both enjoy peace. After everything we've been through, surprisingly not talking to one another for more than half an hour is calmingly bearable. I know Katniss feels some days she just doesn't want to speak, because us being together is enough tranquility, and I couldn't agree more.

"Should we give some squirrel to Haymitch?" I ask Katniss.
"We can do." She replies. As we near his house, she adjusts her game bag, and knocks gently. The door opens remarkably calmly and reveals a haggard-looking Haymitch. His eyes look sunken and dark.
"Wow, you've looked better." I say, making his eyes roll.
"Come in." He says, opening the door wider and letting us in.

The house is stuffy and in the corner of my eyes, I see a cylindrical shaped object. A bottle. I pretend to be naive but they both see my staring. Haymitch sighs. Katniss remains indifferent.
I walk over and pick the empty bottle up. "What's this?" I ask. I don't know why I ask it, because I know perfectly well what it is and what contents used to swim around in there. Liquor.
"Don't pretend you care." Haymitch says.
Katniss snickers at him. "Haymitch, if we didn't care, you'd be dead." She says.
"Maybe that was the plan." He says.
"Don't put it all to waste. Not when we've got the outcome we wanted." I say.
"Yeah, you got your outcome. You got the girl. Me. Well, I'm just a drunken old man. Nobody needs me." He says. There's no remorse or sympathy in his voice. I can see and hear that he generally means it.

"Haymitch, I've already lost my father and my sister. I have only my mother left and then again she's in 4. And although no one will ever replace my father or his nature, you've replaced part of the hole that burned for him. And I know you'll find this optimistic, but believe it or not, we're family." She says. "Me, you and Peeta. We all depend on one another because we're family."

"What's your point?" Haymitch asks Katniss.

"My point is that you can't just leave us! You can't leave me! Yes, you can be a drunken idiot, but your our drunken idiot Haymitch." She says.
"You're quite the sentimentalist." Haymitch replies. His voice is a little more remorseful, now he knows people depend on him.
"Well, as I said, you're still an idiot." Katniss says, smiling and slightly laughing.
"Yeah, I am." Haymitch says laughing with her.

We catch up. Haymitch asks about us to and I say we're ok. But nothing more, because we don't know where we stand. But the last thing I'd want to do, is to apply an pressure onto Katniss as I feel she'd be confused. I tell him that the doctors have assured I can't hurt her anymore. I'll forever carry the burden of flashbacks and the nightmares, but I'll get through it. I always do.