Maybe It Can Be Real

Chapter 6

ALL RIGHTS GO TO SUZANNE COLLINS. I OWN NOTHING.

Peeta's steady heartbeat has a calming effect on my entire body. If I focus on that, it makes me feel like nothing 'unsteady' will happen.

But I know for a fact that will never happen.

Too many things have gone horribly wrong in my past to let me actually believe something like that; things will come out of nowhere to completely rock your world. It's nice to lose myself in his heartbeat just for a little bit. I know it won't last, though.

"Have you seen the District yet?", Peeta asks me quietly while yawning.

I think about it for a second. I've walked through it, but I've never really paid any attention. "Not really. I didn't pay attention to what was going on around me when I walked to the woods.... I preferred to avoid having a mental breakdown," I tell him getting quieter toward the end.

"Oh," he says somewhat awkwardly. "Well, I think you should try and look around sometime. People are starting to fix it up. I think it will be pretty good when they're done. It's going to take a while though. There's so much to do."

I don't say anything back. I kinda want them to completely change the District to get rid of the bad memories, but then again I don't want them to change it because I have some really good early memories here as well.

"Okay. I'll think about it. I just don't know, Peeta. How will it affect me?"

I mentally scold myself. How is he supposed to know? That's not his problem!

"To be honest, I don't know. Not to one up you, but I think if I haven't had a flashback, I don't think you will have a breakdown," he says while grinning.

I smile against my better judgement. This is not something we should be joking about. I let it go though. I lay my head on his chest and listen to his heartbeat once again.

"I overheard someone saying that they're thinking of building a memorial in every District commemorating all of the fallen tributes and a separate one for all the fallen rebels," Peeta says.

"How will they get all the names?"

Peeta looks at me like I asked a really stupid question. Maybe it's stupid to him, but Prim would be on the rebel one, so I just want to know. "Well, we don't know all the fallen rebels, so I doubt those names would go up. They'd probably look in records or something like that for the tributes."

"Oh," is all I say. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. "Anything else you heard?"

"Umm, not too much: rebuilding the Hob, putting up a new fence with a gate to the woods," my eyes snap open at that one. "And a better school."

"I was thinking about asking them if they would rebuild the bakery. Maybe put a memorial plaque somewhere to remember my family since we were the only bakers."

"I think that's a great idea, Peeta. I'd definitely ask them," I reply with a nod of approval.

My head is still on his chest when he yawns again, making it move up and down. I turn my neck to look up at him.

"When was the last time you slept?", I ask him.

"I don't know. It's been a while."

"Why?"

"It's not a big deal," he says, avoiding my question.

"Yes it is. Why haven't you slept?"

He looks sheepish. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay, so I stayed awake just in case anything happened."

I roll my eyes and stand up. I can see stars, but I ignore them. I'm sick of being helpless. I grab Peeta's hands in mine and drag him to the stairs. I'm walking backwards so I bump into the wall but move to the right and go up the stairs.

"What are you doing?", Peeta asks.

We walk (well, I dragged him) into my room. "I'm not doing anything. You are going to sleep."

He starts to protest, but I cut him off with a glare. "You are going to sleep," I say pointedly.

We get into bed and I lay my head on Peeta's chest. Peeta adjusts the pillow, then we wrap our arms around each other. Within a minute I hear his breath slow. He's finally sleeping.

I lay there for a while thinking about the District. I wonder how many changes there'll be. I honestly have no clue.

Thinking about the future makes my head hurt since there's so much to do. So I think about the good memories from the past. With these memories I find myself smiling quite a few times, sometimes with tears in my eyes.

After about an hour I start to drift away. I don't know why considering I slept for a while earlier. I try to keep my eyes open at first, but I'd doesn't work. I don't mind I guess. I have a feeling I will have good dreams.

I'm a little girl again. I'm sitting by the fire. My mom is behind me combing and trying different braids on my wavy hair. My father is sitting in a chair cooing at baby Prim. Every once in a while my mom will have to comb a knot out of my hair, so she'll tug on my hair a little bit. It doesn't hurt so it doesn't bother me.

I jump a little when I hear my father start singing. I wasn't expecting it, but I like listening to him sing.

"Deep in the meadow, under the willow
A bed of grass, a soft green pillow.
Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes. And when again they open, the sun will rise."

My mom's fingers stop braiding. I turn around and see her eyes closed. She likes listening to him too. My father stops, so my mom continues to braid. Once again she tugs on my hair a little and whispers, "Sorry, Katniss."

I groggily open my eyes. It's pretty dark outside. Then I start panicking a little when I can feel tugs on my hair. I look up and see Peeta with a hairbrush brushing out my matted hair.

He sees me awake. "Sorry, Katniss! I didn't mean to wake you up. I woke up and I saw your hair was matted, so I started brushing it out. I was trying to be as gentle as I could."

"It's okay. It feels good," I say and close my eyes. It really does feel good. "Are you going to sleep anymore?", I ask him.

"I don't know. I should since it's dark, but I probably can't. Are you?"

"If you're not, I'm not. But if you are, then I'll try."

He grins and says, "Okay."

He keeps brushing my hair until it's no longer in clumps. He does a simple braid down my back then ties it off with a hair tie he got off the brush. We lay back down and just look at each other.

Peeta's eyelids start to droop, but he keeps them open. Eventually sleep wins over and Peeta falls asleep again.

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Hey guys!!

Here's another chapter for you! I might be able to get one more chapter in today, but I have to clean my house since people are coming over for New Year's Eve.

If I can't get another one up, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE comment and vote! I would love to hear what you think of my story!

THANK YOU FOR 109 READS!! THATS AMAZING!

Private message me or comment anywhere on my story if you need to talk about anything! I'm always here and won't judge(:

Shoot straight and be brave my fellow lovelies,
Weezabeth <3