Ashes Blow Away

Chapter Seven

~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter Seven: Katniss Has Some Fun ~~~~~~~~~~

We don't talk as Peeta takes me home, tucks me into bed, goes back to the first floor. Moments later, I hear a teakettle screech. I lose track of time after, but I know it can't be long until Peeta walks back in, handing me a cup of steaming hot tea.

I gulp down the tea as fast as possible, even though it burns my throat. Frankly, I am embarrassed about what just happened into the meadow. Me begging Peeta to kill me, to let me die. He refused.

" Are you going to watch me all the time now?" I ask, finishing my beverage.

He chuckles, but still has a serious look on his face. " Probably."

I sigh. " I'm not going to kill myself, Peeta. I was just upset."

" So being upset is begging me to kill you?"

I flinch. " Yes, for me at least."

" Katniss. . ." Peeta sighs.

" Peeta!"

" I just, I don't understand! You act like you have closure, and then you go off on one because you see her and I-"

I'm surprised by this change in subject. " What?"

He groans. " Sometimes, you act like you might be okay. Like you might have gotten over her death. But then, stuff triggers things in you and then you go off and do something like this."

I cast my eyes downward. " I don't want to talk about it. Please, Peeta."

" But that's just it!" Peeta yells, throwing his arms in the air. " You have to talk about it! Or else you'll never get your life back!"

" Maybe I don't want it," I utter.

" All you ever do is feel sorry for yourself."

I grimace horrifically. " All you ever do is go on about yourself! I've been through much worse than you."

Peeta curls his hands into fists at his sides. " Much worse than me? Did they torture you, Katniss? Beat you? Did they make you want to kill the only thing you loved? Did they take away everything good about you, and make it bad?"

" No, Peeta, they didn't! They did much worse than that! They killed Prim! They took away everything about me, not just the good parts!"

Peeta breaths. I can feel the anger filling up in me.

And then I am hitting him. I deliver blow after blow to him, to his arms, his stomach. But he just stands, catching my wrists as they fly at him. He shoves me back onto the bed.

" Katniss, stop!" He cries.

I scream and struggle and kick. " No!"

And do you know what he does? He laughs. Actually, truly, laughs out loud. I scream, but it makes him laugh harder. I take this chance to kick him in the stomach. He yelps, falling to the ground, but I can still hear him laughing.

" What's so funny?" I demand, hanging off the bed to look at him.

He doesn't answer, I think he is short of breath. Eventually, I end up on the floor beside him. He's funny to look at when he's laughing, almost as though he is hiccuping. I end up laughing too.

" You. . . When. . . You said. . . No. . . You were. . . Like. . . " He says, dissolving into another pool of laughter.

" Like what?" I giggle.

" Like. . . You. . . Were four. . ." his chuckling continues. He has tears streaming down his face now.

I try to recreate the facial expression, but I don't think it works. Peeta laughs anyway.