Peeta's Story- The Hunger Games

Chapter 41

It's quiet for a few minutes and the cave is filled by the muted sound of our wooden spoons scraping the bowls. Katniss eats her portion of the soup quickly, staring into the flames, which reflect off her eyes eerily. I watch as the orange light dances off her hair and can't help but feel that she's trying to ignore me. Tension is in the air and I can almost feel the electricity buzzing around me, though I don't know why. I open my mouth to speak, but then close it again, for fear of breaking the silence.

Katniss scrapes the last gooey drop of stew from her bowl and then contemplates it moodily, still refusing to look at me. Finally, I can't stand the silence anymore and clear my throat just as she reaches for the ladle in the bowl of stew and I say the first thing on my mind. "Remember what happened on the train? The stew didn't agree so well with our stomachs. We should probably take it easy with all this rich food." I reach for her elbow to gently pull it back, and her arm involuntarily flinches slightly, as if she had been shocked. Quickly, she arranges her expression into something indecipherable and I internally groan in frustration. I want to just pull her close to me and ask her what's wrong, but I could be just overthinking things. After all, we just kissed, so it's very likely that my brain is just going into overdrive.

"Yeah, you're right," she says almost too cheerily. "Though I want to just inhale it, it's so good!" She leans over and hands me half a roll, throwing her sharp cheekbones into relief. It suddenly strikes me how thin we've gotten as I look at her tiny frame, highlighted by her baggy clothes. My heart clenches as she reaches her hand out indecisively and impulsively towards the stew, but she quickly draws it back, glancing at the feast with a longing expression in her eyes. It finally strikes me that this is probably the first good meal we've had in a long time, and as I look at the pitiful look on her face, my resolution begins to dissolve. "Fine," I give in, relenting, "we can have some more-"

She nods her head happily and enthusiastically as I continue, "-after an hour. Just in case the food makes us sick again."

She sighs and leans back into me. "It's going to be a long hour."

I smirk as I stroke her hair, settling into a soothing rhythm. She closes her eyes, enjoying my touch. "So what was that you were saying before we were interrupted?" I tease. "Something about me... no competition..." Her cheeks turn a delicate pink and she pointedly glares at the ceiling. "...best thing that ever happened to you?..." I add as an afterthought.

"I never said that last part," she mumbles, embarrassed.

I laugh. She's just so cute, pretending to be all tough and impassive all the time. "Oh right, that's what I was thinking." She glares at me and I pretend to flinch, causing her to laugh softly, the blush not entirely gone from her face.

The wind howls outside, causing the fire to flicker suddenly, and she settles into silence, her eyes glazed over. I caress her cheek gently and she looks at me with wide eyes, still deep in thought. As another gust of wind blows in, I unzip the sleeping bag and tuck us inside, resting her on my chest where she settles peacefully.

She finally readjusts herself, leaning into the crook of my elbow and looking up at me thoughtfully. "So ever since you were five, you haven't noticed other girls?" she asked quietly, her eyes searching mine as if trying to detect a lie.

I almost snort at her understatement. "I have noticed other girls," I joke, before adding quickly, "but none of them made such a lasting impression on me."

She blushes and looks down, but doesn't stop speaking. "I'm sure your parents would like that," she murmurs sarcastically. I'm not sure if I'm even meant to hear that until she looks into my eyes and says, "a girl from the Seam, huh?"