Coming Back

He waits for her to come back.

He knows she will. Maybe not today... Nor tomorrow... And, maybe not even in a month.

But eventually, she will. He knows it in his heart.

People call him crazy for putting up with her antics for so long, but they only know half the truth. They hear the piercing screams in the middle of the night. They see her bloodshot eyes and the peeling skin around her knuckles that have tuned a bitter brown around the edges. They see her legs shake with every step; the meat on her bones falling off into small snowflakes.

But, what they didn't see was what they can't possibly see at all. She screams because she needs him. At three in the morning she wakes to cold sheets and scattered pajamas, and gets scared, so, so scared. Because when the nightmares come back stronger than ever, logic isn't there to save you.

Post-Mockingjay: It's been thirteen years since the war, and Katniss and Peeta are still trying to rebuild their lives.