The Hunger Games; Extended Epilouge

Chapter 1

Chapter one

"You love me," I feel Peeta whisper the words softly into my ear one night. "Real or not real?"

I don't have to think very hard to answer that question. It was obvious; I loved him. After all of those nights of being unsure of where I belonged, after questioning everything that we had been through together, after our unfortunate experiences in the Hunger Games, I think I finally realize what I was blind to see for so long. He is my everything.

Still held by his arms, I flip myself around to face him, to look into his soft blue eyes. I give him a light smile, a true, genuine one. My first real smile in ages, after all of those nightmares of my past began to haunt me in my dreams. Maybe it was those dreams that brought us back together, as strange as that sounds.

I take a deep breath before answering. "Real," I sigh.

And it's true. It is real. It's nothing like what the Capitol made us do, made us pretend to be in love. I guess it took losing what I took for granted to finally see what has been in front of me this entire time.

His lips go crashing into mine passionately, and I kiss him back just as hard, with burning desperation, as if I might lose him if I stop. I run my fingers through his hair, needing him, needing more. I suddenly feel that thing that I felt on the beach, that something in the kiss that made me feel whole, like a real person, not just what was left after my heart was basically ripped out of my chest by, well, everything.

I feel myself melt inside, but in a good way; blood coursing through my veins, jellylike insides. Yes, Peeta has that effect on me.

I don't know how long we stay in that position, and I don't care, either. That moment was as if time itself had stopped, entirely frozen, and I liked it. But when I wake up, I'm clutching the covers, fingers stiff. I feel the other side of the bed with my hand, needing Peeta, but he isn't there. Why isn't he there? I slide out of bed, the floor cold on my bare feet as I walk to the kitchen of his house, which is in the Victor's Village next to mine. It's empty without Peeta there, as usual, because his family... Well, let's just say he doesn't like to talk about it.

There's a note on the fridge on a neon green sticky note; my favorite color. It says:

Katniss,

If you need me, I'm in town, and should be back in a couple of hours. I had some errands to run today.

Love, Peeta

I stare at the note written in Peeta's smooth, careful handwriting, curious to what he is up to. Usually, when he leaves me a note, he says exactly where he's going, and where I can find him if there's any trouble. He doesn't just say that he's in town, like he does today. That could be almost anywhere.

What also catches my eye is the word love. That's new, too. Does that mean he loves me, or is it just an expression? I guess I'll ask later or something.

Sighing heavily, I snag my coat off of the back of a chair and wrap it around my pajamas. If I'm going to go anywhere or do anything today, I'll need to go home and change first into some clothes.

I hurry through the cold to the house next door and swing the door open. I take a deep breath as I stare into the empty house. No Prim to come rushing over to me to give me a hug for no reason, no Mother to hold laugh at my startled expression as Prim's hug knocks me backwards and I have to hold the door knob for support. Nothing. Just silence.

Mom went off to another district to work on her medicines because she couldn't stand to be at home anymore with me; she said that it hurt too much. I wince. Gosh, I miss Prim.