(This is the Reader's Choice chapter Part 1, thank you to 12Syldiin for submitting your amazing idea!)
Katniss
Just a few short says later, Peeta and I, along with a handful of other District 12 citizens, are given the okay to return to our District. I'm told it's safe again. That a group of ex-miners courageously risked their lives to return to the underground darkness to disable or destroy anything that could set off another explosion.
It didn't take long to coax Peeta into forgiving me for lying and keeping things from him. I just told him that I didn't want him to worry. I didn't want him to see that I was upset because I was afraid of hurting him. For once, I told the truth.
Peeta fell asleep about a half hour ago. I haven't moved from his bedside at all today. Once in a while, I get up and pace around the room. Haymitch walks through the door with a plate of rice and a slice of bread in his left hand. He hands it to me and I climb onto the windowsill beside Peeta's bed to eat. "I'm sorry. About hiding in that closet. I know I shouldn't have lost it like that. I should've come back here," I say pushing a clump of rice around my plate.
"Well, I understand why you did," he says. "And if Peeta can forgive you, I think I can." I scoff and shift my weight on the window.
I look at Peeta again and sigh, resting my head on the wall behind me. "Will it ever end? The dying? The rage? The fire?" I say quietly.
"I don't think you can stop it. It's just a part of life. A part of our life," he replies and then adds, "that's why I turn to alcohol. Speaking of which, I can't wait to open my cabinet when we get back home." He gives me a joking smile but I just roll my eyes and watch a bird take off from it's nest outside.
Peeta wakes up again soon after Haymitch leaves and I tell him that we can go home if he's feeling alright. Of course I know even if he isn't, he'll want to leave. I know he remembers this place for the worst. It has to be having some sort of affect on him. The only memories he has of this place are the ones when he was hijacked. I'm sure he's confused and terrified, but I also know he won't tell me. We both keep things from each other. To protect one another.
***
Within the hour, Peeta, Haymitch, and I are boarding a hovercraft to take us back to 12. I choose a spot in the corner where I can partially see outside through a small window just above my head. Peeta slowly eases himself down to the bench I sit on and leans his head against the wall.
That's when I feel it. It feels almost like there are actual butterflies in my stomach, fluttering around, trying to escape. I forget to breath for what feels like an entire minute. I'm paralyzed in my seat, my eyes focused vacantly ahead. Right as I thought it had stopped, it started again. This time I grab Peeta's arm and grasp it as tightly as I can before my fingers turn a ghostly version of white. I can't seem to look at him, or answer when he asks me what's wrong. My mouth hangs open, agape. I'm trying to get the words out but all I can manage is a low grumbling noise Buttercup makes when he's hungry.
Up until this moment, I don't think I ever truly believed the baby growing inside me was real. Of course on some levels I knew, but it hadn't really sunk in. Until now. I now realize that I am part of the reason someone, someone so young and innocent, is about to enter the world. It's terrifying.
I still can't force myself to tell Peeta what's happening, so instead I release his arm from my grasp and place his hand on my belly. He knows right away. His eyes well up with tears and he pulls me into a tight embrace with his free arm. I can feel his warm breath on my neck when he puts his head on my shoulder. My hands begin to shake violently and I dig my fingernails into the leather seat beneath us. I try my hardest to hide my fear from Peeta but I know I'm failing when he looks at me like I'm a lost puppy. "Katniss, it's normal. You don't have to be afraid."
"But I am," I whisper, not daring to look him in the eyes. "I am afraid. I'm terrifed."
He hides it quickly, but I catch the glimpse of disappointment on his face. "Katniss, if I could take your place I would. And I hate it when I see you so scared. But it's only for a little while. And she'll be here," he says.
"She?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. He smiles and kisses my belly lightly. "How do you know?"
"I just do," he replies pushing my dark hair behind my shoulder.
***
The baby, she, according to Peeta, moves about three more times before we land in an empty grassy plain near the meadow. Whenever I feel it, I grasp Peeta's hand again and shut my eyes until it's over. It seems like it never stops. I hate it.
I make Peeta go through the woods to get to the house because I don't want to have to face the mine and the burned houses again. Of course, he doesn't object. Buttercup greets us eagerly by the door. It's a miracle that the ragged old cat is still alive. I'm not sure where he's been getting food while we've been gone, if he has, but I know with Peeta cooking tonight he'll be full. When Peeta thinks I'm not looking, he always slips Buttercup corners of burnt bread or bits of bacon. I don't mind it. Peeta and I always have enough to eat anyway.
Peeta is setting the table and I'm washing off berries we found in the woods on the way home. I jump when Peeta drops a plate and it shatters on the floor. I don't have time to react. I drop the remaining berries in my hand into the sink. He's kneeling on the floor, hanging onto the counter, clenching his jaw. How could this have happened? But I remember. While we've been in 13, Peeta hasn't been taking his medicine for his flashbacks. I back up and try and slip out of the room as quietly as I can but I accidently trip over the leg of an overturned chair. Peeta looks up and stares at me, sending a chill to run down my spine. The light blue color of his eyes are now clouded, filled with confusion and pain. We stare at eachother, and I count down in my head from 10, praying to God that it would be over. That he'd stay on the ground, in this state of stupor. That he won't come after me.
He stands slowly, cautiously, as if I'm a bomb, ready to go off at any second. I try my hardest to seem less intimidating, if that's possible. Then, he lurches forward and digs his hands into my shoulder blades. I cry out in pain, but cover my stomach the best I can with my hands. "Please, Peeta! It's not real!" I scream, hoping someone would hear me if he doesn't listen.
He tosses me to the ground like a rag doll. Even after all these years, he's still as strong. I'm defensless now that I'm on the ground. All I can do is beg him to stop and sheild the baby as much as possible. Of course, if he kills me, he kills the baby. I can't think like that.
I curl up in the corner, pulling my knees up to my chest. He comes forward, the bottom of his boot coming quickly towards my face. A strangled scream escapes my throat and my vision goes dark.
________________________
I'll prrrrobably get killed for writing that but...sorry? xD
I'd just like to thank 12Syldiin again for giving me this amazing chapter. There will be 2-3 more to come based on her idea! Thank you to everyone who submitted their ideas, each and every one of them were amazing.
I'll try to update ASAP so I don't leave you hanging for too long.
Thank you so much for reading!
-booklover2019
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Always: A Hunger Games Fanfiction
FanfictionMy name is Katniss Everdeen. I am eighteen years old. I survived The Hunger Games twice. Peeta was hijacked. He was rescued and he's fighting to return to his old self. I led the revolution that led to the fall of President Snow. Snow. Snow is dead...
