The Beauty Beneath The Beast

Chapter 2: Peeta

"Has it crossed your mind that she might be your last hope," Finnick asks me as I pace in my room.

"Yes," I say.

"Then why are you being so grouchy?" he asks.

"Because there is no where near enough time for her to fall in love with me," I say. "It doesn't matter if I love her. She needs to love me back." I look into the broken mirror by the wall."And no sane woman would love the creature I've become."

"You aren't a creature on the inside," Finnick reminds me.

"Maybe so, but it's not like we have enough time for her to see that," I say."The rose has already started to wilt."

"Be kind to her," Finnick says. "Show her the person you are inside."

"I locked her sister in here for trespassing and forced her to take her place," I say. "She probably thinks of me as a monster. Who else would lock away a young girl whose only crime was getting lost and having her horse throw her?"

"Why did you do it?" Finnick asks. "You were never this kind of person for as long as I've known you."

"I did it because I knew Katniss would come for her," I say.

"You knew these girls from before the curse?" he asks. I nod.

"I was at the bakery in District 12, buying some bread for dinner when I saw her. She was skin and bones and digging through the trash bins, looking for food. The Baker's wife became angry and shooed her away, telling that she was tired if the little Seam rats digging through her garbage. I bought my two loaves of bread and started home when I noticed her sneaking through the trees. I followed her to a small cottage where I found she had a sick mother and sister that was barely a toddler. She was looking for a way to feed them. So I snuck up on her when she went to milk the cow. I gave her the two loaves of bread even though I knew I would get a beating at home. Her eyes asked me why but I never said a word to her. I left quickly, but returned to see her when I could, never talking to her. I watched her hunt and walk home from school. I fell in love with her."

"So you recognized the little girl and knew Katniss would come for her?" he asks.

"I never knew their names, neither did they know mine," I say. "But I knew I loved her."

"You need to show her the kind person under that beast that has started to consume you," Finnick says.

"What should I do?" I ask him.

"Let her out to hunt," he says.

"She'll run away," I say.

"Maybe," he says. "But maybe by showing her you trust her, she'll begin to trust you."

"Fine," I say. "I'll try." I walk out of my destroyed room and down the hall to the room I gave to Katniss. I knock on the door gently, but my large paw makes a loud bang as I do.

"Who's there?" she asks.

"It's me," I say. "Can I come in?"

"I guess," she says. I walk in to find her sitting on her bed, her beautiful sliver eyes bloodshot from crying.

"I noticed you had a bow when you came in," I say.

"Yes," she says.

"Do you use it?" I ask her even though I know the answer.

"Yes," she says. "Thats the only way I could ever get fresh meat."

"Would you like to go out hunting?" I ask her.

"I thought I was your prisoner," she says.

"You are my prisoner," I say. "But your are not the castle's prisoner."

"So you're letting me out?" she asks.

"For an hour," I say trying to sound curt.

"Thank you," she says standing up and walking past me, and out of the room. After a while I hear the thunder of hoof beats as she rides away on the horse she came on, much faster than she would if she were sneaking up on game. She's leaving, I knew she would. This was a stupid idea. I go back to my room and start throwing things around, angry at myself for this mistake.

Suddenly, I hear the cry of a wolf, followed by several others. I don't know what it is, maybe instinct, but some inside me tells me that it's Katniss. That she's in trouble.

I run out of the castle and follow the hoof prints in the snow all the way to a horrific scene. Katniss' horse's reins had become trapped in a tree and she has at least a half dozen wolves surrounding her. Katniss is pinned to the ground by one of them and another is tugging on her leg. I pick the wolf up off of her and roar in its face before throwing it against the tree. Several others try attacking me and they receive the same fate. By the time they run off, I'm exhausted and covered in scratches. I look at Katniss, about to ask her if she's okay but suddenly the world goes black.

*********************************************

I wake up in my chair beside the fireplace. I blink open my eyes to see Katniss bent over the fire, warming something up in a kettle. The wounds on my arm sting and I find the animalistic instinct to lick it clean. I must have been noisy because Katniss turns to me and scowls.

"Don't do that!" she says. "Its not really cleaning it." She takes the kettle off the fire and pours the warm water from inside it into a bowl. She takes a rag and damps it with the water. She comes to my side and kneels on the floor. "Let me see."

I tentatively offer her my arm and she gently takes my paw in her hand while the other gently dabs the cloth on my wound. It stings and I pull my arm away growling.

"That hurts!" I say.

"If you would sit still it wouldn't hurt as much!" she snaps back.

"If you hadn't tried to run, this wouldn't of happened," I point out.

"I wasn't - she starts but I cut her off.

"Don't lie," I say. "I know you aren't stupid enough to not try to escape."

"Well you let me go," she says.

"I wanted to show I trusted you," I say.

"Well before now I didn't trust you," she says pulling my arm back to her and cleaning the wound extremely gently. I look at her with curiosity.

"You trust me?" I ask her.

"Not like I would trust someone I've known all my life, but you did save my life," she says. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," I say.

She wraps my arm and ties it snug but not too tight.

"I'm going to go to bed," she says standing. "Unless you need anything else."

"No I'm fine," I say. "Goodnight Katniss." She looks at me and I swear I see the hint of a smile on her face.

"Goodnight Peeta," she says. And like she said it would, it feels much more gratifying to be called my name and not Beast.