The Beauty Beneath The Beast

Chapter 13: Peeta

I wake up to a near silent knock on the door. I look over to Katniss and see she's still sleeping peacefully, small puffs of breath coming from her mouth. I gently kiss her cheek before getting up. I open the door and see Katniss' little sister, Primrose, standing there.

"I'm sorry Primrose, Katniss is sleeping right now and she didn't get a lot of that last night so I don't really want to wake her," I say but she shakes her head.

"I was actually looking for you," she says. "And please, call me Prim. Everyone else does."

"What do you need from me?" I ask stepping outside my room and closing the door softly behind me so we don't wake Katniss.

"Katniss showed me the painting you gave her," she says. "The one of the deer. I really liked it and Katniss told me you had a bunch of them. She said that maybe you would show them to me."

"Yeah, sure," I say. "Just let me go get dressed." I go back into my room and dress quickly. I sit in the edge of the bed to put on my shoes and I feel Katniss' familiar embrace around my shoulders.

"What are you doing awake?" I ask her.

"It's too late to sleep," she says. "If I don't get up now, I'll never sleep tonight."

"How you feeling?" I ask.

"Like I'm pregnant," she says. "Bloated, tired, cranky, absolutely not myself. Thanks for this."

"What did I do?" I ask her.

"You knocked me up," she said playfully. "That's what you did buster."

"You played a part in it too," I say standing up. Katniss stays on my back, wrapping her legs around my waist. "You getting pregnant is not entirely my fault. I'll admit its partly my fault, but not entirely my fault."

"So where are we going on this fine, fine day?" she asks.

"I was going to go show Prim my paintings," I say.

"Ooo! Can I come with?" she asks.

"Since when do you talk like a ten year old?" I ask her.

"Since you knocked me up and blessed me with these precious hormones and mood swings," she says.

"You aren't gonna make any of this easy on me are you?" I ask.

"No, not by a long shot," she says.

"Yes you can come," I say. "After you eat breakfast."

"Why?" she asks. "I never really ate breakfast before."

"Well I want you to start," I say. "It'd make me more comfortable to know you were getting enough to eat to help keep our little one healthy."

"Fine," she says, reluctantly sliding off my back. "I'll meet you there. Have fun with Prim. I'm sure you two will get alone fine with out me having to mediate."

"Yes, I think we're over the hill of her hating me," I say. Katniss kisses my cheek and disappears into the closet, most likely to get dressed. I sigh and leave, closing the door tightly behind me. Prim still stands there waiting.

"What took so long?" she asks as I start leading her towards my art room.

"I got sidetracked by your twenty five year old pregnant sister who decided to act like a ten year old," I say.

"You really love her a lot don't you?" she says. "I can tell by the way you smile when you talk about her."

"Since the day I met her," I reply as we continue walking. "I'm sorry for what I did to you, but I was running out of time. I'm not proud of the desperate fool I was. There were so many other ways I could have done that, but I couldn't think of any at the time. I know there is no way I could ever make it up to you, but I do want us to be friends."

"I'll try," she says. "Not for you, or for me, but for my sister. She told me how much she wants me in your child's life. And I do want to one day be able to see you as a brother, for her sake."

"I live only to try to make her happy," I say. "And I hope to one day, you'll see this place as your home."

"My home is with my sister," she says. "There is nothing left in that village for me. So I guess no matter what, you're stuck with me. And I don't think I'd like to hate you for the rest of my life."

"I don't mind having you here," I say as I push open the doors to my art room. Prim gasps and walks in.

"You really painted these?" she asks.

"Yes," I say. "They aren't that bad are they?"

"They are absolutely beautiful," she says.

"Thank you," I say. "I worked hard on them."

"I can tell," she says before walking up to one of a tiger dancing in fire. "I can also see pain and sorrow. Why?"

"I was turned into a beast because my father was trying to save his own hide. After it happened, my family deserted me. I was left here alone for nine years. It was lonely. I lost hope I would every truly find the one I loved who could love me back. I almost killed myself several times. I painted to take my mind off things. So I guess as much as I tried to vent, it went into the images," I say.

"The resemblance to the subjects are remarkable," she says. "It's like I can just reach out and pick these flowers."

"That's almost the same thing I said the first time I saw these," I hear Katniss says and I turn to see her standing beside me. The light blue dress she wears makes her silver eyes sparkle.

"How long have you been standing there?" I ask.

"Not long, but long enough," she says. She turns to her sister. "I take it you're going to like it here with us?"

"Yes," she says smiling at us. "I think I will."