Always

Pool of Blood (revised)

I put my meager belongings in the boxes and close them with tape.
"Are you really moving in with Peeta?" Prim asks me for the tenth time today.

"Yes, Prim, I'm moving in with Peeta. He's my husband now." I tell her. She nods her head and smiles.

"I know, but I'll miss you." She comes over and gives me a hug. "Can I come visit?" She asks me.

"Yes," I laugh a little. "Of course you can come visit. Prim, I'm only moving two houses down." I pull her off of me and tell her to finish packing.

"Alright." She gives me a smile and continues to pack my belongings.

"Where do you want this?" Peeta asks me as he helps me unpack the boxes. 

"I don't care, it's your house." I tell him while pulling out a pair of pants.

He turns me around to face him and places his hands on my waist. "It's our house now." He whispers to me. I smile and give his cheek a kiss.

"Our house," I say back to him.

I flip through Peeta's bakery catalog at our kitchen table, waiting for him to come home. Even after living with him for two months, it still feels unreal. I smile at the thought of him walking in and us cooking dinner together, it's kind of a tradition now. My smile becomes even wider at the thought of us making more traditions.

The front door swings open and hits the wall with a thud. I'm about to scold Peeta when I see Prim run in.

"Katniss! Katniss!" She screams running into the kitchen. I get off of the chair as fast as I can and reach my sister. "He was trying to save Gale, but it went wrong Katniss! Oh my God Katniss it went so wrong! Follow me." I stand there confused and worried.

"What are you talking about! Who is hurt?" She stops running and spins around.

"Peeta," she only needs to say one word and I'm running as fast as I can. I hear Prim yelling for me to stop, but I keep going. Tears are coming down my face as the icy wind hits me. He has to be okay, he has to be.

I hear the sound of a crackling whistle and an intake of breath.

Maybe it's just kids playing ball, or something. But then I hear the scream of pain and I know it's worse than a simple game.

My feet carry me as fast as they can until I reach the town square. The crowd is huge and tightly packed, making it hard to see what's happening.

"Catnip!" I hear Gale scream from somewhere inside the crowd and then I see his face coming towards me.
"Get out of here! Go home, you don't want to see this." He tries to hold me back, but I pull away. I have to see what that noise is, I have to know.

"Get out of here girl."

"You're only going to make it worse."

"Go home, you don't want to see this."
People are telling me as I push my way through the crowd.

"Katniss go home! I'll take care of it." Haymitch grabs my hand and for once his breath doesn't smell of liquor.

I shake him off and push my way through, even harder this time. I'm determined to see what everyone wants me to go home for. But when I make my way to the front and cast my eyes upon him, I wish I had listened and just gone home.

My breath hitches in my throat at the sight of Peeta tied to a whipping post, with his back shredded to pieces. A turkey hangs above his head and their blood drips on to the cobble ground, forming a round puddle.
"Peeta," I whisper.

The peacekeeper raises his whip, ready to bring it down on him again, when I run out of the crowd.

"Stop!" I scream as I run to the center trying to reach Peeta. I know I won't be able to stop it, but I have to protect him. The whip comes down on to my face just as I reach him and I fall to the ground.

"Katniss, get out of here." Peeta's voice is barely above a whisper and I know he is in pain.

My left eye swells closed and I can feel it going numb as I stand up. I place my body in front of my husband, planning to protect him until the day I die.

"Move," the peacekeeper says through clenched teeth and a hard face. I don't respond, instead I simply stand there.
"You want another?" He asks as he raises his whip.

"Go ahead," I tell him with a scowl. The whip comes closer to my face when Haymitch yells stop, or maybe it was Peeta.

My mentor comes to stand in front of me and Peeta. "Look at what you did to her face, think she'll be camera ready in a week?" Haymitch yells at the peacekeeper.

"She interfered with a whipping. What right did she have to try and prevent it?" He tells Haymitch.

"She's her fiancé," Haymitch says through clenched teeth. "You must be new around here, but I thought you would have recognized them."

Haymitch points towards me and an unconscious Peeta. With my braid falling out and my eye swollen shut I know it's hard to recognize me, but Haymitch is an easy face to remember. The peacekeeper seems to recognize who he has tied to the post and his face slackens.

"Sir I think that you have given the right amount of lashes for a first time offense and if you were to give any more it would be for death." A woman peacekeeper tells the head.

"Fine, but next time it'll be the firing squad." The head peacekeeper tells us while wiping his hand on his whip and splattering us with blood.
Peeta's blood.

I drop to my knees and fumble with the rope on Peeta's wrist. I can feel tears coming out of my eyes and blurring my only good eye's vision, but I don't try to stop them. Haymitch cuts the rope and Peeta's body slumps against my chest. Despite the winter chill, he is burning up. I hear talking and a wooden plank being brought over.

"Katniss you have to let go of Peeta, so that we can get him to your mom's house." Haymitch leans down to tell me. I shake my head and tighten my grip on my husband.

"I can't let him go," I whisper to him.

Haymitch whistles towards Gale and next thing I know he's pulling me away. Kicking my legs and flailing my arms I try to get away from him, but I can't. They've already taken Peeta and I'm left in a pool of his blood.

"Come on, Catnip," Gale whispers to me as he helps me up and walks with me back to the house. Back to the house where my husband lies with a shredded back.

A.N. Hey everyone!! Sorry about the short chapter. Wow super sad moment in this chapter. Yes, I did have Peeta get whipped instead of Gale and you'll find out why. Also majorly IMPORTANT, she moved in with him about a day or two after their toasting. Anyways star and comment as always. Plus, huge thank you to everyone who has been supporting this story! Love you guys!