Just Smile

Chapter 9

Hello everyone!
I decided to put the AN up here because I really like how the chapter ended and I think an AN would ruin it.
for those of you who haven't read either of my important updates, please do so. it will save you from lots of confusion 😂
a chapter for stay with me should be up in a couple days, but until then, I hope you enjoy the long awaited chapter!
(by the way - Johanna, Gale, and Madge aren't katniss' friends at home anymore, they will be introduced later in the story. none of them visited, but Finnick and Annie have talked to Katniss on the phone. when I rewrite the previous chapters, this change will be in the story.)
~Uni ✨
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Katniss POV
Tap. Tap. Tap.

Peeta and I sit across from each other, a table with two cups of coffee in between us. My finger taps against the table, nervous about what might happen.

He's dangerous, Katniss. We're worried about your safety.

In any other circumstance, the tapping would have been annoying. But now, it's an excuse to not be talking.

After you tell him, you may not be able to see him again.

I don't even know how to start. How do you tell a good friend of yours that they're a murderer?

Why didn't you tell me sooner?

I take a deep breath and take a sip of my coffee. I take a quick glance at Peeta. He has his hands folded on top of the table. He looks at his hands.

We didn't know how bad it was, Katniss. We just knew he was mentally unstable when he came here.

I know he knows what I'm about to say isn't good. He isn't just depressed, he didn't try to commit suicide or something like that. He knows that, and he's getting more and more worried the longer I'm silent.

You're going to tell him, Katniss. He's not going to listen to us.

"Just tell me. Please, Katniss. I'm worried," Peeta exclaims, looking up at me with desperate eyes. He wants to think that it's not as bad as I'm making it seem. I take a deep breath before starting.

"Peeta, one night at the bakery you were baking. Your mom came to the back. Witnesses say they smelt burning, so the guess is you had accidentally burned something. They heard screaming and you getting hit. However, you flipped out, and-" I stop. I can't say it. Peeta has been nothing but kind, I can't do this to him. Peeta looks up at me once again.

"Katniss, please. Tell me I didn't do something completely terrible." His eyes are screaming with desperation.

"You went haywire. You screamed at your mother, and you took a knife. Almost everyone that was in the bakery was dead." I cover my mouth with my hand and sob. It's been said. Peeta knows now. I dare to look up at him. His eyes are clouded over, and his lip is quivering. All of the sudden, he stands up sharply. He starts screaming as he flips the table. His mug shatters, spilling the hot coffee everywhere. Mine simply cracks, but the burning hot liquid still spills out.

If he starts acting up, get out of there as fast as you can.

He takes the chair he was once sitting in and throws it at a wall. The parts fly out everywhere, one hitting me in the shoulder. I scream at the sudden pain it brings.

"Get her out of there!"

Suddenly, I see two guards rush in and grab my arms. I look at them as they start dragging me out.

"No! I need to stay with Peeta!" I try to get my wrists out of their grip, but it's too tight. I continue to scream, hoping that it would somehow change their minds. We make it out of the room, and the door is slammed shut. Another guard on duty locks the door. What if that was my last glimpse of Peeta?

Suddenly, my screams soon transform into sobs. I can't even think about never seeing Peeta again. He's my only friend here, I don't care what he did. I just want him by my side, knowing I can always talk to him.

Haymitch comes over to comfort me, but when his hand is just about to touch my shoulder, I swat it away.

"Keep your hands off me!" I scream at him. I'm too angry to think straight. I'm screaming and sobbing, but both make my eyes and throat burn. I feel a pinch in my left arm as a guard pins my arm down. I scream even louder and start thrashing, not helping the injury on my right shoulder.

"No! Don't touch me!" Not long after I say that, however, my actions start slowing down. The room starts to get fuzzy. I'm a bit confused at first, but then I realize.

I've been sedated.

I stop screaming and thrashing, instead letting tears run down my face. After that, I slowly become unconscious.

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I wake up to the sound of my heart beating. My mind is still fuzzy, but I still remember the heartbreak from leaving Peeta in the state that he was.

Peeta.

I sit up in the bed, feeling dizzy for a moment. I realize I'm in the hospital ward, and my right shoulder is bandaged. The pain is still there, but it doesn't hurt as much as the ache in my heart.

A nurse soon comes in, and smiles once she sees I'm awake. She checks my vitals then starts talking.

"How are you feeling?" I feel terrible. I may never see my best friend again because of these stupid people that work here, just because of what he did.

"Fine. I'm a bit dizzy, though." Her smile gets brighter upon answering.

"That's normal. Once you don't feel as dizzy, you can probably be released," she says. 

Do I really want to be released? I have nothing here. I may have Finnick and Annie at home, but the others? I don't know what I do and don't have anymore.

The nurse stays true to her word and I'm soon released. I lay in my room, looking at the ceiling. Peeta was the only thing keeping me happy here. What am I supposed to have now?

Soon I hear a knock on the door. I drag myself to the door and open it up, revealing Haymitch and Effie.

"Can we come in?" Effie asks. I nod and widen the gap in the door to let them in. They sit down on my bed, and their eyes beg for me to come join them. Reluctantly, I sit in between them.

"We're sorry, sweetheart."

And suddenly, all my emotions came flooding back, and I burst into a fit of sobs in their arms.