when The World Caught fire(PeetaxReader)

chapter ten: an unspoken promise

Within seconds, my hands withdrew from his soft cheeks and I sprinted towards the mouth of the cave.

Heel toe heel toe

Katniss had taught me that during training. It was the technique that she used when hunting. Quickly, I made my way around to the back of the cave and watched as Katniss entered the cave with a skip.

Feeling encouraged that maybe Peeta would try to leave Katniss to find me, I dug a peep hole that could be used for spying on the outer wall of the cave. I saw that Peeta has been given the medicine, and then he leans in to Katniss.

She cupped his cheek, much like I had, and kissed him. The kiss looked sweet and tender. I began to feel light headed and wanted to vomit. He chose her. Only one clear thought could come to mind, sometimes it's the things you love most that destroy you.

I wanted to cry. To cuddle up with Rye like when Peeta wasn't around. I wanted Peeta in my arms, not hers. After regaining my focus, I heard them begin to talk.

Katniss less the conversation :

"Peeta..... I know your thoughts on this, be put we have to. If it means that we will make it home alive, then we have to kill (y

)."

I gasped. I don't really know why though. I think it was out of pain; pain that Peeta would even consider killing his best friend. I wanted so bad to live. So bad to go home and see my mother again. But then, death wouldn't be so bad. I 'd get to see Rue and Rye again, my siblings, my father....

Returning to the peep hole, I saw that Peeta has noticed the rings i had placed in his hands just before I left. He seemed to be hiding them, maybe he didn't want Katniss to see them. I could tell by the way he was looking around the cave, he knew that they were from me.

If I wanted any chance of survival, I would have to get to the opposite side of the arena as soon as humanly possible. Standing up from my crouching position, I tip toed into the blackness of night. My journey was a rather easy one, knowing that there were only three tributes left and I was one of them, I just couldn't get what Katniss said off of my mind.

"We have to kill (y

)"

It seems as if Katniss had stopped viewing me as another person, and more of a target. She never even let the thought cross her mind that maybe Peeta would want to win with me and go home with me.... I guess fire burns brighter in the dark.

By the third day, I was over half way across. It wasn't really too cold and I had found plenty of water. Haymitch seemed to be sorry for my predicament because he sent me a long spike. It wasn't much and I had no clue what to do with it, but it was from home.

I had a lot of free time, so I decided to write a poem. The poem was about the trees. About the wind. About life. About my love for Peeta:

She lost herself in the trees
Among the ever-changing leaves
She wept beneath the wild sky
As stars told stories of ancient times
The flowers grew towards her light
The river called her name at night
She could not live an ordinary life
With the mysteries of the universe hidden in her eyes

(Christy Ann martine)

I carved the poem into the tree with a knife i had found left over from one of the other tributes. The crunch of the leaves beneath my feet reminded me of the crackling of the fire at the bakery. It reminded me of the sizzle cubes (pop rocks) that Rye used to bring home to me and Peeta when my mother was sick and I was staying at there house... My mother. How i needed her touch and loving gaze, but then I remembered a song that Grandmama used to sing when I younger and my sister's died:

When you need her touch
And loving gaze
Fine but not forgotten is the perfect phrase
Smiling from a star
That should makes glow
Trust she's always there
Watching as you grow
Find her in the place
Where the lost things go

(Mary Poppins returns)

I collapsed to the ground with a loud thump, not able to feel the pain. Everything has left me. My happiness my hope. My family. I rolled over to look at the sky. The first star was just beginning to shine. I made a wish: I wish to go home and be with my friends a nd family.

Just then, a parachute came down. In it was a note that read "I'm so sorry. stay alive ~ Haymitch" what did he have to be sorry about? I opened the parachute and let out a scream . What was inside was much worse that anything I had imagined. It was my mother's emerald necklace. The one thing she has left of my father. She would never give that up.... Unless... No. I began to sob. My mother had died.

The snap of a twig behind me caught me off guard, maybe it was an animal ready to be hunted for dinner. Or maybe it was Katniss. Mimicking Peeta the day she found him, I asked the question, "Here to finish me off sweetheart?" . The person was crying. I turned around to see Peeta; His face shining in what was now moonlight.

"(Y

).... I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry for leaving you. I should've stayed with you, run to you in the cornucopia. Then maybe Rye would be alive, maybe I could be spending my last few days with my brother, and my one true love."

I was furious! "Peeta! You come here in the middle of the night and tell me that you love Katniss and wish that I had been the one to die because you wanted your brother to survive. Well guess what! No! That's not how you treat your best friend. Heck, I don't even know if we're friends any more! You've spent so much time with Katniss, that you've forgotten the people who actually care for you.... It's all an act Peeta. When will you open your eyes and see that she doesn't love you. It's all just pretend. How long will it take you to notice that every move we make, every friend that's made, every soul that dies, it's all programmed. Part of the Capitol's plan to see us destroyed. "

My remark has him taken so aback that he sits speechless for a full ten minutes. I finally turn my back to leave when he starts to speak.

"You what to know the reason why I didn't run straight to you in the cornucopia? I was mad. I was mad that you loved my brother and not me. The speech you have in the interviews? Ya, I could see it in your eyes that it was meant for him, not me. Cause why on earth would be at friends fall for each other? It's stupid. It's stupid that I loved you and I'm sorry for doing so. By "she came here with me" i was talking about you. It was always, undeniably, you... I'm sorry for wasting your emotions. "

Tears spilled down my cheeks, "you... Love me?" I whispered . Was this true? But what about all that time with Katniss?

"Yeah" he chuckled. " I do, (y

) I really do".

I jumped into his arms and he spun me around, "I love you too" in a whisper, I added "my boy with the bread".

I unwillingly wiggled out from his embrace and asked, "Peeta, will you be my Victor?" He smiled his goofy grin and nodded, " only if you will be mine"

I laughed and for the first time since I left the cave, I was happy. Leaning forwards, I gently kissed his lips, but this time, it didn't take long at all for him to kiss back.

Ok. the sad part is that someone said to me basically the exact same words that Peeta said about his reason behind not going to the reader. He told me "sorry for wasting your emotions" after a fight, and it broke my heart because I truly did care about him a lot, and I still do. He just won't let me tell him.

Be prepared for the next part, it will most likely be one of the last. I have a good idea for the end, but I'm not too sure on whether or not people will like it or not. If you want something different, I will not change the original, but I will look into adding a bonus chapter or two of alternative endings or an epilogue. Thanks so much for reading!
Good bye for now
"No one ever says goodbye unless they want to see you again" - John Green