The Other Slip

Chapter 2

Peeta finally comes out of his quarters as we arrive in the Capitol. Flashbacks of this moment a year ago fill my mind. I was prepared to kill Peeta, but now I had succeeded in letting him live. Peeta could be angry at me forever, but he would still survive: that's all that matters. Colorful figures call out my name as I get out of the train and head to the tribute living quarters. They are brand new, just as the training center is.

I sit on one of the velvet couches, not wanting to discover my new room. To my surprise, Peeta sits by me.

-"Why did you do that Katniss?" He says, in a much calmer tone than earlier.

-"You need to live, Peeta." There wasn't much more to say than that.

-"No I don't Katniss! Don't you understand?! I don't want to live!" The frightening tone appears in his voice again. I must express my fear in some way because he calms down instantly.

-"Katniss I hope you know I'm going to do everything I can to get you to survive."

-"I know."

He starts to leave, but I stop him.

-"Peeta, wait!"

He stops and faces me, waiting for me to continue.

-"I'll never be sorry for what I did, but I really hope you can forgive me."

We don't break eye contact, until he does the unexpected. He walks up to me and wraps me in his arms. I sob, so thankful I still have Peeta.

After dinner, Peeta sits us all down to watch a recap of the reaping. Watching Haymitch's a reaction to the reaping of all his friends makes me feel guilty for dragging him into the arena with me, but Peeta deserves to live. And I know Haymitch agrees with me, otherwise he wouldn't have volunteered. Once the reaping is over, Peeta searches in a messy box of DVDs for each tributes' games. We start with Gloss' games, and go in order of districts. I watch as 22 tributes become victors. It's sickening really, I don't see how the Capitol enjoys this. I end up cowering next to Peeta, and he puts his arm around me reassuringly. That's when I start thinking, what happens if I win? This entire time I've been focused on keeping Peeta alive, but now that I've achieved that, what do I do? Peeta seems determined on getting me out alive, so if he manages to work around Snow's plan to get rid of me, the odds are in my victory's favor. I know I said I chose Gale, but I'm seriously reconsidering now. I need Peeta. Do I need Gale? I'm not so sure anymore. The loud clunk of a glass bottle hitting the coffee table startles me. Haymitch walks out of the room as Peeta and I watch him, our hearts beating a bit faster.

-"Go get some rest." Peeta says. I look up at him.

-"What about you?"

-"I think I need to go check up on Haymitch."

As odd as it sounds, I decide to head to my room. I sit on the end of my bed, staring at the wall. My mind wanders. Why does Peeta need to talk to Haymitch? He isn't drunk enough to need Peeta's help, and he isn't our mentor this time so Peeta isn't asking for some sort of advice. Could he be trying to get Haymitch to agree to some other deal? Does he really think Haymitch is going to value his own life in that arena? I start to hear mumbling outside of my room. There is no high pitched voice, which rules Effie out of the situation, which means it has to be Peeta and Haymitch. I press my ear against my door, trying to understand their words, but I can only decipher a few among all the mumbling.

"Can't.....her....better....now." One of them says. What were they talking about? Could the 'her' be me? A knock on my door makes me jump back onto my bed. They couldn't know I was listening to them. Peeta walks into my room.

-"Goodnight Katniss." He smiles.

I don't say anything, I just grab his hand and drag him into the bed with me. I position my head on his chest and finally say:

-"Stay with me?"

-"Yeah," he chuckles a little "Always."