To Save Panem

Chapter 11

Peeta POV

I wake up to hear a knock on the door, and Katniss in my arms. I smile at her as I carefully try to maneuver my way out of the bed without waking her up, and I luckily succeed. I open the door to find one of the avoxes waiting outside holding a note, from Haymitch. I carefully unfold it as I carefully read what Haymitch has delicately written.

Katniss and Peeta,

Training for today is cancelled. Me and Effie have agreed Katniss can handle herself in tonight's interview, and I have already taught Peeta everything I can about mentoring. But I would like to speak to Peeta alone, just for about ten minutes before breakfast, just to finalize a few things for the arena.

-Haymitch

I finish reading the note and place it on the nightstand next to Katniss. I get dressed and she is still asleep. I write a note telling her where I am, and leave it next to Haymitch's note. I softly kiss her forehead, praying she sleeps for a while. She's lucky she was able to sleep last night, even though I don't know for how long, and I'm sure she will get little to no sleep tonight, for obvious reasons.

I go down to then dinning area and sit by Haymitch. "Good morning, Haymitch." I say.

"Morning." He replies. "Is Katniss still asleep?"

"Yes, why do you need to talk to me?"

"Listen Peeta, since sweetheart never told me who she wanted to ally with, I told Finnick we would ally with him and Mags." I'm glad Haymitch decided to choose allies, that makes me feel better about Katniss' safety. "So as you know, you will get to work with their mentors, Summer and Dustin, to choose what to send. Now, what I'm about to tell you is very important. So listen carefully. If they want to send something, don't argue. They've been doing this longer than you have, listen to them. But also feel free to suggest things to them. Does that make sense." (Finnick and Mags' mentor's names/characters are not in the book or movie, so they're kinda made up but they will be relevant in later chapters)

I nod my head. "Yes. Should I tell Katniss?"

"No. Tonight, at the interviews, find Finnick. Effie is going to give you your token before we leave for the interviews. Make sure Katniss sees your token, and give it to Finnick tonight. If Katniss sees he has something of yours, she's more likely to trust him."

"Alright. Any thing else."

"No, just..." Haymitch struggles to find the right words. "Trust Summer and Dustin. I promise they know what they're doing. And trust Plutarch when he is talking privately with you. I promise those three will tell the truth." That's a strange thing to say, especially coming from Haymicth who trusts no one. So I know if he's telling me to trust someone, that they are actually trust worthy.

"Okay." Me and Haymitch eat the rest of breakfast in silence. I grab something for Katniss to eat and return to her room, only to find her sitting on the bed, dressed, reading over the notes. She turns her head as I walk through the door, and smiles at me.

"Hey Peeta. I'm assuming you say Haymitch's note?" She asks.

"Yes. I'm shocked honestly, a whole day to ourselves."

"Me too, I want to spend it with you. We should go on the roof or something."

"Okay. I can order room service or something so we can have a picnic up there." She smiles again.

"That sounds perfect."

-----

We spend the whole afternoon together, and watch the sunset. I know we have to go back soon so Katniss can get ready, but I really don't want to.

"I wish I could spend the rest of my life like today." Katniss says.

I sigh, wishing this was true. "Me too. I just wish we could get a chance to be happy, even if we weren't together or friends or anything." Katniss raises an eyebrow at me, and looks slightly sad.

"Oh. We're only friends?"

"Yes, I thought that was what you wanted to be?" I was getting confused. Katniss stays silent for a while, which worries me. But she speaks again.

"Peeta, this is hard to explain, but I'll try my best. I thought the first games was a complete act by you. I thought you made everything up, so I tried so hard to not like you as more then a friend. I honestly wasn't sure how I felt about you, and, no offense, but that wasn't exactly the first thing on my mind." She looks at me to make sure I'm following along, and I nod for her to continue. "When I realized it was real, it made everything so much more complicated. So I kind of just pushed whatever I felt about you off to the side, and tried not to think about it. But I know I don't have much time left." I want to interrupt and tell her she will have plenty of time left. But I don't, because I know she won't listen. "So I think it was time to figure out my feelings. I was scared because I didn't want to marry or have kids ever. I'm not used to affection being shown to me, to being cared for. Sure there's Prim and Gale, but that's different. I was honestly sacred, Peeta. And I'm still scared to care about you, but I know there isn't much time left. So I think you need to know Peeta, I care about you a lot. And I think if we got married, even if it was forced... I would've been happy. Because I enjoy being with you."

I don't say anything. That wasn't what I was expecting. But I'm not mad. Katniss looks sad and concerned. "Peeta? It's okay if you don't feel the same way-" I don't let her finish, instead I kiss her. I pull her close to me, knowing this could very well be my last truly happy memory with Katniss. We eventually pull away, and stand in an embrace. "I care about you a lot too, Katniss."

AUTHORS NOTE

Wow that was a long chapter! Not gonna lie, I wasn't really expecting to end this chapter like that, or even have Katniss confess her feelings, but I decided now would be a fitting time and I could definitely see Katniss doing something like this. Anyways, how did we like this chapter? Did you enjoy it, or was it too long or what? Did you enjoy the Everlark feels? Please let me know!

Hope everyone is doing okay! <3