The Hunger Games - Peeta Mellark (1)

}22{ - Stormy Confessions

She missed Dominic's stupid big glasses and Ambrose's stupid laugh and Augustus stupid, stupid humming.

She missed falling asleep jammed into one bed, just the four of them.

"You will. I promise." He assured, and bent over to give Livia a kiss.

"I want to go home now." Livia sighed.

"Tell you what. You go back to sleep and dream of home. And you'll be there for real before you know it", Peeta suggested, "Okay?"

"Okay", Livia whispered, "Wake me if you need me to keep watch."

"I'm good and rested, thanks to you and Haymitch. Besides, who knows how long this will last?" He quipped.

What did he mean?

The storm?

The brief respite it brought them?

The Games themselves?

Livia didn't know, but she was too sad and tired to ask.

It was evening when Peeta woke her again.

The rain had turned to a downpour, sending streams of water through the ceiling where earlier there had been only drips.

Peeta had placed the broth pot under the worst one and repositioned the plastic to deflect most of it from Livia.

She felt a bit better- able to sit up without getting too dizzy- and was absolutely famished.

So was Peeta.

It was clear he had been waiting for her to wake up to eat and was eager to get started.

There was not much left.

Two pieces of groosling, a small mishmash of roots, and a handful of dried fruit.

"Should we try and ration it?" Peeta asked.

"No, let's just finish it. The groosling's getting old anyway, and the last thing we need is to get sick off spoiled food." Livia said, dividing the food into two equal piles.

They tried to eat slowly, but they were both so hungry, they were done in a couple of minutes.

Livia's stomach was in no way satisfied.

"Tomorrow's a hunting day." Livia jeered.

"I won't be much help with that", Peeta said, "I've never hunted before."

"I'll kill and you cook", Livia offered, "And you can always gather."

"I wish there was some sort of bread bush out there." Peeta huffed.

"The bread they sent me from District Eleven was still warm", Livia said with a sigh, "Here, chew these."

She handed him a couple of mint leaves and popped a few in her own mouth.

It was hard to even see the projection in the sky, but it was clear enough to know there were no more deaths that night.

So Cato and Thresh hadn't had it out yet.