Finding the Missing Piece: Book 4

Prologue/Chapter One

I pick at the tall, wet blades of grass, not caring to look at him or even begin to worry about getting wet or worse, struck by the lightening that lights the sky and makes the thunder shake the earth.

"Get what? What is there to get? You're slipping away from me and there's nothing I can do about it." I tell him, finally understanding why I'm truly so upset with him.

"That's not what I meant." Peeta says, shaking his head.

"Then what do you mean? Because obviously, I don't understand you anymore."

He scoffs, "Why do I care, Katniss? Maybe it's because you are my best friend. You're sitting out here in the middle of a thunder storm, acting absolutely insane and you ask me why I care? Why would I not care?" Peeta asks loudly.

But that however, was a stupid question to ask, I will give him that.

I think for a minute and can only decipher one logical answer.

"Because you love me." I finally muster up.

"Exactly but maybe it's not just because I love you." He says, squinting as rain drips down his long eyelashes and his blond hair that's now dark from the rain and slide off the tip of his nose.

I blink away a few droplets of rain.

My hair is soaked and my clothes are too, not anymore than Peeta's are now though.

"Then what else?" I ask, knowing Peeta is going to say something that will make all my anger go away and make everything seem like it'll be fine again, but it won't because I know damn well, once we get back inside or even wake up in the morning, everything will be back to the way it has been.

He takes a deep breath as thunder rumbles the ground.

My first instinct is to flee, because thunder always comes after lightening and lightening is surely near, but I don't budge.

"It's probably because you're my whole life, Katniss. You are everything to me." Peeta rambles on, then stops.

I look up at him, wondering why he stopped, but it seems he stopped to look in the sky.

I look up too, almost blinded by the lightening bolts.

I know we better get out of here before something else tragic happens, like getting electrocuted by our wedding rings or something.

Wouldn't that be something?

"We are each other's missing pieces and we need each other." Peeta says softly, the words just flowing out of his mouth like he's said them a billion times, but I know that he is just speaking from his heart.

He's always been good at that and being convincing without lying.

I just hold my breath, not knowing how to respond.

He always plays the 'missing piece' card and it always gets me, but it should, he is my 'missing piece.' And maybe I should think about that a little more.

How Peeta is that exactly.

"Now will you please get your ass inside?" Peeta asks after a second, helping me to my feet and together, we rush inside.

When we get inside. Peeta and I go upstairs without speaking.

I strip from my soaking wet clothes and leave them on the bathroom floor while Peeta changes in our bedroom.

I put on dry undergarments and dry my hair with a towel.

When I come out, Peeta is in his underwear, his hair still dark blond from the moisture.