Dark Days

Chapter One

a/n: welcome! this story is a compilation of writings exchanged on Instagram and Discord between myself (themckingjays, as Katniss Everdeen) and writing partner (twelveslover, as Peeta Mellark). as you read, you'll see a line (-) indicating alternating characters and who was writing. we hope that you enjoy reading our plot, and look for updates as we continue developing. i want to thank and attribute some ideas and inspiration to igsygrace on ao3. by far one of the greatest writers!

Katniss was sitting in the kitchen, watching the late afternoon sun's shadows wear across the floorboards of the home she shared with Peeta. The tea in her hands was still steaming, helping to warm her chilled fingers from having been outside for so long today, coming in just as snow began to fall outside. She could hear the sounds of children playing outside, their laughter filling the otherwise silent room.

She looked across the table at Peeta, seeing the way he traced patterns on the worn wood of the table. His vibrant eyes looked haunted today, reflecting the inner turmoil that he seemed to consume him more and more with each passing day.

Her own eyes reflected those of love and helplessness. Since their return back to twelve, each day felt like a dance between hope and despair, as Peeta's recovery included moments of clarity and episodes of devastating relapses. She'd found him earlier, on the couch, asleep but deeply entangled in a nightmare.

She'd heard his cries as she got closer to the house, and had broken into a run, nearly throwing the door open as she came inside to wake him and talk through with him what was real and what wasn't.

"Peeta," she murmured, coming back to the present moment and speaking the first word between them in what felt like hours. "Are you okay?" She whispered, meeting his gaze as his eyes met hers. The raw pain in his features was unmistakable, before he forced a weak smile at her, and claimed he was just tired.

She was certain of that- he was exhausted, given what little sleep he seemed to get was plagued with horrific nightmares. The exhaustion strained his voice, and she wished she could believe he was just tired, and that there wasn't so much more beyond that at play. But the nightmares that haunted him were just a reminder of the deep gashes left permanently by the Capitol on him. Those scars ran deep, deep beneath the surface.

Katniss reached across the table to him, her hand gently taking his stiff fingers, intertwining with her own. "We'll get through this, Peeta." She whispered, her voice barely beyond that of a breath. "Together."

But even as the words left her mouth, she feared if the love they shared for one another was really enough to mend what had been broken by the Capitol. Could it really be enough to mend the shattered pieces of his soul, and chase away the darkness that was threatening to consume him whole?

-

The Capitol had fully destroyed Peeta's sense of reality, with time and a lot of reassurance from the people he trusted, some of that was rebuilt. Even with the "real or not real?" confirmations and support from Katniss, he still had severe PTSD from the memories that the Capitol had manipulated into his mind.

The episodes had been more intense and frequent recently, he wasn't quite sure what had been triggering them but the past couple weeks he had been going through his days in what felt like a blur. Exhaustion was weighing in heavily at this point- every time his eyes shut the past week Peeta had been met with vivid nightmares of memories that were never real, except he couldn't manage to sort out reality alone, which just seemed to extend those nightmares into his conscious moments as well.

With all of this, Peeta had been attempting to stay awake more than sleeping. He didn't like waking Katniss, he certainly didn't like being uncertain of what was true and the distress he felt for quite some time after, so he had settled with many cups of coffee and often failed attempts to resist sleep.