"Always?"

Chapter 16| Real.

READ TILL THE END FOR BIG NEWS.

Song oft the chapter; "A Thousand Years." By Christina Perri.

Katniss's POV;

My eyelids flutter open, and I finally get my first look of him. "Katniss!" Tears stream down his cheeks, he takes my hand and kisses it over and over again. "I'm sorry..." He whispers leaking irony side. "I'm so so sorry."

I shake my head. "Just kiss me, please."

His lips find mine in a desperate attempt to stop his tears. The kiss lasts an eternity, when we finally pull away both of us breath hard trying to regain our lost breaths. "It's not your fault." I finally say.

"Yes it is, and I'm so sorry Katniss. None of this would have ever happened If I would have stayed the night with you. And-"

"Where's Melody?" I interrupt him. "She lived right?" I ask.

"Yeah she did, you two are sharing a hospital room." He says with a soft smile. He stands and pulls back the paper curtain separating out beds.

"Hi." I smile laying my head back on the pillow and looking at her.

"Thank you." She says.  It's the first time i've ever seen a genuine smile on her face.

"For what?" I ask.

"For saving me, if it wasn't for you I wouldn't be here today." She says sitting up, so I try to do the same. "Hey hey, you have some broken ribs. Lay back down." Peeta nods and lays me back down. "Why did you save me" She asks.

"Because I know you didn't mean it." I say to her. Both Peeta and Melody look at me in confusion. "I know you never meant to take Peeta from me. Even though he wasn't mine to begin with." It earns a chuckle from me, a nervous smile from Peeta, and Melody's lips to purse into a thin line. "I know you never meant to do those horrible things you did to me. Right?" I ask.

She looks at Peeta. "I should tell you both something. Before anyone else finds out." She runs her fingers over her chin. "When he was in the hospital, I got paid to interfere with your treatments."

"What?" I ask.

"I was paid to rehijacked him." Her words ring through my brain.

"Maybe I should have killed you in that day." I spit at her.

"Melody, what?" Peeta asks. I reach to hold his hand tightly. "What did you do?"

"To hate Katniss, like Snow did."

"Who paid you?" He asks.

"That's confidential." She says. "But I can tell you it was for the right reasons."

I scoff. "What reasons are those?"

"Confidential, but the one that I made to myself is that I knew you needed to be with a good women. A woman who believed in you, and trusted you. Wasn't scared of you, and was beautiful. I'm the perfect woman for you, but you still seemed drawn to the girl on fire. So, I knew I was hopeless, and that's when I started giving you larger doses ..... Close the curtain." She smirks. Peeta stands and pulls the curtain closed.

"Peeta." I sigh as he places his head on my arm. "Your okay."

He looks at me with dark eyes. So I grab his face and kiss him like I did in the sewers in the war. "Thank you." He whispers. I nod and let our foreheads stay inclined.

He looks at our joined hands. "You know, I never thought I'd be here right now." He whispers to me. "I never thought I'd have you, or Willow. Or anything I have now. I never thought I'd see more death before twenty years old then I'd see my entire life. But I'm so glad that I had you by my side to help me through it." He looks up at me, and takes a long staggering deep breath. Then looks me in the eyes. "I love you Katniss Everdeen, I always have always will."