Thanks to eatsnightlockforbreakfast for her awesome help and patience. This would be a mess without her.

A shiver ran down Peeta's back and made him lift his eyes from the apple drawing he was shading.

He looked outside and huffed at the snow falling slowly.

It was pointless to keep the bakery open when the regular customers didn't even risk stepping outside, but Mother insisted. He looked at his drawing again and another shiver ran down his spine, this time because the door had been opened.

"Madge!" Peeta greeted the girl with a smile.

"Hey Peeta," she smiled back shivering a bit, her cheeks and nose red from the cold outside. She took off her woolen hat and asked for half a dozen of cinnamon rolls and a small lemon tart.

"So, how's the lovebird?" she asked with a knowing smile, scratching her temple a bit with her finger, and Peeta frowned.

"What?" he asked confusedly at his friend while he hand her the bag with the goods.

"Oh, well, you know. I might have talked with a friend from school, you know..." she said slowly, her smile stretching her cheeks.

"What? Madge! What are you talking about?" Peeta asked blushing furiously.

Every Friday since they had been out of the reapings, Delly had invited Peeta and Madge over to play cards in the back of the Shoe Shop. Katniss had been invited too, several times, but she always failed to show up. One of those nights (he might have been under the influence of some fumes for the shoe's glue or maybe it was because deep inside he knew that Madge could help him) Peeta had confessed to Madge that he was utterly and madly in love with Katniss Everdeen.

Madge took it as a personal task to pair her friends, and it seemed that her words worked because Katniss talked a bit more when they traded and when Peeta would say something about the weather or how accurate her aim was she was more eloquent with her thanks, telling him how her father was a good teacher.

She made a joke once about the squirrels and they even walked together to the Main Square on the Harvest Festival's eve. But Peeta moved slowly. He felt that Katniss was easy to scare if emotions were at stake.

"Let's just say that your name was brought to the conversation and she said you were chatty and then she blushed..."

"Why? What did you...?"

"And then she added, amidst her blush, that you were really nice."

"That's why you're calling me lovebird?" he asked with a laugh and Madge nodded.

"Katniss Everdeen doesn't blush!" she said throwing her hands in the air and Peeta laughed out loud.

"I give you that," he said with a small smile, leaning on the countertop with his forearms.

"But I'm scared that she'll shy away from me if I say something"

"Well, I could..."

"No no, I would rather talk to her. I even thought about asking her out on a date someday," he confessed and Madge smiled.

"You might be the only guy able to take someone on a date in this District and make it something good,"

Madge said with a small laugh and Peeta shrugged sheepishly. He was about to tell her what he had in mind when bakery's door was opened abruptly by Delly. She looked agitated, her work apron still on under her coat. Her cheeks were red and her hair was dusted with snow.

"It's Katniss...they caught her...she's been whipped!" Delly panted and Peeta felt his insides freeze.

An icy blast of wind hit him in the face, but he didn't care. He could feel blood rushing through his ears at the same time fear took over his body, making him nauseous. People had gathered to watch, but no one was doing anything to stop it. They just stood, their faces in shock.

But still, there was a silence that hurt even more that a thousand screams. He had seen the whipping post before but he never thought that Katniss would be the first one in a long time to be tied to it.

Her jacket and hunting bag were next to her, blood splatters all over them. Her hands were tied around the thick wooden pole. She looked like she had passed out.

Tears gathered in Peeta's eyes at the sight of her laying on the ground, her hands over her head at a weird angle and her naked back covered in blood, lashes and strips of her shirt and undershirt hanging at her sides.

"Stop it!" Peeta yelled pushing against the passive audience, but a gun aimed at him stopped him.

"You stay right there, son," the peacekeeper said, giving Katniss another whip. Peeta noticed Darius laying on the ground with a small hole on his forehead that dripped blood, forming a small pool next to him.

His eyes were still open.

"Delly, go get my dad, bring him no matter what," Madge said and stood up in front of Peeta. Delly took off quickly.

"Peacekeeper Stone, stop this right now!" she said with all the authority she could muster, but the quiver in her voice was unmistakable.

The peacekeeper smirked at Madge, still pointing the gun at them and whipped Katniss again.

"No I won't. This girl.." whip "broke.." whip "the law..." whip "by poaching!" he said, sounding almost giddy. His lips formed a thin line and his helmet hung from his shoulders, his almost white blond hair had a few droplets of blood in it.

"I'm sure that the amount of lashes for poaching are fewer, you're going to kill her!" Madge yelled.

Peeta took a step forward and lifted his hands.

"Please, sir..." he pleaded but his words were cut off by the Mayor's arrival.

"What is going on?" Mayor Undersee yelled and the peacekeeper stop at once."Darius?" he asked with a shaky voice full of anger when he saw the redhead laying on the ground, unmoving under the snow falling slowly over him. "You lower that gun from my daughter or I will have you killed!" he was beside himself.

He looked around at the rest of the peacekeepers.

"What are you looking at?! He killed one of you own! Purnia and Patna, arrest Peacekeeper Stone!" Peacekeeper Stone lowered his gun and dropped his whip on the ground. He didn't fight when his hands were tied behind his back.

"You're weak Undersee, you run this District like it's a fair." Stone said as he spit at the Mayor's feet.

Peeta and Madge rushed towards Katniss and untied her hands quickly with a sharp knife that Delly gave them. Peeta noticed Mayor Undersee follow the peacekeepers after one last worried look over his shoulder.

Rooba the butcher was over Darius, closing his eyes, saying a quiet words.

They put Katniss' arms at her sides gently and Peeta panicked when Katniss didn't even move.

"You can't carry her in your arms, it will her hurt her more." Madge said while she covered Katniss' back with her jacket. She checked Katniss's pulse and nodded.

"I'll take her over my shoulder. Madge, try to hold her arms and not stretch the skin." Peeta said desperately.

The trip to the Seam was the longest he had ever made. Katniss was light over his shoulder, but he didn't want to risk her anymore damage.

Primrose and Mrs Everdeen ran towards him when they reached the last path that lead towards Katniss's house. Mrs Everdeen was crying and Primrose looked almost green, but also determined.

"Bring her in." Prim said when Peeta reached them.

He settled Katniss over their table gently and this time she stirred a bit. Mrs Everdeen cried harder and Katniss moaned painfully at the sound.

Peeta took her small hand in his.

"Mom!" Primrose shouted while beginning to wash her hands." Look at me, go get some snow and chop the mint and aloe!" Drying her hands she turned to Madge. "Madge, please, pass me those scissors." She pointed at a small metal box over the stove. Madge gave her the scissors and then left the house hurriedly.

Prim cut the shirt and removed the pieces of fabric that were plastered on her back with the blood and the pieces of flesh.

Her skin was red and raw and it looked feverish. Peeta sat with his hands holding hers, looking at her. She had a cut on her eyebrow that was slowly swelling.

Mrs Everdeen entered the room again with a pot full of snow and what it looked like a determined face. There was no trace of the weeping woman Peeta had seen a few minutes ago.

Katniss woke up when they took the last piece of fabric from her skin. She cried out painfully and opened her eyes which were full of tears.

"Katniss..shh, stay still." Peeta said said but Katniss tried to move again, which cause a new wave of blood and cries. Peeta stood up to help Prim hold Katniss still, but the grip on his hand tightened.

"Don't go!" she cried amidst the pain and Peeta sat again. He moved her hair behind her ear and looked at her, nodding. She was looking at him with red and tired eyes, full of tears and Peeta willed himself to hold her gaze.

"Stay still please." he whispered, running his thumb over her cheek.

"Peeta, give her this, please." Prim said and put a small glass with a blue hue on the table, which made Katniss scrunch her nose.

"It will make it better." he said with what he hoped looked like a calm little smile. Katniss closed her eyes and Peeta put the glass to her lips but she shook her head. That caused the wounds reopened and he had no choice but to put the glass aside.

Mrs Everdeen put a sheet over her daughter and then Prim put a coat of ice with herbs mixed into it on top of that. Katniss was still moving and whimpering softly, but luckily Madge appeared at the house again and gave Prim a metallic box.

"It's morphling, give it to her." she said and Mrs Everdeen looked at her with a small frown.

"What about Maithena?" she asked and Madge shook her head.

"Just give it to Katniss." she said and Mrs Everdeen nodded, already filling the syringe with the clear liquid. Katniss's brow smoothed instantly as her mother injected the morphling into her. Her body relaxed and her eyes closed slowly when the needle was pulled out of her arm.

"Please don't go Peeta." Katniss whispered and then she was out. He nodded dumbly and looked at her while Prim and her Mother keep working on her back.

"I have to go, but call me if you need anything else." Madge said putting on her coat. She placed a hand on Peeta's shoulder and after a nod to Primrose and Mrs Everdeen she was out in the snow again.

Prim worked steadily on Katniss's back, but Peeta noticed the young girl's resolve breaking little by little. He noticed that she had been crying softly after finishing with Katniss's back. Prim put the things they had used away without looking at her Mother.

Mrs Everdeen had a faraway look on her face and without a word she moved like a ghost to her room.

Peeta wanted to say something but he couldn't take his eyes off of Katniss's face.

"She has a cut on her eyebrow." Peeta said and Prim looked at it before running the back of her hand over her eyes. She cleaned the wound, putting on a layer of sugar and then some gauze.

"Sometimes Katniss reminds her so much of my dad that she has to look away." Prim whispered while she cleaned her sister's face with a damp towel. Peeta looked at Katniss and vaguely recalled Mr Everdeen's face.

"Yeah, I remember him." he said, an image of a tall man with olive skin and a broad smile on his face while he sang to a little Katniss after leaving the school popping into his mind.

"I don't. I mean, sometimes I forget him." Prim said with a sad voice but then she added with a small smile "But then Katniss tells me about him. How he sang, how he was, and I see why my mother sometimes has to look away."

"I'm really sorry Prim."

"It's okay." she said with a small smile. She sighed and looked at her sister.

"What's important right now is keeping Katniss asleep and changing the coat of snow every hour."

"You can lay down for a bit, I'm staying with her." Peeta said and Prim smiled at him.

"Thanks Peeta, Katniss was right about you." Prim said and Peeta frowned but she didn't say anything else.

Every hour on the dot Prim came back to the kitchen to put another layer of snow on her sister's back.

At least it didn't look like it had caught fire anymore.

Peeta shared a turkey sandwich with Prim and then a lemon tart Madge had left. He stayed there, his chin pressed on the back of his hand while the other hand held Katniss's tightly.

He fell asleep a few times, but woke up at the sound of Prim's quiet footsteps around Katniss, changing her snow coat, or at the sound of the wind against the window pane.

A soft of tinkling noise woke him up and he saw Prim's figure walking to her room. He rested his cheek on the wood but he frowned when he felt something on his hand. When he opened his eyes he found Katniss's thumb rubbing small circles on the back of his hand. Her eyes were closed and by her face it didn't look like she was in pain. Peeta rested his chin on the table, a few inches away from Katniss's.

He felt his heart jump in his ribcage when her eyes opened slowly, revealing a calm look behind her gray eyes.

"Your hand is cold." she rasped, her voice raw from sleep.

"Doesn't matter, yours are warm." he said and Katniss sighed.

"You keep doing that, taking care of me." she whispered and Peeta gave her the glass of water Prim had left her. She drank it eagerly.

"I would do it for...I just, I want you to be okay." She swallowed the last of the water and Peeta took the glass from her. Her brows knitted together, but then she smiled shyly at him, her grey eyes warm.

"Thanks." she said quietly, her eyes roaming his face. Peeta sighed and ran a hand through his hair, feeling the need to say the words he had rehearsed a hundred times in his mind. He squeezed her hand gently.

"Katniss, I, I'll always want for you to be okay. Probably Madge's hints were too subtle... "

"There was nothing subtle about her hints... but I thought she was teasing me..." Katniss said with laughter in her sleepy voice.

"She wasn't." he said seriously and Katniss nodded with a gulp. Maybe it was because he was sleepy, or maybe it was because she was too close to him, but he saw her eyes sparkle with excitement.

"Actually I wanted to ask you out on a date." he confessed, feeling the tips of his ears catch fire.

Katniss smiled and moved her head closer to his.

"Here? Such a gentleman." she said teasingly, smiling even brighter.

"Yeah, I had the entire thing planned..." he started, his nose close to hers but she cut him off gently.

"Wait, don't tell me, surprise me."