Catching Fire – The Boy With The Bread

So this is my version of "Catching Fire" but entirely from Peeta's perspective, I hope you all like it, and please review to let me know what you think :)

Chapter One

I'm back in the arena. I've visited it almost every night since we left it, and although I know that it's only in my head, the horror is all too real. Katniss and I are standing by the Cornucopia, not saying anything, but looking in to each others eyes. The sun is glinting and there's a light breeze, but then the scene changes horribly.

The sun disappears behind a clump of grey clouds, and we hear an ominous yowling from the forest behind us. I look behind me to look for the source of the noise, but a hideous spine chilling scream brings my head whipping back round. One of the mutts that terrorized us from the arena has Katniss round the throat. The deep brown eyes that I know once belonged to little Rue from District 11, glare at me. I stand there paralysed with horror, and in a split second those ten inch razor sharp claws flash, Katniss falls to the ground, and the mutt disappears in to the trees. I rush to Katniss's side and lean down beside her. The claws have made deep gashes in her throat, and blood is gushing from the wound. Her hand claws at the air in front of her, and I grab it.

"Please don't," I beg, "please don't leave me." My eyes are swimming with tears, and they fall in to her beautiful dark hair.

"Peeta," She gasps, making more blood more from the gaping wound. "Peeta, I'm sorry." She's become deathly pale, and a few seconds later her eye's flicker upwards and her shallow breathing stops.

That's when my own screaming starts, I cradle her body in my arms, great rasping, shaking sobs echoing from me.

My eyes snap open, my muscles tightly clenched. I'm covered in a sheen of cold sweat, my eyes stinging from the tears I shed in my sleep, and my throat sore.

I slowly tell myself that what I just experienced wasn't real, that Katniss was alive, and that we were surviving as best we could. I sit up in bed, looking over at the weak winter light creeping through the gap in the curtains of my new bedroom. I live on my own now, in my new house in the Victors Village. Katniss's mother and sister live with her, but my family needed to stay living over the bakery. To be honest I'm kind of glad to be away from it all, I find that I can bare the solitude quite well. It's only at times like this, when I awake from a particularly horrible nightmare that I want someone with me. And that person was always Katniss.

I stretch and gingerly climb out of bed; my limbs still feel tight from the excessive straining of muscles during my nightmare. Well, all of my remaining limbs, but to be honest I'm pretty much used to my new leg now. As I draw the curtains and look out of the window, it dawns on me what day it is. Today is the day we start on the victory tour, and in just several hours District 12 will be inundated with camera crews, stylists, and prep teams. Katniss and I will have to face the cameras again, but I know this time will be very different from the first. A ripple of sadness passes through me, as I think how Katniss will right now be thinking about the pretence she'll have to keep up for the next few weeks. Things had been incredibly strained between us after we got back from the games. I know that this is mostly down to me, but I so wanted it to be real. The girl on fire had never felt the same way about me.

After a quick shower I wander downstairs to the kitchen. It's taken a bit of getting used to, having all of this to myself. Going from a small house lived in my five people, to a huge house inhabited by one is a very strange experience.

Nonetheless I do what I always do after a nightmare. What I do when I want to forget. I focus my mind on baking fresh bread for the day. We've all found a way to distract ourselves from the horrors that lurk in our pasts. Katniss hunts, Haymitch drinks, and I bake.

When I'm done and the kitchen is filled with the delicious smell of freshly made bread, I check the time, and decide that I'd better go over and check that Haymitch isn't too drunk. The cameras will be here in a few hours, and Haymitch doesn't need to be seen a even more of a laughing stock.

I pick up the loaf of bread and quickly cross over to the house opposite mine, just as snow flakes start to fall from the sky. I wrinkle my nose as I get in to Haymitch's house because the smell is just putrid, no surprise really seeing as he never cleans up after himself. I'm outside the kitchen when I hear voices coming from inside.

"Look, if you wanted to be babied, you should have asked Peeta."

I walk in to the room, and find Haymitch sitting at the table, clutching a knife, and dripping wet with water. Katniss is standing over him.

"Asked me what?" I say, Katniss turns around to look at me. She looks strong and healthy, her blazing look making her look even more beautiful. I look away quickly. I cross to the table, and put the bread down, and then hold out my hand to Haymitch.

"Asked you to wake me without giving me pneumonia," says Haymitch, passing me his knife. He pulls off his filthy shirt, revealing an equally soiled undershirt, and rubs himself down with the dry part.

I smile, and douse the knife with some white liquor from a bottle on the floor. After wiping the blade clean on the end of my shirt, I start to slice the bread. I hand Haymitch the heel, and turn to look at Katniss.

"Would you like a piece?" I say.

"No, I ate at the Hob," She says. "But thank you." Her voice is formal, how its been ever since we got back.

"You're welcome," I say stiffly.

Haymitch tosses his shirt somewhere into the mess. "Brrr. You two have got a lot of warming up to do before showtime."

He's right of course. People won't be expecting two awkward people, who can barely look each other in the eye. No, they'll be expecting the star crossed lovers from District 12, together at last.

Katniss artfully ignores Haymitch's last comment, and says "Take a bath, Haymitch." Before swinging out of the window and crossing the green to her house. I silently watch her walk away, long braided hair swishing behind her. Haymitch must have noticed where I was looking, as when he speaks next it's in a gentle tone.

"Come on lad, sit down" he says. I sigh, and kick some of the debris out of the way so I can sit next to Haymitch at the kitchen table. We eat the bread in silence, that doesn't break until I get up to leave.

"What time are they coming?" Haymitch asks, in a slightly slurred voice.

"Midday Haymitch," I say shortly before walking out of his house, across the green and in to my own. I start organizing my paintings in the living room, you see all the victors have to develop a "talent" by the time the cameras come back for the victory tour. Katniss never really bothered with hers, to be fair the whole concept is a bit of a ridiculous idea. I mean, the entire country has watched you kill live on television, and now they're interested in seeing all the pointless things that you do in your spare time. I don't really mind, as I find painting gives me a bit of relief from dwelling on my darker thoughts. It's peaceful trying to mix the perfect paint colour, and seeing how they all look together on a canvas.

While I organise the paintings, I start thinking. Maybe having to pretend to be in love with me, will actually make Katniss realize that she really does love me? I shake my head, of course it won't. I'm just being wistfully stupid.

Just then I hear the sound of cars, and beeping horns outside. There's a chorus of shouted greetings, and then I hear a bang at the door.

"Let the Victory Tour begin," I think to myself darkly.