I wake up to the sound of the mockingjays outside my bedroom window. I smile and roll over to find that Peeta is missing. Could he have gotten up for water? He probably went to the bathroom. I'm lmost drifting off to sleep when I hear it. Peeta. It sounds like he's arguing with someone. But who is he arguing with? Probably Haymitch. I bet he ran out of liquor again and Peeta doesn't want to give it to him. This has happened before. I start down the stairs before I realize Peeta's is the only voice I hear. Is he arguing with himself? No. This isn't possible. Peeta recovered from the hijacking. He's gone over a year without lapsing into it. I quiet my footsteps and breathing.

Slowly, I make my way to the living room. He's standing there, hands clenched on a chair. It has come back. I let out the quietest of gasps, but he hears it. He looks up, and his eyes are the same as that night in the sewers of the Capitol. Half-mad, half-recognizing. I step towards him slowly with a smile on my face.

"Hey," I say. "You're up early." I have no idea what time it is but judging from the sun it's not that late. I hope the tone of my voice convinces him that everything is fine. What if something happens? Has the venom taken over again?

He makes a low, gutteral, animal sound. He leans toward me, then recoils. "No. No. No. I can't," he says. "She's a mutt!

She convinced you before, but now you know better." He's arguing with himself.

I inch towards the door and he quickly looks up. His eyes become clear, I think he recognizes me. Without warning, he leaps towards me, and grabs a knife we left on the table last night. I jump backwards, just out of his reach.

"You can't anymore!" He shouts at me. "You can't try to convince me! I know your little tricks. I know you're a mutt, I know you lied to me. I'll kill you, I'll kill you and the Capitol can have you back!"

I run towards the front door and just manage to grab my bow and arows from their spot next to it before I feel something sweeping under my legs and I fall. Peeta throws the stick he used to trip me to the side and walks toward me. I pull an arrow and try to get it on my bow. But I can't. I can't hurt Peeta. Not even like this, trying to kill me. I can't bring myself to shoot the arrow. I'm going to die. I have no hope of surviving if surviving means hurting Peeta. Suddenly, I think of something.

"HAYMITCH!" I shout, and hope he isn't passed out from all that drinking. "HAYMITCH! Help!"

"Shut up!" Peeta growls. He's on top of me now, his hand over my mouth and the knife held above my heart. I feel the knife go in my arm. He wants to make it slow. I close my eyes and silently say my goodbyes. To the real Peeta, to Haymitch, to my mother...to Gale. I wait for the moment I'll join Prim and Rue. And Madge. I wait for my death.

Suddenly, I feel Peeta's weight come off. He's sitting on the ground in front of me, shuddering. In his eyes, I see the conflicting memories, the horror. It's over, he's not going to kill me. I try to get up, but he lunges toward me again and pins me to the floor.

"You're not going anywhere," he says. "Not till your body gets shipped to the Capitol."

There's the sound of wood breaking and Haymitch is standing there, with most of the door scattered around his feet. He takes one look at us, then picks up Peeta as if he weighed nothing. All the while, Peeta shouts obsceneties at him.

"Stop it! Don't believe her! She's a mutt!" he shouts, as sure of this as I am that I'm not a mutt.

"Shut up!" Haymitch barks, and puts him down on one of the chairs. "Get me some rope!" he tells me. I nod and get the rope we keep under the television for situations like this exactly. Haymitch ties Peeta to the chair, where he sits fighting against the rope."Calm down." Haymitch orders. He tosses a cloth at me for my arm while he murmers to Peeta.

Slowly, the madness leaves Peeta's eyes and he stops fighting against the rope binding him. After a few minutes, he's his regular looks at me, and the pain in his eyes is so obvious I walk towards him and untie him. Haymitch watches, still wary. Peeta takes me in his arms and whispers "I'm so sorry. I love you."

"I love you, too." I roll my eyes. "Obviously."

Haymitch clears his throat. "Before you two get all icky," he says, "why don't you explain what happened?"

"The venom took over again," I say. "And why'd you break my door? That was freaking mahogany!"