"Everything is awesome!"

The Lego Movie.

"I'm hopeless and awkward and desperate for love!"

Chandler Bing.

Winter

By: Cassandraishere.

Katniss' dress is a combination of Rita Ora's Red Silk VMA's dress and Kylie Jenner's 1920s jewel dress, only slightly less daring, but only slightly.

District Twelve

Katniss took a deep breath as she stood just inside the train doors next to Peeta, whose hand she held tightly, and Effie and Haymitch. Somewhere behind them a man was doing a countdown.

"Five, Four, Three, Two, One."

Peeta squeezed her hand hard as the doors opened and the light of the cameras blinded them.

"Here we go." She mumbled to herself before plastering a smile on her face.

Despite the noise that the District was making, probably out of the excitement of receiving their parcels, she could hear one voice clearly.

"Katniss!"

She grinned and began to run blindly towards the voice, pulling Peeta along.

"Prim!" Katniss called back, smiling as her eyes adjusted and she could clearly see her sister running towards her with a smile on her face, her arms outstretched.

When Prim jumped up into her arms she managed to catch her with one arm but stumbled backwards and fell into Peeta who was behind her. He dropped her hand to help her gain her balance. She smiled at him and properly hugged her sister with both arms for maybe a little more than a second when Prim's head popped up off Katniss shoulder.

"Peeta!" she exclaimed grabbing the boys shoulder and dragging him into a group hug.

"Hey Prim." Peeta smiled down at the younger girl fondly as he wrapped his arms around both Everdeen's and squeezed. "So you missed me, huh? You must have been miserable."

"Your modesty impressed me," Prim said, a smile spreading across her face.

"Whatever." Peeta said and ruffled the younger girl's hair, Prim stuck her tongue out childishly.

A woman's approaching laughter caused all of them to look up from their moment. Katniss mother, Euthalia, walked towards them with a small smile on her face.

"Prim, tone it down a bit, we don't want to scare Peeta out of the family."

Katniss and Peeta smiled tensely at the mention of their engagement, but Prim actually managed to laugh before releasing Katniss and Peeta and walking towards her mother.

"Yeah, yeah. I know." Prim said casually.

Haymitch came up behind them and clapped a hand on each of the Victors shoulders.

"Alright, time to say good-bye to the cameras kids."

Katniss and Peeta threw a final smile at the cameras before disappearing with Katniss' family and Haymitch into the crowd, which was awaiting the food they would receive as a reward for producing two Victors from their District. They were glad that they wouldn't have to see the Cameras until the party in the mayor's house, which was hours away.

The Mayor's Mansion

"Alright, you can look now."

Katniss took a deep breath and opened her eyes and gasped.

"Cinna, wow."

Cinna chuckled behind her as Katniss studied her reflection closely in the full length mirror in one of the guest rooms in the mayor's house. If he didn't know better he would think Katniss was studying some sort of painting closely, looking for the fine lines of the brush strokes.

"It's not on fire." Katniss said rather simply after a few minutes of careful inspection before turning towards Cinna who was grinning. "It's also so… mature."

Cinna shrugged as he worked on adjusting the delicate straps and jewels across her back. "Well, since you're engaged now, I'm trying to present the image of a grown woman."

"I feel… weird."

Cinna threw is head back and laughed and shook his head, chuckling to himself. "I knew you would."

Katniss stared back at her reflection and still couldn't believe what she saw. Her hair fell in big bouncy waves, black and shining. Her lips were plum and blood red, and her eyes were both sharp and smoky, framed with more eyelashes than usual.

Cinna had rubbed some sort of lotion on her skin that made her shimmer, making her dark caramel skin shine with more gold than usual. The gown was grey, silvery. It brought her eyes out and made her think of storm clouds. The dress was basically as thick as tissue paper. It exposed every curve in her body, which shocked her since she didn't know she had any. Apparently eating properly produced a lot of curves she was unaware of.

It was made of jewels. Silvery jewels and diamonds and silk. It was entirely backless, but did have some decorative straps, made of jewels, that dangled down her back and crisscrossed each other, and rested on either side of her back, gathering near her rear. It was basically strapless with jewel strings making an off the shoulder strappy effect, her breasts were annoyingly on display in a sort of v-neck. The fabric was kind of see through in some places due to the jewels but it was thicker where she needed it due to her modesty.

She had no words whatsoever.

"Cinna, I think this dress might give my mother a heart attack." She touched the skirt. "Never mind the fact that Peeta might choke on his own tongue and just drop dead."

Cinna grasped her shoulders and smiled, "If he does then tell him I'm sorry."

She rolled her eyes.

"Besides, the new instructions were to present you a bit more mature for the public." Cinna said causally and brushed the dresses skirt. "I decided to own the idea. So if he faints I'll be very proud of myself."

Katniss blushed in embarrassment, slightly peeved by the idea of Snow ordering for something like this.

"This type of dresses usually make women feel powerful."

Katniss smiled, "I do feel powerful."

Cinna helped her into her heels, they were golden. "Perfect."

Katniss walked down the hallway towards the doors right outside the ballroom where the party was to be held with Cinna on her arm. They were laughing about some joke Cinna said as Peeta, Effie, and Haymitch came into view, all waiting outside the ballroom's doors for her.

She was smiling when Peeta's gaze fell on her and she couldn't help but laugh at his reaction. His eyes widened comically as he gasped so hard at the sight of her that he started choking on his own spit and had to double over coughing, his hands on his knees. Haymitch burst out laughing as a reaction and Effie scolded him.

She smiled at Cinna when he let go of her with a good-bye nod before walking towards Peeta with a teasing smile on her lips.

"You okay?" She asked as she rubbed his back.

He straightened and stood towering above her while loosening his tie. "Uh, yeah." He coughed. "I'm fine."

She stared at him until he started to scratch the back of his neck awkwardly. She laughed.

"Yeah, yeah." He said and took hold of her hand. "Let's get this thing over with."

This time even Effie laughed.

She was standing at Peeta's side drinking fruity juice out of a fancy glass glad that they had thought of providing non-alcoholic drinks. Peeta had smiled at her choice and surprised her by choosing something with alcohol with it out of his own free will.

Peeta was talking to some blond boy he was friends with, his hand playing with a jewel at her hip. The party at the mayor's house was quite a relaxed affair. Not a lot of people were dancing, conversation was low and tranquil, and she knew quite a few people in the room.

She was leaning against Peeta and craning her neck to try to get a good look at her sister. Prim was dancing to one of the slow songs with Rory. She smiled into her glass as she drank. Despite her reservations on her sister possibly having a boyfriend she found both children incredibly adorable.

As she was busy watching her sister Gale came up to her and cleared his throat.

"Hey." He said, looking kind of uncomfortable. Katniss smiled at her friend.

"Hey."

"I, uh, wanted to ask you to dance." He fidgeted with his sleeves and avoided eye contact as he spoke.

"Oh, ok…" Katniss said, confused by his unusual behaviour. She turned to Peeta and gave him her glass. He smiled at her and raised his beer to his mouth as he watched her leave.

They settled into the standard sway, while Katniss kept on peaking over Gale's shoulder to get a look at Prim. Gale looked like he was trying to think of what he was going to say, and Peeta kept on looking at them while pretending to listen to whoever was talking to him.

"If your brother tries to kiss my sister I'll track him down." Katniss said casually as she turned back to Gale.

"I'll let him know." He said. "So... you clean up nice."

She looked down at herself and smiled. "Thanks. Peeta almost choked himself to death, and Haymitch almost pissed his pants laughing when they saw me."

Gale smiled, imagining what she described. "Mixed reactions."

Katniss smiled a little, "Yeah, for sure."

"I didn't know you had a suit." Katniss said as she looked him over.

"It was my dads. Weddings."

"Oh." Katniss said, "Well you look nice."

"Thanks."

They were silent for a bit but they continued to sway. As they were dancing she caught sight of Peeta and made a face at him. He threw a funnier one back.

"It's kind of weird to be dancing with you." She said after a bit.

"I wanted an excuse to talk to you away from your fiancée."

"Oh, what about?" Katniss said as she tore her eyes away from Peeta who was now, from what she could tell, being forced by Haymitch to try what the old man had been drinking. Peeta made a disgusted face and Katniss chuckled.

Gale caught her gaze with his, "I didn't see that engagement coming."

Katniss shrugged and tried to be non-committal, figuring that someone might be listening. "Neither did we."

"So it just happened?" Gale didn't seem to believe her.

She glared at him "Yeah."

"Okay." Gale said, understanding that he needed to drop it. "So you have no regrets?"

Katniss shook her head. "Nope."

"Don't wanna play the field, huh?" he forced himself make it try to come across as a joke but it didn't.

Katniss looked at him funny, "Why would I?"

He shrugged. "People don't usually marry the first person they kissed."

"I've kissed other people." Katniss rolled her eyes.

"I didn't mean Prim, Katniss." Gale said dryly. Katniss rolled her eye.

"Well she's a person." She muttered.

"I just wanted to tell you that I wanna talk to you later, okay?" Gale huffed.

Katniss raised an eyebrow, "We're talking now, aren't we?"

Gale sighed, frustrated. "Somewhere not here."

Katniss nodded, "Sure."

Gale was thinking about saying something else when Peeta's hand landed on his shoulder.

"Do you mind if I cut in?" He asked with a casual type of grin. Gale shrugged and released his best friend for Peeta to swoop in.

He watched them for a little bit. Peeta would bump their foreheads together, and make her laugh as often as he could. Katniss would smile and laugh softly, she even seemed to be talking a lot, for her. Gale turned and walked away.

District Twelve

As the days passed by, the obsessive Capitol coverage of their lives upon their return to District Twelve slowly dwindled to an end. They were to be given a break from the press while the people in the Capitol would continue to buzz with the news of their engagement until their wedding planning would officially begin, followed by the wedding itself which was set a week before the Quarter Quell.

It was upon the first day that Katniss and Peeta had made it out of their homes as themselves and not their Capitol persona's that they found themselves in a screaming match in the middle of the town square amongst a large crowd of people.

Now this argument wasn't caused by anything that caused typical arguments among regular people. Peeta and Katniss weren't necessarily mad at each other. Frustrated, yes, but not mad.

They had crossed paths in the middle of the crowded square. Peeta had a slightly crazed look in his eye when he grabbed her by the upper arms and pulled her into the alley next to the General store.

"You need to go home, now." He'd said firmly and began to tug her hunting bag away from her.

"What? Peeta, excuse me what are you doing?" she'd immediately gotten defensive over the worn leather bag. It had been her fathers once.

He'd glanced at both ends of the alley before pushing her into the wall and whispering words hurriedly into her right ear.

"There's a new Head Peacekeeper. Rumour has it that he's been looking for you. He knows you've been hunting; he'll have you whipped."

She turned her head towards him to look him in the eye, their noses bumped together. "Peeta, what the hell are you planning on doing with this bag?"

That crazed look in his eyes seemed to intensify. "They won't search the bakery, our houses, maybe, but not the bakery. Why would my family have your hunting bag? My mother hates you."

"What if you get caught?" she asked her eyes boring into his, "what if they whip you instead?"

"Then I'll just have to take it."

"Peeta," she gasped.

"Just give me the bag."

"But-"

"Katniss, give me the bag. Go find Gale."

Her eyes widened and her heart beat sped up. She was torn between the need to protect her best friend and Peeta at the same time.

She gulped and nodded, her decision made. The Hawthornes just couldn't risk living with an injured, or worse, dead Gale. There was no way she could convince Peeta to not take the bag, she could see it in his eyes.

Peeta would be careful. He wouldn't be injured.

He would be fine.

She had to believe that.

"Please be careful." She whispered.

Peeta nodded, and with her bag in hand rushed towards the end of the alleyway opposite from where they had come from.

Katniss hurriedly pushed past the people in her path. Her heart seemed to be beating dangerously fast and she wondered if the stress of the situation might push her into cardiac arrest.

She reached Gale moments before he knocked on what used to be Cray's back door and dragged him away in a frightened rush.

She was frantically pushing people out of her way cursing everything and everyone for the fact that the Peacekeepers house was located in the middle of town, far from the Seam. She had to get Gale home, they had to hide his hunting bag, they had to dispose of the wild turkey before they were discovered.

There were Peacekeepers everywhere in the square. They were checking everyone's bag without a half believable explanation. As she hastily sped past people, trying to be as invisible as possible, she heard Peacekeepers mumble the words 'new policy', and 'to prevent possible terrorist movements by any radical groups.'

"Hey, you two!" a Peacekeeper shouted from behind them. "Do you have any bags that need to be checked?"

She started to walk faster, her heart thumping wildly in her chest as her grey eyes bounced around trying to find a solution somewhere, anywhere.

"Katniss!"

She would recognize his voice any day, but never had she been so displeased to hear it.

Peeta was before her before any Peacekeeper could reach her.

Peeta was pulling the bag away from her.

Gale stood behind her shielding them from the Peacekeepers view.

She would stop him from doing the stupidest thing in the world.

"No!" She shouted and pulled the bag away from him and held it close to her chest. "Peeta, go home!"

"Katniss-"

"Dammit Peeta! I didn't almost die for you for you to pull this shit on me now!"

"Katniss, give me the fucking bag!" he said.

There was no time to react to the out of character swearing.

She squared her jaw, "No."

Everything happened much too quickly after that.

Gale and Peeta exchanged a look. As Peeta gripped the bag Gale held her arms down. A scream tore through her throat as Peeta ripped the bag from her arms.

And that's when the Peacekeeper reached them.

Katniss wasn't the type of woman to cry often, she wasn't very good with emotions, and usually pushed her feelings away to be dealt with at a later date (or never.) But in that moment, when the Peacekeeper pulled out the animal carcass from Gale's bag and dragged Peeta towards the whipping pole, she was openly crying and screaming.

Gale managed to take all of her violent kicks and elbows while Peeta pleaded guilty, had his sentence declared and his shirt disposed of. Whipping, twenty lashes, he'd get himself killed over a dead turkey. But once they tied up his wrists and the new Head Peacekeeper teasingly dragged the whip behind him before rearing his arm back to strike a sudden shot of adrenaline permitted Katniss to haul herself out of her friend's arms and throw herself onto the floor to shield Peeta's body with her own.

"No!" she screamed, her voice breaking with pure anguish and terror. "Whip me instead!"

"Katniss!" Peeta cried out, "please Katniss, go home."

Katniss shook her head and glared at the Peacekeeper before her. "Whip me instead."

The Head Peacekeeper studied her for a moment before rolling his eyes and moving to whip Peeta once more.

"Out of the way little girl."

Katniss stood, but did not move.

The sound of the whip against her cheek caused Peeta to yell at her to go home once again and Gale to grip her around the waist and haul her away from Peeta. But she couldn't let this happen. She wouldn't let him die.

The first touch of the whip against Peeta's skin left an angry red mark.

The second one made it worse.

By the fifth he was bleeding, his skin already tearing

Eventually Gale released her, her will to fight gone, all she could do was sob. She had never felt such an intense pain in her life before that day. She thought that she was familiar enough with suffering, but hunger and mourning was nothing compared to watching someone be tortured some mere feet away from you.

The other Peacekeepers didn't stop her from crawling towards Peeta's face. She was a pitiful mess as she touched his sweaty brow. His eyes were shut tightly, his jaw locked.

She rested her forehead against his and buried her left hand in his hair. They may as well be whipping both of them by how painful this was.

By the tenth lashing he was openly groaning.

By the fifteenth all the stone and snow near him was a sickly deep crimson.

Around the seventeenth he fell unconscious.

By the twentieth the monster before her showed no signs of stopping.

"Stop!" She screamed, stumbling to her feet once more. "You'll kill him!"

"She's right, Thread." Darius said after glancing at her quickly, his face showed his own confusion and disgust. "He's done his sentence."

"He's done when I say he is." Thread said firmly before rearing his hand back once more.

"He's done now!" Darius shouted. The crowd, which Katniss hadn't bothered to notice before, all gasped collectively.

"Who do you think you are?" Thread dropped the whip and pulled out his baton, his attention now on Darius. "I said he's done when I say he is, have I said he's done?"

"No, sir." Darius said tensely his eyes locked on Thread. "But he's served the sentence you've given him. That is the law."

Everyone, including Katniss, gasped when they saw Darius fall unconscious after Thread brought the baton down hard against one side of the younger mans face.

Katniss glared at him when he picked up the whip once more and wiped the blood off with his hand, splattering warm blood across her face.

"No." she said for what felt like the hundredth time.

"Get out of the way." He sneered, already positioned to strike again.

"No." she repeated once again. "I won't let you."

He reared his hand back to whip her again and Katniss grit her teeth already anticipating the next blow.

"Hold it!" A voice barked, causing the crowd gathered to watch the morbid tragedy that was her life to part, revealing her unlikely hero.

"Oh, excellent." Haymitch grunted as his fingers locked under her chin and lifted it. "She's got a photoshoot next week modeling wedding dresses. What am I supposed to tell her stylist?"

The new Head Peacekeeper rested his whip against his hip, she noticed a flicker of recognition flit past his cold eyes. It's understandable that he didn't recognize her or Peeta. They were new Victors. Makeup free, sporting clothes from before the Games, their hair dull and dusted with coal dust. But Haymitch had been on television for years, his face and his drunken antics were difficult to forget.

"She interrupted the punishment of a confessed criminal."

"I don't care if she blew up the blasted Justice Building! Look at her cheek! Think that will be camera ready in a week?" Haymitch snarled.

Thread's voice was still cold but grew a bit doubtful. "That's not my problem."

"No? Well it's about to be, my friend. The first call I make when I get home is to the Capitol." Haymitch said "Find out who authorized you to mess up my victor's pretty little face. Let alone her fiancée's entire back!" he points at the bloody mess that's Peeta's slumped form "Do you have any idea what will happen if we have to delay this wedding because you broke my victors?"

"He was poaching. He broke the law."

"He's supposed to be ready for the wedding of the century in two weeks! Do you think he'll be capable of that?" Haymitch shouted.

Katniss stared at Haymitch with wonder. Could they do this? As victors were they allowed to take an incredibly insane stand against the most powerful man in District Twelve?

The new Head Peacekeeper glanced at his backup squad. With a sense of relief, Katniss noted they were all familiar faces from the Hob.

One of them, a woman named Purnia stepped forward stiffly to speak. "I believe, for a first offense, the required number of lashes has been dispensed, sir. Unless your sentence is death, which we would carry by firing squad."

"Is that the standard protocol here?" Thread asked as Katniss glared at him. He said twenty lashes, no more.

"Yes, sir." Purnia said.

"Very well. Get your fiancée out of here, then, girl." He quickly coiled the whip into neat loops. "Congratulation." He said casually as he walked off

The other Peacekeepers followed him in an awkward formation. A small group stayed behind to collect Darius, hoisting him up by his arms and legs. Just as Purnia turned to leave Katniss caught her eye and mouthed the word "Thanks." She didn't respond, but understood.

She gulped down the knot in her throat as she collapsed before Peeta on shaky knees. The first thing she did was check his pulse, it was there, but very faint. Her fingers fumbled with the rope that bound and chaffed Peeta's wrists.

"Here." She turned suddenly, still jumpy from the previous occurrences. Gale stood before her, a knife in hand and a stony expression across his face. "Let me."

When he sliced the rope that bound Peeta to the whipping post his entire form began to slide towards the cold hard ground, his blood making the stone slippery. Katniss let out a small cry as she rushed to pull him to a stop, not wanting him to injure himself any further.

Unbeknownst to Katniss surrounding the bloody scene of Peeta's whipping were several people who cared for him. Delly Cartwright stood in the arms of Mr. Mellark suffering from a fit of tears. Peeta's brother Rye sat in the snow, his head pressed against him knees, fingers digging into his scalp. His older brother, Graham stood in the square trying to calm his hysterical wife while trying to keep his own emotions in check. Mrs. Mellark stood next to her husband, staring down at the dramatic scene that was Katniss hysterically crying over Peeta.

Mr. Mellark exchanged an emotionally charged look with his wife after which both of them nodded. He nudged his son's best friend to ensure he had her attention before whispering, "Would you please go to Katniss' house and let her mother know what has happened?" Delly nodded and took off down the street.

"Katniss?" she startled at the sound of her name, her eyes raising to meet that of the Baker's, Peeta's father who was kneeling beside her.

"Katniss, we need to lift Peeta from the ground so we can take him to your mother. Could you let me do that, please?"

Katniss nodded vigorously, releasing the tight hold she had on his shoulders and head, which rested on her lap, to allow both of Peeta's brothers, whom she hadn't noticed were there, to lift him onto a wooden board they would use to carry him away from the square.

Mrs. Mellark cleared her throat after her sons lifted Peeta away, Katniss not far behind. She undid the apron that was around her waist and lowered herself to her knees. She began to mop up her son's blood with the white fabric. Without looking up she spoke.

"Frank, will you please help me with this?" she looked up and found her husband staring at her. "Our son doesn't deserve to have his blood spilt all over the ground."

Frank stared at her for a moment. His wife was always so complex, so difficult to read. He nodded, undid his own apron and began to mop up Peeta's blood.

The Everdeen Household.

Prim and her mother had just finished clearing the dinning room table when her shaking sister burst through the front door.

"Here. Please be gentle." Katniss begged, motioning the Mellark boys to set Peeta on the dinning room table.

"Prim," Euthalia Everdeen whispered into her youngest daughter's ear, "distract your sister."

Prim nodded, it was usually her job to calm miner's wives after a mining accident. She had a feeling that calming her sister would be just a bit more difficult.

"Careful! Do it slower!" Katniss waved her hands uselessly, as she watched the boys gently set their brother down on the tables surface.

"Prim!" her sister suddenly turned and gripped her sister's upper arms, once she was sure that Peeta had been deposited on the table safely. "Please, save him. Prim, promise me! You can help him!"

Prim stared into her sisters red eyes and nodded. "Yes, I promise."

Katniss released her sister's arms, still shaking as Prim took her face in her hands. "That's a nasty cut."

"Don't worry about me, just help him, please." Katniss sobbed and leaned into her sister's touch who gently moved her away from the scene where her mother was dabbing white alcohol on Peeta's back.

"Ahhh!" Peeta groaned, which caused Katniss to jump.

"What are you doing?" she screamed as she glared at her mother, unreasonable rage bubbling within her. Prim took her face in her palms once more and shushed her.

"She's just cleaning his wounds. Come on, we need to get snow."

Katniss resisted her sister's attempts to drag her out the door and reached for her mother. The older woman paused from wringing out a cloth which had been boiled to sterilize it.

"Can you save him?" Katniss asked desperately as she stared into her mother's blue eyes. They were sad.

When she didn't respond Haymitch spoke up. "Don't worry. Used to be a lot of whippings before Cray. She's the one we took them to."

The last thing she saw before the door was shut behind her and Prim were Peeta's open eyes filled with pain and her mother hunched over his wounds.

Watching her mother treat Peeta's back was horrible. She stood in the corner of the room, her gloved hand holding the snow her sister had insisted she use to her cheek, her eyes incapable of moving away from the massacred flesh that was Peeta's back.

Maybe she had broken some sort of cosmic rule when she managed to get both Peeta and herself out of the arena. He had almost died multiple times that year. First his leg and the blood poisoning, then he collected poisoned berries, then the mutts, then Cato, then he almost ate poisoned berries alongside her, then his leg was amputated (which must have been risky from what she saw on that hovercraft), then he ran into a burning building and now this. How many times was she expected to watch him almost die and not go completely mad?

Her hand was cold, the snow melting through her glove, but she did not move. Her eyes fixated on the boy who stupidly kept on trying to keep her alive for no good reason.

She turned her face away from Peeta when the oldest Mellark brother came to lean on the wall next to her.

"I'm not used to it." He murmured under his breath with a shake of his head.

"Used to what?" she asked.

Graham sighed and tore his eyes away from his brother as he closed them. "To this. Peeta's rash behaviour. I never will be."

She nodded. "Me neither."

Graham shook his head and smiled. "He's always been like this you know? He always makes big decisions and puts himself in harms way. That's why mom's so hard on him."

She raised an eyebrow.

"They're the same." He explained. "Peeta and our mother. Mother's hard on him because she knows what it's like and she made a lot of mistakes when she was his age. She tries to stop him from doing things rashly."

"She has bad methods." Katniss commented bitterly, "but she does have a point."

Graham nodded, his face expression depressed. "I wish…"

"I know." Katniss nodded, "I have a younger sister."

Graham smiled joylessly. "All of Panem knows that."

Their eyes turned back to Peeta.

"Where's Rye?" Katniss asked a while later.

"He's in the other room with Delly and my wife. They couldn't handle seeing him like this."

Katniss nodded and pulled her gloves off. The snow had melted.

Her mother and Prim were still working on stitching up Peeta's back when the boy let out a long painful moan, his body twitching as his eyes fluttered opened again. Her mother had fed him sleep syrup earlier, but obviously, she hadn't given him enough.

"Graham, hold him down he's tearing out the stitches." Her mother commanded, her voice strong. "Prim, get more of the sleep syrup."

Katniss watched her sister run to the cabinet where all the medicine was kept, her slender fingers rummaging around for the medication.

"Prim," Katniss spoke in a harsh tone she never used with her sister, moving away from Peeta's trashing form to go to her sister. "Prim, give him the strong stuff."

"But-"

"Give him the strong stuff!" She turned her glare towards her mother, her scream for her. "Can't you see he's in pain?! Give him the strong stuff!"

"Katniss, you know we only use that for amputations." Her mother said calmly, trying to hold Peeta down herself.

"This is Peeta. You have to help him! I'll find a way to get more medicine for you, just please, give him the strong stuff!"

Prim was pleading with her mother with her eyes when the door suddenly burst open, the snow storm outdoors spitting out Madge Undersee.

"I have medicine for Peeta. Please take it!" she cried immediately upon her arrival, unaware of the argument she had walked in upon. "It's my mothers from the Capitol, but Peeta has always been such a good friend and so kind."

Prim ran towards Madge and accepted the medication, rushing to prepare the correct dose for the trashing boy on her table.

Katniss ran to the table and kneeled before it, her fingers in Peeta hair as she stared into his eyes and tried to calm him.

"You need to stay still, Peeta." His frantic eyes met hers once he heard the sound of her voice. "Hi."

His trashing stopped but it took him a moment to speak. "It hurts." He moaned.

Katniss nodded, tears in her eyes. "I know. I'm sorry."

"Its not your fault." He whispered, his gaze moving across her face. "Your cheek-"

"Is perfectly fine." She interrupted as she brushed the sweat off his brow, "you're the one that's hurt worse."

"Hmm, I hadn't noticed." He managed to smile.

She laughed, the tears finally slipping out of her eyes. "You can always make me laugh. Even if we're dying."

His eyes burned into hers, "I like it when you smile."

Katniss' eyes moved to her mother above her, who had a needle positioned at Peeta's upper arm.

"Will that help him?" she demanded eyeing the needle.

"It'll take away the pain and help with his healing."

Katniss nodded, "Go ahead then."

She watched his face relax once her mother pushed the medicine into his veins. His eyes looked dopey and so did his smile.

"Nice, huh?" she smiled.

"I can't feel my back." He slurred. "It's amazing."

Katniss laughed and so did Graham who stood behind her. Graham ruffled his brother's hair, "get some sleep, kiddo."

"You can't tell me what to do." Peeta slurred, his voice getting fainter, "I'm grown."

Graham smiled and shook his head. "Sure, sure."

Once Peeta fell asleep both Graham and Katniss settled into chairs near Peeta's head and tried to get comfortable. It was going to be a long night.

I feel like this chapter didn't come out how I wanted...

Anyways I hope you liked it!

Please Remember to follow and review!

Cassandraishere.