Hi everyone, I'm so so sorry for the long wait for this chapter, I tried to make it long, but I really don't have the time! You know, tests and exams, whether it's GSCEs or SATS, I really feel for you guys! The next chapter should be up fairly soon, *hopefully!*, but for now, I hope you enjoy this one!

Oh, and thank you so much for the amazing reviews, you guys really help me write with a bit more confidence than I would without them!

The blood on my fingers

Peeta

I sat as I tried to take it all in. Gale was back. I couldn't believe it. Everything was going to be okay, then he showed up. He was sitting next to Katniss, caressing her and speaking to her, in a calm, soothing voice.

"It's not going to work you know, she can't hear you." I said to him a couple of minutes ago, but he went on talking like I wasn't there. I was leaning against the wall watching them from a distance. I was in the room up until a few inutes, when I just couldn't stand how close they were. It just made me sick how he could come in, after all that, and kiss her like nothing had happened. If he really loved her, he would have volunteered for me! Of course, I wouldn't have let him- I loved her already. Before we went into the Hunger Games- after I knew it was Katniss and I- I made a vow to myself that I would always protect her, and I would not let anything happen to her. I looked up now, to see her in the hospital bed, with Gale by her side.

"I promise, I will not let anything happen to her…"

But I did. Katniss was in danger, and it was because of me. She could have died… and I would not be able to anything about it.

I looked down at the blood on my fingers. This wasn't my blood- it was hers.

Katniss

It is beautiful. It is all so beautiful. There are so many flowers, and pretty grass that is glittering in the sunshine. I am… I don't know where I am, but I know that I have never felt this good being lost. I feel amazing- like I'm floating on the earth. Why do I feel this good?

I look around me- I see some people in the distance. I want to shout, but it feels rude, it a place like this, to disrupt it's serenity by shouting. So I just walk calmly to where the people are.

It doesn't take me long- or does it? I can't tell how long I've been walking- I just feel so great! But as I get closer, I see that it is a group of children. Well, it isn't a group, it's only a two. There is a boy and a girl. They are both talking to each other, but the boy is looking at the girl differently. Like she is his prey. I am frightened- I want to go, but something keeps me close. I don't know why he is looking at her like that. She says something, and the look on his face goes away- they are talking now.

Suddenly, the boy sees something. The look on his face returns as he runs towards a certain area of the grass. He beckons the girl to come with him- no don't go with him- I don't know what's going on, he looks deadly-

He dives with a knife, and the girls follows. He looked scary, just like a predator for a kill, and I was scared. But he stood up with blood all over his face. The girl was nowhere to be seen. He held up a small bloody part, and I was frightened, but the girl stood up. It wasn't her- it seemed like a rabbit. I was right- the look was like a predator, he did go for a kill. It just scared me that he looked at the girl in the same way…

Then I looked at them again. The boy was Gale, and the girl was… was me.

I turn away quickly, not able to deal with what I see. But I see two other children, around the same age.

I think it is Gale again, so I run to warn myself, but as I look, I see that this boy has bright, blonde hair. His eyes are blue, and he has rosy cheeks. The look on his face is different- the look on his face is pure love.

He looks at, well, mini me, and I see that he is giving me something. It is all black. It looks like a loaf of bread… or 2…

It seems like a petty gift- a loaf of bread. Something that someone can throw at a homeless person, or feed to the ducks. But the way the boy gives it to me, it is like a diamond from a beach of stones, or a rose from a garden of thorns. He hands it over, his eyes are full of love, they plead for me to stay. But he knows I must go and as I watch myself turn around, I see his eyes, shimmering, watching me with hope. There is a label for him- Peeta. But what does it mean?

I don't know who I am. I don't know where I am. That floating feeling is gone- now there is fear and a hole where my heart feels like it is supposed to be. There is an aching inside my chest. I think back to what seems are the memories. The fear deepens as I recall Gale, treating me like his prey, making me feel inferior. I don't like this feeling.

But when I think of Peeta, the small blonde boy giving me a loaf of bread, the aching goes away, and fills with deep emotion that burns, but doesn't hurt. I don't know what this feeling is, but when I stop thinking of him, it goes away and the pain comes back.

I don't know who I should trust. The bread boy or the predator.