Katniss

I walk up to Peeta's bus and knock softly on the door. We have interviews tomorrow and I decided to come by to celebrate. I hear one of my songs playing inside and as he moves around.

"With a bottle full of sleeping pills
And a long, long list of sins
She'd already planned on checking out
Before she checked in
She was gonna leave a goodbye note
Just needed paper and a pen
And with the vacancy light blinking red
She found that bible in the drawer
Beside the bed

"Some people meet Him in a church
At a service on Sunday
As the preacher says the perfect words
They bow their heads to pray
And the choir sings a sweet forgiveness tune
She met Him in a motel room
She met Him in a motel room

"Some people meet Him in a church
At a service on Sunday
As the preacher says the perfect words
They bow their heads to pray
No choir sang a sweet forgiveness tune
No that's no the way
That they were introduced
She met Him in a motel room
She met Him in a motel room"

The door opens and Peeta looks surprised as I stand there, a twelve pack of beer in one hand and a copy of "Universal Soldier" in the other.

"Hey," I say. "Can I come in?"

"Sure," he says standing aside as I climb up in the bus. There is a stereo playing my one and only CD, Colder Than Winter, and it's obvious that he'd just ordered a pizza.

"Am I interrupting anything?" I ask. He shakes his head.

"No," he says. "I wasn't really doing much."

"Me either," I say. "Sitting at home alone gets really, really boring."

"Yeah," he says and as another one of my songs comes on, I smile.

"I'd think you'd get sick of my voice after having to hear me sing all day," I say. He blushes a little and turns it off.

"I like your voice," he says. "I always have, I always will." I look down at my feet and smile.

"I wrote a new one the other day," I say. "I could, I could sing it if you like."

"You know it well enough to just do that?" He asks. I walk over to his couch and sit down, picking up his guitar.

"I wrote the lyrics just before we teamed up," I say. "I finished writing the chords for it Tuesday. But the tune has been running through my head for a really long time." I play the first few chords and then look at him. "Do you want to hear it?" He sits down next to me and watches as I start the song over. I look down at my hands. This song means a lot to me. It reminds me of my past. Of how I lost my father. This is why I decided to sing with Peeta. He can help me bring my music to life.

"I had a dream about a burning house
You were stuck inside, I couldn't get you out
I laid beside you and pulled you close
And the two of us went up in smoke

"Love isn't all that it seems I did you wrong
I'll stay here with you until this dream is gone

"I've been sleepwalking, been wandering all night
Trying to take what's lost and broke and make it right
I've been sleepwalking too close to the fire
But it's the only place that I can hold you tight
In this burning house

"See you at a party and you look the same
I could take you back but people don't ever change
Wish that we could go back in time
I'd be the one you thought you'd find

"Love isn't all that it seems I did you wrong
I'll stay here with you until this dream is gone

"I've been sleepwalking, been wandering all night
Trying to take what's lost and broke and make it right
I've been sleepwalking too close to the fire
But it's the only place that I can hold you tight
In this burning house

"The flames are getting bigger now
In this burning house
I can hold on to you somehow
In this burning house
Oh, and I don't wanna wake up
In this burning house

"And I've been sleepwalking, been wandering all night
Trying to take what's lost and broke and make it right
I've been sleepwalking too close to the fire
But it's the only place that I can hold you tight
In this burning house"

I play the last chord and look at Peeta. His eyes study me, as though to ask what on earth it means for me to sing a song like that. I smile sadly at him.

"You're the first one I've ever been comfortable enough around to hear that song," I say. "I never even sang it for Prim." He smiles at me.

"It's very you," he says. "It says a lot about you." I hand him his guitar and laugh.

"I'm not always dreary like this," I say.

"No," he says. "But when you are, you're like the song. Soft and sweet and beautiful." I feel myself blush a little and then I get an idea.

"Do you have a song like that?" I ask. "One that you like to sing, that's kind of dreary, yet soulful." He nods, laughing.

"Yeah," he says. "There might be one. It's not my song, but I like singing it."

"Will you sing it for me?" I ask. He smiles at me.

"Sure," he says. He slings the strap over his head and plays a few cords and then he starts singing in his sweet baritone.

"Desperado, why don't you come to your senses
You been out ridin' fences for so long now
Oh, you're a hard one
But I know that you've got your reasons
These things that are pleasin' you
Can hurt you somehow

"Don't you draw the queen of diamonds boy
She'll beat you, if she's able
You know the queen of hearts is always your best bet
And it seems to me some fine things
Have been laid upon your table
But you only want the ones that you can't get

"Desperado, well you ain't gettin' no younger
Your pain and your hunger
They're drivin' you wild.
And Freedom, oh freedom
Well that's just some people talkin'
Your prison is walking through this world all alone.

"Don't your feet get cold in the wintertime
When the sky won't snow and the sun won't shine
It's hard to tell the nighttime from the day
You're losin' all your highs and lows
Ain't it funny how the feeling goes away

"Desperado, why don't you come to your senses
Come down from your fences
Open the gate
I know it's rainin'
But there's a rainbow above you.
You better let somebody love you
Before it's too late."

I start crying as he finishes, sobbing like an idiot in front of my best friend. He sets down the guitar and reaches out, touching my cheek.

"Katniss?" He asks. "Are you okay?" I nod and wipe my eyes.

"Yeah," I say. "I'm fine." I look down at my hands and smile. "When I was little, my dad, he used to sing me to sleep with the song."

"Oh Kat," he says. "I'm sorry, I, I didn't know." I shake my head.

"Peeta, I love that song," I say. "I've always loved that song. And it hurt when my dad died, yeah, but that was the first time I sang in public. At his funeral, I sand Desperado and The Dance. Those songs mean a lot to me. And I loved how you just sand that song." He smiles nervously and looks at me.

"Thanks," he says. We sit there for a moment, just staring at each other, before I pull back a little, laughing awkwardly. These kind of moments keep happening and I still don't know what to think about it.

"Well," I say. "I brought booze and Van Dame." I reach for the beer and hold it over my head. "Let's get hammered."