Katniss

I blink open my eyes and the first thingI notice is the needle in my arm. I wince at it as I sit up and must make some sort of noise because a curly blonde head pops up from the cot laying beside my bed.

"You stayed?" I ask and Peeta nods.

"I told you I was going to," he says as he gets up. "Looks like they brought you in breakfast." I glance at the tray and shake my head, laying back down.

"I'm not hungry," I say. "You can eat it."

"Katniss, I know you hurt but you need to eat something," he says and I just look at him and he helps me sit up.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," I say quietly and he shakes his head.

"We can talk about all that after you get discharged," Peeta says. "But I do need to apologize to you."

"About what?" I ask. "You handled everything fairly well last night."

"Well, I feel really bad about asking you if you wanted to kill our baby, especially when you were going through what you were at the moment." I just close my eyes a second and then nod.

"I know," I say softly. "That was a really big pile of bricks I laid on you when you found me in that bathroom. A lot of pressure to put on you all at once. If I hadn't been such a reck, I probably would have said some things I didn't mean too."

"Like asking for me?" I hear a voice I never thought I'd hear again. I look up and when I see her I groan and lokk up at the ceiling.

"Peeta, can you," he nods and reaches over to grab his coat.

"I'm gonna go get us some coffee and pick up a change of clothes for you when you get discharged," he says before kissing my cheek and walking past her out the door. I just look at my mother for a while and she takes a step in and shuts the door.

"Hello, Kathy," she says and I frown at her.

"Willa," I reply. "Or should I say Billy. I thought only Daddy could call you that." She just shakes her head.

"Your boyfriend seems polite enough," she says. "Not at all what I would expect, seeing as you've turned yourself into a human sketchbook." I roll my eyes

"He isn't my boyfriend," I say.

"He was the father, though," she says, "wasn't he. I mean, don't tell me you hop from guy to guy that fast."

"No, Mother, I am not so much of a whore that the boy I am currently shacking up with was not also the father of the baby I just misscarried." I watch as she sits in the chair next to me and yet again groan. "Isn't there someone with a hole in their heart or something that needs you to go crack open their chest or something. After all, thats what you ran away from home to do wasn't it? I mean, when's the last time you even called Grandma and Prim. Its been a few years right?"

"Kathy," she says in a warning tone and I snap at her.

"Do not call me that!" I say. "I don't go by Kathy. You called me that, but I go by the name my father gave me. You left us because you couldn't handle the fact that he was gone and didn't want the last two reminders of your life with him."

"Yeah, and pregnant at 17 shows that you are just such a stable girl," my mother says. "Does your boyfriend know you aren't 18 for a few more weeks? If I wanted to, I could have him arrested for statutory."

"I pursued him," I say. "He didn't come after me. And he's only 18 so he's still kind of in that grey area."

"Why did you ask them to tell me you were here?" She asks with a sigh.

"Because I wanted to remind you I still exhisted," I say. "Out of spite, I guess. Besides, Peeta would kill me if he found out I miscarried in the hospital my mother ran away to and didn't speak to her."

"Do you know his full name?" She asks and I sigh.

"Never asked," I say. "But its Mellark. Thats the name on the credit cards and the ID at least."

"Mellark?" She says. "As in the bakery mogoels of Detroit and half of Michigan and the northern border of Ohio?" I shrug.

"We don't talk about our families," I say. "We don't talk about much besides the music and just kind of live in the moment. He knows I'm from West Virginia and I know I met him in Detroit but I don't know if thats where he lived. Just where he was leaving from the day after his birthday."

"You were having a baby with someone who is a complete stranger besides seeing you naked," she says shaking her head. "A rich stranger, but a stranger none the less. Oh I'm so proud, Katniss."

"Oh, I just knew you would be," I say. "But I lost the baby. A really decent guy's baby. I didn't know what I would have done, but that poor boy. After everything he did for me last night, I really think that he might love me. And I don't know that I'm capable of loving him. Especially not as much as he seems to love me." She chuckles and places her hand on my leg.

"Will you accept a piece of motherly wisdom from a person you no longer accept as a mother?" My mother asks. I don't object so she continues. "Someone who would sit by your side all night, who would look at you the way he looked at you when he left, he's worth stick around to see the aftermath with. As a doctor, a surgen who deals with the organ people claim holds love, I've seen families, wives and husbands hold each other's hands. But no one looks at their person like you look at him and he looks at you. You do love him."

"I'm not ready to love someone," I say. "I like him, a lot. But I don't want to love him and watch him walk away from me. Someone did that to me before. I can't do this again."

"Fine," she says. "But I'm just telling you, no one will ever love you as much as that boy loves you." She gets up and pats my leg. "I better go before he gets back."

"Do you think I'm stupid?" I ask her, making her turn to face me. "If I fall in love with a boy that I've only ever really slept with and nothing else."

"You're only stupid if you take these next two weeks where you can't sleep with him for granted," she says. "Get to know him, and then you'll see if its worth it. If he's worth the risk you know you are taking. Do that, and I'll believe you are smarter than I am. And I am a heart surgen." She stops at my table and writes something down hurriedly. "Here is my number for my house, the hospital, and my pager. If you ever need me, even though I doubt you would seeing as you have your life is how it is and you like it that way, call me and I will help you however I can." I nod and she smiles at me slightly teary eyed.

"What?" I ask.

"I forgot just how much you look like him," she says quietly before her pager starts beeping. "I have to go."

"Bye, Willa," I say and she smiles sadly.

"Goodbye, Katniss," she says and she ducks out of the room and walks pointedly down the hall.

I grab the remote to my bed and move it so I am sitting up and start eatting the gross pudding and fruit cup they had brought up for my breakfast and the same nurse from last night comes and removes the IV from my arm. I'm brought papers for my discharge and I start to worry because Peeta still hasn't come back to my room. The motel isn't that far away. He shouldn't be taking this long. As I'm signing the final paper, he comes in and sets down my suitcase and guitar along with his.

"I didn't think we had to check out until later," I say.

"Yeah, thats what took me so long," he says. "I got us somewhere nicer with a stove and fridge and other things to sustain us while you rest." I look at him, a little shell shocked.

"I'm sorry, I must still be a little dazed from the crap they were pumping into me," I say, "Did you just say you got us a long term stay in a hotel? A nice hotel, not a motel?" Peeta nods, setting my suitcase up on my bed. "Peeta, we can't afford that."

"I can," he says. "Don't worry about how or why, but I can afford to take you somewhere nice to get away from it all for a while. I don't want you to have to go back to where you were laying in a pool of blood. Lets just go somewhere nice for once." I lock eyes with him for a moment but seeing no sign of him backing down, I just unzip my pack to grab a tshirt and jeans and dress again in street clothes, tossing what I wore to the hospital into my bag. I get up and grab my things.

"Fine, lets go," I say and he lays his arm over my shoulder.

"Its gonna be okay," Peeta says as we walk through the doors of the hospital.

"I know," I say. "But I," I look down again as we sit and wait for a cab. "If I talk, can you just listen? Can you just be an impartial person I can trust?"

"If thats what you need me to be right now," Peeta says nodding. "Yeah, of course. But let me get you somewhere you can have a clear mind." I look at my hands a moment and then up at the sky for a little while.

"The last time I was in a hospital, some guy convinced me to get rid of his mistake and then left me as soon as I was out of it. And I never saw him again," I say quietly. "So you need to know that I was terrified when you took that long to come back." He looks at me for a second and I feel his arms pull me close to him.

"I'm sorry," He says. "I shouldn't have scared you like that." I hold onto him, not wanting to let go, really feeling like he might disappear if I do. But I hear the horn to the taxi and I let go of him to pick up our things and load them up. I let Peeta help me into the cab and he sits next to me and holds my hand. He tells the driver the hotel name and we go on to be dropped off at a building as large as the hospital I just left.

I get out and Peeta tries to shoulder my bags but I take them back from him.

"I'm okay to carry them myself," I say. "It's not like I'm hurt. Not seriously anyway." He studies my face a moment and then just nods. I follow him up to the counter as he checks in and he takes the key and hands it to me, lifting our things up on a trolley.

"They'll bring these up to the penthouse for us," Peeta says taking my hand and leading me to the elevator. An elevator nicer than the rooms we've been staying in.

"So when I teased you that first night about being a rich kid, you actually were rich?" I ask and he shakes his head.

"My family is rich," Peeta says. "I'm not." The elevator opens and I slide the card in room 1212 and Peeta swings open the door for me.

"Peeta, this is bigger than the house I grew up in," I say as I walk in and look over the large room. Theres a huge bed, bathroom, all in black and silvers with plush carpets. A glass shower and one whole wall made of windows. Mirrors on the ceiling and an small kitchen in the corner. An amazing thing I never thought I'd live in without getting arecord deal.

"Do you like your little safe space?" Peeta asks and I turn to him and hold my arms out.

"Its perfect," I say spreading out my arms and turning around. "Now I am going to shower and then, over a fine bottle of wine, I'll tell you what you need to know." Peeta walks over and stands in front of me.

"No matter what you say, I'm all in," he says. "You couldn't say anything to change how I feel about you." He kisses me gently and I pull away to quietly walk over and jump inti the shower. I smile a little to myself as I feel the water hit my tired body.

Maybe, just maybe, my mother was right. Maybe this time will let me love him.