The Epilogue - Katniss and Peeta

Crying and Intentions.

*Katniss's POV*

The doorbell sounds and it chimes through my ears. Knocks on the front door appear abruptly, and I hesitantly walk towards it.
Peeta is unfortunately not home.

He had to interview someone for a job at the bakery, so that he could be home more of the time. I had voiced my disapproval towards the idea, but he thought it would assist him better. He explained that as much as he loved the bakery, he would much rather be at home, with me. Sometimes I feel as if he bases all of his choices on me, and I feel somewhat guilty about it. I'm a small detail in his very complicated life. I shouldn't have this much power over what he decides on a daily basis.

I muster the courage to peer through the door hole. I thankfully, do not find Gale. I find a child, who I have not seen in a while.

"Flynn," I remark while opening the door. My face shifts from joy to uncertainty once I view his red-rimmed eyes. The once happy face emotes sadness, and tears line the bottoms of his eyelids. "What's wrong, darling?"
"I saw it all happen. I saw it all happen and I didn't even stick up for her, I—I just watched." He lets a tear slip down his face and I quickly drop to my knees, getting on his level. I place my hands on his face, holding his cheeks, and wipe away the oncoming flows of water.

"It's okay, everything's fine," I try to hush him but he interrupts me with sharp breaths.
"I froze, I didn't know what to do, I'm so sorry. I'm so greatly sorry." He leans into my shoulder.

I've never seen him this upset before and it worries me. I look around while holding him to my chest, and Annie's nowhere to be seen. Perhaps she doesn't know of Flynn's condition. It appears he didn't want to come to her either.

"Flynn, sweetheart, it's okay." I whisper softly.

I silently thank the world for Willow and Rye not being home. I couldn't handle Flynn being this upset and the two of them—I can rarely handle myself.

"Tell me who you're talking about."
"Willow." He breathes out shakily. "We were all outside because of the beautiful day. She was all by herself, singing." He trembles and I grab his hands, and he steadies himself. "They all had surrounded her—before I even had the chance to blink. I'm always looking out for her, Katniss. I always am. But the one time I look away, the one time I wasn't paying attention, everything crumbled."

Guilt.
He feels guilt.

I now understand why he has came to me about this, and not his mother. Because I am the most fond of this feeling. He knows I can't go a day without feeling horrible. I always knew there must've been something wrong, when I survived and everyone around me didn't. I knew something was terribly out of storyline. I was supposed to die. Not them. It gave me survivors guilt. And I believe it may be the worst feeling I've ever experienced.

"They grabbed at her hair. Her dress. Her body. I could hear the cruel things they said. They told her she didn't fit in, for reasons I can't even fathom. They told her that her skin was too pale, her hair too blonde, her eyes too bright. They said she was too ugly to be a victor's child, let alone two victor's together. I ran over there as fast as I could, I really did." He huffs and I can tell he's holding back tears.

"But I was too late. She had just accepted the fact that they didn't like how she looked. I tried telling her that's everything about her is beautiful because she is, but it was no use. All of those stupid kids use her, for answers on tests, for anything, yet constantly criticize her. And she fell apart. And I can't fix it, I can't fix her."