WHO: Peeta Mellark and OPEN WHAT: Feeling terrible WHEN: Friday evening WHERE: The bowling alley STATUS: Open/Ongoing WARNINGS: Talk of PTSD, Child Abuse/TBD
Peeta hated what he'd done. Hated it. The last thing he'd ever wanted was to push Katniss away, but worse than that was the thought of hurting her. Again. He thought he had everything under control for the most part when he'd been back in 12...but arriving in this place with all its surreal strangeness had thrown his mind out of whack again, and he wasn't sure if he understood anything anymore.
He'd seen his doctor today, and he seemed nice enough. He said he'd dealt with PTSD in some of the veterans who'd come home from all the Gulf Wars, and Bosnia, and that while it was hard to treat, it wasn't impossible. It just took time. Time. Peeta selfishly didn't want it to take time. He wanted to be cured, so that he could spend his nights with Katniss again. It was the only time he'd ever slept well; when she was there.
He thought eventually he was going to have to tell the doctor about his mother, too. Because his nightmares hadn't started with the Games, although they'd gotten exponentially worse. He'd not been able to sleep well since his mother started hitting him. And he was so young, he couldn't even remember the first time that started. She'd never hit his brothers; something Peeta would never understand. What had he done to make him deserve it, that they hadn't? He'd always tried to be a good son, to do everything he could to please his parents. But somehow, he'd failed when it came to his mother. And she'd let him know it.
Peeta had come to the bowling alley tonight. He'd seem people having fun there in the movies, and he needed something to take his mind off of what was going on. He bought the shoes and put them on, rented a ball, and chose an empty lane. He didn't have anyone to play against, but he was just learning anyway, right?
He stepped up and threw the ball...right into the gutter. He frowned, then grabbed the ball when it came back through, adjusting his aim a little, and managed to knock two of them down. It was enormously satisfying, and he smiled rather brightly, turning to the person nearest him.