Katniss's focus on survival and her family's safety prevented her from fully considering romance, but her feelings for Peeta and Gale diverged in the end. Katniss ultimately chose Peeta because he understood her trauma and she didn't want to lose him, proving her love for him.
Peeta Mellark served as Katniss' crucial confidant, seeing as he went through it all firsthand, not once, but twice. Despite the terror he faced, Katniss viewed Peeta as a symbol of comfort and salvation.
The Hunger Games series, much like Harry Potter is for young adults, and the themes and motivations are not hard to understand. Katniss NEVER hated Peeta. She figured she'd have to kill him to survive and had no desire to like him because of that.
Peeta sleeps first. Katniss kisses him on the forehead, for herself, she admits, and not for the audience. She is glad to have him there with her, comforted by the thought that together they can fight Peeta.
He jokes with her, whispering that it's okay to kiss him since they're madly in love, but once Katniss begins to clean him in the stream, she can see how weak he is.
At what point did Katniss fall in love with Peeta?
Katniss Fell in Love With Peeta During the Quarter Quell
Losing Peeta made her see what she had failed to see. However, the series' frightening antagonist, President Snow, remained unconvinced of Kantiss' feelings in Catching Fire. But that also seemed to imply Katniss fell in love with Peeta during their second games.
Instead, Katniss wants to protect him and bring him home because she has strong feelings for him, even though she isn't sure what those feelings mean. Gale's hug and kind words when she returns home are a direct contrast to her newly established plan to save Peeta because of her feelings for him.
His feelings and memories are distorted with hallucinogenic tracker jacker venom, in a mind-control technique known as "Hijacking." The Capitol uses this method to turn Peeta against Katniss, making him believe that she is not only responsible for the death of his family, friends and the destruction of District 12, but ...
Snow can't stand to see a young woman betray a young man's affection—his view of what happened 65 years ago. And so he takes out his old, festering wound on Katniss.
Katniss doesn't know why they would go after her and Peeta first, and Plutarch tells her because the revolution lives as long as she does. She's the mockingjay. The tributes kept Peeta alive in the arena because they knew Katniss wouldn't cooperate with the rebels if he died.
The female Morphling, however, appears almost coincidentally, and Peeta even mentions that they don't know her real name. Given that she is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to protect Peeta, it's safe to assume that the Morphling was committed to the rebel cause.
It's only implied that they get it on via snuggling and other affectionate acts in close quarters — but if you have read the book, they really imply that they took their relationship to the next level.
Gale was responsible for creating weapons that would trigger a second wave of bombs to target first responders and combat healers. This invention potentially ended up killing Prim, but even if he wasn't directly responsible, Katniss found this tactic so abhorrent that she lost her affection for him.
Once he was stable again, Peeta seemed depressed and asked to be killed. For a long time afterwards he did not trust himself and refused to let the others remove his handcuffs. Eventually his personality went back to normal, and he never lost his grip on reality again.
Katniss's focus on survival and her family's safety prevented her from fully considering romance, but her feelings for Peeta and Gale diverged in the end. Katniss ultimately chose Peeta because he understood her trauma and she didn't want to lose him, proving her love for him.
Unable to find Peeta and hearing a cannon, Katniss nearly attacks Finnick, suspecting his betrayal, but he reminds her to "remember who the real enemy is." Katniss attaches the wire to an arrow, firing it into the arena's roof just as lightning strikes.
If Peeta dies Katniss wins, she becomes a victor. Since the berries wouldn't be a factor in her winning, nothing would be seen as an act of defiance. Therefore, no rebellion in the districts. However, Rue and Peeta's death would probably push her to stand up to the Capitol eventually.
Eventually, she finds herself truly worried about losing Peeta, being without him, and when they kiss, she feels her heart stir for him. They go to sleep, Peeta's arms around Katniss, and for the first time since her father used to hold her like that, she feels safe. They wake hungry.
What happened the first time Katniss kisses Peeta?
When they kiss, Katniss describes it as the first that both are fully aware of. Neither is sick or dazed by injury, and it's the first kiss that makes her want another. Because of the cold, they share the sleeping bag again, and Peeta puts his arms around her.
She kisses him, thinking of how they're supposed to be in love. She steps outside, and a new gift from Haymitch arrives. It's a pot of hot broth, and Katniss realizes Haymitch wants her to play up the romance.
He has betrayed her and is betraying all of District 12 by buddying up with the Careers, whom she calls the "Capitol's lapdogs." She decides that if the Careers don't kill him, she'd be more than happy to. Then, she wonders why Peeta hasn't told them about her bow and arrow skills yet.
Because Katniss feels betrayed by his request, she realizes that she must have trusted him at some point, but decides that it will be easier now if they stop pretending being friends since they will eventually have to try to kill one another.
She apologizes to Peeta and, again, feels that she owes him. That night, she and Peeta say goodbye to Effie and Haymitch, who will go to the Games Headquarters.
