As Haymitch explains, Peeta does want to marry Katniss, but he wishes she wanted to marry him out of love, not just necessity. Peeta also gets angry because he feels like Katniss and Haymitch are constantly manipulating him.
Peeta and Katniss have barely interacted since the Games; Peeta holds some resentment towards Katniss for faking affection for him, and Katniss is confused about her feelings and is uncomfortable to be with him because of her close friendship with Gale Hawthorne, who also has strong feelings for her.
Katniss wasn't focused on romantic love, but instead on keeping her family safe. Katniss didn't really have the time to consider romance when she was worried about survival. When Peeta and Gale both made their feelings clear, Katniss wasn't entirely receptive despite caring for them both.
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 in his interview with Caesar. In the third and final book, Mockingjay, Peeta is held captive by President Snow and used against Katniss. During his captivity, he was tortured, beaten, and hijacked using tracker jacker venom to distort his memories of Katniss until he believed she was a mutt trying to kill him.
Peeta's Regret For Katniss & Finnick Gets Married | The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2
Does Peeta ever say he loves Katniss?
In Chapter 9, as Caesar Flickerman interviews Peeta before the Games, Peeta reveals to Caesar and all of Panem that he's in love with Katniss. Peeta's revelation sets in motion the storyline of him and Katniss as ill-fated lovers that carries on throughout the Games.
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.
When Katniss comes home to District 12, Gale immediately confesses his love for Katniss, and she realizes she might have feelings for him, too — but she can't explore them, because she has to continue her fake relationship with Peeta or else her entire family, including “cousin Gale,” will be killed.
Gale does not marry anyone in The Hunger Games. He and Katniss talk about running away together and starting a new life in the wilderness, but they never officially marry.
Before the Capitol battle, Gale had explained to Katniss his series of bombs designed to feed off human compassion: a small bomb would go off, and then when medical aid rushed in, a second bomb would go off, killing those people as well. Incidentally, it's this exact type of bomb that took Prim's life.
Katniss here's this and understands that even though she may not love Peeta (then) that it's one less person who has to die. (At least that's what I have always thought.) Katniss realizes that if she pretends to be in love with Peeta people will want the capitol to let them survive.
Katniss Fell in Love With Peeta During the Quarter Quell
However, it wasn't until Mockingjay -- when Peeta got kidnapped by the Capitol -- Katniss realized how much she cared about him and that she couldn't live without him.
During the interviews for the 75th Hunger Games, Peeta lied about Katniss being pregnant to try to protect her from the Games, and Katniss later stated that she miscarried due to an electric shock in the arena to avoid further questioning.
While a prisoner of the Capitol, Peeta was hijacked into believing that Katniss was not human, but in fact one of the Capitol's mutts. Conversely, Johanna Mason suggested that the Capitol's torture replaced Peeta with an "evil-mutt version" of himself. This sentiment was later echoed by Katniss.
In the case of Johanna, they each hated each other because that was what the Capitol had taught them to do. They were from competing Districts, and the idea of the Games was to keep the lesser citizens of Panem distrustful of one another and unwilling to form alliances (or raise arms in war).
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.
The woods are now ruined. Katniss decides that the Capitol views her and Gale's weekly hunting trips — and the one time that Gale unexpectedly kissed her, which Snow knows about — as flaunting her defiance in front of the entire district.
The Hunger Games Catching Fire: Gale Kisses Katniss (Liam Hemsworth, Jennifer Lawrence) - YouTube. Gale (Liam Hemsworth) surprises Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) when they return from hunting.
Although she will never know for sure, Katniss does recognize that she cannot be with Gale. She will never be able to forgive him for his idea — the parachute bombs — that killed Prim.
The love triangle between Katniss, Gale, and Peeta is a major part of The Hunger Games franchise. There always appeared to be a spark between Katniss and her best friend, but when Katniss is reaped, everything changes. To survive, she's forced to fake a romance with Peeta, a boy who lives in her district.
Gale is jealous of Peeta and the relationship he has with Katniss, and he wants Katniss to decide between them, though he doesn't press Katniss during her recovery in District 13. Gale is an excellent hunter and excels at setting snares and traps.
She is upset she will be forced to be with Peeta the rest of her life, but that is not what troubles her the most. In District 12, one of the few freedoms people have is the decision of when and whom to marry, or if to marry at all. Before the Games, Katniss had never wanted to get married — to Gale, Peeta, or anyone.
'Peeta & Katniss Kiss In The Arena' Scene | Hunger Games - YouTube. Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and an injured Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) share a tender moment and a kiss, as Gale (Liam Hemsworth) watches from District 12.
Does Peeta love Katniss in the first Hunger Games?
Moreover, beyond the page, Peeta's lifelong affection for Katniss is noticeably underdeveloped. For the majority of the first Hunger Games installment, the franchise's stoic heroine remains convinced that Peeta's feelings are little more than a performance meant to appease a bored and callous Capitol.
