I really don’t like it when assessments of relationships are couched in terms of whether one partner “deserves” the other, as if people are rewards to be earned or something.  I’ve seen this leveled at the Katniss/Peeta relationship a few times, and I really couldn’t disagree more, both on the general principle and in terms of the specific relationship.  

From the beginning, we are shown how well Katniss and Peeta work well when united and how they bring out the best in each other, an aspect of their relationship that is actually nicely illustrated by the above still:  Peeta and Katniss BOTH went to astonishing lengths in the arena to secure the other’s survival even when at their own expense.  It’s also important to consider that Katniss is as blindsided by the realization that Peeta’s feelings are real as Peeta is by the realization that Katniss’ feelings were at least partly for show.  Even at this point, however, it has been made clear to the reader that she deeply cares about Peeta, even if it may not be romantic love.  

Katniss’ confusion regarding her true feelings about Peeta in Catching Fire shouldn’t be considered “messing” with him:  the first-person narrative allows us to see that she was genuinely uncertain about how she felt about him.  Which is completely understandable!  For five years, her life has been a figurative AND literal fight for survival and she’s never considered the prospect of a romantic relationship.  Of course she’s not going to know how to deal with Peeta (and Gale), and it’s to her credit that she takes time out to think about what she wants, even if the Capitol has other intentions.  And, given Peeta’s adverse reaction to the fake proposal, it’s not as if he wouldn’t have wanted anything less than a genuine reciprocation on her part.  Given that the both go into the Quell with exactly the same goal regarding the other’s survival, it’s hard to see how to distinguish one as being “more deserving” than the other.

And, of course, Mockingjay.  Katniss’ behavior right up to their reunion shows exactly how much she loves him and that she is even subconsciously comparing her feelings about Peeta to Finnick’s about Annie indicates a romantic element to these feelings.  The Capitol knew what it was doing by causing this alienation between Katniss and Peeta, and it couldn’t have been so cruelly effective if Katniss didn’t care for him deeply.  And yet, even by the end, Katniss and Peeta are both protecting the other and saving each other’s life.  As Katniss meaningfully states at the end of the book:

Peeta and I grow back together.

At the end, after all the pageantry and public display are stripped away, they are still there, and they are still together, and they still comfort, support, and love each other.  The mutuality and real-ness of everything is undeniable by the end of the trilogy, and I really can’t agree with the argument that one is not “deserving” of the other.