Disclaimer: I own nothing. All the characters in this story belong to the wonderful Suzanne Collins and The Hunger Games Triology.

March 2011

Middlesex, New Jersey

It started out like any other Monday.

Katniss got up and slowly made her way into the kitchen to make her morning cup of coffee. A few years ago, she would barely touch a coffee mug in the morning. However, sometimes simple things can have the biggest changes…

Once the coffee was brewed, and adding an average amount of sugar and cream, she sat down at the kitchen table. Letting the brew in her mug cool, Katniss looked over her shoulder and waited to see if any form of life was coming from down the hallway. After a few seconds and no sign of any movement, she quickly turned to the clock on the stove and was relieved to see the time that appeared on the little LED screen.

"Six-fifteen," Katniss yawned, "still have plenty of time."

Taking her first sip of coffee of the day, she felt the familiar pain clench at her chest. Not because she was sick or had medical concerns, but because of the sudden memories that always pained her heart. The coffee was still strong, but had a hint of sweetness to it; just how she liked it. However, that's not how HE liked it. No, he never took a pack, not even a grain, of sugar in his coffee. If the coffee wasn't black, then he never would touch the mug to begin with. 'Garbage' is what he would call the cup of coffee she was drinking. Katniss tried drinking coffee like he did, but the bitter taste always caused her to dump the rest of the remains down the sink. Over the past four years, she soon decided that it didn't matter how she drank coffee, but how a simple thing like coffee could cause her to feel somewhat closer to him; only if it did last for a few seconds. Looking down at her left hand holding the mug, Katniss began examining the simple, but important band on her wedding finger. Yes, any amount of time that she felt closer to him was always worth it.

Looking back up at the stove clock, she quickly finished her cup of coffee; she lost herself daydreaming… again.

"Damn it." Katniss muttered.

Once the dirty mug was placed in the dishwasher, she hurried down the hall and began knocking on the bedroom door adjacent from hers, theirs.

"Prim!"

No Response.

Katniss began knocking louder, soon getting frustrated at the person behind the thin piece of wood. Opening the door, she took in the sight that was her seventeen year-old sister. Books were thrown all over her twin bed, which were being used as what looked like a very comfortable pillow. Walking over the dirty clothes that laid upon the bedroom floor and approaching her sister's small bed, she realized that her teenage sister was not alone; which isn't a surprise. The fur-ball monster behind her sister has sensed that she has entered the room and jumped off the bed in a hurry, making sure to hiss at Katniss on his way out of the room.

"Good morning to you, too." Katniss hissed back.

Turning back to her sleeping sister, she soon realized that she had a rude awakening waiting for her; literally. Shaking Prim like there was no tomorrow, Katniss let out a sigh of relief when her sister finally opened her eyes after a few moments. Looking to see who had woken her from her peaceful slumber, Prim let out a huff and turned away from her big sister.

"I don't want to go," Prim groaned, "you can't make me."

Grabbing a hold of Prim's ankles, Katniss tiredly scowled to herself, "I don't care how old you are, I will drag you out of this bed by your ankles and dress you myself if that's what it takes to get you ready for school". Seeing no sign of hesitation, Katniss tighten her grip on her sister's ankles. "Prim, you should know by now I'm not joking. It's already past six-thirty and school starts at seven-fifteen. It's your senior year and I'm not letting you slip on your grades now. So it's either get up yourself or your twenty-two year-old sister is going to take charge in a few seconds." Waiting patiently and no reaction from her sister, Katniss could only shake her head. "Now you're asking for it. One…, Two…, Three!".

Beginning to pull her sister out of bed, Prim let out a shriek before somehow getting her ankles out of Katniss's iron grip. Going for her ankles again, Prim jumped out of bed, "Okay! Okay! I'm up! I'm up!". Katniss gave her sister a winning smile, swiftly hiding it after it was rewarded with an angry pout by Prim. Beginning to pick up the dirty clothes on her floor, Katniss let out a low growl. "How many times do I have to tell you to throw your dirty clothes in the hamper?" Katniss looked up to see her sister give her a tired shrug in response, before she continued picking up the rest of the clothes in frustration. "Anyway, hurry up and get dressed because you already are going to miss the bus and I don't want you to be late on top of that."

Trying to not drop any of the clothes that she has formed into a huge pile, Katniss made her way out of Prim's bedroom. Hurrying to drop the clothes in the hamper, Katniss rushed to get herself dressed also. Going into her dresser, Katniss grabbed a normal pair of jeans and plain green t-shirt. Once she was dressed, she picked up her favorite, and only, piece of jewelry. This very simple pearl necklace, this special gift, has become her life line over the past few years. When the necklace is not safely worn on her, which is almost never, Katniss always places it beside her favorite picture that rests upon her nightstand.

Once the necklace is secure around her neck, Katniss picks up the picture to place a soft kiss on the mahogany wooden frame. "Good morning", she whispers to the frame that holds the handsome man behind the fragile glass. This man is the one she sleeps besides every night and wakes to every morning. His hair is short in the picture, shorter than she likes, but she knows it is that short due to regulations. She has other pictures of him that shows off his unruly blonde curls, unfortunately this the most recent and because of that, it is the most she cherishes. Placing the frame gently back on the night stand, Katniss turned to see her sister sadly smiling at her in the doorway.

"Any nightmares?" Prim asked quietly.

Gracing the same expression, Katniss makes her way over to her sister and wraps an arm around her shoulder; giving it a light squeeze, "Always". Any frustration she felt before, have disappeared. Due to the fact that she knows her sister is a moody teenager and is going to bug her most of the time. Also, most of her rude actions or behaviors go right over Katniss's head anyway.

Walking together down the hall, Prim rests her head on Katniss's shoulder, "Who was it about this time? Dad or Peeta?"

Making their way outside and locking the front door behind them, Katniss waited to answer her question after they were both situated in the car. Pulling out of the drive way, Katniss looked at her sister real quick before deciding if she should discuss the dream. Finally coming to a decision and heading down the street, she hoarsely replied, "Peeta".

"What happened in this dream?" Prim asked cautiously.

Katniss and Prim told each other everything; especially their nightmares. However, lately she's been having trouble telling her little sister about the graphic dreams that involved her overseas husband. Letting in a shaky breathe to control the upcoming tears, Katniss couldn't bare to look at her sister, "I can't tell you, Little Duck. I'm sorry and I wish I could, but these nightmares about Peeta have become too much to handle and they keep on getting more intense each night."

Prim carefully leaned over the center console and placed a gentle hand on her sisters lap, "Katniss, you can tell me. Besides, talking about it will help you feel better," she paused, choosing her next words carefully,"…help you realize that it is not real."

"That's the problem, Prim. I always say that they feel so real, but this one… this one felt like déjà vu. Like it has happened before, even though we both know nothing has happened. I'm afraid…"

"What do you mean?" You're afraid of what?"

Pulling up to a stop sign, Katniss look at her sister with glossy eyes, "I'm afraid that if I talk about these dreams, they are going to come true. And I cannot have anything happen to him. I need him to come home to me." Katniss struggled with the last few words.

"Have you told Doctor Aurelius about this?"

Doctor Aurelius is Katniss' on-call psychiatrist. As time apart from her husband progressed, her constant nightmares, that began when she was a child, became more frequent and much more graphic. Her once simple memory hauntings have turned into screaming and restless nights. After a considerable amount convincing from her sister and friends, Katniss finally agreed to see someone about this. Jumping from psychiatrist to psychiatrist, Katniss soon grew tired of the relentless doctor appointments. They often made her feel obligated to share personal information that she did not want to share. She was about to stop going all together, but that's until she found Dr. Aurelius. Katniss could tell he was different from the minute she sat down in one of the chairs of his appointment rooms. He didn't ask questions until she talked about something and never forced her to speak anything she didn't feel fit. Since then, her nightmares have slightly improved and became more spaced out, however she knew exactly who could fix her problem. Once that information was finally shared with Dr. Aurelius, Katniss has been on exclusive phone appointments ever since.

"No, and I'm not planning on it." Pulling up in front of the high school, Katniss turned towards her sister and leaned over to give her a quick kiss on the forehead. "Okay, here's the deal. I have a few errands I have to run today and then I'm going to stop by Annie's to talk about plans for Finnick's welcome home party. I should be back before you get home from school. If I'm not, please give me a call when you get home safely."

Closing the car door behind her, Prim jokingly rubbed at her forehead, "When did you become such a nag?" Feeling proud of her comment, Prim began walking backwards and smirked gracefully at Katniss. Shaking her head, Katniss slowly grew a neutral expression upon her lips. Even though she felt horrible on the inside, her sister always knew how to make her smile. Katniss would have answered her sister's question, but she knew that Prim already knew the answer. The question may have been a way that Prim often calmed situations between the two of them, but she knew they both didn't need a reminder of the past. Watching her sister turn around and head towards the entrance of the school to join up with some friends, Katniss rolled down her window, "Hey! I'm serious here! Make sure you call me!" Prim showed her acknowledgment by throwing a thumbs up into the air.

For the rest of the day, everything else seemed to be smooth sailing. Katniss went back home and fed Buttercup, which she had to remember to remind Prim to feed her demon cat once and a while. Afterwards, she tried to straighten up and clean their small ranch house. It may seem tiny for a regular family of four or five, but with Prim and herself the house often felt lonely and empty. Especially that it used to be owned by their both deceased parents. Once the house was mostly decent and Katniss finished her errands for the day, it was time to head over to Finnick's house. Just as she was walking out the door, she heard the telephone ring. She wanted to answer it, also at the same time it could have been the telemarketer who has been continuously calling the past couple of days.

She decided not to answer.

Pulling up in front of Finnick's parent's house, Katniss was a little more than excited to see her best friend's fiancé. Finnick Odair was a lifelong friend of Peeta and Katniss. In fact, they even grew up together and the three of their families would often get together at his parent's beach house down at the shore. Finnick was always the outgoing and flirtatious one of the group, so it didn't surprise anyone when he was home between tours last year, he met a girl. What surprised everyone was that this girl wasn't like the past "relationships" Finnick had. He actually wanted to settle down with this girl and this girl had a good head on her shoulders. Yet, Finnick definitely shocked everyone when he announced they were engaged before he left for his final tour… and that Annie was pregnant. They both stated that once Finnick came back home and the baby has arrived, they would pick their wedding day. Everyone was scared for the young couple, but Finnick and Annie couldn't be more excited of the situation handed to them.

Now, the time has arrived. Finnick's seven month tour in Afghanistan was not extended and would be returning home in a week. Just in time to celebrate his twenty-second birthday and a month away to witness the birth of his first child. Everything was coming together just perfectly.

Getting out of the car and walking up the stone path to the familiar two-story house of her childhood, Katniss was happy to see her best friend's fiancé waiting for her at the door. Seeing her friend, she hurried her way up the steps and quickly gave Annie a hug as soon as she was through the glass screen door.

"Oh my god," Katniss gasped as she pulled apart from her friend, "you're absolutely glowing!"

Looking down at her burgeoning stomach and rubbing it affectionately, Annie gave Katniss a tight smile, "I wish I could tell you that I felt the same way. It's only been a month since I last saw you and I feel like a freaking whale."

Shaking her head, Katniss laughed at her friend's statement, "You look beautiful. Finnick will tell you the same when he gets here."

"I just want this kid out of me already, my stomach feels like its holding a ton of bricks." Annie left one hand on her stomach and the other on her lower back for support, "And I might just get my wish, the doctor said my belly has dropped significantly in the past month and she might come early."

"She? I thought Finnick and you said it was going to be a surprise?" Katniss teased, crossing her arms over her chest.

Smiling softly and rubbing her belly once more, Annie blushed at her friends comment, "It still is a surprise, but I think we're having a girl." Waving Katniss over, Annie began leading her through the Odair's living room, "Enough about me and the baby, it's time to plan Finnick's party. Mr. and Mrs. Ordair are on the deck waiting for us. I was thinking that we should set a tent up by the creek in the backyard and will set up some lights for night time…" Annie's voice began to fade as she walked further into the house and Katniss stopped following her. She was listening the whole time until she heard another car pull up in front the house. Walking back into the living room, Katniss peeked through the blinds of the Odair's front window and covered her mouth in horror. Quickly sitting down on the couch, Katniss took a few quick breaths to control her tears.

"Katniss?"

Looking up, Katniss saw Annie standing in front of her. Her friend must of realized the she wasn't following her to the deck, "What's wrong? Why are you crying?" Annie's concern for her just made Katniss sob even harder. Oh, how little her friend new about what was happening. The attention of the concern was definitely not for Katniss She wanted to tell her friend so badly what she saw, tell her the news she was about to face. With the doorbell ringing, Katniss knew it was too late and the two men dressed in dress blues have reached the front door.

Author's Note: Thanks for reading! If you like the story, please leave a review; it is very much appreciated. I got this idea after reading a few fanfictions and hearing a song on the internet, hence the title "Dress Blues". "Dress Blues" is song by Zac Brown Band from their album "JEKYLL + HYDE" that is soon to be released. The song was originally written Jason Isbell and covered by the Zac Brown Band. If you got the chance, I totally recommend checking it out. Until then, I will be working on the next installment and will try to update as soon as I can.

-TheDonutBaker