A/N: Big thanks to my Beta, Maleday, for helping me with this story! Make sure to check out her fanfiction, she's a brilliant writer!

Happy Reading!

Tonight won't be an easy night to get through. It's even worse than every other night since Peeta's been gone. There are so many feelings surging through my body, it's too overwhelming. I don't know what I'm feeling; I'm excited, nervous, scared and anxious all at the same time, and it's all because tomorrow I'll be seeing the face of my husband who's been gone on deployment for almost a year now.

I roll over to his side of the bed and see that the clock reads only 2:33 am. I sigh and bring my face to Peeta's pillow. Although very faint, I still pick up the scent of cinnamon and dill, his usual smell from baking all day. I refused to change his pillowcase after he left because even the smell of him made me feel like he was still here somehow. With nothing but bad news for the last few weeks, I've practically washed it with my tears anyway.

I'll never forget the phone call I got telling me that Peeta had been caught in a land mine explosion. I'd held my breath, fearing the worst, until they told me he'd lost the bottom part of his left leg. He'd have to wear a prosthetic for the rest of his life. The panic that I felt in that moment was like no other, my knees buckled beneath me and I fell to the ground in a fit of sobs that shook my body. I knew things like this happened. But the hardest part was not being there to comfort him and tell him everything was going to be alright, or see how the surgery was going and how he'd adjust to his prosthetic.

That moment brought me back to when I was only eleven years old and my father died in a car accident and I'd felt the same way, completely out of control.

I had known that being a military wife in the middle of war would be a challenge; not knowing how he was doing everyday and not being able to see his face all the time like I used to. It's the worst feeling in the world knowing that the person you love the most has their life on the line. Anything horrible could happen at any moment and you never know what's going on. I lived for those 15 minutes when I got to talk to him every few days. I made sure write him letters and he'd write back often. Packages were commonly sent to him too, photos of his family and I so that he'd have something from home to look at once in a while.

Having all these heartbreaking memories enter my mind make tears well up in my eyes and I know I'll need to take some sleeping pills tonight in order to get a full amount of sleep.

Tomorrow definitely isn't going to be easy.


8 hours later…

I'm awoken by the obnoxious beeping of my alarm clock beside me. I groan and press the snooze button before remembering that today is the day. The day that Peeta will finally come home.

I take a quick shower and put on Peeta's favourite dress of mine. It's orange, sunset orange to be exact, and it's his favourite colour. I take the pearl necklace he gave me before he left and do it up around my neck. Although I typically leave my hair in a side braid, Peeta loves when I wear it down so I decide to keep it that way.

It's almost twelve in the afternoon when I hear a light knock on my door that can only be Annie Odair. I open the door to see that she's wearing a pretty blue dress that reaches just above her knees. She holds her and Finnick's son, Finn, in her arms and the boy plays with her wavy red hair that falls down beside her face. He's only three years old, but he knows enough about what his father does and why he's gone.

"Hey Katniss, are you excited for today?" Annie asks as she makes her way into the house and shuts the door carefully behind her.

"More than ever," I breathe out, "Good to see Finn's coming along." I smile down at the little boy, now sitting on the ground. Finnick and Peeta both joined the army after high school. It's nice to have good friends like Finnick and Annie who are in the same situation as us. I can always turn to Annie for a shoulder to cry on. Finnick had also lost a limb, just like Peeta. It's a shame he lost his arm because he was such an excellent swimmer.

"We should get going now, shouldn't we?" Annie asks patiently.

I nod. "I just want to make sure everything is organized for when he comes home." I tell her. She gives a weak smile, and slips on her jacket and picks up little Finn from the ground. He's a quiet boy, he doesn't giggle or smile often.

The three of us pile into one car, Finn is sitting in the back and Annie in the passenger seat. We're supposed to drive to a large gym with all the other families who are expecting their husbands or boyfriends or sons to arrive back home.

Annie clutches my hand that's resting on the stick shift of the small car. "I can't believe we get to see them today," she says enthusiastically.

I can only nod because if I start talking about it now, I'll start crying like I usually do when I talk about Peeta.

We finally pull up to the city's main recreation centre. There's barely any parking spots left, so we drive around for a good while until we finally come across one.

Annie carries a poster for Finn that says "Welcome Home Daddy!" and in my hand, I carry a sign saying "Welcome Home Peeta!" in large writing. It's a common thing to do, because the place is so crowded and the soldiers are all dressed the same making it hard to find who you're looking for.

When we enter the room, it's filled almost completely and there are children holding signs, wives and mothers, sisters and all of the veterans family packed into one room to welcome them home. It's overwhelming to see how many people there are in one place.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Annie asks, looking around at all the crowds of people. I can only imagine how emotional it's going to be for all of them when the loved ones arrive. I made sure to bring tissues because there's not a chance that I won't be crying.

Finally, the large screen at the front of the room turns on, you can see the veterans getting off the plane at the airport. They're all in familiar uniforms and many are battered and wounded, but that doesn't matter. I can't spot Peeta because there's so many of them. Tears sting my eyes as I stare longingly at the screen. Annie is at my side and she's teary eyed as well, and of course Finn doesn't have a single clue what's going on.

After the veterans get off the plane and pick up their baggage, they'll be brought over by bus. The room is eerily silent as everyone waits for the bus to arrive.

"What time are they coming at again?" Annie asks.

"Should be a twenty minute bus ride from the airport to here, so they'll be coming shortly." I force a smile. Not shortly enough.

After another ten minutes go by, the large doors on each side of the gym open and the multitude of men start coming into the gym looking for their families. I see a swarm of army green as they eagerly walk towards their families. Some are limping, battered and wounded. They look so different from when I last saw them.

Annie and I both look at each other and raise our posters hoping that Peeta and Finnick will see.

"They should have found us by now." Annie frowns as she looks around on alert, trying to spot them. It's been roughly five minutes since they entered.

Before I can say anything to Annie, I feel a pair of arms snake their way around my waist. The poster drops from my hands and I turn around to see a pair of beautiful blue eyes gazing down at me. They're welled with tears and when I finally break out in a large grin, they're running down his face. I pull his body to me and hug him for as long as I can. His arms are strong and tanned, and make me feel safer than I've ever felt before. I look up to see him again and he's still grinning so I wrap my arms around his neck and force his lips to crash down on mine. His lips are chapped, but they still feel so familiar, I can't let go.

"I missed you so much," I whimper, I reach up to wipe my tears again and he gives a weak smile.

"I missed you too," He says, "You look beautiful." He grins.

I can only blush in response because I'm at a loss for words. His hair is still buzzed short, but his face looks the same: kind and handsome. His structure is more built and strong now, and his skin is tanned with faint bruises and scars, but other than that he's still the Peeta I remember.

Annie finds us and Finn is giggling and smiling as Finnick cradles him with his one arm. It's beautiful to see him smile, because since Finnick left it wasn't common that I'd see Finn in such a joyful mood. Annie pulls Peeta into a long hug, and I do the same with Finnick. It's been a long awaited reunion.

After the ceremony ends, Peeta and Finnick find our car. The drive seems long and awkwardly quiet. Finnick and Annie sit in the back quietly gazing at little Finn who's in complete awe at seeing his father again. Peeta sits silently in the passenger seat while he gazes longingly out the side window. I'm surprised by his quietness, because Peeta is usually so talkative. I decide that it's probably because he's in awe from finally returning home.

Finally, we arrive home after dropping the Odair's off. Peeta's eyes open wide when we pull up to the driveway of our house.

I eagerly step out of the car. Peeta does the same but walks towards the trunk to retrieve his bag. That's when I notice his awful limp. I almost completely forgot about his new leg.

"Peet, let me grab that for you." I say with a forced smile. I take the bag out of his hands.

"I'm fine." He insists and takes the bag back from me.

I frown in confusion because he looks so genuinely upset about this. "But you're leg!" I protest, following him towards the front door.

"I can do it okay?" he grumbles as he starts walking up the front steps.

Alarmed by his uncharacteristic attitude, I try to remember if it is one of the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. After his diagnosis at the hospital on base, I'd done some reading on it. I remember reading that once a soldier comes back from the military, they don't like to be reminded that they've lost a limb, or that they have a disability. They don't like when people offer to do things for them because they just want to feel normal. It seems that even with his prescription medicine, there'll still be signs of PTSD that we'll have to face together.

I decide to change the subject instead. "Look familiar?" I ask.

"Mhmm," Peeta hums as he walks closer to the house, "It doesn't look like anythings changed."

"That's because it hasn't," I chuckle, "I didn't change a thing." I wanted things to be the same when Peeta got back, because the adjustment is hard enough and getting used to new surroundings would only make it harder for him.

I turn the lock and we enter the house. Peeta takes in the sight of our small home and inhales deeply. It's all coming back to him.

"I missed it here." He sighs as he sets down his bag and walks further into the house.

I give him a weak smile, "It's sure been lonely without you."

He turns around and walks towards me again and envelopes me in another hug. "I'm sorry," he whispers. His face is rested on my shoulder and I can feel a tear escape from his eye and hit my skin.

"It's okay, Peeta," I mumble, "You're here now, and that's all that matters to me."

I hear another sniffle and try hard not to break down myself because I know it'll only make him feel worse.

I should have never left," he says.

I shake my head. "You're brave Peeta, it's what you had to do," I tell him. He nods his head and I still hear more sniffles escape from him.

"Hey," I say, "It's okay." His face comes up from my shoulder and I stand on my tiptoes to wipe the tears that are leaving streaks on his smooth face.

He nods his head and I kiss him hard and firm on the lips. They taste like salt since his tears have even managed to reach there, but I don't care. I keep kissing him until he stops crying and he finally says something again.

"Thank you," he says, "but I should be the one comforting you."

I can only give him a sad smile. "It doesn't have to be that way, you deserve comfort too."

I go around with him to look through the rest of the house. He finds his old paint brushes and stares at the old paintings he did. The look on his face makes me smile. He's finally back where he belongs.

When we get to the bedroom the first thing he does is crash down onto the bed. He spreads himself out like a starfish and lies face down. I lay beside him and run my fingers through his short hair. I can only imagine what it feels like to be in a nice king size bed compared to a small and uncomfortable cot.

Peeta calls his family to tell them he's back safe. We'll be visiting them tomorrow. We didn't want to overwhelm him today, even though I'm sure he would have liked to have visited everyone. Uncle Haymitch was supposed to come for dinner, but he was no where near sober enough to even function properly.

I make a warm, home cooked meal of lamb stew which is both of our favourites. He seems to savour every bite he takes and I just stare at him eating it because he looks so pleased.

"This is the best meal I've had in a long time," he sighs.

"I bet," I laugh, "What was the food like there?"

"Horrible," he groans, "The MRE's were all disgusting."

MRE stands for "Meals Ready to Eat." It's food that comes in a package. I can only remember the disgust in Peeta's voice when he'd described his menu over the phone.

"That's probably because you have such high standards." I giggle as I spoon another bite of the hot stew into my mouth.

"True." Peeta laughs.

I try not to ask too much about his leg, because the incident with carrying his bag into the house earlier makes me wonder if he's still sensitive about it and I can only bet that he is. I haven't even seen it yet, but I'll have to at some point.

He tells me he's tired afterwards, and all he wants to do is go to bed. I can't say I'm thrilled that he wants to go to bed so soon. I try not to feel offended and just attribute to his long day, but apart of me can't help but be disappointed at his lack of interest.

I remove the thought from my mind and follow him up to bed and begin to get ready. Just as I finish slipping my pajamas on, I hear sounds of frustration coming from the master bathroom.

"Peeta?" I knock on the door to see if it's okay to enter. I only hear a huff in response.

"Come in," he murmurs. I turn the handle and enter the bathroom where I see him sitting on the edge of the tub in his boxer briefs. It's the first time that I see his prosthetic that goes from his foot to his knee. It looks like a regular foot at the bottom, but as it goes up it looks confusing and uncomfortable. His short hair is mussed like it is when he runs his fingers through it in anger.

"Need help?" I ask him calmly. I don't wait for a response, I crouch down and take off his lower leg prosthetic in one easy try.

"I just hate it," he groans, "I hate that I have to wear this, I hate that I'm not normal anymore I hate that-"

"Shh!" I cut him off and sit down beside him. "Not having your lower leg doesn't make you any different," I tell him, "You're still Peeta and I still love you no matter what. Stop beating yourself up over this, please."I lean my head against his shoulder.

"Fine," he says, "Let's just get to bed." He kisses my cheek delicately before clumsily standing up. I come to his left side and help him walk towards the bedroom.

"Did you take your pills?" I ask. He nods his head as I help him sit down onto the bed. Besides his PTSD related pills, he's been taking anti-depressants since he lost his leg.

I make my way to my side of the bed and slump down on the firm mattress. I roll over to Peeta whose eyes are already starting to close. I move as close to him as I possibly can and he hastily wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me closer. My head rests against his chest where I hear the steady beat of his heart.

"I missed this," he yawns, "you and my lying here."

I move up to kiss his cheek, "Me too." I smile.

"I love you," he says and that's all I catch before I fall fast asleep into what I assume will be a restful night at last. That all changes when I wake up to hear screaming and thrashing.

A/N:

Thank you for reading! This is the start of my new multi-chapter fanfic that I've been planning for a long time. There was a lot of research and planning I had to do to start this story, so I hope I was accurate when describing things about Peeta's time in the military. If I did seem to get things wrong in some parts I apologize, and please let me know so I can fix it!

Acknowledgements go to Sprinkleslol441 who has helped me plan and give advice for this story. She has recently started her own everlark fanfiction so make sure to check that out!

Another acknowledgement goes to Plumgal1899 who gave me some very smart and helpful advice with this story. She's a brilliant writer so make sure to check her everlark fanfictions out! And last but not least my lovely Beta, Maleday.