:DISCLAMIER: I DO NOT OWN 'THE HUNGER GAMES':
:IT BELONGS TO SUZANNE COLLINS:
ONE
I clutch the sheets of my bed as my mind adjusts itself to reality. It's two in the morning. I need Peeta. I'm not even sure if he can stand to be in the same room with me after what happened at dinner.
After the rebellion ended and Haymitch, Peeta and I returned to Twelve, we would have dinner together every weekend. The food would consist of the meat from my hunting and the bread from Peeta's baking. Every single dinner would go smoothly, usually with Haymitch dead drunk on the couch in either Peeta's or my living room. This of course resulted to Peeta and I having time alone. I was grateful for the alcohol in Haymitch's bloodstream because it actually gave Peeta and me a chance to talk and reconcile. Last night though, Peeta crashed through the kitchen door and feel on the floor, causing the bread on the basket he was carrying to fly to the air. He clutched his ears and closed his eyes. He was muttering something under his breath. I flung myself to him to wrap him in my arms, Haymitch, thankfully sober that night, stopped me and said that it would be best to leave him and that my presence would only make it worse.
I urge myself to rise from my bed. I grab my coat and wear it over my shirt and pants. I made my way through my house and out the door to the only place I know I would be free of my nightmares.
I reached Peeta's front door and unlocked it with the key he gave me. I walked in the house and climb the stairs to Peeta's room. I find him asleep when I open the door. Without hesitation, I remove my coat, leave it on the floor and climb onto his bed and into the blankets. I rest my head on his right shoulder. Instantly, though he is still sleeping, his right arm shifts so that my head rests on it and his left arm brings me closer to his chest. He smells of cinnamon and dough. This is where I feel safe. I close my eyes and meet a dreamless sleep, accompanied with the soft hum of my Peeta's breathing.
When I wake again, Peeta is looking down at me, obviously just waking up too. I stifle a smile when I remember the incident during dinner.
"Hi" I say.
"Hi" he says back.
I start to back away from him and grab my coat, say thanks and leave when he says " Don't" barely audible even in the silence.
"Okay" I answer and tuck myself back into his arms. Everything went quiet after that. Both of us are fully awake now.
"You're here" says Peeta, braking the silence
"I am. I came in last night with the key. You know."
"Why?"
"Nightmares" another round of silence. After a while, it was me who spoke up.
"Peeta, last night when we were about to have dinner, what did you see in the flashback?" I whispered as though another person might here my question. It took him a while to answer, but when he did, it startled me.
"It wasn't a flashback."
"Then what was it?" I ask shocked.
"It was more like a memory. I was sure it was. There wasn't anything shiny in it." he paused "It was when we got out of Tigris's shop. When we split up. I was walking alone remember?" I nod. " Well you remember when everything went crazy. Then there was an explosion. Two explosions. I knew you were in that area. I thought you were dead." I quickly wipe my tears on my sleeves at the memory of the day Prim died. Peeta however was trapped in a trance. "I thought that I saw you for the last time in that shop. Then I went crazy too. Pushing everyone out of the way toward the place of the explosions. I didn't reach it you know. Thirteen's hovercraft came and picked me out of the streets. I didn't see you for so long. All the while I knew you to be dead. It was so hard." He continued. "Everything went better as soon as they told me when we landed that you were alive." he looks down at me again. "Everything's perfect now." I reached up to kiss him. There. I feel it again. The warmth in my stomach getting bigger and bigger, until I couldn't handle it anymore. My hands travel from his face to the soft curls on his head and I pull him closer to me. His hands move across my back and land on my waist. I release a tiny moan. I stop the kiss look into Peeta's eyes. The words leave my mouth as fast as it came in my mind.
"Marry me" I say to him.
Before he can answer, I pull him to me for another kiss. For one because I can't take that feeling of wanting more and another because I'm really honestly afraid of what he might say. That's stupid because I'm talking to Peeta! The one man, who I know, besides Gale, truthfully loves me more than himself! Still, I make the kiss last so long. He was the one to pull away this time. He just looks at me and I stare back at his blue eyes mentally willing him to speak.
"I always dreamt that I would be the one to ask." he answers with a laugh. I laugh too.
"Is that a yes?" I return
"Of course." he then pulls me to a short kiss. I rest my head back on his chest feeling relieved and happy. His hands find my hair and I count the beats of his heart. We stay like this for a while.
"You sure about this?" I ask him.
"Katniss," he lifts my chin so that we're facing each other again. "You're the only thing I'm sure about." he kisses me again.
That night, when we slept in each other's arms, I did have a dream, but not a nightmare. I see Peeta standing in the meadow carrying a small child in his arms, peacefully sleeping and his other hand clasped at another child, older than the one in his arms. Peeta sees me and points toward my direction so that the little girl beside him can find me too. Her blue eyes find me and her lips turn to a toothless smile. She runs towards me and I greet her with a hug, lifting her off her tiny feet.
"Hi Mommy!" she says. Her voice sounds like the sweet tinkling sound of bells.
"Hey, baby." I say. Peeta suddenly appears by our side and with one arm, engulfs us in a hug and plants a kiss on my forehead.
When I wake, I find the sunlight in my face. As I move through the blankets, I notice that it's become more spacious. Still half asleep, I whisper Peeta's name with a smile across my face. My eyes open wide as I receive no answer.