A/N: Hello all! This is an idea that sprang out of the blue one day. I had just seen the music video for "The One That Got Away" by Katy Perry. It was so random, the entire idea just popped up into my head as one large lump out of no where. I was like, "I gotta write this." So I did! It has similarities to the music video, but it's definitely not just a copy. I didn't just put the music video into words and switch the characters.
This one-shot is a severe AU.
Italics are memories.
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games series. I only own part of the story idea, like the memories, having used the music video "The One That Got Away" sung by Katy Perry as a story reference. Which I also do not own the music video or song.
...
Closing my car door, I make my way up to the lugurious mansion. It's a towering castle that is magnificent and beautiful. It's decorated extravagantly with flowers all along the yard in various spots, different colors everywhere. There is even a large weeping willow that towers off in the corner of the lot. I gaze at it, the branches swaying sadly in the breeze as the thick bark stands strong. I sigh and open the front door into my 'home'.
"How was work?" Gale asks me as I head towards the stairs that lead up to the second story where our room is located. I grunt a response that sounds kind of like "muhbluh.."
"Ok.." He mutters as I glare at him from my spot in front of the staircase. I stop and cross my arms as he gets up and begins collecting his belongings that are sprawled across the kitchen table.
"I'm heading off to work early today." He says casually. I scoff.
"Well tell Glitz that I say hi and make sure she knows how much she like totally means to me." I tell him snidely, mocking the voice of his blonde secretary. He gives me a dirty look over his shoulder as he goes to the front door.
"Don't worry. I will." He quips back. I roll my eyes. To think that young women were still going after the much older man was amazing. He did have money though.
I'm just beginning to climb the first step when his voice stops me in my tracks. "By the way Katniss. You could at least pretend you don't hate me."
I frown and don't say anything, just make my way up the stairs without looking back. I hear him sigh as he exits the house and I go up to our room.
Opening the bedroom door, it feels almost surreal. Everything is too white. The chandeleir up in the middle of the ceiling hangs delicately over the massive queen bed that is covered in a blindingly white blanket, the pillows placed perfectly at the head of the bed. The walls are also an eye aching white. It looks too perfect. I can't stand it. It makes me want to puke to add some color to it.
I go over to the bathroom, noting that everything in here is also a porcelain white. Why did I ever agree to this? To live in such a rich mansion? I hate it.
Standing in front of the mirror, I frown at my reflection. Since when did I get so much grey hair? How old am I anyways? Fifty? Fifty-five? I can't even remember anymore. Nothing seems to even matter at this point.
'What's the point anyways?' I wonder as I go back to my bedroom and throw my body onto the soft mattress, purposefully messing up the perfect sheets.
I stare up at the ceiling, my mind wandering. What is the point? I hate this house. I'm married to someone that I don't love. Who is also cheating on me every day with his beautiful secretary. What was her name again? Glitz? Glitter? Some stupid name like that. I don't even know why we're still married.
'Because he has money.'
I cringe as this crosses my mind. It's true. He's filthy rich. Having worked for the Panem military for so long, it really paid off. He's one of the top men.
It also gives us a good image. Seeing as I've never been a very likeable person, and Gale is, it gave me a high status marrying him. I was able to put on a pretty good facade of being a wonderful and loving wife for him. The public loved us. It wouldn't look too great for either of us if he was revealed as a cheater and I wouldn't doubt that he would find some way to throw me under the bus with him.
Both of our families were happy when we announced our engagement. His more so then mine. My family was more happy that I "finally moved on". Gale's family said, "we knew you would come around!" Having always loved the idea of me and Gale together.
I sigh exasperately as I throw my arm over my eyes and memories begin to resurface.
"Finnick you butt head! Give that back!" I yelled, running as fast as my little legs could carry me. He laughed at me as he ran ahead, waving the flower crown that I made above his head tauntingly. He could be a pretty big jerk, loving to tease me, his 6 year old cousin, with his friends who were around 9. I screamed more things at him as I attempted to catch him and reclaim the crown that I had worked so diligently on for so long.
I was beginning to think that I should just go rat him out to his mom, who was talking with my own mom over on the park bench. I hadn't decided if I should be a tattle tale or not before I tripped over a rock that was jutting too far out of the grass. Unfortunately, I happened to trip into the side walk instead of just the grass. My right knee and palms caught my fall, but didn't fail at scraping all three areas viciously. Normally I wouldn't cry, just fume and call for my moms help when I got a cut or scrape. But this was different. The skin on my knee and palms were scraped off, revealing angry red flesh underneath for all the germs in the air to attack. Then the blood started. Everywhere.
This was when I started crying. I never could stand the sight of blood. It always made me queasy. So as I fell back on my butt and sat on the pavement sobbing and blood began to run down my leg and hands, I felt like I was about to both puke and faint at the same time.
I continued to sob hysterically until my mother was suddenly by my side. She was already situated beside me with her trademark first aid kit next to her. It was always nice having a nurse as a mom. I looked up and saw that Finnick's mom was currently reprimanding him as he stared at me worriedly and looked the guiltiest I had ever seen him. His friends stood behind him looking as if they wanted nothing more then to just leave the scene.
I hissed in pain and more choked sobs escaped my mouth as she cleaned the wounds with alcohol. I turned away and tried to will away the pain, gritting my teeth together. And that was when I saw him.
A small blonde boy who looked to be about my age was standing above me with a worried expression. He bent down and stuck out his hand, which contained one thing. A dandelion.
"Here." He said sheepishly. I stared at him as if he were crazy. I didn't even know this boy.
He looked down at my hands which were at the time being cleaned by my mom. He then re-met my gaze.
"Make a wish." Holding it out farther, he put it up closer to my mouth so that I wouldn't have to hold it. I gave him another confused look before I began to wrack my brain for a wish. Aha! I wish that Finnick gets payback! I sucked in a lung full of air and blew it back out as hard as I could at the weed being held up to my face. I did it!
I looked up happily at the boy, since I had never been able to blow out all of the feathery things on a dandelion before. He smiled back toothily at me. I noticed he was missing a front tooth.
"What did you wish for?" He asked curiously. I rolled my eyes before looking back at him and smiled.
"Well it won't come true if I tell you, duh!" I teased. He feigned a pouty face and I just stuck my tongue out at him.
It was at this time that I noticed my mom was done with my bandages. Wow! I hadn't even realized that she was done with it already. She was watching the interaction between me and the boy. I turned back to him and cocked my head.
"Why did you bring me a dandelion anyways?" I asked. He grinned and shrugged his shoulders.
"It got your mind off of the pain."
I smile at the memory of my first meeting with the boy that ended up stealing my heart. He was the only one who had ever succeeded in melting my cold exterior. He was always so sweet to me, even when I could be so rude and angry, at anything and everything. He was always there for me. And I was for him. We were always watching out for each other. We were practically inseperable ever since that first meeting.
"Katniss and Peeta sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" I glared down at the fools below me. Cato, Clove, and Marvel were all situated underneath the tree that Peeta and I usually hung out in after school at the local park.
"You know, the weather is pretty nice up here. You should come on up." I offered sarcastically, snapping off a nearby twig and aiming it at Cato's head. He just side stepped my good aim and scowled at me. "Maybe you and Clove can do up here what I saw you guys doing behind the library the other day."
Clove's face turned red with either embarassment or anger. Or maybe both. Cato just laughed.
"Well what you saw us doing is more then you'll ever get!" He smirked cockily at this.
"Is that so?" I asked, picking my finger nails, not in the least bit phased by his attempt of offending me.
"Yeah, I mean look at you! You're just skin and bones!" Clove said haughtily. Oh no. She took the wrong route.
"What? Your poor mother can't even feed you? Maybe your dad shouldn't have gone and gotten himself blown up!" Cato added nastily, noticing my surfacing anger.
I nearly slipped out of the hook in the tree I was nestled in by the overwhelming rage that was beginning to spread through every limb and cell in my body. Peeta thankfully caught me by my arm, but this didn't stop me from attempting to climb down the tree. He ended up pushing me back into my original spot and climbed down the tree himself. It wasn't a far fall, it was just one of those falls that could get your feet stinging if you jumped straight down.
"Oooo! The Bread Boy! I'm so scared!" Cato yelped in an overdramatic voice, that I assumed was supposed to sound like a girl. I thought he just sounded like a dog in pain.
"Why don't you guys just get on out of here." Peeta said calmly as he walked up to the towering ninth grader. He may have been just one year ahead of us, but he was pretty big. He had a good head over Peeta.
"Why don't you make me?" Cato sneered in Peeta's face. He stepped closer, leaving just a small gap between them both. Peeta stood his ground though. Attempting to match up what he was lacking in heighth with bravado.
"We don't need any trouble. Just go." I could tell that Peeta was really attempting to keep calm now. If someone was to look close enough, they would see that he was clenching and unclenching his jaw. What I know to be a nervous habit when he's on edge and trying to keep from punching something.
Now don't get me wrong, I know that Peeta was strong then, he was just scrawnier in eighth grade. It wasn't until ninth grade came around that the labor of carrying around heavy flour began to show in his figure. I was beginning to grow worried for him. I didn't want him to get in a fight with Cato and possibly break his own neck on my behalf.
I quickly climbed down the tree and ran over to Peeta, grabbing his left arm. Tugging back, I attempted to get him to follow me.
"Come on. It's fine." I mumbled. The aspiring muscles in his arms became apparent to me as they were flexing underneath my hands from his aggravation.
"No. This is our spot. I'm not leaving." He said stiffly, not looking at me. He and Cato were in what looked to be an intense staring contest. I pulled harder on his arm, willing him to budge.
"Peeta. Come on." I hissed at him. He still refused to move.
I glanced back and forth between them, wondering who was going to throw the first punch. I was pretty sure Peeta wouldn't punch first and would only fight if provoked. But at that point, I didn't know what to expect from him.
"Hey! Guys! Trinket on the prowl!" Marvel snapped at his friends underneath his breathe. We all looked up to see Ms. Trinket making her way over to us, looking throughouly irritated. She was the assistant principle at the high school.
"And what is going on here?" Ms. Trinket asked, putting her hands on her hips as she stared us all down underneath her pink framed glasses.
"Nothing Ms. Trinket." We all chorused. Cato and his friends more snapped it. She glared at us.
"I would sure hope not. You may not be in school, but public fights are still illegal. And quit climbing trees you two!" She stared at me as if I was dirt underneath her shoe. "It's so unlady like, girls don't climb trees." She turned around and stormed back towards wherever she came from. She baffled me with how straight and precisely she walked in her five inch high heels in the uneven dirt.
Clove and Marvel shot me and Peeta dirty looks before they turned around and started to drift towards a different area in the park. An area that contained new victims.
"This isn't over, Mellark." Cato threatened, pointing his index finger in Peeta's face. Peeta just stood tall. They had another small staring contest until Clove shouted to Cato a little ways off to hurry up. He was the first one to look away and glared at us one last time before heading over to his friends. I let out a breathe of air that I hadn't realized I was holding.
"Wow. I would have totally not been able to take him on." Peeta said with an air of relief. He turned around and looked at me smiling.
I slapped him in the arm.
"You idiot! I can't have you getting in fights because of me!" I shouted at him. He gave me a bewildered look and rubbed the spot on his arm where I slapped him.
"Well would it have been any better if you got in a fight with him? He would snap you like a twig." He reasoned. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms.
"I wouldn't have gotten in a fight with him. I was just gonna maybe...uh..." I trailed off. What was I going to do anyways? I was furious with what he and Clove had said, but what would I have done? Tell them how mean they are? Fight Clove? She was as intimidating as Cato.
"Exactly." Peeta smirked at me when I hadn't given him a response. I narrowed my eyes at him and turned my head away, not wanting to show my defeat.
"I know what they said was horrible. But just don't let them get to you Katniss. You're better then them." He said, trying to comfort me while putting his hands on my shoulders and attempting to look me in the eyes.
"Which part? Where they made fun of us with that stupid song or where they said that my dad shouldn't have gotten blown up." I snapped at him. His eyebrows furrowed as I could tell he was thinking deeper about something.
"Well uh..." He said sheepishly. I quirked an eyebrow at him. "I uh...I wasn't really bothered by them making fun of us...I um..." What was he getting at?
He then kissed me.
I was shocked. I didn't know that Peeta felt that way about me. We had always been just best friends. I mean, sometimes I got flustered around him and I would get a weird tingling in my stomach when he would smile at me, but I just figured that we were just really good friends and he meant a lot to me. I never thought very much into it. I was more worried at the time about making sure there was food on my family's table.
He pulled away and looked embarrassed as he took his hands off my shoulders and rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
"Sorry, I-I um uh.." He said, stumbling over his words.
I just stared at him, not knowing what to think. Then I leaned forward and kissed him back. He was initially shocked but soon fell into the kiss.
"I didn't know you felt this way about me." I said when we broke apart. I leaned my forehead against his and had my hands around his neck. His own hands were on my waist, keeping me up, otherwise I was sure I would fall.
"I've felt this way ever since I met you." He admitted.
"You've liked me ever since we were 6?" I teased. He nodded against my forehead, smiling lightly at me.
"Yup. I knew I was a goner when you sang the Valley Song in class that year too." I blushed at this.
"It wasn't really much..." I said lamely.
"It was everything to me."
We stood like this for a little while longer. The strange tingling in my stomach that I would get around him was in full blast. I then noticed that it was what people called "butterflies" when they have a crush on someone. I can't believe I never noticed that I had a crush on him. This was all so new.
"When did you plan on telling me?" I asked him when we decided to climb back up into our tree.
"Soon. I was hoping you would come with me to the eighth grade promotion dance." He said, situating himself in the hook of the tree where I could now lean up against his side, his arm around my shoulders.
"You know I'm not one for dances. The last time you tried to teach me to dance, I stepped on your feet so much they got bruises." I reminded him.
"Yeah well, you don't have to dance. Just come with me, dressed up all pretty." He said. He smiled sweetly at me after he said this and cocked his head. "Not that you're not always pretty."
I blushed and turned my face away, hiding a small smile. He was always saying sweet and ecouraging things. This had a new meaning behind it though.
I fiddled with the end of my braid as I pondered the idea. Well, it didn't sound that terrible. Free food too. I could probably sneak some home to Prim.
"Maybe." I finally told him. He didn't say anything else, but I could tell that he was happy.
"Why did you decide to kiss me today?" I asked him curiously after a while of comfortable silence. He smiled and shrugged his shoulders.
"It got your mind off of what you were mad at."
The dance ended up not being too bad. Peeta had convinced me to dance once. Just once. And it was a slow dance. The only reason why I agreed was because it was mainly just swaying back and forth.
I remember as we were swaying and I had my head on his shoulder, I saw Madge there with Gale as her date. Gale was a ninth grader, but apparently they let him go there with her. They were dancing the slow dance and I could see him giving me an odd look. Looking closer I was able to tell that he was glaring at us. I was confused. Why was he glaring?
It turned out that he liked me for a while and was excited for me to be going into high school the next year. We were close just like Peeta and I were. When I confided in him that I was going to the dance with Peeta, he didn't react how I expected him to. I thought he would tease me and say that I was turning into such a girl. Instead, he seemed to be upset. He became quiet and cold. Everything he said to me was short and clipped. Sometimes even rude. I didn't understand why he was acting like that at the time, I just tried to brush it off as him looking at me as a younger sister who had her first boyfriend as I had always seen him as an older brother. I never got any butterflies in my stomach at the sight of him and wasn't flustered with what to say around him. We were just friends and hunting partners. Nothing more then that. I just wanted to focus on both of us making sure we caught enough food for our families to eat.
It was never a brother-sister friendship with Peeta. I saw as just really good friends. I knew he meant a lot to me because I would get butterflies around him. So I think I knew deep down I had a crush on him. It wasn't a sibling like friendship that we had, but I was too focused on other things to ever think about it any farther then he was my best friend. Not 'boyfriend' or 'brother friend'. Just best friend.
After he revealed his feelings for me though, I stopped suppressing my own. We began to date the end of that eighth grade year and then throughout high school. We had relationship issues like anyone else, having our disagreements here and there. But we would always work our problems out. Even if we had different views on something, we knew how to work around it and not let it effect us.
Gale wasn't too happy when this happened. He blurted his feelings out to me one day while we were hunting in the beginning of my freshmen year. So the relationship between me and Peeta was still pretty new. I was surprised, and also kind of annoyed. But I just told him that I was sorry, and that I didn't feel that way about him. That I was dating Peeta. It caused a rift between us that never seemed to go away.
I sometimes wonder if Gale's glad for what happened.
"Cato! Slow down!" I yelled over the booming music. He was extremely intoxicated, being the driver of his trashy hand me down car. Finnick was also drunk, making out with his equally drunk girlfriend Annie right next to me. He was leaning against the window, his feet facing me on the seat, Annie situated in his lap. Peeta was in the front seat, also yelling at Cato.
Marvel was driving his own car, Clove screaming slurred obscenities at us out the passenger window. I could see Johanna, some random girl from Finnick's college, in the back, rooting them on. Madge and Gale seemed to be the peace makers of their own group. Our efforts seemed to be only in vain though.
Anybody would probably be wondering how I ended up in a car with a plastered Cato racing with Marvel. I was pretty tipsy myself though. So was Peeta. Cato just happened to be friends with Finnick at their college, both being frat boys. Finnick was celebrating his twenty-first birthday and had invited me, Peeta, Gale, and Madge. He didn't really care if we drank, despite the fact that we were all younger then him. So we did.
Finnick thought it a perfect time to tell us at the end of the party that his van was under maintenance so he couldn't give us a ride home. This resulted in Cato saying that he could give us a ride. I declined at first, having been working hard at avoiding any contact with the annoying male and his friends all night. Why he was even making a nice offer was beyond me. It was late though and me and all of my friends got there by the bus earlier in the day. We didn't really want to walk the streets at one in the morning and be picked up by some cops, all of us under the influence of alcohol and underage. Finnick drunkenly claimed he wanted to go along for the ride, so Annie went as well. Marvel, by Cato's side, offered to give Madge and Gale a lift. That was when Johanna stumbled into the room in only her bra and underwear, demanding that she also was dropped off. I had a really bad feeling in my tipsy haze, but I really needed to get home before two.
So that's why I was in a car with him. As he sped down the road, pushing 90 miles per hour on the highway in the middle of the night, not being able to always see around the curves in the road, I was beginning to panic.
"CATO! I MEAN IT!" I screamed at him, reaching up behind the seat and pinching him on the side of his neck as hard as I could. He cursed at me and swatted my hand away. I felt the car buckle for a second as he pushed harder on the gas. I looked to my left and saw that we were beginning to pass Marvel, who also retaliated with speed.
I had no idea what to do. I was searching my mind for any ideas when I saw Peeta reach over and attempt to grab the wheel from Cato. This caused the car to swerve into the other lane, narrowly missing a passing car on the opposite side of the rode. The car honked as Cato swung us back into our respective side.
"DON'T DO THAT!" Cato screamed at Peeta. He turned the music up louder as Peeta screamed at him to slow down then. I slapped Cato as hard as I could but he refused to take his foot off the gas. We were going over one hundred.
"PLEASE! SLOW DOWN!" I begged. I hate begging. It makes me feel weak. But this was all too much. We were going to die if he didn't stop.
Peeta reached over and tried to grab the wheel again, resulting in us almost crashing into Marvel. He honked at us several times and I saw him ease up on his speed. At least he had some sense.
This was when I noticed that Finnick and Annie even stopped their make out session to see what was going on. Finnick looked at me worriedly. Reaching behind himself, he quickly put on his seatbelt that had been abandoned until then. Annie did the same.
"SLOW THIS CAR DOWN NOW CATO!" Finnick screamed at the top of his lungs.
It was too late when we came upon an unexpected intersection in the highway. After that I only remember looking to my right and seeing bright lights, hearing screeching tires, shrill shrieks next to me, and clashing metal.
...
I woke up in the ER the next day. My head was pounding with a head ache and I could barely move. My sister was sobbing next to me with relief that I was awake and my mother was also crying. I was confused.
"What happened?" I asked groggily. Prim grabbed my hands and seated herself on the side of my hospital bed.
"You got in a car crash." She told me, her bottom lip trembling. "You had a pretty bad concussion, we were afraid you wouldn't wake up."
I looked up at my mother who nodded her head.
"I'm sorry mom.." I said quietly. She should know that it was for the underage drinking and partying. She nodded in understanding and then put her head down as she stifled a sob.
Then it hit me.
"Where's Peeta?" I asked Prim. Her eyes grew wide at my question. "And Finnick? Annie?" I continued. I didn't know if I cared where Cato was.
"Katniss.." She began, but a nurse came inside the room and she stopped.
"Oh good! You're awake." The nurse said brightly. How could she be so peppy? "My name is Delly. I'm your nurse."
Well that was great to know. Now how were my friends?
"You got in a pretty bad wreck." She said sadly.
Ok. And?
"You got a concussion."
I know this.
"You need to stay in the hospital for today and possibly tomorrow so that we can keep an eye on you."
Fine! How about everyone else?
"Some of your friends, unfortunately, didn't make it out as luckily as you did."
...What?
I opened and closed my mouth like a fish out of water when she said this. What did she mean they didn't make it out as luckily? Who? What? Did they die? Were they dying?
Prim watched my reaction closely as I fumbled with my thoughts. I looked her straight in the eyes.
"Who?" I barely whispered. I could see fresh tears welling up in her eyes.
"Cato didn't make it." She answered quietly. I wondered if I should feel bad. But I just felt bitterness.
"Is that it?" I pressed. She looked down at her hands that were still holding my own. A tear fell onto our interlocked hands.
"Finnick didn't make it." She choked out. A clench formed in my chest. It felt like someone was squeezing my heart and lungs as hard as they could. I couldn't breathe. Finnick? Not Finnick..
"And Peeta..." Oh no. No. She's not going to say it.
"He's barely holding on right now." Delly, my oh so helpful nurse, finished for her. My eyes shot to her.
"Barely?" I asked, my voice catching. She nodded.
"When you got in the crash, the right side of the car collided with an oncoming semi truck. Your friend Annie, who is in about the same condition as you, informed us that the two in the front were fighting over the wheel when you came upon an intersection where you were hit. The guy Finnick, in the back, received the worst of the blow. He died on impact. Your car then crashed into the car to your left, that your driver was speeding with. The other car fell down into the bank off on the side. Three of the passengers in the other car didn't make it as well."
My throat closed in on itself again. Three of them? Who? Gale and Madge ran through my head and I clenched my teeth as the nurse began to speak again.
"The driver, passenger, and one of the girls in the back, I think Madge, died from the fall. The car landed on the right side where she was. It was a deep ditch." She sounded sorrowful, but she seemed almost numb to this situation. She must try and keep her mood up as she worked through these cases every day.
I felt like I was choking. My cousin and friend had both died. And my boyfriend was barely alive.
"I want to see Peeta." I finally choked out. Delly frowned at me.
"I'm sorry, but he's in the intensive care unit right now. And you can't leave your bed." She informed me, looking down. I followed her gaze. Oh hey. Both of my arms were broken. How did I not notice that?
"Move my bed to his room then." I insisted stubornly.
"I'm sorry Ms. Everdeen, but I ca-"
"Let's take her." A quiet voice interrupted. In the door way was another doctor. He was looking at me with a straight face. Neither numbness, sorrow, or fake peppiness written on his face. He merely looked at me with an understanding expression.
"But Cinna-" The nurse began but he put his hand up to stop her. She clamped her mouth shut and gave him a confused look.
"He's been awake and demanding her." He explained. "He's in critical condition, but we can at least move their beds next to each other." He gestured to my broken limbs. "She's not going to be effecting his treatment. It's the least we can do." He stared at her intensely after he said this. Her mouth popped open and she nodded her head in understanding. They seemed to be having a silent conversation among each other. I glared accusingly at them, catching the implication in his eyes. I ignored it for then though. I was just happy that they agreed to move my bed.
"Of course." Delly said, moving over to me and beginning to quickly unlatch the locks so that the bed would roll. Prim hopped off and headed over to my mom. They went over to the door, saying that they were going to meet me up there. The other doctor, Cinna, caught my gaze and the look in his eyes gave me an uneasy feeling. He just nodded at me though, and exited the room behind them.
The nurse moved behind my bed and proceeded to wheel me out of the room. As we went down the hall, everything seemed to pass in a blur of white. Was Peeta going to be alright? How critical of a condition was he in? Did he break any bones?
The questions raced through my jumbled head as we headed to the ICU. Once we got there, my stomach was twisted in nervous knots.
We passed by my mother and sister who were sitting outside a door in the back of the unit. They smiled lightly at me. I tried to smile back. It probably looked more like a grimace.
"Well here we are." Delly said as she pushed my bed into the room.
I looked quickly around and then I saw him. The broken blonde boy. He was looking at me worriedly. As I was settled next to him he reached his hand out to me. I looked down at it. It contained one thing. A dandelion.
"Here." He whispered. I stared at the dandelion in shock. Dejah vu was hitting me in agonizing waves. He looked down at my broken arms, then looked back up at me and moved the dandelion closer to my face so that I wouldn't have to hold it.
"Make a wish."
Tears welled up in my eyes as I stared at the single weed. I swallowed them back though and closed my eyes, thinking of a wish. I wish that he lives...
I took in a gust of air and blew it back out with everything in me. Every petal flew off and fluttered over to him, brushed against his face, and landed in various spots around his head. He smiled lightly at me.
"What did you wish for?" He asked, his voice had a strange throatiness, as if he had fluid in his lungs. I did my best to conjure up a smile in return.
"Well it won't come true if I tell you." I teased lightly. He feigned a pout, then reached over and set the stem on my bed. "Duh." I absentmindedly added as he played with strands of my loose hair. We layed there in silence for a few moments.
"Katniss and Peeta, sittin' in a tree," I began quietly as he continued to mess with my hair. He always loved it down. "K-I-S-S-I-N-G."
"First comes love." He added.
"Then comes marriage."
"Then comes the baby in the baby carriage."
We laughed at our inside joke.
"When can the marriage part of the song come?" Peeta asked quietly, grinning at me. "We already have the first one down."
"Are you proposing to me?" I questioned. He smiled shyly.
"Depends."
"In a hospital? While we're both crippled? And I can't even move my arms?"
"Why not?"
"I'm all ugly."
"No you're not."
"My hair is a mess."
"Since when have you cared?"
"Since you possibly proposed to me in a hospital when I can't move and I have no idea what I look like."
He raised an eyebrow at me.
"What!? Isn't a proposal supposed to be all cheesy with flowers and a candle lit dinner and I have to be all beautiful and dressed up?" I pointed out. That's what they always show in those cliche romance movies. And books. Not that I have read them...
He began to laugh when he realized I was being serious.
"Have you been reading your sisters or moms romance books or something?" He accused jokingly. I couldn't help but blush as I felt caught.
"No.." I said, looking away from him. He laughed at this, but it ended up drawing a hacking cough out of him. I turned to him worriedly and looked in time for him to cough up blood on his hand and blanket.
"Shoot-" He said, having seen the blood before going into another coughing fit. I began to panic and quickly called for help. The nurses rushed in and closed the curtain around his bed. I became angry at this and demanded that they don't shut me out.
After adamantly arguing, I ended up losing and had to wait off on the side as they tried to find out what was wrong.
It turned out that he had massive internal bleeding, that they already knew about and had performed surgery once before to try and stop it, but it wasn't working. His time was running out and the internal wounds were getting worse instead of better.
Later that night, we lay quietly with him hooked up to IVs everywhere, stroking my hair from across the small space between our beds.
"Once we get out of here." I whispered, breaking the silence. He turned to look at me.
"What?" He croaked out. His voice was even throatier now.
"Once we get out of here." I repeated. I turned my head to him and he was looking at me with confusion. "We're getting married. After we get out."
His eyes flashed with a strange mix of happiness, as I had actually said yes, and then to something I couldn't name.
He turned away then, covering his mouth as he began to cough uncontrollably. I cringed as blood sprayed onto his hands and it sounded like fluid was attempting to force it's way up into his throat. All I could do was lay there and pray that the wish on my dandelion would come true. It didn't seem the odds were in our favor though.
"That's not all." He suddenly said once he caught his breathe, a smirk playing across his lips. "That's not all. I saw the baby drinking alcohol."
"Well...We might want to really keep any of our kids away from my uncle Haymitch then." I remarked, remembering my uncle who was hardly ever sober. Peeta chuckled lightly at this and I laughed.
"Why did you randomely bring that up?" I asked. He shrugged, but gazed at me with a solemn expression.
"It got your mind off of the fact that I might not make it."
A single tear falls down my face as I recall this painful event.
It turned out that Peeta also had his left leg shattered underneath the dash board. The jaws of life were able to get him out of the car, but his leg wasn't salvageable. He apparently lost a large amount of blood just by that. And then there was all of the internal bleeding. That was what caused the horrible problems. They couldn't control it. It ended up consuming him. And ending his life.
A sob rips through my throat and tears begin to flow freely. I sit up quickly in the bed and hop off the side. I begin to anxiously pace the room. I don't even try to contain the tears as I grab a lamp that looks to be made out of diamond and throw it onto the ground in frustration, the object shattering into a million pieces. It's not fair! It never should have happened! If we just hadn't gotten in the stupid car with Cato!
If we hadn't gotten into the car with him, then I would be living a comfortable life with Peeta at fifty years old. Maybe with grandkids running around. He always wanted children.
But we did get in the car. And he died. So I was here now, stuck in a loveless marriage with a cheater.
This is why I think that Gale was a little happy with what happened. He got what he wanted. Me.
We never belonged together though. We were like two flames colliding to cause an even bigger fire. It helped for a little while after I went into a deep depression. It made me feel more alive. But I was quickly burnt by the raging flame. It was uncontainable and quickly consumed us. We were about ten years into our marriage when it got this way, and I suppose Gale realized he made a mistake. That was when the affairs began.
Peeta was the dandelion in my life. He brought spring and peacefulness. He was able to tame the fire inside of me when it got out of hand, while I brought a bit of a spark to his life. But he isn't here.
It's rather sudden that the song "The One That Got Away" by Katy Perry from when I was younger, pops into my head. I sneer at the irony. That's my life. In another life, I would be your girl.
I don't remember all of the lyrics but that line and the line 'all this money can't buy me a time machine. Can't replace you with a million rings' choruses through my head with an off tune.
Looking up at the wall that I stop in front of, I see a calendar looming over me. It seems to be caving in. It's dated back in 2012. But wait. Aren't I fifty? There's a big date circled. September 19, 2012. EVERYONE DIED. Written big and bold. I grab my hair and scrunch my eyes closed in frustration. Nothing was making sense.
"Katniss.."
Oh great. Now I'm hearing his voice in my head. I'm officially going crazy. Maybe I'm getting early alzheimers.
"Kaatniss.."
"Shut up!" I yell, shaking my head and stepping back from the looming calendar.
"Katniss!"
"No!" I scream. Maybe I'm dying. Will I meet him in the afterlife?
"KATNISS WAKE UP!"
Frantically, with my eyes still squeezed tightly shut, I punched with all my strength at the calendar hanging on the wall in anger.
My fist doesn't hit the wall though. It connects with what feels like a nose.
"WHA-UGH! REALLY!?"
I'm afraid to open my eyes. But as I do so slowly, my vision is bleary with tears. I find myself no longer in the perfect white room with the wretched calendar and date, but instead I'm in a different room. One that is dim, with light filtering in from what seems like the crack of dawn. The walls are not white, but a light tan color. I then notice that I'm in a bed. A bed with a dark blue blanket. Peeta's favorite color.
Looking up, I am met with a distraught Peeta holding his nose. I gape at him.
"Really Katniss? My nose?" He takes his hand away from his face and it, along with his face, is covered with blood.
I continue to gape. It was all a dream?
"Ah man. I think it's broken." He grimaces as he tries to touch his nose, but quickly hisses in pain.
"Wha-uh-" I stutter, trailing off. Wow...it was so real...
"You were crying and thrashing in your sleep. I was trying to wake you up." He explained as he got up and headed towards our bathroom. Our bathroom.
I smack my forehead in annoyance as I realize everything was a dream. It's already beginning to fade to the back of my mind, but the realness and pain from it is still fresh.
I'm really twenty-two years old, married to Peeta. The memories in my dream really happened, but not so much the last one. What really occured, was that Peeta grabbed the steering wheel and swerved us off the rode into a small ditch, it seeming to be the only way to get Cato to slow down and stop the car. We ended up crashing into a tree. It got everyone pretty jostled up, but no one was seriously injured. Peeta broke his left leg, but besides some minor concussions and cuts here and there, that was about it. I suppose my subconcious went into overdrive when I imagined him losing his leg.
The thing with Gale being jealous of our relationship at first happened but he got over it though. Unlike in my dream. He was upset about it for a while back in high school, but he eventually moved on and he and Madge have been dating since she was a junior and him a senior.
Another thing that's also true is my drunk uncle. He can barely go more then five minutes without whipping out his flask. He's hardly ever seen sober.
"What were you having a nightmare about anyways?" Peeta asks as he makes his way back into the bedroom, gingerly patting at his nose with a wet wash cloth. I'm about to respond when the clock radio on my beside table goes off. Wouldn't it be my luck, that the first thing that blares out would be the horrible song that my dream related to so perfectly.
"In another liiiife. I would be your giiiiirl."
Let's just say that Peeta's nose isn't the only thing that ended up broken this morning.
...
A/N: Ok. So. I had only watched a quarter of the video when I came up with this whole one-shot idea. I just knew the gist of what it was all about so I began forming my story from it. I actually had no idea that the guy in the video got in a crash and died. The idea to have Peeta die in a car crash when Cato was racing Marvel just occurred to me. And then I thought of the dream part of it. I didn't plan on finishing the rest of the music video but I realized that I should watch it in case, so that I wouldn't end up copying it too closely. So I was watching it through, and when the guy got in a crash after their fight, I was actually like "Ah crap!" so as I watched the rest of the video, I was nervous that it was going to be a dream! But it wasn't, aha.
I am actually happy with how it turned out. I hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Reviews are very much appreciated!