It Began With a Red Dress…
The next morning Katniss smiled to herself as she picked their clothes up from the floor, marveling that it all began with a red dress.
Her mother had laid out one of her old dresses. It was a red shirt dress with a row of pearl buttons down the bust. They weren't real pearls of course, but they were pretty and shiny and smooth and Katniss couldn't help but rub her fingers over the one at the top of her collar as she made her way to the Justice Building.
It was Reaping Day. Today, she would be stop being Katniss Everdeen and become, Katniss whoever. The idea filled her with nausea and dread as she signed in and stood next to the other 18-year-old girls of District 12.
Effie Trinket clutched an electronic tablet in her hands, checking names off a list as she announced each pair.
Leevy Thatcher was just matched with Toby Eaton when Katniss heard her name.
"Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark!" Effie trilled into the microphone.
The boy with the bread. Katniss was stunned. She took in a deep, trembling breath and made her way up the steps of the Justice Building. She felt a warm hand graze hers and looked up into the deep blue eyes of Peeta Mellark. He offered her a kind smile, before taking her hand and guiding them over to Effie Trinket.
"Congratulations, what a big big day!" She beamed as she handed them a packet and ushered them off to the side. A Capitol attendant guided them to a small room inside the building where their families were already waiting. Her mother and Prim stood on one side of the room, while the Mellarks stood at the other.
The kind, gentle baker walked over to Katniss and wrapped her in a warm embrace. "Welcome to the family, Katniss," he smiled down at her.
Mrs. Mellark huffed in the background but remained blessedly silent throughout the ceremony.
Katniss and Peeta exchanged the Capitol-prepared vows then scrawled their signatures on a thick piece of paper. Their fate was sealed with a heavy thud when the Capitol attendant looked the paperwork over, deemed everything acceptable and stamped it with the seal of Panem.
After the ceremony, Mr. Mellark insisted they all go back to the bakery. He had prepared a small cake with white frosting that simply read "Congratulations." It occurred to Katniss, as she and Peeta cut the first slice together, that it was because they didn't know who their son's bride might be.
The so-called celebration was short-lived when Mrs. Mellark announced that, unlike some, they had a business to run that required waking early in the morning. Katniss blushed when Mrs. Mellark looked Peeta in the eye and told him that wedding night or not, she expected him at the bakery by sunrise like always.
They made their way to the small home they had been assigned on the edge town. Katniss looked down at the paperwork in her hands, her eyes drawn to where she signed her new name. Mellark looked sloppy and childish next to the smooth and practiced flow of Katniss.
"Katniss Mellark," Peeta mumbled reverently, looking at the marriage certificate she placed on the fireplace mantel.
She felt anxious and jittery, like all her nerve endings were stretched tight waiting to snap. Katniss fiddled with the button at the top of her collar as her eyes were drawn to the open door of the bedroom and the mattress within.
She startled when Peeta quietly complimented her, "That's a nice color on you."
Katniss blinked, her attention diverted. "Huh?" She asked, confused.
"I always thought red suited you," he confessed, his blue eyes refusing to meet her gray ones.
Puzzled she said, "I don't wear red."
"But you do, or well, you did," he began.
Katniss raised a questioning brow.
"You remember the first day of school? Probably not. Well the first day of school, my dad pointed you out. You were wearing this red plaid dress and you had your hair in two braids instead of one."
Katniss hadn't realized how close Peeta had gotten until his hand reached out and touched the hair of her single braid, carelessly tossed over her shoulder.
Peeta continued his reverie, "You wore a red plaid dress and later in the day you sang the Valley Song and when you did, all the birds outside stopped to listen."
"Thank you. That's-that's what people used to say about my dad."
Peeta smiled ruefully, "I know."
His hand tightened around her braid before letting go but Katniss caught it before it could fall back to his side. She enfolded his large hand into her two smaller ones before flicking her eyes up to meet his blue ones, "You have a…remarkable memory."
He tenderly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "I remember everything about you. You're the one who wasn't paying attention."
Her gray eyes were soft and glistening with tears but her chin rose in defiance at his words. "Who says I wasn't paying attention?" She challenged before more words tumbled out of her mouth. "You're a painter. You're a baker. You never take sugar in your tea. You let your brother win that wrestling match two years ago. And you always double-knot your shoelaces." She licked her lips before meeting Peeta's eyes. "You don't forget the person who was your last hope, Peeta."
She rose up on her feet and captured his lips in a searing kiss. Her hands wound their way into his blond curls and his arms circled her waist. He tasted sweet, like cake and white frosting, as she swiped her tongue across his. She trailed kisses down his neck, dropping one at the base of his throat, tasting his pulse point. He emitted a low growl and lifted her up into his arms when she gently nipped at his ear.
Her back hit the bedroom wall with a thud. Peeta's hands unwound her plaited hair and his hips needfully pressed into hers. "I always wanted…but I never thought…" he panted breathlessly against her throat, his warm hands roaming over her gentle curves.
She closed her eyes tight, keen sensations of pleasure radiating from where their bodies rhythmically moved together. "I know, Peeta, I know."
His lips attacked the delicate flesh of her neck and shaking hands clumsily undid the buttons on her dress. Their bodies hit the lumpy mattress just as the last of their clothes landed in a rumpled pile on the floor.
Their hurried pace slowed to something more reverent. Despite their secret hopes and wildest dreams, neither of them ever truly expected to share this with the other.
But there they were, Peeta and Katniss Mellark, sharing a wedding night.
They left no part of each other unexplored, untouched, untasted, until finally, with sweat-soaked sheets tangled around their bodies, they claimed each other.
The next morning Katniss smiled to herself as she picked their clothes up from the floor, marveling that it all began with a red dress.
Years later, a dark-haired blue-eyed girl would wear a red plaid dress with pearl buttons on the first day of school. They weren't real pearls of course, but they were pretty and shiny and smooth and she couldn't help but rub her fingers over the one at the top of her collar as her mother and father walked her to the schoolhouse.