Thanks to those that read, reviewed or followed this story! This was my first experience writing a piece so heavily based on the romantic details. I hope you enjoy the ending. I have another Kantiss/Peeta idea in the works. Look for it soon!

Chapter 4-

Katniss POV

After a few days of staying at Peeta's, only leaving the bedroom for brief period of time to eat or to shower, I decided I needed to stop by home. I needed to get some fresh clothes and to gather the few items that held importance to me. The decision to move to Peeta's permanently was not really a decision at all. We had come to the point in our relationship, even only after a few days, that being apart would be a ridiculous notion.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" Peeta asked, as I stood at the door, half of my body still lingering inside.

"No, I'll be fine. It won't take long." I promised, lifting up on my tiptoes to kiss his chin before pulling the door closed behind me.

I walked inside my former home, and already I felt the disconnect. It was cold, and empty and bare. I felt none of the security I enjoyed at Peeta's. Not only did I have his arms around me, but the whole house; the colors, the smells, the textures wrapped me tightly, holding me together. Here, everywhere I looked I saw Prim's face staring back at me. Not the sweet child I wanted so desperately to remember, but the girl she became, the girl so immersed in the pain of other's that she lost her life trying to save them. Thinking of Prim's death immediately brought the image of my former best friend to mind. I hadn't thought about Gale since returning home. It is true that he would always hold a place of great importance in my life. He was the first person that allowed me to completely be myself and loved me for it. However, I would never get past the role he played in the bombing that killed my sister. Knowing it wasn't his fault or his intentions did little to stifle my pain.

I stalked through the rooms quickly, picking up first Prim's blanket, then my father's hunting jacket and shoving them into my old worn out bag. Upstairs in my room, I food the book of plants my father had started so long ago and then Peeta and I had continued together. In the room that had been my mother's, I looked around for something of hers that held sentimental value, finding little. After pawing carelessly through her closet, I pull out a white dress, knowing by the fabric and the details she must have had it since the days before her marriage to my father. The days before she gave up her life as a merchant's daughter to come live in the Seam. The things we do for love.

I grabbed a few other items of clothing, bundling them in my arms before walking back toward the door. Just as I was about to step off the porch, something white lying on the bottom step caught my eye. An envelope sat perched perfect between the last two steps, my name written boldly on the outside in large black letters. Ms. Katniss Everdeen.

My heart began to thump loudly in my chest. Who could have possibly left this for me? I looked from side to side, my head moving in frantic motions, my muscles immediately tense from the increased adrenaline. I had just left Peeta, and surely if Haymitch had something he wanted to say, he knew where he could find me. I probably should visit him, I thought to myself, before bending down to pick up the offending square of parchment and shoving it into my bag.

Back home at Peeta's, I tried not to let on that something was bothering me. We went upstairs and he cleared a few drawers to give me space to store my clothes, and I hung my mother's dress in the closet. Then we sat down together to look at the book of drawings that we had worked on together not so long ago. When we came a across a drawing my father had made of Primrose bushes, a tear dropped from my eye, splattering against the page. Peeta took my hand and kissed the inside of my wrist.

"You know, you never asked me what I was doing outside, digging those hole in the ground," he murmured sweetly against my skin.

"What were you doing?" I asked, not even thinking of the action until now.

"I was thinking that it might be nice to plant a few of these bushes," he said pointing to the picture again. "Would you like that? To have something to remember her by?"

"I would like that. Thank you."

We looked through a few more pages together and then Peeta decided to make us something for lunch. He prepared a lovely spread, but even though I was hungry, I was having a hard time making myself eat.

"Is anything else the matter?" he asked, after watching me break my bread into tiny bits and scatter them around my plate.

"No. Well…yes. Maybe," I confided. "When I went home earlier there was a letter sitting outside my door."

"A letter? What kind of letter? Who was it from?"

"I don't know. I didn't open it."

"Are you going to?" he questioned.

"Should I? It can't possibly be anything good." I didn't want any more heartbreak. I was done with that part of my life.

"It's your letter. So it's completely up to you," he insisted, "but if it were mine, I would want to know what was inside."

"You've convinced me," I say squeezing his shoulder before going to my bag and retrieving the envelope.

I sat it on the table between us and we both just stared at it for several minutes, as if it were a snake about to strike.

Finally, Peeta's curiosity got the better of him. "Well, go on," he insisted. "Open it."

I held the thick white parchment in my hand for another few seconds trying to get any hint of who the sender might be, but I didn't recognize the script, and it held no other clues. Sticking my finger underneath the seal, I ripped it open and pulled out two folded sheets of paper. I read each line slowly, and then read them again as sat beside me, his eyes wide with either fear or anxiousness, or possibly a little of both.

Once I was completely sure I understood the words, I exhaled, relaxing. "It's from Gale."

"Oh. That's—nice," Peeta said, a little line v forming in the center of his forehead. "How is he?"

"Quite well, actually. He's written to tell me that he's getting married in the fall. To a girl he's met in District two."

Peeta's face smoothed, erasing any trace of emotion. "And does that upset you?"

"No. Not at all."

I tuck the pieces of paper back into the little envelope and place the package on the counter, and finally take a few bites of my meal that's now cold. I'm not sure how Peeta expected me to react to the news of Gale's impending wedding, but he's watching me closely, his eyes never leaving my face as I continue to eat.

After lunch is cleaned up, we decide to walk into town and get the bulbs to plant for Prim's garden, and then we set out at the task together. Peeta, working on the holes that he had started a few days before, and me following behind, dropping in the bulbs and covering them the mounds of loose earth. When we are both satisfied, I stand and stretch out my stiff muscles and wipe a line of dirt that has accumulated on Peeta's cheek. He grabs both of my wrists and wraps them around him, locking our bodies together furiously. I tuck my head under his chin and breathe in his scent.

"What are your feelings about marriage?" Peeta asks me suddenly, his tone edging towards serious. "And I don't mean pretend ones, designed by the Capitol and intended to torture you for the rest of your life."

I take a deep breath, close my eyes and then blow it out through my nose. I remember the swirl of emotions that gripped me when Haymitch told me I would have to spend the rest of my life with Peeta, no matter how I felt about it. You could do worse. His words resound in my ears.

"I never thought I would get married. I never wanted to do anything that resulted in children. I couldn't stand the thought of sending any child I would have into the games."

Peeta kisses the tender spot between my ear and my chin. "It's a little late for not doing anything that could result in children."

"I hadn't thought about it like that," I reply, "but you're right. And you know what, things change. I can't imagine not being with you forever."

Peeta takes my hand and leads me over to the front steps of the house that is now ours. "What about you ?" I ask, "Other than our previous arrangement, did you ever think you would get married?"

" I thought I might," he responds with a smile. "But I never imagined I would be so lucky as to marry you."

"Who says you are?" I ask jokingly. "You haven't asked me a very important question."

Peeta says nothing, so I think of another question, one I have wanted to ask him for a while. 'What else would you have wanted to do? If you could do anything at all?"

"Hmm," He says running a hand through his chair and then rubbing the tip of his chin. "Other than being right here with you, I think I might like to reopen the bakery, in a different location of course. But besides the constant nagging of my mother, I enjoyed working there. It wasn't a bad way to pass the time."

"Then you should. You should do it, Peeta. I'll help you."

"You'll help me bake?" He questions, his eyebrow arching with disbelief.

Alright, so I'm not the best cook.

"No, not help with the baking," I reply, nudging his side with my elbow. "But I'll help you find a place, and get it set up if that's something you want to do."

"Ok, let's do it," he says kissing me on the top of my head. "I'm going inside. I need a shower before dinner."

The rest of the evening passes, and Peeta still doesn't comment on my statement about marriage; I start to regret my flippant remark. I wasn't trying to make light of our relationship, I love him and he loves me. We have decided to be to together, and it seemed like the obvious next step, but of course I had to put my foot in my mouth. Again. One day, I will learn to better control the words that come out of my mouth. Hopefully.

I crawl into bed and roll over, placing my back to Peeta. He is not having the distance I try to put between us, and he holds me beneath the cover; his hand slipping underneath my nightshirt and his thumb stroking the soft skin of my stomach.

"What's wrong with you tonight?" he whispers into my hair, his breath warm on the back of my neck. "Did I say something to upset you?"

"No. You didn't say anything," I tell him, trying to hide my disappointment, but failing miserably.

"Katniss, I can tell when something is bothering you. Just tell me, what is it?"

"Nothing. Just drop it okay? I'm fine," I answer, still refusing to turn towards him.

Determined to get the information out of me, Peeta moves his hand and presses on my hip until I am forced to turn my body to him. " Just tell me, what did I do? I'm not letting you sleep until you tell me."

I can't see him face clearly, there is no moon tonight and the room is close to pitch black, but I can feel him smile against my shoulder.

"Fine," I say not nearly as amused as he seems to be, "I thought when I said something about marriage…," I took a deep breath and then swallowed my hesitation, "..I thought you might ask me."

"Ask you what?"

"Peeta! This isn't funny. I thought you would ask me to marry you."

"And is that what you want?"

"Of course it is. You know it is." I tell him, my voice thick with emotion.

"But I can wait until you're ready."

Peeta slides his hands up until he is grasping my face on both sides. "Katniss Everdeen. Don't be ridiculous. I've had to hold myself back from asking you every day since you came back to me."

"Then why? Why didn't you ask me?"

His still held my face tightly in his grasp. "I didn't want to ask you at the same time you found out about Gale. I want it to be about just us when I ask you. Just you and me. No one else."

"It is just us. It's always been just us."

Suddenly his lips find mine in the darkness. His kisses me with a passion so intense I have to bite my lips to keep from crying out. Tonight is not about want and desire, it is about need, and I need him inside of me. We both pull clothes from each other and kick off the sheets that are now tangled between us. He positions himself above he and I slide my arms down and grasp him from behind, forcing him inside me. We both move together furiously, slamming into each other until my body trembles beneath him. With one final movement he calls out my name so loudly I cover his mouth with my hand, although there is no one around us to hear, and then he collapses against me.

We lay together, basking in the bliss of our love as I gently trace way down his spine with my finger.

"Can I ask you something?" he says into the darkness.

"Of course," I respond immensely glad he could see the way I was grinning in the darkness.

Peeta moves so his chin is resting on my chest. "Katniss Everdeen, will you do me the honor of being my wife?"

"Yes," I reply, "A million times yes."

He lifts off me briefly and I hear the sliding of a drawer. He returns to the bed, taking his position next to me again, but now his hand finds mine between us. Quickly, he slides something on my left ring finger.

"What's this?" I asking pushing against his chest so I can turn on the bedside light.

Tears fill my eyes when I look down at the ring he has place on my finger. It's my pearl, the one have gave me on the beach set in a brilliant gold band.

"Peeta, how long have you had this?"

"A while," he answers, pulling me back against him.

"I love you." I say, then fall asleep in his arms.