Author's Note: Thank you so much those of you who reviewed, it really motivated me to write this next chapter. I really do appreciate every single review I get, so if you read this please just let me know you're out there by reviewing.
Chapter 4
I was woken up as several people came into my room, banging and slamming things down to set up for the day. Feet shuffled on the floor, and through my eyelids I could see the light on overhead. There was a moment of debate inside my head before I peeked an eye open to look around.
"It's about time you stopped pretending to be asleep. We have a big day ahead of us." My mother said her arms full of boxes of makeup that she was setting on a table near the foot of my bed.
I groaned and rolled over, knowing I'd have to jump right into my day without a moment to myself to wake up. As I sat up I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. Hair stuck out in every possible direction, making me laugh out loud. My prep team looked at each other with faces full of judgment.
"Oh no, this is not funny. We have so much work to do on you to make you presentable."
I held back another laugh as I submitted to their skills. It only took a few hours to painfully remove every single hair from my body, make sure every little cut and scrape had been erased from my skin, and that I somehow seemed to glow from the inside out. The sun had risen from barely visible in the sky to now hanging slightly above the trees, signaling midmorning.
There was nothing much for me to do while I was put into the wedding dress that everyone had voted as their favorite. It was the last dress I had tried on for the photoshoot, and as I looked myself over in it I couldn't help but think that this is the dress I would have picked if I had had the choice. If I had had the chance to get married on my own terms. The thought felt treasonous as it crossed my mind. There was a part of me that knew that I should be fighting this, rebelling against being forced to do anything for the Capitol's entertainment and President Snow. But that part of me seemed to be growing smaller as I stared at the reflection of myself in the standing mirror. I looked so much like a bride, excited to walk down the aisle and start her new life. If this was the hand that I was to be dealt, I couldn't possibly have asked for a better person to go through this with.
A quick gasp from the doorway gave away my mother's position. Her eyes watered up and she covered her mouth with one hand as the other reached out to me.
"You are so breathtaking. I…" Her voice caught in her throat as she looked at me, and Prim peeked out from behind her.
"Wonderful, the whole family is up here with Katniss." Effie's voice came from the stairs down the hall.
She ushered all of us out of the room and down the stairs into the living room. Again there were flowers placed everywhere, turning the walls into a garden wall. Photographer snapped picture after picture of me with my mother and Prim. They then forced Gale to come and stand in a few pictures with me, pulling him out from the dark corner of the room he had been sitting in. It was our first time being together since our discussion by the lake which had not ended well for either of us.
He put on a great show, talking to the cameras about how beautiful he thought his favorite cousin looked. The smile on his face seemed convincing enough for all of the people there aside from me and my mother. Before I had a chance to actually say anything of meaning to him, more people from the district were pushed next to me. There wasn't a free moment to breathe or think on my own as I was pushed and pulled over to different locations in the house.
Finally Effie reappeared, a huge smile on her face as she clasped her hands together in the air.
"It's all clear to move to the venue now. " She winked at me, even though I had no idea what it meant.
We were all led from the house and into the front yard looking out at the village. The center square of the village was completely filled with decorations. On the half nearest me rows of chairs had been set up and covered in a translucent white fabric. A large alter was set up at the front, and there were vines of flowers draped across it. There was a small ceremonial fire pit at the base of the altar, already lit and ready for us. Two giant screens were set up, on either side of the altar for all of the people to see us up close during the ceremony.
My stomach tied in knots; I hadn't given much thought to what our public wedding would actually be like. I had hoped it would be a nice, simple and practical toasting as was customary here in District 12. Doubt came flooding in, and suddenly I wished I had given more consideration to Gale's offer to run away. There were camera crews setting up on both sides, trying to get as many angles as possible so the viewers across Panem wouldn't miss a moment.
"Let's get her behind the screen, here come all the guests." One of the wedding planners said, ushering me over to a curtained off area to the side.
I could hear too many feet to count pass by, the voices of people excitedly filling the air as the guests all found their seats. Taking a few big breaths to calm myself, I peeked through a worn spot in the curtain to look out at the crowd. It looked like every single person from District 12 was sitting out there waiting patiently.
From my right I heard Haymitch talking to someone in a hushed voice.
"You will do great, you always do. The crowd loves you. Just remember why you are here, that's all you need to think about." At his words, I hear someone near him let out a long sigh followed by some rustling.
I can just barely make out some blonde curls before someone spins me around to face them.
Prim and Madge stand before me, both in pretty matching light green dresses. There are matching ribbons in their hair and delicate bouquets of flowers tied with ribbon as well. It occurs to me that every detail of this wedding was thought through so carefully, and I never had much of anything to do with it. All those nights when my mother and Prim were up late downstairs while I struggled to sleep, they had been planning everything out based off of what I like. On impulse I grab Prim and pull her close to me, giving a tight hug before letting go of her.
Cinna came up behind them, a huge smile on his face. "You are a vision Katniss."
I can't help the slight blush that rises to my cheeks; Cinna's praise always holds so much weight with me.
"Are you ready? Prim and Madge will walk out first, when Prim is halfway down the aisle I'll motion for you to come out and start up to the altar." I nodded to his words, trying not to let my nerves get to me at all.
The music started up, a fiddle playing an ancient song called Jesu Joy of Man's desiring. Madge stepped out first, and ten paces behind Prim marched after. She gave me the tiniest of smiles before heading out to the crowd. I stood waiting for Cinna's signal. When he finally waved me forward, I forgot how to move.
Slowly I stepped away from the curtains and out into the aisle to find every head turned around to see me. There was murmuring as people took in the sight of me and my dress, and I smiled at each face as I slowly made my way up the aisle to the alter. There were flower petals covering the path, and more flowers attached to the backs of each chair that I had not noticed when I first arrived.
It wasn't until I was almost up to the front that I looked forward to see Peeta standing there waiting for me. His eyes were open wide, a look of pleasant surprise on his face being plastered across the giant screens. As I neared, his lip quivered and I picked up the pace of my steps to reach him quicker.
My heart was pounding so hard I was sure the entire audience could hear it beating. His hands reached out for mine as I reached the altar, and I grabbed onto them and held them tight in mine. Our eyes locked as I came to stand beside him, and I realized that his were already holding back tears.
As the ceremony began, a lump started in my throat which made it difficult for me to respond each time I was asked to repeat anything. All I wanted to do was stare into those blue eyes, fall deeply into them and never leave. Our hands held tightly together, I was only aware of the fact that I was standing there with Peeta and nothing else. It wasn't until we were asked to pick up our pieces of bread to toast on the fire that I realized that we were almost done with the ceremony.
We both took a long metal pole with a square of bread on it, and set it above the fire until they both caught fire. We placed our flaming bread squares in front of each other and together blew them out before eating the other piece. The crowd stood up and cheered, our faces showing close up on the big screens as we turned and greeted the crowd. Peeta put one arm around my shoulders and swung me up into his arms, my legs draped over his arm. He grinned out at the cheering crowd quick before staring down adoringly at me, his eyes so full of joy it made my heart hurt. He leaned his head down, taking my lips in his own in a gentle kiss. As the crowd screamed and cheered for us, I reached up and grabbed the back of his head, pulling him down for a second kiss. I felt his whole body move with the kiss, and as he set me back down on the ground I felt wetness on my cheek. As we both smiled and waved at the crowd, I could see the tears lining his eyes. I reached out for his hand, squeezing it with both hands as we were led down the aisle and out to the field where all the tables were set up for our reception.
Haymitch came rushing up to us, handing both of us glasses of champagne.
"Here comes the fun part." He said before downing a glass and smiling mischievously at us.
