Hope you all enjoy this, a cute Peeta and Katniss scene and then the wedding! Next chapter will be the reception and hopefully the first time as a married couple ;)
Please tell me what you think of this chapter, I tried to make it kind of cutesy but not that cutesy haha
That night, my mother insists that Peeta and I don't share a bed. I argue, but I know it's futile. My mother also takes Audree for the night, insisting that Peeta and I need to be 'well-rested' for the 'big day.' My biggest concern was falling; other than that, I was perfectly fine. I mean, Peeta and I had been basically married for the past year, what with Audree, living together, and the . . . amorous side of our relationship. The only big difference would be calling him my husband and wearing a wedding ring.
I'm braiding my hair, about to get in bed, when I hear the door open and close quietly. I know immediately its Peeta. I walk out of the bathroom. "Hey," I say.
"I couldn't go to sleep without seeing you," he says.
I nod. "I was going to come say good night to you, honestly," I say.
"I don't want to be away from you," Peeta says, grabbing my hands and pulling me towards him. "This'll be the first night in over a year that we haven't slept next to each other."
"You could stay here, you know," I whisper, our faces within a centimeter or each other. "You could leave before my mom gets up, nobody would know."
He chuckles. His breath smells like chocolate and cinnamon, like it always does. "There are cameras all over the place in here," he says. "She'd find out and I'd feel awful."
I smile. "She likes you."
"For now," he laughs. "And just barely. If I do anything to tick her off, she may never speak to me again."
"I think that's a bit of an exaggeration," I say, but he just leans in to kiss me. I back away and he raises his eyebrows quizzically at me. "No more kisses until the wedding."
He laughs but I can tell he's disappointed. "May I kiss your forehead goodnight, then?" he asks.
"Of course," I say. He wraps his arms around me, kisses my forehead, and we hug for a long time. Finally he loosens his grip and backs towards the door.
"Good night, Katniss," he says, pulling the door open. "I love you." And then he shuts it, before I can even respond.
"I love you too, asshole," I shout after him and I hear him snicker all the way down the hallway.
I wake up less than an hour later, screaming. I've never felt so scared in my entire life. My whole body feels frozen. I've never had a nightmare. Not once, since I've shared my bed with Peeta. His presence is such a comfort to me that it drives the nightmares away. I get up and splash some cold water on my face, telling myself that it was just a dream, that it wasn't real. That Audree was still sound asleep in my mother's room and Peeta was, too, just down the hall.
Peeta.
I know I won't get any sleep without him. I debate what I'm more scared of; my mother or the nightmares. Ultimately, the nightmares win and I slide the Capitol slippers on my feet and slowly, quietly, leave my room and head for Peeta's. I open the door, slip in, and close it again. Peeta's moaning my name in his sleep, and suddenly I feel like I've just invaded some sort of sex dream, but suddenly he's shouting.
"Katniss, no!" he screams. "Run! Oh my God, Katniss!" Then he's crying, sobbing like I've just died. And in his dream, I probably had. I rush over to the bed and climb in. I take him by the shoulders and shake him.
"Peeta," I say. "Peeta, wake up!" He doesn't, just continues to cry. "Peeta!" I shout. He wakes with a start.
"What the . . . Katniss, what're you . . . oh my God, Katniss!" He wraps his arms around my neck and semi-violently yanks me down and he's hugging me tighter than he ever has.
"Jesus, Peeta," I mutter, but I wrap my arms around his waist and he holds me for a long time. Finally, he pulls away and takes my face in his hands. "You were dead, Katniss, you were dead! Katniss, it was awful, I–"
"I heard," I say. "You were kind of being loud."
"I'm sorry if I woke you," he says. "Oh, geez, if you heard me all the way down the hall . . ."
"I was in here before you started shouting," I admit. "I had a nightmare and I . . . needed you."
"Katniss Everdeen, did you just say you needed me?" Peeta's smiling like a little boy. "You've never said you need me."
"I have so," I say. "When you were going to leave me because my mother, remember?"
"Yeah, but that doesn't count," Peeta shrugs. "So you needed me?"
"If you're going to act like this," I say, struggling out of his arms and getting up.
"Oh, Katniss," Peeta says, getting up, grabbing me by the waist, and pulling me back to bed. "I'm only kidding." I struggle to get out of his arms again, but he's so much stronger. He's always been so much stronger. "I'm sorry, Katniss. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I'm happy that you need me." He kisses my nose, and I get butterflies when I realize that he remembered I asked him not to kiss my lips. What other man would respect that? Only Peeta. "Means you can't get rid of me, right?"
I rest my head on his chest. "Now what's wrong?" he says, kissing my head.
"I had a nightmare and I knew that I wouldn't have one if I could lay with you," I say softly. "So just shut up and hold me, okay?"
He pulls me closer. "Have I ever told you that you're amazing?" he whispers.
"How does being weak make me amazing?" I ask.
"You're not being weak," he laughs. "It's okay to need someone, Katniss. It's actually normal. It means you have these things called emotions."
I smack his chest. "You know, I'm relieved," he continues. "I was convinced for awhile there that you didn't have any."
"You suck, Peeta," I laugh.
"You're not weak, Katniss," he says. "You're the strongest person I know. Okay?"
"Peeta?" I say.
"Yes?"
"Shut up and hold me, please."
He chuckles. "Good night, Katniss."
"And since you didn't let me say it before, I love you," I snap.
"That was loving, sweetheart," Peeta says.
"Oh my God, you're being so annoying!" I exclaim. He laughs but he does shut up and a few minutes later, we're both asleep.
The music starts and Haymitch is beginning to pull me down the aisle. He's completely sober and he's promised me that he won't let me trip. And he stays true to his promise; neither one of us falls. He lifts my veil, kisses my cheek, and hands me off to Peeta, who looks absolutely amazing in his Capitol tuxedo. They've gelled his hair back and he looks incredibly handsome.
They've put my hair up in some fancy up-do. It's low-key on Capitol standards, very fitting of my 'Capitol persona,' or so says Cinna. My makeup is done up a bit more than I would've liked, but I don't mind it. My dress is poofy but I like it and I can tell Peeta does, too.
"We are gathered here today, ladies and gentleman, to celebrate the holy matrimony of District 12's lovers, Peeta Mellark and Katniss Everdeen," says Caesar Flickerman, who, along with interviews, does all the Capitol weddings. Some band plays a song that, for Capitol standards, is beautiful. There's the recitation of the Capitol's wedding decree, which basically says that adultery will be met with execution by the offending party and that divorce is completely illegal and a bunch of other crap that doesn't apply to Peeta and I because we'll never split up.
"And finally, for my favorite part, the vows," Caesar says. "As a tradition, the couple will recite their own vows of love to each other."
I've honestly thought nothing of my vows. I figured I would just wing it. I'm best when I wing it. "Katniss, you can go first," Caesar says.
I nod and look at Peeta. He's smiling at me and nods in encouragement. I look at the crowd and I see my mother, who's looking at us with tears in her eyes, and Peeta's brothers and father, who are beaming. His mother's scowling. Gale, Hazelle, Posy, and Rory, are smiling. Prim's behind me as my maid of honor. I turn back to Peeta and smile.
"Well, Peeta," I say. "There are so many things that make you a better person than I am." He raises his eyebrows quizzically. "I mean, you're so kind, so good-natured, you're patient, you're a good father, and you're very handsome." The crowd chuckles and so does Peeta. "And I know that when you start talking, you're going to blow me out of the water because you're so good with words." I look down and I'm about to cry. I didn't think I'd get emotional. "But I'm okay with the fact that you're so much better than me. I don't deserve you, at all. I just . . . I promise to cherish you and to not take one moment for granted. I promise to attempt to be as good of a mother as you are a father. Most of all, though, I just promise to love you more than anything, until the day I die." The crowd sighs as I finish. I blink and the tears fall from my eyes. Peeta's eyes are watering, too. He drops one of my hands and rubs his thumb along my cheek, brushing away my tears.
"I don't know how to follow that," Peeta says, clearing his throat. "I mean, Katniss, you're perfect. You're everything I've ever wanted in a woman and more. You're the only girl I ever had a crush on, you're the only one I ever desired, the only one that I wanted to ask to the summer festival and the winter rally, and, honestly, you're the only girl who made me nervous. I didn't want to face rejection from the true love of my life, and it only took being reaped with you for me to tell you." He laughs. "Katniss, I promise to provide for you and for all the children we have. I promise to make you happy until the day you. I promise to tell you that you're the most beautiful in the entire world every single day and to make you feel that beautiful every single day." I start crying again. "I promise that we'll make that list as long as we possibly can." I laugh, but it comes out as an amused, choked sob. He laughs too. "Trust me," he laughs. "I'm thinking we can make it four pages long." I laugh again and the audience is looking around, confused. "Anyway. I promise to cherish every moment that you let me be with you. And, most of all, I just . . . I promise to be there, Katniss, loving you, every single day, for the rest of time. I love you so much, Katniss."
"I love you too," I say, but once again, I sound like I'm choking. Peeta smiles and wipes my tears away again. Caesar's smiling at us.
"Now, Katniss, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"
"I do," I say. Peeta starts crying then and I smile, dropping his hands and wiping away his tears.
"Peeta, do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedding wife?"
"I do," he says.
"Well, by the powers invested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife," Caesar says. "Peeta, you may now kiss your bride."
Peeta takes my face in his hands and kisses me passionately. The crowd goes insane. We kiss for a long time before I pull away. He smiles at me, kisses me once more, and then we head down the aisle, take our first walk as husband and wife.