Previously on… The Final Piece
"Katniss, there's been an accident"
…
"Katniss" Marvel yells; leave it to him to follow me all the way out here.
"Oh baby, you can't do this to yourself" he whispers dropping to his knees next to me to take me into his arms.
He carries me back, holding me tightly, using his jacket to shield me from the rain.
We get in his car; me sprawled out across the backseat as he drives.
Without Cato, the nightmares are sure to come, and I know they will be worse than before.
We go to his apartment; I'm not sure where my key is so his will have to do.
I think of all the times Cato has carried me like this, all the times he tucked me into bed after removing my shoes and socks. New waves of tears hit me like bricks, pricking my eyes like thousands of tiny needles.
"Stay in here at least" I finally whisper as Marvel walks out the door, pillow in hand. He looks at me shyly at first, after all the nights of comforting me while Cato worked, he is still fazed by this question "You know they'll come if you don't, and I doubt you want anyone to call the cops again" I state, determined to have someone to protect me.
He sits next to me, on top of the covers so he doesn't touch me. I'm sure he's thinking of all the things Cato would love an excuse to do to him, none of which are very kind.
I drift off thinking about the line in the book, the one that is so perfect for me and Cato.
They say his icy eyes melted the day he met her. They say she was never truly happy until she met him. They say it was a miracle, but she knows better. She knew from the day she met him it was fate.
I repeat this over and over in my head, knowing that if it was truly fate that brought us together, then fate can do it once again.
Two months later…
"Morning babe" two lanky arms wrap around my waist as I sink into the chest of my captor. A twinge of guilt makes its way into my stomach as I remember the other boy that once did the same thing to me.
He won't wake up. That's what the doctors say when I tell them I don't want to pull the plug just yet, he has to wake up.
The hope that once filled me like a wildfire is now down to a spark, it dwindles in the harsh storm with every passing day. I still visit him, but I have to move on sometime, at least that's what Enobaria says when I ask her if it's wrong that I'm falling slowly for Marvel.
Just yesterday we went out to eat, I still wear my wedding ring, and the waiter asked Marvel if his wife would like more to drink. He nearly choked on his food, and I ran out of the restaurant crying only to be grabbed and held in a tight embrace.
Marvel reminds me so much of Peeta it hurts sometimes. I can see Peeta in his smile that lights up the room, or the way his blue eyes burn with a gentle kindness, but most of all I can see Peeta in the way he always protects me. Peeta was always there for me, from the day he saved me from Gale until the day he died.
I still remember the way he held his arms out to me right before Gale threw me down the fire escape, and the way his arms gently grazed my body when he finally reached me.
"Stop it Gale. You're hurting me" I'm screaming, punching, kicking, slapping, and anything else that will get him off of me as his grip on my arms just tightens.
"Let her go Gale" Peeta warns.
I look down below me. The edge of the stairway is approaching fast. Any second now Gale and I will be falling down to certain death.
"Don't tell me what to do Mellark, she's mine' I smiles pulling me closer to him as he does. I've seen Gale angry before, but never crazy like this. He looks like any minute he could kill me and Peeta both.
"I. Am. Not. Yours." I growl wincing as he picks me up holding me right where he knows my rib is broken from our fight last night.
"Put her down Gale" Peeta yells approaching at a steady pace with his arms outstretched like he is going to take a wild grab at me.
"You made the wrong choice bitch" he snarls and with a smirk tosses me down the stairs.
I'm falling, like a rock. As I fall I feel a sharp tug on my arm and something ripping open. Then, all I can see is red. I'm going to die.
"Hey, hey look at me" Marvel whispers turning my head to face him.
"I miss him" I feel a single tear fall down my cheek. Peeta was everything good, he was everything that was light and bright, most of all, Peeta was love. No one could hate Peeta, and Peeta could hate no one. He just smiled, and gave everyone that cheeky grin.
"I know sweetie, but he's going to wake up, he will" Marvel responds with a knowing smile.
"I miss Peeta" I whisper into his chest.
"He's watching you Kat, he always is" his lips find my forehead and I sigh into him, allowing him to steal a quick kiss on my lips. It's nothing like Cato's kisses. There isn't the same amount of love behind it, but it works.
He leads me to the couch; I plan on having a lazy Saturday. Movies and one of Cato's big sweatshirts I refuse to wash. It still smells just like him, a deep musky smell that makes me feel weak in the knees just thinking about it.
Marvel starts the movie as I stare at his tall lanky figure. He looks nothing like Cato; his arms are thin with small bulges where his toned muscle lies.
I lean forward enough that he can slip behind me before laying back down, turning away from the playing movie to trace the long scar the rope made on his neck. He gives me a sad smile with pain dancing in his eyes. My hands find the patch worked skin of my knuckles where I punched the bag so hard they were torn apart.
Marv's hands cover my own, softly pulling them away from the mottled skin.
"Bad" he whispers trying to direct my attention back to the dark movie on the screen, something pops out and I jump, hiding my face into marvel's soft t-shirt.
"It was just a ghost, come on, I'm here to protect you" he gives a soft chuckle.
He's always there to protect me, risking his life to keep me safe, from the nightmares- from Gale.
I will never forget the pained look he gave me when he saw who I was with that dark night.
"Hey there, can I help you" a sweet voice calls out from the counter. Gale and I walk towards her and I cower when a small lift in a tile catches my foot and I start to slip. He glares and pulls me roughly up to him.
"Yeah, we need some ice-cream" no duh Gale "Two vanilla cones" he continues looking at the girl with a dark smile.
"Will that be all for you today?" she punches a few buttons on the cash register, her eyes meeting mine for a second "are you ok, you look like you could use some water" her blond hair bobs as she looks at me with a big smile.
"She's fine" Gale glowers and I give a small nod too afraid to look back into her blue eyes.
"Alright, I'll just go get the ice-cream then, that will be three eighty four when you're ready" her smile is gone as she rushes, faster than Cato runs for food, to the back of the shop.
A few minutes later, a boy appears and I barely recognize him, but he already recognizes me.
"What the hell are you doing Katniss? Glim, call the cops." the boy yells, anticipating Gale's attempt to run away. Marvel comes out swinging with a baseball bat, hitting him across the head. With that, Gale drops to the floor unconscious.
A strangled cry escapes my lips as I fall to his side, I'm not afraid to cry this time.
I resurface long enough to let out another cry for Gale.
"Katniss, stay with me, look who's here, it's me Marvel, and Glimmer" Marvel's voice breaks into my thoughts and I grope around in the air until I find his hands.
I open my eyes slowly and realize I am holding his hands harder, if not twice as hard as I was at the ice-cream parlor.
"What if he doesn't wake up Marvel" I whisper suddenly, burying my head in the crook of his neck, the long scar now becoming comfort for me.
"Then we get through this together, I know I'm not Cato, and I know I never will be Peeta, but I promise to always love you, no matter what. I know it isn't the same without him, but I know I will do everything I can to make you happy and to keep you happy. I will never leave you" he whispers, gently pushing the hair out of my eyes.
"I think I'm going to be sick" I groan as another wave of sickness rolls over me, I get these about every other morning, but I usually blow it off as food poisoning, considering my stomach has never settled well with most of the food I eat.
I barely make it to the toilet before I empty the contents of dinner last night and my nonexistent breakfast into the toilet bowl.
"Oh god Kat, that's the third time this week, you really should go see a doctor" marvel holds the hair out of my face as I wipe my mouth off with toilet paper, the sick feeling immediately leaving me.
"I'm fine" I whisper standing up to look in the mirror. My stomach is puffed a little more than usual and if I didn't know my body, I would have barely noticed "Do I look fat to you?" my nose crinkles as I pinch some of the barely existent fat on my hips.
"You look beautiful" he wraps his arms around my waist, as he turns me to face him my eye catches something, a box of pads lying next to the toilet.
My mind reels, it's the second time I have missed, oh god, it can't be. I look in the mirror again, rubbing my slightly bulging stomach. Everything clicks together then.
Welllll, what is it?
So you all owe a big thank you to my little brother, if I get fifteen reviews by Sunday, he is going to post the next chapter. I better get someone saying thank you to him or he may not post the chapter….
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IMPORTANT: There is a new challenge for Life's Puzzle, and this story… Whoever makes the best movie-preview-picture preview/ motion picture for Life's Puzzle/Final Piece gets a doozy of a prize.
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Love to All,
Dedicated
