Last Chapter :(
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Gale.
"Dear Mr. and Mrs. Hawthorne," Gale mumbles to him self as he reads the cursive writing on the small letter. His eyes scan over the words as he subconsciously reads aloud, "You are invited to…"
Gale's eyes stop on one word: Wedding. His eyes widen and his mouth hangs open, "Willow is getting what!?" He exclaims, his eyes quickly reading the letter.
"Honey what is it?" Clove calls from the other room. Gale runs a hand through his hair, and tugs on it. Clove walks into the room, with their ten-year-old son, Beau, trailing behind her.
Gale looks up to his wife and holds the letter out, Clove takes it from his hands, and she reads aloud. "Dear Mr. and Mrs. Hawthorne. You are invited to the wedding of Willow Everdeen-Mellark and Finnegan Odair. The ceremony will take place at Southwark Cathedral, April 16th. The reception will then take place at 'Victors' Bar and Restaurant'. Please reply to Willow at…"
Once clove finishes reading the finer details, she looks up to Gale and quirks an eyebrow, "I don't see how this is a big deal Gale, she's just getting married."
Gale looks at his wife incredulously and shakes his head, whilst muttering, "She's just a child."
Clove barks out in laughter, kisses Gale on the head, and she pats his cheek adoringly and says, "Gale she's a big girl, perhaps you should call Katniss?"
Gale looks up and nods, Clove and his son leave the room as Gale pulls out his mobile and dials Katniss's number. It rings a few times, on the fourth ring Katniss's voice greets through the phone, "Hello Gale! I haven't heard from you in a while!"
Gale, Clove and their three children, Ember, Beau and Wren went over to England for Easter; Peeta and Katniss had their whole house decked out. Around ten years ago Katniss and Peeta bought a large house – or mansion, as Gale would call it - in London. 'Mellark's Bakery' expanded through out the UK which brought in a lot of income for the family. Katniss published a children's picture book called, 'Under the Willow, it was a huge hit; Katniss also produced two fiction novels, called 'The Girl on Fire,' and 'The Hanging Tree,' both were a hit in the teen-fiction section all over the world.
"Hey Catnip," Gale greets happily, "I just wanted to call up and tell you that I received Willow's wedding invite."
"So are you able to come, Sargent Hawthorne?" Katniss mocks in a very stern tone, and he gives a small laugh. Gale notices every time he talks to Katniss that she is slowly loosing her American accent, it is slowly turning to British; but living in the UK for almost twenty-four years can change a lot about you.
"It's Major Sargent Hawthorne, Catnip." Gale deadpans, to which he receives a laugh from the other end of the phone line. He goes on, "I can't believe that Willow is getting married! She's just a child!"
Katniss clicks her tongue and rejoins quickly, "Gale she's twenty-one, I was when I met Peeta, and Clove was when she met you. Girls fall in love and they get married."
Gale shakes his head in disbelief, and then comments, "She was seventeen going on eighteen when I last saw her, I just still see her as a young girl."
Katniss sighs, Gale can almost see the far away look on her features, the way her eyebrows furrow and her pink lips pout. He will never get over that woman. She replies is a wistful voice, "The years go by so quickly. Kaiser will be graduating high school soon, and Archie and Cecily are finishing year eleven."
Peeta and Katniss were surprised with Archie and Cecily sixteen years ago, they may be twins but they're completely opposite to one another. Cecily has long flowing golden hair, fair skin and bright sky blue eyes, whereas her brother has jet-black hair, olive skin and swirling grey eyes. Cecily is a lot like her mother in personality, she is very quiet and is always reading people; Archie has the exact same personality as his father, a bright white smile always adorns his dark features, and he is very quick witted.
Gale rakes his hand through his hair and lets out a low whistle, "They were only babies when I last saw them."
"Gale they were thirteen when you last saw them."
"That's still young!" Gale exclaims, Katniss laughs from the other line, and it reminds him of all the memories from when they were young, Gale feels a warm feeling spread from his heart, Katniss's laugh was always a treasure. God he misses his hunting partner. "Anyway, Little Finn Odair is marrying Willow? I thought he moved to Australia to the oil rigs."
"He came back a year ago with a tan, a lot of money and a girlfriend, she broke up with him when she found out that he was putting all his money away for safe keeping; Finn was really upset, but he and Willow decided to go out one night and the rest was history. She told me that he grew up from that cocky asshole she knew in high school, to a very sophisticated young man." Katniss tells Gale. Finnegan Odair was a lot like his father, he seemed very cocky in his teen years, but that boy must have matured enough to see what an amazing woman Willow is.
"So what is Willow studying?" Gale queries.
"Willow decided to do study law in Oxford University, she got a half scholarship, and is studying mad." Katniss responds proudly, Gale always knew that Willow was going to achieve great things. She goes on to ask, "So how is your little family going?"
"Oh they're great! Ember is going into her sophomore year in high school; Wren is going into middle school, and Beau still in elementary school." Gale answers jovially, "Ember is going to archery lessons twice a week, Beau wants to join a little league baseball club, and Wren is taking piano and violin lessons."
"Oh that sounds great!" Katniss exclaims through the crackly phone line, "How's Clove? How is work going for her?"
Clove became a teacher after finishing her degree in Ecology in Harvard, when they first met she told him that she wanted to do teaching and now she is a university lecturer in Boston College. Gale answers, "Clove got a job at Boston College a few months ago, she's really enjoying it."
"That's really great Gale, I'm really proud of you," Katniss states, and Gale knows she is telling the truth, Katniss is always delighted when Gale or his family do something good, it's the same for him, he always is happy when one of her family members achieve something amazing.
Gale looks down at his watch, and realizes the time, he speaks into the phone, "Sorry Catnip, I've got a meeting to get to. I love you and tell Peeta and the kids I say hi. Also tell Willow that we'll all be coming to the wedding."
"Mr. Gale Hawthorne! It's great to see you!" Finnick Odair exclaims, he shakes Gale's hand vigorously with a pearly white grin set into his golden features.
"Yeah it's good to see you too Finnick. How long has it been? Five years?"
"Oh yeah, you haven't changed a bit obviously!" Finnick laughs heartily, Gale joins in; Annie appears next to Finnick, she links her arm with Finnick's and leans her head on his shoulder.
"Hello Annie, how are you?" Gale greets.
"I am very good Gale, how are you?"
"I am very well Annie, I am actually very surprised that your Finn and Willow are getting married. I never would have expected it." Gale exclaims, receiving a smile from the couple.
"Oh well, Finn always had a crush on Willow through out the years, but I guess she never noticed." Annie shrugs; she looks up at Finnick, and asks, "Just like you were with me."
Finnick looks down at her adoringly, like Gale wasn't even standing three feet away from them. Finnick leans his head down and presses his forehead to Annie's, he then murmurs, "No matter what Annie, I was going to have you, I loved you the moment I laid eyes on you."
A blush creeps up Annie's neck, and Gale watches the couple as they flirt, he awkwardly excuses himself from the conversation, and he turns back to the crowded living room.
Katniss has her legs draped over Peeta's legs as they sit on the couch talking to Jo; he looks over to Haymitch who is standing with his wife Effie Trinket, the midwife who delivered Kaiser. Gale shifts his gaze to his wife who is standing with Primrose, who has a two year old on her hip, Prim married a man named Thresh five or six years ago, they had been together for about five years before hand.
"Uncle Gale!" He turns around to the voice, and finds Willow hurrying towards him, he opens his arms wide and the small woman instantly runs into his hug. "I'm so happy to see you!"
Gale looks down at the blue-eyed beauty and jokes, "I thought you hated me."
Willow dead pans, "I still hate you after eighteen years." She bats his shoulder, quite hard actually. "You're full of shit Uncle Gale."
He smiles and kisses the top of her head, "It's always good to see you Willow! Now where is that fiancé of yours?"
"I'm right here sir," Gale turns around to the voice, and finds a miniature version of Finnick Odair standing behind him. The man extends his hand and greets, "It's good to see you again Gale."
Gale takes his hand happily, and shakes his emphatically. "It's always good to see you too, Finn. Now tell me how did you two go from hating each other when you were teenagers, to getting married?"
Finn releases Gale's hands and walks around to Willow, he drapes an arm around her frame, and shrugs. "I never really saw her like that until I came back from Australia, she looked so beautiful and grown up, it seemed like I was meeting her for the first time."
A smile spreads across Willow's face and she leans into Finn, he rests his head on her head and grins. Gale says, "I knew you would come to realize how amazing this girl is, she is just like her mother."
Willow chimes in, "I guess the feeling was the same for me I guess, seeing Finn again was like seeing him for the first time, I didn't realize the connection we shared until we actually gave dating a shot."
Gale smiles down at her, and says, "I'm happy that you found each other again, I'm very happy for you."
"Thank you, Gale," Finn smiles, he may look a lot like Finnick but he has the soft smile and kind eyes of Annie.
"No worries, I wish you both luck in your future together." Gale says.
Katniss.
The phone rings brining Katniss out of her 'writers daze', she just got over a bad case of writers block and now she can't stay away from her keyboard. Katniss quickly saves the document, and picks up the buzzing phone on the desk. She glances at the screen and finds the name: 'Plutarch Heavensbee'; she swipes at the screen and greets, "Hello Plutarch, I need you to make it quick, I just got over my writers block."
"Hello Ms. Everdeen," Plutarch greets, he thinks its more formal to call a woman by their maiden name. "As your publisher I know how much you need this writing time, but I have some amazing news for you. Can you come in tomorrow morning so we can discuss it?"
Katniss looks at her calendar, and sees that her morning is open, but Willow's wedding dress fitting is at eleven. "Yeah it's fine Plutarch, I just need to be somewhere else by eleven."
"Very well Ms. Everdeen, I will see you at nine o'clock in my office," Plutarch says reverently. Katniss hangs up, and places her mobile back on her mahogany wood desk. Since they moved into this house in the city, Peeta insisted that Katniss have the larger office space, so she could plan her books and have calmer surroundings. The walls are a cream colour, with dark wooden floors, and a large forest green rug. Katniss has all the small illustrations that Peeta did for her hanging around the room. Her bookshelf is piled high with books, her own books are at the top with her favorite series, Game of Thrones, which are signed by George R.R. Martin.
Katniss turns back to her computer, and cracks her knuckles; she places her hands on the keys and begins to type fervently, her eyes glued on the monitor as the words appear on the white screen. This book is a sequel to her book, 'The Hanging Tree' Katniss decided to focus on the male protagonist from the last book, for this book, she decided to name it, 'Deep in The Meadow.'
With every page that is written, minutes pass, and before Katniss knows it, it's already 1 am. She leans back from the computer and rubs her sore eyes, in today alone she has written over twenty thousand words, which isn't much by Katniss's standards.
She saves the document, and shuts down the computer, pushing herself out of the chair, she grabs her multiple coffee mugs and stalks out of her study. She quietly makes her way into the white kitchen, and places the mugs on the wooden bench top. She quickly grabs a glass off milk, and heats it in the microwave, when its done, Katniss makes her way up stairs into their bedroom, sipping gingerly on othe hot milk.
Through the dim light Katniss can see Peeta's sleeping form, and she places her milk on her bed side locker and quickly changes into her pajamas. She slips under the duvet and drinks the rest of the milk, which is infused with honey and spice. When she sets down the mug, her eyes grow heavy, and she lets herself drift off into a peaceful sleep.
Katniss stirs to a warm soft voice, she squeezed her eyes, and lets out a groan, her body shakes slightly and she cracks her eyes open to find Peeta staring down at her, his eyes watching her in peaceful manner. "Morning gorgeous," Her husband greets, his voice husky from sleep.
Katniss turns over and faces him; Peeta reaches out and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. "Morning," Katniss replies with a yawn, Peeta smiles down at her and she checks her watch. She has enough time to get dressed and eat before Heavensbee's meeting.
Peeta leans down and gives Katniss a long lingering kiss, he gives her a goofy smile. She studies his rugged features, his strong jaw, his berry coloured lips, his high cheekbones, and how his golden eyelashes glow in the morning light. "I made some cheese buns," Peeta whispers, Katniss instantly perks up, all signs of her weariness gone. Peeta laughs at her reaction.
They quickly dress themselves - while sneaking a few kisses here and there – and they make their way down stairs, Archie and Cecily sit at their dining table, munching on the cheese buns that Peeta made. They both greet, "Morning."
"Morning my lovelies," Katniss replies in a symphonic tone, she kisses the tops of her children's heads and then makes her way into the kitchen to snatch up some cheese buns.
She eats them quickly, not even a crumb was left in place, Katniss praises Peeta and thanks him with a kiss, and Archie and Cecily make gagging noises as they see their parents kissing. Katniss and Peeta chuckle into their kiss, and pull away.
"So Archie, Cecily I need you ready for the dress fitting, I'll be home by ten thirty, Heavensbee just needs to see me." Katniss says to her children, she then turns to her handsome husband and says, "As for you Mr. Mellark, I need you to go and finish the designs for Willow's cake, and then get ready for the dress fitting."
"Yeas ma'am," Peeta jokes, he gives her one last kiss.
Katniss hurries upstairs and quickly changes from her pajamas to more suitable clothing. She pulls her hair back into a bun, and grabs her laptop from her study. She says farewell to her family, and then hastily leaves. It doesn't take long to arrive at the building that is her publisher, in large letters across the side of the high-rise reads: 'Rebels Reads.'
Katniss pushes inside, and then goes to the secretary desk to where she tells the woman of her appointment. She makes her way to the elevator and hits the 13th button, the elevator whizzes up, and stops with a Ding! She walks down the hall, her heels clacking on the marble floor.
Katniss stops at a glass door, and knocks confidently, grabbing the attention of the man inside. Plutarch waves Katniss in, and she enters the spacious office, that has a marvelous view of London.
"Mrs. Everdeen!" Plutarch welcomes with open arms, the small man rises from his chair and gestures for her to sit down, so she does. "I am sure you are familiar with Caesar Flickerman?"
Katniss only then notices the small tanned man, sitting in one of Plutarch's leather armchair. Caesar is a major movie producer. Katniss smiles and nods her head, "It's very good to meet you Mr. Flickerman."
"Oh no the pleasure is all mine Mrs. Everdeen!" Caesar greets in a theatrical manner, his pearly white teeth almost blinding Katniss. The slight man stands from his seat and extends his hand towards her, "I am a very big fan of your books!"
"Oh thank you, Mr. Flickerman."
"You can call me Caesar, Katniss. May I call you Katniss?" Caesar queries, his white eyebrow quirking at the question. She nods, and a smile blooms on his already luminous features.
They both take a seat across from Plutarch, and he begins, "Well Katniss I know you would be wondering why I called you in here. Caesar here would like to turn your book, 'The Hanging Tree,' into a movie."
Katniss's jaw goes slack, she stares at her publisher, and then turns to the overly tanned man. Caesar sends her a radiant smile, Katniss opens and closes her mouth a few times, and eventually gets out, "That's…. That's amazing Caesar, I am honored that you would choose one of my books."
Plutarch smiles and he continues, "We have already looked at casting, a fine young woman named Jennifer went for the main part of Suzie, a strapping young man named Josh went for the main part of Collin, and a man named Liam for the part of Charlie. They all match their descriptions perfectly. All casting will be approved by you though."
Katniss lets a huge smile blossom across her face, and she says, "Well that's great, I would love to have a look at their files. But we need to go over the script, and then the whole rights thing."
Caesar nods and answers, "We can go through them next week, but right now I need you to answer a question for me?" Katniss nods, and he continues, "We want to have a love triangle between Collin, Suzie, and Charlie."
Katniss shakes her head at the question and she exclaims, "NO! No, there is no love triangle in the book, Suzie and Collin end up together there is no love triangle needed, there is enough drama in the books. Okay?"
Caesars smile fades, and all he says is, "We want the movie to appeal to younger teenagers."
"Well the book is for young adults," Katniss states, her stubborn tone settling in, "The book is about death, the name, 'the Hanging Tree', there is enough drama."
Caesar sinks back and nods his head in understanding. After that small tiff, they get back to planning and Katniss is out of the building in no time. She just makes it back to the house to pick up Peeta and the kids, and to get to the dress shop in time to meet Willow, Johanna and Annie.
The dress fitting goes well, with Willow picking out a simple but elegant lace dress. Johanna kept declining every dress that Willow picked out, but she went radio silence when the girl came out in the gown. Katniss was surprised to find her best friend crying, Jo was sniffling at the fact that Willow had grown up, and that, 'she was getting old.'
Later that night, Katniss stood at the head of the dining table, everyone sat around the long table, and their chatter stopped. She announced that her book was being turned into a movie, and everyone cheered and congratulated her. Peeta was the most ecstatic – obviously – he had tears in his eyes as he gave her a long deep kiss, and praised her.
Katniss couldn't describe the amount of love she had for her family had that night, the closeness of them all, it brought tears to her eyes.
That next week, Willow Mellark was wed to Finnegan Odair, the couple smiled and made their way out of the church, as rice and flower petals were thrown over the couple. The reception was held in a restaurant that Peeta's cousin, Cashmere, owned, there were lights strewn up over the large courtyard out side of the restaurant, making a twinkling affect.
Soft music was played, and all the couples dances gracefully to the tune, Katniss had planned a surprise, she quieted down and gave the guitarist a nod, she held the microphone up to her lips and she said, "I have a small gift for my baby girl, and to show how much I love you."
The tune picked up, and a hush fell over the wedding party, Katniss breathed in and breathed out the beginning to the song:
I took my love and I took it down, I climbed a mountain and I turned around.
Willow's eyes filled with tears, as she watched heard her mother's magical voice emit from the speakers, everyone was in tears as the voice drifted into the calm summer evening. It had been a while since Willow had heard her mother sing, between the wedding and her going to university, she and her mother couldn't spend any time together. But she was so thankful for this moment.
Well I've been afraid of changing, 'cause I build my life around you. But time makes you bolder, even children get older, and I'm getting older to.
As her mothers eyes locked with hers, Willow leaned her head on her husband's shoulder, and she smiled contentedly, her mothers voice so melodious and soft.
When Katniss finished, a light applause filled the silence that followed her performance; she noticed that there was not one dry eye in the crowd around her. She made her way over to her daughter, and hugged her furiously, whispering her love and admiration.
It wasn't long after that, that Finnick announced speeches. First was the Odair's side of the family, Finnick got up and made this huge speech about his son, and embarrassing stories about his adolescence. Annie was after that, he told everyone how gorgeous her son was, and how since he was very young he had a heart of gold. Coastas Odair - Finn's younger brother - was next the boy told stories of parties and past girlfriends, and how he found Finn jacking off to a picture of Willow when he was fifteen, which received many laughs from the crowd.
Willow was next she talked of how when she was a teenager, she thought everything was so pretentious and how much she loathed Finn, but deep down she loved the boy; she elaborated on the embarrassing stories of when they were teens and quickly adding how they lost their virginity to one another when they were 16. (Peeta spat his drink out at that statement.)
Katniss got up to do her speech, talking about how when Willow was small she talked about marrying Finn, and even thought they hated each other through high school, they loved each other. She talked about how special that special someone is to you, and how you must cherish their presence. Her eyes met Peeta's, his showing how much and admiration he had for her, and hers mirrored.
Peeta got up next; he talked about being a father and watching his little girl turn into a woman; and how Finn shouldn't hurt Willow or he would beat the shit out of him, to which Finnick hollered, "Me too!" Peeta then talked about how happy he was that they found their love, and how it could be in the strangest of places, and at the oddest of times; but you love that being with your full heart.
By the end of the night the music had slowed down, and most people had retired to their hotels or homes. Katniss and Peeta danced around the empty dance floor, swaying to the steady beat of the drum. Katniss had her head resting on his chest, and she could hear his perfect heart beating almost in time with the song. His lips rested on her neck, his large arms securing her to his chest, and his body radiating heat.
Gale turned his gaze to the girl who once was his best friend, who is now a world away but can still aggravate him in the most annoying of ways. But as he watched her sway with her husband, and the content smile appeared on her lips, he knew that she was still the girl he loved before she moved to England. The girl who would sacrifice anything for her family, the girl who survived by hunting and working 12 hour shifts at a diner to make a living. The girl who he loved.
He turned back to his wife and left a light kiss on her freckled nose, she gave him a almost drowsy smile and he knew that everything happened for a reason, Clove was the only one that could get his head out of his ass, and she was the only one that he could fully love, the one that was his.
Gale and Clove joined the couple, copying the movements of Katniss and Peeta, their arms wrapped securely around each other, and their eyes closed. It was perfect. It was their happy ending.
So this is the end… all the fun times we had, and all the confusion for this story and all the Everthorne shippers who probs hate me…
Well thank you all! Every single one of you who followed, favorited and reviewed, you are all my babes and your the ones who kept we writing.
I apologize on the huge delay of this chapter, as I said in the last authors note, I have been very, very busy! I posted a one-shot that I hope you guys like, so go check it out, it's called 'Peeta Pan' (Fantasy AU)
And I have awesome news, I was nominated to go to a writing festival by my English teach, so yeah that's fun.
As always I am planning a new story, it will be up in a few months, because life is too hectic to even think of posting a new story, but I will soon… its Hunger Games Everlark btw.
I love you all, please leave a review and go check out my tumblr. ~N 3