WELL HELLO HELLO MY LITTLE MOCKINGJAYS! You don't know how disappointed I am in myself for not posting in over a month. The internet makes me procrastinate whenever I go onto my laptop. The only reason I finished this chapter today is because I disconnected my internet xD. Anyway, the other reason I haven't posted in a while is because I have been reading City of Lost Souls and I just started summer so I have been finishing some things up. MY LAST REASON IS, I am currently admining five pages on facebook, and it has been a lot of work. Just a heads up, I'm sorry if you find this chapter boring, it is kind of just setting things up. But anyway, enjoy c:
-Peeta P.O.V-
Bonds Forming
With Delly's jaw hanging open, I can't figure out if it is out of shock, anger, or both. Katniss reluctantly let's go, though she stays close enough so that I can feel heat radiating off her. Delly drops her suitcase just as I close the small space between us, enfolding her in my arms. "Are you okay?"
TO: Peeta Mellark
FROM: Dr. Aurelius
Peeta, as I said, I would send you a letter of the situation. First off, Delly will be arriving in District 12 tomorrow, so I do hope that you get this letter before she gets to your home, as I'm predicting she will go to. Delly is in an unpredictable state at the moment, one moment being completely calm then the next in rage and or breakdown. The situation is as followed: Nurse Aline, Delly's close friend, came to Delly and Randy's home to find them delusional on the floor, knives scattered across the floor in odd angles. Aline says that Delly and her brother were repeating themselves, saying "And till death of thou Victor's, the new world is incomplete" or "Destruction and madness revolves around the selfish, the lives of the wasted, shall be revenged" and other gruesome chants. When we brought them to the hospital to treat their cuts, which seemed to be forcefully but intentionally, done by themselves with knives, we tested their blood and noticed they were indeed drugged. This is a drug that we, nor the Capitol, has ever come to seen before. The drug seems to make the user delusional, though we yet to figure out why they were chanting about the deaths of Victor's and revenge. If you are now wondering of your, Katniss', and Haymitch's health, I assure you, Delly has sworn to not lay a figure on each of you, nor a citizen in the District. She remembered everything that happened, though we don't know how it is possible, but she has known to never hurt her friend and the ones he loves. Randy is yet to improve, unfortunately. He had been given the same dosage as Delly, giving him longer lasting effects due to his smaller structure, weight, and age. He has been more traumatized by this event, to the point of attempted suicide. He is in well hands, though for the wellbeing. Make sure Delly takes her medications, three pills, twice a day until you visually see improvement. No matter what she says, it is up to you to know when she is mentally stable. She will ask for information about Randy's condition; that I am sure of. Tell her the same every time, "He has been improving little by little every day, he is doing well." Peeta, keep in mind, this is only an experiment, to see if she reacts better with familiar people and surroundings; I am trusting you. I believe in you, you have come a long way. Send a letter back in a week, or if something happens. Good luck.
To keep in mind: Haymitch knows of the situation and has been told to keep an eye on Delly in the event she tries to harm either you or Katniss. Show Katniss this letter, she needs to know.
The letter that Dr. Aurelius sent to me yesterday is memorized in my brain, having been reading it so many times. Delly has yet to know about the letter being sent, nor will she be told. Dr. Aurelius wants Delly to tell me and whomever else it may concern on her own. The only thing she knows I know is that she was coming back to 12 for a vacation; in which vacation means experiment.
"Uhh uh I'm great, silly! W-Why would something ever be wrong?" Delly lies, taking quick looks at Katniss.
I then understand that Delly doesn't want Katniss to hear what has happened, though I can't understand why. I let go of Delly for a moment and turn to look at Katniss, trying to put my hands in my front pockets as casually as I can to take out the letter and hand it to her.
"Do you mind if I talked to Delly alone, just for a moment?" I ask, slowly slipping the letter from out of my pant pocket.
Katniss gives me a confused look at first but then notices the letter and takes it as discreetly as possible, "Whatever you need. I'll just…go check on Haymitch and make sure he isn't sleeping in a pool of alcohol." She looks at me once then walks to the front door, giving Delly a polite hello and a squeeze on the shoulder before she leaves, closing the door behind her.
Right as I take my eyes off of the door and back towards Delly, I notice that she is attempting to hold back tears. When I embrace her in my arms again, her whole body shakes, tears staining my shirt.
"Shh it's okay, Delly," I sooth her, rubbing between her shoulder blades.
"N-no it's not! Peeta, y-you don't know how t-terrible it is!" Delly sobs. She takes a shaking breath, making her grasp on me tighter.
Slowly, I usher Delly into my living room and onto the couch. I make sure she is sitting comfortably then let go of her, turning to walk into the kitchen to make her hot chocolate.
Right as I let go and turn on my heel, Delly's hand latches onto my wrist, holding it so tight that I stumble back with a sharp pain shooting through my wrist to shoulder. A flicker of darkness covers my eyes; an image of Katniss cutting my brothers and fathers' wrists, draining them of their blood, rushes through my brain. I force the fog away from my sight and look down at Delly's hand straining my wrist. She seems to notice and instantly loosens it, but not enough for the images to fully fade.
"Don't worry," I soothe, "I'm just going to go make you hot chocolate. I'll be right back." She looks at me a moment, fear burning in her eyes, then slowly let's go of my wrist.
I give her a reassuring smile, then walk into the kitchen to make hot chocolate. After it is prepared, I add a few Capital additions to it; marshmallows, whip cream, sprinkles, and an old District 12 touch, peppermint leafs.
Putting a napkin under the mug, I walk back into the living room and hand it to Delly, who takes it gratefully. Sitting down next to her, I wait patiently while she blows on the hot chocolate then takes a few sips. Once she puts the cup down gently on the table, she turns back to me.
I nod and she takes a deep breath, about to spill out everything that happened when she says, "You already know."
It takes me a moment to respond to what she said, maybe she is lying? "What do you mean?" Maybe if I try playing it out as if I didn't know, then maybe she will tell me what happened.
"Peeta, stop playing stupid," Delly sighs, "Dr. Aurelius already told you. I overheard one of the nurses talking to him about it, asking how the phone call went."
I realize that Delly only thinks he gave me a call to tell me about the situation, not also sending me a letter. Even though I feel guilty about lying to Delly, I continue, reminding myself that it is for her own good, "I'm sorry Dells... I just thought you would want to tell me yourself."
"Actually, it's better that you already know, so you can have an idea of what I'm going through. Peeta…you have no idea."
"I'm so sorry Delly, I should have stayed with you. I should have looked over you and Randy. I mean, you helped me every day and I just left you right when I got the option!"
"Peeta, it's not your fault! How were you supposed to know that something would happen? I'm just….scared; there I said it. I'm scared Peeta. I'm scared Randy's life, I'm scared for mine!" Delly takes a deep breath, "Randy tried to kill himself."
Delly must think that I didn't know that already, but this time I don't need to act, that sentence still makes me flinch, "You're kidding?"
More tears well up in Delly's eyes, pouring down her cheeks like a stream, "He did it willingly; with me right in the room! I was sleeping, and…and I just got a sisterly instinct and woke up to find him about to attempt suicide. What if I didn't wake up, Peeta? What if I didn't stop him?"
Her body racks and she curls up into a ball. She looks as if she were six again, sitting curled up on the couch her parents shoe shop, counting to twenty about to come and find me. I always hid in the same five spots, in the bottom cabinet full of lace, behind the couch that she counted on, curled up on a rack where boxes for shoes are supposed to go, behind customers who would stand still and play along if I asked nicely, and rarely in the back of the store where their secret tailor shop was. One day when we were playing, she ran towards the couch to jump down onto the cushion and count when an impatient man got in her way and she tripped, stubbing her bare toe on a nail in the floor. She curled up in a ball on the couch and cried her eyes out until they were red and puffy. I scowled the man who hurt Delly then comforted her on the couch until she forgot all about her toe and we laughed and joked until it was closing time. That moment was one I would never forget.
I slide over on the couch until I am right next to Delly and wrap my arms around her, pulling her onto my lap. "Do you want to know what this reminds me of?" I whisper gently, rubbing her back.
By now my shirt has a stain of tears, but it doesn't bother me. She shrugs her shoulders, which to her is telling me to go on.
"It was about eleven years ago. There was this one girl, she was very bubbly; with hair so blonde and curly I thought that it would twist anything in its path. She was wearing a green dress that had pink poke-a-dots on it and it was the most expensive dress she owned, so her parents were wary about her wearing it. She was running towards her favorite hide-and-seek couch when a man got in her way, making her trip and stub her toe on the couch. She sat on that couch curled up in a ball, kind of just like you are right now, and cried and cried. It broke my heart to see her like that because I thought girls just as happy as her weren't supposed to cry. So I, being a nice Mellark boy like my brothers, comforted the girl. I sat there and made her smile and forget all about her toe. And now I'm going to do the exact same thing."
Delly looks up at me, her eyes red and puffy just like that day, and she smiled, "You remember that day?"
I smile back down at her, "Every detail."
We spend a few more minutes talking until her yawns become consistent.
"Come on, let me show you to your room," I plant her onto her feet and walk around the couch, grabbing her luggage.
"But I'm," she yawns, "not even that tired."
I chuckle, "Sure you aren't." I start towards the stairs and turn back when I see her still standing in the same spot I left her, "Well come on, don't worry, I'm not going to bite."
She smiles at me and makes her way over to the stairs. Once we make it to the top, I walk a short way through the hallway until I am at the door across from mine. Opening the door, I move out-of-the-way so Delly can walk in first. She walks in, looking around at the décor that to me, is normal. I then remember that Delly has never been in a Victors home, and it is, somewhat, in a Capitol form. It is more extravagant than a Hob home above the shop you own, but to me, there is nothing extravagant about my home.
There is a queen bed against a wall in the middle of the room, a bedside table on each side with small odd-shaped lamps. There is a rectangular trunk, the size length of the bed, at the bottom of the bed, occupied by awaiting sheets to be put on the bed when the others are being washed. At one side of a wall there is a dresser, a vase with rocks and glue that makes the viewer think its water in it. On the other side of the room there is a full length mirror next to a rocking chair. There are other small decorations around the room, portraits, an alarm clock, a few plants here and there. I never painted this room yet, for the fact that nobody ever came in here before, and I never had any use for it.
"It's...wow. Are all Victor's homes this, this beautiful?" Delly looks around the room in awe.
"Actually, every Victor's home is mirror image, unless you change it up, of course," I tell her. "If that bed is just like mine, you'll fall asleep instantly." The only reason why I never fall asleep instantly is because of being afraid of the nightmares that will take over me once sleep covers me, "Okay," I clasp my hands together, "I'll leave you be. There's a bathroom downstairs, second door on the left in the hallway. Or you could use the bathroom in my room if you don't want to walk back downstairs. If you need anything, I'm going to be downstairs. Get some sleep." I smile and leave the room, closing the door lightly behind me.
I stand behind the door until I hear Delly fall against the bed, her breaths becoming shallow. Once I'm satisfied that she is asleep, I descend down the stairs. Knowing Delly as well as I do, I know that she will be asleep for a few hours from how tired she looked. As quietly as I can, I put on my shoes and leave the house, walking across the lawn towards Haymitch's home.
The door is wide open, which only makes me think that Katniss had troubles with Haymitch. When I walk in she is pulling a semi less sober Haymitch from the worn out couch and towards the kitchen. Once they make it to the kitchen, Katniss let's go of Haymitch, who slumps against the table. Katniss then pours two glasses of water, one cup she hands towards Haymitch, "Drink it, I don't want you to be drunk if I'm going to be here."
"Here's an idea: don't be here," sarcasm seems to be Haymitch's best friend when he is drunk.
"Okay, okay, here's an idea for you," Katniss snaps. By her voice, I know nothing good will come from this, "Take a shower." The water from the cup she was holding is dumped on Haymitch's head.
Before Haymitch could do anything his sober self would not, I walk into the kitchen, standing between the two, "You two always seem to amuse me when I walk into this house."
"Aren't you supposed to be keeping an eye on Delly?" Katniss asks, her voice still a little venomous from when she was talking to Haymitch.
I slightly wince, though I think Katniss noticed it, "She's asleep, she will probably stay asleep for a few hours. Don't worry, we talked, she's okay for now. Did you read the letter?"
Katniss shows me the letter in her hand, "Not yet. I was going to, but then Haymitch decided to get snappy and I wasn't in the mood for his back talk."
Haymitch smirks at us but stays quiet. At the same moment his smirk leaves his face; he must remember what the letter is about now.
"You should read it now," Haymitch instructs Katniss.
Katniss sighs, "Will do."
Katniss unfolds the letter and begins to read. After a while, she cups her hand over her mouth and looks up at me as if asking me if the letter is true. I nod very slightly, unable to break eye contact with her.
"Who would have done this?" Katniss' asks, her voice coming out muffled from behind her hand, "They lived in the hospital apartments, for Panems sake!"
"Did you just say 'for Panems sake'? Who even says that anymore? That's so…two centuries ago." Haymitch laughs. Katniss gives him a death glare and he then keeps his mouth shut.
"I don't know who would have done this. District 13 doesn't know who would have done this. For all we know, a doctor could have drugged them when they went to an appointment, a cafeteria woman could have, even a visitor could have." I answer, running all this through my head while I speak.
"I can help you keep an eye on Delly," Katniss blurts out. Something overcomes her face, but it is gone just as fast that I couldn't figure it out.
A small smile spreads across my face, "That would help a lot, actually; Delly needs more people to help her through this."
What surprises me next is the smile that Katniss gives me. It wasn't just one of her normal smiles that she lets show less and less every day, but a smile that she only showed me once when we were on the beach of the Quarter Quell. One not just filled with happiness but a little bit of love and affection.
A pang of guilt erupts through me, this is my fault. This is my fault that she stopped talking to me for that period of time. If I haven't kissed her when in the kitchen, she would have been talking to me.
"Listen, Katniss, I'm –" I start to apologize when she cuts me off.
"Don't say you're sorry; you have nothing to be sorry for. I should be the one saying sorry, so, I'm sorry."
"But-" I try again when I, once again, get cut off.
"No buts. I know that you are still…unstable at points, and what I did certainly was not the best idea." Katniss' face shows how much she wants me to forgive her. Does she really not understand that I'm not mad at her?
"Katniss, there is nothing for you to be sorry about. It's one-hundred percent my fault." I then remember that Haymitch is on the left of me and it would not be a good idea of him knowing what happened. If Katniss says he had snappy remarks before and got aggravated, then I don't think it would be good to get him going again, "If I haven't…well I had no right to do that."
And that is when Haymitch speaks up, "What, did lover boy try and get with you; if you catch my drift." He wiggles his eyebrows, which only causes Katniss to reach around me and slap him in the back of the head.
"Hey!" Haymitch snaps at me, "I thought you were in the middle of us so you could protect me!"
"She's too fast," I smirk.
Haymitch looks from me, to Katniss, then back again, "Something went on between you two, and I want to know what."
"I'll tell you," I give a devilish grin. Katniss looks wide-eyed at me until I continue what I was going to say, "When you stop drinking."
Haymitch grunts, clearly aggravated, and then sighs, "You drive a good bargain, Mellark. I'll find out somehow, you just wait. I have my ways."
"Haymitch, I don't know if you haven't noticed, but the word 'sober' isn't particularly your best friend. You and the word are more at ends of enemies. And I don't think drunk Haymitch would give two thoughts about what we are talking about." The sarcasm in Katniss' voice like venom, just spewing out after every word.
"Watch it, sweetheart," Is all Haymitch gets out of his mouth before the fit of laughter takes over.
We talk and laugh for what seems like a while until the conversation starts to die down and noon comes rolling by. "You two are welcome to come over for lunch." I propose, "I'm sure Delly will be anytime now, and I don't think she will cope well when she finds out no one is in the house."
To my excitement, Katniss gladly agrees, though Haymitch asks questions, "What are we eating?"
"Left over beef stew," I answer politely, even though he will sooner or later get on my nerves.
"You two won't be kissing at any time through this occasion, correct?"
"Haymitch!" Katniss and I both yell at the same time.
"I'm taking that as a maybe," He says.
I shake my head and head out the door, knowing that they will follow at some point in the next few minutes. Once I make it to my door and open it, I can hear Katniss and Haymitch stomping down Haymitch's front steps.
By the time I take the left over beef stew out of the refrigerator and pour some into four bowls, Katniss and Haymitch come walking into the house. Two at a time, I put the bowls into a high-class Capitol cooking machine. I only used the microwave three other times before, and I'm just understanding how to use it properly. After I punch in the one minute and thirty-second time on the microwave, I excuse myself so I can wake up Delly for lunch.
Making my way up the stairs, I can hear something coming from Delly's room. I fasten my pace and enter the room, seeing that she is thrashing around in bed. I rush over to her and sit on the edge of the bed, gently shaking her awake. Her eyes jolt open and I take her into my arms, rubbing her back soothingly, "Shh Delly calm down, it was just a nightmare. Shh everything is going to be okay, nothing is going to happen to you."
At first all she does is sob into my shoulder and shake, but after a few minutes her sobs turn into small shaky breaths and her shaking subsides.
"Do you want to talk about it?" I ask her gently.
Delly just shakes her head and sits up straight, "Thank you though."
"Anything for you, Dells," I smile, knowing that I haven't called her Dells in such a long time.
Delly smiles and opens her mouth, as if to say something, when something catches her eyes and she looks towards the door.
I turn my head and see Katniss standing awkwardly in the doorway. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt anything," she says, which makes me let go of Delly and turn myself towards Katniss. She continues, though she looks unsure if she should, "Lunch is ready…just thought you should know. I'll leave both your bowls in the microwave so they don't get cold." Katniss looks at us one more time and gives an unconvincing smile, then goes back down the stairs.
Delly looks at me with confusion, "What was that all about?"
"I don't know, but I'll find out soon," I answer, "Come on, there's beef stew downstairs."
Delly and I get off the bed and walk towards the door when Delly questions, "Microwave?"
I chuckle and explain what a microwave is while we walk down the stairs and into the kitchen.
"Why hello there, long time no see, eh?" Haymitch greet Delly. He knows not to fool around with Delly just yet, that she needs to be handled gently and with as much nicely as possible.
Delly greets him back, then turns her attention towards Katniss, "Don't worry Katniss, you didn't interrupt anything, I just had a nightmare. And nice to see you again." She smiles warmly.
The smile Katniss gives back was mostly done on her own, though I can see she forced some of it, "Just making sure. And you, too."
I walk over towards the microwave and take out the two bowls that Katniss left in there.
"That's a microwave?" Delly looks in awe.
"Indeed it is," I place the two bowls on the table while Katniss places the other two. We all sit, eat, and talk for almost an hour. Katniss sits next to me while Delly gladly sits next to Haymitch.
After a few hours, Haymitch decides that it is his time to leave and says goodbye to everyone. Katniss, Delly, and I sit in the living room, talking about Districts 12 improvement as well as mine.
"Let me get this straight, there is a group of District 12 citizens building the district up better than before?" Delly asks, trying to sort everything out.
"Basically, yeah. They are going to be having a few things that would be found in the Capitol here, but nothing major." Katniss answers. Both Delly and Katniss have started to become friends, even out of the few hours they have spoken. Delly seems more ecstatic about it, for the fact that she has tried to get me to talk to Katniss since grade school.
"And to think, I thought the District would look just as crummy as before," Delly laughs. She looks over at the clock handing on the wall besides the fireplace, which reads 9:40, and yawns, "To think, even though I slept for hours, I'm having a hard time keeping my eyes open. I'll just head to bed, night."
"Night," Katniss and I both say at the same time.
Once Delly is in her room, I take her spot on the couch instead of staying on the floor. Before I could stop myself, I turn to Katniss and ask, "Are we friends or do you not want to keep any times with me anymore?"
Katniss sighs before speaking, "Peeta, I know that we haven't gotten off on a great start ever since you came back, but that doesn't mean I don't want to be friends with you. I think…I think we should just start over, pretend you just came back."
"Okay," I smile and extend my hand, "Hi Katniss, long time no see."
Katniss smiles back and takes my hand, shaking it, "Hello, Peeta, nice to finally see you again."
We both look at each other, then Katniss pulls me into her, wrapping me into a hug. I freeze for a moment, shocked by what she is doing, but that only lasts a minute for I wrap my arms around her and hold her tight.
We both sit there for the rest of the night and talk about everything that has been going on from the time we have been in different Districts. And during that whole time I realized that I finally had the woman I loved back in my life.
Light hits my eyes, forcing me to open them and look at my surrounding. I am laying on my back on the couch with Katniss on my chest. I don't remember falling asleep last night, or when we got into this position. A few knocks come from the front door, causing Katniss to wake up and look around. A sound upstairs tells me that Delly is also up. Katniss and I look at each other, mentally asking how we got like this, but the door is once again banged on.
To my disappointment, Katniss gets off of me so I can go open the door. Scratching the back of my head, I make my way to the door and open it. A man is standing in the doorway, a construction belt wrapped around his waist with various tools hanging to it.
"Would you happen to know where Katniss is? She isn't at her house and I haven't seen her at the Hob." I look at strange man in confusion, when Katniss comes up next to me, "What do you need me for, Thom?"
That's why the man looked strangely familiar, I saw him with Katniss before at the Hob, and then on a few occasions helping out to build the District back up from its ashes.
Thom looks at us and smirks, "Am I interrupting something? Because if I am…I want to hear every detail."
"Nothing happened," Katniss snaps, "Anyway, what do you need?"
"Well actually, I –" Thom starts when he looks past both of us and into the house.
Katniss and I turn around to see Delly standing behind us, looking at Thom. The look in both of their eyes is something I have rarely seen before, as if they have been best friends for such a long time and loved every second together, though this is the first time they have ever lain eyes on each other.
"Hi," Thom says, his voice surprisingly gentle.
"Hi," Delly says back, with the warmest smile coming across her face.
I know, I know, suckish ending. But what do you think, do you see a potential couple ahead of us? Tell me what you think! Sorry if you found this chapter boring. I will try my best to post in the next two weeks, but I can't keep any promises.
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