Family Reunion

Peeta finished dressing and walked out of the bathroom. Katniss was perched on the edge of his bed. Peeta noticed that her cheeks were slightly flushed. "I'm sorry," Peeta said.

Katniss tilted her head. "For what?" she said.

Peeta said nothing but vaguely gestured at himself and the room.

"Oh," Katniss shook her head, "that's okay." She smiled and stood. She put her hands over the pockets of her dress.

"Want to go eat breakfast now?" Peeta asked, holding his hand out to her.

"Yeah." She took his hand and they walked to the dining room. The familiar smell of fresh bread reached Peeta's nose. He also smelled sausages and eggs.

Katniss closed her eyes and inhaled the scents, causing Peeta to grin at her cuteness. When she opened her eyes, they were twinkling. Peeta couldn't resist giving her a pleasant kiss on the cheek. Katniss smiled and dropped his hand so she could sit down. Peeta sat across from her.

Waiters brought out breakfast, and Peeta was starving. He and Katniss ate in silence, until Haymitch came. "Morning, Victors. How was your sleep?" His eyes roved over them both very steadily. Did he know about their night on the roof?

Peeta forked more eggs into his mouth. Then he took a sip of orange juice. "It was good." He bit into his sausage to avoid having to say anything else.

"Very nice." Haymitch had sat down at the head of the table. "How about you, Girl on Fire?" He pointed at Katniss with his fork before plunging it into his sausage.

"It was alright." Katniss said, trying to look bored. She started to butter a slice of bread.

"Huh." Haymitch said, thinking. "You two must have been up pretty late last night."

Peeta swallowed. "Um, yeah. We went to the roof and didn't realize how late it was until after midnight."

"Right," Katniss said. "Then we went to bed."

"Yeah." Peeta said. Then his eyes widened. "Um," he cleared his throat. "So my bed was kind of hard. How were yours?" He looked from Katniss to Haymitch. Katniss seemed to understand: she implied that they went to sleep in the same bed.

"Mine was okay. I guess they like me better. Which is weird." She laughed slightly.

"Mine was wonderful." Haymitch said with his mouthful.

"That's good to hear." Peeta looked down at his plate and didn't say anything else.

"Good morning!" sing-songed Effie as she entered the dining room, breaking the silence. Her outfit broke the silence itself, her poufy hot pink dress was quite eccentric.

"Good morning, Effie." Peeta said politely.

"Hello," said Katniss.

Haymitch said nothing but continued devouring his food.

Effie looked at him with a slightly disgusted look on her face. "Well, I see that we're all… enjoying breakfast." She looked at Peeta. "You look lovely dear. That shirt compliments your skin tone."

Peeta smirked a bit, but it wasn't unkind. "Katniss picked it out for me." He nudged her foot under the table. She pulled it back and cleared her throat. Her cheeks went slightly pink.

"You look nice too, Effie." She said.

"That is so sweet, thank you Katniss! And how nice of you to pick out Peeta's clothes." Effie beamed and patted Katniss's hand.

Katniss merely smiled and continued eating. "Well, you have ten minutes before we meet with your families to discuss your new houses in the Victor's Village." Effie said brightly. Peeta and Katniss both looked at her eagerly. "Yes!" She said smiling. Katniss and Peeta stood and Peeta walked over to both of them. "I know how excited you must be! So go wash up!" She clapped her hands and left.

Katniss and Peeta looked and each other and smiled widely. They hugged each other. Peeta pulled away from her. "I bet you can't wait to see Prim!"

"I can't!" She looked like she didn't know what else to say.

Peeta chuckled. "I can't wait to see my family." He wondered what his mother would say to him after telling him that Katniss would win. She did, but Peeta came out alive as well.

Katniss seemed to sense something was going on in his head. She took his hand and looked him in the eye. "Hey, it's going to be okay."

Peeta nodded, and she kissed his cheek. Katniss dropped his hand and walked out of the dining room. Peeta glanced at Haymitch, who waggled his eyebrows. Peeta rolled his eyes and left as well.

Peeta finished washing up and was sitting in the lounge, waiting to see his family. He heard footsteps behind him, but he didn't turn around because it was probably just Katniss. The footsteps stopped, so he then turned around. Katniss stood looking at him with her head tilted to the side slightly, a small smile on her face.

"What?" Peeta asked lightly.

She puffed out a little breath and smiled at him more. "Nothing." She walked over to him and sat down beside him. She placed her hand in his and just sat there.

Peeta leaned over and kissed her cheek sweetly. Katniss blushed and turned to face him. He stroked her cheek with his fingers. "You're so great, you know that?"

Katniss grinned and then pressed her lips to his. Peeta was a little surprised by this, but did not pull away. The two sat for a while, softly kissing on the couch. Peeta heard a door open and pulled away from Katniss. She opened her eyes and looked behind Peeta to see who it was. Her eyes lit up.

"Prim!" she said excitedly as she got up from the couch.

"Katniss!" Prim ran to Katniss and into her arms. Peeta smiled as he watched the two hugging, both of them crying softly. He smiled at Katniss's mother and then turned away to give them some privacy.

Then he saw his family come in. "Dad!" He strode up to his father and gave him a hug. His dad patted him on the back.

"Good to see you, son." He said. He smelled like he always did, flour and bread. Peeta closed his eyes and tried not to cry. He thought he'd never see his family again. But there they were!

"It's good to see you too!" And he really meant it. He was even glad to see his mother and brothers. He hugged each of them, and felt a little awkward as he hugged his mother. She told him that Katniss would win. She never mentioned anything about him, coming out alive or dead. But here he was. When he pulled away from her, he gave her a look. And she seemed to understand what it was because remorse showed in her eyes.

Peeta said nothing and turned away. He smiled at his brothers and father. "It really is great to see you guys."

"Good to see you too, bro." said his oldest brother, Rye. He ruffled Peeta's hair, and Peeta laughed. It was good to have his family with him again.