A/N~ This chapter is why this story is rated teen. Sort of a lemon but it really isn't graphic. Anyone under the age of 14- You were warned! Still, enjoy!
Also, this chapter is my filler chapter so there's some build up to the wedding. 'Cause. . . Well, I wanted to and I needed some cuteness before the wedding day. It was more for my needs than yours so I apologize. I wanted more Toast/Everlark cuteness!
CHAPTER 12- Again and Again
"Why did you do that?" I scream as Peeta lies at the foot of the bed, clutching his head from the brutal hit he took from my foot moments earlier.
"I'm sorry! I didn't think you would kick me, I can't read minds, Katniss, I was just trying to wake you up," He rubs his temples, "I'm going to go get an ice pack from downstairs."
"I'll get it," I say standing up. He had started tickling my feet in an unfortunately successful attempt to wake me and my foot had instinctively gone up at his touch, hitting him squarely in the forehead. I walk out the door and down the stairs and go to retrieve an icepack from the refrigerator. When I find that the ice packs are suspiciously missing from the freezer, I check the ice bucket in an attempt to fill a plastic bag with ice and give that to Peeta to use, but the ice in the bucket is also missing. I end up grabbing a bag of frozen bag of peas and dumping half of its contents into a smaller bag. When I return, Peeta is sitting in the arm chair, head tilted back, eyes closed, nose slightly bloodied. I run into the bathroom and grab a tissue. I dab his nose.
"Thanks for helping, Katniss," he whispers loudly.
"Don't thank me, I did this to you," I say, handing him the make-shift ice pack. He takes it, flipping it back and forth in his hands, inspecting it.
"What is this?" He looks at me confused, his brows furrowed.
"The ice packs and the ice were both missing from the freezer, it was the only thing I could find," I mutter, I take it from his hands and press it against the throbbing red mark on his head. The door opens behind us.
"How are the two love birds this morning?" Haymitch teasingly laughs.
"How did you get in our house, Haymitch?" Peeta grumbles harshly.
"You two should really start locking your doors before you go to bed," He gives a hearty, loud laugh, "So I hear Effie's coming over to finalize wedding plans today."
I groan and roll over on the bed, pulling a pillow over my head to block out Haymitch's voice. I don't want this day to come. It's a week until the wedding and everything is going "Just swell!" according to Effie. But again and again, we've changed every last detail of the wedding and she makes such a big deal about every little thing, I'm just sick of it.
"Yes, Katniss isn't very excited about it, though," Peeta says matter-of-factly, "Neither of us is, really. "
"Well, I'm excited," Haymitch pauses before adding, "For the reception!"
He gives another hearty laugh and exits the room. "I just came over to steal more alcohol, so have fun you two." As usual, at this point, he leaves the room to go rummage the cabinets for bottles of beer, wine, anything. Unfortunately, that means that the wedding wines Effie had delivered for our tasting will now be gone.
"Are you ready to try on the dresses?" Peeta asks. I step back a few steps and lean against the wall, crossing my arms, knowing that the dresses will only evoke some hidden emotion that I don't want to deal with. He gets up from his chair and grabs my hand and leads me like a small child down the hall to the closet where the wedding dresses Effie had delivered are. But when Peeta opens the closet, only one garment bag is hanging inside.
"There's only one," I say confused, I turn to Peeta and stare at him silently. He smiles and points to a piece of paper hanging from the bag. There in small, precise print, is a note from the dressmaker himself.
I thought this would come in handy someday.
Cinna
I grab the bag and rush to the bathroom to try it on before I do something stupid like break down again. I pull the silver zipper down the side open and pull out the dress on its hanger. I stand up and hold it up against me. The sleeves that drop to the floor, the bell skirt, the cascading neckline, even the tiny white feathers, everything is the same. This dress is almost an exact replica of my original wedding dress, the Mockingjay dress, the dress that went up in flames at my tribute interview before the second arena. Except this time there is no black, the white replaces the small black feathers that had cascaded down the sleeves and corset. In Cinna's hands, I am once again the Mockingjay, the symbol of the rebellion, the reason I no longer dread a marriage with Peeta, the reason I can choose my own future. I put on the matching pearl earrings and necklace and the three inch, snow white heels with the fabric bow at the tip of the toe. Just then, my prep team unexpectedly bursts in, I didn't even know that they were coming today.
"Oh you look absolutely gorgeous!" Octavia squeals.
"Simply dashing!" Venia agrees.
"Radiant as usual," Flavius winks at me. They have gained back so much after the rebellion, including their signature looks. Octavia is once again her trademark evergreen color, Flavius is once again sporting his corkscrew curls and purple lipstick, and Venia's shimmering gold tattoos are sparkling as always. Even their attitudes and personalities have gone back to normal. Well, not entirely normal, but as close to normal as they'll get after what happened. Immediately, they go to work on my hair, squealing about how split the ends of it are and how I've let my skin go entirely uncared for. I hate to admit it, but I did miss their uncalled-for objections about the way I look. My hair is curled around my face and put up in a high bun in the back; the bun has different strands of my hair strategically hanging down from it. Then they go to work on my face, my lips are made a full, bright red color, my eyes dark and smoky with lots of eyeliner and grey-black eye shadow, as well as deep black mascara, my cheeks are made a soft pink color, like the color of freshly blossomed raspberries.
When I'm all made up, I open the door and walk downstairs to where the photo backgrounds have been set up in the formal living room. Peeta is sitting on the couch in a handsome black tuxedo and blue necktie, the kind of thing Capitol grooms always wear.
Apparently, they just want a few photos of the two of us for the cover of a couple of Capitol magazines, specifically the ever popular Trendy Tributes Editorial Magazines. It's full of redid, Capitol-ized versions of old tribute uniforms and costumes. Some of them are just ridiculous, such as the leather jacket and pants with bejeweled flames embroidered on them that premiered after Peeta and I's fiery first tribute parade. But some can actually be flattering, like the shortened, more casual versions of my wedding dress that I spot as I flip through the pages.
They direct Peeta and I to stand in the middle of the big sheet that has been spread out on the ground in front of the background pictures of clouds and flowers and happy scenes. At least the joy of it all is less of a lie now than it was a year ago. All they want is a few photos to give to the Capitol tabloids and magazines for their covers. However, a few photos turn into dozens and dozens of photos, all with different sets and an entirely new set of poses. At one point, the photographer asks me and Peeta to "kiss for the camera". Without hesitation Peeta and I lock lips right in front of the camera. Immediately, I realize that this is the first time me and Peeta have kissed in front of anyone besides Haymitch or Delly since before the war, it's also the first time that I haven't felt awkward about kissing in front of other people. A few more kisses and a million hours later, the camera crew packs up their stuff and bids us farewell.
"I'm so glad this is almost over," Peeta groans as he shuts the door behind the last member of the camera crew, "But for now, you and I can just finally have some alone time."
I laugh at him as he leans in to kiss me. We walk to the living room and plop down on the couch. We just sit there, nestled together. After a while, I get up to use the restroom, and when I come back, the lights are out and scented candles are spread all around the room. Peeta is standing over by the fireplace, looking particularly smug.
"I heard candles were romantic," he says trying to make his eyes seductive.
I laugh at him, "You aren't going to seduce anyone moving your eyes like that," As I say this, he walks over and wraps me in an embrace and kisses me sweetly. Eventually, we are entirely engulfed in a warm passion, kissing our way to oblivion. Just as my hands find the top button of Peeta's shirt, there's a knock on the door. We try to ignore it. But whoever it is just keeps knocking louder, they obviously know we're in here.
"I'll be right back," Peeta tells me. He walks across the room to the door and opens it. From my spot on the couch, I can see Haymitch in full view of the porch light, practically hung over. I get up and hastily rush to stand behind Peeta.
Haymitch guffaws, "What are the star-crossed lovers up to now?" He puts a hand on Peeta's shoulder and jokingly winks.
Peeta rolls his eyes. I push in front of Peeta, "What exactly is it you need, Haymitch?" I say, pouting.
"Well, I just wanted to know if you had any booze-" Haymitch starts.
"No!" I yell interrupting him and slamming the door. A hearty cackle comes from the other side of the door.
"A word of advice, next time you answer the door during sex, you might wanna button up your shirt, big boy!" Haymitch gives another laugh and then leaves.
"Why does he interrupt every time we try to be romantic?" Peeta says, shaking his head mockingly. I laugh. After a long period of silent cuddling, we finally start up again. This time, my shirt is already off by the time the doorbell rings.
"I'll get it," I say, tossing my shirt back on. I rush to the door and grab the knob, "What do you want, Haymitch?" I say opening the door. I get a pleasant surprise when I realize that the person at the door is not my drunken neighbor. "Oh, Hi Delly, sorry, I was expecting someone else."
"Oh, am I interrupting something?" She says, eying a shirtless Peeta sitting on the living room couch, "I can always just come back later."
"No!" Peeta shouts from the couch, "We always have time for you," He smiles.
"Oh, well I was just wondering if I could borrow some eggs, I mean, I assumed you'd have some, since you bake and all and-" Delly's words begin to tumble over one another, I can't keep up with her and all I hear is "So can I borrow your eggs?" Then Peeta is getting up from the couch and going to the refrigerator to get the eggs for Delly. After he gives her the eggs and we say our goodbyes and the door is tightly locked behind her, Peeta and I practically rip off our shirts and crash against one another. We fumble towards the couch. This time, I'm yanking at his pants before I start to feel the odd sensation of something smacking against my bottom.
"Peeta," I say between kisses, "Peeta, stop that," I say breaking away.
"What am I doing?" He replies innocently. Then I turn around and see that it was not Peeta, but the tail of a small black cat that was hitting me.
"God, even Buttercup doesn't want us to be alone!" I grab the cat and put him in the kitchen, closing the door between the two rooms behind me. Then, as hastily as I got up, I am ripping Peeta's clothes off for the fourth time, I am just about to yank down the final piece of his clothing when the voice comes from behind the door.
"Katniss? Katniss, are you in there?" It's Gale. Why did he come back? I thought he would never speak to me again!
"Hide!" I harshly whisper to Peeta. I run upstairs and grab my red silk robe and wrap it around me. By the time I'm back, Peeta is nowhere to be seen. I walk to the door. "Oh, hi Gale," I mumble, rubbing my neck.
"Hey, Katniss," he says shyly. "So, I guess you weren't expecting me, but uh, I just wanted to say, you know, congratulations on the wedding and all. . . And, um, I'm sorry. . . For everything."
"Thanks," I reply quietly, unable to look him in the eyes but instead looking down at my bare feet. "It means a lot," I add.
"Yeah, well, good luck," He mumbles as he turns to leave.
"Wait, Gale!" He turns back around and I walk to hug him. "I'm sorry too, and I'm sorry. . . That it has to be this way," I say sadly. "Goodnight, Gale, see you around."
"See you around," He whispers, and then he's gone and I'm shutting the door again.
"Peeta," I shout, "Peeta, where are you?" Just then, Peeta comes out from the closet behind the couch and tackles me. Then we're back to where we were again. Kissing and frantically ripping the clothing off each other. Just when we finally think it's over, we hear a familiar voice rip through the still air.
"Honey, I'm home!" Johanna yells with a cackle. Then she appears in my living room. It's just like her to barge in without knocking. "Oh, are you two busy, I didn't mean to be rude, just thought I'd come visit, you know?" She gives genuine laugh.
"Oh, hi, Johanna. . . " Peeta mumbles grabbing a blanket from the basket next to the couch and covering us up. I realize that we had been completely naked when Johanna had so rudely barged in. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, I was just in town to visit you guys and the handsome cousin of Katniss's and thought I'd drop by on my way from the train station. Didn't mean to interrupt," Johanna smirks.
"Um, it's fine, but uh. . ." Peeta, for once, is at a loss for words.
"Johanna, it's nice to see you but. . ."
"I get it you two, don't have to tell me twice. You can have your fun, I'll just come back later. Hey, Peeta, I hear fire and poisonous berries really turn her on, maybe you could go for some of those," Johanna gives a whole-hearted laugh and then leaves.
We wait about ten minutes, to make sure there will be no more uncalled-for interruptions, then once again we are on each other, finally able to get the alone time we wanted.
