Chapter 14: Nearly Perfect

Disclaimer: I don't own THG.

Katniss:

Gale wouldn't speak to her. He ignored her when she tried to say anything to him. He skipped lunch to work in the library. Katniss didn't think he knew where the school library was, but he was there.

She tried not to feel bad about it, but she couldn't help it. It was her nature to care about her friends and family. Her best friend hated her and that was not okay.

Breaking up with Gale was the right thing to do and Katniss did not regret it. Johanna insisted that he would get over it. Clove and Annie agreed. They encouraged her to move on and let Gale recover.

And so, Katniss decided to follow the advice of her friends-and Prim-and go ahead and talk to Peeta.

Peeta had asked her to meet him at the park, just to hang out. They would be meeting at 4 o'clock, but Katniss had gotten there a bit early. She was sitting on a bench, thinking about what she would say. There were a few other people there, some elderly women feeding the birds and mom with her baby.

"Katniss!" Peeta waved and jogged over. "Hey. Did you wait long?"

"No, I wanted to come early. Had to clear my head." She said.

He nodded. "I, uh, heard that you and Gale broke up. Too bad it didn't work out." He was sincere.

"It's fine. I didn't think it would work out as a long term thing anyway." She confessed.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the nature that surrounded them.

"Katniss, I want to tell you something. I don't know if it's something you want to hear, but I'm gonna do it anyway." He said with determination.

"Okay, well, I'm listening. Can't be that bad." She wore a nervous smile, unsure what to expect.

He took a deep breath. "I'm in love with you."

Katniss didn't register the words immediately. She stood there, that nervous smile still on her face.

"You're...in love...with me?"She repeated.

"I know we talked about this already and you said it was crush, but I don't think that's it. Not for me. I saw you for the first time, wearing a red dress and some braids, and I haven't been able to look away since. I love you, Katniss."

When he talked, he wore a smile on his face. A sort of disbelieving smile, as though he couldn't believe that he was saying it to her. She couldn't believe she was hearing it.

Katniss was torn between kissing him right then and there, or running away and never speaking to him again. This was what she wanted to hear, but she didn't think it would be so easy.

"You love me." She was full on grinning then. Peeta refused to meet her gaze. "You really do, don't you?" She laughed, kind of in shock.

"I don't want you to have to quit your job at the bakery, you can ask for-"

"No! Peeta Mellark, you're unbelievably thick sometimes!" She laughed again. He frowned.

"Peeta, I broke up with Gale. I can't lie to him, or to anyone for that matter. How could I ever love him if I love someone else? And now, I find out that this someone else loves me back!" She cried.

"I'm that someone else, then?" He asked.

Katniss did the only thing left to do. She put her hands on both side of hid face and kissed him. Full on the lips. She felt happy-no- she felt content. Beyond happy, just completely satisfied with the way everything was happening.

Congratulations, Prim. You get those $20 after all!

But he pulled away, taking her hands and holding them in his. Katniss didn't like the conflicted expression that appeared on his face. Had she done something wrong?

"Kat, I still have a girlfriend."

Her contentment vanished. She had forgotten about Glimmer. The one thing that still stood in the way. Never had she envied Glimmer, not until that moment.

Katniss pulled her hands out of his. "What? Why the heck would you want to tell me this now, then? Do you think I'm the kind to go behind another girl's back?" She was fuming.

"Kat, no, I didn't mean..." He paused to gather his thoughts and Katniss waited to hear his explanation. Surely, it would be rather stupid. "I...I had no idea you would react this way! I was so sure you'd freak out and run away, or something. I wasn't prepared for a positive reaction..."

Katniss's face softened. "Just so you know, I wanted to be the first to say all this. You beat me to it."

He relaxed a bit. "I don't mean to hurt you, Katniss. If you really want to be with me, I'll do anything to make it happen."

"Of course I do!" she cried.

"Okay." He grinned and Katniss melted. "This will work. I promise you, I'll make it work."

I'll wake up any second now. Any second...

But this wasn't a dream, this was her reality. Katniss's reality wasn't usually this pleasant, not since her dad passed away. It was about time!

She lunged forward and hugged him tightly. Nothing wrong with that. Peeta hugged her back and she knew he felt the same bliss she did. Soon, very soon, they would have it all.

Annie:

Annie and her Grandma Mags were fond of Christmas. The lights, the warmth, the baked goods. And more importantly, the Christmas trees. She and Mags would go out to the nearest Christmas Tree vendor and pick out the most beautiful tree. This year, Annie wanted to include Finnick.

There were rows and rows of fresh smelling green trees. Annie was having a hard time picking just one.

"Oh, look Annie it's Mrs. Mary." Mags said. "I'm going to go see how she's doing. You and Finn can pick out a tree."

"Okay, Grandma. We won't be long!" Annie called after her. She turned her attention to Fininck. "See one you like?"

He shook his head. "I'm not gonna lie, Annie, I've never had to go out and buy a Christmas tree."

Annie was appalled. "What? Finnick Odair, you have been deprived of one of the greatest holiday traditions! Worry not, I shall help you!"

She held his hand as they inspected the trees.

"You have to pick the perfect tree, Finn. It has to have plenty of branches, all of them spaced equally, so the ornaments fit. Six feet is the ideal height, never let anyone convince you otherwise." Annie acted like a teacher and Finnick was her student.

"You're so smart Annie." Finn said. He leaned in for a kiss and Annie gratefully accepted.

She pulled away. "We have a tree to buy, Finn. Let's keep looking."

"Are we going to buy some ornaments, too?" He asked her.

"Of course we are! What color's do you think would work?" Annie thought it necessary to teach him the ways of tree decorating.

"Blue." Finn answered. Annie beamed at him.

"We can add some silver, if you want. Back to tree hunting...this one," She reached to touch a branch. "is a nice looking tree. Sturdy and plenty of branches!"

Finnick nodded, Annie couldn't be sure he understood what he was looking at, but he didn't make his confusion obvious. "It is indeed a great looking tree."

They had it set aside while they went on to find some ornaments.

"Okay, we can get large spheres and little spheres, just to have a balance. Blue and silver." Annie struggled to reach the boxes on the top shelf, but Finnick easily got them down, earning a peck on the lips from Annie.

Finnick was excited to see little sled ornaments with names painted on. He quickly found one with the name Anne on it. Anne, not Annie.

"Can't find your name in here, Annie." Annie stood next to him.

"I don't see yours either." She laughed. Finnick was never going to be a name they printed on one of those ornaments.

"I have this problem with key chains, too. They always have the name Frank or Fred, but never Finnick!" He said dramatically. "It's a real problem."

Annie played along. "How do you live that way, Finn? Just tragic! But as you know, Anne is not my name. I'll have to squeeze in an 'I'."

"I'm going to write a letter to the President. All names that are excluded will have a voice!" Annie laughed again. There was never a dull moment with Finnick around.

"So, why don't you ever buy a Christmas tree?" Annie wondered.

"It's not a big deal, really. I think we did have one once, but we forgot to water it. It turned all brown. No one in our house can seem to remember that plants need water." He explained.

"That's sad, Finn." Annie said. "You know what? You should get a Christmas cactus. They don't need a lot of water and you can decorate it, too."

Finnick raised an eyebrow. "I would say that's a terrible idea, but the more I think about, the better it sounds. Christmas cactus...we could make some money selling that!"

"We could! Not everyone likes giant trees, so why not a cactus!" Annie joked.

"I like it! We can set up a tent and sell cactuses and ornaments. We'll have tiny sleds with every name on it, including the weird ones. We'll be famous." Finnick said.

"I think you mean cacti." She corrected. "Finnick, you do realize that no one would buy a Christmas cactus? Our friends might, but that would be out of pity, not because they like the idea."

Finnick pretended to be disappointed. "Shame, it's such a great idea."

"It is. And I came up with it, so I get the credit." Annie reminded.

"True. Annie you're a genius. Everyone, my girlfriend's a genius!" He yelled. A few people turned and smiled at them, thinking it a sweet gesture.

Annie giggled. "Okay, let's get this stuff back to my house and we can fix it up!"

A little while later, Finnick was helping Annie decorate the tree. Together, they made it the most beautiful tree on planet Earth.

"I'm afraid to ask, but...have you ever made gingerbread cookies?"

Finnick shook his head no.

Annie sighed heavily. "We're doing that next."

That was the day Annie Cresta learned that Finnick Odair could not bake. He did have a flaw after all.

Some Everlark and Fannie! I can't get enough of them! This was a sort of fluffy chapter, which I thought was nice. I sense drama coming up, what with Peeta breaking up with Glimmer. Reviews are greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading :)