A/N - Just a quick one but it is kind of important! I think I over did the idea of the 'party' I really meant for it to be a small get together type thing! Sorry if there is any confusion anyway, just keep that in mind and I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 21
The rest of the week passes rather slowly. I went back to school on Tuesday and as soon as I showed up Annie practically jumped on me, bombarding me with multiply questions such as 'are you okay?' and 'what was wrong?' as well as saying things like 'I'm glad you're feeling better.' Annie always worries when someone from our friendship group misses a day of school. She's a very caring person.
After Annie lets up, Madge takes the opportunity to question me. Grabbing my hand she pulled me aside with Annie, Delly and Johanna in tow. I look back over my shoulder and give Peeta a questioning look he just shrugs his shoulders signalling to me that he doesn't know what it happening.
We stop about 50 yards away from Peeta and Finnick, close enough to still see them but not close enough for them to hear us, and they all gather around me in a circle. They look at each other before Annie, Delly and Madge surround me and bring me in for a small group hug. When they let up Delly is the first to speak.
"Details?" she sequels and I look at her confused "you and Peeta!" she states and I blush, dropping my head to the ground. "How did he ask you?" Madge asks with a huge smile plastered on her face "well, we were in his house and he took my hands and asked me" I smile to myself remembering that day.
Surprisingly Johanna speaks up next "I'm happy for you brainless" she says while slapping my back. I snigger at my nickname "new nickname huh?" I ask and she smiles proudly "yeah I thought of it the other day, like it?" she says sarcastically and I just rolled my eyes.
Now it is Friday and we are all gathered around the table at lunch discussing the party/get together at Madge's house tonight.
"What are you going as Annie?" Madge asks as Annie turns to face her "A voodoo doll" she replies earning a wolf whistle from Finnick, turning back to Finnick she playfully slaps his arm. "How about you Johanna?" Madge asks and Johanna grunts "some sort of Goth thing" she says and Madge nods.
This goes on for a while and I find out Madge is going as a devilish school girl. Finnick wriggles his eyebrows at Annie while saying his outfit is a surprise, this causes Annie to blush. Delly is going as a witch and Peeta says he is going as murderous baker, I tense at his word choice and he senses this.
"Oh Kat, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that-" he says suddenly concerned "-It's okay" I cut him off. His arms surround me pulling me in for a warm hug, looking over his shoulder I see many of my friends giving me questioning look, I just shrug it off.
"So..." Madge says when Peeta finally lets go of me "Katniss, what are you going as?" she says regaining her cheery attitude "I'm going as a hunter" I say and Peeta raises his eyebrows and smiles at me "that's cool!" Madge exclaims.
"Guys my cousin is visiting this week and next, I hope you don't mind if he joins us tonight do you?" Madge says and we all shake our heads. The bell rings and we all get up from the table. Waving and saying "bye, see you later" we all exit the snack hall in different directions.
Peeta walks me home after school, and says that he will be back around 5:30. I walk in and tell Haymitch I'm out tonight he just grunts in response. Walking upstairs I decide to take a shower, I wash my hair and body before grabbing my towel and fast-walking back to my room.
Once I'm back in my bedroom I close the door and walk over to my wardrobe. Opening it I put on clean underwear and a pair of black shorts with tights. I pull my favourite green forest top over my head and slip my father's hunting jacket over the top. To finish my outfit I grab my hunting boots from the bottom of my wardrobe and put them on my feet.
I walk over to my dressing table and brush through my hair and decide to leave it down. I have just enough time to put on a miniscule amount of mascara and eye shadow to make my eyes appear darker than they originally are.
A knock at the door sends me flying down the stairs. I open it and see Peeta stood there dressed up in his costume. He's wearing a black short sleeve top which shows off his muscles being skin tight and jeans with a white apron over the top which is covered in splashes of fake blood while in his hand he is holding a plastic knife.
"Hey" I say when my eyes find their way back to his face. He stares at me for a second and I fidget a bit while getting self-conscious "Peeta?" I ask again and he snaps out of his daze "Oh hey Kat sorry! You look...amazing" he states and I blush "thanks" I say "you don't look half bad yourself Mellark" he smiles at me and chuckles.
I let him inside and he sits himself down on the sofa opposite a passed out Haymitch "I'll only be a moment" I say and he nod. I run back up the stairs taking them two at a time and go back into my bedroom, gathering the few bits and bobs which I may need, such as my phone.
I grab a pen and paper from my room and start scribbling down a note to Haymitch as I walk down the stairs, being careful at the same time not to trip.
'Haymitch,
Gone to Madge's Halloween party. Don't wait up as I'm not sure when I will be back.
Katniss'
Once I reach the bottom of the stairs Peeta stands up "ready to go?" he asks and I nod, placing the note on the table in front of Haymitch.
Peeta loops his arm under mine as we walk through the town centre. As we approach Madge's house, I gasp, it's massive! "Is this her house?" I exclaim in astonishment and Peeta nod "Yep" he says while popping the 'p' "Her father is the mayor" he exclaim and I am shock "no way?" I say and he nod "not joking" he replies.
We walk up the steps to the front door and knock the door, the door swings open seconds later and we are greeted by a very enthusiastic Madge. She is wearing a black skirt which stops just above the knee with a white blouse which is buttoned up to the top, and has splashes of fake blood much like Peeta's apron down it with a tie which is hanging half way down her chest.
"Hey guys, you both look great!" she says before opening the door wider so we can squeeze through, once inside we see we are the last ones to arrive. We walk into the living room and take a seat on the settee, I snuggle up against Peeta while Annie, who is wearing a floral dress which stops at her knees curls up against Finnick who 'surprise outfit' seems to includes wearing no t-shirt with a pair of what look like swimming trunks and he has a trident in his left hand.
Johanna and Delly take the other sofa, leaving a space for Madge to sit down when she joins us.
Peeta's POV
Madge follows us in with a tall dark hair boy in tow "hey everyone" she greets "this is my cousin, he's visiting from eight" she explains and I smile at him. He glances around the room at all our faces but stops and gasps when he reaches Katniss'.
"Catnip?" he says and I turn to Katniss to see her look up to meet his gaze. She gasps. "Gale?!" she exclaim and he nods. Katniss gets up off the sofa and runs over to give him a hug, he is rather tall so he has to bend down while Katniss is forced to go on tip-toes.
"I never thought I'd see you again, Catnip!" he says overjoyed and "likewise" she replies. I look around to see everyone wearing the same questioning look that I am. Finnick looks at me and raises his eyebrows, I shrug my shoulders signalling I have no idea what's going on.
They break away and stare at each other in astonishment that is until Katniss speaks up "I'm sorry I never said bye" she whispers and he shakes his head "it's not your fault Katniss. I'm sorry for everything that happened" he says back and she gives him her weak, sad smile which makes my heart break.
She returns to wear she was seated beside me and pats the space next to her for Gale to sit down, which he does. I lean over towards her "h-how do you know him?" I ask, hoping that she won't say anything about them being in a relationship together "Gale, he was... he was my best friend back in eight, he was my hunting partner." she says and smiles at him, he smiles back.
She turns back to me and snuggles into me once more, leaning my head down I whisper "you weren't...in a relationship or anything...were you?" I ask sceptically and she laughs "no Peeta, why are you jealous?" she teases and I feel my ears heat up "what? Me? No" I lie and she leans up and kisses my check "if you say so" she replies while winking at me, I just laugh.
"Catnip, aye?" Finnick teases and Katniss glares at him "yeah, when I first met him he thought I said my name was Catnip instead of Katniss" Katniss states and Finnick bursts out laughing. Katniss just rolls her eyes at him.
Madge walks over to the television and announces that we will be starting our evening watching a scary movie.
Madge rummages through a stack of about 50 different kinds of DVD's. Finding what she wants she pulls it out from the pile and turns it around to show us all, The Grudge, the title reads "this one?" she asks and we all nod except for Annie who is a bit sceptical.
The movie begins and Katniss snuggles right into me and I put my arm around her bringing her closer.
About five minutes into the movie I learn never to watch a horror movie with Delly. She screams at every slight movement and sound and quite frankly it a little bit annoying.
An actually scary bit comes on and Katniss jumps about three feet into the air, I start to laugh but then grow concerned when her face starts to turn emotionless, much like it did when she told me about what happened back in eight "Kat?" I say grabbing her shoulders but she doesn't respond, at this point Finnick looks round "Katniss!" I say louder and to my relief her head snaps around bringing her back to reality.
"Are you alright? You did that thing where you zone out" I explain and she nods "ye-yeah I'm fine" she says in a shaky tone "I just need some water" she says getting up and I decide not to follow her knowing she may need some time alone. 'Is she alright?' Finnick mouths and I nod 'yeah she's okay' I mouth back and continue watching the movie.
A good twenty minutes passes and Katniss still hasn't returned I'm about to get up and find out where she has got to when out of the corner of my eye I see Gale stand up and silently creep out of the room in the direction Katniss went and I can't help but wonder what he is going to do...
Katniss POV
I've been in the kitchen now for a good twenty minutes now, just processing my thoughts when I hear the kitchen door creak open. I expect it to be Peeta coming to check up on me but when I look up I am greeted by Gale's face staring back at me.
"You okay Catnip?" he asks and I nod "yeah" I say plainly "you know that blonde boy looks pretty worried about you" he states and I smile but don't reply "so" he says plonking himself down at the table on a chair across from where I am sitting "how you been keeping Catnip?" he asks as I take a sip of my water "alright" I say but he sees right through it "you never were the best liar" he declares and I let out a small laugh and he does the same.
After we finish laughing he eyes me curiously obviously wanting me to expand on my earlier answer, I sigh "I have good days and bad days, I've lost practically everything my father, my mother...Prim" I just manage to choke out the last word without bursting into tears.
He slides his hand over the table and placing it on top of mine, his hand feels alien like as I suppose I'm used to Peeta's but I don't pull away.
"It's getting better though, right?" he says and I tilt my head from side to side, giving me time to decide whether or not to tell Gale about my other problem with the murderer who is still coming after me. I decide for now, I'm going to leave it out "well, I suppose it has been, I mean when I first got back I fell into depression, I hardly spoke or ate, but Haymitch, my uncle, didn't care. He's too drunk to care" I pause and sigh.
"But then I met Peeta, the blonde boy" I say pointing to the door which leads into the living room "I told him...what happened and he helped me through a lot, he's so sweet and kind" I say smiling and Gale removes his hand from mine and I look up to him to see he is looking behind me. I'm about to turn around when I feel two hands snake their way around my waist, pulling me backwards slightly my back comes into contact with another person's body which radiates warmth through mine.
"You really think them things about me?" the person asks and I immediately know I'm talking to Peeta "Yes, I do" I smile and he kisses the top of my head and for a second I forget Gale is also in the room.
Peeta takes a seat next to me and the three of us make small talk for the remainder of the film. Peeta learns a lot about Gale's life in eight and I share a few stories with him about times when me and Gale were out hunting and other memories.
I'm half way through one when Finnick bursts through the doorway "hey guys! When did you'll leave? The movies finished" he exclaims and I glance at Peeta and Gale before saying "I needed some water so came in here and Gale and Peeta...followed me, we just sat down and lost track of time" I say trying to conger up my lie. Finnick just gives me an unconvinced look "anyway" he says "Annie wants you back now, we're going to do something else" he says before gesturing for us to follow him and returning to the other room.
As we get up from the table, I start to feel like I'm getting my life back on track again with my boyfriend to my left and my best friend to my right. I feel like I can make it through the dark times.
A/N - Thank you for reading and please review it means so much! Also thank you for all the follows and favourites + I made it to 40+ reviews WOO! Until the next chapter...
-WordsOfWonder