KATNISS POV
I take in a deep breath and let my eyes scan over the lake for thousandth time today, trying to deny the fact that we would be leaving this afternoon. I had done my best to ignore that fact for the past few days, but it was dawning on me uncontrollably; I didn't think I would come to love a place as much as I did here. In all honesty, I had always been looking forward to this trip, but never imagined it would be as fun as it has been. The thought of going home just seems strange now.
I pull my hair over my shoulder, twirling it through my fingers when I look up to find Peeta taking a seat next to me, a cute smile on his face.
"Been looking for you." He smiles as he takes a seat next to me. I reshuffle the deck of cards in my hands and start a new game of solitaire. Peeta catches my eye and lets out a little laugh.
"Solitaire?" he raises and eyebrow.
"Dad taught me how to play before he died; it helps me clear my head." I tell him with a shrug.
"What's on your mind?" he smiles
"Just trying to look past the fact that we're leaving today, I don't wanna go home."
"Yeah, I know what you mean; I miss my family a bit and it'll be good to see them again but it sucks I guess." He admits with a sigh
"I miss mine too, but everything's so simple out here. I don't have to worry about school or Prim or my mum. It's just nice to be away from it all, even for a little while." I say, making trying to appear a little optimistic.
"I know." Peeta says taking my hand in his own and gently squeezing it. "Y'know, I've never really understood solitaire, but I can make a pretty mean card house." He smirks
"Is that so?" I challenge, raising an eyebrow
"Sure is."
With that, he beings to build a small house of cards, layer upon layer. It's amazing how quickly he does it, really. I'd never gotten the hang of it as a kid.
"I've never really had the patience for this" I laugh, accidentally knocking down my feeble attempt "Or the steady hand."
Peeta laughs as I shake my head in defeat, stacking my pile of cards in front of him.
"Seriously!" We hear a voice coming from behind Peeta and turn to find Gale, the others closely behind him, heading over to us. "It's our last few hours here and you two are sitting here ignoring all that and building a house of cards." He says motioning to the lake around us.
"Good morning to you too." I roll my eyes at Gale. Finnick comes along and takes a seat on the table, knocking it just enough to cause the house of cards to come tumbling down.
"Really though, what the hell are you doing with a deck of cards?" Finnick asks with both eyebrows raised.
"Solitaire." I laugh. He looks between Peeta and I while making no attempt to hide the shock on his face. He shakes his head in disappointment.
"Solitaire, seriously? You sound like my Grandma! I've got a better idea." He smirks.
We all look at him expectantly waiting for him to finish. He takes Annie by the hand and gently pulls her closer to him. "Strip poker." He wiggles his eyebrows at Annie while the rest of us burst out laughing.
"Uh-huh." Annie laughs, planting a kiss on his cheek "Well, you have fun with that." Annie walks over and takes a seat next to Johanna, who's shaking her head at Finnick.
"She doesn't know what she's missing." He shrugs, sitting down next to Peeta.
The next hour passes quickly, each of us taking turns to see who could build a 3 storey card house the fastest. Not surprisingly Peeta managed to beat us all. It takes no time at all for Gale and Thom to declare war on Madge and Delly, aiming two ridiculously large water-guns in their direction. The two of them leap up and take cover behind the barbeque while attempting to make their way to the lake unarmed. The boys, both already soaking wet and shirtless, cease-fire for a moment while the girls find some form of cover. Gale laughs and looks over to Thom who's slowly creeping toward the lake.
"Better them than me." Johanna shrugs as Gale and Thom soak the girls. We all intently watch at Madge tries to take cover behind a nearby tree, only to turn and find Gale standing behind her with a smirk on his face. She lets out a small squeal and turns to run the other way, not before Gale puts his arms around her waist, lifting her into their air and spinning around. He sets her back onto the ground and she turns to face him, standing on her toes and kissing him as her arms wind around his neck. Finnick and Peeta let out a laugh.
"When we get back to school, I'm almost certain that those two are gonna be the couple that everyone get sick of seeing make out." Finn laughs, shaking his head and running a gentle hand through Annie's hair.
"Oh yeah, says you!" Peeta laughs.
"Oh please! I'm almost sick of seeing all six of you together from the past few weeks along!" Johanna says with a smirk on her face.
"C'mon, you can hardly include us in that little group Jo! You guys didn't even know Peeta and I were together for a week!" I laugh, raising an eyebrow.
Peeta turns to face me with a smirk on his own face now. "Bet they know now." He winks, leaning closer and planting a quick kiss on my lips. I laugh as Johanna makes a noise of disgust, shaking her head at the two of us. The sun makes its way further across the sky, making an appearance from behind the clouds and casting an array of lights across the lake.
"I'm gonna miss this place." Annie sighs contently as she rests her head against Finnicks shoulder. He looks down at her a smiles lovingly; it was strange seeing Finnick like this, after all these years he's always been the clown of the group, never taking anything too seriously. Until Annie came along.
"Well, I'm going for a swim, anyone wanna come?" Finnick announces as he stands, gently pulling Annie up with him.
"Sure." I agree. I raise an eyebrow at Peeta "You coming?"
"Yeah, I'll be there in a sec." He smiles.
Johanna and I follow Annie and Finnick toward the dock, managing to avoid the full-throttle water fight that was still happening only metres away.
"Are we all really that bad, Jo? With us all being together now?" I raise an eyebrow at her.
"Nah, it's not that bad really. It's just strange how nearly everyone kinda … coupled off these past few weeks, y'know?" She shrugs her shoulder before nudging me in the sides "Don't sweat it Katniss"
"Good to know." I smile, embracing the moment as one of the better ones between the two of us. It was safe to say that we rarely saw eye-to-eye, but we had our exceptions. Not often, but it was nice to know it was possible.
It takes about five minutes until Peeta joins us, I notice him sitting on the dock, his legs hanging in the water, watching me with a slight smile on his face. I swim over to him and rest my elbows against the dock as I reach him.
"What're you doing?" I ask pushing myself a little way out of the water.
"Just enjoying the view." He smiles, leaning down to kiss me. I laugh and gently kick away from the dock before he has the chance. He shakes his head at me with a laugh as I swim under the water, only coming up in time to see him pull off his shirt and dive in after me. He swims through the water, putting his arms around my waist to pull me to him as he gets closer.
"That was just cruel, Everdeen." He shakes his head at me.
"I'm sorry!" I laugh, leaning in closer to him.
"Nope. Lost your chance now." He says, looking away. I shake my head again, slowly swimming backward away from his arms.
"I'm just kidding." He grabs my arm and pulls me through the water to him.
I run my hands through his hair, becoming lost in his blue eyes. A slight grin appears on his face as he leans in to kiss me, laughing a little as I run a hand through his hair again. We stay like this for a few minutes, ignoring wolf-whistles and laughs from Finnick.
"I'm really happy I got to spend these last few weeks with you. I can't think of anyone I'd rather be here with." I tell him with a smile.
"Me too, I'm glad I ran into you on that first day of school; haven't been able to get you out of my head since." He laughs before intently biting down on his bottom lip. I raise an eyebrow, questioning his sudden change of attitude.
"What is it?" I ask quietly, becoming a little anxious myself. Peeta takes in a deep breath and looks at me with such intensity it sends shivers down my spine.
"I know it's only been a few weeks, but I've never felt this way about anyone before. Being around you just …. Makes the days better." He smiles, a slight blush rising on his cheeks. "I love you, Katniss."
I can't help but allow my smile to spread across my face as I feel my cheeks light up. I push my hair away from my face, closing my eyes from a brief second.
"Please say something?" Peeta says quietly, his voice a little strained. I let out a little laugh and lean in to kiss him. The kiss feels different from before; more passionate. I can feel him smiling into it as we pull each other closer. Small fires ignite where his hands sit on my waist as he gently lifts me into the air. I laugh a little, wrapping my legs around his waist and running a hand through his hair.
"I love you, too." I tell him quietly with a smile.
It takes the rest of the afternoon for me to wrap my head around the fact that Peeta told me he loves me. I guess I always thought he would say it first but I never would have imagined it happening so quickly. Most of my life I'd never imagined myself saying it to someone, let alone after three weeks, but Peeta had managed to pull out this side of me that I didn't even know existed. It made me excited; I couldn't deny that meeting him had become the best thing to happen in a really long time. Throughout dinner I catch myself looking at him in awe, igniting a fire in the pit of my stomach. I make a small attempt to distract myself by helping Madge and Gale cook tea, but it's a futile, at best.
As the sun begins to set across the lake we each carry our bags out to Gale and Delly's cars, a dull mood between us all. We gather around the cars laughing and talking, giving me a perfect moment to slip away and enjoy the sunset here for the last time.
The evening sky is littered with small insects, something that never really bothered me. I head only a little way away from the others toward a small gazebo. It offers the perfect vantage point as the sun begins to set over the blue sky. I pick up Gales quiet footsteps making their way toward me as I lean against the railing.
"You've really fallen in love with this place, haven't you?" He asks, putting an arm around my shoulder and looking down to me with a smile.
"Yeah, you could say that." I admit quietly.
"We'll be back soon enough." He assure me, sensing my uneasiness.
"I guess that makes it ok." I laugh.
"I don't get it though. You seem sad but incredibly happy at the same time?" He raises an eyebrow.
I turn my head slightly to find Peeta sitting on the bonnet of gales car talking and laughing with Finnick and Delly. Gale gives me an expectant look as I turn back toward him.
"He told me he loves me." I say, not bothering to cover up the smile that is undoubtedly spread across my face. Gales face lights up with a smile before I can finish my sentence.
"Really? That's great, Katniss!" He says happily. "Look, I'm sorry I acted like such an ass those first few days; I overreacted. I just didn't wanna see you get hurt, that's all." He admits with a guilty look.
"I know, Gale. Thank you." I say as he pulls me into a bear hug, his arms enveloping me. We stay together for a little while, thankful for each other's unspoken agreement to be there for each other.
"So, you and Madge, huh?" I smile up at him as we pull away from each other.
"Yeah, me and Madge ... didn't think I'd ever get to say that." He admits with a grin spreading across his face.
"C'mon." He says, "We better hit the road if we wanna make it back home before midnight."
"Yeah, the sooner we get home, the sooner you can shower." I laugh.
He feigns shock and nudges me in the ribs "Speak for yourself, Catnip.
I slide into the back of Gale's car next to Peeta, only giving up my front seat ride for Madge. Peeta gently squeezes my leg as I look over to find him smiling a little. I return his smile, pull my still-wet hair over my shoulder and push up the sleeves of the jumper I'd borrowed from him weeks ago. He takes my hand in his own, gently tracing small patterns on mine with his thumb, as we pull away from the park. I look up to find Gales eye on me in the review mirror; he shakes his head a little and smiles.
I watch out the window as the car slowly travels further and further away from the park, leaving behind the past few weeks. I lean my head against Peeta's shoulder with a content sigh yet still clinging onto the promise of returning. Looking up at the review mirror I get one last glance at the lake and the sun as it cascades lights across the water. We'd be home in a few short hours.
The end.
Well, this is it! The end! Again, i'm sorry this took so long to get up but hopefully it's worth it? I really hope you like it and have enjoy the rest of my story! hopefully you like that Peeta says i love you - i thought it might be too soon, but at the same time it felt right. Please leave a review and tell me what you thought and possibly any ideas you might have/want to see in the sequel! I'm thinking of Winter Ties as the name, but i'm not 100% sure, so feel free to give me your ideas. i've got heaps of ideas for the sequel so hopefully there won't be such a long gap between chapters, but nonetheless i'd reall appreciate it if you would give it a read once it's up! Thankyou to everyone who read and reviewed this story, it really does mean alot! :)