'It isn't the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out, it's the pebble in your shoe.'
- Muhammad Ali
Fair Warning: You probably, and rightly so, assume this chapter contains a graphic sex scene. It does. Enjoy.
The Next Morning
Katniss
The confrontation with Gale yesterday morning really got to both of us. Peeta spent most of the day yesterday comforting me, repeatedly assuring me that it wasn't my fault, that he didn't blame me, and that he loves me more than ever.
I don't know why Gale's words bring up all my insecurities, but they do. I'm petrified I didn't do enough to reassure Peeta, that he still has even the tiniest belief that Gale's plan might work, that there's even a slight chance I'll leave him heartbroken. I'm trying my best to show him how much he means to me, I really am. Granted, a lot of that involves sex. Neither of us minds, of course, but I know I have to use my words more. He can always say the most beautiful things to proclaim his love for me, and I need to try harder.
"You need to stop worrying," Peeta whispers. I didn't realize he was awake yet, considering he's spooned into my back so I can't see his face yet.
"I'm not," I try to deflect.
He sighs and kisses my hair.
"Kat I thought we weren't going to lie to each other," he says painfully.
I cringe, realizing that even that small white lie hurts him. Considering I hate hurting him more than anything, I amaze myself at how often I apparently do it.
"You're right," I admit, turning in his arms to face him. He surprises me by giving me a soft, reassuring smile and a sweet kiss on the lips.
"Talk to me honey," he pleads quietly, cradling my face gently.
I involuntarily sniffle, all the emotions from yesterday resurfacing.
"You know that I'd never leave you, right?" I ask in a small voice, nervously. His eyes widen then he breaks eye contact. That's enough of an answer for me. "Peeta Mellark," I reach up and turn his face back to me. "I'll tell you as many times as you need to hear it. I'm your wife. I married you because there's nothing in this world I love more than you, and the only thing I want is to spend every day of my life with you. There's nobody that could ever even make me contemplate leaving you. Why can't you fully understand that? Is it something I'm doing? Tell me, please. I'll do whatever it takes, I promise."
By the end, I'm begging him, and his expression turns decidedly sad. He leans his head forward, and our foreheads gently touch. I softly rub my nose on his, giving him an eskimo kiss.
"It's nothing you're doing or not doing," he whispers, but I don't hear the sincerity behind it.
"Don't you dare even try lying to me," I threaten gravely.
He sighs again and nods slowly.
"I'm so sorry," he cries quietly. "I never meant to hurt you, Kat. It's something wrong with me, I promise. You're a perfect wife."
"But….," I prompt.
"Sometimes I'm scared that because this all happened so quickly, once we leave Everest you'll realize you rushed into this," he blurts out, unable to look me in the eye. My heart breaks listening to him. I can't blame him at all, even if I think his fears are ridiculous. "I wouldn't survive that, you know? I've loved you for so long, Katniss. So many years. Having you love me back has been the best experience of my life."
"What did I just tell you?" I gently answer. "I just need you to tell me what you need from me, and I'll happily do it. I can see how you'd think that, honey. Nobody can deny that this happened fast. But what you need to realize is that I was right here with you every step of the way. I knew what I was doing the entire time. I made the decision with my eyes wide open. You know me, Peeta. I wouldn't go into something like this if I wasn't absolutely sure, if I didn't believe in it with my whole being."
"I know," he finally nods. "It's just my stupid insecurities. I'll try harder honey, I promise I will."
"Yesterday all my insecurities bubbled to the surface too," I assure him with a small smile. "And my wonderful husband spent the entire day helping me work through them. Now, he needs to let his wife return the favor."
"When did you get so smart?" He asks as his smile grows. I kiss him quickly.
"The moment I married you," I tell him seriously. His smile only gets bigger.
Peeta
I absolutely hate, more than anything, making her feel like she's being inadequate or somehow not doing enough for me. It's not like I think she's actively trying to make me feel this way, I know that she'd never do that. But I can't help how I feel, especially after Gale came around yesterday.
I'm glad we're learning how to talk through our issues, instead of letting them fester. We both are perceptive, especially with one another, so it's good we're getting into the habit of confronting each other when we see that something's wrong.
"Are you ready for this interview?" Katniss asks as we work together to make some breakfast.
"I think the question is, are we ready for this interview?" I smile.
"I think we are," she smiles back. "We should just be completely honest, Peeta. Any questions he asks, tell the full truth."
I nod in agreement.
"We're not the type of people to lie like that anyways, but I agree."
We eat breakfast cuddled together, as usual. Katniss finds it necessary to feed me my food and I happily let her. Her smile alone is worth it.
"How much time do we have before we need to go?" She asks while we clean up.
I check my watch.
"About an hour," I estimate. "I'm sure at some point between now and then Haymitch will yell at us over the radio," I grin.
"Hey Peeta?" She almost whispers. I turn to look at her.
"Yeah, what is it?"
"Will you make love to me before we leave?" She asks nervously, like she's afraid somehow I'd ever say no.
"Of course," I assure her with a beaming smile. "You never have to ask honey."
"Outside," she adds quietly. "I want to do it outside. I know it's light out, but the only people who have bothered us were Gale and Haymitch yesterday. We can go behind the tent for a little more privacy, but for some reason, my heart is set on making love to you outside."
I don't verbally answer her. Instead, I quickly get to my feet, reach in the tent, and grab the ThermaRest. She grins when she sees what I'm doing, hurrying to finish cleaning the pot in her hands. I carefully set it up behind the tent, more for peace of mind than actual privacy.
Plus, with the way my wife is able to make me feel, the last thing on my mind will be where we are.
"Take of your pants and wait for me," she instructs, no hint of joking. "Right now," she adds when I don't immediately start moving.
I go sit on the ThermaRest and follow her orders to the letter. I quickly undo my belt and my pants, sliding them and my boxers down my legs until they're pooled around my boots.
"Good enough," she comments as she appears standing in front of me.
I look up at her, the sun behind her illuminating her beauty, and we're still for a few moments as we share an intimate moment with just our eyes.
"I want to strip for you," she blurts out almost nervously. "Is that, um, okay?"
My eyes bug out of my head in sheer excitement. I just nod enthusiastically, afraid of ruining the moment with words.
She starts with her upper body, taking off the clothes I watched her put on not an hour ago in the tent. Her fleece goes first, leaving her in my shirt that she's requisitioned for herself. She claims it smells like me, and continually refuses to relinquish it. She reaches down, crosses her arms, grabs the bottom of the shirt, and carefully tugs it over her head, slowly revealing the bare skin of her stomach and her perfect breasts in her bra.
She grins as she reaches up and fondles herself, moaning my name softly. I resist the urge to stand up and take her, knowing she wants to do to this for both of us. She leaves her bra on as she moves her hands downward, sensually sliding them over her stomach.
I think she's just going to undo her pants and take them off, but she stares me right in the eye, bites her bottom lip, and slips her hand right into her panties. Her other hand shoots right back up to her boob. This is getting unbearable for me. Quickly.
She works herself for a few agonizing minutes and my erection is obvious to both of us. A few times I reached down to try and touch myself, but the glare on her face stopped me cold each time.
Finally, she pulls her hand out of her pants. She smiles wide as she quickly brings it up to her lips and sucks each one of her fingers thoroughly, moaning as she does.
"I think you're right," she tells me happily. "We both do taste pretty good."
My eyes roll into the back of my head and she giggles at the look on my face. She kicks her boots off next, moving forward to stand on the edge of the ThermaRest. I could lean forward a few inches and kiss her legs she's so close, but I'm well aware of the consequences of not listening to her right now.
She waits until my eyes raise back up on her body before she undoes her pants. She shimmies her hips a little and they fall to her ankles, revealing her matching panties. They, along with her bra, are a light, powder blue.
"Do you like?" She motions to her panties. I nod. "I think they match your eyes baby."
She turns as she bends over to remove her pants fully, and I groan as her ass fills my entire world. I can easily see how wet she is. I daringly lean forward and tilt my head quickly, laying a fast kiss on her panties right over her pussy.
"Hey!" She almost jumps when she feels it. "I didn't give you permission to do that, Mr. Mellark."
"Sorry, Mrs. Mellark," I grin. "You're irresistible."
She rolls her eyes playfully as she moves to take her bra off.
"Please," I beg, not ashamed at all of the pleading in my tone. "Please leave it on baby."
She quirks her head a bit, obviously wondering why I'm declining to see her boobs right at the moment. Nevertheless, she heeds my request.
"These too?" She asks as she teases me again by sliding a hand under her panties.
I nod in awe. She giggles again, doing wonderful things to her breasts.
"Okay, enough of this," she smirks. "I'm going to mount you now, and I expect you to fuck me with everything you've got. Understood?"
"Yes, ma'am," I eke out.
She hovers over me, moving to her knees, and slides her panties to the side a bit to give us access to her waiting folds. She licks her palm and wets my cock in preparation.
She strokes me a couple times before she lowers down, guiding me into her warm, tight pussy. We groan in unison as she buries me the whole way. Once my entire length is inside her, she stops for a moment, leaning down to kiss me.
"Thank you for letting me be in charge," she whispers against my lips.
"Trust me, I probably love it more than you," I whisper back. She smiles wide as she sits back up, taking my hands with her and firmly planting them over her bra on her breasts as she begins bucking and riding.
Apparently, she has no qualms about the possibility of someone up at ABC hearing us. Any filter we've developed is now gone. She's practically screaming in pleasure, begging me to bring her to multiple releases.
"Fuck! Make me come again!" She yells, almost scratching my chest with her fingernails. "Yes, right there baby! Slam into me, harder, harder!"
Her words work wonders, and I'm able to somehow give her three orgasms in quick succession.
"Think you can make us come together?" She asks between kisses. "I think you can. Prove me right."
I'm losing all my control at this point, and she just eggs me on. I almost violently rip her bra down, revealing her breasts. I lean up and attach my lips to them, gently biting her nipples. I slip my hand down her toned stomach and start working her clit furiously.
"I swear if you stop, I'm going to be a dead fish the next time we fuck," she whimpers. I laugh and just work her harder.
"Fuck Kat, I'm going to come," I tell her as I look up at her from my spot between her breasts. She smiles down at me.
"Good, because you're about to make me come again. There's nothing I want more right now than for us to come together."
I wrap my arms around her tightly and lie back down, bring her with me. She lifts her hips a bit, allowing me to pound into her hard. I feel my release building up.
"Don't you even think about pulling out of me," she whispers in my ear. "I want us to feel our come around your cock inside me."
That does it for me, and the next time I slam into her I come. She almost simultaneously begins her own massive orgasm, gripping my hair as she writhes on top of me.
She helps me by bucking her hips, allowing me to slide out and in a couple times, expelling my whole load in her.
Once we both return to earth, she collapses on top of me. I sigh happily, rubbing soft circles on her sweat-covered back, reveling in the feeling of her breasts pushed up against my chest.
"Shit," she groans, "I just realized how cold it is out here."
We both laugh and she kisses me. She's right, it is cold, but that didn't matter when we were in the throes of passion. Now, however, as we decompress, our sweat is quickly freezing and making us shiver.
"Come on," I decide, sitting up and taking her with me. She wraps her legs around my torso and links her arms around my neck. I reach down with one hand and grab the ThermaRest, tossing it back in the tent before she climbs down off of me and turns to go inside. I can't help but to grab her around the waist and pull her back to me, attaching my lips to her neck.
"Baby, as much as I'd love to have you take me inside, throw me on my back, and utterly rock my world, we have to go pretty soon," she reminds me regretfully.
I sigh and nod into her neck, knowing she's right again.
We have maybe ten minute before we have to get dressed and go, so we crawl into the sleeping bag together and snuggle close. We kiss slowly and tenderly, and I once again bend my head down to pay special attention to her chest. She giggles and comments on how much I love her boobs.
"Can you blame me?" I ask sarcastically as I raise my head back up to kiss her. "Look at them. They're fucking perfect."
"I'm glad you think so," she replies in the same tone. "Considering they belong to you."
"God I love you so much," I blurt out then kiss her hard.
She laughs into my mouth and returns my kisses.
"I love you more. Especially because this," she reaches down and grasps my cock, "belongs to me."
"It sure does," I moan. "But if we don't stop soon we're going to blow off one of the most famous wilderness reporters in the world."
She nods sadly and we begin to dress. Don't get me wrong, we're both ecstatic that we're about to be interviewed by Jon Krakauer, but that doesn't mean it's easy to stop what we're currently engaged in.
Katniss
I don't really know what came over me, but the sex we just had outside the tent was awe-inspiring. He let me take control, and seemed to love it even more than I did. It really took almost no time at all once we gave each other our virginities for us to discover, together, what we like in bed. And now that we're getting to know our partner's likes and dislikes, the sex is only getting better and better.
We dress, and again I throw on Peeta's shirt. He smiles when I do. It's a small gesture, but I know it means something to both of us. We lace up our boots side by side and we're ready to go. Peeta stands up first and reaches down, grabs me, and raises me up easily to my feet.
"Thanks baby," I kiss his cheek. "I'm still a little, well, sore from what you just did to me."
"Hey, you asked for it," he reminds me as I take his hand and we start walking back up to ABC.
"I'm not saying that I didn't," I assure him quickly. "I'm just making an observation about how thoroughly you fucked your wife."
He shakes his head in disbelief and I laugh, leaning into him and resting my head on his shoulder as we make it to semi-flat terrain.
"So I'm glad you liked my underwear," I whisper as we reach the outskirts of camp.
He shudders and I giggle, giving him another kiss on the cheek.
"So not fair," he mutters.
"It's not my fault the whole world can see when you're aroused," I tease him relentlessly.
"You'd better stop or you're going to get a taste of your own medicine," he warns as we stop briefly outside the command tent.
"Oh, and how would you do that?" I ask saucily.
He leans in and whispers seductively in my ear.
"We both know how easy it is for me to get you so wet you soak right through your panties. I have no issues standing right here and showing you."
It's my turn to shudder in pleasure, and I'm forced to agree with him.
"Okay, you win this round," I admit with a grin. "Let's just go do this interview without one of us dragging the other into a corner and fucking their brains out."
"See, now that's going to make it so much harder," he jokes as he holds the tent flap open for me.
"I thought you were already hard," I tease one last time as I quickly reach down and pat his bulge in his pants.
I smirk and turn around, happy to see nobody cared enough to watch us as we entered.
"Did he call yet?" I ask Haymitch.
"Good morning to you too, sweetheart," he deadpans.
I roll my eyes.
"Good morning, Haymitch. Did Jon call yet?" I ask again as we move over to him.
"Jon?" He asks sarcastically. "You're on a first-name basis with him now?"
"Jealous?" I smirk. "You do want us to mention you, right? Don't you think you should be nice to us then?" I joke.
"Ha ha. Very funny, sweetheart," he grins. "Here, we'll let you guys have the tent for the interview. Good luck you two," he says seriously as he gets up.
"Thanks, Haymitch," Peeta nods as Haymitch pats him on the back.
"Sit," I point to the chair Haymitch just vacated.
Peeta quickly takes a seat and I slide in sideways onto his lap, resting my head on his shoulder as we wait for the phone to ring.
About a minute goes by, then the phone starts vibrating on the desk, ringing softly.
I reach over and grab it, clicking the speakerphone button.
"Hello?" I answer.
"Mrs. Mellark!"
"Please, Jon, call me Katniss and my husband Peeta."
"Of course, Katniss. How are you today?"
"We're great," Peeta answers for us. "Excited to do this."
"I must tell you, the entire staff is itching to read my piece on you. My editor has already declared it's going on the front cover, and we've contacted Haymitch to find a few suitable photos from your wedding to use."
"Really? It's that, um, big?" I ask timidly.
"Yes, Katniss," he gently explains. "Just the wedding alone would be news. But then, when you learn your full story, how you two found each other after years of being apart, it becomes almost surreal."
"Thank you," Peeta quietly says. "Do you have some questions you want to ask us?"
"Yes, thank you," we hear him rustling some papers on his end. "First, can I have your full names, ages, and where you were both born?"
"Katniss Lilly Mellark," I say, proud of my new last name. I feel Peeta's smile against my neck. "Twenty-five. Born and raised in Panem, Maine."
"Peeta Kale Mellark. Also twenty-five. Also born and raised in Panem, Maine."
"Got it," he writes down our answers. "Next, can you please tell me about your experiences with each other growing up?"
"Peeta, you should tell this part," I suggest. "At least about when we were little."
He nods in agreement.
"The first time I ever saw Katniss was on the first day of school when we were just five years old. She had a red plaid dress on, walking with her hand in her father's. Her hair was in two braids instead of the one she wears now. Believe it or not, but the moment I saw her, I knew she was the girl for me. I turned to my own dad, looked up at him, and confidently told him, 'I'm going to marry that girl one day'. He wished me luck and laughed at my youthful exuberance. Well, my wife and I are really looking forward to his reaction when he finds out that I found her and got her to marry me."
"Amazing," Jon sighs in wonderment. "Please, continue."
"We never really interacted much as we grew," I explain slowly. "Now that I think about it, at least on my end, I was scared to talk to him because I'm pretty sure I had a crush on him. It took me long enough to figure it out, but that's the truth. Then, when I was eleven, my dad passed away in a logging accident. My mom was so affected by his death that she became unable to provide for me and my little sister. I was lucky that my dad had taught me how to scavenge, fish, and hunt, so I was able to feed us when I came back with a full game bag. But then the winter came." I stop for a moment, getting emotional just talking about this time in our lives. "Game became scarce and we got hungry quickly. One day, when I was sure we were going to starve, I opened our front door, and sitting on the step was a basket containing two hot, fresh loaves of bread."
I stop again, needing to look into Peeta's eyes momentarily. I relay my everlasting gratitude. I know he's insistent he didn't do it for my thanks, but that doesn't mean I can't give it.
"From then on," I continue, still looking right at my husband, "every week there was fresh bread waiting for us. It saved us. We wouldn't have made it through that winter without it."
"And where did this bread come from?" Jon prompts. I don't know if he knows, but I'm happy to answer.
"Peeta's family owned the town bakery. He snuck out and brought the life-saving bread to us. I never could catch him, but I was pretty sure he was the one doing it."
"Would you like to speak to that, Peeta?"
"It wasn't even a question for me. They needed food, and I had the ability to give it to them. Nothing was going to stop me from helping somebody in need if I had the chance to."
"Wow," Jon chuckles. "This is quite the story you two. Now that you're married, I bet you've started to pay him back for all that help, huh Katniss?"
I smile wide, knowing what my answer is going to be before he's even done speaking.
"He didn't do it so I'd owe him. He didn't do it expecting thanks or anything in return," I quietly tell him.
"Then why did he do it?"
I turn to Peeta and cradle his cheek gently.
"Because he loves me."
Jon's silent on the other end, and I giggle seeing how I've made him speechless.
"This is like a fairy tale," he mumbles, and I can just picture him shaking his head.
"That's what I've been saying!" I agree with a grin. "Peeta makes me feel like a princess, Jon. Every single day."
"So what happened to split you two up for so many years?" He asks after a few moments.
"We both left home around age eighteen," Peeta answers. "We left for some of the same reasons, but also some very different ones. Truthfully, I always was mad at myself for never telling her how I felt. I was ashamed I left without at least admitting the truth to her. I thought I'd never see her again, and over the years I accepted that, as sad as it made me."
"You forgot what happened right before we left," I remind Peeta. "On the morning after we graduated from high school, we both hiked up the Bigelow Mountain at dawn separately. I summited one of the twin peaks, while Peeta summited the other one at the same time. We didn't figure out we'd been up there at the same time until a few weeks ago."
Jon chuckles again at the coincidence.
"Over the years we ended up in some of the same climbing camps," I continue. "But we never got around to talking to each other, for one reason or another."
"Then I show up at Everest Base Camp, and Haymitch tells me my climbing partner is Katniss Everdeen," Peeta grins remembering the day we met again.
"Jon, I have to be honest. The first time we talked to each other after all those years, I was a complete bitch to him. I basically yelled at him and stomped away. I'd been climbing by myself for a long time, and thought I didn't need a partner. I thought it would make me look weak or something."
"When she did that, it scared me a little," Peeta admits with a smile. "But if I'm being completely honest, it made her look incredibly hot." I shake my head and bury it into his neck blushing, even though nobody can see.
"So how did you go from that to being, well, married?" Jon asks.
"She came to me later that day and apologized. We started to talk, and found out we got along really easily. Then she asked me if it had been me who gave her all that bread. When I admitted it was, she asked me why."
"He didn't want to tell me," I smirk. "Finally I got it out of him, and he basically blurted out, 'Because I love you!' That was when our relationship really started to go from friends to lovers."
"I was terrified she was going to get scared off when I proclaimed my love for her," Peeta sheepishly reveals. "I actually started to walk away, but she stopped me, assured me she wasn't mad, and kept talking to me."
"We went to a team meeting shortly thereafter, and it was the first time we held hands. Then we went and sat on a boulder and talked some more, and eventually I demanded he kiss me."
"I took her on a date that night, and asked her to be my girlfriend," Peeta smiles and rests his forehead on my shoulder. "I felt like the luckiest guy in the world when she said yes."
"So you were finally together after all that time," Jon keeps writing, and I assume he's recording this as well. "How soon after this were you thinking of marriage?"
"Honestly, I had been thinking about spending my life with Peeta before he even took me on that date. But when we started dating, and spent almost every second of every day together, it became obvious to both of us. We were going to be together forever, and it was just a matter of time before we'd be married. I decided to wait and let Peeta ask me. I know he'd been dreaming of it for way longer than me, so I wanted to give him that."
"And how did you end up asking, Peeta?"
"It really actually came out of nowhere," Peeta smiles. "Katniss and I had been having some talks about the future, and she had just brought up a dream of hers in which we had kids together. I needed to talk to another guy, so I pulled my buddy aside, and asked him about when he asked his wife to marry him. He told me one thing I'll always remember. He said the only thing that matters is the girl. He then pointed to Katniss and told me my girl was right there. I knew what I had to do."
I'd never heard the specifics of what they talked about, and I find it bringing tears to my eyes. I owe Finnick a huge thank you. Honestly, if Peeta had taken me on that walk and not asked me to marry him, I would've thrown a fit then asked him myself.
"He came back, took me by the hand, led me on a walk, then sat down with me between his legs. As we watched the sun set over the peaks, he told me how much he loved me, and asked me to marry him."
"Unbelievable," Jon mumbles happily. "This is almost too good to be true."
"It's all true," I assure him. "I turned in his arms so I was facing him, smiled through my tears, and told him yes, I wanted to be his wife."
"Then you had your now-famous wedding," he prompts.
"Yes," I nod, even though he can't see it. "I don't know if you know this, but the 'buddy' Peeta talked to and his wife happen to be Finnick and Annie O'Dair."
"Wait, the movie stars?" He asks incredulously.
"The same," I smile. "Peeta and I have both known them for a long time. Apparently Annie always wanted to get us together, even before she found out we already knew each other. Anyways, when they found out I'd said yes, and heard that I wanted to get married as soon as possible, they called down the mountain to Haymitch and planned our wedding."
"They surprised us when we got back to ABC," Peeta picks up where I left off. "We were stunned as Finnick dragged me one way and Annie dragged her the opposite way. The next time I saw her, she was walking down the aisle to me."
"Was the wedding everything you wanted Katniss?"
"It was perfect," I tighten my grip on my husband thinking about our nuptials. "We're going to have another, traditional wedding back in Maine for family and friends, but our wedding at ABC will always be when we got married. When we became one, when I became his wife, Mrs. Mellark."
"I bet you had a hard time believing it was real, Peeta. After all those years watching her from afar and loving her."
"That's an understatement," Peeta smiles wistfully. "Some times I still have trouble believing it, like when I wake up with her in my arms. But then she opens her eyes, kisses me, and makes sure I know that it's very real. That she's just as in love with me as I am with her."
"I maintain I'm way more in love with you," I tease.
"No way!" He protests. "I win on length alone! Twenty years babe!"
"What does length have to do with it?" I give him a crooked grin and tilt my head to the side. "We should do a survey around camp and see what people think," I suggest.
"Sounds good to me," he shrugs. Then he whispers in my ear. "And baby, we both know how much length matters to you."
A shudder runs through my body, and I find myself hoping this interview is almost finished.
"Any more questions?" Peeta reads my mind, of course.
"I have a lot to sift through for now," Jon answers. "Thank you very much for your time. Is it okay if I call you with any other questions?"
"Please do," I politely respond. "We hope we helped you with your article. We're both huge fans of your writing."
"I appreciate that," he says gratefully. "And this has conversation has been crucially vital to the article. It wouldn't be nearly as good without your input."
"We're glad to help," Peeta breathes.
"Thank you again, Katniss, Peeta. I hope to speak to you soon."
"Thank you too, Jon. I hope you'll try and attend our wedding in Maine when we're back stateside?" I ask hopefully.
"I'd be honored. Have a great day. Keep each other safe."
We end the call and Peeta and I both sigh, collapsing back into the chair, me into his chest.
"That was fun," I whisper. "I really like telling our story."
"You realize the whole country's going to know it now, right?" He smiles softly.
"Is that okay?" I ask a little nervously.
"Is it okay that the entire country is going to see how amazing my wife is and how lucky I am? Um, yeah, it's okay," he shrugs sarcastically. I punch his shoulder playfully.
"Stop teasing me," I give him a teasing kiss ironically.
"Hate to break it to you honey, you've been instigating most of the teasing lately," he informs me solemnly.
"Remember what we said about the wife being able to do whatever she wants?" I sweetly whisper, gently kissing his ear. "This is one of those times baby."
"Whatever you say," he moans.
"Come on," I stand up and reach my hand out for his. "I'll let you carry me back to the tent if you want. Then we can fuck in any position your little heart desires."
He shoots to his feet and I giggle as he scoops me up easily into his arms. I link my arms around his neck and lean my head on his chest.
I look up at my husband as he hustles us back to our secluded tent site. Telling how we met and fell in love has made me realize some things. The obvious ones are how lucky we both are, how coincidental our lives have been to have us come together. As I think about it more and more, I become almost positive that there's a higher power at work here. I don't know if it's destiny, or fate, or what, but something or someone has made sure that Peeta and I found each other amidst the chaos.
I hope one day I can figure out what that is, so I can say thank you.
A/N: Wow, another longggg chapter. I know the last like half of it was them telling their story, so I tried to add some new insights that they hadn't told each other yet. I hope it worked out well.
No real climbing notes this chapter, as it was another layover day as they wait for the weather to cooperate for the summit attempt.
New chapter of 'The Truth Revealed' will most likely be posted later this evening.
Please read and review both my active THG stories! The reviews are what motivate me to write quickly!
Thanks as always!
Until next time…..