CHAPTER 58
An Angel Falling
After Peeta's many attempts to sing me happy birthday, we give up.
"Maybe you should just blow the candles", he suggests.
I nod, still recovering from the laughter. "I like the idea", I say.
I take in a deep breath and prepare myself to blow the nineteen candles on my cake.
"Wait! Aren't you making a wish?", says Peeta.
"I didn't know I had to make a wish", I say.
"It's the tradition", Peeta says shrugging.
"Okay. I'll make a wish". I close my eyes and take my time. It's weird, I've never had a chance to make a wish, and now I do, and I have no idea what wish to make. What kind of wish could I make? I could ask for anything, I guess.
After a while, I finally come with my wish. On my mind, I say it. And then, I blow the candles and I smell smoke, so I open my eyes to see that I was able to light off each one of them.
Peeta smiles at me and I smile back.
I'm eager to try the cake so I begin taking the candles off; when I'm done, I cut a piece for me and one for Peeta, and I take a mouthful of it to my mouth.
As I chew it, a sweet chocolate flavor explodes on my tongue, and I'm pretty sure it's the best cake I've ever tried. "I have to admit it", I say chewing, "this is your best cake so far".
"It was made specially for you", he says with an adorable smile. "You have...", he says pointing at my mouth.
"Oh!", I say. I guess I have chocolate on my lips... I brush it with my hand. I raise my eye brows at Peeta questioning with my eyes.
He shakes his head, "No. Still there", he says and I try again.
"Let me", He comes closer to me and with his thumb, he softly removes a piece of chocolate besides my lips.
"Thanks", I say as I feel my cheeks blushing.
Even though he has cleaned the thing from my face, he leaves his hand there, and he looks into my eyes.
I've never stared into someone's eyes for so long, I think. And Peeta's eyes are the ones that I know the best; still, every time I look into them I find myself getting lost in his alluring azure eyes. They are like a maze, and I don't seem to be able to get out of them, I'm attracted by the beauty of them.
I'm able to escape his deep blue eyes when he leans and presses his lips to mine, and instinctively I close my eyes.
I feel his soft lips on mine, and I open my mouth and let myself get lost in the kiss. Now, they're not his eyes but his lips the ones captivating me. He tastes sweet and of Peeta, and I feel butterflies not just on my stomach, but throughout my whole body. Peeta is the first one to pull away, and I'm left with my heart beating fast, begging for more. The hunger.
He leans his forehead to mine, and I look at our interlaced hands instead of his eyes, or I'll get lost all over again. Being beside him, kissing him, makes me feel all kinds of things, not just never wanting to pull away, but something else, something stronger and foreign to me.
Just one clear thought forms on my mind, -wow-. A girly smile spreads across my face and I bite my lip.
"I love your smile", Peeta whispers, and I make a noise that sounds like a laugh. Sometimes being this close to him makes me nervous, but this time is more than that...
"Katniss...", he quietly says; I think I heard his voice trembling a little, but maybe I just imagined it. He takes a breath and I'm not sure if he's hesitating on whatever he wants to say; he goes on, "Katniss, I l-",
I don't get to hear what he was going to say: Rue the Mockingjay whistles.
I pull away and look at her. There she is, in her golden cage, with the doors open, still not daring to open her wings and fly. "Hey, little one", I say, she whistles again, and I wonder where she heard the note she's whistling. She falls silent and I shrug at her.
I return to Peeta, he's looking in the basket for something, and then he turns around and meets me.
"What were you saying?", I ask.
"Uhmm... nothing", he says. I shrug, maybe it wasn't anything important, but it kinda looked like it. The moment was ruined though.
Peeta gets the basket and says, "I wanted to try this", he says showing me a case with paintings.
"Right now?", I ask.
"Yeah, that's why I asked you to bring the canvas", he says pulling it out from the basket.
"And what do you want to paint?".
"You. If of course, you let me".
I've nothing against Peeta painting me, or posing for him, so I nod, "Yeah, sure". There's a long silence after that.
"So... Like right now or?", I say, but Peeta doesn't seem to listen, he's staring into the horizon, maybe trying to picture what he will paint. "Peeta?".
"Oh, sorry. What?", he says.
"Are we doing it right now?".
"Ah, yes. Okay, come with me", we walk just a few feet away from the picnic, so it's just grass beneath our feet now.
The last time he painted me, I was looking at some dandelions, I wasn't exactly posing, but I have the feeling this time I will.
"Lay here", he orders. I give him a look.
"Please", he says and I laugh.
"Okay".
I lay stiffly on the grass, with my arms glued to my body and my legs straight.
Peeta's artist look has already taken over him, he sinks on his knees beside me. "May I?", he says touching my arm. And I shiver, why is he making me so nervous?
Nodding, I say with a soft tone "Yes.".
Peeta spreads out my left arm, my hand and my fingers too, so they rest elegantly on the grass.
With my left arm, he does almost the same, but he folds it forward, some inches away from my face.
After giving my arms a last glance, Peeta moves down to my legs.
Both of them, he folds them to the left, and as his hands brush my skin, an electrifying shiver spreads through my limbs and body and unconsciously I bite my lip, 'till a point it hurts.
He takes my shoes off, and as he extends and folds my legs, I feel like a doll. Like one of those antique porcelain dolls, the ones which you should be careful with, for they are very fragile.
Though he hesitates for a short second, delicately, he slides my dress above my knees, and the yellow fabric rests on top of my upper thighs; but as he does it, there's nothing vulgar about it, it's just artistic.
He's done with my arms and legs, and I just thought he was done, but he arranges my hair too.
First, he raises my head a little and spreads my hair softly above my head.
It's been a time since I cut it, so it's longer than I thought it was. From shoulder to shoulder, he covers every empty space with my wavy, dark hair, and I feel that shiver again, mixed with butterflies in my belly. To be honest, it was never gone.
I want to look at him, but I know that if I move just an inch, he will notice and tell me to stay still, so I just smile.
"What?", he softly says still going through my hair. I can hear his grin.
"I don't know. This is just so...", I don't find a word to describe this. I dig on my mind for a word, for something that will describe this. "Nice", I end up saying though I know I fell short with that word. This feels more like something close to Heaven.
He doesn't reply anything, I just hear him smile.
He takes another moment and then, I think he's done.
He looks at me, and I think I hear him muttering, "Something's missing...".
"I'll be right back", he announces. He gets up and walks away, the trees swallowing him.
I do not dare to move my arms or legs, but I manage to see myself a little. My left arm slightly extended, and the other folded, my hand just beside my face. My legs bended, elegantly resting on the grass, and my hair spreading out above my head, like a waterfall.
Just like... a fallen angel.
An angel gracefully falling from the skies, in an endless fall; lost in time, just falling and falling, with an exuberant beauty.
I begin to worry, Peeta has already taken very long. I don't have a clock, but I'm pretty sure it's been almost ten minutes.
A few more minutes pass, when I hear a noise behind me, and I know he's back.
"Sorry for taking so long", he says.
"I was beginning to get worried", I say. "Where were you?".
"I went to get this", he says showing me the basket. At first, I frown because that basket was just behind us, but then I look what is inside, and it's flowers.
He puts them on the floor in front of him, and turning my head a little, I can see he's brought all kinds of flowers. I can see daisies, irises, tulips... that are the ones I know by name. But there are a lot more, small and big, and with an immense variety of colors.
"Wow", I say. "Where are you going to put them?".
"Everywhere", he replies.
He moves up and sits beside my hair, and there, is where he begins placing the flowers.
One by one, he places them on my wavy hair. I thought there would be a pattern, but he's doing it randomly.
He takes his time, and when he's done, he notices there are still some flowers missing.
He takes a handful of them, then he stands on his feet and begins walking around me, dropping flowers along the way. He repeats it some times and then finally, he runs out of flowers, and I think everything's ready.
For a while, he looks at me, he admires me.
No one's ever looked at me like that, like... a piece of art. At the thought, I look away, remembering that actually, people used to look at me like that. Well, not like a piece of art but like something that was theirs, just another object they could use and own.
I push the thought away. "Have you done this before?", I ask.
"No, no. I've never done it until now, I just... Picture it on my head and draw it", he says a bit distracted.
"Oh", I say. "Well maybe you should get started, I don't want to get cramps or something".
"Oh, yes sorry", he rushes for the canvas, and taking a deep breath and a paintbrush, he gives me a last glance.
"Peeta? What face should I put?", I ask.
"You get to choose that part. Picture it".
Picture it. Even though I will not exactly know how I look until Peeta's done, I thought I looked like a fallen angel. But now, with all the flowers it could be more like a butterfly, or... a fairy?
Maybe not an angel, but more like a fairy. I make a serious face, but it's not right. Faeries are beautiful, but they have something dark too for what I've heard; but at the same time they are dazzling and enchanted. I soften my face a little, and stare into the sky, slightly, I open my mouth just a little and with my eyes, I try to form a smile, I don't know how I could make it, but I try though. To express something unspoken, not necessarily said with my mouth. With a smile, with my lips. Something much more deep lost between words and silence. To express what I feel?
But what exactly do I feel? Why do I feel this good when I'm with him? So protected and so worth caring for? Whatever it is, is something I do not even know, but my eyes do. Eyes don't lie.
Peeta takes the brush and does nothing, he just looks at me with a fascinated look.
"What?", I say breaking the look I just made.
"It's just that... I'm looking at you and I see nothing but beauty, and then I look at this canvas, an empty white space, but I don't think I can take my eyes off you. I said I wanted to paint you, but you're so beautiful and I feel like it's just so beautiful to paint, that to do it would be selfish. This,", he says looking at me, "Is something no one should look at, something untouchable, something yours, something so unique and pure, something the world is not prepared for...", he says.
"Do you really think that?", I ask quietly, trying to ignore and speak over the loud beatings of my heart. What is this?
"Yes, I do. Katniss, you're beautiful", he says.
"I... I-", I stutter. Something's there, unspoken words trying to get out, I just can't seem to be able to-
"Thanks, Peeta... "I guess it's everything I can say... "Thank you. You have seen the goodness in me when I didn't even know I had it", I say."Thanks for coming into my life, Peeta Mellark".
/ Hope you enjoyed this longer chapter, you guys! There's a whole lot more of Everlark in the next chapters, so don't you miss them! Please leave a review and favorite my story please :) Recommend it to your friends too, please! Have a great day! -m /