Companion

AN:

A knot that bonds forever.

Special thank you to my dear friend, GinnyGinervaWeasley, for betaing my story.

P.S. I love the Hunger Games. Suzanne Collins owns everything!

CHAPTER 17

"I'll just change first, okay? My shirt is still sticky from the juice spill," Katniss says and bounds up the stairs. The children were running around with Haymitch, the English setter, when they accidentally bumped Katniss, who was carrying a pitcher full of fresh lemonade for dinner. "Can we eat some biscuits with the tea? I'm still hungry! Thanks, Peeta!" she shouts from the second floor.

Peeta follows her quietly when he hears the door to the bedroom open. He's nervous and takes his steps slowly.

Katniss finds a small black velvet box in the middle of the bed, and she eyes it curiously. It looks familiar to her, like the one on their first date. She opens it unhurriedly. She expects to see two oval-shaped earphones but instead finds a single ring with a pearl held exquisitely at the center.

"What do you think?" Peeta asks from where he stands in the doorway. He walks closer to her, and she turns around to face him. There is no mischief or lie in Peeta's eyes, just nervousness, and anticipation. "I've been finding the right time and place to ask you for a few weeks now, but we're always so busy. Then last night, I thought that I just had to do it. What do you think?"

"You haven't asked me yet," Katniss says with a small curl at the corners of her lips. Peeta swallows the lump forming on his throat.

Peeta takes her hands in his, the velvet box cradled between them. He kneels on one leg. "Katniss Everdeen," he begins and looks straight into her stormy gray eyes. "Will you marry me?"

Katniss looks into his bright blue eyes, the ones that greet her every morning in bed for the past two months now. She feels his hands, the same warm ones that have kept and will keep her nightmares away. She looks at his lips, soft, generous, and beautiful. They shower her with kisses to make her feel loved, and they smile at her as if they carry the power of the sun. The answer for her is bright as day. "Yes," she replies and presses her lips on his forehead for a sweet kiss. "I would love to marry you, Peeta Mellark."

Peeta stands up and carefully takes the ring from the box. With trembling hands and a pounding heart, he slides the gold band onto Katniss' finger. The gold ring was a family heirloom. One of the few personal possessions that he was able to retrieve after the war. It's been passed down from three generations, dating back from before the dark days. Peeta kisses Katniss' hand then kisses her lips lovingly. They hug each other, stopping the time, not wanting to let go. Katniss will have Peeta as her husband, and Peeta will have Katniss as his wife. The moment is real. It's now.

They go downstairs at the sound of the kettle whistling with the boiling water for tea. Katniss takes a walnut loaf from the counter and strolls ahead to the living room. She stokes the fire, making it come to life to warm the whole house. Peeta perches beside her, placing two cups, a teapot, and a plate of biscuits in front of them. He glances over at Katniss and finds her glowing in the orange light from the fireplace.

"How about some toast?" Katniss says and brings out two long skewers that she quickly grabbed from the drawers while Peeta was busy with the tea. She waits for his answer and hopes he will get what she implies. She's sure with what she wants now, and only Peeta can stop her.

Peeta's eyes widen, a tear threatening to fall at the corners. His neck feels warm from the heat growing from his chest. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure, Peeta. I don't want to wait. This ..." she gestures between them, "This feels right."

Peeta blinks back tears in surprise. He smiles at the realization that Katniss just moved a lot faster than him.

With clarity and overflowing love, Peeta slices the nutty loaf of bread, their favorite in the morning. He carefully skewers a small piece, and they hold hands as they toast the bread in the fire. Peeta gives Katniss the first bite. "I promise to love you and protect you all the days of my life," he starts sweetly. The sureness and tenderness in his voice laces every word with love. "I vow to make you happy so that your head will never have to settle on the pillow with a heavy heart. I promise to love Annie unconditionally, accepting and loving her as my own daughter. I will support her in any direction she chooses to lead her life. Katniss Everdeen, you allowed me in your home, in your life, and most importantly, in your heart, despite my very complicated past. You chose to get to know me, giving me forgiveness when I so desperately needed to hear it. You waited for me with an outstretched hand, trusting me completely in your home. You took care of me when I almost died, enduring train rides and hospitals for weeks, and I love you all the more for it. I love you more and more every day. You have my heart, Katniss Everdeen. It belongs to you in full. Always."

Katniss wipes her tears and bites the bread while looking lovingly into Peeta's eyes.

"Peeta Mellark," she says his name proudly with so much love. "I promise to love you, support you, and take care of you until my dying day. I will keep you somewhere safe so no one will ever hurt you again. You loved me even though I pointed my arrows at you the first instant that you knocked at my door. You stayed with me through my nightmares even though you didn't know me well enough at all. You held my hand in many ways - out of nightmares, out of loneliness, out of a place of deep fear. I wouldn't have made the first step to adopting Annie if you weren't here in my life. First as a handsome and overqualified repairman, then as a constant companion, then as a dear friend, finally as a lover." Tears start falling from Peeta's eyes, and she wipes them gingerly. Peeta kisses the palm of her hand. "You always know when to ask me a question or leave me alone, or just kiss me because sometimes I just need comforting. You played with me in the rain and in the snow. How crazy you were braving a thunderstorm just to make me happy. You came back to me, week after week, though I knew it wasn't easy. You loved me knowing that forty children, three best friends, and a crazy Sae will always be attached to me. I don't know how one person could love so much, but you do. Peeta Mellark, my Peeta Mellark, my love. I promise you my joys, my sadness, my dreams, my hopes, my past, my future, and my whole heart. Always."

She brushes his lips with her thumb, cupping his cheek then giving him the bread. It's sweet, the outside caramelized by the fire, and the crumb warmed, bringing comfort within.

They kiss and make passionate love through the night, unhindered by nothing but the limit of their devotion and desires.

The meadow is green again, kissed by the sun and cooled by the mountain breeze that carries the smell of pine and forest. Nature is strong, and it is filled with vitality. Annie plays with the little one, a stone's throw away in the grass. She's hovering around him, trying to be playful but careful as a big sister should be. His legs are sturdier now, but they still wobble, especially when he gets ahead of himself in joy. He extends his hands as he chases his sister, chuckling away without a single strand of worry in the world. When he falls, his sister's hands are quickly on him, lifting him up and brushing away grass and dirt that clings to his tiny little trousers and shirt. He calls her 'Nee' still unable to produce complete words other than 'Mama' and 'Papa.'

Katniss lays out the food on the wide, and now, faded yellow blanket. She brings out a simple rabbit roast with wild greens, a mixed vegetable soup for the little one, three spiced apple pocket pies and two blueberry tarts for dessert, and refreshing lemonade to round it all up. It's almost time to eat, but not everyone is at the picnic. She glances at her two children, still happily playing and blowing dandelion seeds in the air. They take away all the tiredness from her. In a moment, she hears familiar footfalls from the grass behind her and the comforting way her name rolls out from his tongue.

"Katniss," he says, and she turns to him with a smile. She sees his bright blue eyes, curly golden hair, and generous lips. How she loves Peeta's smile. "I'm sorry we're late. Elrick brought a lot of books from university, and we couldn't possibly bring them here to the meadows. We quickly swung by the house to drop them off," he explains apologetically.

"Yeah, sorry, Katniss," Elrick says to her. He doesn't call his parents 'Mama' or 'Papa,' but it doesn't matter for they are family even without the labels. "I brought you these too. I know you couldn't resist cheese and bread," he says, dangling the basket that he carries. He gives her the gifts and hugs her tight before giving her a kiss on each cheek. How Elrick missed his family very much.

"I missed you so much, son," she says to him while studying his face. It's only been three months since she saw him last, but he is growing to be more and more handsome every day. "Now, why don't you go say hi to your brother and sister? Bring them over here for lunch too while you're at it."

"Yes, ma'am." He teases her with a salute and goes to his siblings.

"How many books did he bring home this time?" she asks her beloved.

"I think we need to build more shelves in the library soon. Elrick brought books for Annie too ... By the way ..."

"What is it?" she asks, impatient from his sudden pause.

"Did I tell you how lovely you look in that dress and in this light?" he tells her and zooms in to kiss his wife tenderly full on the mouth. It takes her by surprise, but she eagerly melts in his arms.

"Papa! Papa!" Annie jumps in, excited to see her father and innocently interrupting their kiss. Elrick soon follows, carrying his chubby little brother who is sucking nectar from a flower. "I think our little Jonathan is more than ready for lunch!"

"Jonathan," Katniss carefully whispers as she wakes up from her dream. She remembers everything. The name of her baby that would hungrily take nourishment from her breast. Whose facial features mirror the sun-born radiance of her husband. "Husband," an affectionate word she can now use to refer to her favorite person. Her husband, whose naked body is sleeping peacefully beside her in her bed. "Peeta," she lets the sound roll out of her freshly kissed lips. It's sweet, satisfying, delicious. Peeta Mellark, whom she just promised her heart by the life-sustaining fire last night, is the husband in her dreams. Their lovemaking, a few hours ago, was pure bliss and passion. Unequaled by any rush and hunger. Peeta was gentle with her, allowing her to ease into the motion by loving her whole body first. He kissed every inch of her until he discovered her thoroughly. He varied his kisses, soft and fleeting ones, full and passionate ones, wet ones when he couldn't help it, and sometimes tender biting ones as mini love bites on her skin. How he craved for her, and the words and the sounds that he murmured into her hair, her skin, her legs, her breasts, and her belly as he ran his lips all over her, made her feel divine. Like she was made of stars. How he worshipped her body, worshipped her, over and over and over again. Peeta Mellark knew how to make love.

Katniss brushes her neck, remembering Peeta lingering there and the ecstasy and heightened wanting she felt for him to finally enter the gap between them. She had no worries, having received a birth control shot at the hospital. She was shifting and bowing and winding herself to him, pressing delectably, enough to dig her heels into him. She gasps for air at her release, clinging to Peeta for life as her orgasm ebbs through her entire body. Peeta was the only weight that kept her from levitating. His seeds spilled hotly inside her.

Peeta shifts sleepily beside Katniss, exposing his muscular torso as the covers fall, and the sight of his scarred and strong hips sends a wet pool to her still bare core. He was there just a few hours ago, an inexplicable white heat pressing in and out of her with so much love, vigor, and devotion. How he made her feel so much - life, wanting, security, and above all, overwhelming love. He was hers.

"Hey," Peeta calls to her in the musky mist of the night. She didn't know that sex could smell this good.

"Hey," she replies, pressing a tender kiss on his forehead, making him close his eyes as he savors her lips on him. Even after sleep, she still feels like fire.

"You have that look about you," he says, mesmerized. "Like you have discovered an impossible secret."

Katniss smiles at him, returning his beautiful smile. There will never be an instance or a time of day when she would stop loving that smile. She whispers to him, "I have."

Thank you for reading! Two epilogues follow (because I couldn't decide which one to use!). It's from a different POV, and I hope you'll like it.

Please review if you feel so kind =)