Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 in one day, thought I'd do you a favour :) Hope you enjoy them both! Please leave a review to let me know what you think of it :)
Chapter 2 - Once Upon A Dream.
Peeta POV-
"Come on Peeta! Hurry up!" Katniss shouts infront of me. We are both running to the park in the school yard. We got permission from our parents to finally be able to do something without them. Obviously being 11 doesnt help because they just want to protect us but its not like we are far from the bakery anyway. "Peeta you're running too slow!" She shouts to me and I laugh slightly. I'm actually running fast for a normal person but Katniss thinks that everyone is slow but thats because she runs like the wind.
"I'm coming. I'll meet you there!" I shout back and she runs off round the corner to the school yard. I finally stop to take a breathe before carrying on walking round the corner because I really dont want to run anymore.
When I finally get there, Katniss is already on the swings, waiting for me. She has the chain of the other swing in her hands, saving it for me so that nobody else sits on it, even though there is noody else here. "Thanks." I say and she nods as I take a seat on the swing beside her. She begins to swing and I just watch her. The way her hair flows out behind her, picked up by the wind as she leans back looking up at the sky. Her bright eyes, wide open to catch every little bit of the blue above her. I can fell my heart swell slightly. "Come on you try it!" She says loudly and I snap out of my trance to swing forward and back looking up at the sky just like she did but I cant seem to acknowledge the beauty because I can hear Katniss laughing. She always did have a little bit of an awkward laugh but just the sound of it made me happy. I close my eyes and take it all in.
All of a sudden the laughing stops and the swings stop moving, just the movement of mine going through the air. She's stopped swinging. I pull myself up and use my feet to stop myself, looking at her. She is just standing there, leaning against the seat of the swing still looking up at the sky. "Do you think I could be a bird?" She asks.
"Huh?" I reply. She is making no sense and she kind of looks a little depressed now.
"Maybe someday me and you will fly away from this place. Would you like that?" She asks me, not looking in my direction but keeping her attention towards the sky.
"Why?" I ask.
"Because its horrible here. I want to go somewhere. I just wish that I could fly away." I see the glimmer of a tear falll from her left eye and I pull my eyes away. I know she doesnt like people to see her cry. "I wish I was a bird." Thats when I look back at her.
"You are a bird. You can fly away any time you want. Here, lets try it." I jiggle her chain and she smiles at me before pushing up off the ground to swing, I follow behind and we swing together. We get a good couple of swings in before I shout, "JUMP!" Then Katniss flies past me just as I leave the swings seat and the world seems to slow down for a second. She has her arms spread out wide like she is actually flying and the smile on her face could light up the sky. She closes her eyes and I brace myself for impact with the floor. When I hit the floor, I hear a cry of pain but its not from me. Looking up, I find Katniss lying on the ground, cradling her right leg. "Katniss!" I exclaim and fall down next to her, pulling her arm away from her leg. There is blood rushing down her calf and onto the floor. We need to get back to the Bakery, dad should be able to patch her up. "Come on lets go."
When I wake up I feel strange. I'm in the right room but its not dark outside. That must mean that its not early. It seems like I've had enough sleep for once. Hopefully, I'll be able to concentrate on something today.
I try to reach my arm up to rub the sleep from my eyes but I cant seem to move it. I can feel a small weight on my chest too as I attempt to sit up. Maybe half of my body is just tired. That black out yesterday drained all the energy out of me, I'm actually surprised that I made it back home. I dont really remember much except that Katniss helped me home. I dont know where she went after that, I hope I didnt let her go home by herself. With all the drunken idiots out after the party, she could have been hurt or something.
I remember being at the party and dancing with Katniss and then the next thing I remember, I'm sitting in one of the chairs off to the side, watching Katniss dancing with Rye. Then I was brought home and I think I had some hot chocolate and then came to bed. Then I must have been asleep because I dont remember anything else up until now.
The sound of someone knocking on the door rings out throught the house, making me jump. Who would be knocking on my door now? Nobody ever comes here and if they do then they should be allowed to walk in. Did I lock the door last night? Dad has a key so it cant be him, Rye or Leaven. Haymitch has a key and if Delly had to get in then she would probably borrow it off him. What if its Katniss?
I hear the knock again and I turn to get out of bed. The weight that was on my chest, flops off me and onto the bed when I climb out of my bed. Obviously my body wasnt weak. What is it then? I'm about to find out when the doorbell rings out through the house. I quickly pull on my robe and run out the room flying down the stairs to get the door.
When I finally get it unlocked and open, Evelyn stands there with a bag in her hands. "Hello?" I ask, securing my robe more so it doesnt come undone. I'm only wearing my boxers and a shirt under this.
"Hi. These are for Katniss." She says, handing over the carrier in her hands. I look at it, confusion spreading through my head. "Your dad said she called him last night to get me to bring some clothes over for her. And dont forget, you need to be at Haymitch's as soon as you're ready."
"Okay thanks." I say as she walks away. I stand there for a second, trying to remember what happened last night and why I wasjust given a bag of Katniss' clothes.
Wait... The weight...on my chest? Katniss was in my bed? Why was she in my bed? I'll just ask her when she gets up. I glance at the clock. Its 11:30. How did I sleep that long?
I place the bag onto the kitchen counter and place 2 cheese buns from the fridge into the oven. They are already made, I just need to cook them. They shouldnt take too long and when they are done I can take them up to Katniss. I know that she likes cheese buns so I know that she will be happy with her breakfast.
I collect her clothes from the spare bedroom and throw them in the washer, Ill put them in the dryer when they are done. I quickly look into my bedroom to see her still fast asleep across my bed. Her hair is fanned out behind her and I can see the top of one of my favourite shirts around her neck. Oh god! Shes wearing my shirt. For some reason, I feel like Ive let down my brother. When I was younger Rye used to say to me that when a girl wears your shirt, it means you have officially branded her and she is forever yours. Ive seen never actaully seen her wear one of Rye's shirts, I dont think he has ever given her one but now she is wearing mine. I dont think she knows about the 'branding' thing. Its probably only guys that know about it. If Rye ever finds out he's going to kill me. Its even worse with the Wrestling shirts, which is the biggy that everyone knows about. its pretty much a rule with the wrestling team at school. If you have a big match, then you give your girlfriend, your shirt to wear so that they can sit there and cheer you on. You have to be sure that you want to spend your life with them if you let them wear your shirt. Rye has never let Katniss wear his shirt and he wont tell me why but if Katniss was my girlfriend then she would be wearing it everyday.
The phone starts ringing and I pull my eyes away from a sleeping Katniss and run down the stairs for the second time today. I reach the bottom of the stairs and go straight for the phone. I need to get to it before it stops ringing. If it is important then they will ring my bedroom phone if I dont answer this one and that will wake Katniss up.
Luckily I reach it before it stops ringing and place it to my ear. "Hello?" I ask through the phone.
"Brother!" I hear Ryes loud voice shout back.
"What?" I ask. He never rings me.
"Would my beloved girlfriend be at your house by any chance?" He asks. He sounds happy about something but he's meant to be working and today isnt exactly a happy day. Yeh, we are congratulating Delly but she isnt very happy so why should we be?
"Yeh, she slept over. I didnt want her walking around the streets at night by herself." I say. I think thats true...
"Good. Is she still there? Can I talk to her?" He asks.
"Shes still asleep at the moment but I'll get her to ring you when we get to Haymitch's." I reply. "Now I need to go, I've got things to do."
"Okay thanks Bro. I'll see you at Haymitch's." He says. "Holly stop it! I'll play with you in a minute. I'm talking to Peeta." I hear him say to Holly.
"Can I talk to him!" She screams and I can hear the excitement in her voice. I laugh slightly.
"Yeh... Peet, Holly wants to walk to you." Rye says. There is some muffled sounds and then another voice.
"Hi! Peet, guess what?" Holly says in her little voice. "Sammy had a fight with Harry last night..." She goes o to explain about an imaginary fight that her teddy's had. "Then Sammy almost died, how bad is that!"
"Yeh, thats really bad. Maybe Harry should be punished for what he did." I say, playing along.
"Yeh, he should." She replies with a small laugh.
"Anyway, Hol, Ive got to go now. I have things I need to do." I say but she doesnt reply.
"Peeta?" She asks, quietly. Somethings up, I know it is. "Mummy was being mean this morning." I let out a shaky breath as my hands start to shake, What has she done this time. "When she got out of bed, I heard her going down the hall so I followed her because I was hungry but I heard a big crash from the kitchen and when we went in Mummy started hitting Rye with a rolling pin. It was really scary."
"Is Rye okay?" I ask her.
"He said he was but he has a purple face." She replies.
"Ok well, promise me that you wont follow her like that again. If something happens you go straight to Daddy okay?"
"Yeh."
"Now, please can I talk to him before I go?" I ask her.
"I'll go and get him for you. Bye bye." She says and before I have a chance to say it back, she has left.
A couple minutes later, my dad answers the phone. "Peet?" I hear from the other side.
"What happened with mum this morning?" I ask him.
"Well, I dont know how Rye did it but he was able to break the cupboard door in two and mum started hitting him because of it and Rye said that he saw Holly in the doorway and mum turned around to hit her but Rye stopped her so that Holly could run away. I'm really scared about Holly, Peet. I need to get your mother to see someone about her anger or I'm gonna have to find somewhere else for Holly to live." He says and I can hear the fear in his voice. If mum ever hit Holly then none of us would ever forgive her for it and she knows that but I dont think she cares.
"Well what If I take her for a couple of nights." I suggest.
"Peeta, youre 16, I cant ask you to abandon your life and look after a 3 year old. I know what its like to look after a child at your age and trust me its not easy." He says.
"I'm the one thats asking dad and I dont have much of a life anyway until the games come back around. Plus, I cant stand Holly being in this situation again. Dad, just let me take her, you can come and see her anytime you want and I dont think she will mind it. I have enough food here for her and enough spare rooms and Rye might be able to get out of the attic for a while. I know its cold up there. If I have any problems, Delly is next door, she has had experience in babysitting 3 year olds and you're just a phone call away. Please dad?" I say. He is silent for a minute before replying.
"Yeh, okay we can give it a go, but the moment it gets too hard for you, tell me." He replies. As if it would get too hard for me, I know how to look after her.
"Dad, she is the single most important thing in my life." I say and he murmers an agreement. He knows how much she means to me. Its as if she was my own child but instead she is my sister.
"Okay, I'll pack her some stuff up and Get Rye to bring it over with him when they come for the meal." He says.
"Are you not coming?" I ask him.
"No..." He replies. "I cant, I have to keep your mum under control and the shop is mad today. Rye and Leaven are hear making as much bread as they can and I even got Brooke to work the register so that I can help in the kitchen."
"Well, I could run over and help now if you want? I'll just leave Katniss a note to tell her where I've gone and walk there. I wont be long." I say, ready to put the phone down and run to get changed.
"No, Peet, its fine, we arent far off done now and Evelyn will need you at Haymitch's. Remember how much of a disaster last year was?" He says with a small laugh.
I recall last years dinner. Although it was a very fun night, Evelyn and Katniss didnt do a good job at the food. It was edible, parts of it where nice but some of it was undercooked and they didnt do a very good job at time keeping because by the time we had our first course, Dad had to get going to put Holly to sleep.
"Oh, by the way, Rye just asked me if he would be able to sleep at yours tonight. He said that he doesnt want to be here when mum wakes up." Dad says. Rye tries to act all high and mighter but truthfully he is quite scared of mum, we all are. I went through a hunger games and my mum still scares me, but I guess she always will.
"Yeh, thats fine." I reply. I've already told them that any of them are welcome to stay at my house anytime they like. I did actually invite them to live here when I first got the house but they didnt want to 'bother me'. Dad said I was old enough and clever enough to live by myself and that they had to be up early everyday to work the Bakery and they didnt see the point of living with me when there was a perfectly good house above the bakery and they wouldnt have to walk to work in the morning. I got over it eventually though because the only reason I'm normally in my house these days is to eat or to sleep. The rest of the time I'm out either at the Bakery or somewhere with Delly. She doesnt particularly like staying in her house either. It reminds her too much of everything that has happened. Her family didnt want to move in with her either, Mostly for the same reason as mine. Her brother though, really wanted t move in so their parents agrees to let Delly have him on weekends. So every saturday, other than today, I invite Delly and Harvey over for dinner. Sometimes gale comes too but Saturdays is normally the day he spends with his family, so its very rare that he is here. Delly's whole family is coming tonight though which should be interesting.
"Thanks Peet, I'll see you tomorrow." He says and hangs up.
Its strange how much I know of everyones schedules. With Delly, she works all day Monday, Wednesday and Friday in town, Tuesday and Thursday, she only works half the day and then takes Harvey to the park and for some sweets and then comes over to mine for Saturday and then Sunday she goes out with some of our friends from school. Sometimes I go with her but normally I like to spend Sundays with my family, like I do everyday.
Gale, he has the mines, monday through to Saturday which sounds horrible. I wouldnt even be able to spend one day in them mines and he does it voluntarily. All the money he makes in the mines, goes to his family though which is his main priority. Saturday afternoon when he finishes, he goes straight to his house in the Seam and spends time with them for a while. Sunday, he devotes completely to Katniss and they both go hunting, then she comes over to the Bakery afterwards and Gale goes to find Delly. They spend every night together at his house and I'm actuially surprised that she still owns the other house because no-one is there most of the time. I'm also surprised that their love is still an act. He spends that much time with her that I would have expected him to already fall in love with her, but the last I heard, he was still in love with Katniss.
Haymitch, well he never really has a schedule. He just does whatever he feel right at the time, be it, go to the Bakery for some dohnuts, go to the Everdeens, go into town, pester me for something or just stay home and wallow in self pity. He always was by far the strangest person I have ever met. Thats why I know he looks forward to nights like tonight. Everyone he likes will be in the same house and he will actually be having fun.
I stand there for a second to assess who will be there tonight and how many people I'm going to have to cook for. Me, Katniss, Rye, Leaven, Brooke, Gale Delly, Harvey, Mr and Mrs Cartwright, Evelyn, Prim, Holly Rory, Posy and Haymitch. Thats 15 people. This is going to be a long day. Vick and Hazelle where invited but Hazelle has to work and Vick helps her. I dont understand why Rory doesnt help her, being older than Vick, you'd think that he would but apparently Vick is better at it so Hazelle is trusting Rory to bring Posy to the Victors Village. Posy wanted to come as soon as she found out that Holly was going.
Thats when I hear another knock on the door. I answer it, once again tightening the robe around my chest. Delly stands there with her pyjamas on. "We need to talk." She says. This must be important because if it wasnt she would just say it now but we both know that there are hidden recorders all over each of our houses. We are sure that there isnt any cameras, just recorders.
"Well, why dont you come in." I say to her. Everytime we need to talk, she uses one of my notepads, so that the Capitol cant hear us.
We walk to the kitchen and I flick the kettle on. "So whats up?" I ask her and she pulls a notepad across the counter top and sits down onto one of the stools.
"Its about my brother." She says but starts writing something on the sheet of paper. We have a serious problem, Haymitch just got off the phone with Effie, The Capitol dont believe our love story.
"Whats up with your brother?" I ask. Have you told Gale? I write.
"He cant come this weekend and I need you to do me a favour... Could you talk to my mum about it please, she likes you." Its because of Gale, he was seen admiring Katniss and they think that there is something going on.
My face drops as I realise where she is. The capitol are going to have a great time with this. They probably know that Katniss is dating Rye. She has been seen with Gale and now she is in my bed. "Yeh, of course I'll talk to your mother." I say, momentarily forgetting about the actual conversation we are having. This is bad? What do you think they will do? I write.
"Thank you, that means a lot. Anyway, I better go and get ready for this party. I'm going back to town and getting ready with my parents." She smiles at me and I smile back. I'm not sure, but I'm going to have to talk to him about it. I'll do it tomorrow. She writes.
"Yeh, Its alright, I'll see you later then." I say and she gets up to leave. "Wait Delly, could you drop this bread off at Gale's before you go? and here is yours." I say, handing her 2 loaves of bread. Its kind of my therapy, baking, so every night I put some loaves in the oven for everyone that lives in the Victors Village plus more if I've had a bad day. "They arent warm because I took them out last night but you can still eat them. I'm going to drop Haymitch's off when I go over there."
"Thanks Peet. I'll see you later at Haymitch's." She nods at me and walks out. I hear the front door go a couple minutes later.
Katniss pov-
When I wake up, I'm in a bed and room that I dont recgonise. The room smells completely different than any room I've slept in and the pillow that my head lies on smells like Bread, Fresh air and some kind of deoderant - Wait, I know that smell. Where do I know it from. I know where I recgonise the smell of Bread from and then the fresh air smell, I smell that eveytime I'm in the meadow. But there is only one place that I would smell both, plus some deoderant but I cant quite put my finger on where the smell comes from. I can also smell some kind of scented shampoo as I roll over onto the other pillow on the bed.
My mind wonders to Rye, Its not his smell. He smells of bread and soap, as do most of the Mellarks. Its just the smell from the Bakery fullstop. I wonder how they all are this morning. Rye is probably nursing a hangover and trying to remember where I am, even though I told him last night that I was going to take Peeta home. Peeta! Where is he? I must have slept over. But I've never slept in this room before.
"Good morning." I hear someone say from the door. I pull myself up from the blankets that are wrapped around my entire being and the pillows that are scattered all around the upper part of my body. Peeta stands at the door with a tray balancing on his right arm and a carrier bag in his left hand. "Sleep well?" He laughs slightly when he looks at me. I must look a fright. By the look of the sky outside, that I can see through a slit in the curtains, its already about midday.
"Apparently, I did. What time is it?" I ask him.
"Its midday." He replies, placing the tray down on the end of the bed. "I brought you some breakfast... Lunch... Whatever..." He laughs slightly and I smile. He drops the carrier down on the chair at the end of the bed and walks over to open the curtains fully. "Your mum dropped off some clothes for you. Said you asked my dad to ask her?" I nod in his direction whilst breaking into the cheese bun on the tray infront of me. "And I put your dress and that from yesterday in the wash for you. I'll put them out to dry before we go to Haymitch's and then they should be done by the time we leave and I can drop by quickly to get them for you.
"How long have you been up?" I ask him. I hope he got enough sleep. With everything that he has apparently done this morning, it sounds like he's been up for ages.
"Only half an hour ago. I had the best nights sleep I have had in over a year." He smiles and you can tell that he has had a good night sleep because he doesnt look annoyed and his eyes are wider than they have been in a while. When someone is tired, their eyes go narrow for ages. "Your mum woke me up when she knocked on the door and You looked really comfortable so I didnt wake you up. By the way, how come you where in my bed, lying over my chest?" Was I really lying over him? Oh god. I can fell my ears turning red at the thought.
"Well, You had a nightmare last night, do you remember that?" I ask him, taking another bite out of the cheese bun to hide the embarrasment.
"Yeh, you woke me up." He says. He takes a seat at the end of the bed and starts to eat the other cheese bun on the plate, leaving none behind.
"Well, when after you had calmed down, you where hugging me and you fell asleep on me and I knew that if I moved then you would wake up and you needed to sleep so I just climbed into your bed and fell asleep after ringing your father to tell him that you where okay like he asked me to. Oh and apparently, Rye was passed out across the kitchen counter." I say, Laughing again at the thought of my beloved Boyfriend, drunk and passed out across the bakery kitchen counter. Peeta joins in laughing.
"Oh I'm sorry about falling asleep on you but I'm not sorry about Rye! He drinks too much!" Peeta says, trying to be serious but he's still laughing. "Now get dressed and meet me downstairs. You're mum wants us over there as soon as we are ready because she needs help." He climbs off the bed and walks out the door, flashing me a smile first.
I'm not sure why but a picture of me and Peeta being married, pops into my head. I know I'm dating his brother but even that had no say in what I think about. If me and Peeta where married, It would like this every morning. Me lying here and then him bringing my breakfast in and talking to me whilst I eat it. He would make a good husband.
Katniss stop it! You're dating Rye, Peeta's older brother who would kill you if he found out that you where thinking about this. Who cares if Peeta would be a good husband because you will never find out. You will never marry him.
But why not? He is amazing and I know everything about him and I know that he will never let me down like Rye has been doing recently.
BECAUSE YOU ARE DATING RYE NOT PEETA AND RYE WILL CHANGE, HE ALWAYS DOES.
But Rye has been dissapearing recently and wont tell me where he is going. I know that Peeta would never do anything like that to me.
Katniss! Listen to yourself, are you really willing to cheat on Rye?
No! Never!
Why not?
Because I love him...
I do this with myself time after time after time. Constant arguments going on in my head. Its like what you read about in books with a devil version of yourself on one shoulder and an angel on the other, trying to pull you in 2 different direction and neither of them suceeding. Its horrible, I feel like I'm constantly at war with myself and no-one can sort it out but me because I cant talk to anyone about it. They would think I was mad.
"Katniss! come on we are gonna be late!" I hear Peeta shout upstairs, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Coming." I jump out of bed and grab the bag from the chair. Inside is a forest green dress that buttons all the way down to about three quarters down my thighs which is where the dress stops. The arms are full length which is good. There are a pair of black tights in the bag, finished off with my hunting boots. (They are the only pair of shoes I actually own. Other than the ones I wore last night which are considered too posh for a dinner. I only wear them to parties.) Plus, a brush for my hair and my toothbrush. Im guessing Peeta would have tooth paste, who wouldnt?
I quickly get ready in the bathroom, just off Peetas room. When I'm done, Peeta is waiting for me in the kitchen. He's dressed in a black button down shirt which looks really good on him. He is wearing a pair of dark blue jeans and some big black chunky boots which Ive never seen before. His hair is still the curly mess that it normally is and he has a black suit jacket flung over his shoulder, ready to go. "I'm ready." I say and he smiles as he looks me up and down.
"You look beautiful." He says to me.
"And you look quite handsome yourself Mellark." I reply with a small grin. He pulls his jacket on and gives me a little turn, causing me to laugh. "Very nice. I bet that mystery girl of yours is going to like that." I say and he stops as he looks at me.
"Yeh, I know she will." He says with a smile and grabs a bag off the table. I'm about to question him whats in it but he ushers me out the door before I even have a chance. Whilst he is locking his door, I walk down the stairs and across he village to uncle Haymitch's, knocking on the door as I hear Peeta set off running to me from his house.
"Katniss!" I hear my little sister screech from inside. I see her face in the window next to the door with an excited grin on her face. "Peeta!" She shouts to him, who I didnt know was stood next to me, with his jacket over one arm. The door opens a second later and Prim bounces out and gives me a tight hug. Then pulls away from me and does the same with Peeta. "Uncle Haymitch has been waiting for you Peeta, he said he needed to talk to you." I look towards Peeta and his face holds nothing but fear.
"Whats wrong?" I whisper to him as Prim walks back inside.
"I'll tell you later." He says and smiles reassuringly. We follow Prim into the house and through to the kitchen where my mother is. "Hey Evelyn." Peeta says politely, walking over to the kitchen side to help her but as soon as Haymitch comes in to haul him away, he's gone and I hear the front door go a second later. It must be important.
"What do you need help with?" I ask her and she falls into a long list of things that need to be done. I''ll have to fill Peeta in when he gets back.
After that, the day goes by really slowly, as we sort out all the food and the dining room. Prim and Peeta get into a small flour fight momentarily whilst I stand skinning a squirrel. When Peeta throws a big handful of flour at the back of my head and I give him a death look, thats when they stop only to burst out laughing a second later. I have to hide the laugh that escapes my lips because if they see it then they will think its alright to do it again and we cant have that. "You know, you're very childish sometimes." I say to Peeta as he walks over to hand me some carrots that Prim just cut for the stew that I'm making.
"Well if I cant be childish then I would have to be an adult and I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet." He says with a laugh. He leans with his back against the counter, abot a few inches to my right and I smile at him.
"You could act your age. That might be good. You're 17 in 2 weeks Peeta." I say and he shrugs his shoulders.
"I am only 17 when I accept it." He says and finally walks away.
"You're going to be 17 Mellark and there is nothing you can do about it." I shout over my shoulder.
"Is that right Everdeen?" He ask, I can hear him stop walking over to the dough that he left on the side.
"Yep." I say over my shoulder, still skinning the squirrel.
"Well we will have to see about that." He says.
"Oh no, you're right, You'll never stop acting like a child." I say and he falls silent. I take it as a good sign and bring the knife down to cut a left over bit of skin off the squirrels back.
Thats when I feel something wet on the back of my neck, scaring me, causing my hand to slip and the end of the blade to slice the back of my hand. I spin aound quickly to see Peeta standing there with a bottle of water in his hand. The same water that I can now feel dripping down my back on the inside of my dress. "You idiot!" I shout, now cradling my hand.
"Oh god! Katniss I am so sorry." He shouts, dropping the bottle onto the floor and trying to help me stop the blood pouring from my hand. "EVELYN!" He shouts into the hallway and my mother appears a second later with a towel in her hands. I'm not sure what she was using it for though. I can see Prim standing, confused, behind Peeta.
"What happened- Katniss!" She shouts, just noticing me. "Prim, go and get the medic kit from the bathroom. Peeta you're gonna have to carry on cooking we only have an hour left. HAYMITCH!" I can now feel the pain shooting up my arm from my hand.
"What?" Uncle Haymitch comes in a couple minutes later. He had been given the task of cleaning the house, considering he is useless at cooking food.
"Katniss has been injured, you're gonna have to take over skinning the animals. I know you have some experience in that. Dont try to mess it up please. I'll be back soon to make the stew." Mum says and then Uncle Haymitch looks at me and then down at my hand. He's about to open his mouth but my mum shoo's him away.
"Evelyn, It was my fault-" Peeta starts but my mum cuts him off. "But-"
"No, Peeta, it doesnt matter whos fault it was, we just need to get this sorted." My mother leads me over to a chair in the corner just before Prim runs back in with the medic kit.
She uses water from the sink to clean up all the blood on my hand but as soon as she has stopped, the blood starts again so is just forever wiping it off. Eventually she gives up and asks Prim to hold the cloth on until she says so and then pull it off when she is going to put the Anitseptic on and asks me to hold on the piece of cloth for a bit so that the bleeding can stop and she can put the stitches in. Then she walks away to carry on with her job. I'm not sure what he job is though. Prim walks away too to carry on cutting vegetables and Peeta walks over to me.
"Katniss, I am really sorry, I didnt mean to do that." He says, kneeling infront of me. Suddenly I feel really sleepy and light headed.
"Peeta, its fine, I dont mind but I dont think your brother will be very happy." I say with a small sleepy laugh.
"No, he probably wont but oh well. I'm not scared of him." Peeta says mirroring my laugh.
"And what about Gale? He wont be very happy..." I say, laughing even harder. Its not like its affecting my hunting because neither of us actually have to hunt now. One of the only reasons that we hunt is for fresh game because its better than anything in this district and Greasy Sae appreciates it.
"Ok, him I'm a little scared of." He winks at me slightly and I know that he's lying. He's not scared of Gale and why should he be? He might be smaller than Gale but he is a whole lot stronger than him.
"Ok well maybe you should get back to what you where doing. We are running out of time." I say to him. He smiles at me and then walks away to carry on kneading the dough on the counter.
By the time our first guest shows up, my hand has stopped bleeding and has been bandaged up. "Could you get that sweetheart?" Uncle Haymitch shouts from the kitchen. It turns out that now I am the only one not doing anything. Uncle Haymitch, Peeta and Prim are all still working in the kitchen and mum is still working hard to make the house tidy. I dont think I've ever seen it this tidy.
When I pull open the door, I find Rye, Holly, Leaven and Brooke standing there with smiles on their faces. Although I'm not really paying attentiong to the smiles. All I'm paying attention to is the bruise spreading across Ryes face. "Peeta, your family are here!" I shout back towards the kitchen, as he wanted me to tell him when they where here.
He comes running in a second later, wiping his hands on his apron. "Hey!" When he gets to the door, his eyes go suddenly to Rye's face just like mine. "Wow! she really got you this time!" Peeta says, hugging his brother.
"Yeh, I know." Rye says, laughing. "Stings a little." He smiles as Peeta pulls away.
"Wait...what happened?" I ask, bringing my hands up to carress his face. Thinking twice about it when I see my bandaged hand.
"Forget about me... what happened to you." He asks, taking my hand in his.
"I asked you first." I say and he laughs.
"Ok fine. Mum hit me this morning. With a rolling pin." He says as his face drops. "Now its your turn."
"It was my fault." Peeta buts in. I start to shake my head but he carries on. "We where cooking in the kitchen earlier and I squirted water down her back and she accidently sliced her hand open."
"Yeh but everything is fine now. My mum sorted it." I say. "Anyway, do you want to come in?" Brooke nods and walks past me, giving me a brief hug on the way in. They all follow her and I lead them into the sitting room. "My mother is still sorting out the dining room but until then you can stay in here."
The next people to arrive are Rory and Posy, who decides to jump straight into my arms excitedly, which knocks me back, taking me by surprise. "Hey Rory. Hows your mother?" I ask over Posy's shoulder.
"Shes good. How are you?" He asks, referring to my hand.
"Oh its nothing. Just a knife mishap this morning. Nothing to worry about." I smile and he follows me inside, where I drop Posy onto the floor next to Holly and rub my hand as its started to really hurt again.
"Are you alright Katniss?" Rye asks, noticing my pain.
"Yeh, its just that carrying Posy has made my hand hurt again. I'll be-" I'm stopped by another knock on the door. I groan slightly and Rye laughs at me.
Its Delly that is at the door, with her little brother Harvey and their parents. "Hi." I say politely. I've never actually met her parents.
"Hello dear." Mrs Cartwright says. "Katniss is it?" I nod and she offers me her hand. I shake it gracefully and she hands me a pie. "I made this, hope you like it." I smile and take it from her.
"Oh god. Katniss what happened to your hand?" Delly asks.
"Kitchen mishap. Peetas fault not mine." I say laughing. "Ask him." She starts laughing and I allow them all entrance. "You can go in here with everyone else, I'll just go and see how the dining room is coming along." I leave them with everyone else and walk to the kitchen and through to the dining room. "Mum hows it coming?"
"I'll be done in a second. Is everyone here?" She asks. I can barely hear her, as she has her face almost against the table as she attempts to see if it is clean or not.
"Almost, we are just waiting on Gale now." I reply, walking out trying not to laugh at my mums position.
Uncle Haymitch and Peeta are still hunched over the kitchen counter but Prim is standing there not doing anything. "Is everyone here?" She asks as I'm about to walk out. Peeta looks up from where he is, waiting for an answer.
"No, I'm just waiting for Gale now." I say with a small smile.
"Is Rory here?" She asks. Her and Rory have been good friends as long as I've known Gale and probably a little longer considering they are in the same class.
"Yeh." I reply and she follows me into the sitting room, going over to Rory and starting up a conversation about Lady. He sits there and listens like a good little gentleman. "The dining room is almost finished, I'll make sure to come and get you when its done. Right now I am needed in the kitchen." I know its a lie but I really dont want to sit in here with all these people. I like them, dont get me wrong but I would just be sat here doing nothing. Also my hand is actually causing me pain now. My mother always said that when you get an injury, after you have got past all the blood and the actual pain, it just aches and that can sometimes become really painful depending on how deep the injury is.
I start to shake my hand to rid the aching but it doesnt work, it just hurts more so I stop and just take deep breathes. In the kitchen, Peeta is taking a break. They should almost be done now anyway. "Hey." I say and he smiles tiredly. "You alright?" I ask, scared that he has had another black out. He has never had 2 in the same week before, let alone the same 24 hours.
"Yeh, just a little tired after slaving away all day in the kitchen." He says with a small laugh. "Its already 5:30." I didnt realise it was already that late. I probably should have guessed when we told all the guests to be here by half 5 and most of them are currently sitting in the sitting room. "Is Gale here yet?" I shake my head, taking a seat on the chair that I was on earlier. "Is he working in the mines today?"
"No, he doesnt start in the mines for a couple days yet." He might have gone into the woods though. I know I cant say it inany of the Victors Village houses though. Even I know that they are bugged.
"Well he probably just went to see his mother or something like that." He replies. I nod. He probably did go to see his mother, why didn't I think of that?
"The room is ready now." My mother says, walking out of the dining room. "Everyone can come in now."
"I'll get them, you just go in there." Peeta says with a smile and I nod in reply. I stand up and walk through the archway to the dining room. My mother has made it pristine. I dont think I've ever seen it this clean before. There are name cards on everyones seat. I walk around the table trying to find mine just to find that I am sitting right where I walked in, next to Peeta and Rye. I look at my mother in question as to why I'm sitting here and she laughs.
"I thought that you would want to sit with your boyfriend and Peeta will need to get up sometimes to check the food and that chair is closer to the door than any of the others." She says with a smile. "Is that a problem?" I shake my head and take my seat.
Its not long before everyone is sat down other than Gale. I'm surprsied that the table is full, with one chair left for Gale. Its like they completely planned the amount of people that where coming. I look around the table at where everyone is sitting. Mr Cartwright, Mrs Carwright, Harvey, Delly, empty seat for Gale, Posy, Rory, Prim, Uncle Haymitch, Evelyn, Peeta, Me, Rye, Leaven then ending with Brooke who is stting next to Mr Cartwright.
Thats when I finally hear a knock on the door. "I'll get it." I say and pull myself out of my chair. I walk through the quiet house, getting further and further away from the only place where the noise is coming from.
Opening the door, I find Gale standing there with a small smile on his face. "Hey." I smile back. "How have you been?" I ask as he walks past me through the door, hanging up his jacket as I close the door. I havent talked to him properly since he got back from the Capitol. We have all been caught up in too much drama.
"I'm good. What about you? ... What happened to your hand?" He asks not even looking at it. Its like he can sense that there is something wrong with me.
"Oh it was just a knife mishap in the kitchen earlier when I was skinning a squirrel." I say, shoving it away like its nothing.
"Well you're used to them arent you Catnip." He says with a laugh. By now we are standing in the kitchen outside the dining room, just around the corner from the arch.
"I've missed you." I say and throw my arms around his shoulders. "But you could have cleaned up more. You dont smell very nice." I hear him laugh into my hair and his arms tighten around me, not letting me go.
"Now, you arent getting free." He says with another laugh. "You've had it now Everdeen." I can feel him start to walk and suddenly everywhere goes quiet. He must have walked into the dining room because I cant hear any voices anymore. "So... Katniss said that I smell... That isnt true is it?" He asks the room and I start to laugh into his shoulder.
"No of course it isnt Gale. But I still believe she should be punished." I hear Uncle Haymitch say.
My mouth hangs open in shock but a smile is playing on the corners of my mouth. "Hey! She should not be punished!" I shout around Gales head.
"Yeh, you watch yourself Hawthorne, thats my girlfriend!" Rye says and Gale finally puts me down.
"Not because I am scared of you Mellark but I am scared of her." Gale says, motioning to me. "Especially with that hair!" He bursts out laughing as he takes his place next to Delly and she kisses him on the cheek.
I take my seat next to Rye and try to stop laughing but it seems to be hard. "Maybe I should go and check the food." I say through the laughs. "I'll be back in a minute."
I leave the room quickly and lean against the counter to stop laughing. I'm not even quite sure why I'm laughing this much. It wasnt even funny. Al he did was laugh at me and now I'm laughing about it. What is wrong with me? Maybe its just been a good day, other than the hand cutting. I mean, come on, I have had a good day of fun in the kitchen which normally doesnt happen. I've talked to Gale properly for the first time since I saw him off to the victors village. And to add onto that woke up to Peeta...
Wait! What has Peeta got to do with it? He is my boyfriends brother. My oldest friend. Why does it make any difference if I woke up to him standing in the doorway and I craved for it to be like that every morning. What does it even matter that he gives me butterflies. What does it even matter that I didnt care if he saw me in the morning. I dont even like Rye seeing me in the morning. What does it even matter that he makes me laugh.
This cant mean anything can it? I'm in love with Rye. He... Erm... He... Thats just it... I dont know anymore. He doesnt make me feel anything most of the time and the times I do feel something for him, Its because he is trying to make me feel better like he did the first time I realised that I loved him. Have I just been lying to myself all this time? Do I truly love Rye? I do love him but in what way?
My Father always said to me that if you have to question that you love someone then you arent truly in love with them. The true question is...Where did it all go wrong? Why did I stop loving him?
It might have been the drinking. I've told him that it annoys me and he doesnt try to do anything about it. He carries on drinking as if I didnt tell him anything. Normally I'm just left to sit with my mother or Prim. He dissapears a lot aswell. He wont tell me where he goes. I can tell that he is lying because his eyes seem to go wider and hie top lip trembles when he tries to lie.
And what about Peeta? Why do I feel so strongly about him? I cant be in love with Peeta instead can I? No... thats not possible. I feel so strongly about him because he is my oldest friend. I grew up with him. He's like my brother. I remember something else my father said. When you are in love with someone, your heart beats faster everytime you see them and its something that you will never get rid off because its your own way of reminding you that you love them. I cant think of any time when my heart has beated faster because of Peeta...Except... Once, before the victory tour when he was saying goodbye to us, I felt something but it confused me so much that I pushed it back and didnt think of it again.
"Katniss?" I hear from the doorway to the dining room and I turn around to see Rye and Peeta standing there looking at me and sure enough... My heart starts to beat faster and I assure you that its not because of Rye. Instead of showing it though, I smile in Rye's direction.
"I'm fine, I was just thinking." I say with a raspy voice. Was I crying? I quickly recgonise the wet feeling of the tears that where on my face and know that I was.
"Are you sure?" Rye asks sympathetically.
"Yeh, honestly, I'm fine." I say, spinning around and wiping the tears away as if its going to kill me if they stay there.
"Ok, if you say so. Is the food ready?" Peeta asks. I feel my breathe catch in my throat as I try to asnwer. His voice is just as bad as seeing his face. Why have I never felt this way before?
"Dont know..." I finally get out and I feel Peeta at my side, checking the oven for the food.
"Its ready. Rye get the plates. I'll get this out and Katniss, you go and sit back down, we can sort it out from here." He places his hand on my shoulder and I feel something almost like electric run through my arm, I have to hide the goosebumps travelling down.
At the doorway, Rye kisses me and I feel something but its not as strong as what I just felt then. "Have fun." I mumble as I walk back into the dining room and sit down.
The rest of the night goes by slowly. I try to rid my mind of the feeling for Peeta but it doesnt seem to work. So instead, I use alcohol. Whiskey and Cider to be more precise. I've only ever drunk once before and that was for Uncle Haymitchs last birthday and I only actually had a glass of whiskey but this is completely different. Within an hour I've already drank 1 and a half bottles of Cider. It started effecting my a while back and now a lot of things are just blurry shapes. I can barely keep my mind in check.
It seems I'm not the only one drinking though, as Peeta and Rye are also drinking which doesnt help my situation because when Peeta drinks, he starts to get very sensitive and clingy, so he seems to be around me a lot of the time, just talking to me or stroking my arm but its really hard not to just turn around and kiss him. Especially when everytime he leans over to talk to me, he has to talk as closely to my ear as he can because for a while now, the music from the radio has been really loud. Everytime he goes to talk to me, I can feel his lips brush against the bottom of my ear, sending shivers through my neck and making me slightly light headed.
We get some good news off Brooke and Leaven which none of expected. For the past month, Brooke has been pregnant. They are going to have a child. A little Mellark child. Everyone was really excited about it, which is good. I wonder if Masan knows. He is going to be a grandfather. I bet he will be happy. I know that he cant wait to be a grandfather, he doesnt want to be one too young which he isnt. He said that he didnt mind as long none of his boys made his mistake and had a child whilst they where too young. I remember my mum telling me that Masan was 15 when Leaven was born and it was a drunken mistake. Considering that none of his boys are 15 anymore, I dont think that is going to happen. Peeta isnt that irresponsible and Rye... Well I'm with Rye at the moment and I never want children.
"You're really beautiful... You know that?" Rye says to me as we sit in the sitting room by ourselves. Rory and Posy had to leave earlier. Brooke and Leaven left too because Brooke cant drink and she got kind of tired so Leaven took her home. Prim went upstairs to bed, as we are all sleeping here tonight. Holly is upstairs asleep with Prim. She is meant to be staying at Peetas tonight because of something that happened this morning which he wont tell me about. Everyone else is still in the dining room dancing. Its a lot bigger when the table is moved, it automaticaly looks like a dancefloor. Peeta went to get another drink so that just leaves me and Rye.
"Thankyou. And you're very handsome." I say to him. He smiles slightly.
"I'm staying at Peetas tonight and I dont think he will mind if we do anything... What do you say?" He asks, raising one eyebrow, suddenly coming vey close to me. That is the first time he has even tried to get me to do something sexually with him. He knows I'm not like that.
"Rye... I cant... I just... I'm not ready for that with anyone yet..." I reply... suddenly acting quite sober.
"Yeh... I understand, I'm sorry." He says, backing away .
After that, Rye doesnt drink so much. I'm not sure why though. Thats also the first time he has voluntarily stopped drinking. Eventually he asks Peeta for the house key, so that he can get Holly home. Peeta obviously gives it to him and he dissapears up the stairs only to come back a couple minutes later carrying Holly. "Prim wants you to go to bed soon Katniss and I'll see you later..." He gives me a kiss on the head and leaves.
After Rye leaves, I dont seem to leave Peetas side. I know that its a bad decision but I dont really care. We drink and we dance and we just have fun. He makes me laugh and I make him smile and he gives me a lot more goosebumps.
When its time for him to leave, I can hardly kee myself up, I think I've thrown up about 3 times now. I should never drink this much again. "I'll see you tomorrow.." He slurs. I can actually see him swaying from side to side, which is actually pretty funny to watch.
"Yeh... see you tomorrow..." I say and he turns around to leave.
I know that its the alcohol and that I'm going to regret it but I tell him to stop. He turns back around, almost falling over and I fall against him. He reaches out to stop me but ends up falling too and then we are both lying on the floor, me on top of him. "I think its about time we got some sleep." He jokes. Maybe he's right though but I still need to do what I wanted. He's about to speak again but I stop him with kiss. I can feel his breathe falter but within a couple of seconds, he falls into the kiss, probably the alcohol though, and neither of us will probably remember this in the morning though.
I pull away from him when I have run out of air and he still has his eyes closed. "I'm sorry." I say, climbing off him and pulling him up to his unsteady feet.
"I should go..." He mumbles and I walk him to the door watching him until he finally makes it back to his house and stumbles through his door. Thats when I finally relax. No more goosebumps for the night and no more awkwardness.
I go to bed, seriously regretting the kiss...