Chapter 14- Not the only one
When Rye, Leaven and Masan get back from the trainyard, me and Peeta have already closed up and are just sitting in the sitting room talking. We where talking about the baby but they dont need to know that. Brooke went for a shower not long ago so it wont be long before she comes back down. After they have put away all the stuff, I plan on telling Rye but when I walk out of the room with Peeta in tow, he is gone. Leaven informs me that he just left somewhere. I feel the anger bubbling up to the point where I could probably punch Peeta in the face. I wont but I could.
I was going to tell Rye tonight and now he isnt even here. I know its not something that he wants to hear but he needs to know about it. "Its alright Katniss, we can just wait for him." Peeta says from my side. I guess that wouldnt be so bad. Gives me time to figure out what I'm going to say to him. It should be alright, Peeta is here and I dont think Rye has ever expressed a need for children so its not like he really wanted them. Its not going to change his life that much, yeh he's going to be an uncle but he was going to be an uncle anyway. But then again, I would be heartbroken if I thought I was going to be a mother and then I was told that I wasnt. He is going to hate us both.
I follow Peeta back into the sitting room and we take our original seats, followed not long after by Masan and leaven, who sit across from us on the other sofa. "How long do you reckon he will be?" I ask them both.
"Dont know. He shouldnt be long. It would help if I knew where he went." Masan says. I nod in understanding and am about to reply when I hear a knock on the door.
"I'll get it." Leaven says, leaving the room. When he comes back, he has Madge in tow.
"Katniss, I need to talk to you now! Its really important!" She says to me as soon as she steps through the door. I register shock on her face and my heart starts to pound.
"Whats up Madge?" I ask a little scared myself.
"Its Rye!" She says louder. "You asked me to keep an eye on him remember and I thought you would like to know what I just saw."
"What did you see?" I ask. I feel Peeta move closer to the edge of the sofa in interest.
"I'm really sorry Katniss but I just went over to the clothes shop to drop off some clothes that Idont wear anymore and no-one was there. so, me being a regular customer, I walked into the back but what I saw was something that I hope to never see again." She says and I stand up to face her.
"What did you see Madge?" I urge.
"I saw Rye... and Gina... Having sex..." She mumbles and I feel my legs turn to jelly, almost like before when I kissed Peeta but this is worse. My legs give way underneath me and I fall backwards onto the sofa again. Peeta reaches out to comfort me and I feel his hand on my arm. Unlike last time, I dont feel goosebumps or electricity or anything. I just feel anger towards Rye.
"Thats impossible... he couldnt... he wouldnt..." I get out. When Rye dissapears, a thousand things run through my head but him cheating was never one of them.
"Im sorry Katniss..." Madge says. I know she wouldnt lie to me. She promised to keep an eye on him for me and she did her job.
"Wait, my son, was caught cheating?" Masan asks and his face drops as he looks to the ground. Rye might be a flirt but apparently he was never capable of cheating until now.
"Yeh. He tried to stop me but I had to tell you because it was the right thing to do." Madge says and I nod.
"Thanks Madge..." I reply.
"I'm so sorry k-" She starts but is cut off by the back door being swung open and someone shouting my name.
"KATNISS! KATNISS!" I hear Rye shout as he comes flying into the room, pulling his shirt over his head, almost knocking Madge to the ground. His hair is a mess and his pants arent even buttoned up. "Katniss! dont listen to her, she doesnt know what shes talking about. Its not what it seems." Madge catches her footing and slides back into the corner of the room, as if she didnt exist.
"Then what is it?" I ask, standing up to face the one person I did trust most in the world.
"Erm..." He cant even tell me anything now.
"SEE! I KNEW IT!" I shout, loosing my temper.
"Katniss, i didnt know what I was doing! you have to trust me." He starts stepping closer to me but I just keep stepping away which wont last for very long in this tiny little room.
"How could I ever trust you again Rye, you let me down and here I am waiting for you to come home so that i can spend the night with my boyfriend and youre out there screwing someone else." I shout at him. I can feel the tears falling from my eyes, I'm not even sure they are tears of saddness either but tears of anger.
"Im really sorry Katniss... please believe me!" He finally grabs my arm and all I feel is betrayal. As if he thinks he can touch me after he has just been having sex with someone else. A thousand thoughts run through my head. All those times he kissed me and he would have just got back from kissing Gina. Those times I had sex with him, he had already had sex with Gina. I might as well as gone with him and had sex with Gina myself. The thought makes my whole body shake with disgust, I cant believe I had that little bitch near me at all. She wanted to be friends and all along she was sleeping with my boyfriend.
"I wanted to talk to you tonight about something really important but what does it matter anymore. You seem more interested in Gina. Why dont you just go back over there and leave me alone." I say to him, pulling my hand out of his grasp. He finally gets the picture and stops moving, rooting his feet into the ground.
"Please, can we just work through this?" He asks. Looks like he has run out of things to say now. Serves him right. If he cared enough then he would have more to say.
"NO RYE! I THOUGHT I COULD TRUST YOU BUT NOW IM NOT SO SURE!" I scream. For the past year and a half I had put all my trust in him and now that he betrayed me, I dont think I'm gonna be able to trust anyone ever again.
"You can trust me. please Katniss." He says, reaching out for me again but I just shove him away. His shirt is still really ruffled ans the entire time we have been talking, he hasnt even buttoned up his pants.
"Thats just it Rye... I cant trust you... ever again..." He says and I can now see the small tears forming in his eyes. I cant feel any sorrow though because I'm still overcome with rage and all I want to do it rip his head off.
"Please Katniss...I love you..." Them words sound so foreign now, coming out of his mouth. How many times has he said that to Gina?
"Somehow, i find that hard to believe." I say and the rage is leeching out now, the heart break is kicking in. I wrap my arms around myself and let the tears fall, wanting nothing than to be in my bed with my sister.
"It wasnt meant to happen. Look Katniss... I wanted to tell you but I just couldn't... I didnt know how." He says, now fully hold of my arms. I dont have any energy to shove him off now or the ability to say anything back as my throat is overcome by sobs. "I did a terrible, stupid, stupid thing. Okay? And Im sorry, I wish I could take it back, but I cant. I just cant see us throwing away something we know is so damn good. Katniss, I love you so much." His forehead falls against mine and I keep my eyes glued on the ground as I feel his lips on my head. He always used to kiss me on the forehead when something was wrong. His lips move down my face, kissing me right between the eyes, then on my right cheek, taking one of my tears with him and the I feel his lips on mine, thats when I pull away. All I can think about it Gina.
I push him away from me and he almost stumbles backwards over the table. "No rye! you cant just kiss me and think that everything will get better because it wont. You crossed a line that should never be crossed! I never slept with anyone else, just you!" I feel my voice tremble a bit but nobody would have noticed because my voice has been trembling for a while now. "And now look where we are!"
"Katniss please?" He asks.
"I think i should go..." I reply. I need to see my family.
"What?" He asks, confused.
"I really think I should go now..." I say quieter, trying to push past him but he holds me steady.
"Wait! theres got to be a way we can work past this. I cant imagine my life without you!" He says, keeping hold of my arms. I feel my baby kick, stopping me in my tracks. This can in no way be good for the baby. I glance down at Peeta as my hand finds my belly and he notices, looking at me with a worried looks.
"No I cant. You're a totally different person to me now and I used to think of you as someone who would never ever hurt me and now I just cant stop picturing you with her. Why was I so stupid. It was so obvious. All the times you left me here alone and all the times you came back looking a mess. YOU WHERE OUT WITH HER! WHILST YOUR PREGNANT GIRLFRIEND WAS AT HOME WAITING-" I shout but am stopped by him.
"Katniss... Think about the baby. I didnt mean to do it, you need to believe me. I love you and I love our baby. I cant wait to be a parent." He says. I need to tell him. Even If he is a cheater, he needs to know what I did. Make him feel what its like.
"Youre not going to be. I dont want this child anywhere near you!" I shout in his face.
"Katniss you cant do that!" He backfires. As if he thinks that I cant do that, its my baby, I can do what I please.
"I can damn well do that!"
"Katniss that is my child."
I look up at him for what feels like forever before I finally get ahold of myself. I quickly glance down at Peeta again. He's watching intently, probably incase rye hits me again but I doubt Rye will hit me with what I'm about to tell him, if he hits anyone, it will be Peeta but I know that Leaven can stop it. "Actually I think its time you found out the truth." I say, trying to sound calm.
"What do you mean?" He asks, now backing away slightly.
"Its not yours..." I say and he almost stumbles back.
"W-Whos ... is it?" He mumbles.
"Peetas." I say with hesitation.
Thats when the anger comes. "What!" He shouts, facing Peeta. I look around the room to see everyones eyes on Peeta. Who is now looking at the floor. The one thing I did not expect though and the one thing that is going to destroy him the most is the dissapointment on his fathers face. Half of it though I think is for Rye.
"He didnt have anything to do with it... it was all my fault, I was the one that got him drunk!" I reassure everyone. I cant bare the thought of all the Mellarks hating Peeta.
Rye looks back at me but only for a second before looking at the floor and poiting an acusing finger at me. Good let him be angry with me, he wouldnt hurt me because of the baby. "Wait?... You had sex with my brother?" He asks, trying to be calm but its not working, I can hear that he has his teeth glued together behind his lips.
"Yeh." I say, noy caring anymore.
"I cant believe this." Rye says, still looking at the floor, his face has gone pale.
Peeta stands up and faces his brothr. "Rye, It wasnt supposed to happen. We Where both drunk, we had no idea what we where doing. We just woke up upstairs and we didnt have any memory from the night before." Both him and I know thats a lie, we both remember that night but its better if Rye doesnt know that.
"UPSTAIR!? THE ONLY BED UPSTAIRS IS MINE! YOU HAD SEX WITH MY GIRLFRIEND ON MY BED?" He shouts and I swear, I couls feel the ground rumble underneath my feet. Sensing something bad about to happen, I plant my feet between Peeta and Rye.
"IT WASNT MEANT TO HAPPEN!" Peeta shouts from behind me, knocking into my back as he goes for his brother.
I feel a hand on my right arm and I'm pushed off to the side just before his fist collides with Peeta's jaw, knocking him slightly off guard. Leaven steps beside me ready to stop the fight. "YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Rye shouts.
"Rye! calm down!" Peeta gets out of his now bleeding mouth.
"I will not calm down!" Rye shouts back.
"Yeh! Now you know how I feel!" I say to him, the anger coming back.
He's still talking to Peeta though. "IM GONNA KILL YOU! YOU DESTROYED MY RELATIONSHIP!" Peeta starts walking away towards the door, probably just to get out of it.
"Rye calm down now!" Leaven shouts, pulling me out of the way slightly. He knows that I would try to stop it.
"PEETA!" Rye shouts and Peeta stops in his trakcs, just as he gets to the door. "I HATE YOU!" Rye lunges for him, giving him another blow to the jaw and then a really hard one in the chest, which he knows is Peeta's weak spot after the games and whipping.
Peeta puts his arms up to protect his face. "RYE! STOP IT!" Leaven moves away from me and I take this chance to run over to stop it. I push past Rye and plant my feet infront of Peeta but a little too late as Rye was just giving him a blow to the stomach and his fist swings out and his me instead, straight in the side of my stomach, knocking me sideways and I feel my head hit the floor, making everything blurry for a second. I finally get my eyes ofcused again to see a pair of feet and a hand ready to help me off the floor.
Leaven is standing over me and I take his hand. He pulls me up but when I get halfway, a blinding pain starts right where Rye hit me. He hurt the baby. My hand flies to that place as a cry of pain comes out of my mouth. Thats when Masan runs over to get me off the floor and help me to the sofa. It doesnt work though and tears of pain fall from my eyes.
Leaven leaves my side and grabs Rye by the shoulders, pushing him away from Peeta forcefully. When all said and done, Leaven is still the strongest out of the three. "STOP IT NOW!" He shouts but its noe use, Rye lunges for Peeta again, knocking Leaven backwards. Rye headbutts Peeta in the nose, knocking Peeta to the grouns, where Rye climbs on top of him, punching him in the face and chest area.
Thats when Peeta starts showing his true strength, he cocks his leg up slightly and in a flash he is on top of Rye, pinning him to the ground, his legs clamped arouns Rye's arms. Rye is trying to fight his way free but its clear that he's not moving anytime soon. "Stop it now! I didnt meant for this to happen!"
"Stop it! Now look what you just did!" Leaven shouts, pointing to me. Masan has had to kneel on the floor to keep my up but eventually he just gave up and sat down on the floor with me, grabbing my hand to help me through the pain. Madge is now at my other side, stroking my arm.
"STOP IT! IT WASNT PEETA THAT DESTROYED OUR RELATIONSHIP IT WAS YOU!" I shout to Rye and he stops fighting for a second to look at me. Masan finally helps me up off the floor but I have to keep hold of him and Madge to stay up, ignoring the shooting pains in my stomach.
"How is this my fault?" Rye asks.
"What do you mean how is it your fault? Youre the one that cheated first!" I shout back at him.
"Well i didnt know you where having sex with my brother!" There is nothing but pure hatred in his eyes now.
"IT WAS ONLY ONE TIME! WE WHERE DRUNK!" I shout.
"WELL I GUESS WE ARE BOTH IN THE SAME BOAT NOW HUH?" He asks, now fighting his way out of Peeta's grasp.
I feel another shooting pain through the right side of my body, it almost feels like electricity, either way, its really painful and it doubles me over again and despite Masan keeping hold of me, I feel my body hit the ground again but this time, its a very familiar hand that I feel on my shoulder, Peeta. "Whats wrong?" He asks.
"Nothing, i-i'm fine." I say but when I try to pull up again, pain shoots through my body again, not as bad as before but still painful enought to keep me on the floor.
"Youre obviously not fine what happened?" Masan asks, I guess he never saw waht happened.
"He punched me in the stomach. I need to get to my mother." I say to them both. I can feel sweat pouring down my face now.
"Oh god. We need to go" Peeta says, grabbing my arm to help me up off the floor.
"Wait..." I push Peeta aside slightly and face Rye. "This cant carry on." I say to him and scrambles up off the floor.
"Wait... I mean... i still love you Katniss... we can get through this cant we?" He asks , the tears back in his eyes.
"I dont think we can Rye. Mine was a mistake yours was not..." I say bitterly.
"Katniss, we have been together for more than a year... we cant just throw all that away... I can change!" He says, now coming over to help me but Peeta just nudges him away.
"People dont change Rye, feelings change and Im not saying it wont be hard but it will be harder to keep this relationship going." I tell him, trying to keep my eyes fixed on him but everytime I do, I see Gina. He starts to cry. "I think im gonna go." I say once Peeta has me up on my feet.
"No wait... this cant be it... I mean... this cant be over..." He says.
"Then how come it is?" I ask and he turns to leave but Peeta stops him.
"Wait, one more thing." He hands me over to Masan and turns to Rye who faces him strongly but as soon as their faces meet, Peeta's fist collides with Rye's jaw and just by watching it, I can tell that that punch was harder than any punch Rye threw at Peeta. "I will never forgive you if you have hurt the baby in any way. NOW GET OUT!" Peeta points towards the door and a couple seconds later, I hear it slam as Rye walks out. I finally let myself cry properly and I collapse against Masan who tries his best to hold me up but eventually helps me over to the sofa.
"Katniss, its going to be okay.." Peeta says, coming over to me. The little bit of anger I have left in my body makes me push him away.
"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" I shout at him and he looks stunned but still comes over to me and pulls me into his arms.
"Katniss, come here. Its okay..." He says and I cry into his shoulder. Thats when Brooke comes back from upstairs.
"What the hell is going on? I heard all the shouting?" She asks.
"Katniss and Rye broke was cheating on her." Leaven tells her.
"I didnt know he was cheating on her. I'm so sorry Katniss." She says but I dont lift my head up off Peeta's shoulder.
"Are you telling me that you knew about Peeta and Katniss?" Leaven asks her.
"Yeh but I only found out earlier today." Brooke replies and then silence for a moment.
"Something is wrong with the baby, Rye hit her." Masan says from next to me and I pull my head away from Peeta and look at him.
"I just want to go home." I say to him and he nods.
"Come on then, i'll get you home." He replies and helps me up off the sofa into the best standing position that I can get.
"I'll go and find Rye, try and get him to come home so we can talk about this. I'll be back as soon as I can. Dad you stay here incase he comes back. Katniss, I'm so sorry that any of this happened and I Want you know that me and Brooke will be here for you every step of the way if you need us." Leaven says to me before running out of the house after his little brother. We leave not long after to get to my mother.
2 hours later, its about 7pm and I'm being assessed by my mother. After all the poking and prodding and a lot of explaining about what happened, her and Prim have finally come to a conclusion. "Right, I'm sorry to tell you that your baby is in distress, this can happen and it is quite common if a heavy blow comes to the baby or if the mother is going through a lot of stress. She has a 98% chance of survival, I am so sorry." I can see the tears in my mother eyes. Peeta's head drops next to me and his hand squeezes mine tighter.
"What can I do?" I ask, There must be a way to stop the baby from dying.
"Bed rest and lots of it. I'm not letting you leave that bedroom of yours. We will bring you your food and you will listen to me for once." My mother says and I nod. "Peeta would be so kind as to carry her up? Prim you follow to get her changed, I'll clean up here." She says to everyone and Peeta slides his arms under me, pulling me up off the table.
When I'm finally upstairs and changed, Peeta pulls off his shoes and climbs into bed with me after a lot of questions from my mother. She still not happy about the idea of him sleeping in my bed but she knows that we arent going to do anything and I need him right now.
"Everything will get better Katniss..." He says, stroking my hair away from my face.
"As if I thought that it would be a good idea to try and convince him that the baby was his when apparently he had other plans than to be with his girlfriend and i now realised what is the point in lying and saying that Rye is the babys father when the baby's real father is so much nicer and would never do anything to hurt me." I say to him. He kisses me on the head.
"I would never do anything to hurt you Katniss... I love you..." I think that is the first time he has ever said that to me and meant it properly, not just kid talk. But I dont think I can reply with the same, not after everything that happened today. I do love him but Rye's betrayal is still in my head.
"I know you do Peeta but I just got out of a relationship. Just give it time and I might be able to date you. Once i get over your asshole of a brother..." I tell him, my eyes closing from tiredness.
"Yeh he is a bit of an asshole... I was seriously debating wether to kill him right there and then. The fact that he could do something like that to someone as perfect as you is something that I'll never understand. Seriously, if I ever had you I would never let you go. I would never cause a problem and I would always try my best to forgive you." He says and I look up to him, now more awake.
"Really?" I ask.
"Yeh." He replies, still strkoing my hair.
I stare into his eyes and do something that I didnt plan and I'm guessing neither did he, I kiss him. His lips are really soft against mine and his hand on the back of head, keeping me in place just makes me want him more. "I'm sorry." I say once I've pulled away.
"Its fine." He replies and suddenly my thoughts go to the baby. Now that I have the Rye problem gone, I'm just gonna start worrying about my little girls future. Being a child of a victor will not be good for her.
"What about the baby Peeta?" I ask, snuggling back down into the covers with my head on his chest where I can hear his heartbeat.
"What about the baby?" He asks in reply
"Ive been thinking about it for a while now, The world she is going to grow up in is going to be horrible. What if she is picked for the Hunger Games?" I ask. It wouldnt surprise me if she was picked on her first year. I already know that President Snow doesnt like either me or Peeta.
"Then, I will save her, no matter what... You have to have Hope Katniss... Because Hope is the only thing stronger than fear ..." He says to me and one word rings out more than the other, 'hope'.
"Hope..." I mumble. That would be a great name for a girl. Maybe a little girl and maybe one that hasnt been born yet.
"Huh?" Peeta says.
"Hope... Thats her name..." I say and he falls silent for a second.
"Hope? ... I like it... Middle name?" He asks.
"You pick..." Well I picked the first name, its only fair if he picks the middle name.
"Leigh?" He asks and I think about it for a second.
"That didnt take long to pick..." I say with a laugh.
"I love the name..." He replies.
"Hmmm... Hope Leigh Mellark... Its amazing..." I say, finally coming to an agreement.
"Mellark?" He asks in disbelief. Why would my child have any other name.
"Of course. Do you like it?" I say as if it was obvious.
"I love it. Its the most beautiful name in the world for the most beautiful girl in the world." He says and I laugh slightly If my child looks like Peeta she will be beuatiful but not if she looks like me. "Dont worry about her, she will be absolutely fine, I will make sure of it."
"Thank you." I mumble and not long after I'm asleep, ignoring the shooting pains through my stomach and I doubt Peeta stays awake for long after I'm asleep, he has had a long day too. Bruises are spread out across his face again and mother had to do a thourough examination on his chest to find that everything was okay. She also had to stitch up a tiny cut on his eyebrow and one on his chin. Rye also broke his nose which he will prbably get a mouthful about tomorrow. My mother had to snap it back into place and it should take about 2 weeks to heal. I think He's gonna have to talk to Snow about getting his Capitol visit pushed back a few weeks.
I know that this is something quite a few of you have been waiting for. LET THE EVERLARK BEGIN! I hope you