24- Old Friends.
He looks so handsome, lying there in his bed, his blonde hair catching the sun as it streams in through the window on the far side of the room. The bed underneath me is so comfortable I could just fall asleep right here, staring into his eyes, like the world has just stopped for this moment, for us. There is nothing else. The smile on his face says everything, he's happy, finally. I can feel my naked body only lightly touching his, my wet hair is spread across the pillow and his arm behind me. The steam is still seeping out of the bathroom from the steaming shower that we just shared.
"I have something to tell you." He says to me as I trace patterns on his chest. A kind of vibration happens in my throat as I mumble the sound that requires him to answer. "I finished the nursery. I finished it last night. You can finally see it." He looks down at me. "Would you like to?"
I nod, enthusiastically and pull myself up, wrapping one of the silk bed sheets around me and my 9 month belly. Peeta stands up, he is still wearing his towel from the shower so he just leads me out the door as I hold the sheet up above my breasts. He grabs a key from the drawers near the door and begins unlocking the door as we get to it. "Ready?" I nod.
He pushes the door open slowly and the first thing that I see is the crib. Its so elegant, he must have ordered it from the Capitol. Made from Mohogany with silk sheets tied to the side and a nice little crib sized matress placed nicely in the middle. A small teddy bear with posh clothing on placed nicely in the middle of it, waiting for its baby. A set of oak drawers is off to the side near the door with a baby changing station on the top of it and a book case on the other side made from the same wood as the drawers and full of childrens books from the District and some books I've never heard of before. The rest of the floor is covered with toys and teddys and little things for the baby to play with.
The walls are what really bring tears to my eyes though. Three of the walls are painted orange and scattered with different paintings that I would only recognise as Peeta's A couple of me, some of his family, a couple of the meadow and one of a baby, what I'm guessing he thinks the baby looks like. On the back wall, the main one where the baby's crib is, a beautiful sunset is seen through the exact same trees that lie just outside the District 12 border. "Peeta... I love it..." I say, speechless.
His hand snake around my waist and his head rests on my shoulder, making me feel safe and warm. "We are going to be a family. I love you so much." He says into my ear.
"I love you t-" I'm stopped by a sharp pain in my stomach, crippling me. My legs turn to jelly and I fall to the floor.
The pain is still there, whats going on. I cant bring myself to open my eyes though, It feels weird. The air around me is thick and stuck in my throat. The bed, scratchy and a presence, one that doesnt feel anything like Peeta, it doesnt feel like anything I've felt before. I'm not fully conscious.
"Katniss? You awake?" Then the whole reality sets in. My body becomes grounded and my eyes finally open. The person that talked is not someone I ever expected to see again. Gale. This cant be real. I must have died in that arena or something because I cant be seeing Gale any other way. "Katniss?"
My mouth finally unfreezes and I pull myself up, ignoring my whole body pain. "Gale?... Am I dead?" I ask.
As expected he laughs slightly and takes my hand in his. "No... You're very much alive." He's looking at me with a smile on his face and I squeeze his hand back.
I'm not entirely sure what I'm supposed to do in this kind of situation, well what exactly do you do when you find out that your best friend is actually alive when you thought him dead. "How are you here?" I ask.
"I'll talk about it later..." He replies.
If he doesnt want to talk about it then I'll just change the conversation. "Where are mum and Prim? They told us in the games that everyone that was left was slaughtered, is that true?" I feel my heart beating really fast. If Gale has survived maybe they have aswell.
"A lot of people where slaughtered yes but I got there in time to save a few people." My eyes grow wide in question. "Your mum, Prim, Leaven Mellark and Brooke, who just recently gave birth to a little girl, Poppy. I also got Holly out but she is still in intensive care after a bad blast from the Capitol. Then there was Eric and Gina Stratser and 3 guys from the Seam who I used to work in the mines left. Oh and also Harley, Del's little brother. Who now it appears has no family left. Thats all thats left of District 12. Your Mother and Prim are in the next room giving Holly her medicine for the day. She woke up yesterday so she is still really bad but they are helping her."
"Where are we?" I ask looking around. Obviously we aren in 12, I watched it fall.
"District 13..." He says with a small smile.
"13?" But I thought District 13 had burnt to the ground.
"Yeh its real..." He laughs slightly but that quickly dissapears. We are silent for a minute and then something springs to mind, something I never got to talk to him about because he was gone by the time it happened.
I look up to him but he is just looking down at our intwined hands. "Gale, I'm really sorry about Vick." I say and he looks at me with tears in his eyes.
He doesnt really say anything back to me and he has that look on his face that shows that he is hiding something. I squeeze his hands to show up that he can open up and he looks at me again. "We lost mum too, its just us three now, we also have Harley staying with us because he has nowhere else to go.
Why have so many people died. Everyone has lost almost everyone that they love. "What happened to your mum?" I ask. I dont remember anyone saying anything about his mum when they left.
"She died on the way here. We where attacked by a Capitol hovercraft when they left 12 about 2 months ago."
"I'm really sorry. And I'm really sorry about Delly too." He smiles at me again. That smile that I have so greatly missed. The picture of Delly when she fell to the floor comes to memory again and I feel myself crying.
Then he nods. "Its okay, we're coping."
Now would be a good chance to change the conversation and so I do. "What about the other districts and the tributes from the games?" I ask. I know that when we where in the arena, all hell broke lose but I dont actually know what happened.
"They are all still standing. Its only district 12 that was hit but some of the victors from the other districts where killed for rebelling. From the arena we saved Rye, Rowan, Kai, Beetee's nephew Bolt but the other ones sadly died." I didnt really know that there was many other tributes in the games. "The Victors wheren't as lucky." My heart drops. "They didnt die. But the Capitol showed up and took Finnick, Johanna, Beetee, Annie and Peeta. I'm sorry, I know he was your best friend."
Gale doesnt know. "Actually he's my husband." I say and his mouth drops open.
"The great Katniss Everdeen got married?" He says, causing me to laugh. "Wait, wheren't you dating Rye? I thought that baby was his? Yes I knew you where pregnant even before I died. I knew you where off, I know everything about you Katniss."
I laugh at him. "You've been away too long. This baby is Peeta's, it happened on his birthday, we where very very drunk and I had had feelings for him before that so it just kind of happened. We told Rye it was his because we didnt want to hurt him but then I found out that he was cheating on me with Gina and had been for about 6 months and eventually my relationship with Peeta grew a lot until we got married." Gale nods in understanding.
"You're making me wish I hadnt saved them now." He says laughing. "I wondered why they where so close."
I quickly hug him and he leaves to go and get my mother and Prim. And so I spend the next hour and a half catching up with my mother and Prim and then Rye who wanted to come in with Gina but didnt take it too much to heart when I told him I really didnt want her coming in.
I think back to the dream that blessed my mind whilst I was sleeping. Peeta had finally finished the Nursery and it was so beautiful. The use of both of our favourite colours and favourite sceneries. Mine, the forest, his, the sunset. I wonder if it will ever look like that in real life, back in District 12. If it will. Maybe he's already finished it and its just waiting for its baby?
What if he can never finish it because of President Snow? What if he takes Peeta's life to stop the rebellion? Not that I think it will actually make much difference. Has he already killed him? Maybe he did it when Peeta was still in the arena, when he wasnt that far away from me. Could Peeta actually have died not far from me that arena and me know nothing about it? Just because I cared more about getting out of that damn place together I forgot to check in on the one other person I wanted to survive at all costs. Could this be my fault. If I'd just payed attention to him would he be here right next to me, telling me that everything is going to be okay?
"Katniss?" I'm caught crying by a guest. I quickly try and wipe away any stray tears as I turn around to see the face of the person come to see me but it doesnt work and I turn to see a mans face. No, this cant be possible, the tears must be clouding my eyesight. He's been dead for 5 years.
My voice completely goes and the one word I havent said in years comes out in more of a choke. "Dad?" I ask the man who look exactly like my father.
He walks a little closer. He doesnt look the same as I remember him, he looks slightly older, like he would if he was still alive. "Katniss. I'm so sorry, I shouldnt have left but the mine collapsed I had to get out of there." He says, sitting on the end of my bed an taking my hand, exactly the same position Gale was in when he visited me. I must be dead, This must be one big dream. Maybe everyone in the arena died.
I'm staring at him for a while before I find the will to speak. "What do you mean? What are you doing here?" More tears fall from my eyes.
He holds my hand tighter and his hands feel real, like I remember them, rough from years and years of mining and hunting, not as big as they used to be but I guess mine arent as small as they used to me when we would walk through the woods. "Well for years there had been talk in the mines about getting everyone out of 12 and the plan was to go through the mines. We where going to get everyone out but then the mines collapsed amd me and Cole had to find a way out so we came through here. I tried to come home, honestly but they wouldnt let me. I hoped that one day I would see you again and here you are. There was word around 13 that you had gone into the games but I didnt really believe any of them until the hovercraft left to collect you all and then I saw you again when we lifted you from that arena."
"Cole? Gale's dad? He's alive?" I ask him. I know how broken up about his dad Gale was, it must be great for him to see his father again.
Dad bows his head. "I did get him out but he didnt make it here. Too much dust inhalation so when I heard about Gale in the mines, I just knew I had to get him out because I failed with his father. He looks so much like him, I miss him everyday and I always felt guilty that I wasnt able to save him for his wife and his three sons and unborn child."
"You're really here? I cant believe it. Its like a dream!" I say, it starting to feel more real now. Not only because I can feel his touch and hear his voice but because he's story sound genuinly real. Not something you can just make up.
He smiles at me and pulls me in for a hug, kissing me on the tip of the nose like he used to in the middle of the night when I would wake up from a nightmare. "I know. I cant believe youre here. Prim really has grown up hasnt she? And you... I cant believe how grown up you are. I guess you're not my little girl anymore... Look at you... You're..." He looks me over and his eyes stop on my stomach.
"Pregnant..." I say with a laugh as he raises one eyebrow and a smile on his face.
He nods. "Pregnant... And who and how?" I expected a question like that to be honest. He is my father after all.
"Peeta Mellark, my childhood best friend, remember" I say and he nods. "I'm also married to him. The marraige wasnt a plan it just kind of happened." He has that look on his face that he has only ever given me once, that he is dissapointed in me.
"Pregnant and Married?" He asks.
I find myself pulling away from him now. "Yeh, I was dating Rye at the time and then on Peeta's brithday, we where very drunk and ended up having sex and we tried to persuade Rye that the baby was his because he never knew about me and Peeta and then I found out that Rye was cheating on me so we broke up and I ended up dating Peeta until he asked me to marry him and then I moved into the Victors Village across from Uncle Haymitch." I explain and when I try to pull my hands away from him, he just pulls me back and into a hug.
"Oh katniss I'm so sorry." I hear him say into my hair and I let out a massive breathe.
He might not hate me for this but what about Peeta? Even I know that its not very good news to anyones father when they find out their daughter is pregnant, especially at the age of 17. I know my father never thought that would happen with me. "Please dont hate Peeta for this, he has been through too much." I say, pulling away fom him but he just looks confused.
"What do you mean?" He asks. Duh, I didnt think. He obviously doesnt know whats happened whilst he's been 'dead'.
"Sorry, Peeta won the 73rd Hunger Games, the worst ones to date. He's not right in the head but he still has an amazing heart. The games destroyed him and then Snow made him a Capitol Prostitute, It affected him so much. He couldnt even hold my hand properly for aged, It took him a long time to even be able to touch me, it ruined him that much. Then the next year, the 74th games, Peeta's friend Delly Cartwright won them with Gale." I tell him and he listens to every word.
"What do you mean with Gale?" He asks.
"Its a long story. Gale apparently died and then he showed up during the interview and we where all surprsied. Thats when the uprisings started. Anyway... Peeta's games where the most viscious games to ever happen and he still blacks out because of them. He is a very messed up person so just go easy on him please?" I plead. He smiles slightly again as if I'm talking nonsence.
His hand strokes up my arm and he looks me in the eyes. "Its not him I'm angry at... Its Rye... from what you say... He hurt you alot and thats what annoys me." I can understand that.
"Okay well promise me that you wont hurt Rye either. You dont have to like him because I dont like him either but he is still my brother in law." Then I smile.
"I promise." I hug him once more, just before our peace is interrupted by Mother. She looks happy, for the first time since dad died. As soon as she sees him, she kisses him. It used to disgust me but now its all I could have asked for, our family together at last.
I find myself crying again at the family I almost had with Peeta. When we where happy. Both my parents look at me and take me in their arms. "It will get better Katniss, they will find Peeta, I promise."
After they have both left, I get out of bed even though I'm not allowed to and find the outsude corridor to the rest of the rooms. I want to find Holly, to see if she is alright, thats all Peeta ever wanted to know so I'm going to find out for him. Cold air blows up my dress from the grates at the side that must be giving us oxygen and I hold it down so it doesnt go up and embarrass me.
I pass rooms and faces, some burnt, some bruised, some unconscious. Its all very over welming at the thought that any minute I could be walking past a room and one of these unconscious people could be Holly. I dont recognise anyone. Not the names or the faces or anything. Gale wasnt lying, hardly anyone made it out of 12. Where are they all though?
Then I walk past a name I recognise but the door is closed so I find my information from the little screen next to the glass door. Malachai Odair, Age 19, Tribute of 75th Games, Dsistrict 4, suffers sever burns to back and chest, broken ankle on left leg and a few broken fingers, treated by Doctor Bastien. He's in bad shape. I steal myself and walk in the room.
There he lies in the bed. My ally, my friend. One of the only people here that understands me. "Kai?" I ask quietly.
"I'm awake. Just resting my eyes." He replies. "Everytime I do I see Pen. They think I'm mad but I'm far from mad." He says, puling himself up with his good hand and motioning for me to sit on the end of his bed which I do so.
I look at him, he looks terrible. His face is unharmed, no cuts or bruised. He still looks like his handsome self but he chest has been bandaged and you can see the red skin that spread up to his neck, some of it resulting in pus filled sores. His right hand has been bandaged and even on top of the covers I can see the pot on his left leg. "How are you?" I ask him instinctively.
"I've definitely been better. My girlfriend is dead and my brother will surely be dead soon. I have no-one else. Has Rowan come to see you yet?" He asks me, changing the subject quickly.
"I dont know I only woke up earlier today. How long ago was the arena?" I ask him hoping that he has been awake since it.
He thinks for a minute. "About a week ago. Your mother was giving me updates on your recovery but she failed to mention you where awake." He laughs. "Its nice to see you up though and I'm sorry about Peeta."
"So how is everyone else that got out of the arena?" I ask him.
He laughs at my ability to change subject , even though he probably knows he does it aswell. "Well Rowan helps out in command because you're not fit to do it yet. Rye, I heard helps out in the kitchens because they dont actually have a baker here, You can see what I'm doing and Bolt I believe is trying to get through Beetee's safety system that he set up around the capitol to keep broadcasts out which for some reason you where able to get through when you told everyone to rebel." We both laugh over it.
"When will you be okay to get out of bed?" I ask him. I dont really want to go back to my room alone and mum, dad and Prim will have there own place here in the underground. Kai has been a really good friend and I'm guessing he needs someone right now aswell.
"Not for a while yet I dont think. Whenever my leg is fit to walk on." He smiles. "Why?"
"I just dont want to be alone." I mumble as if its embarrassing. "Its just I'm used to sleeping in a room with someone. First Prim, then Rye and then Peeta, I have no experience with being in a room by myself. Would it be alright if I stayed here for a while?" I ask him.
His laugh that follows is loud. "I will stay up and talk to you as long as you want. I've been mostly sleeping the past couple of days so I'm not tired at all and I cant see you being either." I shake my head.
For the rest of the night I just sit and talk with Kai about everything that either of us remember from the arena. Its not a lot but its enough to piece it together. He then tells me about him and Penelope growing up which leads me to talk about me and Peeta and how we where the only Boy/Girl friendship in the entire school and we where bullied for it.