Chapter 7
Hardship
(Peeta's POV)
The hatred in Gale's eyes was enough to make anyone tremble, but I held my ground and calmly rose from the couch, Katniss stands with me glaring hatefully as Gale shakes his head multiple times and slams her front door, rattling the glass window located at the top of the wooden door. He stands tall, muscles prodding from his arms and he wears a black pair of pants and a heavy winter jacket, snowflakes have begun to fall from the sky and they now litter his jacket, the first snow of the season has fallen and that means I got here just in time for the temperatures to drop.I don't want to fight with Gale, but the serious look he is giving me tells me it is unavoidable, it's coming and there is no stopping it. I wont hit him first I'll let him make the first move.
"What the fuck are you doing back here Mellark" Gale spits venomously.
"What the hell are you doing in here in my house Gale. I'm tired of you just walking in" Katniss growls.
"I wanted to apologize for how I acted earlier, I didn't mean to scare you or you're mother."
"I want you to get out" Katniss demands.
"And leave you alone with this mental case, not likely."
I sigh in irritation and control the bubbling hatred that boils inside me. The last thing I want to do was fall into an episode and attack my pregnant...What were Katniss and I anyway? Girlfriend and boyfriend? Friends with benefits? I don't know what we were to each other all I know is I want him to leave before things get bad and I do something I might regret. The best thing for all of us now if for Gale to leave and allow Katniss and I to talk more, without being interrupted like this. A fight can be avoided I just have to choose my words carefully, control my temper and emotions, but just looking at him makes me angry. The fact that he has been here with her this whole time during the pregnancy makes my blood boil. So many things could have gone on between the two of them while I was in the Capitol getting help. Thing went on between them in District 13 while I was getting the shit beat out of me so why wouldn't they have something going on between them now, judging by the hateful look on Katniss's face its become obvious that she is annoyed and angered by Gale's presence and so am I.
"I think you need to walk back out that door, when Katniss is done being angry at you I'm sure she will make an effort to come and find you. For now I think you should walk away" I suggest calmly.
My words only set him off "You want me to leave! Asshole I've been here this entire time taking care of her and the baby while you've played mental-case in some capitol psych ward. Why the fuck are you even back?" He demands.
"For my home, For Katniss and for my baby" I reply bravely. Gale takes a step forward, his eyes full of jealousy and rage, his fists are clutched at his side, its obvious that he wants to end me, and if he is willing to throw the first punch then I have no choice but to defend myself, as much as I hate fighting with another person I'm not going to sit there and become someone's punching bag, it's not going to happen, not again. I refuse to let someone beat on me.
"Gale, please leave, I need to talk to him, this is my house and you are not welcomed right now."
Gale ignores Katniss's pleas and begins pacing back and forth, mumbling angrily under his breath.. His hands are still clutched into fists, indicating he is ready for a fight. He hits me and that will be it I'll beat the shit out of him. I didn't come back here to be attacked by him, I came back for her and the need to start our relationship over again. I want to help her heal and in return she cane help me heal, and I can't do all of that with Gale breathing down our necks. We got enough on our plates as it is, with a baby on the way and nothing for it, Katniss's mom suggesting we give it up because both of us are too unstable to raise it, now Gale wanting to basically kill me because I came back into the picture.
"Mellark if you think for a second I'm going anywhere and allow you to kill her like you tried to in District 13 your crazy. She's pregnant and delicate right now and wouldn't be able to defend herself against you."
" What about what I want!" Katniss shouts, startling both of us, "What about what I want Gale. You can't try to make choices for me, I want him here, I want this baby to know her father."
"He's dangerous Katniss, Do you really want to put your child at risk"
He is really starting to piss me off to the extent that if he keeps running his mouth I might snap and be the first one to throw the punch. I have to stay calm and hope Katniss can talk him out of staying here much longer. I rub my temples in frustration and focus my positive thoughts on Katniss. It is very dangerous for me to be around both of them at the same time, just because most of what the capitol tortured me with was about the two of them being romantically involved, torturing me with their deep kisses and passionate lovemaking. The baby could be his, No I had to push that thought away and trust Katniss when she said that I was the only man she has ever made love to. Gale is inches away from us, the rage is still in his eyes, him and Katniss are having a screaming match, but I tune out what they are saying. My thoughts are consuming me and it's not until he screams in her face and places his hand on her shoulder to shake her do I snap out on him. I gently push her behind me, out of his sight and shove him hard, making him stumble and almost lose his balance.
"Get out of her face, I swear to god I'll beat the shit out of you if you lay another hand on her" I threaten him.
He moves forward and pushes me back "Don't touch me you piece of shit."
"Don't touch her" I hiss back.
"Both of you stop it" Katniss shouts from behind me, this stress and sadness she is feeling is unhealthy for the baby. I need to get Gale out of this house before he stresses her out even more.
"I'm sick and tired of you, Peeta. Fucking all she ever talked about was you while you were gone. Fuck I can't deal with you. I've done everything for her, came back to this shit-fucking hole, but nothing I do can compare to you" He turns to face Katniss, his cheeks red with anger "What is it Katniss He got a big dick? hmm, is that why you want to stay with him, or maybe you just like how he beats you, you into that kind of shit?"
She is in tears now.
"After everything I've done for you and you want to act like an ungrateful little bitch, and here I went as far as offering to raise that little bastard when its born."
That's it I had enough of him, I pull my fist back and as hard as I can I punch in square in the lip, cracking his skin, causing blood to slowly start to seep from his mouth. He's out of control, out of characters, this is a man who claims he loves Katniss with every fiber in his being, but yet turns around and calls her a bitch and our child a bastard, I'm not going to sit here and listen to his shit, I don't need it, my mind is fucked up enough without him agitating me any further. Gale wipes the blood from his lip with his index finger and glares at me. He charges, grunting and growling as he tackles me to the ground, my head hits the carpet and he is on me, punching me as hard as he can, left and right.
"Stop it" Katniss cries "Stop it please" She doesn't risk trying to get in the middle of us for fear one of us might end up hitting her or somehow damaging the baby. So she sits back helpless and watches us pound the shit out of each other, screaming and begging for us to stop hurting each other.
"I'll kill you Peeta" Gale growls and continues hitting me. "I should have killed you when you asked us to"
I gather all the strength I had and push him off of me, using my left leg to kick his stomach and chest as he goes to straddle me again. I scramble to my feet as quickly as possible before he can catch his breath, my knuckles smack him square in the left eye, causing it to immediately swell. His face connects with my fist over and over until he is almost as bloody and swollen as I am.
"If either of you love me at all you'll stop" Katniss pleas between her sobs, and I do stop punching the life out of Gale, but he doesn't. He is to consumed with anger to even listen to Katniss, taking advantage of my stillness he wraps his large arm around my neck and cuts off the air circulation, while using his other arm to punch my chest and hard as he can. I struggle, clawing at his hands, desperate for the oxygen that my brain has been denied.
"Stop Gale, You'll kill him."
"GOOD"
He has every intention of killing me and there is nothing Katniss or I can do about it. His strong grip around my neck is tight and unbreakable, I'm feeling light-headed, the room is spinning and I feel like I'm going to pass out, but then suddenly the air rushes back into my brain and I gasp, cough and fall to the ground, allowing the oxygen to flow back into my body. He stopped for some reason and that reason being my long-lost mentor Haymitch. He stands there with his own arm wrapped around Gale's neck, somehow he was strong enough to pull Gale off of me before he could kill me. Haymitch is strong for an older guy and I'm grateful that he just saved me from being choked to death. Gale thrashed against his grip but is never able to break it, all of his energy was wasted on me, he had none left to fight off Haymitch.
"Useless old man huh?" Haymitch chuckles into his ear.
"Gale Hawthorne you are out of control" Screams Katniss's mother Lynn. "I am so disappointed in you. Get him out of my daughter's house" Lynn orders Haymitch and he obeys and drags Gale out the front door, throwing him head first down the stairs and slamming the door behind him. Haymitch turns to me and shakes his head.
"First day back and already got into a fight, welcome back boy" Haymitch grins.
"Thanks for pulling him off me" I gasp out, my voice is still raspy from Gale's grip. I rise to my feet feeling like a truck had just hit me and turned to Katniss who was now sitting on the couch with one hand on the baby and the other against her head, her eyes were still filled with tears and I'm not sure whether or not I should go to her and try to comfort her or she was angry with me for hitting Gale first, I couldn't help it though he called her a bitch and he called my child a bastard. Lynn rushes over to Katniss and takes her in her arms.
"Katniss your long overdue for a check-up, we need to make sure the baby is ok" Lynn helps Katniss up from the couch and takes her upstairs leaving Haymitch and I alone to do some catching up. He like everyone else hasn't changed much in the last couple of months, although if you count the extra gray hair that has sprouted in his roots, other than that he was the same. I take a seat on the couch and take deep breaths, my breathing is deep and racing, emotions are sky-high, an Episode is likely if I don't get myself under control. I can feel the rage, sadness, jealousy, all bottled up inside me, ready to be let loose. Haymitch leans against the wall of the living room, studying every inch of me.
"Boy, Do you need to step out?" He questions.
"No, I'm fine as long as I don't have to see that piece of shit" I assure him. "The last thing I wanted to do was cause a fight, upset Katniss and get my ass-kicked. I didn't come here to cause drama, I needed to see her."
"It's a good thing you came back to, she needs you a lot"
"You weren't there for her were you?" I question shifting my gaze so I glance at Haymitch.
"No I really wasn't" He answers honestly "She had that dick-head which I regret leaving her with, and her recently her mother, but mainly I didn't come around because of Gale. That boy has hatred in him and its going to destroy him."
"I don't ever want him near her again. I'll do everything in my power to keep her from him."
"Peeta you need to be careful, that boy will do anything for her, even go as far as killing you" Haymitch warns,
"You really think he'd do that? I mean Gale is an asshole I get that but he knows how much Katniss loves me, it would break her if I died."
"Or Gale thinks she would fall right into his arms"
"That's unlikely, anyway I don't want to talk about this anymore. How are you?"
"Alive and kicking, this place is shit, we have nothing here, everything has to be ordered and dammit the alcohol takes forever to get here." Haymitch complains.
"I'm going to have to start ordering baking supplies and baby clothes. Things are going to be different around here."
"Good because I'm tired of seeing her depressed. I know I did a bad thing by leaving her to deal with this one her own, makes me a terrible guardian and mentor, but I, I have some problems of my own to deal with right now. It's good that you are back boy, maybe the two of you can finally get the healing process going, the only advice I can give you though is take it very slowly, them episodes you have are bad news and sweetheart is in a delicate state and so is your baby. I know this is a bad thing to say but one horrific episode from you can end it all" He warns.
That's not going to happen I'll make sure I am careful around her. Haymitch is right this isn't just about Katniss anymore it's about my unborn child too. The child I so desperately, but yet terrified to meet. I've always wanted a child even when I was younger, kids were always an option for me, but now that it is actually happened I'm terrified at the fact that I might be a bad father. How would I be able to explain to this baby about my condition or all the horrors that Katniss and I went through, I want to keep every horrible thing away from it starting with Gale. Determination to make sure this baby had everything I could ever possibly give it fills my body, it wasn't going to have the life that Katniss and I had, it was going to have a shit ton of clothes, food and toys to play with, I'll make sure of it. We had a long road ahead of us and a good place to start was focusing on our baby.
Katniss's mother comes down the stairs a couple of minutes later, looking worried and the first thought that comes to my mind is that the baby is unhealthy, something was wrong with it. Lynn sits next to me on the couch and clasp her hands together. I don't know if I'm ready for the news she is about to give me or how'll I'll react to it.
"Katniss is exhausted. She needs her rest" Lynn says.
"The baby?" I question.
"She is under so much stress that I'm shocked that she hasn't already miscarried in her first trimester. The baby can feel her stress and depression and it isn't good for it. We need to keep her happy and stress free, other than that it seems to have a very strong heartbeat, but I really would like her to see one of the more experienced doctors in 4, but I can't do that without contacting the Capitol and getting the presidents okay."
"She wouldn't want that and as the father I don't want that, cameras will be all over the place. Cant you have them come here?"
"It's complicated Peeta and frankly I don't think you have much of a say in the matter. You may be the father of the baby, but I am Katniss's mother and she is only 17 and has no idea what she is doing. Guidance is needed, We need to focus on delivering that baby safely and fluently, a doctor in 4 will do fine. I'm her mother I have a say in this. She is still in her teens, hardly an adult. Don't worry no suspicions will rise"
I stare at her, there is determination in her eyes. She is set on doing this, revoking Katniss's banishment to another District which will rise question in the capitol. I don't want them finding out anything about my child, I don't want their cameras, or crowds, none of it. Lynn was stupid in thinking she'd get away with moving Katniss without any suspicions, if I knew the Capitol which I did having spent months in their crowded streets, having cameras flash in my face and people surround me. I knew that one whiff of this pregnancy and they will swarm us.
To be continued...