Real or not Real? By Olivia Isbill
Chapter 3
I stand there for a moment. Dead silent. Taking in my surroundings, and what just happened. I see Peeta, on one knee holding out a ring. We are on the training center roof. In the garden where we always visited. Then I remember Peeta's words. "Katniss Everdeen, Will you marry me?" We are both still silent. I'm thinking all of this through my head. You and Peeta can live together forever. I thought. We could really do it. Be together again.
"Oh my gosh. Peeta…" My eyes widen, and I put on a smile. "Of course!"
He stands up and I give him a huge hug. He holds me tightly for a minute, and kisses my forehead. "That's what I thought you'd say" He says with a smirk. We both pull back from our hug, grab each other's hands, and trot back down to Paylor. She and Haymitch are both standing there with huge smiles on their faces. I didn't know why until I see Paylor running up to hug me. I hug her back, not knowing why she is doing this. Then she says.
"Congratulations! I'm so happy for you two!" Then she hugs us both. She knew! She and Haymitch both knew! Peeta must have planed all of this. Just to be sure, I ask him.
"Of course I did. Everything had to be perfect for you." He says coolly.
"So there wasn't any announcement or anything Paylor?" I say looking toward her now.
"Nope, just the proposal. Peeta wanted to have it done on the roof, and as you see, I allowed it." She replies. I can't help but go up and hug her. I whisper in her ear. "Thank you." She just nods, I let go of her and smile back at her. Then I turn to Peeta, grab his hand, and we all walk out the door then Me, Peeta, and Haymitch are on our way back to 12.
Peeta POV
When we reach district 12, me and Katniss both walk over to her house. We are about to enter her home when she says "So for real this time?" I only assume she is talking about getting married. I mean, what else would she be talking about? I finally take in the realization. Me and Katniss are actually getting married. I want to have the wedding immediately but I know we can't do that. I stand there silent for a minute. I look up hoping to see her face. She has her eyes fixed on the ground. I lift my hand to her chin, and lift her head up. Gently. Her eyes are completely focused on mine now. She is still waiting for a reply. I then say.
"Why not? I love you Katniss, I want to be with you, forever." I glance at the ground, then back up at her eyes. She's still looking into mine. I start to lean in, a little bit closer. She seemed a bit startled at first when I scooted in. But I know she's not anymore when she reaches up and kissed me. I loved her kisses. They were the only ones I ever wanted. She was the only girl I ever wanted. And finally, I had her. We both smile and I open the door for her, she mutters a thank you, and we both walk inside. We both sit down on the couch, she leaned up against me. Her head on my chest. I braided her hair. We were both silent. I didn't notice when she dozed off. Because about ten minutes later, I did too.
Katniss POV
I woke up the next morning, and I was still laying on Peeta. He is just laying there. With his eyes closed. I can tell he's awake though. He sits up and says.
"No nightmares?" I nod my head, and lay it back down. I didn't have a nightmare, or a dream. Just a goodnight's sleep. We both sit there for a minute, and Peeta gets up to go make breakfast. He makes blueberry pancakes. Not any kind of bread. He makes these occasionally, when he's in a really good mood. I'm not surprised he is today. When he finishes with the pancakes, he sets a plate down on the table, and tells me the food is ready. I stand up and walk over to the table, nearly falling over. I was laying down for about twelve hours. I needed to get the hang of walking for a minute. We both sit and eat our pancakes. They were delicious.
"I need to go hunting." I say after we both finish our food.
"Okay Katniss, when are you going to go?" He asks.
"Probably in a couple hours." I say with a shrug.
"Okay." He says without hesitation.
For the next hour, Peeta and I draw and write about plants in my family book. We only finish a couple pages, before I say I should go out to the woods. Peeta doesn't protest. I walk upstairs to my bathroom and take a quick shower. I get dressed in a pair of jeans and grab a T-shirt. I take my hunter's jacket out of my closet and put on my boots. I walk back downstairs and give Peeta a quick kiss on the cheek before I leave.
I head out of my home and walk out of the Victor's Village. I walk across the meadow and finally reach the fence. I still listen for the electricity to be safe. I mean, you never know. I shimmy through the hole in the fence and start heading for the woods. I grab my bow and arrow from the hollowed out trunk, and make my way farther into the woods. I shoot a squirrel, and a rabbit. I walk out even farther into the woods until I reach the lake. Gale is there.
"Hey Catnip." He says with a smile and stands.
"Hi." I say staring at the ground.
"Do you still hate me?" He asks seriously.
"I never hated you." I say reassuring him. " I wouldn't ever hate you. It wasn't your fault Gale. It's just the way it is." Tears start to roll down my cheek. He gives me a hug and I don't object. I cry into his shoulder for a minute and gather myself. He asks what I caught and I hold up the Rabbit and squirrel. He laughs. I have been missing Gale. Not the way I missed Peeta. I missed hunting with Gale. My bestfriend and I never spoke anymore. We hunted for about an hour longer. I told Gale I needed to leave. But then I remembered I needed to tell him something.
"Gale."
"Yeah Katniss." He asked.
"Peeta and I are going to get married." I say again looking at the ground.
"I'm happy for you. " He says with a grin. Maybe Gale decided to change. Changed his feelings for me. Finally realized we are just friends. That I love Peeta, I love Gale too of course. But not the way I love Peeta.
"Oh, thank you then." I say. I then give him a hug goodbye and start to head back for my home.
I shimmy back under the fence and start walking toward the Victor's Village. It started snowing. The ground got slick and covered with ice. I nearly fell when I was walking through the square. I was just now turning into the Victor's Village when I turned around. Still walking I turn back and my foot slips on a piece of ice. I was on yards away from my home. I felt a sharp pain in my foot. I felt a pain in my foot before, when I jumped over the fence and hurt my heel. I had did something to my ankle this time though. The pain was massive. I wasn't sure exactly what happened to my foot. But I knew it wasn't good. Luckily, Peeta had went back to his house after I left, He must have been worried about me because I saw him walking over to my house. He looked back for a second and saw me. He started running towards me. I'm surprised he didn't slip. He bends down on his knees beside me and says.
"Are you okay Katniss?" I see concern in his eyes. Snow is falling and he's getting it in his hair. I love the way his hair looks with snow in it. His blond hair with the snow.
"I hurt my foot, my ankle. I slipped on some ice. I can't get up." I say suddenly.
"Come on then." He says. He picks me up and starts to carry to my house. He sets me down on my bed when we get inside. He grabs some ice and holds it against my foot. He tells me to go to sleep. That I needed to rest. He gets up to start leaving when I say.
"No, Peeta. Stay with me." He comes over and grabs my hands, sitting beside me. The I hear him whisper, before I doze off.
"Always."