A/N: (Thank You, Hannha, for reviewing. It really gave me confidence for this next chapter. Also, to clear up any confusion, Prim did die in MJ, but I decided to keep her alive in my story. So, lets try and get two more reviews before I post the next chapter.)
5 Years Later -
Posy's POV-
I notched an arrow as I saw something move quickly from the corner of my eye, followed by snapping branches and rustling leaves. I turned on my heel as quietly as possible to look for my prey. I spotted a patch of brown fur and pulled back the arrow waiting for my prey to come more into focus to shoot. My prey scurrted more into view and I realized that it wasnt what I thouht it was. It wasnt a deer or even a beaver, but a huge brown bear. He moved towards me sniffing the ground until it was ten feet away from me. It looked up from the ground towards me and growled at me. I aimed my arrow towards the ground in front of it and it landed a foot infront of its paw. It looked at me and started to charge. I spun on my heel as I felt its claws dig into my back and leave me with a scratch from my right shoulder to the middle of my lower back. I whimpered in pain and ran as fast as I could as I heard the snapping of branches following me. I made it towards the front of the woods, when I finally lost the bear to probably lost cause. I slumped against the tree, and felt my back ache in pain from the scratch. I sighed as I walked slowly towards the fence with bow in hand and crawled under.
I stood and slowly walked towards the town through the old part of the Seam where I use to and currently live and made my way towards Rebel Village, where Ma and Vick currently resided. When I reached the porch, I moaned in pain and slowly climbed the stairs to the front door. I knocked on the door as I held my hand to my back to feel blood pooring out of it. The door opened and I saw the person that I absoultey loathed standing there. Gale stood there smiling his head off as if nothing ever had happened.
"Care to help me?" I ask digusted. He just stood there not blinking or moving or doing anything.
"Gale! I am bleeding." I said angrily as I pulled my blood covered hand from my back, "Scratch that. I am bleeding alot." Instead of helping me, he shut the door and somehow I fell to the ground.
I opened my eyes and felt the straw matress I was laying in on the floor.'It was just a dream'I told myself. I sat up and my hand went instantly to my back where indeed the scrath marks froom last week were covered by my sweatshirt. I took a deep breath in disappiontment and moved my hand from my back to my face. Why did I always have nightmares. Why? Ever since Gale told me about 2, I have been stuck this way. As if my brain had been stuck in shock and anger mode when I slept. I had been brought out of my pity party for almost six months, but my brain had apparently not gotten the memo.
Flashes of the four and a half years during that time played through my mind as I laid back down to try and fall back asleep. The time I explained to my family that I couldnt stay in that house, the time I nearly died of starvation from refussal to eat, the time Josh literally told me how to function, the time I had a panick attack over seeing Gale for his wedding, but was able to stay home do to passing out from hyperventalating. I grabbed to the side of my bed where I kept a small kitchen knife, incase someone broke in and wrapped my fingers around its handle as I fell into a restless sleep.
Josh's POV-
I walked into the bakery to be met by blackness. It was 4 o'clock in the morning and by 6 the bakery would be filled with the smell of fresh bread. I flipped on the kitchen light to see the gleaming silver colored tables where I would be able to work on Posy's cake in peace. Luckily, I was able to ask Peeta to come in early and all he did was smile and hand me the keys.
I closed the back door behind me and went over to the old radio Bex, our head baker, kept in back so we could groove along as we worked and flipped it on to here Posy's favorite song, Enchanted, by Taylor Swift. Smiling at the choice of music, I washed my hands in the sink and wrapped my apron around my waist. I knew exactly the cake I would make my now 16 year old best friend. I pulled out the nessissary ingredients and a big bowel and started to mix them together into her favorite Apple Crumble cake that I invented.
I placed it in the oven, just as the sun started to rise and Posy's song ended and a new song I didn't recognize came on. I hoped up onto the counter across from the oven and watched as the cake began to rise and bake. It reminded me of when I first met Pos.
We met actually here in this bakery. She was getting bread and I was getting crescents, and something about us just clicked in my mind. She seemed so sad and angry when we actually spoke for the first time, but deep down I could see a wonderful person who could make the sunshine brighter just by smiling. We became best friends and I learned about her life. Her issues with Gale, his house, his money, anything that had to do with him really. Her life before the Rebellion. And she learned about my life in District 4. And as best friends I helped her out of the deep dark hole she was in and she helped me out of my smaller one. Through it all, I kept telling myself that eventually I would see the real Posy Hawthorne that existed before her problems, even if it meant telling her that everything would work out in the end and giving her a hug to telling her what to do to get ready for school.
The oven dinged and I slid off the counter grabbing the oven mitts on my way. With the oven mitts on, I took out the golden brown cake and placed it on the counter; letting it cool. I took of the oven mitts and made sure to set them back in it place, so that way Bex wouldn't have a panic attack and grabbed out my sketch book from under the counter and a pencil.
I started to sketch out the design for the cake as it cooled and came up with the design in no time. I decided to frost it with candy apple red icing and place yellow posies everywhere with 'Happy Birthday Posy' written in my best cursive handwriting in the middle of it in white. I pulled off the page and hovered my hand over the pan; feeling its warmth. It was cool enough to take out of the pan so I grabbed a knife and slid it around the edges, popping it out with ease onto a baking rack, waiting for it to cool the rest of the way in order to ice it. I grabbed my sketchbook again and started to sketch out a picture of my best friend smiling as she iced a cake with Peeta. This was defidently after her depression and I absolutely loved it. Im being honest when I say, I love seeing her smile. She seems like she has something that nobody else it is remarkably beautiful. I sketched her dark brown hair in a pony tail that trailed over her shoulder, flour on her cheeks, and her apron hanging from her hips. I was half way through, when the sun started to show on the paper and I realized I had been drawing for a long while. I placed my sketchbook back under the counter and grabbed Posy's cake from the cooling racks on my way to the icing room.
I grabbed a tin of icing from the day before and a spatual from the pantry and sat the cake on a stand. As I went around the edges and tp of the cake; smoothing and spreading buttercream icing, I thought about the gift I was giving Posy. I know she is going to complain about me getting ER something for a long time, but I know that she will be extactic about it. Just as I was finishing up icing it, I heard the back door open and the heavy footsteps that belonged to Peeta come in.
"Mornin' Pete!" I called as I wiped of the spatual on the contair.
"Morning, Josh. How is Posy's cake coming?" he asked as he came in still in his sweeatshirt and scarf from the cold.
"Well, pretty good. I still need to decorate it. Do you think you could help me with the flowers?" I asked. He cracked a smile.
"Sure. Let me go get ready first." he told me as I pulled out some red and yellow icing and a piping bag.
Together we pipped out beautiful posies and I wrote Happy Birthday in the center in my best cursive writting. I guess I did an okay job, saying since I was half asleep and it isn't really my skill of expetise, but I knew Posy would love it.
"Tell her to take the day off." Peeta told me as he slid a bakery box with the cake in it towards me, "And don't tell her-"
"I know. I wasn't planing on it." I told him jokingly, "I better get going. She should be up by now." I waved goodbye and slid off my apron as I held onto the box in my free hand. I walked out the back door and towards the Seam where Posy technically lived.
Posy's POV-
I felt my shoulder being shook and ever so slightly I grasped my hand around the knifes handle. I kept being shaken slightly and I moved quickly rolling over and jabbing my knife in mid air as I felt myself being let go.
"Being stabbed is not on my to do list today." the familiar voice of Josh told me. I looked up to see him looking down on me. I gave him a small smile and put my knife back beside my bed.
"Morning Josh. What are you doing here anyways?" I asked. As I sat up and was welcomed with a hug from my best friend.
"To tell you three things. One, Happy Birthday, Pos." he told me. I smiled even wider.
"You remembered." I said surprised.
"Of course I did. I would never forget my best friends birthday, let alone her sixteenth. Its like your second most important birthday of all time!" he told me with a smirk.
"What's your first?" I asked confused.
"Uh duh, your eighth, because you can finally use big kid scissors." he told me as he chuckled. I laughed along with him.
"Yeah, that's really important." I told him sarcastically through the fit of giggles.
"Second thing. Peeta told you to take the day off work." he told me as I stood up and pulled down my old t-shirt that I think you to be Rory's at some point under my over sized sweatshirt.
"Nope? I work today." I told him as I walked into our small kitchen when a box from the bakery was sitting on the table.
"Oh, come on you have not missed a day of work in two years. I think you could use a day off." he told me as we both sat in our rickety old kitchen chairs. I gave him a playful glare and he returned it, but eventually gave in once I started to give it more intimidation and let me have my way.
"Fine! But, at least give me your day off, because unlike you I want the day off." he told me in a serious tone.
"Fine. I'll help Bex with the ovens today, while you laze around the house." I told him. He smiled, but then it turned it became smaller.
"Anyways, I thought I said no presents." I told him gesturing the box on the table.
"It's from everyone at the bakery, I'm just the delivery guy." he told me and held up his hands in surrender.
"You do realize you work at the bakery right?" I told him as I gave him my famous 'You have to be kidding me' look, "So technically it is partly from you."
He gave me a playful scowl and stuck his tongue out at me as he opened the box to reveal a beautiful cake with red posies and 'Happy Birthday Posy' written in the middle in Josh's handwritting
"Okay, fine. Blame the junior baker." he told me, "Anyways, who wants cake?" he held up my knife from the side of my bed and I laughed slightly as he held it as if he was going to stab the cake to death.
"For breakfast?" I asked.
"Well, what better way to start off a birthday." he told me.
"True!" He held the knife over the cake and plunged down.
"Aw! You killed my beautiful cake." I told him with melancholy. We laughed together again and he served us each a huge slice of my favorite Apple crumble cake as we sat at the rickety old breakfast table.
After we finished he grabbed the dishes and started towards the sink.
"What are you doing?" I asked him.
"Serving you my queen." he told me as he gave me a huge smirk and gave a sharp bow. I got up and luckily got to the sink before he did.
"My house. My dishes. My sink. And my responsibility." I told him and snagged the dishes out of his hands.
"Your birthday. Your house. Your dishes. Your sink. Your best friend. My responsibility." he told me and grabbed the dishes back and turned the sink on as he started to wash them.
"Josh, seriously. I can wash the dishes." I told him and tried to push him out of the way.
"Nope." he told me.
"Yep." I told him as I continued to try and push him away.
"Nope. And there done." he told me as he finished washing the last plate. I humphed in annoyance as he dried his hands on his sweatshirt.
"Did I upset the princess?" he asked with a laugh.
"I thought I was a queen." I told him and walked back towards the table.
"You are."
"But you said-"
"I know."
"And-"
"And I have another piece of news that I didn't mention." he cut me off again as we sat back at the table.
He pulled out a white piece of paper that I realized was an envelope and hand it to me.
"I thought I told you-"
"Just take it. Come on, we will talk about this later. Open it." he told me as I looked down at it. I slid my index finger under the fold and the paper ripped open to revel two strips of blue paper and a smaller white one. I pulled out the slipps and looked back up at Josh.
"Thank you. I always wanted paper." I told him.
"Read it." he told me. I thought back to all the times he told me that, especially when Gale's letters came. I set the envelope down and read the white slip of paper first.
Posy,
Happy birthday. I thought you would really like this gift, and I know you will probably tear my head off later, but just think about this for a minute.
Love Always,
Josh
I looked up for a moment to see anticipation in Josh's eyes so, I read the blue strips. I looked back up when I finished and gave him a huge smile while I bit down on my lip to keep from squealing in excitement.
"Seriously?" I asked happily, "District 4?" he nodded.
"I knew you wanted to see it, so I saved up some money and we are going to go during Spring Break. My aunt Sonia, said we could stay with her for free so. Are you-" he told me with a smile. I let out the squeal I had been holding in and leaped at him across the table and pulled him into a hug.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" I told him.
"Your welcome." he yelled over my squeals.
"Wait Spring break starts?" I asked as I let go and ran over to the calendar on the wall.
"Next week." he told me. Only one more week! I had been waiting to visit District 4 ever since I met Josh and he told me he was from there.
"I better tell Ma." I told him.
"Ya. You should, so she doesn't think you ran off with Paul Ericson."
"Ya. Like I would ever do that." I told him with a smirk. And truth be told, Paul Ericson was the most obnoxious and whinny child of the century. I don't think he even had brain cells that wasn't made of obnoxiousness.
Before I left for Rebels village, I gave Josh one more hug and got dressed really quick in a pair of jeans and the old sweatshirt of Vick's. I left Josh in my kitchen and told him I would be back in ten minutes. He obliged to stay and wait for me so we could walk to the bakery together and I left. I ran to Rebels village almost so happy, I didn't mind going to the place that reminded my of my hated brother. I raced though town and past the Hob and through the path to the ore distant Rebels Village where the important rebels lived, like Katniss, Prim, Ma in Gales house, and I reached the gate that had in fancy lettering written on it stating that I was in the right place, I pushed open the gates enough to slip through, not bother to close them behind me.
Let me explain Rebel Villages appearance. It was very much like Victors Village, but there were many more houses occupied by people who were important in the Rebellion and geese were not allowed out on the front lawn. The houses sat in a circle facing each other with a beautiful field of wild flowers and grass growing in the middle of them where usually the children providing there would play. 'I could have been one of them' I thought as I ran through the center of the field, 'But I was and still am to tormented by this place'. I made it out of the field and jogged the rest of the way to the house that Gale was given towards the center of the back next to Katniss' and Prim's.
I reached the door in no time and walked up the steps slowly as the feelings of this place finally caught up with me, and towards the front porch. From an outsider, I probably looked like a little kid who couldn't turn down a bet to touch a really scary house, with my uneven breathing partly from running and partly from my strong emotions and my slow tread. But, atlas I made it in knocking distance with my Panem sized smile turned into a deserted island smile, I rapped my knuckles on the solid oak door three times and stood back so that way if anything, I had about a three foot head start if I decided to bolt.
I waited as I tried to get my breathing under control as the pain from my scratch started to catch up as well, I held at my back with my hand ever so slightly so Ma wouldn't notice my scar and waited for only about a minute, before the door swung open revealing my second eldest brother Rory in a pair of ragged jeans and a paid blue button down. He gave me a huge smile and stepped out on the porch with me as he began to speak.
"There's my 16 year old sister! Happy birthday!" he told me as he gave me hug and patted me on the back. I tried not to wince at his touch and I hoped he didn't notice when I shook a little from pain. The sad thing was he didn't pat me that hard either.
"Thank you." I told him as he let go of me.
"So how do you feel now that you are sixteen?"
"Wild and extremely happy!" I told him and without letting his reaction show I continued, "Guess what?
"What?"
"Josh got me the most awesome gift ever! He is takin me to District 4 for Spring Break!" I told him, "And I ate cake for breakfast!"
"Who is going with you?" he asked me nervously.
"I just told you. Just Josh and Me. We are staying at his aunts house and he already has everything planned out I just-"
"Just you two?"
"How many times do I have to tell you. Yes. Just Josh and I." I told him as if speaking to a three year old.
"But-"
"But what?" I asked him starting to get annoyed. He apparently sensed it and waved off the issue. Ah, the joy of intimidating your brothers.
"When do you leave?"
"Um. I think this Friday?"
"Okay. I should probably-"
"Bye, Ma. I'll see you later." I heard a voice call from inside the house and the door swung open to revel the familiar stature of Gale.
I was stunned. Gale was here and within hugging distance. I shook in anger and many other emotions I couldn't quite place. I squeaked quietly and shot Rory a death glare and shot off the porch before either could stop me. I almost fell down the steps up to the porch, but I caught my balance before I fell and raced across the field as fast as I could.
"POSY!" I heard Rory call.
"POS. I'm sorry!" I heard both of my brothers call.
"Posy! Come back!" they yelled and other lines close to it as I ran. I knew they were chasing me, but I didn't care. I had the advantage here. I was lighter so I could run faster. And I needed to run. Run from Gale. Run from Rory. Run from Rebels village. Just run from my anger and problems. I felt tears start to well and eventually make its way down my face as I ran through the town and into the Seam, but tried to keep them in. I made it to the house and opened the door running inside, slamming it behind me and sliding my back down the door and let my tears flow down my cheeks.
I hadn't realized Josh was in the exact same place as I left.
"Pos, what's wrong?" he asked as he stood and came to sit next to me on the floor. I sniffled and then a knock came on the door.
"Posy! Please open up!" my brother's voice called, but that just made me worse. I started to sob and shake in anger.
"Shhh." Josh soothed as he grabbed me in his arms, "Whats wrong?" I started to tell him the story, but it came out in one long non-understandable sentence.
"Posy, I cant understand you." he told me still in his whispering voice. The knocking and pounding on the door hadn't seceesed, but it still felt like we were in silence as I tried to explain what happened to him again, but it came out the same way. When I finished my story, he held me closer to him and tried to get me to calm down.
I don't know how long we stayed there right in front of the front door, but eventually Josh pulled us to our feet and pushed me over to the kitchen table and pushed me lightly into a chair which I happily sunk into as I felt some of the scratch marks break open and sting slightly. The knocking and yelling from my front door had stopepd so my brothers either gave up hope or lost interest, but either way I was at least gettign my wish. I watched as Josh grabbed a glass of water from the foset and pulled out something from one of the kitchen drawers. It was nice to have someone know where everything is. Josh and I spent so much time here either doing homework or hanging out, he already knew where everything was. He came and sat next to me in one of the other chairs and set the glass in front of me as he pulled out the object from his sweatshirt pocket that I recognized.
He popped off the top of the small lavendar colored bottle and poured out two of the long white pills. Anti-anxiety pills. I absoultely hated them. They made me tired and they didnt taste good, plus I just cant stand the effect they have on me. It feels as if someone is messing around with your emotions and heart. Thankfully the only time I had to take them is when I am so hysterical or anxious that I am about to either a) pass out, b) never sleep, c) kill someone, or d) commit suicide over something. I shook my head as I continued to sob, but Josh wouldnt take no for an awnser this time.
"Please Posy. You need them." he told me. I looked up into his face and shook my head again. He gave me a hard-core glare that he hardly ever used and I coward in fear and reached out my hand for the pills. He dropped them into my hand and I placed them in my teeth chattering mouth causing me to bite my fingers slightly. I reached for the glass of water and as soon as I picked up the glass water started to slosh out of the sides from my shaking hand. I tried to bring it to my lips, but half way through, Josh had to help me keep my hand steady in order to swallow. When I swallowed the pills, Josh helped me drink down a few more gulps and then put the glass away as I sat at the table and waited for the meds to kick in and make me fall asleep.
I laid my head on the table as Josh started to hum my favorite song, Enchanted quietly. I finally started to feel myself calm down and only sniffle occasionally. Josh must have taken that as a sign, because I heard his chair move across the floor and I felt him pull me out of my chair and into his arms bridal style. He carried me to my bed and set me down gently.
"Get some rest Pos. I will check on you later. Okay?" he told me as he looked down on my half asleep figure. I nodded my head slightly and he left me there to sleep and I happily agreed as I shut my eyes and my breathing slowed. Letting me get some rest from my anxiety attack and emotional blow out.
So how was it for the second chapter? Tell me in your reviews ;) ;).
Thanks,
S.A.M. :)