August 22, 2011

Note: I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. It kinda gets the ball rolling for some characters to finally make an appearance that I'm excited to write. Also, for some future scenes… ;) Thanks to all of those who have reviewed! It makes me want to write faster for all of you!

Disclaimer: This is more just to remind myself that I don't own anything or anyone from THG trilogy.

It's almost nine when I wake. Gale is gone and I vaguely wonder where until I remember that today is Monday. No doubt he left before dawn to get to the mines. The thought does not put me in a good mood.

I shower quickly and sneak back across the hallway in only my towel. Rummaging through my closet, I pull on a sweater and a pair of insulated pants. Though we can afford to heat our house with electricity now, my mother still keeps the thermostat setting relatively low. That's all right with me. I don't want to get soft from all the luxury.

Twisting my wet hair up in my towel, I head downstairs. The wonderful smell of the griddle assaults me before I hear the sizzling as someone plops something across its surface. My mother usually only fires up a big breakfast if there's an occasion. Suddenly, I freeze, thinking of the den, of Snow, and threats. Laughter pulls me from my momentary shock and I shake my head to clear away the unwanted memories.

Almost all the kitchen lights are on. Standing in a flour covered apron, my mother smiles at me and flips a pancake over, the batter making a satisfying sizzle when it returns to the griddle.

"Sorry," she says, "we started without you." Waving me away, she tells me to grab a plate and sit. I look to the table and Gale pulls back the empty chair next to him. His cheeks are bulging as he chews a heaping mouthful of pancake.

"Pancakes don't run away, you know," I tease, the grin spreading across my face before I can stop it.

"Are you sure?" Gale's hand snakes over to steal a pancake off my plate. He eyes me with raised eyebrows, daring me to punish him. I choose instead to be the mature one, and stick my tongue out at him. He laughs, turning away to focus on his plate.

I help myself to another pancake from the platter in front of us, catching Hazelle's expression. She has an amused smile on her face as her eyes flick between her son and me. The burn in my cheeks is immediate and I hate myself for it. I pretend not to notice that Prim has stopped eating to watch as well.

"Wait," I pause, the strangeness of the morning finally catching up with me. "Aren't you supposed to be at work?" I look back at Gale. "And all of you, at school?" I wave my fork at Vick, Rory, Posy, and Prim.

Gale scoots his chair back, patting the window with his hand. I already understand before he swallows another round of pancakes and explains.

"Blizzard's still going strong. Peacekeeper told me to turn around. The mines were closed."

The blizzard is both a blessing and a curse. I am thrilled to have the extra time with Gale, but as the day passes, we become restless, agitated even. We are creatures of action, so confined to this house for hours on end is a different kind of torture. I manage to stay busy, helping my mother clean up breakfast, rotate loads of laundry, and strip all the beds of their sheets. Gale cornered me in my bedroom, claiming he was so bored he could barely stand it, but what we had in mind for entertainment didn't last long. Prim had poked her head in the doorway saying dinner was going to be early and even though she only saw Gale with his arms loaded full of sheets and me folding the comforter, her stare was just a little too long to not be skeptical.

The snow slows considerably around dinner. By the end of the meal, it's barely flurrying and I can see across the square of the Victor's Village to the other uninhabited houses. The observation disappoints me. I had quickly warmed to the idea of the Hawthornes and Everdeens under the same roof.

As the rest of our families retreat to the living room, Gale and I hang back in the kitchen. There's a lot of poking and hushed giggles during our moment of privacy but then Gale takes my hand and his face turns serious.

"If we're going to run, we should have a plan," he says.

I nod, rise to retrieve a pad and paper, and together we start listing the necessary supplies we will need. Our heads are bent together in a clandestine, intimate way when Peeta walks in the kitchen, shaking snow from his ashy blond hair.

"Am I interrupting?" Peeta eyes us, the smile fading from his face when Gale and I exchange a pointed look.

"Peeta, why don't you sit?" I say.

He does, and waits patiently for me to collect my thoughts. I'm not sure why I suddenly feel nervous, but my hands are clammy and my mouth is dry.

"Gale and I…" I stop almost immediately, and regret the unfortunate place to pause, because my guilty conscience flashes a series of mental images that suggests I finish that sentence in a way I definitely did not have in mind. I grit my teeth. "We're going to run."

"Run? Away from the district?"

"No, right around the block," Gale retorts. I shoot Gale a warning look.

Peeta's eyes dart from me to Gale to me, as if waiting for the punch line to some terrible joke. I wince when his shock finally breaks through.

"What? Are you insane?" he practically shouts.

"Keep your voice down," Gale warns, glancing warily towards the living room. "We haven't told anyone else yet."

"You're bringing them too!" His voice trails off at the end, making his statement sound more like a question. Peeta takes my hand, not really meaning anything by it, but I feel Gale stiffen next to me. "Katniss, this is crazy talk! What if you get caught? You're endangering yourselves, and Prim…"

The sound of my sister's name snaps me, and suddenly I'm snarling, barely able to keep my voice down.

"It's not like I want this to be the answer, Peeta! But staying here, not able to live my life the way I want, always catering to them…" I shake my head, anger boiling throughout me. "I won't play their Games anymore, and I can't let anyone get hurt because of me."

"If you do as they say, no one gets hurt," Peeta says, though the wind is out of his sails. It takes me a second to realize how what I said must have sounded to him.

"That's not true," I whisper. "You know that."

An awkward silence fills the room, made even more so when Gale takes my hand. I want to pull away for Peeta's sake, but for what? My tip-toeing around is helping no one and it's really not like he doesn't already know.

"She… We wanted to extend the offer to you," Gale says after a moment. "If you want it."

Peeta looks up, his usually peaceful face rearranged in pure fury.

"Thanks for the consideration," he spits, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "If I want… like I have a choice."

"It's your call…" I start.

"No, it's not my call, Katniss!" Peeta says. "If I stay, if my family stays, and you run off, they'll come looking for you! And the first place they'll start is me!"

I can't even look at him, I feel so ashamed. Peeta sighs, his chair screeching across the tile when he stands. Gale and I let him pace because… Well let's face it. The last two people he probably wants to hear from are us. I don't know how much time has passed before he sits back down. Only then does my curiosity get the best of me and I risk a glance.

Peeta stares into the table, seeing something far away, and then takes the list from beneath my hand. Neither Gale or I attempt to stop him. He scans the list quickly, the furrow of his forehead fading away as his concentration kicks in.

"It's going to take a while to gather this. And we'll have to split it so it doesn't look too suspicious," Peeta says, finally.

My shoulders slump in visible relief and Gale leans back, running a hand through his dark hair.

"Thank you, Peeta," I say.

"Don't thank me yet. We've still got…"

A loud authoritative knock steals the words from his mouth. We all tense, nobody daring to check for fear it's a Peacekeeper, listening to the soft padding of someone – most likely my mother—crossing the foyer to answer the door. I strain to hear the voice in case I can place it but can't make out anything other than mumbling.

"Katniss!"

I jump, visibly on edge, and both Gale and Peeta stand when I do. Together, we slowly walk to the entrance. My heart feels like it's going to leap through my throat as I round the corner. The excitement on my mother's face as she bounds forward to take my hands and pull me towards the door eases some of my unease, though I'm still wary.

"Look, Katniss!" She points.

A large wooden crate sits in the snow. Two mail carriers leave fresh prints in the snow as they retreat to one of the few trucks commonly seen in District 12. I look back down to the box, it's huge! Gale gently moves me to the side so he can help Peeta move it inside. The more I stare, the more I get the uncomfortable feeling that this is not a happy surprise.

"Oh look, it's from the Capitol!" I look up to see Prim clapping excitedly, her face beaming. "Hurry, Katniss. Open it!"

My hands feel numb and clumsy as I grip the slats, pulling at them with some force. I struggle for a moment before they give. The rest follow with a little more effort. When I let myself look back in, everyone has crowded around.

My wedding dresses have arrived.

~Fin