I know in the last chapter I said I wouldn't update until I got the ring engraving idea, and I did. It's going to be amaazzzzing. Thank you, Rachel! I keep saying this, but it's going to be amazing, this chapter. :DDD I think I'm going to cut it in half with the points of views. Half Peeta's, half Katniss'. Enjoy!
oOo
PEETA'S POV
I wasted no time after Katniss left. I took a quick ten-minute shower, dressed, and practically bounded out the door with an uncertain mount of coins in my pocket. It was hard not to feel anything but ecstasy. I wanted to be nervous, or maybe even fright, but all I felt was elation for the first time in months.
There was no doubt I looked like an idiot, grinning through town. As I neared the metal smiths' shop, I forced myself to put on an impassive look on. Taking a moment to breathe, I paused right outside the door. But through the window, I could see the old man at his work post stopped to look up at me. Tired eyes twinkled.
Well, now that he saw me, there was no waiting outside for any longer. On unsure feet, I opened the door and walked in. The usual bell ringed from somewhere above me, and I was greeting once again by the old man.
He shook my hand. "Funny you should come in. I was just getting started with it."
My head felt like it plummeted down to my feet. Everything in me deflated. "Oh."
The old man laughed. "Don't look so put down, son. It doesn't take that long to finish a ring. You can watch."
I perked up a bit after that, but inwardly cursing myself for getting my hopes up that high. I hoped it would be ready by today.
"Come on." The metalsmith beckoned for me to follow him, and I went behind him to the opposite wall.
Like the other one nearer the bellows, this wall was dedicated to metal rods, but these of a much smaller and thinner variety. The ones near the top were silver, varying from hair-thin to about the width of my pinky finger.
The man peered at me from deep inside his dark gray eyes. "Well?"
I blinked.
"Aren't you going to pick the rod for the ring?" The man chuckled, highly amused at my slowness.
Feeling foolish, I cast my gaze upon the metal sticks, trying to imagine each bent into a circle, sporting a shining pearl on top. The silver was pretty, but I would say the gold would go better with Katniss' olive skin tone.
With careful fingers, I selected a gold rod, fourth thinnest.
The old man took it and—after pulling on a pair of thick glasses—stared down at it. Then he looked back up at me and nodded. "Good choice. Now come with me."
Again, he led me back across the room to the bellows. I stood by, watching as he slid the rod into the crimson embers. To my surprise, it only took about ten minutes for the rod to begin glowing red hot.
"Watch out, son." The metalsmith pulled on a pair of leather gloves, took a pair of black prongs off a shelf and very gently eased the stick out of the oven.
The rod went immediately onto the anvil, where the old man pulled out a cylindrical something-or-other. At once, a hammer was brought to the metal, pounding the malleable iron around the cylinder. The hot metal gave way under the hammer and was forced to wind up.
It was slow and careful work, but I waited patiently, watching as the rod began bending further and further around the cylinder.
Finally, the two ends met and the old man was allowed a space in time to breath. He set down the hammer and began rummaging around under the anvil's table.
"This," He came back up with some sort of skinny gun. "is a solder gun."
I nodded, acting as if I was interested, but seeing the process of my ring getting done made me a little jumpy, eager to get out and hold it in my palm as though it was a piece of gold.
The metalsmith worked for a bit, carefully melting the edges of the would-be ring, holding the two ends together. When he finally pulled back, it was just how I imagined, smooth and gleaming. The old man admired his work, and then looked up at me for my approval. "So far so good, eh?"
"It's amazing." I hoped he didn't forget the pearl, and thought it was done right there, because I would be very upset. Or even worse, he could have lost the pearl. If that happened, in less than fifteen minutes, Officials would be pulling me out of the building, charging me with murder.
If anything happened to that pearl, I just might get violent. Just a bit.
"Now for the finishing touches…" The man didn't register my fuming expression as he reached behind him to fish his fingers around in a jar by his desk. Out came two tiny items; a funny-looking brad, and my pearl.
An inevitable rush of relief washed over me.
This part took longer than the rest, by far. An hour passed easily, and the old man worked away with his minuscule tools, heating, bending, shaping, measuring, and reheating the microscopic area of the brad. Neither of us spoke, absorbed with the careful maneuvers of creating the ring.
An hour and forty-five minutes passed, and a gruff laugh of success jolted me back awake. I kept nodding off, the tedious work boring me. Though I hadn't dared leaving.
"How is it?" The metal smith looked extremely proud of himself, and opened his hand to show something to me.
Wordlessly, I took the ring from the old metalsmith and weighed it in my hand, jaw open in awe. It was perfect. But something was missing. On the outside, it was just a ring. Gorgeous and perfect, yes, but nothing that would actually mean anything to her, except of course the pearl.
"It's wonderful, thank you. But…" I glanced up at the old man. "Do you do engravings?"
A tired laugh escaped the metalsmith. He looked at me with exasperated eyes. "Yes, son, I do. What would you like me to put on it?"
I swallowed, only thinking for a split second, and then I told him.
Silent, the man took the ring back and for another half-hour he worked, then handed it back. "How's that?"
Everything I hoped for. Curling my fingers delicately around the ring, I turned my eyes back up to the metalsmith. "She can't possibly say no, now."
A deep chortle rolled from the old man's' lungs and he threw his creased head back. "The ring has nothing to do with it, handsome lad like you." He pulled out a scrap of mock-silk and gave it to me.
The smile that spread my lips was genuine, and I wrapped the ring in the silk. I pulled out my pouch of coins and put it in the metalsmith's hand. "I cannot thank you enough."
The man glanced down at the pouch, then back up at me. "I don't need all this. It's only worth half."
"Keep it anyways." I made my way to the door and paused on the way out. I turned back to the metalsmith. "Thank you, again."
The man's eyes twinkled. "Go get her. The best of luck to you, son."
I waved one more time to the man and left, with just a few coins left, but feeling better than I had in a while.
On the way back home, I took my time, trying not to shout out loud. The ring was rolled, over and over, in my fingers. It was so perfect… Careful not to drop or scuff it, I folded it back in the piece of cloth and tucked it safely in my pocket.
It had only been a few hours, though. Time flew by until I decided to steal Katniss back.
Now came the hard part.
KATNISS' POV
Prim hasn't stopped laughing in the past ten minutes. We were tossing untruthful jabs back and forth to each other, about random things. Occasionally Peeta came up, Primrose dissing him jokingly, then me throwing insults back at her.
It was shallow fun, dull at some points, but just sitting here cross-legged on my little sister's bed talking to her, making her laugh, was worth it. Peeta was still gone, and it was three in the afternoon. I had lunch with Mother right before she had to leave for work, but after that the only other thing I did was stay with Prim in her room.
Buttercup, Prim's crazy cat, seemed glad that I was back to normal again, laughing along with his owner. He sat down on his furry orange haunches on my knee, chest rumbling in content. That was probable the first time in my entire life he was purring at me, because of me, not attempting murder at all.
Three-thirty hit, and Prim's laughing was interrupted by a knocking on the door. Of course, no one that had cause to visit us would be uncomfortable with just walking right in, so in no less than forty-five seconds, he had appeared at Prim's bedroom door. Something in his eyes made me curious, but I didn't question it. He himself said I would find out soon enough.
Primrose threw her arms around Peeta's waist in a quick hug. "How have you been?" She asked in a voice that sounded barely controllable, on the verge of collapsing into another giggle-fit.
"Excellent." And it looked true. Peeta looked as if he just won the lottery; his eyes were much bluer and more excited than normal, plus he was bouncing on the balls of his feet.
He caught my funny look, and grinned. "Hey, Katniss."
I spared him a small smile as well. "You done with your little shopping trip?"
Peeta's eye twitched, and he took an obvious effort to look less excited." Yeah."
"You still aren't going to tell me?"
"Nope."
I sighed and got up as well, walking over to him. Prim had let go by then, standing off to the side, eyes flicking from Peeta to me, and back again.
"I was hoping we could have a walk through town." Peeta looked hopeful and cute, with a crease between his brows and a small smile on his face.
I glanced back at Primrose.
"It's fine. Go ahead!" Prim gathered her flabby cat in her arms and smiled at us both.
From behind, Peeta reached over and took my hand. "Come on."
"See you, Prim!" I gave my sister a little smile before following Peeta back down the stairs and out the house.
We walked into town, taking our own sweet time. Peeta twined his fingers in mine, and our hands swung playfully in between us as we walked. There wasn't exactly anywhere we were planning to go. At least, I didn't have anywhere planned. Peeta might, but he seemed semi-casual as we walked, not heading anywhere in particular.
Every now and then, his hand would slip into his pocket, but he'd take it out just as quick and give me a small kiss on the head. Though we were quiet and blasé, I couldn't help but notice the change in Peeta's attitude.
He seemed slightly nervous, and also excited, but only so much as I would see it. Every time he caught me looking curiously at his expression, his face would smooth out again and he would give me a nice, one-armed hug, claiming he was fine.
We walked for a while, and when 6:00 hit, he took me to dinner to one of the newly rebuilt kitchens where Greasy Sae now worked. She greeted us with the usual joking wink and served us both heaping plates of some concoction that tasted strangely delicious. Maybe it just reminded me so much of my old life here, but either way, I had seconds.
After dinner, we walked down a few blocks and we found ourselves outside the candy shop. After exchanging a brief glance with Peeta, I agreed and we walked inside.
Candies of every color hung on the walls, different shapes and flavors. It smelled strongly of flavoring syrups and powdered sugar. I practically felt my eyes widened. Back before the Games when my family just barely scraped by, things like this were most certainly out of the question. We didn't even bother looking at the sweets in the display window. But this was a different circumstance.
Peeta reached up and pulled a small bag of candies from the wall and tossed it on the desk in front of a plastic register. The old lady at the desk peered at the bag, weighed it with her tiny scale, and told us the price.
I had prepared myself to reach into my pocket, but when I made a movement to pull my own money to pay for the sweets, Peeta stopped me. Instead, he put his hand into his own pocket and handed the lady a few coins. She grunted thanks, and Peeta and I left.
But we didn't go far; instead of wandering around town some more, we sat in front of the candy shop, holding pieces of sweets under our tongues. Silence was a mutual feeling between us, soft in the fresh air of summer.
Peeta held my hand with his, fingers overlapping, but even through the silence I could tell there was something bothering him. Or on his mind at least.
I reached up to tuck a small lock of blond hair behind his ear, which just fell away again. "What are you thinking of?"
He sucked on his candy in thought, then replied, "I'm not sure. Debating, more like."
"Debating about what?"
His eyes met mine and there was a brief flash of white as he grinned. "Not yet."
I couldn't help but sigh.
An hour passed, us sitting in front of the candy shop, our supply of sweets slowly dwindling. It was at 7:30 the shop closed, and we watched as the old lady walked away, shoving her shop key in the pocket of her frock. Peeta and I were okay with the silence, of course, but when 8:00 hit, he stood up, helping me up with him.
"Come on, it's getting dark." He glanced up at the sky, which was melting into an array of colors, like the remnants of sherbet ice cream being washed down a drain.
There was no rush getting back home. Every now and then as we walked, Peeta would reach over and very lightly, press his lips to my temple, but nothing else.
When we got to his house, there was hesitation at the door. Peeta bit his lip.
"What?" I asked in an inquisitive tone, subconsciously squeezing my hand around his.
Peeta shook his head. "Nothing. Come on." He opened the door and pulled me inside. "I'll make some tea."
I'd have to admit, some of the best moment with Peeta and I were sitting curled up together on the couch, drinking tea. His arm around be around my shoulders, my head on his chest, and we would say nothing. That was the beauty of our relationships; silence meant more than words did.
Though it was 10:00, we didn't go to bed. I was as awake as ever, and when my third cup of tea was finally drained, I stood up off the couch. "It's getting really late. We should probably be heading to bed."
Peeta, who had stood up with me, was now peering out the window. He apparently didn't hear me. "Come look at this, Katniss." He waved me towards him with the hand that was unoccupied.
I joined him by the window and glanced out as well, the tired request laying forgotten behind me. We both set our mugs down on the windowsill and looked out together.
The stars were out, more brilliant than ever. Like diamonds in the sky, they dangled there in the velvety blanket, accompanied by a moon that had yet to finish waning. But still, it was bright and most certainly beautiful.
"Come on." Peeta's voice was a mere whisper, and he took my hand, pulling me towards the door.
I followed willingly, sticking close by his side as we once again exited the house and made our way around to the back.
Without the warped glass of the window, the stars were even better. They winked at us merrily in the sky, gleaming their brightest. Peeta and I stood there for ten minutes, heads tilted up to stare at the sky. When I sensed Peeta's head turn to look at me, I did the same. But the look in his eyes made me stay silent.
He swallowed barely visibly. "There's been something I wanted to talk to you about, Katniss."
"What?" Though there was no reason to, I kept my voice low, a mere whisper.
He turned to face me straight on, and uncertainly took my other hand under the light of the moon. I could see the light casting creamy shadows down upon him, illuminating his perfect, beautiful features; long eyelashes, wavy golden hair, curved lips that remained in a permanently crooked grin. Everything that made him my Peeta, and I loved.
"The first time I…I didn't do it right." He began, not meeting my eyes. "It was spur-of-the-moment, and I didn't think it through. I didn't weigh the consequences and opportunities before…before asking. But now, in the light of everything, I've never been more aware of you. How you work." Peeta's hand reached up to brush lightly against my cheekbone, then he lowered it back down.
My heart was pounding slowly in my chest. I wasn't sure where he was going with this, but Peeta only used that voice for important things, and the way he looked at me…like he's never looked at me before.
"I've realized I can't wait any longer. It's impossible, thinking of all that's happened in the past year, to love you any more than I do now." He smiled at me, charming and lopsided. "Though, I'm probably going to say the same thing tomorrow. But what I'm saying is that I know I love you, and I know this isn't going to wait anymore."
Now even my heart had gone still, watching and waiting for Peeta and he slowly knelt down to his knees.
"I don't know how to do this right, and I just might screw it up like the first time, but I do know this; I can never, and will never live without you." Peeta kept hold of my hands.
Ever so gently, I squeezed his hands, to let him know I was sort-of on the same page. I knew what was happening. I knew this was coming, I just couldn't comprehend it. All I could do was stand there and stare at him.
"You asked what I was doing for the past few days when I disappear into town." He withdrew one hand from mine, put it into his pocket, and pulled it back out, whatever he was holding concealed in his fingers. Now, with the other hand, he opened the fingers of my left and slid something cold onto my finger. Peeta brought his hand away and curled his fingers once more around my own. "I want you to marry me."
The breath slid out of my lungs in a tiny squeak. My limbs froze right then and there, leaving me unable to blink, to take a step into his arms, to squeeze his fingers back, anything. I was motionless and silent, only trying to regain the ability to breath.
"Say yes." Peeta begged me in a whisper, eyes now locked onto mine.
Tears began flowing unannounced down my cheeks and I half-laughed-half-sobbed. "Yes, Peeta. Yes, yes, yes, I will. I promise. I can't—I can't move."
Peeta began laughing to, and he pulled me down into his arms, laughing and crying all at the same time. Since he was kneeling, and both of us currently consisted of rubber, pulling me down into his arms made Peeta topple over backwards, and he was kissing me all over. My forehead, my cheeks, my neck, my lips.
Though full of tears and laughter, I found the ability to kiss him back, and we were there, tangled together on his backyard lawn. His body pressed mine to the ground, gently but nowhere near gentle. His fingers didn't leave my hair, and everything just vanished. There was no District 12, there was no trees, or birds in the trees. There was even a moment where I was pretty sure even I didn't exist. Just Peeta and his arms around me, holding me tight against him.
When we finally broke away, we were both still crying, but it was silent. Our eyes locked together and Peeta cupped my face in his hands. "I've been waiting an eternity for this moment. Right here, just you and me."
Me too, I wanted to say, and be enveloped in his arms once more, but I didn't. Instead, I brought up my left hand to examine the ring on it. Shiny gold metal twined around my finger, sending hair-thin fibers to wrap around a stone set on top. Tiny and luminescent, there was no mistaking.
"Is this…" I brought my eyes back up to Peeta and turned the ring towards him to see, leaving the question hanging in the air.
"The very same." He twined his fingers in mine and brought out hands up to his lips.
But the movement jolted the ring ever so slightly on my finger, so where something on the opposite side of the pearl glinted.
I brought my hand away from Peeta's to stare at the tiny letters.
Always.
Just one word. One word that meant so much more than either of us could ever say.
Crying again, I wrapped my arms so tightly around Peeta's waist, I never wanted to let go. Just him and me, like this forever.
"I want to stay like this forever." I admitted, a whisper in Peeta's ear. "For ever and never let go."
"I'll allow it."
The words sparked something in my mind, and I let out a small laugh, full of tears and love, and memories so sweet they hurt. "You mean it?"
Peeta looked down at me, and for a moment, our gazes held. Then, very gently, he leaned down to kiss me once, very gently. When he pulled away, my heart was beating again, alive and happy. Peeta wrapped his arms around me and smoothed a bit of my hair back from my forehead.
"Always."
oOo
Wow. Okay. I'm sorry if the end seemed a little bit hasty, but I hope you guys liked it! MUCHMUCHMUCH more fluff next chapter, I SWEAR. WAY more fluff. Super-duper fluffy. :DD I promise. Enjoy!