Okay, my beautiful people. First, I feel the need for an apology. See, I had only about ten seconds to update the wedding chapter and I REALLY wanted to get it up right then. So without even really reading through one last time like I usually do, or taking time with the A/N, I just tossed it in there. And I'm sure it looked really awful and choppy, but I'm really, HONESTLY grateful to those of you (99%) who said nice things about that chapter. So I can't thank you guys enough. It really was…amazing. Getting all of your feedback.

And to that 1%, that one person who…well, to be frank really made me upset, that's fine. I understand your feelings, but you have yet to understand mine. I'm just a kid, no professional. I'm aware it's rough and plot-less and really awful or whatever, but you had no right to bring me down like you did after what I thought to be a serious accomplishment. I know I said I take constructive criticism, and I do, but that was uncalled for. So really, if you have nothing nice to say don't say anything at all. My mom told that to me when I was four years old, you should know that by now.

Anyways, hope you like this chapter! It's "that night" teeheehee. I hope it's not TOO disappointing. At the end it seems odd, but just don't think it odd or awful, I'll explain everything at the end A/N.

oOo
At the end of everything, there were tears.

"I'm so happy for you two." Lucia said honestly, blowing her nose on a musty-looking handkerchief. "You make a lovely couple."

"Thank you, Lucia." I gave her a small kiss on the cheek as she stumbled out the door, bawling. Perhaps the amount of alcohol she had had something to do with it…

Next in line as everyone was filing out was Ivy—followed by Caroline.

Though Ivy knew it was time to go, she climbed up into my arms. "I wanna stay another night with Caniss, Momma."

Caroline shook her head. "Not tonight, baby. I'm sorry. Say goodbye to Peeta, too."

Ivy gave me a sloppy kiss on the cheek and was passed into Peeta's arms.

He tickled her stomach with one hand while making monster noises.

"No, no, Peeta!" The little girl screamed, and then burst into a fit of giggles when he stopped. She looked content staying latched around Peeta's neck all night, but shrank under her mother's stern gaze. Sheepishly, she sighed and gave my husband one of her slobbery kisses, too. "Buh-bye, Peeta!"

"See you, kiddo." Peeta adoringly flicked her in the nose and set her down.

"It was amazing today." Caroline put her thin arms around me in a tight hug. "Good luck to the both of you."

"Thanks." I hugged back, and gave her a small smile when she pulled away. "Thanks for helping so much."

Caroline gave Peeta a quick embrace, too. "It was honestly my pleasure. So I'll see you two sometime?"

Peeta nodded, relaxing a charming grin upon his face. "Definitely. God night, you two."

"Night-night Caniss!" Ivy called, grabbing on to her mother's hand and skipping outside.

A few seconds after those two left, Benj appeared with Anna-Mae at his side.

Benj grinned at me. "Quite a show you put on there, Miss Mellark. What I'd give to b—"

Peeta cleared his throat loudly next to me, not even giving him a chance to make a fool of himself. "Thank you, Benjamin."

A choked laugh sounded from the other baker's throat. "Cool it, boss. Just saying congratulations."

Anna-Mae, who was sticking close behind Benj, nodded and lifted her chin slightly. "Yes, congratulations."

I gave both of them a brief hug, though we weren't too incredibly close. "Thanks, you two. We'll see you another time."

"'Bye." Benj gave me a small wink before protectively guiding Anna-Mae out into the purple dusk air.

Greasy Sae was after them, and then came Finnick with Annie and Jace.

"Hey, little man." I took Jace in my arms and bounced him a little bit. "You're getting so big."

Finnick puffed out his chest with obvious pride and put his arm lovingly around his wife's shoulder.

"The wedding was beautiful, Katniss." Annie said quietly with her usual sweet, tiny smile. "I am so happy for both of you."

I gave Jace a kiss on his soft baby forehead and put him in Peeta's arms. "Thank you. It's all sort of surreal, so…" I let out a nervous laugh.

Peeta stopped making faces at the little boy in his arms, and held him out. "You be good for your mother and father."

The baby made this loud spitting sound and smacked Peeta's arm with his fist.

"That's my boy." Peeta laughed and handed him back to Annie.

Finnick then wrapped me in a suffocating bear-hug, ruffling my hair affectionately. "We'll see you later, Fire Girl. Behave."

"You wish." I laughed and tried to smooth down my hair once he let me go.

Annie then gave me a one-armed hug, giving me a kiss on the cheek. "We won't leave for another week or so, so there's nothing to worry about. Good luck."

"Thanks." I gave them both a happy smile and watched them as they left hand-in-hand.

That was the last of them. I knew that right away because Mother and Prim burst out into tears, leaving Haymitch looking sick on the couch.

Prim wrapped her thin arms around me, but didn't say anything. Neither of us did. Her tears were shared with me as I started to sniffle as well.

"That was the longest ten hours I've ever seen in my life." My little sister finally said, pulling back and wiping her eyes. "But, oh. You're…" She sniffed loudly. "You're…married. And it was all so beautiful and perfect. Just-just watching you two dance and the vows were so perfect and everything…"

Haymitch had gotten up off the couch and had wandered over. Though he was obviously not feeling well at all from the alcohol, he stayed somewhat calm and put a reassuring hand on Prim's shoulder. "Let her breathe, kid. No need to go killing off the bride right after her wedding."

Primrose just sniffed and nodded, turning away. Peeta let go of my hand to go after Prim and comfort her.

It was Haymitch's turn to stand in front of me with words of the past few hours on the tip of his tongue.

The silence was getting so awkward after a minute, I had to swallow. "Thanks for coming, Haymitch. And…for walking me down the aisle."

Haymitch just shrugged, scratching his collarbone. "'Least I could do." A pause. "I have to say, though, that I'm glad you two got things worked out after all."

I spared a quick glance over at Peeta, who had taken on the role of awkwardly having his arms around my little sister as she sniveled against him as well. I looked back to Haymitch. "So am I."

There was a moment in which Haymitch seemed as though he may have been fighting with himself. But finally, one side won, because he coughed gruffly. "Well, I need to take care of this headache. It was…nice today."

I hesitantly gave my old mentor a hug, but felt the awkwardness melt a little when he hugged me back. "Thanks for everything, Haymitch."

"Any time, sweetheart." He said gruffly, and turned to Peeta. "Be good, you two."

Peeta was patting Primrose on the shoulder, but he looked over. "We'll try. Thanks for coming, Haymitch."

"See you two another time." Haymitch rubbed his head and shuffled out, wincing.

Mother had been standing in the same place since the last person had left. She was looking sad. But when Haymitch had disappeared, she decided to walk forwards finally and pull me and Peeta into another, gentler hug. "I'm proud of you two."

We both hugged back.

"Thanks, Mother." I said quietly.

Peeta hesitated awkwardly. "…Uh, yeah. Thanks, Ms. Everdeen."

Mother made a scoffing noise and pulled away. "No need to call me that anymore. I can be your mother, too."

"…Okay." Peeta laughed nervously.

There was a pregnant pause.

"Well, I suppose that is that." Mother straightened up, looking around at the living room. It was a mess, with the cushions from the couch sitting a little askew, with a couple of cups on the floor.

"We'll stay and help clean up." I decided, clearing my throat and beginning to turn around.

"No, no, dear." My mother grabbed my hand. "Don't. Prim and I will get that, don't you worry about it."

Peeta rubbed his chin. "Actually, I think she went to bed."

Blinking in surprise, I looked around. Sure enough, she was no longer standing a few feet from the armchair as she had been before.

"In that case, I'll just spend an extra hour or so." Mother just waved it off. "You two go back to your house. There's no need for you to be cleaning up other people's messes on your wedding night."

Peeta looked like he wanted to argue and help her, but I caught his eyes and just shook my head. He smiled a little bit.

"Okay, then, Mother." I let out a breath I'd been holding for the entire afternoon it seemed. One last hug was shared between us. "We'll see you tomorrow."

"Actually, I work tomorrow." She said airily, as though it didn't matter that she wouldn't get any sleep before. "And there's no need to rush."

"…Alright."

Peeta wrapped his arm around my waist, and I could feel his slight impatience through that simple touch. "Goodnight, Ms—uh…'Mother'." A blush appeared on his cheeks, but he just shrugged. "Tell Prim I said goodnight, too."

"From me, too."

"Okay." Mother gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, and then gave Peeta one as well. "Good night, you two."

"Goodnight, Mother." I touched my thumb under my eye were wetness was budding. But before it could turn out into a full-out flash flood, Peeta guided me carefully out of the house and into the crisp night air.

The walk was nice, but I was kind of cold in my flimsy dress. I had gathered it in my hands and lifted it slightly so it wouldn't skim the ground, and the memory of Effie popped up into my mind. Not above the ankles, not above the ankles! What happened to her, I wondered.

"I don't even have any of my clothes here…" I yawned, though tiredness wasn't my problem. I bumped my shoulder against Peeta's.

A small grin—accompanied by a hint of red cheeks—appeared on Peeta's cheeks. "Actually, you don't need to worry about that, either. You would be surprised with how much can get done when you're asleep."

I frowned. "…While I was sleeping you moved my clothes. Okay. Anything else?"

He pretended to look contemplative. "Everything of yours, actually. And I even cleaned my room last night, too."

"Ooh, Peeta cleaning his room." I couldn't help but laugh. "That's one for the record books."

Peeta rolled his eyes, but said nothing.

When we got to the front porch, the door was opened for me and I stepped into his familiar house. It smelled like bread, as always, but there was also a piney sort of smell. I glanced around with a curious frown on my face until I saw the small stack of wood piled next to the fireplace.

Peeta noticed me looking and put his arm around my waist again. "We are doing to toasting, right?"

"Of course."

His blue eyes sparkled. "In that case, I'll be right back to get the bread ready. Hey," he stopped me right as I began turning towards the fireplace to wait. "You should change out of your dress so it doesn't accidentally catch on fire."

I couldn't help but smile, and I flicked his shoulder. "Smart boy."

He laughed and disappeared into the kitchen.

Feeling as light as a feather, I skipped upstairs and into Peeta's room. My clothes were in the wardrobe as promised, so I just tugged out my pink nighty and set it on the bed. Humming to myself, I twisted my hand behind myself to undo the dress…which has a corset back. I couldn't get it. Grunting with annoyance, I scooted around in a circle, attempting to undo the tie.

"Buh…" I made a loud, frustrated noise and hung my shoulders, frowning. This was bound to happen, stupid… Clearing my throat, I took a deep breath and yelled down the stairs. "Hey, Peeta?"

A minute-long pause, when the door opened and he stood in the doorway, putting an amused smirk on his face.

I tried not to blush as I turned around and showed him the impossible laces running up and down my back. "Help?"

Peeta let out a laugh and came over to me. "Poor helpless little girl…" He carefully undid the knot, but I just knew he was still grinning.

"Just loosen it, don't take the lace out." I pointed out, glancing behind me.

"Mkay…" He caught his tongue between his teeth as he concentrated. After spending a minute or two tugging on the long ribbons holding together my pearly dress. When he finally loosened it enough to get it over my shoulder bones, he scoffed in triumph. "There you go."

"Thanks." It was awkward attempting to wriggle the flowing white dress over my head, but I noticed I had help. Peeta had pinched the material in between his fingers and was carefully easing it up. As the material slid over my head, I felt a fan of hair crackle with electricity.

As I pulled on the nighty, Peeta carefully put the dress on a hanger, covered it with plastic and stored it in the closet.

Free from the confinements of the suffocating, feminine piece of clothing, I heaved a great sigh of relief. Peeta was still amused as he took my hand and led me down the stairs.

"My skin itches all over from the satin." I complained, scratching at my collarbone where the lace had been.

Peeta turned to look at me and put his finger to his lips. "Sh."

I lifted my eyebrows, but suddenly realized. As we got off the stairs and headed into the living room, it had grown dark. And when we got into full-view of the large den, the fire was already going. Crackling and dancing, it cast golden shadows upon everything and bathed the place with warmth. I could feel it seep into my skin and fill my nose with the familiar smell. I couldn't help but let out an "Ahh…"

A smile stretched across Peeta's fine lips as he led us to in front of the fire. Carefully, we sat on the floor together. It wasn't weird for me to sit as close to him as possible, sharing his warmth, too.

"Here," With his free hand, Peeta took a long metal rod with a square of soft-looking bread on it and pressed it into my palm. "Would you like to go first?"

Suddenly, a sinking feeling filled my chest. I dropped my gaze, feeling a bit of dread stick into my throat. "I haven't…written anything. I don't know what to…to say."

"No worries." Peeta kissed me gently on the temple. That alone made me feel a bit better. "I haven't written anything before hand, either."

Relief flooded my throat.

"But you don't seem quite ready. Would you like me to go first?"

I nodded sheepishly.

"Okay…" Peeta cleared his throat loudly and released a long, low sigh. His body seemed to freeze as he stared into the fire. Golden licks of light illuminated his beautiful facial structure. His brows were slightly knit in thought.

The small pause turned into a long one, stretching on to ten minutes of utter stillness and silence.

Peeta ran a hand through his hair. "I never really imagined us doing this…"

"Same here…" I admitted quietly.

He glanced sideways at me and smiled. "But here we are. Before, I might have had my doubts, I'm ashamed to admit. I don't know what changed, but this is meant for us. We're meant for each other. And as long as you are okay with me being a stupid boy, and as long as you are okay with our lives staying a soap opera, I'm open. I'm all yours, if you'll have me."

Were those his vows? I knew they were supposed to be relatively short, but considering Peeta's Peeta, I would have expected something a bit longer. But that was fine with me. I felt my mouth stretch and I felt my shoulders lean a little more into his. "I'll have you."

He pressed his lips to my cheek and I could feel his smile against my skin. "Good." Still smiling, he took his slender rod and carefully rested the chunk of bread just right above the flame. It crackled and I could smell its buttery outside cooking. When it was a perfect golden brown color, Peeta took it away from the flames and blew on it. "Open wide. It isn't too hot."

I tried to stop from grinning as I saw his eyes twinkle. Nodding my head, I gracelessly opened my mouth. The bread tasted sweet. "Mm." I couldn't help but laugh. The nerves must have been getting to me, because suddenly everything was funny. Peeta's look especially. His nose was crinkling up.

"You okay, Katniss?" Peeta was laughing, too.

I snorted back some more laughter and nodded. "Y-Yeah, I'm sorry." Wiping the grin off of my face as well as possible, I cleared my throat and wielded my stick and piece of bread like a sword. Vows… Hm… Peeta's were great, but that was because he was so eloquent. Why couldn't I be that well-expressed? Sighing, I bit my lip, thinking of what to say.

It must have taken longer for me to think than it had for Peeta. We had to put more wood on the fire before I thought of something. After it had been restocked, I just relaxed my shoulders and stared into the fire. I watched the tongues of flame dance around, turning from red to orange to yellow and gold. I watched them leap back and forth, I felt their warmth, I saw how they consumed the wood and turned it black just like that.

Sighing, I dropped my gaze. "…Well, first I want to say sorry f—"

"NO." Peeta smacked his hand over my mouth suddenly, making me jump with surprise. "No apologizing, Katniss. Try again."

When he took his hand away, I was grinning my face off. "I'm still sorr—"

"Shush!" Peeta put his hand over my mouth again, but he was laughing.

I scrambled at the hand over my mouth, giggling. "Get off, Peeta! Get off!"

"Don't apologize." He said, eyes twinkling in the firelight.

"Fine, fine!" I finally agreed, taking his hand away from my mouth. "I won't say that I'm sorry for everything I've done and that I'm sorry for being such an inconsiderate jerk."

Peeta gave me a look.

I win. Grinning smugly, I put my bit of bread in the fire. Now for…serious. Serious vows…"But I realized that in the Games I did love you, but it wasn't good enough for the cameras or for you. It was my own twisted way. But thank goodness I came to my senses and decided just how much I love you right now. It's still a twisted love, but I never want you to underestimate it. So as long as you put up with me, I'm open, too. I'm yours."

Peeta was holding my gaze with his own indescribably happy one. It looked like he couldn't even speak. His mouth was stretched into a huge, beautiful smile, and his eyes were twinkling and crinkled and sparkling at me. For just a split-second he looked away to watch the piece of bread on the end of my metal stick. His face dropped. "Um, Katniss,"

I looked at the bit of bread. It was on fire. Letting out an alarmed squeak, I took it out and blew out the own little campfire that had grew on its darkened skin. Glancing at it, I saw it wasn't too scorched. Feeling heat creep into my cheeks, I just shook my head and held up the bit of toast.

"If you'll have me." I offered it to him.

Peeta caught it between his teeth and didn't even complain about the burnt crust. "Of course I'll have you."

I might have labeled the following silence awkward, but it only lasted for a few seconds before Peeta took my hand and pulled me into his chest. It was hard from his bakery job, but comfortable and smelled good. I felt him bury his face in my hair and wrap his arms tightly around my waist.

Peeta sighed, tickling my neck. "Don't know about you, but I don't feel like going to bed quite yet."

I lifted my head off his shoulder and tucked a bit of my hair behind my ear in an attempt to be casual. "Then what should we do?"

"…I think I'll just sit here with you." He gave me a kiss on the nose. "Trying to make the feeling of today last as long as possible."

I knew what he meant…Feeling each other's anxiety through clenched hands as we listened to Mayor Channe's powerful voice. The waves of vitality crashing over us in waves from the audience…that sense of strength and belonging was immeasurable. And that's not even considering the fact that Peeta and I are married. Married! After everything that's happened to us. So, yes, I did know what he meant. In fact, I was unnaturally thrilled. I felt giddy and amorous, almost to the point of being embarrassed about it. Surely Peeta wouldn't mine… He's Peeta.

Trying not to grin like an idiot, I stretched up my neck and pressed my lips to his.

But Peeta snaked a hand around my neck and I could no longer call the kiss "small". Lifting my eyebrows in surprise and pleasure, I went with it. To his touch, I matched my own, running my thumb along his soft cheekbone. Our lips parted and I could taste Peeta's sugary breath in the back of my own throat.

The fire was going out behind us. There were just coals, glowing neon orange and warm, seemingly pulsing with their own little heartbeats. They lit up the room so where you could just barely see your way around.

I could feel my heart skip rapidly as the tip of Peeta's tongue pressed hesitantly against mine. I couldn't take it anymore.

Laughing, I skipped up to my feet. "Race you to the master bedroom," And I left, abandoning Peeta and his dazed, slightly confused look stumbling after.

Feeling thrilled and completely not myself, I sprinted to the door of the master bed in my pink night and zipped into it.

But before I could dance at my victory, Peeta caught up with me and swept me into the air by the waist. Letting out a cry of surprise, I half-heatedly squirmed around as he spun me in a circle.

"Peeta!" I laughing accusingly, wrapping my arms and legs around him because I was getting dizzy.

Finally, he stopped spinning me enough so where I could slip out of his grip and scramble onto the end of the bed farthest from him.

"Augh!" Peeta let out a noise of fake-annoyance and went after me with a seemingly exasperated grin on. "Why won't you stay still?"

For his sake, I didn't wriggle away from his arms when he put his hands on my hips and pressed me into the expensive pattered bedspread.

"Wait, wait." I waved for him to stop, trying hard not to giggle. When he looked curiously at me, I sat up. "We really don't want your nice new jacket to get wrinkled." Biting my tongue in an effort to stay somewhat calm-faced, I gently eased his pretty grey dress jacket off and reached over to drape it carefully over the back of a chair nearby the bed.

Peeta grinning in exaggerated gratitude and gave me a kiss on the forehead. "You're so considerate."

Since we were both sitting up, I took advantage of that and wrapped my arms around Peeta's neck. Our bodies aligned clumsily—shoulders to shoulders, chests to chests. Both my legs straddled his lap, but the only immediate guilt or regret I felt was that at that moment, everything was so ungainly and laughable. But I thanked him for not caring.

He responded whole-heartedly by deepening the kiss a great deal and sliding his hands up my back. I loved how warm he felt, how I could lost myself in the sheer softness of his skin.

"I suppose it's unnecessary to ask what your intentions are." Peeta said breathlessly, pulling away for a brief moment to look into my eyes.

The nerves and ecstasy pulled an inevitable grin on my face. "I could say the same about you."

He laughed evilly and ducked his head to kiss the nape of my neck. "Is that a bad thing?"

I absentmindedly followed his shirt collar with the tip of my index finger. "I don't think so, since it's the same for both of us."

"Excellent." Peeta gave me another kiss and hitched me higher on his hips.

All I had to say was that it was an honest shame that no one had ever used that bed before. It was insanely comfortable, as Peeta pointed out, before we both burst out in laughter, and it took yet another hour for us to calm down. In fact, the whole night went something like that. Every hour or so, something was said, and its funniness would be amplified from the moment and we'd go insane. I couldn't even count the times I had blushed or smacked Peeta's arm at something he said.

Since there was no window in the master bedroom, there was no keeping track of time by daylight. And neither of us felt like looking at the clock—which hung directly above the bed; So we just decided not to care about how long we were up, but I was positive it was well into the morning when we finally nestled under the covers together, exhausted, and went to sleep.

I woke up at some unknown time later with drool on my cheek and feeling a little sore. My shin throbbed where I accidentally banged it against the bed post, my stomach ached from having barely eaten anything in the past two days, my neck was stiff from falling asleep in that certain position.

Letting out a tired sigh, I peeled open my eyes and looked up at Peeta. His head was lolled over on his shoulder closest to me, and he was snoring his charming little grunt-snore. There was an almost invisible purple line on his bottom lip where it had been bit. Which one of us bit it was beyond me. My head was feeling bloated and foggy; there was no way I could remember my own name, nevertheless that…

Not wanting to get up, I contented with snuggling back against Peeta, absentmindedly tracing the muscle lines on his torso. I felt the definition of each of his abdomen muscles, hard as rock. My finger traced up between his pectoral muscles and across his collarbone. Honestly—honestly—he was a beautiful person. At first glance he might seem like just another blond-haired-blue-eyed town boy, but until you spend the majority of you time with him, you wouldn't otherwise notice just how unique he was. Like the way his nose scrunches up with he laughs, or how he runs his hand through his hair when he's annoyed, or the way his skin turns gold in the light of a sunset.

Releasing a happy sigh, I reached up my arms and put them around Peeta's neck and kissed him on the cheek. "Wake uuuppp," I said quietly in a sing-song voice.

Peeta woke immediately and turned on his side to put his arms around me as well. He pressed his lips to my forehead. "Good morning to you, too."

Now that he was awake, I felt slightly victorious and snuggled into his chest.

When he laughed, it shook his shoulders. "I take it you didn't wake me up for one particular reason?"

I propped my chin up on a fist and raised my eyebrows simply. "I woke up and wanted you to be awake, too. Isn't that reason enough?"

Peeta's fingers tickled my bare hip. "Of course it is."

Content with that brief exchange of words, we both settled back down.

But sadly, I didn't get ten seconds to relax before that stupid little voice in my head prodded me again.

Hey. Hey, you don't have any clothes down here. You know, even though it is technically your honeymoon, I wouldn't find any joy skipping up the stairs in the nude. Just saying.

I cursed that voice for annoying me with such irrelevant points. I wouldn't be able to skip up the stairs naked anyways. Never mind the "naked" part, my body in general was just a total mess.

I lifted my head off of Peeta's shoulder. "Hey, Peeta?"

He opened his eyes and touched my cheek softly. "Hm?"

"Do you mind if I borrow your underclothes real quick?" Asking him brought on a red face, of course, but I only had to ask because…well, I'm embarrassed to say that my nice pink nightgown got torn a bit last night.

Peeta was unable to stop laughing for a while. His nose wrinkled up between his eyes and his chest quivered with every uncontrollable guffaw. In the end he had to take his arms away from me and sit up to breathe.

I sat up with him, only slightly annoyed.

"Yes, Katniss, you may." He rubbed at his teary eyes.

Feeling slightly self-conscious, I wriggled my legs out from under the covers and sat on the edge of the bed.

"If I can ask, why do you need them?"

Peeta's eyes hadn't left me—and I knew it—making me even more self-conscious as I pulled on his undershorts that were lying a foot away on the floor. "I'm going upstairs to get more clothes for after a shower."

"Why, though?" His expression was both amused and genuinely curious. "If we're just going to be taking them off again."

I noted how he said "we're" and smacked his shoulder.

Peeta laughed again. Did he really enjoy getting smacked, or was it just my particular reaction he took pleasure in? Either way, he seemed to be having the time of his life, sitting there giggling like a little school girl.

"Compromise." His eyes twinkled. "You give me back my boxers and start your shower, and I'll go get you a robe from our room."

That didn't sound too awful. So I complied, and spun my finger in a little circle to him. "Turn around." Him watching me undress made me squeamish, no matter what happened last night.

"You're impossible…" Peeta did as I asked, but not before he rolled his eyes. "You know, we're going to be forty someday with five kids and a perfectly normal sex life, and you're still not going to be able to undress in front of me, even after things like this happen."

"Of course not."

Shuffling into the bathroom and closing the door halfway, I stripped off the shorts and threw them at Peeta. They hit him on the face just as he turned to look at me. "Now go get me some clothes, you worthless boy."

Suddenly, the painful memory of Cinna popped up in my head and I had to shake my head and turn on the shower to drown out the hurt.

Not one minute later (I had just stepped under the spray) there was a knock on the sliding glass door of the shower/ through the slightly blurred pane, I could see Peeta's warped figure standing on the other side. Shaking water out of my eyes, I poked my head out.

Peeta, of course, was standing there, in his boxers, carrying a bundle of material in his hands. He acted casual and set the pile on the counter next to the sink. "I'll just set these here, Katniss."

"…Thanks."

Silence.

Peeta was just standing there in his undershorts, rocking back and forth while every now and then glancing at me. I hadn't gone completely back in the shower either, hesitating. It was obvious the reasoning, I shouldn't have to question it.

I tried to keep the blush out of my cheeks and I shifted slightly behind the wavy glass door. "You can, uh…join me, I-I suppose… If you want…" Before he could accept, I zipped back into the stall and turned on the hot water full-blast to make as much steam as possible.

"Ow! GOD." Peeta cursed when he stepped in, hopping away from the stream in surprise. "Do you always shower this hot?"

My skin felt like it was boiling, which brought back unwanted, violent memories, so I turn the water temperature back to normal. Goodbye helpful, modest steam… "No, I don't."

The water was nice and cool now, running down our backs in rivulets. I was watching Peeta curiously as he enjoyed the shower, splashing it on his face and wetting his hair. But he caught me staring and gave me a comical raised-eyebrow look.

"You seem uncomfortable, Katniss." Peeta noted, cocking his head questioningly. "Is something wrong?"

"No, everything's fine!" When I blinked up at him, I was unhappy to note that the light was gone from his eyes, replaced by concern. I didn't want the light to go out, especially after such a good night. No matter how hard, I forced away my shy feelings completely and put my hands on Peeta's shoulders to kiss him.

"Augh," Peeta chuckled. "Wet." Briefly pulling away, he used a thumb and ran it across my lips before kissing me again.

After that, I didn't feel awkward anymore. It was perfectly fine and normal.

We scrubbed away last night with loofas and pine-scented body wash, and I even got the opportunity to smack him again.

"I think this is the first time we've showered together since that August." Peeta pointed out as I was rinsing shampoo from my hair. "But that didn't really count, did it?"

"No, not really, no." I wrung the water out of my hair. "This is much nicer since we're not in solitary confinement." I really hated thinking about those weeks, but if I put it into perspective, they weren't near as horrible as the weeks in the Capitol. I was grateful.

A laugh. "Yeah."

Just as I was turning off the spray, I caught Peeta slipping out. But the second I stepped out of the stall, he had a huge, fluffy towel waiting for me. He wrapped it under my arms and—holding it at my left side with his hand—kissed the top of my head.

Pink crept onto my cheeks at his adoring touch. Peeta just smiled and put a towel around his own waist.

"Ooh, look at your hair!" He said suddenly, catching my reflection in the giant bathroom mirror. I looked, too, and saw it a complete bird's nest, piled on top of my head messily, but Peeta didn't seem to find it as repulsive as I did. He played with it jovially. "It's so beautiful."

I ducked away from his touch, fighting a grin. "Shut up, will y—?" My eyes suddenly caught something in the reflection that caused a serious double-take. Frowning, I leaned closer to the mirror, brushing away a lock of hair that covered…maybe a shadow. No…it was an odd-shaped purple mark. I immediately clapped my hand over it and felt the rush of beet-red upon my face. "Peeetaa," My whine was accusing.

Peeta laughed out loud, forcing my hand away from my neck to look at the mortifying purple mark. "It's not that noticeable."

"Oh, sure it's not…" I grumbled. It really was noticeable. Obviously, I wasn't upset at him enough to scowl for too long, but I allowed myself to smack him on the shoulder and get on with my life

He was grinning. "Honestly, Katniss—oh, here's another!"

I made a loud, guttural noise of frustration and annoyance as he pointed out another one under my left ear. Stop that, I wanted to hiss, scooting away from him. I was embarrassed enough. Hunching away from him, I sniffed and took a look at the second splotch that was so willingly pointed out. "God damn you, Peeta."

That just made him cackle, and surprise me by burying his face in my neck. "Third time's a charm!"

I swatted him away. "Jeez, what's up with you today?" Though as soon as it came from my mouth, I realized it was a stupid question.

But to my surprise, Peeta didn't act in jest. His eyes softened affectionately and he put his arms around my waist. "I'm sorry." He pressed his lips to mine. "I just married the girl of my dreams, that's all."

That's so…cheesy. As usual, his words made me blush, but I couldn't say anything. The way he was looking at me just clogged my throat and filled my stomach with the euphoric rush of butterflies. At this rate, I'll never be able to act normal around him.

Sighing, I just hung my towel on the rack and slipped the silken robe over my shoulders.

After Peeta put on his pair of pajama bottoms, he draped his arm over my shoulders and we wandered out of the bedroom. "How does breakfast sound?"

I pretended to think, but gave up and briefly leaned my head on his shoulder. "It sounds great, thank you."

Peeta kissed me on the top of the head. "I love you, you know that?"

A smile crept up onto my face. "Always."

The rest of the week went like that. It was relaxing and comfortable lounging around the entire time. When we weren't huddled under the covers of the master bedroom, we were talking cross-legged on the couch or in the kitchen baking. No one knocked on the door or called. Though it wasn't much of a substitute for a "fancy honeymoon", it belonged to us. We didn't even keep track of time, but when we finally poked our heads out into the real world, it had been eight days.

May 20th.

How time flies when you're having the time of your life. I just smiled to myself and let Peeta put his arms around me. There was nothing to worry about now. I had all that I needed.

oOo

Okay guys. A little before the end, I decided something. You noticed how rushed it got at the end? I decided to put you guys out of your misery. I've realized how much I've dragged everything on, and this is my way of apologizing. By explaining the rest of the week and whatnot, it would get boring. You know it, don't pretend otherwise. So instead of dragging ANYTHING on ANY LONGER, this is where I say "all good things come to an end".

Yes. I do mean this story. Now, I'm writing one more chapter (excluding my very last message to the readers) that is more or less necessary to read. It is going to be incredibly short and self-explanatory, but a gentle goodbye. No more dragging out, okay?

So review to this one and read the next if you see fit, I will see you guys in a few!