The Hunger games - I'm still breathing (Everlark)

Chapter 19

6 months later

These last few months, Peeta has been fully focused on re-building and re-opening the bakery. His every thought has been for this and how he could honor his families' memory by doing so. A countless number of sketches were drawn only to be screwed up and thrown in the bin. Nights where I've had to get him to come to bed because he's become so lost in his work, he hasn't realized how late it is.

Day after day I've had to sample his cooking. Baguettes, bagels and tiger bread. The list is never ending. Sometimes I'd help him and he'd be happy to teach me his techniques. Those times usually ended up in food fights and floury-covered kisses. The results that came out of the oven were usually sloppy and deflated when left in my hands, so I preferred to watch. Sitting from the counter, my legs swinging beneath me, watching as Peeta kneaded and molded the bread to perfection. How he used the tiniest of movements when icing his intricate shapes and patterns on to the cakes. I watched him be transported to a different place, jealous at how easy it was for him to leave reality.

Whenever he caught me watching, he would shoot me a knowing smile. A smile that felt like it was only made for me, that he would share with no one else. His smile held a thousand words; silent, secret words that hung in the air between us that only we would know. With each of these smiles, my love for him grew. I loved the excitement that would light up his eyes whenever he talked about the bakery. I loved that, even though he was busy, he never once neglected to be there for me. He made a point of asking me how I was each day and was there when the nightmares hit.

Over the months the voices have begun to ease up and they don't return as frequently as they once did. Peeta hasn't had a flashback since that day in town. Slowly, we are mending and recovering from the cracks that the war left in us. There will still always be a hole in the shape of my sister inside me and there's not a day that goes by that I don't think about her. But I know that she is always with me. That same hole is also inside Peeta, in the shape of his family.

I've found him a number of times in his art room with his head in his hands. Re-designing the bakery has been good for him but I know that it's been painful too. It reminds him of his childhood and the fond memories he has of growing up there. I've held him while he's cried, telling me long ago stories. About his father teaching him to cook, him and his brothers playing jokes on each other and the odd occasions when his mother would show affection for him. I added to these stories, telling him everything I could remember about his father. After, he would wipe his tears and throw himself back into the bakery work with a vengeance.

That's why I'm stood here today, a blindfold covering my eyes and Peeta rabbiting away in my ear enthusiastically. He promised I would be the first one to see the new and improved Mellark bakery. He leads me inside carefully, a bell jingling as he opens and closes the door.

"Are you ready?" he asks. I can practically feel his buzzing aura vibrating around the room.

"As ready as I'll ever be," I reply.

With that, the blindfold is whipped away from my eyes and I am greeted by the most stunning sight ever imaginable. A huge, warm sunset has been painted on one wall in a beautiful array of yellows, oranges and reds. It lights up a meadow that stretches out on all four walls. Millions of flowers grow in the evergreen grass; all different colours, shapes and sizes. Children run and play with their friends, while their parents watch on in admiration. The whole room gives you a sense of hope of what life could be like.

"Peeta it's breath-taking," I say, taking it all in.

"Do you think people will like it?" he asks.

"Peeta, I don't think you'll be able to get people to leave it's that good. It's so peaceful, how did you make it seem so life-like?" I ask, mesmerised.

He lets out a short laugh.

"It took a very long time," he says.

I walk towards to counter and look at all the treats he has behind the glass. Cakes, bread and pastries. I take a closer look at the breads, realising that they are all different types from all the different districts.

"What are these for?" I ask, pointing towards them.

"I thought this place could do with a little culture," he winks, before turning more serious. "The people from District 12 won't have had the chance to try bread from different districts like we have, so I thought it would be nice for them to try it."

I smile, again loving Peeta for how he thinks of everyone and everything.

When I look up behind the counter, I see a painting of Peeta's family. Smiles are plastered on all the boy's faces, similar to Peeta's. His mother however, still holds her grim, strict expression.

"I thought it would be nice to have them here, just so it felt like they were with me," he says, following my gaze towards the picture.

I turn round and face him, wrapping my arms around his neck.

"They are with you and they'd be very proud of everything you've done," I tell him.

When I pull away, he leans down and kisses me.

"Will you be here when we open it up tomorrow?" he asks.

"Of course, I wouldn't miss it for the world," I say. He shoots me one of his smiles, that make the butterflies dance in my belly and my legs go weak. I kiss him again, not wanting the moment to end.

Once we've locked the bakery up, we walk home hand in hand, ready for the fresh, new start that tomorrow would bring.