Everlark Baby ~ Everlark

Catching up...

Katniss' PoV:
6:30. I had half an hour to grab a shower and put on a decent-looking dress. Peeta was kind to invite me. I needed some sort of distraction. I kept prompting myself to stay strong for all of Panem. For Prim, Finnick and Rue, but mostly for the people that remained. Annie. Johanna. Haymitch. Effie. Gale. People who had suffered and needed strength in their life. I had only cried once in cause to Prim's death. I was surprised I hadn't suffered even more since last month when she died. I had found comfort in one person though. Peeta. He was my heaven on ground where I discovered comfort in our most loneliest moments.

I walked over to his house; my feet crunching on the hard snow. I didn't bother knocking. Instead I just tiptoed in, hoping to catch him in his element. As I peered around the tall pillar of his hallway, I saw his body jolting slightly, from the action of chopping various herbs. I made my presence aware and he turned round to smile at me.

"Hey." He said happily.

"Hiya. What are you cooking for us?" I asked with kind intentions.

"Lamb stew with dried plumbs." He said.

"Ooooo my favourite. You remembered me loving it before our first games, didn't you?". I asked him.

"Yeah. It's almost ready. I just need to serve it up." He said.

"Ok, I'll go and sit down at the table." I said, walking over with a glass of red wine he had handed me.

Peeta had two plates of lamb stew and dried plumbs in his hands. He placed them on the table.

"Thank you for doing this for me." I said to Peeta.

"You're welcome." He said smiling at me as we were tucking in to the delicious meal he had prepared.

"So how are you doing?" I asked him.

"I'm ok. I still have flashbacks to what happened, but I'll be ok eventually. I want you to know Katniss, that I value you very much. You are the one human left on this earth that I trust with my experiences. Because Johanna won't talk about it and Annie is reminded of Finnick too much, I turn to you in times of need. It's because you've been through it all as well."

I smiled taken aback at the comment he made. "I'm always here Peeta. For you."

"This meal is delicious" I said happily to Peeta with my mouth half-full of juicy lamb.

"I'm glad you like it." Peeta said smiling.

"Have you heard anything from Effie?" I asked Peeta.

"Yeah, she's in the Capitol still fashion designing. Oh, I forgot to tell you, but they found your red dress from the interviews before our first games. They thought it was destroyed in the war, but it was in a cupboard. They're having it sent over on the train. It should be here by tomorrow." He said.

I was shocked and wasn't convinced I wanted to see it again. "I won't really look at it though so I'll just put it in my closet. Out of sight. Out of mind." I said with a notion of sadness in the audio of my voice.

"Why don't you want to see it?" He asked.

"Because...I wore it in a time of misery. I was embracing the probability of my painful and imminent death. I knew that Prim would suffer if I did die. I wore it when the Capitol was evil and heartless. I watched their faces light up at the sight of flames on a piece of fabric." I paused for a moment, placing my cutlery down at the same time. Peeta looked at me in shock.

"Every time I see a fire or hear a bang...I see her. I vision her helpless face look at me for a split-second and then she just goes..."

"I just want to..."

Peeta looks at me. A look of help and hope. "You don't want that. It shouldn't even be the last thing you want."

I let out a tear. He rises from his chair and notions me to stand up for a hug. He cocoons me in his muscular arms. I place my limbs around his back and whispered in his ear "Make this last forever Peeta?" When I questioned that, I didn't mean the hug; I meant us caring for each other and being content.

"Always." He said pulling away from the hug. He looked at me with a face of astonishment.

"Katniss, when we were in the war, do you remember kissing me in the underground of the Capitol when I was cradled on the ground?"

I thought for a moment trying to reflect and remember back to that scene of a horrible period.

"Umm....yeah." I said. At this point we were inches apart from each other.

"I felt something. Something I've never felt before. A spark of hope and desire. And I found that in you. The most beautiful and brave, yet stubborn woman anyone will ever meet." He said.

I stood there for a moment. I could taste the lamb from the steam still rising from our warm and fresh meals, the sight of utensils on the draining board, the smell of fresh parsley, hear the dead silence of the atmosphere that night. But what I felt was love. Love for Peeta and what he had said.

"Peeta, I need to grieve." I said. His face was like a child being told there's no candy left. Miserable as miserable can get. He bowed his head down, still clutching to my warm hands.

"But I need to grieve...with you." I said with teasing tension in my voice. His face was now like a child at a toy shop window.

"Katniss, I love you. I habitually love you. I can't help it." He said to me giggling.

"I love you too Peeta. Always."

Before I kiss you, can I just say one thing?" I asked him. He nods.

"Me needing to grieve is not a quick process. In fact it will take me all my life to encounter the fears. Basically what I'm saying is, I need time. I don't want to rush into things." I said.

He nodded and said "I completely understand."

I leaned in and kissed him. He gently placed with soft hands on my cold and pale face, almost as if he was warming my entire body up. Excluding his thumb, Peeta's fingers were intertwined in my hair just touching the back of my ear, as both of his thumbs rested on the top of my jaw line; both either side of my face. I ran my fingers through his curly blonde hair, but with benevolent intentions. I felt his prominent jaw line move in unison with his mouth. We pulled away shortly after....