Beacon of Hope

Chapter Sixteen <3 Wedding Dresses

"What!?" Peeta exclaims.

"I, want to be friends with Gale." I repeat myself. Peeta had pulled out of the hug and is now pacing the bakery.

"Katniss, he tried to kill Prim. He stabbed me in the arm and got me sent to the Capitol. And you want to be friends with him?" Peeta asks. I can't tell if he is very angry or not. He doesn't raise his voice but he continues to pace the floor.

"Peeta he wasn't always like this. He was once my best friend." I say.

"Well he's like this now. Katniss, look at me." He walks back over and places his hands on my cheeks, forcing me to look at him.

"He almost killed Prim."

"And what if Prim forgave him? Gale is like her older brother."

"If Prim can forgive him, then I guess I can too. He did much worse to her than he did to me." Peeta says. I nod my head. As long as Prim forgives Gale, I might still be able to be friends with him. And still be able to keep Peeta. I guess it's time to go talk to Prim.

" Well, c'mon then," I say to him, and kiss him softly. I can feel through the kiss that Peeta's back to his normal self. Before, when he'd stopped visiting, the kisses felt different, wrong. But now they're right. They feel real.

He helps me into one of my jackets, and says, " Hey, your stomach's got bigger."

I laugh. " I'm fifteen weeks," I say. He blushes.

" Really?" He asks. I nod slowly. " I'm so sorry, Katniss. I'm so sorry I wasn't there."

" It's okay, Peeta." I say, twirling into the jacket. " You're here now."

Peeta shrugs on a jacket and kisses me cheek, pulling my out the door. We walk through the wet streets, still slightly lined with snow.

" So, fifteen months," he mumbles, as we wander towards my house.

" Hmm," I say.

" When do you turn 4 months?" He asks.

" In about four or five days," I answer, shrugging myself into his arm.

Peeta beams down at me. I'm so glad I'm making him happy. That's all I've ever wanted.

" Maybe we should go check on Haymitch," he says. I nod, as we walk by my house and towards Haymitch's. We don't knock, we never do.

Haymitch is passed out. He's lying across the couch, so I grab him and roll him off it. He lands face down on the hard, cold floor.

"Wha!?" He shouts and turns on to his back, seeing my above him. " You son of a bitch," he says.

I smirk. " Get up, 'sweetheart'," I say.

He scowls and stands up slowly. " You're really putting on the pounds there, missy," he says. He knows I'm pregnant, he's just trying to be annoying.

I roll my eyes and drag Peeta back to the door. " Take a bath, Haymitch!" I yell before slamming the door behind us.

- - - * * * - - -

" I- I can't," Prim stutters.

" C'mon, Prim," I say.

" I- he could've killed me," she whispers, and a tear drips from her eye.

I say, " Prim, he did it for a reason. C'mon!"

" I g-guess, but it'll take a while, and I'm never going to trust him again," Prim says.

" Prim," Peeta says. " If you don't want to, you don't have to. We're not going to force you."

Prim takes a deep breath. " I'm not ready yet,"

It seems no one's ready to forget.

- - - * * * - - -

I've started getting morning sickness really bad, so I've been staying in bed a lot lately. Well, in Peeta's bed.

He'd been coming over a lot, and we decided I may as well just move in. I've been in his bed ever since.

Normally, it'd be boring, but we've been working on a book my father made. It has pictures of herbs and different types of flowers, and a short description underneath. Peeta draws in careful sketches of the herb or flowers, then I neatly print out all I know about it underneath.

Plus he makes cheese buns.

Today, we've decided to watch the T.V, which I'm glad of, since I've been looking out for a specific piece of footage.

The mockingjay in 13.

And I see it. A documentary on the Dark Days comes on, and an image of the burning Justice Building flashes onto the screen. Then, just as they cut out, I see the black and white underside of a mockingjay a wing.

Doesn't prove anything.

However, then, several days later, something else grabs my attention. The main news caster reads a short piece, and then it cuts to a lady reading in 13.

Just before they cut back, I see the mockingjay.

She's not in 13, but if not her, what?

- - - * * * - - -

I don't want to lie in bed anymore, I just want to help the districts, help with the rebellion. Instead I stuff myself with cheese buns, and watch Peeta's muscles flex and tense under his shirt while he sketches.

I fall asleep, wrapped in Peeta's arms, determined to go into town the next day. But then, in the morning, we're awoken by my Prep team.

" Surprise!" Octavia squeals. " Early photoshoot!"

After I got hit with the whip, Haymitch pushed back the photoshoot by a few months. I meant to try one on but, to be honest, I haven't.

Instead of being waxed, I get to be shaved, and when I bathe, the liquid is not vile. We're on the hair and makeup before I realise. Peeta perches on a stool in the corner, smiling across and me.

Cinna appears and gives me a hug. He does my makeup, and what little you can see of the whiplash disappears.

Downstairs, the sitting room has been lit. There are six gowns, and each requires it's own shoes, head dress, makeup, hair, lighting and set up. Every time we finish one, we restart. And by the time the photoshoot's over, I'm starving. Effie shoo's everyone out the door, and Cinna promises me a phone call.

Peeta helps me wash my fifteen layers of makeup off gently, then washes my hair. He takes me to the fire, and I dry it.

The nightmare that night is horrible. I'm in the bridal gown, and running through the woods. It keeps getting caught on trees and the mutations get closer. When they catch up, I scream and wake myself up.

Peeta is there as usual, and comforts me back to sleep.


- - - * * * - - -

Thanks to Hannah Vorhees, who helped me a lot with this chapter.