Chapter 4 : Always, Together in the New World

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WARNING : this chapter is PG13

Peeta lay Katniss on her bed. He lay next to her.
"Now what?" Asked Katniss.
"We enjoy the fact that we are safe. That we are not in an arena or in the Capitol." Replied Peeta as he held Katniss close.
"You want to stay at my place for a while?"
"Why?"
"There's only us and Haymitch with Effie in the district. I could use some company."
"Sure. I'll move in here for a while."
"You want help getting some stuff from your place?"
"Yes."
"Maybe we should do it now before the prep teams invade this house."
"Agreed. I'll do it now. Are you coming?"
"Always."
"Together?" Asked Peeta as he held out his arm for her.
"Always." She said as he kissed him.
The both went down the stairs and out the door. The town was still looking like a ghost town. The primroses that Peeta had planted yesterday were blooming. Their yellow blooms were swaying in the breeze. Katniss stopped walking for a moment and just stared. Peeta understood. He hugged her, held her close and made her feel safe.
"As long as I'm alive I never want to see a white rose ever again." Said Katniss as she snapped out of her trance.
They swiftly arrived at Peeta's house. He took a bag from the front of the house and began to fill it with various items from his house. His house is so empty, thought Katniss.
Then again, we were in the victors village for maybe a month. And his family got killed by the bombing.
She noticed that he grabbed a lot of items from the kitchen and carefully packed them in a box.
Baking utensils, something I definitely don't have, Thought Katniss.
She looked around. He wasn't in the kitchen anymore. She looked around in a moment of panic.
"Peeta?" She yelled out, in distress.
There was no response.
"Peeta?" She yelled again, slightly more distressed.
She ran up the stairs quickly. She ran into his room. She found him, on his bed, with a bag next to him full of clothes and aprons. He was curled up on his bed looking at a picture of his father. She came up next to him.
"I know. It hurts." Said Katniss as she knelt beside him.
"My dad was the one thing other than you that kept me going through the games. The thought that he would be there for me in the end. Instead he died because of me."
"He didn't die because of you. He died because of snow. The same way my father did."
"Your dad died because of snow? I thought he died in the explosion..."
"He died because snow didn't ensure safety."
"Oh." There was a silence that felt like it lasted a lifetime.
"We should get back to my place." Said Katniss as she picked up one of the boxes and one of the bags.
"The house is pretty much empty now." Said Peeta.
"That's okay. At least we won't be lonely." Said Katniss as she went down the stairs. Peeta followed her with another bag and box. They went out the door and he locked the house. They quickly walked over to Katniss' house and put Peeta's belongings down.

"I have to say, your house feels far more homely." Remarked Peeta.
"More people living in it. Or should I say, were living in it." Replied Katniss. Katniss noticed an unread email in her mailbox on the big holographic computer screen, that was also the television. It was from Annie.
"Peeta, come look at this." Said Katniss.
He quickly came over.
"An email from Annie. She must be heartbroken about Finnick."
"If I had only exploded the stupid lizard mutts earlier." Muttered Katniss. Peeta knew what she was feeling. He took her hand and squeezed it.
"Dear Katniss, how are you? I have some good news and bad news. Bad news is that I'm the only surviving victor of district 4. I have no family here because of Snow. I have nobody to go to. I miss Finnick everyday. But there is good news. By some miracle, I am pregnant with Finnick's child. I must have gotten pregnant over the honeymoon. I hope that the baby looks like his daddy. May I pay you a visit to district 12 soon? I heard that everything got bombed except the victors village. I'm very sorry to hear that. I hope that everything else is okay and that we will get to meet up soon. With love, Annie Odair."
"Seems a bit long for someone you didn't know that well."
"We are some of the only surviving victors. She has nobody. We have nobody."
"You have your mother and we have Haymitch."
"My mother will be paralysed over Prim. And Haymitch is Haymitch. We may as well help eachother." Said Katniss
"Unusual for you, actually making alliances." Said Peeta jokingly.
"It's not alliances, it's supporting one of our best friend's widow. Finnick would want us to help Annie recover."
"If I told Haymitch about this he wouldn't believe me."
"He has zero faith in me and compassion."
Peeta laughed. He hugged her.
"The war may be over, but we need to help each other through recovery. We can't do this alone anymore. If I can see it, then everyone can. It takes ten times longer to put yourself back together than it does to fall apart." Said Katniss
"Finnick said that, didn't he;" replied Peeta
"How'd you know?"
"The touch of Finnick nostalgia."
"I didn't know it existed."
"We should reply to Annie. Let her know that she can visit here."
"Sure."
"Dear Annie, we would be delighted to have you visit us. Peeta is living with me at the moment but you are more than welcome to stay. Have you heard anything from Johanna lately? I hope that you are doing well with the pregnancy and that we get to meet your baby soon. Let me know when you plan on arriving in district 12 so I can get some things ready for you. Regards, Katniss."
"I hope she doesn't realise that you wrote that not me."
"I doubt she could tell."
Peeta replied as his lips met hers.

They sent the email, and started unpacking Peeta's belongings.
I think he is planning on staying here, judging by the amount of stuff he brought with him. Not that there's anything wrong with that, thought Katniss. She opened a box full of baking and cooking utensils. She found room easily for these things as her kitchen was fairly empty. She went upstairs with Peeta. Since sending the email, there had been no chat between them. They could almost read each other's minds as they unpacked his clothes into spare dresser draws. Peeta was surprised by the lack of food in her house and the small amount of clothing she had.
She really mustn't have been eating before I came, thought Peeta. As he turned around having finished unpacking, he realised that Katniss was staring out the window. He crept up behind her and hugged her. He kissed her neck. She felt him wrap his arms around her and rest his hands on her waist. She snapped out of her trance of staring out the window. She turned around and leapt into Peeta's arms. She kissed his neck. She felt his warm breath on her neck.
"I never want to forget this," whispered Peeta. They eventually got onto her bed. She was lying down. Peeta was hovering over her.
"I wonder what you would look like without a shirt on...." Muttered Katniss, not intending on anybody hearing her thought.
"Did I just hear you ask me to take my shirt off?" Said Peeta cheekily. Katniss blushed. He took is shirt off, revealing his toned stomach. He went back to hovering over her. She held his face in her hands and began to make out with him. She felt his hands on her waist. They kept making out. She felt warm and safe. She felt like she could trust Peeta. Peeta managed to get Katniss to remove her top. He stared at her chest for a minute then went back to making out with her. She traced circles on his stomach. She felt his hands touch her chest. She shuddered for a moment, then remembered that she was with Peeta. Their flirty romance quickly turned into something more. Katniss lost in the blue oceans that were Peeta's eyes. With every kiss she had with Peeta, her hunger for him increased. Feeling Peeta's warm body against mine I get this wonderful feeling that I know very well. It's one that I forget about until I experience it again. It's one that never wants to stop being felt.

A/N:
Thanks to everybody who has read my fanfic. I will dedicate the next chapter to the people that vote or comment on this one before the next one goes up in a day or two. I'm really enjoying writing this, and this is the longest chapter so far. I hope you guys are enjoying this as much as I am. Please leave me a comment and let me know how I'm doing and what you think.
Xx, Avi

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