Forever on Fire (Katniss & Peeta)

Chapter 25

We walk into one of the cottages and he shrugs off his bag and dumps it on the floor before pulling out a large blanket. He spreads it out and gestures for me to sit down.
I laugh and sit down, while he rummages in the bag for food. "Want me to light a fire?"
"Yeah, some of the food needs cooked."
"I was thinking for warmth, but okay"
"Don't worry, I'll keep you warm" he winks.
"I appreciate that, but if I'm taking my clothes off, I'd like it to be warm" I joke.

I crawl forward and light the fire, as he gets out the rest of the food.

Overall it's quite fun, we stay for a couple of hours, we eat a lot of food and we have a great time. The fire has died down and we vote against refuelling it and opt to sit for a bit in front of the lake. I lean my head on his shoulder and we sit like that for about 10 minutes gazing across the water, romantic, I know. Whilst I don't like being in water much, I like looking at it, especially the lake water. It's so calm with just the occasional ripple across the surface. I've zoned out and started daydreaming when Luke informs me it's time to go. I reluctantly stand up and adjust my clothes as he folds the blanket and puts it back into the bag. He leaves the bag on the ground, grabs my hand and walks me down the old concrete pier. This must have been a fishing villages years ago, there's a pier for boats and plenty of cottages, I wonder how many years ago that was. Luke then plants a kiss on my forehead before pulling a small box out of his coat pocket, getting down and pulling out a ring.

Is he going to do what I think he's going to do? My eyes widen and my hand instinctively goes to my mouth. He says a small speech or something, I don't hear it, I'm on total shock right now. However, I definitely heard the last 6 words.

"Johanna Mason; will you marry me?"

I try to form an answer but I can't, I'm literally speechless. Instead I just nod as the first tear falls down my cheek. Eventually, I manage a single word; "yes." He smiles as he takes my left hand and slides the ring on it. The ring is beautiful, but I barely look at it, because as soon as he gives me my hand back, I wrap my arms around him. I bury my face into his chest and properly start to cry. "I love you so much" I choke out through sobs. "Yes. Yes. Yes! Of course I will." I can't believe this is actually happening. This kind of thing doesn't happen to me. Luke makes me so happy, and for some reason he wants to
continue to make me happy. Does this mean I'm getting a happy ending after all?

Eventually it starts to become real and I manage to walk back to the district and find my way home. We alternate between a lot of sex and a lot of cuddling to celebrate our engagement until we finally decide it's time for dinner. Luke volunteers to cook and I use the opportunity to put some clothes on and walk over to Katniss and Peeta's. I knock the door and Peeta answers.
"Where's Katniss?" I demand
"Are you okay?" He asks
"No, I mean yes, I'm fine, get Katniss"
Peeta shouts in for Katniss and she comes to the door. Peeta returns to entertain their very loud and annoying guest (in case you can't tell, that's Haymitch I'm referring to.)

"What's wrong?" She asks
"Nothing, I'm 100% fine" I babble excitedly
"Your eyes are red, you've either been crying or you're on drugs, I'm assuming the latter"
"Shut up, I was crying earlier, but they were happy tears, and I'm not on drugs."
"Happy tears? Who died?"
"Very funny, no but seriously look" I exclaim holding out my left hand.
Katniss takes my hand and holds it up to her face. "Did you get engaged?" She asks
"Yes!" I say shaking my hands in excitement. "he asked me today and I can't believe it and it's perfect and I can't wait and I love him and I'm just so happy"
Uncharacteristically, she pulls me into her arms for a hug. "I'm so happy for you, Jo. You really deserve this, things haven't been great lately and you deserve something nice for once, you deserve to be happy. Congratulations"
"Thank you"
"Have you got a date yet?"
"No, but you can tell Haymitch he was wrong. He does love me, and I love him and I don't care what he says."
"Show him" she smirks, dragging me inside.

"Hey Peeta, guess who's giving us a day out?" Katniss asks
"Jo has another court appearance?" He joked
"Not this time" she laughs, "Johanna's getting married! Luke proposed!"
Peeta hugs me and congratulates me, and even Haymitch mutters a half-hearted congratulations.

I stay for a bit until I get a text from Luke telling me dinner was ready. "I gotta go, my fiancé just texted" I say with a smirk and a glance at Haymitch, maybe I'm still just a little bitter about last nights comments.

Katniss's POV

Haymitch doesn't leave until late that night, so we decide to go to bed almost as soon as he leaves, because it's so cold. We cuddle up beside each other partly because we love each other and partly because we want to stay warm.
"I'm happy for Johanna" Peeta says "she's been through a lot recently, she deserves to be happy"
"So have you," I reply
"I know," he responds, "but I am happy, I have a beautiful wife and two perfect children, how could I not be happy?"
"But things have been hard lately, I want to help you because I love you, but I can't"
"Yeah," he replies, squeezing me a little tighter. "It's been stressful lately"
"That's a bit of an understatement."
"I know," he mumbles looking up at the ceiling "I've had two, uh, episodes this week."
"Oh Peeta" I say propping myself up on one elbow so he has to look at me "why didn't you tell me?"
I look into his beautiful blue eyes, and I can see how upset he is. "I didn't want to worry you"
"Don't worry about me, you're the one struggling, don't do it alone, please"
He starts to cry "I'm just so scared, Katniss."
"I know you are, but you don't need to be, Johanna's paranoia is enough to keep anyone safe, no one is getting through those gates, they won't get near you, and anyway, they probably don't want to come near you"
"You can't know that, and I know what they're capable of, I know what will happen if they do get me. And what about you? And the kids? What if they got you? Because they are not above hurting anyone, not women, not children, what if they got you?"
I hug him tighter, "shh, shh, don't worry about that, even if they do want to get any of us, they can't, the security is fantastic, and if they want to try we are ready for them, Peeta. We're prepared, they wouldn't stand a chance"
"I can't help worrying."
"I know, but just don't worry on your own, tell me, even if I can't help you, I'll do what I can."

He smiles as I wipe away the remainder of his tears. "Try and get some sleep" I whisper. "I'm here, you're safe and I love you. Goodnight."

A/N
So look who finally updated!!! If anyone is still reading this, I am so sorry for taking so long. I am going to update this now, and I absolutely mean that because I can't leave the story unfinished. I have plans for a few of the characters already and I'm not quitting until it's over.
I started this book a long time ago and I was very young and honestly my writing was so shit then, that it's embarrassing to reread, but I will edit out the spelling mistakes and keep the original content (no matter how shit it is) at some point. I'm actually at university now, which probably means I have more time than ever to update 😂 and I will use that time to actually update it. I'm also writing some original books in my free time now that my writing is actually better, but this will always be my start and I love it, so I will finish it. I also love anyone that has ever read this, and especially people that will actually read this update, because it's been so long 😂 hopefully some people will actually read this all these years later, but like I said, I will finish this, even if I'm the only one who reads it! I love you all!

ALSO WE'RE SOON TO HAVE NEW CONTENT FROM THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES!!! I'm heartbroken that it won't be about katniss and peeta and Johanna and Haymitch, but it is content and I'm all for it! THG FANDOM REMAINS!!! Is anyone as excited as I am? (If anyone actually reads it)