Katniss
"When you cry a piece of my heart dies, knowing that I may have been the cause. If you were to leave
Fulfill someone else's dreams, I think I might totally be lost." -City and Colour
"It's going to be a hot day. It's almost August. Are you sure you want to wear that?" Peeta asks upon seeing me in my long sleeved shirt.
"Yeah, I'm sure." I reply. "If I get too hot, I'll just change."
After I feed Willow, I sit down at the table and eat my own breakfast. The anxiety I've been having for the past week has been weakening my appetite, and Peeta already says he can see I've lost weight.
"You need to eat." He says, the same way he begs every day.
"Yeah, okay." I reply dully, accepting my plate of eggs and bacon.
I never gained much baby weight, and whatever I did gain is now long gone. I know Peeta's worried about what's going on with my eating habits and my weight, but I make sure he knows I'm okay.
"I'm just nervous." I tell him as he watches me eat.
"Nervous for what? Gale?" He asks.
I nod, embarrassed.
"We talked about it, Katniss. I doubt he's going to start anything, and if he does, I promise I won't retaliate. I know how much he means to you." Peeta reassures me.
"And," He says, standing up and planting a kiss on my forehead. "There's no way he can take you from me. I don't have a problem with him."
I let out a shaky breath and repeat Peeta's words over and over again in my head until I hear a knock at the door. My heart beats fast, but I long to see Gale again. I take a deep breath, throwing a glance back at Peeta, who sits on the couch, and face the door.
I have my fake smile already prepared, and all of my fake greetings and my forced, small hug all planned out before I even reach the door. But when it opens, and I see the familiar face of my old best friend, all plans go haywire.
"Gale," I say quietly while we stand, taking each other's presence in.
A smile creeps across his face and suddenly I'm wrapped in his arms. Not the kind of hug I had planned; the forced one that children give their grandmothers when they don't want to hug, but the one that you give your best friend after you haven't seen them in months.
"I've missed you..." He says, hugging me back.
I feel Peeta watching us, but I know he's not suspicious or uncomfortable or anything of the like.
"Come in." I say after we hug, holding the door open for him as he walks in.
"It's, uh, it's a nice place you got here. Who's house is it?" Gale asks, trying to make small talk.
"It's mine," I say. "You don't remember that?"
He shakes his head no and that conversation ends.
"Would you like some breakfast, Gale? We're eating lunch in the meadow in a few hours." Peeta offers.
"No, thank you. I ate before I came." Gale says.
I feel the tension begin to ease a significant amount once I find Willow, who had been taking her morning nap, awake in her crib upstairs and figure that I should introduce her to Gale. I bring her downstairs and immediately, Gale's eyes light up.
"Willow," I say, placing her into Gale's arms. "This is mommy's old friend, Gale."
"Gale," I say, looking at him. "This is Willow."
He smiles at me and then down at the baby.
"She's beautiful." Gale says.
I reach my hand out to Peeta and he gives me a high five.
"Good job, babe." I say to him.
All three of us laugh, which, I'll admit, is surprising. If there was a way I could go back and tell my old self that there would come a day that Gale would hold Peeta and I's child and laugh with us at a joke I made, my old self would surely not have believed it. And to be perfectly honest, I can't believe it myself.
"It's funny how things all... Work out." I say.
Both of the guys look at me.
I tell them what's been on my mind.
"I mean, if we were to go back in time and tell our old, suffocating-in-13 selves that there would be a day all three of us were laughing as I hold my child... We would have all thought we were crazy." I say.
Gale nods slightly and I can see a little smile on Peeta's face.
"Gale, tell us about your life. What have you been doing?" Peeta asks.
"Well," Gale says. "After the war, I got sent out to Two to clean up any resistance still left over. They moved my mom and the kids out there, so that's where we're staying. I have my own place, of course, but having my family there is nice. Now, uh, they've appointed me to head of security at the military base there. The Nut, Katniss. That's where it is, if you remember any of that. So that's really all I'm doing right now."
"Do you like your job?" Peeta asks.
"Yeah. I really like it." Gale says. "How's the bakery?"
"It's alright. I've had a few of my old friends covering for me while we deal with our new addition, but I'll be going back soon. We got a lot of money after the Games, but God knows how long we'll last only on that." Peeta says.
Gale nods.
A few hours later, we walk through the woods and up into the meadow where we lay out our food and our stuff for our little picnic.
Peeta and Gale carry the food and the blanket while I carry Willow.
After a little bit of eating and some casual conversation, I decide that Peeta was right.
It is nearly August. And it is a hot day.
"Hey, Peeta, I'm getting really hot. I'm going to run back to the house to put something cooler on and then I'll be back. Keep an eye on Willow..." I say, as if I even need to remind him.
He nods and I resist every temptation to just strip down to my underwear to cool off on the way back to the house.
--
Peeta
Since Katniss left to go change, it's just Gale, Willow, and myself. And since Willow isn't going to be starting any conversation, it's really down to just Gale and I.
"You know, what Katniss was saying was right." Gale says suddenly, staring off into the meadow.
"What?" I ask.
"About how if we were to go back and tell ourselves how it would end up, we wouldn't believe it. You wouldn't believe it because it would have been to good to be true. Katniss wouldn't believe it because it seemed like too much of a happy ending for her. And me? I wouldn't have believed that I wasn't going to end up with Katniss." He explains.
My stomach twists at the mention of whatever it was that was between Katniss and Gale.
"I'm glad she chose you." Gale says.
"What?" I say again.
"I'm glad she chose you. I mean, I really love her. I don't think that'll ever change. But you... You're exactly what she needs." He says.
"Exactly what she needs?"
"Yeah," Gale says. "I mean, sure, I could have provided the baby for her and maybe we would have really been in love. But... There's something about you. You put out her fire when she needs it. But then, it's like you make it stronger when she needs it to be. I don't think I could do that. And I don't think I could be there all the time to help her through whatever she's going through."
"But you said you love her. You could do it if you love her." I reply.
"It's not that. You know, back in 13 we would get into these stupid little fights. Usually they were about something I said or did, but this one time, she told me that I would never understand what it was like. At the time, I couldn't understand how she could say that, you know? We were both living through war, but I guess I couldn't put into perspective how the games can mess you up. I'm not saying I understand it now, but what I do understand is how she needs somebody who does understand. Somebody who lived it with her."
I nod in agreement and he pauses. He looks uncomfortable, like there's something he needs to say.
"I've got a girl at home." He blurts out.
"You what?" I ask.
"I've got a girl. Back in Two. I've been dating her since I got kicked out of the hospital." He says quickly. "Should I... Should I tell Katniss?" He asks. I can hear how guilty he feels.
"I... I don't know." I reply.
"I just don't know what to do anymore, you know?" Gale says.
"Yeah. I know." I say.
All of a sudden, Gale and I whip around. Heavy, quick footsteps approach us from the woods. Someone's approaching us, and they're coming fast.
"Someone's coming." I say.
"Sounds like they're running." Gale states.
"Gale... Take Willow..." I say quietly, standing up, ready for Katniss to come bursting out of the woods. I don't know who else it could be.
"Katniss?" I call into the woods.
"Peeta!" She screams.
She comes running to me and stands panting and looking upset.
"Is everything okay?" I ask.
"It's Annie. You need to come back to the house." She says urgently.
I turn back around to Gale, who holds Willow protectively.
We make eye contact for a few seconds before Katniss interrupts.
"We need to go. Now, you two. Let's go." She says sternly.
"Yes, ma'am." Gale replies mockingly.
She gives him a look that shuts him up and we hurry back to the house.
--
When we emerge from the woods and back into the Victors' Village, we're greeted by the sight of Annie and her three-year-old son, sitting on the steps of one of the empty houses.
Katniss stands back, far too hesitant to go near them. She gives me a look that insists it's my job to handle this because she can't find the words to say to Annie. Not after Finnick. Not after everything that has happened.
I approach her carefully.
"Annie? Are you alright?" I ask, keeping her fragile mental state in mind. I read my hand out to her shoulder, but before I can touch it, she bursts into tears.
"I couldn't do it anymore!" She sobs.
Katniss appears at my side and sits down next to Annie.
She places her arm around the crying woman and tries to quiet her the same way she once saw Finnick do it.
"What is it? What couldn't you do?" I ask.
"I couldn't stay there with Finn anymore. Not with all the memories of Finn's father, not with the oceans that look like his eyes or the fish that he used to catch... I couldn't do it!" She cries.
"It's okay, Annie. You can stay here with Peeta and Haymitch and Johanna and I. I can talk to Paylor and I'm sure she'll allow you to move into the house next door. There's plenty of open Victor's houses. You can stay here in Twelve." Katniss tells her.
Annie nods and Katniss turns to the small boy standing on the other side of her.
"Hi." She says softly, as if telling him a secret.
"Hi." He says quietly.
"My name's Katniss. I'm your daddy's old friend. You and your mommy are going to stay here, now." She says.
The little boy looks confused, but introduces himself.
"I'm Finn." He says, sticking out his small, three-year-old hand for Katniss to shake.
She shakes it gently.
"You're going to love it here. It's not much like your home, but in a few years you'll have someone to play with." She whispers, pointing out the baby in Gale's arms.
Finn's eyes light up.
"Really? Someone to play with?" He asks.
"Yeah! Her name's Willow and she's my baby. That man over there with your mommy is my husband, Peeta." Katniss explains.
My heart still skips a beat when she calls me her husband, despite the time it's been since our wedding.
Finn waves his little hand at me and I wave back, smiling.
"Willow's still really little, though. You'll have to be careful around her for a while. She's only 3 months old still." Katniss says quietly to him.
He nods responsibly and then climbs over me to sit between Annie and Katniss.
"You're really nice." He says simply, looking Katniss over.
"Thank you." She says, smiling.
"You're welcome." He replies quietly.
By nightfall, Paylor has agreed to let Annie and Finn stay in the Victor's Village house right next door to ours and they're already moving in their small amount of belongings they brought with them. Annie sits in our living room with Finn, who's asleep in her lap. Katniss is upstairs with Gale, putting Willow to bed.
"I think you're going to like it here, Annie." I say.
"I hope so, Peeta." She says quietly, not waking Finn.
"You will. There's lots more company around here." I reply.
She nods and smiles a little before she herself falls asleep on the couch. I don't have the heart to tell her and Finn to go to their new house after they've fallen asleep, so I shut off the lights and head upstairs.
**hope you guys liked it! Okay, yeah, I know that Annie was pregnant with Finn like right after the war, but having Finn this young right now is going to help the plot later. Please bear with me.
Also!! Since keeping Willow as a baby is going to drag a bit and get repetitive and boring, one of these chapters is going to skip ahead a few years so she can talk and make her own choices and stuff. (Which also means another Everlark baby in the future. Not yet though)
enjoy!**