Peeta's POV
I yawn, waking up in my room again with Katniss in my arms once more. The nightmares have been stronger than before, since the Tour relived the Games into our minds as we met face to face with the parents of the tributes we killed. We can't get at least a few hours of good sleep without each other being awoken by horrifying nightmares needing the others arms for comfort and reassurance.
It is almost February, right? Yes, it is the end of January, getting closer to my birthday, three weeks since the Tour at the end of December. Which also meant it is almost a year since our Games. Then the Quarter Quell in a few more months, the first Games we will be mentoring. Katniss is nowhere near excited. Neither am I, but she is on a whole different level of differing. Watching young children die every year was atrocious enough, but mentoring them to their death, that is going to be extra difficult to live with.
I lift Katniss up and set her on my bed besides me. She usually comes to my lonely house in the late hours of night and sleeps with me. I tell her not to, and have explained to her one too many times, yet her stubborn self convinces her to continue do so, but she climbs up the side of my house to my bedroom window when the front and back doors are locked. I tell have told her I would give her a key, but she says then it would be like she was living there. I tell her to knock, but she says she doesn't want to disturb me.
I thinks she's crazy for always using that excuse, I really need her to disturb me, to wake me from my nightmares and let me hold her safely.
I walk downstairs in the light and start breakfast. Before I start, I head outside to get some fresh air. When I open the door, I find two large crates labeled with the names Katniss and the other with Peeta in large bold, red letters. I bring in one box at a time, heaving them into the living room where they rest by the coffee table. I sigh, already sore from carrying the two crates. My mind wonders to what could be stuffed in them, so I grab a knife and budge the one with my name open. I pull out suits of different color, design and material. I open Katniss’s and pull our dress after dress. Long, short, white, red, ones made of silk, others covered in sequins. There are so many, I don’t know why they are here.
I go back out to my mail box, in search for a letter. I find one single envelope.
I got back inside and I plop myself onto it and open the letter, exhausted.
It was from Effie:
Hello Katniss and Peeta,
I am glad to inform you that your clothing has arrived. I am overjoyed! I will be coming in two weeks with camera men, Cinna, Portia, and more clothes for the photo shoot.
If you try these on while we arrive from the Capitol that would be excellent. I hope you two are ready for the photo shoot. It will be marvelous.
Love, Effie and your prep teams
Oh. Effie's coming, with cameras, to take pictures, of Katniss and I, in suits and dresses. What for again? I read the letter again more clearly, pushing past the drowsiness.
Oh my.
"Katniss!" I scream while running upstairs. I find her still sleeping. The covers hide her from my sight. I pull them off and she moans, reaching for the blankets that now lay on the floor.
"Peeta, please."
"Not now Katniss. Effie's coming."
She automatically sits up. "Why?"
"To take photos of us. In suits and dresses."
"For what reason?"
"I think that it's for our wedding?" I say almost too obviously as I hand her the neatly written note and she skims over it multiple times.
She sighs, "Okay. I guess we can't stop them from coming."
I nod. I lay down beside her and bring her close to me. She swirls her finger on my chest, sending shivers up my spine. "What should we do today? We have two weeks until they come." I ask. She shrugs in my arms. Oh well.
I just remembered that I had forgot to make breakfast. I guess that is pretty much gone. It is almost noon now.
"No walk?" I ask. She shakes her head. It's not Sunday. Gale's working in the mines today. That must kill Katniss to know her best friend is heading to one of the many places she has hated her whole life. And think of Gale. I shiver and try to think of other things besides Gale and the mines.
"Katniss?" I ask.
"Yes Peeta?"
"Would you like to try on a dress or two? You know, just to waste time."
She smirked, "Okay. Fine."
She got up and ran downstairs. I followed and grabbed a dark blue suit from the crate. We each took over a bathroom downstairs and changed. Once we were done, we walked out. Katniss started laughing making me start to laugh.
"We should have a toast," I say.
"To what?" She asks.
"Our engagement, of course." She giggles and picks up her long, pink skirt. Her bare feet make little to no noise as she follows me to the kitchen. I lift her up onto the counter and pick two elegant looking glass cups from a cabinet. I pick out a wine bottle and pop it open. Katniss jumps when the cap goes flying somewhere in the kitchen. She laughed as I poured some in each cup.
"What's so funny?" I ask as I hand her one glass filled.
"I don't know. I guess I feel like Haymitch drinking," she laughs, I laugh along with her.
"Cheers!" I say. "To our engagement!"
"To the time of our lives!" she says.
"To everyone in the Capitol!" I scream.
"And may the odds be ever in your favor!" she says, mocking Effie.
Clink.
We take a sip of the wine. It tastes horrible at first, the burning sensation in the back of my throat tingles, but after a while, I find it enjoyable.
We get through about five outfits in total, and one bottle of wine. Maybe two. Or three. I lost count at my sixth glass of wine. My mind sort of races around, pounds a little. The room spins sometimes but more wine helps stable it back in place and helps me focus on Katniss.
I can't really put how beautiful Katniss looks in her dresses at the moment. She compliments me, I give her one back, I kiss her and we dance around crazy to no music in the living room.
I know. I just know that we had way too many drinks. Way too many, Haymitch too many on a bad day.
We start laughing for absolute no reason and stumble upstairs in our nice clothing after maybe the third bottle, maybe forth now.
We actually have not spilled any wine on our clothes for the past six, maybe seven hours we have been drinking. We did spill some earlier when Katniss was filling up our glasses again. She spilt it all over the kitchen floor, she almost slipped on it later.
"Do you feel hot? I feel hot," I complain. I start to take of my jacket. All the outfits came complete with a pair of pants, a dress shirt, a jacket of color and more I did not care to put on at the time.
Katniss nodded and started to strip of her dress. She only wore undergarments underneath and was in them while the dress fell to the floor. I stripped until I was in my underwear. I am guessing with the wine, she wasn't as nervous around me about being almost naked as before, when we were not intoxicated.
I smiled and went to her, kissing her lips. She jumped up and I caught her, her arms wrapped around my neck while her legs gripped my waist. The kisses became more intense and passionate. It was more than we have ever done, this time it felt real. Even with all the alcohol rushing through our veins. Katniss seemed more free of herself, like she was more her than when she was sober. I loved it. Her fingers traveled through my hair, yanking at it and massaging my scalp. My hands were under her thighs, holding her against me. I squeezed, which got a moan out of her mouth and into mine. Our heads tilted left and right as we made out.
I finally threw her onto my bed, climbing on top of her. She grabbed my face with her cold hands while I continued to kiss her.
This was the only time I would let the window stay closed at night.
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Author’s Note:
I have never been good at writing like kissy scenes. This is one of the only one I have written. I have written one for another short story that will go up later. Sorry if it was too much, or too little. Hope you liked it.
Keep reading guys!
~Jeza xo