Peeta's POV
Black. Black on me. Black beside me.
Nothing but a dull gravestone in front of us.
Standing by a gravestone of a very close friend that you could call a father is hard. It could knock you out.
Katniss leans her head on my shoulder and I grasp a hand on her right arm.
I thought this would be one of the best times of our lives, but it isn't.
It's hard and a pain. Stuck in the dirt beneath us.
I sadly sigh as I gaze upon Haymitch's gravestone which was placed above his body today.
Yes, we held a funeral for him.
Consisting of Katniss and I, and the districts funeral director. We felt we needed to do something.
"You want to put?" Katniss asks me, handing me the bouquet of flowers we bought.
Tulips. His favourite flower. 8 of them, coloured yellow, bunched up and held together by ribbon.
Hopefully housing memories. The happy ones.
"Together?" I say, placing a hand on the stem bunch.
"Together." Katniss replies and we both bend down to place the bouquet in front of his gravestone.
We stand up and Katniss hugs me. "You don't need to stay strong for me." Katniss calmly and sadly demands and I let go.
I'm being strong, just for her. So she knows that she can cope.
We both start crying. Haymitch is gone. After a while we both sink to our knees. Still hugging.
I wrap my arms more around Katniss' body and Katniss buries her head into my shirt.
"We will get through all of this together." I murmur and Katniss nods.
"Will you stay with me?" Katniss asks, in between her tears and sobs.
"Yeah. Always." I reply, in between my tears and sobs.
All I have for a loved one is Katniss. She needs to be safe.
Then it hits me. We are going to the Capitol for an interview next week. Dang it.
I could ask Caesar if it could be postponed but probably not.
I silently angrily sigh and try to stop the sobs and crying.
Katniss seems to as well. She looks up at me and wipes my cheeks. I do to hers.
"You want to go?" I ask my wife and she nods slowly before looking at Haymitch's gravestone.
I look at it one more time before standing up and helping my wife up. Once she's up, I briefly place a hand on her stomach and then entwine her fingers with me.
"We will be okay." Katniss reassures. I nod with a sad smile.
"Let's go." I say and start walking away.
Katniss looks back soon after but decides to look forward. I don't look back. I need to be thinking about the future more than the past.
Even though Haymitch is gone and now in the past, he will still be in our hearts.