Katniss POV- (A few days later)
"Effie? What are you doing here?" I hear Peeta asks as he answers the door, rousing me from my nap. I open my heavy eyes to the bright sunshine.
"Oh, Peeta. You look so handsome again." She says in her thick accent that hasn't changed a bit. I look up, expecting to see our normal Effie Trinket back to her old Capitol self. Instead, I find that District Thirteen Effie and Capitol Effie have made a compromise and it's not at all horrible. She's wearing classy high heels, a pink flowery dress and a blonde wig, which may not be a wig at all but her natural hair color. Her makeup isn't over the top but soft with pops of color here and there. "Katniss! My dear girl." Effie says, rushing over to the couch where I'm lying. I sit up as she takes my hands in hers. "My girl, you look so...you look better." She decides.
I smile, just happy to see her for the first time since I left the Capitol all those months ago. "Effie, what are you doing in District Twelve?"
"I've just missed my two Victors so much. I needed to see your darling little faces again."
"You mean you didn't come to see Haymitch?" Peeta smirks, giving me a wink.
I smile to myself as Effie snaps her head around, "What in the world are you smirking about, Peeta?" She asks, acting as if the moment between she and Haymitch ceases to exist.
"Oh, nothing, Effie. I just know you and Haymitch don't get along. I was only making a joke." Peeta saves.
Effie shakes her head, letting it slide. "No worries, Peeta. Haymitch and I are actually closer than you think." She says.
"A lot closer." I mumble under my breath and Effie shoots me a glare.
"Anyways, let's get to it as I came to both visit and do business as usual. President Paylor asked me to pay you a visit to see if you'd be willing to broadcast the status of your recoveries thus far and read a remembrance for all of the fallen Tributes and Victors as we are hearing our first anniversary of the final Hunger Games." She explains.
Peeta and I exchange glances. "I think I speak for us both when I say we need to think it over but we will let you know by the end of the day."
"Very well then. I must get back to Haymitch. He was preparing us dinner before I left if you'd like to join us at 6 o'clock."
"We'll be there." Peeta says, although I'm not sure I want to consume anything that Haymitch's hands prepared in his filthy kitchen. Effie leaves and Peeta sits down next to me. "What are the statuses of our recoveries?" He asks me.
I shrug my shoulders, "I don't know. I just know mine can't be good."
"You've got to admit you're doing better than you were when you left the Capitol. We both are."
"I agree with that. Wait, what if people find out we are living together?"
Peeta shrugs his broad shoulders, "I guess we just tell them the truth. We reconnected after I came home and we've been helping each other recover ever since. It's as simple as that. Nothing romantic or complicated about it." I give him a look, knowing I would be the one to mess that up. "I can do the talking if you want."
"Thank you." I tell him.
He takes a deep breath staring at the ground for a minute. "Katniss? I just don't think this is a good idea."
I look up, "You don't?" I ask him, relieved that he feels that way too. I feel like Peeta and I being in the public eye this soon could be disastrous and honestly, I didn't want to ever have to speak in front of Panem ever again. I thought all of our stardom ended when we came home.
"No. Do you?" He asks. I shake my head. "I'm going to tell Effie she'll need to find other Victors to read her speech."
"I'll tag along. She's not going to be happy about this but at least it won't be a wasted trip now that she and Haymitch are whatever they are..."
He rolls his eyes, "Yeah. Well, it's not her job anymore to write our speeches or force us to make public appearances. Yet, I still feel guilty for saying 'no.'" Peeta tells me, sounding almost angry.
I put my hand on his, "Peeta, it's really not a big deal." I assure him. I know he hates disappointing people but if it's too hard for him, I'll tell Effie myself. Disappointing people is what I do and I obviously have no qualms about disappointing Panem. He moves his hand away, getting up and walking into the kitchen. I sigh, shrugging my shoulders. Peeta is so moody sometimes but I suppose I am not one to talk. It's still so unusual to see him be anything but nice but I assume it's an effect of his hijacking. It's just a little disheartening. I get up and go into the kitchen. He's leaned up against the counter with his eyes forced closed. "Peeta?" I ask softly. He opens his eyes and stands up straighter.
"I'm sorry. I just lost my grip for a moment there. It's just too familiar but I'm back." He assures me.
He's right. This is all too familiar but we aren't being forced. We have a choice in this. I sigh, feeling relieved that he is alright. I walk into his arms. He kisses the top of my head, warming my whole being. "It's different now. Effie might be upset at first but she will understand."
Peeta sighs, "I know that, I'm sorry. Just the thought of getting up in front of a camera again and reading off a card hit a nerve in me."
I nod my head, escaping his embrace. "We should go tell her. That way she can take more time out of her busy busy schedule to be with Haymitch." This makes him smirk and we head to Haymitch's house. Peeta knocks on the front door but we get no answer. We wait a moment and there is still no answer. I knock again. Nothing. Finally, I sling the front door wide open, heading inside which might be the biggest mistake I've ever made. Effie is sitting in a freshly showered, shirtless Haymitch's lap and they're enjoying themselves way too much for my liking. I back away immediately, running into Peeta as I close the door quickly.
"What was it?" He asks, confused.
"Let's go home." I say, grabbing his hand and dragging him across the yard to his house, wanting to be as far away from that as possible.
"What were they doing?" Peeta asks with a laugh, seeing my obvious embarrassment.
I shake my head, "I don't want to talk about it."
He makes a face, "Oh no."
"It's not the absolute worst thing you can think of but it could quickly turn into that." I say, leaning against the kitchen counter, my face feeling hot. They could have at least locked the front door.
Peeta stands across from me. "Well, it's still a few more hours until six and you didn't eat lunch. Are you hungry?" He asks nonchalantly.
I scoff, "Not after that."
"Why are you so embarrassed?" I cock my head, giving him a look. "Ah, I remember now. It's because despite being in the Hunger Games and a War, you're still so pure."
"I am not."
"Yes, you still are. You're so embarrassed right now. It's as if you were caught doing that yourself." He chuckles.
I roll my eyes, "I'm glad you think it's so funny. I'll remember that one day." I say, grabbing a cheese bun out of the container on the counter. He wraps his arms around me from behind, plucking it from my fingers and takes a bite. My heart feels a pang of longing and relief as it reminds me so much of that day so long ago. The day I came home and the Peacekeepers had been waiting for me to never return. Peeta and Haymitch were here, tossing around Prim's bag of peppermints and teasing me.
"What?" He asks.
I turn around in his grip. "You don't deserve that for laughing at me." I tell him.
"I'm sorry but it's just so easy to tease you." He says with a smirk and tries to feed the remainder of the cheese bun to me.
"I don't want it now." I say and back out of his grip, pushing him back playfully. His prosthetic gets caught in a notch on the floor and he tumbles backward, catching himself. At first, I think he's upset but out of nowhere, he scoops me up, replacing me on the couch, pinning me down gently. Peeta laughs, "Don't do that again." He tells me. I will say, this is an improvement from any previous position we were in like this.
"Get off of me." I laugh as he dangles the cheese bun right in front of my face.
"I'm just paying you back for pushing me." He says, sitting across my waist now. He takes another bite then tries to shove the remainder into my mouth.
"Stop!" I laugh as crumbs go everywhere. Finally, I give in and let him feed me what's left but he purposefully makes a huge mess.
"There. I ate it. You happy?" I ask him, wrapping my arms around his neck now and running my fingers through his hair. We stare into each other's eyes for a moment before Peeta slowly leans into me but freezes when Haymitch clears his throat.
"You could at least lock the front door, love birds." His voice booms. Peeta and I break away. I sit up and feel the heat flood back into my face at the sight of Haymitch and Effie.
"I was about to ask that you two do the same." I say, angry that he interrupted that moment between Peeta and I.
"Manners!" Effie scolds us.
Peeta looks back at me, "We just went over to tell you that we will not be doing the interview."
Effie nods, not phased." Very well then. We will see you at six for dinner." She says, reapplying her pink lipstick and turning around and walking out.
Haymitch stands there, glaring at me. "You two-"
"Better run along, Haymitch." I say, giving him a knowing look.
"Shut up. Your little venture into my house just ruined everything." He tells me, fixing his messy hair.
I roll my eyes. "Whatever, Haymitch. Go make my dinner." I say, standing face to face with him.
He glares at me, "Looks like you've already had a snack." He says, flicking a crumb off the side of my mouth.
"Go home." I glare back.
"I'm going to pay you back for that." He assures me.
I roll my eyes, "You didn't even notice I was there."
"Not until you slammed my door shut and gave us a heart attack."
I give Haymitch a look, "Looks like we are even then." I say, referring to him ruining my moment with Peeta. He knows how I feel about him and that I've been hoping for more.
"Not even close." He says, walking away and closing the door behind him. I sigh, leaning up against it.
"I'm sorry, Katniss. I just got caught up in the moment." Peeta immediately apologizes.
"Don't worry about it. I'm sorry that I pushed you."
"Well, I guess I deserved that after I stole your cheese bun." He says and it leads me to believe he doesn't even remember when I knocked him into the urn after he confessed his feelings for me. It must've somehow been lost in the hijacking or washed into the moments he believed the Capitol created to make him fear me. Which is probably best and I decide I better not remind him just in case it triggers something. Because in that moment, I really did attack him because I was furious.
(A few hours later)
"So, you two, tell me about what's been going on since I saw you last." Effie beams during dinner.
I glance at Peeta, "Well, I got home back in March and I've been doing really good ever since."
"That's all? Really good?" Effie asks.
Peeta smiles shyly, "Yeah. Better than I have been in a very long time."
I feel a smile creep up onto my face but I quickly push it away.
"We get it. You're head over heels in love with Katniss again." Haymitch says, obviously still upset about earlier.
Effie shoots him a look, then reaches across for Peeta's hand. "Don't mind him, darling. I think that it's lovely that you and Katniss are back together."
"We aren't back together, Effie." I blurt out.
"Yeah, we are just friends again. That's all." Peeta says, his face red. Now he's the one that's embarrassed.
Effie takes a drink of her wine, "Alright, dears. Katniss, what about you?"
"I'm doing better." I say, taking a mouthful of food, hoping she will stop talking to me if she sees I'm eating.
"Well, Flavius, Octavia, and Venia asked me to send their regards and love. They miss you dearly."
I smile when I think about my Prep team. "I've missed them too. How are you all handling everything now that you're not being deprived in District Thirteen?" I ask her curiously. It's obvious that Effie hasn't completely transformed back into her old Capitol ways but then again, Effie was never as deeply rooted into the Capitol brainwashes as my Prep team was. Maybe that's because Effie was on the journey with us. She saw the horror first hand and finally came to accept that what she saw in the Districts was a reality and it was a harsh one. I don't know that my poor pea-brained Prep team ever understood it but it doesn't make me care for them any less. Not anymore at least.
"My eyes are wide open now, Katniss. I've seen how silly we Capitol citizens must have always appeared to you poor souls here. That's why I've made it my vow that I will be fashionable but classy. You taught me that." She says, smiling sadly at me and wiping a literal tear from her eye.
I sigh, dismissing the comment, even if it was kind of her to say. "And the Prep team?" I ask.
"Oh, you know how they are. Back to their old oblivious ways but who can blame them? That's all they've ever known. They didn't see the true effects of the Capitol on the rest of of Panem. Not the way I did." She explains. I nod my head and we finish dinner in our usual fashion. Haymitch drunk and angry. Me, quiet and tense. And Peeta and Effie carrying on what little conversation they can in an effort to kill the silence.