The Hunger Games - I'm Still Burning

Chapter 2

"Your hands are shaking," Peeta whispers, as the minister begins the ceremony.

"So are yours," I whisper back.

He smiles nervously at me and begins to run his thumb over mine. The notion calms my jitters and momentarily helps me to forget the hundreds of pairs of eyes that are zoned in on us right now. After going through two games and being the face of the rebellion, you'd think I'd be used to this kind of attention.

I try to listen to the minister, who's currently in mid-flow, talking about how marriage is like a tree. Cared for and well-watered, it will grow into something beautiful. I sneak a glance up towards Peeta, supressing my smile. He presses his lips together and avoids my gaze. Like me, I can see that he's desperately trying not to laugh. Being likened to a tree is not something you hear everyday. I keep my eyes trained on Peeta, willing him to look down, knowing what will happen when he does. He wants to. His smirk is getting harder to hide. His cheeks twitch at the strain. His eyes finally dart down, it's only for a second but as soon as they are in contact with mine, a sound crossed between a snort and choke is released from his throat.

He tries to cover it up as a cough but no one could mistake the laughter underneath it. I start to laugh beside him, stopping the minister in his tracks. Maybe it's the nerves. Maybe it's the excitement of it all. Maybe it's just that fact that he called us a tree. What ever it is, I can't stop. Peeta drops the cover, unhesitatingly joining me in the madness of it all. He blurts out his apologies to the minister but the words get lost in the air, drowned out by chorus of laughing crowds behind us.

We turn around, greeted by the glowing faces of District 12. No face without a smile. It's been a long time since District 12 has laughed, hearing it again is something special. I lean up and kiss Peeta gently on the cheek, so happy to be here in this moment.

When the noise eventually dies down, we spin back round to the minister, who smiles knowingly at us.

"Shall we just skip to the rings?" he asks.

"Yes, that would probably be for the best," Peeta says.

The minister gestures for Haymitch, who's sat on the front bench clutching Effie's hand, to come over. He slowly makes his way towards us, fiddling around in his pockets along the way. He eventually pulls out the two rings and hands them over to us. Two silver bands. One small and delicate, the other thick and smooth. To always wear on our fingers. To show the world that I am Peeta's and he is mine. We picked them out together. Little does he know that I added something extra to his.

"Look," I say, holding his ring up so that the light catches on the letters that I had engraved on the inside.

Always.

He stares at it in disbelief then holds my own ring up to the light. "Snap," he says.

Inside I see the exact same word has been written out.

I laugh as he steps forward, cups my face in his hands and kisses my forehead. He then pulls up my left hand and begins to slip the ring on to my finger.

"Two plaits, a little red dress and the valley song," he says. "Three simple things, that's all it took to make me fall in love with you. But you already knew that, so I'm going to tell you something that you don't know. Every morning when I come to, you are always by my side. You cling on to me as though I could be ripped from your grasp at any minute. The first time you open your eyes, there's always an element of shock behind them like you can't quite believe I'm here. It's always quickly followed by relief. You subconsciously cover your scars. Your smile brings light to a room that's completely dark. When I get lost in a bad place, you stay by my side even though I say some awful things to you. You inspire me, you inspire thousands of people. You could move a nation with just your fingertips and you wouldn't even know it. You don't think that you deserve me but you couldn't be more wrong. It's me who doesn't deserve you. You're one of the bravest people I've ever met and also the most stubborn person I have ever met. It's not just three simple things anymore. It's a lot of things that make you who you are and all these things that allow me to fall for you over and over again. I don't know where I'd be without you."

I try to swallow the lump in my throat and blink back the tears that have started to form in my eyes. Peeta just bared his everything to me, in front of all these people. Not for cameras. Not for effect. Just for us. Me and him. The crowd is silent but I don't see them. I see only him. The smile that won't leave his face. The blue eyes that I cannot tear myself away from. His hand still rests over mine with my ring. I don't want him to ever let go.

"You didn't even rehearse that did you?" I ask him quietly.

He shrugs his shoulders. "Might not have been so sincere if I had," he says.

"Well how am I supposed to top that off?" I say, giving his shoulder a playful shove.

I take his left hand and as he did with mine, slide the ring onto his finger.

"Wow..." I start. "Well I was only marrying you for the promise of an endless supply of cheese buns but I guess I can't just say that now."

This causes another round of laughter to spread through our audience. Peeta rolls his eyes.

"When I was eleven years old, you saved my life," I begin again. "You saved my families life. It was a debt that I never thought I'd be able to repay. When I was sixteen years old you saved my life again, in more ways than one. Since then you haven't stopped. There's not a day that goes by when you don't save me. From my nightmares. From myself. These struggles are long and tedious but you never give up. I wake up every morning shocked because I still can't believe that you're here with me. I have no idea why you've stuck with me for so long. I cling on to you in my sleep because I am terrified of losing you again. I can't lose you again. These past years have put us through hell and back and some how we have come out the other side, still alive. And some how you've managed to put the smile back into life. You've given me hope again when no one else could. You brought me back from the dead and I don't think I will ever stop repaying you for that. I love you, I'm sorry that it took so long for me to realise that."

There it is. My everything in turn for his. We are at our most vulnerable and yet the thought of that doesn't scare me at all. It's only now when I move my eyes down to study his black suit that I notice the Dandelions in his front pocket. They are tied neatly together with a light green ribbon. Peeta follows my gaze and takes the flowers out of his pocket. He holds them out to me. They tell me that he loves me too. They whisper the stories that only we know. They give me the future that I never thought I'd have.

But all Peeta says as I take them is, "For you."

The minister barely has time to ask if he'd like to kiss his bride before I throw my arms around his neck and smack my lips against his. I no longer care who is watching, I kiss Peeta like it's the last I will ever get. A cheer goes up from the crowd, followed by the valley song. A song I haven't heard since my father died. Confetti rains down on our heads. I hold my hands up to the air with Peeta, catching every piece that I can.

"What are you wishing for this time?" he asks.

I shake my head. "Absolutely nothing, I already have everything that I need."

He smiles, takes my hand and begins to pull be back down the aisle. I skip along beside him, saying goodbye to Katniss Everdeen as I go. She blows away on the breeze, leaving only Katniss Mellark in her place. She is still broken; she will always be broken but now she will never be alone.