I Love You, Peeta Mellark

Chapter Seven

Gale's POV:

"Prim. He needs to cool down. Let him go," I say, grabbing her hand. Instantly memories start flying through my brain. When I carried Prim away from Katniss at the Reaping, getting her out of 12 before the bombing, saving her and Buttercup before the Capitol attacked 13. I've always protected her.

"Stay here, Prim. I'll go check on him. It'll be okay," I let go of her hand and roll out of the room. Rolling to the elevator, I'm thinking about Benji. If he hasn't changed much, I would find him in the cafeteria. I get on the elevator when it arrives and push the basement button. When I arrive at the basement, I get off and go to the café.

Benji is sitting in an armchair, watching a newscast from the Capitol. "Benji. Are you okay?" I ask, rolling up beside him. "Gale. I love Prim, but I've lied to her for years. I don't deserve her. She is beautiful and caring and so positive. She never pushed my buttons. I love her so much," He whimpers.

"You deserve her if she chose you, Benji. She loves you. You've gotta believe in her. Prim's a smart girl," I pat his shoulder. We sit in silence for a few minutes.

"Gale," I hear a gentle voice say. I turn around. "Cressida," she smiles. Benji gets up, "Let's go back up." Cressida pushes me to the elevator. Benji follows us. We ride up to floor 4, where Katniss is. We walk into the right room. Katniss is awake.

Katniss' POV:

Gale, Cressida and Benji just came back in. Peeta's sleeping soundly beside me. I kiss his head gently as Prim runs to Benji. He kisses her gently. Cressida is holding Gale's hand.

"Katniss. Primrose. Your mother and I are so sorry we hid that from you. We couldn't share that with Snow alive. He would've did something to us," Haymitch says. I nod. Prim nods. "Katniss. Can I go get everyone else? Haymitch and I have some good news," Effie asks and gets up. I nod as she leaves.

She comes back with Beetee, Pollux, Willow and Rye. Jo and Alder are probably with the babies. Haymitch picks up Willow and sits her on his lap. Effie is cuddling my baby boy. I look at Haymitch, who's grinning like a psychopathic clown. "So, Haymitch and I have some lovely news to share. Katniss. Wake Peeta. I want him to know," Effie smiles. I pat my husband's shoulder. He wakes up.

"Haymitch and I are getting married!" Effie squeals. I gasp. Peeta smiles his goofy smile. He looks so cute even though he's missing four teeth on his top row. I kiss him. "Carrie Ann. I want you to help Effie plan this. We've talked about almost everything. We want Katniss, Prim, Annie, Johanna and Cressida as bridesmaids. We want Peeta, Ben, Finnick, Alder and Gale as groomsmen. Willow can be the flower girl and Seth can be the ring bearer. We want a decent sized wedding. But we don't know where," Haymitch explains.

I point at Willow. "What do you mean, Katniss?" Haymitch asks. Deep in the meadow there is a Willow tree. Peeta and I got married under it. He proposed to me there too. It's beautiful. Peeta smiles again, "Do it there, Haymitch. When are you guys tying the knot?" Effie looks up, "We were thinking early spring next year. The flowers are always beautiful then."

"Grandpa Haymitch. You and Effie are getting married!?" Willow laughs. I just now realize Effie is wearing the gold wig and the red dress from the Quarter Quell. Effie. That's the dress and wig from 11 years ago. When you talked about the tokens. My pin, your hair, Peeta's medallion and Haymitch's bangle. She nods slightly. It's pretty painful to talk about the past. Especially the Games and the Rebellion.

"I'm thinking about using one of Cinna's designs for my dress," Effie explains. I nod. I yawn. Peeta kisses me. I instantly wrap my arm around him.

"Effie. Who's Cinna?" Willow asks. Effie sighs, "Cinna was a brilliant fashion expert I used to work with in the Capitol. He passed on a few years back. He made outfits for your parents. They were absolutely beautiful." Willow nods, "Can I help make outfits?" Effie smiles, "Maybe."

"Effie. Uncle Haymitch. Congratulations," Prim kisses Haymitch's cheek. My uncle grins. Prim loves him because he saved me. I start coughing. Peeta darts up. It hurts to cough. I'm crying. I can't stop coughing. Prim sits on the edge of the bed, "Katniss, relax. Peeta go get Colleen." Peeta walks as fast as he can out of the room. I still can't stop. I start grabbing at my neck and the collar. Prim grabs my hands, "Katniss. Don't. Relax." Peeta rushes back in with Colleen. Colleen has a syringe. She sticks the needle in my neck, above the collar. I moan and pass out.

Peeta's POV:

Colleen just injected Kat with a strange liquid. Once Kat has passed out, Colleen hangs a new bag full of a liquid on the IV tower. She connects a new tube to Katniss' IV, "Peeta. Katniss is not doing well. This is a bag of stronger medication. It helps mostly all patients like her. Patients that don't always allow the medicine to help. But it's not her fault. This should help her. Bed rest is in her future with these three. I have a feeling it is. I'll be back soon. Stay with her, Peeta." She walks out of the room, nonchalantly.

I lay back down beside Katniss. She seems peaceful. Prim stays by her older sister. "Peeta," Annie whispers, "Can we talk?" I'm not sure if I should leave Katniss. "I can watch her Peeta," Mrs. Everdeen smiles. I get up slowly. Katniss groans but doesn't wake. I follow Annie into the hall. "I'm so sorry Peeta. I never meant to hurt you." I look at her, "Annie. It's okay. The flashbacks can hit any of us. I get them almost daily. Katniss doesn't know, though. I don't want to scare her. Some days I can't control myself during the flashbacks. Most of the days I can. Katniss can't know." My mouth is aching. I grab my jaw. Annie looks away, "I'm so so sorry Peeta. Do you need medicine?" I nod curtly. She hurries to the nurse's station around the corner and comes back with a blonde nurse. The blonde nurse introduces herself as Joy and asks me to rate my pain from 1 to 10, 10 being the worst. I say 8. She pulls out a syringe with a large needle from a black box. I feel my leg go weak and the next thing I know, I'm on the floor. Annie runs back into the room. Joy kneels beside me, "Mr. Mellark. Please. Just look away. I put serum in here that will stop your pain almost completely. Please relax." I relax to the best of my ability and she sticks the needle in my neck. I wince but instantly feel calm. I get up and go back in the room. Joy follows, "Don't speak for 10 minutes, Mr. Mellark. You won't be understood." I nod.

Finnick's POV:

When Annie comes back in the room, her eyes are full of tears. I grab her and hug her. She says nothing. That's okay. Then Peeta comes in with a blonde nurse. His face looks swollen. She tells him not to speak and then leaves. I kiss Annie's head.

"Finn. What are you thinking about?" Prim asks. I look at her, "Nothing." She doesn't push me. "Dad. Are you ever going to leave Mom and I again?" Seth asks. "No! I will never ever leave you two. I love you and your mom soooo much. I wanted to be with you two since you were born, Seth," I grab my son and pull him into a hug. "I love you so much, Dad. I don't want you to leave us," Seth hugs me. I hang on to him, "I love you too, son."

Katniss begins to stir. Gale told me she hasn't had much sleep these past few days. She can hardly sleep 10 minutes in a row without waking. That's probably not good with the babies. She's tired. When Prim was tired in 13, it showed. Katniss looks just like her. They are obviously sisters.

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New chapter up! But a day late! I'm so sorry. It took awhile for me to write a whole chapter with New Year's and Christmas shopping. I hope you enjoy this. If you do, please consider voting and commenting! I'd be so grateful if you do! Thanks for reading! Stay Nerdy!

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