Everybody Talks: Sequel

Chapter Twenty One: Home At Last

****Peeta's POV****
We have been on our flight for I don't know how long. It seems like it's been forever though, but I know we are almost ready to land. I wonder if when Katniss sees me, she will remember me. I guess I will just have to wait and see. But, what if she doesn't remember? What if she doesn't want to try to remember me because right now, I'm just a stranger to her. Someone she is supposed to know but doesn't. I can only hope for the best. I feel the plane get ready to land, and I grow more and more anxious. Even if Katniss doesn't remember me, I have a lot of other people I can't wait to see. My family, James, my dad, and even my mom. I have to admit, she is a witch and all but she is my mother. Plus Annie, Clove, Delly, and Glimmer will be there too, and I've missed them all so so much. Hopefully Mr. Abernathy, my old principle, will make an appearance too. I wonder if he will be sober or not. As soon as the plane is on the ground, I sigh in relief. It's so great to be back on American soil. Home of the free, because of the brave. I'm now the brave. After we have landed and the pilot tells us we can exit the plane, Finnick grabs his carry on and is running off faster than anyone else. He must really be excited to see Annie. I'm nervous about seeing Katniss, so I really hope I find my family first. I grab my carry on and I walk off the plane with Gale, Johanna, Marvel, and Cato. I walk out to the airport, seeing so many people rushing to their loved ones and people crying tears of joy everywhere. Marvel takes off running, dropping his bag and I know he has found his family in the crowed. Gale is looking around anxiously, I spot Finnick hugging Annie, but she looks different now. I look away from them when Cato moves towards someone until he collides with Glimmer.
"Delly!" Gale yells, and a girl comes running to him, almost tackling him. Then Rory runs up with his mom and little siblings and there is a big group hug. Next I see Mr. and Mrs. Mason coming over and pulling Johanna into a hug. Everyone has found someone except me. I keep looking, getting lost in the crowed of blonde, red, brown, and black colored hair. Brown, green, blue, hazel, and grey eyes. I can't seem to find anyone. When I've almost given up, and I'm on my way to a seat to sit down, someone grabs me from behind. I turn around to see James and my father.
"Oh my gosh." I almost cry wrapping my arms around my little brother. My dads arms hold both of us as I enjoy the scent of the bakery that I've missed so much.
"I missed you guys so much." I pull away from them. "Where is mom?"
"You don't need to see your mother right now." Dad says. "But she is over there." He points near the restrooms where my mom stands watching us.
"Why don't I-" But I'm cut off.
"Peeta?" I hear a rough voice behind me. I turn around to see my old principle, Mr. Abernathy.
"Hello sir." I say smiling, shaking his hand.
"We aren't in school anymore Peeta, just call me Haymitch. I don't mind."
"Alright, Haymitch. How have you been?"
"Well, the passed few months have been a little complicated. But you will learn all of that later." He says and I see someone walk up behind him. Her gorgeous brown hair in a side braid, as she fiddles with the end of it. Her grey eyes meet mine and I don't care if she remembers me or not, I can't help but rush to her. She smiles a little but begins to run towards me as well. I reach her and I lift her in the air, spinning her around. I know kissing her at this point is to much to do, considering I could still be a stranger to her. After I set her down, I just look at her, not saying anything. I just look at every inch of her face. From her beautiful eyes, to her full and perfect lips. Everything about her draws me in.
"Peeta?" She says. Oh her voice, it's so angelic. And she hasn't spoken to me in so long. She hold up the engagement ring I left with Annie, the one that she could only get by watching the video I left for her for a very bad day.
"I remember. I remember everything about you." She says and my heart flips with joy, a huge smile spreading across my face. "I remember from when we were kids and Annie married us, to when I broke my ankle on the swing set. I remember calling you my best friend, and then hating you later. I remember our fights all through school, you almost broke my nose in dodge ball and how I twisted your arm in art class because you drew a primrose." She has a tear in her eye but it doesn't spill.
"I remember when you lost your leg in a car crash after you left my house. And that Rory was the one spreading the lies, when we finally became friends again. When we went to the Tich concert together and you asked my to be your girlfriend. Spring break, the promise ring, graduation, you leaving. I remember it all Peeta. All because of your video. But what I remember the most is how much I love you."
"And the last part of the video? What about that?" I'm of course referring to the proposal. But oh my! She remembers it all! She really remembers me! It's as if the accident never happened and she never lost her memory. She remembers everything about her and I. She takes the ring in her hand, looking it over and over. Finally, she hands it to me and my heart shatters. Is this her way of telling me no? That she doesn't want to marry me?
"I don't understand, I thought you remembered." I say, catching the sadness in my voice.
"I do. And I've made up my mind, but you may reconsider yours." She says.
"After all we have been through that's a little insulting." I laugh. "I'm going to stay with you always."
"I know you love me, I remember that. But I also remember you saying that you have always wanted kids." She starts to choke up.
"What's wrong?" I ask worried.
"Peeta, when I fell something happened to me. I don't know every detail or every medical term but the doctors told me, when I woke up, that It's nearly impossible for me to have children. Apparently the way Ilanded not only messed up my memory but it messed up something with my reproductive organs because of the blow I took." She says and I hear gasps from all around us. I look to see all the girls with hands over their mouths, obviously not knowing. All the guys and Johanna look shocked as well. Right now, Katniss seems to want me to make a decision. Stay with her, but it only be us. Or, leave her for someone who can give me a child. The fact that she would let me go, just so I could be happy, shows how lucky of a man I truly am. But, if I go I would never truly be happy.
"Katniss, the only girl I could ever love more than you would be my daughter." I say and now she starts to cry.
"But I can't give you a daughter Peeta." She says sobbing.
"I couldn't love anyone that could give me a daughter though, or a son. Because if that person isn't you, it's not true love." I say taking her left hand, and getting down on one knee. "So now that you now that I choose you over children, and that, yes at times I may long to hear a baby girl wake up at one in the morning for a bottle, it's nothing compared to how much I would long for you if I were leaving anyone else in bed to feed her." I smile up at her. "Katniss Renee Everdeen, my worse enemy and love of my life, will you please marry me." She begins to cry even more, but she is smiling this time.
"Yes Peeta, yes." She hugs me so tight I think it may cut off my breathing. I don't mind though, I never have. I hear clapping from all around and the entire airport seems to be applauding us. Of course they are, marine soldiers always seem to get an applause. I don't stop hugging her though, even when the clapping ends and people go about their own business. Only when someone taps on my shoulder do I leave her, unwillingly of course. It's James.
"I hate to break you apart, but we need to talk about something." He says. I take Katniss's hand.
"About?"
"When Katniss lost her memory, we were trying so hard to get it back. We were showing her videos, pictures, status's, tweets, texts, everything we could to make her remember. But..." He trails off.
"James don't tell him." Katniss says.
"I have to, he needs to know."
"What do I need to know?" I say looking back and forth between Katniss and James. Katniss looking like she is about to tackle James.
"Mom was telling her lies. Convincing her you abused her, yelled at her, hit her. Told her that her mom died because you drug her to the concert that night." James says in rather a rush.
"What!?" I roar, not caring who looks at me.
"Peeta, calm down." Katniss says, and for the first time in forever, I ignore her.
"Where is she?" I say to James.
"Same place she was earlier." I releazse Katniss's hand and I begin to march to the restrooms. I hear a smack sound so I assume Katniss just hit my brother. But all I care about right now is finding my mother so I can strangle her. And to think that I wanted to see her! I spot her by a water fountain and I run, sprinting as fast as I can with a fake leg. I can't hit her, even though I so badly want to. One because she is a girl, and my mother. Another because I'm a marine soldier and I'm fighting this war to protect people, not come back and beat them.
"Who the heck do you think you are?" I hiss at her when I'm close enough. "What gives you the right to feed Katniss with lies about her past!?" I try to keep my voice down.
"I- uh, I don't-" She stumbles, caught off guard that this is the first thing her son has said to her in months.
"You had no right! Why would you do that? Is it your goal to ruin my life?" Again she has no words. She just looks at me like she wishes she could come up with something to say. Someone grabs my hand and starts to pull my away from her. But they aren't stronger than me, especially after all the training I have had."
"I don't know what I ever did to you, I guess being born was enough to make you hate. So you know, just stay out of my life. I never want to see you again." She actually looks hurt when I say this, but I don't care.
"Peeta please, let me talk to you." I hear Katniss from behind me. She was the one trying to pull me away. I lead her over away from my mother, allowing us some space to talk.
"What?" I say rather harshly. I don't ever want to be this rough with Katniss, but I'm so filled with anger.
"Don't stay angry at her." This catches me by surpirse.
"What!? Of course I'm going to be angry at ehr! She has hated me for as long as I can remember. Knowing her she probably tried to get rid of me while I was growing inside of her! That good for nothing, son of a-"
"Peeta! She is your mother don't say that please. I know what she was thinking when she told me those things." She says.
"Yeah, she was thinking 'hm, how else can I ruin Peeta's life.'"
"No, what she was thinking is she already lost one Son and she wasn't ready to lose another."
"That doesn't even make sense Kat."
"Yes it does. We just got the letter about Riley. I was having dinner with your dad and James that night. Everything was going alright until we got the letter. They shut down the bakery, and since I didn't remember Riley I felt I wasn't in the place to be there. That's when your mother hugged me, telling me she wanted to make everything right with the two kids she had left. And she was ready to change. She she told me the lies, hoping I would leave you because of fear or something. All she wants is you to herself. She was afraid I was getting in the way." I'm not sure I can believe that after all my mom has put me through. After every hateful, thing she has said to me and after every mark she has left on me.
"She doesn't love me." I mumble.
"She does. And as sad as it may seem, it took the death of Riley for her to realize that."
"Don't say that, she doesn't love me." I can feel tears in my eyes. "She doesn't love anything." I say. Katniss hugs me, and I let silent tears fall into her hair. "I want her to but she doesn't."
"Give the new mom a chance Peeta, you would be surprised." She says soothingly.
"Okay." I say. Only for Katniss will I let my mom into my life and try to have a relationship with her. A true relationship like a mother and son should have. I should be counting my blessings. I still have my parents and one brother. I look straight ahead, Katniss still hugging me. I look through the crowed of people and I know they have counted their blessing many times over. Because someone they love has made it home alive. the soldiers are their blessings, while they are ours.
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-Hannah