A Mockingjay's Journey

Chapter 7

~Chapter 7~

~Katniss POV~

After dinner, Peeta gets up and walks to the kitchen and returns with two giant slices of chocolate cake. My favorite. We eat the delicious cake and then decide to watch a movie to finish off the night. Sometime during the movie I must've fallen asleep because when I wake up I am in Peeta's bedroom. I sit up, startled, and begin to look around. I see Peeta sleeping uncomfortably in a chair and begin to feel guilty. I decide to just go back to bed since the clock already says that it's 2 am. As I'm situating myself in bed, I must've woken Peeta up because I hear him stirring.

"Peeta, you know I'm okay. You can go back to your bed its okay, I'll be fine," I say with a smirk.

"Well Katniss, you were having a nightmare and I didn't want to leave you alone. I'm fine just sleeping here, really," he says back with a smile.

"If you insist on staying in the same room with me while I sleep then you aren't sleeping in a chair. Come here!" I say gesturing him over to the bed and scooting over. Its a giant king sized bed and there is more than enough room for both of us. I hope I'm not making him uncomfortable by suggesting to sleep in the same bed as me, but he seems to take it in stride.

He climbs into bed and I scoot over closer to him, and put my arms around his back. He does the same to me and kisses my forehead. I let darkness take over me and allow myself to go to sleep. Wrapped in Peeta's arms and feeling more than safe, I don't have one nightmare all night.

~Peeta POV~

When Katniss suggested me to come sleep with her in my bed I was truly shocked. I had contemplated just sleeping in bed with her when I first brought her out here, but decided against it. I didn't want Katniss to feel like I was rushing our relationship and I just wanted to give her some space. Every now and then she would start crying in her sleep and I would rush to her side and comfort her until she went back to regular sleep, but she probably doesn't remember. While laying in bed with Katniss, I truly realize that she is defiantly the girl that I want to spend the rest of my life with.

I wake up at 9 am and see that it is raining out. I have no motivation to get out of bed and I don't want to wake Katniss so I just try to stay as still as possible and not wake her. She is still wrapped in my arms, but over night she turned away from me so now her back is pressed up against my chest and she looks so comfortable. Haymitch definitely was right when he said that the best way I can comfort and help Katniss was just to be there for her when she needed me most.

About an hour passes and Katniss finally starts to stir. She flips over so that she is facing me and smiles. "Good morning beautiful," I say as her eyes flutter open.

"Good morning Peeta," she replies with a yawn.

I laugh and give her a kiss on her forehead and she brings me into a tight hug. My stomach growls so I say, "Shall we go eat breakfast?"

She smiles and replies saying, "We shall."

We get out of bed and we begin to remake my bed. After we finish I head towards the door and start to head downstairs. When I notice Katniss isn't following me, I spin around to see her sitting on the edge of my bed. "You coming?" I ask her with a smirk.

"Umm yeah I'll be down in a sec. I just want to freshen up first. I swear I will only take a minute." She says as she makes her way towards my bathroom.

"Okay," I say, "see ya in a minute."

~Katniss POV~

I look at myself in the mirror and am taken aback at how I look. My face is blotchy where my makeup rubbed off and my hair and clothes are everywhere. First, I start by washing my face free of makeup that I forgot to take off last night. Then I find a brush and start to comb through my hair until it's no longer in tight curls and knots and is back to my normal wave. Then I go back into Peeta's bedroom, close the door, and begin to hunt for clothes. I find a drawer full of sweatpants and tshirts and grab one of each. I change into them and ball my clothes up and throw them in the corner making a mental note to get them later.

After one last look in the mirror, I head downstairs. Immediately I smell the pancakes that Peeta must be making. I smile at the thought and walk into te kitchen. Peeta turns around when he hears me and has a shocked look on his face when he sees that I'm wearing his clothes.

"Oh..umm Peeta is it okay.. you know... that I'm um wearing your clothes?" I ask in almost a whisper.

His shocked look turns into a look of admiration and joy and he says, "Yes of course Katniss! I don't mind one bit."

And with that, I run over to him and pull him into a giant bear hug. We stay like that for a minute, my head just resting on his chest and his head on my shoulder. I focus on his heart beat and his breathing and try to mimic it.

Then the timer starts to beep and our moment is lost. It's okay though because this means the food is done and I really, really love pancakes. Especially Peeta's pancakes because he is just an amazing cook and I'm so jealous of his cooking skills.

We sit down and have a delicious breakfast of homemade pancakes and fresh strawberries that we just got shipped in from district 11. They start to make me think if Rue and it makes me tear up. I fight back the tears and try to think of something different. For the first time in awhile, I actually do forget about the past and all the loved ones I've lost. I start to think about the future and how Peeta and I have our whole lives ahead of us. I have to get better, not just for myself anymore, but for Peeta.

After we eat, we sit down on the couch and start to watch the Caesar Flickerman show, when all of the sudden the phone starts to ring. Not thinking twice about it, Peeta hops off the couch and quickly walks to the phone and presses the button. As he listens to who is talking, his eyes start to grow wider. I can't read his expression though. Is he shocked, excited, or scared? After a couple of minutes he hangs up the phone, puts it back on its stand, and begins to walk back to me with a neutral expression on his face.

He sits down and puts his arm around me. He stays silent to I decide to ask whats been on my mind for the past few minutes, "Um Peeta? Who was that?"

Peeta looks at me with an almost sad expression and says, "Um that was Effie. She said that they are hosting a victor reunion party and interview session with Caesar."

"Well that sounds fun," I reply, "Where is it going to be? In district two or something?"

"Um actually Katniss...it's going to be in the Capitol..." He slowly says back.

At that my eyes grow wide with fear and tears. I hate the Capitol. I swore on my life that I would never go back and I do not want to go back. Not even a little.

"Katniss," Peeta starts, "Effie was saying how much she knows you wouldn't be thrilled about going to the Capitol and all but she kept saying how much the people love you and it would be awesome if you could go...but if you aren't feeling up for it you don't have to. If you don't go, I told Effie that I would still go just to reassure people that we are okay. What are your thoughts?"

"Well how long would you be gone Peeta?" I ask with tears rolling down my eyes.

"Effie said in total, with all the parties, signings and interviews, that it could last from 2 weeks to a month. I'm so sorry Katniss.." He said embracing me as sobs racked my body. He tried to calm me down by rocking me back and forth and kissing my forehead.

My breakdown lasted about 30 minutes until I had the strength and courage to whisper to Peeta, "I'll go."

Peeta gasped and looked me straight in the eyes. "Really Katniss? Are you sure? I don't want this to completely tear you apart. I know it would be a long time without each other but I want whats best for y-"

"Peeta," I interrupt him,"You are what is best for me. I can't go for longer than a day without seeing you. You're my rock and I would do anything for you. I've made up my mind. I'm going."

And with that I give Peeta a hug and a small, gentle kiss, stand up, and walk out the door and to my own house.

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SUPER long chapter that took me forever to write! Haha thanks so much if any of you are reading this (I doubt it) I had a lot of fun writing this chapter! So emotional! Haha anyways vote and comment please!!!(:

~Jordan~