Always - Everlark Fanfic

Chapter 20 - Flashbacks

Katniss's POV

His eyes are barely open, but mine are. The pillow is soft against my skin, the warmth of the blanket cradled around me like I'm a baby.

I speak softly, trying not to wake him up, but yet trying to talk to him as if I want him to wake up. He does respond quickly though, his eyes open up and he looks at me as if he's about to comfort me from a nightmare. I don't have tears running down my cheeks, or sweat on my pillow, so he knows I'm alright.

He keeps his head buried in his pillow but watches me.

"Are you okay?" He mumbles.

"Yes." I want to talk to him more, but something tells me he isn't in the mood for a 4:00AM conversation.

Yet, he is. He sits up and turns on the lamp that is next to him.

"What's up?" He asks casually.

I look at his tired eyes, I feel bad now. But I couldn't let him sleep away, dreaming peacefully while I stare at the wall, eyes wide open.

"Nothing." I reply just as casually.

He looks worried.

"If you want we can go make a tea."

"No." I reply, maybe too quickly.

"Okay then." He smiles slightly.

For some reason, staring at his face at 4 in the morning makes me light headed. I feel like I'm going to pass out, which would probably be ironic, since I haven't had any sleep all night.

I fall into his arms and let him stroke my hair for a while. It is quiet, outside is pitch black, but in an hour the sun will start to rise, just peeking through, not enough to say it's light.

I know he's trying hard to stay awake, so I let him go to sleep. He falls back down and closes his eyes. But he doesn't sleep, because I don't hear any of his quiet snores after half an hour.

"What now?" He whispers, knowing I'm awake.

I lie my head on his chest and sigh.

"I'm sorry for waking you up." I say.

"Don't worry, it's not the first time, Katniss." He replies, I think it's meant to comfort me, but it only makes me feel worse.

I get myself closer to him and close my eyes. I need to sleep. Although, something tells me I won't get any sleep tonight.

And I know it's right.

Peeta's POV

I wait for another hour, waiting for Katniss to fall asleep, but I don't think she does. I have my arm wrapped around her.

Finally, I decide I should get up.

The sun is only just gleaming through our curtains, and I block it out as much as I can and leave Katniss in the bedroom to try get a little more sleep.

I make a tea and sit in silence, hearing the birds whistles outside, thinking about how quiet it is earlier in the morning.

It takes only twenty minutes before Katniss decides she can't sleep, and she joins me at the table with her tea.

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" I ask carefully, handing her some cereal.

She takes it and sort of smiles gratefully.

"I'll be okay, I've gone through times without any sleep."

I still feel worried, but I let myself calm down and kiss her forehead. She wraps her arms around my neck and looks at me, her eyes tired, but her body overtired.

"I love you Katniss."

"I love you too Peeta."

And before I can control myself, I go back into a world when we were kids. We were playing on a swingset in Katniss's backyard.

"Peeta give me a turn!" Katniss skips around.

"Okay." I get off the swingset and let her on.

She just can't touch the ground and tears come to her eyes. I smile.

"I can't do it." She whines.

"Here, I'll push you." I walk to the back of her swing and give her a push, letting her fly up and come back down. I give her another push and she starts to laugh.

"Again! Again!" She keeps saying, her laughter getting louder.

I smile even wider and soon I'm laughing too. After a little while we stop and she hops off. She looks up at me with her wide beautiful eyes.

"Thank you Peeta." She says, wrapping her arms around me, I wrap my arms around her too.

"Can we go to the bakery?" She asks, looking at me pleadingly. I smile.

"Of course. My dad won't mind." I say.

We take each others hands and walk side by side to the bakery.

Soon she gets tired so I lift her up in my arms bridal syle.

"Peeta!" She says, but she starts to giggle.

She lies her head on my shoulder as I carry her.

"Peeta?" She whispers.

"Yes?"

"Will you stay with me forever and ever?"

"Always."

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Hey, sorry for taking forever to update! I hope you like this chapter and the flashback to them when they were kids. Cute! :)

Leave feedback below and hopefully I'll update sooner.