Fighting My Way Back

Chapter Eight

That night I sleep more soundly than I ever have before, with my fiancée by my side. The next morning when we wake up I call my bakery to tell my partner that I will not be in. He is understanding and very happy for Katniss and I.

I tell her about Caesar calling, and she immediately is against the idea of anyone from the Capitol coming to Twelve. I know that we have no choice, but I do not push the issue at that moment.

We spend most of the day talking and laughing... Then we're interrupted by a knock on the door. I get up from the sofa Katniss and I are sitting on and answer it. Gale.

"Hi, Peeta. Is Katniss here? I knocked on her door, but she didn't answer," he gives me a hostile stare as he says this.
"Yeah. She spends most of her time here. Day and night. If you ever need her come knock on my door," I tell him, smiling.
"Look, I'm not here to fight with you. Can I please talk to her?" He asks.
Yeah, one minute," I then turn to the direction of the living room. "Gale is here for you."
She walks up to us and I kiss her head then leave the room. When I return to the sofa I have a few thoughts pondering my mind. Last time I saw Gale was in the Capitol during the war. We were not this mean to each other then. What happened to civility that we had formed? I guess Katniss finally making up her mind. I had to know Gale and I could never be friends.

When Katniss returns to the living room, she looks at me and says, "I invited him to the wedding. It'd feel wrong for me not to at least do that."
I nod because I do understand that. "What did he say?"
"He was shocked, never thought I'd actually get married I guess."
"Never thought you'd marry me and not him is more like it," I say with an edge of annoyance in my voice that I didn't intend to be there.
She touches my face with her hand and says, "Can we not do this today? I don't want to fight with you over Gale. You won my heart. Clearly. Or else I wouldn't agree to marry you."

As I listen to her words, I feel something changing inside of me. A version of myself is taking over. A part that hasn't been around in years. Shiny memories are coming and I cannot stop it. And they seem so real. My mutt is coming to surface.