My dandelion-Everlark fanfiction

Chapter 3

Once again I wake up in terror. Nearly screaming as the ghost of Prim and Madge shovelling ashes on me starts to finally fade away. Do these nightmares ever stop. I don't think they will, to be honest. My hair is tangled and I'm all sweaty as I throw the blanket off me and stand up. I go to the window and open the curtains. The sun hasn't even risen, which means I haven't slept too much. Maybe about four hours. I walk to the bathroom and decide to take a shower to calm my self and to get the sweaty feeling away.

Once I get out of the shower I walk back to my room with a towel around me. I sit on the bed for a while, stand up to take another towel from a closet and dry my hair with it, leaving it as a turban. I lay my head on the pillow for a while and then suddenly feel again very sleepy.

I wake up to a loud knock on my front door. I walk downstairs and just before I open the door I realise I'm still tucked up in my towel. I just tighten it around me and open the door.

"Good morning!" Peeta says sweetly with a wide smile as I open the door with one hand. The other is too busy holding up the towel. I can't help but smile back. He has a baguette in his hand and another paper bag, full of something. My guess would be more cheese buns. I let him in.

"Morning", I say and yawn. "Just give me a minute, okay?" I say and turn around, back to the stairs.

"Sure, I can make us some tea while you get dressed." I walk back upstairs, straight to the wardrobe, still smiling. I take one of 'my' creations out of the closet. It's an orange dress, that was sometime part of 'my talent' for the people in Capitol after my first games. It's not fancy at all. Just a pretty summer dress that Cinna designed for me. But to be honest I don't think I ever even wore this. Cinna brought me just so many clothes when he was doing my talent that I never got to wear all. Even though it's warm outside, I still throw on also a grey cardigan. Then I undo the turban from my head and brush my hair, leaving it open for a chance.

I hear the tea kettle whistle as I walk through the kitchen door. Peeta has made us some breakfast and set the the table.

"Perfect timing", he says hearing me walk in, still facing the other way and pouring some tea into two mugs. When he turns around his gaze locks on me for quite a long time. I can't really read his face, but then I just end up looking down at my dress rising confused my eye brows.

"What is it?" I ask a little worried.

"Oh, you are just so beautiful", he says looking me softly in the eyes. I feel a little blush warming my cheeks. He leaves the tea mugs on the table and walks over to me. "Also I think I remembered something. That was the dress you wore on the roof before the quell. Real or not real?" I look at it and try to remember. I vaguely remember wearing a orange dress that day, but was it this one? How could it be here now?

"I don't know. I don't know how it could be here now, but I wore a orange dress though so in a way real", I tell him.

"That was a perfect day wasn't it? We weren't acting for cameras, it was just...real.Right?"

"Yes." I just say and smile at the memory. "How can you still remember that? Like after all what Snow did to you?" I ask him confused. We sit down and Peeta slices the fresh baguette. He sits opposite me, in the same chair he was sitting yesterday and, basically today as well, since it was one o'clock when he left.

"After I started to see realistically and could tell the real and the not real apart, many memories have been kinda coming back. Not perfectly and some stuff are still a bit fuzzy. And also the moments where were no cameras, they couldn't use and turn them into something different", he explains and puts some jam on his bread. I just nod happily. It's so nice to have back my boy with the bread. "Did you sleep well?" He asks then.

"Well at first I didn't really, but luckily I fell back asleep after I took a shower. Then I only woke up when you came", I say.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up", he says with a regretting voice.

"It doesn't matter it was time to wake up anyways", I say taking a slice of the baguette and dipping it into my tea. "And how was your night?" I ask before taking a big gulp of the tea that isn't too hot to drink anymore.

"It was okay, but since I baked cheese buns, two baguettes and painted a new picture, I didn't really sleep much though", he says and grins sadly.

"What did you paint? I ask. I only have seen his paintings a few times-on the train during the victory tour and the flowers and plants to the book we were making-and since they were incredible, I am truly curious to see his latest ones.

"Would you like to see them?" I give him an enthusiastic nod and he smiles widely as a response that tells me he can't wait for me to see them.

We eat and then as we are walking to Peeta's house we spot a very familiar face outside. I haven't seen him in while. Haymitch sees us and walks over.

"So The rumours I heard are true then. The baker boy has arrived!" He says excitedly, but you can still hear his hangover from his voice. He hugs Peeta and then turns back to me. "And you finally woke up from the dead. It has something to do with him, hasn't it?" he says and 'whispers' the last part. Only it's not really a whisper and there is no doubt Peeta heard it.

"Ran out of liquor,huh?" I just ask, changing the subject.

"yes, and the train isn't coming until Wednesday", he says and kicks a small rock that flies only a couple meters away. "You wouldn't happen to have any?"

"No Haymitch, we don't drink, but I have some fresh bread if you'd like", Peeta offers.

"Well thank you Peeta. I guess I could eat something, you know other than liquor", he says and grins.

"You don't eat liquor Haymitch, you drink it", I say as we all head down to Peeta's house.

"Oh shut up"

We sit in Peeta's kitchen and talk about this and that. Well they talk. I don't say much, but I'm still happy that I've got at least them left in my life. Haymitch asks how Peeta's doing and he tells stories from the hospital and the treatment.

Then after maybe an hour Haymitch goes back home and Peeta leads me to a room in his house, which is full of painting stuff. I look all the paintings and my jaw drops. They are incredible. So many of them are tributes and our friends, moments after Peeta got back to district 13. There's Finnick and Annie dancing. Annie has my green dress on and it's clear it's from their wedding. There's Johanna, Delly, Finnick and Annie eating lunch in 13. Cressida, Boggs and the film crew near the tents during the beginning of the war. But in every picture you can still find me. I'm dancing with prim behind Annie and Finnick, sitting next to Johanna in the dining room, sitting around the bonfire next to Gale at the tents. There are only a few pictures in this section, that don't include me. Like a bit blurry painting of someone-Johanna I assume-bold and beaten in a cell. Then some other ones I can't really place.

Then there are some pictures from the second arena. Me on the beach. Me and Finnick waking Peeta up, our skins green from the medicine. Then me laying head on Peeta's lap on the roof of the tribute centre. These he must have drawn quite lately, probably after he rewatched the games. But none of the pictures have Peeta himself in them. They are from his perspective, the way he saw everything.

"I can't believe I'm in nearly every one of them. They are truly incredible", I tell him as I regain my ability to speak.

"Thank you", he says with a small smile.

"How can you remember every detail of so many people?" I ask.

"I see them almost every night. And it helps to paint them. It's like, you see them leave night after night. And you just want to forget about it. Forget them and the fact that they're gone, but at the same time you don't want to forget them. Because as long as you still remember them as they are-nice, kind, funny and brave-your nightmares can't change them so easily into bad and scary creatures. You want to remember them as truly them and be honoured to knew them", he says as we walk to his living room and sit on the couch. What he said is exactly what I've been thinking of. He just put my thought into words. Then I think of an idea.

"Peeta?" I ask.

"Yes?" he asks softly but raising his eyebrows at me.

"You just gave me the best idea ever!"