Chapter Text
“Images we cannot leave behind
Like two riversides we roll back…”
-Live
Hold Me Up
Part Four
“Thanks for this,” Delly said as they stepped out of the apartment and she stuffed the stack of papers into her tote bag. “I would’ve gone to the institute myself, but I’ve been so busy with work and the movie. In between then, I’m trying to sleep…it’s been a crazy few weeks.”
“It’s really no problem,” Peeta replied. They went to the elevator so they could head down to Finnick and Annie’s place. “I know a few people who are still at the culinary institute. One of them was able to drop off the application in our mailbox. I had no idea that you were interested in the culinary arts.”
“A lot of the recipes at the bar are my own creations. Like the mozzarella sticks, I used mochi flour and my personal spice mixture for the batter. Sae, our cook, is always open to ideas.”
They got into the elevator and Peeta pressed the button for the right floor before turning to Delly.
“So, which one of our friends will be benefiting from your cooking? Johanna or Thresh?”
“I don’t know,” Delly replied, a light blush coloring her peach complexion. “Maybe both…I’m not really up for making those hardcore decisions.” The door opened and they stepped onto Annie and Finnick’s floor. “We all can’t be you and Katniss.”
Peeta stopped and turned to her. “What do you mean?”
“What you two did on camera…that wasn’t fucking. It was lovemaking.” Delly gave him a sad smile. “I’ve done a lot of these…things. I think I was always looking for what I saw in your scene.”
“And what is that?”
“Trust…passion…love,” she said. “You should ask Katniss not to do the scene tomorrow. What you have should be between you and her. I’ll volunteer.”
“Thanks for the offer. I’ll speak to Katniss,” he told her with a smile. “I’m not trying to tell her what to do. I just want her to know how I feel.”
“Good.” Delly opened the door and stepped inside. “Here’s your chance, Romeo—”
“Where have you been, you idiot?” Johanna called out as soon as he entered.
“Getting Delly’s application for the Panem Culinary Institute,” Peeta replied. “What did I do?”
“Take a look around the room and check out who’s missing,” their friend replied him tersely.
Peeta’s looked around the room and his heart dropped to discover the one person he wanted to see missing.
“She texted me and said that she’ll be at the bakery for her scene,” Gale told him somberly. “But she won’t be home tonight.”
“Why would Katniss just up and leave after our scene?” Peeta searched his mind, thinking back to after their…moment. “She said she was okay. We were going to talk—”
“Maybe you might’ve mentioned that you were going to leave with Delly for a non-romantic reason, you ass!” Annie said huffily, tossing a throw pillow in his direction. “You made sweet love to her and then left with another woman.”
“Oh fuck,” he breathed.
“You might want to try calling her,” Effie said gently. “However, don’t be surprised if she doesn’t answer.”
“Also, a groveling voicemail and an in-person beg for forgiveness might suffice,” Haymitch added, patting his back.
“Excuse me,” Peeta told the group. “I’m suddenly not feeling so great. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Rushing out of the apartment, he reached for his cell, dialing her number immediately.
“Hello, Katniss? It’s me. Can you please call? I need to explain…”
++++++
Prim and Cato sat on their sofa, shock in their expressions, as she finished her story.
“Wow,” her sister responded after a moment. “And you all thought this was a good solution?”
“I mean, once we got the plot down, it seemed like it would work,” Katniss explained. “Then we started doing the first scenes and it was awkward. By the time we got to the cunnilingus scene, all of us saw it as an actual job.”
“Then you had sex with Peeta,” Cato continued for his wife. “And it was different.”
Katniss blinked back the tears threatening to fill her eyes once more.
“It was different,” she told them. “It was more than sex. It was love. What a shit way to realize that I’m in love with him. Then he left with Delly. Not that I could blame him. If you saw her, you’d understand why Peeta followed his dick to greener pastures—”
“That doesn’t sound like Peeta at all,” Prim interrupted. “You’re talking about the guy who hung out with you when you had the weird bangs…and the braces…and were super-duper flat—”
Katniss scowled. “I came here for some support, not to be roasted, Prim.”
“If you needed money, why didn’t you come to us?” Cato asked her. “We could’ve helped—”
“No, you have my niece to take care of,” she told her brother-in-law. “We’re all dealing with this economic crisis. Violet needs to be fed, diapered, and clothed. There was no way I was going to ask you.”
“What about Mom and Dad?” Prim suggested.
“They already think I’m enough of a screwup.” Katniss sat back against the couch. “And the Mellarks don’t know about the bakery closing and Peeta losing his job nor do the Hawthornes know anything about Gale being laid off. We have enough problems and adding our parents won’t do anything but give us a headache.”
“Alright…I guess I can understand why this seemed like a good idea,” Prim said. “Did Gale really get pegged by your neighbor?”
“Yes, and I think he’s dating her roommate now,” Katniss informed her.
“Listen, you can always stay with us if you need to think,” Cato told her. “However, I think that you need to talk to Peeta tomorrow. Maybe consider admitting your undying love for him and not do this threesome scene—”
Prim shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut. “Ew, don’t put images in my head.”
“I’m having a hard enough time with the title,” Cato said to his wife. He turned to Katniss. “‘Hot Cross Buns’? Really?”
“It’s ‘Hot XXX Buns’. Thank you very much.”
“Sorry, I’ll be sure to spell it correctly if I ever search for it,” he told her.
“Gross! Don’t tell my sister that you’re going to watch her porn!” Prim said. “I mean we’ll buy it to support you, but I’m not watching it.”
“To be fair, we don’t know the other actors.”
“Are you seriously trying to negotiate over which part of Katniss’ porn we’re going to watch?” Prim shook her head at the man. “You’re a perv.”
Cato winked at his wife. “But you love that about me.” He stood up, giving Prim a kiss. “I’m bringing Vi to her crib.” He gave Katniss a smile. “Talk to Peeta. You have too much of a good thing going on to destroy it.”
“Thanks, Cato.”
The man stepped out of the room leaving the sisters alone.
Prim looked to her. “It was that good?”
Katniss nodded. “Yes.” She turned to her sister. “Do you think that he’s hooking up with Delly right now?”
“No!” Prim groaned at her. “You two need to talk. Just not tonight.”
Katniss looked to her phone, seeing that she had several missed calls—most of them from Peeta. There was also a voice message waiting for her in her inbox.
However, her head felt muddled by everything that happened—especially the sex.
As she predicted, it hadn’t made things easier for her and Peeta.
++++++
“Dude, quit pacing,” Gale said to Peeta from his seat. Beside them sat the rest of the crew, minus Annie and Finnick who were setting up for the final scene. “It’s not going to make her come any faster.”
“Maybe I should talk to her,” Delly said from Thresh’s lap. “I mean, it was my fault. I could’ve asked you when we were all at Finnick and Annie’s.”
“Don’t blame yourself,” Peeta told her. “I just wasn’t thinking—”
There was a knock at the door and Madge stood from her seat to open it.
Peeta held his breath as she opened the door and let Katniss in. She walked towards them, expression muted, before giving them a tight smile.
“Hey,” she greeted everyone. “Is everything ready for the scene?”
“Katniss,” Johanna began. “Delly wants to do the scene. Thresh and I have done scenes with her and so it would look a lot more fluid—”
“I still want to,” Katniss told them resolutely. “It just wouldn’t be fair for me to be the only one with a single sexual encounter.”
Delly’s expression morphed in realization. “Katniss, me and P—”
“Can we talk?” Peeta interrupted tersely.
Katniss nodded, finally acknowledging his presence. She walked towards the back, disappearing behind the swing door. Haymitch and Effie quickly rushed out of the room and headed towards them.
“Whoa, Hurricane Katniss on the move,” Haymitch said as he pulled out a seat for Effie.
“You better get in there before you lose her again,” Effie urged Peeta.
He nodded at everyone before heading towards the back of the bakery.
Pushing through the swinging door, he found Katniss standing by the flour stacks where they had their scene, her eyes square on them.
“Seems so long ago,” Peeta remarked as he approached her carefully. Katniss turned to him coolly. “I don’t know if you listened to my voicemail—"
“I didn’t get a chance,” she told him. “I left my phone charger at the apartment. Prim and Cato didn’t have a cable for it, so it died last night.”
“Then, can I explain? Delly and I never hooked up,” he told her. “I told her about my time at the culinary institute and she was interested in applying. So, one of my colleagues dropped off the application in our mailbox, I was just giving it to her—”
“You could’ve let me know instead of up and leaving,” Katniss said quietly. “It hurt—finding you gone and with someone else.”
His hands went to her shoulders, his gaze pleading.
“I know and I’m sorry. I never meant to make you feel like I was with someone else,” Peeta told her. “Please don’t do the scene.”
Katniss crossed her arms. “Give me one reason I shouldn’t.”
“Because last night wasn’t just fucking, Katniss. That was lovemaking.” Peeta anxiously carded a hand through his hair. “I’m in love with you. So much that I can’t stand the thought of you being with anyone but me! I don’t care if it makes me look like a jealous psycho. Because I am when it comes to you, and I think you might love me, too. You just have to let your guard down and gives us a chance.”
“I have to let my guard down?” Katniss scoffed. “You never think before you do things. Yesterday was just a prime example of you not thinking of me. You say you want to talk about our relationship and then you just walk out with someone else. I’ve seen it for years. You don’t think of me. You didn’t yesterday and you didn’t every time I’ve watched you with some other girl in your arms! I’m not going to be that girl anymore!”
“You were never just some girl,” he told her. “And last night was not like any other time—”
“Just be real, Peeta. It was just fucking.”
Her words hit him with a white-hot pain.
For a moment, they both stood staring at one another.
Peeta could see that Katniss realized what she had said had hurt him, badly if he was being honest. He had opened his heart to her, and she had no faith in his words.
Suddenly, Katniss stepped forward. “Peeta—”
He held his hand up and she froze.
“Fuck this—”
Turning, Peeta slammed his palm into the door, the sound resounded through the bakery, catching everyone’s attention as he stomped out of the back.
Gale stood up, worry in his eyes. “What happened?”
“I’m leaving!”
Peeta was out the front door before anyone could stop him.
++++++
Katniss stepped into the apartment, closing it quietly behind her.
“Peeta?” she called out. “Are you here?”
Katniss knew the moment she said those words that it was a mistake. The pain in his blue eyes was unmistakable and she regretted her actions immediately. However, there was no going back after what she said, and Katniss was almost afraid of what might happen if she tried to talk to him.
Then Peeta walked out.
She couldn’t understand why she had even said those words.
Once he was gone, Katniss had finally listened to the voicemail. He had apologized for being an idiot and not thinking about her. For not doing the simplest of things and telling her that he needed to give Delly the culinary application. For leaving with everyone else instead of sitting with her in that backroom to beg her to not do the threesome scene.
For not declaring his love for her then and there.
It had never been just fucking, and both knew it.
Nonetheless, the words cut.
How much, Katniss wasn’t sure.
Going to his door, she knocked carefully.
“Peeta, please talk to me.” Katniss pressed her cheek to the wood, imagining him on the other side listening to hear plea. “I didn’t mean it. The truth is that I’m scared how much it wasn’t just fucking. I’m scared of what’s next for us. Because I’ve been hurt, and I don’t want to lose us.” She took a breath. “I’m in love with you, Peeta. I think that we could be really good together…if you’re willing to forgive me.”
Silence.
Katniss knocked once more, testing the doorknob before turning it and opening the door.
Peeta wasn’t in his room.
And neither were any of his things.
++++++
One Month Later…
“Peeta, there are two people at table 12 who want to speak to you!”
Over the kitchen line, Beetee, the restaurant manager, beckoned him.
Excusing himself from his space, Peeta pulled out his order pad.
“You won’t need it,” the man informed him. “They’ve already ordered half the menu. The man’s wife is a tiny little thing, but she demanded every single appetizer. Take your time, they said they’d keep ordering to compensate for you being off the food line.”
“No problem, boss.”
Peeta undid his apron, placing it on the hook, before stepping out into the dining area. His eyes went to where Effie and Haymitch sat sitting in the center of the room, one of the waiters refilling their flutes with orange juice.
“Peeta!” Effie waved excitedly before standing and hugging him. “I’ve missed you, my boy!”
“Hi Effie. You look beautiful,” he replied warmly. She was ethereal in her soft pink maternity dress. Peeta smiled at Haymitch. “Is this man treating you well?”
“Like a queen,” Effie pronounced. “Have a seat.” She pulled out the chair facing her and Haymitch. “We want to catch up.”
Peeta sat down, giving them a tense smile.
“How did you find me?”
“Gale told us, along with an apology for ratting you out,” Haymitch said before taking a sip from his flute.
“I threatened to sit on him if he didn’t tell us,” Effie explained as she dug into the huge plate of calamari misto in front of her. “Men are so easy to manipulate.”
“How is…everyone?” Peeta asked.
“Katniss is doing okay,” Haymitch informed him, a long look in his eyes. “She’s working as a receptionist for a dental office. Where are you staying now?”
“A friend of my brother named Thom had an extra room since his roommate moved in with his girlfriend,” he told the couple. “Bran negotiated a fairly priced rent for me, and Thom hooked me up with this job.”
“Glad everything is going alright,” his former boss replied. “We were all worried.”
“Also, there is another reason that we came,” Effie said as she reached for the breadbasket. “You need to look at the movie.”
“No, I can’t do that,” Peeta protested. “I’m not in any other scenes, anyway—”
“It’s your dream, idiot,” Haymitch told him. “You’re the baker, remember?”
“I don’t know—”
“Don’t make me sit on you, Peeta Mellark!” Effie speared another piece of calamari and he briefly imagined himself as that piece before looking to the woman. “You will be coming to our house tonight. I will have no arguments!”
Peeta raised his hands in surrender. “Yes, Mom!”
“That’s what I thought,” the woman told him, crossing her arms. “Now let’s talk about this rift between you and Katniss.”
“I don’t—”
“You will,” Effie said. “What the fuck is going on with you?”
“Me?” Peeta glowered, shaking his head. “I wasn’t the one who said it was just fucking after someone declared his feelings for her—”
“We know this already,” Haymitch interrupted. “And we’ve had words with Katniss as well.” He peered at Peeta. “You two are the biggest morons I’ve ever met. Instead of just letting your feelings be known, you just move around each other like two pecking chickens. Then when it’s finally out in the open, you both somehow end up fighting and splitting up before you even started.”
“Life’s short, Peeta,” Effie added. “Don’t waste your time fighting! Fucking idiots.”
“You’re never usually this mean,” Peeta said to her.
“Yeah, it happens when I see two people I love acting like dummies over a simple misunderstanding,” the woman said. “You love her right?”
Peeta didn’t reply, still pained by the memory of her rejection, but when his eyes went to the couple, it was plain that they already knew his answer.
“If you don’t grab at the opportunity, you’ll miss out on the best thing that could ever happen to you both,” Haymitch said softly. “Think about what we said alright.”
“And bring some more calamari when you come to our house,” Effie added as she polished off the plate.
++++++
“Peeta!” Finnick stood up, giving him a hug as he stepped into the Abernathy living room. “How you been, man?”
He smiled, happy to see his friend. “Good. How’s Annie?”
“Furiously planning our wedding,” Finnick told him. “She’s roped all of the girls to be her bridesmaids. Johanna is her Maid of Dishonor—she gave herself that moniker.”
“Why Johanna?”
“She’ll plan the best bachelorette party,” his friend replied. “Annie wants to go buck wild—those are her words—before she shackles herself to me.”
Peeta chuckled. “You picked a good one.”
Finnick gave him a humble smile.
“No, she chose me.” He turned to the table set up in front of the fireplace; there were two televisions, placed side by side, along with an opened laptop. “So, I’m working on the movie and we’re lacking an ending.”
“What are you talking about? It’s porn. There’s fucking and it ends with a come shot!” Peeta informed him.
“Let’s just look over it,” Finnick told him. He sat in front of the laptop, toggling through the scenes. “We have Delly and Thresh starting us off…then Madge and Gale with what I think will be a more iconic pie scene then the one in American Pie...then Johanna and Delly—” He fast-forwarded through the rest of the other scenes. “Then we have this boring shit—”
Finnick pressed play and on one of the monitors was his scene with Katniss.
Peeta didn’t want to look, remembering the awkwardness of being film. However, his eyes couldn’t help but watch as his lips met Katniss’, her back arching gracefully at the motion. As they pulled apart, their eyes met and, at that moment, he could see a thousand emotions play in those grey eyes of hers.
However, that gaze ended with love, bright and burning.
For him.
As the scene continued, Peeta didn’t focus on the physical part but the beautiful dance between them. They moved seamlessly, almost as if they were one. As they fell apart, his eyes watered watching Katniss cradle his head tenderly. He remembered how cherished he had felt.
They were beautiful together.
Peeta cleared his throat. “And what about the last scene?”
“What last scene?”
“The one with Johanna, Thresh…and Katniss.”
“We never filmed it,” Finnick informed him. “After you left, Katniss was so upset that we all just decided to take a break from filming.”
“So, Katniss didn’t have sex with Johanna and Thresh?”
“No.” Finnick turned in his seat, a gleam in his eyes. “Katniss only had sex with you.”
“I have to go—” Peeta turned away from the man before suddenly turning back. “—tell Effie that I left her calamari in the kitchen. Tell her to heat it at 350—”
“Dude, I’m sure Effie knows how to heat food up! Go get your woman!”
Peeta nodded before heading out the door.
“Also, you’re one of my groomsmen!”
++++++
Peeta stepped into the apartment quietly.
He looked around, noticing that nothing had changed since he was gone, before heading towards the bedrooms and stopping at Katniss’ door.
Knocking, Peeta brought his mouth close to the closed door.
“Katniss!” he called out. “I’m sorry. For everything.” Peeta rested his head against the wood. “I shouldn’t have left. I should’ve told you that I didn’t want you to do the scene with Thresh and Johanna. I should’ve talked to you before leaving with Delly. I can’t even imagine how you felt.”
Sliding down to the ground, he sat back against the surface of the door.
“Katniss…what I wanted to say is that I love you. I’ve always loved you, but that love has turned into something else. Something deeper…more meaningful…more real.”
The door remained unopened, the occupant inside the room silent.
“I don’t want to be anyone else but you,” he continued. “For the rest of my life. Because…I’m completely, stupidly in love with you—”
The door opened and Peeta fell back—
“I love you too, bro.” Thresh grinned down at him—completely naked. “Just not in that way.”
“What the fuck are you doing in Katniss’ room?” he asked, staring up at his very exposed friend. “And why are you naked?”
“Because this is my room now. I moved in because they needed help with making the rent,” the man answered. “And I’m naked because I have company over.”
Peeta looked over to the bed and Delly peeked out from underneath the comforter.
She gave him a light wave. “Hi, Peeta! Welcome back!”
He waved back then scrambled up, turning to Thresh. “Then where is Katniss?”
Thresh pointed his hand across the hall. “Right there.”
Peeta whirled around to find Katniss standing at the open doorway across from him.
Gale’s bedroom door opened, and Johanna peeked out, looking at Peeta.
“Oh, you’re back.” She rolled her eyes. “Brainless over there moved into your room because she missed your scent or some shit…”
Peeta approached Katniss. “You missed my scent?”
Her eyes filled. “I missed everything about you.” She stepped into the hallway, her gaze full. “I know that I said that what we did was just fucking, but it wasn’t. What we did was beautiful.”
“Oh God—” He pulled her into his arms. “—I missed you so fucking much.” His hands reached to cradle her cheeks and she beamed in his caress. “I’m never leaving you again.”
Katniss let out a wet laugh.
“Good. Gale abandoned ship to shack up with Madge and now I’m stuck with these weirdos!”
Johanna glowered. “Hey!”
“Now you’re stuck with me.” Peeta kissed her softly, savoring the taste of the woman in his grasp. “Always.”
“I like the sound of that,” Katniss told him, throwing her arms around his neck. She pulled him down, kissing him deeply until he felt the whole world tilt and twirl around them.
When they drew apart, the two smiled before embracing once more.
Across the hall, Delly was clapping in excitement as Thresh let out a wolf-whistle. Arms crossed; Johanna shook her head though a small smile played on her mouth.
Katniss looked at him. “You owe me a whole month.”
Peeta raised a brow. “Of what?”
“Standing wheelbarrow…reverse cowgirl…possible pegging—”
He reached, scooping her up bridal style.
“Then let’s get to it.”
Katniss laughed, drawing him into another kiss as they disappeared into her room with a resounding slam of the door.
“I’m calling everyone,” Johanna declared.
“Why?” Delly asked.
“Because we have a movie to finish!”
+++++++
Six Months Later…
“Moira, have Bran or Rye visited the new place?” Cathy Everdeen asked the woman sitting beside her.
The Everdeens and Mellarks had decided to drive up together to Katniss and Peeta’s new place for Thanksgiving. The parents were not surprised when the two had gotten together; Katniss and Peeta were always birds of a feather, unable to never be apart.
However, they were all surprised to find out that the two decided to purchase a place together.
Especially since Gale’s brother Vick had let it slip to Hazelle Hawthorne that all three had lost their jobs a little over six months ago.
“No, both have been busy at work,” Moira replied. “However, they mentioned that Peeta did invite them to stay over when they both landed for Thanksgiving weekend. I don’t think either man would enjoy sleeping on that pullout sofa of theirs.”
“I still have nightmares about it,” Cathy agreed. “God, that apartment was a dump.”
“It wasn’t any worse than our first place together,” Noah Everdeen said from the driver’s seat. He winked at his wife from the rearview mirror. “I remember many cold nights snuggled together because our heat had gone out.”
“Yeah, the first house we had was a shoebox,” Elliot Mellark added from the passenger’s seat. “We slept with Bran in-between us on the smallest mattress.”
The 4Runner made a turn onto a dirt road lined with tall trees on both sides.
Noah’s brow furrowed. “Is this right?” He looked at the dashboard where the GPS screen was displayed. “Seems to be…” The car continued along the dirt path. “Well, Katniss always did love the woods.”
“And the romantic our Peeta is, he was probably more than happy to live in a cozy cabin with her,” Moira cooed.
As the car moved towards a clearing, they all breathed out in relief.
“Looks like we’re here,” Elliot called out to the women in the backseat.
“Holy shit!” Noah cried out. “This can’t be right.”
Two loud gasps from the backseat confirmed that the man wasn’t hallucinating.
“They must be messing with us,” Elliot said as they slowed in front of the house, parking on the cobble-stone driveway. “This isn’t their house!”
Standing before them was a three-story grey Victorian with a columned wraparound porch.
“How could they even afford this?” Cathy asked as she stepped out of the car. “I know Katniss mentioned that they both made some investments and were successful, but I didn’t realize it was that successful.”
The front door opened, and Katniss stepped out with Peeta following behind her.
“Mom! Dad!” She rushed towards her parents, pulling them both into a hug. “I’m so glad you made it!”
“Katniss…let me get a look at you,” her dad said. She did a little twirl in her burgundy plaid A-line skirt and brown turtleneck. “You look beautiful, sweetheart.”
“Thanks, Dad,” Katniss replied with a bright smile. “I feel all lit up inside.” The smile fell seeing the look on her mother’s face. “Mom, you okay?”
“Yes.” Her hand went to Katniss’ perfectly blown-out waves. “It’s just that you look so different. So sophisticated—not like you weren’t always, but the outfit…the hair…and are those the Chanel boots from The Devil Wears Prada?”
Katniss looked down at the boots and shrugged.
“I don’t know. One of our friends got them for me when she was in Paris.”
“You have some generous friends,” her mother said in astonishment.
“Madge is Gale’s girlfriend, and she was doing an internship with some designer…Cinna something,” she told her parents. “She and Gale are both inside with Hazelle. Prim, Cato, and Violet are already here, hanging out with the rest of our friends.”
A petite blonde holding a wrapped bundle in blue stepped out onto the porch.
“Katniss! Peeta!” She joined them, giving the Everdeens and the Mellarks a bright smile. “Excuse me for interrupting but Delly said that the turkey is about ready. I made Thresh and Finnick bring out the good china and set up the table.”
“Thanks, Effie,” Peeta said gratefully. “This is Effie Abernathy. She and her husband Haymitch own the bakery that I used to work for.” He looked fondly at the sleeping baby. “And this is Davy, my Godson.”
“Our Godson,” Katniss corrected her boyfriend, giving him a wink. “We should bring our parents into the house. I’m sure they’d like a tour before dinner.”
The couple shuffled their shellshocked parents onto the porch and into the house as Effie began to tell them how she practically demanded that Katniss and Peeta buy the house when she saw the listing.
“Hey.” Peeta tugged at Katniss’ hand and she turned to look at him. “You think they’re okay?”
“A little surprised, but I have a feeling that will be the general feeling for rest of the day,” Katniss told him.
“Then, do you think we should tell them about the engagement?” Peeta asked.
Katniss held her left hand out, admiring the large emerald with the gold band on her ring finger.
“Hell yeah, we should!” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I want everyone to know that you’re mine—” Standing on her toes, her lips pressed lightly to his. “—always.”
“I love when you’re possessive,” Peeta told her, his voice low.
Katniss flushed at his words.
“I’ll show you how possessive I am later,” she replied. “Now let’s go and tell our parents. Hopefully, none of them passes out.”
“Yeah, they’re stunned enough.” Peeta chuckled. “My dad asked what kind of shady investment we made to get this house.”
“If only they knew,” his fiancée replied before they walked into their house, hand in hand.
++++++
“To Katniss and Peeta!” Gale raised his wine glass to the couple sitting across from him. “All I have to say is…finally.”
After all their parents had left—thankfully, still standing—the crew, except for Haymitch and Effie who were resting upstairs before Davy’s midnight feeding, remained in the dining room. What was left of the food sat on the table as they relaxed after a very hectic Thanksgiving dinner.
“Can I also raise a glass to the fact that we have reached more than 50 million views and growing on PornHub?” Johanna added. “Also, Panem’s only adult channel, Districts After Dark, has reached out to run Hot XXX Buns on its network?”
“Let me take a look at that contract before you sign anything,” Thresh told her. He just recently graduated from his business program and was looking into university programs—now that he could afford it. “Also, now that I’ve opened the gym, we can all get fit together.”
“We’re going to need to, especially with Delly’s cooking,” Annie said. “How am I going to fit into a wedding dress?”
“Oh, come on, you can just have one custom made,” Delly replied. “Plus, you have a beautiful figure!”
“Damn straight,” Finnick said, a note of pride in his voice as he looked at his fiancée.
“I’ll just make you a dress,” Madge told her from her seat next to Gale. “We still have till Valentine’s Day. I’m already making the bridesmaids dresses.”
“True,” Annie mused. “It’s been so hard to plan with how busy we’ve been with promoting the movie. Also, since we’ve come back from the Philippines, we’ve been editing the documentary.”
The couple had gone to the Philippines to film a documentary on coral reefs at the Tubbataha National Marine Park after the movie had taken off. They had just returned after doing some traveling along the island.
“Weren’t we toasting to us?” Peeta suddenly called out.
“Oh yes!” Gale held his glass up. “To the happy couple!”
They all raised their glasses before taking a sip.
“Okay, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way,” Johanna said. “I’d like to announce that Gale and I, along with a couple of bottles of whiskey, have decided that we should make our bakery series a trilogy!”
“Our sequel will be called, ‘The Muff-In Man’, followed by our all-anal conclusion, ‘Cake Whores’!” Gale explained. “So, what do you guys think?”
“Well…I do want to open my own restaurant after I finished culinary school,” Delly contemplated. She went to Thresh, sitting on his lap. “What do you think?”
The man wrapped an arm around her waist. “I think that if you’re in then I’m in.”
“Some seed money would be nice if I plan to start designing actual clothes,” Madge added. She looked to Gale. “I’m down.”
Johanna looked to the newly engaged couple. “Katniss? Peeta?”
Despite being the only couple that didn’t have multiple partners, their clip had been surprisingly popular. Many commenters found their scene surprisingly romantic and as Delly had described it—pretty.
After viewing it many times, Katniss and Peeta found that they felt the same way.
This movie had brought them all together. Without it, they would’ve never met Delly and Thresh. They wouldn’t have become as close as they all were.
This group of people weren’t just their friends.
They were family.
And they couldn’t be more grateful for the day that they all agreed to make Hot XXX Buns.
“We do have a wedding to pay for,” Katniss said, taking Peeta’s hand.
He squeezed her hand in agreement, pressing a kiss to her knuckles before turning to the group.
“So, who’s going to be the Muff-In Man?”
FIN.