I Love You To The Moon And Back

Chapter 37: Sleepover

Peeta P.O.V.

I still feel guilty about Katniss. I should've never let my mom hit her with that rolling pin. She says that I don't need to worry, but I still do. I don't want her to notice anything, but I'm much more carefull with her now. We're sitting in Annies livingroom, and I know that the others have noticed mine and Katniss' bruises.

'Guys, I just need to ask, did you two fight or so?' Finnick asks. Katniss and I look at eachother, and then at him. 'I eh...', Katniss start. I think I should tell them. They will find out someday, anyway.
'My mom beats me', I just say as it is. Finnick jaw drops and the others stare at me.

'Yeah, she beats me for as long as I know. But I'm okay, I promise', I say. Finnick looks at me.

'And that time in the hospital, that wasn't the stairs, was it?' he asks. I look down. Finnick sighs. 'That's fucked up, man', he says. I hold up my shoulders. 'But I really don't need pity. I just want to have fun, and forget about my mother', I say. The others exchange some glances.

'Then, what are we waiting for?' Finnick asks. The group starts to laugh. I can smile too. I look at Katniss, and she also smiles.

Oh, that smile. It would even be more perfect if that bruise wasn't there...

'Guys, let's go swimming downstairs', Annie says. She has a indoor pool in the basement of her house, it's huge. We all get ready and go downstairs.

Katniss P.O.V.

I go down the stairs and undress myself. Shit! In all of my thoughts I took my bikini with me instead of the swimsuit. Now I have to reveal my body to Peeta. Talking about body... I look at Peeta and I can see that his torso is also covered in bruises. How long was that woman beating him that afternoon? I walk up to him, a little bit shy because of my body.

'Hi', I say. He smiles at me. 'Hey, beautiful', he says. I smile. Then his smile fades away a little and I know that he looks at my bruise. 'Peeta, stop looking at it. I'm fine. But what about you?' I say, pointing to his torso. He shrugs. 'I'm okay', he says. I can see that he's still down. I take a step closer to him and lay my hands carefully around his neck, trying not to hurt him.
'Peeta, you can't protect me from everything, you can't. Just like I can't protect you from your mom, even though I want to. I get hurt, you get hurt, it just happens. We can't prevent it, but we can help eachother with it. To be there for one another', I say. He nods. 'Yeah, I think you're right', he says. I smile. 'Good boy', I say as I kiss him. Just then, we get water splashed all over us. We jump apart and find Finnick, laughing hard.
'You dick!' I yell and he starts running, and I chase him. 'I'll get you', I say. The floor is really slippery and I need to be careful.

Finally I get to him, and I don't know how I did it, but he ends up falling into the water. Did I push him? But then I see a person standing at the place Finnick was, just two seconds ago. Johanna.
'You're welcome', she says. I start laughing and get into the water carefully. It's cold. I look at the others, who are swimming jumping and laughing around.

I really love them. They're the best. Especially Peeta.

And just then, I feel two strong arms wrap around me, pulling me close. I smile and rest my back onto his chest. But then I remember all the bruises and I pul myself up again. 'What's wrong?' Peeta says. I turn around and look at him. 'I don't want to hurt you', I say. Peeta starts to smile devilishly.
'I get hurt, you get hurt, it just happens. We can't prevent it, but we can help eachother with it', he says, mocking my voice. I try to look hurt, but I have to laugh. 'You're absolutely right', I say. He smiles, turns me around again and I rest my back onto his chest.
Then I think about Finnick. He's swimming after Gale right now, but I'm wondering when he's gonna ask Annie. I don't know if I'll even go. Too much drama for my taste. And I don't think that Peeta will be going too.

'Guys!' Finnick shouts suddenly. Please tell me he's not gonna say what I think he's gonna say...
'Let's play some TRUTH ODAIR!' he yells. I roll my eyes. Oh no... Annie runs upstairs to get a bottle.

We all make some sort of circle (Peeta and I are still in the water, and so is Gale, and the others just sit around us) and Annie places the bottle in the middle. Because it's her house, she gets to start. She spins the bottle and it lands on Johanna.
'Truth Odair?' she asks. Johanna rolls her eyes. 'Dare', she says. 'Odair!' corrects Finnick her. She chuckles. 'Odair then', she says. Annie thinks for a minute. 'Eh, eat as many marshmallows as you can', Annie says. Johanna smiles. 'We're taking on at the marshmallows again?' she says. Annie nods and gets the marshmallows.

Meanwhile, Peeta starts to kiss my shoulder. I smile at his touch. He continues to kiss me, all the way up to my neck. Just before he gets to my lips, Annie comes back. She looks at us.
'Can't you give it a minute?' she asks, smiling. We pull apart, but Peeta keeps his hands around me.

Johanna starts eating, and at some point, she almost throws up, and that's the point she stops eating.
'My turn', she says with a hoarse voice.

It goes on for a while, and like always, we end up in the most weird positions: Finnick is all covered up with lipstick, Annie doesn't have a shirt on, Gales chest is all red, Johanna has her fingers all covered in nailpolish, Peeta is covered up in flower and then me, I have little ponytails in my hair.

Finnick was dared to let Annie test all the lipsticks she had on him, and it was really cute to see how he was struggling not to do something. Annie was dared to take her shirt off, and if she didn't take it, she had to take her shirt of anyways, so she did. Gale was dared to let Johanna wax his chest. He screamed like a little girl.
Johanna was dared to let Finnick paint her fingernails, wich she hates, and he failed. He spilled it all over her fingers.
Peeta had to put his head in a bag of flower, because he's the bakers boy, and his whole face is white now.
And Annie had to make little ponytails in my hair and I know for sure that I look stupid. But I liked the game.

We all get to shower and sit in the livingroom again, all cleaned up.

*********
Soo, what did you think of this chapter? Was it bad? Please let me know!
Love, -xxx-