The Epilogue - Katniss and Peeta

First time.

*Katniss's POV*

Effie has returned back to The Capitol. She had an emergency in her fashion line. I think Haymitch liked having company, so I'll try to visit him more often now. Me and Peeta are really good right now. For the first time, I practically said I loved him. Well atleast that's how I thought it. I guess I didn't really say it, but neither did he.
I don't like overthinking like this. I'm laying in bed and out of all the things that went right, I'm thinking of the ones that could go wrong.
Peeta is fiddling with my hair and we are just laying here. I sit up and look at him.

"Can we go to the meadow today? Please?" I whine. He laughs.
"Of course." He says smiling. "It might be a little cold though, but there's no snow." He says looking out the window. I nod and I get up to get dressed. I grab some jeans and a long sleeved shirt. It is almost like a sweatshirt, just with no hood. It's pale yellow, I really like it.
"You look amazing." Peeta whispers as he grabs my waist from behind me. I laugh and turn around. I kiss him on the lips and smile.
"Thanks." I say. "The color reminds me of Prim." He looks at me trying to read my eyes to see if it's a good thing or bad thing.
"Peeta," I say laughing. "It's a good thing." It looks like he's relieved. He smiles it off and we walk downstairs. He goes into the kitchen and packs a picnic while I grab our coats. I slip on my boots that have fur in them, and I grab a scarf. While wrapping the scarf around my neck, I notice the bruises have lightened up a lot. Good. I walk downstairs and yell to Peeta.

"Ready?"
"Yeah." He yells back. He comes out of kitchen holding a basket.
"How cute." I say looking at the basket. He smiles and grabs my hand as we walk out the door. We walk down the steps and towards the meadow.
"How much do you want to bet we'll be surrounded by cameras?" Peeta asks.
"Hmm..." I think. "I don't have to bet, I know." I say smiling. We both laugh continue or walk. It's only about 8 am, so maybe the "paparazzi" isn't out yet. As we approach the town, I get a bit nervous anticipating the cameras.
As we quickly walk past the hob, I turn around to see the cameras at the entrance of the hob, but nobody follows us.

"Maybe they listened to you." I say still looking back.
"I hope so." He says. We finally reach the meadow and we lay down on the ground. As I open the basket, I find cheese buns, scones, eggs, waffles, pancakes, and hot chocolate.

"How did you make all of this?" I ask.
"Oh, I guess we'll never know." He smirks.
"Thank you." I say smiling. We eat our breakfast and once we finish I lay on his chest. Peeta makes flower crowns while I'm laying there. I didn't know he remembered that.
"Look," I say pointing to a cloud, "It looks like my bow." I say astounded.
"You're right." He says. I stare at the cloud.

"Peeta," I say staring at the sky, "I love you." I sit up and smile at him. He smiles back.
"I love you too." He says. That was the first time I said it, but wasn't the first time I've felt it.
I lay back down and we lay there for a while. Once it's time to go home, its around 3 pm. Time can fly when you're with someone you care about.

_

As we walk through the meadow and into town, I feel like nothing could ruin this moment, if that makes any sense. Even the cameras can't, so when they show up, I don't care.

"Are the star-crossed lovers in a better mood today?" One reporter asks in a snotty voice.
"Do you have enough space this time?" Another asks while smirking. I grab Peeta's hand and I see the cameras pan down towards it.
"Oh I see, your back to liking lover boy?" The first reporter says again.
"No comment, please and thank you." Peeta says while guiding me through the cameras. I feel like I'm stuck. Like my legs are moving but I'm not moving them. It feels like all of the camera crew is breathing down my back. I feel lost and panicked when I feel a tug on my arm.
"You have to walk, Katniss." He whispers in my ear.
"I can't." I whisper back. So when he hears that he just scoops me up and carries me home. I bury my face and wait until I hear the front door close to lift my head. Peeta lays me down on the couch and I start to talk but he walks away. I'm confused at first but then I see him walk to the door and latch the lock. He comes and sits back down next to me.

"I'm sorry, Peeta. My legs just wouldn't move-" But he cuts me off.
"It's alright, Katniss. And I'm sorry for pulling you along, I just wanted to be out of there." He says looking into my eyes.
"But you had to carry me all the way home when I wasn't even sick or anything." I say looking at the ground.
"Katniss..." He says pulling me in for a hug. "It's okay. I swear."
"How do you put up with me?" I mutter.
"Oh I guess I'm magic." He says smiling. Peeta turns the tv on and as soon as it turns 4 pm they already are broadcasting our sightings.
"That was really fast." I say.
"The star crossed lovers have been spotted coming from a meadow." Caesar says. "Katniss had to be carried away by Peeta!" Caesar chuckles.
I sink down into the couch embarrassed and I hear Peeta laugh.

"Its fine. Nobody even watches this stuff anyways-" Peeta is cut off by the phone. He gets up and grabs it. "Hello?" He asks. I can hear Effie yelling through the phone.
"You cannot say those things to reporters! Are you kidding me, Peeta? You could of been a little nicer!" She yells.
"Effie," Peeta says in a calm voice, "It doesn't matter nobody watches it anyways."
"Oh you don't think so? The whole Capitol watches it day and night! All they talk about is your sightings. You have to be kind. You can't just say stuff like that or people will start hating you!" She sighs dramatically and I refrain from laughing.
"Effie, they follow us around everywhere what do you expect?" He says with a tone.
"And you think they don't follow me? You think your the only one they follow?" Effie asks.
"No, Effie I didn't mean it like that-" He starts.
"Have a good afternoon, Peeta." And she hangs up.

"Someone's had a rough day." I chuckle.
"I don't know, Katniss. Maybe we were too mean." He says.
"They're the ones that follow us if you couldn't remember." I sigh.
"Trust me, I know." He sighs. "But maybe if we're nicer towards them they'll leave us alone." I turn towards the tv and shut it off. I'm ticked off that he thinks I'll apologize to the people following me around.
"Are you hungry? I can make you something to eat." Peeta says quietly.
"No, I'm fine. I lost my appetite." I say. "Are you sure the door is locked?"
"Yeah, I double checked." He reassures me and I look away. I hear him sigh. "You don't have to be nice I just thought that if we treated them better they might respect us more."
"Maybe." I mutter. I look over and tell he feels bad. I scoot across the couch next him.

"Peeta?" I ask. "Where do you see us in the future?" I can tell the question takes him by surprise by his face.
"I don't know. All I know is I see you." He caresses my back while talking.
"No kids?" I ask.
"Maybe someday." He says. "I want my own, but I know you don't. And I can live with that." Hmph. Why does he always have to be so lovable? Sometimes I don't know what I did to deserve him.
"Peeta, I'm sorry I can't give you what you want." I say.
"No, Katniss. It's okay—there's nothing to feel bad about." He says. I feel a tear roll down my cheek and it feels like everything just shuts down. I sniff and I feel Peeta's arm rubbing my shoulder.
"You're okay." He whispers.

He shouldn't have to give stuff up for me.