Any updates to Promise Me, Little Brother coming soon?? Excited to see what happens next, you left us on such a cliffhanger!
yes! it is! I have been agonizing over a few details in the new chapter. I'm still working on it because its going to be a crucial one. But yes I hope to have another update for PMLB soon! Thank you for your interest and asking about the story! As a writer it keeps me on my toes and helps me remember why I'm writing in the first place! :)
“We’re very similar, you and I.” He turns the leaf over in his palm one last time and then presses it into my hand. His fingertips are warm where the leaf is brittle.
We are, aren’t we? Me, a girl forced to marry by the rules and expectations of society and him, a boy whose freewill was stolen away before he could even walk. We’re both prisoners. Destined to fates we did not choose ourselves. Now I see what was so funny to him.
The two of us: we are absolutely tragic.
Katniss Everdeen and her younger sister Prim are the adopted daughters of Mr. Haymitch Abernathy, a wealthy man with no biological heirs. By the rules of Panem society, an older sibling must be married before the younger can wed. In a time when women have no means of making their own living, marriage is the only way for Katniss to save her sister from destitution and set her up for a happy marriage of her own. Katniss sets her sights on Mr. Gale Hawthorne, a wealthy man who just moved to Whitley and who seems to have his eye on her. But what of the poor baker’s boy who once took a beating to save her life?
Read here on Tumblr or on my AO3 account: izzacrosswriting
Author’s Note:
This is a story inspired by my love of Everlark and Jane Austen’s novels. I am in no way an expert on the Regency period and I include fashions/details that are not historically accurate.
The setting is an alternate England-like Panem.
The plot is my own (Gale is not Mr. Darcy people, don’t get it twisted) but does borrow aesthetics and ideas directly from Jane Austen and Suzanne Collins.
The cast of characters is a mix of canon Hunger Games and original characters I’ve created.
I plan on including links to music and ambiance videos I used while writing so feel free to explore those! I typically play nature sounds and music together on my laptop so sorry if you're reading on a phone!
Warning: I do plan on this series getting a lil smutty. There will be graphic depictions of violence, sex, and possibly death. I’m still working everything out:)
(If you want to listen to this on Spotify it's called 'The Secret Life of Daydreams' from the Pride and Prejudice soundtrack.)
Word Count: 1,727
Chapter One
I run my hands through the tall grasses at my waist. It’s the perfect morning. The crisp air doesn’t quite hold that harsh bite of winter that will soon sweep the countryside in blizzards and ice. Emerald leaves hint at the coming autumn with the slightest tint of yellow along their stems. The sun shines bright through branches and I watch the forest come alive with squirrels and chipmunks that scurry through the thick brush. The dirt path I followed to get here grazes the edge of the woods, but I’ve abandoned it to traipse through the wild-flower dotted hillsides instead.
From this high up, I can see everything. The village of Whitley lies to the west. I can just make out the rooftops of the squat brick buildings off the main square. By this time the merchants will have opened their shops for business. The rest of the countryside is peppered with grand estates and bountiful farmland. Rivers gleam like veins of silver and dirt roads are wreathed in the dust kicked up by horse-drawn carriages. I wish I could stay and sit here all day. I would drink in the sun and drown in the low hum of insects, though Haymitch has warned me of the nasty gossip that follows a lady with a tan and a set of freckles.
A lady. I almost snort. Apparently, that’s what I am. Or what I need to be if anyone is ever going to ask for my hand in marriage. The thought ruins the good mood my morning stroll had put me in. I throw myself down among the tall grasses and begin plucking mindlessly at their stems.
Haymitch Abernathy, the legal guardian of me and my sister, has never been one to force us into doing things we dislike. I’m allowed to ride my horse alone, hunt with a bow and arrow, and take off into the woods whenever I please, like some woodland nymph from one of my father’s old stories. If it wasn’t for Prim and my greenhouse back at home I would probably live out here. Until it got cold of course. I’m allowed more freedom than any other young girl in the county, I’m sure. But not even Haymitch can protect me from matrimony.
My sister is excited for me. I imagine she’s fantasized about her wedding since she knew what a wedding was. To her, marriage is a romantic fairytale. A strong, handsome man of large fortune will sweep her off her feet and give her an estate to run and small, cherub-faced children to care for. To me, marriage sounds like a death sentence. They say if I’m lucky, I’ll marry for love as well as for fortune, but I never want to love someone as much as my mother loved my father. Because when he died, in a way, so did she. The only person I know that I truly love is Prim.
Primrose Everdeen, my little sister, was never the outdoorsy type like me. She’s fair, with golden blonde hair that hangs in ringlets past her slight shoulders, and a face as fresh and as pure as a spring dewdrop. She spends her days drawing, flower arranging, and studying languages with my old tutor Mrs. Winthrop.
“She’ll be a highly accomplished woman by the time I’m done with her. Mark my words, this young girl is special,” Mrs. Winthrop had said to Haymitch mere days after first starting Prim’s lessons. She had been my tutor for years and had never said anything nearly as flattering about me. Sullen Katniss Everdeen must have been a lost cause in her eyes.
I’m four years older than Prim who’s a mere twelve. We share the same parents, though we look almost nothing alike. Where she received the fair skin, blonde curls, and gentle blue eyes of our mother, I received the olive-toned, straight black, and storm grey palette of our father.
I sit up suddenly, aware that I left home hours ago and it must be getting time for my lessons. I dread heading back to that stuffy room where I’m required to sit straight and learn to be “lady-like” under the scrutinizing gaze of Ms. Effie Trinket, my new tutor. Manners are of the utmost importance to her, seeing as she makes her living off of teaching them. She considers being late an unforgivable sin.
With this in mind, I take my time gathering wild-flowers. There are so many at my feet, their delicate white and yellow petals peeking up amongst the grasses. I deftly craft two flower chains. One for me, which I place on the crown of my head, and one for Prim clutched in my hands. I notice some dirt under my nails and smile, wondering what Effie will say when I arrive late and grimy.
She purses her lips and crosses her arms as I enter the room. “Where were you?” She demands in that high pitched voice of hers.
“Out,” I shrug. I hadn’t seen Prim on my way in so I’m still clutching her flower crown. I offer it to Effie instead. “Flowers?” She squints at my offering, probably checking for bugs, before gingerly taking it and placing it down on a side table.
“Katniss, I need you to take today’s lesson seriously.” Her clipped tone sets my teeth on edge.
“I always do-” I start, but Effie cuts me off.
“Don’t lie to me, Katniss. I know you don’t care for etiquette. I know that to you a spoon is just a spoon, even when that spoon is a soup spoon and should only be used for soup!”
Again with the soup spoon thing, it was one time. But she’s right. I find learning manners and etiquette a waste of time. I’ve only been out in society for a short while. I barely attend balls seeing as I’m sixteen and prefer to stay at home anyway. I look up and realize that Effie is still talking at me.
“Are you even listening? Mrs. Winthrop was right, you are hopeless.” She sighs and wipes non-existent dust off of her shimmery lilac skirts. “It is imperative that you start paying attention and make some kind of progress in these lessons. Mr. Gale Hawthorne has recently taken possession of Templeton and is traveling here, as we speak, to take up residence indefinitely. Do you know what this could mean for you?” Suddenly, her annoyance melts away and is replaced by a teary, almost hopeful expression. The way this woman’s emotions swing back and forth between happy and exasperated hurts my head. She comes to clasp my face between her palms. “Mr. Hawthorne earns ten thousand a year, Katniss. Ten thousand!”
I have in fact heard of the Hawthornes. Maybe those lessons have had more of an impact on me than I thought. I was forced to spend months poring over books filled with the names and family trees of wealthy, well-known families that I had either already been acquainted with or might be acquainted with in the future. A healthy knowledge of people, especially rich people, will get you far in life. At least that’s what Effie says.
Gale Hawthorne is the eldest son of the wealthy businessman Ezra Hawthorne. I forget exactly how Mr. Hawthorne first made his fortune but the word mine sticks around in my head. What his mine produced, I’m not sure. Precious gems? Gold? Coal? All I know is the Hawthornes are incredibly wealthy, and Gale being the eldest son inherited when his father died. He is in possession of everything from the family fortune to a legion of servants to the many extravagant houses in Town. Now it seems he’s grown tired with the city and has decided to try his hand at country living. Good, I think. A wealthy man who’s used to the high society of the Capitol won’t last long out here. He’ll be out of my hair before the month’s up. Effie must not realize this since she’s still staring happily into my face.
“And?” I ask.
“Well, he’ll fall in love with you and ask for your hand in marriage!” She beams as if this is obvious. “If you play your cards right of course. For instance, he won’t find you very agreeable if all you do is scowl at him like you do me-” I jerk out of her grasp.
Of course. Marriage. It’s one of the only things Effie has talked about the entire time I’ve been her pupil.
“Yes, Mr. Abernathy warned me that'd you'd be. . .avoidant. But don’t you see? That’s the reason I’m here. To teach you how to win a husband! It’s an art you know.” She sighs, probably seeing the panicked look on my face, and slips back into a tone of tired annoyance. “You’ll have to marry someone, Katniss. Might as well marry knowing you’ll spend the rest of your life in the lap of luxury.”
She’s right, of course. There’s no way for women to make their own living. I can’t go to university to study business or law, I can’t run my own shop, I can’t inherit Haymitch’s estate or fortune. When he dies the money goes to some estranged cousin on his father’s side. I am a woman, therefore, I am destined to either marry or die poor and unprotected. And Prim…
If I don’t marry, then Prim can’t marry. One of the rules of proper Panem society is that a younger sibling cannot marry unless the eldest has, meaning I must be happily settled before my younger sister can even entertain the idea of love. If I don’t get married and Haymitch goes and does something stupid like die, there will be nothing I can do. For either of us. We’d be turned out of the house and left to beg for scraps. And I will not let that happen to Prim. Not again.
I force myself to swallow past the lump in my throat and spend the rest of the afternoon paying careful attention to Effie. She’s trying to teach me to communicate with men via body language, long gazes, and the fluttering of lashes.
This is the only way to save Prim, and with each horrible flutter I produce and each disappointed sigh from Effie, I feel my chances slipping away.
So.... @mega-aulover and @katnissdoesnotfollowback this is for y'all. (Should be noticed... All mistakes a real mine so ye, there's that)
The game was almost over and Peeta was running on pure adrenaline he makes a pass to his teammate Gale who makes a smooth socore on the opposite side, is Canada vs Germany to the golden medal and this is Peeta Mellark’s final chance to get this Olympic medal, otherwise he’s done for the next four years, by nature he is not competitive … expect for two things: Hockey and the beautiful skater on his delegation, very same one who’s with her sister ,one of few people on the medical staff that’s came to the games with them, they are there on the crow both sister as different as sum and moon, the pretty blonde girl with his Canada attire that all members of the staff have to use the older girl in a simple jeans and a heavy coute and SHE is there on the crow cheering him on and smiling that smile is so hard to come by.
“Come on!!” he hears Finn, his right hand on every sense of the word yell.
and he goes for the puck and the time is almo up just only 1 minute left. He’s got this, He’s got this win for his country and for him he is just about to score when an unbearable pain shoots through his leg as a jockey stick meets his right knee effectively sending him forward on his face. he tries to get up to go after this other asshole but this leg won’t respond to him and yup he definitely heard a crack and he yells his frustration and his team is on him and the time has already run out. they end up in a tie. the german player who was smirking at him is disqualified for the rest of the match, they got five minutes leftñ. Doctors are coming at him with all kinds of questions. Sweet little Prim is there which calms him down since she is basically family at this point.
they say his knee is swollen and very likely is broken. but the pain is so excruciating that when the doctor makes a move for his leg to determine how great is the damage is he passes out for a little.
when he comes to he has a casquet on and he’s dressed in a very lavish hospital gown, he’s very spacy and a little bit shifty. he fell a light hand on his cheek he looks up and he swears he sees a freaking angel standing there
“ ¿How are you feeling? the nurse is coming right now ” The dark haired angel says
“ Where am i? ” Peeta asks
“ You had surgery on your leg, but it’s over now and we’ll go home on a few days “ his mind is clearing up and flashbacks of the game come to him
“ How bad is it? “ he asks Katniss
“ Is not so bad, but i’ll let the doctor explained it to both of us because i don't really know much about it” She says and he agrees later he finds out that they lost the match but the guy that busted his knee was prevented from participating in on coming years and that his team is waiting in the waiting room and have been for the last 48 hours,
“ And the match?” what happened?” Peeta asks , Katniss’s eyes never leave his eyes as she tell him“ We lost, but is not your fault the other guy did this, i was so mad that when he pass by us i punched him in the face!” she says
“ of course you did” he says with humorless laugh
“ hey, what’s that ?“ she says and she goes for the door and losses her shoes and get a chair right bit him “ is ok, we’ll i really don’t know” she admits “ they wouldn’t say but hey, is can’t be so bad if we haven’t heard anything, besides , what ever it is, we’ll be fine “
she promises which makes him feel a little bit better, pain is settling with in him and he reaches “ what, what is it” Katniss asks
“ Hurts like a bitch “ he says and she gets up to get the doctors, while she’s gone he takes those few minutes to throw himself a pity party because he’ determent no to let himself go again, if the doctor says that he’ll be able to to get back to playing hockey, that’s a plus. first thought he has to be able to walk but that’s ok he can get therapy, he’ll be ok . they’ll be ok
hey guys!!!! im so exited to finally be able to post this on the tumblr, it was an honor to be a part of this proyect by the lovely @titaniasfics , this would not be the story that it is with out my lovely friend and sista @everlarkingjoshifer who made sure i didnt have any typos and the story made sense so thanks!! and also she made the banner!!! so i hope you like and yeah… im out!
Sept 6th JFK international airport
The day was finally here. After a month apart from his love, he was coming home and he was ready for it. Before his company asked him to go to New York to do this presentation that Peeta hadn’t thought would take so long, he asked her dad for permission to marry her before he left. Had she known he did she would’ve teased at him for sure but he was ready with his Grandma Sae’s rings on his person and a beautiful would be bride by his side. He was ready. He just hoped she would accept his proposal.
She was a music teacher always turning his life into the most beautiful ballad he had ever heard but seeing as she was not good at saying something( as she put it) she holed those moments for herself only coming out in a blur. It only made it more special. He was the only one privy to such rare occasions allowing him to love her no matter what. Such love was always present and strong.
He smiled to himself thinking how in just a few hours he’ll be back in his bed, eating his food back home in his beautiful Canóvanas with his family and friends.
“Attendants of flight A- 309 destination Puerto Rico; we’ve been informed that due to bad weather we are going to be delayed for two hours and we’re hoping we’ll be able to board at 8 pm, this is Stacy from Flickerman Airlines. Thank you for your patience. ”
He groaned with frustration running a hand through his hair. “This happens all the freaking time!” Peeta thought as he got up from his seat and went to the cafeteria settling for McDonald’s. After ordering his food and finding a seat he gets out the book he’d been reading. Suddenly, he gets a call to the counter. Once back on his table with food in hand he took his phone out and proceeded to check his social media. Instagram first; he gives like and laughs at a selfie of his little almost sister in-law Prim. She’s making a funny face and rolling her eyes at the camera. He grins making a quick comment. Then he goes to his Twitter with nothing catching his attention for long. President’s snow latest tweet make him roll his eyes a little. However, when he goes on Facebook he notices that there’s a lot of notifications and so he quickly gets to it.
“ A hurricane? ” He asks himself out loud but while he reads more information. The more more details there are the more uneasy he becomes. It looks like it’s gonna be a big one this time. Not thinking about it, he dials the number he knows by heart and it rings once before she picks up
“ Hello? ” Katniss, his girlfriend of almost three years asks
“ Hey it’s me listen, is everything okay there? I’m looking at the news on Facebook. ” He questions but her light humorous chuckle puts him at ease for a little while thinking he’s being paranoid.
“ Yes silly, everything’s fine. We’re fine. Just a little bit of rain but we’re okay.” She says but he has an odd unsettling feeling about this takes over him.
“ Segura? you sure you’re okay and that everyone is fine? ” He insists because it doesn’t sit well with him having a hurricane alert reaching him. Not after Florida.
“ Yeah, estoy segura, we’re all okay mamá y papá are perfect. Your brothers too Grandma Sae and Prim and everyone is fine… but wait porque estas llamándome right now, shouldn’t you be on the plain home? ” Katniss asks. He sighs exhaustingly.
“ I was supposed to be but the fucking flight got delayed a couple of hours so I’m stuck here for like-,” he looks at his watch “at least for forty minutes plus the four hours in flight.” Peeta sighs longingly.
“ Oh ok, well please be safe and call if anything happens, si? ” Katniss asks him worry clearly written all over her voice. Peeta smirked to himself. His mother, may her be damned telling him Katniss was a heartless bitch when they first began to date.
“ Sure, you too, looks like it’s gonna be a while before we leave so let me know if something happens, okay?” He says to her and she agrees to it. After saying I love you one last time they hang up. He finishes his food and decides not to go to on his cell phone anymore, figuring that he’ll be home in a few short hours anyway. Making his way to his flight’s gate he notices that he’s still a little early so he wanders off to the gift shop nearby. He thinks about getting something for Katniss seeing as Prim requested a Hamilton shirt after learning he was coming to New York and his brothers some Jerseys but Katniss proclaimed she didn’t need anything. He felt guilty getting something for everyone but her. Not to mention he saw so many things she would’ve loved; but that damn pride of hers. Nevertheless this was his last chance to do it.
“ ´I heart New York´ shirt nah… O look at this guy! ” He laughs and then cringes for talking to himself in public. The orange stuffed toy in his hands was more that enough to let it go. It was a running joke between them. The lifelong battle that was Katniss versus Buttercup, the street cat that Prim picked up and hid from her sister for a week. That was until Katniss stepped on the cat’s tail and so the feud began. It went from treats to letting the thing lose. Sometimes buttercup would hiss and other times it would look to Katniss for a rare and unusual cuddle.
Peeta picked up the toy and went up to up to the register to pay when he sees the big electronic board that tells the arrivals and departures noticing a few of them read ‘canceled’. He hoped his was not one of those flights.
“ That’ll be twenty four ninety nine, please. ” The cashier, a rough looking girl with spiky hair says in a monotone. He hands over his credit card to pay for the stuffed cat stepping up to the board to take a closer look at it, just make sure he saw his flight on it
“ Come on A-309, come on! ” Peeta thinks out loud and when Puerto Rico shows up he gets excited but just a quickly he gets angry and worried when, in big bold,mocking, red letters it reads ‘Cancelled’. He stomps to the counter in his gate with rage
“ Miss? Hi, yeah what’s going on? Flight A-309 was supposed to leave in about 10 minutes but now it says cancelled, why? ” He asks the flight attendant.
“ I’m sorry sir but we got word of really bad weather in Puerto Rico and our pilots thought we’re better off staying. We’re hoping by tomorrow afternoon we’ll be able to leave.” By now the only thing he hears is “bad weather” and “tomorrow afternoon” so he mutters out a ´thank you´ and he walks to a seat pulling out his phone again. After a quick search he finds a headline that terrifies him to death
“Hurricane Irma hits the Caribbean and Puerto Rico and approaches Florida as one of the most powerful in history. ”
One, two, three, even ten times he read the title of the article while he dialed the phone but nothing. maybe he’ll wait, he could just call later before deciding once to get a hotel room for the night.
Next he’s got to called Katniss another ten times and still no answer. He called the airport to check up on his flight receiving radio silence aside from the automated answering machine.
Day three, he put up a post on Facebook announcing his situation while asking his family if they were okay. Only one of his cousins, Finn, replies. “ It’s bad. Out of power and water and it’s getting worse. ”
Day four, the more he read the more numb with worry he was, he sat up awake with all kinds of grim ideas running through his head and no matter how many times he called the plane company he never got the answers he needed.
Day five, Peeta gets calls from his bosses asking about his well being. He explains that he’s alright and saying a quick thanks anyway lest they figure out how perturbed he is not at all having no information about his family is killing him.
Day six, numbers are circulating online, is a lot of people lost to this. He tries to reach his family or Katniss and still nothing. By now he’s becoming desperate for any news.
Day seven, He writes another post on facebook. No one answers.
By day eight he call for the last time. At this point he thinks nothing will have changed. He expects not to be answered, he thinks no news might as well be good news. Then again, there’s still no power in the little Island. Not according to any news records at least.
Day nine, He pours his into time reading article after article and none of it is good. He feels guilty because he should be there with them. With her but such was the situation that he felt so helpless.
Day ten, he gets a message from Prim. “ We’re okay and we miss you a lot. Please be careful, K is fine here with me.” Peeta tries to call right then and there trying to hold back the tears he feels coming in. He’d never been so worried in his life but now that he knows Katniss is alright he feels a huge anvil of concern lifting. She’s fine; and so is everyone else.
Day eleven, he calls the airport for the millionth time. The flight attendant informs that there’s a plane a few days from now but it’s very risky to fly at the moment. Peeta accepts the consequences and confirms his information before the receptionist even has time to finish her warning. He’s elated to finally catch a plane.
Day fifteen,elated he arrives at the airport over an hour early to checks his luggage in he dials the phone several times before boarding.
Once in the air his heart is pounding for almost four hours he doesn’t eat anything
or sleep. The plane is about to arrive home as he hears all kinds of stories in between whispers making him more uneasy than before but he’s almost home.
Two hours later he’s home. The house’s a wreck is total lost floors cracked and wet and a missing wall, He’s a wreck and a bit lost but it’s ok because finally he’s home and everything will be fine so long as he asks for forgiveness. Maybe she’ll understand and agree to marry him. Her saying yes would be the best case scenario thereby making him the happiest man.
A small hand touches his shoulders pulling him out of his trance. A gentle, broken voice calls from behind him ….. “ Amor, is that you? ”
A.N: hey!! well , this all came about largely because of me having no idea how my family was doing after the mexico earthquake, it was a nightmare, to put it mildly, i was blessed enough not having to actually go through it myself but being away from your loved ones and feeling that kind of anguish takes a toll on you, not the same one as if you had’ve been there but it does mess with you. so yeah this is the story behind this one.
i hope you like and that you can tell me what you think about it! kay?
thanks again from reading!
jobanana
gloariy
segura? : are you sure?
estoy segura: i’m sure
por que estas llamandome? :why are you calling me?
to Rachel ( @mega-aulover ) and just a side note .... banners are fucking hard to make to mad respect to yall who makes then!! hope yall like and yea, talk to me if you like. (also i know that thats zac efron in the pic but interracial couples pics are hella hard to find!!! lol)
(3 years earlier april) LAX airport
“So are you excited to meet my abuela?” i ask my boyfriend Peeta as we’re waiting for the flightatendet to cheek us in and let up pass to board the plain
“ Yeah! el novio conoce a los suegros” he smirks at me and i can’t even deal with him right now, we just moved into our new apartment and when i asked him for something and when he replied he was just going at it with his spanish it made me fall even harder for him, no to mention the accent because damn he’s cute , i smile up at him and steal a quick kiss before turning to give my sister her pass
“Prim” i say taping her shoulder, she has her headphones on “Prim” i try again a little bit louder “ROSA!” i nearly yell in her ear. she puts a hand on her chest and makes a exaggerated face at like she's having a heart attack and takes off those things, i roll my eyes “oh my goodness! what is wrong with you!” she demands glaring at me “quítate los chingados audífonos pues!“ I say to her and she returns the eye roll passin me as we board the plain and turn back to my güero giving him our luggage and mumble that i need to stop rolling my eyes so much and his laugh tells me that i really need to, 5 hours and a nap later we’re pulling into my abuela’s house.
A couple days later we’re sitting on the couch after dinner having a nice conversation, i was just so scared that my grandma was going to meet him, these are like my two worlds colliding and meeting each other i don't want them to clash in any capacity but my grandma did just what i thought she was gonna do, she opened her arms up to him and welcomed him into her home. here in the dinner that i grew up with the same old big wooden table and the concrete walls that make the house i knew before is definitely different seeing him here so out of his comfort zone, I’ll never be able to know exactly what he’s thinking but i hope he’s just as happy as i am and i can’t help but to notice that for lack of a better word how well he fits in here. is so cool to see him interact with my nieces and nephews and my aunts and uncles, we are by no means a small family, even in the states there’s 10 of us there and 50 here so we’re a lot but the way he just blended himself in is amazing. Peeta is holding my baby niece while i help clean up the table and my cousin is fixing a plate for herself. i smile but an uncomfortable feeling sets in my stomach because even though we’re young right now, we’re only 24, and neither of us has come out and said those words those “ i wanna move in with you and spend the rest of my life” talk that is way to intense for me right now but at the same time to me this is it, he’s it and i know how he feels about children and that he’ll eventually want them i know that but i just don't want any of it. i love my sister and i love the interactions i have with the children that come to the park i work at but i just know i not cut out to be a mother...i can't even keep a freaking cactus alive for fuck’s sake!! how am i supposed to be able to handle a baby… i can't! so i won’t. but that's a discussion for another day but for now i’ll see him with my niece and how he rocks her gently and why is that look so attractive on him? and i’ll enjoy how my two hearts meet and try not to think about the future.
I make my up to him and cadle my nieces cheek while putting mine on his shoulder
“So how are you holding up big guy?” i ask him and he laughs
“im good, they are something else for sure” he says i frown i know we can be a lot
“ i hope they’re not overwhelming you” and he shakes his head no
“ Hablas en serio?, you’ve been to my mom’s house, i didn’t know families actually talked to each other over dinner is amazing plus grandma was just telling me all the trouble you caused as a child” the teases and i laugh of course she did
“the fly paper story?” i ask cause my abuela's weapon of choice growing up was this thing called matamoscas and she may or may not have broken a couple on my head as well and by may i mean … she did! in my defence I’ve always loved to play outside with the ball and the dog and sometimes I missed. by the time I was nine I knew better and i just hide them behind the fridge.
By the time people are leaving and the pile of dishes reach the ceiling i decide that since Peeta and my abuela made dinner is only fair i do the dishes so i put on some music and enlist Prim to help and we began. the music is playing andi can’t help but to think how much i miss this, is not very often that we get to come back home and my parents aren’t even here but i miss this so i let the music take over me. as Gloria Estefan laments how much she misses her land. i know the feeling
Y se le escucha penar
la tierra te duele
la tierra te da
en medio del alma
cuando tu no estas
la tierra te empuja de raíz y cal
We continue to dance and goff around for a bit when the motonan of dishes are done i turn around and find Peeta looking at me with eyes so intense i catch my breath and when he takes my hand pulls me to him and we sway for a bit the giggle that scapes me is embarrassing but i let it be.
Someone clears their throat and my abuela is looking at us with this look
“Para cuando la boda?” she says
“Abuelita!” i say in bewilderment and she laughs a little at me but lets is go for the time being, my god that woman is fast i feel Peeta chuckling behind me
“What are you laughing at?” I elbow him but i join non the less as we make our way to the back yard
yeah i was this trip is gonna be interesting
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The next day we get up early and go on a hike to the mountain my papa used to take us a kids and make a picnic of it
“i can why you like is so much here” Peeta says as he takes a bite of the sandwiches we made this morning
“ I mean is just a mountain but we used to play here all the time and dad would hunt and he’d get like rabbits and stuff but I love it” i say to him and I get comfortable with head on his lap
and i munch on an apple
“ Thank you for showing me here, is beautiful” i smile, his hands come to play with my heart
and is so relaxing with the sun and him and i don’t wanna let go
“Are you ding a crown on my hair?” i chuckle because he’s definitely doing that right now
“ No. be quiet “ he says and continues to mess with my hair, i find myself drifting off
and i dream.
I dream about a life with this man and what it could mean … peace and stability and love.
I dream about me being brave enough to put my shit to rest and just say yes …he’s asked before and I’ve said a lameass “ I’ll think about it “ but I now know he’s here to stay and I’m here to stay so … I’ll do it
I dream about this light in my life that came to me when I was working and his only niece got lost on the park, never have I ever felt a connection so powerful as i did that day, we became fast friends which was rare for me, I’m more in the antisocial side and he just isn’t he can charm everyone. and I just felt into his spell and i'm so glad I did
a soft hand wakes me up from my nap and i see the sunset when i open my eyes
He’s favorite color, i smile
“ I will” I whisper to him
“ What?” he asks
“ Let’s do it … let’s get married” I rush out the word before i lose my nerve
“ Ok .. yeah! let’s get married “ He says and he turn me around in his arms and hi lips are on mine in a kiss so intimate that bring happy tears to my eyes. and we kiss some more before letting go and we go back to the house, I won't do anything tonight since we’re at my grandma’s but good thing is a week long trip only