Forever is Longer Than It Sounds- 03

I stretched my arms above my head an let out a loud yawn mixed with a moan. My muscles didn't seem to want to be awake. I accidentally hit Peeta in the face and he shot up in bed. I laughed as his eyes darted around the room before he realized there was no imminent danger and slumped back into bed.

"Morning," he grumbled.

"Good morning, sunshine!" I squealed. I was in an unusually good mood and I couldn't help but wonder why. I hadn't been happy, truly happy, in years. I hadn't been ecstatic... ever. This morning was just so wonderful.

I guess my mood didn't go unnoticed. "What's got you so cheerful today?" he asked, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me closer. I wiggled out of his arms. Right now I'd rather look at him than hold him. In response to his question, I shrugged. "Alright, then,"  he said.

We laid in bed for awhile, just looking at each other. We didn't talk, we didn't touch, we didn't need to. Some part of me wondered why we couldn't just lay there forever. Eventually though, a sickening growl came from my stomach.

Peeta chuckled. "Someone's hungry." He started to get out of bed. He had almost stood up when I grabbed his shirt and pulled him back onto the bed. I pulled him toward me, pressing my lips against his. He did anything put protest. Instead, he used the hand that wasn't supporting his weight and tangled it into my hair. I moved my hands into his sandy hair and knotted my fingers around it. We started to slowly sink back into the bed when my stomach growled again.

I pulled away. "Pwease feed me?" I giggled, looking up from behind my eyelashes. I batted my eyes and pouted out my lip. He laughed, kissed my cheek, and left for the kitchen. I shouted something after him about being down in a minute.

For the longest time I was splayed out across the bed, limbs spreading to every corner of the mattress. I couldn't think of a more perfect morning. My stomach growled again and I realized it was almost perfect. I just needed to get some food in me.

I let my mind drift to Peeta and I.  How we went from being complete strangers, to fake adversaries, to ally's, to awkward friends, to engaged, to becoming actual friends, to him hating me, to me hating him, to once again becoming friends, to falling in love.

My stomach flipped, not from hunger, but from the sheer idea that I loved him. And he loved me. It was all so new and exciting. I wondered if this feeling would fade as we grew old. Together. I hoped with all of my heart that it stayed as alive as it was now.

I let him float through my mind for awhile before I remembered something. It was so long ago. My father had told me about it, but when I asked about it in school they said "Such foolish things have died down." At that time, I figured it was foolish. But now that I felt the way I felt about Peeta, it didn't sound so stupid after all.

I jumped up and bounded down the stairs. Peeta was standing over a stove, cracking eggs into a pan.

"Hey Peeta," I shouted. He looked up, but didn't stop what he was doing.

"What?" he asked.

"Do you remember that day in school—"

"Katniss, you know that I don't."

I bit my lip. Oops. I forgot that he didn't have many memories of our childhood left. When the tracker jacker venom took over him, and finally was removed, it was like he was a piece of paper, once written over, now smudged with an eraser. There was still something there, but he couldn't quite make out what it was. "Sorry."

"It's okay," he said, walking to the side of the seat I was sitting on and kissing my cheek. "Now, what were you going to tell me?" He leaned his forehead against mine and looked into my eyes.

"I was just thinking upstairs about how when I was really young, my dad told me a story about this holiday but when I asked about it in school they said it had died out. My dad said it was never around in the history of Panem, but back when this was North America, it was popular."

"Mmhmm. And what was this holiday?"

"I can't remember the name, exactly," I admitted. "But it was a day to celebrate the person you loved the most. It was full of hearts and love and—"

"Valentine's Day. I do remember you asking about that in class."

I wrapped my arms around him, so proud of him for remembering. He was right, of course. He was always right. "So what do you say?" I asked.

"Say about what?"

"What do you say that we revive Valentine's Day. Just for you and me."

"I say sure. What day is it; we can make it annual. Just like it used to be."

I glanced over at a battered calendar on the floor. I walked over to it and picked it up. "February fourteenth," I read.

He crossed over to me. "Well that it then. February fourteenth is Katniss and Peeta's special Valentine's Day." He punctuated the sentence with a kiss. As we walked over to feed ourselves the eggs, I wondered in the back of my mind what day Valentine's Day used to fall on.