Y'all why was me 10 years ago so extra now I'm rewriting this.

Chapter 6

I quickly walk out of Mayor Undersee's office. If he caught me in there, I would be busted. I think to myself as I walk out. I came out just in time too, because the mayor turns the corner just as I'm walking down the hall.

"Hello, Mayor. I was only looking for Madge" I say smiling.

"Hello Katniss, you know where she is." He says another round of beeping occurs. He says and walks into his office. "Excuse me."

I knock on Madge's door.

"Come in!" I walk in, taking in the room.

"Look at you! Fresh from the Capitol!" She exclaims putting her hairbrush down and stepping away from the vanity.

"Yeah," I say, blushing.

"Your ring! Can I see it?" She asks, eyeing it shyly. I smile and hand it to her. She is wearing the white dress she wore to the reaping last year.

"It is such a pretty ring; you are so lucky." I am not lucky, Madge. Other than him and the Games you couldn't be more wrong about luck. I want to say it all, but I keep my mouth shut.

Everything goes by in a blurred form. Before I know it, I'm waking up with my head rested on Peeta's arm. I wake him up and give him a kiss, which always gets him up quickly. Before I know it he's kissing me back.

"Good morning," I say smiling.

"A good morning it is."

"You're wearing your ring," Peeta says smiling.

"It's going to take forever for the wedding," I say.

"I know I wish we could do something without the Capitol butting into it. Do you know how ridiculous that wedding will be at the hands of not only Effie but all her friends?"

"Tell me about it; I will just be lucky if I can even eat since it will be a white dress. Now we won't even have a traditional District 12 wedding." I say.

"Well let's do the toasting here and everything. We can go to the justice building and get married. Then have the ceremony in the Capitol later." Peeta says.

"Sure let's do it. We really can't tell anyone, not even Haymitch he'd be drunk, and something would slip. My mother would never let me hear the end of it. She's supposed to be giving me a lecture after I get up."

"I was kidding Katniss," Peeta says laughing.

"But I wasn't. Like Haymitch told us when we got back to 12 after the Games, we are on this train for life, so we might as well enjoy it. So if we are going to get married anyway, why not do it traditionally?" I hear myself say, but I am not sure I process the meaning.

"Alright," Peeta says smiling.

Peeta leaves soon after we agree on it. I can't believe in a couple of hours I'm going to be Mrs. Mellark. First, I have to face my mother who isn't happy with my engagement. She sure wouldn't be pleased if I told her what Peeta and I are plotting. I walk down the stairs.

"Hey Prim. I missed you." I say hugging her.

"Katniss when are you and Peeta going to come to my class?" She asks gently. Shit! I'll have to ask Peeta today.

"We'll try to tomorrow," I say if he says yes, I think to myself.

"Why not today?" She frowns, trying to guilt me the way she always has.

"We are both tired from traveling all day yesterday," I say, and it isn't a lie. Just not the whole truth.

"Oh sorry, I forgot the whole tour thing. Get some rest, bye Katniss." She walks out the door to school. Now I have to face my mother. Oh, joy.

"Katniss, sit down," she says walking into the kitchen. I sit down, and she walks into the living room and stands right in front of me.

"I can't believe you're engaged. Your seventeen! You barely know the boy! Katniss you are not ready to be married! You are still a child!" she says. I'm not a child. I grew up when you left. I think to myself.

"I know that I love him, and I'm not a child any more mom." My mother looks me up and down.

"Do what you want. You're are not a kid, you grew up when your father died, and I tuned out. Which is my fault, I'm sorry for it. I don't agree with you marrying now, and probably won't ever, but I won't interfere with it." She says looking strained. You can tell she doesn't want me to marry for years, but she has no reason to object.

"Why can't you be like when you were younger and didn't want to marry?" she asks.

"I didn't just decide to be in love; it was pretty inconvenient if you recall," I say as Mother shakes her head.

"You just loved him so much, huh? You are a teenager Katniss! I have to go to town. I'll be back later today. Have Peeta come over for dinner." With that, she walks off.

As soon as she walks out the door, I run to the study to call Peeta. "Hey, my mom just left."

"I'll be over in a minute." He lets himself in and walks over to where I sit on the couch.

"How hard was she on you?"

"She got mad, called me a child, and told me I barely know you and then basically told me to do whatever I want and then left."

"Katniss are you sure in two years you won't regret getting married at this age?" Peeta asks. I turn to face him.

"Peeta, I love you, and I'll never regret marrying you. I don't care if I'm sixteen or thirty. I'll love you just the same. If I love you the same at any age does it matter when we get married?" Peeta pulls me into his chest and wraps me in a hug.

"I know Katniss; I just don't want you to regret it." He says.

"I won't regret it. Will you?"

"I've liked you since I was five, trust me it won't be a regret," Peeta states firmly.

We get married. We went to the justice building, did toasting had some cake and kissed. By District 12 rituals and the law, we are married. I'm Mrs. Mellark. No more Ms. Everdeen.

"Peeta, my mother wanted you to eat dinner with us. One of Prim's teachers wanted us to talk about the Hunger Games in front of the class. Prim asked me to, and you know I can't refuse when she asks something." Peeta shakes his head.

"I'll talk about the games. I'm not going to like it, but your sister wants us to." Peeta says. He has been around so much Prim is as much of his sister as she is mine.

"Are you going to do it for your sister-in-law?" I ask laughing.

"Yes, I'm just as bad at caving in as you," he says laughing with me.

A little bit later, my mother walks in. She has bandages, but that's about it. As far as I can tell she just went around town, thinking of excuses for me not to get married. Too late. I think smugly.

"Hello Peeta, Katniss." She says, sitting the sacks on the counter.

"Hello, Mrs. Everdeen," Peeta says. I don't bother telling her hello.

"Peeta, I would like to get to know you." My mother says, sitting on the opposite end of the couch.

"I paint, bake, and have no useful skill. That's pretty much it." No useful skill?

"Peeta can lift a hundred pound sack of flour over his head. I've seen it. And he placed 2nd to wresting in our school's competition two years ago. Only his older brother beat him." I've mentioned these words before. We were in an unpleasant situation, and we are in one now too.

"Again Katniss?" Peeta asks. My mother raises her eyebrows.

"I said the same thing to Haymitch last year, before the Games, when Peeta said he didn't have a skill," I say.

"IWhy do you two even like each other, is it only because you had to in the Games?" My mother asks her blonde eyebrows pressed together. Peeta and I look at each other, and I beg with my eyes for Peeta to answer for me. He is much better at saying things than I.

"Mom no, its its not like that. It's not, I dont really know how to explain it but no that is not why."

"Okay good, I was worried that maybe you were just doing it because of the cameras. If that is what you truly want Katniss it makes no difference to me." She walks off to the oven. Prim comes home a little bit later.

"Peeta!" She runs over and hugs him.

"What about me?"

"I saw you this morning. I saw Peeta at the dinner last night, but I haven't really seen him in weeks!" She says.

"I'll let it slide this time." Prim and Peeta both laugh.

"You both are coming to my class tomorrow, right?" She asks eagerly.

"Yes, but some of the stuff we might not answer. The Games kind of left scars on us both, ok?" I try to explain. She nods her head.

"What time do we need to be there?" Peeta asks.

"Around twelve."

"At least we get to sleep in," I remark happily.

"Katniss why do you scream at night?" Prim asks. Suddenly I wonder how adult victors explain them to their children.

"You want to know?" I ask grimly, Prim nods.

"Peeta and I both get them. The Games, they make us both guilty. We didn't want to kill those people, so they haunt us in our nightmares because we are sorry for it."

"Really?" Prim asks, looking at Peeta.

"Sadly yes." He responds soothingly.

"I don't ever want them." She claims sounding panicked.

"I hope you never get them. Every Victor gets them. But I won't let you be in the Games." I tell her soothingly.

"Time to eat." Mother calls from behind the couch. She is staring at me with an alarming expression. Either she didn't know about the nightmares, or she's agitated I told Prim about them.

"Katniss how about you get Haymitch?" She asks.

"Yeah. Come on Peeta." I say grabbing his hand and yanking him off the couch. We walk to Haymitch's hand in hand.

"I can't believe you just told her that." He says.

"I know, but she hears me screaming at night she has a right to know," I say.

We walk into Haymitch's house and find him staring at the cabinets. Good bet he wants some alcohol.

"Do you want to have dinner with us?" I ask.

"Why do you have some big news to share?" I glare at him for the remark.

"We are just neighborly, some of us are" I tell him smiling at him. Haymitch stares at us trying to see if we are lying.

"I'll go, but it better be something good," Haymitch says, trying to reach his cabinet.

"No alcohol around Prim, Haymitch," I state plainly.

"Like you don't drink." He claims smugly.

"I don't drink!" Anymore, I add myself.

"Whatever sweetheart." He smirks, then walks across the street to my house.

No one talks at dinner. Just small talk on the coal market.

"Peeta would your family like to come by to eat dinner tomorrow?" Mother asks.

"I don't know I'll call them real quick," Peeta says leading me into the study where the phone is.

"I don't know what my mother will say," Peeta says looking worried, running his hands through his hair and fidgiting with the cord on the phone.

"Well, it is time they get to know each other," I state plainly. Peeta nods his head, calls his house and puts it in the setting where I can hear too.

"Hey, Dad can you and mom listen real quick?"

"Yes, she's right next to me Peeta." His father says.

"Katniss's mother wanted to know if the whole family wanted to come to dinner at her house tomorrow night," Peeta says.

"No! She's from the seam! I will not eat at her home." Mrs. Mellark says. Peeta looks at me and rolls his eyes.

"Witch." He smiles; I guess he does know about her name.

~K.D. Howell