Part 5 - The Wedding

Prim raced up the small front steps of her tiny Seam home, carrying a covered basket that swung dangerously from her arm. Her step was light and dainty but she strode with purpose to the door, rapping loudly until it swung open, a breathless Katniss appearing at the doorway.

"Aren't you dressed yet?" she exclaimed, glancing at Madge and Mrs. Everdeen seated at the kitchen table, the contents of a makeup bag spread before them.

"I wanted your help, little duck," Katniss said with a shaky voice. She didn't want the braid her mother had labored over to come undone, but she also couldn't imagine dressing for a day like this without her sister at her side. "Madge just finished my makeup."

"It's simple but it makes you look - different, even a little more sophisticated," Prim said approvingly, studying the details of Madge's work.

"I didn't want to go overboard on the shimmering powder but she looks like a fairy, doesn't she?" Madge said with pride. The compliment made Katniss more fidgety, for she wasn't used to all of this attention and she'd just as soon have it all over.

"No one could ever mistaken Katniss for a fairy - she's too grouchy!" Prim chortled, her laugh falling from her lips like hiccups, causing Madge to join her and Katniss to scowl at them both.

"Well, are you going to help me dress or not?" she said impatiently, though her irritation was only a cover for her nervousness. How could anyone get angry, especially with their sister, on their wedding day?

XXXXX

One Week Earlier

"I can't believe we just did that," Katniss said, coming up for air from under the covers. "I wonder if this is illegal? It feels like it should be illegal."

"And who's going to file the complaint?" Peeta asked, uncovering himself also, cooling his overheated body. "You'd have to confess first, and give all the details…"

"No," Katniss purred. "I think I prefer to be an outlaw." She stretched her limbs languidly, arching to get a small crick out of her back. She found it hard to concentrate on anything except for the languid feeling of satisfaction that permeated every pore of her body. "Brain's not working right…"

"Good," Peeta kissed her again. "You don't need it for what I want to do to you." He hadn't stopped since they'd snuck away that morning. Katniss found it difficult to protest. She was full of anxiety but he was happier than she'd ever seen him. "How can you be so giddy?" Katniss exclaimed, caught between an urge to shout with joy or wail in fright.

"Because," he hovered over her and kissed her again, his lips trailing down her neck, across her collarbone, resting in the valley between her breasts. "Soon, I'm going to be legally married to you."

"Not if your mother flips out and sets us both on fire, after she tosses us out onto the street and tramples on us! Have you told her yet?"

Peeta's face became serious as he sat up. "No...I haven't found the right time…"

Katniss scowled at him. "You have to tell her! I don't think Madge can take it anymore. She said yesterday she had to hide in her closet to avoid your mother. That's no life."

"I'll tell her today, I promise," he said, nipping at her breasts, sucking on them until her belly was as warm as melted chocolate.

"Well, you get no more of this..." she said, pushing his mouth away from her, "unless you take care of that."

Peeta's eyes became wide with shock before his face relaxed into a smug smile. "You're seriously giving me an ultimatum?" he crawled over her, making it impossible for her to budge him. "I told you. I'll take care of it," he said, continuing his travels over her belly, nipping at her hip bones. "You have beautiful hips," he said reverently. Katniss knew he was doing that to distract her, to keep her from asking any more questions, and predictably, it was working.

"I'm...I'm serious, Peeta!" Katniss gasped, trying to wriggle out from under him without success, and losing her conviction with each moment until his mouth found it's place and latched onto her.

"So...so... many things...can...go wrong," Katniss said, finding speech more difficult with each pass of his lips and tongue. "I...I'll go with you. You don't have...to do it...alone…"

He looked up from his magic and said her name like a prayer. "Katniss…"

"What…?"

"Shhhhh…"

XXXXX

Near late afternoon, Katniss and Peeta stumbled from the forest, giving each other one last kiss before parting ways, he to the center of District 12 and she to her small home in the Seam. Crossing the fence that separated the town from the forest was, to her, like emerging from a bubble where everything was soft and warm into a world that was covered in hard edges and fraught with danger. This farce that all four of them had been living would come to an end, one way or another. The idea of it brought only relief to Katniss. But if Mrs. Mellark's character was any indication, the resolution they all so desperately sought would not come peacefully.

Entering her house, Katniss expected to find her sister and mother in their respective rooms, or out, tending to the sick or wounded. She did not expect to find Gale in her kitchen, fingers drumming the table with impatience.

"Hey!" she said, hanging her jacket up on a hook behind the door.

"Hey, Catnip," he said, rubbing his face with his hands. He drummed his fingers against the table again as she took a seat next to him. She'd known him a long time - his silences were no longer odd or exclusionary to her - they were a part of who he was. However, she couldn't help but feel that there was something behind his facade of calm, something that made her suddenly very uneasy.

"You...you want some tea?" she asked.

"No," he answered. "I had some tea over at Madge's."

"Oh," she said, eyeing him carefully. When he still did not speak, Katniss lost her famously limited patience. "Okay, so what gives?"

"Let's take a walk," Gale said, standing abruptly. "We have to have a little talk."

Katniss rose from her seat in response to him. "Okay," she said, taking the coat off of the peg and putting it back on. She followed him out of her house and fell to walking next to him down the dusty road of the Seam.

"You've got me worried. What gives?" she asked, praying he would just tell her what was going on.

"Look before I say anything, I just want to apologize, okay? I didn't expect any of this to happen."

"Any of what to happen?" Katniss asked, a rising panic gripping her by the throat, threatening to suffocate her.

"I...dammit, how do people talk about stuff like this?" Gale spat almost angrily. "I have this thing...for Madge…"

Katniss felt her face brighten in surprise. It was clear that there was an affinity between the two of them. "She's not like your other suck-face buddies, is she?"

Gale chuckled. "Not at all. So you can see why we can't go on with his whole charade. Especially now that you and Peeta had a toasting."

Katniss nodded, a feeling as if she'd lost a great weight overtaking her, filling her with peace. "No, you're right. Peeta and I were discussing it just today. We've decided to tell his mother and let the chips fall where they may."

Gale released a breath and Katniss realized he'd been holding himself in tension during their entire conversation. "That's good. Because, see...Mayor Undersee, Madge's dad, he knows."

"What?!" Katniss froze on the road and it was only then that she realized he was leading her to the center. "How the hell does he know about...all this?"

"Well, Madge and I, we might have been...ahem...kissing...in her kitchen…"

For the second time in one night, Katniss felt her eyes go wide as saucers. "You were making out with Madge? In her house?" Without warning, she burst into peals of laughter. "I mean I knew you liked her but her dad walked in on you both…? That had to be the most...how did you survive it?" she gasped before her face became suddenly serious. "Poor Madge! She must have been completely mortified."

"You're not hearing me, Katniss. He walked in on Madge and me. We had to fess up."

"I...oh…" Katniss's face fell as understanding dawned on her. "Oh…" That was it. She'd been fussing at Peeta about revealing the truth but the truth had find its way to the surface without them.

The image of her father came unbidden to mind and all Katniss could think about was what it would feel like if her father had walked in on her and caught her kissing a boy who was not her fiance. It was as if her brain, by focusing on this detail, insulated her from that other, more serious fact, the one that would impact the rest of her life.

"What did he say? How is Madge? Are you okay?" The questions fell out of her before she could catch them and make sense of them all. "Is he going to go tell the witch about all this?"

Gale shook his head. "That's where we're going now. He wants all of us together to figure out how YOU and PEETA are going to tell his mother. He won't marry anyone until that happens."

Katniss chewed the side of her cheek thoughtfully. "I don't know if I can handle Mrs. Mellark right now."

"Well, I don't think we have a choice. And he's not the kind to go along with our little scheme," he answered.

She swallowed a sudden wave of nausea at the thought that she'd have to confront Peeta's mother at that very moment. "So Peeta's been summoned,too?"

"Yep," Gale answered, lapsing into silence finally as their feet hit the cobblestone of the square, the Merchant quarter still filled with people milling about, completing last minute errands before everything shut down for the night. Katniss was both terrified and strangely elated, as if the chains that had held her down were being unlocked. Gale, meanwhile, swung his arm around Katniss's shoulders and let it hang there. Katniss looked up at him with a quizzical expression.

"Oh, come on, Catnip. One more time, with feeling. For old time's sake."

Katniss scowled but leaned into him, a gentle squeeze of her shoulder his brief response. They walked companionably across the square to the corner, the sight of them together no longer a novelty and of little interest to the people rushing about their business. They continued until they reached the last block where Madge Undersee's house stood in wait all it's simple and elegant glory.

XXXXX

Katniss had managed to gather a bit of courage on her walk through the square but that little bit of bravado quickly fell away when she found herself before the large, wooden door of Mayor Undersee's home. Everything was fine in principal but when things came down to it, she could feel her nerves quickly bunch up on in her stomach. They'd lived so long in this state of affairs that the imminent change in situation, regardless of the outcome, made her feel weak with outright dread. Katniss grasped the edge of her father's jacket and rubbed the soft, dark spot between her thumb and forefinger, channeling all of her senses there as they waited to be allowed to enter the home.

Not surprisingly, it was Madge who answered the door. "Katniss…"

"It's okay. Gale told me everything. Don't worry," Katniss said with as much kindness as she could to her friend. "I'm so sorry! Is he upset?"

"I think he was so relieved, he forgot to actually be angry," Madge said, catching Gale's eye and blushing wildly. "It's not like he wanted to be related to Mrs. Mellark."

"Well, let's go inside before he remembers that he should be angry with us," Gale said.

Katniss scowled but said nothing more, following Madge towards the main sitting room where Madge's piano sat proudly in the corner. Peeta turned towards them from where he stood at the window, a cup of steaming tea in hand. Madge offered a cup each to Katniss and Gale but both declined, Katniss' stomach in particular unable to accept any food or drink. They crowded around where Peeta stood, sipping his tea.

"Is everything okay?" she asked.

Peeta gave her his sweet smile, the one that always seemed to make everything better. "I'm not sure. He wasn't here when I arrived. I came over as soon as Madge called," he set his tea down on the nearest surface.

"Where is he?" Gale asked, and Katniss did not miss the note of anxiety in his voice. Before she could think of what to do to help calm him, Madge had already linked her arm through his. The way she looked up at him, the air heavy with unspoken feeling between them, provoked a warm happiness that made Katniss feel like a proud mother hen and would have lifted her spirits if her insides weren't slowly melting away.

"Father said he had to check on something in the Records Room and would be right back," Madge answered.

The sound of the front door opening and closing, followed by the chatter of voices, set everyone in the room on alert. The group turned as Mayor Undersee came through the door, followed by a very excited Mrs. Mellark. Katniss went rigid next to Peeta, feeling the blood in her veins suddenly turn to ice. Meanwhile, Madge's arm was still entwined in Gale's. Mrs. Mellark's eyes flickered towards them as she let Gale's arm go but she did not move away from him.

"What's going on?" she said, taking in the four young people, scowling markedly at Katniss.

"Everyone, please, have a seat," Mayor Undersee said in a voice that no one defied. "Sybil, do you take whiskey?"

"I'm fine with tea, if it's already been made," Mrs. Mellark said.

Mayor Undersee turned with two glasses half-filled with a dark, amber-colored liquid. "Trust me when I say, the whiskey would be more appropriate on this occasion." Mrs. Mellark carefully took the proffered glass, clearly on alert as he lifted his in a brief toast before downing the contents in one gulp. When he poured a second one and downed it in the same manner, Katniss exchanged a look with Madge that screamed in panic.

"Well, let's get this over with. Who's going to volunteer to tell Mrs. Mellark the details of your adventures over the course of the last several months?"

This was it. All of their contrivances had been designed to put off this very moment. Katniss rubbed her sweaty palms on her hiking pants and stood, stepping toward the middle of the space in the room but she felt Peeta's hand on her arm, stopping her progress.

"Peeta, it's okay," she whispered. "It was my idea."

"But you did it for me," he stood also.

"For us," she countered.

"Okay. Then we'll tell her. Together."

Katniss nodded. "Together."

She led Peeta near the piano, the giant, wooden instrument giving her courage from its familiarity and size. She was sure she'd have no bones, no organs left after all of this but she counted on the large piano, and Peeta's steadiness, to get her through her confession.

"Well, might as well get this over with. Mrs. Mellark. Peeta isn't really engaged with Madge. It was all a...trick...to make you think we were engaged to other people."

Mrs. Mellark, who still held the whiskey awkwardly in her hand, stared at Katniss in disbelief. "Why on earth would you do such a thing?"

"Mom," Peeta interjected. "We pretended to be engaged to other people so we could keep seeing each other."

Mrs. Mellark looked down at the whiskey, no longer disgusted with it. She took a sip, her face wrinkling in response. "So you mean to tell me that all this time I thought you were engaged to Madge, you were still going around with this...this…"

"Sybil, I'll thank you not to insult anyone," Mr. Undersee said firmly.

"Well, how else should I react, Dale? My son, my decent, hardworking son, who could have any girl in the entire District, ends up being...seduced...by a layabout girl of no means who is capable of such deceit. How would you react?"

"Who is this 'layabout girl of no means' to whom you refer, Sybil? Katniss? I happen to agree that this deception is not worthy of any of these four young people but there is nothing in my experience with Katniss to indicate she is any less hard-working than any of us in this room, perhaps more so than most of the shopkeepers in the District," the Mayor said with something akin to anger. He turned towards Katniss and Peeta and asked "And you? What possessed you to devise a scenario that required you to fool every single person who knows you to believe that you were in love with people other than each other, one of whom happens to be my daughter, by the way?"

Peeta spoke up, stepping closer to Katniss, if that was at all possible. "My mother said that she wouldn't allow me to inherit the bakery if I married Katniss. She threatened to sell it off when she retired before she would allow Katniss to get anywhere near it," Peeta glanced at Madge, who twisted her hands together, and Gale, who sat as impassive as a stone in the mountains. "Gale and Madge agreed to be our "partners" so we could continue to be together, hoping that a fake engagement would be enough to satisfy her."

He took Katniss' hand and held it between his. "Gale and Madge have been good enough to keep up the pretense and would have continued to do so but…" he gave Katniss another one of those smiles that set the whole world to rights before turning back to speak to his mother, "Except, well, we just don't care about the bakery anymore. If we have to lose it to be together...then so be it." Peeta's voice shook but he spoke through his excessive emotions. "Katniss and I had a toasting. To me, we're more married than any piece of paper could ever make us."

Mrs. Mellark turned several shades of pink before downing, in one swoop, the alcohol in her glass. Her jaw moved, as if she were physically winding it up to speak. "I have no words for how...absolutely...disappointed and...disgusted I am with all of you," she stood up, approaching Katniss and Peeta. "Do you think I was joking when I said I would sell off the bakery? It'll be a cold day in hell before I let someone like her," she spat in Katniss's direction, "get her hands on my life's work. I know all about you Everdeen girls. You're all snakes, starting with your mother, all the way down to you and your sister."

"Don't you dare bring Prim or my mother into this!" Katniss snarled, taking a step towards her.

"Oh please! You thought you had it made, sneaking around, thinking you could fool me into signing over the shop to you?"

"The bakery was important to Peeta!" Katniss shouted. "It was his father's. That's the only reason I wanted to help him save it. Not for me! For your son! But you don't care about him, do you?"

"I care about him. That's why I never wanted him mixed up with the likes of you!" Gale was on his feet before anyone else, sensing Mrs. Mellark's next move. As she lunged towards Katniss, his hands were already on her arms, pulling her away.

"Get your hands off of me you brute!" she screamed, pushing Gale away, lurching towards Madge and her father. "And you! Why would you even...invite these...filthy Seam people into your house? I never thought the Undersee family would be the type of people to have traffic with people like them!"

"My daughter and her affairs are none of your concern," Mayor Undersee interjected but paused, clearly making an effort to calm himself and the situation. "It seems to me that no one here is truly innocent and everyone owes each other an apology - Katniss and Peeta should apologize to Gale and Madge for taxing their friendship and asking so much of them," Katniss and Peeta lowered their heads in shame at the Mayor's words.

"Gale and Madge should apologize for allowing themselves to be used in this manner, risking their reputations by having it known that they are inconstant and false in their dealings with others."

Madge nodded. "You're right, daddy. We're sorry."

"Yes sir," Gale answered, resuming his seat next to Madge.

"And as for you, Mrs. Mellark, you should apologize for being intolerant of your grown child's decisions and, forgive me for saying this, but for being dishonest also."

"Dishonest!" Mrs. Mellark gasped, her face paling in response.

"Mom, what is he talking about?" Peeta asked.

His mother sputtered, looking from Peeta to Mayor Undersee. "I have no idea but I've been insulted enough!" she turned to pick up her bag and walk to the front door. "I have never been so ill-treated in my life!"

"Sybil!" Mayor Undersee said in a firm, authoritative voice. "I had the opportunity to review the will registered in the Justice Building, a testament filed by Mr. Mellark two years before his death. Do you know what I am referring to?"

She stopped her progress out of the room, turning her head slightly to look at the Mayor. "I am well aware of the contents of my late husband's will and testament," she said, her face hardening into a mask of insouciance.

"Then you are also aware of who the current owner of Mellark's Family Bakery is, are you not?"

In all of this, Katniss had been too horrified by the events taking place to actually compute the content of the conversation beyond the insult to herself and her family. However, these last words piqued her attention, in particular because of the effect they were having on Peeta, who had turned to stone before her eyes.

"Mom, who is the current owner of the Mellark's Family Bakery?" he asked slowly.

Mrs. Mellark didn't answer, chuckling dryly to herself instead with a combination of disbelief and derision. "I am, until the day I decide to hand it over to you, and not a day sooner."

"Actually," Mr. Undersee removed the documents from a slim folder on the credenza near where he stood. "This document indicates that the owner of the bakery, as of Mr. Mellark's death, is one Peeta Mellark. Sybil, you are neither a beneficiary nor a trustee. It is in fact Peeta who is the legal owner of the business and has been since his father's passing." The Mayor handed the documents to Peeta. "I am a bit long in the tooth and perhaps my reading comprehension isn't what it once was. Would you confirm this for me?"

Peeta took the documents with shaky hands. After scanning the pages, he looked up, an expression unlike any Katniss had ever seen before settling over him. It was a combination of shock, horror and rage that made her suddenly afraid. She glanced at where Gale and Madge were seated but wisely, they'd left and stepped back, sensing that there was no place for her in this particular confrontation. Events had now gone to a place where everything felt too personal, too uncomfortable to watch.

"You lied to me," he said in a voice so small, it drew her attention back to him and nearly broke her heart. He was no longer her Peeta, who loved her insanely and had been willing to give up so much to be with her. She glimpsed in that instant a small boy wearing an apron that was too large for him, wrestling with his mother's deception, which had also become too much for him. Katniss had been through everything, had endured more than most but one thing she knew was that her parents had never, ever deceived or manipulated her. She resisted the urge to go to him and comfort him. This was between him and his mother.

Mrs. Mellark turned completely towards her son now, looking him squarely in the face. "I did it for your own good, or you would have tossed your life away on someone who is not worthy of you."

"That's no excuse," Peeta said, the little boy gone, replaced by an angry young man. "There will never be a good enough reason for what you did."

"Your life is reason enough!" she spat. "Your father was in love with one of them too - the mother." She smiled when Peeta's face registered shock at her words. She turned to Katniss. "Did your mother ever tell you that? Did she tell you that she was engaged to Peeta's father when they were younger? That at the last minute, she ran off with your father and left Eian with a broken heart? Did she ever tell you about that?"

"Why should I believe a word you say?" Katniss hissed.

"Ask, your mother! She'll confirm all of it," she said before returning her attention to Peeta. "He came wooing me afterwards and I didn't know. I didn't know until after I was pregnant with my first son that he never actually got over Elise's betrayal. I would have never married a man who was still pining after another woman. That Seam-loving slut ruined both our lives and now you want to take up with her no-good daughter?" She stepped towards Peeta, her voice dripping with venom. "Well, you go right on ahead and destroy your life. I did my best to stop you!"

As Peeta stood, reeling from her words, Mayor Undersee walked carefully towards Mrs. Mellark, keeping his distance in the same way Katniss would approach Buttercup when she didn't want to get scratched. "You can't allow the past to control your life. What happened between you, Eian and Elise should have no bearing on the events of today."

"It's the same blood! The same treacherous, hateful blood. Do you know what it means to live with a man who spent his entire life wishing he was with another woman? And then to have to call that woman's child a daughter-in-law? Pretend she is respectable, watch her become the co-owner of your business?" Mrs. Mellark choked on her rage, making her stumble over her words. "I'd rather die alone then utter the words. You're nothing to me, Katniss Everdeen. I don't care if my son marries you tomorrow, you are nothing to me!"

"Then you're nothing to me either," came Peeta's voice from where he'd awoken from a deep sleep. Everyone turned to look at him, the silence in the room deafening until his words broke through again. "I'm going to marry Katniss and she is going to take her place by my side, in my bakery. I would be grateful if you were a part of that but if you can't accept her, then you'll have to find your own way."

Mrs. Mellark pushed her chin out, the defiance oozing out of every pore of her body. Katniss always had a sense about when things were going to come to an end. She saw the ending of something loom up before Peeta and his mother, hovering over the room. Despite everything, Katniss was unbearably sad and felt powerless to stop it from crashing down on them.

"I'll take my things and go to Bannock's. He will have a place for me." At that, she turned around and left the room. After several moments, the sound of the front door slamming shut reverberated through the house. No one made a move to stop her.

Katniss came to where Peeta stood, still holding the papers, his eyes on his now vanished mother. She wrapped her arms around his waist and held him, willing her comfort to flow directly into him. "I'm so sorry," she whispered.

His arms slowly came up and tightened almost painfully around her. Nothing more was said as he held her for what seemed like an eternity.

XXXXX

Present

True to her word, Mrs. Mellark moved into her eldest son's home the very next day, much to the chagrin of her son's wife, who made no effort to hide her displeasure and shared it with everyone who passed through the shop. She was eager to explain that her mother-in-law would be renovating a small loft above her Mrs. Mellark's late father's metal shop, a business he'd left to Mrs. Mellark's eldest brother - who eventually never married. It was expected that one of the Mellark boys would inherit the shop after the uncle passed, possibly the middle one, who was still in District 4. In the meantime, Mrs. Mellark and her brother would keep each other company well into their old age.

On the day of Katniss and Peeta's wedding, Gale found himself in the predicament of having to endure his formalwear from his home all the way to the Justice Building and for the reception afterwards. This state of affairs made him moodier than usual, which was already significant, given his taciturn nature. However, Madge surreptitiously snuck up the courthouse stairs while they waited for Katniss and Peeta to arrive and tugged his crooked tie, catching him by surprise.

"Did your little sister dress you this morning?" she teased, undoing and redoing the knot.

Gale's face changed, the grim set of his mouth softening into a smile that was gentle on his lips but bright in his grey eyes. "I probably should have. She would have done a better job of it than me."

"I can't help but agree," she said as she tugged the end of the tie with a certain flare, before resting her dainty hand against the lapel of his suit, the hard muscle beneath leaping to attention. "There, all better now," she said. "That knot wasn't worthy of you."

Gale would have had an easier time responding to her if the pressure of her palm against his chest didn't feel like she was pouring hot water slowly over his skin. "So, you got a date for this thing?"

Madge's smiled widened as she chuckled. "I don't know. All depends about this one guy I've been talking to. So you tell me, do I have a date for this thing or not?"

"I'd take you all the way to the moon if that's where you wanted to go," Gale said with so much feeling, he felt undone inside. He hoped she knew he meant it. He'd never been good with words and was a lump when it came to showing his feelings.

"My, my, Gale Hawthorne," she said, a small shiver moving through her. "I never took you for a romantic," she whispered, her nervousness betrayed by the deep blush of her skin.

"There's a lot you don't know about me, yet," he said, indicating toward the road where Katniss and Peeta walked, arm and arm toward the steps of the Justice Building. It was tradition in District 12 for the groom collect the bride at her home and escort her to the Justice Building to be married before friends and family. They would then return home for the toasting and perhaps have a small reception the next day. However, in the case of Katniss and Peeta, they would have their reception on the same day, since they'd already had their toasting.

As Gale watched the couple make their way up the stairs, his heart gave a leap in his chest, responding as if out of habit to those moments when his hunting partner became more than just a girl in the woods. Her hair was coiled in intricate braids, her skin glowing as if stardust had been sprinkled on her cheeks, complementing the silver flecks in her grey eyes. She wore a lovely, simple white dress and, judging from the classic style, Gale guessed that it was her mother's wedding dress. Behind her trailed her mother and Prim as well as Hazelle and Gale's younger siblings.

He heard the echo of love that he'd always felt for her for all those years they'd spent in the woods, sprinting on silent feet together, taking down game, struggling together to stave off the hunger that could spell death for their respective families. But it was only an echo, a memory from their shared past. She clung to Peeta now and he realized yet again that he didn't resent him or secretly ache for what he couldn't have. In his heart, he wished them well, because he thought he might have finally found whatever it was that made those two kids crazy enough to lie and deceive just to have a chance to be together.

He let go, in that moment, all the anguish and fury of not having what he'd always wanted because, as fate would have it, he realized his infatuation with Katniss was only a blush of what real love should be. He glanced at the blond curls that swept against the sleeve of his suit coat next to him, her face hidden from his glance and he knew that his heart had only been in training, waiting for the real thing to come along. As he hugged Katniss, he silently let her go forth with all his love and best wishes for her.

"Catnip," he said as she pulled back, her face a combination of elation and terror. "Why are you scared? You had your toasting. You're already married!"

"Yes, but that was private. There are too many people! You know how much I hate being the center of attention!" she said, her voice shaking.

"It's everybody you know. There isn't a person in this crowd who hasn't seen you in your pajamas at least once. Remember that when you get nervous."

Katniss gave him a small smile and some of her terror drained from her face. "You don't know how much I appreciate you and Madge," she said, tugging Madge's attention to her. "I don't know where we'd be without you two."

"Just be happy," Madge said, hugging her friend warmly. "You know we'll always be here for you."

Katniss hugged both of them again before she pulled back, dabbing at the corners of her eyes. "Prim and mom brought my things to the bakery yesterday. It was so…"

"Surreal?" answered Madge as she took her friend in her arms and held her tightly. "This is a huge life change. Of course it's going to feel strange!"

Gale turned his attention to Peeta, who was very put together in a dark grey suit with a skyblue shirt that accentuated the color of his eyes. His tie complimented his suit but the handkerchief in his breast pocket was made of the exact color and material of Katniss's dress. Gale wasn't much for fashion but he had to admit, the look suited him. He stretched his hand out to Peeta, who returned his handshake warmly.

"Congratulations." Gale said as Katniss turned to speak to her mother, who hovered quietly in the background.

"Thank you...for everything," Peeta said, his eyes bright with feeling. "If it wasn't for you and Madge…"

"Just take care of her. Treat her well because she's earned it," Gale said, glancing again at Katniss and Madge, who were chatting with Hazelle now.

"I know," Peeta answered, following his gaze, expelling a shaky breath. "She's everything to me."

Gale nodded approvingly. "That's how you won her over. You were willing to give up everything for her." He cuffed Peeta on the shoulder. "That's the only reason you're still alive,"

"What…?" Peeta said before Gale's smile revealed that he was only joking and he followed with a laugh of his own. By that time, Peeta's middle brother, Rye, the one who had gone to District 4, tapped Peeta on the shoulder, surprising him.

"What are you doing here!" Peeta exclaimed, giving his brother a bear hug, oblivious to the effect on his suit.

"I took an all-night train so that I could watch you get married. Finally got up the nerve to ask Katniss Everdeen out, eh, buddy? Welcome to the family!" He scooped a shocked Katniss up in his arms, drowning her squeals of terror with his own laughter.

"It's a long story," Peeta answered when Rye set a wobbly Katniss down, leading both to meet Bannock and his family, leaving Gale to his own devices again.

Gale scanned the plaza before the building and thought he saw, under one of the large trees that lined the main thoroughfare through District 12, a glimpse of Mrs. Mellark. She watched the proceedings with an unreadable expression. He couldn't help to hope, for her sake, that she would find it in herself to forget her stupid ideas and let go of her old hatred. Otherwise, she was going to miss out on a beautiful thing. Of this, Gale was convinced.

Suddenly at his side, Madge appeared, disrupting his ruminations when she linked her arms through his. "I think it's time to go inside."

With her gentle weight on his arm, Gale turned and took his place behind Katniss and Peeta as they walked inside the building. The day was unforgettable. Ahead of him was his best friend, staring at her future husband with an expression of bliss so unfiltered, he felt a wave of tenderness come over him and the hope that life would be good to them. By his side was Madge who, in her sweet, bumbling way had made him feel something like the reverence he saw in Peeta's face when he watched every move his bride made. And behind him was the small group of people who he considered his friends and family. On that late summer day, Gale felt profoundly the joy that radiated from the couple before him and had a sudden premonition that one day soon, his turn would come.

He gave Madge a gentle squeeze, which she returned with a smile and he couldn't help thinking that both he and Peeta were the luckiest men in the world.

XXXXX

I want to thank first and foremost, mylionskitten, for the wonderful prompt. I thought it would end with more hilarity but I hope you will like this ending all the same. I must thank javistg for hosting the challenge that gave birth to this fic, the everlarkficexchange. I have to give a super shout-out to the girls who kept me going, who encouraged me to keep writing this fic even when I was a bit blocked : the brilliant, talented and wonderful akai-echo (who also made the banner!) and thegirlfromoverthepond, who is the best cheerleader a girl can have. And a big thank you to mega-aulover who is such a great person and support, for prereading and generally being awesome. Gracias, mi amiguita!