Summary of last chapter: Effie has the chat with her mum, Haymitch has a man-to-man talk with Peeta and that's where it ended.

Note: All the POVs are written in narrative.

Haymitch's POV

Haymitch had just lied down on his couch to rest before he heard the door swing open, followed by heavy steps. He groaned when he saw who it was.

"Damn it, Peeta! Let the man have a nap before barging in," grumbled Haymitch as he slumped on the sofa. "You better have a good reason for coming."

Peeta grinned as he set a loaf of bread on his table and sat down next to Haymitch. "No, I just felt like dropping by to say hi." His smile broadened when Haymitch gave him a death glare. "Sorry, Mitchell, but it's pretty important," said Peeta with a cheeky grin.

Haymitch hated nicknames. He abhorred them. People always seemed to come up with one horrible nickname after another: Hay, Mitch, 'Aymitch, Mitchell… He thought the name Haymitch was just fine; it didn't need to be shortened or lengthened.

So when Peeta learned of his pet peeve, he made sure to call him a nickname whenever he got the chance to. It annoyed Haymitch to no end.

"Stop with the nicknames," growled Haymitch. "Otherwise you'll be walking home with a bruised brain and ego. You probably won't even be walking by the time I'm done with you."

Peeta smirked. "You wouldn't do that. You love me too much," said Peeta with an innocent look.

"Don't count on it, Bread Boy. I'm sure Katniss and I wouldn't miss you too much."

Peeta chucked. "Anyway, I didn't come here to banter with you. I've come to ask you for a favour."

Haymitch rolled his eyes. "What makes you think I'll do it? Especially after all the name calling?"

"Like I said, you love me too much."

Before Haymitch could retort back, Peeta said, "I'm going to ask for Katniss's hand in marriage."

Haymitch knew that they were going to get married sooner or later, but he didn't expect it to be so soon. After all, it had only been 5 months since he returned. He thought that Peeta would maybe wait 3 years, knowing how 'patient' he was.

"How does this involve me?"

"I want to propose to her on the night of the Spring Festival."

The Spring Festival was an annual event that was a District 12 tradition. Even after the war, District 12 still decided to keep the tradition going. It was just an even where everybody gathered together around a huge bonfire, sang songs and watched the fireworks. During the afternoon, there would be booths set up for games and food stalls where people sold homemade specials. It was something everyone looked forward to, where miners had a day off, children didn't have to go to school and everybody would have fun and relax. The Spring Festival was to happen in 3 days.

"Still don't get how this involves me."

"I want to make this Spring Festival the best one everybody had and will ever have. The most special day of the year, something they will always remember. And to do that, I need your help."

"For Pete's sake, Peeta, just get to the point!" exclaimed Haymitch exasperatedly.

"I have this idea in mind… Basically, you know the fairy lights that stream across the Justice Building during New Year's Eve…"

The day of the Spring Festival arrived.

It was a beautiful day, the sky was blue and the sun was shining brightly. He walked out into his backyard and breathed in the fresh air, feeling momentarily at peace. His geese were still asleep, so he inhaled deeply and exhaled with a content sigh.

His moment was temporarily interrupted when he heard footsteps nearing him.

"I swear you're ruining every peaceful moment I have on purpose," groused Haymitch.

Peeta murmured a hello and shrugged. "Just left you a loaf of bread on the kitchen counter, that's all."

Haymitch raised his eyebrows. He noticed that Peeta left out a nickname and a chuckle after greeting him.

"Something wrong?"

Peeta's shoulders sagged. "Nervous, that's all."

"Ah."

Haymitch didn't really know what to say, so they just stood there in silence, with the mockingjays singing in the distance. After about a minute or so, Haymitch cleared his throat and said, "Well, um, I think we should go to the Hob now. I think lunch will be ready by the time we get there."

Peeta nodded soberly and headed out his backyard.

"25 cents, please, Mr Abernathy."

Haymitch took the coins out of his pocket and handed it to the smiling lady. She thanked him and handed him the caramel-coated apple.

"Enjoy!"

Haymitch nodded his head and walked away from the stall with the caramel apple in his mouth. Haymitch always had a sweet tooth, and he thoroughly enjoyed the sweet tang of caramel in his mouth with the juicy apple.

He walked around the Hob. After he came back from Thirteen, everybody got together to not only rebuild houses, but also the Hob. Everybody had pitched in, even the women and little children. With so many people eager to help, the Hob was rebuilt in no time. Some reopened their shops while some new shops were opened. It was quite nice seeing the place again.

As soon as he finished his caramel apple, he noticed an old woman standing behind a stall selling some kind of drink. When he looked closely, he saw it was Ripper. He raised his eyebrows and walked toward stall. Instead of selling liquor like she did for the past 20 years, she was selling freshly squeezed juice.

Haymitch chuckled as he greeted her. "I see you've changed your ways," said Haymitch, gesturing to the fruit juices.

Ripper laughed. "Yes, I've changed for the better, if that's what you'd say."

They blathered on for a bit before he moved on. The whole square was buzzing with children running around and the loud chatter of cheery adults. He felt quite lonely, squeezing through the groups and clumps of people, but he didn't let that get to him. Besides, he was here to have fun. At least, that was what he told himself. He tried to convince himself that he was, in fact, having fun, but you can't really have fun alone knowing you'd enjoy yourself much more if you had someone beside you.

He had spent the day wandering around the crowd of people, stopping occasionally to greet someone or talk. He even played some of the games and won a prize. It was a small toy elephant. He knew it was meant for a kid, but he didn't think that it would hurt to just keep a little soft toy with him.

He mostly went around buying food and trying out all the samples. He had a hard time keeping away from the liquor stall, so he just occupied himself by buying 5 jelly-filled donuts.

Before he knew it, the sun went down and the moon came up. It was a full moon that night. The bonfire was lit up in the center of the square and people were gathered around it, talking quietly. Some were roasting marshmallows.

But before he could sit down with the others, he felt someone yank him aside. He sighed when he realized it was Peeta.

"I swear you're doing this on purpose."

Peeta shook his head seriously. "Look, it's almost time."

Haymitch rolled his eyes. "Fine, whatever you say, Bread Boy."

He sighed as he walked towards the Justice Building and headed in the empty building, silently hoping that everything will go as planned.

Peeta's POV

He wiped his hands nervously on his pants as he walked over to Katniss. She was sitting on a blanket, staring at the bonfire with a peaceful look. The flames reflected in her eyes as if they were dancing and her features illuminated with a soft glow.

Until this day, he still had no idea how lucky he was to have the girl of his dreams even have a decent conversation with him, let alone have a relationship with.

He sat down next to her and smiled as her back leaned against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her abdomen and rested his chin on her head.

There was an elderly man next them, softly strumming his guitar and humming a song that he didn't know the name to. But it was so peaceful,

Now all he had to do, was wait.

Haymitch's POV

"Dammit, dammit, dammit!"

Haymitch fumbled around the room, trying to find the key to the breaker box. (A/N: that box thing where all the switches are)

"Where are the damn keys?"

He opened every drawer and cupboard, checked the same spots hundreds of time, but still failed to find the key.

"I swear I put it right here…"

When he finally checked by the dusty rug by the doorstep did he find the key. He cursed under his breath and hurried over to the breaker box. He flicked all the switches at a mad pace and when he heard the soft whirr of the machines working, he sighed in relief and leaned against the wall.

"Hope it wasn't too late…"

Peeta's POV

(a few minutes before…)

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please."

Everybody's heads turned to the centre of the square, where Thom was standing in front of the bonfire.

"As mayor of District 12," he started, "I'd like to thank you all for putting up such an amazing festival. It's so great to see everybody come together to do this. It feels just like the old times."

Everybody smiled and him. He was elected mayor a few weeks before and was doing a great job so far.

"Now before I bore you guys to death, I think Peeta Mellark would like to say a few words."

Katniss shot him a confused look as he got up from the blanket and walked over to where Thom was standing. Thom patted him on the back, grinned knowingly at him and sat down with his wife, Delly.

"As Thom has just said, I'm Peeta Mellark."

That could've gone unsaid, but Peeta was not one to go along with a speech without his manners.

"You might be wondering why I'm up here. You might think that I'm going to make some big speech about something I did, because I know a lot of you are thinking. I know I would be if I were in your shoes."

Nobody had any idea what he was going on about. Except for Haymitch. Thom, maybe. But other than that, everybody was clueless as to what he was talking about.

"I'm here today, to celebrate. To not just celebrate our gathering, but also celebrate something that is incredibly close to my heart."

He pauses. "Today was the day of my parent's anniversary."

The only sound that was heard was the crackling of the bonfire.

"If you were here in District 12 before, you'd know that my parents weren't a very happy couple. In fact, they were probably the unhappiest couple here. My mother was cruel, wicked and harsh in every way, whereas my father was gentle, calm and loving. They were polar opposites."

"It was an arranged marriage. They weren't very happy with each other. But if they didn't… do what they had did 35 years ago, I wouldn't be here. Which means, I wouldn't have met Katniss."

"As cheesy as this might sound, Katniss is everything to me. I wouldn't be here without her. I wouldn't be living without her. I know I'm probably boring your eyes out by now, but please just hear me out."

He turned to Katniss and looked at her shocked face. He hoped she wouldn't be too mad at him for doing this.

He walked up to her and got down on one knees. Everybody gasped, knowing already what he was going to do.

"Katniss, you are beautiful. You are kind, you are gentle, you are everything a man can possibly ask for. I know I tell you this almost everyday, but I just want you to know that I really do mean it. Life has been hard for us and you have no idea how grateful I am for you. You are my family now."

He took a deep breath and took a small velvet box out of his pocket. Katniss's eyes widened as she saw it and she looked at him with a startled look.

"So, Katniss…"

And it went dark.

The lights from the houses were all turned off and the only light that was shining was from the bonfire. Before anyone could scream or run away, the lights turned back on.

And everyone looked at the bright fairy lights hanging on the Justice Building.

Will you marry me?

It was amazing how nobody noticed the lights strung out during the day, and if they did, they didn't mention it.

Katniss stood, agape and looked at Peeta.

"Well?" asked Peeta softly.

"I… I…"

Nobody could miss the hurt look in his eyes as he said, "Oh, okay, I'll just-"

He was interrupted when Katniss crashed her lips on his. It took him a while to register the fact that she was kissing him, but his mind worked quickly and he wrapped his arms around her and returned the kiss.

He broke the kiss and looked at her in the eye. "You still haven't given me an answer, though."

"Just say yes already!"

"Come on, darling! The poor boy's dying!"

The crowd yelled encouragingly and almost missed her answer.

"Yes," she whispered.

Peeta grinned as he said. "I don't think they heard you."

"Yes," Katniss shouted with a smile so wide it looked like her cheeks were going to tear.

Peeta jumped up and swung her around in his arms. Everybody cheered and were on their feet, applauding them.

"Alright, alright, break it apart."

Everybody turned to the man who had just walked in their happy moment.

He tried to look innocent as he said, "What? It's late and I want to get home since somebody kept stopping me from taking my naps."

Peeta shook his head and said, "You know what, Haymitch? I'm too happy to even get mad at you right now. Goodnight, Haymitch. See you in the morning."

Haymitch grumbled as he walked away, leaving the loud sounds of clapping and shouts of congratulations to Katniss and Peeta.

When he got home, he collapsed on his couch and sighed.

He felt bad. He felt that he should've been happier, or at least appeared happier for the couple. He couldn't get out of his head the look of joy on both Katniss and Peeta's faces when he saw them. He could've at least said 'congratulations' or 'great job, Mellark' but no, he just had to ruin it by breaking their moment.

Maybe that's why she didn't like you.

Haymitch groaned at the voice in his head.

Now's not the time to think about Effie, he thought grimly. I don't need her to make me happy. I'll be fine on my own. Besides, the least you could do right now is organize Katniss and Peeta's wedding.

But he couldn't stop himself from thinking about what she was doing now. Was she thinking about him, or had she already moved on? Did she already find someone else to spend her time with? Probably. He would be lying if he said that she wasn't beautiful. Or maybe she was with her mother, having their mother-daughter time together. At least, that was what Haymitch hoped she was doing

You know you don't give a damn about what she's doing right now, 'cos you know damn well she doesn't.

Firstly, I've been REALLY busy lately with performances, rehearsals, homework, exams… And also I was planning on posting this chapter yesterday but I had my birthday sleepover :P

I looked at my A/N last chapter and I said "Expect the next chapter soon" and apparently my 'soon' meant 'expect a crappy chapter after 3 months' (I didn't proof read this) wow I just. I'M SORRY :( Plus I hate cheesy stuff and this is probably the cheesiest thing I've ever written in my entire life.

I don't want to promise anything, so I won't say anything about the next update, but I am definitely open to suggestions or criticism for the next chapter so don't hesitate to review (: