This is dedicated to my good friend and amazingly, spectacular beta jeniezee. Inspiration derives from Jason Mraz' 'If it Kills Me'.

The last wedding Peeta attended was that of his childhood friend, Delly Cartwright, two autumns ago. The ceremony and reception was small as they were held in the backyard of her townhouse. Peeta offered the accomdations of the grounds and ballroom of his hotel, Snow'd Inn. She and Thom, however, insisted on something more cozy and intimate.

The quiet, peaceful enchantment of Delly's wedding contrasts with Madge Undersee's exuberant one. She pulled out all the stops to make her special day as beautiful and grand as possible. Being responsible for overseeing wedding preparations, Peeta wants rip out each strand of his curly hair. He grows very tired of hearing Fulvia Curdew's hummingbird voice and the click of her stilettos on the tiles.

If the idea of making a woman his own blushing bride had not been so appealing, Peeta would not even consider wanting to go through this ordeal for himself. But seeing the way Madge twirls on her blue, polka-dotted heels as Gale waltzes her around the dance floor while they gaze up at each other with matching smiles, Peeta knows he wants that too.

"We had to go to five boutiques just to look for a dress," Katniss complains into his ear. "Two hours in each store. When Cinna agreed to make her a gown, I nearly cried."

"You're being overdramatic, Kat," Peeta rolls his eyes as he swirls the white wine in his glass. "Madge trusts your opinion, you should have been honoured to go."

"I suppose," Katniss wrinkles her nose as she downs the last of her glass of red wine. "She let me pick out the colour of the bridesmaids and flower girl dresses."

Arching his eyebrow Peeta looks at her, suppressing a grin. "She let you pick the colour? Really?"

"Well, okay. I said I liked brown and green. She said everyone would look too earthy so Cinna pulled out a bunch of swatches and she fell in love with this platinum blue and well … you're looking at the rest."

Peeta chuckles, "That sounds more like it."

"Shut up," she spits, punching him in the arm.

"If it makes you feel better, platinum really compliments you," Peeta responds with a smile. "It makes you look less boring."

"Wow, thanks Mellark. Now tell me how you really feel," Katniss rolls her eyes as she pours herself another glass.

"Anytime," he smirks, dipping his own empty glass towards her for her to refill. Reluctantly, with a dramatic sigh, she grants his request.

Peeta may not be a fan of red wine, but, right now, he welcomes its effects. Watching couples sway to the slow filtering through the speakers made his heart sink into his stomach.

"Hey Peeta, Leevy's looking at you," Katniss draws him out of his thoughts and directs his gaze over to her cousin. "I think she wants to dance."

"In front of your whole family?" Peeta mumbles, his face growing warm.

"It's just a dance, it's not like you two are going to get married or anything. Nothing like those two," Katniss nods over to the bride and groom. Madge is Peeta's friend from college but she met Gale through Katniss.

Several years ago, Katniss had decided to host a housewarming party at her and Peeta's apartment. Seeing as they both needed to be closer to the center of town and with rent being excruciatingly high for one person to pay on their own, they decided to live under one roof. The gathering was small, with good music and plenty of beer. They were having a good time, catching up when Gale Hawthorne, Katniss' closest cousin, walks in the door forty-five minutes late. Peeta did not remember seeing Madge take notice of Gale, all he remembered was her excusing herself to the kitchen to grab another drink almost immediately after he slid through the doorway. The rest is history.

"I know that but …" he mumbles, looking up and catching Leevy's gray eyes before looking back down at his hands. "I'd rather not draw attention to myself. Tonight is about them and all your family will be doing is looking at me."

"You're unbelievable, you know that?" Katniss sighs. "You can't be living the bachelor life forever. Tortoise Mellark needs to come out of his shell and talk to a woman other than Madge or Delly for five minutes or else he's never going to find that special girl to have those kids with."

Peeta can feel the muscles in his face grow tight and his lip turn up in contempt. "If this is payback about the boring comment you chose a particularly nasty scab to pick, didn't you?"

"That has nothing to do with this," Katniss explains softly, brushing back a few fly away curls. "I'm worried about you. I want you to be happy."

"I'm quite happy with the way things are now," he retorts with a white lie. "I am roommates with my best friend, I have a decent job with decent pay and I have wonderful friends and family. As much as I'd like to have someone to call my own, I don't mind waiting. She's getting to me as fast as she can."

Offering him a weak smile, "Probably," Katniss kisses his forehead. "It's getting late, I better get going. Cinna wants me in at 9 o'clock tomorrow. I have photos to print, paper work to file, phones to answer."

Peeta smiles gently as he stands up with Katniss. The cocktail style of the dress accentuates all the curves of her slim frame. With her hair styled up into a braided bun, the silvery-blue of the dress brings out the gray in her boldly painted eyes; he cannot deny how beautiful she looks. The girl he grew up with, the one that wore khaki pants and moss green t-shirts does not appear to exist anymore. As much as Peeta loves the rough and tumble Katniss, he likes this side of her too. She really does look more animated in silvery-blue, it really brings out the gray in her eyes.

"Where are you off to, Catnip? Don't tell me you're cutting out before we do," Gale's voice booms across the banquet hall, while making his way towards them, with Madge trailing behind him.

"I've got an early day tomorrow. Cinna isn't cutting me any slack," Katniss smiles, uncomfortably, shifting on her three inch open toe heels.

"But you're part of the wedding party, Katniss." Madge's pink, glossy lip pouts. "I haven't thrown the bouquet yet."

Katniss frowns, "I don't need some tradition telling me whether or not I'm next. I'll get married to who I want, when I want ."

"Wow, Catnip, It's just a game, no one's making you do anything," Gale contests, throwing his hands up in defense. "It'd be pretty interesting though if you did catch it and then got hitched to… oh I don't know… Peeta?"

Peeta watches the way Katniss' face drenches in a cherry red. Those quick hands of hers swat at Gale, chasing after him as he bolts across the ballroom laughing. Madge cracks a smile of her own.

"It's so nice to see that they still get along," Madge sighs, watching Katniss launch herself onto Gale's back and tugging on his hair. She is going to ruin that dress and Cinna is going to have her head for it. "I was worried that I might drive a wedge between them."

Peeta snorts, "In all the years I've known Katniss, I've never seen her get possessive. She likes you, though. She's told me plenty of times that you're a good fit for Gale. Personally, I think he's a better fit for you than Finnick."

Madge's smile drops slightly as she wrings her pianist hands around themselves. "Yeah," she mumbles. "I-I invited him y'know. I asked Gale, and he said it was okay. He was even kind of excited to meet too," her voice drops lower as it begins to shake. "But he hasn't showed up yet. It's not like Finnick to miss out on something this important."

Peeta wants to console her, tell her everything is alright and that the man, who is one of her best friends, is on his way right now and will walk through those doors any minute.

But he does not wish to lie to his friend.

After college, Peeta knew their friend had taken up work as a model to pay his student loans while he looked for a steady job. However, it did not take long before the part-time job became full time and every big name advertiser wanted Finnick Odair to be the face of their product. The hours he worked became longer and Finnick began to spend less and less time in the city of Panem. It does not come as much of surprise to Peeta that he cannot keep this promise.

"I bet that bimbo he's dating has something to do with this," Madge spits, clenching her hands together. "She probably guilt tripped him into not coming because I didn't put her on the guest list."

Sighing, Peeta pulls the bride into his embrace, "You're worrying far too much, Madge. Just sit back and enjoy the rest of the night. I'll give Finnick a call later and see where he was, I'm sure he is just work and it's nothing serious. I'll let you know what I find out, okay?"

He can feel Madge's head nod in the crook of his shoulder.

"Good," he responds with a smile. "Now go steal your husband back from Katniss before she gets too comfortable." Giggling, Madge pulls herself out of Peeta's hold and kisses his cheek before gliding towards her husband. The moment she reaches him, all her previous worries fade and a genuine, giddy smile spreads across her face.

Falling into the pulled out chair with a slump, Peeta finishes the rest of the wine in his glass. Weddings are supposed to be happy, so why does he feel so depressed?

Placing the empty glass down on the table, he gets up and walks out of the ballroom just as Madge flings the bouquet behind her. He chuckles as he hears Katniss scream "those posies are mine, bitch!"

Outside in the grand entrance of the hotel, all is quiet. The phones do not ring, idle chatter between his coworkers cannot be heard and Cray's squeaky janitorial cart has not made its rounds in the lobby yet. This is Peeta's favourite part of the day, where tranquility sets in and he can hear himself think.

"Hey, Mellark, you piss drunk yet?" a voice chimes in his ear as he feels a weight on his back. Of course Johanna Mason would be the one to ruin his moment.

"No," he groans, as he peels her arms off from around his shoulders. "Only had two glasses."

"Seriously? That's it? You should be plastered and be in bed with a bridesmaid by now or something," she croons as she bounces on the balls of her feet. Peeta rolls his eyes. Johanna is not one for censoring her thoughts.

"If it makes you feel better, I will be in my bed beside one of them tonight."

"Everdeen doesn't count, but nice try," she pinches his cheek with a grin. Peeta side eyes her. He has never seen Johanna show off her straightened teeth so much before.

"Mason, there something you want?" Peeta inquires with a slowly rising intonation. Her face falls as she steps away from him.

"Alright, you caught me. I need a favour," she says, shuffling slightly. "Can you switch shifts with me tomorrow? I've got… a thing first thing in the morning. I'll let Haymitch know you covered for me so he can adjust the pay roll."

"Fine, but you owe me more than just some extra cash," he grumbles.

"Yeah yeah, let me know when you think of something. Thanks, Mellark," Johanna offers him another smile and a pat on the back. She scurries off behind the desk before Haymitch Abernathy, their manager, can catch her slacking again.

He keeps threatening to fire her, but he never does. Rumour has it he has a soft spot for her, but Peeta will neither confirm nor deny such a thing. He knows Haymitch's feelings for Johanna run far deeper than just a soft spot.

Taking in a deep breath, Peeta checks his watch before heading back into the reception. Ten-thirty right on the dot. Where had the time gone? With his newly booked schedule for tomorrow, he knows it is time to say goodnight.

Manoeuvring his way through the empty chairs and the dancing couples to the sweetheart table, Peeta offers Gale and Madge his best wishes once more before grabbing Katniss and dragging her out of the ballroom with him.

She trips over her stumbling feet before landing in his car with a thud. The drive home is anything but silent, but Peeta does not mind. Katniss' usual venue for her solos consist of the shower and her bedroom with the door closed, but tonight she sings loudly and without shame in the comfort of his car. Since she was a child, Peeta always thought she had a beautiful voice and once upon a time he had encouraged her to pursue a career in music. But Katniss' modesty and stage fright has kept her from it.

"Tonight was fun, wasn't it?" Katniss says, her smile gleaming as she zigzags into their apartment building. "I'm really happy for them."

"It's about time they settled down," Peeta smiles back, his hand secure around her waist as he guides her into the right direction. Pulling his key card out of his wallet he swipes it and the door clicks open.

They take the elevator up, when it reaches their floor Katniss jumps up and down like a child, hoping to make it stop. Suppressing his chuckle, Peeta leads Katniss out of the carrel only to stop three steps later.

Peeta can feel his stomach flip as his heart squeezes and beats quickly against his chest. He wants to unlatch himself from Katniss and run down the hallway to their apartment, but Peeta cannot get his feet to move.

Outside their doorway, dressed in a rumpled, black suit and black socks sits Finnick Odair. From a distance, Peeta cannot determine as to why one hand is resting on his friend's face. He assumes it is from fatigue but dread plagues Peeta as scenario after scenario filter through his head.

Pushing through his catatonic state, Peeta makes his way across the carpeted surface one foot at a time.

"Finnick," he calls, his voice shaking. The man's bronze head whips to the side, relief washing over the uncovered part this face. Making his way closer, he can see the model's relief begin to vanish as agonizing pain shines through the tears in his eyes.

The hand that covers his face is gripping an icepack, which does not conceal nearly enough. The exposed areas allow Peeta to see the deep, purple bruising under Finnick's right eye. Letting go of Katniss, he kneels down to the floor in front of his friend. Nudging away the icepack with his fingers, Finnick lets Peeta look at the entirety of the damage his face sustained.

The swollen, red and purple cartilage nearly makes him gag. Swallowing his discomfort, he takes some relief in knowing there is a splint across the arch.

Peeta does not know how, but even in a time like this, where tears are rushing down his face, Finnick is smiling that goofy grin.

"Hey, Peet, how was the wedding? Did she look beautiful?"

Peeta nods, his vocal chords constricted too tightly together to make a sound.

"I'm sorry I missed it," Finnick apologies, his smile dropping. "Was in the hospital all afternoon. They would've been pissed if I walked in halfway looking like I came out of a car accident."

"What happened then?" Peeta raises a brow.

Pushing himself up the wall with his shoes in his hand, Finnick smiles wearily with a shrug, "Shouldn't have gone back for the gravy boat."

Peeta frowns, he really does not like when Finnick gets cryptic. However, he only gets cryptic when the severity of the situation is bad. Finnick may be bad with promises, but he is excellent with secrets. Though, by their fourth year of college, Peeta has discoveredways of getting him to open up.

"So, do you mind if I crash on your couch," Finnick requests, trying to widen his green eyes but wincing when he tries to move the muscles in his face. Taking his keys out of his pocket, Peeta unlocks the door and steps aside allowing Finnick to walk in first.

"I owe you big time, man," he says, pulling Peeta into a tight hug.

"Won't be the first time," he mumbles. Katniss trudges into the apartment next, giving Peeta a strange look only to have him shrug it off and push her into their home.

"Not to be rude or anything, but how'd you get up here?" Katniss asks wrinkling her nose at their guest who has makes himself at home on their couch.

"Hm? Oh. Your new neighbour let me in," Finnick chimes from where he lays length wise with his head propped up on the armrest. "I didn't catch her name but she's really sweet and incredibly pretty, even lent me the ice pack I'm using."

"Been here five minutes and you're already conning women out of their belongings with your sob stories," Peeta remarks snidely. The storm brewing in Finnick's eyes make him instantly want to retract it.

"I fully intended for you to find her and give it back to her," he counters, shooting up into a sitting position only to shout out in excruciating pain.

Peeta rolls his eyes, "Calm down. I'll get you a pair of sleep pants, a few pillows and a blanket. Katniss make sure he doesn't move."

"Aye aye capt'n," she salutes with a smile. Peeta shakes his head as a smile cracks across his face as well. He had completely forgotten about the new neighbour in the midst of all the wedding preparations. Old Man Woof on the fourth floor had passed away a few months ago and his kids were left with cleaning and selling the apartment. Peeta did not realize they had finally sold the place.

He can feel his heart beat a little quicker as his mind begins to wander about what who this woman might be. If she's willing to help some guy she does not even know, maybe she could be the nice, homely girl he longs for. Peeta cannot wait to meet her.