for preemptiveforgiveness

Her life shouldn't be so good. With all of the sins that she's committed in her life, she shouldn't be this happy. It's an odd feeling and at first, Katniss hadn't been certain what it was. Happiness on this kind of scale hadn't been a part of her life in a long time. Since before her father had died. But that fluttering in her chest that she's felt every morning for the past month hadn't been the sign of an oncoming cold but the joy she felt from waking up in Matt's arms. Almost every single morning, the steady rhythm of his heart is the first thing that she hears. His lips have been the first thing she's tasted. His face the first thing she sees.

This might not have been the second chance Matt had had in mind when he initially taken her in but it's better than any other she could ask for. Hard, tricky, terrifying, but still better than any life she let herself picture on the rare occasion Katniss thought there might be something post-Games. What had there been if she was ever let free of the Games? A life of more fighting? Prostitution? Drinking herself to an early death once she was certain that there was enough money in Prim's account to afford college? Or ODing instead. Any life after the Games wasn't going to be a life at all.

But this second chance is better than anything she could ask. Being loved so thoroughly, loving Matt in return. Waking up every morning knowing this man beside her thinks the world of her. It's given her a new kind of courage in which to face the world. She hadn't been afraid to go on subsequent dates with her. She hadn't even thought twice about kissing him in the office one evening, a couple of weeks into their new relationship. Foggy and Karen had been there but she hadn't cared. And that had been liberating. Everything about life has been liberating lately. She's even managed to last the past week at her current job no matter how much she hates waitressing.

Everything has been going well. And shortly after their first date, when she had brought up the idea of being his sidekick again, he hadn't argued. He's taken time out of his normal nightly patrols to work with her instead. Matt's idea of fighting is something much more graceful than the rough and tumble version she had picked up in the ring. It's taken her a while to unlearn a lot of what she had picked up to survive but Katniss is of the opinion that she's progressing. And tonight, when she finally succeeds in knocking Matt off his feet, she feels a sense of pride that she hasn't felt for a long time.

She falls to her knees beside him and leans over to plant a kiss on his lips. "Gotcha," she murmurs against his mouth. "Finally."