Hey guys!So I haven't written anything on here in ages, and I don't think I've ever published a Hunger Games fanfic before, so bear with me. I write a lot though, so I have experience- just a bit new to this fandom. Inspiration hit me like an eighteen wheeler the other day and I was like BAM I have to write this so yeah. I'm actually on restriction at the moment and I'm not supposed to have my laptop but it's after midnight and my mum's asleep and I didn't want to lose what I planned in my head! So this first chapter is sort of a prologue (fun fact: when I was little, like 6 or 7, I called it a PRAH-luh-gyew. Lolol). The next one will be about 3 months later; but I wanted to sort of show what Katniss's and Peeta's relationship was like. Please please please review! It really means a lot to know what you guys think; your reviews also inspire me to keep writing. I'm going to try to write one or two more chapters- I'll probably upload one and put one in the document manager- in case I can't use my laptop tomorrow, but the more reviews I get, the more words you get. They really help fend off writer's block; it's amazing! Anyways, here's chapter one! *cue drumroll… NOW!*
"Kat... Katniss... Katnisssss!" The mutt hissed, drawing me from a peaceful slumber into a tortuous nightmare. "KATNISS!" It yells again, at what must be the top of its voice. It is so unbearably loud. "KATNISS WAKE UP!"
I open my eyes to find Peeta staring at me, his eyes full of concern. "Babe, they've been worse lately. I don't think you've had one night in the past three months without at least four nightmares per night. Should we call a doctor?"
"No doctor can turn back time and reap different tributes. That's the only thing that would really help me- losing my memories of the Games."
"Well, Mrs. Mellark, as your doctor, I prescribe a distraction to help you forget your past."
"Hmm, what kind of distraction might that be...?" I murmur in his ear seductively as I run my fingers through the baby hairs at the convergence of his neck and scalp. I know it drives him absolutely crazy.
"Maybe one that goes like... this?" He kept his lips less than a centimeter from mine, close enough to be tickled by his breath but not touching my lips. He was right; it distracted me completely. Peeta was the only thing I could dream of focusing on at the moment. He finally closed the distance between us, molding his lips to mine. He rolled on top of me. His torso was sandwiched between my legs with his belly button at my crotch. He never failed to make me feel completely secure, holding my sides and stomach in his very large hands as if I was the most delicate flower he had ever come across. He began to kiss at my neck and in the deep hollow at my collarbone, knowing it was my sweet spot. "I am so in love with you," he breathed. "I've fallen too far to ever be the same again."
"Just remember, Mellark, however much you love me, I will always love you more."
"I love you a dozen cheese buns."
"I love you twelve quivers of arrows."
"I love you a bakers dozen primrose iced sugar cookies."
"I love you thirteen very fat rabbits."
"Rabbit is my second favorite food, you know?"
"And what's the first then? I can't imagine anything to trump my freshly shot rabbit meat..."
"My first favorite would have to be... You, baby doll. You are the most delicious thing I have ever tasted."
"You know if it was anyone else calling me baby doll, he would have an arrow straight through the eye."
"Is that all you got out of that sentence? I call you such a flattering compliment as delicious, and you don't even thank me?"
"Why thank you, Peeta, I do not believe I have ever been so gratified in my life. You are quite tasty yourself- delectable, even. Trumped only by your cheese buns."
"Was that meant to be a perverted joke?" He asked.
"Only if you take it that way," I said, mostly as a moan.
"Hmm... So you like my cheese buns, eh?" He seemed extremely amused.
"Of course... I think I will begin to call you Cheese Buns, actually. What do you think?"
An upset groan told me that he did not think as highly of his new nickname as I did.
"Well maybe buns for short, then? I think it's cute... Baby Doll and Buns, the most famous lovers in all of Panem."
"Baby, I thought we were over this... I am not your lover; we are not the Star-Crossed Lovers. Capitol branding no longer defines our relationship."
"But we have an active sex life together, so we are lovers," I argue.
"But I am more than just your lover, I'm your husband. Lover is a degrading title- it implies that our relationship is purely physical. That's not the case, is it?"
"No, we feel the same way about each other. We are not going through this again; we solved this when we got home. I'm a scaredy cat who tried to protect my heart, not realizing I was better off with you. I love the me I am with you."
"I love all of you, all the time."
"I love every single part of you... Just some parts more than others," I winked.
"Was that a perverted joke?" He whispered.
"Eh, depends on how you take it," I replied in his ear.
"I think it was an innuendo." He trails his fingers down my sides and back up again, kissing my stomach all the while.
"If that's what it takes to get some action around here," I groan, pulling at his downy curly blonde hair.
"Ah, shut up Baby Doll, you know you get plenty." He retorts onto my inner right thigh.
I wake up the next morning feeling too lazy to move a muscle. Instead, I stare at Peeta's sleeping form in silence. The perfect Cupid's bow of his lips must have been carved by an angel; His cheekbones wrought by none other than the Almighty God himself. His biceps, I know, are perfectly firm, as are his pecs and abs. My thoughts begin to take a slightly darker turn, but luckily Portia enters at that moment and disrupts my naughty mental ramblings. Her arrival does not scare me as much as it might have a month ago- on the day we were scheduled to leave for the Victory Tour, Effie stumbled upon mine and Peeta's "morning after affection" as Haymitch dubbed it.
Flashback- Three Weeks Prior
The next morning, I am rudely awoken by obnoxious banging at the door. I descend the stairs, braiding my hair in my right hand and using my left to shrug on a silk robe over Peeta's boxers and my lacy bra. Of course, our early morning visitor has to be Effie Perfect Manners Trinket, escort extraordinaire, who seems astonished and offended at my choice of dress,
"Katniss!" she shrieks, "One simply cannot answer the door in her underclothes! It is… is… well, rude!"
"Ah," I sarcastically retort, "but it would have been perfectly polite to keep you waiting long enough to don my wig, false eyelashes, and pantyhose. I'll keep that in mind next time."
"Babe, don't mock Effie. She tries, just… you know the culture in the Capitol is different. You can't expect to see eye to eye with each other on everything. Just agree to disagree and put on my shirt."
Grumbling, I strip of my robe (forgetting the open door, allowing the entirety of Victor's Village a glimpse of my underclothes) and pull Peeta's grey cotton nightshirt over my head. Effie seems to hyperventilate at this ("Oh, the outlandish barbarism!") but gets over it when Haymitch stumbles through the front door. I suppose drunk victors are of higher priority than the naked, impolite ones. She frets over his disheveled appearance, making remarks about me and Peeta under her breath all the while.
"Oh, don't mind them," Haymitch blows it off, "they're just high off love. Always go a bit overboard with the morning after affection, those two."
"You mean you've seen this before?" Effie is flabbergasted.
"Well, not exactly…" He trails off, allowing his eyes to run over my scantily clad body. It would make things quite awkward if he wasn't… well… Haymitch, but I have grown quite accustomed to his crass behavior and innuendos, having been his neighbor for six months.
Effie shudders, I'm not sure if it is brought on by mine and Peeta's very public affection or Haymitch's perverseness. Either way, she changes the subject. "Alright, you three, that's enough. Your prep teams are here- the cameramen want to film our entourage boarding the train. Katniss, I will send Cinna and the others over here, as it appears you are no longer residing with your family." She hums in distaste, as if it somehow personally offends her that I should live with my own husband. Not that she- or anyone, save my fellow occupants of Victors' Village- know of Peeta's and my union in matrimony. Still, she could at least attempt to keep her opinions to herself or displayed minimally. Nothing about Effie, however, is ever minimal. I sigh and follow Peeta upstairs in order to dress appropriately for our Capitol visitors.
Current Time
"Oh, Katniss!" Portia seems slightly surprised, but composes herself easily. "I didn't expect to see you here! Honestly, I didn't expect to find Peeta here either, as Cinna had been finding the two of you in your room more often than not. Here, I brought this robe for Peeta, but you can wear it while he sleeps. I suspect Cinna will come looking for you soon, anyways. Could you wake your lover boy for me, please? He is not usually very pleasant for me in the mornings."
I chuckle. "Neither of us is really a morning person, actually. It's nothing personal," I assure the stylist.
"I figured as much; he is so personable towards me at all other times," she muses quietly. I don't bother to reply, turning my attention to my "lover boy" instead.
"Come on, Peeta; time to get up," I whisper, lips a hair's width from his ear. "Wakey, wakey, Cheese Buns." He groans in distaste, and I move my lips to hover an inch above his. I blow a slow, steady stream of air into his mouth. I know it bothers him- he claims it tickles his bottom lip- so I employ this method to awaken him nearly every time I wake up before him.
I hear the door open as I continue to pester my husband. Cinna's voice comes from the corridor of the train. "Hey, Porsche, have you seen Katniss this morning? Neither she nor Peeta is in her compartment." I hear a creak signifying the door opening wider.
"See for yourself," Portia giggles.
"Hey there, Girl on Fire! Starting so early in the morning? You could at least let the poor lad wake up first."
"That's what I'm trying to do!" I protest provoking him to laugh even harder.
"Sadly," Peeta grumbles from beneath me. I excitedly return my focus to him.
"You're awake!" I shriek excitedly, clapping my hands like a seal and grinning childishly. I bounce on his stomach, happy to see his beautiful eyes staring back at me, amused.
"I hope our children are like this," he whispers to me. "A mini Katniss and a mini Peeta. I want to be woken up like this every morning, by a tiny, loving human being jumping on me. Knowing that this little person is the product of our love, and that he or she loves me and can't wait to see me."
I've never wanted kids, but in that moment, I desperately yearn for the affection of a child- my child. He makes them sound so perfect and desirable. I tearily smile at him. Cinna and Portia are watching, awing in the background as I kiss Peeta good morning.
"I don't want children, Peeta. I never have wanted a child, but I do want your child."
He grins and pecks my nose, sending me off into Cinna's clutches.