A/N: Thank you to everyone who has been patient with this story I've gone back to it and promised myself that I would finish this story, I've got like 20+ chapters written and Norbertsmom is my BETA extraordinaire. Thank you for everything! The beginning chapters have been changed so I will be reposting them.
PS I do not own the Hunger Games...
She was not a stalker.
Far from it.
Katniss Everdeen didn't even want to admit that she had a thing for Peeta Mellark, yet she snuck into his backyard in the middle of the night. Her steel gray eyes looked up at the tree just outside his window. She could hear the soft snoring of the pigs in their pen. Resolved, she began climbing the tree. She just needed to see him. To make sure his mother had not hit him for giving Prim, her baby sister, a cookie this afternoon.
Today, like many other days, Katniss tried to pay him; she asked him how much the cookie would cost. The smile on Prim's face was all the thanks he needed or so Peeta said when he handed her sister the cookie. Katniss did not say anything; she only stared mutely at him. His kind act with the cookie gave her mind ammunition to whirl with anxiety. She knew his mother, the witch, would be furious if she found out he was giving away the merchandise.
There was a history between Katniss and Peeta, an unshakeable bond.
When she was eleven and dying, he burned two loaves of bread on purpose and gave them to her. It was a generous, but dangerous act. That bread saved her life and the life of her family. His rebellion against his mother, who told him to throw the bread to the pigs, did not go unnoticed. A scolding was not good enough because he disobeyed her and gave it to Seam Trash. For his heroic act, Peeta received a beating from his mother. It was his selfless deed that sealed their fate.
In the Seam, they said they took care of one another, but there was always the implication of a debt that had to be paid. A debt always had to be paid. No one helped her except for this boy. The debt she owed him was still pending. Katniss bit her bottom lip as she thought of his mother laying a hand on him.
She did not want him to get hurt. Excuses, when it came to him, were her specialties.
Her thirteen-year-old-self made a litany of justifications for coming to see Peeta on an almost a nightly basis. Her number one reason she did anything for him or his family was to pay the debt. For two years she traded the best rabbits or squirrels with his father as a way to say thank you. She knew it wasn't good enough. Then it occurred to her that she needed to watch out for him. Last year was when it first happened, when she first climbed the tree to check on him.
Thus began her clandestine mission.
It started innocently enough. She heard the witch yelling at him when she came to trade. She'd wanted to make sure he was safe. If he needed medical attention she would get it for him. What she found made her pause. There was a bruise on his face, but instead of crying he was calmly drawing.
His rapt attention to what he drew caught her complete attention. From where she sat it looked like a face. Katniss had witnessed Peeta drawing dozens of flowers and cakes. She liked the way his hands moved as they drew on the paper. It was then she came up with a plan. Katniss reminded herself daily she needed to watch over him to somehow pay the debt she owed him.
It was all hogwash.
As time went on the reason changed. She just wanted to see the Boy with the Bread in his natural habitat. He fascinated her. His hands, his laughter, and his long blond lashes affected her poor teenage soul. Tonight was no different.
"Damn this tree," Katniss muttered to herself. A small branch poked her in the stomach as she climbed the tree behind Peeta's house. This was a necessary routine for her. Licking her lips, Katniss inched her way along the thick branch that stretched out toward his room. She swallowed as she finally got the view she was looking for. She gazed into his bedroom window from her hidden perch in the tree.
Peeta lay on his bed in the dark. His arms folded up underneath his head. The moonlight made his blond hair appear to glow in the darkened room.
A small sigh escaped her lips as she gazed at his perfect, blue eyes. His eyes were so blue that Katniss had not found one thing in nature to compare them too. Those eyes made her heart want to jump out from her chest and latch on to his.
The door to the room slammed open and Peeta's older brother came running in and jumped on top of Peeta.
"Hey, little brother, what are you doing?" Rye breathed into Peeta's face. He tried to get Peeta into a headlock.
Peeta easily slipped away from his brother's attack but found himself face to face with his brother's nasty breath instead.
Katniss wanted very much to shoot Rye for attacking Peeta and ruining her gazing time.
"Ugh Rye, have you been drinking again?"
"Shhhh…" Rye slurred a little.
"You got into mom's stash, didn't you?" Peeta whispered.
In between bouts of laughter, Rye said, "Mom is dead asleep."
"Yeah." Peeta calmly stood up. "Come on Rye, let's get you into bed."
Katniss watched Peeta help Rye get into his bed. Peeta patiently helped his brother out of his pants and shirt. He was such a good person. Peeta reminded Katniss of her sister Primrose.
Rye reached up and patted Peeta's face. "You are a good bro…"
Rye's hand fell down and he began to snore loudly.
Peeta shook his head then turned around. He looked up at the silver moon and recalled the silver eyed girl he had a huge crush on.
Katniss watched Peeta walk to his bed and pull out a crinkled piece of paper. This was something he did every night. Katniss wondered what was on that piece of paper that was so important that he kept it hidden underneath his mattress.
A branch was jabbing her into her side and she tried to shift without causing the tree leaves to move. Katniss nearly lost her grip. She had to hug the branch to prevent herself from falling.
Peeta saw the movement and paused looking at the picture. He looked out toward the tree by his window. Curious, he neared the window and peered into the tree.
Katniss heart beat wildly as she held on for dear life. She helplessly watched Peeta stare in her direction. She was afraid Peeta was going to see her.
The wind blew and ruffled the new spring leaves.
A squirrel jumped down from the branch above and landed on top of her head before leaping out to a small clearing just ahead. It moved until it caught sight of Peeta.
"Squirrel," Peeta muttered as he saw the little creature.
The squirrel stood up and stared at Peeta, its nose twitching.
"If Katniss were here she would shoot you straight in the eye," Peeta said. He swore the squirrel gave him a funny look before it scampered away. He shook his head and sighed. It was well past his bedtime. He needed to brush his teeth before he went to bed.
Katniss watched Peeta walk away.
Her muscles unwound from the branch and she rapidly scampered down out of the tree. She pushed her fly-away-hair away from her face as she quickly dashed away in the moonlight.
When she got to the meadow she stopped running and dropped to her knees.
She could not believe she had almost gotten caught. The thrill of having gotten away threaded throughout her body. Katniss placed her hand on her face. It felt warm.
She was smiling.
Outside of the woods, the only person besides her sister who could make her smile like this was him. Getting up, she hugged herself briefly before becoming serious again.
This was madness, Katniss scolded herself. She could not think this way. Katniss admonished herself, knowing she could not allow herself to feel such things. Sternly, Katniss told herself she would see him tomorrow when she traded with his father and no more.
But later on, as she got into bed she recalled how intensely blue his eyes were. She recalled just how selfless and good he was. And the urge to see him just once more made her earlier resolve crumble. So the next night as she climbed the tree Katniss disagreed with her inner voice that told her she was treading on dangerous ground by becoming Peeta's shadow.
Nope. Katniss told herself over and over again she was not a stalker, she was just trying to pay off a debt.
