Peeta spun his empty glass in the ring of condensation forming on the tabletop and contemplated ordering another Jack and Coke from the bar. If it wasn't Finnick's big night, he wouldn't even be here, in this stupid bar of all places. He scanned the room, quickly locating his friend on the dance floor in the middle of a crowd of girls, flashing his killer grin. His florescent orange t-shirt bearing the words FINNICK'S LAST FLING in white letters was glowing under the black light. Meanwhile, Peeta's brother Ryan and Finnick's childhood friends Gloss and Brutus, wearing BODYGUARD t-shirts made to match Finnick's shirt, scouted the crowd for women who might not be as enamoured with Finnick as the others. Ry used to do that in college too, he thought. Hell, they both used to do that in college. Well, until he and Katniss finally got together.
Certain that Finnick wasn't in a hurry to move on to their next stop on this pub crawl/bachelor party, Peeta moved toward the bar for that refill. He had a nice buzz on and needed to keep it if he was going to survive the night.
The smarmy voice of the deejay, Caesar Flickerman, rang out across the club. "All right ladies! Tonight, we have a very special guest. That's right! The infamous Finnick Odair, an Arena legend, is back in the House!" The women surrounding Finnick screamed and the boys raised their glasses toward Finnick.
"Yeah!" Recognizing Ry's voice, Peeta's head swiveled. His vision blurred slightly and then he found his big brother draped around a rather voluptuous blonde, his beer raised in honour of their best friend.
"That's right! That's right! Finnick Odair is a condemned man, here for one last night of fun before that old ball and chain clamps around his ankle forever." The crowd laughed and Peeta turned back to the bar to order his drink. "Now, our boy is on a quest to see how many kisses he can collect before he's glued to the same pair of lips for the rest of his life. So, ladies, it is up to you to give this man a night to remember!" The women cheered and hooted. Rye whipped out his phone snapping shot after shot as each woman left her lipstick print somewhere on Finnick's face.
"Jack and Coke," Peeta told the grizzled bartender, hoping the guy didn't recognize him.
The bartender glared at him with steely eyes. "You better not be drivin'," he snarled. But he poured the drink anyway.
"Nah." Peeta tossed his cash on the bar, lifted his glass and focused on bringing it to his lips. "We've rented a Hummer. A stretch. It's waiting outside whenever Finn is ready to go."
The bartender inclined his head toward the crowd of girls all waiting to say their final good-bye to the man of the hour. "I think he's gonna be awhile." He nodded to Peeta's t-shirt. "He's gonna be guarding you if you keep it up."
Peeta looked down at his own BODYGUARD shirt and shrugged. "Whatever. The other boys've got him covered."
The bartender looked out at the crowd again where Gloss and Brutus were playfully pretending to fend off the women and Ry acted out the role of paparazzo. He squinted. "What's it say on the back?"
Peeta felt a goofy grin on his face as he turned around. His life might be a train wreck right now, but he was truly happy for his friends. "Annie's Victory Tour," he shouted over the din.
The bartender barked out a laugh and pulled a few draft for the frat boys who had bellied up to the bar. "She finally got him to propose, did she? She was in here last weekend with her girlfriends. Looked like it was her bachelorette. I wondered if they'd made it."
So the bartender did remember them. "Finn said their party was last weekend," Peeta acknowledged with a nod.
"I'd think you'd know that anyway. Your girl was with them," the bartender added as he mixed cocktails for a group of women in tight skirts and spiky heels. They whispered to each other while they side-eyed Peeta.
Peeta didn't notice the looks, too busy suffering from the usual knife in his chest that came along with any mention of Katniss. He shook his head and then held onto the bar until the dizziness that overtook him had passed. "She's not… my girl. Not anymore." He could feel his blood pounding in his ears. He'd had enough. This place. This party. It was just too much. He tossed back the Jack and Coke and pushed back from the bar. "I need sm'air."
"Sounds like a good idea, Boy."
"See ya 'round, Haymitch."
"Hey, Boy?" Peeta looked back at him over his shoulder. "Sweetheart was looking pretty miserable. Even for her, and that's saying somethin'."
Peeta nodded and staggered toward the door and out into the parking lot. He breathed deeply, trying to push the memories of Katniss out of his mind. Her voice. Her eyes. Her hands in his hair. Her body moving against his in the night. He leaned against the wall of the club, which pulsed along with the base, sending a vibration through his body. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked the time. Midnight. That made it six weeks and three days since Katniss stormed out of his life. He hadn't seen her since, but not a day went by that he didn't wonder how she was doing. She wouldn't answer her phone or his texts. After a few days of trying, he'd had to accept that she was gone.
He tilted head back until it touched the brick wall behind them and closed his eyes, swallowing. He shouldn't have said it. Wouldn't have said if he'd been sober. Known he was in trouble the minute the words slipped out of his mouth. The wedding was next week. They'd have to spend all day around each other. He should just call her apologize so they could put it behind them. Find a way to co-exist inside their crowd of friends. Before he could talk himself out of it, Peeta flipped to his contacts and touched the picture of her face and gazed at it when it filled the screen. There she was, rumpled and make-up free in their bed - his bed, now. He touched the screen again and waited for her phone to go to voice mail, just like it always did.
"Hello?" Her sleep-filled voice drifted over the distance between them, bringing back memories of lazy mornings in his bed. Peeta opened his mouth but no words came out. "Hello? Who is this? Do you have any idea what time it is?" She was getting annoyed now. He could hear the scowl in her voice. He forced the words out.
"Katniss, don't hang up. Please."
There was a rustling on the other end of the line. Maybe she was sitting up? "Peeta? Why are you calling at this hour? Is everything OK?"
"Yeah. I mean no, but…" He cursed. "Never mind. There's nothing to worry about."
She sighed. "Then why are you calling?"
Because I miss you. Because my life sucks without you in it.
"It's just that, we're out for Finn's stag party and I got to thinking that we hadn't spoken since… that night… and well, I just thought that we should talk before the wedding. So it wouldn't be, you know, so awkward. At the wedding, I mean."
"Peeta, you're seriously calling me from Finnick's stag party to talk about this? After the last conversation we had, did you really think another drunken chat would be good idea?"
"Katniss," he pleaded. He ran his fingers through his hair, tugging slightly at the roots. "Please. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry."
The doors to the club opened and the guys poured out the door, laughing as Finn attempted to wipe the lipstick from his face and smeared it everywhere instead.
"You're sorry."
"Yeah, Katniss. I'm so, so sorry. I never should have said that."
"Then you didn't mean it?" Her voice trembled slightly.
"Peet!" He looked up. Ry was waving him over to the Hummer. "C'mon, man. Quit dicking around and get in the limo! Next stop, Finn's gotta get the girls to buy him shots."
He flipped his brother off and turned his attention back to the phone. "Katniss, I ..."
The line was already dead.