Picking up the Pieces
Disclaimer: I do not, nor have I ever owned The Hunger Games. I also do not own any song lyrics used, and I most definitely do not own Texas.
Author's Note: Some things you should know before you read. This story takes place in Houston, Texas and it is modern day. Katniss and Peeta have been best friends since they were five. The story starts in present time, and will probably leave you with a lot of questions, which will be answered as the story goes on through flashbacks and dreams. Anyways, PLEASE review, it is appreciated. Love you all, Enjoy :)
~Trying to live and love, With a heart that can't be broken, Is like trying to see the light with eyes that can't be opened.
Yeah, we both carry baggage, We picked up on our way, so if you love me do it gently, And I will do the same. We may shine, we may shatter, We may be picking up the pieces here on after, We are fragile, we are human, We are shaped by the light we let through us, We break fast, cause we are glass. Cause we are glass. I'll let you look inside me, through the stains and through the cracks, And in the darkness of this moment, You see the good and bad. But try not to judge me, 'cause we've walked down different paths, But it brought us here together, so I won't take that back.~
"Katniss, wake up! We're going to be late." I hear Peeta say, his breath hitting my face. I open my eyes to meet Peeta's bright blue gaze. My breath hitches as he leans in closer whispering in my ear, "Katniss, you have to get up. It's the last day of our senior year and if you don't get out of bed we're going to be late." I nod my head, suddenly unable to form words and get up out of my bed. I wordlessly push Peeta out of my room and quickly get dressed and pull my messy hair into a braid. As I walk out of my room I run right into Peeta. He chuckles then steps back and hands me my bag before taking my hand in his as we walked downstairs.
When we walk into the kitchen I see my mother and stepfather Haymitch making breakfast as Prim sits at the table reading her new book, Anthem. I throw a granola bar and an apple juice into my bag and walk over to my parents. I tap my mom on the shoulder and she turns to me with a smile. "I'm going to Peeta's house after school. We will pick up the kids." I say. I hear Peeta talking with Haymitch, about how the school probably thinks they are our kids.
I let out a small laugh but turn my focus back to my mother. She says, "Thank you Katniss. Good luck on Finals today. Love you." I say that I love her too before pulling her into a hug and going over to Prim.
I put my hands on her shoulders and she turns to face me. "Peeta and I will pick you and Rory after your track practice, Five o'clock right?" I say happily, ever since Prim started track she has been much happier.
"Right. See you later." She says, turning back to her book. I hug her shoulders and go over to give Haymitch a quick hug before I grab Peeta's hand and drag him outside. He helps me into his Jeep, and hooks the four point harness and gets in the driver's seat, quickly hooking himself in before starting the engine and heading towards the school.
We arrive at the school and Peeta parks in the senior parking lot. We jump out and head towards the building our lockers are in. We are walking down the hallway talking about anything and everything when we are interrupted by Clove running towards us. "Katniss! Can you pick up Emmett from Track afterschool; I have something really important to do today." Clove asks bouncing excitedly on the balls of her feet.
"Of course; this really important thing wouldn't have anything to do with Cato would it?" I ask sarcastically. Cato and Clove have been dating since freshman year, and usually when Clove needs me to pick up her brother, it's because she has plans with Cato. I don't mind picking him up though. Prim has a crush on Emmett and he also happens to be friends with Rory so it works out well.
"He said he had a big surprise for me!" She says excitedly.
"Tell Cato, he owes me for this." I laugh. Peeta laughs too but says he's going to head to class, to talk to the art teacher about something. He smiles and walks off. I hear Clove start to laugh loudly as I watch Peeta walk down the hallway.
I turn back to her, she stops laughing when I glare at her. "Will do Katniss," She says before dropping her voice a whisper, "so have are things with Peeta; have you and Loverboy realized you're perfect for each other yet?"
"Clove, we're just friends and you know that. Peeta would never want to be with me. I have too much baggage." I say quietly. I know the feelings I have been having towards Peeta are more than friendship but do I really want to risk our friendship for a relationship when I don't even know how he feels?
"Katniss, everyone has baggage… even Peeta." Clove says suddenly serious. I sigh and drop my head because I know she's right. She grabs my shoulders and makes me look at her as she speaks, "You need to tell him how you feel; before it's too late."
"I know… Clove, I have to get to class. I'll talk to you later." I say as I shift on my feet eager to get to class.
"Okay," She says and as I start to walk towards class she yells after me, "good luck."
I get to class right as the bell rings, I silently cheer in my head. I know I won't get in trouble though, being the valedictorian has its perks. I take my seat next to Peeta, who is shoving something in his backpack. When he straightens up he shoots me a big smile, that makes mt heart flutter and I spend the rest of class thinking about what Clove said. I have to tell him, I'm just not sure how to.
Since today is a finals day for us seniors, we only have two classes to attend. Both of my classes are electives so the day passes by quickly. When the final bell rings, everyone runs out of the classrooms screaming happily and talking about grad night that is scheduled for after graduation tomorrow. I meet Peeta by my locker, and together we empty both of our lockers, throwing the rest of our books in the small duffel bag Peeta brought. He carries the bag out and throws it in the back of the Jeep, tying it down with bungee cables. We jump in and head towards Peeta's house.
"Hey you wanna walk down to the lake with me? You know since we have a while before we have to pick up all the kids." Peeta asks nervously as he carriers our stuff into his house. I nod excitedly but nervously, I love the lake but it's weird for Peeta to be nervous about anything, so I'm a little skeptical. He tells me to go ahead and head outside while he grabs some stuff, so I do.
Peeta walks out of the house with his backpack hanging off his back, stuffed full of stuff. I chuckle as does he. Peeta entwines our fingers as we make our way to the lake, I sneak glances at him to find him looking at me. When we finally reach the lake, Peeta and I sit down on a large rock as he opens up the backpack pulling out a bunch of food. I can't help but smile when I see him pull out two cheese buns. We eat all the food within minutes and lay back on the rock, Peeta's fingers find mine again and draw mindless patterns on my palm. We are quiet for awhile as we stare at the sky. Eventually Peeta sits up and grabs his backpack.
"I have something for you; I've been working on painting it during my free period." He says as he pulls out a small canvas from his backpack. He hands it to me and I gasp when I look at the picture. It's me, laying on the rock were sitting at now, with my eyes closed and a smile lights up my face.
"Peeta, this is beautiful. I love it but you didn't have to do this." I say.
"I know but I wanted to," He says his voice barely higher than a whisper, "…Katniss, do you ever feel like we're meant to be… you know… uh more than friends." I gasp and my heart beats loudly in my chest. How is it that just hours before I was thinking the same exact thing? He fiddles with my fingers nervously as he waits for me to answer.
I stutter nonsense for a few minutes before I can finally force words out of my mouth but they are nothing more than a whisper, "only every hour of every day." I look up to see Peeta smiling from ear to ear and that gives me the strength to say what I do next, "Peeta, kiss me."
Okay, that's the first chapter. Originally I had planned on making this chapter longer but I decided to split it into two chapters. Remember that this starts present time, so their relationship is not rushed it has been building for about 12 years, and you will get a look into this in later chapters. Also I do not own Glass by Thompson Square. PLEASE REVIEW, and I hope you enjoyed.
Love you all. :) –THGgoddess4ever