Sooo, my dear readers, I'm sorry, but I am totally and completely stalling you. I am waiting until school is over to post my next chapter in Unspoken, my Infernal Devices FF. Sorry D:
Don't worry! Only 2 ½ more days, I promise!
So, while you wait, surpress your hunger with this Hunger Games one-shot. I'd say its pretty fluffy, but not tooooo bad (:
The setting is in Catching Fire(for people who come in here thinking this is Hunger Games, it's Catching Fire), when Katniss comes back from discovering Bonnie and Twill, and bruising her tailbone. Ouch.
This is Peeta x Katniss. Go away Peeta Haters :o PATNISS FTW.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games Trilogy.
I furrow my brow, concentrating on the chess game in front of me instead of the two Peacekeepers standing in the Everdeen's kitchen. Just then, the door opens, and I am overcome with relief. She didn't run off with Gale like my nagging conscience had told me she had. As she walks into the kitchen, I can see from her sharp gray eyes that she has noticed the Peacekeepers, before she even knows I'm there. I immediately become aware of the manner in which she is standing. Of course, I doubt that anyone else had noticed, as I usually pay more attention to Katniss than anything else. She was standing as though she had something pressing up against her back.
She, like always, keeps her face very neutral, and says, "Hello."
Her mother leaps at the sight of her and plasters on a smile, "Here she is, just in time for dinner!" she declares cheerily, a little too cheerily, I might add.
They have an exchange, Katniss and the Peacekeepers, they notify that Thread has sent them with a message, and Katniss takes it in stride. Her mother points out that they have been waiting for Katniss for hours. Which, they had. Katniss's mother had called Haymitch and I over about two hours ago, being very vague about why she wanted us over, but making it clear that something was wrong.
"May we ask where you've been Miss Everdeen?"
A little voice in my head says, Soon to be Mrs. Mellark. I push the voice away, don't start thinking like that. She's only doing it because of President Snow.
Katniss replies casually, "Where haven't I been today?" She crosses between the Peacekeepers and makes her way into the kitchen, and she meets my eyes. Obviously, she hadn't been expecting Haymitch and I to come over for dinner tonight. She pulls her hood down and shakes the snow from her hair, blinking her eyes. My breath slightly catches in my throat, transfixed by her every movement.
Haymitch interrupts my mental stupor, "So, where haven't you been?"
She glances at Prim emphatically, "Well I didn't get to talk to the Goat Man about getting Prim's goat pregnant, because someone gave me completely inaccurate information as to where he lives."
Prim and Katniss go back and forth whether or not Katniss had heard correctly when Prim had given her directions, and I couldn't help but chuckle under my breath.
"The slag heap next to the east entrance, not the west side. He lives on the east side." Prim said patiently.
"When did you say that?" Katniss demanded.
Haymitch chose this moment to interject, "Last night."
I added, "It was definitely east, Katniss dear." I share a look with Haymitch, we both get it, and burst out laughing. I look up to find Katniss glowering at me. I do my best to look apologetic and hide my laughter. "I'm sorry Katniss, but it's what I've been saying. You don't listen when people talk to you. "
We discuss Katniss's inability to listen, followed by more laughter. Katniss finally breaks, allowing herself a small smile, "Fine. Somebody else can arrange to get the stupid goat knocked up." Her comment invoked more guffawing, but I quickly take notice of a look that passes through her gaze when she looks at me and Haymitch.
Finally, her gaze rests on the Peacekeepers, who are still absorbing the scene. The man is smiling at us, but the woman still looks skeptical. "What's in the bag?" she asks, probably hoping to find game or something illegal that she can whip Katniss for. She raises an eyebrow and dumps the contents on the table; a roll of bandages and a small rucksack of peppermint candies. "See for yourself."
"Oh, good, we've been running low on bandanges." Her mother comments as she examines the items scattered on the table.
I make my way over to the table, reach for the bag of peppermints and pop one in my mouth, knowing it will set Katniss's teeth on edge. "Ooh, peppermint." I remark with a grin at Katniss.
"They're mine." She claims with a swipe at the bag, but I quickly toss it to Haymitch, who helps himself to more than a few peppermint candies before handing the bag to Prim. Katniss looks daggers at us, "None of you deserve candy!"
I smirk, "Why? Because we're right?" I lean closer and wrap my arms around her waist, my mouth pressed against the soft skin on her neck. She winces faintly, but enough for me to feel the muscles under her skin ripple grotesquely. She yelps in what sounds like indignation, but I can recognize it as pain. Our eyes meet and something clicks. Not letting on to the fact that she'd been hurt was very Katniss of her. "Okay, Prim said west. I distinctly heard west. And we're all idiots. How's that?" I lean into her, her sweet breath tickling my face. She smiles faintly, "Better." And tilts forward to accept my kiss. My world spins for a minute, and she pulls back, remembering that the Peacekeepers are still here.
"You said you had a message for me?"
"Head Peacekeeper Thread wanted you to know that the fence surrounding District 12 will now have electricity twenty-four hours a day."
"Didn't it already?" she responds innocently.
"He thought you might be interested in passing the information onto your cousin." The woman announces curtly.
"Thank you. I'll tell him. I'm sure we'll all sleep a little better knowing that security has addressed that little lapse." She said with a guiltless smile. The woman's jaw tightened prominently. Without a word, she turns and walks out the door, the man following in her wake. Her mother quickly trails after, lockign the door behind them.
Before the lock has even slid home, Katniss slumps into my arms and I steady her, "What is it?" the worry in my voice is evident.
"Oh I banged my left foot. The heel, that is. And my tailbone has been having a bad day as well. " I help her over to the cushioned rocker I had been sitting in previously, her mother easing off her boots and elevating them on the ottoman, "What happened?" she asks her daughter.
Katniss hesitates, and I know she's about to lie.
"I slipped and fell."
We're all staring at her now.
"On some ice." she adds.
Suddenly, I'm aware that the house is probably bugged and it isn't safe to talk openly. Her mother begins to prodd at Katniss's feet and make observations on her severly bruised tailbone. The worry in my stomach starts to churn. Prim goes to fetch Katniss's pajamas and her mother makes some tea with sleep syrup. She begins to slurp the hot, healing elixir. Immediately, her eyelids are drooping and she is dozing off. Her mother struggles to get Katniss to her feet , so I volunteer to get her to bed instead. At first she leans on my shoulder, but soon it is evident that she will need to be carried. So I swoop her into my arms and carry her swiftly up the stairs. Slowly and gently, I lower her into the bed and cover her with the warm sheets, and I can see her relaxing.
I kiss her forehead and whisper, "Good night, Katniss." But she catches my hand and I am still. Her hands are freezing. Her brows crease, and she looks conflicted.
"Don't go yet, Peeta. Not until I fall asleep."
Something inside me cracks when she says my name.
I sit on the edge of her bed, holding her hand in between both of mine, and all I can think about is how I spent two excruciating hours thinking she had run away from me with Gale, and now she is here before me, asking me to stay with her.
Quietly, I remark, "I almost thought you'd changed your mind today. When you were late for dinner."
She pulls my hand and holds it against her cheek, her eyes closing and a smile creeping onto her lips, "No, I'd have told you if I was leaving."
I can see her slowly drifting, when she whispers:
"Stay with me, Peeta."
My heart is breaking.
"Always, Katniss."