She had dark hair and inviting brown eyes. They were so different from those of the person who stood next to him. Peeta watched this mysterious girl get off the train and go to pick up her bags. He felt rude staring and was acutely aware of Katniss looking at him. He felt her icy eyes following his gaze to where this girl was standing. She kind of scoffed and tapped his shoulder lightly.
"Let's go, Peeta. I might miss the train," she said. He tore his eyes away from the woman and took careful steps forward. He had been walking on eggshells for the past couple weeks. Katniss was distant with him for a long time before but the sliver of a relationship that they did have was crumbling quickly. Her mother was beginning to get sick and she felt guilty that she was in District 12 while the only family she had left could be dying.
Her nightmares kept getting worse, but she wouldn't let Peeta touch her anymore. After a while, she made him go back to his house and said she wanted to live alone now. It had made Peeta feel unimportant, like he didn't have a purpose anymore. All he had ever wanted to do was make Katniss happy but she wouldn't let him.
It was a couple days after being kicked out that she came over to Peeta's to tell him that she was moving to District 4. He agreed to take her to the station and carry her bags for her. And so here they were. Peeta was putting Katniss on a train to a far away District and he was comfortable with letting her go. They both needed to move on with their lives, start new chapters. And Peeta was ready to fall in love again.
Stephanie found adjusting to life in District 12 to be somewhat difficult. She was used to the warm, sunny beaches and the scent of the salty sea air, not the chilly weather and coal dust trailing from the mines. The people were nice enough though, which made it easier.
District 12 was very close-knit and everybody seemed to know each other. They kept telling her that she should meet Peeta; "He's the nicest of us all," they'd say. She knew who he was, of course, because of him being in the Games all those years ago. But she didn't know him. She found herself wanting to, though, so she went into the Mellark Bakery one day to meet this famous man.
She opened the door and a bell jingled somewhere above her head to indicate that there was a customer. A tall man with blonde hair appeared from a doorway behind the counter. He was wiping flour off of his hands and onto his apron. When he lifted his head to greet his newest customer, his bright blue eyes met Stephanie's deep brown ones.
Peeta's movements stopped completely as he felt his brain turn into absolute mush. "I, uh—um, can I-I help you with something?" he stuttered.
Stephanie smiled and extended a kind hand. "Hi, I just came in to see if you had some freshly-made bread. Everyone in the district can't stop raving about how I won't find any finer than bread made by a Mellark."
Peeta chuckled nervously, cleared his throat a little, and took hold of Stephanie's hand. He shook it gently, "Uh, yes. Let me just—um—pull it off the rack in the kitchen." He held up a finger signaling that he would only be a moment and hurried back through the doorway from which he had emerged from.
Once he was sure he was out of her line of vision, he mentally kicked himself. Weeks of mustering courage and all he could do was stare at her and babble like an idiot. He rubbed his hands over his face and then slowly brought them down so he could look at them. He knew he must have been the only one out of the two who had felt the spark when their skin made contact, or noticed the way her hand seemed to fit into his so perfectly.
For a moment he allowed himself to imagine what it would be like to hold her hand like it was the most normal thing in the world and whenever he pleased. But then he suddenly remembered why he was in the kitchen and who exactly he was keeping waiting while he stayed back here fantasizing about things.
Hastily he scanned over the loaves of bread that sat on the cooling rack. He picked up the one that looked the best and made his way back to the front room.
Stephanie watched Peeta as he expertly wrapped up the bread in a way that seemed almost as familiar to him as breathing. Another thing she noticed was his muscles—and boy, did he have muscles—as they tensed in certain places when he moved. He seemed like such a gentle person but he was clearly very strong. She had apparently held her gaze too long because when she finally tore her eyes away, she found him looking back at her with an amused look spread across his face.
She could feel her face heating up so she cleared her throat. "Thank you," she finally said, taking the bread from him and exchanged it for a few coins. Their fingertips just brushed by each other but the air might as well have crackled with the electricity they both felt. "Peeta's your name, right?" she asked in an attempt to avoid the butterflies awakening in her stomach.
"The one and only. Forgive me, but I don't know yours." Peeta thought for a second that he would love to be able to say this girl's name, to let his mouth form the sound that identified her.
"Stephanie. I just moved from District 4. It's so different here."
Stephanie. He thought the name suited her well; a pretty name for a beautiful girl. "Quite the change you've had to get used to then. Four is beautiful district, from what I remember, I mean. Of course it's been years since I've been there and I wasn't there for an especially happy occasion…" He voice faltered and trailed off. "But it's been a while."
His Victory Tour. The last time he saw 4, it had been to celebrate him becoming a Victor. She decided to avoid the topic. "The lack of ocean is a bit disappointing, but I hear you have a lake out in the woods somewhere. I could always go out and swim there if I get homesick, I guess."
"Ah, yet another person who can swim." Peeta was still a bit bitter about never having learned how to. "You people are everywhere," he joked with a small laugh.
"You learn to swim as soon as you can walk back home. Being in the water is like second nature there. Don't feel too bad if you can't," she offered.
"Yeah, well maybe someday I'll learn, but for now I think I'll stick to baking bread," Peeta said.
Stephanie smiled at him. Somewhere in the back of her mind a small voiced wished that she could be the one to teach him to swim. But the bigger part of her brain swiftly took over and told her it was a pipe dream. "I should probably go now." She tightened her grip around the bread that was no longer warm and turned to leave. As she was walking out the door, she turned back slightly and raised a hand in farewell.
When she as gone, Peeta found himself letting go of a breath he hadn't been aware he was holding. Wow, he thought. You are totally a goner now, Mellark.
They went on like that for a long time. Stephanie walking into the bakery, getting some bread, talking about anything and everything for a few minutes, and then they would say their farewells. But eventually Peeta decided that he couldn't go on like that anymore.
Stephanie walked in one afternoon and he was ready. He had talked himself up and down and sideways and back up for this moment. He wasn't going to chicken out or forget how to speak. He was going to ask Stephanie out on a date.
She walked up to the counter and her eyes immediately lit up, make Peeta's heart leap. "Hi, Peeta. How are you?" she asked, her voice as sweet as ever.
After a while he got more comfortable with talking to her and his answers were automatic. He rarely had to think too much around her; everything felt natural. "I'm well. I actually wanted to ask you something." He could do this.
"Okay." She encouraged him softly with the look in her eyes.
"How would you like to go on a picnic?" So far, so good.
"W-with you?" He nodded gently, a sinking feeling slowly growing in his stomach. She's going to say no, he thought."I—um. I would love that. It sounds lovely." Peeta let out sigh of relief and he laughed a little.
"I'm so glad to hear you say that."
They made their way, hand in hand, to the meadow where a red blanket and an array of foods lay waiting for them. Stephanie was blown away. Peeta was just glad that none of this went to waste; he was just glad that she even agreed to come with him.
For hours they sat there and no one bothered them. The world was suddenly just them two sitting on a blanket together. Stephanie told him of her family back in District 4, what life was like for her there. And Peeta let her see into his mind, what he had to deal with since he left the arenas. They both felt closer to each other than they had ever been with anyone else.
Once the sun had retreated behind the trees, they lay down and looked up at the sky. Stephanie had her head on Peeta's chest and she listened to his steady heart beat. She knew, in that moment, that she was in love with Peeta Mellark.
And he looked down at the beautiful woman that he now held in his arms. Softly, as not to disturb her, he touched his lips to the top of her head. Stephanie looked up at him with her big brown eyes and smiled.
His face pulled back into a radiant grin, one so genuine that Stephanie felt as though few had ever seen something so gorgeous. She could think of only one more thing to make this moment better. She tilted her head up ever so slightly, gently inviting him to kiss her.
He took full advantage of this opportunity and brought his lips down to meet hers. It was one of those fireworks-behind-your-eyelids-most-amazing-thing-you've-ever-experienced kisses.
They both pulled away after a few moments and laughed nervously as they looked into each other's eyes. They resumed holding each other and lying there, watching the stars.
When Peeta thought Stephanie was asleep and couldn't hear him, he whispered "I love you" into her hair. But she fought back a smile and responded with an "I love you too."