AN: Written for the Everlark Fic Exchange on Tumblr. Springtime Edition 2018.
Prompt 63: Katniss and Peeta are teachers. Their classrooms are across from each other so they eat lunch together every day which leads to some of their students shipping them. Whether they actually get together or not is up to you. [submitted by ra3lynn3]
With a big thank you to Merciki for pushing me in the right direction and to HPfanonezillion for helping me understand what I was doing here.
Spotted: Everlark Falling in Love.
Rue's phone buzzed in her hand. A moment later, an incoming message alert flashed on the screen.
Cashmere: Spotted. Miss E and Mr. M heading out to lunch.
Rue rolled her eyes. It looked like Cashmere was taking her role as Gossip Girl a little too seriously.
It had all started on a rainy morning a few months back.
Rue and her friends had been looking for a cozy place to spend their lunch break when they'd come across a small bench right across the teachers' lounge. The seat wasn't very comfortable, but it was empty and, compared to the rest of the building, the hallway it was on was blissfully warm.
They had barely started eating when Mr. Mellark and Miss Everdeen had turned up.
The girls had watched, silently munching on their sandwiches, as the teachers greeted each other.
Mr. Mellark had been the first to speak. He had merely asked his colleague about her weekend but, even from a distance, the girls had noticed an edge of uncertainty in his usually deep, modulated voice.
Miss Everdeen answered with a few unintelligible words and a shy smile. Her small hand flew to the end of her braid and began pulling at it, anxiously twisting it between her fingers as she walked into the teachers' area.
Mr. Mellark quickly followed.
In the quiet hallway, Rue shared an intrigued look with her friends. Clove and Cashmere looked back. The exchange had been brief, but the strange awkwardness between the two teachers was enough to spark the teens' curiosity.
Back in the teachers' room, Miss Everdeen and Mr. Mellark sat down to share a table. A couple of teachers waved and smiled in their direction, but no one made any effort to join them.
Clove took a sip from her juice box and leaned into Rue's ear. "That's the new Bio teacher, right?"
"Mm-hmm, that's Miss Everdeen," Rue confirmed.
Clove took a bite of her sandwich, her eyes never leaving the two teachers across from her as she chewed. "Is she attached?"
Rue shrugged. "Not as far as I know."
Clove turned to Cashmere. "How about him?"
Cashmere shook her head. This was her second year in Mr. Mellark's class. She had never been a straight A student, but she enjoyed his lessons -almost as much as she enjoyed the sight of his dimpled smile and ocean blue eyes. She knew he had nieces and nephews –they came up in most of the anecdotes he shared with the class- but he had never mentioned a girlfriend and, since he didn't wear a ring, she was sure he didn't have a wife. "He's single."
"Interesting." Clove took another bite of her sandwich. She was almost done with her lunch when she asked, "So, what else do we know about these two?"
Cashmere's hands dropped limply to her lap, her half-eaten apple temporarily forgotten. "Mr. Mellark is the youngest teacher in the English Department. His classes are a lot of fun." She tilted her head to the side, narrowing her eyes as she tried to recall everything she knew about him. "Cato told me he assists the wrestling coach sometimes… and I think he painted all the new sets for the drama department last year."
"An artist and an athlete. Not bad," Clove said. "What about her, Rue? Is she cool?"
Rue's eyes lit up. "Oh, yeah! She's awesome! She's the one who organizes all those treks to the natural reserve."
Cashmere leaned forward so she could see Rue. "Didn't she win like a medal or something?"
"Yeah, in archery. She's a national champion," Rue said. "Miss Seeder, told us once that Miss Everdeen was a great archer when she was a teenager, but I don't think she competes anymore."
Clove brushed away the breadcrumbs which had fallen on her lap. "I have a good feeling about this."
"About what?" Rue asked, popping one last grape into her mouth.
Jutting her chin out towards the teachers' lounge, Clove explained, "About them." Two pairs of wide eyes settled on her. The surprise and confusion on her friends' faces made her smile. "Well, look at them, they're perfect for each other!"
Frowning, Cashmere looked back and forth between her friend and the two teachers who now seemed to be deep in conversation. "How so?"
"Well, they're roughly the same age," Clove began, using her fingers to keep track of her thoughts. "They're both single, and kind of cool, and… I don't know! They just… They look good together. Don't you think?"
Silence settled over the group as the three girls watched the teachers interact.
Miss Everdeen was laughing at something Mr. Mellark had just said. Her cheeks had turned a pretty shade of pink, and she was toying with the tip of her long, dark braid once more. The movement slow and relaxed, not anxious like before.
Their food lay virtually untouched on the table in front of them.
Neither one of the girls had much experience when it came to love. They were only 14, after all. But they had seen enough romantic comedies to recognize a spark when they saw one.
Cashmere crossed her arms in front of her chest and huffed. With a dramatic pout, she admitted, "Yeah, alright, you may be on to something there."
XXXXX
The next day, the girls made their way back to the bench.
"Maybe today we'll catch them holding hands or something," Clove whispered as they sat down.
They had just begun eating when Miss Cardew, Principal Heavensbee's secretary, walked into the hallway. Her emerald eyes immediately zoomed in on the three girls sitting on the bench. "I'm sorry, ladies, but you know you're not allowed in here. That's what the school cafeteria is for; please pack your sandwiches and leave," she curtly told them.
Not one to challenge authority, Rue immediately stood up and began putting her lunch away. "Well, I guess that's that," she said as soon as the woman was out of earshot.
"No, no, no, no, no." Clove's eyes shone with determination and purpose. "This is just a small bump in the road, we're just getting started here."
Cashmere looked at Rue, but her friend had no answers. If anything, she looked just as confused as she was. "Getting started?" they both asked.
"Yeah. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, my friends!"
"An opportunity?" Cashmere repeated. "To do what?"
"To see two attractive people fall in love," Clove said smiling as brightly as if she'd just struck gold.
Rue opened her mouth, but she couldn't find the words to speak. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cashmere -her lips were pressed into a thin line, her blond waves bounced as she shook her head.
Everyone knew Clove had a wild imagination.
Her parents had filed for divorce when she was still in diapers, and she had no recollection of them ever being together. She had never seen them hug or kiss or even hold hands, but she refused to believe they hadn't loved each other at some point in time. After all, she was theirs, and they both loved her. Of that, she had no doubt.
Following a joint custody agreement, Clove was always moving between her parents' homes. She spent her weekdays jumping from one household to the other, and her weekends alternating between the two families each of them had created. She was a part of everything and nothing at the same time. She had two bedrooms, two copies of Jane Austen's complete works, and two completely different sets of siblings, but only one hope.
To find love. True, heart-stopping, all-encompassing love.
As strange as it seemed, Clove's circumstances hadn't turned her into a cynic. If anything, her parents' failed marriage had only served to fuel her love for fairy tales and romance. It had launched her insatiable quest for love, her search for "the one" -the perfect soulmate she believed was waiting for her somewhere.
Her passion for romance was one of the things that defined her, and Rue and Cashmere loved her for it. Her unwavering faith in true love was an inspiration, to be sure, but there was something about this new idea of hers that didn't feel right.
"This isn't a show, Clove!" Cashmere said. "They're our teachers. This isn't one of your stories, it's real life."
"And that's why it's so interesting!" Clove exclaimed. The skeptical look on her friends' faces told her they weren't convinced. "Look, in stories, you always have an author who controls everything; someone who makes up scenarios to bring people together. They push and twist their characters until they make them fit into a neat little puzzle." She pointed to the teachers' lounge. The subjects of her conversation had just walked into the room and were about to sit down across from each other. She lowered her voice. "Look at them. No one is pushing them. No puppet master is telling them what to do, and yet…"
For the second day in a row, the girls watched as the teachers opened their food containers and exchanged shy glances across the table.
They were about to look away when Miss Everdeen said something, slightly tilting her head to the side. Mr. Mellark's whole face lit up in response, and he nodded, leaning forward a bit to say something back.
"In a room full of people, they see nothing but each other." Clove sighed. "Get it?"
Silently, Rue and Cashmere nodded. They got it.
"So, what is it you want to do exactly?" Cashmere asked.
Clove shrugged. "I don't know. Don't really have a plan. Just keep an eye on them, I guess."
Rue bit her lip as she considered her friend's idea. The romantic in her was already warming up to the prospect of following her teachers' love story, but she was still a bit wary of the whole experiment. "We won't interfere, though. Right?"
Clove bobbed her head in a series of resolute nods. "Right. This needs to be real. Whatever happens is totally up to them. We'll just watch and report. Nothing more."
XXXXX
Over the next few weeks, the girls kept a watchful eye on their teachers.
It wasn't always an easy task.
Rue was in Miss Everdeen's class, and Cashmere in Mr. Mellark's, but Clove was in neither, which meant her exposure to her subjects was limited to the quick glimpses she caught of them each day.
Sometimes, the girls would walk past the teachers' lounge and hang in the hallway for a bit as they pretended to wait for someone else. But they never stayed long. Miss Cardew had already warned them once, and they didn't want to risk detention over their surveillance experiment.
Rue and Cashmere didn't mind too much, but Clove always muttered and grumbled as they walked away. The brief snippets and bits of chatter they caught were never enough.
Eventually, it was Cashmere who came up with the idea that would change everything. "We should start a hangouts chat," she announced brightly one day. "That way we can keep track of their movements and interactions, even when we're not together."
"You're brilliant, Cash!" Clove wrapped her arms around her friend. "Why didn't I think of this before? We could share info and even pictures whenever something major happens."
Cashmere nodded. "I could also invite a few others to join, this way we'll have access to more information."
Rue narrowed her eyes. She didn't like the sound of this, not one bit.
She had been in Miss Everdeen's class long enough to know the woman valued her privacy. How would she feel if she found out that a group of students was following her around to document her every move? It was one thing to have three girls watching her from time to time, but to have an entire team of people reporting on her sounded downright invasive. It was probably illegal too.
As uncomfortable as that thought made her, Rue decided to give her friends the benefit of the doubt. "Who did you have in mind?"
Cashmere shrugged. "Um, I don't know. Lavinia and Cressida, maybe? They already know we've been watching them."
"Yes! Those are great choices." Clove was so excited she was practically vibrating. "Lavinia is in drama club, so she has access to Mr. M in the afternoons, and I think Cressida lives in the same street as Miss E."
Ignoring Clove's outburst, Rue looked at Cashmere. "Just them?"
"Yeah," Cashmere assured her, "I don't think we should add too many people to the mix. We don't want to stand out."
Rue relaxed, Cashmere was on the right track. Lavinia and Cressida were good friends. They could be trusted to be discreet and not to blabber about this little social experiment with others.
XXXXX
Rue was walking into her classroom one morning when she felt her phone vibrating in her back pocket with a new message from the hangouts group.
Clove: I think we should give them a couple name.
Rue wrinkled her nose. Keeping an eye on their teachers was one thing -she had even come to accept that the chat group was a good idea, it made them less conspicuous- but she wasn't sure that blending their names into one wasn't taking things too far. Pressing her lips together, she typed: Why?
Clove: Because I'm tired of writing Miss and Mr. each time! And calling them "our OTP" seems impersonal and lame. Any suggestions?
Cashmere: None that I'd like to share. I've been at this for a while, and I'm telling you, it ain't easy!
Rue found her seat. Her mind wandered as she considered different options. This was happening with or without her it seemed. Better join the fun then.
Rue: How about Melldeen?
Clove: Not bad.
Lavinia: It's ok, but… it doesn't sound very glamorous, does it?
Cressida: Better than the alternative!
Cashmere: I agree with Cress. At least it doesn't sound like stinking cat urine or a male body part.
Lavinia: How about Everlark?
Rue's face lit up. "Everlark," she whispered. That one had a nice ring to it.
Cashmere: Yes! That's perfect! Lavinia, you're a genius. I'm changing the name of our group chat right now!
A few seconds later, a new notification flashed on Rue's screen.
Hangouts: Cashmere has changed the name of your group to "The Everlark Report."
With a smile, Rue slipped her phone into her backpack and looked up at the front of the room. Miss Everdeen was already standing in front of the board. The class was about to start.
XXXXX
Time went by.
Days became shorter. The warm winds cooled down. Autumn came and went.
Miss Everdeen and Mr. Mellark shared their lunch every day.
Clove and her group of scouts stayed on task.
A few weeks after finding the perfect couple name for their subjects, they girls began referring to themselves as "Everlarkers."
Like professional reporters, they roamed the hallways with their phones glued to their hands, always on the look-out for fresh information. They typed, they snapped, they shared -but only with each other.
True to their original promise, they just watched, never interfered.
Once a week, they all got together at Sae's Diner to exchange opinions and formulate theories.
Milkshakes and French fries were happily consumed as the girls reviewed everything they had discovered during the week. No detail was too dull, no report too small.
Sometimes they got big scoops -like the time when Lavinia bumped into Everlark as they were leaving the Starbucks by her house; or when Cato mentioned in passing that Miss E had been waiting for Mr. M in the parking lot right after wrestling practice.
Those big moments had the girls talking for hours, but it was some of the smaller details that gave them the most joy. Their faces would immediately light up when some of these gems popped on their screens.
Lavinia: I just saw him carrying her backpack!
Rue: She waved hello as she walked into her classroom this morning.
Clove: They're sharing a piece of pie!
Through it all, Miss Everdeen and Mr. Mellark didn't disappoint.
Whether they meant to or not, the sweetness of their exchanges, and the warmth which seemed to emanate from them whenever they spoke captivated anyone who saw.
XXXXX
Two days before Christmas break, Rue came out of gym class to find a new message waiting for her.
Cashmere: Mr. M sneezed!
Rue wrinkled her nose. That was gross. Besides, it wasn't relevant -it certainly didn't merit an exclamation mark. She was about to type a response when a new message came through.
Cashmere: Yikes! That's a nasty cold!
Clove: How does he look?
Cashmere: Like a sick puppy. He's all red-nosed and puffy-eyed. His hair is a rumpled mess.
Clove: OMG! This is SO perfect!
Lavinia: Perfect? Don't you mean "poor guy"?
Rue stifled a laugh, she could almost see Lavinia shooting daggers as she typed on her screen.
Clove: Well, yeah, obviously… But, don't you see? There's no way Miss E is going to resist that. She'll probably want to nurse him back to health... Wouldn't that be romantic?
Rue was still smiling when she put her phone away. Leave it to Clove to create an opportunity for romance out of thin air.
Later that day, Clove rushed into the cafeteria. She was out of breath, and her cheeks were flushed, but her eyes twinkled with unrestrained excitement as she announced, "She brought him soup!"
Rue looked up from her fruit cup. "She did?"
With a triumphant smile, Clove swiped her phone screen open and showed them the picture she had just snapped.
Cashmere craned her neck to get a better view of the blurry photograph that showed Miss Everdeen holding a plastic container in her hands. "Doesn't look like she got that in the cafeteria. You think she brought it from home?"
Clove shrugged. "I don't know where she got it from, but I just saw her warming it up in the microwave and carrying it to their table."
Cressida reached for Clove's phone and brought the screen up to her face. "What do you think this means?"
A smug smile settled on Clove's lips. "Means I was right." She sat down and took a blueberry from Rue's bowl. "Someone's going to be playing nurse tonight," she said before dropping the sweet fruit in her mouth.
XXXXX
Katniss Everdeen looked out the window. A light flurry of fat snowflakes danced before her eyes, slowly covering everything under its cold white blanket.
Only two more days until Christmas break, she thought.
The beeping alert from the microwave brought her back to the moment, to the teachers' lounge and the sick colleague who was waiting for some warm soup.
Colleague. Katniss shook her head, Peeta Mellark was a lot more than that.
In the few months since they'd started working together, Peeta had become a true friend.
He was the first person she sought every morning and the last she saw before leaving school at the end of the day.
She hadn't known him for very long, but she couldn't imagine her days without him in them. She lived for their shared lunch breaks, and her weekends were a lot brighter since they'd started seeing each other outside of school.
Her sister and childhood friends had been surprised at first by this fast friendship -Katniss didn't usually welcome new people into her life- but Peeta's gentleness and warmth had won them over just as easily as they had her. They hadn't spent much time with him yet, but she could tell that they already thought of him as a member of their group.
Carefully, Katniss pulled the hot container from the microwave, carried it to the table, and placed it right in front of Peeta.
Peeta looked up.
His eyes were bleary, his cheeks flushed -Katniss was certain he had a mild fever- but his crooked smile still made her heart beat a little faster.
She sat down and waited for him to take his first sip of soup. "Is it good?"
"Yeah. Just what I needed." Peeta blew onto it before taking another spoonful. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." Katniss looked down at the pasta salad in front of her. Tomato and fresh mozzarella cheese. Again. With a resigned sigh, she pierced a cherry tomato with her fork. "Are you staying this afternoon?"
"Nope, I asked Finnick to cover for me. I'm in no condition to be around painting supplies, and I have no energy to deal with my students." Sniffling, he added, "I honestly can't wait to get out of here."
"I could take you home," she offered.
Peeta shook his head. "Nah, It's all right. You're probably busy grading papers and stuff. I'll just take the bus."
"The bus?" She looked straight at him, gray eyes dark and determined. "You're not taking the bus, Peeta. It's not a problem, really."
"Are you sure?"
I want to take care of you, she thought. Nodding, she said, "Yeah. I'm almost done with my grading. I could even do it at your place." A flash of uncertainty crossed her face. "If that's ok."
For the first time all day, Peeta's eyes lit up. "Of course, it is!"
"Alright, that's settled then. Finish your soup, and then we'll go."
Katniss went back to her classroom after lunch. She quickly organized the papers scattered over her desk and made sure that the classroom's laptop had been properly stored.
After wrapping her green scarf around her neck, she put on her coat. With a tired grunt, she hoisted her backpack over her shoulders; then, she walked out of the class and pulled the door closed.
The sound of shuffling feet and hushed giggles reached her ears. Surprised, she turned just in time to catch a quick glimpse of three girls scurrying down the hall.
"They're at it again," Peeta said from his classroom door. He was all bundled up in his winter clothes.
"Well, they've got a big scoop today." Katniss walked up to his side and waited for him to lock his door before leaning closer. "There's probably a picture of you, looking all flushed and helpless, surfing the cyberspace right now. I can almost see the caption," she teased.
Peeta quirked an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? What does it say?"
Playfully batting her eyelashes, she said, "Let's be extra sweet to our favorite teacher today."
Peeta's amused chuckle quickly turned into a cough. Katniss wrapped her arm around his back and held him as she waited for the coughing to subside.
His voice was low and hoarse, but his eyes twinkled with mirth when he finally spoke. "You're wrong, you know? It's not me they're after."
Letting go of him, Katniss took a small step back. "It's not?"
"I overheard them in class the other day." Peeta pocketed his keys, and they began walking down the hallway. "They were talking about something called Everlark. I think it's a music group, but it could also be one of those famous couples. I don't know. They were all excited because someone had spotted them coming out of a Starbucks."
"Which Starbucks?"
Peeta pressed his lips together. He only remembered the incident because Katniss was constantly teasing him about his fan club. She claimed some of his students had a crush on him, and she was convinced that he was the star in many of their snapchat conversations.
As much as he wanted to be liked by his students, the notion of a bunch of teenage girls swooning over him made him uncomfortable. He'd actually been relieved to hear they were talking about someone else, but the girls had been whispering, and he hadn't been able to understand everything they'd said. "I don't know," he admitted. "The one on 12th street, probably. That's the one they all go to."
Katniss opened the door to the parking lot, and they both stepped out. It had stopped snowing, but the wind was biting cold. Instinctively, she stepped closer to Peeta.
"That's the one we went to the other day," she mused as they began walking to her car. "Do you think maybe we were there and didn't even notice?"
"Maybe, I don't really keep up with celebrities nowadays."
Everlark. There was something about the name that made her smile. "I'll ask Prim later, she might know who they are." With the press of a button, she unlocked the doors to her car. Patting Peeta on the back, she said, "Alrighty, Mr. Mellark, let's take you home!"
With Peeta safely settled next to her in the passenger's seat, Katniss drove away.
On the far side of the parking lot, three teenage girls jumped and squealed in excitement. Their lively cheers continued until the car disappeared in the distance.
XXXXX
3 months later...
Rue left school in a rush. Her backpack bounced with every step she took, but she didn't stop to adjust the straps. There was no time to waste. The last message on the Everlark Report was clear.
Cressida: Big scoop! Meet me at Sae's after school. Don't be late.
By the time Rue reached the diner, her friends were already there. They were all sitting at their usual booth waiting for her.
"What's up?" Rue asked sliding into her seat. "What's the big scoop?"
Cressida leaned forward and rested her folded arms on the table. With a conspiratorial smile, she invited everyone else to do the same.
The girls mimicked Cressida's posture, huddling close together.
"Ok, spill," Clove whispered.
"Spotted. Everlark at the spring dance last Friday," Cressida said.
"What?" the rest of the girls asked in unison.
Cressida's smile widened. "Marvel's cousin saw them. They were chaperoning."
Clove frowned, clearly disappointed at having missed such a precious opportunity to watch the teachers interact. "How did we not know about this?"
"Maybe it was a last-minute change," Lavinia suggested.
"It wouldn't have made a difference, Clove." Cashmere gently patted her friend on the back. "The dance was for seniors. They wouldn't have let us in."
"Anywaaaay," Cressida interrupted, she wasn't done with her story, and she didn't want her audience getting distracted by smaller details. With all eyes locked on her once more, she continued, "Marvel said that they spent the entire night just talking to each other."
Lavinia sighed. "They're so sweet!"
Cressida beamed. She had been saving the best tidbit for last. "He also said that they were standing VERY close, and that Mr. M even touched Miss. E's cheek at some point."
Rue's jaw dropped. She had been to enough nature walks to know Miss Everdeen could be warm and caring, -she was definitely more relaxed when she was out in the woods- but she was definitely not the touchy-feely type. "He did?"
Cressida bobbed her head up and down. "His cousin said Miss E must have had crumbs on her face or something, and he was just brushing them away. But still, I think it's a sign of intimacy."
Rue rolled her eyes. Cressida's mother was a marriage counselor who liked throwing terms like intimacy and empathy around. Looked like the daughter was following in her mother's footsteps.
"It's finally happened." Clove smiled, eyes happy and bright. "They're together."
A blissful silence settled on the table. The girls nodded.
XXXXX
A few months later, Miss Everdeen walked into her classroom and announced she was engaged. No one was surprised, especially when they heard her fiancé's name.
Even though she was half expecting it, Rue still got a bit choked up when she heard the news. She had never seen her teacher look so radiant and full of life before.
The members of the Everlark Report would never know all the ins and outs of their teachers' relationship. They would never hear of Miss Everdeen's fears or of Mr. Mellark's doubts, but they would never forget.
The love they found in their teachers' eyes would become a permanent inspiration in their lives.
In time, they'd each find their own love stories; they'd all get to experience bliss. But, in the moments of heartbreak or doubt, their minds would always go back to those days. To the stolen moments they had witnessed between two gentle souls who had somehow found each other. Two people who made each other happy and kept each other safe.
In a world riddled with uncertainty and despair, Everlark's connection would always bring them hope.