A/N: Another Reviewer Request. I have to stop capitulating to these. At least, what this one asked for was short and fun to write! ROFL! Erica? You have to get an account on this site, honey. They're free. I don't even have a way to let you know I did this for you. This is a continuation to the third installment of my fic Warm Welcomes Cold Shoulders. It's what happens when Katniss enters Delly's shoe store.
Disclaimer: The Hunger Games and all the characters in this fic are the property of Susanne Collins.
Enjoy!
She took a deep, shuddering breath before opening the door to the Cartwright's shop.
Instantly, she transmogrified from Katniss Everdeen to the proverbial 'elephant in the room'… with the blaring exception that people tended to ignore the elephant and every single shade of blue in the eyes in that shop set directly upon her.
She noticed with inner amusement how the disappearance of the smirk Peeta'd been sporting seconds prior coincided perfectly with the exponential expansion in size of the exuberant smile Delly was now regarding her with. Besides that, however, the baker's son showed no outward acknowledgement of her presence and he didn't take his arm off the cherry blonde's shoulders. He just regarded her with that icy, detached look in his azure eyes as his ebullient friend nearly gushed at her, "Katniss! It's so wonderful to see you! You look so pretty! I love how shiny your hair looks! How can I help you today!"
It took a second for the Seam huntress to process everything that had bubbled out of the overly-energetic girl and decipher what was a statement from what was a question before stating flatly, without looking at anyone but the shoe store owner's daughter, "Prim outgrew her shoes. I need to get her new ones that fit."
The cherub-faced blonde's face warped into such an expression of a attrition, one would think she was culpable for making a growing girl's feet expand. "Oh, dear! Which ones? You only bought them what? Two months ago? Do you want store credit?"
Having everyone staring at her was really starting to play on her nerves and having this too-nice girl offer her charity only added to her discomfort. She was Seam, darn it! They didn't do charity! However, she tried to remind herself that no one in this room- with one outstanding exception, of course- knew squat about her or her cast. Therefore, she swallowed down her hostility as best she could before answering as to-the-point as before. "She outgrew all of them, Delly. She's going to give them to someone in school. I don't need store credit. I want to pay for the new ones. I just don't remember them all, so if you keep tabs on receipts or something, it would really help."
The rambunctious teen instantly separated herself from her best friend, darting around the counter to look under it. She pulled out a thick ledger and flipped through the dates for the corresponding information while still regarding the steel-eyed girl. "Of course, we keep receipts! Do you want the next half size higher for every pair?"
Katniss cautiously approached the counter, still adamantly keeping her eyes on Delly. "Better make it a full size bigger. At the rate she's growing, she'll be out of those in six months anyway. She's going to be tall like my dad was." She couldn't keep the pride out of her voice as she spoke of her baby sister.
"Oo nid zu gome ow so sor afer zen?"
The Seam huntress instinctually turned her head in the direction of the strange, barely audible voice and literally jumped backed upon seeing the boy who'd spoken to her. The teen had a metal wire that protruded out the edges of his mouth and wrapped under his jaw. The entire lower half of the kid's face and upper neck seemed to be engulfed by one large bruise.
Without even thinking, the steel-eyed girl gasped out horrified. "Oh, God! What happened to you?"
The room instantly erupted into unrestrained laughter that only one very confused sixteen-year-old girl and the poor boy with the wire did not partake in.
"Well, there you have it, Joe." A boy Katniss faintly recalled being the machinist's son and one of Peeta's old wrestling teammates slapped the wired boy on the back as he gasped for breath. "When a girl who's seen animals inside out for years and survived the Games is freaked out at the mere sight of you? You know you're butt ugly, man!"
The Seam huntress continued to stare in confusion at the two as the wired boy shook off the taller, lankier one in obvious irritation until her attention was drawn away by a soft hand on her arm. She turned to find another Merchant teen, this one female, wiping at her eyes as she tried to stifle her giggles. As she got a good look, she realized this new girl favored the wired boy quite a bit.
"My brother made the big mistake of saying something stupid about Peeta in front of Rye. Now, he doesn't get to say much of anything until the bone sets."
The steel-eyed girl's eyebrows creased in confusion as she directed her next inquiry at this pretty Merchant girl with soft cornflower eyes. "Rye? Rye Mellark broke someone's jaw just for saying something?" Her eyes darted briefly to Peeta before asking the inevitable accompanying question. "What did he say?"
Ace scrunched her nose in concentration, trying to remember as much detail as she could about what the Victor was asking. "Well, if I recall correctly, he called him a killer and said something about his Games having the potential of being better if he'd come home in one piece?"
Within a second and without conscious thought, Katniss was glaring up at the wired boy, nearly snarling. "How dare you! He didn't even kill anybody! And how can you make light of his losing a limb! What kind of monster are you? You got off good with just a broken jaw! Rye should have ripped off your-"
She stopped abruptly when she felt two very familiar, large hands fold over her arms and pull back, forcing her away from the injured teen. She allowed herself to selfishly relish the feel of the warmth that radiated from his firm, steady grip before turning and shrugging him off. She locked eyes with him, seeing that longing she felt mirrored right back at her. She squashed it down to hiss out heatedly, "Why do you let him say that about you? This is someone you call a friend? Why do you even still hang around with him?"
Peeta couldn't help the smile that split his features at this tiny girl's fluster. Did she even know she was this beautiful when she was enraged? Not to mention, knowing she was this indignant over an insult that was targeted squarely at him had just about shot his ego through the shop's roof. "Well, we all use the term 'friend' loosely when referring to Joe, Katniss." This started a renewed bout of laughter in the store. "And he's always been around. We couldn't get rid of him if we wanted to."
There was what sounded like a scoff and somewhat like swearing from the wired teen as the other Merchant children continued their humor at his expense until Delly stopped giggling, turning to Katniss with an alarmed expression after looking up from the ledger. "Katniss, there are thirteen pairs of shoes here. How are you going to carry them all?"
The steel-eyed girl shrugged nonchalantly. "They're only shoes. If you wrap the boxes all together, I can carry them all."
"Mani and I will carry them for her, Delly." She turned a questioning look at the baker's son. He only shrugged as if they did this sort of thing all the time- which they decidedly did not- and said with amusement, "I'd volunteer Joe to carry them for you, too. But, I don't think he likes you very much after what you implied you wanted Rye to rip off."
She smiled.
She knew he was likely putting on a show for his friends' benefit. They probably still believed they were a couple. He was certainly acting like her boyfriend right now and… Wasn't she doing an excellent imitation of a protective consort just a moment ago?
She found herself not caring for a moment and wishing the masquerade could be true.
Therefore, she smiled. Because, when he was himself, the boy with the bread was funny and charming and warm and one of the few people she'd ever met that could accomplish that onerous feat of making her smile. And, oh, how she yearned for him to make her smile!
Delly was amazingly efficient at finding and packaging the shoeboxes in a fashion that was easy for them to carry. She ended up tying them into only two groups, as Peeta insisted Katniss not carry any, a fact that brought a very noticeable blush to the girl's cheeks.
However, he repressed the instinct to offer to pay for the purchase. He knew Katniss would only feel uncomfortable with that. He didn't understand it, but he'd come to accept that particular eccentricity about her.
The walk from the shop to her home in the Victor's Village took nearly no time at all and the moment they arrived at her door, the machinist's son shook her hand and dismissed himself quickly with a wink at Peeta.
The Seam huntress could tell how awkward he felt being alone with her the moment she saw his friend's gesture. He seemed to bristle at the implication.
For that reason, it wasn't particularly shocking to her when, upon opening her front door, she found all the boxes had been left in a neat pile just at her feet and the baker's son was already making his way down the walkway of her front lawn.
Before she could second-guess the decision, she called out, voice full of something not even she could name. "Thank you, for doing all this, Peeta. You didn't have to."
He stopped, turning to regard her with that same longing she'd seen in his eyes before only now it was etched with an anger she couldn't comprehend. His voice was clipped and cold, "Yes I did, Katniss and you're welcome." Then, he turned, continuing on his way to his own home.
The Seam huntress watched him walk away, wanting to run to him and ask him why he was so angry. Wanting to tell him, she missed how he'd joked with his friends today. Wanting to tell him, she'd missed the sound of his laugh. Wanting to feel the warmth of his hands on her arms.
She watched him walk away and she just…
Wanted.
FIN
A/N: If you like the writing…
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