Teem Peeta here, homies. I freakin love Peeta. Dumb Gale. Lol. I just finished the second book today, and I'm getting the third one tomorrow, so... Yeah. This is coming from the-first-two-books-knowledge. Don't hate. If I find any serious inconsistencies, I'll change it, but try not to hate too much. Here goes!
Team Peeta! Did I mention that?

Peeta loved Katniss Everdeen. He'd loved her since he could remember. In school, she'd always been so happy to be around people, so happy to learn. She always wore her hair in twin braids over her shoulders and always had a colorful dress. Peeta liked the red plaid one on her the best- he thought it looked lovely with her olive skin. She always went home to a happy family. She and her father could sing so well the birds would stop to listen, and her mom always had something for them to eat. Even in the Seam, they were happy. And Peeta was happy having a crush on her.

She was so pretty. Even in kindergarten, when he first started liking her, he knew that he loved her. And sometimes, when they had an easy day of school, like when they were let out early, the teachers would let the kids go in the run-down gym and play. Katniss always took a book and sat in a corner, and Peeta sat a safe distance away and watched her. Sometimes he just imagined the things he would say to her, the sweet things he would whisper when they got married. Other times, when she looked espcecially pretty or he felt especially confident, he would imagine what it would be like to hold her hand. Or... kiss her. Yes, in the third grade, he imaging kissing Katniss Everdeen. He thought she would taste like summer and fruit. He didn't like to think it was stalking, just... observing. Sometimes when she read she would giggle and sometimes her face would get red and sometimes she would yell at the characters in the story. And other times, she played with her friend Madge.

Madge was the mayor's daughter. She was priveledged in material things- she always had fancy, lacey dresses and hair ribbons the other girls would kill for- but lacked an abundance of family time. Her father was the mayor, so of course he was busy, but not Peeta, or anyone, for that matter, had ever seen Madge's mother. Did she even have one? Peeta didn't know.

And then, when they were still growing up, Katniss's father died. He worked in the mines when an explosion took his life. They didn't even have a body to bury. Then, when they would be allowed in the gym where most of the kids stood in circles and talked, Katniss would stare out the window. Peeta was a little more afraid to watch her now, for fear she would get so upset at looking outside that she would turn and see him staring at her, but that didn't stop him from watching the girl he loved.

Peeta's friends left him alone when he was having Katniss time. Sure, they teased him when he wasn't gawking at her from across the room, but when he was actually doing it, they left him alone. When the day of Katniss's father's funeral came around, Katniss missed school. It was just logical. But Peeta was afraid that her family would be mourning off without her, so he decided to take Katniss's work to her.

A light snow covered the ground, giving a refreshing clean look to the coal dust-coated buildings in the Seam. Peeta trudged through the roads with Katniss's books under his arm, and then he finally came to her door. He saw a woman through the window that was close to the door and realized how extremely pregnant she was. The baby looked like it would come at any moment, and Peeta thought it was handy that she was so good at medicine.

Peeta heard the woman crying and wondered if he should turn back, but also thought this would be a good time for condolences. He lightly knocked on the door and stepped back, waiting for it to open. When it did, Katniss stood there, dressed in a dark green shirt and black pants that... fit her well.

"Uh..." Peeta stammered. He looked at Katniss, who was leaning patiently against the doorframe, and noticed she was not crying. He said quietly, "I'm sorry about..." Katniss nodded once and said, "Thank you." Peeta nodded like Katniss, and then held out her books. "I, uh, brought your school things. We had a lot in, uh, math, and I didn't want you to get behind, so..." He trailed off, looking at her face. She frowned, then took her books. She said quietly, "You were worried I'd get behind?"

Her voice sounded so sad and forlorn that Peeta just wanted to hug her, but instead he nodded his head and tried to smile. "Yeah. Will I see you tomorrow?" Katniss bit her lip and shook her head. "No," she said quietly, "I'm going to accept a medal on his behalf. But I'll probably be back the day after that. Thank you for bringing my work."

They were both silent, staring at the ground, until Peeta started to feel awkward. "So... just let me know if you need help with anything... Okay?" Katniss nodded, no expression on her face. Peeta nodded once again, then waved halfheartedly. "Bye, Katniss..." he whispered.

Peeta thought about all of this as he swept the porch in front of his family's bakery. He swept the dust onto the ground and looked up, seeing the tree where he'd last actually seen Katniss. It was where he gave her the bread after his mother had screamed at her for going through the garbage. Peeta and his family had to eat the stale bread that nobody else wanted, but he couldn't imaging having to go through the trash, or, even worse, eating what you found there. It was one of the times he remembered most when he thought he had it bad.

It was a really slow day in the bakery when Peeta saw her. She was creeping along the bushes with Gale, the only person he really didn't like in his school. The one person, besides his mother, who stood between him and Katniss being together. Ever sine they started being friends, Katniss and Gale, Peeta couldn't stand him. Katniss had met Gale in the woods a while after her father died, when she became the real man of the house. Peeta had never spoken to Gale, but he could tell by the way he looked at her that he was a threat to Peeta ever telling Katniss he loved her.

Katniss had a bow slung over her shoulder and a quiver on her back, and Gale had a knife in his belt and a bunch of rope over his shoulder. Peeta watched as they stopped and talked for a second, pointing to the fence and tentatively poking it. Then, Gale turned to make sure nobody was watching as they prepared to crawl under the fence to hunt illegally, an act punishable by death, and saw Peeta.

He felt ridiculous, standing there in an apron holding a broom, but did not avert his gaze from Gale's. Gale stood there, challenging him to scream and yell and point at the illegal poachers, but he didn't. He would never do that, if only because it would get Katniss in trouble. He didn't care what happened to Gale.

Gale kept his eyes locked on Peeta's while he reached around and grabbed Katniss's shoulder. Katniss looked up, startled, and asked Gale what he was staring at. Gale pointed to Peeta, who instantly felt shy under Katniss's gaze, holding his broom on the sweet shop porch.

Peeta treasured every moment that Katniss stared at him, and he pretended that she was asking him if he loved her while she looked so deeply at him and then they would run far, far away from him mother and Gale, but she wasn't doing any of those things. He could think that at night all he wanted, but she wasn't saying those things to him in real life.

Instead, Katniss stared at him and put one finger over her lips, and Peeta could tell she made a shushing sound. She kept her finger there for a few moments, then moved her hand to her stomach and rubbed. She was hungry.

Peeta would give her all the food she wanted. He wasn't sure how good the food would be, but he wouldn't eat if it meant she would be full. He stared at her for a moment, wishing she was begging him to run away with her and wondering how it would taste to kiss her lips after she ate the strawberries she always found and took to the mayor, but then remembered what was happening. He nodded subtly, looked both ways, and then went back to his sweeping.

Oh, how he loved Katniss Everdeen...

Good? Bad? Tell me what you thought! Usually I only do Twilight (which I don't anymore- this is my new book obsession) and the Legend of Zelda (which I still very much do) and this is my first Hunger Games fic. I loved the PeetaXKatniss idea so much I had to write this, and I love Peeta. He is smokin'. :)

Should I continue? I think I want to but not if people won't read it... Lol. Let me know what you thought! Reviews, only positive ones, make me smile and PM's are welcome too.

~Paige