This is my very first story. So I'm feeling quite nervous and excited. Thank you to Chele and Jlala for pre reading and all your advice and thank you to Sponsormusings for being an amazing beta.

I do not own anything to do with The Hunger Games. As this story is primarily told around a serious car crash, I recommend not to read it if its a trigger for you.

Chapter 1

Katniss first noticed him a few days into her summer holidays. He was moving boxes into the vacant house across the street - the house that used to belong to old man Snow before he lost his mind and moved to a senior's home in the Capitol.

From her front window, she could see that he was attractive. Medium height, blonde hair that curled around his ears and broad shoulders that fit very nicely in his white t shirt. Katniss couldn't help but stare as she watched him pick up a couple of boxes from the truck. His toned arm muscles flexed as he balanced the two items and Katniss felt her heart flutter and her breathing speed up.

What the hell was wrong with her? She thought as she turned away. Why had this man left such an impression on her within a few seconds of observing him?

Without thinking, Katniss moved towards the front door and slowly headed towards her mail box. Out of the corner of her eye, she tried to gain a closer glimpse into the house and its new occupant.

Luckily for Katniss she actually had some mail, so she picked up the envelopes and pretended to flip through them, as she watched him come out of the house and walk towards the truck. He still didn't notice Katniss as he picked up a long rectangle box that was almost as tall as him, and headed back towards the house.

Out of the corner of his eye he must have been able to sense her, because he suddenly stopped in his tracks. For a moment, they both just stared at each other. His eyes widened in surprise, and his entire face lighting up with something akin to recognition. Katniss felt the air leave her lungs in awe and she found it hard to speak as her mouth suddenly felt dry. He gave her a shy but sweet smile and Katniss managed to come out of her stupor in time to give a small nervous smile in return.

"Hey Peeta! Where do you want me to put your sex swing?" A loud voice broke through the air; Katniss pulled herself out of the moment, looking up to see a gorgeous young man with bronze hair and green eyes. He was wearing a grey shirt that had Panem United Firefighters written across the chest and was leaning against the front door with a devilish smirk on his face.

Peeta's gentle eyes flashed as he turned towards his friend, shooting him an annoyed look.

Katniss felt her neck and cheeks go red; his friend must have been watching their little exchange the whole time. Moving quickly from embarrassment, Katniss' braid whipped across her face as she headed towards her front door. Before she closed it shut she heard the words "Thanks a lot Finnick."

"Hey I'm just helping you to get to know your neighbors!" he replied as his laughter rang across the street.

Over the next week she learnt more about Peeta, all through the safety of her front window. He liked to have cups of tea on his front porch, he liked gardening, often he'd been in the front yard, digging up Snow's dead rose bushes and replacing them with primrose bushes, much to Katniss' delight. He was kind to the eccentric lady next door to him and often carried her groceries into her house, which in Katniss' opinion always smelt of mahogany. However out of all the comings and goings, Katniss was still trying to figure out whether he had a girlfriend or not and what he did for a living.

The guy he called Finnick turned up a couple of times, as well as a bakery truck but never any girls, not even someone who could be his mother. As for work, she'd thought he might be a fitness instructor at one point when she noticed him leaving his house very early one morning, dressed in casual clothes with a backpack, but then a couple of days later, she'd noticed he was wearing the same clothes and had the same backpack, leaving just before midnight. Who wants to workout at midnight? She'd thought. So she'd ditched that idea and come to the conclusion he must be some kind of shift worker.

A few more days went by and Katniss felt like her stalker tendencies were getting out of control. She had accomplished very little since school had broken for summer vacation - it was time to get active. Katniss sat down and went through a mental checklist she wanted to achieve over the next few days. Chores around the house were a given, unfortunately, because grading papers, planning lessons and the general busyness that came with teaching didn't allow her to get a lot done during the semester. Catching up with her old high school friend, Madge, who she hadn't seen in awhile. Seeing her sister Prim, though she needed to know her sister's work schedule before they could organise something. Maybe she could get out into the woods again - there was a great hunting ground about an hour from Panem, and she was sure she could convince her childhood friend, Gale, to join her. Feeling excited about her plans, Katniss jumped up from her seat and started heading towards her bedroom. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed through her front window that someone was staring back at her house. It was Peeta. Moving slowly towards one side of the window, ensuring the curtain was hiding her, she watched him.

He must have come back from a run, as he was in workout gear and he had a sheen of sweat all over his face. He moved a hand through his sweaty hair as he continued looking towards Katniss' house. A broad smile crossed his face before he turned around and headed towards his front door with an energetic jog. For the rest of the day Katniss daydreamed about that smile and what else she could do to get him to smile like that.

Later that night, Katniss rang Prim to see how she was going. Her sister was on her break as a nurse at Panem United Hospital. Setting herself up comfortably in her favourite chair, Katniss listened intently while her sister recalled last night's dinner date with her new boyfriend Darius.

"Then afterwards we took a walk along the beach. We ended up at the wharf, you know the one where we used to play as kids? He then told me he had something really important to tell me." Prim paused dramatically, waiting for Katniss to take the bait.

"What was it?"

"He said he's in love with me!" Prim squealed in delight.

Katniss couldn't help but grin at hearing her sister so excited. "I'm really happy for you. He seems like a wonderful guy."

"He is Katniss, I just know he's The One."

"And how did you come to this revelation Prim? What grand gesture did he do to win your heart?" Katniss teased – and though teasing, she was definitely curious about her answer.

Prim's laugh echoed through the receiver "There was no grand gesture – just, lots of little things, like the way he looks at me. It reminds me of how Dad used to look at mom. You remember that look?"

Katniss nodded murmuring her assent. She tried not to think about her Dad too much, it was just too painful.

"The way he kisses my forehead or my hand, or the way he always insists on opening doors for me," Prim continued. "But I think the main thing was when he held me for the first time, I just felt… safe, like I was home, you know?"

No, Katniss didn't know, no man she had ever dated made her feel that way. To be honest she wasn't too sure if she even wanted to experience that. Sure it sounded great but loving someone that deeply and wholeheartedly seemed like a disaster waiting to happen. The risk just seemed too great. Her mother loved her father that way and then he died and now years later her Mother was suffering from depression, completely detached from the lives of her two daughters.

"You know you're, much braver than I am Prim," Katniss whispered.

Prim sighed "Oh Kat, you think too rationally sometimes and you are so scared of turning into Mom, even if you won't admit it. Sometimes you just need to stop thinking and just feel. When the right guy comes along you'll know it. And when that happens, just promise me, you'll take that leap of faith."

Katniss could never disappoint her sister and she hated being afraid "I promise," she choked, trying to hold down the emotions that suddenly overwhelmed her.

"So," Prim probed, trying to lighten the mood "You're on break now for a while, has any man come close to being on your radar lately?"

Katniss immediately thought of Peeta, but she really didn't want to share with her sister her stalker achievements as of late. However, Prim picked up on Katniss' quietness and grew excited at the prospect that her sister was interested in someone. "Come on Katniss, spill, I only have five minutes left of my break."

Relenting, Katniss relayed back everything that had been happening over the last couple of weeks since Peeta had moved in across the street. "I don't know what's wrong with me, Prim!"

Prim laughed "There is nothing wrong with you" she assured her. "I mean, if you go and buy night vision goggles to spy on him, I'll have to put my foot down, but it seems to me that you like him."

"I don't know him," Katniss replied back "Not in a real way. And what if he has a girlfriend?"

"And what if he doesn't? Prim stated back firmly. "You need to get to know this guy, I've never heard you sound this way before. You go over there and introduce yourself. Hell, make him a batch of cookies and welcome him to the neighborhood. Actually on second thought, forget the cookies, you're trying to make a good impression here." Prim teased.

"Ha, ha, thanks for the confidence," Katniss replied smiling. She couldn't blame her sister for her last comment - her baking was nothing to be desired about.

"In all seriousness though, get some confidence and go over there and speak to him, you'll never know if you don't try. At this point you have nothing to lose," Prim urged.

After a few moments contemplating, Katniss agreed "Maybe you're right, maybe I should take this leap that you talk about. And besides, I feel like I'm turning into James Stewart from Rear Window."

Prim laughed "That is a great movie. I love Grace Kelly. So tomorrow you're going to go over there and talk to him, right?"

"Yes! You've convinced me" Katniss exasperated in jest "You know I'm not good with words though, so hopefully I can get something articulate to come out. I just hope these butterflies in my stomach don't make me throw up."

"Love the attitude Kat" Prim chuckled "Anyway, I've got to go, call me once you've spoken to him, vomit free, I hope."

Katniss laughed, happy for the conversation to end. "Have a good night, Prim."

The next day Katniss made plans to catch up with Madge, meeting her at a new café in the heart of Panem that Madge insisted on trying. It was owned by Caesar Flickerman, the 3rd runner up in the reality show 'Food Wars'. Deciding to humour Madge, instead of playfully mocking her like she normally would, Katniss agreed and was now driving in her small sedan towards the café.

Stopping at a set of red lights at the town's main intersection, Katniss started to think of numerous ideas on how to introduce herself to Peeta. She planned on doing it once she finished lunch with Madge, hopefully he would be home as Katniss was afraid she would chicken out if it wasn't done today.

Turning her head to look out her side window, Katniss noticed a middle aged and seemingly disgruntled man walking unsteadily out of a seedy bar. Katniss scowled - it wasn't even midday yet and the guy looked like he had been drinking for days. His clothes were dirty and unkempt and Katniss could see that his eyes were red and haunted looking.

Looking back towards the traffic lights, Katniss realised that they had just turned green. Putting her foot down on the accelerator, she began driving straight ahead. Just as she reached the middle of the intersection, she heard a loud honk of a horn, she looked around and saw a white van suddenly come out of nowhere – it had crossed into her lane and was speeding directly towards her. Katniss slammed on the brakes and the air in her lungs froze. She couldn't move, her brain was telling her to do something, anything, but all she was able to do was close her eyes, as the van got closer and closer, and wait for the impact.

Almost immediately the crunching noise of metal and glass exploded around her, Katniss felt everything in slow motion. There was screaming in her ears and she felt a sharp impact hit her chest, then her forehead. Then all movement stopped and an eerie quietness settled in the air. All was still and then the darkness came.

Katniss had no sense of time and she felt at peace, she didn't want to leave, but all of a sudden she was ripped out of the darkness by a strong smell of liquor.

Her other senses started to return too. She could feel something dripping down her face and hear numerous voices, but they seemed too far away.

The smell of the liquor was still there and then a gruff voice spoke in her ear. "You're okay, sweetheart, the emergency services are on their way."

Katniss couldn't think, she couldn't speak, and she just wanted to go back into the darkness. Her body felt heavier and as she felt herself slipping back into the welcoming bliss she thought she heard the words "Stay alive."

Katniss' mind gradually became aware as she started to sense the chaos around her. Keeping her eyes closed, she could hear loud voices and machinery. She could smell some kind of chemical and she could feel something wet on her forehead. She started to wriggle her fingers and unexpectedly caught an aroma of fresh herbs and cinnamon. What was happening?

Suddenly she felt a pair of warm hands cradling her head while something was getting wrapped around her neck. Slowly she opened her eyes and saw a pair of sparkling blue ones staring back at her. She blinked. Peeta.

"Katniss, can you hear me?' he asked.

Why is he here? Katniss thought confusingly. Have I imagined him? She moved her eyes downwards and noticed he was wearing a navy blue button up shirt and on the sleeve in orange it had an emblem with the words Panem United Paramedics. "Peeta," she whispered surprised.

Peeta grinned at her in relief. "Hey Katniss, it's good to see you awake."

Thank you for reading, the second chapter will be posted soon. More Peeta. Yay.