This was originally written for Fandom4LLS, a charity event to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. It is complete, but I may revisit the universe at some point.
For those teachers who inspire us.
Brighter Than Angels, by Sohypothetically, is a work of fiction. All similarities to persons living or dead are purely coincidental.
I do not own The Hunger Games.
(Cover image courtesy of Tanaka Juuyoh: www dot flickr dot com slash photos slash tanaka_juuyoh)
Prologue: September
Katniss Everdeen was going to savor every single bite of her Costco churro and triple-scoop gelato. As a gym teacher for junior high school girls, she tried to teach respect for one's body, she really did. And, while she taught moderation, she also believed that a treat once in a while was a good thing. So, if she had a soft spot for cinnamon sugar and the cool goodness of stracciatella, pistachio and chocolate gelato as the perfect complement, she was hurting no one as long as it didn't turn into a more-than-once-a-week thing. She swirled her spoon into the chocolate gelato scoop, preparing herself for the flavor explosion of cold, dark chocolate on her tongue.
"Ms. Everdeen?" A very surprised voice from behind her asked.
Katniss looked over her shoulder in reflex, spoon paused on its way to her mouth. She didn't see very many students this far away from Fairfield. In fact, she usually banked on Milford being far enough away that she could be guaranteed anonymity. Seeing another teacher was akin to finding a needle in a haystack. Seeing him was another matter entirely. He was Peeta Mellark: Home Economics teacher extraordinaire and connoisseur of cookies—at least that's the assessment passed by her students. She begrudgingly admitted that almost every kid she spoke with really enjoyed his class. Even if fully half of those glowing reviews were from pre-teen girls who were in the class because of his amazing good looks, that still left the other fifty percent of students who genuinely enjoyed it.
She respected a teacher who could make learning fun, just not one that looked like him. Someone with his boyish good looks and devastating smile should not be allowed near hormonal teenage girls.
"Hi." She hoped he took the hint from her less than enthusiastic response and moved on.
"Hey. Imagine seeing you here. Are you here with someone?" Peeta's grin was wide and welcoming, but his words almost had Katniss choking on her bite of chocolate gelato.
She covered her surprise with a cough. Didn't everyone at school know that she was happily single? "No. Um… I'm not here with anyone. What about you? Where's your better half?" Katniss looked behind him pointedly. She was certain that no one besides her shopped at warehouse club stores alone, and she only had a membership because of the toilet paper and gym clothes. Sure, the selection wasn't great, but it meant she never had to brave the mall and the return policy was second to none.
Peeta laughed, showing the strong column of his neck and his bright, white smile. "They sell significant others here? I must keep missing that aisle." He looked at the snacks in front of her. "Hey, that's not your dinner, is it? Aren't you supposed to be showing us how to eat healthy?"
That stung a little. Who did he think he was? "Why? Because I teach Phys. Ed.? I guess you're the one who should have all the sweets in front of him, considering I hear from my students that's all you make in class." Katniss couldn't help getting a dig in.
"Oh? That's what they say? Tell you what… let me cook you dinner. I'll wow you with my prowess." Again, his bright smile flashed as his unkempt blonde curls tumbled rakishly over his forehead.
Was he flirting with her? Her hand itched to brush the curls back from his forehead. Whoa. What was she thinking? She shook her head at both his offer and her reaction to him.
"Come on. I'm just grilling some chicken, not asking you to marry me. It's a meal. Think of it as professional courtesy so you don't end up malnourished." He motioned again to her snacks. "I guarantee that anything I make beats a store-bought churro."
Katniss thought of the frozen dinners she usually ate; it wouldn't be difficult for him to beat out her normal fare. "Guarantee? Seriously? You think you're going to beat the best churros around?" She tried not to think how good grilled chicken sounded. After all, she could grill: she knew how. But it just always seemed like too much trouble for one person. Not to mention that Katniss utterly despised eating leftovers—a remnant of a childhood where every meal had to stretch into two or three.
He snorted "Best churros? Is that, like, a challenge? Because that piece of pre-frozen crap isn't going to be hard to beat. Come on. You can follow me."
-o-
Katniss leaned back in her patio chair and stretched, more full than she had been in a long time. She was going to be hard pressed to tell Peeta that she hadn't enjoyed the grilled chicken and corn on the cob.
"Admit it: that was awesome." Peeta wiped his mouth daintily. When she didn't respond, he smirked, "Come on, you know you enjoyed it." He ribbed her, nudging her foot with his.
"It was alright." She sent him a half smile. Don't want him getting too full of himself. When she saw his flashing dimples, though, it quickly evolved into a full-blown smile.
Peeta snorted. "I'll take that as a high compliment. Ready for dessert? Or should we wait a bit?"
"Dessert?" Katniss said, skeptically. She wasn't sure she could eat another bite.
"Yeah. You said yourself that it's my specialty. It should be, since I grew up working in my parents' bakery." He winked at her and cleared the plates, ignoring her half-hearted gesture of help. "I'll just take these inside. Relax and enjoy the sunset."
A few minutes later he returned with two mugs of tea. "I assumed that you wouldn't mind some tea. Are you cold? I could grab you a sweatshirt." He frowned when a shiver rang through her.
"I'm okay. Just someone walking over my grave, I guess." She laughed at his quizzical look. "Something my dad used to say."
They stared at the setting sun for a few minutes, sipping their tea. Katniss enjoyed hearing the evening birds chirp; autumn was her favorite time of year. Despite the craziness of returning to school, fall filled her with purpose: it was a time of new lesson plans, new classes, and new friendships. She equated it with new possibilities and beginnings.
Peeta breathed a deep sigh. "This was nice. Thanks for coming over. I don't have guests over a lot and I forget how nice it is to entertain someone other than myself or a gaggle of kids who want to gorge themselves on cookies and cupcakes. Even if my cookies and cupcakes are pretty awesome."
Katniss laughed. "It was nice. Thanks." She didn't want to admit that it was the first time in recent memory she had eaten a meal with someone else. Prim and her mom were too far away to spend time with and she hadn't dated in years—since before her student teaching took up every spare minute of her time. She wasn't ready to admit that she had let that part of her life fall by the wayside because it was easier to focus on work than on meeting someone special. That, after all, took effort. Katniss didn't remember dating being as easy as the past couple of hours had been, even when she had put forth the effort.
She surprised herself when she heard herself ask, "You know the annual trip to Washington?"
"Washington D.C.? With the ninth graders? Yeah." Peeta took another sip of tea.
Katniss studied his reaction to her words, "I'm thinking of volunteering." She almost laughed at his shocked expression.
Peeta gaped at her, "No one volunteers to chaperone that trip. It's unheard of."
"Maybe I'll start a trend." Katniss shrugged, slightly embarrassed. Perhaps it was a foolish idea. Perhaps she shouldn't have said anything. Peeta had seemed like he might understand.
Peeta shook his head, "It's a bunch of whining and complaining and that's just the other chaperones. The bus ride is unpleasant, and you'll get no sleep in the hotel while you keep kids from killing each other. Actually, I think the entire trip is designed so the kids slaughter each other. Seriously, why would you do that?"
Katniss thought carefully, watching the tree line in the distance as the sun slowly burned its descent. "I used to work at a summer camp. You know, for extra money for school, that sort of thing? It was fun, but the kids could sniff out the counselors who didn't really want to be there. Just a few of those counselors could make the summer either memorable or miserable. How different can this trip be from summer camp? None of the teachers who go to Washington—and I mean none of them—want to be there. I thought that I might make the trip more memorable for some of the kids. So what if I end up a little run-down and get sick afterward? It's not like I'm going to die or anything. Plus, I've never been to Washington. I hear the cherry trees will be in bloom. It will be educational for me as well." When he didn't immediately say anything, she turned back to the railing and looked out at the trees. "It's not like it's written in stone yet. I have until the new year to change my mind."
Peeta finally found his voice, "You are the bravest person I know, Ms. Everdeen. In honor of your courage and your sacrifice, let me get dessert. You're going to need all the strength you can get for that trip."
April
"Come on, kids. Get on the bus. We'll never get to our first stop if we can't leave this parking lot. We are leaving in five minutes." Peeta sounded alert and authoritative as he made the announcement of their imminent departure.
"How are you even functional this early in the morning without coffee?" Katniss sipped carefully at her venti Americano with a double shot of caramel syrup. Her dark hair was scraped back from her forehead in her usual braid, and her yoga pants and Under Armour t-shirt underneath her North Face fleece jacket were clean and wrinkle free. Compared to Peeta, though, she looked like she had just rolled out of bed. His blonde hair glinted like the stars that were still visible in the early morning sky and his eyes appeared even bluer in his navy blue pea coat, which accentuated his broad shoulders to perfection.
Frankly, his early morning energy made her want to strangle him with his obviously hand-knit scarf.
"Good morning. I don't like coffee." He smiled at her, carefully checking off more names on his clipboard.
Katniss grumbled, "No one likes coffee. It's a necessity of life, though."
Peeta chuckled. "I come from a long line of bakers, remember? You don't need coffee when you come from a gene pool bred to wake up at four in the morning without an alarm clock."
"You're kidding. That's sounds like torture!" Katniss gaped at him. She thought she was an early riser getting up at five thirty every morning to do Pilates.
"Nah. Growing up I went through much worse than having to hop out of bed while it was still dark." A shadow crossed his face for a moment before he shook it off and grimaced. "Besides, I'm usually in bed by nine. That is yet another reason why this trip is the eighth level of hell."
Katniss smiled as she sipped her coffee, trying to dispel the mental picture of Peeta in bed. Ever since their impromptu dinner at the start of the school year, Katniss had been having trouble keeping him out of her thoughts. They ended up having lunch together once a week or so and she was still pleasantly surprised at how easy he was to talk to.
So she was not going to think about whether he slept in flannel pajamas, boxer briefs, or perhaps nothing at all.
-o-
"Mr. Mellark? I heard you're having a terrible day. I came by to see if you need a hand." Katniss stared at the way his dress shirt clung to his shoulders as he moved the mop across the floor.
He paused for a moment to rub the bridge of his nose, "No, thanks. I've got this."
Katniss laughed as she pulled the mop out of his hands. "Let me help. I heard you had a puker?"
Peeta sat down heavily behind his desk. "Yeah. Second period. I've been trying to get the smell out ever since. I'd open the windows, but the kids say it's too cold."
Katniss moved the mop across the ancient linoleum, finding comfort in the scent of Lysol that permeated the room. She was trying to think of a way to broach the subject that was really on her mind.
"I guess you heard that I got picked." Peeta followed her progress across the floor with an uncharacteristic frown.
Katniss looked at him under her lashes, happy that he was the one to bring it up. "Yeah. I remembered that you didn't seem too thrilled when we talked about it last fall. I came to make sure that you're okay."
"You're still going, right?" When Katniss nodded, a small smile crossed his lips. "Then I'm okay."
Katniss stopped mopping and glanced at him. Seeing his expression, she couldn't help but smile back.
-o-
"You like him, don't you?" A pair of chestnut eyes in a small, dark pixie face popped over her seat and jolted her out of her reverie.
"What? Who? Huh?" Katniss asked Rue. The young girl was in her gym class and was a whiz at rope climbing. For someone so small, she had remarkable upper body strength.
The girl giggled. "Mr. Mellark."
Katniss wasn't sure how Rue knew she had just been thinking about him. "What makes you say that?"
"You watch him sometimes. But I don't think you want anyone to know because you always look away when he looks back."
"Rue, you shouldn't be spying on people." Katniss laughed breathily. She wasn't about to tell Rue that she had been thinking of Mr. Mellark more and more as the year passed.
Rue ignored the rebuke. "It's obvious that he likes you too. He's always stopping by your office with breakfast before first period. My mom says the way to a person's heart is through their stomach. So Mr. Mellark must like you if he brings you things like banana bread and scones. I hope someone likes me enough to make me stuff that someday."
"I'm sure those are from his class." Katniss loved those bakery treats, especially when he brought cinnamon rolls. She didn't know if they were homemade or store bought, but they were the best she had ever tasted.
Rue snorted. "You're kidding, right? Mr. Mellark doesn't even have leftovers between classes. You think he's got anything for the next day? You should ask him out."
"Rue! Turn around and face forward in your seat, please." Katniss chastised.
Rue got the last word. "You should. You're a strong, independent woman. If you like him, you should just ask him out."
Katniss resorted to her whistle to get all of the kids back on the bus after the stop at the National Aquarium in Baltimore. She cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled, "Hustle, kids! Let's get on the bus! We are leaving in 5 minutes and I do not want to call your parents and tell them that we left you behind!"
The cacophony of voices must have covered the sound of Peeta's footsteps because he was suddenly standing next to her. "Do threats work?"
Katniss shrugged as she glanced at him. "Not sure. I'm hoping I don't have to find out. You look beat."
"I am. And hungry." He nodded absently.
"Hungry? You didn't grab a snack when we stopped on the turnpike? Or in the aquarium?"
"I was busy herding cats and didn't really think anything of it. I guess I'm pretty new to keeping track of groups this big." He rubbed the back of his neck.
Katniss frowned. "Sit next to me on the bus. I've got some snacks in my backpack and you can rest your eyes for a few minutes. I've can manage the kids."
Peeta filed behind her onto the bus. Katniss tried not to notice that Rue tracked their movements with a wide eyed grin and gave her the "thumbs up" signal as they counted riders, independently verified numbers, and sank onto the seats.
"Kinda bright, isn't it?" Peeta eyed her bright orange backpack warily as Katniss ruffled through it.
"You scoff at it now, but this backpack could save your life. Take your pick. I think I also have a pear or two." She pulled out a bottle of water, a bag of Fritos, a Cliff Bar, and a pear.
Peeta took the water and the pear. "Thanks. What else do you have in there?"
"A small first aid kid, dried fruit, some beef jerky, a flashlight, an extra whistle and some feminine care protection in case any of the kids have a problem of a different sort." At Peeta's wince, she laughed. "Sorry, that was probably more information than you needed."
"You are prepared for every eventuality, Ms. Everdeen."
Katniss ignored his sarcasm. "Oh, just be quiet and eat your pear."
Peeta finished the fruit and reclined his seat. "Are you sure you don't mind if I rest for just a minute or two?"
"Go ahead. I've got this, Peeta. Trust me." She tried not to stare at the length of his blonde eyelashes where they rested on his cheeks, or examine the freckles on the backs of his hands where they lay against his chest.
-o-
By the second night, Katniss had reached a new level of exhaustion: seventy-five ninth graders were a whole new level of challenge. Sure, she was used to the crying as couples and best friends fought. She was even used to the concept of keeping the group together. What she wasn't used to was working with a group of other chaperones who had very little interest in anything but doing the bare minimum to survive the trip. She felt like she was pulling more than her weight as she did her best to keep track of the whereabouts of all seventy five of the kids.
It was times like this that she supported the idea of subdermal tracking devices. Honestly, she couldn't wait to get home and sleep for a solid week.
The only chaperone who pulled as much weight as she did was Peeta. She had to hand it to him: he may not have wanted to come on the trip, but he didn't balk at the hard work of keeping the kids in line and being genuinely concerned for their well-being. He had even gotten personally involved in breaking up a fight between two of the class smartasses: Cato Peterson and Marvel Imas.
"Ms. Everdeen, are you coming in the pool tonight?" Rue asked. The second night was always a pool party at the hotel. It was an attempt to exhaust the kids and give the chaperones a well-needed rest; the hotel supplied enough lifeguards that only a few of the chaperones had to be on duty.
"I think I'm just supposed to walk around and make sure none of you drowned." Katniss told the girl absently while she scanned the area for Peeta. Finding him and waiting until he met her eyes, she smiled and waved.
"Mmhm. Well, I know that Mr. Mellark is on pool duty too. I hope your bathing suit has more style than the yoga pants or track suits you usually wear." Rue nodded at her teacher and walked away.
Katniss did a double take. What was wrong with her yoga pants?
"You must be exhausted." Katniss moved another towel into the growing pile by the door. The kids had finally cleared out of the indoor swimming area. She knew the event was a success by the number of yawns she had witnessed as the kids stampeded back to the elevators, but at what cost? She was tired. She couldn't even imagine what it must be like for Peeta who was normally in bed two—no, make it three—hours ago.
He smothered a yawn behind his hand as he righted a lounge chair. "I am pretty tired."
"Yeah, well, you look it," she said to him crankily. She was irked by the reality that he still looked fresh in his navy blue board shorts and t-shirt while she felt, well, wilted. The humidity in the room made the tendrils of hair that had escaped her braid stick to her cheeks. She felt sticky and sweaty and couldn't wait to go take a shower. All she wanted was to cool off.
Peeta smothered another yawn. "Why don't you take a dip?"
"I'm sorry?" She was perplexed.
"You just said that you were hot. Why not jump into the pool for a minute? I'll hang out and wait for you. Make sure you're safe."
Katniss loved to swim and hardly ever got the opportunity. Winters in coastal Connecticut didn't really afford much of an opportunity. "Yeah?" She asked hopefully. Peeta had barely nodded when Katniss slid out of her shorts and t-shirt to her sleek, black one-piece. Without flourish, she dove into the cool and inviting water. She surfaced to find him studying her with a strange expression on his face.
"I don't think I've ever seen you swim. Come to think of it, I don't remember you being much of an athlete."
Katniss flipped onto her back. "When would you have seen me swim?"
"You really don't remember? Seriously? Katniss, we went to the same high school. East Haven High?" Peeta frowned and looked hurt.
Katniss sank underwater. Was that even possible? She didn't think there was any way she could have gone to school with and not noticed Peeta Mellark. Sure, he had the right name for her high school, but that was public record, right? Katniss couldn't think of a reason he would lie, though.
"No way." She said when she finally broke surface.
Peeta nodded. "Way. You don't remember me at all? Wrestling team? Student council?"
She shook her head. "Nope. Sorry."
He mumbled something that sounded decidedly like, "So much for being memorable."
"Hey, don't take it personally. I spent a lot of time in high school just trying to fade into the woodwork."
He snorted. "Yeah. Like that could ever happen." He ran a hand through his curls, reinforcing how tired he looked. "All cooled off?" Peeta grabbed a dry towel from the rack by the door and held it out to her.
A memory surfaced: Peeta's face and naked torso on a poster, asking for votes for Prom King. She remembered how the boy in the picture had made an impression because of his impish smile, cut chest, and broad shoulders. Katniss and watched him carefully as she floated. "You ran for Prom King, didn't you?"
A smile split his face wide open. "Hey, you remember!" He held out his hand to help her out of the pool.
"I remember that your poster was an offensive piece of sexist crap." She said as she grabbed his hand and pulled him into the pool, towel and all.
It took her a full ten seconds to realize that he couldn't swim.
-o-
"You scared the life out of me!" She hit his arm after they were safely on the tile surrounding the pool and he had coughed up a fair amount of chlorinated water.
"I scared you?" He coughed again.
"What kind of jock doesn't know how to swim?" She stormed over to the rack of towels and grabbed two.
"I was a wrestler." Peeta sat up and slid his shirt over his head to wring it out. He stopped for a moment when he caught her staring at his naked chest. Peeta raised an eyebrow and said sarcastically, "I'm sorry. Is this sexist piece of crap offending you?"
Katniss swallowed hard, trying not to notice the way water rivulets followed a path down his chest to disappear in the waistband of his board shorts. She shook her head.
"You could have killed me, you know." Peeta stood with an odd gleam in his eye. It made Katniss especially wary.
"Not on purpose!" she defended as he stalked toward her.
"Ms. Everdeen, you owe me." His intent became obvious when he twirled his wet shirt into a tight coil, flicking it in her direction. She squealed and feinted to avoid the treacherous whip, trying to keep her balance on the slippery tile. It was not lost on her that they were breaking many of the rules they had laid out for their charges.
"Come on, Peeta. It was an accident!" She yelped as the tip of the whip that was his shirt came perilously close to her backside.
He advanced on her until he had her captured between his arms against the wall. She tried not to think of how sexy he was and how little space existed between their very wet bodies. "What do you want?" It came out more breathlessly than she intended.
"I want you to tell me that you thought my Prom poster was sexy," he growled.
She laughed, but it ended in a squeak when he dropped his hands to her waist and leaned his head closer to hers. "Say it. Say, Mr. Mellark, I loved your Prom poster. I'll even settle for, Peeta, I've dreamt of your Prom poster for the last seven years."
Katniss stood her ground, even though her voice was weak. "No way, Mr. Mellark. Keep dreaming." Was that hurt she saw cross his face for a moment?
Peeta leaned close enough that she could see the darker flecks in his blue eyes. "You won't say it, even after you tried to kill me?"
"I did not try to kill you." She couldn't take her eyes off of his. "And why would you need me to say those things? You have to know you're gorgeous; most of your students are in love with you."
"Maybe I just want to hear you say you want me."
-o-
Maybe I just want to hear you say you want me…
Katniss replayed those words in her head the next day as they visited the Lincoln Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and the Washington Monument. She recalled the exact moment he had said them: the obvious need in his eyes, the heat between them. She could not quite recall wanting someone to kiss her as badly as she had in that moment.
Just as she had started to lean in, they had heard a commotion. They sprang apart just in time to see Rue come through the door. Rue stammered something about leaving her t-shirt. She quickly made her way to the far side of the pool and picked up her forgotten garment, then hurried past them with a huge grin on her face. Katniss thought she saw her wink when she passed by on her way out the door.
The moment had been lost. She and Peeta had quickly gathered their things and returned to their rooms. Even the elevator ride had happened in silence, with Katniss glancing at him and assessing the lack of interest on his face. It was almost like the minutes by the pool had never happened.
That is, until they had reached Peeta's floor. Peeta had nodded to her and stepped out of the elevator. At the last second, he turned and stuck his hand in the door to hold it open and blurted out, "Have dinner with me."
"Peeta, I don't think that's a good—"
He continued as if he hadn't heard her interrupt. "Tomorrow night, you and I can stick the rest of the chaperones with kid duty. Please, Katniss." He beseeched.
Katniss's mouth went completely dry at the earnest expression on Peeta's face. She felt herself nod once and swallow hard at the look of jubilation that flashed in his eyes.
-o-
The day dragged. Katniss wasn't sure exactly what Peeta had in mind and she vacillated between being excited at the chance of a night off and terrified at the idea of spending an evening with him. She was not surprised when she was once again found a pair of dark brown eyes looking at her over the seat on the bus ride back to the hotel.
"Ms. Everdeen, I'm sorry about interrupting last night." Rue said sheepishly.
Katniss sighed heavily. "Rue, it's fine."
Rue quietly assessed the veracity of Katniss's words, and said, "Mr. Mellark seems really into you. And I heard he's taking you to dinner tonight."
"Rue!" Katniss looked around them to see if anyone had overheard. Then again, if Rue had heard it, a rumor was already circulating.
Rue looked contrite. "I've heard it from a couple of the kids, so it's not a secret, is it? What are you gonna wear? Please tell me not one of your sweat suits?"
"What is wrong with my track suits? Or yoga pants?" Katniss moodily crossed her arms over her chest.
Rue stared at her. "Ms. Everdeen, you're kidding, right? Nobody likes someone who looks like they could tell them to take a lap."
Katniss chewed on her lip. "This is ridiculous. I am not taking fashion advice from a fourteen year old."
Rue met her gaze carefully. "I think one of the girls in my room might be your size. We could… we could help you get ready?"
Katniss was adamant. "No." She shook her head. "Absolutely not."
-o-
Katniss waited in the downstairs bar, cursing her students under her breath. They had pounded on the door of her room until she had let them in. They had insisted on an impromptu fashion show with the offerings they had put together for her date with Peeta. When Katniss had offered up a pair of her black dress pants and low heels as an option, the group unanimously voted all but the shoes out of the running. Finally they had negotiated a compromise: Katniss would pair a green and black sarong-style skirt with a black shirt and some black tights to go with her low heels.
After getting dressed in the bathroom and parading in front of them to squeals and squeaks, Kristin had whined, "Come on Ms. E. Let us put some make up on you and fix your hair." It had seemed pointless to resist.
Katniss was surprised at the result. Her hair fell down her back in gentle waves, pulled back in the front by simple clips. Subtle makeup framed her eyes, making them appear lighter and more mysterious. It was an understated look, perfect for the conservative Washington area and her general dislike of dressing up.
She looked at her sport watch for what seemed like the fiftieth time. What if he didn't show up? This was the dumbest idea and now her students would know that he had stood her up.
"Katniss?" Her heart jumped when she heard his voice.
The last thing she wanted was to pick a fight with him in the public area of the hotel, so she took a moment to bring her heart rate under control and grab her coat and purse. Turning to face him, she accused, "You're late."
"You're gorgeous." He shook his head as if to clear it. "I'm sorry. I wanted to check on our reservations."
She looked guiltily at her feet. Here she was being nitpicky and Peeta had been making reservations. She awkwardly gestured to his beige slacks, dark green striped shirt, coordinating tie, and brown tweed jacket. "Thank you. You look nice too."
He thrust his hands in his pants pockets. "Thanks. We should be going. I'll grab your tab?"
She shook her head. "I didn't order anything."
He slid her jacket out of her hands and held it out for her in a gentlemanly gesture that had her grinding her teeth in annoyance.
-o-
They bickered about the cab fare all the way to the restaurant.
Katniss was adamant, "Peeta, I can pay for the cab."
He rubbed the bridge of his nose as if this was not going the way he had planned. "No. I asked you to come tonight, I'll pay."
Katniss folded her arms across her chest. "Then I'm not getting out."
"Why are you being so stubborn?" Peeta stared at her.
Katniss met his eyes and refused to look away, "Why are you?"
Their eyes clashed for a few tense moments before Peeta broke eye contact. His eyes were hooded as he studied the remnants of the sunset reflecting off of the dome of the Capitol. "You get the cab."
"Thank you." Katniss studied the view out her own window with a ghost of a smile on her lips.
She was still giddy over her victory when they arrived, so she graciously allowed him to guide her into the restaurant, take her coat. She noticed that he waited for the host to seat her before taking his own.
"What made you pick this place?" she asked. The restaurant name was Jaleo and it looked to be Spanish tapas.
Peeta laid his napkin across his lap. "I read wonderful things about it online and figured we could actually give it a try while we're here," he shrugged.
"Do you normally read about random restaurants in other cities?" Katniss took a sip of her water to cool her suddenly dry mouth. Peeta had slipped on a pair of reading glasses, the dark wire frames making his blue eyes appear shadowed and intense. His face suddenly appeared older and sexier. She squirmed a bit in her seat.
"I did it to escape the fact that I'm in that city with seventy five kids and not on vacation." Peeta perused the menu selections, his face visibly brightening for a moment before it fell. "You like Spanish food, right? I didn't even think to ask." He ran a hand through his hair, mussing his blonde curls.
Katniss smiled at the wonderfully boyish picture he presented with his hair askew, his eyes serious and concerned behind the glasses, his tie making him appear prim and proper. "It's fine. Frankly, I love any food I don't have to cook. And I'm sure it will be better than the potluck put on by Señora Kilpatrick's class at the end of the year. You wear glasses?"
He touched the rims self-consciously. "I only need them to read and only in certain lighting. My dad had to get them early too. Do they make me look old and cantankerous? Should I start wearing them to class?" he quipped.
Without thinking, Katniss laughed. "No way. Half the girls in your class would pass out if you put those on during class." He looked pleasantly surprised at the compliment and she could feel her face flush. She hid behind her menu.
The next few minutes were all business as they made their selections. Peeta settled on a sampling of tapas: bacon wrapped, fried dates with apple-mustard sauce, spicy chorizo with crispy potato, Codfish with honey aioli. Katniss opted for an apple and fennel salad with manchego cheese and walnuts followed by a rabbit confit with an apricot puree.
"You're going to try some of mine, right?" Peeta took off his glasses and slid them back into their case.
Katniss almost asked him to put them back on but bit the words back just in time. "Isn't everything you ordered served fried?" she jokingly chastised.
Peeta quipped back in a voice that had her pulse quickening, "So? Skip a visit to churro heaven or double up on a workout. Come on and live a little, Katniss. It's more fun sharing than eating alone. I promise you won't regret it." As an afterthought, he added with a wink. "Oh, and save room for dessert."
Katniss shivered, reading so much more into his softly joking words than he was saying. Her eyes flashed in challenge. "I bet the girls fell all over you, lured in with promises like that."
Peeta suddenly caught on to her train of thought and laughed. "Ms. Everdeen, you have a dirty mind. I would never make anyone do something they didn't want to do, especially not you."
Katniss pursed her lips and swirled her finger around the rim of her water glass. "Uh huh. How do I know that isn't a line? I don't know you all that well." She looked up in time to watch a look of hurt cross his face.
He took a sip of water and a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and said, "This is good; let's get this all out in the open. Ask me anything and I'll answer honestly. Anything you want to know about me is fair game."
"Anything?" Katniss was doubtful.
"Anything." Peeta affirmed.
Katniss said the first thing that came to mind, "Okay. Why would you take a shirtless picture and expect to get elected Prom King?"
Peeta hung his head sheepishly even as he laughed. "Delly said it would get me elected for sure."
"Delly?" Katniss raised an eyebrow.
"My date and best friend. She was always getting me in trouble." Peeta shrugged. "And it worked, so I can't complain."
"You actually got elected Prom King and now you're sitting across from me." Katniss said in disbelief. She shook her head.
"Yeah, I am. Don't sell yourself short." Peeta stopped speaking while their waiter settled plates on the table. When everything was settled and their water glasses were refilled, he continued, "You had most of us terrified in high school: you with your mysterious, quiet confidence. Everyone was in awe of you."
Katniss laughed so hard that she snorted and had to take a minute to get herself under control. "You are kidding me. Stop making stuff up."
Peeta was busy sliding a sampling of items onto her plate when he shook his head. "No. You've still got it. You can tell that the kids have a healthy respect for you, sure. But it's more than that. They listen to you like what you say matters. You're one of those teachers who make a lasting impression. You're changing lives."
"Thanks. I'm really trying." Katniss ducked her head, hiding her blush.
Peeta casually inspected a piece of cod on the end of his fork. "What ever happened to your friend? The one who had the name of a girl? Jesse, Quinn, Shelby…"
"Gale?"
"Yeah, that's him." Peeta popped the bite in his mouth.
She shrugged as she ate some apple and fennel salad. "We went to college and graduated. He's in Boston now." At Peeta's raised eyebrow, she cocked her own back. She was not going to talk about Gale.
"So if I'm so awe-inspiring, how did you get up the nerve to talk to me?" She took a bite of date wrapped in bacon and let the sweet/spicy taste detonate in her mouth as she savored it. It was the perfect accompaniment to the crisp, tart apples and licorice hints of fennel.
Peeta had closed his eyes while he chewed a bite of chorizo and potato, but they snapped open at her question. He paused thoughtfully for a moment. "It wasn't easy, I'll be honest. I'd been thinking about how to approach you even way-back-when. I thought I was the luckiest guy on the planet when I saw you were the gym teacher at Fairfield Junior High after I got the job. Since then, I've been trying to think of how to break the ice. I saw you at Costco and immediately honed in on the fact that I could capitalize on my culinary talents." When she gaped at him with her mouth wide, he said calmly, "You should really try the chorizo."
-o-
Katniss leaned back after a last bite of chocolate hazelnut cake with praline ice cream and salted caramel sauce and licked her lips. "That was amazing. How come we've talked about me for most of dinner? You said I could ask you anything."
"Go ahead. I'm an open book." Peeta lingered as he licked his spoon.
Katniss thought for a moment. She was still a little aghast at how sincere Peeta had sounded when he explained that she intimidated him. It was silly, really; she was nothing special. Yet he had sounded genuine when he said that he had been looking for a way to talk to her for a long time. She cleared her throat. "Okay. Let's start with something easy; tell me about you and Delly."
Peeta grinned at an obviously happy memory. "She thinks she knows what's right for everyone. She's opinionated, but in such a nice way that you can't help but think it's your idea. She's feisty. She's the one who told me I should finally ask you out."
"So you're—friends? The romance angle didn't work out? I mean, she was your prom date and all." Katniss fiddled with her napkin, unwilling to let on how nervous she was.
Peeta swiped his finger through the caramel sauce left on the plate and licked it. "No. We discovered that we weren't compatible."
"Oh?" Katniss cocked her eyebrow as she followed the movement of his tongue. "You've got to give me more than that. Open book, remember?"
Peeta leaned in toward Katniss and nodded. "I did say that. The truth is that Delly likes to be, well, controlled. I guess that's what you'd call it. It's funny, given how bossy she is. I wasn't into that, so we're still friends." His neck flushed but he did not look away.
"Oh," Katniss said, breathless as she caught onto his meaning. She thought back to his comment about never making someone do something they didn't want to do, which made much more sense.
He winked as he continued more lightheartedly, "It worked out though. It let me figure out that I prefer a woman who wears a thong underneath her nearly see-through yoga pants."
It wasn't until he leaned back with a large smile that Katniss realized his little bomb had provided cover for him to grab the check.
-o-
They grabbed a cab to the Tidal Basin to see the cherry blossoms at Peeta's insistence. "Come on, Katniss, everyone should see the cherry blossoms when they come to D.C."
Katniss was glad he had goaded her into it when she saw how lovely they were. It was hard to remain angry in such a gorgeous place, surrounded by nature and illuminated by the warm glow of streetlights. She could hear the falling petals as they struck the ground like snowflakes. She turned her face up to the overhead branches, breathed in the light fragrance and opened her eyes to find Peeta watching her carefully from the side of the path.
She admitted, "It's hard to stay irritated with you in a place as beautiful as this."
"I'm sure I'll find a way to piss you off," he said flippantly.
She nodded. "You do seem to like to do that. Why is that?"
He shoved his hands in his pockets as cherry blossoms adorned his hair like a crown. "I like seeing you come alive. You have such a quiet fire inside of you. I guess I like knowing that I can light a spark—even if it's just because I bug you."
"Peeta—" Katniss shook her head at the honest intensity she read on his face. It was too much and the fire he spoke of could burn them both.
"I wish I could take this moment with me," he said as he stepped closer. His voice was rougher than it had been earlier. "Maybe I'll paint it."
"You paint too? Is there anything you don't do?" she quipped, fighting to keep the moment light.
His eyes flashed like the darkest of sapphires in the glow from the streetlights. "All I need is the right inspiration."
Some demon—the one who liked infuriating Peeta as much as reacting to him with her own fire—forced her to ask, "Did you find one?"
She thought he must have the same sort of demon because he closed the gap between them slowly, his heavy footfalls decimating the delicate petals in his path.
"I think so," he answered. He guided her so she leaned against the trunk of a cherry tree. His eyes burned like blue flames and she found herself idly wondering if being consumed by them might not be such a bad way to go. He reached out to frame her face with his hands at the same time she touched his hair.
"You have flowers in your hair," she said in shy wonder. "Do I?"
His voice was low and full of need. "Yes. You look like an angel."
Angels don't burn like this, she thought as he lowered his face towards hers with a question in his eyes. She answered with a tightened grasp on his curls and a tug on his necktie to bring his mouth flush with hers but he still held back.
"What?" she asked impatiently.
He closed his eyes for a moment, leaning his forehead against hers. "I just can't believe I'm here with you. Like this. It's like a dream. What happens if I wake up tomorrow and you're not here and none of this is real?"
She brought both hands up to his jaw and cradled it. "Peeta, look at me," she insisted, "I'm real. And I'm not going anywhere."
He placed his hands over hers and squeezed them to his own cheeks as he opened his eyes to find hers searching his.
"This is real," Katniss reiterated, "The kids, the trip, dinner, all of it." A smile ghosted across her face as she remembered what he had said by the pool the night before about wanting to hear her say it. She licked her lips and leaned into him until they were only a breath apart.
Still looking in his eyes and holding his face in her hands, she whispered, "Mr. Mellark, I want you."
And then her lips met his.