Chapter 1

Peeta's pov

AN: So, welcome to my first fanfiction! First things first, some time ago I wrote this one shot and it just didn't let me go so I decided to make a whole fanfic out of it. Basically the first chapter is the one shot I've posted, just slightly longer and more detailed/edited and in either Katniss' or Peeta's pov. I don't know yet how long this is going to be or how exactly it will end, but I'm really looking forward to go on this journey!

I hope y'all enjoy it and don't forget to leave me some feedback!

Disclaimer: I don't own The Hunger Games or any characters which are mentioned in my story, it all belongs to the wonderful Suzanne Collins.

When song changed for the 5th time I noticed that I must have been staring at her for longer than 15 minutes and a blush crept on my face. There was something special about that girl, something I couldn't wrap my mind around, but she fascinated me and I couldn't tear my attention away from her.

The way she was lightly swaying to the music, the constant smile that was plastered on her face and the spark in her eyes that appeared every time a new verse began.

I couldn't hear her over the noise of our surroundings, but I could make out the movements of her delicate mouth and I figured she was singing. She hadn't caught my eye immediately, but when I finally noticed her I was instantly captivated. Not because she was only beautiful, but as radiant as the sun.

Her long brown hair flowed in graceful waves down her back and her tight tank top and skinny jeans fit her like a second skin. I just couldn't take my eyes off her. Deep down I kind of hated myself for not paying too much attention to the music, after all I've spent a shitload amount of money to finally see the Arctic Monkeys live, but on the other hand wasn't able to care about anything else but her.

The moment I started forming a plan in my head for a way to get to know her, I felt someone bumping into me and caught Finnick staring questioningly at me, knitting his eyebrows together in confusion. As I pointed my thumb in the girl's direction and shrugged my shoulders his face immediately lit up and he winked at me before getting back to Annie and enveloping her into his arms.

After 5 more minutes of me staring at her and trying to gain the courage to go over, the music suddenly broke off and Glyn cleared his throat on stage. "Hey guys, our next song will be 'I Wanna Be Yours' and I know a lot of you have already been waiting for this. So this is your chance, during the song I want you all to grab your partner, best friend, wife or even some stranger and kiss them. Everyone enjoys a nice kiss, so don't be shy and seize the chance!" he winked and cleared his throat once, before the music of the all too familiar song started filling the room.

I was still in complete shock. It was like he had looked into my mind and presented me the perfect excuse to approach her without embarrassing myself too much. But what if she had a boyfriend? Of course I couldn't have known, but I really wasn't that eager to get a beating from some stranger who was most likely two times taller than me.

All around me people where kissing and hugging and I once again felt that stupid ache in my heart which cursed me for never being brave enough to do something about it.
And in this moment I decided to just blow all concerns in the wind and started making my way over to her, not stopping until I was just a few steps away. When she noticed me she gave me a small smile and her grey eyes met my blues ones. I sucked in my breath. I never was the one to believe in love at first sight, but it was like the world suddenly stopped around us and the only two people left on earth were us, captured in this particular moment.

I couldn't bring myself to say anything so I just took her hand in mine and intertwined our fingers, pulling her closer to me. She instantly adverted her eyes to the ground, but I could clearly make out the blush that was creeping on her face. I took a deep breath and her scent filled my mind. She smelled heavenly, like pine needles and a hint of flowers, mixed with a deep aroma of the woods. When she finally looked up, it was all that took it for me to crush her chest against mine completely. I could feel her heart beating against mine and I was afraid that any moment she was going to slap me for being that forward, but all she did was continue to stare into my eyes.

With that, I finally crashed my lips against hers. They were round and soft, and felt just as delicious as they looked. At first she stiffened against me, but soon after her body relaxed, our bodies melted together perfectly and a soft sigh escaped her lips. I traced her bottom lip with my tongue and her lips parted, giving me access to explore her mouth further. She tasted like chewing gum and spring and it oddly matched perfectly with her appearance. A groan escaped my throat when she run her tongue over mine and her arms slipped around my head, playing with the soft curls at the nape of my neck. I cupped my hands over the sides of her head to keep her steady against me and I felt like I was floating. My head was spinning like crazy, but it was so good and the moment was just perfect. I don't know for how long we remained like that, but I was determined to draw it out for as long as possible.

After sucking my tongue into her mouth one last time, she pulled away from me and rested her head on my shoulder. I was desperate to look into her eyes, but right now I was content with staying like that. With the sounds of "Mad Sounds" floating in the background and a beautiful girl pressed against my body I felt like the luckiest man of the world. Her breaths gazed my ear and a shudder ran down my spine, making goose pumps appear on my arms. "My name's Katniss by the way." A quiet laughter rumbled through my chest. "Peeta."

She pulled her head away from my shoulder and turned facing me. "You have the prettiest eyes I've ever seen, Peeta."

I broke out into a huge grin. "Well, I got them from my dad."

Suddenly, Katniss slowly pulled her arms away from me and let them tangle awkwardly besides her body. "So…"

"Yeah, uh, I'm sorry about that." I cleared my throat "It's just that I've had my eye on you for the whole evening and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to… you know." I gestured widely and couldn't bring myself to meet her eyes so I just stared at the stage.

Somewhere in front of it, I could make out Finnick waving at me furiously but I ignored him too.

I startled when I felt someone touched my face, but instantly relaxed when I noticed it was her. She took my face in her hands and turned it back in her direction. "If you didn't notice, I enjoyed it very much too. I just meant that shouldn't you be asking me out to dinner or something?"

A rush if excitement surged through me and a laugh escaped me. "Wouldn't that be kind of backwards, huh?"

Her grey eyes locked onto mine and she traced her thumb over my lips. "Dumbass. I would really like to go out with you, you know."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

A nervous chuckle escaped my lips as she quirked an eyebrow at me like she was waiting for something.

"So, uh, right now?" I slid both of my arms around her, desperate for some contact between us.

"Yes Peeta, right now." Before I got the chance to answer, she continued "What do you say to In-Out-Burger? I'm craving some decent fries." She gave me a small smile and that beloved spark in her eyes appeared once again.

"Let me just tell my friends okay?" I pointed over to where Finnick and Annie were standing. "And don't run away, I'll be back before you know it."

Before I could let go of her entirely, she pressed a quick kiss on my mouth and immediately turned bright red before turning away from me. I smirked and put one finger under her chin to make her look at me. "Remember, don't ever be ashamed for wanting to do that."

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"Don't tell me you really said that to her?" I burst out laughing, struggling to hold the wine glass steady in my hand instead of spilling it all over her carpet.

A blush crept on her face and she broke out into a mischievous grin. "I did and she was so pissed at me after that, especially because I said it in front of her friends. But was what I supposed to do? I'm her sister for god's sake!"

She got up to pour herself another glass of wine and I took the moment to think about the last few hours. After dinner, we somehow we ended up back at her apartment and after already emptying 2 bottles of wine we were currently sitting on the floor with her as close to me as possible, but I didn't mind one bit.

Practically we had already been past that, but I still felt shy when I reached over to take her hand in mine just as she was sitting back down.

I ran my thumb over her knuckles. "Prim sounds like a fantastic young woman, thanks to you."

"Yeah, she's amazing and I really love her." There was a smile sitting on her face, but I also didn't miss the hint of sadness crossing her eyes.

"Hey, she's not out of the world. Just at college getting the best education she could, and you are the one who made that possible for her." I let go of her hand and reached out to her, letting my thumb caress her cheek. We were so close right now that I would have been able to count every single freckle on her face if I wanted to. She was simply stunning.

"Can I… uh, kiss you?" I know it was quite a stupid question to ask after our former make out session, but it just felt like the right thing to do.

She moved her face even closer to mine, our noses touching, and her voice came out as nothing more than a horse whisper. "Yes Peeta, you can."

That's everything it took me for me to close the distance between us. It was different this time, more slow and intense and we were taking our time exploring each other's mouths carefully, but that didn't make it any less wonderful. I probably would never get tired of kissing her.

This time, I was the first one to pull away first, needing to come up for air. When her eyes met mine a beautiful smile grazed her lips.

I moved to pull her into my lap, tightened my arms around her and she rested her head on my shoulder. "I don't know what it is about you, but you are something special Katniss.
You're wonderful and I hope this doesn't end when the sun comes up today."

She sighed and closed her eyes, breathing in deeply. "Peeta, I don't know if I can give you what you want. We've known each other for only such a short period of time and there is so much I haven't told you yet. Things I'm not even sure I want to burden you with."

I was already able to feel her slipping away from me and it hurt me that she thought she couldn't trust me. True, we had known each other for less than a day, but nobody expected her to open up to me so soon, I just wanted her to give me a chance. Hell, even I had things I had never told anyone before, but with her I felt like she could turn out to be the person I could finally trust.

"I don't expect you to tell me anything, Katniss. But except from the fact that you love your sister and had to care for her since you were 14 I don't know anything about you. Not even your favorite color!"

An amused chuckle escaped her and I was relieved that the tension between us seemed to vanish again. "Green, like the forest. I love being out there with my bow."

My eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Bow! Look, that's exactly what we have to tell each other. The deep stuff!" I couldn't help but break out into a huge grin.

Katniss put her arms around my neck to hide her head in the crook of it. The muffled sound of her voice made me laugh. "You're stupid." She was clearly joking so I pulled her body closer to mine.

"Look, we don't have to rush into things. Let me take you out on a proper date, please." I was determined to make this work and didn't even notice her hand which was slowly running through my hair.

"I'd like that. Maybe we can start off as friends." I rush of sadness ran through me but I was going to take every little thing she was willing to offer me.

Still, I raised an eyebrow at her. "Friends?"

Her cheeks reddened. "Well, friends who like to kiss, I guess?"

"I like the sound of that." And again I captured her lips with mine, dreading the moment when I would have to let go of her.