Melodramatic, a hunger games fanfic

April 19, 2012

Author`s Note: I`ve been writing fics for a long time now, but this is the first time I venture in the world of Katniss and Peeta. I love their story although like most of the Everllark fans out there, I feel deprived of KatnissXPeeta fluff so I have decided to make my own.

Takes place after Mockingjay where Katniss and Peeta are still in the process of exploring their relationship. No overlydone mush here. Just sweet and light. Written while The Fray`s `Rainy Zurich` was playing in my iPod. I suggest you listen to the song as well because it sets the light fluffy mood, or at least the light happy fluff at the end of this fic.

Disclaimer`s Note: I don't own the Hunger Games, or its characters. I also don't own The Fray`s Rainy Zurich.

HGHGHGHGHG

"No You cant."

"I have to."

"I wont let you."

"This is not something we can decide about."

"I`ll talk to Paylor. If she doesn't listen, Plutarch."

"It`s useless. All men from the district are going. Even Haymitch -

"DAMN IT PEETA! You`re not going back to the capitol and that`s final!"

HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGG

The official letter arrives a few days later. He is careful to read it away from her pleading eyes, but careless enough to place it somewhere within her reach. Granted, she doesn't even need to read to know what message it holds, but when he quietly slips out to check on the bakery, her shaking hands grip the edges of the Plutarch Heavensbee`s parchment paper so tightly creases begin to appear.

Her mind barely registers the thought: No Drama when her gaze barely skims through the words and her eyes fill with tears : vote, every male, Capitol and three weeks.

HGHGHGHGHGHG

He finds her curled in a ball in the farthest, darkest corner of his room, arms wrapped around her knees, face hidden in the crook of her elbow. He knows she hasn't been out hunting, but her clothes are rumpled and her hair is matted with sweat.

He calls out her name, softly, almost like a whisper carried by the wind. He doesn't want to scare her; she`s terrified enough.

When she doesn't respond, he walk towards her and his arms convey emotions words cant.

She`s a stubborn one, the strain in her back tips this away. As if he hasn't known this, when he has observed her even before he`s first observed his father icing his first cake. In his embrace, she is solid and strong and unyielding, her hands clenched into tight fists.

"Katniss…."

He allows himself this luxury; to murmur each blessed syllable of her name in fervored whispers because calling her name has been something he`s wanted to do since his father had pointed out the young girl with the two braids.

"I wont let you go back to the Capitol." The way she says it with such finality scares him. It`s as if she`d gladly go through two more Hunger Games and relive all the horrors that came with it, than to let him go.

He sighs at this thought. Old sins cast long shadows. The horrors that Snow has twisted in their memories will never go away; the games will never end, and war would forever be waged.

"I`ll be fine." He murmurs in her hair., "Katniss, the war is over. We`re safe now."

Fear, distrust, but mostly fear. He can see it plain as day in her grey irises.

"You don't know what`s going to happen." There`s a slight tremor in her voice and this is only when Peeta realizes that she`s shaking. He lets himself a small smile with this one.

"Oh I know. What`s going to happen. I`m going to the Capitol, ,like all men from District 12—Haymitch included—to vote for the next male Head Peace and Defense Minister. I`ll be coming home soon after." his tone is light, too light and it`s only slightly obvious that he`s also keeping his emotions at bay.

She doesn't say anything after this. Doesn't say that they also didn't know what was going to happen the first time they got reaped. Didn't know that the Capitol had planned on bringing them back to the games. Didnt know that they`d end up being so scarred and so vulnerable and almost clinically insane after everything that`s happened.

Almost as if he`s guessed how her thoughts have taken a dark turn, his body starts trembling as well, and his grip on her shoulders become a little tighter, a little more desperate.

"Katniss, I`m scared to go back too. But I have to, and I`m fighting it and Im not pushing you away."

The desperation in his tone, her own apparent selfishness and the unfairness of the whole situation finally makes her own grip slacken and she rests her head on the crook of his neck.

"You smell of cinnamon and oranges." It comes out so sudden, so out of the blue that he cant help but laugh. "Yes, your hunter senses are right Miss Everdeen. I made cinnamon cookies today." There`s laughter in his voice, and inwardly his mind reels over the thought that this slight girl in his arms can never, ever stop surprising him.

She doesn't laugh, but the grimness has somehow lifted from her face. "Three weeks is a long time Peeta. It`s a long time" she whispers so softly Peeta thinks his heart would break from it. "We`ll manage. I`ll call you everyday." A thumb comes up to stroke her crinkled brow. "You know, to remind you to feed Buttercup." He adds as an afterthought and this prompts a low growl from her throat and a smile in his lips.

HGHGHGHGH

There are no tearful goodbyes in the station. She`s already decided for the both of them. No matter how scared they are of the separation that looms over them, there would be no mushy, sappy Capitol movie flick-esque kind of drama.

But the moment the ground starts to shudder and they pick on the distant roaring of the train engines that would shuffle him back to the Capitol, he feels her grip instantly tighten, and her eyes become glassy with unshushed tears.

1:00. According to the large digital timer on display, they have a minute before the train officially stops at the platforms.

Her heart has painfully constricted in her throat. The world instantly blurs and all she can think of is Peeta`s leaving and Peeta`s leaving and Peeta and Peeta and still Peeta until finally she cant even think clearly and she cant breathe and it`s like the reaping all over again….

"Katniss." His voice is as clear and as steady as day; As clear as the pools of blue in his eyes. "You can cry. It`s okay to cry. Just.. just breathe."

His words still her thoughts, and for a moment, she forgets about the Capitol and their cheesy mushy movie flicks and flings her arms around her boy with the bread.

HGHGHGHGHGH

True to his word, he calls her everyday. He tells her how much the Capitol has changed. How Paylor has become a good leader and how she`s erased any other remaining evidences of Snow`s cruelty. He tells her about the decorated cakes they have on the bakeries that line the Capitol streets and chidingly brags that he could do much better with the icings. He mentions they`ve met Effie and she`s as bright and as pumped up with female adrenaline as ever. There`s even a brief mention of having met Gale, and Beetie.

All the while his words are tumbling, she clutches the receiver so tightly she has to pry her knuckles off after he ends the call. She doesn't say much—or rather, she really doesn't say anything. Just listening, and breathing, with the occasional yes or no, at the end of the line.

He asks her about her day and all she could muster, through tight lips and gritted teeth, is a curt `Fine`. He doesn't ask her to elaborate. There`s no need to. And besides, she`d rather chase Haymitch`s crazy geese around every corner of 12 than admit that she`s decided that the best way to cope with his absence is to sulk in dark corners and refuse Sae`s attempts to feed her. That and the occasional trips to the woods that ultimately turn to sulking episodes as well—because you`re not here. And how can I even hope to function when you`re not here beside me?

"Just come home soon." She fights the steady rise of desperation in her voice; and she fights it hard.

She hears him swallow thickly from across the line and she realizes that he`s fighting something too.

"I will."

HGHGHGHGHGHG

There will be no tearful reunions in the station. She`s already decided for the both of them. No matter how much they've endured from the separation that loomed over them for the past weeks, there would be no mushy, sappy Capitol movie flick-esque kind of drama.

But the moment the train comes up to the station, and people start rushing to and from the platforms, and the rain starts pelting mercilessly from the sky, she feels the heated rush of panic bloom incredulously in her chest, spreading to every fibre of her being as her mind reels over one thought: Where are you?

She cant find him, not even if her life depended on it. Her once measured steps and steady gait have broken out into a nervous run as her sharp eyes frantically scan through the teeming crowds. Since when did 12 have so many people? She finds herself thinking impatiently as she combs through throngs of waving people in search of a golden flash of blonde hair.

"Peeta..." She calls out his name, trying to quell the edge of desperation gnawing at her throat. She calls out to him again, once, twice with neither a care to the rain and the wind nor the astonished looks people start throwing in her direction.

She pushes, and pushes, trying to fight the waves of people, caged animals and delivery carts from the Capitol. Her fingers pry from shoulders, her boots scrunch against dirt, mud and gravel, and her calls of distress have started to echo along the corners of the station. "Peeta! Peeta! Peeta!"

And then suddenly he`s there, stumbling to the platform, blonde hair messy and askew, arms laden with luggages and ridiculously coloured parcels that could have only come from the Capitol and could have only been meant to be given to her.

And then suddenly, his head whips to the direction of her voice, and he`s dropped said luggages and ridiculously colored parcels and is making his way to her.

Katniss forgets about this decision; along with the Capitol movies she`s also decided to hate. She forgets that the stereotypical scene from a stereotypical cheesy Capitol movie is a rainy day in the station where the reuniting of two star crossed lovers occurs, complete with the flinging if arms, the twirling in the rain, and of course, the kissing.

She forgets all of these as she runs to her boy with the bread, and without second thoughts, buries her face in the steady expanse of his chest, laughing silently when he lifts her to her feet, twirls her breathless form ecstatically around, and pulls her down for a sweet gentle kiss. All of which happens, in front of all District 12, in the station, and of course, of course- under the warm rain.

I`ll keep you warm,

Dancing in the downpour,

And I will hold

Your body slowly turning.

I`ll keep you warm,

Dancing in the downpour.

And breathe it in,

We`ll take it all and soak our skin.

OWARI

I know, I know—Head Minister of Peace and Defense? Lame, yes—but that was what I exactly wanted: an uber lame reason to send Peeta back to the Capitol and the lameness of everything just magnifies how Katniss is frustrated with the said attendance requirement.

I`ll give out Peeta`s orange cinnamon cookies for every review I get. : ]