A/N: And here is the first part of what my mind came up with. More to come. :)

Xxx

Katniss woke up and rubbed her eyes groggily. Sitting up in her bed, she stretched with a yawn, and turned to put her feet on the floor, yanking them back quickly when the cold wooden boards met her bare skin.

Taking a deep breath, her eyes settling on her target across the room, she bounded out of the bed, running as if for her life to the bathroom and stood on the little bath mat outside the shower as she turned on the heater.

Switching her weight from foot to foot, arms wrapped around herself as she waited for it to warm up, she glanced down at her wrist.

The clock stared back at her almost mockingly. Like a magic 8-ball saying, "Try again later." Unmoving. Unchanging. Ever in the same place, she feared, for the rest of her life. Setting her jaw with a sigh, she stuck out her chin as if in defiance of the thing, still glaring at it out of the corner of her eye.

0000 days 00 h 00m 00s

She had come to terms with it, she really had. Or at least, she kept telling herself that. No marriage. No children. No extra mouths to feed or worry about. Just her. She smiled weakly at the thought. She liked her solitude. But as she began to think about an eternity of it, no one to come home to, to talk about your day or work with, to kiss goodnight, she began to feel her anxiety knot in her stomach.

Finally warm enough, she shook her head of the thoughts and stepped into the shower, letting the hot water wash them all away. She couldn't afford them.

Xxx

Arriving at school early as always, Katniss smiled at the silence of the halls, the calm before the storm.

She went to her locker and began to get ready for the day, getting only what she needed until lunch.

The locker next to hers squeaked open, startling her. She peeked around the open door of her locker to see none other than Peeta Mellark.

She scowled in confusion. He was never here this early. And he seemed…. Nervous. That was a first for him.

Peeta Mellark, the golden boy of Panem High, captain of the wrestling team, and a shoe in for the valedictorian of their class.

The baker's son, with long blonde eyelashes she couldn't look away from. Blonde, curly hair that flopped in his face and he pushed back in aggravation. Blue eyes that were staring back at her. Staring at her. Crap.

She smiled a nervous smile, being caught staring by the object of your stare ever the wonderful thing.

Peeta raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry," Katniss said quietly. "You're just never here this early. You startled me."

"Oh." His voice sounded far away, though his eyes were glued to hers. "Yeah, sorry. I just, um…." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"Are you okay?" Katniss startled herself by asking. They had never really talked before. Sure, each had stolen glances, and been caught with a blush, or been assigned as partners in a class or two, but didn't talk much.

He seemed as startled as her by the question. His cheeks burning red, he chuckled nervously. "Um, yeah. I-I'm fine. It's just…. Nothing."

"Okay," Katniss said haltingly, turning back to her locker.

Suddenly Peeta was at her other side, leaning against the lockers, staring at her with an intensity that caught her off guard. "It's just, my clock."

Katniss raised her eyebrows in curiosity.

"It…. It has said zero since I was five. But I was in an assembly, and nothing extraordinary happened, so I had no idea who it was. I came to terms with it, deciding to make my own path." Katniss wondered why he was sharing all of this with her. It seemed rather…. Personal. At least, more than something you just tell an acquaintance, but she listened as he continued. "And then today, it rolled back." Katniss eyebrows shot even higher. "Yeah, I know."

"So, how much time do you have?" She asked, her interest clearly peaked.

"A week and thirty minutes. Odd, I know."

"Well, I wish you the best of luck. That's…. Exciting news." She turned back to her locker.

"I was wondering if you could help me?"

She turned back to him, this time with a scowl, but it was short lived, seeing the sheepish smile he wore and the uncertainty in his eyes. Those eyes, that continued to gaze at her intently. Staring, seemingly to bore to her very soul.

Staring. Again. Crap.

Katniss cleared her throat. "How?" Still her voice squeaked.

"You are so light on your feet, you can sneak anywhere." How does he know this? "I was hoping you could listen in, maybe see if anyone else's has that time on it, or reset, too, or is talking about me or-"

"If I say yes will you chill?"

"Like a pill." Katniss moaned and rolled her eyes at the pun, her smile betraying her.

"Fine."

He said they should exchange numbers and they could text to keep it a secret. Why he wanted it a secret, she had no clue, but obliged.

The nervousness around him seem to melt away as he grinned. Students started drifting in, so as he walked back around her to his locker, he whispered, "Help me, Katniss Everdeen. You're my only hope."

Katniss ducked her head into her locker, pretending to rifle through books, to try to hide her snort of amusement.

Xxx

The week went by too slowly for Katniss' liking. At first Peeta texted her non stop asking for updates, but after she threatened to bake a cookie and make him eat it, he stopped.

She smiled at the memory. They had taken an extra credit class together, and it was baking. Why the baker's son would need to take it, she didn't know. An easy A she guessed. But it was one of the only times they talked growing up.

She had made cookies and handed him one, only to have him bite into it and start gagging. After he inspected her table, he found she had used salt instead of sugar.

After the third day of simply reporting back nothing after school, he kept texting her, and they ended up playing twenty questions.

It carried over into their school days, as they passed each other in the hall, asking their next question and getting a yes or no and continuing on to class.

She learned a lot about him, as they talked about themselves to each other for no apparent reason, but she already knew most of it, and even some he didn't tell her.

He asked her to describe him in five ways. After much thought, she replied, You're a painter. You're a baker. You like to sleep with the windows open. You never take sugar in your tea. And you always double-knot your shoelaces.

He replied with a smilie face and told her goodnight. At least I scared him off with only one day left.

Xxx

It was lunch time on the seventh day, and Peeta had exactly thirty minutes left on his timer. He had worn long sleeves all week to hide it. He had tried to sit alone, but Katniss texted him to do what he normally did. Otherwise, he might not cross paths with his soulmate.

Her stomach hurt when she typed out that word. She had grown fond of him, and knew once he had a special someone in his life, she would fall by the wayside.

She kept glancing at Peeta, and he seemed very calm, seemingly hiding his nerves very well.

When he glanced down at his wrist, and looked around, she knew he must have seconds left. He looked back down at it and stared, his face falling. Either it had run out, or there were only enough seconds left to make him realize it wasn't happening. He looked over his shoulder at her, met her eyes and smiled sadly with a shrug.

She tried her best to return it. She wanted this for him, but at the same time, she thought maybe they could continue their budding friendship. She hated herself for thinking about that, knowing it meant he had no soulmate.

He suddenly stood up, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and went into the hall. She didn't hesitate in following him. "Peeta, wait up!" She called once she was in the hall.

He didn't answer, just kept walking, until he reached the door to outside. She followed him as he walked over to a tree, punching it as a tear fell down his face. Putting his back to it, he slid down to a hopeless puddle at it's base.

She carefully sat in front of him, cross legged, waiting on him to speak first.

When he didn't, she decided to pipe up. "It's okay," she offered lamely. "You know, my clock started ticking when I was eleven, but, only for a little while." She didn't dare tell him it was when he had run out in the rain after school just to hand her a cupcake with a K iced on it's top. "I think they're glitchy. There's always a flaw in the system." Peeta still wouldn't meet her eyes, so she pushed forward. "My clock hasn't even started yet," and she held it up for him to see. "I don't think it ever will."

Peeta looked at her incredulously. "Are you serious?"

"What?"

He scoffed. "You really have no idea. The effect you can have."

"What?"

"Katniss, boys would line up at your locker if any of them thought you would give them the time of day."

Now it was Katniss' turn to scoff.

"I'm serious!"

"Whatever." Sitting in silence for a few moments, Katniss got an idea. "Hey. You said it zeroed out the first time in a music assembly."

Peeta looked nervous. "Yeah."

"Well, anything about that stick in your memory? Maybe the person was there, but it just wasn't the right time. You were five after all."

Peeta blushed as he looked down and fisted the grass. "Yeah. Something sticks out."

"What?" Katniss was starting to get…. Excited?

"You were singing the Valley Song. I remember you sounded so pretty, and even the birds stopped to listen to you."

Katniss didn't know what to say.

"And today, it hit zero when I looked over my shoulder at you."

Katniss simply stared.

"Well, this is awkward," Peeta said.

"Well, you know, both of our clocks say zero."

"Thank you, captain obvious."

"No! Hear me out. Since they both read zero, we could pretend to be together. Maybe bring your jealous soulmate out of the woodworks. Your wayward star crossed lover."

"That's a crazy idea."

"So?"

Peeta stared at the grass again.

"So, Peeta. What do you say? Will you stay with me? Be my pretend boyfriend?" She said the last part in a silly voice.

Peeta smiled and picked a dandelion near his hand, handing it to her.

"Always."