A/N: This was originally written for Prompts in Panem Round 3, Day 3: Modern Locations - Football stadium
He walks onto the football team three weeks after they arrive at Capitol University.
She fully supports the decision, even though she hates football and the way he smells when he comes up to her dorm room after practice. She's a little upset that he didn't even tell her he was going to try-outs, so she ignores the light kisses he plants on her neck and the way his fingers trail up and down her sides. He digs into her ribs, tickling her, and she squirms and laughs hysterically and he apologizes for not telling her. She forgives him because she loves him and just wants him to be happy.
Besides he'll probably never play, he tells her with a shrug. He's only okay at wide receiver and they've got a pretty strong group of guys as it is. But that's all right because he really just wants the experience and to get to play for at least another year.
Three games into the season, the starting wide receiver tears his ACL in a particularly nasty tackle and Peeta gets his chance. He makes seven catches for fifty-eight yards and scores a touchdown. She misses it because freshmen never get tickets to the games and she fell asleep in the study lounge working on math homework sometime in the second quarter.
He's so happy and pleased with himself that night when he comes to see her that she finally lets down her resolve and lets him touch her there, there, and there and it all feels so impossibly good that there's no way they can stop, even when her suitemates bang on the wall and tell her to shut up already. She just clutches her pillow and moans into his shoulders as he moves steadily above her.
They offer him a scholarship and he's first on the depth-chart after two-a-days the next fall. He's proud of himself but he'll never say so and she's proud of him, too, even though she still thinks that football is way too big a deal at their university. She even decides to buy tickets that year, but she justifies it by saying she'll take along her homework and only pay attention when Peeta's playing.
It kills her to admit it but mostly she's jealous of the way the college girls eye him when they go out to dinner or even when they're just walking across campus. But then he winds his arms around her waist and kisses her on the temple and tugs on her braid playfully when she's being too serious and she knows it's the two of them forever. The other girls can stare and giggle and flirt all they want, but she's the one going home with him at the end of the night.
On the second day of their sophomore year Katniss walks into the bookstore to pick up her botany lab manual and walks out with a replica jersey with his number on the back. It's not like she actually likes football or anything, but she does like the way he looks at her that night when she wears it and nothing else into their bed.
She quickly realizes that she cannot possibly study at football games because she's too concerned for Peeta's safety. Watching him get tackled on television was awful, but seeing it in person in a completely different story. She cheers every time he catches the ball and holds her breath until he gets up after every tackle, but underneath it all she's kind of starting to understand why football is such a big deal to everyone but her.
They go the national championship game their junior year, but lose by two touchdowns. Peeta blames himself because he dropped a catch, but then Katniss kisses him and tells him to let it all out however he needs to.
After that night he almost wishes they lost more games because sex after a victory was great, but sex after a loss was phenomenal.
Deep into the night, he replays the missed catch over and over, analyzing how if he had just turned here or planted his foot more cleanly there maybe it would have made a difference. Then Katniss moans slightly and snuggles her head into his shoulder and he knows that it doesn't matter if he never catches another ball again because the catch of his life is lying beside him, the numbers on his replica jersey rising and falling with her breath.
They win the national championship their senior year because Peeta catches the winning two-point conversion. Katniss jumps up and down and screams herself hoarse and cries until she can't see straight. She might not completely understand football yet, but she does know that the crystal ball is coming to Capitol and the man she loves has something to do with that.
It's dark and cold and the dew's already fallen on the perfectly manicured grass, but there's not a whole lot Katniss won't do for Peeta, including standing in the middle of the football field at midnight, dressed in the replica of his jersey that she usually only saves for special occasions. He assures her this is a special occasion as he crosses the field to kiss her gently before he kneels and tells her how much he loves her and that he wants to spend the rest of his life with her.
She's fairly certain he's still talking when she tackles him and settles on top of him right in the middle of the Capitol logo. They make short work of undressing each other just enough and Katniss fulfills almost all his fantasies in one night.
They go back fifteen years later in celebration of the championship team and he walks onto the field holding tight to his daughter's hand and supporting his son on his arm. Katniss follows not too far behind, the newest replica jersey hugging tight to the slightly curvier planes of her body. The grass still smells the same, the crowd still cheers loudly when they announce his name.
And Katniss still looks incredible that night when she wears the oldest, worn jersey and nothing else into their bed.
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