A/N: Contains smut in later chapters as well as a relationship between a teacher and their former student, who is now of age and very much consenting.

"What's yours, Peeta?"

He cracked open his fortune cookie and smoothed out the slip of paper inside. "Very soon, an old fantasy will be realized."

His older brother laughed. "So, got any fantasies you'd like to tell me about before they come true?"

"Think I'll have to pass on that one." Peeta eyed the Kung Pao chicken. He had already stuffed himself on the feast they'd ordered from the Chinese place down the street, but did he really want Rye to get the last of it? He scooped a couple more bites' worth onto his plate. "Anyway, they're all bullshit," he said around a bite of chicken. "As long as you keep it vague enough, people are bound to find things that fit it."

"You eat all of that, and I'm gonna kill you."

"There's plenty left for tomorrow morning." Peeta popped in another bite, smiling around it just to annoy his brother. "Good stuff. You never told me yours." He gestured towards Rye's cookie with his fork.

"Think I can top your fantasies coming true?" Rye asked as he fought with the wrapper. "All right, there it is. 'Happiness is an inside job.'" The man shrugged. "Whatever that means."

"Nope, you couldn't top it."

"Well, Peeta, I guess that since all of your wildest dreams are going to come true here soon, it's not too much to ask of you to clean up."

He snorted. "You act as though there was a chance it wasn't going to be me cleaning up anyway."

"Well, we've all got our purposes in life. Gotta put that law degree you spent a hundred and fifty grand on to good use, right?"

"Y'know, this isn't quite what I pictured."

"Welcome to life."

When she was sixteen, her green '92 Pontiac Sunbird had been her pride and joy. Katniss really wished she could say the same now, almost twenty years later. The perfect forest-green paint job had been ruined through years' worth of nicks and scratches, and these last few months, she'd noticed that the entire body had started leaning just a bit to the right. With the left rearview mirror held together only by silver duct tape, one couldn't be blamed for mistaking her car for one of her high school students'. Still, she and Ponty had been through a lot together, and she'd be sad to see him go. Hence, when Annie had suggested they go out to celebrate the beginning of spring break, Katniss had volunteered herself as designated driver. It just seemed right to give her old car one last hurrah before she finally traded him in.

"The radio doesn't work anymore, does it?" Johanna asked.

Without taking her eyes off the road, Katniss swatted her friend's hand away from the controls. "It does if you don't try to change stations."

"So what you're saying is that it doesn't really work," Annie chimed in from the back seat.

"Okay, it's not great anymore, but I like this station." She could bitch about Ponty all she wanted, but that didn't mean anyone else got to be mean to him. Katniss wondered, not for the first time, if she was starting to go a little insane. She hadn't even liked cats five years ago, and now she had two. She wouldn't let people say anything bad about her car, and she couldn't remember the last time she had stayed out past nine-thirty. Much as she hated to admit it, Katniss was falling into the dreaded crazy old cat lady mold, and she didn't even care enough to stop the cycle. All right, thinking about this too much was just going to give her grey hairs she wasn't ready for. Time to change the subject. "I want to turn at this next light, right?"

"Yeah," Johanna replied. "After that, it'll be the second driveway on your right."

Ponty didn't do gravel very well, but it managed the Flaming Arrow's parking lot with minimal bumps. With one last check that her lipstick hadn't wandered outside her lip line – which Johanna, of course, gave her shit for – they headed in, settling on a corner booth not too far from the entrance. Even with Annie's wedding ring on clear display, sitting at the bar always seemed to get them more male attention than any of them was looking for, and Katniss would really rather that Johanna didn't shout at anybody tonight.

It had been way too long since she had been here. They had allowed smoking in the main room the last time, and the legislature had passed that law in what, 2008? It still reeked of the stuff in here, thanks to the poor ventilation, but it made for a nice change. Katniss settled back in her seat, holding their spot as Johanna and Annie went up to order their drinks, hoping one of them would actually remember to grab a Diet Coke for her like they'd promised to.