Hi Everyone! This is my very first Hunger Games story, and I am excited! It is a CatoxPeeta story, so if you don't like, stop reading!
If you are still reading, thank you so much! Have some Peetato! (Potato, hehehehe...)
Today just happens to be Peeta Mellark's birthday, so to honor that, I have posted my first chapter early.
If you want more, review and favourite!
I own nothing, it all belongs to Suzanne Collins :(
On with the story!
"Get up, get up, get up!"
Peeta Mallark groaned and stuffed his head under a pillow, desperately trying to shut out the voice. In a flash, the pillow was snatched away, and the blond boy found himself looking into a pair of mischievous brown eyes.
"Rue, please! I haven't even slept! It's too early for this!"
"No, it's not!" chirped the dark skinned little girl, who was currently sitting on his chest. "It's nine thirty! Thresh and I have been waiting for half an hour!"
Rue's older brother stood off to the side, leaning against the wall of Peeta's bedroom. He didn't say a word, but amusement sparkled in his eyes as Rue began her 'get up' chant once again.
Sighing in defeat, Peeta hauled himself up into a sitting position. He grinned down at Rue, who was trying to hide her triumphant smile.
"I can't get up until you get off me, seedling." Then without warning, he seized the little girl by her arms and began to tickle her mercilessly. The battle raged on for several minutes. Rue finally burrowed under the blankets and kicked at Peeta anytime the boy tried to grab her.
"Help me, Thresh!" Rue cried, giggling as she evaded Peeta again.
Pushing off from his spot on the wall, Thresh snatched up his sister in one swift movement and tossed her over his shoulder. Peeta rolled out of bed, rubbing sleep from his eyes, as the taller boy carried Rue out of his room.
As he made his way to his closet, he could hear the siblings voices, or rather Rue's voice, carrying from downstairs. While 15-year old Rue had plenty to say, 21-year old Thresh was the strong, silent type. He preferred to let his beloved younger sister speak for him, unless he was agitated or upset. Nonetheless, since moving to District 12 he and his sister had become two of Peeta's closest friends.
Peeta's eyes wandered through his closet, wishing his good friend Madge Undersee was there to help him. Though he had an excellent eye for color when decorating cakes, Peeta was terrible at choosing outfits for himself. He finally settled on a simple white shirt and conservative black pants, knowing he would have to change when he arrived in Libete.
Libete, formerly known as the Capital, was the center of the nation of Panem. Four years earlier, rebel fighters had infiltrated the Capital and set the nation free from the oppressive rule of Dictator President Snow.
After the war, Panem's citizens had come together to rebuild their mighty country. Most of District 12's citizen's returned from District 13, and with help from many other districts, had restored their home. Peeta now ran the bakery with the help of his two older brothers, Bran and Rye. Both had moved in with their girlfriends, so Peeta lived alone in the apartment above the store.
That year President Paylor, the new leader of Panem, had declared a national celebration to commemorate the resilience of the nation's citizens, and multiple celebrations were taking place across Panem. But the largest, and most likely the grandest was taking place in Libete. Peeta, along with his brothers, and Rue and Thresh, had been invited by their friends Gale and Katniss Hawthorne.
The couple lived in District 12, but were always invited to high-society events due to their role in the rebellion. Katniss had volunteered for her sister, while Gale had been reaped to compete in the 74th annual hunger games. Both had managed to survive, defying the Capital and unknowingly sparking the rebellion. Katniss in particular had been an inspiration to the fighters, and 'The Girl on Fire' was a legend in the nation.
When Capital bombs had begun to drop on District 12, Peeta and his brothers fled to take refuge in District 13. But while all three young men survived, their parents did not. It didn't bother Peeta much that his mother was dead, she had brutally beaten him for anything he did wrong, even at a young age. With her gone, he felt he could finally relax. He did miss his father, but Peeta knew that he had loved him and had only wanted his sons to be happy.
Peeta walked into his bathroom, staring into the mirror before attempting to flatten his ash-blond hair. He was a quiet and attractive young man, with bright blue eyes and a muscular physique from hauling bags of flour every day. For 2 years since returning to his home Peeta had been forced to deal with hopeful girls attempting to catch his eye. He hadn't been able to go outside without at least one woman flirting with him, which his brothers had teased him mercilessly about.
The women had finally stopped bothering him since he had come out as gay a few months earlier. When he was younger Peeta had believed he was in love with Katniss, but as he matured, he began feeling attracted to men in a way that he had never felt towards her. When he awoke from a rather provocative dream involving Finnick Odair, the blond was forced to accept that he was gay. Luckily, Panem was much more accepting than it had been under Snow's rule, and none of his friends minded in the slightest. In fact, Madge had told him she always suspected it.
But coming out had caused him a new problem. Gay and bisexual men had begun vying for his affection, and some of them came on rather strongly. Being handsome, a friend of the heroes of the nation, and a virgin, Peeta was considered quite the prize by many eligible men.
But the young baker wasn't comfortable with attention, having never received much in his life-time. He knew that a relationship meant kissing, talking, and touching, and he just wasn't ready. So he rejected any advances as politely as he could, but more than once Thresh had been forced frighten off a man who wouldn't take no for an answer. Peeta shuddered to think what would have happened if any of his suitors had been Thresh's size.
"Peeta, come on! We need to catch the train!" Came Rye's voice. Peeta quickly pulled on a pair of black shoes and hurried downstairs to join them.
"Rue! Thresh! Peeta! Guys! Over here!" A high, sweet voice rang out over the din at the Libete central train station. Rue made a bee-line for the blond hair bobbing in the crowd, dragging Bran and Thresh behind her.
"Prim!" she squealed happily, pulling Katniss's younger sister into a hug. Rue and Thresh's sister had been allied with Katniss during the Hunger Games, so the two had befriended her and Gale during the victory tour. Thresh had fought with the District 13 rebels, and Rue proved to be very helpful to Prim and Katniss's mother, who was a healer.
"Glad you guys made it." Said Gale, shaking hands with the other men.
"Where's Katniss?" Rue piped up, looking curiously around her.
"On the bench near the front entrance." Primrose told her with a smile. She edged closer to Peeta and Thresh conspiringly and lowered her voice. "She freaks out every time the baby moves."
Peeta chuckled. It was incredibly hard to image practical, tough-as-nails Katniss with an 8 month baby bump. But there she was, struggling to get up from a metal bench to their right.
"Hi, guys-Omph!" The dark haired girl grunted, as her husband rushed to her aid. Side by side, Peeta could see how much the couple looked alike, having both been raised in the Seam, down to their olive skin and gray eyes.
"It is so hard to get around." Katniss lamented. "I feel like a whale."
"Don't worry, in a of couple months you'll be a dolphin again." Rue said helpfully. Everyone, save for Peeta, laughed as the group made their way down the busy streets of Libete.
Thresh, along with Peeta's brothers fell in step with Katniss and Gale, while Peeta walked ahead with the two teenage girls, who were clearly having the time of their lives. Every so often one of them would notice something of particular interest, and would point it out to Peeta in an attempt to engage the young man. Peeta politely feigned enthusiasm, but it was clear his heart wasn't in it as he scanned the all too familiar streets.
Katniss looked worriedly between Thresh, Bran and Rye.
"Is he alright?" she asked in a hushed tone. "Something seems…off about him."
Bran, the eldest brother, sighed. "It's his nightmares. Some nights I don't think he sleeps at all."
"Still?" Katniss asked. "It's been four years!"
"He's not like us, Catnip." Gale told her. "Boggs was the first living thing he ever saw suffer and die. Things like that stay with you. Remember after the first games?"
Katniss nodded. She had spent many nights huddled in Gale's arms, terrified that she would wake up back in the arena. Peeta had mentioned to her before of having dreams of being back in the sewers with the mutts, or being killed by a pod. The difference was that she had Gale to comfort her, to keep her grounded when she couldn't tell the difference between memory and reality. Peeta didn't have anyone.
"I guess that he's having flashbacks now." Rye said quietly, watching his little brother walk ahead of them.
"He needs something to take his mind off the past. I was hoping the party would distract him but…" Bran trailed off.
"Didn't you say there's a special dance just for you two? Why don't you ask him to sing the song for you?"
It took Gale a minute to realize it was Thresh who had spoken. Then he nodded.
"Would he be up for it?" Peeta's brothers shrugged.
"He sings whenever he thinks nobody is listening, and he's got a great voice. I'm not sure how he feels about performing, though." Bran explained.
Rye grinned. "What's the harm in asking him? After all, it's not like he'll be the main attraction. Most people will be too busy watching the power couple of the century slow dance."
"IF I can manage to do that." Katniss deadpanned, gesturing to her stomach and making everyone break into laugher again.
Peeta gritted his teeth, trying to will away the unwanted memories threatening to spill over at any second. Even after getting off the streets and entering the modest but still elegant hotel where the group would be staying, the flashbacks continued to haunt him. Then he heard a squeal of delight and their group was instantly greeted by Madge, Gale's younger brother Rory, and Effie Trinket and Haymitch Abernathy, Katniss and Gale's former escort and mentor respectively.
"Katniss, darling!" Sang Effie, sashaying over to the young woman. "How are dear? You're looking so lovely!" She bent down towards Katniss's stomach. "And how is the little one?"
Katniss shot Peeta a look that clearly said 'Help me', but her salvation came from Haymitch, who swaggered over and put an arm around Effie's waist, pulling her up.
"Alright, Princess. Give the girl some space." Effie, who was wearing a brightly colored flower print dress and high heels, sniffed.
"I am merely offering my well wishes, which is more than I've seen you do, Haymitch Abernathy!"
As the pair continued to squabble, Madge slipped through the group to give Peeta a tight hug.
"How are you doing, Peet?"
The blond sighed. "It's harder than I thought it would be. Seeing everything again, remembering a wanted ad, or a pod, or a corpse…" He trailed off, his voice breaking.
Madge led him over to a small couch and sat down. "Don't worry. Panem is free now and you'll never have to go through anything like that ever again."
"It's not just that."
"What's bothering you then?"
"Sometimes, in my dreams-nightmares," Peeta corrected himself, "Things are different. I sometimes dream it exactly how it was, with Gale, Katniss and I, our team dying around us. But sometimes…" He stopped and took a deep breath. "Sometimes I'm alone. I'm in the sewers or an abandoned building, but there's no danger and I don't have a weapon. Then I hear this voice coming from behind me. It's strong and commanding, like the voice of a peacekeeper, but I can't see anyone there."
"Do you recognize their voice?" Madge asked.
"No, but it's definitely male. He tells me that everyone I love is dead, and that it's my fault. He continues to taunt me, but no matter where I turn, I can't find him. And recently…"
Peeta stopped, looking hard at his feet. Madge put her hand gently on his shoulder.
"Tell me what's wrong, Peeta. Let it all out."
The blond closed his eyes and continued. "He's started holding me, and telling me that he's coming for me. That I'll never be able to escape him."
Madge looked at him worriedly. "Holding you how?"
"Just around the waist, but then he puts his chin on my shoulder and starts whispering in my ear. That's all he does, but it scares me. I don't know why I keep dreaming it!" He burst out.
The mayor's daughter smiled sadly at him. "I'm sorry, Peeta. I don't know either, but I do know that thinking about it constantly is only going to make it worse."
"I guess you're right."
"I know I'm right! Oh, and Thresh had a great idea! You're going to sing at the celebration tonight while Katniss and Gale dance!"
"Wait, what?" Peeta gasped. "Why didn't you ask me first?"
"Well, we were going to, but then Effie overheard and made the decision for you. I can help you fake Asian Flu if you want." Madge offered.
"What's that?"
"I have no idea, I read it somewhere. So will you sing? It'll definitely help distract you from, well, you know."
Peeta sighed. "Yeah, okay."
"Alright darlings, come come!" Effie chirped brightly, rounding up their large group rather skillfully in her high heels. "Our public awaits!"
Well, there you go! Did you love it? Then review! The more reviews I get, the sooner I will update! Bye for now!