Category: Books ยป Hunger Games
Author: Eliptical
Language: English, Rating: Rated: T
Genre: Romance/Friendship
Published: 09-09-12, Updated: 01-03-13
Chapters: 35, Words: 40,697
Chapter 1: Yes, you're sick
A/N: This is my first Fanfic, so plz review!
Summary: Katniss is sick and Peeta takes care of her, with the help of Delly. very cute and Lots of fluff!
Disclaimer: Obviously, I dont own the Hunger Games.
Normal POV
Katniss wraps her arms around Peeta's neck. She had collapsed in the meadow after a long night of hunting, and was just about to come home when she passed out. luckily, peeta was out that morning, and had seen her lying in the grass. he had raced over, scooping her up like a baby, her arms instantly wrapping around his neck. He blushed at the automatic reflex to his touch, then took her home. When Katniss woke up, she had the instant jolt of suprise. The last time she checked, she was hunting. now..she was in her room, smelling soup wafting in from down stairs. She tried to get up, but dizzines overtook her and she had to lay down again.
KATNISS POV
I lay back down, letting out a groan as the world spins out of control.
i press the back of my hand to my forehead, which is unbelievebly hot-as hot as Peeta's was in the first Games. My stomach ached, my throat was dry, and I felt hot and achy all over. The room felt too hot, and it was all I could do not to lay down on the cool hardwood floor. I flipped over my pillow, the other side warm and damp. I lay there like that, wondering who was making soup and how the heck I got here in the first place. I also noticed that I was still wearing my father's hunting jacket-which I immedietly took off-then fell into an uncomfortable, restless sleep.
Normal POV
As peeta pulld the batch of cheese buns out of the oven, he hears Katniss groan.
He takes a moment before going upstairs, wondering if it was reallly a good idea to go up there.
eventually, though, he does. He finds katniss lying on their bed, her face in the pillow, hair tangled, hands twisted into the sheets.
Peeta's POV
Caustiosley, i walk over to her. "Katniss? are you awake?" I ask her gently. i recieve another groan in response.
"Im going to take your temperature now, okay?" I reply, stroking her shoulder. her skin feels very hot. i begin to feel worried. When she dosent move, I lean over her, kissing her cheek and shoulder. Then, I gently roll her over, looking at her sleeping face. My heart drops.
Katniss, the girl who saved my life on numerous occasions, the face of the rebellion, the mockingjay, the person who survived so much in such a short time, now looked like a defeated young girl. Her Hair mangled and plastered to her face with sweat, dark circles under each eye, flushed cheeks, a tired expression on her delicate face, I wanted nothing more than to swoop her into a hug and hold her forever, but i knew i was the one responsible to take care of her.
so, instead, i slip the thermometer in her mouth, then pulled her over to my side of the bed. I replaced the sticky, hot sheets with fresh, temerature controlled ones, swapping the decorative pillows with fluffy ones, then turned my attention back to katniss.
I scooped her up again, setting her on the cool sheets, then took the thermomenter out of her mouth. 101.5
that wasnt good. I sigh with worry as i slide off the bed, walking to the bathroom.
I come out, bearing a bowl of cold water and a washcloth. i set the bowl and washcloth down on the nightstand, then turn my attention back to Katniss. She's still asleep, her face twisted in pain, and im instantly cradling her, willing her to wake up.
"Katniss" I whisper to her. she's not opening her eyes.
After rubbing her shoulder and whsipering her name, she's still asleep, and by now im just getting desperate, and do the only thing i can think of. I kiss her gently on the lips, and after a moment she pulls back, yawning hoarsley
"Don't kiss me" she says sleepily, sitting up. "I'm sick"
I smile at her. "Yeah, having a fever of one-oh-eight usually confirms that a person's sick"
she glares at me, but is cut off by some coughing. She tries to get up for a drink of water, but i stop her.
"You're always taking care of me, so it's my turn. " after some protest, she finally agrees. I get her the glass of water.
"Thank you" she says sleepily
I smile and go downstairs again, telling Katniss to change out of her hunting clothes as I leave.
When I come back after putting the cheese buns in the fridge, Katniss is lying on the bed, her hair still plastered to her face, staring out the window.
After a while she sees me and jumps a little. "I didn't see you" she confesses, sitting up.
I smile as I look at her. "You're wearing my shirt" I tell her teasingly
She glares at me in response. "Sorry if I didnt change into a fancy satin nightgown from the capitol"
I chuckle as I walk towards her, then sit crossed-legged on the bed. After a minute, she crawls over to rest her head in my lap. I use the washcloth to clean her face and neck. She has her eyes closed, coughing every now and then. Then I move on to her arms, smiling to myself when I see goosebumps on her arms wherever the cool washcloth goes.
She drifts off after a while, and I put the washcloth down and begin brushing her hair out of her face. I undo her messy braid and push all her hair off her shoulders. I put her back on her pillow before kissing her once, then leaving to go downstairs to make a phone call.
When I return with Delly behind me, Katniss is up in bed and looks suprised to see us. Of course he would. Delly never comes over.
"Hi...Delly" She says hoarsley, looking at me skeptically
I shrug in response. "You're mom's in district four, theres no real doctor in 12, Gales not coming back, Haymitch's drunk, so I called Delly to come help me"
"With..." She says, more of a question than a statement
"Taking care of you" I croon
"It's okay, Katniss!" Delly says cheerfully "I'm here to help! You're always so wonderful about taking care of everyone else, Now it's your turn!"
I smile at this. of course delly added something cheerful to the conversation.
"Is there anything you need now?" I ask Katniss, who looks like she wants nothing more than to sleep. I know she won't, though. Too many nightmares attack her when she's sick.
"Im fine" She replies.
"O-kay then, I'll be downstairs then" I say, cheesy grin on my face. "Just yell if you need anything, i sware, I'll come running faster than-"
"Go!" Katniss interupts, laughing
Katniss POV
When Peeta leaves, theres an akward silence between us, interrupted only by my coughing. After sneaking a few glances at Delly, I see shes blushing. I turn my gaze to where she was looking and realized that she noticed I was wearing Peeta's shirt. and no shorts. I pull the sheet that was left behind up to my lap, even though it was seriousey starting to get hot in here. Delly snaps out of it, looking at me, embarrased. I smile and wave it off.
"Sooo..." I begin
"HowareyoundPeetadoing?" She bursts out, speaking so fast all of her words were slurred into one.
"Um..."
this really isnt the typical question people ask me about our relationship, usually it's teasing about bread and oven jokes, or something referring to us having children.
"Fine, I guess" I reply, a blush creeping onto my already-flushed face.
"T-Thats good" She says, smiling at me. I wonder why she's so flustered.
"Delly, whats up?" I ask her, crawling over to where she was sitting, ignoring the sheet now.
"N-Nothing" she says quickly, and I notice her ears turn red
"Okay, who is he?" I ask, a sly smile on my face
"HUH?!" she cries out, shocked that I found out her secret. after a long pause, She sighs. "Okay.." She begins, a dreamy look is her expression.
"Its...Dile. From the Seam" Dile. I remember him, he was in a few of my classes before the games. he had short, black hair, he was tall, with wide-set dark grey eyes, and very thin. It made me smile to think that delly really liked him. I didn't quite remember him in 13, but then again all I did was sleep in closets and behind laundry pipes.
"Have you talked to him yet?" I ask, becoming more and more curious.
"Yeah...I dont think he's interested though." Guilt crosses her features, her blue eyes looknig at the matress.
"Part of the reason I came here was to see how Peeta acted around you, then I could see if Dile..." Her voice fades out, and I smile in understanding.
"Ohhh...you want to learn how to flirt" I chuckle. her face reddens at my comment. It was amusing to see Delly, who always knew what to say and lighten the mood, become flustered at the sound of someone's name.
Just then, Peeta came in, setting a big plate full of muffins on the bed and smiling. "Eat up" he said to us. I took one of them off the plate and then mouthed to Delly, 'Watch and Learn'
she takes a bite of her muffin and watches me.
I sigh at my muffin and Peeta notices. "Whats wrong?" He asks me with concern. I smile misheviousley back, then set the muffin down. I go and sit in his lap.
"I'm not hungry" I declare, looknig at Peeta. He looks in awe, the tips of his ears slightly pink. He wasn't used to random displays of affection from me, of all people. I rest my head against his chest and look at Delly, who looks at a loss for words, her eyes wide, her mouth open, a half-eaten muffin still n her hand.
Who would've thought me- of all people-would be good at this? I guess after four years, I was pretty much an expert.
I curl up, looking up at him longingly. Peeta, speechless. who would've thought? I smile, Then reach up and bring his head down to be level with mine. "Cat got your tounge?" I murmur to him. Instead of waiting for a response, I kiss him, quickly. just then, a timer goes off downstairs. I roll off Peeta, and silently he gets up, a light blush evident on his cheeks as he leaves, a small smile on his lips.
I turn towards Delly and shrug. "See? it's not hard" I tell her. she still looks dazed, then looks at me wistfully.
"Katniss, you're good at everything" she says. before I can protest, she adds, "I couldn't do that to Dile in a million years"
I'm about to respond when a fierce pain hits me in the head. I clutch my temple in my hand, massaging it, while Delly rushes over to my side of the bed and tries to help. I groan in pain as my stomach begins to hurt again, Delly rushes to the bathroom, and in an instant shes back with some painkillers and a glass of water. I take the medicine, thanking Delly, then lay down again. Delly sits next to me on the bed, making sure I'm okay.
the painkillers must have had morphling in them, because I drift off instantly. When she sees i'm almost asleep, she leaves, the matress lifting from where she was sitting. As she gets to the door, she whispers a 'Thank You' then leaves.
~~~~~.~~~~~
When I wake up, Peeta's cradling me in his arms. I look up to his face and see hes awake. He kisses me gently, then pulls away from me.
"Sorry about that"
"I was starting to get worried" he adds, smiling sheepishly "You were asleep for so long"
I glance outside the window, which was dark. "How long was I out?" I ask
"Six hours" he says. "Longest nap whithout a nightmare" he tells me.
I begin to cough again and instantly Peeta presses his hand to my forehead. his skin is nice and cool, so Iean into his touch.
"Wow, your fever went down" he says. I press the back of my hand to my cheek and feel that it was considerably cooler, but still warm.
"I'm going to go take a shower" I say, standing up, feeling dizzy all over again, then trip.
He caught me, since I nearly slammed my face into the dresser.
He looked at me with an 'i-told-you-so' look, so I scowled at him, untangling myself from his grasp.
I hate the flu.
"I'm fine, now. really" I say, steadying myself.
He still looks very uncertain, but I know he'll let me go eventually.
"Peeta, its the shower. I'll be fine"
Peeta still looks wary, but he finally lets me go.
..~15 Minutes Later~..
When I come back out, Peeta's still on the bed, but hes sleeping. I get dressed in another one of his shirts (partly just to annoy him) then sit on the bed, untangling and drying my hair, then put it into my usual braid.
When I'm finished and staring out the window, waiting for Peeta to get up, he starts thrashing in his sleep. Instantly, i begin to worry, since he hasnt had a nightmare in a while.
I quickly crawl over next to him, rolling his shoulders and trying to wake him up.
"Peeta, wake upppp...Peeta" after a while he does, then frantically looks around the room, and sees me next to him. He pulls me to him, hugging me and giving me a long kiss.
I pull away after a few moments. "I tohought we went over this; I'm sick" i scold him.
"Sorry" he says, smiling. "In my dream you left me and I couldnt find you, then Effie started chasing me, then I was riding a goose,and-"
"Peeta!" I cut him off with another kiss"It was a just a dream. "
He smiles at me. "Yeah, but still..."
I sigh and stand up, still using the dresser to support me. I'm still a little dizzy but also feeling restless and I want to do something.
"I'm going into town" I say, starting for the door.
"Oh no you dont!" Peeta calls, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me down to the floor with him.
"Peeta" I plead, trying to get up, "I'm better now. really"
But he dosent believe me; instead he crouches over me, pinning me down on the carpet. I sigh and look for a way out. He didn't lock the door, but it is closed, so can't go through there. The windows are closed, and its locked from he outside, to I guess I'm stuck here.
"How long are you going to pin me here?" I ask him, staring at the celieng
"Do you feel better?"
"yes"
"Then Ill keep you here until you don't"
"And how does that make sense?"
Theres a long pause and I just stare up at the wall nearest to me. This was somewhat an akward postion, and if someone were to walk in on us right now, it'd be hard to explain.
"Can I go now?" I ask Peeta, using my best helpless-sick-person voice
"Nope" he says, smiling, kissing me again
"If you get sick It's not my fault" I tell him when he pulls away.
"Mhm" he murmurs, stroking my face absently.
We stay like that for a while, near the foot of the bed, me laying down, pinned, him still crouching over me, not letting me leave.
"Can we at least go somewhwere more comfortable?" i ask, since the carpet is digging into my skin, and the fact that it was getting pretty cold down here
"Sure" Peeta says, scooping me up like earlier, laying down on the bed. He lays next to me, his arms encirling me. i lean into him, my face snuggled against his chest. "love you" I murmur against the fabric of his shirt.
"What was that?" He asks softly
I look up at him "I Love you" i repeat, and I see his eyes widen. he smiles, giving me a kiss.
"I love you too" he says. I smile at him, then lay back down against his chest, ignoring the growing pain in my head.
~ . ~ . ~ . ~ ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~
When I wake, It's finally morning out, and I feel much better. I'm still with Peeta, and he's awake again.
"Morning" he says, kissing my cheek. "Your fever went down. How do you feel?"
"Im thirsty and cold" I say, propping myself on on elbow. Peeta smiles and rests his head on my shoulder, his breath warming my collar bone. He pulls the thick blanket over us, then circles his arms around me.
He kisses my neck very gently. "Still want to go into town?" he askes, his voice muffled under my hair.
"No, so you'll have to let me go" I reply, attempting to sit up, not getting anywhere since Peeta pulls me back down again.
"Katniss, It's only been two days. Please, just relax. When I'm sick, you take care of me, so it's your turn" he massages my shoulder, and i melt back agaisnt the pillows.
"Mhm" I murmur before drifting off again.
Delly POV
Peeta called me again, just to keep Katniss and him company for a while. When I arrived, Peeta opened the door, smiling. He looked like he had just woken up, his blond hair messed up on one side, his shirt wrinkled.
"I'm really sorry I keep calling you" He tells me apologetically
I'm shocked that he says this; I love coming over! their house is so beautiful and big, I love helping them!
"Not at all! you and Katniss have such a great home, and you both are so nice, and-"
I don't finish, since Katniss is calling Peeta. Peeta invites me in and I follow him up the stairs to Katniss's room. Katniss is sitting on the bed, sheets crumpled and wrinkled, And is clutching her stomach in her hands.
"Whats wrong?" Peeta asks her, rushing to her side.
"I just.. Feel sick." she moaned and I stood there, feeling helpless.
''Delly, can you get the painkillers?" Peeta asks politley, and I rush to the bathroom, grabbing the morphling pills out of the medicine cabinet and fetching a glass of water.
When I come back, katniss is in Peeta's lap, curled up in a ball, and peeta holds her while rocking back and forth. I blush when I see Katniss isn't wearing shorts again, but neither of them seem to mind
I hand Peeta the pills and water, he thanks me, and I watch as he gives them to Katniss with an expression of love. I feel jealous after a second of watching them, realizing that I wish it was me and Dile there. It was so selfish, but I do.
I had talked to Dile, yesterday, and he said a few things to me, but I think I need to be more prepared... Hm...maybe I would ask for more advice...
"Delly?" Peeta and Katniss are looking at me, their expressions are confused and concerned.
"Oh! I'm fine. I was just thinking about how sweet you two look." I say with a smile.
Katniss blushed, but made no effort to move. Peeta invited me to sit down with them, but somehow I felt like a third wheel.
Peeta's POV
Delly perched akwardly on the edge of our bed, and I think it had something to do with the way I was holding Katniss.
"Is there anything I can help with?" Delly askes brightly. So she was uncomfortable.
"actually," I say in my most-convincing voice "I made some cheese buns, and they have to be taken out of the oven, Can you do that for me?"
Delly brightens up, eagerly hopping downstairs to get the pastries. I look down at Katniss, who is staring at the door where Delly left. I could tell her stomach still hurt by the look on her face. I slowly, tentivley, touched my hand to her aching stomach, and stoped, afraid she would push me away. When she didn't, a ran my hand in circles across her abdomen, trying to soothe the pain. She sighed in content, wich I took as a good sign, since her eyes were closed.
After a few minutes, Delly came back up, carrying a plate full of the cheese buns. She smiled brightly as she set them down next to us. I thanked her, taking one of the warm pastries off the plate and feeding bits to Katniss, who now opened her eyes.
I made small talk with Delly, still trying to coax bits of food into Katniss. After a while, the phone rang downstiars, so I left Katniss with Delly, after kissing her lightly on the forehead. (Katniss, not Delly)
Katniss POV
When peeta leaves, theres an empty spot next to me, where it suddenly felt very cold. The pain in my stomach is almost gone, thanks to Peeta. i touched the tip of my finger to my abdomen, remembering the feeling of Peeta's hand.
After a moment, I looked back at Delly. She looks almost worried about something. I guess that it's Dile.
I crawl over to her, sitting crossed-legged on the bedsheets. I was getting more and more restless, just being here in the room all day. It felt nice to talk to someone; to have comany.
"So how'd it go with Dile?"I ask her, another sly smile on my face.
She blushes, then looks down. "I talked to him yeasterday" she begins, a small smile on her face, "and we were talking..." I scooted towards her. Why was she taking so long? Spit it out!
"Did he seem intrested?" I ask her
"Actually, yes!" she said cheerfully. "I'm so happy! Dile is so handsome and smart, and he has such a great personality..." She was smiling broadly now, another dreamy, longing look on her face. I can see why Dile was interested, Delly had lost more weight, her hair was curly again, and she looked alot happier to be alive.
I smiled. "Good. You deserve to be happy"
She looked down again, smile fading a little. "Actually, I was looking for more advise" she says, playing with her hands, "I just get so nervous around him, I don't see how I cannot be flustered" she says
after thinking for a few minutes, i finally have something to say
"Try being his friend first" I tell her "Then, you can be comfortable around him..."
I really didn't know where I was going with this, and Since when was I so helpful? Eh, Delly was one of my only friends, plus I owed her for talking and comforting Peeta in 13 when I couldn't.
"You're right"
I was? "I need to become friends before anyting!" She says triumphently.
Peeta walks in, smiling slightly. He comes and sits on the bed with us, then presses his cool, cinamin-scented hand to my forehead.
"Okay, now you can go into town" he says.
I smile. "Nah, I don't want to anymore"
He chuckles then lays down. Delly and I talk for a while more, then she leaves declaring that 'she won't give up Dile now'. She thanks us, then leaves. I hear the front door click behind her, then I lay down with Peeta. I rest my head on his chest, remembering the time that when I layed my head here, there was no steady heart beat, no life.
This time, his arms encircle me, pulling me to him. I sigh in content.
"Peeta?" I ask
"Hm?" He replies
"I feel better now, but can you still rub my stomach?"
I hear him laugh as he strokes my abdomen, exactly the spot where earlier, there was a sharp pain. He gives me a soft kiss, once on my mouth and then on my cheek, then my collar bone. Then he lays back down.
We fall asleep like that, even though it was only just after eight. the last thing I remember is one last exchange of words;
"Love you"
"Love you too"
A/N: I hope you enjoyed it! It was really fun to write. I was planning on just keeping this one chapter, but since I left Delly's story unfinised, i dont know...
Anyway, If I should continue, Plz Review with your opinions!
Thank U for reading!