A/N: Just a fun little one shot I wrote up for the Tumblr: Prompts in Panem 'Holiday' Challenge hosted by the seriously amazing Jessa (misshoneywell) She does so much for the fandom AND she always gives me great book recs :) win-win! Thank you to the AMAZING Court81981 for all her help and guidance with this and for beta'ing it in record time! :) I'm on tumblr ~ thegirlonpeetamellark :)

"Peeta, please?"

"No."

"Pleeeeease?"

"Katniss, I said no," he grumbles, shifting his foot on the coffee table so that he is more comfortable. Although it's hard to find a comfortable position with his lower leg in a bulky cast.

He broke his ankle and femur bone a couple weeks ago playing soccer with Finnick and the guys, and he's been in this awful cast ever since. Technically he has a walking boot that he can use to get around so he doesn't have to use crutches, but he still feels awkward and hindered by the stupid thing.

"It's not like you'd have to be standing around the whole night," Katniss whines from her spot next to him on the couch. She drops a hand down to his thigh and rubs him there soothingly, inching her palm dangerously high up his leg.

She knows she's not fighting fair.

"We can find a nice little corner and get you a seat and we can make out the whole time," she insists.

"Katniss, we can do that here!" Peeta bursts out, beyond frustrated. "Why do we have to go to some stupid New Year's Eve party where we won't know most of the people there? I don't want to try and get dressed up with this stupid thing," he gestures to his cast. "I don't want to spend the night limping around like an idiot and preventing everyone else from enjoying themselves."

Katniss huffs and sits back, crossing her arms in annoyance. "You're being so whiny. Why can't you just suck it up for one damn night and come with me? Are you really going to make me be the fifth wheel with Finnick and Annie, and Madge and Gale?"

"Why are you so insistent on going?" he counters. "It's going to be a bunch of rich assholes eyeing you the whole night. I don't see the appeal of it."

"It's New Year's Eve!" Katniss exclaims. "It's the one night a year where we can get dressed up and go somewhere nice."

Peeta feels a stab of something in his chest, and a shadow crosses his face as he looks away from her. He has to work to control his breathing to try and keep his cool.

"Well, I'm sorry that you feel like we never go anywhere nice. I've explained to you that I'm trying to save right now so I can finish paying off my student loans and we can move in together." His voice shakes as anger and hurt and insecurity wash over him. "If going to some party is really so important to you, then be my guest."

"I didn't mean it like that, and you know it!" Katniss responds, and he can hear the tremble in her voice. He knows that if he were to look at her right now that he would see the unshed tears in her eyes.

Peeta shrugs and carefully refuses to meet her eyes. "Whatever. You should go. Don't let me hold you back."

"Peeta..." she whispers, her hand reaching out to touch his arm gently.

The embarrassment and pain and overall depression that have seemed to settle over him at Katniss' comment, however, are too much to shake off. Logically, he knows she didn't mean anything by it. Katniss is not the kind of girl that wants to go out all the time and have extravagant amounts of money spent on her. But the remark hit something too close to home. It hit on everything he has always felt to a certain degree with her and even more so lately.

She is perfect. She is beautiful and funny and strong. She is sexy and sweet and loving. She is everything. And somehow he got her. She is his, and most days he has to pinch himself to really believe that fact.

And in the back of his mind there has always been the nagging doubt and insecurity about why she's with him. Why does she love him? Why is she with a 26-year-old teacher who still has to work at his father's bakery part-time to help pay the bills? He can't give her what she wants. He can't give her the moon and the stars. He knows she wouldn't ask for them, but it's what she deserves.

And it's this pain and self-loathing that makes him brush off her touch coldly.

"Go have fun tonight, Katniss. Don't worry about me."

He hears her sigh sadly, and he has to close his eyes when she leans forward to place a kiss on his cheek. Her touch, her warmth, the smell of her is overwhelming, and he nearly breaks down right there and then and changes his mind.

"I love you," she whispers in his ear.

He can only force the words out past the lump in his throat after she has grabbed her purse and walked out the door.

"Love you too."

He spends the next several hours lying in his bed and staring up at the ceiling.

As much as he wants to forget everything and just bite the bullet and go tonight, he can't. Something is holding him back, stopping him from getting over his pride and accompanying his gorgeous girlfriend out for a night on the town.

He grits his teeth as he remembers that this stupid fucking party was Gale's idea.

Gale had brought it up weeks ago before he had even broke his leg and Madge, Annie and Katniss were all on board right away. He was surprised that Katniss was so intent on going, but she dropped subtle hints that she wanted to see him all dressed up. And it's not like he has a lot of reasons to dress up all the time with his teaching job.

He remembers his annoyance and the sinking feeling in his stomach when he realized that meant that his plans would no longer be an option. He couldn't very well ask Katniss to opt out from a fancy party at a 5-star hotel when the alternative was seemingly nothing more than a simple night in with him, something they did all the time.

He hears the door open and the sound of his roommate and his girlfriend walking into the apartment.

Finnick's head pops around his door.

"Hey buddy, Annie is going to make us some grub before tonight. You're still coming right?"

Peeta sighs and shakes his head despondently. "Nah, man I'm just going to stay in tonight. This cast is too much a pain in the ass."

"Ah, I don' blame you," Finnick laughs. "You and Katniss are going to have way more fun here than at this stupid party. Just remember the 'no fucking on the living room couch' rule that we both agreed to."

"Uh, actually Katniss is still going to go," he explains with regret.

"Oh. Really?" Finnick asks, clearly surprised. "Oh, okay then, well uh...I'll take care of your girl then, make sure no one gets too friendly."

"Thanks man," Peeta replies, a sinking feeling in his stomach when he thinks about how many guys are going to be hitting on Katniss tonight.

She'll be alone, and she's gorgeous. They'll assume she's not taken and they'll be lining up just to talk to her.

He grabs his pillow and chucks it across the room in frustration.

A little later he is out in the living room after being coaxed into coming out of his room to eat the pasta dish Annie prepared for the three of them.

The food and the company make him feel a little better, gets his mind off everything for a while.

Annie disappears to start getting ready for the night, and a little while later there is a knock at the door.

Finnick answers the door to reveal Gale, Madge, and Katniss.

He gets to his feet, and for a moment, nothing else in the world exists except Katniss.

She is breathtaking.

Her hair is down in waves, her lips glossed, and her eyes rimmed with thin black to highlight those beautiful grey irises. She's wearing his favorite color, a peachy orange dress that clings to every curve and makes him want to drag her into his room right this minute and have his way with her.

She approaches him with a sad smile.

"Hi."

"Hey, you look gorgeous," he says, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her towards him.

She winds her arms around his neck and rests her head against his chest.

"Are you sure you don't want to come?" she asks when she pulls back to look up at him. "It's not too late."

He looks away as his stomach twists uncomfortably. He hates this. He hates seeing that look of disappointment on her face.

But his ego is still wounded from earlier, and he is still drowning in self-pity.

He doesn't say anything in response, so she sighs unhappily and moves away from him.

The rest of the time passes quickly before they leave for the party. The girls debate what shoes Annie should wear with her dress, and how she should wear her hair. Finnick hands out flutes of champagne and then demands everyone take at least one shot of vodka before leaving, although Peeta adamantly refuses since he's not going out tonight. Gale brags about the people he knows at work that got him an invite to this party and Peeta tries not to roll his eyes.

Pretty soon the two couples and Katniss are gathering their things and making their way out the door, where a cab is waiting for them down on the street. Peeta sees the hesitant, unhappy look in Katniss' eyes, and he pulls her to the side before she goes.

"Hey, have fun tonight, okay?"

She pouts at him, and he can see that she's trying not to show how much this upsets her.

"I love you," she whispers before joining their lips in a steamy, passionate kiss. He strokes her tongue with his own and clutches at her hips, pulling her close to him.

They break away, breathing heavily and resting their foreheads against each other.

"Did you um..." Katniss begins. "Did you uh—I know Annie said that she and Finnick were going to go back to her place, so um, did you want me—?"

He cuts her off by kissing her again, dropping a hand down to palm her ass and pulling her against his hard-on.

"Yes, I want you to come back here tonight," he says gruffly, the thought of not sleeping with her in his arms, of not making love to her tonight, is unacceptable.

They part ways at the door, holding hands as long as possible, until she has to let go and join the rest of the group making their way towards the elevators.

He closes the door behind him and turns to face an empty apartment, already regretting his decision.

By ten o'clock he is antsy and frustrated and upset.

He flips through the channels on the TV, searching in vain for something to distract him from his thoughts of Katniss.

The worst part is that if he didn't have this damn cast on, he would probably go down to the gym on the main floor of their apartment building and hop on the treadmill for a half an hour to burn off some steam. But if he didn't have this damn cast on, he would also probably be at the party with Katniss right now.

He closes his eyes and feels a stab of anger and regret when he remembers the last time they were out together with the group. It was Halloween, and Katniss was dressed in a skin-tight black spandex suit with whiskers drawn on her cheeks and a kitten ears headband. Madge got them into a club downtown, and he remembers the way she had dragged him onto the dance floor.

She had flung her arms around his broad shoulders, barely covered with the plain white sheet he was using as a toga and started writhing against him. She turned around and started grinding her ass into his crotch, and he completely lost himself in her. It didn't matter the club was too crowded and too hot and too loud. It didn't matter that he would rather have been home in his bed, fucking her until she cried his name.

She has that kind of power over him.

He remembers realizing that night that any public outing like that one is more than bearable as long as she's with him. He has the best fucking girlfriend in the world, and if she wants to drag him out for a night on the town then he shouldn't complain.

Especially when she does things like pulling him into the bathroom later on that night to give him head.

He runs a hand over his face and groans. Why couldn't he have remembered this earlier in the night and just sucked it up about his cast so he could join her?

He can only imagine the things they could have gotten up to tonight. With her wearing that dress and him being forced to sit for most of the time...Maybe he could have fingered her without anyone noticing, making her sit in his lap and watching her try not to be too obvious about the pleasure his fingers would bring her.

Just the thought gets him hard, and he throws back his head in frustration. He is not jerking off at home, alone on New Year's Eve while his beautiful girlfriend is out at some fancy party.

His stomach turns as he pictures his nightmare scenario of some asshole trying to hit on Katniss tonight. He pictures him trying to touch her, or telling her how good she looks.

He texts Finnick immediately for an update, since he promised to keep him posted.

He only has to wait a few minutes until his phone beeps with a response.

Finnick: Party's not too bad. Open bar and everything. Your girl is sticking close with us. Only one guy has tried to put the moves on her so far, but she shot him down quick

Peeta groans in frustration. He knows that Finnick is just trying to be nice and by saying the party isn't too bad that actually means it's pretty amazing. He feels the anger in his chest when he imagines Katniss by herself, having to fend off drunk guys that want to get in her pants.

He throws his phone down in frustration and gets up off the couch, starting to pace around the living room angrily.

It only takes about ten seconds before he remembers that this stupid cast makes it pretty hard for him to do even that. He screams into the silence of the apartment and limps his way towards his room.

He is on edge and just looking at his stupid cast is pissing him off. Finally, he decides to take a shower to try and feel better. He wraps the dumb cast with a garbage bag and hops in the shower, letting the steaming water ease the tension in the muscles and washing his hair and body.

By the time he gets out, he feels only marginally better and when he checks his phone there is a text from Katniss.

Katniss: Miss you

He smiles, despite the pain that hits him at her words, because it means she's still thinking of him tonight even when he's not there. He types up a quick response.

Peeta: Ditto. Have fun. Love you.

He sighs and puts his phone back down as he runs the towel over his head to dry his hair. He throws on an old t-shirt and his boxers and then tries to distract himself with a book, but there's no point.

He breaks down and grabs a beer from the fridge and sits down to watch TV again and drown his sorrows.

It's a quarter to eleven when his phone beeps again.

Katniss: You better be ready for me when I get home...

He groans and feels his dick stiffen at the thought of his girlfriend coming home in a few hours to ravage him.

Peeta: You know I'm always ready for you. How's the party?

Katniss: I'll be honest...I'm sitting in the corner drinking a cocktail and thinking about you ;)

He laughs and feels the warmth spread through his chest at her message. He wishes now more than anything that he was with her right now.

Peeta: Well I'm sitting here thinking of all the things I'm going to do to you when you get home.

Katniss: God that makes me so wet...

He nearly swallows his tongue and closes his eyes to try and calm his racing heart. God if he were at that party right now, he would be dragging her into the nearest coat closet to fuck her up against the wall.

Peeta: Fuck...

Katniss: That's the plan ;) Love you!

He gets up off the couch and starts to pace again, this time not even noticing or caring about his stupid fucking cast.

He looks at the clock. One hour until midnight. He tries to remember what hotel Gale said the party was being held at.

His phone beeps again and he leaps for it, expecting another naughty text from Katniss.

Finnick: Some rich asshole is hovering around Katniss. She's on her phone ignoring him, but just thought you should know. Don't worry I'll keep an eye on her for you, buddy

That's it.

Something inside him snaps.

What the FUCK is he doing here on New Year's Eve when he could be with his perfect, sexy, gorgeous girlfriend?

She shouldn't have to deal with random guys hitting on her tonight, because he should be by her side, showing her off to the world and letting everyone know that she's his.

He needs to make her his. He's been wanting to for a while now.

He shakes his head and hobbles into his room, grabbing a white collared button-up from his closet and the blue tie Katniss got him for his birthday. Then he finds the loosest pair of black slacks he owns and spends at least ten minutes trying to pull it on over his cast.

When he finally manages it, the pants are nearly ready to burst over the bulkiness of his cast. He resolves that he'll probably have to cut these pants off by the end of the night to actually remove them, but by this point he could not care less.

He straps his cast into the black walking boot and slips on his black leather dress shoe on his other foot. He inspects his appearance in the mirror briefly, running a hand through his blond waves to try and tame his hair. When he grabs his suit coat, wallet, and keys, he sees that it's almost 11:30, and he is cutting this awfully damn close.

He shakes his head and tells himself it's okay if he doesn't get there by midnight, as long as he shows up and tells her how much he cares, and explains what an idiot he was, and apologizes for not coming with her in the first place.

He walks out the front door and turns to lock it when a voice stops him in his tracks.

"Where the hell are you going?"

Katniss saunters down the hallway towards him with her heels in her hand, a sly smile on her face.

"I—uh, I was...what are you doing here?" He manages to get out over his shock of seeing her here in front of him, like the manifestation of everything he has been thinking about for the past four hours.

She stops when she gets to just a foot or so in front of him, biting her lip and looking up at him with a sparkle in her eyes.

"I realized I didn't want to be at some fancy party with a bunch of people I didn't know. I realized the only place in the world I wanted to be was here with you, in your arms." She reaches out with her free hand and tugs on his tie, pulling him towards her and kissing him softly.

His hands come up to cradle her face, his thumbs sweeping over her cheekbones.

"But if I'm intruding on your plans, don't let me stop you," she teases. "It looked like you were in a big rush to go somewhere."

"Yeah, I was coming to see you," he whispers, gazing into her eyes. "I realized I was being a complete idiot today, and that I should have just gotten over myself and gone with you. It doesn't matter where we go, I just want to be with you."

She smiles up at him, but bites down on her bottom lip again, a wary look crossing her features.

"You know that I didn't mean anything by that comment earlier today, right? I don't want to go out to fancy parties all the time. That kind of stuff doesn't matter to me. You matter to me. I just want you, Peeta. Always."

He feels some tension break apart in his chest as he feels like he takes his first easy breath in weeks. He slips an arm around her waist and pulls her to him, leaning down to kiss her again. With his other hand, he reaches out behind him and pushes the door of his apartment open, since he never got around to locking it in the first place.

"I want you too," he says when they break away. "I want you right now. I need to be inside you," he adds breathily, not realizing the depth of his need for her until those words slipped out. It's true though—he's thought of nothing but making love to her tonight for the past several hours.

He sees her nostrils flare and her eyes widen just enough to recognize the signs of her own lust. She kisses him again, and when she pushes her tongue past his lips and into his mouth, he moans and grinds himself against her, feeling himself getting hard.

With his arm wrapped around her waist, he lifts her just enough to pick her up and spin her so she stumbles back into his apartment, following her inside and closing the door behind him. His cast is only a minor annoyance. Nothing else matters now that she's here.

She grins at him coyly, curing her finger towards him in invitation as she walks backwards through the living room and towards his room.

When they're alone in his room, he watches with rapt fascination as she peels her clingy, peachy dress off her shoulders and lets it slide past her curves until it falls in a puddle on the floor. Then she reaches behind her to unclasp her bra, and his mouth actually starts to water at the sight of her perfect breasts, exposed for him.

He is painfully hard now but feeling like he's in a trance somewhat, unable to move or do anything except stare at the flawless vision in front of him. His heart is beating a mile a minute and for some reason, this moment seems different, more special than any other time they've made love.

Maybe because suddenly he can't stop thinking about that thing he's been keeping hidden in his nightstand for some time now.

Without another word, she reaches down to the elastic band of her barely-there lace panties and pulls them down her hips until she is standing before him completely nude.

She moves back towards his bed and settles herself against his pillows, making herself comfortable. She leans back and bends her knees, letting her legs fall open as she moves a hand to rub her clit in slow, agonizing circles.

"Oh god, Peeta..." she moans, her eyes closed.

Finally, he snaps out of it, his name on her lips spurs him to action and he pulls his coat off, and nearly chokes himself in the process of tugging his tie over his head. He approaches the bed and starts fumbling with the buttons of his dress shirt while Katniss abandons her own fondling of herself and sits up to start making work of his belt.

By the time he has finally rid himself of his shirt, Katniss is pushing his pants and boxers down past his hips towards the floor. In his haste to join her on the bed naked, he simply tries to kick the unwanted garments off, forgetting about his cast entirely. In the process, he ends up tripping himself and falling onto the bed in a heap.

Katniss bursts out laughing, asking if he's okay through her giggles, leaning over him and stroking his face as she gazes down at him adoringly.

Peeta can't help but laugh as well, lifting his head to see his pants caught on his cast. The fact that he is so fucking hard and ready to go only adds to the humor of the situation.

"You're going to have to cut me out of these," he tells Katniss, sitting up on his elbows.

He tells her where he keeps his scissors, and after a few minutes of removing his boot and then cutting through the stubborn fabric he is freed, completely naked, except of course, for that stupid fucking cast.

He moves back to lie against the pillows while Katniss crawls towards him on the bed, a predatory look in her eyes.

She doesn't say anything. She just kisses him once and then pulls back before dropping her head to lick at the tip of his cock, grasping him firmly in her hand.

"Fuck..." he hisses, his hand going to the back of her head as she suckles and teases him.

She takes him fully in her mouth, swirling her tongue eagerly and sucking his cock while pumping the base of his shaft with her fist.

"Katniss, I need to be inside you," Peeta pants, repeating his statement from earlier. Her mouth feels fucking amazing, but he wants to make love to her; he wants to share this with her right now. He doesn't want this just to be about him.

She releases him and then shifts on the bed so she's straddling his lap, sitting up on her knees while she reaches down to guide him to her entrance. Her tits hover enticing in front of his face, and he palms the perfect mounds and laves each of her hard, pink nipples with his tongue.

She moans and falters, pushing her breasts towards him and running his dick across her clit, making them both whimper in pleasure. He bites down on her nipple gently, tugging at it with his teeth. She gasps and runs her hand through his hair, tugging at the blond strands urgently.

Finally, neither one of them can wait any longer, and she impales herself on his cock, letting him fill her to the hilt. She cries out and starts rocking back and forth, stimulating her clit against his pelvic bone. He grasps onto her hips and helps guide her movements, drunk with lust.

"Oh god, fuck yes, just like that..." Katniss keens, circling her hips more aggressively.

"Fuck baby, ride me hard."

Taking Peeta's words to heart, Katniss rises up a bit on her knees and drapes her arms around his broad shoulders, clinging tightly to his firm, solid muscles. She sinks back down against him and then rises back up, pumping his cock through her tight, wet folds as fast as she possibly can.

Peeta feels himself ready to fall over the edge, and he slips his hand between her legs, seeking out her clit. He rubs her hard and fast, and when she starts to tighten around him, her orgasm making her cry out and her body go rigid, he lets himself go, filling her up with his cum.

The pleasure rolls through them in waves, and they stay connected like that for a long time. Peeta is the first to come down to earth, gently rolling Katniss onto her back and pulling out of her. He gets up and limps over to his bathroom, cleaning himself before wetting a washcloth with warm water to bring back to Katniss.

He crawls onto the bed beside her and carefully cleans between her legs, wiping away the evidence of their lovemaking. Katniss, who had drifted off for a moment, turns her head and looks up at him, her eyes fluttering with sleep.

"Hey," she smiles serenely.

"Hey, beautiful," Peeta whispers, leaning down to kiss her softly. He tosses the washcloth into the clothes hamper across the room and then pulls her into his side.

"You tired?" he whispers after a moment, kissing her forehead and rubbing his hand up and down her arm soothingly.

"A little," she admits with a yawn. "Why?"

He doesn't respond, catching a glance at the clock and having an internal battle in his head. His heart starts to quicken, and she must feel it with her head laying against his chest, because she raises up a bit and looks at him curiously, now much more awake.

"What is it?"

He looks into his eyes and takes a deep breath, telling himself he can do this.

He has to do this.

"Well, Happy New Year's for starters," he says with a laugh. "We were uh...otherwise preoccupied when the clock struck midnight."

She looks over at the clock to see that it is indeed 12:08 am. She laughs and leans over to kiss him. "That's okay," she insists, "I wouldn't want to celebrate the New Year in any other way."

He brushes the hair away from her face and gazes at her for a long moment. Then he moves away and reaches towards his nightstand, pulling the bottom drawer out and sifting around for a moment. When he returns, he has a small, black velvet box in one hand.

"Peeta..." she says, her eyes going wide when she sees what he's holding.

"I've had this for a while," he says, looking down at the small box, turning it over in his hands. "I actually paid off my student loans last year. I've been saving up for a different reason lately."

"Oh my god," she whispers to herself, tears starting to form in her eyes.

"I didn't know how to do this. I didn't know how to make it as special and amazing as you deserve. I wanted everything to be perfect." He shakes his head to himself and then opens the box.

Katniss gasps when she sees the stunning ring, a diamond about the size of her pinkie nail resting atop a solid band with smaller diamonds inset along the edge. She moves her hand to cover her mouth, the tears slipping down her cheeks.

"I don't care about things being perfect anymore," Peeta explains. "I just want you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and I don't want to wait another second."

He pulls the ring from the box and grabs her left hand, looking into her eyes. "Katniss, will you marry me?"

She manages to gasp out an enthusiastic 'yes' before she dissolves into tears. He slips the ring onto her finger, and she throws her arms around him, burying her face into the crook of his shoulder.

"You can't cry," he teases her gently. "This is supposed to be a good thing."

She pulls away from him, laughing and wiping her tears.

"They're happy tears," she assures him.

"Good," he responds. "Because I'm going to spend the rest of my life trying to make you happy."

He leans down to kiss her and then pulls away, considering something for a moment.

"And next year, we'll find the fanciest New Year's Eve party there is, and I won't complain once about going."

She laughs and traces his face with her hand, the ring catching the light and twinkling brightly. "I liked our celebration better actually," she admits, "so let's spend every New Year's Eve like this one."

He grins in response and kisses her hand. "Always."