Hi everyone! This is my first story I have ever posted, so sorry if it is not up to your expectations. This story is not what I usually write, though, so if you do not like this one, just look for my other stories. This story is just how I feel Peeta really starting forming feelings for Katniss. I think that he did have feelings for her before this, but he here he realizes how bad everything actually is for Katniss. So please, give me a review on how you think, and if you really like my work, follow! :D
How It All Started...
My face still hurts a little from getting a smack with a rolling-pin. Curtis, my oldest brother, is putting a cold ice pack on the bruise below my right eye.
"Damn, if ma' got you in the eye, you wouldn't be able to see for a week," Veer, my middle brother, tells me.
All of us sit on the back steps of the bakery, hoping that our mother won't look for us. If she sees my brothers babying me, they would get it, and I might get it again, too. We don't even care that it is pouring rain, if it gets us away from the thrash of our mother, we will take all chances.
"...You shouldn't have burned the bread, man," Veer continues. I didn't even realize he was still talking. I was thinking about Katniss. Katniss Everdeen to be exact. The Seam girl that needs to take care of her mother and sister, Primrose. Her father died in the mining explosion, along with a good amount of other kids fathers. My mother told me to watch the bread in the oven while she went to go handle some customers. While I was waiting for the ding of the bell to go off, I was looking out the back window. I saw Katniss far back, sitting under a tree, looking like she could truly die from hunger any day now. I knew I had to do it, even knowing that my mother would find out and hurt me for it. I quickly, but quietly went back over to the oven that had the bread in it and I turned the heat up 200* higher. The smell of the burning bread was everywhere in the matter of minutes and so was my mother with her rolling-pin. She smacked me with it, not caring if anyone saw, right below my right eye. I remember her yelling at me and made me get the bread out of the oven, the oven that was still on 500*, with my hands. Good thing my brothers and I do that all the time to see who could get something out of the oven the quickest without burning ourselves, unless I would have to go to a healer also known as Katniss Everdeen's mother. Her mother is a healer, a very sad healer right now. I only got a burn on my thumb getting the bread out, so the rain feels good on it right now. My mother pushed me out the back door, where I knew she would push me out, and told me to feed the bread to the pigs, like I knew she would say. I threw half the bread into the pigs pen, and the rest I threw towards Katniss. I should have given it to her, but I'm too afraid to even talk to her in school, I wouldn't be able to. I like her so much.
"Peeta? Hey, hey Peeta?" Curtis and Veer are shaking me back to reality, "You alright?" Curtis continues, "You have a concussion or something?"
"Nah," I say trying to keep my mind stay in reality reality, "I'm alright."
"Stop your shivering; you want my coat?" Veer ask, already taking off his coat and putting it around my shoulders before I can let out an answer.
"But won't you be cold now?" I frown, "I'm okay, really, take it back." Taking Veer's coat off my shoulders, I plant it gently on his, making sure it won't slip off from all the rain.
"Thanks," he grins a mile wide. I don't know what it is with his grin, but it makes girls fall over heels. If Veer wanted, he could date as many girls as he wanted, which he has tried a good amount of times. Veer could date one girl one day, and then the next be on to another girl. One day though, he was so carried away that he forgot he was dating Eliza Greenmen, and asked out Syn Modestson. It was very interesting to watch when Veer was trying to explain to both Eliza and Syn that he had forgotten he was dating Eliza, which made Eliza very upset. He has slowed down the dating lately, a girl coming time to time that he says he is sure to love forever, but then found someone better. I do not like that though, if you realize that there was something you did not like in a person before, then why would you date them? That is just something that I might never learn to understand, and I do not think I ever want to.
Curtis, however, is the real eye candy; that is what girls say. He is very broad, the good way, not to big, yet not too small. His hammy-downs are like blankets on me, very wide and warm. His hair falls right above his eyes, swept to the side. He is very tall, maybe 5'9 or 6'0, it hurts my neck sometimes to look up at him. He could get girls just as easily, but he has a girlfriend, who is really nice and pretty. Her name is Audrey Burchard. She has golden-bronze hair that curls right below her shoulders, bright brown eyes, and rose cheekbones. Audrey is one of the most popular kids in our school, her sister is the first. Curtis and Audrey are good for each other, they settle each other out and keeps the other on the ground.
The rain starts to come down harder than we would like and the wind is so hard it is forcing me to squint my eyes. "We should go inside," I say standing up. I turn around and put my hand on the doorknob when Curtis' voice stops me.
"You sure you want to go inside? Ma still might be a little fumed. We can go to Greasy Sae's or something to get away for a while."
I turn around and look at him, "We can't go to Greasy Sae's, it is too late, and besides, we can catch a cold if we stay outside any longer." Curtis and Veer are still looking at me with sympathy in their eyes so I add, "Really guys, I'm fine."
Before one of them can answer I turn back around and open the door. Quietly walking back into the bakery, Dad stops me, "Son, Ma wants you to go into your room, now." He doesn't even look me in the eyes, "I do not know why, nor do I want to know, just...just go to your room please."
I let out a deep exhale and slowly trudge up the short flight of stairs to the hallway and into my room. I really shouldn't say my room, because I share is with Curtis and Veer. It is not the ideal size for three boys, but that is all we have. There is a single mattress on the right side of the wall, and a twin sized mattress on the left side of the bed. Veer and I share the bed on the left, and Curtis has the other bed for himself. I don't mind sharing a bed with Veer though, I kind of like someone next to me, it makes me feel safe. At the edge of the bed is a window that faces the shoe store that's owned by Delly's parents. Delly is my best friend, my sister really. She has blonde hair and blue eyes just like me. The back of the shoe store is a small tailor shop that they own, only some people know about it. Delly is starting to get the hang of being a tailor, she tests it out on my clothes. Sometimes she does pretty good, then other times, I would rather just throw the shirt away. Delly has a little brother, Randy. Randy looks almost exactly like her, but he is a little thinner.
I walk over to the window and open it, slowly so it doesn't make any noises. Sticking my head out of the window I whistle a four note melody that Delly and I made up, and in a matter of seconds, Delly is at her window. She opens it up, just as slowly as I did, and does the whistle back. Delly and I can communicate without even talking, using hand gestures, eyes, mouths, and body language. We need to make up what the other is saying ourselves since the communication is not the best, but it is pretty simple none the less.
Delly gives me a sympathetic look, which is asking if I am okay. I shake my left hand back and forth out of the window, meaning sort of. Delly tilts her head to the side, meaning how come. I imitate my mom smacking me in the head with a rolling pin and then point under my right eye. Delly's eyebrows tighten together and she sighs. Then she shrugs her shoulders, lifting her hands up with it, meaning how come. I raise my index finger and wait for her to nod.
I turn and walk over to our small desk that is between our two beds and take out a small square piece of paper. Taking the pencil out that is next to it, I start writing what happened on the paper. I need to write as small as I can because the paper is so tiny; but even writing small, I need to write an arrow at the bottom right of the page and flip it over to write on the other side of the page. When I finished, I put then pencil back into the desk and walk back over to the window, putting it on a thin line with a clothes pin and pull it so it moves over to Delly's window. That was one of our best idea's, a hang line. Delly snatches it from the clothes pin and reads it, sighing and putting her hand on her forehead. She looks up at me and then mimics, putting her index finger up and leaving the window.
Leaning against the window frame, I wait for Delly who seems to be writing something long, considering she is a fast writer. I kind of feel bad actually, bringing Delly into all of this, I mean. Her life is just as bad as mine when it comes to it; she doesn't get beaten, but her family has a hard time getting along on food. Her family will just have enough to pass for a week before her mother and father get more customers. Sometimes I sneak some sweet buns or flat bread over to their shoe store and hide it in a box that is next to the counter. My family has more than enough and I feel bad about that, I mean, there are kids in the Seam that don't have enough food for a day...like Katniss.
Delly appears at the window again, putting the piece of paper on the clothes hanger and pulls it back to my side. I gently take it off of the clothes hanger, so I don't break the paper, and read it:
Are you serious, Peeta? I don't know what I am more surprised about, you doing something with the thought of knowing that your Mother would hit you or you actually doing that for Katniss...YOU ACTUALLY DID SOMETHING FOR KATNISS! What happened? Did she smile at you? Did you talk to her? God Peeta, this is like a step up for you! Maybe she will go say thank you or something at school tomorrow? Sorry, anyway...how is it? Your face, I mean. How does it feel? Do I need to take a look at it? I will go over there right now if you want.
~Delly (:
I look up at Delly and smirk. She can never stay on one subject if her life counted on it. Right when I am about to say something my door opens and Curtis and Veer walk in. Before they notice, I shut the window and sit on the bed and grab my sketch pad and pencil out from under it. I turn on a page with a picture of a Cardinal, though I already finished it, I add a ray of the sun or another leaf on the tree. Out of the corner of my eye I can see that Delly has already shut her window and shut off her bedroom light.
Curtis and Veer walk over to me and wait until I finished drawing my last leaf to speak up, "We got you dinner." Veer says, handing me a now cold roll.
I look at him then take it from his hand, "Thanks," I frown, "You know you don't need to do this for me, sneaking food for me, I mean. If Ma catches one of you, none of us would be getting dinner. I feel bad, if I do something, I should pay the punishment."
Veer sits by my side and Curtis pushes himself behind us, leaning up against the wall, "Why would we ever let our baby brother starve, huh?" Curtis smirks, knowing I hate it when he or Veer call me baby brother, "Besides, it's kind of fun to get Ma p'd off."
It is kind of surprising to hear Curtis say that. Most of the time, we try to ignore Ma as much as we can, not try to stay attached to her side. Ma doesn't beat Curtis as much though, he is her first and only favorite. Veer occasionally does, always just getting into trouble, sometimes on purpose even. I though, get beaten the most, for being the unwanted child. When I was a baby, she didn't even want to feed me let alone hold me, so Dad had to feed me from a bottle. Then Ma would hate me even more because I was the baby that was wasting their milk.
We stay silent for a couple of minutes before Veer speaks up, "Hey, well look over there." He points to the window and outside is Katniss, looking in Delly's trash. She is digging through it when she finds what looks like ends of a bread loaf. Then she closes the trash and leaves just as quickly as she came.
"Wow, her family is really struggling then isn't it?" Veer says under his breath.
"Yea...badly." I whisper.