A/N: So, a good friend of mine-some of you might know her as Cupcakesprinkles14-let me re-write one of her ideas. She may have mentioned before that her story 'Torn Between' was based off a t.v series called 'Blackpool' but the idea eventually escaped her and she started making it her own.

Well, she has given me permission to write it again but this time with the Blackpool flair from beginning to end. It may seem the same at the start but you'll definitely start to notice the differences soon, trust me. Cupcake will be giving me a hand when it comes to anything smutty anyway because I find that area alien and difficult to write.

This is my first Peetato fic so please be kind when reviewing!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games and Blackpool belongs to the BBC. The idea of re-writing Blackpool into a Peetato fic belongs to Cupcakesprinkles14.

Blackpool

The flash of the camera was blinding, the fake smile he had plastered on his face feeling like it was engraved there. Peeta blinked to get the black spots out of his vision and shook his head to clear it. No matter how many times you have your photo put in the newspaper, you will never get used to the bright flare the flash creates. Everytime, you will think you're surely about to go blind.

Katniss smiled, hers more genuine, and gestured for the cameras to follow her inside. Peeta was considering hanging back but the idea was soon diminished when she hooked her arm through his and walked with him. Katniss animately explained all her plans to the reporters, gesturing around the casino with great enthusiasum and cracking jokes at just the right times. How she could have such great people skills baffled Peeta but then again, she had been doing this for a while now.

The casino filled fast. It's shocking how quickly people will drift somewhere if there's a chance that money will be involved. The room was soon filled with the joyous whoops of those who won a couple of quid and the exasperated sighs of those who didn't but are still sticking their hands into their pockets for another try because this time they're "bound to get lucky."

There was the occasional flash of a camera, the people grinning on the other end not caring about how blinding the flash was. As Peeta watched the attention seeking girls pose for their pictures, he began to wonder if maybe he was the only one who had a problem with those reporter cameras. But, come on, would it kill them to turn the flash off?

Katniss appeared in front of him, snapping her fingers in front of his eyes. He stepped back, blinking out of his trance, and fixed her with a confused expression. "Are you even listening to me?" she asked.

"Sorry, what?" Peeta asked back, blinking out of his trance.

Katniss rolled her eyes. "I was saying that Jennifer has a date," she explained.

"A date? Since when?" Peeta hadn't realized that he sounded surprised until Katniss quirked a curious eyebrow. Not that it was surprising to discover that his daughter had a date it was just very sudden, since it only felt like yesterday that Jennifer was claiming all the boys in her year were diseased and ignorant. Wait, that was yesterday.

"Since she told me five minutes ago," Katniss replied. She looked stunning in the strapless red dress that had been sitting at the back of their wardrobe for weeks, just waiting for this exact ocassion. She glanced at Josh, who was playing on a machine a couple of yards away from them. "When are you going to start dating?" she asked.

"Sorry, what was that mum?" Josh asked sarcastically, pretending he hadn't heard. Katniss narrowed her eyes but thankfully didn't push the point, as she might have at a different time.

"Here's the keys," she said, shoving the keys to the casino into Josh's pocket. "I'm leaving soon and I need you to lock up when you're everyone's gone."

"Where are you going?" Peeta asked. What could be more important than the opening of her first casino?

Katniss shrugged. "Just to Madge's house," she said.

"Why didn't you just invite them?"

Katniss bite her lip, thinking the answer over in her head. Peeta waited, hoping to god that the answer wasn't going to be as bad as it felt like it was going to be. "She's sick right now. Madge is. And you know the way you can't invite one without the other," she finally answered. "So I told them we'd go to her house and I'd tell her all about it."

Thank God. Katniss noticed his relieved expression and grinned. "What, were you worried?" she teased.

"Me? Worried? Nah," Peeta replied. Katniss laughed and kissed his cheek before disappearing into the crowd to mingle. Well, at least he could slip out without her noticing now. He patted Josh's shoulder as he passed him and discreetly slipped out.

The night air was cool and fresh. Peeta took a deep breath and exhaled, secretly glad to be out of the stuffy Casino. Of course he was happy for Katniss. This had been her dream for years now and it still seemed kind of surreal that it was actually happening. But Peeta hadn't known that he was supposed to make public appearances with his wife at the openings. "To make the family unit seem strong," she had said. Peeta had noted how she had said 'seem' instead of saying 'to show how strong the family unit is'.

Peeta changed out his suit in a takeaway bathroom and, after buying a bottle of coke because he felt guilty using the facility without buying something, walked to Smartians. He knew he was already a couple of minutes late and even though he knew Delly would understand, he hated being so late.

He worked at Smartians because he felt like if he could make a difference to even one person's life, it would give his own life more purpose. Compared to Katniss' success, it seemed very small, but, to him, he felt like he was doing the best thing he could. Helping others had always seemed a lot more interesting than helping Katniss run the casino anyway.

When he arrived, Delly wasn't there. A sticky note was stuck to her computer.

Had to dash! Meeting my sister's fiance! Hope you had fun at the opening, can't wait to read about it in the papers! ;)

~Del

Damn, he hoped no one had called in the small gap where no one was manning the phones. Sometimes the people's problems could range from exam pressure to thoughts of suicide. Peeta didn't know if he could live with the knowledge that someone had killed themselves when he could have answered the phone and somehow talked them out of it.

He sat down at his desk and pulled his book out of the bag holding his suit. Before he immersed himself in the intriguing plot of Great Expectations a small part of him wondered what Katniss was doing right now. He hoped Madge was okay. He decided to pop into the shops tomorrow and get her a get better card. Katniss would probably want to sign her name onto it too, since Madge was her friend after all.

Whatever they were doing right now, Peeta hoped they were having a good time. Katniss had earned it, after all, after all the work she had put into building up her empire.

~xXx~

"Well you look like shit."

Madge humped. A beer was cradled between her knees and she sat in the bath of what seemed to be a newly renevated bathroom. Katniss turned her nose up at the new interior. Ick, what a waste of money. Johanna ploughed past her and took up residence on the toilet seat.

"Pass us a beer," she said.

Katniss rolled her eyes and pulled a beer out of the six pack that lay on the floor, taking one of her own as she passed the other to Johanna. "So, what's with the new look?" she asked, peering past the frosted screen door and into what looked like a closet.

"Thought the place could use a make-over," Madge replied.

"What a waste," Katniss sighed. She leaned against the wall and took a swig. The bitter taste tickled her tongue, the chemicals going straight to her head and making it feel light. "You could have invested the money that went into this."

"Not all of us are super-scrimpers like you Everdeen," Johanna scoffed. Her eyes drifted lazily around the room. "I still don't like it though."

Madge shook her head. "Good thing you don't have to see it every day, right?" she replied. "I like it." She slowly slid into the bath and drew her knees up to her chest with a sigh.

"Katniss, did you make the order?" Johanna asked, closing an eye and peering into her bottle.

"Yeah, I did," Katniss replied. "It should be arriving soon."

"Did we really have to do this at my house?" Madge inquired. She blew a strand of blonde hair out of her eyes. "I mean, I'm the only one here who's involved with the law and if we get caught because of this-"

"We won't," Johnna said. "When have we before?"

Madge chewed on the inside of her cheek worriedly. She was always such a worry wally. Katniss guessed it was because she was so high up in the police force and dreaded the idea of them getting caught because she'd lost her job. It was kind of hypocritial, since the whole reason Madge decided to be a police officer was so that she'd stop taking part in illegal activities with Katniss and Johanna. But, of course, she couldn't stay away.

The doorbell went and Johanna lurched forward, bumping into Katniss on the way out. Katniss and Madge exchanged an amused look before following her down the stairs. "My house, I get to answer the door!" Madge declared. Johanna reluctantly stepped away from the front door and folded her arms begrudingly.

Madge opened the door, Katniss and Johanna right behind her. On the doorstep was the three hookers Katniss had requested earlier. It was nice that the system was so neat now-a-days. That she didn't have to sneak out at night while Peeta was sleeping to get her fill.

Don't get her wrong, she loved Peeta with all of her heart but sometimes she had to get away. She respected her husband too much to do the stuff to him that she did to the hookers. He was too gentle a soul to do that to. And, well, sometimes you need change in your life to keep things interesting.

"So fellas," Katniss said, pushing her way through out onto Madge's doorstep, "Who's going to get lucky tonight?"

~xXx~

"Keys Josh, hurry," Katniss said as they quickly walked down the street to the casino. Josh fumbled for the keys in his pockets, finally slapping them into her hand. Johanna and Madge had fallen behind, both of them nursing severe hangovers. "When did you even close up?"

"2:00am. That's when everyone cleared off anyway," Josh muttered.

Katniss rolled her eyes. "And when did you get home?"

"Uh . . . five?"

"Idiot!" Katniss exclaimed, hitting him upside the head. "You know how your father worries! Now he's going to be on my ass about why I didn't make sure you got home!"

"Have you even went home?" Josh fired back. "Dad is more likely going to be on your ass about yourself more than me!"

"Don't talk to me like that," Katniss snapped. Now that Josh had brought it up, she knew he was probably right. Peeta was going ot be freaking out about where she'd been all night when they get back. Still, that was for later, not for now. She adjusted her sunglasses and sighed, hoping that the mess in the casino wasn't as bad as she knew it was going to be.

Katniss jabbed the key into the lock and twisted it open. Thankfully, the litter wasn't too bad and she knew she could get Johanna to work right away picking up the rubbish. It was going to be weird having one of her friends as the janitor but Johanna had said she needed the money so . . .

They all stopped.

"Whoa," Johanna breathed.

"Oh my god," Madge murmured, covering her mouth with her hands in horror.

Josh was silent.

Katniss' eyes widened. It was an almost surreal experience, she couldn't believe what she was seeing and, for some reason, she was filled with anger. "Okay," she said, "who dumped the body in my casino?"

~xXx~

Half an Hour Later:

"Do you recognize the body?" Cato asked.

The Everdeen woman looked at him as if he had asked her if she was willing to strip naked and run up the streets screaming like a banshee. "No," she spat. "Of course I don't recognize it!"

Cato raised his eyebrows. He had been forced out of bed on his day off to come in and investiage the dumping of a body in the recently opened Everdeen casino. Of course, being the idiot that he was, he decided to go to the bitchy owner to interview while Clove had been smart enough to go to the vulnerable son.

He already knew the identity of the body. Clove recognized him as Marvel Winters, a boy she had met while doing a talk about drugs in a high school a couple of months ago. At least that was one less John Doe for the morgue to deal with. By the looks of the body, Marvel had been strangled, but he also had a cut on his temple which could suggest that he had been hit with a blunt object. Either could be the reason for his death.

"It's just a routine question, Miss Everdeen," he sighed tiredly. God, he hated having to be nice to the irrtiable citizens. Why couldn't they see that he was just doing his job? Okay, so witnessing something this horrible can result in some level of vulnerability but it shouldn't give anyone license to be an asshole. Then again, judging by the pretentious look on Miss Everdeen's face, this seemed to be her attitude twenty four seven.

"But what are you suggesting?" Miss Everdeen demanded. "That just because I own this place that I automatically killed the guy?"

"Not suggesting that at all," Cato replied, jotting down some notes into his little black pad. Miss Everdeen scowled and tried to see what he was writing but he managed to hold it away from.

Annoyed, she stood back. "And it's Mrs to you," she said acidly. "Or even just Katniss. Mrs makes me sound old."

Cato felt sorry for the poor sod married to such an irritable bitch.

"Okay then Katniss, over the next couple of days Clove and I will be interviewing members of your family-"

"Leave my family out of this," Katniss interuppted firecely. "It has nothing to do with them and you don't need to involve them in anything to do with this."

Cato quirked an interested eyebrow. "Again, it's routine," he said slowly. "Which also says that you'll have to keep the casino closed for a while-"

"I'm not closing the casino," Katniss said stubbornly.

"Will you stop interuppting, please," Cato replied. God, trying to have a conversation with this woman was trying to get blood from a stone.

"I'm not closing the casino," pressed Katniss. "The place is only just opened!"

Clove was standing at the entrance to the casino, waving for him to follow her out into the streets. "Well, you're going to have to, Katniss," Cato replied, tapping her forehead with his pencil. "Because it's my orders. Good day." He quickly walked around her and left with Clove before Katniss could open her mouth and start yapping again.

He could already tell that this case was going to be a difficult one.

Cato and Clove crossed the road to an ice-cream truck, where they both got a 99 each. He hadn't realized that giving up smoking was going to give him such a severe craving for sugar. Clove constantly said that it was better than putting the crap that's in a cigarette into his body but somehow getting fat didn't seem as appealing as sucking in the sweet nector of a good cig. But still, he had to persevere.

"So how do you think we're going to go about solving this case?" Clove asked as they walked along the pier.

"Honestly, I have no idea," Cato replied. "But I don't know, there's something about that Everdeen woman's attitude that rubs me the wrong way. I think she's trying to hide something."

"Officer Undersee says that she's just a generally snippy person," Clove pointed out, licking the melted ice-cream that had dripped onto her hand.

"I thought Officer Undersee was good friends with Katniss?" asked Cato. "And that's why she wasn't allowed to be on the case, because it was too close to home?"

Clove shrugged. "I suppose she could be trying to defend her friend," she said. "But I don't see why she would, since it would be putting her job at risk to lie to an investigator about vital evidence for a case. Especially a murder one at that."

They were passing a newspaper stand when the sight of Katniss on the front made Cato stop. Clove didn't realize he had stopped until she was near the end of the road and turned around in alarm. Cato would probably have laughed at how oblvious she had been if he hadn't been so preoccupied.

New Casino Opened In Panem Pier!

Katniss was on the front cover with what Cato presumed was her family. The Everdeen woman was fierce looking, her eyes outlined with thick black eyeliner and her lips a deep red. The young girl standing to her right looked the spitting image of her, only younger and much more . . . approachable looking. Cato recognized her son, Josh, from multiple arrests in the past concerning his involvement in certain gangs and drug dealer groups. He didn't really look like either of his parents but that said nothing. Maybe he resembled a grandparent or something.

But weirdly enough, none of this people were what made him stop.

It was the picture of Katniss' husband, Peeta. The poor sod married to the irritable bitch.

Cato didn't know what it was but there was something different about the man. He didn't look like the sort of person Katniss would be married too. He seemed . . . softer . . . nothing like his wife. In fact, he didn't seem to fit in with his family unit at all. Cato would have liked to say that these where the reasons that made him stop in the streets, that it was nothing but the cogs in his P. I mind turning, trying to find more evidence, but it wasn't.

It was because Katniss' husband was hot.

"Why are you staring at Mrs Everdeen's husband?" Clove asked, suddenly by his side again.

Cato blinked, surprised. "I'm not," he lied. "I'm thinking."

"About . . . ?"

"Do you think he'd know something? The husband, I mean?" Cato asked.

Clove pursed her lips, thinking about it. "Could do," she answered. "I wouldn't put it past him. Why? Do you think we should talk to him?"

"Not we, just me I think," Cato said. "Don't want to overwhelm him, you know? I mean, a body has been found in his wife's business. I doubt it's the best thing to find out on a Sunday morning."

"Are you going to do it now?" asked Clove.

"Nah, I'll give them a day or two to catch up," Cato replied. "Do it later in the week when it's sort of settled a little."

Clove nodded, picking the flake out of her ice cream. "If you're searching for him in the phone book, it's Mellark, not Everdeen. Katniss didn't take his second name when they got married."

Yeah, she wouldn't, would she? Typical.

Peeta Mellark sounded much better anyway.

~xXx~

"I think that P. I is out to get me!" Katniss declared, moving around the room like a tornado of rage. "He was asking all these questions and looking at me as if to say, 'I know you did it bitch so own up'! He called it routine, I mean, what the hell is that?!"

Peeta watched Katniss as she continued to rant, shoving her clothes in her chest of drawers angrily and stomping around the room like child trying to squash ants under their shoes. In his opinion, she was over-reacting, but if he said that out loud she'd very likely have him shot on the spot for it. The police did have routines they had to follow while investigating a case, like rules that have to be enforced so it can be solved correctly, right?

"They won't even let Madge be on the case because she's apparently too close to me or whatever!" Katniss yelled. "It's not like she's going to fucking go and lie to them about me! Not that I'd have to anyway because I have a motive, I was with her and Johanna the entire night!"

"Which you forgot to tell me that you were staying out all night for," Peeta pointed out.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Katniss muttered, climbing into bed. "Madge was sicker than we thought."

"Well then she wouldn't be able to work on the case anyway," Peeta said, getting in beside her. "Because she's so ill, so there's nothing to worry about."

"There's plenty to worry about, trust me," Katniss replied. "That P. I thinks I murdered the guy! What would I get from murdering someone and dumping them in my own casino?!" She twisted around and tapped her lamp to dim the light down.

"Just relax," Peeta told her, trying to be as comforting as possible. "Your alibi checks out, you don't have anything to stress over. If that P. I does think you did it then he doesn't have much proof, does he? You have two witnesses who can vouch for you."

Katniss closed her eyes and took a deep breath, something she always did when she was trying to calm herself down. She slid down to lie on her back on the bed, staring at the ceiling as if examining the paintjob. "I suppose," she finally concluded.

Peeta smiled and kissed her forehead, during away from her and lying on his side. He hated seeing her so stressed out, especially after already having been pressured because of the casino opening and all the publicity for that. Now there was this, the whole place having to be shut down until further notice. It was like Lady Luck had decided they needed taken down a peg.

"You wouldn't be horny by any change, would you?" Katniss randomly asked.

Peeta rolled his eyes. "I love it when you whisper sweet nothings to me," he said sarcastically.

Katniss snorted. "Seriously though, are you?" she asked.

"Not really, since we've been talking about dead bodies ever since we got in," Peeta answered. There was a long pause and he could practically hear Katniss thinking it over in her mind.

"I'd still be up for it," she said.

Peeta laughed. "Yeah, well, I know you would," he said. "Not all of us have your stamina." The world could be ending and Katniss would still be up for it. It was like she had this never ending stamina or a button that she hid under her braid that kept her energetic and up for anything no mater what has happened or what time of the day it is.

"It's a gift," Katniss said, almost humbly.

"Well I, on the other hand, am not gifted so I'm going to go ahead and go to sleep," Peeta replied. He closed his eyes and grinned when Katniss groaned.

That night he dreamed of death. And nothing else.

A/N: Review with your thoughts? I'd really like to hear what you think! :)