A collection of one-shots focusing primarily on Katniss and Peeta, and inspired by my itunes shuffle.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games, any of its characters, or the song A Girl, A Boy, and A Graveyard by Jeremy Messersmith.

11:43

The numbers flashed across Peeta Mellark's phone as he glanced down at it, alerting him that he had, indeed, been waiting for over fifteen minutes. His hand quickly darted back into his pocket, desperate to return to the warm sanctuary. Not for the first time that night, he lamented lending his gloves to his best friend the week before.

"Speaking of best friend," he muttered to himself, pulling his navy toque down over his frozen ears, "Where the hell is she?"

He kicked lightly at an exposed tree root below his foot as he once again surveyed his surroundings, hoping to see her approaching figure. Clouds hid the moon, making it difficult to make out anything but hundreds of solid black shadows, all varying in size and shape, but none moving an inch. She had asked for him to meet her at 11:30, but it was almost twenty minutes later and there was still no sign of her.

Leaning against the gnarly trunk of a nearby oak tree, he let out a heavy sigh. A wispy cloud of vapor rose from his mouth before disappearing into the frigid night. He repeated the action for amusement, imagining himself as a fire-breathing dragon until he was interrupted by the sound of a clearing throat.

"Having fun?" Katniss asked, smirking slightly as Peeta's eyes zeroed in on her.

"You're late, I got bored," he grumbled, ducking his head in an attempt to hide the blush spreading across his cheeks. His best friend snickered softly before stepping up and placing a light kiss on said cheek.

"Yikes, you're freezing," she breathed, jerking her head back and taking in his light jacket with a frown. "Why didn't you wear a heavier coat?"

"I assumed you'd be on time," he muttered gruffly, his usually cheery disposition having been sapped away with his body heat.

"Well that was a stupid assumption," Katniss scowled before grabbing his sleeve and pulling him towards a nearby bench. "I got off work late. Now let's get you warmed back up, Mr. Grouchy Pants."

He silently complied as she shoved him down on the bench, not even slightly caring that he was being manhandled by a girl. That was just how she was. Gentle was not a word that often fit Katniss Everdeen. She was a girl of action, not bothering with silly conventions and always getting straight to the point.

It was one of the many things that made Peeta Mellark helplessly in love with her. Not that she would ever know.

The two had become friends when they were eleven, and eight years later, they knew each other better than anyone else in the world. But Peeta was confident that this one little secret would stay his. Katniss was clueless when it came to the way others regarded her. She would never believe that her best friend could possibly have deeper feelings for her. In her mind, it just wasn't logical, and Peeta had long since accepted this.

Once she had him seated on the cold, metal bench, she firmly planted herself sideways on his lap, wrapping her arms around his back and burying her face in his chest. He both loved and hated when she did this sort of thing. The feeling of having her so close was electrifying, but it only served to remind him that it would never be more than that.

His arms fell around her shoulders and they sat in silence for a long while, letting their body heat work to warm them both up. After a few minutes, a muffled whisper made its way to Peeta's ears from where Katniss still had her head pressed into his jacket.

"Gale and I broke up."

Peeta stomped down the brief surge of excitement at his friend's words. Katniss and Gale had been dating for nearly three years, and everyone was certain they were headed towards marriage. Peeta hadn't disliked Gale, really he hadn't, and the fact that his best friend was clearly upset was no reason to be happy. He tightened his arms around her slightly to signal that he had heard, but said nothing, knowing that she would go on when she was ready.

"I don't really know how I'm supposed to feel," she continued after a brief pause. "I thought I would be sad or angry or…I don't know. I thought I would feel something. But mostly I'm just numb."

"That's probably just the cold. I'll help you with that" Peeta joked, once again tightening his arms and pressing her closer to his now comfortably warm body.

Another cloud of vapor rose in front of his face, this time from the girl on his lap as she let out a short laugh.

"I know things seem all twisted and confused right now," he murmured softly when she fell silent again, "but that will change. In no time at all you'll meet someone who will bring you back to life."

Letting out a sigh, Katniss reached one arm behind her, gripping Peeta's hand before bringing them both around and clutching them to her chest.

"Sometimes I feel like life is just this game that I don't know the rules to. No one does. No one knows the rules and no one knows how to win. It's like we're meant to lose."

Her breathe tickled his fingers as she whispered her thoughts—thoughts that she would never dream of sharing with anyone but him. He closed his eyes, focusing only on her gentle inhale and exhale as it danced across his skin.

He didn't know what to say. Did he also believe that life was just a game? No. At least, he hoped it wasn't. There was too much beauty in the world for it to be completely meaningless. He wanted to believe that there was some greater purpose behind it all—something wonderful waiting just around the corner for them both. But he knew he couldn't say this to Katniss, especially now. She wouldn't be able to see it.

So instead, he used his free hand to gently tug on the dark braid hanging down her back and said, "Well then if life's a game, I guess that means we'll just have to work together. I'll stick with you if you stick with me."

Peeta felt, rather than saw the small smile spread onto Katniss' lips as she brought his hand closer to her mouth, placed a kiss to his knuckles, and whispered, "Deal."

Hello world! It has been quite some time since I last tried my hand at the author side of fanfiction, and I have never attempted a Hunger Games story, so we'll see how this goes.

The basic premise of this story is fairly simple. I made a playlist of 100 randomly selected songs from my itunes and will attempt to write a short one-shot based off of each song. Or at least a few of them. Or just this one. Depending on how this is received. Anyway, the title of this one-shot is from the song A Girl, A Boy, and A Graveyard by Jeremy Messersmith, and some of the lyrics are roughly paraphrased. It is an absolutely beautiful song and I strongly encourage you to scurry on over to youtube and give it a listen. Or even buy it off itunes if you just want to trust me.

Thanks for reading, and any feedback would be wildly appreciated!