Author's Note: This was written for Prompts in Panem [on Tumblr] Day One prompt – Canon Items
Visual Prompt: Peeta's Pearl
The last place Peeta Mellark ever expected to derive the courage to confess his feelings for his long time crush was from a tiny grain of there was no doubt in his mind from the moment he saw the unexpected silver-gray color of the pearl that it eventually became that this particular pearl was destined to belong to one Katniss Everdeen. It took him a while longer to believe that he was meant to give it to her personally instead of anonymously as he first intended.
He had purchased the oyster from which the pearl came as an impulse while on a visit to his oldest brother's new home during spring break of his junior year in high school. His first plan was to have the pearl made into a necklace and leave it for her to find on her upcoming birthday. And the first part of his plan had gone smoothly but he couldn't bring himself to just leave the necklace in her locker.
He was forced to come up with a new plan and decided that perhaps if they could become friends he might be able to give the necklace to her as a Christmas gift. He knew it was a long shot, but proceeded to set his plan in motion the very next day.
The morning started out much the same as usual. He woke early and helped his father in the bakery, then drove to school in his hand-me-down (yet still very nice) car that his brothers had both also driven during their time at Panem's District 12 High. Like many other days he arrived in time to see the beat up old truck belonging to Gale Hawthorne stop at the corner of the lot and drop off the object of his affection. Like many other mornings he made it to the door shortly before her and like many times before he held the door open. But this morning, unlike those many other times, they where the only two students entering at that moment. This strengthened his resolve and he did something he that was also unusual for their morning ritual; he spoke to her.
He started with "Good Morning Katniss". And despite the obvious surprise on her face she returned the greeting with a nod of her head in his direction. Then she promptly turned to walk away in the direction of her locker. Had this happened a mere week before Peeta would have simply walked behind her on his way to his first class, but after having resolved that this morning would be the beginning of a new faze in their relationship he stepped up beside her asked about their one class together. "Do you think that Coach White's final will be very hard?" It wasn't what he really wanted to ask her but as an ice breaker it served its purpose. They had shared a class or two, plus a lunch period, every year since 4th grade. (Before that they had been in the same class every year). So it was not completely out of reason that he would choose that particular subject to discuss; several student in that class had been discussing, guessing really, as to what subjects would be covered on the final. As a friendship kick-off it wasn't much, but it did lead them to more discussions on the subject and then to conversations about other courses in which they had the same teacher but not the same class hour. However the amount of comfort they managed to achieve with other during the 5 weeks between that morning and the end of school was jeopardized by the 2 & ½ long months of summer vacation that loomed ahead of them. Peeta plucked up his bravery and finally, on the last day of school, told her that he would miss their conversations and asked for her phone number hoping that they could talk from time to time over the summer. (He hoped to work up to asking her about her relationship with Gale and eventually, if the answer was in his favor, ask her out on a date). Since most of their conversations had revolved around class work and she couldn't fathom that such a handsome, popular town boy would be interested in her, Katniss believed he was joking and laughingly dismissed his request with a reminder that they wouldn't have any school work to talk about for the next 3 months, unknowingly crushing Peeta's budding hope that they had managed to form a friendship outside of school work.
His hurt didn't keep him from going to the celebration party at a friend's house (he figured staying home would lead too many questions he didn't want to answer); it just kept him from truly enjoying himself as a 17 year old normally would at such an event. He spent Sunday night feeling sorry for himself. Eventually he retrieved the pearl necklace from its hiding place and began wondering how he could get it to her without her knowing it came from him. He fell asleep with the small gift box in his hand and awoke the next morning with his resolve restored. He began plotting a new way to maintain as much contact with her as possible over the summer. He knew that the better part of the majority of his summer days would be spent at the bakery helping his father and he was especially thankful that his middle brother would still be expected to help with his fair share of the work at the bakery.
As it turned out some greater power was watching out for him and provided the opportunity much sooner than he expected it. Katniss had gotten a part time job delivering for Rooba, the butcher. She only offered the delivery service on Saturday and during the summer months, and she only hired two kids who divided the six business days amongst themselves. Katniss had ended up with Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays and the other boy (Rooba's nephew) had Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. When Rye came back from a break on the first Monday and teased Peeta about seeing Katniss in the near-by park, sitting in the butcher's truck eating lunch, Peeta made a point of running into Jakob (Rooba's nephew) and inquiring about his summer work schedule. That was how he learned Katniss' schedule and took the chance that she would be eating lunch at the park everyday she worked. The following Monday he made a point of taking his own break at around the same time that Rye had spotted Katniss at the park. He brought his lunch which included some cheese buns that if he remembered correctly she was partial to, in case he got the opportunity to share with her. She was there and after an awkward moment when he first approached her they fell into conversation about what the few friends and acquaintances they had in common would be doing that summer.
It wasn't until the 3rd week of meeting up for lunch at least twice a week that the conversation turned to their personal lives and relationships. A somewhat embarrassed Peeta related to Katniss the tale of his last break up with a girl that wanted more physical intimacy than he was prepared to offer after only one month of dating. (She asked why things hadn't worked out with the pretty popular blonde girl or he never would have offered up the information). In turned, he learned that the great romance most people projected on to Katniss and Gale Hawthorne didn't exist. Theirs was actually more of a sibling/cousin type of relationship, at least on her side (Katniss couldn't speak for Gale).
The summer flew by quicker than either of them would have liked it to and before Peeta knew it he was looking at the last two weeks before school started up again and he hadn't managed to bring the conversation to a point where he felt like asking her out was just the next natural step in their conversation. Once again a few hours of holding the pearl bolstered his determination and on his next meeting with her he just bluntly asked her out. Unable to hide his hurt and disappointment, when she quickly replied "I don't date", he excused himself and hurried back towards the bakery refusing to listen to her plea for him to come back knowing he couldn't handle hearing the "its not you it's me" reasoning he was expecting from her without breaking down, and he refused to cry in front of her. He was too heartbroken to meet her for lunch on the next day (or the rest of the summer). He avoided her when she came to see him at the bakery the second day she didn't show up for their regular lunch meeting by pretending to be too busy to talk and refused to take her call when she called the bakery to speak to him later in the week.
He was so convinced that she wanted nothing to do with him as anything more than a classmate/school acquaintance that when he saw her walking rapidly in his direction on the first day of school he expected her to barely acknowledge him as she passed by. That's how he ended up being knocked backwards into a row of lockers by her unexpected push on his chest. She didn't give him time to question her as she rapidly launched her complaints at him. "God Peeta, why are you acting like such a big jerk? I'm sorry that I just blurted that out! I was just so surprised…I didn't expect you to ask me out! I panicked! I'm sorry! But it's no reason for you to be avoiding me so completely! I thought we were more than just friends. Can't we just talk about it?" He ignored the rest of the student bodies gathering around that were drawn by the commotion (some with their cell phones in hand and at the ready to capture anything they considered entertaining). He was afraid to believe what he thought he was hearing so without moving he cautiously asked "What is there to talk about Katniss? I asked you out and you turned me down, flat. We can still be friends if you want, but right now it just…" But she interrupted him with a strangled growl, "Ughhh, you're not listening…or maybe I'm not explaining it right. I'm not good with words, so maybe I should just stop talking." Thenwith a deep breath and a quick look around at the students watching them she did the last thing he expected; she leaned in and brushed her lips against his in a quick kiss.
Peeta was too stunned to move for a few seconds and by the time he opened his eyes and she was already walking away. He quickly found his voice at the sight "Wait, what does this mean?" He didn't even care that his so called best friend, Delly, was laughing at him when Katniss turned back and with a wink replied, "It means you should ask me again!"
He did two days later and she accepted with the condition that they do something inexpensive. By Thanksgiving of their senior year they where dating exclusively, not that either had dated anyone else during that time but they wanted to make it clear to each other and everyone else that they were committed to each other. The pearl remained ungifted that Christmas. Peeta was more than ready and willing to give it to her but she made it clear when he hinted for gift ideas that she wanted them to spend little to no money on each other for their first Christmas together. In the end, the pearl that had been the catalyst to the change in their relationship was her 18th birthday present from Peeta. Although she denied it anytime it was brought up she had teared up upon seeing the gray pearl (pierced with a tiny silver arrow which suspended it from a fine silver chain) and hearing Peeta related how in had inspired him to approach her.
End