That night Katniss' stomach was in knots. The whole day had been one giant first for her.
She made a friend, she had butterflies growing in her stomach, she had made more friends, a deaf friend, and was invited to go and spend time in her house. She was certain Annie would kick her out soon after arriving, growing tired of Katniss' meager signing skills.
Peeta was going to pick her up, given that they lived in the same complex and he knew where Finnick and Annie lived, "it only made sense" he argued.
Johanna had disappeared after the study group, and her hour of prep time before Peeta came to get her was almost up, so she scribbled a note telling Jo where she was and stuck it on the fridge with a random magnet on it's front. She smiled. It was a bird magnet. Mockingjay. She quickly scowled at the memory.
She jumped at the sound of knocking at the front door. She quickly ran over to it, hesitating above the handle, and then remembered they had a peep hole. She looked out to find a shivering, soaking wet Peeta.
She forgot what she was doing. All she could think about were those blue eyes, brilliantly blue against his wet hair plastered to his forehead and the dark grey of the weather outside…. Outside. It was raining. And cold. And Peeta was out there, outside her door, shivering. She should let him him.
"Katniss?" His voice was muffled through the door, but those butterflies didn't care. "It's uh, it's really cold and I forgot an umbrella, and it's pouring, and I really hope I am talking to the right door, and this isn't like some pigeon lady's apartment-"
She swung the door open, the best scowl she could muster on her face, only to see a beaming, but shivering Peeta.
She reached out and tugged a tuft of his hair.
"Ow! What was that for?"
"I said I would hurt you if you brought those names up again."
"What, 'pigeon lady'?" Tug. How infuriating. He only smiled bigger. "'Mockingjay'?" Tug. He laughed. "I was right. 'Girl on fire' suits you. You are extremely volatile when provoked." Tug.
"You have no idea."
Katniss turned around and walked back into her apartment, slowing when she realized she didn't hear Peeta's footsteps behind her, and turning to see him still shivering right outside her door.
"Aren't you going to invite me in?"
Her eyebrows knit together as she narrowed her eyes. "What, are you like a vampire or something?"
Peeta's puppy dog eyes and pouty face adopted a sinister, and admittedly somewhat creepy look. "Call me old fashioned, but my mother always told me to be asked into a home."
"Will I regret this?"
His eyes became even more sinister. "I don't know. Will you?"
After a short stare down, they both started laughing, and she waved him in, grinning as he shuffled in, his arms wrapped tightly around himself to keep warm, shivering and waddling, looking somewhat like a giant penguin.
She took his soaked coat from him, gave him a blanket, and threw the jacket in the dryer. Before pushing the button to start it, she peeked her head around the corner. "Hey, uh, anything else need to be thrown in here? Not to be weird or anything, but I noticed your pants are soaked. Well, so much for not being weird. And your shirt…." Why was he always smiling at her? "Yeah. The weird ship has sailed. Just give me all of your clothes-"
"All of them?" He smiled mischievously.
She glared as she continued, "that are wet and cover yourself with the blanket. I was going to offer you some clothes of Jo's past boyfriend that are still in a drawer in her room, but you lost your right when you pulled your little stunt just now."
"She keeps old boyfriend's clothes?" His hand appeared around the corner, holding a pair of jeans, some socks, and his shirt. She breathed a sigh of relief. No underwear.
"Yeah. She sniffs them on occasion. She doesn't think I notice."
After a pause, "….She sniffs them?"
"You make her sound like some serial killer or something. Yes, it was a bad breakup and she sniffs them because they smell like him."
"Oh." He pondered for a minute before walking around the corner, red fuzzy blanket wrapped around his shoulders, facing her before saying, "And what do I smell like?"
Katniss took a second too long to respond. "What?" She scoffed.
He grinned that infuriating grin. "I could hear you sniff my clothes before throwing them in."
"I did not!"
Peeta leaned his face down into the blanket and made an obnoxious sniffing sound, and despite her best efforts, Katniss snorted.
"Okay, okay. Dill. And cinnamon. And…."
Peeta was loving every second of this, and milked it for all it was worth. "Go on."
"Rain." Her voice was quiet.
"Rain," he repeated, equally as subdued.
"It was raining the day we found out."
Peeta grew instantly serious, and to her surprise, calming. "Found out what?"
Katniss worried her bottom lip as she debated whether to tell him. "I'm not just taking this class for Jo."
"You're not? What do you mean?"
"I, uh, it's kinda personal and hard…."
"You're not going deaf, are you?"
"No!"
"Good." Peeta seemed extremely relived.
"Why?"
"Because. I'm just getting used to your voice, and I would miss it."
Katniss smiled as a tear slipped down her cheek, quickly wiping it away as she stared at the wall behind Peeta. "No, I'm not going deaf. But my little sister Prim is."
If she had been watching a movie, and Peeta was the leading man, she would have given him an Oscar for the face he made after hearing what she said. It wasn't pity, it wasn't judgment. It was genuine, pure heartbreak. Empathy. For someone he did not even know.
She told herself not to do something stupid, like cry, but one look at the tears brimming in his own eyes and she felt herself break. She started to crumple to her knees, her body wracking with sobs, leaning against the front of the dryer, hoping it's heat and rocking motion would rock her sorrow into oblivion.
But soon it was not only heat to her back, but to her front. Through her tears she could see a mop of blonde hair obscuring her view. She realized that Peeta was holding her, wrapped inside the blanket with him, forming a cocoon of sorts.
She should have felt embarrassment, or been freaked out that someone she had known for half a semester but had only spoken to that day was in her apartment, holding her against himself as tightly as possible, in nothing but his underwear, wrapped tightly in a blanket, crying with her.
But she only felt one thing. Safe.
They stayed like that, even after both had stopped crying, loosing track of time, until the buzzer on the dryer went off and they both jumped, startled.
They looked up into one another's eyes and slowly stood up in unison, Katniss turning to open the dryer, Peeta closing the blanket back around himself.
As she unloaded the clothes, she found herself talking, saying something she hadn't shared with anyone yet. "I know you have to be given a sign name by someone who is deaf, but Prim already gave me one, since she is going to be soon. We wanted to establish some things while she still has hearing so it'll be a little easier of a transition. If anything, it'll be my nickname to her. Since I call her, 'Little Duck'."
Peeta took the clothes she offered him over her shoulder as she stared into the empty dryer. "And what was it?" His voice was soft.
Katniss smiled a sad smile as she remembered. "She was so distraught. She was sobbing one night, and I went into her room, holding her until she stopped. I assured her everything would be okay. She told me she had had a nightmare where she was deaf, and no one understood her sign, and for some reason, she couldn't write or speak, so she couldn't communicate with anyone. So I let go of her, and used what little sign I knew. I spoke while I did it, but I signed, 'Little Duck, you will be okay. I love you. You are so strong. Do not be afraid.' And she blew me away with her response. She singed and spoke, 'You have always taught me to never be afraid. And so I won't be. You take away my fear and you give me hope.'"
She turned back to face Peeta, catching him wiping a tear from his cheek. "So what name did she give you?"
Katniss signed it as she said it. "Hope."
