It's crazy how the stories you think aren't going to get recognized are the first to peak. I'm ecstatic that people want to read this. As a bonus, this chapter is extra long, at least for my usual.
Like always, thanks so much for the support. It means the world to anyone on here writing anything.
Disclaimer: I own nothing; just working with the idea.
"Katniss!" Peeta tries to fend her off as best he can. He's trying to frost a cake while Katniss reaches over his shoulders, trying to get to it. "Back off, will you?!"
"Just a taste!" She groans, struggling against him. He tries to stand tall but Katniss reaches down and tickles his side. He bends in that direction, trying to stop her, but it gives her a clear path to her goal.
"Katniss!" He whips around to look at her. She backs away, as sexily as possible, and sticks her finger in her mouth.
"Mmm." She moans at how delicious the frosting is. There's absolutely nothing innocent about what she's doing, though. Katniss has every intention of enticing him; the only question being if he'll finally take the bait.
"Oh, do you like it?" He wipes his hands on a nearby towel before angrily tossing it down. He takes a few steps towards her until he's finally able to place his hands on either side of the counter she's backed herself into.
"Mhm." Her eyes don't leave his; she doesn't dare lose the staring contest they have going at the moment. He was so close that the smell of his cologne was intoxicating. It would be just another piece to completing the puzzle that was her wet dreams filled of him.
Peeta straightens up so his chest is to hers. He keeps his eyes on her still.
"Peeta..." Yes, god! Her mind was screaming. This was it. This would be the moment that her dreams came true. But nothing ever went in her favor. Peeta reaches behind her and pulls back, a frosting spatula in his hand.
"I'm glad you did because that's all you're getting!" He smiles cheekily at her before turning back to his cake.
Once out of sight, Katniss covers her face with her hands and groans. She'd done everything right. Her v-neck tee dipped dangerously low, just barely covering up her assets and her booty shorts, according to Johanna, lifted her ass perfectly. Yet, Peeta hadn't even noticed. It really was too much to ask for Peeta to see her as something more than his best friend's dorky sister.
Katniss looks up from her outfit. She stares at all the muscles in Peeta's back. She couldn't keep this up. He was going to kill her in the worst way possible. He turns his head suddenly, grins, then sexily winks at her.
That was it. There would be no more fooling around. Katniss was just going to tell him and let him decide what happened after. She walks back over to him and places a hand on his back.
"No." Peeta says. She pushes her chest out so it's touching his arm. She raises her hand up until it's gently playing with one of his sideburns.
"Peeta-"
"Something smells delicious!" Mrs. Everdeen exclaims on her way into the kitchen. Katniss instantly takes a step away from Peeta. Her mother looks between her and Peeta suspiciously.
"Hey, Mrs. Everdeen!" Peeta greets her.
"Peeta." She continues to stare at them as she takes a seat. "What's going on?"
"I'm making cake!" He says with a smile. That wasn't what she wanted know. She looks at Katniss who tries to avoid all eye contact.
"Where's Gale?" It wasn't that she didn't trust them but Mrs. Everdeen wasn't born yesterday. Whether Katniss knew it or not, she didn't do a very good job at hiding the fact that she liked Peeta; at least not in Mrs. Everdeen's eyes. It wouldn't be a horrible thing if something happened there but there was still this nagging fear that something could happen to her little girl; like letting her emotions get the best of her and ending up pregnant. At least with Gale around, that would never happen.
Still, Peeta was always respectful; that or he just didn't know how Katniss felt about him.
"That's what I would like to know." Peeta says with a laugh. "I've been texting him and he hasn't answered. So I decided to bake until he got back."
"Is that what smells so good?"
"Yep!" Peeta grabs the cake and places it down in front of her. "Can I serve you a piece?"
"Of course!" Katniss lets out a sigh.
"Mom, don't you have something else to do?" She finally meets her mother's gaze. "Or somewhere to be?"
"Uh...no, not at all actually." She wasn't about to leave the two of them alone any longer. She grabs a nearby knife and cuts them all a slice.
"Great." Katniss mutters under her breath. Now she would never be able to make a move with her mother in the room. So she pulls a seat across from her and finally takes a bite of her piece of cake.
"Did Gale forget that you two were hanging out?" Mrs. Everdeen asks.
"I think so." Peeta says.
"Hm, that's not like him." It really wasn't. Gale would never forget that he was hanging out with Peeta. If there was anyone he never cancelled on, it was his best friend. "Maybe he's with his girlfriend." Peeta shakes his head.
"Actually, he was supposed to hang out with me and Madge but she says he's not answering her calls either."
"Well, let's see if he doesn't pick up my call." Mrs. Everdeen says with a smile before heading upstairs to get her cell phone. It leaves them alone once again.
"So..." Katniss starts. "If you guys were hanging out as couples, does that mean that..." She has to swallow the bile back. "Glimmer was going to be there?"
It took all of Katniss' strength when she found out that Peeta was officially dating Glimmer, the most popular girl at their high school. She hated her already and now, that she was dating her Peeta, Katniss wanted to murder her.
Still, she had to know if Peeta was going to be spending time with her.
"No, it was just going to be the three of us."
"Oh?"
"She has practice or something." Katniss laughs.
"You don't know?" He shrugs.
"That's what she said." Katniss squares her jaw and rolls her eyes. If she didn't mean for it to be seen, she didn't do it fast enough. "What?"
"Huh?" He nods in her direction.
"That look. What was that for?" Katniss slaps her hands down on the table. She was going to start telling him the truth.
"Why are you with her, Peeta?"
"What do you mean?"
"If that's really what she said to you, then she doesn't care about you!"
"Katniss-"
"She doesn't deserve you, Peeta!" They're both surprised at her outburst.
"You think so..." She nods.
"Yes! If I was your girlfriend, I wouldn't want to spend a minute away from you! I'd call you all the time just because I want to hear your voice or something stupid like that! I wouldn't give you some bullshit excuse as to why I can't see you!"
"She's not trying hard enough?" Katniss shakes her head. "So then I should try harder."
"Yes! Wait, no! It's not you."
"No, no. I mean," Peeta starts. "A relationship takes two, right? I haven't exactly been the most attentive boyfriend either, have I?"
"Peeta, you're perfect the way you are." He smiles.
"Thanks, but I think I'm going to take your advice." He stands from the table. Katniss stands too.
"Peeta-" But he catches her off guard by hugging her tightly to him.
"Katniss, you're the best friend a guy could have." He chuckles against her ear. "The perks of having a girl friend."
He was right. That's all they would ever be; this is as close as they would ever get. But, still, it hurt her heart to know the truth. Glimmer was his high school crush. According to Gale, he's liked her for a long while. Gale had stepped in to help his friend by setting them up, which also put her brother on her list of people to kill. It would be wrong to interfere in that, especially after she had first hand experience in crushing and heartbreak.
"Glad I could help." Katniss gets out before swallowing back the tears. He pulls back from her and smiles.
"Thanks. Say bye to your mother for me."
If she had known that would be the last time she would see him, Katniss would have told him everything.
With a groan, Katniss sits up in bed. Out of all the memories she had of Peeta, the last one she hated the most; but it was the one she remembered most often. It left too many questions unanswered.
She's probably analyzed every second of that moment. It was unhealthy she knew that but she couldn't help it.
Katniss grabs her backpack and tries to focus on the paper that was due the next day. She can't focus on it though. Her discussion with Johanna and the dream she'd had of Peeta were haunting her.
She slams her notebook closed and heads to the bathroom instead. She never stopped thinking about him. Never. Everything reminded her of Peeta, both good times and bad ones.
Maybe Johanna was right. Maybe she should go see him. Nothing had to happen. Katniss didn't have to proposition him with anything; they could just talk.
Her body is quick to react though at just the thought of him. It had been a long time now that her fingers were competent enough to please her. Thoughts of Peeta made her horny and her fingers weren't enough anymore. That wasn't healthy either. Maybe Johanna was right about more than just going to see him.
Katniss hangs her head before walking back into her room. She digs out her lucky half-dollar then takes a seat on her bed. She stares at it for a long time.
"Okay." She sighs. "Heads, I go. Tails, I stay."
Peeta has to open his eyes wide to keep from falling asleep from the most boring short story he had ever read. Thankfully, a knock on the door would serve as a necessary distraction.
"Coming!" He shouts as he throws a shirt on. He doesn't even bother looking through the peephole. It was probably just another girl looking for his roommate or worse, him.
"Hello, Peeta." His face goes through several emotions before he greets her.
"Oh my god, Katniss!" He instantly pulls her in for a hug. "It's so nice to see you." Peeta tells her as he squeezes her tighter.
"Yes, it is." He pulls back to look at her.
"Look at you! All grown up! How old are you now?"
"I'm seventeen, going on eighteen in a couple months."
"Wow! How the time flies…" He quickly turns and looks into his dorm. "You want to come in?" She smiles at him and nods as he steps out of the way.
"Your dorm is…unusually clean." Katniss tells him with a chuckle.
"Yea…my roommate is a neat freak and I like to keep clean too so it worked out." He leads her over to his room just in case his roommate came home for whatever reason. He pulls out the desk chair for her to sit and he takes a seat on his bed. "Katniss, what are you doing here?"
"What? Can't a friend come visit another friend nowadays?"
"Of course I don't mind you here, I was just wondering if there was any particular reason to your being here…"
"No reason. I just haven't seen you in a while." Peeta looks away from her.
"Yea, well, Gale and I aren't really friends anymore."
"I know…but what about me?" He turns back to look at her. "I thought you and I were friends." He reaches for her hand.
"We are. I'm sorry if you felt I abandoned you. I just…I couldn't look at Gale without wanting to kill him!" He growls. "I'm sorry."
"Are you still mad at him?" Peeta meets her eyes.
"Did he send you over here?" His voice raises. "Because if he did, you can go right back over there and tell him to fuck off!"
"He didn't send me. He doesn't even know I'm here. But I take it, by your response, that that's a yes." Peeta releases a long breath.
"I want to tell you I'm not mad but it still hurts. The betrayal is something I can't stand, Katniss! He was like a brother to me and for him to do that to me…I just can't…I'm not ready to make nice."
"Of course." She plays with the fabric of her jeans. "If my best friend had slept with my high school crush, I'm not sure if I'd be able to forgive them either."
"It's more the fact that he betrayed me that hurts." He shrugs. "He could have slept with her after, I don't care. But not while we were dating."
"Really?" Katniss asks. "But she was your crush." Peeta laughs.
"No."
"What do you mean?"
"She wasn't my crush, Katniss." Her face drops. What the hell did he mean? "At best, she was hot. I'll give her that much but...eh."
Katniss spent those months hating her. Partially hating Peeta for being with her. Part of her never fought for him because she thought she knew how he felt about her. Now, he was telling her he never felt anything for her?
"But Gale said you liked her." Peeta shakes his head.
"I said I liked someone. I'm not sure how Gale figured it was what's-her-face, but..."
"Glimmer." She says.
"What?"
"Glimmer." He laughs.
"Was that her name?" Katniss covers her face with her hands making Peeta laugh. If he didn't care, then why the hell did he ever try with her?
"If you don't even remember her name, why are you mad at Gale?" Peeta's face goes rigid.
"Because, Katniss, your girlfriend is sacred ground. There's a line there that you don't cross. Whether I liked her or not, is irrelevant. Gale should have respected that!"
"You're right, but I'm not here for an explanation." She squeezes his hand reassuringly which makes him smile. "I actually came here to ask you something…"
"Okay…" Katniss breathes in deeply and then releases it fully. She couldn't believe what she was about to do, but she wanted to and if she never asked, then she'd always have to wonder.
"I um…you know I'm almost officially a woman…" She curses at herself for her wording. Peeta laughs at that too.
"A woman…okay, go ahead…"
"Well, it wouldn't be official until I'm eighteen…and um…kind of…sort of…lost something…" Peeta nods along trying to figure out where she's going. "Peeta…I…"
"Hey." He pulls her hand to lead her over to sit next to him on the bed. "It's just me, Katniss. When have you ever been afraid to ask me anything?" She looks at him and his beautiful blue eyes have her captivated. There was no one else she'd want to share this with.
"Peeta, I want you to make me woman." He turns his head curiously at her. "I want you to take my virginity." His eyes go wide in realization.
"Huh…your womanhood…" He says to no one in particular. "But why me, Katniss? You're a very attractive young woman and I'm sure you have plenty of guys who would want to…"
"I've been fantasizing about the moment I lost it for a while now and, for the longest time..." She swallows thickly. She wasn't sure if she should tell him how she felt. "The man in those fantasies...is someone I trust. Someone who knows me like nobody else." Her hand goes up to caress his cheek. "There's no one else I want to do this with." He looks to the floor and sighs heavily. "And if that doesn't appeal to you, Johanna told me to tell you that you should have sex with me to get back at Gale."
Peeta whips his head up to look at her with a big smile. He laughs for a moment before he too reaches for her cheek.
"I'd never use you in this war he and I have." She smiles at him. "I'll do it if you're sure that you're doing it for all the right reasons." She throws herself into his arms and pulls him tightly into her.
"Thank you." She whispers into his ear before she kisses the side of his head.
"No problem. Is there any particular day you wanted to do it?"
"Anytime is fine with me." She tells him as she bounces on his bed next to him.
"Anxious?" Peeta laughs. "Uh, well what about Friday? My roommate has an away game so he'll be gone all weekend." Katniss smiles at him. "Not that I intend to keep you for the entire weekend! I mean…sex will be a few minutes and then you're free to go…or stay…uh…" He scratches his head nervously. Katniss takes the opportunity to lean into him.
"Peeta?" He turns to look at her. She's only a couple inches away now. Katniss leans in the rest of the way and kisses him. He's shy and caught off guard initially, but he recovers quickly. His hand goes to the back of her neck, pulling her lips closer. His tongue caresses her bottom lip. Katniss opens her mouth so her tongue finally meets his. Peeta gently pushes her down so he's on top of her on his bed. She opens her legs for him so he can rest between them. Her hands roam the back of his neck and up into his hair. His one hand tilts her chin up while the other caresses her thigh. He innately grinds into her eliciting a lusty moan from her. Peeta snaps out of his daze and sits up on the bed.
"I'm sorry. I almost got carried away." He says breathlessly.
"Don't be." She assures him as she sits up next to him. "Excellent preview." They smile at each other.
"So, uh…Friday…" Peeta tells her.
"Yea. Now I just have to figure out how I'm going to get here."
"How'd you get here today?"
"Bus."
"Bus? That's a long ride!"
"I know but it was okay. I had plenty of time to figure out how to ask you to pop my cherry." They share another laugh.
It wasn't a lie either. Katniss had brought her half-dollar with her and flipped it the entire ride. After it had landed on tails the first time, she'd gone two out of three and so on. Halfway through the trip, she'd switched up the results; heads, she asked, tails, she didn't.
"Fine. Well, I'll take you home tonight."
"Peeta, it's okay."
"No, Katniss. I'll take you home." He lifts his hand to shush her. He didn't want to hear anything more. "As for Friday, I'll pick you up."
"You're going to come over? To my house?" Katniss is a little panicky.
"Gale's not going to be there, is he?" He asks as he pushes a stray hair behind her ear.
"Actually, yes. He's coming home this weekend. Why, I'm not sure."
"You still friends with..." He snaps his fingers, trying to jog his memory. "Johanna, right?"
"Yea..." She says with a nod.
"Oh, well, maybe you can tell your family that you're spending the night at Johanna's and I'll just pick you up at school."
"Already helping me figure out how to lie to my parents, huh? You're a bad influence."
"I know. I'm sorry, but how else am I going to get to see you?" He holds her gaze for what seems to be forever. He wanted to see her, the thought made her heart swell in happiness.
"Okay. I'll tell my mom and Gale that I'll be at Johanna's."
"I'll pick you up 2:30 on Friday and drop you off the next day."
