Ch 2

PEETA POV

Katniss Everdeen.

My thoughts are confirmed when I see the HUGE scowl that has formed on her face as if she just got chased down the street by someone.

Which is probably true seeing as she's pretty damn famous.

I discreetly dig my nails into my arm to make sure what i'm seeing is real and not another stupid fantasy of mine.

But of course Finnick chooses this exact moment to look at me and he notices the way I'm viciously piercing my skin with my nails.

"Yes Peeta this is real" He says motioning to my now bleeding arm.

The girls look at my arm. Annie laughs whilst Katniss looks like she's seen someone do this before.

I look down and feel my face flush. I probably look like a tomato. Once I feel all traces of my blush gone, I risk a chance at looking up at the others.

Finnick has on his usual cocky smirk which I think he's trying to alleviate the tension at the table with; but all the same; with no major success.

Annie is looking at Katniss with her eyebrows knitted together in worry. Katniss has both her fingers furiously rubbing her temples as if she has a migraine.

Danm. I hope I didn't cause a migraine that looks that serious. I see Finn looking at her too. His expression is the same as mine. Confused, and deep in thought.

I flick my eyes back to Katniss just in time to see her fly out the door like she's on fire. Annie quickly excuses herself and runs off in pursuit of Katniss.

Finnick and I exchange glances before sprinting after them. Unsure of what's going on. One minute everyone was laughing at me. The next Katniss was sprinting out the door with this weird glint in her eye.

After following close behind Annie for a few blocks, we finally come to a stop, panting. Katniss is curled up in a ball cringing away when Annie tries to go near her.

"Stop" Katniss cries is a broken voice.

"Leave. Now" Annie says in a demanding voice to us. When we don't move Annie raises her eyebrows and puts on a stony expression.

Ignoring Annie telling us to leave I speak up "Why is she acting like this?"

"It's not my place to tell you" Annie replies choosing her words cautiously. "Now if you didn't hear my correctly I said leave. NOW" Finnick and I both slowly turn away and head back towards the ice cream parlour.

…

When we arrive back at the ice cream parlour Finnick and I sit back in our seats. On the table in front of Katniss' seat, I see her clutch and her green IPhone 5c.

"What do you think was happening?" I ask Finnick.

Finn looks up from staring at the table and replies "I got no idea but it was really freaking me out. I mean her eyes were all glossed over as if she was hallucinating".

"Maybe she was imagining that we were somebody else?"

"Looked like it. But what scares me the most is that I don't think someone's imagination can imagine someone so horrible that would make her cringe like that."

I consider what Finn's saying carefully before answering "I agree. But Katniss seems like a person that is not easily scared. Whatever it was must be really bad".

We both drift off into deep thought trying to figure out what happened to Katniss. After what must be at least two hours a waitress snaps me out of my thoughts.

"Are you guys okay? You've been staring into space for over two hours. Also we're about to close"

"Sorry. Had a rough day. Just thinking." I cryptically reply.

"Oh...Okay. Have a nice night!" And with that she walks off.

I look to Finn and see him still staring into space. I snap my fingers in front of his face to get his attention. He blinks a few times before his eyes focus and he realises where he is.

"How long have we been here?" He asks.

I check my watch and it says 5:55. Five minutes till closing time. "Five to six" I tell him.

"Shit! I was supposed to be home by 5:30. My aunt's coming over for dinner. Mum's gonna kill me!"

"I'll drive you home" I offer.

"Nah, thanks for the offer though. I rode my chick magnet here" Finnick refers to his motorbike as a 'chick magnet'.

"Oh... one more thing!" I exclaim before he stands up. "Katniss left her stuff here"

"Take it with you and give it to her when you see her next"

"How do you know i'll even see her again?" I inquire genuinely curious.

"Well I will be seeing quite a bit of Annie, seeing as I am her future boyfriend. I'm positive you will see her again." And there's the cocky bastard side of Finnick that I know best.

A waitress with jet black hair with a red stripe though her fringe comes up to us. "Okay you two idiots have been here for hours and we're closing now so get the fuck out." She says bluntly.

"Well what crawled up your ass and died?" Finnick replies in the same manner.

"Nice one! I'm Johanna Mason, now who the fuck are you two?" Wow she's really nice; not the sarcasm!

"I'm the sex god and this is Peetie Pies!" Finn replies with his hand outstretched towards Johanna.

Johanna Shakes his hand. "Nice to meet you sex god" she says in a flirtatious voice. "And it's also nice to meet you too Peetie Pies!" She continues in an overly enthusiastic baby voice.

"Well actually his name is little finny boy and I'm Peeta Mellark" I quip back.

"Oh I know you!" She replies. "You work at the Mellark bakery right!"

"Yep that's me. But I'm mostly working out the back making all the cakes and stuff"

"So now I see why he" She says gesturing to Finnick "calls you Peetie Pies! Looks like you've got another person using that nickname now!" Johanna happily concludes.

"Wow! How did you figure that out? Your must be really smart!" I snap back sarcastically.

"Well yes... I did graduate as valedictorian" Johanna replies whilst twirling a piece of hair around her finger like a dumb blonde.

I chuckle at this and say "Why yes! You look like a very switched on person!" sarcastically.

At this she genuinely laughs "As fun as this is, if you guys don't get the fuck out now, i'll probably get fired. So I guess i'll see ya 'round."

"I guess we will Jo Jo!" Finn answers.

"Not if you call me Jo Jo!" She calls over her shoulder.

Once she leaves Finn and I walk outside. I wave to him as he gets on his bike before jumping in my car and driving home with Katniss' stuff on the passenger seat.

…

When I arrive home I jump in the shower and then head down stairs to have dinner with the family. I'm about to sit down when I hear an unfamiliar phone ringing.

I walk toward the source of the phone and find Katniss' bag sitting on my bed. I grab her phone and look at who the caller ID is. I see Annie's nam written on the screen and decide to answer.

"Hi is this Annie?"

"Yes... Who am I talking to?"

"It's Peeta Mellark. Katniss left her things at the ice cream parlour so I took them home and hopefully return them soon" I explain.

"Oh! Thanks Peeta! Can I meet you at the ice cream parlour after school to pick them up?"

"Sure. Can I ask you something though?"

"If it's about Katniss earlier than no"

"Actually it's not, it's about you"

She pauses before saying "Umm ok"

"Do you like Finn? Because I'm pretty sure you were looking at him with love in your eyes!" I ask playfully.

After choking on her words for a while she answers "Kinda. He is really cute" in a really small voice.

"I KNEW IT!" I practically scream into the phone excitedly.

"Shut up your hurting my ears!" Annie complains.

"Guess what this means" I ask Annie in an excited girls voice.

"What?" She asks thinking that I'm going to do something really annoying to her.

"I'm Peeta the matchmaker at your service!"

"I normally wouldn't curse but desperate times call for desperate measures" She says before continuing. "If you say anything to Finn I will ram your head into a bloody brick wall!"

"I make no promises!" I say evilly before ending the call so she can say no more.

I turn off the phone so that if she calls back it can drive her insane by me not answering.

…

I wake up sweating and shaking once again in the middle of the night from a nightmare. I have them frequently because I used to live with my mother and she abused me. Luckily my father divorced her about 5 years ago so I no longer have to live with her and her constant beating and put-downs.

But tonight's nightmare was different and even more terrifying. There were the faceless men beating up a girl with a braid.

Katniss.