STRANGERS ON A BUS
Part 2: Her Best Friend, Gale Hawthorne
~xXx~
"Can I get you guys anything?" Peeta interrupts hers and Gale's conversation. "- Oh, whose that?" he asks, interested over the photograph that he had seen the two of them smiling so fondly over from his station behind the counter.
Katniss blinks up at Peeta, and his rather brazen question.
He's smiles energetically at her.
… His question is innocent enough, she decides, although some what hesitant; looking back down at the photograph in her hand. "… It's my little sister, Primrose", she smiles, trying to sound upbeat about it.
"Oh", Peeta says quietly, appearing to have noticed that he has stepped on quite a sensitive subject.
She won't provide anything else.
"So…", Peeta clears his throat, twitching uncomfortably on his spot directly in front of her. He feels quite foolish just standing there, but would feel even more so if he were to just walk away without obtaining the information he came over here to get.
"It's OK, Peet", her friend takes pity on him, "we'll come up and order when we're ready", Gale smiles, a friendly but clear, go away, in his voice.
Peeta lets his eyes stay on Katniss for a few more seconds. She doesn't look up, so retires back behind the counter.
"You know him?" Katniss whispers, surprised.
"Yeah", Gale chuckles too picking up one of the menus, "you do too. Peeta, Peeta Abernathy. Old Abernathy's son"
Old Abernathy. Was she supposed to know Peeta's dad before today too?
Katniss pushes up her lip. She turns her gaze towards Peeta, but quickly snaps it back when she sees that his interest is still on her. "I don't remember him".
Gale frowns, laying down his menu, pushing up his lips in confusion just like Katniss did, before realisation dawns on his face. "Ah, I know why. You had left by the time he came into town".
She nods taking in this new information.
"So was Peeta is your year?" she asks casually, realising she doesn't know how old he is.
"No", Gale shakes his head, his concentration back on the menu, "I think he was in your year actually".
Oh? The tips of her ears pricking at this information. Of course it wouldn't matter what age he was. She picks up the other menu in an attempt to divert her smile.
Clearing her throat as she skims the food on offer. "So how did you know him if he wasn't in your year?" non committedly.
"Because", Gale laughs, "Abernathy's his dad and this was like the best place to come for beer because the majority of the time he was so pissed off his head himself that he would just sell it to us anyway".
Katniss frowns. "Abernathy the drunk who sold me beer when I was like twelve?"
"One and the same", Gale laughs as Katniss takes in the place, seeing it in a whole new light.
"Wow! This place has changed".
"Catnip", Gale laughs loudly at his friend. "I can't believe you are only putting two and two together".
"Come on, Gale", she whacks him playfully on his arm.
"Katniss Everdeen", he beams, "nothing has changed. How have you survived all these years without me, and in a whole new city".
"I knoow", she groans, smiling genuinely at her friend. He looks well. "You look good Gale", she admits.
He laughs at her again.
"What?!" she asks defensively, "I said you look good, we're not twelve years old anymore".
"We we're never twelve years old together Catnip"
She whacks him in his arm again. "You know what I mean"
"You've had a thing for me since you were twelve years old?"
"Stop"
"Well Catnip, you should have said", he continues teasing her, "You're not so much of an ugly duckling"
"Ha", Katniss lets out a loud laugh, "I know for a fact that you think more of me than that".
"Yeah I do", Gale admits seriousness in his tone, and Katniss throws a frown at him, wondering whether they were still throwing teases at each other. Gale smiles shyly, "I'm not afraid to say". A smirk graces his lips and his tone goes back to being light again, "and just think you could be a lady leisure living with me in DC. Married, probably on our third kid because we would have been at it like rabbits … or not", Gale chuckles nervously, there is blatant sadness Katniss' eyes that she is trying to throw away on the laminated menu she has conveniently picked up again.
"So, how is DC?" Katniss offers as a conversation changer.
"Catnip, I will tell you all about DC once I have gotten some food into me".
Katniss chuckles, "somethings never change", she comments fondly.
"No they don't", Gale agrees, enclosing Katniss' hand in his over the table.
She smiles warmly at their hands. "Let me guess, the last time you ate was but two hours ago".
"Three!" he exasperates and Katniss opens her eyes in surprise, "my mom didn't feed me, she was too busy doting over what nail polish went best with her dress", Gale shakes his head.
"And what did you decide?"
"I think silver sky", Gale nods, as if he is genuinely pleased with his selection.
Katniss giggles, "well what colour should I wear"
"What colour is your dress?" Gale asks superiorly, " - wait, let me guess, green".
"No", mocking offence, "not everything I own is green", she looks down at her hand and realises they are still entwined in Gale's …
"Well, what colour are you wearing then?" he asks, tugging at her hand, so that her attention is back on him.
"Purple, actually"
Gale screws up his face, "like my mom?"
Katniss nods, "and Posy, we are all wearing purple so that we match", releasing her hand from his and getting up. She is hungry now too. "Even you have a purple tie, you just don't know it yet".
Gale leans back on his chair heavily making her laugh again, "women. I have been in your presence what ten minutes and you are already dictating my wardrobe".
"You love it", Katniss teases, grabbing his hand in his lap and pulling him up in a hug.
Gale wraps his arms tight around her waist and breathes in her scent. "What is this for?" he asks perplexed. There are strong hints of her perfume, but the subtle hints of their woods seem to still be embedded in her smell. He wonders whether she had visited it since she had been back, or whether her last time had been all those years ago. It was comforting for him to know that despite the years they had been apart, she still carried their special place with her
"For being here", she speaks into his shoulders, taking in his scent. Her hand rubs his back lovingly, "for always being there for me. For making me laugh so much already", she says truthfully.
"I'll always be there for you Katniss", he speaks into her hair. "Now come on, before the water works start".
"OK", she says jumping away. He's right, she can feel tears ebbing around her eyes, she starts to walk towards the counter, but Gale grabs her hand again and pulls her back to him.
"You do know that your mom and sister are coming?" he asks.
"Yeah, I know", she smiles, patting his chest. "They will be wearing purple too".
He smiles, bringing her into another embrace. "Be my date for the wedding?".
"Like you had to ask?"
"Well, you never know. You may have met someone, had a plus one"
"Please Gale, I'm a social retard", she jokes as they make there was up to the counter. There is a bit of a queue now, and she watches Peeta as he works.
Watches his hands.
Watches his eyes.
Watches his eyebrows furrow and smile.
Watches his mouth.
"So when did this place become a bakery?" Katniss asks.
"I don't know when exactly. I just came home from college one break and it was no longer just a place to buy beer. But as soon as Peeta came along, so did Old Man Abernathy's sense, and it was no longer a place to buy underaged beer, and I guess we were really where he got all his business from, so he had to change it up?" Gale shrugs, whilst squinting at the special boards.
"And so why did Peeta suddenly start living with him?"
Gale shrugs.
Katniss decides to have a look at the special boards too, but her eyes aren't interested and fall again on Peeta working.
"So …", Katniss turns to Gale.
He waits.
She pauses to think what it is she exactly wants to know and how to phrase it. "… if you weren't drinking at Abernathy's anymore, how did you know who Peeta was?"
"I don't know, you just do don't you. I think he was on the football team and wrestling team too at school. Actually, yeah, I'm pretty certain he was"
Oh. "So he was a Jock?" No doubt he had the whole cheerleading team on their knees for him, she thinks.
"No, not really. He pretty much kept himself to himself. Never really saw him out a parties, which was a shame seeing that his Dad owned a liquor store. He could have definitely set us up with more than a few crates from the stock room. He hung out with folks such as Eli Fulmer and Todd Hampton - wait why all the questions?" he asks suspiciously.
She shrugs, "just curious".
"That was his daughter you were holding wasn't it?"
"Yeah", dismissive.
"Yeah", he hangs for her to answer.
"Yeah and what?" defensive. "Why are you making this weird, Gale?"
"I'm not making it weird", he gives it back with just as much. "You are the one asking me a million and one questions about the guy. If anything, you're making it weird. Not knowing anything about this guy, and yet you were cooing all over his baby".
"I held the thing for like two seconds"
"You held her for a lot longer, I was watching you"
"Because that's not creepy"
"Let's just say I was stunned. The Katniss Everdeen I know, doesn't want anything to do with marria - "
"I'm still the same person Gale. I don't want to get married. I don't want children. Just because you saw me hold a baby for two minutes, doesn't automatically mean I want all those things", she huffs.
"Oh-OK", Gale says, raising his hands up in near defeat, "but you held her for a lot longer than two minutes".
"Damn it, Gale. I will kick you in the balls, if you do not just drop this"
"I'm sorry, changing subject. Now what are you going to eat?"
~xXx~
Peeta sighs as he watches her leave with him. She didn't even say goodbye. Well, she waved and smiled, but that isn't really a good-bye. Or at least, not a good one.
"Peeta?" someone calls from the kitchen.
Peeta frowns, mumbling recognition to his name being called, but not really wanting to break his gaze on her until she is out of his sight, he hesitates in answering.
"Sorry man?" Peeta turns to his friend, Tom, who works with him in the kitchen.
"We're out of cheese buns. Dude, I would make a batch, but you know how every - "
"Yeah, I know", Peeta cut's off. Everyone will just complain if they're not his.
~xXx~
Peeta, having finished his part of closing the bakery down for the day, he watches his father's eyes fight sleep as he guards his granddaughter while she sleeps peacefully in her bouncer.
He never sleeps when he is on her watch. Peeta doesn't know where it comes from, his father's need to watch - or 'guard' as Haymitch would say - the little girl. He remembers the first time he had left Rue overnight with him, he had felt so guilty when he came to pick her up early the next morning to find his father sipping a Sam Adams while he watched the baby sleep. His mom told him later that he had been up all night with her, even though Rue had slept the whole night through…
... Something from Haymitch's other life, before they arrived perhaps.
Peeta knocks on the wooden frame before entering.
"I'm awake", Haymith grumbles, closing his eyes breifly.
"I know you're awake, Pap", entering the room, Peeta doesn't point out the obvious that he doesn't need to be keeping himself awake as that will only cause his father to grumble. He collects Rue into the baby sling and Haymitch passes him the baby bag.
"You got everything?"
Peeta chuckles, it's like he's still a teenager and his Dad is making sure that he has everything for school. "Yeah Pap, I've got everything".
"You wanna come round ours for dinner?" he asks while quietly discarding the day's beer bottles into the designated beer bottle recycling bin, which is emptied on a daily basis. Peeta takes comfort in the fact that his mom doesn't let his dad drink when he is at home. Sure, he has a hip flask that he takes the odd swig from, but it is not excessive, and he's actually cut down a lot since Rue was born.
"I don't know what Effie is making, but I'm sure it will be something like you never tasted before", Haymitch laughs, and Peeta joins the joke over his mom's unique methods of cooking. She likes to experiment with flavours, using Haymitch and Peeta as her lab rats, it is generally a lot more miss than hit. Although she has a fan in Rue, the baby will eat just about anything her grandmother puts in front of her. Haymitch likes to tease Effie and get her mad; and he loves telling her off about this, saying how unfair it is to ruin the baby's palette at such a young age. And thus makes way to the bickering. It doesn't go further than that however, and if they have not settled the rift by the end of the evening, they definitely would by morning when they have battled it out with each other in the bedroom.
"No, I think I'll miss this evening, Pap. I think I'm just going to try and sleep when I get in", he brings his finger to play with Rue's bottom lip, "if this little one lets me".
"You want us to take her for the evening?"
"No, Pap", Peeta smiles, resting a firm hand on his father's shoulder, "we'll be fine".
Haymitch encloses his hand over Peeta's and nods.
Giving their hands and his father's shoulder a shake, "you get some sleep", he orders, removing his hand.
"I'll sleep when I'm dead, Boy", the older man stretches out in his seat.
"Well make sure that is a long way from now", raising his eyebrows at the beer in his father's hand.
Haymitch swats him away.
" - oh, Dad, I almost forgot. You remember, Gale Hawthorne?"
"Frank Hawthorne's boy?"
Peeta doesn't know who Frank Hawthorne is, but deducing that they have the same surname. "I guess … well he was in the bakery at lunch, and he asked me to tell you hi"
Haymitch nods, taking another swig. "His little brother is getting married this weekend… Effie insists that I go, so is dragging me with her, not that she knows the Hawthorne's or anything. Just an excuse for her to dress up. That's the last time I will open my post in front of her", he mutters before clearing his throat. "Must be why he's back in town".
Peeta chuckles nervously, "yes, that must be it", he thinks back to how close he and Katniss were at the bakery at lunch. It could have fooled him that he was here for something else. "He's a big shot in DC now, right?" Peeta asks, leaning against one of the filing cabinets near the door, his hand trails soothingly up and down the back of Rue's baby sling.
"That's what they say. Liaises with the White House or something"
"Wow", Peeta. How could he compete against that?
Haymitch sighs, "I guess that is the proper reaction to someone who has sold their soul to the government".
Peeta fixes his eyes on his father's profile. Haymitch used to be in the army, although he never talks about this with his son. Peeta had been storing some of his things in his father's attic more than a few years ago, when he stumbled across all his medals. He would never forget Haymitch when he had asked him about them. His face had paled, his whole stature becoming very grave, before grumbling about it being another life before Peeta had arrived.
"... OK, well I'll see you tomorrow afternoon, Pap".
"Hey Peeta", Haymitch stops him at the office door, he pulls his head back so he is looking Peeta in the eye, "you OK?"
Peeta hesitates, "… yeah, Dad"
"Nothing you want to talk about?"
Peeta is silent.
Haymitch waits.
"Did you know her before today, Pap?"
Haymitch is now the one that is silent.
"The girl wh - "
"I know who you are talking about, Boy", Haymitch scolds, pulling out a chair. "Sit", he orders, before grumbling "Effie is always haggling at me to talk to you more often, worrying and fussing over you, well, at least I won't go back empty handed this evening".
"She doesn't have to worry about me so much"
"Effie is always worrying about you, that's how I got me in this situation, that's how she wormed her way into my life. Asking Effie not to worry about you is like asking a dog not to lick his balls".
Peeta shoots his father a deadpanned look.
Haymitch waves his hand at him, "you know I like her really".
"Like?" Peeta challenges.
"A lot"
Peeta shakes his head smiling.
"So", Haymitch declares, cracking open a beer, he passes one to Peeta, "what is it you wanna know about this girl?"
Peeta takes a sip of his beer while Haymitch opens one for himself. "Who is she?"
"A girl"
Peeta rolls his eyes. "She used to live here".
"Yes she did, she moved about the time you arrived".
Peeta already knew this.
"Why?"
Haymitch plays with the label on his beer. "That's not for me to tell you".
"Where did she go?"
"New York, to live with her grandparents. Her mother wasn't coping well, and so …", Haymitch trails off and shrugs, sealing it with a long gulp of his beer.
"What about her father?"
"He died when she was very young"
"How?"
"Car accident"
"Was it his fault?"
Haymitch shakes his head, picking at the label again.
"Was she hurt?"
"No, Elias was the only one in the car, fortunately"
Elias. Peeta takes in this new information.
"How long has she been back?"
Haymitch sighs, "I heard that she came back last summer"
"And what does she do?"
"I heard that she works at the prep school"
"San Francisco?"
Haymitch nods, swigging.
"The one were Mom works at?" Peeta frowns confused.
Haymitch nods, "one and the same, she works for her".
"Oh", Peeta. "That's a weird coincidence", he mumbles to himself.
"Yes it is", Haymitch agrees, getting up off his chair, and collecting the keys to lock up. A clear sign that the conversation is over, but Peeta has more questions a lot more questions, but he doesn't want to push it.
"Catnip", Peeta tests the name he heard Gale call her at lunch.
"What?" Haymitch turns and frowns to him in confusion.
Peeta shakes his head, "nothing", he feared as much. Gale even had his own personal pet name for her. "Just reminding myself to get some catnip for Buttercup … How do you know Katniss, Pap?"
"I don't", Haymitch shrugs, booting down the electricals. "You introduced me to her today".
"Well, how do you know so much about her?"
"Because you just do".
Peeta knows that is as best answer he is going to get on that at the moment.
"She has a sister?" Peeta says getting up and walking towards the exit, hoping that this gesture will make his father more at ease. He doesn't want him to leave because he is uncomfortable, he knows how his father likes to spend an hour or so in the office with his thoughts before he goes home.
"Yep she does", Haymitch turns and actually smiles, "sweet girl, spitting image of Lily. Don't live here mind you, Lily moved down to New Orlean's before the second one was born"
"Lily? Is that her mother?"
Haymitch nods, still smiling.
Lily. "You were friends with Lily?"
Haymitch shakes his head from side to side, "I was friends with her father. Lily and then Katniss were just part of the package"
So both his and Katniss' fathers were friends, Peeta reels over this news. "And did you still see them after he died?"
Haymitch drops his head regrettably, "not really, Son. I should have, but I wasn't. I was … I was … I just wasn't there"
Peeta can tell by his father's face that he is really uncomfortable by this fact. "So Katniss' mother remarried?"
"No", Haymitch withdraws to carry on his breaking down of the place, "no marriage, just a baby".
"Maybe that's why Katniss moved away…? Maybe Katniss didn't like her mom's new boyfriend?" Peeta speculates.
"Maybe", Haymitch provides. "OK, we're calling it a night".
~xXx~
Friday March 13th
20:05
~ Eleven Days Later ~
Katniss isn't on the 7:30 bus Monday morning. She isn't on the 7:45 either because he waited and was late for work. Neither on the Tuesdays or the Monday after that. He even sat and waited one morning at the bus stop on one of his days off just to see, but she wasn't there. He had considered abusing his power and asking his mom whether she knew anything, but that would be opening a can of juicy worms for Effie, unprofessional on her part - although he is sure she would if he asked, and also down right creepy of him.
You would have thought considering Rue's young age and also the amount of people that she has fussing over her on a daily basis, she would lay Katniss to rest, but no, every time they boarded the bus and she did not immediately see her, she would erupt into tears for the entire journey, and then some at the bakery. Which is why Peeta has taken up cycling to work. It takes around the same time, if not a few minutes quicker. It's great exercise and start, gets him pumped for the day. The seasons are behaving, so the weather is warmer, and little Rue just loves her outfacing front seat, she squeals with delight the whole way as she takes everything in. It is their new mode of transport, except Monday's and Tuesday's, where Peeta suffers the cry full bus ride, arriving fifteen minutes late for work, all in the event that Katniss may turn up.
Father and daughter are now on their way back from dinner with his parents - pineapple spaghetti with chocolate sauce, it was a definite miss for Peeta, however, by the way she was shovelling it her mouth, he is sure Rue begs to differ. It had taken them ten minutes to coax Effie to let them out the door. Although him and Rue love travelling by bike, his mother on the other hand, is less than enthusiastic about it. She must have asked him four times if he was sure he didn't want Haymitch to give him a ride back in his truck.
Peeta chuckles at the memory.
Rue makes a loud amazed sound and points to the sky.
"What's that Rue?" Peeta asks enthusiastically. He has been pushing the bike for the last ten minutes, enjoying the warm night to let his thoughts flow, and the odd garbled conversation with Rue.
She makes the sound again, Peeta follows her gaze to the moon.
"What's that Rue?" he asks in mocked shock.
Rue falls for it, making an incredulous gurgle, her hands grabbing on to her little helmet in surprise.
"Is that the moon?" Peeta soothes, smiling at his little girl's eyes, which are wide in wonderment, with two moons reflecting out of them. "Does this mean it's time for Baby to go to sleep?"
Rue giggles at this, and Peeta stops the bike to attack her neck with kisses. "Is it time for my baby to go to sleep", he continues, and she is screaming with laughter.
Peeta tries to carry on pushing the bike, but Rue has his hair locked in her fist. She starts to cry as he tries to pull away, rubbing her eyes.
"Oh", Peeta gushes, "it is time for Baby to go to sleep. Daddy can't hug you and push the bike", he explains over her wails as he mounts the bike again. "But we will be home in no time".
He hasn't peddled more than a few minutes, when Rue's tears stop, and Peeta figures she must have fallen asleep.
"Rue?" he asks, but gets no reply.
He smiles, taking in the city's beautiful skyline at night, he really should come out here one evening and just pain - Peeta almost flies over Rue and the handle bars, because there, waiting at his bus stop, is Katniss.
~xXx~
"Katniss?" he asks shocked, pulling the bike up on to the pavement again and turning it back around.
Her head is down and she jumps a little hearing her name. She is sat on the seats outside the bus stop he is dropped off at on the journey back home. The bus shelter light's illuminates her frown and he can see it takes her a while to recognise him.
"Peeta?"
He forgot how dick tingling it was to hear his name coming from her lips.
He jogs with the bike.
She's frowning at Rue in her cycle seat. "Aren't they supposed to be at the back?" she snaps.
"Uhhh", he's taken aback by her tone, "no, you can have them in the front too", he says cautiously, whilst admiring how angular her features set when she is angry.
Katniss' eye lids soften gracefully, her gaze flittering up to his apologetically. "Sorry, I'm not having the best day".
Peeta sees that her eyes are swollen. She's been crying. "Katniss, what's the matter?" he worries, holding the bike with one hand, his other reaching out to touch hers tentatively.
But she flinches.
Withdrawing his hand immediately, it fumbles into his jean front pocket, before settling back on the handle bar. Precisely where he should have left it in the first place.
She doesn't like to be touched, noted, he mentally writes it down - well at least, she doesn't like to be touched by him, he corrects.
He sees that he has made her nervous now, noting the way her hands are twisting nervously around each other, making her olive complexion pink.
Her hands are small.
"Katniss", he asks again softer.
Her eyelashes are thick and long like butterfly wings, even without make up, and there is a little scar in the corner arch of her left eyebrow. She must have been outside too the past two weekends as he can see that her complexion has gotten darker. It emphasises the plumpness and pinkness of her lips.
Peeta nibbles his own bottom lip.
… And those silvery pools, he notes the flecks of green and yellow in them, as she brings her shimmering gaze up to him.
But then she bursts out in tears and his noting down is ruined.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry", she cries.
"Katniss, calm down, you're getting me worried", he soothes, his hands carefully trying to calm her without touching her.
She breathes in and out.
And again.
And again.
"I'm sorry", more composed, turning away from Peeta's concerned stare, embarrassed.
Peeta decides to make a joke of it to lighten the mood. "Yeah, I think we've established you're sorry", he lets out a nervous laugh, smiling when he hears Katniss laughing too.
"God", Katniss, sinks back down to the shelter seat, hiding her face in her hands. "What a mess", she scolds herself lightly, "you must think I'm such a mess, Peeta", she laughs, shaking her head in her hands.
Peeta has been so wrapped up watching those beautiful hands of hers caress her head, he momentarily almost forgets how to speak. "Uhhh …", he wasn't really listening to what she was saying. "… I don't know", he says dumbly, and she laughs.
And once again, he is struck at how beautiful it is. It's melodic, like a bird's song over the first break of day.
"Well, you do, but thanks for the vote of confidence. Peeta", her voice suddenly goes serious with his name, but she doesn't bring her face out hands. "I have been sat out here for the past", her hands spring from her face in an 'I don't know' gesture, before falling back on her face, "I don't know how long, hoping that I would catch you on your way home and …"
Peeta can see that she is finding this quite difficult, so carefully takes Rue out of her seat, and sits down on the seat next to her.
Her head snaps up in his direction and frowns.
"I thought it would be easier for you to get out what you wanted to say, if we pretended like we were sat on the bus", he smiles.
She stares at him for a few seconds before bursting out into laughter.
"Yes", she uses her sleeves to wipe away any stray tears, "yes, it does make me more comfortable, thank-you", before breaking out in another round of laughter, which he joins in with.
"Uhmmm … what was I saying", she hums.
She has dimples when she smiles, Peeta notes. More so on the left one then the right one, and there is a small beauty spot on her right cheek.
" - wait, first of all. What's with the bike?" she muses.
Peeta deadpans, "the bike is because of you", he accuses playfully.
"Me?"
"Yes, you. You have quite an effect on my daughter, and lets just say that she didn't take too well to not seeing you on the bus. I fixed the seat bracket on my bike and went back to cycling to save my ears, as well as well as everyone else on the bus".
"Oh", Katniss pulls a face, smiling warily down at the little girl. "...Oh yeah, so", her voice goes serious again, and Katniss tears her attention from the baby to her father, but doesn't make eye contact with him, "I wanted to apologise for ignoring you these last couple of weeks".
"Oh", Peeta glances down at Rue asleep in his arms, he gently picks off a stray eye lash. "So, I wasn't just imagining it", he forces a laugh.
"No", she apologises quietly.
"Why?"
She sighs heavily, "it was just Gale, he - you know what, never mind, I - "
"Gale what?" he insists.
He thinks about her crying earlier on.
"Did he … hurt you", he swallows. He doesn't know what he would do to him if he found out he had hurt her -
"Oh, no, Gale would never hurt me", Katniss shakes her had, frowning. She sighs, "well maybe he did, but not because of him", she deflates, her gaze sinking to the concrete. "... I guess he just made me remember why I don't like myself", she whispers.
Peeta uses his finger to lift her chin and bring her watery gaze to him.
"You are beautiful, Katniss", he says earnestly.
She juts her chin out of his grasp, "maybe on the outside, but on the inside I'm horrid and broken", she bites.
Peeta deflates too, he can't believe she sees herself like this.
"No", Peeta grabs hold of her chin again, "on the inside too".
He brings his mouth closer to hers and her body visibly relaxes.
"Oh shoot", she releases herself from his grasp, getting up quickly, but then sits back down.
"What just happened here?" Peeta laughs bemused.
Katniss points to the back of the bus, "I thought that was my bus".
Following her point, Peeta frowns concerned, "you realise that's going the wrong way".
"No - gah! Can you believe it? My flat got submarined when the idiot above me left the tap on. I've been staying at my friend Jo's house whilst it is being redecorated", she glums. "That's why you haven't seen me on the bus".
Joe boy or Jo girl? Peeta wonders, but at least it clears up why he hasn't been seeing her on the bus.
"I mean, I like staying with her, it's just that I like my own space too. Do you know what I mean - what am I asking you, you have a baby", she trails off.
"You know not getting the bus as you have temporarily had to relocate because flat redecoration suffices as enough of a reason for not seeing me. That's not you purposefully ignoring me", he muses.
"Trust me, I was. Besides, I know where you work, I should have come in, and I don't know... told you", she sighs, looking down at Rue in Peeta's arm. Her finger strokes the baby's nose gently. "At least to see this one", she says sadly.
"Do you wanna hold her", he offers, moving her towards Katniss' direction.
"Err, no", retracting her hand quickly and sitting on the both of them.
Peeta frowns, that was weird.
"She looks so peaceful in your arms, I don't want to disturb her".
"... So, it was you who turned on your neighbours tap"
Katniss snorts, "yep, I wanted to ruin my flat and all my nice things"
"Well, now I'm worried what it was Gale said to you about me". Now he's the one nervously comforting his hand with another.
"No, it's nothing he said about you", Katniss assures, and Peeta doesn't know which way to react over this news that she has been asking about him. "Like I said, it's me, and I am an expert at running away from things when I think I need too"
Peeta frowns, also not quite knowing how to react to that profession, he is still getting over her last one.
"Anyway", she adds quickly, "so … I saw your dad at Vick Hawthorne's wedding - did you know that I work with your mom?", she gorges.
Peeta's face heats. It would have been too much to ask that Katniss not see him at the wedding. He wonders whether she asked as many questions about him as she did of her. "Yeah", he tries to play it cool, "he mentioned he was going to a wedding, I just didn't put two and two together", his chuckle comes out nervously - thank god he is saved by her bus approaching the opposite bus stop. "Ah", he points, drawing her attention away from him and to the transport.
"Ah, bus", Katniss enthuses, bolting up and making a dash across the road. "We're good right?!" she pokes her head round the bus before boarding.
"Uh, yeah!" Peeta shouts back.
"I'll hopefully see you, Monday, 7:30", she calls, "flat decor permitting!".
Peeta watches the bus roll her away back into the centre.
Hi guys! Thanks for the reviews, follows and favourites for Part One, you guys are awesome. Let me know what you think of Part two and whether it still holds you interest. I always get worried after posting a chapter because of continuity of character personalities and also tone, and also the narrative kind of changed from Katniss to Peeta, I don't know if that was weird. Anyway, I think this will be another five or so parts. I do love writing these characters, they are so much fun to play with. Until next update!