Kingdom Come

A/N: Here we are with Chapter 2! I really appriciate the reviews and the readers of this story, and I have rewarded you with a double chapter day! :) So please enjoy, and Prim, please tell the people:

Prim: Pie does NOT own the Hunger Games no matter how much she says she does.


It had been several nights. Several nights since the Baker's boy had started to stay with them, and several nights since Katniss started to feel something different. Something strange... a different feeling. One that made you feel warm inside. Like the way you feel on Christmas morning. Everyday. That's what she felt like. And she absolutely hated it.

She wasn't supposed to like this boy. The arrangement they had, well, it was truly because Katniss Everdeen did not like to owe anybody anything. It just led to worries and guilt somewhere down the road, and she couldn't stand it. But she knew, she owed Peeta Mellark. Her life.


It was a cold afternoon, the sun hiding behind dark clouds that threatened to release the pouring rain on the people below. The town was all locked inside as the girl with the brown braid, huddled beneath a large coat, traveled home from town, clutching a bag filled with extra food for her and Prim.

She heard it before she saw it. The road must have muffled the engine or her coat did because the noise failed to reach her ears until the car turned the corner. Katniss froze, throat choking a scream as she dropped the bag and watched the car come nearer, the driver not noticing the girl.

Suddenly, she felt herself being yanked back onto the sidewalk and she tumbled, landing with a soft 'oomph' onto her savior. The car passed, unnoticing, splattering wet mud onto them, but all Katniss could think about was her racing heartbeat.

Then she remembered she was on top of someone. She swiftly stood up, and with a blush, turned around to thank and help the person who had saved her life. But a flash of blonde halted her. This wasn't just a person. This was the Baker's boy, probably one of the most wealthy kids in the whole town. She widened her eyes as he sat up, rubbing his head and flashing her a pained smile.

"You should really watch where you're going on the road, y'know. Cars can come from nowhere."

That's when she bolted.


She sighed as she sat up on the counter, a warm cup of coffee steaming between her fingers. It was 1 A.M. and she was absolutely exhausted. But she couldn't go to sleep yet. Not with the possibility of the nightmares reaching her.

Suddenly, without warning and probably from the exhaustion, the grip her fingers had on the coffee slacked and she watched as the cup fell and shattered on the floor with a loud /crash/. The puddle of coffee spread slowly over the hardwood floor, and she scrambled to clean it all up, laying down paper towels and cleaning the shards up with a broom. She prayed that both Prim and Peeta had slept through the noise, and Prim did. But Peeta didn't.

He stumbled out of his room with sleepy eyes, rubbing them as he groaned and tried to wake up better.

"Wha's going on?" he mumbled, and rubbed his eyes more.

Katniss didn't answer, just continued to pick up her mess, ignoring the blonde boy in her father's clothes, which kind of freaked her out.

"Katniss?" he asked with more awareness to the situation as he woke up more. "What happened in here?"

"I, Uh," she licked her lips but didn't look up. "Dropped my coffee cup."

He gave her a strange look. "At one o'clock in the morning?" he asked in confusion, and... amusement?

She shot a glare up at him then started to pick up the larger pieces of the cup with her fingers. Soundlessly, Peeta dropped to help her. Their fingers touched once, but Katniss ignored it, trying to hide the blush starting on her cheeks.

When all of the glass was picked up, Katniss went into the pantry and found a Swiffer to help clean up the hot coffee. She picked it up and walked into the kitchen, and after putting one of the wipes on the mop to make it wet, she started mopping up the hot coffee, painfully aware of the fact that Peeta had his eyes on her. She continued with the job until most of the spill was completely gone, slightly irritated that Peeta was watching her with almost no shame and the fact that he had not bothered to offer his assistance.

After disposing of the sopping wet wipe, she turned and gave Peeta her most convincing smile.

"Well," she said, "It's all cleaned up now, so please, go to bed." Well, that wasn't very convincing, Katniss.

He looked amused and bit concerned. "Katniss, why the hell were you up at one in the morning drinking coffee?"

Katniss smiled again, still fake. "I was... cleaning up after dinner. There were still dishes to do, and I didn't want to bother Prim or you to help me when I was perfectly capable. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must be going to bed now."

She walked off without a word, leaving Peeta by himself as she shut and locked her door. She looked over at Prim, smiling ruefully as she knew her sister would hate the fact that she just downright lied to the Baker's son. Katniss herself hated it. She hated how formal she had sounded, as if they were at some fancy ball. And she hated that she had to lie. But this boy could not know, he couldn't know her secrets and that she really was broken on the inside.

With that, the brown-haired girl settled down into bed, with thoughts of the blonde-haired boy fresh in her mind as she closed her eyes, dreading a night of painful sleep and horrible dreams.

She just hoped she didn't scream.

-HG-

The morning came with little error. The night left Katniss shaken, because the promised nightmares did come. But she shook it off and made herself be strong. She did it everyday, anyway.

Peeta said nothing. He asked no questions as she walked into the kitchen to find that he had already made fresh toast for breakfast, hinted at nothing when she accidentally bumped into him on her way out to work. But still, she caught a glimpse of curiousity that was barely contained as she glanced up at him to mutter 'I'm sorry.' And she hated him for the fact that he even gave a damn.

In fact, Katniss had hated Peeta Mellark quite a lot lately, she contemplated, as she took money for a particularly large item count from a woman with a screaming toddler. She had hated him for everything he did, and she wasn't sure why. When he talked to her or told her thank you, she felt the need to slap him across the face. When he made Prim laugh, she wanted to scream countless cuss words at him. But especially whenever he acted concerned for her, then she really wanted to cause some damage.

Throughout the day, she couldn't figure it out. Every consideration in her head seemed stupid or unrealistic, and she found herself losing way too much time over it. Her boss even had to yell at her to 'get your damn head out of the clouds before I fire your ass', as he put it kindly. So she pushed it to the back of her mind, focusing on being the check-out girl that she was supposed to be.

But when she got into her truck that evening to go home, it finally hit her. She didn't necessarily hate him, she hated the fact that she could never really repay him for what he did. Because she hated owing people. But also, he didn't even acknowledge the fact. He let it go, as if what he did was nothing. As if it had never had happened. Maybe she would hate it less if he went around, just doing what he wished, saying, 'because I saved your life, y'know.' Maybe then things would be a bit easier.

When she got home, Katniss found herself in a grouchy mood, especially towards the houseguest living in her apartment. She walked into the apartment complex, not even bothering to say 'hi' to Mr. Stevenson, who shrugged and blamed it on 'time of the month hormones'. Maybe it was.

But when Katniss stepped into the apartment and saw her sister, giggling and smiling, frosting on her nose and eyes lighting up as she saw her sister, her anger melted. She smiled and opened her arms and Prim ran into them, hugging her sister.

"Hey, Little Duck," Katniss said, ruffling the blonde girl's hair.

"Quack," her sister said in reply and Katniss laughed.

Then she noticed the mess. In the kitchen, there were bowls and spills everywhere, with bottles out and the smell of cupcakes in the air. And right there in the middle, stood Peeta, smiling at her with just as much frosting on his face as Prim. Katniss narrowed her eyes.

"What's going on in here?" she asked, and Prim smiled.

"Peeta and I made cupcakes for you! Don't they smell good?" she gave Katniss a hopeful look and she forced a smile.

"Oh, yea, they do. May I have one?" she asked and Prim brightened and nodded.

She dragged Katniss to the kitchen, the smell getting stronger as they neared the cupcakes. Then Katniss saw them. They were brightly decorated with flowers, and P's for either Prim or Peeta or both, and a couple even had 'K's, for Katniss. Prim handed her one with her first initial and she tentatively ate it, sensing two sets of eager blue eyes watching her.

She sighed in contentment. They were vanilla, her absolute favorite, and they were delicious. But then she became suspicious again as she finished the last bite.

"Where did you get the stuff for this?" Katniss asked. She didn't remember having cake mix in her pantry.

"It was all in there," Peeta explained. "Prim found it and she begged me to help her make them for you."

Katniss narrowed her eyes at him, hating how truthful he looked, then smiled down at Prim.

"Alright, then let's find a place for them, and then you and Peeta can clean up."

Prim grinned up at her and Peeta nodded in agreement and acception, and that just made Katniss more suspicious of the Baker's son.

If he didn't want something in return for saving her life, and all he needed was a place to stay, he didn't need to get all nice with her sister and make cupcakes for them, or anything for that matter.

What kind of game was the Baker's son playing?