Title: Slow Dancing
Chapter: Two
Peeta walked out of the bar and paused a moment to fish a pick of cigarettes out of his pocket. Leaning against the railing, he lit up and took a long drag. Blowing smoke out of his nose he watched it drift into the distance. He took another puff on his cigarette, wrinkled his nose, and then dropped it, snuffing it out with the heel of his boot.
"Sometimes the things you want aren't as satisfying as you expect, huh? Also, pick up your butt, I just swept there." Johanna was holding a broom, and looking somewhat cross.
"No, I guess not," Peeta said as he bent over to pick up his cigarette butt.
"I warned Katniss that you were inside. I figured she would have turned tail, and gone somewhere else." Johanna chuckled. "I guess that was expecting a little too much, knowing how much she tends to poke things she shouldn't with sticks."
"I appreciate you trying to warn her."
Johanna smirked, "I didn't do it for you."
"Didn't say you did. I just said I appreciated you trying to warn her. " Peeta looked longingly across the parking lot at his motorcycle, wishing he was sober enough to drive. He wanted to get the hell out of here. "Well, I'm going to grab something to eat. I'll see you around."
"Don't be a stranger, I haven't had much in the way of entertainment here in a long time," Johanna called after Peeta, as he walked across the street.
Greasy's Diner was always packed this time of night. Peeta stopped to read the sign listing the special of the day "Best Dogs in town! We're proud of our wieners! ½ lb. all beef hotdog for only $1.99" Peeta wished that "best dog in town" part was true. No one came here for the food. It was more like a waiting room for people to sober up in that somehow managed to have decent coffee.
Peeta walked inside, gave his name to the hostess and waited to be seated. He started to hum along to an acoustic rendition of Africa by Toto that was playing on the radio in the cook's window when he noticed the young man sitting in a chair next to him suddenly turn green. Oh man, that kid is going to hurt tomorrow, Peeta thought as he took a few steps to the side, hoping he didn't get puked on.
When he was finally seated, Peeta ordered coffee, and a glass of water. As he pored over the menu, Peeta tried to figure out something to order that had a minimal chance of making him sick. The waitress returned with his drinks and he ordered a half-stack of pancakes and two eggs, over medium. Peeta dumped two creamers and six packs of sugar into his coffee. Stirring his coffee, the events of the night started to play back through his mind.
Why did Katniss avoid me all night, just to come up and ask me to dance? Why'd it have to be a set of steamy songs when she asked me? She's the one who left me, why did she start crying? Why did she say I looked like trouble? I didn't do anything. Did she actually try to kiss me on the mouth after saying that, or am I imagining things? Peeta was snapped out of his reverie by the arrival of his food; the eggs were over cooked, but the pancakes weren't too bad.
Peeta drained the last bit of his coffee, asked for a refill, and then got up to find the restroom. He saw Glimmer sitting in a booth close to one of the exits. She was listening to something on her iPhone and ignoring her food. When Peeta got closer he could see that her eyes were red, looking close to tears. He figured between the upset look on her face and the headphones that she didn't wish to be bothered. He tried to slip by unnoticed when she looked at him, and pulled her earbuds out.
"Hey, Peeta."
"Hi Glimmer." Peeta looked around, not sure what to say next.
"Would you like to sit down?" Glimmer asked tentatively.
"Sure, but um, let me hit the head first. I'll be back in a sec."
Peeta returned a minute latter. He flagged down his waitress and requested another cup of coffee. "So, uh… I don't mean to pry, but are you okay?"
"Oh, yes. I'm fine. I was listening to some of the songs that I didn't get to hear back at the bar. I wasn't quite ready to have a reaction to them."
"So you did get to hear some of the things you requested?"
"Yeah, the last two songs were mine. I'm sorry if that made an awkward situation for you and Katniss. "
Peeta shrugged, and then took a sip of coffee. "Don't worry about it. I'll be okay, I think."
"It wasn't intentional, Peeta. Katniss, on the other hand, I can't be so sure about. Not that it's any of my business, but I think what she did was a little cruel."
Peeta cocked his head to the side and put his coffee cup down. I guess I could use an outside opinion on things. "How so?"
"Katniss was in line at the juke box before me. She goes and plays some slow, sexy songs, and then ambushes you on the dance floor. A slow dance with a former lover is never just a dance, it's testing the waters to see how far into your comfort zone they can get. Then pulling you in for a kiss, which Haymitch ran a rather epic cockblock on. Then she kissed you on the cheek and ran off.
Given that as far as I know, she and Gale are still…" Glimmer pauses for a moment, and motions her hands in the air, "seeing each other. She's either fucking with you, pissed at Gale and getting back at him through you, or she's more confused about what she wants than she might be aware of.
Even though things went south between the two of you, I think you still mean a lot to her. That being the case, I would rule out deliberately trying to fuck with you. I think that would also apply to the getting back at Gale thing, but I can't be that certain."
Peeta took a deep breath, blowing it out heavily through his nose, "Yeah, I don't think she'd be that mean to me on purpose. From my perspective, things never were bad between us. She just couldn't…" Peeta let his words trail off.
Glimmer placed her hand on Peeta's, "I'm sorry. I really am. I'm not saying this to make you uncomfortable. I just think you might need an outside opinion that also noticed a few things that you might not have."
Peeta nodded. "It really is appreciated. Difficult to hear, but appreciated. I know if I sat here by myself all night I'd probably over think the situation to death. It's nice to have someone to talk with."
"Anytime, Peeta. I know we aren't exactly close, but sometimes that makes it easier to talk to someone about what's troubling you," Glimmer said, with a little more empathy than Peeta was expecting.
"Speaking of talking about things that are troubling, what's up with you? Now that I know the songs by the Cars and Adele were yours, and the way I came across you here, I'd say it's my turn to help you out if I can."
"That's very sweet of you to offer. Are you sure you want to hear me talk about another guy?"
Peeta shrugged, "It's not a problem at all."
"Okay. Do you remember my comment about Cato not really being my boyfriend from earlier?"
Peeta nodded.
"Well, that's true. For a while it seemed like we were a couple in everything but name. We weren't just sleeping together. He actually seemed like he was courting me. He did the whole bring me flowers, cook me dinner, take me out to places kind of thing. I know he's known for being a macho asshole, but he can be sweet.
It just took me a while to realize that he was just going through the motions that he thought were required to get me in bed. It was mostly unnecessary, because, well, he's a fantastic lay, until recently, anyway. He's so distant when we have sex now, he might as well be masturbating with my vagina. I guess he just figured out that he didn't have to put on a show in order to get what he wanted. If it had been that way from the start, I suppose it would have been one thing. A girl has needs, you know? For him to make the sudden change a couple of weeks ago, well it hurts.
I knew that he didn't actually want to be my boyfriend, but the way he was acting early on suggested otherwise. I was hoping he'd change his mind, but in the mean time, it was enough for me. At some point along the line I started to have feelings for him. Between Cato not returning them and suddenly acting like a different person towards me, it's just wearing me thin. Then I think, well I knew he didn't want to be a couple, so why am I so upset about this? I mean, I know he's sleeping with other girls, and it doesn't even bother me in the way his attitude toward me does."
Peeta just looked at her for a moment with a puzzled look on his face. "Wait, you know he's sleeping with other women, and it doesn't bother you?"
"I didn't say that it didn't bother me, it just doesn't bother me in the same way as his attitude does. I haven't slept with anyone else. When I'm completely single, I'll admit to going out and enjoying myself, but once I start seeing someone on a regular basis, I stick to that person. We aren't officially a couple, and I think between that and because of what I do for a living, he doesn't think he has any reason to remain monogamous. I'm not really the jealous type in general, but…"
"Because of what you do for a living? Um, what do you do for a living?" Peeta asked.
Glimmer looked around, "I don't mind letting you know, but I'd prefer not to talk about it in public."
Peeta nodded, "Okay, no problem. So, uh, how do you know he's seeing other people? Has he told you?"
Glimmer shook her head. "No, but just based on past experience and some other things I've noticed, I'm fairly certain he is. I can smell perfume from other women on him some times. Others, he's had a little bit of lipstick on him that he didn't wipe off entirely. Or there's him suddenly canceling plans, then he'll invite me over the next day, and I'll see a condom wrapper in the trashcan in his bathroom. It's stuff like that."
"Oh, well, um, I guess that's pretty good evidence then," said Peeta. "Jeeze, what couple of happy people we are. "
Glimmer nodded grimly, pushed a button on her phone and looked at the display. "It's about 3:30. Are you okay to drive yet?"
Peeta shook his head. "I could probably manage walking in a straight line, but that's not good enough for a motorcycle. I've got a lot of twisty roads to go on in order to get home. I don't want to risk it yet, considering what happened to me last time. If you want to go home, that's fine. I'll just hang out here for a while longer until I'm sober."
"Okay, just checking. I was actually curious if you wanted to go back to my place for a while, we could watch a movie, or keep chatting until you sobered up. I can drive you back when you're ready, or you can crash on my couch if you get tired. I don't mind either way. I just don't think it would do either of us any good to be alone with our thoughts tonight, but I'd like to get out of here."
Peeta thought about it for a moment. I guess it would be okay to go back to her place. I'd prefer to have someone to talk to rather than be left to sit here and think about Katniss until I drive myself mad. Hopefully this isn't just an attempt to get me alone. I've actually enjoyed talking with Glimmer, a movie and conversation won't hurt. So what if she's trying to get me alone, where's the harm in that? I'm lonely, she's lonely… No, no, just settle down for a moment; take the offer at face value before you start jumping to conclusions.
"Um, Peeta?"
This broke Peeta out of his thoughts, he realized he was taking a while to answer," Oh, sorry. Sure, let's get out of here." Peeta waved down the waitress and asked if they could get their checks. When the checks arrived, Peeta started to reach for his wallet when Glimmer grabbed the check out of his other hand, and then put a twenty-dollar bill on the table. Peeta started to protest when Glimmer cut him off.
"It'll be faster this way. Just think of it as my way of saying thanks for the conversation, if you've got a problem with a lady paying your bill." Glimmer gathered her things and pulled her keys out of her purse, "Lets go, my car is parked out back."
