Hey guys ! I'd like to apologize cause in case you didn't notice, which is highly unlikely, English isn't my mother tongue, which means that writing is a bit more difficult for me. Don't get me wrong, it's far from an ordeal since I'm really having fun with this story so far, but I guess sometimes my English might be a little awkward so here I am, half apologizing (and I'm really bad at it). Anyways, I hope you have half as fun reading the story as I have writing it :)


When Peeta got back to the apartment a few hours - and beers - later, he tried not to think about this Katniss girl. After Finnick had told him her name, he tried not to be too embarrassed by how obvious he had been, so he hardly stared at her for the rest of the night. Once in his room, he went over - for the hundredth time - all the things he would need for tomorrow. Peeta knew he would have been anxious even for his first day in an American college, but being in France, he had no idea what to expect. Were the classes difficult ? How different could French and American education be ? Was he even going to like his classes ? Nope. Not overthinking it at all.

Peeta struggled to fall asleep that night, and saying he was tired the next morning would be an understatement. As he entered the kitchen to get a quick breakfast, he didn't even notice Haymitch sitting in the living room. Opening the fridge, he looked for something to drink.

"Well, you look like shit," said Haymitch. Peeta jumped at the sound of his voice, and turned around.

"Haymitch, you scared the shit out of me," groaned Peeta once his heartbeat was back to normal. "I couldn't sleep last night," he shrugged while grabbing a bottle of milk from the fridge.

"Oh come on, it's only the first day, you're just going to get the usual motivational speeches and your schedule. Don't be such a pussy."

Peeta shook his head at his uncle's bluntness, but couldn't keep himself from smiling. This was exactly what he needed to hear. He hardly ever felt anxious, and he wasn't going to suddenly stress out about college. No, he decided this would be a great year, starting today. With a new resolve, he ate his cereals quickly and almost jogged out of the apartment, shouting an enthusiastic 'see ya !' to Haymitch.

As an Art history major, Peeta's university department was located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. Which meant that he almost had to cross the entire city, which meant that he had a 10-minute walk ahead of him to get to the station Marcadet-Poissoniers, and then take the metro that would take him to the university. Which also meant that 40 mins later, Peeta was checking his watch every two seconds and was more and more worried that he would arrive late.

He felt frustrated, because really, he should have known. Deciding that there was nothing he could possibly do to go faster, he willed himself to relax and took in the overcrowded train. Around him were people from all origins, each trapped inside the metro waiting to reach their destination and start a new day, making the atmosphere somewhat tense. He quickly figured out that line 4 was one of the busiest lines, and he didn't know how to feel about that. Sure, that was going to be a pain in his ass every morning, but at the same time, it made him feel like a true Parisian. Plus, here in the metro, who could guess he was a foreigner ? Nobody. And that brought him a great sense of belonging.

When Peeta reached his station, Vavin, he spotted easily the beautiful building that would be like a second home to him during the whole year. He hurried to his assigned room and took a sit right as the first professors entered the room, chatting lightly and smiling at their new students. Peeta looked around and saw that most of them looked relaxed. Okay, maybe he really didn't need to overthink it the way he had.

An hour later, the schedules had been handed over and everyone was free to go. Peeta wandered around this part of the city he had yet to see, and decided to go to the Jardin du Luxembourg. As he walked through the park, he found a quiet place near a fountain and retrieved his sketchbook from his backpack. He draw for a few hours, lost in the moment. At noon, he bought a sandwich in the nearest bakery. As he took his first bite, Peeta thought French bread really lived up to its reputation. After having eaten the last crumb, he figured he still had plenty of time before heading back home, so he wandered once more the city and even visited the Panthéon, using his sketchbook from time to time to capture people or special details . At 6, he headed back to the 18th arrondissement, and decided to stop by the bar on his way home, to give his uncle a heads-up of the day - and mostly because if he was being honest, he didn't really have anything else to do.

When he walked into Le Geai Moqueur, Peeta noticed the place was still very much crowded for a Monday night, and he briefly wondered if his uncle's establishment was ever empty. He had doubts.

Hardly fully inside the bar, Finnick was already calling his name for everyone to hear and as every head turned in his direction, Peeta blushed but still made his way to his new friend, mouthing to Haymitch 'I'll talk to you later'. His uncle smirked knowingly at him, but Peeta could see in his eyes that he was proud his nephew was already making friends.

"So, are you here 24/7 or what ?" Peeta joked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well I'm always up for a good drink and a game of pool, and Jo always knows how to drag me here..." Finn grinned.

"Yeah, as if it was so difficult !" Joanna turned to Peeta and smirked, "All I have to say is that there will be lots of hot girls and that the first round is on me, and he's here in a heartbeat."

Finn and Joanna looked at each other in the eyes, before laughing and establishing the stakes of the next game. Peeta couldn't keep himself from feeling a bit jealous of their easy friendship, and for a second he thought about all he had left behind him when leaving America. But then, Joanna said something like 'You playing or what pretty boy ?', and he smiled to himself, thinking that maybe, just maybe, he could make even greater friends than the ones he had back home. Home. Except New Jersey wasn't his home anymore. Paris was. And that thought alone made him grab a stick and move around as he owned the place.

An hour later, the place was even more crowded, and Finn kept introducing him to new people. Peeta was in one of the corners of the room, talking to a girl named Cressida. He instantly took a liking to her, as she was the quirkiest of Finnick's friends. Her head was entirely shaved, but an intricate vine tattoo made up for her lack of hair. It was also because she was open-minded and liked arts, as she was an audiovisual media major. She had a slight French accent, but not as obvious as the one other French people he had met had, and Peeta told her so.

"Well I guess I have the movies to thank for that," she laughed. She then turned to her boyfriend, a burly sort of guy with dark skin.

"Hey man, I'm Thresh," said the guy, shaking Peeta's hand with a small smile.

As it turned out, Thresh was a really nice guy and the two talked a lot - although it was mostly about sports. The boy played rugby, and when Peeta mentioned he used to play football as a running back, the two bantered and playfully compared the two sports.

"Why is football even called football ? I tell you, dude, the guy who named the sport probably didn't even know the rules !" Thresh laughed while taking a sip of his coke.

Peeta shook his head lightheartedly, and then he saw the girl from the day before, standing behind the bar counter, seemingly focused on the drink she was pouring. Still, he couldn't help but notice how easily she was doing her job and briefly wondered how long she had been doing this job. Actually, it made him wonder lots of things about her, which was kind of unsettling since he hadn't even talked to her once. Even if Peeta's experience with girls wasn't huge, he still had dated a few ones back in America and he even had a girlfriend for several months, a girl named Delly, who he had broken up with when he applied to the Sorbonne. At the time, he wasn't even sure he was going to get in, but he had realized that the idea of ending things with Delly didn't really upset him. So he figured he'd better end it now before she got too attached. And so he did. But never in his life had Peeta been so attracted to someone, even less to someone he didn't even know the name. Peeta stared at her for a while, his eyes travelling from her dark braid to her sparkling grey eyes. She didn't even wear any makeup...

Thresh brought him back to reality as he stood up and claimed one of the pool tables while cracking a joke to Finnick, who had just lost to Joanna. The young man made his way to Peeta and raised his eyebrows.

"Aight so, I know your classes don't start until next week, so you should come at my place tomorrow night, I'm having a bunch of people over. And you can't say no man, so I'll text you the address tonight. See ya dude !" and before Peeta could even reply anything, Finn was already at the door and waving at Haymitch.

Later that night, as Peeta was skyping with his two brothers, he got a text from Finn.

Finnick_ 11:23 : Take line 12, exit at Pigalle and then walk to the station Blanche. Give me a ring when you're in front of the Moulin Rouge. If I'm too drunk to answer your call, Cressida will.

Peeta wasn't really surprised that Finn lived next to the most prestigious cabaret in Paris. Really, he should have known. He told his brothers about his new friend, and stated that they would probably get on well. After he ended up his call, he got another text.

Finnick_ 11:58 : Oh and guess who'll be there.

He quickly typed back 'Cressida ? ;)' and his heart skipped a bit when he read Finn's replies.

Finnick_12:00 : Smartass. I figured you got that one. Yeah, she'll be there... but she's also bringing her best friend. I'm letting you guess, but her name starts with a K.

Finnick_12:01 : You know, the girl you eyefucked the other day.

And just like that, Peeta's long-forgotten anxiety surfaced. But this time, it was in a good, warm kind of way.

Peeta could see the lights of the Moulin Rouge in the distance, and as he got closer, he made a promise to himself that he would come back to draw the cabaret that he had seen in this movie a long time ago - but seeing it for real was another thing entirely. When he called Finnick, he was surprised that his friend actually picked up the phone.

When he got into the apartment, Peeta realized that Finn's place was actually bigger than what he expected. He knew how expensive everything was here, and he wondered how rich were his friend's parents. Peeta laughed when he saw that the 'bunch of people' Finnick had mentioned was actually more than a bunch. There were people everywhere and in every room - but really, the only room he was interested in was the living room, because that was where Katniss stood, pouring shots in a row for a collective round. He said hi to the people he had already met, and Finn made a point of introducing him to everyone else but the girl he wanted to meet the most. Peeta suspected it was his silent way of teasing him. Finally, they made their way to the table where Katniss was.

"Hey, Kat. Have you met Peeta ?" And then he was walking out of the conversation, leaving Peeta alone with Katniss, both of them clearly embarrassed by their friend's unsubtle reference to the move in How I Met Your Mother. Peeta could practically see Finn's knowing smirk in his head.

"Huh, yeah, hi, I'm Peeta" he said shyly. And then he laughed "Is he always like that ?"

"Pretty much," said Katniss with a slight smile. Just as he was about to say something, a tall, black-haired guy came from behind her and rested his head on her shoulder, whispering something with a Cheshire cat smile. Katniss laughed and handed him a shot, and Peeta felt like a fool standing there in the middle watching the two obviously having fun together. There was no denying it. He was jealous of this guy that could make her smile bigger than anyone else. He had been stupid to think that a girl that beautiful wouldn't have a boyfriend.

He was going to walk away, defeated, when she handed him a drink too. Then, Katniss and her boyfriend started a countdown, but when she downed her shot, he was the one she was looking at straight in the eyes.

They didn't talk again. She spent the night attached to her boyfriend, or maybe it was the other way around, but as much as seeing them together made Peeta miserable - which he didn't quite understand himself - he actually had a good time, laughing and dancing senselessly with everyone, and he took comfort in the fact that he would often catch her staring at him from across the room.