Chapter 4

The Friend

Feeling my head roll to the side, my cheek came in contact with the cold porcelain frame of the bathtub. The cool touch caused my body to stiffen and my stomach to curl. God I felt sick. An awful stench had taken over my breath and my head was pounding. The palms of my hands felt clammy and my eye lids felt heavy. And just by shifting my body a hair had caused every cell in my body ached in protest. Shit, I thought, what the hell had happened to me? Then hearing the shower curtain being quickly drawn open I let out a soft moan in protest as the clacking and clanging of the curtain rings aggravated my now even worse heavy pounding head. Feeling the sun on my back and hearing a familiar snicker, I rolled my head in the opposite direction.

As the sunlight obscured my vision I could barely make out the dark mass that sat in front of me. It was a person, I thought. What else would it be, my brain retorted, Yeti? Letting out another moan, my vision began to clear and as I squinted my eyes I was able to make out the mass. It was Haymitch, a clean shaven, no so drunk looking Haymitch. He sat on the toilet looking down at me. He wore a dark pair of dress pants along with a dark blue button up shirt whose sleeves he had rolled up to his elbows.

Why wasn't he drunk? Why was he clean? Why was he so dressed up? Why was he looking at me? My mind couldn't help but question what stood in front of me.

"Haymitch," I asked in a horsed voice.

"Good to see you too, sweetheart," he said in quite a loud tone causing my head to pound even harder.

I let out another moan as I had involuntarily brought my hands to my head as if I was holding it from exploding. God, I thought, why did it hurt so much?

Hearing Haymitch snicker at my pain once again, I watched as he leaned over toward the counter picking up a glass of water and to blue pills. "Here," he said dropping the two blue pills in the palm of my hand. I stared at the pills as if they were some sort of foreign object. "Swallow them," he directed me.

So sitting up, I quickly popped the pills into my mouth, swallowing them. He then handed me the glass of water which I took a few sips of before setting it on the tile floor and reclining back into the tub.

After the a few minutes the pounding in my head seemed to nearly fade away and the ache which had once spread through my body had now disappeared. Letting out a sigh of relief I heard Haymitch cough. Thus catching my attention I turned to face Haymitch. "You should go see that boy, sweetheart."

What boy, I thought, and why should I see him.

"He looked quite worried about you last night when he brought you in." This boy I was to see had brought me home last night. Letting my mind wander I did my best to concentrate. And then like it all came back like an avalanche.

The bonfire on the beach… Finnick… the cup of liquor I kept drinking from… vomiting… Peeta rubbing circles along my back as he carried me home. Peeta. Peeta was the boy I was to see, he brought me home, he was worried?

I looked to Haymitch. He stood up off the toilet and walked to door. Stopping at the doorframe he said, "The boy should be at Mellark Bakery on Main Street." And with that said he walked out of the bathroom leaving on my own. Running my hands through my hair I couldn't help but think of how I screwed up.

Shit.

Mellark Bakery sat along the corner of Twelfth and Main Street. It was a two story building that was a light shade of gray. The bakery sat beside a small boutique whose name I couldn't pronounce and didn't bother to pronounce as I turned my attention back to the bakery. I had to do this. A sign that read Mellark Bakery hung over the door of the bakery and in the windows beautiful cakes were displayed. Stepping in front of the store's door I came to a halt. Standing up straight I took in a deep breath.

You can do this Katniss, I thought.

Then releasing my breath I placed my hand on the doorknob. Turning the knob I took a step forward.

As the door shut behind me a bell rang through the store allowing the employees know they had a customer. It was a moment later that a tall, stock guy with blond ruffled hair and soft blue eyes similar yet so different from Peeta's appeared from behind the counter.

"Hi," he said, "How can I help you?"

Shuffling my feet and fiddling with my fingers I made out, "Um… can I… is Peeta here?"

Seeing the guy look me up and down the side of his mouth jerked up into a smile. "Oh," he said with a laugh, "You must be Katniss."

Did Peeta tell this guy about me too, I thought as I gave him the slight nod of my head. The guy then smiled at me before walking into the back room of the bakery.

I could hear the second on the clocking ticking by. And with each tick my body seemed to become more and more uncomfortable. I should just go home, I thought, it was stupid for me to come. And then as I stood tall on the balls of my feet ready to walk out, Peeta appeared. He wore what looked to be an old scarlet t-shirt under a gray apron. There was flour on his hands up scattered across his forearm and across his apron. His hair shot out in different directions and his eyes were warm.

"Hey," he said as the corners of his mouth turned up into a heartfelt smile, "How are you?"

"Better…" I said trailing off before saying, "Sorry."

Quietly standing there for a moment he looked to me and nodded. "It's okay. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

I wasn't sure if it really was okay though, but nodded my head in response anyway. And then as an awkward silence takes over the bakery and I couldn't help but think if he knew exactly why I was sorry. I was sorry… for not being social or normal… for going to that stupid party… for not being a nice to Peeta… for getting drunk… for him having to care for Haymitch and I… for causing him to worry… for everything. I didn't know if he knew that was why I was sorry and yet even if he did how could it be okay with it. Looking to him he was scratching the back of his neck.

Why was he always doing that? Was I bothering him? Did he have an itch or something?

Looking over him the flour that was plastered to his apron and powdered along his arms caused me to realize he had been working until I showed up. He was baking. Shuffling my feet I tried to smile but knew my face displayed a blank expression. "I should… I better… I don't want to bother you."

He laughed, "You think your bothering me?"

I nodded.

"You're doing the farthest thing from bothering me."

Is that a good thing or bad thing, I thought.

Thinking about asking him what he meant by that I shut my mouth knowing it would be rude for me to ask and then again I opened my mouth. "Well I shouldn't keep you," I said as I took a step back.

"Oh. Well I-" he trailed off. And then one step, two step, and just as I was about to take my third step and be out the door I heard Peeta speak up as he regained his focus. "Do you want to help me with the next batch of cheese buns?"

By the time we reached the house the air had become chillier as the day grew closer to an end. We didn't bother to enter the house as we both knew Haymitch was probably passed out drunk on the couch and wasn't someone you accidently wanted to wake up. Therefore as I stood frozen at the path which led to the front door, Peeta placed his hand on my shoulder leading me around the house to back deck. Taking a seat on the edge of the worn wooden deck, I pulled my legs to my chest so my chin could rest on my knees. Peeta sat beside me leaning back on his elbows with his feet in the sand. I could feel his eyes on me as I stared at the horizon. Then without warning I felt his hand touch my hair causing me to shriek away. Images from the night of the accident flashed through my mind causing me to dig my finger nails into the palms of my hand.

No, don't do this Katniss.

"Sorry," I heard him mumble in an apologetic tone as he quickly pulled away, "There was flour in your hair."

The silence fell again. Why did I act this way? Why couldn't I be normal? I had spent the whole day with Peeta in the back room of the bakery where he used me about to make raisin bread, short bread cookies, and cheese buns while I made a mess of things; and now he goes to take a clump of flour out of my hair and I freak out.

Closing my eyes I took a deep breath and mumbled a short, quick sorry.

We sat like this for a while it wasn't till I opened my eyes to see Peeta seated with his elbows on his knees and he eyes fixed on the horizon. I turned to what had captivated his attention. The sun set. His eyes were fixated on the sun set which caused a soft yet bright shade of orange to overtake the sky. It was pretty, beautiful. Feeling myself smile I heard Peeta speak up.

"Orange. A sun set orange," he said with a smile, "That's my favorite color."

And then unexpectedly I heard myself speak up. "Green like the color of nature."