a/n: you all are amazing, and beautiful and amazing. and amazing. it's been a while so i tried to make it a bit long for you guys :)
Katniss' eyes flicked between the clock that hung on the wall over her and the bottles upon bottles of ketchup splayed across the table, her hands feeling grossly sticky as she re-filled the empty condiment bottles.
It was only eight-thirty, and the diner didn't close for another hour and a half but other than the group of four loud, obnoxiously giggly girls clad in shorts and their bikini tops, the restaurant was unusually empty.
She heard the chair next to her screech as Annie pulled it back, slumping into it with a loud, exaggerated sigh.
"I miss Finnick." Annie said, dropping her head in between her fingers, her elbows propped on the table. He hasn't been home in five days. And he won't be home this weekend either; he's got a competition in Maryland."
Katniss turned her lips upwards in what she was hoping was an empathetic smile, her eyes casting downward, taking in the light blue colored shirt, 'UNC' inscripted in the front in white, bold blocked letters. The shirt was big on Annie's small, bony frame and fell off her shoulders, revealing her tanned, freckled shoulder.
Annie sighed loudly again, this time picking her head up from her hands, grabbing a bottle of ketchup, twisting the top open.
In the week and a half that Katniss had worked here, she'd heard about Finnick maybe ten, twenty times a day. There were days when he was the only thing Annie could think of, could speak of.
In a way that Katniss could probably never understand, Annie's eyes always got this far away look when she talked about him, too. The green in her eyes became glazed, a smile permanently plastered on her face as she recalled memories – the way they'd met, their one year anniversary, and then their second, the way they made their long-distance relationship work. She never ran out of memories to think about, to smile about.
Katniss just smiled as Annie went on, though she noticed she only did so when Johanna wasn't around. And the few times that Johanna happened to catch Annie going on, and on about Finnick, a dark, deep scowl appeared on her lips.
Katniss thought it was odd; but then again, she thought most things about Johanna were odd. She didn't question it much.
After a long beat, Katniss twisted the top of another ketchup bottle and looked to Annie, forcing a smile on her face. "Don't worry. He'll be back soon."
Not much of a speaker, much less a comforter, it was the best Katniss could offer.
Annie nodded her head fervently, using the back of her hand to push the hair that had fallen around her face away. "I know, I know, Katniss. It's just like … It's just that every day without him seems to drag on forever. I mean, I would give anything to just be able to spend like, five consecutive days with him, you know?"
Katniss nodded her head, though truly, she did not know. She did not know what Annie felt, could not comprehend having your happiness depend so fully and completely on someone else, on a boy. She didn't understand wanting so badly to spend a few days with someone – feeling so desperately hopeless without them the way she'd seen Annie feel for the past few days.
Annie suddenly froze, taking in Katniss. She blinked twice, her voice a velvety kind of soft as she poured ketchup into an empty bottle. "I know you think it's probably silly. The way I get …"
Katniss opened her mouth, already shaking her head. She could already count the amount of friends she had in this town on two fingers, she couldn't exactly afford angering half of them by being judgmental.
Annie shook her head back at Katniss, a soft smile on her lips. "Oh, I don't blame you. I'd think I was crazy too. But I just, I love him, you know?"
She paused, her smile growing slightly. "You'll understand. When you're in love, you'll understand."
Katniss nodded her head slowly, unsurely, and Annie laughed. "Just trust me on that one." She said, leaning her chair backwards, turning her head towards the kitchen. "Right, Peeta? Katniss should trust me?"
Peeta looked up, sticking his head through the small opening between the kitchen and the restaurant, a smile on his face, his eyes easy and cool. He was elbow deep in mayonnaise, just a small bit smeared across his cheek. It was his turn for dressing night.
"I have no clue what you're trusting her on but yes, yes you should always trust Annie." He said, his voice authoritative but still soft, his eyes blinking in a small wink before ducking his head back to the enormous bowl of dressing, throwing in a mixture of different powders into it.
Annie smiled appreciatively at him before turning back to her, "See!"
Katniss laughed, her eyes flicking back to Peeta for a second, his blond curls mussed in a hairnet as his face contorted in deep concentration, his hands moving swiftly around the large bowl of dressing.
She turned back to Annie as she stood abruptly, almost knocking her old, rusty wooden chair over.
"Man, I've had to pee like, all day and I totally forgot." She said, scrambling to the bathroom, her legs frolicking in a funny little dance as she made her way over.
Katniss laughed; that was typical of Annie, always surprising her, always able to put a smile on her face, always smiling herself. In a lot of ways, she reminded Katniss of Peeta.
Katniss fixated her attention on the half empty condiment bottles again, decidedly using the time that Annie was in the bathroom to fill at least ten bottles. She worked much, much slower when Annie was around, though it felt like significantly less work, she realized, when Annie or Peeta were around.
Days with Johanna just plain dragged around, and she had yet to meet old Sae.
Katniss squirted ketchup from the all too large plastic bag, filling up the condiment bottle as she heard the little bell above the door of the diner chime. She sighed loudly.
She could have sworn they were done for the night; it never got this slow around dinner time, she was hoping tonight was just an off night.
She looked up, wiping her hands on the black apron she'd forgotten to take off, and stood, turning towards the door, already mentally reminding herself to pick up menus on her way.
She stopped as she took in the familiar face at the door – the flaming orange hair, the emerald green eyes; she knew she'd seen them before.
It took her a second before she took in the deep blue UNC sweatshirt the boy sported and realized, it was Finnick, Annie's boyfriend.
He scanned the room, his eyes resting on the girls sitting on the large round table on the right corner of the diner. His eyes stopped lingered, and the green in his eyes turned darker as he slowly ran his tongue along the length of his bottom lip.
With a start, and a feeling in her gut Katniss couldn't quite pinpoint, she noticed that the endearing, loving look she'd seen him give to Annie at the beach all those nights go wasn't just reserved for her.
Katniss suddenly felt uneasy, her eyes still glued to the tall, large boy in front of her.
He flicked his eyes to her, his eyes still dark and appreciative, a small smirk on his lips, and Katniss looked down, staring at her feet as she slowly, slowly walked towards him, menu in hand.
She stopped when she heard a loud, shrilly shriek, followed by loud thumps and a small body running past her, blurring Katniss' vision.
Annie's arms locked around Finnick as she reached him, her legs lifting off the ground as he picked her up, twirling her, earning Finnick loud, happy giggles from the sweet girl.
"Baby! What are you doing here?" She asked the second her feet touched the ground, her fingers still tracing his face, his hands.
He smiled at her, though Katniss couldn't quite appreciate the way he looked at Annie anymore. "I had tomorrow off, so I drove home to see you." He said, dropping his lips to hers.
Annie kissed him back, her fingers tangling in his hair, "When are you here till? Are you leaving tomorrow night?"
"I don't have to be back until Saturday morning."
Katniss watched as Annie's eyes nearly bulged out, her cheeks shading a bright pink.
She turned her to the kitchen, wanting to gauge Peeta's reaction to Finnick after seeing Johanna's so many times before.
She was beginning to understand Johanna's scowl, she thought.
Peeta eyebrows furrowed slightly, a frown on his face. Though she wasn't sure if she'd imagined it as his face broke out into a friendly smile a second later as he waved his hand, small drops of ranch dressing flying as he did so.
Finnick nodded at him and smiled back, "Hey man, how's it going?"
"Pretty good. How about you?"
"Can't complain. Not now, that I'm with my girl, anyway." Finnick said, wrapping his arm around Annie's waist as she giggled.
"You think I could steal her for the night? It doesn't look like you guys got much to do here anyway." He said, gesturing towards the nearly empty restaurant.
"Of course." Peeta nodded, "You kids have fun." He said, winking at Annie.
Annie looked to Katniss, her green eyes wide, "Katniss you sure you'll be okay here without me?"
Katniss nodded quickly, "Yeah, sure. I have Peeta, anyway. You go on."
Annie smiled, walking to Katniss to hug her tightly, catching Katniss off guard as she always did with her hugs.
"I owe you guys." Annie said, blowing a kiss to Peeta as she reached behind the counter at the front of the diner, fishing under the shelf for her bright pink purse before walking back to Finnick, whose smirk remained in place, lacing her small fingers with his larger ones.
Finnick nodded towards her before turning on her heels, leading Annie out.
Still a little confused, a little uneasy, Katniss walked back towards her table, catching Peeta's eyes on her way.
Catching her by surprise, Peeta's eyes mimicked her own.
"Truth or dare?" Peeta asked, his hands moving fast as he wiped a table clean before lifting the wooden chairs, on to the creaking tables, arranging them one by one.
Katniss looked at him pointedly, setting the stack of money she held in her hands back on to the counter frustratedly. "You do know that the more times your distract me while I'm counting the cash, the more times I have to start all over, right?"
He grinned sheepishly, moving on to the last table. He moved quickly, she realized. He'd finished most of the tables in the time it would have taken her to do eight, maybe ten.
"Sorry, I'm just no good with silence." He said, a smile stretched on his face as he walked over to the radio near her, turning the dial until the fuzziness died down, a song becoming audible.
He began humming it before she could recognize it, but it only took her a moment before the soft tune became familiar. It was Blue Moon, she realized, one of her father's favorites.
She began sifting through the dollar bills again, losing herself in the methodical counting until she heard a loud buzzing as Peeta made his way around the dinner with the vacuum.
She took note of the cash, safely securing it away before shutting off the register, twisting the key from the machine and storing it under the shelf.
She turned to Peeta, who, at the far end of the diner was wrapping the wire of the vacuum around the hooks on the machine, before wheeling it into its closet.
Katniss hopped off of her stool and made her way to counter that sat at the opening in the kitchen, finding two take-out boxes. She picked them both up with her fingers and walked to the front of the door, waiting until Peeta followed her, locking the door diner behind them.
She caught a quick glance at the clock; at 10:45, they had managed to close up fairly easy.
Following their usual routine, Peeta and Katniss weaved through the blocks of tourists on the boardwalk, stepping down the short stairs that led to the beach. Katniss stopped for a second, as she always did, balancing her take-out box in one hand as she pulled her shoes off her feet, letting them dangle off her fingers as she squished her toes into the sand.
She followed Peeta to the dunes, sitting herself down next to him before crossing her legs under her and pulling open the Styrofoam box in her hands, shoveling a handful of fries in her mouth.
She swallowed, watching as Peeta took a bite of his burger before asking, "Truth or Dare?"
Katniss disorientedly rubbed her eyes as a shrilly bell rang loudly in her ears and pulled her blanket over her face, a sore attempt to block out the obnoxious noise.
Only, a second a later she felt small, cold fingers prying the material of the blanket from her fingers, pulling the covers away from her face. "Katniss, your phone has been ringing all morning. Annie's calling you."
Katniss blinked, staring at Prim's small face, her wet hair dripping onto Katniss' fingers.
Prim looked at her older sister, frustration clear in her eyes. "Katniss! Your phone!"
Confused, Katniss took the phone from her sister, pressing the green button.
"Hello?" she said into the phone, her voice thickly slicked with sleep.
"Katniss, I'm so, so, so sorry to disturb you," Annie's soft voice came on the other line, "But I just have a huge favor to ask. Huge."
Katniss lazily rubbed her eyes, pushing herself up into sitting position with her arms. "Uh, sure. What's up?"
"Could you take my shift for today at the diner? I promise, I'll take yours tomorrow. You can have a nice, free Saturday!"
Katniss stifled a yawn, climbing out of bed. There was no point in lingering in the soft, comfortable mattress. She now had to be at work in … ten minutes.
"Sure, no problem."
"Oh my God, thank you so, so much Katniss. Seriously, you're a lifesaver."
Katniss told her no problem before hanging up, heading straight into the shower.
She was going to need a long shower if she had to suffer an entire day with Johanna. And to make it worse, Peeta wouldn't even be there to be her rescue, her saving grace until halfway through the day.
She decided to make it an extra long shower.
Friday's were always the busiest, with far too many weekend-comers crowding the beach and eventually, the diner. The rush on Fridays began in the morning, too, only becoming significantly worse as the day dragged on.
Katniss walked to three tables, jotting down orders on her pad before walking to the counter, sticking them to the cement for Brick, an aging, balding man she'd seen before and another cook who Katniss had met today for the first time.
She turned around, smiling at Sae who, with her gray hair braided down her back, smiled tiredly back at her. Katniss had met Sae for the first time that morning too, and found that on the days without Annie and Peeta, Sae was the person she could find some tiny bit of comfort in.
Katniss looked up at Brick as he put plates of food in front of her, but she felt arms snaking from behind her, grabbing the plates before she could.
She turned around, finding Johanna's cold, dark eyes, her lips turned downwards in her ever present scowl.
"You." She said, her eyes staring at Katniss blankly, as if she were already bored with the conversation. "Go manage the counter and the phone. I'll take your tables."
Katniss simply nodded – working the counter and the phone was much easier than waitressing, and she wasn't exactly sure why Johanna wanted to switch, but she knew better than to argue.
Tugging at her gray shirt, Katniss walked to the counter, where a small line of customers had already lined up, ready to pay for their meals and leave.
She took money from customer after customer, her eyes skimming their receipts and handling crumpled, and often wet dollars bills.
That was the thing about working at the diner near the beach – nearly everyone came in their bathing suits, handing money that had been thoroughly soaked from the ocean. But she still preferred working at the counter, grossly soaking money and all, because it required the least amount of talking, least amount of smiling.
The customers were usually already satisfied enough from the food, that by the time they reached her, they didn't much care that Katniss didn't talk, or smile much.
Katniss pulled her feet under her as she handed the last customer on the line their change, turning as she felt cold fingers on her shoulder.
She turned around, finding Johanna's blank eyes staring at her once more.
"Go finish your tables. I'm taking the counter again." Johanna said, her voice bored.
Katniss scrunched her eyebrows, confused by Johanna. "Why? You just told me to leave my tables to you and…"
"I know what I said," Johanna snapped suddenly, "But I'm changing my mind."
Katniss stared at her as she stood slowly, huffing loudly. Working with Johanna without the aid of Peeta or Annie was taking a toll on her. She had to remind Annie to never pull this on her again.
She turned on her heel, taking just a step when she heard a sickly sweet voice, forcing her fingers to clench into fists at her sides.
She dug her nails into her palms as she slowly turned, narrowing her eyes at the blonde girl in front of her, her eyes, a piercing blue, staring right back at Katniss.
"You have got to be kidding me." The blonde girl sneered, turning to a girl on her right who Katniss thought looked vaguely familiar, rolling her eyes exaggeratedly.
Katniss stared at the blonde, her jaw locked. She wouldn't speak, she wouldn't scream, she wouldn't do anything. Not here.
She turned to Johanna, "I'll cover the tables." She mumbled, walking from the counter to the kitchen counter, wanting so badly to turn around walk back home, hide under her covers for the rest of the day.
"God, she is such a freaking stalker," She heard Madge's venom coated voice speak loudly, "As if stealing my boyfriend wasn't enough, she had to follow me here and ruin my summer vacation with her ugly face."
Katniss took a deep breath, leaning on the counter, gripping the edge tightly. She watched as her knuckles turned a pasty white, and she was sure her palms would be marked with angry, red indentations in just a second.
She closed her eyes, focusing on inhaling and exhaling and turning back to punch Madge in the face when she felt warm fingers on her hands, prying them away from the counter.
"Katniss, you hold on to this any longer and you might just break it off." A warm, sweet voice said to her softly, chuckling a little bit.
She opened her eyes one by one, finding Peeta's bright blue eyes on her. His eyebrows scrunched up in concern as he flicked his gaze between her and the counter behind her, though his face smoothed out only a second later, an easy smile on his face.
"You feeling okay?" He asked, his lips turned up from the corners.
She nodded, wishing Peeta hadn't seen that, hadn't heard that. Wishing no one had seen that.
She wanted a summer, just one, tiny, measly summer without having to deal without having to deal with this, without having to deal with her.
"You wanna take a break?" Peeta asked, his voice comforting as he ran his hand on her back. "I could cover your tables."
She smiled, the upward turning of her lips taking even more effort than normally required. "I'm okay."
He nodded, smiling at her before turning back into the kitchen, walking straight to the grill.
Katniss gave herself a second before turning her head slightly towards the counter, letting out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding in when she found no signs of Madge.
She risked a glance at Johanna, who just threw her an irritated look, and Katniss could literally hear Johanna's annoyed voice telling her to stop staring and start serving.
She was never more grateful.
"So, what was that about?" Johanna asked Katniss, trailing behind her as Katniss wiped down tables and lifted chairs.
She glanced at the opening into the kitchen, catching a glimpse of Peeta as he moved around the kitchen, scrubbing the grills.
"You know," Katniss said, turning towards Johanna, "You could help me clean up instead of just walking behind me."
Johanna rolled her eyes, "No, I prefer to watch you do it. So, what did you do to that girl to make her hate you so much?"
Katniss huffed, lifting a chair to the table. "Nothing."
Johanna walked to the counter as Katniss moved to the next table, hopping up onto the counter, prying open a Styrofoam take-out box, stuffing a handful of fries into her mouth. "But she said you stole her boyfriend. Did you?"
"No."
"But –"
"Johanna," Peeta interrupted before she could fire another line of questions, "Leave Katniss alone."
Katniss through a grateful smile at him, and he smiled back, picking a few fries from Johanna's box.
Surprisingly, Johanna's questioned paused; she picked up her burger in her fingers, bringing it to her mouth.
"Actually, I guess I get it. She did look kind of like a bitch, anyway." Johanna said a moment later, her mouth full of beef and bun as she spoke.
Katniss mumbled a reply, wiping down her last table, attempting to hide her victorious smile.
Johanna slurped her soda behind Katniss loudly, letting out a loud belch. "What are you guys doing tonight?"
Katniss looked to Peeta, unsure of what to say. No one really knew they hung out, spending large chunks of their sleepless nights on the beach, and she wasn't too sure she wanted anyone to know.
It was nice to have something no one else knew about, to judge and to misconstrue.
Peeta hopped up onto the counter next to Johanna, biting into his own burger hungrily.
"I don't know, probably just hanging around." He said easily, "Why did you have anything in mind?"
"There's that party at Tarky's. But Annie's with Finnick tonight," Johanna said, her face contorting in disgust, "And I don't wanna show up alone."
Katniss saw Peeta smile, both of them realizing this was Johanna's indirect way of inviting them. Of course, Johanna Mason couldn't straight out invite people to hang out with her; that was just asking for too much.
"Yeah, that sounds good." Peeta said, his eyes dropping to the black watch on his wrist, "We could go now, its fifteen past eleven."
Johanna nodded, finishing her burger before shifting her gaze to Katniss. She looked her up and down twice, her eyes squinting.
"How about we meet your there, Peeta? Katniss and I need to take a trip home first."
Katniss tugged uncomfortably at her shirt, but to no avail. If she pulled Johanna's bright pink shirt down to cover her otherwise bare plane of her stomach, her boobs spilled out of the V-neck. And if she pulled it up to cover her chest, she was practically left naked.
"Oh, will you stop fidgeting! It's a crop top; it's supposed to look like that. And you look good in it, so stop ruining it by spazzing out every five seconds." Johanna snapped as they walked into the large, brick house that she assumed belonged to a boy named Tarky.
Katniss let out a sigh, taking in her surroundings. Flushed, drunk kids spilled out of rooms in every direction and from where she was standing, she could see a keg stand in the middle of the kitchen. The kitchen counter was lined with beers and other colorful, glass bottles.
This wasn't really Katniss' thing, she realized. She wasn't exactly sure what she was doing here.
She turned to Johanna, who, in her short black dress and beautiful purple make-up, her hair tied high in a pony-tail, stood out, gloriously beautiful, and wondered if she could find a reason to leave, make up any excuse.
She stopped when she saw a tuft of blonde curls come into view.
"Hey guys!" Peeta said, a soda can in his hand. "Wow, you both look really nice."
Katniss smiled uneasily, but Johanna tossed a happy smile his way, the gesture looking odd on her face, as she patted his arm.
"Leave it to you to drink a soda at a party, Mellark." Johanna said wrly, "Now I am going to go get drunk." She said, stalking towards the kitchen.
Peeta stuck his hand in his pocket, "You want something to drink?" He asked, nodding towards the kitchen.
Katniss nodded, following him to the kitchen. She skimmed through the cans and bottles of alcohol – she'd never drank before, and she wasn't going to try it out tonight. She wrapped her fingers around a soda can, looking back at Peeta.
"Let's go to the deck," He said, wiping small beads of sweat off his forehead. "It's much less crowded."
She nodded, her cheeks suddenly blazing as Peeta's hand settled on her back, leading her to the kitchen, his fingers leaving a tingly feeling on her skin.
She focused on the soda in her hands, the cold from the can spreading to her fingers as she stepped onto the wooden deck.
Peeta was right; there deck was almost empty save for a few guys who were smoking cigarettes. She followed him to the wooden stairs, sitting down on the second step next to him.
He was quiet for a second before turning to her, "The pink looks nice on you. It's very … colorful." He said, his eyes crinkling into a smile.
She grumbled, "Yeah, Johanna wouldn't let me leave the house unless I wore something other than black. And gray."
Peeta laughed, "Yeah Johanna can be pretty convincing that way."
Katniss bit her lip – she was better at talking to Peeta than she was with most people, but she still often found herself with nothing to say.
Lucky for her, Peeta could always sense as much.
"Truth or dare?"
She nodded, grinning "Sure. I think it's your turn. I asked you what your most embarrassing memory was last."
"Right, peeing my pants during my eighth grade camping trip – good memories, thanks for bringing them up again." He said, his face shading slightly pink as he rubbed his neck, smiling. "Alright, for you … what is your favorite show?"
Katniss' smile spread wide across her face, "Okay, so my favorite channel is the Animal Planet channel …"
Peeta's eye brow cocked high, his eyes amused as they often were when she revealed her truths.
"And there's this show called 'Untamed and Uncut' and it's just a bunch of different encounters with animals. Like animal fights, or animals hunting and things going wrong … you know, it's just the animals." She shrugged, not knowing how else to explain it.
She used to get nervous at first, expecting Peeta to think her answers were weird or freaky, expecting him to stop talking to her or at least keeping a safe distance.
But Peeta just accepted whatever she said, always an open, easy smile on his face. He didn't think it was weird that she learned to make a snare before she learned the alphabet, or that she spent almost all of her Sunday's in the woods since her father died. He didn't think it was odd that she didn't have too many friends back home, nor did he question why she knew how to skin a squirrel in the first place when she explained her first experience of doing so. And thankfully, tonight he didn't ask about Madge either.
He just took what she offered him, asking for nothing more.
"I like the Animal Planet, too. There's not much to watch on TV but you can kinda find some interesting stuff on there. Like, have you seen that show where people tell their survival stories? Some of those people are just insane!"
She smiled, she did know, it was another one of her favorites.
"I feel like you can be on there some day – a crazy story about how you shot down a bear or something." He said, laughing.
"I'm sure my father could have made it on the show, he had some interesting hunting stories. But he didn't tell me too many of them. I think he thought I'd find them to be more inspiring than crazy."
Peeta shook his head ferociously, still chuckling. "Yes, I can definitely see your dad's point there."
He took a breath, "Alright, Katniss Everdeen. Hit me."
She thought about what she wanted to ask him – it always took her a few seconds to think of questions whereas Peeta always seemed to have another one up his sleeve, ready to ask at any moment.
"What's the worst thing about living in this town?" She asked a few moments later.
He mulled it over, thinking his answer through as he always did before verbalizing it. "Well, other than the obvious lack of the forests and trees…" he started, smirking at her, "I guess the fact that it's such a small town. Everyone knows each other here, and consequently, everyone knows everything about each other. There isn't really such a thing as secrets in this town. Not well kept ones, anyway."
"But in a way," he continued, "That's also one of the best things about living here. I mean, the fact that everyone knows each other and is so close. For example, I went to high school with each person in this house right now and we all grew up together, so we all really know each other, you know? And when I needed some place to live, Haymitch knew my dad, knew me since I was a kid, and he let me live with him. It's kind of like having a really giant, enormous family."
Katniss nodded; where she came from, it definitely was not like a big family. She came from a town that drew a clear divide between the wealthy, and the poor. And the disparity between the two was obvious, in the way people acted, in the way they dressed. They were far from a family.
She wondered if now was the time to ask, why he lived with Haymitch, why he had nowhere to live at one point.
As she contemplated asking him, a girl stumbling from the side of the house, towards the deck caught her eye. She was a fairly tall girl, legs skinny and gangly walking towards them clad in shorts and a tank top. Her hair, looking almost white in the moonlight, fell to her shoulders, straight. She stumbled as she neared them, squealing loudly as she hung on to the railing of the wooden stairs to stop her from falling, catching Peeta's attention, too.
Her eyes, dark in the night, grew wide as she noticed them, a smile spreading across her face. "Peeta!" She said, a bit loudly, clearly drunk.
She stumbled into Peeta's lap, falling into him.
He looked surprised, but smiled at her, his arm wrapping around her to keep her from falling. "Hey, Delly."
"Hi, Peeta." She repeated, smiling, her face flushed, tinted a bright pink. She let her head fall to his chest, as if it were the most natural thing for her to do and Katniss couldn't believe that in all this time, in all the games of truth or dare, Katniss hadn't asked Peeta if he had a girlfriend.
She also couldn't believe that he hadn't mentioned it to her, either, to be honest.
The blonde girl looked at Katniss suddenly, as if realizing her presence for the first time. Perhaps it really was the first time, Katniss thought.
Delly looked to her, and then to Peeta, "Peeta! Won't you introduce me to your friend?"
Peeta smiled sheepishly, "Oh, right. This is Katniss, she's Haymitch's niece, she's visiting for the summer. And Katniss," he said, turning towards her, adjusting Delly on his lap as he did so, "This is Delly."
"Hi, Katniss!" Delly breathed, and Katniss could smell the alcohol on her breath. "It is so very, very nice to meet you. I think I actually met your little sister the other day with Rue! They came by to the flower shop where I work. Prim, right?"
Katniss nodded, clutching her soda can tightly in her fingers.
"Oh, she is such a precious little girl, a sweetheart, really."
Katniss nodded again, not knowing what else to say.
Delly sighed loudly, leaning her head against Peeta's. "Peeta, will you take me home? I'm sleepy." She said, yawning for good measure.
He smiled fondly at the pretty, blonde girl in his lap, nodding. He helped her stand, standing up himself and Katniss followed suit.
"I, uh, I'm gonna go find Johanna." She said, pointing back towards the house as Peeta fished through his pockets for his keys, holding a sleepy, hazy-looking Delly with one arm.
Peeta looked at her, his eyes brows knitted together. "I can drive you home, we just have to drop Delly on the way but I mean, we're kinda going to the same place afterwards." He said wryly, his lips turned upwards in a crooked smile.
Katniss dug her fingers into the pockets of her jeans awkwardly, desperately not wanting to be the third wheel.
"I actually need to get my shirt from Johanna's house so…" She mumbled, stepping back towards the house.
"I'll see you later, though." She said, avoiding the confused look on his face, and the happy, dreamy smile plastered across Delly's face.
She turned back to the house, an awful, weird churning in her stomach. Maybe she should have eaten that burger slower, she thought, regardless of Johanna's yelling that she was eating at a snail's pace.
She scanned the room for her brown haired friend, and found her by the keg-stand, talking to the same boy Katniss had seen her with at the beach all those nights ago.
She walked towards her awkwardly, throwing her now empty soda can in the garbage as she entered the kitchen. Johanna caught her eye, waving her over.
"Where's Peeta?" She asked as Katniss neared her.
Johanna looked buzzed, her cheeks slightly flushed, but not nearly as trashed as Delly had been just moments ago.
"He went to go drop a girl named Delly home." Katniss explained, tugging at her shirt as she noticed Cato's eyes fall to her chest.
Johanna looked confused, but she shook it off. "Alright, well, I'm ready to call it a night if you are." She said, glancing around the room. "This is just getting lame. And we'll just be cleaning up puke soon."
Katniss nodded, and Johanna turned to Cato, snaking her long, wiry arms around his neck as his fingers gripped her waist. She whispered something in his ear, marking it with a bite before kissing him hotly.
She turned to Katniss, handing her the keys. "You drive, I'm too drunk." She said, swaying her hips as she stalked towards the door.
Katniss climbed into the car, twisting the key into the ignition. Taking a few turns to start up, she started out of the drive way, and with her eyes closed, Johanna directed her towards her house.
A short three minute drive later, she pulled up into the small, gravelly drive way.
Johanna turned to her, finally opening her tired eyes. "Come in, get your shirt."
Katniss nodded, handing her the keys, following her up to the small, one bedroom house Johanna and Annie shared.
They heard the TV, a song playing loudly, before they even stepped into the house and the two girls looked to each other, confused.
Johanna looked through her keychain quickly, pulling out a small, short retractable knife before twisting the door knob slowly.
Johanna jumped back as she pulled the door, her hand flying to her heart.
"God dammit Annie!" Johanna yelled, her voice hoarse. "You scared the shit out of me."
She threw her purse on the table in the center of the living room, kicking her tall, black heels to the corner of the room. "What the hell are you doing home?"
Annie pulled the blanket up to her shoulders, her legs splayed on the couch lazily, her eyes glue to the television screen in front of her. Her shoulders dropped as she spoke, "Finn's coach wanted him home tonight instead of tomorrow morning."
Taking both Annie and Katniss by surprise, Johanna snorted loudly. "Right."
Annie's turned towards her sharply, her eyes narrowing to tiny slits. "Don't, Johanna. Stop doing this every time."
"Okay, I'll stop doing," She threw her fingers in the air, drawing quotation marks in the air, "this, when you stop living in denial and stop believing him. I'll stop doing, this, when you realize that him going back to UNC early for practice really just means him going back to screw some girls, I'll stop—"
"Johanna." Annie screamed, the anger in her voice sounding strange laced in her sweet voice. "Stop. You're just jealous because Finnick is sweet, and nice and perfect and Cato is the biggest damn whore in this town."
Johanna laughed, strange and maniac sounding, "Yeah. Right. I'm jealous that you're dating a boy who is screwing other girls while you're sitting here, putting your life on hold for him. Right, I'm jealous. That's it." Johanna spat back, her voice hard.
Katniss looked between the two, unsure of what to do. She suddenly realized the thing she needed to do was to leave. Now.
She crept backwards towards the door as the two continued their screaming match, shutting the door as quietly as she could manage before taking a deep breathe.
She didn't even know what had just happened.
Katniss heard a car stall behind her as she climbed the steps to Haymitch's, her feet tired and aching from the night. She heard the car door slam, Peeta's voice following it.
"Hey." He smiled at her, walking towards the side of the house.
She walked towards him, leaning against the porch. She felt goose bumps prickling her skin and she rubbed her palms down her arms, finding a tiny bit of warmth.
"Hi."
"How was Johanna's?" He asked, sticking his hands in his pockets, his blonde hair tangling as the wind picked up slightly.
She contemplated telling him about what she witnessed, unsure if she should, wondering if it was too personal. "It was … weird."
He nodded, almost knowingly.
"How was Delly's?"
"Oh, I just dropped her home, she was pretty much knocked out by the time we got to her house."
"I, uh, I didn't know you had a girlfriend." Katniss blurted out, resisting the urge to clamp her fingers over her face afterwards. She hadn't meant to say that, not out loud. She looked away embarrassed, realizing that this wasn't the first time she'd managed to say something without thinking it through first around the blonde boy.
He laughed loudly as she turned back towards him, "Oh, Delly's not my girlfriend. She's, uh, well, she used to be. But that ended a long time ago."
Katniss sheepishly looked away again, rubbing her palms over her arms faster, not knowing what to say, secretly wondering just how many ex-girlfriend's he'd had.
She was going to just skip out on the beach tonight, she thought. She'd had enough embarrassment for one night.
"Hey, can I ask you something?" Peeta asked as Katniss began to pull away from the wooden railing, attempting to go hide back in the house, under her covers.
Katniss nodded, "sure."
"Well, I have to show you something before I ask you…" he said, "Come into my room for a moment and I'll show you."
She nodded, unsure of where this was going, but trusting Peeta enough to follow his instructions anyway.
She stepped into his room behind him, realizing this was the first time she'd ever seen his room, his home.
It was small – crowded and chaotic. It was the garage, after all, but as she looked around, taking in her surroundings, the colors and the warmth, the exuberance she felt just within the room, she realized the room was Peeta. It was so very Peeta.
There were pieces of art hanging around the room, small and big, some intricate and ornate, others simple and beautiful.
There were colors everywhere, on the walls, on the floor. There was a small sofa in the middle of the room, covered in pillows and a blanket, a small, ancient looking television on a table five feet from it. There was a pale green fridge on the other corner, looking every bit as ancient as the TV.
Katniss found herself drawn towards the paintings, her eyes glued to the colors, to the figures.
"These are beautiful, Peeta." She breathed, staring at a piece in front of her. The swirls of black and white, gray and blue the texture, rough and angry. A small figure stood in the center, looking broken, looking fragile.
In her head, she always figured Peeta to draw happier things. Unicorns and rainbows. These painting's almost stole her breath away.
Her eyes flicked to another painting on the right, bright pink flowers in a field. She raised an eyebrow, looking at him.
"This one," He said, pointing to the flowery painting, "Prim and I made this morning. She was really excited about it."
Katniss smiled, the painting did remind her of Prim, surprised Prim hadn't mentioned it to her.
"But," he said, picking up an enormous folder, "This is what I wanted to show you."
He pried the folder open, revealing sketches of people, most of them familar. She gazed at them as he spread them out; the first one was of Annie and Johanna, smiling, their arms around each other. They looked like sisters, happy and loving, and she shuddered as she thought about how she last saw them.
The next one was of Sae, a small beautiful girl clutching her fingers. Sae looked old, but wise and glorious, and happy, Katniss realized. Not tired, the way she did when Katniss saw her this morning, hauling trays of food and drinks to customers.
A sketch of Prim and Rue followed, both of them sprawled in the sand, Rue's happy dog licking Prim's face. The smiles on their faces almost came to life on the waxy paper, Katniss thought admiringly.
Katniss turned to Peeta, amazed that she knew all these tiny, trivial details about Peeta but hadn't ever bothered to see his art, magical and beautiful.
"These are just sketches," he said, "I haven't finished them yet – But, I'm applying to the Bern Institute of Art for the spring and these are a part of my portfolio."
The Bern Institute of Art was only a twenty minute drive from her house; Katniss had passed it a thousand times on her drives with her dad to the lake. She knew a few kids from her high school who had gone there, though she'd never spoken to any of them.
You had to be spectacular to get in to BIA, she knew as much, though. And as she glanced at all the sketches for a second time, she knew Peeta would get in. He was spectacular. Beyond it.
She faced him, telling him as much and he thanked her, his eyes modest, his cheeks tinged pink.
"I have to do two more to complete my portfolio," he started, pausing, rubbing his neck the way he always did when he was nervous, "and uh, I was wondering if I could draw you."
Katniss felt her eyes grow wide – she never even took pictures, despising the feeling of having others' eyes fixated on her.
She pictured Peeta drawing her, his eyes staring intently at her face, at her flaws and her scars and felt her face burn hot with embarrassment.
She shook her head, "I don't know if that's such a good idea…" She started, stopping as she saw his face drop.
"If you're worried about it taking too much time, it won't, I promise. I work pretty fast – we could work on it when the rush slows down at the restaurant, or we could try and do it in one sitting if you come over one night, or something -" Peeta explained, his hands flying eccentrically in the air as he tried to convince her with his words, his eyes large and earnest.
She felt her palms prickle, not knowing how to tell him no. Not sure if she wanted to tell him no.
Katniss felt her heart race under Johanna's silky, smooth hot pink shirt as she found her voice, "Okay."
He looked at her, surprised, confused. "Okay?"
She nodded, "Okay."
a/n: guys, thank you thank you thank you for your support, your prayers and thoughts, and your patience. you guys are the most amazing group of people I've ever, ever written for. my little niece is back home and done with her first round of chemo, and so I wrote this chapter quickly for you guys in two days as soon as I got home and had the time.
i can't tell if i'm moving too fast/too slow/just right with Peeta and Katniss and the story overall but you all let me know what you think :)
don't forget to review, please :)