Title: Slow Dancing
Chapter: Four
Rating: M
Genre: Romance/Drama – Modern AU
Chapter Characters: Peeta Mellark, Glimmer, Cato
Author's Note: Some of you may have noticed that I pulled chapter four down shortly after posting. My apologies for doing so and taking a while to replace it. I have been writing chapters from Katniss' point of view as I was writing Peeta's. This was mostly for myself as a matter of keeping details of the story straight, but also to help flesh out in my mind what Katniss is to me. I feel that switching POV over to Katniss was a little disruptive after three chapters. I also think I may have overplayed my hand by giving you her point of view. In light of this, I have decided to continue the story strictly from Peeta's perspective. I plan on releasing the chapters I wrote from Katniss' point of view as outtakes once the story as a whole has been completed. I thank you for being understanding and your continued readership.
I also now have an account on AO3 under the same user name.
Peeta awoke to a dull ache in his head and a- a girl wrapped around him? Taking a look around at the largely unfamiliar room, events from the night before came flooding back to him. He could feel the sweat pants that Glimmer had given him bundled at his feet. Just to make sure he remembered everything correctly, he lifted the bed sheets, praying that he still had something on.
"Okay, I still have my boxers on at least," Peeta thought to himself. Glimmer was snuggled into his side, but had thrown an arm and a leg over him in the night. She was snoring softly, and stirred slightly while he tried to untangle himself from her. Quietly he tiptoed out of her room and into the living room. Locating his pants, he pulled them on, pulled his phone back out of the back pocket, and reviewed the messages from the night before.
"Finnick is going to lose his shit when I tell him I crashed here tonight," he muttered quietly. He reread the messages from Katniss several times, not really knowing what to make of them; the dance, the failed attempt to kiss him, the kiss on the cheek, and now an invite to call and go see her perform. "What was her angle? Why the sudden renewed interest in me? Was it a matter of being out of sight and out of mind, and seeing me threw her off?" shaking his head, he took in a deep breath and blew it out.
The clock on the wall caught his eye. It read 11:34, and he figured it was the perfect time for brunch, his stomach growled in agreement. A quick survey of the contents of her pantry and fridge gave him the idea to make chocolate chip pancakes with a side of bacon. He thought about making mimosas, but he realized that it would probably not pair well with the pancakes. Not to mention that he wasn't sure how expensive the bottle of champagne Glimmer had on hand was, so he opted for the safe route of coffee.
Shortly after finishing the bacon he heard Glimmer speak up from behind him, "You're actually making me breakfast and I didn't have to put out? That's nice for a change."
He gave Glimmer a nervous laugh, "Um, you're welcome? Take a seat; everything should be done in just a minute. May I get you a cup of coffee?"
"Coffee would be wonderful," Glimmer said as she hopped into a seat behind the bar area. "Mugs are in the cabinet to the left of the sink."
Opening the cabinet he reached in and pulled out two mugs, "How do you take it?"
"The same way I like my men; blonde and sweet."
Her comment gave him pause. "I guess it's a good thing I'm not sweet."
"Careful, Peeta. If you keep making comments like that I think your nose is going to start growing," she said, snickering.
"That might be true, but it's not going to be my nose that's getting bigger," he said with a mischievous smile that quickly turned to laughter.
In between giggles she managed to say, "If you could manage to keep a straight face, I might have taken you seriously."
He shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. "Such is life, right? Okay, one blonde and sweet coffee coming up. I hope you're a fan of pancakes, because that's what I'm making."
"You bet your ass that I'm a fan of pancakes. Give me a full stack, and don't be stingy with the chocolate chips."
After breakfast was over and the dishes put away Peeta pulled his phone out of his pocket, opened the message entry from Katniss, and handed the phone to Glimmer. "So what do you make of this other message?"
She took the phone from him and read the messages. "Well, to be honest, I'm not really sure what to say. If you take the messages as they are, and forget about running into her at Haymitch's, I'd say she wants to see you. I mean, that part is obvious, but I think her going from 'call me' to 'I'm playing a show tonight and I'd like you to come out' is a little tricky."
Glimmer pursed her lips and rubbed her chin. "Are you one of those people that uses his phone as a phone, or do you mostly send text messages and only call people if you have to?"
"I generally only call people if I have to, and mostly just for work. I like talking to people face to face. The phone just feels so impersonal to me, especially if you have to talk about something important."
Glimmer nodded her head. "Well, that might explain the second message. Avoids the awkwardness of a phone call after all this time. Plus you'd be out in public. Maybe she's trying to get you comfortable with the idea of physically seeing her again? Maybe the talking can come later? I can't guess what's going on in her head aside from her wanting to reestablish contact. To apologize, to ask for you back, to be on friendly terms? No idea.
"This is one of those gray areas where it seems like the only way you're really going to find out is to either call her or go see her. Though I think if you didn't do either today she'd probably try to get in touch with you again. I'm just curious on what your thoughts on all of this are."
Peeta gave Glimmer an uncertain frown and slouched his shoulders. "I… I don't really know. I had resigned myself to the idea that things were over. That whatever she felt for me wasn't enough when compared to Gale. I never went Jolly Green Giant on her, I tried to be understanding of their history, tried to give her time to sort things out, get some closure since he was finally back.
"I won't lie and say I haven't been pining for her the entire time, I had just accepted that she didn't want to be part of my life. It was hard seeing her last night, not being about to run up to her and hug her, to kiss her," his voice hitched, and he took a deep breath to steady himself.
"As much as I love her, there's still some bitterness underneath it all. To love someone so much, to give everything you have, for things to be more or less perfect, and then to have it gone in the blink of an eye? That she didn't even want to try to work things out or save what we had? I think that burns me more than the idea of her kissing Gale.
"We haven't said one word to each other in almost four months. All of this, after seeing me once is a little overwhelming. Parts of me want her back so bad, but even if she swore off Gale, said she made a huge mistake, and threw herself at my feet begging forgiveness… I don't know if I could just open my arms to her. Well, I know I could, I just don't think it's wise.
"It hurts too much, to ignore everything that happened. I think it's something that would constantly be at the back of my mind if we didn't deal with it before trying a relationship again, if that's what she is after."
Glimmer nodded, "I think her intentions are the big question right now. Though there's a good chance that she doesn't even know herself, given the alacrity with which she sent those text messages. Also the time, I mean the bar did close at two. She waited almost two hours before she sent them."
"Maybe it took her that long to get the courage to do it?" Peeta interjected.
"Or maybe she just drank enough that it sounded like a good idea. Who really knows?" Glimmer scrunched her face and then placed her hand on Peeta's arm. "So, do you think you're going to go see her tonight?"
"I don't know yet. Part of me wants to, the other part wants to build a castle, dig a moat, withdraw the bridge, and arm the battlements."
She patted his hand, "You can't withdraw and hide your emotions behind a wall. All that's going to happen is that eventually you'll run out of supplies and you'll begin to starve because you never confronted the threat at your gates. There's a difference between a tactical retreat and running away. One is designed so that you can live to fight another day; the other is just being a coward.
"I think you've already made your tactical retreat by leaving her alone for a while, and she has raised a flag indicating that she wants to parley. It's time for a frontal assault while her guard is down," she said as a wicked smile crept across her lips.
Peeta sat up and pushed himself back from the table. "I never took you for a military strategist."
Glimmer laughed, "In the immortal words of Pat Bennetar, love is a battlefield."
"Excuse me for a moment." As he walked down the hallway towards the bathroom he found himself humming a few bars from the song before he snapped himself out of it. "I think that song is going to be stuck in my head all day now."
Glimmer called back, "There are worse things that I could get stuck in your head."
Just then Peeta's phone beeped and a message appeared on the screen:
Delly Cartwright – 1:05pm
Peeta, it's after 1. I went out to lunch with Annie and Finnick, and your bike is still at the bar. Now what kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into?
Glimmer hit the reply button, then the button to send a picture. She pulled her tank top down to expose more cleavage, pushed her arms together, and took a close up picture of herself. "And send."
Delly Cartwright – 1:07pm
PEETA MELLARK, YOU'VE GOT SOME EXPLAINING TO DO!
Finnick Odair – 1:07pm
Those do not appear to be Katniss' tits. *High 5* Call me later.
To: Delly Cartwright
SORRY! I thought I hit the button for the front camera to take a picture of myself to let you know I was okay. I attached the picture before I looked at it.
Finnick Odair – 1:07pm
Remember: no glove, no love!
Delly Cartwright – 1:08pm
Uh huh…
Finnick Odair – 1:08pm
Also, there's no such thing as butt babies.
Glimmer rolled her eyes at the last message and mumbled, "Classy."
Peeta walked into the kitchen a moment later. "So Commander, have any ideas for a battle plan?"
Glimmer turned to face him, "As a matter of fact, yes. Delly and Finnick just sent you a couple of messages. I also launched Phase One of the attack." She handed Peeta back the phone.
He scrolled back through his messages, eyes going wide when he saw the close up picture of Glimmer's cleavage. "You sent that to Delly? Oh god, no wonder she sounded pissed."
Glimmer cleared her throat. "Sorry, I couldn't resist. I saw her talking with Katniss and Rue last night. It made me wonder if she conspired with them to get you on the dance floor. It's a little crude, but this will help create the illusion that you aren't desperate."
He frowned, "But I'm not desperate…"
"I know that, but does everyone else?"
"Um, I… I don't know," he stammered.
"Exactly my point. Now what are the odds that word of you going home with someone will now get out?"
Peeta crossed his arms over his chest, "Finnick won't say anything to anyone other than Delly and Annie, and that's only because they are there with him. Plus you didn't send him the message directly. Annie isn't prone to gossiping. Delly, will probably let it slip unintentionally the next time someone asks about me."
"That's pretty much what I figured. Okay, we'll see how the trickle down effect works for a few days, unless you want me to show up with you at the Pit tonight? We could grab a booth and have a few drinks together. That would really get people talking. I'd also be curious to see how Katniss would react to that."
"I never said if I was going to show up or not."
"Peeta, you and I both know that you're going to go see her play tonight, so you might as well drop the act. I also happen to go to the Pit on a regular basis, it's not going to look like I'm appearing out of the blue."
"You don't think it's being a little petty by showing up to her gig that she invited me to, and then giving all of my attention to another girl?" he asked.
"Think of me more like a wingman; ready to swoop in and cause a distraction if you need me. I need to work a while this evening, and I probably wouldn't be able to get there until 10:30 anyhow. That gives you plenty of time to settle in, and I can pull off the fancy meeting you here routine if necessary. I'll keep my distance otherwise."
Peeta nodded, "Okay, I think I can work with that. I'll see if Finnick wants to come too. That might make it look like less of a set up since he seems to have something against you."
She grinned, "I think he's bitter that he gave me his number and I never called him. He used some cheesy line about he knew a bunch of photographers and publishers, that I should be a model."
Peeta snickered, "You do realize that he used to do a lot of modeling himself right? He's retired for the most part, but he does talent scout for a few agencies. He's probably bitter about missing out on a commission if he had gotten you signed. Finnick isn't exactly used to rejection. I'm sure in his younger days he probably used his connections to his advantage. Now, well, Annie made an honest man out of him. I just don't think Finnick knows how to turn his overly flirtatious manner off."
"Oh, so he wasn't coming on to me? I feel a little silly now." She shook her head and then looked at the clock. "How about we get dressed and I take you back to your bike? I need to run a few errands and then get ready for work."
"Sounds good to me."
Peeta gathered his things and watched tv while he waited for Glimmer to finish getting ready to go. He didn't have to wait very long before she was walking out of the bedroom, keys in hand. They made their way towards the front door.
Cheerily she said, "Peeta, you are welcome back any time, especially if you feel like cooking."
"Maybe next time I spend the night I'll make us some cookies," he said as he opened the door. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a large man who looked like he was in the middle of trying to knock on the door as Peeta was opening it. "Oh, hey Cato, what's up?"
