Chapter 9: Fear and jealousy
A/N: Here's another chapter. Enjoy and I do not own Hunger Games.
Katniss' POV
He's that boy from bakery. The boy that gave me the bread. The boy that saved my life and in a way gave me new hope. The boy who helped me even though he doesn't know who I am and received a hit from his mother for doing so. The boy I've forgotten but now I've remembered. The boy I owed. The boy who was Peeta. Looking at his deep blue eyes, I'm now sure, he is the boy with the bread.
I was about to say something but then Peeta said, "Hhey, I umm, just went here to tell you that I've finish writing the envelopes on the addresses, I mean, umm the other way around."
"Oh okay, so, should we get going?" I asked while letting my realization aside. This might not be a good moment to be thanking him for what he did eight years ago. He nodded then I excused myself to get some things in my room but I remembered that Prim is sleeping.
"Hey Peeta, I can't go right now, Prim is sleeping and if I go, there's no one to be here with her.
"It's okay, I can just mail these myself." Peeta said. I was about to nod but then we heard someone from the front door.
"Annie, I'm here." We went down to see who it was. It was Cinna.
"Oh hey, do you know where Annie is?" Cinna asked.
"She said she'll be in town for the wedding location." I answered. "And Finnick went to pick up Johanna.
"Well, I guess I'll just be staying here." Then I remembered what Annie said earlier.
"Annie said that you're here to get the measurement of the flower girls and the groomsman."
Cinna nodded. "Well, Prim is here but she's asleep and Gale is with Annie, and Rue I think will be here later." I explained to him.
"Thanks for informing me Katniss." Cinna smiled. I smiled back.
"Cinna can you do me a favor?" I asked shyly.
"Sure, what is it?"
"Can you keep watch of Prim, she's upstairs in my room, the third room from the stairs on the second floor. We still need to mail these invitations.
"Sure I can." Cinna answered.
"Thanks. Well, we're going. Take care." I said then turned to Peeta who's standing behind me.
"Are you sure you're going?" Peeta asked me while we're making our way out.
"Yeah, I mean, I trust Cinna and I promised I'll accompany you." I said.
We ride a cab and like the first time, we're silent. I look down at my fingers like it's the most interesting thing in the world. I don't know how to tell Peeta about the bread. I owe him and I don't like owing people, even if he's a friend. But how will I show him my gratitude for a thing he did a long time ago and I doubt he remembered it but still, I have to thank him no matter what.
He's still silent when we arrived at the post office. He only said a couple of words about the invitations. I just nod at him not sure what to say. We are back in a cab again after an hour. We're still quiet and I just stared outside the window looking at the beautiful sunset. We're back at the mansion after two hours. When we're inside we saw Cinna, Prim, Gale, Annie, two persons I think are Rue and Thresh. Rue looks like the same age as Prim and she has thick dark hair, dark satiny brown skin and golden eyes and his brother Thresh has dark skin same as Rue and dark hair and also has the same eyes as his sister. He's very tall, too. Cinna is measuring Prim and Gale would probably next. Then I noticed Gale, he's staring down with his fist clenched up. I thought of approaching him but Annie greeted us.
"You're back.
"And we're finished with the invitations" I added.
"That's good, thanks Katniss and you too Peeta." She said hugging both of us.
"You're welcome but I'm really sorry. I think I'll be in my room. Just call me when you need something." Peeta said.
"Sure, good night." Annie said then Peeta smiled. Then he greeted Rue and Thresh. I wonder if he's not feeling good again. I watched him as he went upstairs, he then turned to me and smiled sadly, he reached his room and closed the door. I turned back to Annie who seems to be watching me. She's grinning, I know what she's thinking so I just asked her about the location.
"It went great, we're able to rent a beach. It's an almost an hour drive from here but the view is spectacular there. I can't wait to tell Finnick." Annie said with a smile on her face.
"I'm sure Finnick will be delighted. By the way, when will he be back?"
"Well, he called me earlier and said he'll be back by tomorrow with Johanna, it's a long travel to district 7 and back here." Annie explained then excused herself to make dinner. I felt my stomach growl. I never realized I've never eaten since yesterday night.
Cinna is finished with Prim so she went running to me.
"I'm sorry little duck, I left you." I said.
"It's okay, when I wake up Gale and Annie were here already."Prim replied. "I'll go to the kitchen, I promised Annie I'd help her."
"Okay little duck." And with that she ran towards the kitchen. I turn my gaze to Gale, he's still being measured so I sit down the couch next to Thresh.
"Hi, you must be Thresh, I'm Katniss." I said to Thresh then offered my hand. He just nodded and shook it.
"Hi I'm Rue, sorry for my brother, he's not really good in speaking to other people. He's kinda shy." Rue whispered to me then smiled.
"It's okay, nice meeting you Rue, have you met my sister yet?"
"Yes, she's very nice, she even showed me the beach across the street." I'm glad that Prim made a new friend but I felt a pang of guilt. I remembered that she wants to go there but I'm not even there when she woke up.
Gale is finished so it's Rue's turn. I watch him as he sits on the other side of the couch. He seems to be avoiding me so I decided to approach him, I was just about to stand but then he excused himself. He said that he's not feeling good so he'll just take a nap before dinner. He went to the room which is just next to mine. Why is he avoiding me? Just this morning he seems happy but now it's like I've done something wrong to him.
Peeta's POV
We're riding a cab to the post office. I kept quiet. I'm good with words but right now, I don't even know how to talk to her. I even stuttered talking to her in front of her room. After a few feeble attempts, I gave up. This is not the right time.
My thought wandered off to the five years old Katniss. I remember now, on that music assembly, she sang the valley song and I swear every bird stopped and listen to her and that's when I realize I love her. They said that's it's impossible for a kid to fell in love but how my heart beats whenever I see her during our history class, the way my chest tightens when I sometimes see that she's looking at me, the way I dreamed of her face, I know it's love. I admire her from afar. I tried talking to her but with no success. Then one day, when I was eleven, I heard my mother screaming at someone outside the bakery. It's a seam girl but not just any other girl, it's Katniss. I felt something in my stomach, the feeling that I identified as fear, fear for her, fear for her family and fear of losing her. So inside, I burnt two bread as an excuse so I can give it to her. I saw her ran with the bread and I feel relieved. This answered why I'm attracted to her. I know I felt something special towards her ever since I was just a kid but somehow, I forgot about it. But then I saw her again sparking that long lost feeling I have for her. But why did I forget the girl I've been in love with since I was five?
I'm back to reality when the car stopped. We're already at the post office and I didn't even notice it. We went inside then notice there's a long line.
"It's a good thing we finished this invitation early, if not we might be still here during the night." I said trying to make conversation. She just nodded.
We spent an hour before we're able to mail the invitations. It's already getting dark. Our ride back to the mansion is quiet again. I enjoyed the view of the sunset. I turned to her and she's doing the same thing so I just resume looking out the window.
We reached the mansion. Cinna is measuring Prim and Gale is standing behind them, eyes on the ground his fist curled angrily, maybe waiting for his turn. I feel something in my gut upon seeing him. Annie greeted and thanked us for what we've done. I walk up to her and say you're welcome but I apologized because I have to get to my room. I went to greet the guests, Rue and Thresh but I don't know if they're here to stay and help. When I almost reach the top of the stairs I look back at Katniss, I felt sad seeing her but I tried to smile at her realizing she's looking at me too.
While I continued walking I thought to myself, now I know why. And now I know it can never be.
A/N: I hope you don't think Peeta's feeling towards Katniss is too rushed. He loved her since 5 but just forgot about it for some reasons but now seeing and her and hearing her singing the valley song again, he's feelings returned.
Sorry for the not great ending and if there's some typo or grammatical error. But I promise next chapter, there will be a Peeta x Katniss moment. And btw, the italicized part is a flashback.
Review please :D
