Disclaimer: This fanfic is rated 'M' for language and sexual content. I do not own any of the characters of The Hunger Games.

Chapter 10: Game of Firsts

For dinner we both agree on an Irish style pub that opened a little over a month ago. The easy going atmosphere and cheerful Irish traditional music helps to calm my overly anxious nerves from our run in with Gale and Delly after the movie.

Once we're seated, I began to peruse the extensive menu but per usual, I am slightly overwhelmed by the number of choices available to me. My mouth is watering over the picture of the mini yorkshire puddings stuffed with braised short ribs but then there's the Guinness burger with blarney chips that is calling my name too. I peer over my menu to Peeta who looks like he's having as hard a time as I am trying to decide on something.

"It all looks so tasty, doesn't it?" he whines while ogling his menu.

"Yeah, but I think I've found my calling," I say, "I'm definitely going with the Guinness Burger." He nods as I see his eyes flickering back and forth across the menu again. "How about you?"

"I think I'm going to keep it traditional and go with the Shepherd's Pie," he answers, closing his menu.

I take a quick glance around the room to take in the décor of the restaurant and immediately decide that I like this place. The dark wood booths and stained glass fit in perfectly with the whole Irish pub theme; however, the insanely short kilts and tight black t-shirts of the waitresses leave little to the imagination.

Our waitress is a short blonde with a name tag that reads 'Cliona', although, I'm not completely convinced that's her real name, it's probably just a fake one to go along with the Irish theme. Regardless, I can't help but notice the lack of attention she gives to me while taking our orders. Can I blame her though? Compared to Peeta, I have as much charm as a slug.

After taking our food and drink orders, she turns on her heel and bounces away cheerfully, her kilt flapping dangerously along the line of complete exposure of her underwear. Ugh, it doesn't help that I kind of envy her ass.

We both sit silently while waiting for our drinks. I'm not sure if my freak out about Gale after the movie has left him questioning if I really want to be here. I do though. I want to be here. To try and put him at ease, I run through a bunch of potential conversation starters, but none of them are making the cut. Thankfully he's the first to break the silence.

"So this job interview on Wednesday, are you excited?"

"Well, it's not really a job interview." My voice is lacking excitement, so I guess that answers his question. "My father got me a place at the quarry as a summer student, so Wednesday is more of an informal meeting with my supervisor, I think."

"Well that's exciting, do you know what kind of work you'll be doing there?"

"No, not really," I sigh, "but it's with the environmental department so I'm assuming something, you know, environmental."

"Well it sounds interesting to me, you'll have to let me know how it goes then, OK?" he asks while playing with the pile of coasters on the table.

"Uh, sure," I reply hesitantly.

It's then that I realize that I don't actually have any way of contacting Peeta. I don't have his cell number or e-mail address or anything. I'm sure he's well aware of this, but I'll be damned if I'm the one asking for his number. We'll see if he makes the first move on that front.

"So…first date?"

"What?" I shriek in absolute shock, horror written all over my face.

Shit. Is it that obvious? What gave it away that he'd guess that fast? Am I really that terrible as a date? He chuckles softly.

"Sorry, I mean, describe your first date," he clarifies.

I narrow my eyes at him suspiciously, but he just smiles back innocently. I'm a little unsure of how to proceed. Is this some kind of a game or something? Maybe. I open and close my mouth a few times trying to figure out how to answer him.

My confused expression elicits a smirk from him before he explains himself further, "I call it the 'Game of Firsts', kind of a different take on twenty questions to get a person to open up and learn more about them. Care to play?"

"Uh, do I have a choice?" I bury my head in my hands while trying to decide if I should humor him with the truth or just make shit up if we're going to play this game.

Fuck. I guess I am a bit of a closed book when it comes to people getting to know me. Not very many people ever just 'want to get to know me'. I try to think, what do I really know about Peeta anyway? What does he really know about me? It's not like we've ever had an in depth conversation before, which is kind of weird for two people who've spent what little time they have together with their lips locked, instead of engaging in insightful conversation. Well, now is a good a time as any to open up to him a bit, I guess. Then I can learn more about him afterwards. I'm curious enough.

I try to steady my voice before answering, "This actually, if you want to call it a date that is."

"What? Are you serious?" he replies with a look of disbelief.

"Seriously," I hiss through my teeth, slightly embarrassed by his tone of voice.

He's silent for a few seconds before responding, "Well, I'm flattered really and yes, I would definitely hope this is a date. I just never would have thought—"

"Next question," I interrupt, not wanting him to explore how pathetic it is that this is my first real date…ever.

Peeta grins, taking my hint before continuing with his next question, "Fine then, first word. Not like 'mama' or 'dada' but first actual word."

I smile before answering him cheerfully, "Don't laugh, but it was 'pandada'."

Peeta furrows his eyebrows and smirks. "Um, I'm pretty sure that's not a word Katniss."

"Whatever, it was to me when I was two. I really had a thing for elephants when I was little and it was my favorite animal. I couldn't say 'elephant' so I just made up my own word for it."

"Cute," he chuckles. "And creative."

Cliona promptly returns with our drinks before he can get in another question. She carefully places Peeta's drink down in front of him, bending over a little to obviously to attract attention to her in-your-face cleavage. He thanks her for the drink while still looking at me. He doesn't even give her the slightest peek. She gives out a loud huff before practically throwing my drink down in front of me and stomping off like a frustrated two year old.

I laugh to myself at the hilarity of the whole situation and take a sip of my ice water. It does wonders for my parched mouth. I glance back up at Peeta who's still staring at me. It doesn't make me feel uncomfortable anymore. I actually quite like it. It's when he's looking at me like this that I find it hard to hold up the walls I've built up around me and the idea of opening up to him doesn't seem as terrifying as I originally thought.

"So, next question? Or are we done already?" I say sarcastically, wondering how random or silly his next question will be.

"Oh, we're just getting started," he laughs as he stretches his arms over his head, revealing the slightest line of skin above his leather belt.

I have to force myself to look away, but my God what a tease. I haven't see Peeta without a shirt on since high school. It's kind of hard not to notice all the guys during gym class when they're playing basketball, shirts versus skins. Even back then he had the body of a professional athlete…not that I studied it that much really. The mental image of a shirtless Peeta sends shivers down my spine causing me to cross my legs and slide my hands under my thighs, unsure of what to do with them.

"First kiss," he asks playfully.

"Oh god, how could I forget?" I snort. "Finnick, back in grade two. It was embarrassing and awful!" I laugh while replaying the whole ordeal in my head. "I can't remember who it was, but someone convinced him that girls tasted like sugar cubes or something. So he cornered me one day in the classroom and before I could run away he smooshed my cheeks together and planted a big wet one on my lips. It was so gross. He caught me totally off guard so I punched him in the stomach!" I bring my hands out from under the table and cover my eyes with my palms, shaking my head.

"I started seriously freaking out though," I continue, "he went up to the teacher after and I thought he was going to get me in trouble and that I'd get sent to the principles office and my parents would get called in all because stupid Finnick kissed me. Instead, he just pointed in my direction and asked the teacher 'Are you sure Katniss is a girl? I think you need to check because she tastes nothing like sugar cubes!' "

Peeta erupts in fit of laughter. I didn't think it was that funny but I'm not going to complain, Peeta's laugh is undeniably the most amazing thing I've ever heard. He doesn't hold back and it just sounds so natural.

"You do realize…that I'm the one…who told him that?" he finally gets out between lingering laughs. "If I had known it would have lead to your first kiss then I would have kept my mouth shut!"

"Well you should have, thanks for ruining it for me." I let out a dramatic sigh to feign annoyance, but the tight smile that forms on my lips quickly gives way, and I can't help but laugh along with him.

After our laughter subsides, he looks down to his crossed hands sitting on the table in front of him. He clears his throat before continuing.

"First time," he says coolly, his eyes staring right into mine.

I furrow my eyebrows in confusion. First time for what? I'm about to ask for clarification when it dawns on me what he's talking about. Oh! Oh shit. I'm pretty sure I almost choke on the ice cube I've been absentmindedly chewing on. What the hell? How did this go from innocent first kisses to intimate bedroom details only four questions into this stupid game? Did I miss something?

"I, uh…well…" I can't think straight and I'm pretty sure my palms are starting to sweat. "Um, let's see..." I'm stalling. How much does he really want to know? Do I have to name names here? Does he want a run down of who, where, when, why? Shit. This was a bad idea. I look down at my lap as I take a deep breath, trying to think of a way to get myself out of this.

"Wait, you're not a…a virgin are you?" he asks quietly, quickly looking around to make sure no one heard him. "Not that it's a big deal or anything, I just…well…shit…" he trails off, obviously embarrassed that he even posed the question.

"What? No!" I say a little too loudly. My eyes are wide and filled with panic. "I mean, no, I've done it tons of times…shit…I mean, no, I'm not a nympho or anything…but it's not like I'm inexperienced either…shit, this isn't coming out right at all…"

I burry my face in my hands again to hide the redness of my burning cheeks. Why is this happening to me? This is only our first date and we're already having this conversation? Oh, and I'm already making an ass of myself.

I wasn't expecting to tread these waters so soon…and so bluntly. I'd be lying though if I said I wasn't a teensy bit curious about Peeta's sexual history. A guy like him? I mean, there's no way he's still walking around with his v-card in his pocket. I need to clear this up.

"I mean, yeah, I've been with a few guys…so I'm not a virgin…" I trail off hoping he'll overlook my vagueness and ask me his next question.

"A few meaning?" he asks with curious eyes. "That is, if you don't mind me asking of course."

Wow, well that was bold. As if his last words would make it any easier to answer too. I kind of do mind actually. Divulging that kind of information may not be the best idea right now, hell, I don't even talk about this shit with Johanna. What good could come of it?

The heavens are smiling down at me at that moment as Cliona saunters back with our food. This time she carefully places my plate down first in front of me and then Peeta's. This time though, she doesn't even look in his direction before leaving. Well, at least she can take a hint.

"Wow that was fast, I'm starving," I say a little too enthusiastically, trying to change the subject before taking a huge bite out of my burger. I only hope he can take a hint too.

"Sorry, that was rude…forget that I even asked." He looks back to his plate and begins stabbing at his pile of mashed potatoes.

I can tell by his eyes that he's genuinely sorry for making me feel uncomfortable. Neither of us says a word though. We just eat our food silently. The light scrapes of his knife and fork and my chewing are the only noises to be heard. The awkward silence is starting to bug me even more than his initial question, and I can't take it anymore.

"Three," I blurt out before covering my mouth with my hand. Fuck! What am I doing? Idiot!

"Oh," he says casually, pausing with a forkful of potatoes hovering in front of his mouth, "and do you still keep in touch with any of your ex-boyfriends?"

I watch as his mouth opens and closes around the fork, sliding it out slowly. God his lips are so perfect. If we weren't in this restaurant right now having this damned conversation I'd be hard pressed to not jump him already. What did he just ask me? Oh yeah, my sex life. Great.

"Uh no, not really," I snort while shaking my head nervously. Who said I was in a relationship with all of them? Maybe he doesn't need to know that. One was only a one time thing anyway. Whatever, it'll be easier if they are all just ex-boyfriends. "I've never been the type to stay friends with an ex."

"I see, so I don't have to worry about any crazies showing up," he jokes.

"Is that all you wanted to know?" I laugh. "You know, you could have just asked me that up front instead of embarrassing the hell out of me."

"But it was so much fun watching you squirm," he jokes. "Good to know though, so no crazy ex-boyfriends. Perfect."

I'm not sure if now is a good time to mention Gale. Maybe not. We'll just have to save that for our second date.

We both turn back to our meals and when I finish off the last bite of my burger, I stare at him as he sops up the left over gravy on his plate with a dinner roll. He doesn't seem to notice me so I start drumming my fingers impatiently on the wooden surface of the table.

"Yes?" he asks with a coy smile before taking another sip from his drink.

"Uh, your turn? Spit it out, how many?"

He scrunches up his lips as if he's doing a mental count. His silence is killing me.

"That many huh," I joke half heartedly, somewhat worried that I won't like his answer.

"Ha, yeah right, I'm just messing with you. One, just one."

"One?" I gasp is disbelief. "Really?"

"Yeah, we only dated for a few months though. You sound surprised, not what you were expecting?"

"Uh no, not really I guess. Not a bad thing of course. Seriously though, is that including relationships, one night stands, anything else like that?"

"What else is there?" He looks at me curiously waiting for me to explain.

I don't respond though because I don't even really know what else there is, so I shrug my shoulders and take another sip of my water.

"But yeah, only one," he continues. "I've never had a one night stand or 'anything else like that' as you put it," he says sarcastically while air quoting my words.

I'm not sure why I find it so hard to believe, but I guess that I should be happy right? At least his answer wasn't twenty. I don't know though, it's not like that kind of information should really change anything anyway. Only one. Huh. Curiosity of this one lucky but obviously stupid girl is starting to eat at me. Who in there right mind would let a guy like Peeta go? I have my suspicions but I'll need him to confirm them first.

I bite back my nerves and just come right out with it, "So this one…anyone I know?"

"Wow, your turn to get straight to the point," he laughs nervously. He tilts his head back to drain the rest of his drink before continuing, "To answer you question, no one you'd know, just a girl back at school."

"Oh," I whisper. Huh, that's not the answer I was expecting. I'm staring off into space with furrowed eyebrows when he audibly clears his throat.

"Katniss, by the look on your face that obviously wasn't what you were expecting to hear. I'm curious. Who did you think it was?"

I hide my face in my hands again for the hundredth time tonight, trying to decide if I should just stop talking all together or just change the subject. I peek out between my fingertips and he's still staring at me with raised eyebrows. Ugh, I told myself I'd be honest with him. If we're going to give this a chance I need to be honest.

"Delly," I say through gritted teeth while still peering through my fingers to see his reaction.

He stares back at me blankly for a second before frowning and letting out a loud sigh. "You really thought…you thought Delly and I dated?"

"Well no, not dated, just hooked up I mean," I say, my hands finally falling from my face to rest in my lap.

"Hold on a sec, you really thought we slept together?" he asks exasperated. "Why would you think that? Did someone tell you that?" He rubs his face in his hands, clearly frustrated.

"No one had to tell me anything!" I reply, my voice a little too whiney for my liking. "Remember the night of Finnick's graduation party?"

"Yeah, of course, the night you avoided me like the plague," he mumbles, motioning for me to continue.

"Well, every time I saw you that night, the two of you were hanging off each other and I distinctly remember seeing you two sneaking off to the spare bedroom—"

"Stop right there Katniss, just stop," he interrupts. "First off, I wasn't hanging off anyone that night. Delly was the one following me. Hell, every time I turned around she would pop out of no where and try to jump me. All I wanted to do was find you, you Katniss, and no one else. I had to fix what happened. I didn't want us to leave things the way we did."

His words and the images from my memory are not lining up at all, but maybe I was mistaken? I was really drunk that night, so maybe I can't rely to heavily on my drunken memories too much. It's not like I confirmed it with anyone afterwards either, I just went with what I thought I saw. Oh and left running away like a coward. Whatever, it's still blatantly obvious that Delly still has feelings for Peeta, whether they're sincere or born from pure lust.

"Wait a minute," he rests his hands on the table in front of him, "so is that why you were avoiding me then? You thought I was already with Delly?"

"Uh, yeah? What was I supposed to think?"

"But…" he hardens his brow as he trails off. "I thought…I thought you knew how I felt about you. Didn't you? All during senior year, you never once noticed?"

What the hell is he talking about? I'm pretty sure I spent my whole senior year admiring Peeta from afar. We only really crossed paths at social gatherings because he started hanging out with Finnick that year. It was nothing out of the ordinary and sure, maybe I noticed him smiling at me a few more times than usual, but that's what you did when your social circles began to overlap.

"I even kissed you Katniss!" he says, his voice beginning to strain. "I kissed you out in public for everyone to see. Everyone including Delly. How could you not think I had feelings for you? Didn't that kiss mean anything to you?"

How was I supposed to fucking know? What is going on here? I don't need to be reminded about that kiss again. It did mean something to me. It still does mean something to me. I can feel my blood pressure start to rise as the tension between us is growing.

"Well thanks, I'm well aware you kissed me Peeta," I snap, my voice thick with sarcasm. "And yeah, of course it meant something to me!" I see his face soften slightly at my confession but I'm not done talking. "It meant something for all of thirty seconds until your mother came running at me hurling insults left, right, and center! What was I supposed to think after that? She pretty much tore me a new one out for everyone to see! Have you forgotten? She accused me of getting in the way of your future, your future with Delly!"

I'm breathing heavily now and beyond frustrated with myself for letting him affect me this way. I'm frustrated for letting things get this out of hand. I look around quickly to make sure no one is staring at us due to my sudden outburst. Thankfully the music in here is loud enough that no one is the wiser. Why is this still such a big deal for me? Why am I still carrying this around? FUCK!

Peeta is staring at me like I have two heads, but he says nothing. He either knows me well enough not to interrupt or he has no idea what to say. I have to take a deep breath to clam myself because my hands are starting to shake out of frustration. I need to be rational, that was the past and it shouldn't matter anymore. He already apologized for all of it, and I'm the one who said I wanted to start over. I just need to let it go already, but not before I clear my conscience.

"Listen, I'm sorry," I say calmly as possible. "I know we already talked about this and you apologized already but I need to get this off my chest. I don't know, maybe it will help me get past this since it obviously is still affecting me." I look to Peeta and see that he's still looking at me with concerned but understanding eyes. He nods slightly for me to continue.

"If you want me to be completely honest here, I thought you were just using me to piss off your mother or something. Honestly Peeta, what else was I supposed to think? We were only acquaintances growing up and you barely spoke two words to me the whole time. Then the second we graduate you kiss me? You caught me off guard and then the whole misunderstanding with Delly at Finnick's after, well that was pretty much the last straw for me and that's why—"

I'm startled when Peeta reaches across the table to take one of my hands in his. I let him. I close my eyes and take another needed breath. I'm tired. I'm tired of putting up a fight. I don't even know what I'm fighting against. I'm done fighting with myself. I open my eyes and find him looking down at our intertwined fingers. I see the corners of his mouth rise ever so slightly.

"And that's why you left," he finishes.

"Yeah," I confirm with a ragged breathe. I look up to his face again.

"Well now I know." He looks up from our hands back into my eyes. "And now we can move on. Right?"

I feel eerily calm now. The weight I've been carrying around with me for so long from that day, it's now been lifted. Knowing what I know now, I can't help but smile back at Peeta.

"Yes, now we can move on."

Author's Note: Hello! Hope you enjoyed that chapter; it builds up perfectly to something really special in the next chapter. The forecast for the next chapter by the way is sunny with lots of fluff…you've been warned! Thank you so much for all the follows and favorites and if you could leave a review that would be amazing!

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