Title: Behind The Scenes

Rating: M for suggestive language and later sexual content

Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games or Romeo and Juliet (obviously!) No copyright infringement intended.

Chapter 21: More Drama Than A Play

Peeta's POV:

As opening night draws closer and closer, my nerves about the play worsen. Every time I think I've nailed the script, I over-think things and end up messing it up. Katniss is a much better actress than I am. She rarely ever messes up her lines anymore.

Rehearsal is running late today. Apparently Effie had some appointment right before rehearsal and is running late getting back to us. It was probably something stupid like a hair appointment or to get her nails done, knowing Effie.

The entire cast is just sitting in the auditorium waiting for her arrival when Katniss leans over to Johanna and whispers something into her ear.

Johanna's face lights up and she nods.

Katniss leans over to me next, her lips just millimeters from my ear. "I need to get something out of my locker, come with me?"

I don't know what she could possibly need to go get right this very instant, but the tingles that shudder down my spine from just her breathy whispers has me unable to do anything but comply.

I nod and we sneak out the back and into the hallway. "What do you need to get?"

Katniss smirks at me and tugs me by the arm, not bothering to reply to my question. "Where are we going?"

"Shut up Peeta."

She pulls me with even more force through the abandoned hallways until suddenly she forces me into the girls' bathroom with her.

I am beyond confused by what she is doing. "Katniss…what…?"

The rest of my sentence is swallowed by her mouth. She kisses me with such force that I have to brace myself back against the wall. I don't know what happened to needing something from her locker, but I can't say that I am complaining about my current situation.

I thread my fingers through her silky hair and pull her as close to me as possible until her body is flush with my own. I can feel heat scorching through me from head to toe, wherever she is touching me burns, fueling my fire for her.

Our kiss deepens, her hot, wet tongue sliding against my own in a delicious tango. I flip us around and now I am pressing her into the wall as she hikes her leg around my body to pull me in.

I let my lips travel to her jaw and then to her delicate neck, stopping to suck at the soft spot where her pulse beats rapidly.

A shrill shriek sounds behind me and I turn to find a very horrified Effie staring at the two of us. Her mouth is hanging open comically and her hair is now platinum blonde, she was definitely at a hair appointment.

"Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark! What is going on here?"

I can feel my face turning red as I look over at Katniss. She is blushing just as fiercely, and I can already see the hickey on her neck turning a deep red and purple.

"Uhh…"

Effie shakes her head at us. "Okay, I've had a bad day as it is, so I'm going to walk back out of here, wait for two minutes and come back in. By that time, I expect both of you to be gone and when I arrive in the auditorium, I expect that the two of you will be professional and ready to work. I don't want to deal with writing the two of you up, so I'm going to pretend this didn't happen, but if I see this kind of behavior again, I will be forced to take action. Am I clear?"

Both of us nod and hurry out of the bathroom. As we are walking back towards the auditorium, I feel that I need to clarify what just happened between us. "What was that all about?"

Katniss shrugs. "I was bored and I wanted to do something spontaneous and fun. Do you have an issue with that?"

I shake my head so hard that my hair falls into my face. "N…No, no problem with it at all!"

She laughs and takes my hand. "Okay, let's get back in there."

Katniss' POV:

I don't know what came over, why I just had to feel Peeta's lips against my own, but I did. Damn Effie, barging in on us and ruining our sexy make out session! Oh well, at least she didn't write us up.

Peeta and I attempt to sneak back into the auditorium unnoticed. As we are making our way back to our seats, Peeta trips on something and goes down, taking me with him.

The entire cast whips around and sees us on the floor, tangled up together.

"Get a room!"

I'm not sure who yelled that, but I knew that things are only about to get worse.

And they do. As soon as Effie returns, she orders us all up to the stage to practice an entire run through of the play. From the first moment Glimmer lays her eyes on me up close, I can tell that I am in trouble.

In between scenes, she makes her move. "Nice hickey. Is that why you and Peeta ran off? To go fuck somewhere before rehearsal?"

Peeta stands in front of me and faces Glimmer. "No, we didn't go off to have sex, but yeah, I did do that to her neck, you know why?"

Glimmer blinks at him, wide-eyed and shakes her head.

"So, everyone knows that she's mine. And no matter how many times you try to insult her or me, it isn't going to work."

Peeta places his arm around my neck and kisses my cheek as Glimmer stalks off.

I seriously wish she would just quit already, it's getting kind of old.

As rehearsal goes on, I realize something. A strange, new feeling has been building up inside of me lately. It is a feeling that I have never experienced in this way before. A feeling that cannot and will not be suppressed much longer. My feelings for Peeta have grown so much in such little time. I barely knew him at the beginning of the school year and now he means everything to me.

It hits me, right here on stage where this all began that I'm falling in love with him. No, not falling, I am in love with him. My heart thuds loudly in my chest at my own revelation. I have never been truly in love before, never felt the intense emotion bubble up inside of me, threatening to spill over at any moment.

I need to tell Peeta, but I'm nervous, beyond nervous. I think he loves me too. I think that I can see it in his crystal blue eyes when he smiles at me, or feel it as his lips brush against mine, or even hear it when he calls my name. I can never be sure though.

I decide that his birthday party this weekend will be the ideal time to tell him. I will make sure that we get some alone time together and just tell him how I feel, and hope he feels the same way in return.

Now to think of what to get him for his birthday…

A/N: Sorry about the short chapter…I'm still having some issues with this fic. What do you think Katniss will give Peeta for his birthday?