Coffee and Classics

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE:

Son of a bitch. This is the second time I've had to go to this stupid jail in three months. It's ridiculous. Why do I have to be siblings/friends with people that have the knack for getting thrown in here? Peeta holds my hand as we sit in the waiting room to find out what's going on with Gale. We dropped Prim off at our apartment—calling Finn over to keep an eye on her. She was pissed to be baby-sat again, but I don't care. She will always be seven in my eyes.

"Baby, Gale will be fine," Peeta whispers, his thumb rubbing reassuring circles on my mine. "I think."

I'm unable to contain my giggle. "Wow, thanks, baby. That makes me feel better." I smile at him and he gives me an embarrassed smirk. "I think." He lights up, and I lean over and kiss his jaw, then sit back in my seat and grab a magazine from the table next to me. Peeta lets go of my hand and wraps the arm around my shoulder, then snatches my hand with his other.

"Katniss?" I look up from my magazine and see Officer Dick looking at me, his cold blue eyes staring. Like my day didn't already suck enough. He begins to walk toward me and I have to refrain from running in the opposite direction.

"Cato. It's nice to you again," I mumble. Not. "How is work?"

His eyes lose their coldness momentarily. "Good. Great, actually. What are you doing here again?" He asks, his blonde eyebrows pulled together.

"My friend Gale got pulled in here for a brawl in the middle of a restaurant. I've got bail him out." He nods his head knowingly, and I feel Peeta's grip tighten on my hand. I look over to him, and see he's about to explode. Oh shit. He remembers the story about Cato. I lean over and kiss his cheek, right next to his ear. "Breathe, baby. Don't bring that up here," I whisper to him. He gives an angry nod, and I turn back to Cato.

"Gale Hawthorne?" He inquires; I nod. "Well, we're processing him right now, actually. You should be able to get him about a half an hour. He is not going to be charged for assault, but he is getting slapped with public disturbance—him and that other guy he came in with. There will be about a thousand dollar fine."

I groan. Sucks to be Gale. "Thanks."

Cato suddenly looks unbelievably uncomfortable. "Katniss, I'm really sorry about—" but he doesn't finish his sentence. Because Peeta grabs my face and presses his lips against mine; he slips his tongue into my mouth slowly, and though surprised, I return mine. We make out, slow and sensual, for at least thirty seconds before he pulls away; he looks to Cato.

"She doesn't need your apology," he says, his tone dripping with venom. "You're an ass, and she's moved on and found someone better for her. Hell, she's found someone actually human."

I recover my breath from our kiss. "Peeta, I can't have you get arrested too," I sneer at him. "So stop talking, please?" He looks over at me and nods, then picks up a magazine.

"Um, yeah. So, I'll see what I can do about your friend." Cato scratches his head uncomfortably then leaves the two of us, marching down the hall, through some doors and disappears. I smack Peeta's arm.

"What the hell? I'm not some fire hydrant; you can't just fucking mark me as your territory whenever you feel threatened. And especially not in front of someone who can arrest you," I whisper at him as menacingly as a can.

"Threatened? I'm not threatened. That guy is lucky he's a cop, or I would have kicked his ass for what he did to you!" He leans forward until our faces are almost touching. He lifts left hand and drags his thumb across my bottom lip. "I love you. More than anything. And I wanted to show him that he didn't ruin you." He presses a small kiss to my cheek. "And you are my territory, just like I am yours."

My heart flutters at his words, my annoyance fading. "I love you, too." I lift my hand to cradle his cheek. "So please don't get antagonize a cop and get arrested." He smiles, a chuckle escaping his throat and nods at me.

We wait almost an hour before we see Gale brought through the doors by Cato. We stand and walk over to him, hand and hand; he looks up at us and smirks.

"Thanks guys. I know I can always count on you lovebirds," he says when Cato is finished uncuffing him.

"Yeah, whatever," I mumble, placing my hand on his shoulder. I look over to Cato and find him staring and mine and Peeta's clasped hands. "Thanks, Cato."

"You're welcome," he says, nodding at me.

Gale's eyes bulge. "Wait, that's Cato? The guy who…son of a bitch." He moves towards him, but Peeta grabs his arm.

"Dude, you already got arrested once today, let's keep it at that," Peeta grumbles, dragging Gale away from Cato and towards the exit. They both look angry as they glance at Cato one last time before opening the door.

"Did you tell everyone you know?" Cato asks, turning to me, his cold eyes back and filled with anger.

"No. I didn't. But I'm sure you told all of your friends about every girl you 'pounded your dick into.'" I growl at him, using air quotes. His eyes flash with recognition, remembering that's what he said to me. "Now, I'm leaving. And if I ever see you again, it will be too soon." I push past him and follow my boys out the door.

"Can I crash on your couch tonight?" Gale asks when walk into our apartment after stopping to get Chinese on our way home from the police station.

"Yeah, whatever," I mumble, moseying into the kitchen to get myself a glass of water.

"You were right, Catnip. About Madge. She treated us like shit, and maybe we shouldn't be fighting for her."

I turn around from the sink and find him standing at the end of the couch, his face sunken. "Gale…"

"No, you were right. She's selfish." He falls down on the couch and I move over to him, grabbing a box out of Peeta's hand. I pass it to Gale and he opens it, shoving his chopstick angrily inside. "She's a cheater who expects to get everything she wants."

I open my mouth to agree with him, when a knock sounds on our door. Peeta moves to get it, but I kiss his cheek and push him towards the couch to relax and sit next to Gale. Prim and Finnick creep out of her room and join us, grabbing more boxes of food from Peeta and sitting on the floor next to the coffee table. I move towards the door and turn the knob, pulling it open.

"What gives you the right?!" Madge screeches at me. I'm taken aback. What the hell is she doing here?

"How do you know where I live?" I ask, surprised. I mean, shit, we just moved here! She stands in front of me in a large blue jacket, her dirty blonde hair pulled up to the top of her head in a messy bun. Her normally kind eyes are fixed with a glare in my direction.

She ignores my question. "Marvel came home from jail and told me what happened at the restaurant." She places a hand on her very pregnant stomach. "Katniss, I thought you were my friend, how could you say those things about me?"

I huff out a frustrated breath. "Madge, I said those things because they are true." I wave for her to come in my apartment, and she tip-toes past me. I shut the door behind her. "You cheated, you lied, you manipulated. Don't get mad at me for telling the truth to the two guys that are too in love with you to notice your faults."

Suddenly, pain erupts on left cheek as she slaps me across the face. I grab my cheek and look over at her in shock. Did she seriously do that? She points her finger at me. "You are a bitch, Katniss. And you're just jealous that Gale never loved you." God, whatever happened to the nice Madge I used to know?

I practically laugh in her face. "Seriously? Are you fucking crazy?! I don't love Gale like that, he's my brother." I take a deep breath, but my anger refuses to fade and I explode. "And you are a cheating slut!"

Her eyes flare with anger and we both lunge towards each other. But before we make contact, arms wrap around my waist and pull me away from her; I see Gale grab Madge and pull her away too.

"Calm down, baby," Peeta coos into my ear, pulling me across the living room until we are practically in the corner. He sets me down on the ground and turns my face so he can see the cheek Madge slapped; I see Peeta's eyes flare with an emotion I can't identify. "I can see the imprint of her hand. Does it hurt?" I nod angrily—it actually stings pretty badly.

"You're a home wrecker!" Madge screams across the room. I move my eyes from Peeta to her and refrain myself from running back over there and punching her in the face. "You are trying to tear my family apart."

"I'm the home-wrecker?!" I bark out an incredulous laugh. "Wow, you really are fucking crazy. Tell me Madge, how was fucking your ex-boyfriend while you were dating someone else? And then, how was getting pregnant by your ex-boyfriend and not telling your current boyfriend? You're a cheating skank!"

"SHUT UP!" She screams, her voice cracking. "And how is being a frigid bitch better? I bet your boyfriend saw your body and said exactly what Cato did, you fucking prude!"

My vision blurs in fury, and I fling my body in her direction again; Peeta holds me back, but I thrash in his arms. "I fucking hate you!" I yell. "And if you weren't a pregnant whore, I would kick your ass!"

"Hey, hey, that's enough," Peeta growls, squeezing me against him until I go limp in his arms. He sets me back down and cups my face in his hands; he turns his face away from mine. "Gale, can you please get Madge out of our home?"

Anger flares up in me again, and I pull my face away from Peeta. "NO, GALE!" I scream, looking at him with his hands around Madge's waist. He looks startled that I'm suddenly yelling at him. "Don't take her home. Don't touch her. Stay away from her; you deserve better."

He looks at me with a sad expression. "Catnip, she's pregnant with my kid. I can't just leave her."

"Are you sure she's not lying? She could just be lying to get back with you because she knows how good you are!" I shout, knowing I'm blowing this way out of proportion, but I can't seem to stop. "She seems like the type! Guilt tripping you into being with her over the false pretense that she's holding your child! It could be anyone's!"

I hear Madge start to cry, but I don't give a shit. Peeta starts to scold me, but Gale cuts him off. "Catnip, I'm going to get a paternity test, obviously, just to make sure. But seriously, you're the one that pushed me towards her in the first place."

"I pushed you towards the kid! Not her."

"And I'm with Johanna, remember? But Madge is…important to me. She always will be. I'm going to take her home now and I'll call you tomorrow."

I scoff and turn away from the two of them, staring at the corner instead. I hear the door open and shut but I still don't relax.

"Never a dull moment with you guys," Finnick calls out behind me. Talk about the understatement of the year.

"I want to strangle that hoe," I sneer, pressing the ice pack Peeta made me put on my face closer to my cheek. "She used to be so nice in high school, and now she's a trampy bitch that slaps people."

Peeta crawls into bed next to me, lying on his side and slides his right hand under my sleep shirt as I lie on my back. He rubs comforting circles on my stomach, and I start to relax a little bit. He has that effect.

"I mean, yeah, I know I exaggerated the whole 'she might be lying about it being your baby' thing, but it could still be true! And everything else I said was definitely true."

Peeta leans in closer to me and plants soft, wet kisses on my neck and underneath my chin. "Baby, I understand your anger, but it's Gale's and Madge's problem, and we can't interfere too much."

I want to scream at him to shut up, but I know he's right, so instead I just huff out an angry breath. "I hate it when you're right," I complain, crossing my arms over my chest. He chuckles softly and kisses up and down my folded arms, still continuing his comforting circles on my skin.

"We have to let them make their own mistakes, and I was really happy to hear that Gale was going to get a paternity test, because I weary from the start about him being the father." He snuggles his face back into my neck. "But for the time being, let's just forget about them, and focus on us. And Prim."

I nod my head. Sounds fucking perfect. I roll on my side and press my lips against his, wrapping my hands around his neck and weaving my fingers into his amazingly soft hair. He cups my cheek and I wince; he pulls away from me abruptly. "I'm sorry, baby. I forgot about your cheek," he whispers, lightly trailing his fingertips over the sore skin.

"I don't care; I want you." I go to kiss him again, but he pulls away.

"I don't want to hurt you. We can do this tomorrow." I groan. I want to do this right now. "You know how much I love to kiss and touch your face when we make love."

"Fine," I grumble, horny and rejected.

"Trust me, Katniss. I wish I could be buried in you every second of the day." I smile at the thought and he captures my lips again and kisses me, deep and lingering. When we finally pull away, I snuggle into his chest and he wraps his arms around my back, pulling me until we're flush against each other. He plants a small peck on my forehead as my eyes begin to droop. He whispers once last thing before I fall asleep, content in his strong arms.

"Tomorrow, it's time for a shower."