"Do you know him?"

"It's Jensen," Peeta says. "His dad owns the sweet store."

This doesn't seem to appease Katniss, who continues to suspiciously glare at the brown-haired teen.

Peeta can hear Prim's clear laugh from his seat at the picnic table, and he notices the way the Jensen's eyes watch Prim while the boy laughs. Peeta's eyes widen slightly as he watches Prim touch Jensen's arm, and he suddenly realizes why Prim is so late.

She's flirting.

Jensen says something else to Prim, and they walk down the stairs just as the school doors open again. Rory bounds out of the doors, a large smile on his face fading as he sees Prim and Jensen talking, laughing, and Peeta can see the way the younger boy clenches his fists as he pushes past Prim and Jensen. Prim looks at Rory, startled at first, but as she recognizes the Seam boy something darker flashes across her face that Peeta doesn't recognize. But he notices the way Prim laughs a bit louder, and she even nudges Jensen's arm before the Merchant leaves, telling him something as she winks. The Merchant boy laughs, and grins so widely Peeta knows that the boy is whipped.

Katniss curiously stares at Jensen when he walks away from Prim, a large smile still lighting his face as he runs his hand over his brown hair. Katniss tears her eyes from Jensen to questioningly look at Peeta.

"I guess her and Jensen..." Peeta starts, set on explaining, and then awkwardly trails off, shrugging the universal sign for the filler of you know.

"Jensen—?" Katniss says, and Peeta can tell she's trying to piece together the boy's relationship to Prim without ever considering the possibility romance. Katniss isn't one to immediately think that, is she? Peeta mildly thinks, and immediately he attempts to mentally shake the thought away.

"But I thought her and Rory..." Peeta says instead, genuinely puzzled, and Katniss stares at him with confusion, too. Peeta looks at Katniss imploringly, gesturing for her to clarify the younger Hawthorne's relationship to Prim. But this only seems to baffle Katniss more, and she tilts her head to the side as she returns the befuddled gaze.

"Rory?" she repeats.

Peeta shakes his head, suddenly mindful of just who Katniss is and her aversion to love and relationships. He can't imagine she would appreciate that Prim seems to be caught in her own love triangle, and with Gale's brother, nonetheless...

And from the clouded look in her gray eyes Peeta's certain she still doesn't understand, and he can't help but grin at her cluelessness. He recognizes all too well the hurt look on Rory's face, the broken expression one of realizing that no matter how strong the feelings, they would never be returned. But Prim's expression… her faint scowl…

"Forget it, Katniss," Peeta tells her, chuckling at the petulant look on her face. Katniss pokes his arm, frowning when he only continues to laugh.

"You're not very nice," she says, and Peeta shakes his head and grins at her, his lips curling into a smirk as she looks away, her own mouth unwillingly turning up in a smile. She's staring at the school, he's assuming, but Peeta can only look at her. A breeze blows, and the errant strands of hair that managed to escape her braid shift with the wind. Katniss' lips are still caught in a small smile, and the sunlight manages to fall through the leaves of the tree above them in just the right way to cast a glow on her dark skin, highlighting the lightness of her gray eyes.

She's absolutely, brilliantly, entirely— fucking beautiful.

Peeta watches this new side of Katniss that only lately has been revealed to him, and he revels in the fact that for the moment, she's completely his. The splinters that she had jammed into his heart seem to fall away, the cuts seem to heal, and he's happy. He's happy, sitting with her here, now— it makes him so goddamned overjoyed that it's all too easy to forget the pain she's put him through. It's all too easy to let the rest of the world fall away, to forget about the Capitol, the Games, Gale, their District, her seemingly inability to love, the fact that he was ever miserable—

Katniss' smile widens at something that he doesn't bother to look at, and the spark in her eyes seems to burn even brighter. Peeta finds his own lips stretching, too, mirroring her happiness.

It probably isn't right that her happiness has such an effect on Peeta's; it probably isn't fair seeing as Katniss' happiness is unaffected by his.

But Peeta can't find it in him to care right not. Not when she's like this— not when she glances back at him, that special sparkle in her eyes never dimming— not when she's open to him, inviting him in, and letting him love her.

It's a moment he wishes would never end.


A/N: I'd really appreciate it if you guys reviewed! It helps when you guys let me know what you think of each chapter, and it helps me make these chapters better and refine my writing in general. And motivates me. Also, seeing as no one really responded... I'm accepting four different reviewer's requests for chapters from Katniss' POV. Unless the reason no one responded is because no one is interested in that...? :(

And happy 50th chapter. Whoo-hoo.