But of course these moments with her always end.
A voice behind him distracts him, the voice reminding him that no matter how right he may find this moment, it isn't, not entirely. Now is not the time to stare at the girl the whole District knows pretended to love him. Katniss' smile widens, and Peeta tries to force himself to look away from her. He manages, but his eyes drift back to her in a matter of seconds.
"Sorry I took so..."
Prim trails off as she sees how close her sister and Peeta are, just how Peeta can't seem to look away from Katniss, and Peeta flushes as a knowing look creeps into Prim's blue eyes.
"Um, hey, Prim," Peeta says, desperately trying to stop the blush that's steadily sneaking up his cheeks. Katniss doesn't notice the redness of his cheeks, her eyes locked on her sister.
"Peeta," Prim greets properly, adjusting the bag on her shoulder. She glances at Katniss, who takes the moment to pounce. For once Peeta's grateful for her obliviousness, relieved that even though Prim understands all too well about his emotions, Katniss will probably never grasp the depth.
The thought meant to comfort him makes him wince.
"So what are you two doing together, here, anyway?" Prim asks casually, and Peeta can only stare at the younger girl, mute. She really beats around the bush, doesn't she?
Katniss' eyes narrow at the question, and Peeta tells himself to only look at Prim, to not give in to his masochistic curiosity to see why Katniss hasn't answered the question yet.
"I was at the bakery, earlier, and we were talking— so I asked him if he wanted to walk with me," Katniss stiffly answers, and Peeta can tell Prim is about to say something else to mortify her sister even more, so he abruptly stands, surprising both Prim and Katniss.
"What were you and Jensen talking about, anyway?"
Prim blushes, glancing at her sister as she stammers out an answer.
"You were what?" Peeta asks, mimicking the blond girl's casual tone from earlier, but before Prim can respond a familiar voice calls his name. Peeta looks around the emptying school yard in confusion, searching for the cause of his name, when his name is shouted again, louder this time, and a different voice, too.
"Peeta!" Delly cries, bounding over to him as she rounded the corner of the school. She flings her arms over his shoulders and pulls him into a hug.
"Delly," Peeta says, chuckling as he hugs her back. He can feel Katniss stand next to him, her arm brushing his as she smiles slightly at Delly.
"You don't come by anymore," Delly accuses, frowning at him as she pulls away. "Vito misses you."
She turns to Katniss and Prim, ignoring whatever response Peeta planned on making.
"How are you Katniss? I haven't seen you or Peeta in a while, especially not together. Is it true that Jensen likes you, Prim? Did you know that his mom's brother was in the Games before? I feel awful; I forgot, Katniss, I'm so sorry..."
"Delly, slow down," Peeta cautions, avoiding Katniss' gaze. But he can't help himself, and his eyes dart to the Seam girl. Instead of the angry, wounded look he expected to see, her eyes are alight with amusement at Delly, and a gentle smile tugs at her lips.
Katniss looks at him, too, and she motions for Prim to follow her.
"We'll let you two catch up," Prim says, smiling at Delly as Katniss pulls her away from the Peeta and Delly
"Did you same my name, earlier?" Peeta asks, once Katniss and Prim are no longer within earshot of them. Delly looks confused, and she shakes her head in response.
"What? Yeah, I said it before I hugged you."
"No, before that," Peeta persists, his eyes never leaving Delly's face as he scans her features for the truth. He feels as though he's forgetting something important, and he doesn't like the feeling one bit.
"No... But are you and Katniss back together now? I'm happy for you, Peeta!"
Peeta decides to about the voice later and just laughs as she continues to chatter about random things, and although he wonders if Katniss is still waiting for him, he makes himself focus on Delly and her mindlessly happy words.
"How's Rye?" she asks, and there's something different about her tone that makes him glance at her sharply.
"He's fine," Peeta answers curiously, and Delly's cheeks are tinged pink.
"And Brett?" she hurriedly asks, and Peeta answers this too, completely forgetting the other voice that said his name, and wondering what was so different about the way Delly mentioned Rye.
"You should go," Delly suggests minutes later. "I don't know your bakery schedule anymore, Peet, and I'm sure Katniss is still waiting for you, so I'll let you leave now."
Delly winks at Peeta, and Peeta grins back.
"You should come by sometime, Peeta," Delly insists as he begins to walk away. "You know how much Vito looks up to you."
"Or you could come by," Peeta suggests to his childhood friend, and he doesn't miss the way she reddens slightly.
"Or that," she says weakly for reasons Peeta doesn't understand.
Peeta says his goodbyes, and she responds with hers, and as he walks down the road to head back to the main street of town, disappointment floods him.
So Katniss hadn't waited for him, then. Peeta tells himself that it shouldn't sting this much that she hadn't waited, because he's not supposed to love her anymore, goddamn it. His weak moment, earlier, watching Katniss as avidly as he had, wouldn't happen again, it couldn't...
"Gosh, Mellark, could you slow down a bit?"
Peeta's gaze snaps to the previously empty space beside him, and he's surprised when he sees Katniss grinning up at him as she nudges his arm.
"Katniss," he says, and stops walking to stare. Katniss stops too, and her smile dims slightly as she she peers up at him.
"You didn't think I'd just leave, did you?"
Peeta doesn't answer, and Katniss takes his silence as his response. She looks at some point past him, and he can see the wheels turning in her head, but he can't tell what she's thinking. He's usually able to read her so well, but he's just so uncertain when it comes to her feeling toward him. Katniss clears her throat, and she directs her gaze to their feet.
"You still owe me a cheese bun," Katniss says hurriedly, and she looks up at him and grins. "I don't work for free."
He laughs at this, shaking his head, and wishes that he didn't always over think things.
"And besides... I thought I'd stay for dinner with you. If the offer still stands."
Peeta grins at her, and slides his hand in hers, and revels in the way Katniss welcomes the contact by squeezing his fingers.
"Of course," he says, and he can't help but love the way she leans on him, talking and laughing as they walk home.
A/N: So... only 2 more chapters, then moving into Catching Fire. Yeah.
Alright, so a lot of responses are kind of against me rewriting a chapter in Katniss' POV, but I think I will later do a quick bit in Katniss' POV and post it seperately. Alright, I'm a little lost right now as to the direction of this story, cuz my notes have suspiciously gone missing. So please let me know if there's anything wrong with the direction of this story, why you think so, or maybe even leave a review with ideas of what you think should happen. I know what I want to happen... but it's always great to hear other responses. So... yeah.
Again, sorry about any errors... and the climax of my story is coming up! Huzzah!
Please review.
—O
