Chapter 8: Big Brother
After escorting the girls and securing Katniss' number, Peeta arrived to his apartment close to nine thirty, finding Prim, on her pajamas, sitting in the couch watching a movie on his big screen tv, a big bag of popcorn in her lap.
"Peeta!" The blonde teenager jumped from the couch and ran to hug him. "You're home! Did you bring me anything from the Capitol? She asked already rummaging through his overnight bag.
He chuckled amused, taking a box out of his bag and handing it to the girl.
"A musical snowball!"
He nodded smiling.
"Yep. That's the Old Capitol Monastery. The monks had a chapel turned into a history museum. It's a wonderful place. You'll love to visit it. I'll take you to see it sometime."
"Yeay!" She said jumping across the back onto the couch and sprinkling popcorn all over it.
"Hey watch it! That's an eight hundred dollars couch! And it's white!"
He took pride on his place. It was the first place he called his own, and he kept it immaculate. Prim, on the other hand, was a little messy, and Sae often complained about that. But that was her only flaw. Otherwise, she was perfect.
She stuck her tongue out at him mockingly and Peeta had no choice but to laugh.
"You are incorrigible. Hurricane Prim Sae calls you." He sat next to her taking the remote.
"Don't you dare change it! It's Bella and Edward's wedding!"
"Seriously Prim, are you seeing that Twilight shit again? That saga destroyed the vampire's image forever."
"You're silly." she said. "Grandma Sae was watching another infomercial about cooking ware. Thank God we have a copy of your keys."
He laughed.
"You know this is your place too ducky. That's why I rented next door's apartment. To have you and Sae by my side." He said pulling the girl to him and kissing her temple. "Now, do I have to watch that shit again?"
"Seriously, Peeta? You're not going to pay attention to the movie. You will fall asleep in the couch. That's are a boring date."
"And how do you know anything about boring dates? You're only 14. The only dates you're supposed to have are with your books and that ugly cat Buttercup."
"Fifteen!" she corrected. "God! You're the most outdated older brother on the planet. And F.Y.I, I went to the homecoming dance with Rory Hawthorne."
"Peeta sat up straight. "Did you say...Hawthorne? Isn't he..."
"Yes, he's Gale's younger brother."
"He's nineteen for crying out loud!"
"Sixteen! He's only a year ahead of me at school, and I didnt tell you anything because I knew you were going to overreact. You never let me have fun."
Peeta turned his eyes at her, shaking his head in annoyance.
"Prim, it's not that. You know how much I had to fight with the system for them to accept me as a your legal guardian so I could get you out of that horrible place where they had you. Even now I'm still not allowed to have you in my place because I'm not married and I live alone and that's why I had to make this living arrangement for you with Sae. I don't want to jeopardize any of that. Your stability means so much to me and you still have another three years in the system. And I want you safe sweetie."
"I know Peeta, and you know how grateful I am with you for taking care of me since I was a little girl at the foster house, and after everything that happened with he Heavesbees, the other kids and I won't know where we would be if it weren't for you. And I do know for a fact, that I was the luckiest of them all. But seriously, sometimes you're a bit old-fashioned."
Since he left the system and started working in the police department at the age of eighteen, Peeta dedicated himself to helping the children in foster care, especially those little ones who, like him, didn't have the support of a father or an adult figure.
But being a single man, with the crazy schedules of his line of work and his lifestyle, Social Services did not allow him to become a foster home. But at the age of twenty-one, after pulling some heavy strings and almost bribing a SS official who owed him a favor; he was granted Primrose's legal guardianship. He would have wanted to adopt her, but the process was ridiculously complicated and more so for a man like him. But he secured her a safe home with Mrs. Sae as her caretaker. She was a slightly older lady who had took care of him his last two years in the system, and with whom he developed a very strong affective bond, since she was the real first motherly figure he had. And she still was very active and healthy. She lived alone in an old house in the Seam her longtime deceased husband left her, but Peeta; after winning a settlement against the District because of the tragedy on the Heavensbee's household, where the Social Services placed more kids that were legally allowed, he brought her to his apartment complex and rented the apartment next door his', and the company and affection of Prim, who quickly became like a granddaughter to her, rejuvenated her, and filled her with energy. Peeta also supported her financially. He paid for her schooling and all her needs. After seven stable years without complaints, the Social Services' staff only came once a year to make sure everything was in order. It was good for Peeta to know that he had managed to change the life of at least one of the girls in the system.
He was also enrolled in the "Big Brothers" program where he still had contact with Twill, another of the kids in the Heavensbee's household who was already thirteen. He took him to his baseball practices and games, and was a frequent companion of Peeta to the Mockinjay's games.
As for little Rue, she had been adopted eleven years ago by Chaft and Seeder Connelly —a married couple that tried to have children for years unsuccessfully. They took her in as a foster home after all the kids in the Heavesbee's were scattered to different places. The couple fell in love with the girl and asked for her legal custody, which was granted, and shortly after, they adopted her. The Connellys now lived in District Eleven, where Chaft owned a farm and produced citrus fruits that were sold all over the country. But they were still communicating with Peeta. Those were the small things that gave a little balance to his life, which had been full of insecurities since he was removed from his mother, a cruel woman who beat him constantly since he had memory.
He jumped from home to home because his behavior was so difficult that they could never find a permanent home for him. And when he wanted and managed to find some stability with the Heavensbees, a tragedy happened. It was as if the universe had conspired to remind him over and over and over that his existence was a mistake, that he was worthless and nobody needed him.
That was why he had embroiled himself in so many transient and meaningless relationships during his adult life. Relationships that did not compromise his feelings. He built himself a wall to protect his heart. A wall that Katniss had managed to crumble to bits in one single day with one glance of those gray eyes that had bewitched him completely.
"What would she be doing now?" He couldn't wait to see her again.
A nudge in his ribs took him off his lethargy.
"Peeta, I'm talking to you! Are you thinking about a girl? Do you have another booty call?" Prim's blue eyes looked at him suspiciously."Peeta, you're twenty-eight, it's about time you think about settling down and stop having sex with all those brainless Bimbos." He gave her a stern glance. "Oh, please Peeta. Like I don't know, I'm not eight years old. I never said anything because it's not my business, but it's getting old, and I hate it."
He lowered his head in shame.
"Sorry ducky. I never thought that affected you that much. I've been too selfish."
"No, just an immature fool. All guys do that, I know, but I want you to settle down. I will be the biggest fan of the girl who could finally snatch the slippery Peeta Mellark, because she would have to be a very special girl."
With a sad smile, he put his arm around her and hugged her, resting his chin on her head.
"You can't imagine. I think I already met her. Her name is Katniss. She's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. She has the most amazing pair of gray eyes…when she looks at me ... I feel like I'm lost in them."
Prim squealed in joy clapping cheerfully.
"Really! Awww! That's why you are so distracted! My big brother is in love! I'm very happy for you Peet. I guess she must be crazy about you.." He let out a snarl that made Prim raise his head quickly and look at him in disbelief. "Peeta? She's in love with you too, right?"
"I wish." He mumbled sadly. "I'd like to think so, but…it's complicated. I met her...yesterday. She's the daughter of Captain Abernathy, my boss."
"You're telling me that you're in love with a girl you meet...yesterday! In love! Have you gone mad! No one falls in love in a day!"
"Well, I can tell you for sure that whoever told you that was wrong, I've never felt like this for any woman before, I've never wanted to be with someone as much as I want to be with her, I've got her in my head all the time since we met. But she...she just broke up with her fiancée and only came here to take care of her dad. We…met last night at a bar and we...slept together. I believe the only thing she needed from me is a rebound. And, it's understandable, I'm just a worthless asshole and I am complicating things. Haymitch asked me to take care of her and…I'm a jerk." he ran his fingers through his blonde hair ruffling his waves even more "I honestly don't know what the hell I'm doing Prim." he closed his eyes and shook his head "I should try going out with another girl. Try to get her out of my system, but I can't. I can't see anyone past her. Besides... I'm so tired of this life Prim, I wish I could have a normal life, a normal relationship, but it seems like I don't deserve it, nobody would want a serious relationship with an scoundrel like me."
Prim raised his eyebrows, rising from the couch and kneeling in front of him, taking his face in her hands.
"You're going to listen to me, Peeta Mellark, maybe your inability to commit is your mayor flaw, but that's understandable after everything you've been through. Despite what you may think of yourself, there's no better person than you, you're compassionate, tender, loving, funny, brilliant, incredibly handsome, your friends adore you, you're the best at your job. Look at everything you have accomplished! And you did it all on your own. Any woman should be proud to have you by her side. You. Are. Not. Worthless. You deserve everything. To keep living with the ideas and misconceptions that awful mother you had planted in your head is to perpetuate the memory of a despicable human being who never deserved the privilege of having a child like you. If that girl Katniss has a bit of a brain; although the way you two met is not very promising, believe me she will not let you go. Put yourself together. Enough of Peeta's self-pity scenes."
He looked at her with moistened eyes and smiled. Prim was the only person to whom he had confessed his nightmares, all that he suffered at the hands of his mother when he was a child. She was the only one able to calm him down. This little girl was able to defend him even from himself.
"I love you ducky. So, so much! Thank you." He hugged her tightly.
"And I adore you fool. Blood or no blood, you're my big brother, the best, and I'm not going to let you get hurt anymore, I want to see you as happy as you deserve. And I'm going to help it happen anyway I can." She smiled to him. "Now…when are you seeing this girl again?"
He took a deep sigh and let out a blew. "Probably tomorrow. She's staying with a friend, but we agreed to talk about everything that happened since yesterday. There is a lot of things I don't understand, and if she confirms to me that I was only a rebound..." he hunched covering his face with his hands.
"Hum…" she seemed analyzing his possibilities. "Been a rebound doesn't mean she's out of bounds. If you want this girl to take you seriously, you have to show her you really mean business. So you need to be the perfect gentleman. Don't push her. Get to know her. Tell her how pretty you think she is. Ask her about her work, find a common conversation topic besides Haymitch. Be funny, but no dirty jokes like the ones Gale and Finnick tell! Listen to everything she says and show interest. And…no funny business. You keep it in your pants." He let out a chuckle. "I mean it Peeta. If you really like this girl, you have to show her she's not a booty call, and that you can be much more than just a rebound. Show her the real Peeta, and I assure you she will fall head over heels for you. And if she doesn't see what me and everybody else see, then she doesn't deserve you."
He smiled and pulled her to his chest, kissing the top of her head. "What will I do without you my ducky. You are too wise for a fifteen year old. Thanks for lifting up my spirit."
"Anytime." She kissed him on the cheek and got to her feet pulling him up from the couch. "And now…lets get you something nice to wear. You have to look extra handsome tomorrow."
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Hi there! And now you know Prim and a little of Peeta's background story. I know you must be asking what happened in the Heavensbee's. Soon it will be revealed.
Next chapter coming soon!
Let me know your thoughts!
XOXO Lizzyvb