So after like the longest hiatus ever, I'm back into my writing. It's been hell. I've been sick and barely able to lift my head, let alone think or even write. I've been getting better over the past few months and now I've decided to try and get back into it. I haven't written for THG in YEARS so excuse me whilst I get back into the flow of everything- and please don't hate me if this is utter crap. Not my intention at all.
I do not own THG, any of its cast or wonderful characters. I wish I did as I would know Josh and Jen, and I would be mega rich.
Light Up The Dark
'Without saying a word, you can light up the dark...'
Grumbling loudly, Katniss glances over at the radio on the desk beside her, her hand paused in its position where she's putting her earring in. "Bit too dead on, Ronan." She comments, listening for a few moments to the song that radio station has decided to play for what must be the third time today.
Panem Radio, the only radio station that appears to be available in the town, has an irritating presenter called Ceaser Flickerman, who thinks he's far more important than he is, and decides to play love songs from the nineties as often as he can.
Although Katniss was born in the nineties and should probably enjoy watching all the cliché romance films brought out back then, with some true hits in music included, she just can't. She never had any money like all those people in films seemed to have growing up, and she certainly never had any love, and therefore it made her slightly bitter.
If only she could be the Julia Roberts of the real world, minus the prostitution in Pretty Woman.
Julia Roberts seems to know what she's doing, always. And that's certainly a quality Katniss wishes she could possess.
'The smile on your face let's me know that you need me, there's a truth in your eyes saying you'll never leave me, the touch of your hand says you'll catch me wherever I fall...'
If Katniss could punch that radio without hurting her hand, she would.
But alas, she can't. The radio must be at least twenty years old, but it still works perfectly despite the tricky mechanics. Katniss can hardly complain about a strange working radio in her current situation.
The radio is the least of her problems.
Truly, the worst of her problems is the fact she's currently twenty-four years of age, sitting in a tiny room in a place called Sae's Bed & Breakfast, a grey apron tied around her waist on top of a hideous mustard yellow dress.
This was hardly the life she once pictured. And yet, it's the exact life she knows she deserves.
With a quick glance at the clock, Katniss's eyes widen when she realises if she doesn't leave now, she'll be late and it's her first day, she can't afford to be. So, with grace and agility that shocks even her at this hour in the morning, she rushes around the small room grabbing anything she'll need for the day before rushing out and down the rickety stairs until she's out the front door.
Luckily, her new place of work is only across the street from the Bed & Breakfast she's been generously allowed to stay in for free. Well, not entirely free, she's working in the woman who owns its diner.
Two nights before, she'd driven into the small town District Four, all the way from District Twelve, with only ten dollars in her pocket and a car that had just ran out of gas.
She had nothing, and had collapsed against her wheel in sobs, with no direction and nowhere else to go, no money to pay for her car to be fixed. Katniss Everdeen was certainly not someone who cried, but she couldn't help it in that moment of weakness.
But someone had knocked on her window, some older woman she'd never heard of and who had never even seen Katniss in her life, and she had helped her. In the end, Katniss has since learned the woman's name was Sae, and that she had a room available in her B&B. But with no money to pay, Katniss had declined, until Sae had told her she had a job in her diner, and that the money would be taken from her wages for as long as Katniss stayed there.
It was perfect.
Well, it was perfect for Katniss, at least. She had no other options and no place else to go. She was running, but maybe Four was far enough for her to go. It was far enough that she could be safe and not have to worry, at least for now. With that in mind, she had tentatively accepted, and today was her first day.
And she was going to be late.
Luckily for Katniss, no one spots her coming in a minute late, and she has a pen and pad in hand just as Sae steps out from the kitchen, a small grin on her face at the sight of the young woman. "Good, you're here." She comments before pointing over at a section of the diner and tells her that will be hers for now.
According to Sae, all three of the waitress's in the diner, who she hasn't got a clue the names of yet, have a section they get to serve and they rotate through the day. As it's Katniss's first day, she gets the quietest corner, where Sae says the 'friendly' customers go usually.
She can understand why. The walls are a soft yellow and that particular corner is the best if you want to hear the music coming quietly from the speakers, and there are less tables but more space so that you could make bigger areas for people to sit. Katniss supposes this is why it's quiet for now, as most go when they have a big group and it's too quiet for big groups now.
However, she does have a gentleman who looks to be in his late forties and another, much younger, man sat in booths opposite each other. The older man already had a full coffee beside him, whereas the younger hasn't, so she makes a beeline for him.
'Be nice, be nice, don't be rude, be nice, don't be sarcastic.' She thinks as she approaches, her pen poised at the ready.
"Hi, I'm Katniss and I'll be your server today, can I get you anything?" She asks smoothly, silently thanking her brain for reminding her to smile pleasantly at the young man.
When the man looks up from his phone, she has to admit he is very handsome. She never usually thinks that about anyone, especially with her, albeit short, experience with men. But this man is possibly the most gorgeous person she's ever seen on earth.
He's muscular, that's obvious, and given the fact Four has a large beach not too far, she's going to assume he's probably a swimmer, as he seems athletic. The gentleman seems to be tall; if the fact his head is aligned with her neck tells her anything, though she is short, and he has a light tan to his skin that she attributes to the sunny weather in Four.
His sea-green eyes meet her grey ones, and she hates that they are in fact stunning. "Hi." He greets, his voice as smooth as velvet, and he has a small smirk at the sight of her. "You're new."
"I am." She states, giving nothing else away, but her smile remains though forced.
Running a hand through his bronze hair, the man nods, and it's like he can read her thoughts before she even thinks them, given the fact he comments, "Not much of a talker, I see. You can drop the cute little act, I can tell that smile physically hurts."
Thankful, her smile does drop, and her usual blank look comes instead. She doesn't scowl, like she usually does, but she doesn't particularly have any emotion in her face. "How could you guess?"
"Your eye was twitching." He chuckles, a smile coming up on his face, showing off his brilliant white teeth. "Odair." He holds out a hand for her to shake, which she eyes briefly. "Finnick Odair."
After a moment of hesitation, she transfers her pen into the hand holding the writing pad and shakes his hand. "Katniss Everdeen...and I like the James Bond act."
"Classic films." He shrugs, letting go of her hand, and his disposition remains friendly and at ease, which she appreciates.
It's strange. She finds this man to be calming, and yet friendly, and of course he is attractive in an obvious sort of way, and yet she feels nothing but ease around him. Maybe a lesser woman would feel attraction, but not her.
"Which is your favourite?" He asks, and she has to consider her answer whilst he continues. "It's hard to choose, but I do enjoy Goldfinger the best."
"Agreed." Katniss comments, before she gets an almost sheepish look on her face, and a grimace comes on her face. "I much prefer Die Hard, if we're picking movie Detective films."
Giving a fake gasp, Finnick holds a hand to his chest as if he's been betrayed in the worst way. "Treason." He chuckles, putting his hand back down to rest on the table with a shrug. "I'll accept it, John McClane is a worthy opponent."
Nodding, she glances around to make sure no one is listening, before she leans down slightly to mumble. "Bruce Willis was my childhood crush." She admits, unsure as to why she would admit something that personal. But she supposes he's worthy enough to know of her childhood crush. "And DiCaprio."
"Both very good men. I approve." He grins, before he realises he probably can't take up too much of her time, if the older gentleman a table away from him is anything to go by, who is not-so-patiently coughing every few seconds for her attention. "Can I get a coffee, and bring one of those little bowls full of sugar cubes? And a tea for my girlfriend, she's on her way."
Jotting it down quickly, she nods, and her face goes back to being blank. "Of course, Mr. Odair." She acts professional once more, and ignores the wink he sends her as she grabs his menu from table.
As she turns back to face the older gentleman, the space he filled is now empty, and she sighs to herself but grabs the requested coffee (with the sugar cubes in a bowl) and tea, intending on doing it promptly. He's her first customer, and she can hardly screw up a coffee and a tea surely.
By the time she's back, a woman is sat across from Finnick, pulling off her coat as she breathes heavily, like she's ran the whole way there. She's a young woman, possibly the same age as Katniss herself if not a little older, with red hair that flows in a perfect way she could only ever dream of, and the very same sea-green eyes Finnick has.
Briefly, she wonders if it's something all residents in Four who were born there have, but ultimately decides it doesn't matter.
Despite the woman's rushed nature, she still takes a moment to smile as Katniss sets Finnick's coffee and the tea down, thanking her whilst she shoves her things to the corner of the booth.
Intending on just walking away, certainly not one to strike up a conversation with random strangers, Katniss turns, but a soft voice makes her quickly turn back.
"Sorry, uhm," The woman glances at her name-tag before speaking again, "Katniss. I just- Finnick was just telling me there was a new waitress; I'm assuming that's you. I'm Annie." She offers her hand, which Katniss takes. "You'll most likely see a lot of us, we're always in here."
Nodding, Katniss gives her a small smile as she lets go of her hand. "Oh, well then that's good. I'm already getting to know the regulars."
Annie beams at her, delighted that she's 'just as happy as Annie is' about meeting, before she opens her mouth to speak again, but a call from the kitchen of her name makes Katniss apologise before rushing over.
She doesn't see much of Annie and Finnick before they leave, as she's busy helping another waitress whose name she didn't catch, but by the time she goes back to their table, they're gone.
There is, however, payment for their drinks with a ten-dollar tip on a five-dollar cheque.
With a small smile, she pockets the tip just as Sae had told her she's allowed to do, before going to help one of the newer customers who had just sat down in her section, plastering on her fake-friendly customer face.
Throughout the course of her day, Katniss can honestly say she's never met so many polite people in her life. She had accidentally dropped coffee (thankfully an iced one) on a young man, but he had just waved it off and smiled, claiming it didn't matter, and he even tipped her for it.
Back when she was living in her hometown in Twelve, people didn't have that same attitude, at least not to her. People were withdrawn and tried to keep away from one another, but they all seemed to have a distain for her. At least, that was what he always used to tell her.
Thinking back on it, it's possible it was all in her head, stirred by the malicious words of an evil man.
But she can't think about that. Now is not the time.
Almost twenty minutes before the end of her shift, another waitress comes down sick that was meant to be taking over from her for the night shift Although Katniss is already exhausted from working since that morning, she needs all the money she can get. And so, without thinking, she volunteers to do their shift for them.
Thankfully, Katniss had anticipated that she would have to do her fair share of night shifts, as the diner stays open until four am most days, three am on others, and so the thought of working a night shift isn't as daunting to her as it is for others.
Besides, the nightshift will help keep the nightmares away, if only for a few hours.
Plus, from making casual conversation with another waitress – who she can finally remember her name being Rue- Katniss finds out that Sae usually lets the person who did the night shift have the next morning off, and they'd start work in the late afternoon.
To her credit, Sae does let Katniss take a three hour lunch break to make up for her working so many hours, but she ends up coming back early anyway. There is nothing else for Katniss to do for three hours after eating, and even then she remains in the diner.
Both Rue and Sae reprimand her but she truly doesn't mind.
However, at one am, after everyone else has gone home except for her and another waitress, Katniss finally admits to herself that she probably shouldn't have started doing that shift.
The only people in the diner are her and the other waitress who she learns is named Delly, far too happy but kind, and the pair are in the middle of playing a game of chess over the counter whilst Katniss wipes down tables and Delly cleans glasses, when she hears the dingle of the bell.
As the mystery person comes in, she gives them a minute to sit down and glance over the menu- despite the fact they only do drinks and pastries after ten pm and anyone coming it at one in the morning should know what they want already- before she decides she's waited long enough.
With a huff, she straightens her apron before walking over, making sure she plasters on a big smile that no normal human being should have at that time of day. "Hi, what can I get you?" She asks politely.
The person in question is staring intently out of the window, his thumb pressing into his chin, looking like he's deep in thought. "Sir?" She tries again, her tone slightly insistent at being ignored.
Gently, she raps her knuckles on the table to get his attention and his head snaps her way immediately.
If she wasn't already used to seeing handsome men in that diner after Finnick, then she may have just fallen over and accepted her inevitable death as she catches sight of him.
She thought Finnick was the most attractive man she'd ever met, based on his obvious charms and handsome features, despite the fact she could sense somewhat of a cocky nature hidden somewhere beneath the charming winks and grins he sent her.
But it seems, she was wrong. Because the man in front of her this second was definitely winning, in her opinion, against Finnick.
Not that she cares, of course.
In front of her, the man has quite possibly the most pulchritudinous eyes she's ever seen. They're blue, reminding her of the ocean not too far from the diner, beautiful and remarkable and yet somehow at the same time, they hold a calming effect with them. It's a strange feeling to describe, his eyes on her dull grey ones. She feels slightly inadequate.
But that isn't all, because it's not just his eyes that take her aback, as his hair does the same, an ashy blonde colour that falls in waves over his pale skin on his forehead, and despite the fact he seems to have tried to neaten them up, he has these curls that poke out in a cowlick fashion.
Despite the fact he doesn't look as tall as Finnick, he more than makes up for it in his stance, having a strong, sturdy, stocky build and she imagines he's one of those men who are always at the gym- even though she usually despises that.
Apparently, she's been staring at him blankly without speaking for too long, as his eyes flash with concern, and his mouth moves but she doesn't quite comprehend what he's saying.
From her position over him, she can see he's wearing a pair of neat black dress trousers, with a white shirt and tailored suit jacket with it, making him look every ounce like some kind of lawyer or high ranking CEO, though she doubts that in a town like Four.
Breaking away from her thoughts, her head snaps back to his eyes and she coughs into her hand holding her pen once, but her palms are slightly sweaty from embarrassment, and the pen slips from her grasp.
Christ, he must think she's some kind of silly teenage girl. She hopes he didn't notice.
But alas, he seems to, and he leans down to pick it up for her.
She hates herself, but she can't help but let out her little intake of breath when his head is dangerously close to her thigh, and she knows she's going to hell when she gets the image in her head of him hoisting her on the table and burying his head between her thighs.
Managing to school her features when he comes back up, Katniss takes the pen back with a blush that can only be described as fire engine red. "Sorry."
"Not a problem." He shrugs it off, and her offers her a smile that could charm even the strictest of people. She finds herself smiling back despite herself, and quickly goes back to her fake one, not wanting to give away too much.
How is it possible that a man she hasn't even said two words can do this? She's certainly not the type of woman to fall for a gorgeous smile and a handsome face, and he definitely has both.
"Katniss." She tells him, completely unprompted, and her own eyes widen at how stupid she sounds, but she doesn't stop. "Katniss Everdeen." Her hand comes out to shake his, her mouth shutting before she can make an even bigger fool out of herself.
Shutting up is definitely her best option here.
Thank God for this man, because he takes her offered hand and shakes it, a genuine smile on her face that fills her with a strange sense of warmth she can't shake off.
"Peeta Mellark." He tells her, and she can't help but notice he gives her hand a gentle squeeze before pulling away. "I've never seen you here before, are you new?"
Nodding, she glances down at the floor, and tries to develop as little as possible. She knows making a joke will be her best option here, as most people seem far too friendly, and he doesn't seem any different. "New to Four, not new to waitressing. Unfortunately."
"Ah. What inspired the move? If you don't mind me asking." He leaves it open, not seeming to expect an answer but seeming like he'd be pleased if she did.
For some reason, she wants to tell him, but she knows if she does, she'll end up sobbing in the middle of the diner to a stranger and that's not something she wants to do. So she keeps it vague, giving a small shrug. "Things change, as they do for everyone. Can I get you anything?" She quickly diverts the conversation, clicking her pen.
"Tea, thank you. No sugar." He adds as though people are constantly asking if he wants it or just assuming he does. "I'm sweet enough." He jokes, and though she's heard the joke a million times before, she laughs to herself as she writes.
With one final nod at him, she quickly makes her way behind the counter, ignoring Delly trying to grab her attention, and within a few minutes she's placing the tea in front of him. "Tea. No sugar." She places the small saucer of milk everyone gets with tea, giving him the option to use as much as he wishes.
"You looked really nervous for a moment, is today your first day?" Peeta asks, his tone curious, and there's a twinge of concern to it that she does her best to ignore. No one has ever really been concerned about her before.
"First day on the job, yeah." Katniss confirms, and she uses a dishrag she brought with her to clean the table next to his. She wants to keep talking to him, though she isn't sure why, and she doesn't want to walk away. Not yet at least. "I used to be a waitress in Twelve."
"Twelve?" He questions, and at her nod, he smiles wide. "I'm from there myself. Which part are you from?"
As if he doesn't know. Her hair is dark, her skin is tanned and her eyes are grey. She couldn't be anymore from the Seam if she tried.
Twelve is the smallest of all the main areas of Panem, known for it's old coal mining industry that died out long ago but no one ever goes there for anything else nowadays. It has two main areas, the Merchant section and the Seam. Those from the Merchant section tend to have more money, and they usually have blonde hair and blue eyes- much like Katniss's mother and sister. Whereas those from the Seam are classed as the 'lowest of the low', the 'poorest of the poor' and have dark hair with grey eyes, usually painfully thin from how hard it is to find food.
He couldn't look like any more a Merchant than she does someone from the Seam. It's painfully obvious, and she's surprised he even asked.
"The Seam." She swallows, expecting the inevitable jokes and jabs people usually make. But none come, instead he barely reacts, and it appears to her as though he had just been curious. "I'll assume you were a Merchant?"
Nodding, he sighs, and he doesn't seem overly thrilled with it. He hardly seems like the type who would want to be from the Seam. No one wants to be from the Seam. Even she doesn't. There is definitely no pride in her because of her roots. Maybe he just doesn't want to be from Twelve, she doesn't know.
"Our paths never crossed." He muses, seeming genuinely upset for a brief moment that they never even saw one another, especially since they seem so similar in age.
"No." She comments, finishing wiping down the table that she had been pretending to wipe for the last few minutes. In truth, she just wanted to talk to him. "They didn't."
"Funny how things work out, right?" He offers her a small, almost hesitant smile, and his fingers drum on the side of his mug thoughtfully. "We never met in Twelve, and yet we both end up in Four and meet in a diner at one am."
"I wouldn't say funny is the word for it." She shrugs, standing taller, and she forgets her usually stoic attitude as she speaks honestly, "I came here and decided I needed more than ten whole dollars in my pocket, so I work here. And you...don't." She finishes, unsure of what he does.
"I came here with five." Peeta tells her in a joking tone, but she knows there's a little truth within his words. She can see it; hear it, whatever the correct phrase is. Maybe because she feels like a kindred spirit, or maybe it's a Twelve thing, she doesn't know.
Behind every joke is a hidden truth that no one wants to say.
"Good to know." She states, leaving a long pause purposefully in the middle of her sentence, and he catches her eyes briefly. "What do you do here in Four?" She asks curiously, not sure even to herself why she is interested.
She's not. She's just a polite waitress.
Realising she had been stood there doing nothing for way too long, she begins to wipe down the table near him, very close to the one she had been pretending to clean before. She's still within earshot of him, but she wants to look busy instead of just talking, even though she knows Delly won't care.
"Oh, I'm a doctor, hence the night shift." Peeta tells her and he shrugs, like its nothing special or important. "I have my break now, so I thought a few…gallons of coffee might help me out for the rest of my shift."
Glancing down at the mug in his hand, raised to his lips to take a sip, Katniss smirks. "That's tea."
"I really hate coffee."
Despite herself, she laughs, covering her mouth to hide the awful sound. It's terrible, far too nasal and breathy, and she knows it's too loud, or so he used to tell her. Though, he also used to tell her she was miserable so she's not sure which to believe.
Peeta doesn't seem to mind though, as he smiles like he's won the lottery. As though making her laugh is one of the best things he'll do all day, and this man saves lives so she highly doubts it.
"I-" She coughs, calming from her laughing outburst, and turns her full attention to him. "Sorry. What's your main practice?"
"Emergency Medicine. So the ER stuff you see in all those TV shows they play at midnight for people like me who are up at that time. It used to be pediatrics but," He shrugs again, like he's not used to telling people, and almost like he's embarrassed to admit something. "My mother didn't see that as real medicine so I ended up where I am now."
"You saved children's lives and your mother didn't think that was impressive?" Katniss asks, her tone clearly unimpressed, and she can't imagine how cruel that woman could be to think that. If she had known him back then, not that she does now, she'd have been over the moon for him, so proud she could burst.
Scratching the back of his neck, Peeta shrugs again, and she's starting to really dislike his lax attitude toward his own achievements. "Uh, yeah, I guess. It's no big deal."
Sensing she might have touched a nerve, Katniss nods, and just plays with the dish rag in hand, before she points a hand to the counter where Delly is watching them and cleaning the glasses of the day. "I should-It was nice to meet you, Peeta."
"You too." He smiles, and his slightly down mood seems to dissipate with the change in conversation, although he looks almost...disappointed in her going. But that isn't possible because no one is ever disappointed to see her go. She's hardly got any redeeming features people want to spend time with her for, or so she's been told many times.
Originally, she goes to walk away, but she stops herself and steps back to him, unable to help the impulse she has. "Peeta?" She stands closer than she did before, and he looks up at her in confused and something she hopes is joy at her coming back rather than horror. "I'm proud of you even if she isn't. It's impressive to me."
With that, she turns on her heel and rushes into the kitchen before he can react.
It takes nearly twenty minutes before she stops being a coward and steps out, and in that time, Delly has cleaned away his table and Peeta has gone, but as Delly passes Katniss, she hands her a small white envelope. "He left that for you." She informs her colleague.
Opening it slowly, Katniss finds a small note inside it, with the most elegant penmanship that's somehow still legible.
Some company for your ten dollars – Peeta
Unable to help it, she doesn't even fight her huge smile when she pulls out a ten-dollar bill from the envelope, and she knows for a fact his bill wasn't even three dollars. She doesn't even stop to wonder why, as Finnick did something similar before, and she thinks it might just be one of those things that the men in Four do. Maybe they all just tip well.
It's not the money that makes her heart flutter. It's the note.
Not the man behind them, surely not.
Katniss groans as she toes off her shoes somewhere in her tiny room, making sure to place them neatly aside, purely out of habit. Her feet sore and her heels are cracked from how long she's been up, and yet she doesn't feel as awful as she used to with shorter shifts in Twelve.
Reaching over the bed, she switches on the tiny, old radio, but this time, she doesn't groan when the all too familiar love ballad comes on.
'But when you hold me near, you drown out the crowd...'
Instead of grumbling like she did that morning, she hums along quietly to herself as she peels off the horrendous coloured dress she had to wear all day replacing it far too quickly with a ratty pair of pajamas Sae let her have. They aren't much, but they'll do. It's not like she 's used to having much in the first place.
She can hardly say that she enjoyed her first day in her new job, but she certainly didn't despise it like she used to. She isn't curled in her car crying, like she used to, but that may be because no one has screamed at her yet. Yet.
It has nothing to do with Peeta, of course. That would be stupid to think. Katniss Everdeen is not the type to hold her entire day up to one man, despite the fact he was probably the best part of it. No, her job isn't that bad, people tip well and she has a roof over her head where she doesn't have to worry constantly.
Maybe, just maybe, this town has something to offer after all. Even though she has certainly had her reservations about picking to remain in the first town she saw a sign for.
The people seem okay, they all seem friendly (except for that man in his forties who she supposes must be an alcoholic due to him yelling at a lamp post that she saw when she was on her way home) and she's somehow managed to meet three people who don't want to make her throw up her breakfast.
All in all, she thinks that's a good day's work.
'You say it best, when you say nothing at all...'
Listening as the song fades out to nothing, she hums along, her foot tapping against the bed when she sits on it, her back against the headrest, her knees curled up into her chest.
It could be worse; she could be in Twelve still, worrying about going home and tiptoeing around in case he came home in a bad mood and decided he wanted to take it out on the closest-
No, she can't let herself think that way again. She can't let him crawl into her thoughts every single time she gets a spare second to herself. She came to Four to get away from that place, away from her home, her family, her whole life. And yet, she's sat here thinking about the man who's the whole reason she's had to run.
'I'm Ceaser Flickerman and it's five am on Panem Radio, for all of those who are awake like me, here's the classic song Pretty Woman by Roy Orbison from the titular film.'
Groaning, she falls back against the hard mattress of the bed, throwing her arm over her eyes whilst the other reaches over to turn the radio off. She'll sleep without the songs for tonight. That man has an obsession with those, but she certainly doesn't.
So, with a heavy heart and traitorous mind, Katniss Everdeen curls up into her pillow, hoping for once in her life she won't have nightmares.
As if that could ever happen.
Yikes, okay so here is the first chapter of my brain baby, it's a bit long whoops! But I don't see that changing anytime soon so I suppose you'll all have to just...like it? I hope. God, I hope you all like it.