Companion

AN:

Parting ways. A friendship that wants to become more.

Special thank you to my dear friend, GinnyGinervaWeasley, for betaing my story.

P.S. I love the Hunger Games. Suzanne Collins owns everything!

CHAPTER 5

"When are you coming back?" Annie asks while examining her shoes. They're outside the orphanage to bid Peeta goodbye. His visit to District 12 has come to an end, and he needs to return to his own district.

"I'll be back on Saturday morning, Annie," Peeta replies and tugs lightly at her braided red hair. He has grown fond of her in his brief stay and is looking forward to seeing her again.

"Thank you for coming, dear," Sae says happily. She cups Peeta's chin like a child and gives him a kiss on both cheeks. She sees the tiredness in his eyes, but she doesn't mention it. She knows that he had told Katniss his story.

"It was great seeing you again, Sae. Thank you for inviting me," he replies with a smile, his sunshine shining for her despite his sad state. Last night was cathartic for him, and it's bittersweet having to say goodbye to what inadvertently became a haven for him.

"Are you ready to go?" Katniss asks softly. She understood him above and beyond what she thought she could last night. She now thinks of him as a dear friend, their friendship unbound by the length of time. He had arrived just a week ago, but that is ages now, considering how much they have shared in such a short time.

"Where's Elrick?" Peeta asks, then relaxes after seeing him emerge from the front door.

"I thought you'd already left," Elrick pants. He finds support on one of Peeta's shoulders as he tries to catch his breath. '"Please don't forget about the books. Here, I made you a list."

"Thanks, Elrick," Peeta replies as he receives the list from the young man. He asked to borrow a lot of science books, and Peeta is more than happy to bring them for him when he returns. "I'll see you, my friend."

Katniss and Peeta's goodbyes at the train station are simple and quiet. With a light hug and an exchange of thanks, Peeta is off to the train car for Three. The night before made them understand each other more than they both expected in just one week. Things didn't need to be explained further when they woke up. They both just knew the other. Peeta's smile is endearing through the glass window, his gratitude for her showing even in the slight wrinkle in the corners of his eyes. She waves at him, smiling kindly at her newfound friend. It would be five days before she sees that smile again.

The week goes by quickly, and Peeta is back on the night train to Twelve. He arrived at two in the morning, bought a sandwich from Ripper, had light conversations peppered with more odd stories from the one-armed brewer, then he is off towards Victor's Village. He knows the way by heart even in the dark night.

"Oh my, Peeta!" Katniss yells in surprise when she finds him sleeping on the porch swing. She was going to go hunting when he saw his curled-up form. "What are you doing here? Why didn't you come in?"

Peeta shakes his head to wake himself fully. He was pulled from a pleasant dream. He hadn't dreamt in a while.

"I knocked, but I didn't want to wake you," he says with a raspy voice. "Besides, I slept okay right here."

Katniss disagrees and pulls him off the wooden swing for a tight hug. "Foolish boy. You're freezing."

Peeta lets out a hoarse chuckle. He is wearing a windbreaker made of heat-retaining fabric that protects him from the cold.

They sip tea in the kitchen, and Katniss covers Peeta with a thick, knitted blanket. She even surprises him with a fuzzy, bright yellow bonnet that she knitted to warm his head.

"I feel like a fluffy chick with this cap," Peeta says with a laugh. His beautiful smile that she missed so much then follows.

"Well, next time just come in, okay? The door wasn't even locked," Katniss replies a little too sternly for her liking. Unbelievable as it may, she trusts him this much already. "Would you like to come with me to the woods?"

Peeta's eyes widen. and his smile brightens even more, melting whatever worry was still left in Katniss' heart. "I would love that," he replies simply at her generous offer.

Walking in the woods in the early morning is poles apart from what Peeta is used to. Instead of cars and business conversations, he hears the beginnings of a new day through the sounds of nature. There were so many birds, all chirping around him with their own unique calls. There are skittering squirrels along tree branches and rabbits with gentle footpads, hopping on the forest ground looking for fresh greens. The smell of rising mist fills his lungs, mixed with the fresh scent of wild mint that releases its scent with his footsteps. The sun is barely at the horizon, and colors appear at the crown of trees. He looks at Katniss, and he catches his breath. She looked like a huntress described in books of old carrying handmade bow and arrows, studying tracks quietly with observant eyes and silent footsteps. She respects the woods, no, loves it, drinking its spirit in the early morning day.

"You're too loud," Katniss breaks the silence. He hadn't realized that his footfalls were landing heavily on the forest floor. He was too enamored by the magic of the woods.

"Sorry," he whispers back a little too loudly. "What should I do?"

"Remove your boots?"

"Huh?" he replies, surprised by her request.

"Or just stay here while I hunt two hundred meters out. You're driving away prey."

"Wait, don't leave me," he requests and proceeds to take off his boots. "My thick, warm socks too?"

"You should keep them. Let's go."

Peeta tries in earnest to stay quiet, but his natural heavy gait is not easy to change. Even without his sturdy boots and slowing down the lowering of his feet, he could still be heard twenty meters away.

"You're walking like a lizard on a hot road. You walk funny," Katniss teases in a whisper.

"I can't believe you just called me a lizard," he teases back, grinning widely.

Suddenly Katniss spots a rabbit and, with fast reflexes, shoots it straight in the eye. Peeta gasps in amazement and stills his hands from clapping.

"That was amazing," he whispers enthusiastically. Katniss retrieves the rabbit and her arrow. She smiles at him then shrugs her shoulders when she returns. It's usual work for her, and she would have shot three rabbits already if it wasn't for Peeta driving them away.

With the sky visibly lit, Peeta stays behind under a tall pine tree while Katniss hunts further out. He welcomes the cool air and the slight shift of sounds as the morning birds begin their flight. He sits down on the forest floor, nesting on soft pine needles that have fallen from the tree. He calms his breathing, then when he opens his eyes, a young doe stands tens meters from him. It's grazing peacefully, and he watches it with mesmerized eyes.

Katniss comes back with three fat turkeys and four plump rabbits. It's a good hunt, and she leaves the haul with Peeta while she resets the snares and picks berries. Moments later, Peeta lays his head back on the tree trunk and falls asleep, the rustling of leaves his melodious lullaby. He wakes up to Katniss screaming loudly in his direction and to the sound of quick paws running through the bushes. He scrambles to his feet to look, head spinning from rising too quickly, but he tries his best to get his eyes to focus. He recognizes the form of a dark brown wild dog running skillfully through the bushes and is immediately filled with a cold sweat.

"You fell asleep?!" Katniss asks him brutally. "What were you thinking?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to," Peeta answers, but he knows it is not good enough. "I wasn't thinking. I'm really sorry."

"Right you weren't, Peeta." Her voice is harsh, piercing him in his nervous state, and he tries to think of something to say, but nothing comes. He understands why she is hard on him. "You could have been seriously hurt."

Katniss collects the game beside Peeta, refusing help fiercely. When he asks her for the third time, stopping her midway in her tracks, she eventually yields and allows him to carry the whole lot. His eyes were begging, his whole demeanor sorry for his lack of clear judgment. It pains her so to have reduced him to such a low in her worry.

In town, they give the game to the butcher to prepare for Sae, then return to Victor's Village, continuing their silent walk. Along the dirt path, Peeta takes Katniss' right forearm. When she doesn't refuse he gently pulls her in for a comforting hug. He envelopes her in his arms in a silent apology. Katniss lets him hold her but remains stiff and unwavering, forbidding herself to relax and release even a single breath under him. "I'm sorry, Katniss," he murmurs against her hair. It was all he could do, to hold her close and whisper the words filled of meaning while refusing to let her go. It takes a long while, as Katniss runs through the events in her head repeatedly. She was worried for him. The sight of the wild dog so close to his sleeping form shot alarms off in her head, triggering reactions fit to move her to safeguard his life. She knew she overreacted when she lashed out at him and was also at fault for leaving him behind. She wasn't only mad at him she was also mad at herself. She invited him to the woods and shouldn't have let him out of her sight in the first place. She scrunches her eyes tightly, and Peeta feeling her tension, softly presses his cheek to her temple. She exhales under his touch and eventually nudges his chest with her forehead. "I'm sorry too, Peeta," she says.

Weeks pass, and it's another beautiful Sunday in District 12. Peeta and Katniss got roped into babysitting everyone at the orphanage as if it was a test of their will and wits. Forty children. Forty under the care of just two single adults. Someone is having an evil laugh somewhere around the district, Katniss thought.

Peeta has been visiting like clockwork, and his presence is easy and calming. It's as if he has been there since the very beginning, and he knows everyone by heart. It is astonishing how he fits in, and Sae attributes it to his enduring patience in working with strong, independent women. Even Mayor Haymitch Abernathy has grown fond of the young man, inviting him to play chess when he can in his townhouse.

Katniss and Peeta planned to spend the whole morning in the woods that Sunday, but Sae suddenly decided to take the day off. Delly, Christa, and Lindy were all called to the seamstress to get their bridal dresses fitted. Katniss and Peeta were woken up by the incessant ringing of the telephone. The device transmits Delly's too excited voice, announcing the necessity of their absence due to a dress emergency. Katniss, after hanging up, sleepily hugs Peeta, who followed her down to the living room. In their warm pajamas, they tell each other they have five more minutes before they start moving until five turned into thirty, then to an hour of deep slumber on the sofa. It's the first time that they actually slept hugging each other.

The three ladies were very thoughtful and had cooked all the meals for the day before leaving. The pots are simmering on the stove, and trays of bread are ready to be put into serving baskets. Everyone finished their meal quickly, and the younger children took a nap after lunch. Some of the teenagers are watching a singing show, and some, like Elrick, are buried deep in their favorite books. It won't be busy for another two hours, so Katniss and Peeta went to the meadows to recover some stolen nature time from this morning. They lay on the soft grass with one arm as their pillow, watching clouds slowly pass by with the movement of the earth beneath them. The sky is peppered with wispy white swirls outlined by the deep blue sky. A gentle breeze blows from the snow-capped mountains, completing the feel of a lovely Sunday afternoon.

"The sun's really beautiful," Katniss comments as she lays on her back, adoring the infinite sky above her. Nature always puts her in a good mood. She closes her eyes to feel the warm rays as they kiss her olive skin.

"Yes, she is. She's very beautiful," Peeta replies with a syrupy voice, then he chuckles, revealing his focus. Peering with one eye, Katniss tries to look at him, then she rolls to her side. She finds Peeta looking at her and not at the blue sky, smiling amused as if he's just seen her for the very first time under the sun. She flicks a blade of glass over his broad chest, and Peeta beams with a bit of mischief in his eyes. His blonde eyelashes catch the rays of the sun, and it looks like golden corn hair in harvest time. His impossibly blue eyes are kind and inviting, rivaling the bright blue sky above them.

"You know what I really would love?" Peeta asks. His eyes look like they're twinkling.

"What is it, Peeta?" she replies curiously.

"I would really love to get to know you more, Katniss," he says. It's sincere and tender, the truthfulness of his words showing in his gentle gaze and tone of voice. "Would you let me, Katniss?"

She brushes the soft grass under her palms, a surge of warmth growing suddenly in her chest and crawling up her nape. Peeta is different, and she likes that about him. He is kind, gentle, and patient with everyone. He is unfazed by her independence and seems to love it. He is loyal to the ones he loves and is committed to his work, just like her. Above all else, there is truthfulness and realness about him that grounds her like gravity.

"Yes, I'll allow it," she answers him. If only she could see herself, she would note the matching twinkle in her eyes. Peeta rolls on his back and tilts his chin up to the heavens. He smiles at the clouds and the sun before releasing a long breath. He shakes his head, trying to will away disbelief. Katniss had said yes, and he will pursue her. It's the answer that he needs, no, wants. His feelings for her have grown in the past weeks, and now Katniss knows it and she is allowing him. Asking her was like the most natural thing to do as he falls for her, unafraid that his pursuit might ruin their friendship because the consequences of not trying are so much more. He loves her, and he will work for her heart.

Peeta will pursue Katniss! I hope you like Peeta's move. Let me know what you think.