Companion
AN:
A game of basketball. A first kiss. A short but sweet chapter.
Special thank you to my dear friend, GinnyGinervaWeasley, for betaing my story.
P.S. I love the Hunger Games. Suzanne Collins owns everything!
CHAPTER 3
It's the afternoon before Peeta goes to the orphanage. Fixing the boiler took up most of his morning, even with some help from the delivery men. Katniss' house is in bad shape, but he is happy she will finally have hot water when she gets home. Elrick is by Peeta's side in the woodwork room right when classes end. He is so eager to learn, and Peeta enjoys teaching him. He already knows many things by reading books and tinkering with appliances himself. Sometimes, Elrick speaks so fast that Peeta has to tell him to pause. He wants to know advanced things right away, even bringing out designs that he has collected from books in their meager library at the orphanage.
Timothy, Thom, Gale, and their new friend Leroy came by, and Peeta was diverted to a basketball game. They are one player short, and Katniss became the sixth player. Thom, Gale, and Katniss are on one team, while Timothy, Leroy, and Peeta are on another. Sae and Elrick are willing and curious spectators.
"That's how you do it! Yeah!" Gale shouts after Katniss shoots a three-pointer. Sae is beside herself, cheering with her wooden spoon at hand.
Timothy recovers points, and the game becomes more heated. Gale and Thom are skilled at getting the ball for Katniss to shoot, and their strategy works excellently. Katniss is a good shot in everything - bows and arrows, knives, and apparently, basketballs. The other team is down by six points already, and the game has just begun.
"Give it here," Leroy calls Peeta, and he passes it before being roughly bumped on the side by Thom. Sae says it's a foul, but they all wave it off.
Shirts begin coming off halfway through the game, and Katniss passes after a while. Dripping sweat and free-flowing testosterone are never a good combination in her book. Leroy gets called by Sae to help with the kitchen work, and the game becomes a two-on-two. Sae winks at Leroy before patting him with a wooden spoon on his head. Katniss catches it and knows that her old friend has plans to introduce Leroy to her other friend who is cooking in the kitchen.
"Woohooo! Come on!" Katniss cheers thickly from the sideline to no one in particular. Peeta is the only one with his shirt on even though he is dripping wet with sweat. Katniss suspects that he is hiding his scars. She's not entirely wrong.
Being no stranger to abrasive games of basketball, Peeta knows that he is the odd man out. Gale, Thom, and Timothy have been friends for years, and they play rough with each other. He gets bumped heavily, elbowed when he tries to steal the ball and is nicked on the jaw a couple of times. He takes all of it and impressively shoots a clean three-pointer - twice. It becomes apparent that his cool is a stark contrast to Gale's heat. Elrick roots for Peeta, and when he becomes embarrassed from cheering loudly, Katniss whistles along with him.
"What team are you on, Catnip?" Gale asks Katniss in jest. She grins at him, mischief and euphoria in her grey eyes. She sticks her tongue out like when they were children, and Gale returns it with a smug grin.
The game ends with three points in between. Thom and Gale were ecstatic with their victory. They stay on to play some more while Peeta goes with Elrick to help with his shift in the cafeteria. Despite Peeta's team losing, Elrick is beaming for his friend, and he pats his back encouragingly. "Thanks, Elrick. We'll get them next time," Peeta says while wiping the sweat off of his hot skin. The blush on his face, neck, and mildly exposed chest is all over, and Katniss couldn't resist looking at him. He's beautiful, she thought to herself.
"You better not be late for dinner, or Sae will have a fit!" Katniss shouts to Gale, Thom, and Timothy before following Peeta and Elrick to the building. She ruffles both their hair and runs past them, beaming.
After five days, the power box gets replaced with a modern and sleek design. Peeta is a whiz when it comes to electricity, and he is fast with his hands. Peeta and Katniss celebrate with double stacks of fluffy pancakes and crispy bacon, Buttercup getting most of Peeta's bacon.
Conversations in front of the fireplace are a regular treat at the end of the day. Exchanging laughs and chuckles at happy memories make them grow closer. Peeta learns quickly that the children genuinely make Katniss happy. She remembers small details from their young lives - developmental milestones, bruises, favorite games, and exact memories of the drawings that line her icebox at home. Annie is Katniss' most beloved, but Peeta sees that she refuses to acknowledge it fully. To feel it fully. She shares her fears of raising Annie all by herself and of scaring her when she finds out about her nightmares. It's a fear she hasn't verbally shared with anyone, even with Sae or Delly. With Peeta, who has seen her in the middle of her nightmares, somehow she is not bothered. She even feels at ease and willing to open up to him. He doesn't judge her or pity her. He doesn't treat her like eggshells or idolize her like most in Panem. With him, she felt like she could be herself and share herself. Normal. Katniss. Real.
Sleep is the same. In the first nightmare of the night, Peeta is right by Katniss' side. He sleeps on the floor while holding one of her hands. He refuses to leave her, and she lets him stay as if it's a natural thing for strangers to hold hands in bed at night. Well, one stranger on the floor, and the other in bed.
His presence and his touch are comforting and safe, and Katniss sleeps better with their calloused hands fused together under her cheek. She pulls him up one night, moving their entwined hands behind her back so that he rises off of the floor. In the cool, silvery light of the half-moon, Katniss lays a sleepy kiss on Peeta's lips.
"Do you want to say good night to the kids?" Sae offers Peeta after dinner. He no longer feels like a stranger to them, being constantly around the children for days now. They are comfortable with him, more trusting. "Go on up with, Katniss," Sae continues.
"Let's say good night together," Katniss tells Peeta before taking his hand to lead him to the rooms. He hesitates, not wanting to intrude in the five to six-year-olds room. "It will be alright, Peeta," she assures him.
They say a simple good night to every one of the children, leaving Annie for last.
"Did you brush your teeth?" Katniss asks the red-haired girl.
"You didn't ask the others that, Momma," she replies with her squeaky voice. Somehow after sharing her fears with Peeta, the word "Momma" no longer stings her as it did.
"Well, they didn't try to skip it like last time, did they? So … did you?"
Annie looks to her left, where Peeta kneels beside her bed, then looks back at Katniss to her right, "Yes, I did, Momma."
"Very good," Katniss affirms, then brushes Annie's hair off of her forehead to lay a kiss there. She smiles at Peeta after, then turns back to Annie. "Good night, Annie."
"Good night, Momma."
"Good night, Annie."
"Good night, Peeta. Do you like my Momma?"
Peeta blushes. and Katniss shakes her head. "That's not a very nice thing to ask, Annie." She kisses her hand, and Annie closes her eyes.
"I think he does, Momma."
What do you think about the basketball game? Isn't Annie so adorable?
Thank you for reading!