Ok so I know it's been a while. What can I say, life got in the way. Sorry guys ! Also, keep in mind that this work is still unbeta'ed, so yeah, all mistakes are mine, as always.


On Sunday afternoon, Peeta got out of the apartment and walked the short distance to the nearest subway station. Cress had texted him this morning to let him know they were all meeting up in front of the big statue at 2pm.

When he arrived at République, he almost jogged the few steps that led to the place. Finnick was already there with Annie, a quiet girl who was originally a friend of Madge and who Finn was pining for. They waved at Peeta when he spotted them through the crowd. When he reached them, he saw that Katniss was already there and in a deep conversation with Cress. Their faces were close and they were laughing at something Cress had just said.

Peeta smiled and gave one kiss on each of Cress's cheeks, and he blushed when he did the same with Katniss's. He was still getting used to the way French people greeted each other, but this time he was glad for it as it gave him the chance to feel her cheeks against his own. It was probably the closest he'll ever be to her thanks to her handsome fuck buddy, he thought bitterly.

As Peeta wondered why the only girl he'd been interested in since he arrived in France happened to be in a relationship - even if it wasn't a real nor official one - he realized he had been staring for too long. Embarrassed, he looked up to see Katniss's eyebrows raised, a smirk on her beautiful face. He could feel his face and ears heat up immediately. Real smooth, Peet.

Cress lightly laughed, and said "Alright guys, Katniss is gonna sing in like 10 minutes and then Thresh and Madge are gonna dance, so we'd better go get some beer now if we don't wanna miss anything". Finnick shouted something like "hell yeah !" and made his way to a makeshift bar, as Annie wished good luck to Katniss, Thresh and Madge.

As Katniss made her way towards the sound system in long confident strides, Peeta tried not to stare too insistently at the way her jeans hugged her delicate curves. He forced himself to look at the place instead. It was kind of big, with a monument in its center. Lots of people were out in the street that day, enjoying the sun, as the weather was pretty mild for late November. In the few months Peeta had been living in Paris, he had quickly learnt that as soon as there was even a few rays of sun, Parisians rushed outside to gorge on the sun, as it was becoming pretty rare as winter approached.

Peeta was looking at the graffiti-covered statue when he heard Katniss sing the first verse of a song he didn't know. His head snapped in her direction, and from this moment, he couldn't tear his eyes off her. It was as if listening to her sing was overwhelming all his senses.

Oh ma douce souffrance
Pourquoi s'acharner, tu recommences…

Peeta's eyes were searching for Katniss's, but she was so caught up in the moment that she closed them, her hips swaying lightly to the rhythm.

Je ne suis qu'un être sans importance
Sans lui je suis un peu paro
Je déambule seule dans le métro

Peeta could understand some of the lyrics, and from what he got, it wasn't a happy song. Her brows were furrowed and you could hear the emotion as her voice cracked on some words.

It's only when Katniss opened her eyes when the song was over that Peeta realized the whole place had grown quiet. To his surprise, Katniss was looking at him straight in the eyes, and for a fleeting second, it was as if they were alone. But the crowd soon cheered loudly, and the moment was over. He could see her smirk just before she thanked the crowd and started a new song. She was a natural.

This time, she kept her eyes on him the whole time.


Later, the gang decided to get a few drinks at Le Geai Moqueur. Peeta wasn't used to having Katniss pressed to his side in a booth, as she was usually the one making drinks at the bar. She was sitting to his right, and Thresh was to his left. They had been commenting the football games of last Sunday, and they had both agreed to disagree on the Giants' performances.

Peeta was already through his second beer, and was beginning to feel pleasantly buzzed. Their booth was pretty packed, and everybody was laughing. Peeta thought they made an odd crew, all speaking English with their different accents. Sometimes, he would hear snatches of Katniss and Cressida's conversation, who were the only two people not bothering to speak English, as they were both French and obviously more comfortable with their mother tongue.

Peeta realized he understood most of it, as the many things he had learnt since he arrived added to what he already knew from his Canadian part of the family. He tried not to eavesdrop too much, mainly out of fear of being caught, but he couldn't help glancing their way when he heard the word "petit copain". He knew this word, he had learnt its meaning when watching TV with Haymitch a couple of weeks ago, and it meant boyfriend.

He hadn't heard the whole sentence, but the word was enough to pique his interest. Katniss darted a quick glance at Peeta, and then answered very slowly, as if she wanted him to grasp everything she was saying.

"Je sais pas, ça fait longtemps qu'un garçon ne m'a pas intéressée, c'est tout", she shrugged

Peeta could feel warmth flooding his cheeks as he looked away, a shy smile on his lips.

A couple of hours later, everyone was tipsy to say the least and the atmosphere in the bar was electric. Peeta was staring into space, thinking about how lucky he was, having found great friends like them almost right away, when Finnick interrupted his train of thoughts

"You up for a game of pool, mate ?", his friend grinned. Playing pool at Le Geai Moqueur had quickly become one of Peeta's favorite things to do when he had spare time.

Finnick was very easy to be around, and they got on really well. Soon, they had added a trick to their games : before they started, they established stakes. In the end, the loser had no other choice but to accept the challenge. Leave it to Finn to turn pool into a dare, but the better Peeta got, the more confident he became. As a result, the dares were getting cheekier and the games more intense.

Peeta wouldn't forget so soon – and Finn wouldn't let him anyway - this one time he had to get a redhead's number, right in front of Katniss. Just thinking about it made his cheeks heat up. Finn knew she was Peeta's weakness, and he was obviously having a blast playing with it.

"Sure", Peeta smirked. "Prepare to lose."

"Not going to happen bro", Finn smiled viciously as he set the balls in a perfect triangle.

"It is", Peeta insisted. He thought for a second. "And when I win, you're going to strip in front of everyone on the bar counter", he said smiling triumphantly.

"Please, you underestimate me. I've done way worse on this very counter. Fine." He downed the remainder of his Guiness, and then stared at Peeta right in the eyes. It didn't look good. "And when I win… you're gonna kiss Katniss. Full on the mouth."

Peeta's eyes rounded almost comically and he choked on his beer. "What ?! No. No. No way. I-I'm not.. I mean, I barely know her !".

"Not yet anyway, cause you're gonna know her well – well, her lips anyways – very soon", Finn smiled mischievously. "Besides, stop acting so coy. I'm doing you a favor, I'm tired seeing you get a boner every time you look at her."

Peeta groaned. He was resolved to give everything he got during this game, because losing was not an option. It just wasn't. There was no way he was going to lose. Ok, don't panic. Just focus on the game and you won't make a fool of yourself.

However, fate had decided differently. An hour later, Finnick was sinking the black ball in one of the corner pockets. At this point, Peeta was feeling a nice buzz thanks to his fourth beer of the night, but he wasn't totally drunk. At least I won't be wasted when I kiss her.

He had accepted his fate about 20 minutes ago, when it was becoming clearer and clearer that Finnick was going to win this game.

Peeta was so anxious, he felt sick to his stomach. Or maybe it was butterflies. Whatever.

But a bet was a bet, and he wasn't going to back down now. He was going to be a good sport about it. He was also going to kill Finn, and it would be long and painful.

He gulped down what little was left of his beer, deciding a bit more of liquid courage wouldn't hurt. He then took a deep breath, shrugged and looked at the crowded room, trying to locate Katniss amongst the crowd.

When he finally did, he saw that she was dancing with Cress and Jo, and the way she was moving her body with abandon, eyes closed, clearly showed that she was more than a little tipsy. Maybe she wasn't going to punch him in the face. Maybe it would just be a slap. Maybe Joanna was going to do it herself.

He threw a long look to Finnick, and he hoped he could read in his eyes that he was sentencing him to death. But it wasn't nearly as deadly as he thought, since his friend winked at him. Finn was definitely trouble.

Taking long strides so he wouldn't second-guess himself, he crossed the room and stopped right in front of Katniss. She must have felt his presence, as she opened her eyes, and looked quizzically at him. When he just kept standing there, staring at her, she raised her eyebrows playfully.

Ok, let's go. Don't think.

He gathered his courage, grabbed her hands, put her close to him, and then just went for it and kissed her full on the mouth, no questions asked.

At first, she gasped against his mouth. But as Peeta kept pressing his lips forcefully to hers, he was caught off guard as she started to actually kiss him back. He opened his eyes, and when he was her so engrossed in their kiss, closed them again. He kissed her like she was water in the desert, and to his delight, he felt her lips moving enthusiastically against his own. Pure energy ran through his body as her tongue traced the seam of his lips. He opened them eagerly, and when her tongue touched his confidently, he knew he was too far gone.

She was going to have to end the kiss herself, because he couldn't do it himself. Nope. It could have been 5 minutes or an hour later, but she eventually did. They opened their eyes at the same time, and they both grinned like fools. He touched her forehead with his own, and he could feel a fluttering in his chest when he realized how puffy and red her saliva-glistening lips were. He could only imagine his looked the same.

As the bar kept buzzing around them, they stood still, processing what had just happened.

Suddenly, Peeta got hit by something hard pouncing on him. He got tackled to the ground, and he just had the time to close his eyes before he got hit in the face, and to hear Katniss scream "Gale, what the fuck ?!"


"Je sais pas, ça fait longtemps qu'un garçon ne m'a pas intéressée, c'est tout." : "I don't know, it's just been a while since I've been interested in a guy"

The song Katniss sings is "Dernière danse" by Indila, which was a huge hit in France.
If you're interested in the translation of the lyrics, just ask and I will translate them for you.