She lost count of how many times she misjudged this one. From day one she had assumed that he was wealthier, better, entitled, all because his father owned the bakery.
Yet Peeta Mellark had an uncanny ability to be genuinely kind hearted, and it scared the shit out of her. Even when he threw the bread at her, and had gotten hit in the face with a rolling pin, and had showed up to school with a bruised cheek, he never blamed her. When their eyes locked the next day, briefly, before the dandelion had distracted her and caught her eye, there was still a warmth in those sky blue eyes before he looked down, blushing, seconds before she lost him in the crowd.
Even after that, though, she watched as he got stronger as they grew older. Definitely wasn't missing any meals, that one. And she never thought she resented him for it, but something close to relief found its way into her heart once he told her that they ate the stale bread no one bought for dinner.
Maybe he wasn't as rich as she thought, which meant they were more alike than she thought, and why she wanted them to be alike was beyond her.
His father actually bought her cookies when they were Reaped. She assumed it was a trick, a ploy to distract from the fact that they all would want her dead, and she couldn't help but think, on that train ride that would change her life, wouldn't it just be easier to get it over with now?
Only he didn't want her dead, which she found out soon enough as she spent time with him.
He was easy to like, even if he did make her feel… different.
Then he went and mortified her by claiming he had a crush on her, and nothing was ever the same after that.
Ever.
It confused her, still confused her to this day, how Peeta Mellark had ever thought twice about Katniss Everdeen.
And in her confusion over the years she continued to misjudge him. From joining the careers to admitting how he'd loved her since she was five years old in a cave, she had misjudged him. And she continued to do so when she broke his heart on a train ride home, becoming more and more confused as they got closer and closer to Gale, her best friend, who if she owed anything to, it was loyalty.
Not love, necessarily, but loyalty.
And then she feared Peeta would tell all of Panem that she was lying, that they weren't the star-crossed lovers, only he doesn't betray her, and damn it all to hell when he kisses her for the first time since that train ride home she didn't think she'd still feel something for the boy…..
He wanted to be friends. Another misjudgment on her part, because really she thought he'd want nothing to do with her, and he had every right to feel that way after what she did to him.
Only Peeta, ever the kind one, started to get to know her, which in turn made her start to get to know him.
And then those arms, those strong, muscular arms, were there one night, comforting her after a nightmare, and she started to question what it was that was happening. He still loved her, obviously, and she has no idea what to do with that love, but for now she'll ask him to stay.
He whispered something into the night, and she won't admit that she pretends she didn't hear the word, "Always."
She just told herself she never quite made out what he said.
Only she remembered how important that word is, how much it meant to her, that night in the Capitol, when she kissed him for the first time since the Quarter Quell.
Always.
But before that, before the Quell, after the announcement, when they were training like Careers, she thought about how easy it would be to hate him, because he was fucking crazy, and she could think that, then, because at the time she hadn't known what crazy meant.
She had assumed the Capitol had taken him from her, and Katniss had given up hope in believing that he'd ever become her boy with the bread again. They grew distant, but she should have known he would return to her the minute he stopped her from taking that pill that would have ended it all. She'd been too crazy, then, too heartbroken over Prim's death to notice much of anything, other than the everlasting ache in her heart at her sister's death.
Yes, she had just misjudged Peeta Mellark several times, but he came back to 12, planting his primroses in front of her porch.
For her.
And he helped her with the book, as hard as it was for him, and she helped him remember, as hard as it was for her. And when he asked her questions about train rides and soft kisses when there were no cameras, and why had he told the world there was a baby when she could hardly hold his hand, she tried to tell him how real all that was now, even if it wasn't then.
His flashbacks grew farther and farther apart, and she tried not to get her hopes up, but he was Peeta Mellark, and he made her hope against her will, like he always had, like he always would.
She hoped for happiness, and got it every time he kissed her.
She hoped for safety every time he touched her, even when it was his hands, and eventually him, in all his naked glory. And she did always feel safe, whenever he was inside of her, because he was there, shielding her, making her forget about mutt mutations and lost children. And the way her hips rocked to his made her realize that she'd always been safest in his arms. Flashbacks didn't matter. There had been plenty of times she had crawled on top of his lap after he'd tied himself to a chair, murmuring 'Not real, not real, not real,' until he came back to her, and then she'd untie him and take him inside of her before he could even get out of the chair, reminding herself, and him that this, right here, right now, was real.
He also made her hope for new beginnings, and after fifteen years she gave in and had his baby. It's been one of the most horrifying things she'd ever experienced, at the top of the list, right under Prim's death, his death in the Quarter Quell and him being taken from the Capitol. But every promise he ever made, about Katniss loving and protecting the child as soon as she had the child, ended up coming true, and it didn't take her long to agree to have another one.
Besides, there was a lot of pleasure in making the children.
She had miscalculated how much he could love her. The fifteen-year-old who'd been Reaped with her paled in comparison to the man who was beaming at Finn as if he were his own son—and in a way, Finn had been, for a while. How many summers did Finn spend in 12 with them? How many games did they play over the years?
She had never known he'd be such a good husband, or such an amazing dad.
And even now, after all these years and two children later, Peeta could still make her body melt and her toes curl, which he proved as they slow danced together, one of many couples on the dance floor next to Finn and his bride.
They had grey in their hair now, his silver matching the color of her eyes. His eyes were still just as blue as ever, the love even more evident now.
He still adored her.
And after all this time she could finally show him—and occasionally express— how much he meant to her as well.
He pulled her in closer, holding the small of her back, and she felt her heartbeat speed up.
He could still do that too.
And though they had children they'd have to get to bed, and that was always a chore, at least for Rye, who was as stubborn as his mother, and always liked to be in the thick of things, which means he hated sleeping because he might miss something, that still didn't stop Peeta from blowing softly in her ear, sending a familiar shiver down her spine.
"I can't wait to get this dress off of you tonight," he told her huskily, and even now this man could make her blush.
But she was nowhere near as pure as she once was. He had seen to that. She ground her hips against his to let him know that she couldn't wait either, and made him moan.
Yes, she had been wrong about Peeta Mellark.
But not as wrong as she'd been about herself.
Because the assumption that she wouldn't want to get married, or love anybody as much as her mother had, or ever have children…
Well that was just an assumption that ended up being not real.
Might continue this, might not. Not sure. I'd really like to see one about Haymitch, Effie, and Mrs. Everdeen…. Anybody you all want to see? Or maybe I should just keep it a three-shot, and end it here. What do you all think?
Patiently waiting,
-thamockingjayandpeeta