Guten Tag!
This is the 8th chapter of Sparks. Honestly, I didn't think I would get this far… But I don't want to let my readers down! I really enjoyed writing this chapter. I'm a bit of a sucker for fluff! (Don't worry those who dislike fluff, there isn't too much). ;D
Sorry for this chapter being late… again… but I've been ill for the past five days and couldn't find the energy to write.
Remember, reviews are appreciated! I'm doing this for free :P
I wake with a stiff neck. I sit up straight, groaning as my back begins to ache as I lean against the back of the wooden chair I'm sitting on, the blanket my mother threw over me the night before dangling on the floor. I yawn and rub my eyes, blinking and smiling to myself. And then I see them.
A pair of sparkling blue eyes, staring right at me.
"Hey." I say softly, bringing the chair closer to the table.
"Hello!" Peeta says cheerily, a goofy smile on his face. "I haven't seen you for a while!" He's still partially under the influence of the medicine my mother gave him, his speech slurred a little. "What am I doing here?" He asks, looking around the kitchen.
"Well, we kidnapped you from your house and brought you here."
"Who's we?" Peeta asks, tilting his head to one side.
"Gale, Rye and myself." I grin, taking his hand and giving it a squeeze. "We carried you through town in the middle of the night on a plank of wood."
Peeta frowns a little, and then looks back at me, his eyes sparkling. "You did?" I nod. "Woah… That's crazy."
"How are you feeling?"
"I'm alright."
"Really?" I ask.
"Well, my back hurts, and my face, and my arm and my chest… But I'm good." Peeta says. I gaze down at him and almost feel like I could cry. I don't realise that I actually am until Peeta brings his hand up to my cheek and wipes away my tears with his thumb. "Why are you crying?"
"Because I thought I would never see you again. And you were really injured! And because Gal-" I freeze. My cheeks redden. I look down at my hand clasped in Peeta's. I can still feel Gale's lips on mine.
"And because Gale what?" Peeta says.
"And… er… because Gale's little sister is ill." I say quickly. Though it isn't what I intended on saying, it isn't a lie. Posy is still slightly ill, even after all this time.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Peeta says, offering me a smile.
"She's getting better, so it's alright."
"That's good." Peeta says. "Thank you, for rescuing me." He says, squeezing my hand.
"You're welcome." I grin.
"What are my parents going to say?"
"Your Dad knows. He's in on it." I explain. Peeta nods. We fall into silence and Peeta eventually closes his eyes. I immediately miss the blue orbs that we gazing up at me not three seconds ago. "I missed you, you know." I mumble.
"You did?" Peeta asks, re-opening his eyes and staring at me.
"Yeah, I did." I say sheepishly.
"I'd say I missed you too, but I wasn't exactly… conscious." Peeta remarks. I bite my lip.
"What did she do to you?" I ask quietly. Peeta's lips turn downward into a grimace, and he squeezes his eyes tightly shut.
"Um… Well, I went home to explain everything." Peeta begins.
-Flashback- Peeta's POV-I walk away from Katniss and her younger sister, Prim, and smile. Finally I kissed Katniss. If someone had told me that I would kiss Katniss Everdeen aged fifteen, I would have kicked them for messing with me. But now that I've done it, I can't help but feel happy. I hope that Katniss won't be taken back from it. I don't want her to think I'm being pushy or anything.
The look on Katniss' face was one of fear when I walked away from her. She knows as well as I do how my mother is most likely going to react. All I have to do is try and talk to her when my father is also around. He'll restrain her.
The door creaks slightly as I enter the bakery kitchen. I run up the stairs and leave my school bag in my room before quickly returning to the kitchen.
"Peeta? Is that you?" My father asks me, poking his head through the curtain that separates the kitchen from the shop.
"Hey Dad." I say, tying an apron around my waist.
"I need you to work upfront instead." Dad tells me.
"Alright." I reply, walking into the shop. I serve several customers and by the time Fen and Rye arrive home from wrestling practice, I'm sitting behind the counter, bored as hell.
"Hey there Peet!" Rye says, ruffling my hair. Fenton gives me a hug, but not out of love. He's still drenched in sweat from wrestling practice.
"Oh yuck guys!" I say, pushing my brothers away as they laugh. "Thanks. Thanks a lot." I say sarcastically.
"You're welcome buddy." Fen says, grabbing a towel and rubbing his face down.
"Mum's gonna have a right go at you." Rye says.
"Thanks for reminding me." I say, rolling my eyes. Rye and Fen exchange glances. Fen shakes his head at Rye.
"What was it like then?" Rye asks.
"Rye!" Fen hisses.
"What?" Rye replies, giving his older brother a glare.
"What was what like?" I ask, confused as to what my brothers are talking about. Rye laughs and Fen punches him on the arm harder than he normally would have.
"You know… it." Rye says.
"I still don't understand." I say, frowning and sitting forward on my seat.
"Between you and that Everd-"
"Rye wants to know what it was like having sex with that Everdeen chick." Fen sighs dramatically, cutting Rye off. I blink, my cheeks burning.
"Oh look, he's blushing." Rye says, slapping my cheek.
"Nothing happened." I mutter.
"Nothing?" Rye asks, turning to me.
"Nothing!" I confirm. "It's a rumour."
"Huh…" Rye says. "I bet you wish it wasn't."
"Whatever Rye." I say.
"He didn't say no though, did he?" Fen says, nudging Rye. They laugh and I shake my head.
"What are you two doing?" My father asks, stopping my older brother's loud chortling.
"Nothing, just taking to Peet." Fen says. I glare at him. He grins.
"Stop wasting time and get showered. I need you to help with bringing deliveries back here from the train." My father says. My brothers leave the room, running noisily up the stairs and fighting to get into the bathroom first. "I guess I'll go back into the kitchen then." I tell my father.
"Good idea." My Dad says with a wink.
"Oh, I'm sorry Peeta. Does the idea of you working in the kitchen make you sad?" My mother asks sarcastically. I turn around to see my mother standing in the doorway, her arms folded over her chest, her lips pressed into a thin line.
"That wasn't what I mea-" I start.
"You should be grateful that we allow you to work here!" My mother hisses. "This is training you, teaching you for the future!"
"Come now Aymee. You know that he didn't mean it that way." My father steps in, placing a hand on my shoulder. "No!" My mother says, glaring at me. "He is asked to go and work in the kitchen and he acts like it's some sort of great inconvenience! Don't be ungrateful!"
"Aymee-"
"I can't believe it! He acts like this despite the fact that he's brought shame upon this family by knocking up that Seam slut!"
"She isn't a slut, mother. I haven't knocked her up either." I say, balling my hands into fists at my sides. My mother spins around and stalks away.
"I haven't done anything Dad. I didn't want any of this to happen." I say quietly, turning to face my father. He smiles sympathetically down at me.
"I know son, and I trust that you didn't do anything irresponsible." He sighs. "Your mother will get over it. I'm sure she'll see sense and realise that you would never do that on purpose."
"Thanks." I reply, walking into the kitchen. I begin to mix up ingredients to make dough and leave it beside the ovens for it to rise. I grab a broom and begin to sweep the floor, making my way around the room. The sound of a door shutting causes me to look up. My mother stands in the doorway that leads to the shop.
"You have a lot of explaining to do." She tells me.
"About what?"
"Don't pretend like you don't know." Mum hisses, narrowing her eyes. "Marjorie says-"
And then I do something that I know will get me in trouble. I interrupt my mother. "Marjorie is seeing things! She's lying!" I exclaim.
"Don't you dare interrupt me!" Mum screeches. "Marjorie is a good friend of mine and a good woman. But you want to know what she told me not ten minutes ago?"
"What did she say?" I ask.
"She said that she just had a visit from none other than Katniss herself. She went to her because Marjorie was once a midwife. She had an appointment with Marjorie to check how her pregnancy was going." My eyes widen.
"That isn't true." I insist. "Katniss isn't pregnant. Besides, she wouldn't even be able to afford an appointment with Marjorie." My mother frowns; obviously starting to see cracks in what she's apparently been told. "I'm sorry Mum, but Marjorie doesn't know what she's talking about."
"You've embarrassed this family Peeta." I'm told as I turn around to pick up a glove to take some trays of bread buns from the oven
"They'll get over it." I mutter. And then I feel my mother's hand connect with my cheeks. The oven glove slips out of my hand and my skin makes contact with the edge of the oven. I'm used to getting burns and scrapes from the ovens, but this burn seems even worse. I pull my hand away and examine it, feeling the stinging pain radiating through my arm.
"What did you just say?"
"I said that everyone would get over it!" I say, my temper finally getting to me.
"Don't raise your voice to me!" Mum shouts.
"Don't accuse me of something that isn't true!" I shout back. My mother steps up to me, pointing a finger at my chest since squaring up to me doesn't work. She's now the shortest person in the family.
"You ungrateful little-" My mother purses her lips and suddenly I feel the hard edge of the rolling pin smack into my shoulder. I step back and my face scrunches up in pain. My shoulder feels like it's been crushed.
By the time my father and Rye arrive from the train station (Fen is still finishing up with the deliveries), my head is spinning and I'm finding it hard to breathe. "If you do so much as think about that Everdeen girl, she'll get a visit from me." My mother threatens.
"Don't... go near…her." I mumble, my jaw aching.
"Don't tell me what to do!" Mum hisses. Rye then enters the kitchen and yanks our mother away.
"Dad! Get in here!" He yells. He looks down at me, his eyes filled with sorrow. "Hang in there." He tells me.
"Aymee!" My Dad exclaims, running into the room, Fen close behind. "What did he do?"
"He did everything! He's knocked up that girl; he's ruined this family! And then he had the guts to yell at his mother!" Mum says, staring down at me.
"Woah, you yelled at her?" Fen asks me, a trace of a smirk on his face. I attempt to laugh a little, knowing that it'll simply anger Mum even more, but the movement causes my chest to ache. I settle for groaning and clutching at my arm.
"Rye, take your brother to his room. Aymee, come and calm down." Dad instructs, pulls his wife away.
"Okay lil' bro." Rye says, kneeling down beside me. "What hurts?"
"Everything." I moan.
"Everything?" Rye questions, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. He's never been one to cope well in these situations.
"You aren't helping." I tell him. "But if you want a serious answer, my arm, shoulder, ribs, fingers and face hurt like hell."
"What did she do to you?" Rye asks, helping me up. I feel tears coming to my eyes as I straighten my back. My ribs are broken for sure.
"I don't know. She started yelling at me and I lost my temper and yelled at her…"
"You lost your temper? You?" Rye asks.
"Yep." I say. "And then she slapped me and I burnt my hand, and then she attempted to square up to me-"
"Which we all know isn't happening any time soon." Rye sniggers.
"And then she hit me with her rolling pin and I think she also hit me in the head. I'm not sure." I mumble.
"I'm sorry we weren't there." Rye says, half-dragging, half-pulling me up the stairs and into my room where I lay on my bed and groan in pain.
"I planned to explain everything with some back up. I didn't realise you were gone." I say.
"I'll get something for the pain." My brother says, disappearing into the bathroom. My father returns instead of Rye, a bottle of pills in hand.
"I'm so sorry Peeta." He says, sitting down on the edge of my bed.
"It's not your fault." I reply.
"What can I do?" Dad asks.
"Give me those pills." I say. Dad chuckles and hands me the pills. I swallow them down dry.
-End of flashback-
My hands are over my mouth as I listen to Peeta.
"She did that to you?" I ask quietly. Peeta nods slightly. "I'm really sorry Peeta."
"You shouldn't be sorry. If it wasn't for you I would still be in that bed." Peeta says.
"Are you cold? Hungry?" I ask.
"I'm a little thirsty." Peeta says.
"I'll get you some water." I say, standing up and walking into the kitchen. I half-fill a glass with the clear liquid. I bring it back to Peeta and I pull him upright slightly so he can drink. He takes the glass and drinks from it while I prop him up. He winces when I touch his shoulder. "Sorry." I reply.
"Don't worry." He says.
"You finished?" I ask, motioning to the cup in his hand. He nods.
"Thank you." He says softly. "For all of your help."
"You're welcome." I grin down at him. I'm suddenly aware of how close our faces are- our noses are almost touching. Peeta licks his lips and smiles slightly. I stare into his eyes, he stares back, and I find myself leaning in, ever so slowly.
"Peeta! You're awake!" Prim's sudden announcement surprises the both of us, and a sit back, leaving me to drop Peeta back onto the table.
"Ow!" He calls out, clutching at his shoulder and arm.
"I'm sorry!" I say, my voice increasing in pitch as I stand.
"I'm going to fetch mother." Prim says, running back out of the room. Peeta catches my eyes and I look away, a red-hot blush sweeping across my face and chest, a smile on my lips nonetheless.
"Ahh, Mr. Mellark." Mum greets Peeta, walking towards him and rolling up her sleeves.
"Mrs. Everdeen." Peeta returns to greeting, equally as polite. "Now that I'm aware of my surroundings and circumstances, I feel that I must thank you and your daughters for helping me."
"It's no trouble." My mother says, washing her hands. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm feeling alright." Peeta says.
"Any pain?"
"In my chest, arm and shoulder." Peeta says, rubbing his elbow gingerly with his one good hand.
"Well, I have good news, and bad news." Mum says. "Which would you rather hear first?"
"The bad?" Peeta asks, looking up at the three of us as we look down at him.
"Primrose?" My mother motions for my sister to explain.
"The bad news is that you did have a dislocated shoulder and a broken arm." Peeta looks at his shoulder and grimaces. I blink and swallow, remembering the mumbled cries of pain that Peeta emitted last night when Mum popped his shoulder back into his socket and set his arm in a splint to heal. His desperate sounds of agony brought tears to my eyes, the thought worsened by the facts that Peeta was unconscious. Thank God he wasn't awake. "The good news, you're ribs aren't broken, just badly bruised. You'll be healed up in a few weeks. As for your arm, that will take between four and six weeks I'm afraid. And your shoulder, that will take about a week to heal."
"He'll be okay though, wont he?" I ask, looking up at my family.
"I'm sure he'll be alright." My mother says, giving me a reassuring smile.
For the next few hours, I spend my time by Peeta's side, giving him something to eat, something to drink, and someone to talk to. We talk about seemingly pointless things, our favourite colour, season or animal. But it's these things that we find fascinating about each other. We learn a lot. Just after noon, someone knocks on the door.
"It's your family." Prim informs Peeta.
"My family?" Peeta frowns, turning his head on the table.
"Do you want me to send them away?" Prim asks.
"No, no. Please, send them in." Peeta says. Prim disappears and I hear heavy footfalls on the floor of our house. Mr. Mellark, Fenton and Rye stand in the narrow doorway, their heads almost touching the ceiling. They look out of place in the Seam, with their shockingly blue eyes and golden hair.
"Dad!" Peeta says, leaning up on one hand and swinging his legs over edge of the table. "Fen, Rye. What are you doing here?"
"We've come to see you, of course." Rye says, walking up to his brother.
"How are you feeling?" Peeta's father says, sitting beside his youngest son.
"Much better now." Peeta smiles. I stand by the door, and smile, before turning away. Peeta needs some time alone with his family. I need time alone to gather my thoughts.
Yay! End of another chapter! I hope you enjoyed reading this. I had fun writing from Peeta POV :3