a/n: thank you all so much for your reviews and notifications and alerts! so overwhelming and wonderful!
Annie weaved through the tables, refilling the condiment bottles as Johanna sat at the register, arranging the money in front of her.
Johanna's hair, short, wavy and black was piled on her head in a messy ponytail, a pencil sticking out from behind her ear. Right behind her left earlobe, Katniss could make out a faint tattoo. It was black and small, almost hidden. Katniss squinted her eyes for only a second as Johanna cocked her head to look at Annie and then Katniss sizing her up with a glare as she forced her eyes back to her money.
The tattoo was of a dark heart, some sort of vines going around it. And there were words, numbers maybe outlining the heart in curvy, bolded writing though she couldn't quite make it out from where she was and Katniss silently wondered who that was meant for, what it signified.
"We could use the help is all I'm saying, Jo." Annie said, her green eyes flicking between Johanna and Katniss before turning back to the red bottle of ketchup in her hand, her fingers twisting the lid open.
"I think we're fine." Johanna replied, the pencil from her hair now held securely in her fingers, dancing across a piece of paper.
"But at the moment it's just you, me, Peeta, Brick and Sae. Lucy won't be coming back from Tennessee until the end of August and we've got a long way to go until then. And if we have another day like today, we're screwed. We couldn't have made it without Katniss answering the phone and getting the sodas."
Annie threw a smile her way, her green eyes bright and assuring and Katniss managed a smile back, feeble and awkward.
Johanna sighed from where she was sitting loudly, swiveling in her seat to look at Katniss. She gauged her, probably judging her clothes, her ordinary braid and face.
Katniss stared back at Johanna, realizing that the girl in front of her was far from ordinary. Her hair was short and dark, too dark to be natural. And her eyes were brown, but were rimmed with blue make-up, making the brown stand out on her pale skin. Her face was small, heart-shaped. But her eyes were large and wide, her lips a bit swollen, forming a pout on her face. She looked like someone Katniss would ordinarily ignore. Or avoid.
"How old are you?" Johanna snapped at her, her hand falling to her hip.
"Seventeen."
Johanna sighed loudly, exaggeratedly. "Fine. But we can't offer you much. Just minimum wage and tips. Which, by the way, tends to suck because most of our customers are either broke or still in high school."
She looked down at a piece of paper, her eyes skimming it for a quick second before they stared at Katniss again, hard and cold. "We open at seven, close at ten. Except for Fridays and Saturdays, we close at eleven. You'd probably working afternoons, meaning you'll have to close. Which is a bit of work, if you can tell." She said, her hands flying in the air, gesturing towards the room that looked like it needed a good scrubbing.
"It's not a fun job. It's not easy. If I were you, I would think long and hard before just accepting it." Johanna concluded, drawing her eyes back to the paper in front of her, the pencil in her fingers moving quickly again.
Katniss looked at Annie, her eyes unsure. Annie beamed back at her, clearly victorious. "I think you should take the job, Katniss. It'll be loads of fun – It's really not as bad as Jo's making it sound, she's just bitter."
She rolled her eyes good humoredly at Johanna, who ignored her.
Katniss saw a head of blonde fly over the counter, an easy, warm smile coming into view. "For what it's worth, I also think that you should take the job, Katniss." Peeta said, leaning over the cement buffer that divided the kitchen and the seating area.
"Just say yes!" Annie repeated, her fingers brushing Katniss' shoulder briefly before she twisted the top of another ketchup container, refilling the empty red condiment bottle.
Katniss shifted her gaze from Johanna, whose scowl seemed to be permanent and looked between Annie and Peeta wearily, both of their smiles warm and welcoming.
"Okay," she said. "I, I guess I'll take it."
Johanna looked up at her again, the pencil tucked back behind her ear again, nearly hidden in the dark shadows of her hair. "You start tomorrow. Be here at four."
Annie clapped her hands together, as Peeta flashed another happy smile at her before turning back, returning to his grill.
"Yay! Katniss!" Annie said, handing Katniss a bottle of ketchup. "Welcome to the diner!"
Peeta had slipped out from the kitchen at some point without notice while Morgan set about teaching her the basics of waitressing, her mouth moving a mile a minute.
Johanna hovered near them, not helping, but not scowling either which Katniss thought had to be some sort of improvement.
"You have to make sure the condiment bottles are full every night." Annie said, moving on from the bottles of ketchup to the mayonnaise and mustard. She'd stacked them, about thirty or four, on the table neatly.
"And you fold enough utensils into the napkins beforehand so that the next morning we're not running out. Also make sure the counters are clean – usually Peeta will do that. Him or Brick – they're usually the chefs that close up. Sae, she works here too but only the mornings so you probably won't see her too often."
She pushed three bottles she'd just refilled, throwing a look Johanna's way. A wry smile playing on her lips, Johanna slumped in the seat next to Annie, twisting a creamy colored condiment bottle's top.
"I don't work on Saturdays, because those are the days Finnick usually comes home." She paused, looking at Katniss for a second, her green eyes gleaming brightly. "Finnick is my boyfriend, by the way. I think you met him at the bonfire …"
Katniss nodded, noting that the scowl had made its way back to Johanna's face. Harder and firmer than before.
"He's on the swim team over in Chapel Hill at UNC. And he's training right now so he spends most of his time there. But sometimes on Saturdays he comes home and surprises me!" Annie gushed, her lips turned upwards into a smile larger than Katniss could ever manage. "So, Saturdays it's usually Jo, Peeta, Brick and now, you!"
Annie's eyes drifted towards the clock, an old, large circle hanging over the counter. "Oh! It's getting late, let me show you the kitchen really quickly." She stood, walking towards the kitchen. Her hands frantically flew in the air, explaining what was what and where it was, and Katniss was sure she'd remember none of it by the next day.
She turned to Katniss after a beat, "oh, and meet me here early on Thursday. I'll teach you how to make dressings for the salads and you can start helping out in the kitchen then. But until then, you can just help at the register, with the sodas, the phone – just stuff you did today, basically."
She flashed a large smile at Katniss, walking back to where Johanna sat, picking up a yellow condiment bottle off the table. She looked back at Katniss, "You can go home if you want! You've had a long first day."
Katniss nodded, relieved. She wasn't sure what she just got herself into.
Katniss fell into the sofa, sprawling her legs across Prim whose eyes were glued to the television screen in front of her, a pink blanket thrown messily across her small limbs.
She picked up her wet hair in her fingers, splashing Prim with a whip of her hair, earning her a sweet giggle from her baby sister who repositioned herself, climbing behind her, gathering Katniss' hair in her own small hands.
As Katniss had seen Prim do for her mother a hundred times before, Prim separated her hair in three sections, combing them through with her fingers before pulling the sections of hair over on another, beginning to twist them into a neat braid.
"You were at the library for an awfully long time," Prim said after a beat of silence, a smile in her voice.
Katniss rolled her eyes, despite knowing that her little sister couldn't see it. "I actually ended up getting a job."
Prim's hands froze, Katniss' hair twisted back into only half of a braid as Prim peeked from behind her, her blue eyes coming into view. "Where?"
"At the diner," Katniss said, her fingers wringing the blanket that barely covered her toes.
She looked back at Prim, her eyes widened in excitement. "Where Peeta works?"
Katniss nodded.
Prim pulled herself back to the braid, her fingers twisting the wet strands of hair again. After a beat of silence, Prim spoke. "I like Peeta."
Katniss smiled, "I know you do."
"He made pasta, it's in the fridge," Prim said, after another beat of silence. "Did you eat yet?"
Katniss shook her head. In the chaos of the day, Katniss had neglected her own stomach's wants and needs, only realizing now as her stomach roared.
She felt Prim loop a rubber band around the bottom of her braid, grazing her fingers down the length of the twist.
"I'll warm some up for you." Prim said, jumping off of the couch, her small feet padding towards the kitchen.
Katniss tucked her feet under her, reaching for the remote. She switched between channels until she found her favorite, the Animal Planet channel. Television didn't interest her much – she found most shows to be banal and shallow and fake. But the animals, she enjoyed watching them not be caged up or donning ridiculous outfits and bows; she enjoyed watching the lions run fiercely through their own humble abodes that consisted only of the grass, the trees and the sky above them. She craved the feeling she imagined them to feel, the wind whipping through their coat of fur, doing as they pleased.
The freedom, the independence. She wanted that. But she knew she could never truly find that for herself – not with Prim to look after.
Prim walked back to the couch, a bowl of pasta in her hands. Katniss eagerly took it from her, forking bites into her mouth swiftly.
Prim rolled her eyes when she realized that Katniss had found the remote, "What are you watching?"
"Big Cat Diary."
Prim seemed to contemplate that for a moment, deciding between wanting to snatch the remote back from her older sister and sitting back and wanting to watch the lions and tigers roam their lands, find food, survive in the wild.
She sat down as the lioness neared a herd of animals, buffaloes.
The pack of large black buffaloes turned to look at the lioness, her golden color shining in the sun. The black, slimy looking animals looked at her, their antlers slightly arched, pointing at her in a threatening manner. She looked back defiantly, her chest puffing proudly.
"I like this show." Prim said, spreading the blanket over her toes. Katniss noticed her toenails were painted a bright pink, something she must've done with Rue that day.
"Me too."
Katniss felt the couch shift under her as Prim turned towards her, looking at her with excited eyes.
"Haymitch ate dinner with me tonight! And then he took me to the store and bought me ice cream."
Katniss looked at her, her own eyes a bit shocked. She hadn't seen much of Haymitch since she'd been here. But then again, she hadn't been home much, contrary to her initial planning.
"He's not so bad. He actually reminds me a little bit of mom." Prim paused, biting her lip softly, her eyes suddenly sad. "Well. Mom before dad died. But he's a little bit like mom now, too."
Katniss set her bowl of pasta on the table, weaving her fingers through her little sisters. It was in moments like these she hated her mother the most.
It was hard for Katniss at first; talking to the customers, asking them friendly question to which she had no interest in the slightest for hearing the answer. Some customers were painfully friendly, striking up conversation as she asked for their orders, asking her questions with big grins on their faces. Others just offered the minimal response – those were the kinds she liked best.
Smiling came the hardest for her, though she realized that Johanna made no real effort to turn her lips upwards either and stopped trying to force a smile on her face as well.
It only took her a few days though, to realize that sure, the customers saw her, but none of them were actually looking at her. They didn't care for her smile nor for her words; with hungry eyes and salivating mouths, their only care was that there food be brought to them, pronto.
She moved from table to table, the pen in her hands moving swiftly over the notepad in her hand, writing down orders. She trailed back to the kitchen, passing Annie on the way who smiled at her, squeezing Katniss' shoulders with her fingers reassuringly.
Katniss reached the kitchen counter, laying down the orders across the musty yellow colored divide. She looked up, catching Peeta's eyes trained on her from the grill.
That was the one thing she'd noticed in her four days of working at the diner – wherever she went, whatever she did, Peeta's eyes tended to be on her, bright blue and kind.
It bothered her at first; she found it unnerving to have someone stare at her, watching her every move. But it didn't take too long before the blue eyes became comforting, reassuring in the face of rude, antsy customers. The days that Annie wasn't working, he was her ally here, she'd realized, and in a way weird way, his constant smiles had grown on her.
"Three hamburgers, one cheeseburger – hold the lettuce." She read off her paper as Peeta neared her, patting his hands on a dish towel.
She could hear Sinatra playing on the radio, soft and low. She'd noticed he listened to the oldies a lot, Sinatra and Dean Martin, Nat Cole King and Mel Torme. It reminded her of her father, of Sundays after hunting and of car-rides.
Peeta looked out the small opening, small beads of sweat forming on his forehead. He let out a small whistle, "We're packed today."
Katniss nodded, "You guys weren't kidding about the crazy Friday's, huh?"
He shook his head, "Nope, people always start their weekends here. It'll wind down though in an hour or two."
Katniss nodded, "Yeah, once it slows down around her Annie wants to teach me how to make salad dressing …"
Peeta's nose scrunched up in disgust. "Here's a warning – be prepared for a lot of mayonnaise."
His eyes flicked to her shirt, an old, frayed black button up. "And remember to wear an apron. I forgot once, and I had to throw the shirt away after."
Her own facial expression mimicked his. She wasn't a fan of mayonnaise. It was slimy and sticky and the smell, in excess, often left her nauseas.
"Peeta, I need that burger." She heard Johanna's voice say from behind her. Peeta nodded, an easy smile on his lips. "Yes, boss." He said, returning back to the grill where Brick, an aging, graying man stood, flipping patties.
"And you, Katniss. It would be helpful if you didn't just stand her talking to our cook and actually moved your ass around, delivering people their food and taking their orders. You know, the shit I'm paying you to do."
Johanna snapped, her fingers snatching a plate full of fries and a large burger from Peeta's hands as her shoulder bumped Katniss' shoulder, her heels turning as she made her way back to her customers.
Katniss felt her fingers ball up into a fist at her sides, and she dug her fingernails into her palms.
She felt an arm on her own, fingers moving in a small comforting circle for just a second. She turned, finding Peeta's small smile, his blue eyes. "Don't … Don't mind her. She's just … She's Johanna. That's just her way."
Katniss made a small 'hmpfh' noise, taking the plates Peeta had set on the counter for her to take back to her customers.
She ignored the smile he offered her, annoyed by his excuses for Johanna.
Sure, Peeta was her ally when it came to Johanna. But he wasn't exactly Johanna's foe either.
Annie smiled at Katniss, both of them up to elbows in mayonnaise and sour cream.
Katniss wiggled her nose, her face scrunching up as the smell slowly went from just bad to plain unbearable.
Annie laughed, using her upper arm to push wisps of her hair that had fallen to her eyes. "Jo hates it when I come home after doing the dressing. She can't stand the smell either, which is why she never does this. It's usually Sae, Peeta or me making the dressing."
Katniss looked up at her, a bit shocked. "You live with Johanna."
Annie was one of the few people here Katniss had found it easy to talk to, to converse with. Hell, she was one of the few people Katniss could converse with, period. She couldn't imagine someone so sweet, so innocent as Annie living with someone as evil, as bossy as Johanna.
Annie nodded, her eyes understanding. "I know – It must seem weird to you because she tends to come off as … well, as a bitch. But she's really the closest thing I have to a sister. And she's really not as bad as she makes herself out to be. She's got a big, warm heart somewhere deep, deep inside."
Katniss nodded slowly, not sure if she believed that last bit just yet. Not from what she had seen, at least.
Annie threw in the small bowl of dried chives, parsley and other powders Katniss couldn't remember as Katniss continued to whisk the white, pasty looking concoction.
"It might take you a while to warm up to her though," Annie said a minute later. "My boyfriend Finnick and I have been dating for four years and still the two of them cannot get along." She said, wistfully. "Johanna just has a hard time, being polite and friendly. She sort of just doesn't have a filter, she just says what she thinks and that can piss some people off."
Annie dipped her finger into it gingerly, her head nodding in approval. "Perfect, that's perfect."
"That doesn't piss you off?"
A wry smile appeared on Annie's lips, "It does. Sometimes. But she's my best friend, so I put up with it. And Peeta puts up with it. We're the only two people I know who are able to do it for long enough."
"Yeah but Peeta seems like the kind of person who can put up with just about anyone." Katniss said, her fingers reaching to grab the bags of lettuce Annie handed her.
"He is. And he'll do it with a smile on his face, too. But they kind of have a history, so I suppose his situation is a bit different than mine." She said, smiling as she tore the bag of greens open, signaling Katniss to follow suit.
"Now, with the lettuce it's important to remember that every piece you use must be bright, green and fresh. If it's slimy or brown, just throw it away. We use lettuce for almost everything so a bad piece can really screw things up."
Katniss nodded, the instructions regarding lettuce fading in her mind as she processed the last bit of what Annie had revealed to her. Peeta and Johanna had a history. She pictured Peeta's friendly face, his happy blue eyes, his never ending smiles and then remembered Johanna, her hard face, her permanent scowl. It made close to no sense to her.
Annie picked up the carrots next, "And you always peel these before cutting them up. You'd think that would be common knowledge but it turns out its not …"
Katniss nodded again, choosing her words carefully. "Uhm, Johanna and Peeta have a history?"
Annie looked up, confusion clouding her eyes before she smacked her head, the smile back on her face. "I forgot! You're not from around here."
Annie sighed, wiping her hands on her apron, her face suddenly grave and Katniss mimicked her motions. She took a quick look around the kitchen, noticing that the two of them were alone. From the small opening in the kitchen, Katniss could see Peeta's and Johanna's backs. They sat at the table closest to the front, burgers in front of them. After the afternoon frenzy of customers, the diner was now empty save for one customer who Brick was chatting up.
Annie cleared her throat, bringing Katniss' attention towards her. "They dated for a while – it was right after his dad died, two years ago."
"His dad died?" Katniss felt her voice wavering, shaking. Peeta, the boy who smiled at her, smiled at everyone without reason and without fail, had been put through the same hell she'd been. But, she realized with a new appreciation for him, he'd been able to still see the good in the world. Unlike her.
But then again, she thought, he probably had a family to fall back on. A mother who could actually take care of him.
Annie just nodded, "Johanna had already been there, you know? Both of her parents passed away when she was younger. And they just … they found comfort in each other."
Katniss felt sick, she could feel her face turning a pale shade of green. "I didn't know Johanna's parents both died."
Annie nodded, her voice just barely above a whisper. "They committed suicide when she was six, within a month of each other."
Annie handed Katniss a knife and a handful of carrots, and the sound of chopping soon took over the kitchen.
That was her biggest fear after her father died, Katniss remembered. That her mother would kill herself would chase after her father in the afterworld. Wouldn't just be emotionally absent, but physically as well.
"I know I said she's the closest thing I have to a sister, but the truth is that I'm also the closest thing she has to a family."
A wry smile suddenly appeared on Annie's face, "Kinda explains why she's a bitch sometimes, huh? Life's been a little tough on her."
Katniss felt her eyes drifting towards the boy with the curly blonde hair, the girl with the short dark hair – people she had more in common with than she could have ever guessed.
Johanna smiled as Peeta swiped a fry from her plate, swatting his hand and he laughed a loud, happy sound.
Katniss awoke with a start, the image of her father's car, enveloped in hot orange, bright red flames burned in her mind. She ran her fingers through her hair, feeling the dampness of her sweat-soaked hair.
She reached out to Prim, finding comfort in her little sister's warm hands that lazily sprawled across Katniss' waist, Prim's small toes wedged between her legs.
She lifted her head off the pillows slightly, wiping the sleep from her eyes with her fists fervently. The small, digital clock on Prim's side table blinked, the red flashing 1:10 am. Katniss had only fallen asleep an hour ago, and she was already very aware that the one hour or tortured slumber was the only sleep she was going to get that night.
She never could go to sleep after nightmares like this one.
Katniss slowly peeled herself away from Prim, gingerly lifting her sister's small hand and letting it fall back on the bed. She pulled the pillow that was under her head, tucking it next to Prim's sleeping form.
Rummaging through the pile of clothes on the chair that she had yet to fold into the drawers and closet, she found a sweatshirt and pulled it over. It was Gale's, and it still smelled like him – a specific mixture of the musky scent of boy and cars, a result of the time he spent at his dad's garage, fixing cars and messing around.
She pulled at her shorts; they had bunched up awkwardly around her legs as they often did when she slept, and slipped into pink flip-flops. They were Prim's but they fit her for the most part, though the pink looked weird on her skin.
She padded down the hall, walking past Haymitch's room. She was surprised to find that he'd had dinner with Prim for a second night in a row – though, it shouldn't come as a surprise that Prim had managed to pull their recluse uncle out of his study. Prim had that effect on people, could make anyone do just about anything with just a simple smile.
Opening the cabinets as quietly as she could manage, she searched the kitchen for coffee, craving the bitter taste in her mouth. She imagined her uncle to be an addict of the caffeinated drink, but came out empty handed. Instead, she only found bottles upon bottles of alcohol, and she realized her uncle had a very different type of addiction.
Ordinarily, when she couldn't sleep, she would creep out of the house and walk to the small lake that could be found a mile's walk away from her house, a book in hand. Here, she figured she would have to make do with the beach, hoping the sound of the water would have the same effect.
Going back to her room, she tiptoed to her leather messenger bag, her hands fishing for a book. The leather of the bag was frayed, the color fading in the corners. But it was by far one of her most prized possession; the bag belonged to her father.
Tucking her worn, tearing copy of Pride and Prejudice, Katniss silently tiptoed down the hall for a second time, this time heading for the door. Making sure to close the door quietly behind her, she headed up the street, her flip flops slapping loudly against the cement under her.
The mini-mart came into view as she neared the bridge, and the craving for coffee deepened. She fished around her pockets for spare change, a dollar and smiled gratefully as she found a crumpled five dollar bill in Gale's sweatshirt.
"Thank you, Gale." She whispered to no one in particular before walking swiftly towards the dimly lit store.
She pushed the door open, the chimes that rang as she did so startling her. The man at the counter looked at her, a deep frown etched on his face. He looked old, his long hair gray, a small beard on his face. He had a lazy eye, and a large stain on his shirt.
Katniss nodded at him, her standard greeting and headed towards the back, the coffee machines coming into view.
She picked the largest cup they offered, an extra-large, and placed it under the coffee machine. She pulled the metal bar above it, but nothing came out. She pulled at it again for a second time, and then a third but to no avail. She sighed loudly, scanning the store. She seemed to be the only person here, other than the man at the register, and she had no interest in asking him for help.
With another loud sigh, she clasped the cup, pulling it away when a hand from behind her tugged at the bar, wiggling it a few times before the coffee began to pour out, delicious and warm. Katniss pushed her cup back in its place and looked back, expecting the creepy man from the front.
Instead, she found herself staring at a mess of blonde hair and a happy smile. Peeta.
"This thing is kind of annoying but if you wriggle it a few times, it tends to work."
She nodded, "What are you doing here?"
"I couldn't sleep." He said, shrugging, a pack of peanuts in his hand, a soda in the other. "Though, really, I should be asking you that."
She picked out a lid for her cup, clasping it onto the foam. "Me either. And I couldn't find the coffee at Haymitch's." She nodded towards her cup before bringing it to her lips.
"Third drawer from the bottom right. Under the stove." Peeta said as Katniss walked towards the counter. She paid the creepy man, grateful that she had Peeta with her.
She crumpled the singles the man had given back into her pocket, the change jingling loudly as she stepped towards the door that Peeta had opened for them.
He tore the packet of peanuts open with his teeth, offering them to her first. The moon was a size she rarely saw, enormous and so close. It's yellow-y white reflection forced Peeta's blue eyes to stand out bright in the otherwise dark night.
She opened her palm, accepting some. Much like Annie, Peeta was someone who, she'd realized in the last few days, she was able to converse with without tremendous effort.
She ignored the fact that both of these people did enough talking for the two of them and more often than not, all that was needed of her was a nod of her head and a "hmm."
"Where are you headed?" Peeta asked as they stepped onto the sidewalk, their rhythmic steps in sync with one another.
She eyes the bridge, the waves of the ocean just barely audible if you really listened. The only light on the boardwalk came from the small lamp post. Though, it flickered so often she doubted the sole source of light would last long.
Katniss shrugged, "The beach. Maybe."
He nodded, his eyebrows furrowed as he thought for a second. "Mind if I join you?"
The word 'no' formed in her mouth; She wanted time alone, not being forced into a conversation with a boy who she barely knew. Well, okay, after Annie's incessant chatting, she knew a fair amount about him. But he knew nothing about her, and she preferred to keep it that way.
But for some reason she couldn't explain, she couldn't.
"Sure."
He flashed a smile her way, running a hand through his hair, the blonde curls now settled in small waves. His hair was long, shaggy, falling over his ears and hitting right above his eyes. But it suited him, made his face seem friendlier. Happier.
He said nothing as they crossed the bridge, the creaks of the wood hanging heavy in the air. Ordinarily, she had no problem with silence. In fact, she appreciated it. But she wasn't used to silence when she was around Peeta. She was accustomed to his friendly chatter, his lazy, laid-back tone as he asked her questions about everything and nothing as she handed him orders and picked up trays upon trays of food.
The silence compelled her to speak.
"I'm sorry about your dad." She said suddenly. That wasn't the way she meant to start a conversation. But she wasn't exactly good at this, wasn't fond of making small talk with strangers.
He looked at her, surprised, his eye brow cocked as he led her down the wooden steps that connected the boardwalk to the beach.
"Annie told me," she explained awkwardly, wedging her toes in the sand.
He nodded his head, understanding. He walked up a small hill, finding a large rock behind small collection of sand dunes.
"I'm very sorry about your father, too." He said, dusting the surface of the rock before motioning for her to sit.
"Is … Is that why you live with Haymitch?" She asked a moment later as she lifted herself slightly from the rock, wedging her fingers beneath her, allowing them to find cover from the slow, beachy wind.
He sat down next to her, mimicking her actions. "Yeah. Kinda."He said, his eyes staring straight ahead at the water, the waves coming close to shore before making their way back, drawing sand along with them.
She nodded back, feeling like she was treading into personal territory. His silence confirmed that, and she bit her lip. Her conversation skills only went so far and he wasn't exactly offering her much to work with.
She brought her cup of coffee to her lips, thinking that she should probably leave. She'd intended to spend the night alone, not with Peeta. Not with anyone.
"Wanna play a game?" Peeta asked suddenly as Katniss leaned down to retrieve the flip flops she'd abandoned in the sand only a few seconds ago.
She looked up, her eyes doubtful, her eye brow cocked high. "What kind of game?"
"Truth or Dare" He said, his smile a warm invitation.
She laughed out loud, the sound loud in the quiet night. "Truth or Dare? I can't remember the last time I played that."
He smiled sheepishly at her, rubbing his neck with his left hand. In just a few days, she realized he did that often—a sign that he was nervous, or embarrassed. Or both.
"Well, it's like two in the morning right now. Do you have any other ideas?"
She did; she could go to the other end of the beach and read Pride and Prejudice as she had planned, and spend the night in solidarity. But she shook her head instead, "Explain the rules."
"I don't think there are any … You get the choice between truth or dare. You can pass, but then you lose."
She nodded, "I'll go first. Truth or dare?"
He thought about it for a second, his eye brows knit together. "Truth."
She thought about it, wondering what about Peeta she wanted to know most. There were more than a few things that confused her about him.
"Did you and Johanna really date?"
The words tumbled out of her before she could stop them. She supposed that was what she wondered most about – how someone so nice and so warm as Peeta was with someone so… Johanna. But she hadn't meant to ask about it so outright, so blatantly.
He looked at her somewhat surprised. "Annie." She explained again, and he nodded.
"Can't say I was expecting that," He laughed, "I did. We dated a long time ago. After my dad died."
She nodded, unsure of what to say.
He spoke up a moment later, "Truth or dare?"
She thought about it. In any other place, with anyone else, she would never, ever pick a truth over a dare. She would pick an adventure, small or big, over a truth about herself. The word almost formed in her a mouth.
But maybe it was the confidence she found in the dark night, or the inexplicable feeling that she could talk to this boy that she found herself saying "Truth."
He lifted his right leg over his left knee, resting his elbow on it as his chin fell to his hands; He poised his chin in his fingers, pretending to think hard.
"What … is your favorite color?"
She smiled sheepishly; "I'm glad your question was as hard-hitting and ridiculously personal as mine."
He just shook his head, laughing. "I decided to start you off easy."
She nodded appreciatively, "Green."
"Green?" He said, sounding surprised.
She nodded, "Yeah. Like the grass and the trees. It reminds me of the woods near my house where I hunt."
Peeta's eyes widened, "You hunt?" He asked, his voice sounding awed and confused at the same time.
"Yeah," she nodded, "My dad taught me when I was younger."
"Are you going to hunt while you're here?"
She looked around; Cedar Point was a small, beach town with not a forest nearby for miles. "No, there isn't really anywhere to hunt around here." She said, "I didn't even bother bringing my arrows or bow."
He blinked. "So you actually hunt … with a bow and arrow?" He asked, pretending to shoot an imaginary bow and arrow.
She laughed, nodding. "I can also make snares."
"Is all of that legal?" He asked, his voiced still awed in amazement.
"Technically, no. But no one is ever in my woods so no one knows."
"That's awesome." He concluded. "Okay, you're turn."
She thought again, carefully sifting through her thoughts this time.
She vaguely wondered what time it was, as he looked at her expectantly. She asked a question a minute later and he followed up with one of his own, the two of them going back and forth.
And somehow, she spent the night telling a boy she'd just met truths about herself. Small and big, important and totally inane. Little by little, she began telling the boy with the smile little bits about her that she'd forgotten. Like her favorite song – Home, and her favorite movie – Shawshank Redemption.
And she'd discovered tiny bits of him, like the story of how he'd gotten the small scar on his forehead - he'd fallen off the jungle gym in pre-school and had managed to cut himself on the way down. And his favorite flavor of cake – chocolate.
She didn't know what it was about him – maybe it was his eyes, warm and inviting. Or his smile, always encouraging. But she found herself opening up in a way she'd only done before with one person. The way she'd only done with Gale.
a/n: okay important news: sorry this is up much later than i had intended. my 3 yr old baby niece was actually diagnosed with leukemia last week and I've been in and out of the hospital ever since. she's going to be in the hospital for the next two weeks and she rarely ever lets me leave her room so i probably will not be able to update until she's home, though i do promise to try. please, please keep her and my family in your thoughts and in your prayers.
also, because i've had no time, i had to leave out the last scene i had planned for this chapter so i'll be trying to include that in the next chapter. that's why this is a bit short. anyway, i hope you liked it and please, please leave reviews!