He didn't know why he expected Katniss to come to him once the story of his and Delly's separation made it way around the district, wishful thinking. Still regardless of what has happened to his marriage she must still assume he had cheated on her. He knows he would have if he had found her naked with another man.
What about Darius and her. Were 8 months really all it took for her to move on? Was Darius just a rebound? A drunken mistake or was it more? He hasn't heard anything else about them but then again the gossip has move on to Delly, Thom and him.
He wanted to wait for the annulment to be finalized before he approached her. But he was left disappointed when they told him it was going to take several months to process. He was also hoping he would run into her by now, when she came to trade, that was until his father told him she stopped trading in town. He should have known this about her but those 8 months had been a whirlwind of activity. Being force to marry, moving into the shoe shop, learning to tan leather, making and mending shoes. He was distracted from thinking of her. Living a life that wasn't meant for him, filed with anger and loathing and all of it directed at himself. Oh yeah and at Delly the bane of his existence. That is until he heard about Katniss and Darius. Then all the heartache and pain of losing her, which he had managed to, keep buried came rushing back to the surface.
All the what if's and could be's, cloud his mind not letting him see a clear path. Oh there's jealousy and rage to, he can't forget that. It's hijacked his brain and messing with his head at any given moment. Playing out scene's of them together. She's calling out his name 'Darius' in the heat of passion, Darius mapping out her body her with his mouth and hands, moving between her legs. She was only supposed to belong to him no one else. Ugh, he can't take it, he needs to know.
Has he lost her forever? Does he still have a chance? Does he want that chance now that's she has given herself to Darius? Of cause he does, in the end it's not her fault. They got thrown into this mess by a petty, selfish person who didn't care about playing with other people's lives.
So now that he was settling back down to his normal routine at the bakery, well except for Katniss. He has to decide what to do next. Should he go to her and plead his case or should he wait and see if she really is with Darius? So many thoughts swirling in his head and he needs answers, If they are still going to have a future together.
He goes for a walk trying to figure out what to do, where to go, who to talk to. He's too much of a coward to go looking for her. Fear consumes him. He's afraid of rejection and of disappointed hopes. When he looks up he sees that his feet have unconsciously taken him to the hob. Not sure what he's doing but hoping maybe to get a glimpse of her. See if he can muster up the courage to talk to her again. People stare as him as he heads to Greasy Sae's stall. Of course they do. He is the talk for the district. He sits down and orders the soup of the day.
Rory walks up, nods his head at Peeta then turns to Sae "I have some squirrel to trade" Rory tells her.
"You been charging too much, boy" Sae tells Rory.
"Who else are you going to get fresh game from during the week? Gale's only trading on Sundays and since Katniss is not around to trade at the moment" Rory trails off shrugging his shoulders.
"You figure you'd up the price huh? That's fine boy but when she gets back to trading don't be surprised if I start to pay you less then I normally would." Sae retorts.
"Ok, the usual amount then" Rory said. He nods to Peeta one more time then walks away.
Why isn't Katniss trading? Did something happen to her? He wants to ask. They used to be a lot friendlier to him before everything happened. Come to think of it, even the people in town are not really talking to him all that much either. But then again he has been a lot moodier and snappy at people.
He see's Darius making his way to the stall and he stiffens. This is it; this is his chance to see if what he heard was true.
"Well Sae look who we have here" Darius said but not in an unfriendly way and he claps Peeta on the back. Darius eyes twinkle with mischief. While Peeta want nothing more than to punch him in the face right now. He has to remind himself that Darius is a peacekeeper after all and doesn't want to end up in the stocks. He rubs his sweaty palms on his thighs, takes a deep breath, here goings nothing.
"So any truth to those rumors about Katniss and you" he asks Darius. Darius expression grows dark and his smile fades.
"If you think Katniss would do something like that then you don't know her at all" he says "and I would never take advantage of a friend that way" Darius gives him a pointed look. He just nods at Darius, he is right of coarse but Peeta needed to know for sure. He is so giddy with happiness and he's trying real hard not to let it show. Though he thinks he is failing miserably.
Never ones to let a good opportunity to gossip go to waste; Sae and Darius start in on the interrogation. Wanting to clear his name and hoping to gain some allies, he tells them everything. Without him noticing a small crowd gathers around them. People were shaking their heads and tut-tutting their disapproval of Delly's antics. This gives him hope that if he can convince them of the truth, then maybe just maybe he might be able to convince Katniss too, that is if she's will to hear what he has to say.
"What the hell are you doing here then lover boy, go and talk to her. Damn kids and their teenage drama" one man said. He sees a few people nodding their heads in agreement. Peeta turns to see who had spoken. Oh, it's just Haymitch, guess he likes gossip too. As people start to walk away Sae turns to him.
"She's been on 'vacation' these past couple of weeks and hasn't been around to hear the latest town news" she says. There is only one place where Katniss would go to, the cabin. Thanking them all he turns to look at Darius and thanks him for being a true friend.
With new purpose he rushes out of the hob feeling joyful and excited. She didn't sleep with Darius. He knows he shouldn't care but his male masculine pride is crowing at the knowledge. He heads off towards home. He has to hurry, gather everything he needs because he's going to head out to the lake first thing tomorrow morning. Time to put 'Operation: Win Katniss Back' in motion.