A/N: Originally published for the Prompts in Panem week long Everlark challenge on Tumblr (Round 4: Seven Deadly Sins; Day 2: Greed), this outtake takes place during Peeta's senior year of high school.

Morgantown, West Virginia—2003

The pitchfork slides into the soiled hay easily, but my actions are too quick and not nearly methodical enough to properly scoop the stuff up. I fling what little I can manage into the large black trash bag before gnashing my teeth together in frustration and trying again. From his temporary pen, TJ whinnies at me pathetically, like he knows something isn't right in my head. Horses really are awfully smart.

Despite the slight limp from her back surgery, Delly is still able to sneak up on me. "Man, what's got you all worked up?" she says as she folds her arms over the stall gate and rests her chin on top of them.

"Nothing," I say with a grunt, changing my grip on the wooden handle. That's all it takes for me to snap the thing clean in half. "Damn it."

Delly whistles. She'd come over to study for our Physics pre-final, I'm sure, but I need to have these chores done before any of that.

"Okay, well, your dad just gave me the whole 'Peeta really needs his best friend right now' speech as soon as I pulled up…so talk," she says simply.

I groan and shake my head. I knew Dad didn't believe me when I came home and told him school was fine today. I toss the broken tool aside and amble over to the gate and sigh before I launch into it. "Present company excluded, of course…but I kinda wish my species were a-sexual or something."

Delly's nostrils flare and her eyes go wide. "Oh my God…this is a sexual frustration thing?"

I roll my eyes. "Dell, the closest I've ever gotten to even second base is tucking a blanket around you the other night when you fell asleep on the couch watching that Heath Ledger/Shakespeare movie you never stop quoting."

She snorts, but sobers quickly when she sees I'm still really not in the mood. "Hey, that's a great movie."

I roll my eyes yet again. "Right, so that's not really the point. Why are you all of a sudden freaked out about doing it? You're still a dude, Peet. I don't think being from another planet excludes you from the reality of hormones."

"So then what's the damn point of even being from another planet if I have to deal with all the crap of being the freak that I am, and all the stupid high school crap on top if that? Those movies you like watching are bullshit. High school sucks and I just want to graduate and get the hell out of this town already," I snap.

She's used to my tirades, fortunately. She takes the brunt of them being my only real friend. As such, she knows how to handle them. "What's this really about, Peet? I'm feeling a little dense today, you're gonna need to spell it out."

"You're gonna hate the answer," I retort.

"If it's gonna spare another of Ezekiel's shovels, I'm all about it."

I take off my work gloves and rub my temples with the heels of my hands. I can't look at her when I say it. "I figured I'd, you know…bite the bullet and ask Lana to…you know, the prom."

Delly has made it abundantly clear that she hates Lana with a fiery passion. It doesn't surprise me when her eyebrows rise practically up to her hairline and she clears her throat. "Lana, huh?"

"Told you you'd hate it. Go on ahead, I know you're dying to say it," I tell her, wishing I could stop the flush that's creeping up my neck.

"No, Peet…I just…look, I'm sorry. Tell me what she said?" she replies with a sad sigh.

"Didn't get the chance to even ask. Cato Gloss got to her first."

"Cato? I thought he was still with Clove?" she says with a twisted look on her face. She shakes her head when she can tell she's missing the point. "I'm still not sure how this makes you want to swear off sex when you're still a virgin."

I gape at her. I thought she already knew. "I like her. I'm…well, I'm kind of surprised just how much I like her."

Her face betrays that this is not actually news at all. I don't know why the hell she made me be so blunt. "Okay so. Is she actually dating Cato or just going to prom with him? Because, you know, you could always ask her to dinner or to the movies or to go kick puppies or something…"

I glare at her, and she holds her hands up defensively. "Sorry, sorry…I'm sure she's very nice when you get to know her."

"What the hell did she do to you that made you hate her so much?" I ask. Lana has always been nice to me, even if she has stuck me pretty firmly in the "friends-only" seat. I mutter something about her clearly not being interested in taking me away from Delly, thinking maybe my best friend didn't hear. Of course, I'm dead wrong.

"Look, I'm sorry. She just rubs me the wrong way. With the rides to and from school you've been giving her and all the 'Oh, Peeta, your dad's blueberry muffins are the best, even if they are super fattening!' and everything…it just feels like she's using you, and I don't want that for you. I didn't want this to happen to you. You deserve better," she says. Her hand wanders over and circles my wrist, squeezing gently and the look she gives me is genuinely one of concern and adoration. I don't deserve Delly Cartwright as a best friend.

I'm still stinging from Lana's revelation and my own feelings of greed and territorialism to accept her comfort. I pull my wrist away and pick up another shovel to resume my chores. "I'll listen better next time."

"Peet, that isn't what I mean…"

"It's fine," I say, dumping a shovel-full into the bag. "I mean, at least I didn't let Lana's parents die. Surely that must mean I'm improving this whole 'talking to girls I have feelings for' thing."

Out of the corner of my eye, I see her jump over the stall door and stride over to me. She removes the shovel from my hands and places her hands on my shoulders, forcing me to look down into her eyes.

"You listen to me right now. You are my best friend, and I love you to hell and back, but you have got to stop beating yourself up over that! It was tragic and it messed us both up for a long time, and maybe we'll never really 'get over it', but you need to stop."

She shakes me and I nod quickly, my eyes flitting to the corners of the stalls to get a reprieve from her intense gaze.

"You're gonna find someone, Peet. Someone great. Maybe it's Lana, maybe it's someone else. But whoever she is and wherever she's waiting, she's out there. You just have to be patient."

I shake my head. I want that, I really do. But I know it's not gonna happen the way she says it will.

"Who's ever gonna be okay with what I am, Delly?" I ask her sadly.

"I'm okay with it," she says with a smile. It falls a second later when she realizes what she might have just implied. "Oh, God, I didn't mean…I just meant that I can't be the only one who loves every piece of you. Someday you're going to find a girl who loves you even more than I do."

There's something here, though. It's awkward and it's electric and it's palpable. I lick my lips quickly, knowing how stupid what I'm about to say is gonna sound. "Do you, um…do you suppose that, like, kissing would still be way weird for…well, for us?"

"I, um," she says, her eyes wide even as she takes a step closer to me. "Would it make you feel better?"

My cheeks burn hot and I weasel away to go back to shoveling. "It was dumb, forget I said anything…"

A minute later, she pulls the shovel out of my hands and tosses it aside. Her hands are on the sides of my face, and she stands up on her tippy-toes so she can press her lips flush with my own. They're softer than they were that time when we were kids and tried this just to see what it would feel like. Her tongue darts against the seam of my mouth and I touch mine quickly to the tip of hers. She must have had alfredo sauce for lunch because her mouth tastes a bit like butter and rich cream and garlic. It's not entirely unpleasant—but I still pull away a second later and she doesn't try to stop me.

"So?" she asks, rocking back on her heels and crossing her arms.

"Delly, I love you. But…not like that," I say sheepishly.

She sighs in relief and laughs. "Yeah, that was still totally weird."

The awkward electricity lifts immediately, and I pull my best friend into a hug. "You…you shouldn't be anyone's second choice anyway." I genuinely mean that. My best friend deserves someone as incredible and fierce and spunky as she is. She deserves better than the likes of me, to be sure.

She pulls away after a second and gnaws on her lip. "Look, this will probably be way stupid…but why don't you and me just go to the prom together? It'll be more fun going with my best friend than going with anyone else anyway."

I grin at her. "I thought the guy was supposed to do the asking."

She sticks her tongue out at me. "Peeta Mellark—sexist. Christ, I'll let you pay for everything if that'll help reconstruct your ego."

"Hey, you know my dad. If I didn't pick you up and hold your door and all that chivalrous crap, he'd beat me senseless."

"Well, in that case—I'm going to wear lavender, daises are my favorite flower, and I've always wanted to go to prom in a limo," she says with a wink. She leans up against the door of the stall while I finish mucking out the old hay and scattering the fresh.

"Seriously, Peet," she says after I'm tying off the bag. "Don't sweat Lana, she's not worth it. It's her loss and she'll realize it sooner rather than later."

I stop to wonder for a second if I really want Lana to realize it after all. I like her, I really do. But I can't help but wonder if she's still just a placeholder for the girl I really want.

"Do you think Lana looks like her?" I ask quietly.

"Katniss?" Delly replies, but it's not really a question at all. "Maybe a little bit. I think Katniss was—is—prettier though. Because she doesn't realize it like Lana does."

"Do you…do you think she and her sister are alright?"

"They're alive. She's probably getting ready for her senior prom and freaking out about her dress and hoping whoever's taking her knows her favorite restaurant and isn't gonna cheap out by taking her through the McDonald's Drive-Thru. And the reason she gets to do all of that is because of you. She's alive because of you, Peeta, and you have to remember that."

"I wish I'd told her," I say glumly. "I wish I'd just…I want to go back and tell her. I want it more than anything in the world."

"Life's a funny thing," my friend says with a shrug. "You never know…maybe you'll get your chance someday."

"What, 'cause I catch her falling off a building or something?"

"Who knows? Maybe she'll be the one to save you someday. Or maybe you'll never see her again. There's no way of knowing."

This time I'm the one who hates her answer, even though I know it's the best one she can give me. I may be 18 and probably should be well and truly over my crush on Katniss Everdeen, but she's still all I want.

And only naturally, I'll never, ever have her.