Chapter 10: SPARK
I stare at the list with a small amount of trepidation. It was written in Johanna's handwriting and had a series of ticks next to each line. We were finally ready. It wasn't that I didn't like parties, although in first year Johanna did have to drag me to most of them, it was more the fact that I dreaded waking up to drunks on the floor, red cups everywhere and alcohol stains on the carpet.
Johanna yells at me to get my ass upstairs and get ready. I tell you, for someone so aggressive, I still couldn't understand her insistence on my clothes and appearance. She'd already gotten me a dress, not something I would have picked out on my own but it was okay, nothing too fancy. I walk into the bathroom and put a layer of foundation on my face and give my eyelashes a touch of mascara to make her happy. I see Johanna behind me in the mirror.
"What do you want?" I sigh.
She comes over and takes the makeup from my hands. "Here. You watch, when you walk down those stairs he'll be impressed." She tells me with a smug smile, lining my eyes with black and grey. She paints my lips in a subtle red which I appreciate.
"Who exactly are you talking about?" I ask with irritation as I pull the black dress from the hanger in my bedroom and slip it on.
"You know who." She says and turns me towards the mirror. Now I understand her obsession with my appearance. She was trying to set me up!
"He sees my every day; he's not going to be impressed. And he shouldn't need to be! We're friends!" I argue.
"Oh come on. You guys have been flirting for weeks. Neither of you have the courage to actually do anything." She grins and looks towards the mirror. "There."
I have to admit she had done a good job. I was actually I little bit impressed. My hair hung straight and silky down my back, my grey eyes were striking with the layers of eyeliner she'd put on. The dress was skintight and sleeveless and just plain black. It showed off my figure but kept hidden enough skin so it wasn't skanky.
"Thanks." I mutter to her, actually happy with her results. I'd have to remember to take a picture to show Prim.
"No problem brainless." She parades out of the room and down the stairs as the doorbell rings.
By the time I head down there are already a few people here. Mostly they are our close friends. I'm expecting it'll take a few more hours before the uninvited drunkards make their appearance. When my feet reach the floorboards Finnick emerges along with Annie.
He whistles and says, "Looking hot Kat." Annie doesn't bat an eyelid towards his comment.
I roll my eyes and shove him before heading towards the kitchen for a drink. When I close the fridge Peeta peeks at me from the other side.
"Still upset about the party?" He asks with a smile, popping the top off a beer of his own. He leans against the wall casually.
"I got over it."
His smile widens. "You look great."
"Thanks." I smile and then walk out of the kitchen. I was entering dangerous territory with Peeta. I had been for weeks. So to put my mind at ease I chose to strike a conversation with Delly of all people as the night gradually took shape around us. I drank to try and numb my concerns.
In a few hours I had proven myself to be right. Hundreds of college kids flooded the house and all expressed their approval at our new house. Loud music pumped through the walls and I was waiting for when we'd get the knock on the door telling us to shut up.
There's a drinking game going on in the kitchen with various guys from the volleyball and football teams betting. Out the back people dance, while in the lounge room there is slightly more peace with a few couples making out on the couches. I'd made a point of locking my bedroom door earlier in the evening to avoid walking in on anyone.
"Katniss!" Thresh appears behind me and slings an arm around my shoulder. He's not particularly drunk but not particularly sober either. "I see I won't have to walk you home tonight?"
I grimace. "I'm sorry Thresh."
"Don't be." He smiles. "Everyone gets into that position once or twice in their life. But I heard that something new is going on between you and baker boy?" He grins a mischievous smile.
"Why does everyone keep saying that!" I vent causing him to laugh in surprise.
"Calm down Katniss." He tells me jovially. "We're just waiting for the inevitable."
I roll my eyes at him and he saunters off down the hall. I find my arm being held captive by a new pair of hands and see Johanna leading me into the kitchen. Finn, his eyes already glazed, is guarding a set of 4 shots of what I know is tequila on the counter. Annie stands beside him a small smile on her face.
"What's this?" I ask although I think I know.
Peeta appears from the back door looking cheerful and stands next to me bumping his hip with mine.
"Just for us." Johanna smiles and hands me a shot glass. "To celebrate."
I take the glass as the others do. We all share one single smile before I toss the alcohol down along with my housemates. My smile grows as Finn pours another round and we tip that back too, the alcohol slowly numbing our systems.
"Who knew this would work?" Finnick laughs.
Who knew, I think.
"I told you so." Johanna mutters to me with a smug smile.
We move out to the lawn in between the dancing bodies. Jo, Peeta, Annie and I dance together, our movements loosened with alcohol. I find my arms around Peeta's neck his hands on my hips. He was buzzed, easily. We danced and I ignored the thing in my head trying to deny how good it felt. Friends could dance together, right? Johanna winks at me and I roll my eyes for show.
Suddenly there's a happy uproar from the kitchen. Peeta and I glance at each other, pausing between the beats, before he leads me by the hand to the kitchen. And there we find Finnick, utterly drunk, throwing down shots of tequila. I realize that the person the footballers and volleyballers were betting on before was Finnick.
"Oh no." I mutter with a smile on my face, staring at the six remaining shot glasses full of Cuervo, the last one weighting a wad of money.
"Well he's not waking up tomorrow morning." Peeta mutters.
I watch Finnick for a moment and decide that we need more drinks. I head over to the other bottle of tequila, our bottle, and pour two more.
"You sure?" Peeta asks, eyeing me.
"What, you gonna be a pussy?"
His eyebrows rise, shocked. And then he accepts the challenge. "Not at all." And grabs the shot and throws it down with me. This gets the attention of various guys circled around Finnick and they cheer for us some of us muttering how they should be betting on us. I assumed they meant the drinking.
I perch myself on top of the counter with a beer in my hand, completely and utterly at ease.
"Well, you seem happier." Peeta smirks, entwining our fingers comfortably.
"I never said I didn't like parties."
"You don't really seem like the party type."
I stare at him blank faced. "Then you don't know me Peeta Mellark."
"Is that so?" He leans towards me.
"I happen to be very much the party type." I tell him in a matter of fact manner, our noses nearly touching.
"Well let's test that out." He says and in one movement he's pulled me from the counter and is dragging me out the door. We reenter the grassy dance floor, music booming from the speakers we borrowed from Cato and Thresh. We dance and dance along with the others, sweaty, hot and absolutely loving it. Peeta spins me around, catching me when I lose my balance. I hadn't had this much fun in a while or felt so carefree. Eventually we tire, and grabbing yet another drink we stumble to the edge of the grass and tumble down. So much for my plan to stay away from Peeta. Delly joins us, an even bigger lump of giggles than usual, and eventually Finn finds his way here too. Finn wiggles his eyebrows me in an ostentatious manner that I know he thinks is subtle.
"Where's Annie, Finnick?" I giggle. Rule no. 1: when I start giggling I've had too many.
He shrugs his shoulders. "Getting to know some people." He slurs. "She told me she'd come and find me when I was allowed to do my last shots."
I burst into laughter. "She's controlling the bet now?"
His face suddenly warps with joy. "I have to tell you something Kit-Kat." He whispers ridiculously.
"What Finnick?" I stage whisper back. He tries to climb over to me but Peeta is in the way. Peeta moves, throwing Finn off balance, and then Delly decides she wants more alcohol and he escorts her charmingly to the cooler.
"You've really got a good one there." Finnick tells me, crawling to my side, staring after Peeta.
"He's not mine."
"Fuck me, of course he is."
"I'm not fucking you Finn, now what are you going to tell me?"
He stares at me for what seems like an endless time. Then an idiotic grin spread across his face. "I love her Kat. Annie. I love her! I really do!" His voice starts to rise and I shush him. Oh no. I didn't want him to scare her if he suddenly blurted it out.
"I know." I say simply.
"You know?" His voice rises up an octave. "Can you read my mind?" He deadpans.
I begin to laugh which turns hysterical when his face becomes more mortified. "Relax Finnick. It's okay. But don't say this to Annie."
He nods seriously. "I won't. But I needed you to know."
I smile. "Thanks lover boy." I look towards the kitchen. "Maybe you should find her and continue your bet. You want the money don't you?"
He looks at me like I'm a genius and runs very unstably towards the doors. I wince as he plows right into them not seeing the glass. Luckily Cato was by the door and rights him as Annie returns. Maybe he shouldn't continue that bet, actually.
I sit on the grass for a minute longer, happily watching the world spin by until Peeta and Delly start running towards me with a mixed look of horror and triumph.
"Katniss!" Delly squeals at me. Peeta just sort of blushes.
"What?"
"You will not believe who is making out around the side of the house!"
"Who?"
"Jo and Thresh!" She blurts out and Peeta laughs along with her.
"Seriously?"
"Go and see for yourself."
Peeta's hand is suddenly in mine pulling me up and dragging me to the side of the house where it's dark. He holds his fingers to his lips and creeps forward with me. I peek around and see Jo and Thresh, his hands up her top, hers twined in his hair, making out like highschoolers. I reel back unable to contain my giggles and Peeta's hand covers my mouth as I try to regain my composure.
"Oh my god!" I whisper, giggling. Peeta grins down at me.
"I guess there are a lot of people staying over tonight…" He mutters.
I'm suddenly hyper aware of how close we are. I'm pressed up against the wall, his body so close to mine, one of his hands bracing himself behind my head, his lips only an inch away…No. Friends, I tell myself.
"You wanna do another shot?" I poke him in the stomach. Jesus it's rock hard.
"I think you've had enough." He grins looking me up and down.
I pout at him lacing my fingers with his. I'm surprised when he laughs and actually concedes. Easy. I drag him happily to the kitchen making a note that there are glass doors and not plowing into them like Finnick. I see only two shots left in the line that Finnick has drunk and I wonder whether he can win the money. Currently he is sitting on a chair, pawing shamelessly at Annie while she coaxes crackers into him.
"You know what?" I hear him say to her. "You're fucking beautiful."
I laugh and as I pass whisper in Annie's ear, "Good luck with him tonight. He'll be begging you for sex." She blushes and removes Finnick's hand that was slowly creeping up her thigh.
When I reach for the bottle Peeta carefully takes it out of my hands and pours.
Narrowing my eyes I say, "I'm not that drunk you know."
"I know." He smiles nonchalantly and I snatch the shot glass from his hands.
The buzz is getting even better and soon there is a perpetual smile stuck on my face and Peeta keeps on arm around me to keep me steady. The night progresses quickly and flawlessly. I find myself back out on the lawn and as each song progresses I become closer and closer to Peeta. I could swear at one point he had kissed my neck but I wasn't entirely sure. Drinks are being passed back and forth.
By the time three rolls around the brunt of the party has left. We turn the music down, probably to the relief of our neighbors, finding most leftover people sitting in the grass. The remaining dancers on the lawn begin to disperse and I head back inside through the kitchen door with Peeta by my side; where he's stayed for most of the night. We head down the hall and find a variety of our closer friends crashing on the floor or couches, some passed out from hours ago. Peeta reaches into the linen closet clumsily and pulls out some blankets, tossing them at the remaining conscious people.
I smile and begin up the stairs but catch my foot on the first step; something I manage on a daily basis. As I grab the railing to steady myself, Peeta's hand shoots out to my waist.
"You okay?"
"Fine." I giggle.
We make it up the stairs, his arm carefully around me, together and to each of our doors. A slight wave of disappointment hits me as we do this and that he didn't even try to have it another way. I fish the key out of every girls hiding place; her bra. Peeta's gasp however breaks my attention and I turn to find him staring wide eyed in the doorway. I dash over and peek over his shoulder and see Cato and another girl fast asleep in his bed already.
I fall against the wall laughing hysterically, barely keeping myself upright. "You didn't lock your door!"
Peeta looks at me. "I am going to kill Cato."
I'm still laughing but attempt to straighten up. "First lesson Mellark. Lock your door." I say, fumbling but then unlocking mine. He stares at my open door jealously and I cross my arms and lean against the doorframe feeling giddy.
"What?" I ask innocently, struggling to contain my smile.
"Come on Kat." He pleads showing me his puppy dog eyes.
I enjoy giving him grief by cocking my head and pretending to think it over before I finally relent. "Fine, you can sleep in here." I shrug. It wasn't like he had many options. He strips his shirt off but I struggle with my zip. My back toward him, I look at him over my shoulder.
"Unzip me?" I ask quietly.
Some emotion I can't quite identify comes into his eyes and he walks slowly over to me. I turn my head and I feel the zip slowly slide down my back. I can feel his warm fingers graze my skin. He clears his throat and I come to my senses stepping away and shimmying out of the dress. When I peak over my shoulder again his back is turned and his jeans are falling to the floor. I smile slightly and quickly slip into pajamas and sneak under the covers, suddenly feeling a little shy. My eyes are closed but I feel the weight of his body on the bed. Every sense of mine seemed to be heightened. When I open my eyes I'm met with blue. Something's changed I realize. Tonight was not the usual night between Peeta and me. But even so, I still wasn't sure because what if my instincts were wrong? So maddeningly I play it safe, I flip over, bumping into him slightly, and close my eyes and wait for sleep to come.
000
I resurface not long later, disoriented, seeing that the sky is still dark. Something is different though. Something woke me. And I notice I am encapsulated in warmth. Heat. There's a pressure on my hand, a strip of heat on my waist. I open my eyes and find my face centimeters from Peeta's. His lips, his nose, his mouth. His breath is on my face. And I find his hand in mine.
Strange.
But I don't retreat. Slowly my heart beats faster, my lips turn up slightly. And that's when I feel it. The electricity. He's awake. I can't see, really, in the dark. But I can feel it. I can feel a lot.
Somewhere in the back of my mind I've realized I've turned over in my sleep and in the double bed there is only so much room. His forehead is on mine. And I feel more heat. And then it happens.
His lips close the distance and meld with mine. And it's not uncomfortable. With my pulse racing I kiss him back. His tongue grazes my lower lip, asking for entry, and I let him gladly, tangling with mine. I feel like my whole body is on fire but it's not a bad sensation. It's fucking amazing.
Eventually it stops and he whispers, "I've been waiting a long time for that." His arms tighten around me as my head lies on his chest. And in that moment I feel so content that I can't fathom the time we'd been wasting avoiding it.
And like that the night proceeds on and back into darkness…
000
When I wake up in the morning my first emotion is confusion. It doesn't take long before I realize that this is the second time I have woken up in Peeta's arms. Or that last night he actually kissed me.
I sigh. Instinctually I try to dredge up some form of anger or mistrust for him kissing me, but I only find pleasure. But I'm a little frustrated with myself because all this effort of convincing Jo and Finn and everyone else for that matter that we are friends has come crumbling down. But I don't want to complain. Because I had to admit this was better than anything. And this meant something.
I feel him stir beside me and I open my eyes. He grins at me with an almost accomplished look in his eyes.
"Guess I'm not going to kill Cato after all." He mutters.
I smile slightly but don't answer as I take in his face. Blue eyes, straight nose, perfect lips. With the usual morning after confusion I was trying to figure out what this was. This was not another Gale. I hoped not. Were we together?
I ponder this the entire morning as we go through our usual after party routine. Which is pretty much us begging Peeta for pancakes and a hell of a lot of coffee. Thresh and Jo try to sneak from their room but we catch them and the kitchen turns into a riot. Judging from their extreme blush and embarrassment they had sex last night. Not surprising. Annie wanders down the stairs, looking content but saying that Finnick looks like death, despite having won $200. She also said he had a laughable bruise on his face from running into the doors…more than once. The remainders such as Delly slowly filter in to the smell of pancakes and groggily leave the house, either walking home for more sleep or straight to class, sunglasses already shielding them from the sun. Peeta and I are much the same as we usually are, playfully fighting and teasing each other but I just can't figure out if that means that something actually did change or last night was a drunken one off. I hated the confusion that came with the morning after.
Peeta leaves later that afternoon to go for a jog on the beach and then I decide to approach Johanna. I don't really know how to go about it since I've always made a point of never approaching Johanna about these types of things.
I find her in the lounge a laptop on her lap. I scowl because I think it's mine.
"Sure you can borrow my laptop." I mutter.
She looks up and grins.
I falter, not sure about what to say. Her eyes are on the screen but I can tell she is focusing on me. "Where did Peeta sleep last night?" She asks casually.
Honestly I hadn't thought she'd noticed because she was too busy with Thresh. But she always knew everything! I glance towards the ceiling and hear footsteps indicating Cato's still here, probably taking a shower and taking advantage of Peeta's room. Finn, Delly and Thresh are out on the rockers on the porch.
"My room."
She doesn't look surprised or even show interest which bothers me. "I don't know why you kept denying you liked him."
I don't have an answer to that. I slump down on the couch beside her. "He crept up on me." I finally say.
"No you're just oblivious even to your own emotions dumbass."
I groan. "He kissed me last night."
That gets her attention. She closes the laptop lid and turns with her eyebrows raised. Then she stretches back and says, "Finally. We've been telling him to do it for weeks."
"What?" I screech.
"Have you really not noticed?" I think back to the few comments I'd heard over the last weeks. Mainly they were from Finn. My mind wanders over to conversations I've overhead. And I sigh.
"I was distracted. I never really thought about it."
"Yeah." She scoffs. "Well I'm glad you two are finally together."
"But are we?"
"What the hell are you on?" She asks, irritated.
"We kissed. I've kissed other guys before. It was like things were back to normal this morning. We barely even talk about it."
She rolls her eyes. "That's because you guys already act like a couple. Katniss he's liked you since before you even showed up in this house. I doubt he's going to throw away the chance."
"He didn't say anything."
"He doesn't have to."
I sigh and look out the window.
"Just wait till he comes home, okay? You'll see." She smiles. "Oh, and I just won $100 bucks."
"What do you mean?"
"I won a bet." She grins mischievously.
"On what?"
"You and Peeta."
"You didn't!" I shout.
"Oh, I did. "
"Who the hell was in on it?"
"All of us." She motions to the entire house and outside until her smile falters. "Unless…"
"What?"
"Last night…." She pauses again.
"What Jo?" I ask, irritated.
"Did you guys…do anything else?"
"Oh my god! No! What do you think of me?"
She throws me an apologetic look and fiddles with the laptop. "I'm sorry." But she now looks appeased. "Yes, I definitely won. Have you…" She cringes, my sex life spurring another thought, "have you spoken with Gale?"
"Oh."
"You are serious about this with Peeta right?"
I close my eyes. I was such an idiot. "Yes. He's different. This isn't another Gale." I tell her and I realize the truth in the words.
"You should probably call him you know."
"I don't want to fight."
"You broke his heart. I think he deserves for you to call him back."
"Are you against me or something?" Rage suddenly flies up inside me. "You used to be fine with me and Gale. More than fine, actually!"
"Because without Gale you were practically dead! Your mom had been sent back to the Institution, you moved out here knowing no one. Katniss…he helped you come back alive. " She insists. "And besides he was super- hot." She says in an offhand way. "But you've grown up, you've fixed up your life and you know very well that what you were doing with him was not right!"
I glare at her fiercely but I don't retort. Finally I tell her softly, "He knew it wasn't a relationship. He knew that."
"Yes he did." She agrees. "But it didn't change his feelings for you. And you pretty much just told him to fuck off."
I stand in a huff. "I fucking hate it when you're right." I mumble and storm up the stairs yelling for Cato to get the hell out of Peeta's bedroom.
"Love you too Katniss!" Her voice drifts up the stairs.
000
I'm saying goodbye to Gale when I hear the door open. I put the phone down roughly and rub my face. Peeta's heavy footsteps cross the hall but I don't go down the stairs.
Well that was tough. I'd spent the last hour getting cussed out by Gale and then halfheartedly trying to argue my side of it. Finally he did admit he knew I wasn't up for a relationship but I was also forced to admit that I had been selfish. Like every other time in our lives we attempted to make up after our fight but I knew this time it wasn't so simple. He'd lost his hope for me. I didn't mention Peeta and me. It wasn't exactly fair to throw that at him as well. I was nervous though because I knew we were still in rocky territory. For not the first time I was glad he lived in State 12 where my other life lived.
I push up from the bed. I would focus on my life here. I would dwell on 12 later. I speed down the stairs and notice Jo is no longer in the lounge. But Peeta is. He stands by the fireplace.
"Hey can I talk to you?" He asks quietly. He looks nervous, slightly agitated, and I immediately know what he wants to talk about. Does he think I won't want to be with him? Does he think I only kissed him because I had been drinking? A thousand questions course through my mind and a thousand memories indicating all the wrong decisions I'd made. This one would be right. Fuck, carefulness, fuck reservations.
With the encouragement from Johanna still fresh in my mind I hurry the speech up and show him exactly what I want. I march forward grab his face and press his lips to mine.
This was my right decision. I knew it.
"Is that what you wanted to talk about?" I whisper.
He smiles, even his eyes are grinning. "I think you said it all."
A/N: You wanted drunken, funny moments. Are you happy? :)
This chapter was a favorite to write because it's pretty much something that happened to me and a friend mixed in with some fiction. So it was fun to play around with the character's like that. I tried to give everyone their moment :P I also got ideas reading Beautiful Disaster and Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire - have you guys read those books? They are so addictive! Anyway I hope you liked this chapter as much as I did.
Next chapter - Katniss and Peeta's first date and some more drama ;)
-Elli