I'm sorry it took me so long to write this I had so many finals but now schools over so I'll post more frequently. Thank you so much to those who have reviewed my story so far (Love you guys) but I don't get many reviews so I'd appreciate it if I could get more reviews please! I hope you ENJOY!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the hunger games characters.
Chapter 6. A Date with Destiny
Even though I don't consider this outing a date I still made an effort to look decent, for Madge's sake. I showered and put on nice cloths, a single white placket shirt with tan khaki pants. After all there's a good chance we'll run into Katniss there so I want to try to impress her and show her I've changed.
When I'm done prepping myself I look at the clock, its 5:50. I decide to get there early hoping I bump into Katniss before I meet up with Madge. So I start walking in the direction of the Hob. I get there at about 5:55 and immediately go straight to Greasy Sae's stall. I sit at a stool close to the counter and look around. The hob is filled with people especially people from the seam. It's quite humid in here due to the amount of people. I start to notice coal dust. It's everywhere; on my cloths and in my hair and such. It practically surrounds the building. Every breath I take I swear a little bit more dust enters my lungs. That can't be healthy. "If you're just going to sit there and not buy anything I suggest you scram boy" says a ragged voice from behind me. I turn around and face the old lady known as greasy sae. "No. I'm waiting to meet someone here" I say quickly. "Does this someone happen to be a girl?" She grins, her mood suddenly changing from irritated to interest. A small smile breaks out on my face as I answered "Yeah. It's Madge Undersee". Her grin slowly turns to a soft smile. "You be good to that girl, you hear me? She's had a hard past with her mother being ill and all." She said her tone getting all serious. "I will" I reply. "Promise you won't go breaking her. She's very sweet and fragile. Like a flower. Always brings nothing but kindness to everyone she meets. Nice girl she is." She looks me straight in the eye as she said that.
I looked at the ground for a second thinking if she found out about my plan she would be crushed. Devastated even knowing I'm only using her for my plan and that I didn't really have feelings for her or at least the like-like kind of feelings. That's when I not only promised to Greasy Sae but I also promised to myself that I wouldn't go breaking her heart. I would never lie to her or hurt her in anyway. I decided to take a chance and become her friend. Back then I never even considered going beyond the friend zone with her but it won't take me too long to figure out I was wrong.
When I look back up I look Greasy Sae straight in the eye as I said "Promise". Right after I swear to greasy sae I will never hurt her in any way she looks over to the right. My eyes follow hers and I turn around. Madge's coming our way. "Speak of the angel" Sae whispers as turn my body toward her. The sight of her takes my breath away. She's beautiful. Absolutely stunning. She's wearing a pretty white laced dress that ends at her knees and her blond hair is curled into perfect ringlets while she pinned her bangs back, making her flawless face stand out .For a moment my heart skipped a beat and I even let myself think she looked more beautiful than Katniss. But I instantly shook the thought out of my head as she approached me.
"You look nice" I compliment. "Thanks. You look pretty good yourself" She returns the compliment. "What kind of dress is that?" I ask. I have zero knowledge when it comes to fashion. "A Lace Skater Dress" she says twirling in it. Her dress flows out slightly as she twirls. A small smile breaks out on my face as she does so. When she's done twirling she goes over to the stall and sits at a stool while I return to my seat.
"Hi Sae. How's your grandson doing?" she asks warmly. Greasy Sae face lights up at the mention of her grandson. "He's doing well. Seven months old today" she replies. "Wonderful. Is he over his fever yet? Because I can always get him some more medicine" Madge says generously. Wow this girl is beyond thoughtful. Does she even know this kid? Sae chuckles and says "That is very kind of you but Sam is almost fully recovered so no medicine is needed". Madge smile brightens. "I'm so glad he's better. Say hi to him for me okay?" She says kindly. "I will. Now are you two love birds going to order something?" Madge and I both blush in unison at the mention of 'love birds'. "Were not dating yet" Madge says meekly. Yet? Does that mean she wants to have a closer relationship later on? "Anyways I'll have a bowl of wild dog soup please" She says politely.
From the corner of my eye I catch a glimpse of a familiar figure. I'd recognize those stormy grey eyes and dark brown hair anywhere. I turn my head to confirm who I see. It's Katniss Everdeen. Excitement rises in my body. Phase two: get Katniss jealous. Then I remember the promise I made to Greasy Sae about not hurting Madge. Would using her to make Katniss jealous be hurting her? Only if she found out. But Madge is so nice and caring; I don't want to hurt her like that. But the one you truly love is only a mere few steps away. Haven't you forgotten she broke your heart and tore it into a million little pieces when she chose your competitor? I kept arguing with myself on what my next move should be until Madge nudged my arm and asked me what I wanted to eat. "Um…I'll have what she has" I say to Greasy Sae. She just nods, takes out two bowls and ladles the soup in. Then she slides the bowls in front of us and hands us spoons. I look down at the soup and immediately want to barf. Is this even food? The soup looked revolting. It had this under cooked meat that was drowning in his this putrid thick slim. Unlike me Madge dove right in, neatly spooning the soup in her mouth. I gulped wondering when I eat this if I will get food poisoning or die from it. I shoved some soup onto my spoon and raised it to my mouth. The smell of the soup was rancid. I hesitantly opened my mouth and ate the soup. At first it had a sour taste but I quickly got used to it as I took a few more bites. When I ate at least half the bowl I stopped. It wasn't long until I realized it left a horrid leftover taste in my mouth. I tried to not let it show but I was no Katniss who is the master at concealing her emotions.
Madge looks over at me and rubs my back. I think she could tell I didn't take a liking to our meal. "Peeta, are you okay?" she looks at me. Her crystal blue eyes filled with concern. The soup still coated my mouth with the thick substance greasy sae passed as 'food'. I swallowed leaving my mouth dry. "I'm just thirsty. Is there any water?" I ask. "Sae can we have two glasses of water please? Madge says still rubbing my back. Once I'm handed my glass of water I immediately gulp it down. With the hob's dry, dusty air and the gooey soup I ate, my throat was almost completely stripped of its spit so water was all I needed. I put the empty glass down on the counter and faced Madge who had already finished her soup and was taking a sip of water. She finished drinking and gave sae our cups. "Are you done with your soup Peeta?' I nod as I look her straight in the eye. She turns in our bowls and looks at me back. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she asks. I realized that whole time I was staring at her. Great now she must think I'm a weirdo. I shook my head breaking my trance. "Sorry, you must think I'm weird for doing that" I apologize. "No need. Do you want to go to my house?" she says shyly. My head was screaming no but those weren't the words that came out of my mouth. "Sure" I said not thinking about what I was saying. "Okay. Let's go then. Thanks Sae for the food" she hops off her stool and gives Sae a few coins. I raised my eye brow at the sight of the money. Where does she get money like that? Then I remember she's the mayor's daughter she has more money than all the people in the seam have altogether. I hop off my stool and we walk towards the door. But just as we came to the door we literally bumped into Katniss and Gale.
"Hi Katniss! Hi Gale! What are you guys doing?" Madge chirped. "Hey Madge" they say in unison which made my blood bubble with jealousy. "We just sold some game today. We found a huge patch of strawberries and we have a handful leftover. Do you want some?" Katniss asks. "Thanks guys. That's thoughtful but I'm good. I'm on a date right now" She says excitedly as she moves so Katniss and Gale could see me. "Peeta" Katniss says in a surprising tone. "Katniss, Gale" I mumble. "You're dating Madge?" I nod. "Well, were Not dating yet- "Yet? "But we are on a date. We were just about to go to my house" Am I the only one who notices she's blushing. Why is she blushing?! "Well anyways we have to go" Madge says before whispers something into Katniss ear. Katniss' face lights up. She nods wildly then mouths 'do it' to Madge. I frown nervously. Do what? What is Madge going to do? What is she thinking? My thoughts are interrupted my Madge. "Come on Peeta. Bye Katniss. Bye Gale" she hollers. I snap out of my thoughts and catch up to her.
When we get to her house she takes me to her music room. "Where are your parents?" I ask as she sits down by the piano. "My dad's off on a business trip at the capitol and my mom's up stairs" she starts to get quiet when she talked about her mom. "Okay so what do you want to do?" I ask. "Here have a seat" she says as she slides a chair over next to her. I walk over and take a seat. I watch her as she started playing the piano. She didn't have a sheet of music or anything, she just ran her fingers over the keys and let the music come to herself. The music filled the air, and I heard someone by the door, probably listening to her melodic notes. I saw her smile which for some reason made me smile as she continued to play. Even after she was done the music still echoed in my ears as if she never stopped playing.
"You're amazing" I say. "Haven't heard you play like that in so long" a ragged voice says behind us. We both whip our heads around to see leaning against the door's frame. "Mom, what are you doing out of bed?" Madge says as she gets up from the piano. "I'm fine Madge. Now aren't you going to introduce me to this young man here" she says gesturing to me. "Mom this is Peeta Mellark, the baker's son. Peeta this is my mom" Madge says giving her mom a small squeeze. "Hi it's nice to meet you" I say holding my hand out. She shakes it and smiles. "He's a keeper" she whispers but I could still hear her. Madge's cheeks redden a little. "Well you two now know each other so mom I think its bed you'd go back to bed." Madge takes her mom up stairs.
I silently follow them back to her mom's room. I watch as Madge tucks her mom back in bed and sings her a song. "I love you mom. Now go back to sleep before your disease starts up again" "I love you too Madge. You're the best daughter I could ever imagine. I can't go back to sleep can you sing to me?" says weakly. "Sure mom" Madge says. You can feel the love in her voice and the connection between them. "I love you forever, I'll like you for always and as long as I'm living my mommy you'll be." I smile as she sings. I've never see this side of her before. It's like a motherly side. She'd be a great mom someday. Suddenly my heart shifted. I started to feel something inside of me change. I had a change of thought. My palms got clammy, I find Madge very attractive, and I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. She almost looks like an angel. The way the light of the sunset reflects off of her gives her a glow like she's just my imagination. What's this feeling I have? It feels strange yet very similar. I shake my head to get rid of this feeling but it won't go away. Wait a second…I know this feeling. But it…it can't be. I can't be falling in love with someone already! Is this a sign? Is she my soul mate, my destiny? What about Katniss? No I can't fall for Madge Katniss is my soul mate and she will be mine again. But Madge is so kind, gentle, sweet, considerate, caring and most of all beautiful. What am I going to do? Should I choose Katniss or Madge?
I hope you liked it! :) The story will get better in later chapters. There will be more fluff as Peeta falls in love with Madge. Please review if you want more!