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Disclaimer: I do not own any of the hunger games characters.
Chapter 8. The Beginning of a Wonderful Relationship
Peeta: "So Peeta what do you do in your family's bakery?" Mr. Undersee asks while cutting a hunk of steak. "Just about everything. But my favorite job to do is frosting the pastries" I say looking him in the eye. I want to make a first good impression. "Oh that reminds me. Daddy, Peeta brought us a chocolate cake today" Madge mentions. "That is very kind of you Peeta. Would you mind having that for dessert?" he licks his lips in anticipation. "Of course" I agree. "What do you like to do in your free time?" Mrs. Undersee whispers. "I like to draw and paint" I answer. "Oh really mind if you paint our family's Christmas card?" Mr. Undersee jokes. "Sure. I've never done something like that but I like a challenge" I say not taking it as a joke. "I was just kidding son. You don't actually have to do that" he reassures me. "No but I want to. Madge would be a delight to paint" Immediately after I said it I wanted to take it back. My face got pale and I started to rub my sweaty palms anxiously on my pants. To make it even more embarrassing the room got really quiet. I swear I could hear the rhythmic chirps of the crickets outside. What have I done? That's not something you say to a girl's parents. Stupid, Stupid, Stupid!
Thankfully cleared his throat and started up a new conversation. "So do you like school?" "Yeah I do like school. I have a good group of friends and I like Math and English" I say as the room feels less hot. "You have siblings that go to school with you right?" I nod. "I have two older brothers, Rye who is 17 and Travis who is 18." I reply. "It's nice to have siblings isn't it? Someone you can mess around with and rely on." He says making a point. "… I" I stumble. All their heads look up at me. I knit my eye brows together as I remember the vague memory. "I also had a little sister but she was a stillborn. Her name was Sophia" I say sadly as I look down at my food. When I look up, Madge's eyes were glassy with tears and her parents had sad expressions. "I'm so sorry for your loss" apologizes. "It's okay. It's been eight years. Over time we've gotten stronger" I say trying not to go more into the topic. It's a very painful part of my family's past and I'm surprised I even brought it up especially to people I just met. After we all silently eat the rest of our meal Madge sighs. "I think it's time for the chocolate cake" she says excitedly. "What are you talking about Madge? We don't have any chocolate cake?" Mrs. Undersee says, clearly puzzled. "Peeta was sweet enough to bring us a chocolate cake" Madge reminds her mom. I'm pretty sure Madge mentioned the chocolate cake earlier. Why doesn't Mrs. Undersee remember? I'll ask Madge about it later if she's up for it. The rest of dinner went by quick and honestly I don't remember most of what we talked about.
After dinner Madge and I went up to her room again with an approval from Mr. Undersee. As soon as I shut the door behind us I ask my question. "What happened with your mom back there, not remembering the cake? Didn't you announce that earlier or did I just imagine you saying it in my head?" I raise my eye brows waiting patiently for an answer. Madge sighs, "I suppose I should tell you a little more about my mother's condition". I stroll over to her bed and sit down beside her. She smooth's down her dress before she begins. "When I was four years old my mom and dad sat me down and told me about her condition. They said she was diagnosed with an unknown illness and the only information doctors know about it is its hereditary and very rare. Even today they are still researching her illness, trying to find out what it is and how to cure it so far they've found nothing. My parents told me my mom was going to be a little different from now on and that they don't know if she's going to get worse or not and as you can see over the years she has gotten worse, much worse. Her illness has caused her to have terrible migraines, so bad that some days she can't even get out of bed, memory loss, so far it's only been short-term like the cake thing earlier but it could get worse, distorted dreams or visions, I remember when I was growing up I would wake up to my mother screaming from a bad dream, lightheadedness, she can get dizzy and faint at any moment and horrible fevers, I've never seen a person suffer as much as my mom has. And to tell you the truth, it kills me to see her like this and to suffer through all of that. The illness took over her healthy body, strong-will and high spirit and left her broken, everywhere." She looks down and I can tell grief is consuming her. I pull her into a big hug, letting my arms wrap around her small frame making her feel safe and secure, the way my arms did for Katniss on bad nights when she had her nightmares. She hugged me back tight but this time there were no tears staining my shirt. This is a step up from crying.
Suddenly as we keep hugging each other I have this strange, energized feeling growing inside of me that made me do something kind of crazy. "Will you be my girlfriend?" I whisper. She looks up at me. "What?" "Will you be my girlfriend?" I repeat louder. At first she's totally shocked but it quickly transforms into happiness. She has the biggest smile on her face, which makes me smile too, and she sheds a couple tears of happiness. She nods wildly. "Yes" she squeals quietly so her parents can't hear. Once her excitement dials down she's full of questions. "What made you want to date me?" That's the simplest question I could ever answer. "The more important question is why wouldn't I want to date you?" This makes her blush. "You're beautiful in every way. You have so much love and compassion you can offer to the world. I admire your kindness. You're kind to everyone you meet and from what I see, you would do anything to protect the ones you love. Only the strongest people have what it takes to do that. And you're taking your mother's illness way better than anybody I know would have, which shows you're brave. You're perfect" she opens her mouth about to argue with me but I cut her off. "Madge you're perfect. Never forget that" I say firmly.
Before I know it Madge's lips crash against mine. Her kiss surprises me how rough and passionate it is but I easily get used to it. We could have stayed there for hours on end and trust me I would have but sadly every kiss has to come to end. After minutes went by she reluctantly pulls her lips away from mine. I give her a sad puppy dog look and she just playfully punches my shoulder. Man, she's stronger than she looks. "If we kiss any longer my dad is going to catch us and then lecture us about being 'safe'" she admits. "Alright fine" I give in. "But don't you worry. There's plenty more kisses to go around" she says mischievously.
When I look at the clock on her nightstand it's already 10 o'clock. "Aw man I have to get home "this time she's the one giving me the sad puppy dog look. "If I don't get home soon my mom's going to yell at me" I say grabbing my jacket off her bed. "Okay, fine. But you have to promise me we'll see each other tomorrow" I smile. I was going to visit her anyway whether she asked me to or not. "Promise" I say with certainty. She leads me down stairs to the front door. "Bye Mr. Undersee. Thank you for the dinner" I holler as I put my jacket on. "You're welcome to join us anytime. It was a pleasure having" he replied from the kitchen.
"Bye Madge" I say going out the door. "Bye boyfriend" she smiles proudly as she says this. I give her a quick peck on the lips. "See you tomorrow". As I was walking down her lawn in the direction of my house I feel like I was just reborn. I feel like a new person. I could feel the last part of the wound in heart being mended. I then realized I don't need Katniss anymore. All I needed now was Madge. She was my peanut butter to my jelly, the apple to my pie, the straw to my berry. I have never felt more certain about something in my whole life. Even more certain than Katniss. She's the one. My perfect match.
I hope you liked it! :) There will be more fluff and drama as Peeta and Madge's love increases. Please review if you want more! Just wanted to tell you the sex scene is coming up in the next few chapters or maybe even the next chapter. I asked you guys (my fabulous reviewers) about it and I decided I'm going to just mention and skip it. Sorry to those who wanted me to write one :( I don't mean to disappoint you but I didn't want to be writing it and my parents would walk in on me and ask about it. I hope you understand! Love you guys ^_^