Dad stood by the door to the mudroom, watching Katniss leave. I stared at the edge of the worktable, picking at the grain in the wood with my thumb and trying to will myself out of existence. As soon as the back door closed he sighed and turned around. I glanced up at him for a moment, just long enough to see the sheer exhaustion in his face. I focused on the edge of the table again as he sat down across from me.
"I'm guessing that wasn't your first time," he said. I shook my head, unable to look up at him. I could feel watching me, though. He shifted forward and fold his hands on the table. "Listen, I know we've talked about—this sort of thing. And. uh-" he cut himself off, chuckling and running his hand over his eyes. "You had a bit of reiteration from the most awkward source possible-" I groaned, ducking my head lower and shielding my face with my eyes as the full horror of sitting on the Everdeen's couch with Katniss beside me during that lecture from her mother hit me all over again. "Sorry about that, by the way, but it doesn't save you from talking to me right now. How long has this been going on?"
"Um—a f-few weeks," I said, trying to sort out just how long it had been in my head. Days and weeks tended to blend together still, even with the routine of school breaking things up. I couldn't remember exactly how long ago it was.
"You'd better have been using a condom every time," he said. I cringed, more than a little annoyed that I'd just completely wasted one. "And where the hell did you get them if Rye had no idea?"
"K-Katniss g-got them," I squeezed out. The muscles in my neck were seizing up, tensing my jaw and making it harder to talk.
"Did you pressure her into any of this?" he asked. "I swear if I find out you're not listening to her or you're pushing anything she's not okay with-"
"Dad," I cut him off, disgusted he'd even think that of me. Or that Katniss would ever be swayed toward something she didn't want, by me or anyone else. "I d-didn't—I'm n-not—um—h-have you even m-met her?"
"Okay," he said, chuckling a little and shaking his head. "Good point." He looked away, chewing the inside of his lip. His expression grew distant, and I turned my attention back to the edge of the table. "You understand the level of responsibility you're taking on with this, I hope." I looked up at him, unsure of exactly what he meant by that. "You can say you're being careful all you want, but accidents happen. I don't care how hard you hit your head, if you get that girl pregnant you are marrying her and raising that baby. You do right by her; no discussion."
"D-dad," I frowned, folding my arms over my chest and looking away. There was no way that would be happening. We were very careful, and Katniss was so adamantly against children the idea of her standing for anything that might lead to a slip up that severe was almost laughable. The thought of being a father, now or at any time in the future, didn't have me feeling like laughing.
"Don't 'dad' me, Peet," he shook his head. "You have no idea what that would do to your future. And that has nothing to do with your injury. I-" he stopped, heaving a sigh and shaking his head. "I'm not stupid enough to think telling you two to slow down is actually going to have any effect on what you do with your free time, but just think about what it is you're doing. And the consequences it could have. Every time you do it."
"Okay," I said, still doing my best to avoid any eye contact.
"If you get that girl pregnant, guess who's going to be the one telling her mother. And it's not me," he gave me a look. The bell out front rang, saving me from anything more he may have had to say for the moment. Dad blew out a breath, running his hand through his hair as he got up and crossed the kitchen. "Don't go anywhere," he said, pointing at me before disappearing into the storefront. I dropped my forehead against the worktable, resuming my effort to wish myself out of existence. The bell rang again; another customer entering, and I listened to the voices out front. As much as I appreciated being spared any further humiliation, the wait for him to return to finish whatever else he wanted to subject me to was excruciating.
After a few minutes the back door opened. I looked up as Rye poked his head into the kitchen, raising his eyebrows to silently ask where Dad was. I tossed my head toward the storefront and he nodded, stepping in quietly and dropping down onto the stool Dad had been sitting in before. I rolled my eyes. The grilling Rye was gearing up to give me would be painful in a completely different way.
"Seriously?" he said quietly. "Come on. How could you hold out on me like that?"
"Rye," I sighed, leaning forward against the table and combing my fingers back into my hair. "Please d-don't."
"Oh, I'm sorry, do you not want to brag about banging your hot girlfriend you've been dreaming about for ten years?" he raised an eyebrow. I gave him a look. "I mean, that was what was happening, right? I doubt he got that pissed over catching you with your hands up her shirt or whatever. And I know how long that's been going on."
"Yeah—it w-was," I rolled my jaw and looked away.
"You lucky shit," he said. "Although good luck finding someplace to get it on now. Delly rules for Katniss now, too?"
"Uh," I smirked, realizing I had something I'd finally managed to one-up Rye on. "N-no. I j-just got that d-don't get her pregnant lecture."
"What?" Rye snapped, abandoning all pretenses of keeping his voice down. "How the flying fuck is that fair? Stop laughing, you little asshole." I couldn't though, not until Rye looked up at Dad in the doorway. He started to get up from the table. "I'll, uh, leave you two alone."
"You'll sit your ass right back down," Dad said before moving to stand at the end of the table.
"How the hell am I in trouble?" Rye snapped, sitting back down.
"When are you not in trouble?" Dad snapped right back at him.
"Touche," Rye said quietly.
"Listen, I am barely holding shit down here," he said, looking from one of us to the other. "If we didn't have Katniss working here, or you didn't drop out, I wouldn't be able to keep this bakery running-"
"See, I was ri-"
"Shut up, Rye," Dad cut him off. Rye just pressed his lips together and gave me a look. "I need both of you to stop making this harder on me. Stop pushing it every step of the way. Peeta, stop hiding things from the doctor, he's trying to help you. He always has been. Take your medication. When you're supposed to. Every time. And for the love of god keep that relationship under control. Please."
"Speaking of which," Rye said, shifting in his seat and folding his arms across his chest. "Can you please rationalize your hypocrisy to me? How the fuck is it fair that he gets to nail his little girlfriend in the comfort of his own bed and Delly isn't even allowed upstairs?"
"First of all, watch your fucking tone with me," Dad said, turning to Rye. "He still gets to do that because when I walked in on him he was behind a closed door and not expecting me at all. You were bare-ass naked on my couch on a Sunday, and you're just lucky it was me and not your mother, you moron."
"Oh yeah," Rye smirked. I pressed my lips together. At least when Katniss and I had gotten adventurous on the couch we'd done it while Rye was out and Dad was the only one left to work the bakery.
"You also get to sneak your little girlfriend over here at night when you think I'm sleeping and somehow think that even though my bedroom is directly over this kitchen I can't hear every fucking thing you're doing to that poor girl," Dad said.
"She is a little loud," Rye conceded, biting the inside of his lip thoughtfully.
"A little?" Dad cocked an eyebrow.
"It's your own fault," Rye lifted his chin. "She won't go down to the basement after you shredded that spare mattress we kept down there."
"The fuck did you expect me to do after busting up one of your misguided sleepover attempts?" Dad dropped his hands to his sides. "And that was the last time Loretta made any overly casual comments about Delly wincing every time she sat down after one of her little visits so clearly that put a stop to something."
"Yeah, my fun," Rye grumbled.
"No, you just took your fun to the back porch so you could grope her in full view of the neighbors," Dad gestured toward the back door. "Who still complain about that, by the way, in spite of how many times I've told you to knock it the fuck off."
"Maybe Elswick should stop spying out her windows since she's such a prude," Rye glanced towards me, a smile on his face I had to force myself not to return.
"Shut up," Dad snapped. "I don't even want to know what the hell you two did to break that floor mixer, and if you fucking insist on using shit from this kitchen as lube will you stay the hell away from the shortening? You know what a pain in the ass supplies are to get. At least use egg whites or something; you can get those for free in the damn backyard."
"Egg whites? Seriously?" Rye asked, a thoughtful look crossing his face. Dad opened his mouth to say something, his shoulders sagging briefly as he cut himself off.
"Do not come stumbling home drunk again," he started ticking things off on his fingers. "Stop ducking out on work when Katniss is here. If you make Delly miss her curfew one more fucking time, I'm bringing back that 7 o'clock shit you loved so much. And if one more peacekeeper drops your name alongside that shithead Gaskin kid's when they come in here you are not leaving this fucking house again unless you move out. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, sir," Rye said, pressing his lips together. His smirk had finally faded the minute Jimmie Gaskin's name joined the conversation.
"Peet, if you're feeling up to it, I'd appreciate it if you could help your brother finish the prep work," Dad said. "Since you kept Katniss too busy to do her share." I nodded, and Dad heaved a sigh before going out into the storefront.
"I d-don't even know what I want t-to ask first," I said quietly, raising my eyebrows at Rye. He laughed.
"You've got a lot to learn," he grinned at me, pushing away from the table and going into the supply room to retrieve what we needed. I just rolled my eyes and waited for him to return.
"Why d-do you even hang out with Jimmie if he's—just g-getting you in trouble?" I asked, getting up from the table as he brought back the containers.
"Seriously? A whole world of sexual escapades was just laid out for you and you're asking me about Jimmie fucking Gaskin?" Rye gave me a look.
"That's the only p-part that c-confuses me," I shot back. "He's an asshole."
"He's my friend," Rye said.
"Who's an asshole," I repeated.
"I'm sorry, you counted Merx Miller among your friends for how many years and you're going to judge me about Jimmie?" he rolled his eyes, hefting a bag of flour off the floor and onto the table.
"Merx was n-never arrested," I pointed out, pieces of the memory coming back to me. I'd forgotten exactly why I couldn't stand Jimmie, and why he made me so uncomfortable when Katniss and I went to his family's restaurant. After Dad's mention of peacekeepers it started coming back to me. He'd gotten into a fight with someone from the Seam last year and both of them had been arrested for it.
"He didn't start that fight, he just finished it," Rye said. "And you still haven't told me shit about you and Katniss. What gives? I want to know." I rolled my eyes, bracing myself for the barrage of questioning I was about to endure.
When I got to school the next day Katniss was waiting for me outside of our classroom. She had her books against her chest, nervously tugging at the end of her braid. As soon as she saw me approaching she stopped, dropping her hand to the side and flashing me a faint smile.
"How much trouble did I get you into yesterday?" she asked, grimacing a little.
"It's f-fine," I said, greeting her with a kiss on the cheek. She still blushed when I did, and I loved seeing it. "He j-just lectured me. Rye g-got it worse."
"Why am I not even surprised that it somehow got spun around on Rye?" she smirked. "So we're not in trouble? You're not in trouble?"
"N-no," I smiled. "It was, um—awkward. And embarrassing. B-but that's all."
"Okay," she said, pecking a kiss against my lips and leading me into the classroom just as the bell rang. During lunch she and I ended up quietly conducting our own conversation, completely ignoring Madge and Delly's in favor of commiserating over the shared humiliation of the day before. "So he really isn't changing any rules for us? At all?"
"Really," I said, picking at my sandwich. I really didn't feel like eating.
"Your dad's kind of awesome," Katniss said. I couldn't help but laugh.
"Yeah, except for th-the p-part where he asked me, um—where we got the c-condoms," I said, glancing toward Delly briefly to make sure the two of them were still too busy to listen to us.
"Oh no," she said, her face reddening for a moment. "What did you say?"
"The truth," I said. "What d-do you think?" Katniss let out a pained little groan and turned back to her lunch, the color slowly fading from her face.
"So are you actually going this year?" Madge asked, raising an eyebrow at Katniss. She slowed mid-chew, raising her eyebrows.
"The end of year dance?" Delly said. "Have you even been listening?"
"No," Katniss said, glancing over at me and biting back a smirk.
"Well, are you going or not?" Madge asked.
"I've never gone before, why would I start now?" Katniss deadpanned, raising an eyebrow. Madge gestured to me. Katniss looked over at me and then back to Madge, her expression unchanged. "And?"
"He's a good date," Delly interjected. "I made him take me last year because Rye refused."
"Seriously?" Katniss chuckled, looking over at me. I just shrugged and smiled. I had, and Delly hadn't let Rye forget it.
"D-does that mean you c-conned him into it this time?" I asked Delly.
"Yes, I did," she beamed, straightening up in her chair.
"Okay, before we derail this any further," Madge said, holding up her hands before turning back to Katniss. "You have a date, so you're going to go, right?"
"I don't have a date," Katniss said. Madge let out a huff, gesturing towards me. "He hasn't asked me."
"Peeta!" Delly snapped. "What's wrong with you?"
"D-did you forget that it's a dance?" I said, giving her a pointed look and holding up my cane before setting it back down where it rested between my knees.
"Did you forget that she's your girlfriend?" Delly shot back. I sighed and rolled my eyes.
"K-Kat," I turned to her. "Would you like to go to the dance with me?"
"No."
"See?" I gestured toward Katniss, turning back to the remains of my lunch. It was ridiculous that they'd even think she'd go, as if having a relationship had suddenly turned her girly. The whole prospect made me nervous; too much noise, too many people, not to mention how unsteady I still was on my feet. At the same time, though, I still wanted to do something normal. For myself and for Katniss.
"Katniss!" Madge snapped.
"What?" Katniss said, exasperation edging into her voice. She leaned back in her chair, shifting closer to me and setting her hand on my leg under the table. "It's dumb and I don't want to go."
"Rye is going. And you're not," Madge said, cocking an eyebrow. "Since when are you more of a pain in the ass than Rye Mellark?"
"Do not try to pull that shit with me," Katniss said, narrowing her eyes. Madge just smiled sweetly in return. Katniss sighed, turning to look at me. "Should we?"
"Might b-be fun," I shrugged. "If n-nothing else we can j-just, um—watch Dell torture Rye the whole t-time."
"And I plan to," Delly nodded enthusiastically.
"Gale will enjoy having someone to be a grumpy asshole with," Madge said.
"Okay, fine," Katniss sighed. Madge and Delly high fived as they got up from the table to head back to class. "We don't have to."
"If you d-don't want to we can do our own thing," I said. "Either way th-though I'd kind of like a, um—a d-date." Katniss smiled, pecking a kiss against my cheek before getting up and holding out her hand to me. I took it, steadying myself on her grip as well as my cane, and the two of us went back to class together.
"Oh hey! Look who's finally as whipped as the rest of us!"
"Do you see what you're doing to me?" Rye said to Delly, gesturing toward his friends. We didn't even make it halfway across the schoolyard before they started in on him.
"So are you gonna die today?" Alden said, matching stride with us and reaching out to yank on Rye's tie.
"Eat a dick," Rye laughed, shoving him to one side.
"Nah, I got someone to do that for me," Alden slung his arm around the girl walking beside him and planting a smacking kiss against her cheek. "Right, Sadie?"
"You are fucking disgusting," she snapped, shrugging out from under his arm and shoving his face away from her. "Marion, wait up!" She ran a few steps ahead, waving to one of the girls by the gymnasium doors. Alden just turned back to Rye, completely unfazed.
"You better be nice to me or I'm not sharing," he said, pulling a flask out of his pants pocket and waving it in front of Rye's face. He grinned, turning to jog after his date.
"If you get drunk you can take yourself to the slag heap later," Delly said, giving him a pointed look.
"You are absolutely no fun at all," Rye put his arm around her waist. "Why am I dating you, again?"
"Shut up," she scoffed, laughing and ducking her chin as he leaned over to kiss her.
"They're even worse when they're together," Katniss said, gesturing toward the two of them. She was wearing a pale green dress, something she'd admitted Prim had talked her into buying as she awkwardly plucked at the skirt while we waited for Delly outside of the shoe shop. She looked beautiful, although telling her so had only earned me an elbow to the ribs and an embarrassed thanks.
"You have n-no idea," I said. She laughed, hooking her arm through mine as we went into the gym. Someone had gone through the trouble of trying to decorate, though it was more than obvious that the streamers that had been put up were the same ones that had been used the year before. At the far end of the room a small platform had been set up, with half a dozen nearly identical men from the Seam crammed onto it with their instruments. Gale and Madge were easy enough to spot; he was at least a head taller than nearly everyone else in the gym, leaning against the closed bleachers and looking like he was ready to take out half the room in less than a minute if he were armed. His expression brightened as soon as he caught sight of Katniss.
"I will never get over you in a dress," he said as we got closer, grinning as Madge fawned over Katniss and Delly one after the other.
"Peeta said I look beautiful," she said, straightening her back and lifting her chin. She slapped Madge's hand away when she tried fixing the collar of her dress.
"You do," I repeated, slipping my arm around her waist. She smiled, nudging me with her elbow.
"I know you do, that's why it's weird," Gale said.
"You are such an asshole," Katniss laughed, rubbing her hand over her eyes.
"I also figured you'd bail," Gale said, draping his arms around Madge's neck as she leaned back against him.
"She t-tried to," I said.
"Right up to the last minute," Delly added, folding her arms over her chest and frowning as she watched Rye make his way over to where his friends congregated in the corner. "If he thinks he's ditching me all night he's in for a rude awakening."
"If you embarrass him enough about it he'll st-stop sneaking off," I said.
"You're so smart, Peet," Delly flashed me a sweet smile before marching straight across the gym to where Rye stood. The four of us watched her henpeck him right out onto the dance floor, his friends roaring with laughter behind them. Madge and I played Katniss and Gale against each other until they gave in and let us drag them out to dance as well. It didn't take long for me to tire though, and Katniss seemed relieved when I nodded toward the chairs by the wall. We sat together for a few minutes, resisting every attempt that was made to wave us back out to the floor.
"I'm thirsty," Katniss said, the narrow table of refreshments manned by our history teacher finally catching her eye. "Do you want anything?"
"I'm fine," I said. She pecked a kiss against my cheek before getting up, giving the dance floor a wide berth and picking her way through the pockets of people doing more standing around and staring than anything else.
"Hey," Asa Maynard dropped down into the chair Katniss had vacated, greeting me with a punch to the shoulder and a grin.
"What the hell are you d-doing here?" I smirked. Most of the guys who had shown up had made some sort of effort to dress well. Even Rye had willingly put on a tie without Dad intervening. Asa was wearing a rumpled, threadbare button-down open halfway down his chest and looked like he hadn't seen a razor or a comb in a week.
"When your dad and your uncles and your brothers are the band it's kind of a requirement," he said, pointing toward the platform.
"Th-that explains why th-they all look alike," I said.
"Still think it's fuckin' hilarious you townies can't spot a Maynard. Pickin' us out in a crowd is like a fuckin' sport in the Seam," he chuckled. "Can't believe you got Everdeen here, either. In a dress."
"Me n-neither," I chuckled.
"You packin' some magic, or what?" he backhanded my knee.
"Wh-what?" I let out an embarrassed chuckle, raising my eyebrows.
"Alright, listen," Asa shifted. "First off. Congratulations. On that." He pointed toward Katniss, pausing to look her over before turning back to me. "Also, do not ever let that girl suffer through buying condoms again. Ripper's favorite thing in the world is torturin' that poor girl, and she is already awkward as fuck without Rip makin' it worse. Everyone in the Hob knew what she was up to."
"She, uh—she mentioned it w-was rough," I smirked, glancing over towards her. "I g-guess I can make the trip."
"Please," Asa scoffed, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a strip of condoms folded together with a rubber band around them. He tossed them into my lap. "Don't worry about those ones, but I charge less anyway. I'll hook you up."
"Where d-do you even get these?" I asked. They were the same as the ones Katniss had gotten from Ripper, the Capitol seal printed on the black foil packets.
"Don't worry about it," he winked, backhanding my knee again before getting up and disappearing as suddenly as he'd turned up.
"What the hell did Asa want?" Katniss frowned, staring in the direction he'd left as she sat back down. I just opened my hand, showing her the condoms in my palm before tucking them into my pocket. She stared at me, her jaw slack. "Are you fucking kidding me? He knows?"
"According to him—everyone knows," I smirked. "You c-can thank Ripper for that."
"Great," she muttered, slouching back in the chair and taking a drink from the cup in her hand. After a while Gale ended up sitting with us. Rye managed to successfully disengage from Delly and leave her to dance with Madge while he finally joined his friends, who hadn't left the corner they occupied once all night. As the night wore on, people began to mingle a little more along the edges of the dance floor. Eventually we found ourselves standing close to where we'd started the night to begin with, though this time we were flanked by the other merchant kids from our year. I did my best to avoid so much as eye contact with any of them, though that didn't do me much good.
"It's really good to see you getting out, Peeta," Manda Tate said, her voice high and laden with saccharine sympathy. Katniss whipped her head around so fast I swear I heard her neck crack. Her grip on my arm tightened. "I mean, really."
"Yeah, shame you're gonna miss out on the rest of the fun," Verne smirked at me over her head.
"It must be so boring dating him," Manda pushed on, leaning forward a bit to look at Katniss and talking past me as if I wasn't even standing there. "Just going home and doing nothing."
"Yeah, it's real boring to go home and fuck in your own bed, right, Peet?" Rye said, stepping forward and staring down the few people that had turned to pay attention to the conversation. I looked over at Katniss, expecting her to be angry with Rye, but she was still glaring at Manda. "Have fun trekking out to the slag heap, you dumb shit."
"He's lying," Merx said, acknowledging Verne's appreciative chuckle with a smirk.
"He's really not, though," Gale chuckled.
"'Ey! Mellark!" Asa called from a few feet away.
"What?" Rye snapped.
"Not you, shitdick," Asa scoffed. He tossed something at me, but I responded too late and it hit the floor by my feet, skidding to a stop at Manda's. She reached down and picked up another strip of condoms, bundled the same way the one he'd slipped me earlier was. Her jaw dropped and she let out a scandalized little huff. "Have fun tonight, loverboy!" I covered my eyes with my hand, my groan dissolving into a chuckle as the laughter around me picked up.
"Give me those," Katniss snapped, snatching the condoms from Manda's hand. She looked the other girl over disdainfully before looping her arm through mine and turning us away. "Come on, Peeta. We have better things to do."
"Thank you for not getting mad," I said quietly, biting back laughter.
"I hate that little twat," she muttered, briefly glancing back over her shoulder. Rye and Delly caught up with us outside.
"Katniss, you're my hero," Rye said.
"Shut up," she spat at him. He just laughed.
"You know she's going t-to t-tell Mom, right?" I said to Rye once his laughter had died down. No one had ever actually told me directly, but I'd overheard more than once that Mom was staying with the Tates.
"I hope she does," Rye said, his voice completely serious. "And I hope Lilith has a fucking aneurism over you banging an Everdeen."
Buddy developed a habit of nuzzling me awake when his food dish was empty. If the headbutts against my cheeks didn't work, he'd progress to licking my face. And if for some reason his sandpaper tongue didn't jerk me out of a sound sleep immediately, he bit my nose. That always worked. I swore under my breath, pushing him away as I sat up. He jumped down from the bed, staggering a few steps to keep his balance. He meowed at me from the doorway until I heaved myself out of bed and went into the kitchen, refilling his food and water dishes before taking my medications.
I hadn't meant to sleep as late as I did. The night before tired me out more than I realized. Katniss was likely already working downstairs, though it seemed too quiet for her to be down there with Rye. Things had gotten painfully awkward in that kitchen, though, after Dad walking in on us. If Rye was the one behind the counter, that would explain it. I went back into my bedroom to get dressed. It was starting to get too hot, and I wondered if I'd be able to convince Dad to hunt down that old metal fan I'd found in the basement last year. I paused, marveling for a moment that I even remembered that it was down there.
I heard Katniss and Gale's voices through the open window and leaned over the dresser to look out as I straightened out my shirt. They were just making their way up the back alley; they must have gotten a late start to their day as well. I tugged on my hat and went downstairs to meet them.
"I hope you don't mind, but I need to send your share home with Katniss tonight, Gale," Dad said. He was just out of sight in the mudroom, Katniss creeping by him into the kitchen with a wide-eyed look on her face. "I don't think you want to stick around for this." I raised my eyebrows, hoping for some sort of explanation. She just shrugged. Rye didn't have anything to offer, either.
"That's fine," Gale chuckled. "I'll see you." The back door closed a moment later and Dad stepped into the kitchen.
"Oh, good. I was about to go get you," Dad said when he saw me standing by the bottom of the stairs. "Guess what I heard today." I stared at him, giving a faint shrug when his stare didn't falter. He gestured toward the worktable. "Sit the hell down. All of you." He gave Rye a pointed look.
"What did I do?" Rye snapped. Dad gave him a look that shut him up immediately. Katniss and I pulled out stools side by side and sat down; Rye hoisted himself up to sit on the counter behind us.
"Clara Miller came in here this morning," Dad said, his voice laden with entirely too much sarcasm for me to be comfortable with. "She had some interesting things to say. Mostly about my parenting. Called me an 'amoral heathen', which, granted, she's been doing since we were about seventeen, but this is one of those rare times that I actually know why." Both Katniss and I turned around to look at Rye at the same time.
"I didn't think it'd get around that fast," Rye said. "Manda Tate has a big fucking mouth."
"That's what you did," Dad said, pointing at Rye. "What the hell did we just talk about?"
"Don't say anything," Rye grumbled. Katniss and I looked at each other, hoping we were going to be spared anything further.
"You're missing the point," Dad said. "We talked about not making shit harder on me than it already is and it's like that conversation didn't even happen. And yes, part of that is not talking about what goes on here around people who have no need to know, but that's just part of it."
"I'm s-sorry, Dad," I said hesitantly. He pointed at me, hesitating for a moment and shaking his head before launching into a much angrier version of the lecture he laid into Rye and I with a few days before. Katniss gave me a wide eyed look. Dad actually upset like this was something she had yet to see. The longer he went on, the more he repeated himself, and the further he actually got from his original point of keeping things to ourselves.
"You know what," he snapped, abruptly stopping his pacing. "You three fucks can run this joint yourselves today. I'm gonna go get drunk at the Cartwright's." He stared at us, waiting for confirmation.
"Uh, have fun?" Rye said hesitantly. Dad narrowed his eyes, taking a deep breath that he mercifully just blew out as he turned away, muttering and running his hand through his hair. He disappeared into the mudroom, the back door slamming a moment later. The three of us turned to face each other, collapsing into half stifled, snorting laughter after a moment. "He should probably go pay your mother a visit instead, Catpiss."
"Don't," Katniss snapped, cutting her laughter off immediately.
Thank you so, so much for all your favorites, follows, and reviews! Sorry about the delay on this chapter, guys. Getting into the home stretch now, though! Four chapters to go. As always, you can find my husband and I on tumblr. He's yourpeetaisshowing, I'm alonglineofbread.