That’s what Katniss wanted to say, but she had been stumbling over her words and wouldn’t know how Peeta would react. She was avoidant when it came down to having crushes or talking about boys. Why? She never knew. Maybe, she just didn’t want to put it out there, out in the open and be judged for it or rejected. Another reason could’ve been her dad and his obnoxious rule of no dating until Prim and herself were out the house. There were already so many rules he had, she didn’t need to stress herself out over boy talk or anything to do with relationships.
But at the end of the day - teenagers will have crushes, they’ll speak of relationships, and more. Why couldn’t she just be normal and not have an overprotective, always asking questions type of father?
I’ll be posting snippets / previews of each chapter! Thank you so much for the love & support on this fanfic already :)
Eventually, they would make it to the forest and Katniss led the way to the perfect spot: A clearing in the middle of the woods, filled with wildflowers and patches of tall grass. The sun was shining in the dead center of it.
“Is this a good spot?” The girl asked as she came to a halt, gesturing to the land around them.
Peeta takes in the surroundings before his gaze lands on his best friend, nodding in response,”It’s perfect, actually.” He said, putting the basket down and laying the blanket on the grass. He took a seat, soon patting the spot beside him,”C’mere.”
Katniss would retreat to his side and criss-cross her legs as she sat. She was the first to reach for the basket, grabbing her own sub and handing Peeta his own. She couldn’t help but to think this all through. In a way it seemed romantic… Or friendly… It could go both ways, and it confused her. Deep down, Katniss was aware of her feelings for Peeta - she just didn’t know when to admit it, or knew if he even liked her back.
5 Sentence Prompt- Brother Rye and Peeta + “I’m telling you, she’s going to like it”
“I’m telling you, she’s going to like it.” Rye put his hands on Peeta’s shoulders, turning him to the brownstone in front of them. “And this will definitely work, I guarantee it.”
“Katniss doesn’t even know who I am,” Peeta replied anxiously. “She’s going to think I’m a creepy Valentine’s day stalker.”
“But she’ll think you’re a romantic stalker,” his brother assured him. “I’ve done this before. How do you think I got Johanna Mason to go out with me?”
“She broke your nose on the last day of school!”
“But it worked, right?” Rye pushed his brother forward, handing him a pebble. “Her window is the one right there. Go on!”
Peeta swallowed his nervousness down and before even thinking about it, threw the small stone at the window.
It didn’t take long for the window to open and for the pretty dark-haired girl to peek her head out.
“Peeta?”
“H-Hi,” he called out.
She tilted her head curiously, her long braid dangling. “What are you doing here?”
Quickly, Peeta looked to his brother, hiding against the building.
Rye, giving him a thumbs-up, pressed play on his phone.
“Here I lay all alone
Tossin', turning
Longing for some of your tender love...”
Rye Mellark loved his brother. He watched for years as Peeta pined for Katniss Everdeen and now, he had finally gotten the balls to woo her.
But damn—he could not sing.
It was evident when a window opened and someone called out, “SHUT THAT RACKET UP!”
Peeta looked at him and Rye gave him an encouraging smile.
“Tender love, love so tender
Pulling me close to you
Baby, I surrender...”
Somewhere a dog howled.
Then the booing from another window started.
This followed by someone throwing an empty soda which hit Peeta in the back of the head.
Peeta rubbed his head. “Shit!”
Rye rushed over. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah...” His eyes went up to the window and Peeta’s face fell. “...she’s gone.”
Looking up, Rye could see that Katniss’ window was closed and the light off.
“I’m sorry, bro.” He gave his brother a pat on the shoulder. “You tried and I’m proud of you for that.”
“How am I going to show my face at school?” Peeta cried out. “And I have my first class with Katniss—”
“Peeta?” The brothers quieted and turned to find Katniss walking down the steps and towards them. She looked nervous as she approached, gathering her long sweater around herself.
Rye pushed his brother forward. “I’ll give you two a minute.”
At the end of the block, he watched Katniss and Peeta stand shyly in front of one another as they talked.
Then suddenly Katniss launched herself at his brother, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him. Peeta caught on quickly, his arms circling her waist to pull her close.
Rye whooped (quietly) in joy.
Peeta finally did it.
There was an alert and Rye looked to his phone, finding a message from Bran: ‘Did it work?’
Rye quickly texted their brother back.
‘There were a few mishaps, but it looks like our little bro got the girl.’
So of course, it turned into a one-shot. Check out the preview below.
Summary: Peeta Mellark and Katniss Everdeen are hiding their relationship from her twin brother, Gale. However, it won’t be easy when their group of friends is finagled into doing an unforgettable assembly performance. A Hunger Games High School AU. Mature.
The cafeteria of Panem High was packed.
In the center were The Careers, a group of the popular kids, named rightly because of the fact that after graduation, they would be given any career they wanted. Their families had the funds to make anything happen.
To the far left were the techies, star students of Professor Beetee Latier, who ran the computer sciences department and would no doubt be making their way to Silicon Valley in the near future. Next to their table were the Morphlings, who were always drugged with something or another and usually kept to themselves unless you got in their way in the lunch line.
The arts crowd to the right was headed up by Johanna Mason, who ran the dance team, and could pirouette your ass off the stage if you pissed her off.
Then there was his group of friends.
Peeta Mellark looked around the cafeteria in search of his group.
He knew that Finnick was still in the locker room as he had just left the locker room himself. Annie, who Peeta had known since he was in diapers, was most likely somewhere reading a soliloquy for one of the plays that she would be auditioning for. Gale, his next door neighbor, was probably finishing up whatever car that he was in charge of in shop class.
“Hey stranger,” came the sweet, warm whisper.
Then, there was her.
Peeta turned as Katniss sat next to him, taking the milk carton from his tray and swapping it with her orange juice. However, she opened the plastic container for him before putting it back on the tray.
“Hey neighbor,” he responded in kind. “Where’s big brother?”
Katniss blanched at the mention of Gale. “Once again--only by two minutes.” She looked over his tray and took his bread roll. “Anyway, I was busy stacking books in the library for Mags so I don’t know where Gale is.” The dark-haired girl grinned at him as she buttered his roll and Peeta swallowed down the fluttering nervousness at their nearness. “It’s kind of nice to not have him around though. It feels like it’s been forever since it was just us.”
“Oh, you know your brother,” he responded. “Anything that looks like a dick swinging your way and he’s on them.”
“You’re no dick, you’re Peeta!”
“Ouch, Katniss.” His face went hot at her words. “I know that we’ve seen each other as asexual since like forever but you have to acknowledge that I have a mini-me for biology sakes!”
Her eyes flitted over to the jeans he wore. “So, it’s broad, blond, and thick-headed?”
“Part of it is blond,” he retorted.
“I’d like proof of that.” Katniss took his buttered roll before breaking a piece off and offering it to him.
His eyes went to her fingers before he wrapped his lips around them, sucking gently to take the bread. Katniss gasped, her lips parting at the motion of his tongue caressing her index finger and thumb before he pulled away sucking on her skin to taste every bit of the...bread.
“You know we never finished that game of Doctor when we were seven,” Peeta told her.
She grinned, leaning closer, and he could feel her leg pressing against his under the lunch table. “We have to find a better hiding place. Last time, Gale found us and nearly threw you over his head.”
It had always been like this with them. They’d flirt, they’d sit unbearably close yet…nothing.
The line was much too scary to cross for both of them.
“You two need to fuck already.” They turned to find Johanna sitting across from them, a smirk on her lips. “Oh, am I interrupting footsie under the table? Or, maybe a hand job?” The dark-haired girl with the long bob leaned her head to look under the plastic table. “Katniss—”
Katniss jumped up from the table. “Johanna!” Her eyes were blazing with irritation. “I will tell my brother that you came by, okay?”
“Alright.” The girl gracefully stood up, giving them one last smile. “By the way, Peeta. You’ll probably want to calm that boner before Gale gets here.”
She walked away, leaving the two flushed at her words.
“Sometimes, I can’t believe that Gale is dating her,” Katniss growled.
“Johanna isn’t that bad,” he told her. “She’s intense, but she does care for him.”
“I know,” his friend groused. “They spent the entire weekend going over his financial aid forms for Stanford and she is unbelievably smart when it comes to getting money from the government.”
Peeta took the chocolate milk resting on her tray and opened it. “Here. Cool down, girl on fire.”
She gave him a grateful smile before taking a sip from the carton. “Thank you.”
“Hello, my Star-Crossed Lovers!” Annie sat down followed by Finnick, whose red locks were still damp from his shower. Katniss and Peeta glared, sobering their dramatic friend immediately. “Calm down. No need to get upset. It was a joke.”
“Yeah, Peeta would never,” Finnick added, his arm going around Annie. “Gale would never allow anyone to touch his pure twin sister.”
“Who’s touching who?”
Gale quickly sat between Katniss and Peeta. It wasn’t lost on anyone that the action was intentional.
“Your girlfriend was looking for you,” Katniss said, ignoring his question.
“I just spoke to her,” Gale said off-handedly as he took a piece of his sister’s sandwich. “She’s working on the choreography for some 90’s-themed dance routine for the final assembly.” Stuffing most of the sandwich into his mouth, he looked to Katniss. “Also, did you turn in your financial papers for Stanford?”
Before Katniss could respond, there was a sudden crash coming from the arts table.
“Oh shit!” Gale practically leapt over their table. “Johanna!”
