Summary: Bound to one man and pregnant by another, Katniss’ actions take her to a place she never expected—District 7.
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“Katniss! Get back here!”
Her husband grabbed her arm and Katniss turned, grey eyes blazing, reflecting the fury in his eyes.
“Please don’t touch me.” She pulled her arm back, removing her jacket before hanging it on their coatrack. “I don’t know what the hell your mother thought she saw, but Hazelle has a way of turning a small thing into a big deal.”
“So, you weren’t seen leaving Mellark’s Bakery from the back door?” Gale asked, seething. “You weren’t seen with your hair undone and your clothes rumpled?”
Katniss can’t respond.
The whole situation went far beyond this afternoon’s incident.
It went all the way back to when they were children when Peeta tossed her a burnt piece of bread.
During those talks while she delivered game.
To that first kiss…right after Gale’s marriage proposal.
@safeinpeetasarms made the argument that Lumberjack!Peeta is canon. Then this scene formed.
No Games/In Panem AU rated M
~
the lumberjack’s axe 🪓
~
The noise pattern has grown louder and louder with her every step. She shouldn’t be surprised when she rounds the alleyway but somehow she still is.
Peeta’s blonde beard has fully filled in since she last saw his stubbled face.
The long winter months have not weakened his broad frame. He wields an axe on a freshly sectioned pine. Focused on the task before him. If he knows she’s watching, he hasn’t hinted at it yet.
“Hello.”
“Oh, hi Katniss.” Peeta rests the axe across his shoulders as he greets her. His open flannel shirt falls to each side.
His clothing choice is confusing. A warm thick flannel but covering just his arms and back. Is he hot? Is he cold? Obviously he’s hot. Enough of that, she’s here on business.
“I have three squirrels today.” She swallows too loud. “What are you doing out here?”
“As of Sunday, Bran is officially the new owner of the Apothecary.” He gives her a sad glance. “This was his favorite chore. Clears your head.”
“I never saw him chop firewood.” The stack lined against the back of the bakery seemed to magically never shrink. It was a fixture of her trades she’s paid little attention to until now.
“That’s cause he used to do it in the evenings.” Peeta lines up his next chunk of wood.
“And you’ve chosen the exact time I come to trade as the ideal moment for this?”
“Yep.”
He swings the axe down, every muscle flexes with the practiced motion. His sculpted forearms exposed by the way he’s pushed up his sleeves halfway.
He sets up the next log, pausing to catch her eyes. A lickable bead of sweat runs down his neck.
“What do you want, Peeta?? Do you think I’ll jump all over you right here in your yard?”
“It’d be nice.” The chop accompanies his nonchalance. The wood splits perfectly, falling into the piles on each side of the stump.
“Stop it.” She barely holds back the foot stomp. “This is the equivalent of me waltzing around in front of you shooting my bow in nothing but my underwear.”
“You’re right, that sounds terrible.” Peeta sticks his axe in the wood before coming to stand in front of her. “Not as terrible as marrying me though, right?”
Katniss tries to keep her tone and face neutral. “You know why I can’t.”
“I’m going either way. As soon as Rye’s first is born, I’m off to the mines. That’s how it works.”
That’s only how it works if he isn’t betrothed to another merchant.
She’ll drive the wedge as far as she must to protect him. “In that case, maybe I need to start dating someone else soon.”
His eye twitches ever so slightly. The tell let’s her know she hit her mark. But Peeta has his own tricks. He fixes a loose hair that’s escaped her braid. His hand grazes down her face as he leans in. “And maybe I need to keep you hot and bothered enough so that won’t be a problem.”
She’s squirming. It’s been so long since he’s touched her.
She can’t ignore the longing in his deep blue eyes for much longer. “The mines are my choice, Katniss. Do I have to keep staying away until then? Is that really what you want?”
She hates the way her vision is blurring from the tears she refuses to let him see. She stares down at his double knotted boots. “It’s not about what I want.”
They don’t need to have this fight again.
Katniss shakes her head. “How’s Delly doing?”
“Better. She seems to be through the worst of the morning sickness. Now she’s craving raisins of all things.”
None of this was supposed to happen this soon. Delly and Rye’s toasting was over a year away when Peeta told her about the pregnancy.
“Five more months.” Katniss isn’t sure if she says it to him or herself. Only five more months to change his mind.
“If I could sign up today, I would.”
There is no waver in his words. She knows he still means it. The Capitol’s business succession laws that keep the Merchant class separated. Strange customs around bloodlines that seem more fit for some ancient kingdom than bakers and cobblers. A birth certificate or a marriage license with her, whichever comes first, will usher him into Seam exile.
She never should have let things get this far. Should have insisted on only trading with one of his brothers or turned him down for that clandestine dance at the Festival. Never should have kissed him in the meadow or shared those perfect days at the lake. Or under the trees. Or at her house. Or at the slag heap.
Now instead of fleeting moments of happiness, he has forever in mind. Together through the good and the bad, the mundane and the memorable. He wants everything she never promised.
And she wants everything he did promise.
Peeta meanders back to the wood. “I need to keep chopping away at this pile.” He dislodges the axe and swings it over his shoulder. Once again exposing the full breadth of his chest. A lopsided smirk peeks through his beard. “Let me know if you need any firewood for the cabin. If you want to try that archery in your underwear idea, I’ll chop the wood in mine.”
Katniss spins on her heels and marches out of the yard. Looks like she’s having fried squirrel for dinner. How weak does he think she is? She’s no green pine that bows at the slightest touch from his blade.
~
Lumberjack Peeta featured heavily in their foreplay that summer.
