holiday fic #2, the conclusion
Okay, so I had really hoped to post this by midnight, but if @gentlemama happens to live outside the EST time zone, perhaps I’ll be able to make it in time for her gift, after all! This one is for you, my dear secret snowflake. I’ve enjoyed getting to know you this past month (and thank you for your patience, considering that I accidentally revealed my true identity on the second day of December…because I am an idiot). Also, thanks to @thgsecretsnowflake for organizing this exchange!
As always, my eternal gratitude goes to @dealanexmachina, the best sister/beta ever.
Parts 1 and 2 can be found here and here. And if you haven’t already checked out the RL group that this fic is inspired by, I encourage you to check out this video.
Hope you enjoy the ending!
—
Peeta was in trouble.
As much as he kept telling himself to stay professional or remember the kids, the reality of the situation was that what was supposed to be an innocent schoolboy (or in this case, schoolteacher) crush was quickly snowballing into something else entirely. While he managed to keep himself in check during their interactions over phone or Skype, thoughts of Katniss had strayed into his mind with increasing frequency when he was alone - many of which were far more intense, and some of which were definitely not innocent.
He just couldn’t seem to get her out of his head.
Objectively speaking, he knew that his burgeoning feelings for Katniss were completely ill-advised. Sure, he was only a couple years older than her, but she was still in college. And his student’s cousin - something that could undoubtedly land him in hot water if Effie had any suspicion his motivation for working with Katniss was anything other than educational. And then there was the part about how they’d known each other for less than three weeks, and still hadn’t met yet…
None of this, by the way, seemed to matter to his students, who seemed determined to play Cupid. The other day, he’d overheard Leevy and Rue giggling about how they ‘totally ship Mr. Mellark with Miss Katniss’ - it took a visit to Urban Dictionary to discover what that meant, and when he did, he was equal parts relieved that ‘shipping’ didn’t refer to anything inappropriate and mortified at the level of interest the girls had taken in his love life.
Not that he didn’t ship himself with her, too, but that was a different point entirely.
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