Katniss’s body crashed against the door, which slammed open with a loud bang, startling Peeta, who was making himself a sandwich on the coffee table.
“Damn, Katniss,” he said with a chunk of bread in his mouth without turning to look at her, “You don’t have to make such a dramatic entrance every time, you know.”
“You don’t even know if it’s me,” she managed to shoot back.
Her knees fell to the floor. The pain was coming in now, in all parts of her body - she hadn’t really noticed it when she was running.
Peeta dusted off his hands, letting the bread crumbs fall onto the plate. “You’re always slamming the door open when you walk in. Madge walks in like she doesn’t want people to know she exists.”
The sight of her injured and weak changed everything immediately. “Oh my God, Katniss, what happened? Who the hell did this to you?”
“I would’ve gone to Prim’s, but -”
Peeta gently placed her left arm over his shoulder, cupped her waist with his hand and hoisted her up.
“Silly girl. You yelling at me earlier doesn’t mean you can’t come back to the dorm.”
“I was planning to stay at Prim’s anyway,” Katniss coughed.
“Oh, so an apology was never in your options then,” Peeta sat her down on the couch, arranging cushions to support her back so she could lie comfortably.
Peeta busied himself getting a bucket of water and towels, then hurried back to the couch.
“Do you even know what you’re doing?” Katniss mustered whatever strength she had left to laugh at him.
“Why don’t you tell me who got you into this state?”
“Why should I? It’s none of your business.”
Peeta reached for her hands. Her knuckles were covered with wounds. He gently pressed the wet towel onto the skin, causing her to wince. The look in his eyes made her nervous. It was almost like he could read her mind.
“Fine,” Katniss cleared her throat. “Um, I made a bet with Gale and his little band of imbeciles, and…yeah, things got a little heated.”
Peeta’s eyes almost glazed over. It was hard to tell what emotions he had there, which was unusual for him. He usually only had one expression, which was just joy and more joy behind those eyes. Katniss had found it quite annoying sometimes.
“No, I was talking about the wind. Like, there was such a strong current of wind that I walked right into a lamppost. Yeah, Hawthorne. Who else? He’s hated me since day one.”
Peeta said nothing, and continued cleaning her wounds as gently as he could, with the same still-faced expression. It was starting to freak her out.
“Dude, what's wrong with you? You're not planning to like, I don't know, set fire to his car or something? You look like you're thinking about something like that."
Almost immediately, the light in his eyes changed. Katniss felt almost comforted seeing the warmth in his eyes take its rightful place.
"Don't you worry about that. Just let me take care of you."
Katniss felt her stomach dance when the thought of her and Peeta being in the dorm alone crossed her mind.
"Um, where's Madge, by the way? She's coming back soon, right?"
Peeta shrugged. "Pretty sure she told me she was staying at her cousin's. Why?"
His eyes had a mischievous glint to them. "Are you nervous about being alone with an attractive man?"
"You think too highly of yourself. I wouldn't put the word 'attractive' in that sentence. It's just 'man'," Katniss snarked. "I was just asking anyway. What if I need help in the shower? I don't even know if I can lift my arms."
Peeta looked at her thoughtfully. "I could help you wash your hair at least, and if you aren't comfortable with me doing it, you could wipe the rest of yourself down with a towel."
"Oh, it's fine. Just help me with my wounds and I'll be able to settle the rest," she nodded.
It looked like she was not going to be able to do it by herself after all. Katniss had been sitting in front of the bathroom sink, trying to somehow contort her arms in a way that she would not have to lift them up too high to wash her hair.
It was like every muscle in her body was screaming at her with every movement she made. She did not peg herself as one with such low pain tolerance.
"Katniss," came a knock at the door. "Are you doing okay?"
"Uh, yeah, uh-huh," Katniss mumbled. "I'm good."
"You've been in there for thirty minutes trying to wash your hair. I think it's safe to say you need my help now."
"Already?" Katniss blurted out. She definitely couldn't have taken that long...
Katniss rested her chin on the sink in defeat. "Fine. Yes."
"You're the most stubborn person I've ever met," Peeta sighed.
Katniss went into a daze as Peeta rinsed and soaped her hair. She tried not to think about the awkwardness she felt, but rather the comfort it brought her. When Katniss's mother used to wash her hair when she was little, she always did it hurriedly, roughly. Like she had a million other things in the world to do, and this was just another task off the list. Another troublesome child to quickly settle.
With Peeta, it felt like he was doing it such that if he used as much as a little bit of force, her hair would fall out and break into pieces. She felt his tenderness and care in the way he massaged the soap into her hair and the gentle way he ran his fingers through it.
"Katniss." His voice broke her train of thought.
"Can you promise me you'll stay away from situations you know you'll get hurt in?"
A drop of water landed on her eyelashes, and she blinked it away.
"I'm not that stupid. I don't go running into like, tigers' mouths or something. I just...I wanted to show him that he didn't scare me. I was just trying to hide the fact that he did, I guess."
Peeta paused for a moment. He placed his hand under her chin and tilted her head up to look at the sink mirror.
"You don't always have to take on everything on your own, you know. I'm here. I'll always be here."
They made eye contact in their reflections, and Katniss waited for him to break it, but he never did, so she decided to look away first.
"Okay. Point noted. Um, you're done, right?"
Peeta nodded, wiping his hands on a towel to dry them. "Sit outside. I'll get the hairdryer."
"What? That's not necessary - " Katniss stopped herself. This man was not going to let anything or anyone stop him once he had decided on something, and she was far too tired to argue with him.
"Okay, thanks," Katniss made herself comfortable on her bed after Peeta had helped her into her room. He pulled the comforter up to her chest and adjusted the pillows to give her better support.
Katniss nodded. "Thanks, Peeta. You can go now. It's been a long day for you too."
Peeta smiled. He went out and came back in dragging a mattress behind him.
Katniss almost sat up in her shock, but the pain made her lie back down.
"It's been a long day," Peeta yawned, getting onto the mattress.
"Your room is at the other end of the corridor."
"Precisely," Peeta supported the back of his head with his arms, his eyes closed. "If you fall off the bed in the middle of the night, or you need a glass of water, or something, I won't be able to hear you."
Katniss rolled her eyes. "I'm not a kid. I can barely move now, how can I roll off the bed?"
"You can sleep knowing that if you do, I'll be here to catch you. Or you can sleep in my arms, if you'd like. I always give plenty of options."
"You're so annoying," Katniss closed her eyes to distract herself from her stomach going into a wild frenzy again.
Peeta sat up to look at her, and pushed a lock of her hair behind her ear.
"Good night, Katniss," he whispered, and for a moment she noticed his eyes dart down to her lips, but before she could react, he had turned away and laid back down on the mattress.
The next morning, Katniss woke up to Madge gently shaking her awake. She blinked sleepily, recalling the events of last night. A hint of disappointment creeped into her chest when she realised Peeta was nowhere to be seen. She tried to ignore it.
"He's out to get us lunch. Come wash up, I expect he'll be back soon."
The front door unlocked while Madge was helping Katniss towards the dining room, and Peeta strolled in with bags of food in both hands.
"Good morning," he grinned, setting the food down on the table.
"What a spread," Madge playfully nudged his shoulder with her elbow, and looked concerned when he winced in response.
"Woah, I didn't use that much force, did I?" Madge looked at him, then gasped when she saw how badly bruised his knuckles were.
Peeta tried to hide his hands but it was too late. In an instant Katniss was beside him, examining his hands.
"What is your problem?" Katniss snapped.
"Am I not allowed to slip and fall on the pavement and get a few bruises?"
Madge sighed in exasperation. "You must have closed your fists when you fell then. Your palms are fine but your knuckles look like you've been boxing for three hours straight."
"I don't want you getting hurt for this," Katniss said softly.
"It's fine, I didn't let him sneak any punches on my face. I wouldn't look as good as I do if I let him he give me a bruised nose, would I?"
"You're so stupid," Katniss frowned. She leaned towards him and wrapped her arms around his waist - that was the highest her arms could go.
Peeta pulled her in closer. "If it hurts to lift your arms, you can just rest your head on my shoulder."
"No," Katniss's voice was muffled with her face on his chest. "I think this is good."
