Chapter Text
Katniss’ pov
I knew I had to tell him about Gale eventually, but every time I tried he did something so incredibly wonderful that I just couldn’t bear to burden him with my past. And I wasn’t blind or dumb, I knew that Johanna had told him something because once in a while I could feel him staring at me when he thought I wouldn’t notice.
Peeta had even persuaded me to take some time off work to figure everything out and by the end of the following week, somehow a bunch of his clothes and toiletries found their way into Jo’s and my apartment. But you wouldn’t see me complaining. I loved going to bed with him and waking up in his arms each morning and even though we hadn’t exactly defined our relationship yet, with each passing day we grew closer to each other.
And I noticed the change in Johanna’s behavior too. She didn’t look at me like I was some kind of wounded animal anymore, and I even caught her smiling at us once in a while.
“Would you be up to going out tonight?” Peeta asked while I was happily munching some cheese buns he had brought with him from the bakery. “I wanted you to meet some people. Finnick and Annie, I must have told them everything there is about you and they really want to meet you.” He looked at me expectantly with a huge smile on his face.
He had told them everything about me. At the thought of that my face fell a little, but Peeta immediately picked up on it. “No, Katniss. They don’t think badly about you, I swear to god. They are really excited that I finally found someone like you,” he blushed slightly, “and it would mean a lot to me too. But if you don’t want I-“
Instead of letting him finish, I got up from my seat and plopped down in his lap. “Peeta, I would love to meet your friends. If we are going to do this, I wanna be a part of every facet in your life, okay?” I placed a kiss on his cheek.
“Really?” His eyes once again sparkled with excitement and he instantly wrapped his arms around me more tightly.
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I couldn’t stop fidgeting with the hem of my dress on our way to the bar until Peeta’s hand finally reached over to put a stop to it. “Stop being so nervous. You look wonderful and they are going to love you. They don’t have another option anyway.”
A small smile spread across my lips and I released a deep breath. “So let’s go over this once again. You went to art school with Annie and met Finnick…?” I mentally cursed myself for not remembering.
“I met Finnick at the bakery. He kind of saw me and demanded to be my friend, you’ll notice that he’s a pretty straight forward person really quickly, believe me.” He chuckled and squeezed my hand tightly.
“Ugh, I just really want them to like me. What if I totally embarrass myself in front of them, huh?” Suddenly, panic started rising up again in my chest and I felt incredibly stupid for agreeing to do this.
“Oh love, you have got to be a little positive once in your life.”
On the way into the bar I hung onto Peeta’s hand for dear life, not wanting to get lost in the crowd which had already formed inside the building. It was unusually full, even for a Friday night but I was still able to give Haymitch a quick wave while bypassing the bar. I had known Haymitch longer than anyone else in my life, except for my family, and even though neither of us would ever admit it now, there was a time in my life where I wouldn’t have survived wouldn’t it have been for this particular man.
Thanks to me calling Haymitch earlier in the day, there was still one booth left which wasn’t occupied by drunk people or couples making out like teenagers. “We’re early.” Peeta’s voice so close to my ear sent a shiver running down my spine and I gave him a grateful smile.
Seconds after sitting down, a waitress appeared on our side to take our orders and I eyed her suspiciously. Haymitch did not tell me that he had hired someone new, let alone someone that attractive. I must have been staring at her while Peeta ordered for the two of us because suddenly she was gone and two other people were standing in front of us.
Without a second thought Peeta immediately leaped up from his seat and threw his arms around a bronze haired man. He was typically handsome, and even I couldn’t deny that he was nice to look at, but as I watched Peeta’s biceps bulge when they hugged, another shiver ran down my spine and I had to clench my tights together uncomfortably.
Besides Finnick stood a not even slightly less beautiful girl, but the way she handled herself immediately made me smile. Without her having to say anything I instantly noticed that she was the complete opposite from her boyfriend.
After my three companions greeted each other properly, Peeta extended his hand into my direction, beckoning me to get up and join them. He wrapped his arm around my waist as soon as I took my place beside him and an even greater smile appeared on his face.
“Finnick, Annie that’s Katniss. My girlfriend.” We hadn’t talked about it yet, but the word caused butterflies to emerge in my stomach and I could feel myself blushing furiously.
Just as I was about to extend my hand, Annie pulled me into a bone crushing hug. Maybe she wasn’t as reserved as I had thought after all “I’m so glad we’re finally getting to meet you.” She let go of me and cast a quick glance at Peeta. “This guy right here hasn’t been able to shut up about you ever since you two have met.”
Before I had the chance to reply I was instantly pulled into another hug, this time by a pair of incredibly strong arms. “Peet definitely didn’t exaggerate when it comes to your beauty. You’re catch.” He winked at me after letting go.
“Uhm, it’s nice to meet you too. I’m glad Peeta finally decided to let me in this part of his life.” A very unlike Katniss giggle escaped me.
The waitress, who had returned with our drinks, thankfully stopped Finnick from answering and I was glad to take it as an excuse to sit down again. After Annie and Finnick had ordered too, I opted sipping my soda and watching the others talk with each other animatedly. It made me smile to see how comfortable Peeta seemed in their company and it caused me to relax too.
“So Katniss, how is pregnancy treating you?” Annie’s question caught me off guard, because I had no idea he had already told them. Hell, we hadn’t even told our families yet. I looked at Peeta out of the corner of my eye, but he seemed to be way too emerged into his conversation with his friend to notice.
“Yeah, good. I mean I’m not that far along yet, but morning sickness and occasional mood swings suck.” I said and Annie gave me a sympatric smile and patted my hand. “Peeta’s friends are our friends, and since I’m expecting you two to stick together I just want you to know that you can turn to me if you need a lady friend to talk to.” She said and smiled.
“Thank you, that’s really good to know. I’m glad that he has friends like you two.”
Suddenly her expression turned serious before she said. “Peeta is like a brother to me and I wouldn’t want to see him get hurt. He has done a lot for me, things I’m not sure any friend would do, and I also owe him meeting the love of my life,” she briefly glance into Finnick’s direction and a blush crept on her face, “anyway, he’s a good guy and I know for a fact that you mean a lot to him, just keep that in mind okay?”
After that, the rest of our night was filled with pleasant conversation between the four of us and I had the chance to learn more about Peeta’s past. But as soon as I mentioned that I haven’t even got to meet his parents yet, something in the mood shifted and I decided to drop it for now. Particularly because I hadn’t told him about most parts of my life yet either.
At around 10pm the first yawn escaped me and Peeta chuckled at my lack of stamina. “I think we are gonna head out.” He told Annie and Finnick and even though I tried to assure him that I was okay with us staying for another hour, I found myself in his car not even 15 minutes later.
Leaning my head back against the headrest, I reached over the center console and laced my fingers through Peeta’s. “I had a good time,” another yawn escaped me, “and I really like them. They are good for you.”
Even though I kept my eyes closed, I could basically see the smile on his face. “I’m glad. And they really like you too. Finnick even told me he would have to rethink our friendship if I was to hurt you.”
I was way too tired to answer so I just squeezed his hand before drifting off.
I didn’t wake up again until we were already back at the apartment and Peeta tried his best to get me out of my clothes without waking me up.
“Hmm, you could have just told me you wanted to get me naked, you know.” I said.
Peeta’s face immediately turned bright red while he was still trying to get my dress over my head. “Mind helping me? If you do, you can go to sleep faster than with just lying there and watching me struggle.”
I chuckled and sat up so he had a better chance at succeeding.
Five minutes later, when I was finally changed into some pajamas and Peeta too, he climbed into bed with me and I instantly snuggled against his chest, embracing the warmth which was radiating off his naked chest.
“Good night beautiful” Peeta whispered and placed a kiss on the top of my head.
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The next morning, I found myself waking up to an empty bed and I groaned involuntarily. Since it was a Sunday, I had hoped to sneak in some late morning cuddles with Peeta, but when I heard the shower in my bathroom running, a sly smile crept on my face.
Trying to make as little noise as possible I got out of bed and made my way into the bathroom, careful to fully close the door behind me. When I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror I sighed, but still kept on undressing since I knew Peeta wouldn’t care about my messy hair and the circles under my eyes.
A smile appeared on my face when I silently opened the shower door and stepped inside. Peeta seemed to be so emerged in his thoughts that he didn’t notice me and I took some time to admire his appearance in front of me.
His body was delicious, and the water running down his naked body caused heat to pool in between my legs. I couldn’t stand it any longer so I took one step forward and sneaked my arms around his waist. A surprised yelp escaped him, but as soon as he noticed who it was his body seemed to relax against me and I pressed my body even closer against his and placed a kiss between his shoulder blades.
I could feel the shiver which ran down his spine and smiled. “Good morning handsome, what made you think you could get started without me?”
He chuckled, turned around and without answering slanted his mouth over mine. A groan escaped the back of my throat and I ran my tongue over his bottom lip, begging entrance into his mouth. Peeta eagerly opened it and I let my tongue explore the roof of his mouth. I slung one hand around his neck to burry my fingers into his hair, while I let the other one make its way down his body and to his hard member. But just as I was about to wrap my hand around it, he suddenly pulled away and put distance between us.
“God dammit, you’re killing me right now do you know that?” He said and I smiled and took another step into his direction, but he shook his head at me. “But we can’t. Not now, not like this. Not when we haven’t talked about what happened the first time we tried to do this. I know it wasn’t my proudest moment when I let it happened that time in my apartment, but I want to do things right from now on. Okay?”
My face fell but I knew that he was right and that we had to talk, but who was he to get me that turned on just to say no in the end? “Good.” I huffed and turned around to get out of the shower, but he swiftly caught my elbow to keep me in place. “I’m sorry for leading you on and I promise I will make it up to you. But at the right time.”
After our shower I put on one of his hoodies and made my way into the kitchen, determined to get some food into my system before having to face our talk. But before I could open the fridge, a bright pink post it on our table caught my attention.
Helping out Haymitch. Enjoy the alone time with blondie ;) – Jo
A sigh escaped my lips, now I wouldn’t even have Johanna to back me up if things got ugly with Peeta. But as soon as the thought formed in my head, I mentally cursed myself for it. How could I think that Peeta would be anything but understanding for what I was about to tell him?
I decided to grab two cups of coffee and some leftover cheese buns to bring back into my bedroom where Peeta was already waiting for me.
He smiled at me when I entered the room and I took in his appearance. He was wearing a pair of sweatpants and nothing else, almost like he wanted to torture and distract me.
“You wanna get comfortable before we do this? I’ve got the feeling we are in for a long day.” He said and gave me such a sweet smile that I could feel the butterflies in my stomach once again. And as nervous as I was about this whole thing, I was also glad to be finally sharing this with him and let him in my life completely.
I sat down on the bed, gave him one cup of coffee and a cheese bun, and pulled the covers over my naked legs. I had just opened my mouth to talk when he stopped me once again. “Before you start,” he took my hand in his and gave it a tight squeeze, “I want you to know that I won’t judge you for it okay?”
A wave of relief washed over me and I gave him a grateful smile. “Thank you Peeta.” I took a sip of my coffee before asking. “I guess I should get started with who Gale is, huh?” He nodded, but didn’t say anything else.
“Well, Gale and I grew up together. He was my neighbor, we went to school together and although he was like two years older than me we grew up to be best friends. I didn’t have many friends growing up, expect for him, my sister and later on Johanna. When he graduated, he moved away to train for the marines, but he soon enough realized that it wasn’t the right thing for him so he moved back and started working at our local sports store. I was happy when he came home, happy that I had my best friend back, but I soon realized that his intentions where different this time around. He asked me out on a date and even though I was surprised I agreed, because what would be the harm, right?” A sarcastic chuckle escaped me and I could feel myself starting to tremble lightly. Peeta noticed too and took both of my hands in his.
“Anyway, we went on a date and one date turned into three and after less than a month we had started dating. Nobody was surprised, they had all expected us to end up with each other eventually since we had been basically inseparably since we were younger. But after like half a year he became strange. He often would insult me when he was drunk, or call me not so nice names when he had sex.” Peeta flinched beside me and I gave him an apologetically look. “And then one day, when I told him I didn’t want to sleep with him he… uh, he forced himself on me. At that time I didn’t think really much of it because I thought it was normal for men to have… urges like that, I guess.” By now the first tear had started making its way down my cheek and Peeta reached over to wipe it away.
“I didn’t talk to anyone about it for a few months, but with every day it got worse. It started out with him calling me names, even though I had told him that I wasn’t comfortable with it, but eventually he got aggressive too. The first time he slapped me I freaked out.” I was full on crying by now, but I knew it had to get it all out. “I freaked out and it only made it so much worse. I eventually talked to Johanna and she too freaked out and urged me to stay with her. But of course Gale found out and showed up at her apartment with flowers and a flawless apology on his lips. And I was stupid, so stupid to believe it when he said that he was sorry and that he was going to change. I went home with him and for one week everything was fine, I was even happy. But then he started again, but this time around it was so much worse. He started hitting me, even when we didn’t have sex and it eventually got difficult for me to hide the bruises before my boss and friends.”
I broke off and looked at Peeta. Until now, I hadn’t noticed but there were tears streaming down his face too, which only made me cry even harder. I scooted over so that I was practically sitting in his lap and threw my arms around his head, burying my face in the crook of his neck. For a few minutes we remained like that, but he eventually pulled away and took my face into his hands.
We kept on staring at each other and suddenly he started placing kisses all over my face. My cheeks, my forehead, my nose and even my eyelids, every naked patch of skin he was able to find. After a few minutes of silence he finally found his voice. “I’m so sorry Katniss. So incredibly sorry. I wish I could take all the pain away from you.” A loud sob escaped his lips and he looked at me apologetically. “But I’m here now, and I swear to you I would never take advantage of you like that. You are safe with me. You and our baby, oh Katniss, I swear to god.”
I threw my arms around his neck once again.
“I love you, Peeta.” I whispered so quietly I wasn’t sure Peeta would be able to catch it.