Girl Next Door
"Who are those people?"
Peeta didn't register what his best friend was saying for 2 minutes. He paused the game when he realized Finnick said something.
"Sorry, what?" Peeta sipped on his beer.
"There are people out there," Finnick answered, peering out Peeta's window. "A chick and an older dude, probably her dad."
Peeta furrowed his eyebrows. Could Delly be back at Panem?
"Blonde?" Peeta questioned.
"Nah, both brunettes," Finnick replied. "Damn, Peet, she's hot."
"Then yell it to her," Peeta rolled his eyes. "What do you think I can do?"
"Go out there and be neighbourly," Finnick nudged the blonde. "Welcome them to the neighbourhood, I don't know! Just get me her number."
"I don't have anything to give them." Peeta glanced around his messy living room.
"You can give me to that chick."
Peeta tossed a cushion at Finnick's face. "I'll go talk to them."
"Get me her number!" Finnick called after his best friend as Peeta left the house.
Oh, so Finnick wasn't joking, Peeta thought to himself when he saw the brunette with the braid.
"Hello." Peeta greeted when he reached her.
Her smokey silver eyes swept up to Peeta's face, meeting his blue orbs.
"Hi," she said awkwardly. "Is there a problem?"
"No, I just.. I live beside you," Peeta pointed to his house. "I didn't want to bother you, but my friend kept bothering me, about you, so I went out and talked to you."
"About me?" She laughed nervously. "What do you mean?"
"He said you were hot," Peeta grinned at her. "Can't say I disagree."
She blushed, her cheeks becoming rosy. She looked even more beautiful.
"I'm Peeta, by the way." Peeta jammed his hands into the pockets of his jeans.
"Katniss," she smiled slightly at him. "Katniss Everdeen."
"Since you told me your last name," Peeta stuck out his hand for her to shake it. "Peeta Mellark."
She shook his hand, a smile etched on her plump, pink lips.
"You moved here alone?" Peeta glanced over her shoulder.
"With my dad," Katniss gestured to the house with her hand. "He's inside. I reckon he's taking a shit."
Peeta laughed.
"No, Katniss, I am most definitely not taking a poop." Mr Everdeen climbed down the steps of the porch.
"Dad, this is Peeta," Katniss said, shifting and standing beside Peeta so she could introduce him to her father. "He lives beside us."
"Hi there," Mr Everdeen beamed at him. "I'm Byron."
Peeta smiled back at Mr Everdeen.
"Do you guys need any help unpacking?" Peeta asked generously.
"You could help me!" Katniss said, angling her body sideways so she could face him. "I have a lot of boxes."
"Okay," Peeta agreed. "Let's get started."
Katniss told him which box to pick up and she led him to her room.
"How old are you?" Peeta asked, trying to get to know the girl better.
"22," Katniss replied. "Gosh, I'm starting college soon."
"I'm quite glad I'm past that stage," Peeta smirks. "I'm 26."
"Damn you." Katniss said jokingly, smiling at him.
Peeta placed the box on the floor. They kept going, until all the boxes were distributed.
"Should I unpack or shower?" Katniss wondered aloud, stretching her arms.
"Look at you," Peeta looked her up and down. "Take a shower, love."
Katniss giggled and opened a box marked 'toilet stuff :)'. She extracted all her toiletries, went into the toilet and deposited them before heading back outside.
Peeta could barely believe his eyes when she whipped off her pink tank top. She wore a beige sports bra underneath. Peeta tried to tear his eyes away. He licked his lips and glanced at Katniss's face. She smirked knowingly at him, before pushing down her black leggings. She wore a matching pair of beige underwear. There was a pause before she undid her braid and walked off, a yellow towel over her shoulder.
Peeta heaved a sigh.
She's 22, she's your neighbour, her dad looks scary as fuck, handle yourself, Mellark, Peeta reprimanded himself.
Peeta's phone bleeped. He slid it out of his pocket. His lips curled up in amusement at the text there.
Whatsapp [just now]
FO 🌚: um peets so should i stay or
Peeta typed back a quick reply.
4:34 pm
idk finn up to u
Peeta waited for Katniss to get dressed and come back out. She finally emerged in a plain white shirt and grey pajama bottoms.
"Should I head home?" Peeta questioned her softly.
"Okay," Katniss nodded. "I'll see you around."
Peeta stood up and repeated it back t her.
"Thank you for helping, Peeta," Katniss grabbed his hand and squeezed it. "Dad and I really needed it."
"It's no problem." Peeta shrugged modestly.
"Can I at least have your number?" Katniss questioned. "I can finally tell my friends I met someone hot without lying."
Peeta felt a blush coming on at being
called 'hot' but he brushed it off and they exchanged numbers.
"I'll text you," Katniss promised. "Later, Peeta."
He smiled and turned to leave, but Katniss stopped him again. She walked right up to him, grabbed his square jaw and pressed a kiss to his lips.
"It looked tempting." She bit her lip flirtatiously and turned, beginning to unpack.
Peeta blinked. Then he understood what just happened and dashed off, not bothering to look for Mr Byron Everdeen and say goodbye. He rushed back to Finnick, and the story came tumbling out.
"She kissed you?!" Finnick screeched. "No fair, you always get the hot ones!"
"Yeah, whatever," Peeta rolled his eyes. "She promised to text me."
"Gimme her number!"
"Hell no!"
***
So this went on. Even after Byron warned Katniss of the 'bachelor next door'. He remembered Katniss pulling away from his lips when her dad called her name. He remembered the mortification when Katniss ran back upstairs, crying, because he was being suspected by her father.
Peeta shook himself out of his reverie. He checked his phone. It was 2:58. Maybe he could swing by the Everdeen's. Byron had told him he needed his help in fixing the lightbulb in the guest room. He walked over to their placed and rapped on the door thrice with his knuckles.
"They're not home."
Peeta whirled around. A tall, greasy-haired man sat on his porch, a bottle of liquor in his hand. He looked hungover, and his eyes were bloodshot.
"Didn't you hear the ambulance?" The man asked. "Byron had a heart attack."
Peeta's jaw dropped open.
"I'm Haymitch, by the way," he smirked at Peeta. "Neighbourhood drunk."
Peeta mumbled his name to the older man and ran off. He texted and called his secret lover, asking her if she needed him over. Her reply was clipped, and he could sense anxiety in her text.
3:06 pm
no, just stay there. i need u when i reach. 💙
So Peeta stayed put, waiting for Katniss to come to him, like she wanted to. An hour later, someone knocked on Peeta's door. He hurried to the front door and whipped it open. Katniss stood there, dark circles underneath her eyes. Her cheeks were puffy, and her lips were chapped. It looked like she stayed up all night. She blinked.
And burst into tears.
Peeta pulled her into his arms, rubbing her back soothingly.
"Is Byron okay?" He whispered.
Katniss nodded, and tightened her grip on his shirt. Peeta led her inside and sat her down on his couch.
"Then why are you crying?" He tucked loose strands of hair behind her ears.
"Because I remembered what it was like," Katniss took a deep breath. "When Mom died."
Oh.
Katniss's mom had passed away too. That was why Katniss had dodged every question Peeta shot at her about her mother.
"I'm sorry." Peeta said, placing a kiss on the top of her head.
"She died of a heart attack too," Katniss continued. "I remembered rushing to the hospital with Prim because we were at home, and Dad having to come back to 2 although he was all the way at 5."
This topic seems to make Katniss cry even harder, but Peeta was determined to listen to whatever came out of her mouth. Katniss glanced up at Peeta. She fisted the front of his shirt in her fist.
"I need you," Katniss whispered, "to make me forget."
"What do you want me to do?" Peeta murmured back, running his thumb across her cheekbone.
"Make love to me."
***
Another month of hiding. Peeta and Katniss were rather terrified of telling her dad. He had just recovered from his mild heart attack, plus the fact that he had so clearly disapproved of Peeta being Katniss's boyfriend, and only agreed on Katniss and Peeta being good friends.
"How do we tell your dad?"
Peeta brought this back up when they were basking in the afterglow. Katniss propped her chin up on his bare chest.
"I don't know."
The same answer everytime.
But one day, they both came to the conclusion that Byron just simply had to know. They couldn't hold it in anymore, especially after admitting to each other - and themselves- that they were hopelessy in love.
So at dinner, they decided to share their good news.
Peeta slipped his hand into Katniss's and brought it up, onto the dining table, startling both Everdeens.
"Byron, I'm in love with your daughter, and I wish to make her mine."
Then Katniss shared her good news.
"Dad, I'm pregnant."
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i got inspo for this from a similar drabble on fanfiction.net, but i forgot the title and author. if somebody knows, feel free to comment and let me know so i can credit the author ✨
did you guys like this? im very proud of this drabble, idk why 😂💫
I said let's get weird all night 👼🏼
-A 💗