%Katniss%
The rest of the day passed, not a text or a call from Peeta, or anyone for that matter. Feeling bored out of her mind and lonely, she succumbed to binge watching Glee again, laughing when nothing was funny. If you'd told her last year that she'd be spending a Saturday by herself watching Netflix without her friends, she'd have laughed in your face. But here she was, picking at a bowl of popcorn and watching Santana roast Kurt.
Haymitch, her mother, and Prim were at some fancy art exhibit Prim's class had been invited to, leaving the entire house to Katniss. She could've invited as many people as she wanted over, but she didn't have that many friends anymore. Gale and Annie were certainly enough company, but she didn't know if she deserved them. And forget about Peeta, it was still too soon to be inviting him over.
When her phone vibrated against her hip, a flare excitement was set ablaze in her chest. But it was trampled on the second she looked at the screen.
From: Haymitch 🍺
hey kat, we won't be getting home until real late if this thing
keeps going at the speed it's going. sorry
That would've been the most exciting news ever, but considering the fact that she didn't have any plans on getting up from her incredibly comfortable position sprawled out on the couch, it wasn't too thrilling.
She clicked her phone off, hoping Haymitch would get the message without her having to respond. The only person who texted her that day was her mom's boyfriend. No friends, not even Prim, had contacted her.
It was just her and Rachel Berry.
~
Hours passed and no sign of the family.
But somebody did ring the doorbell.
She contemplated screaming at the visitor to go away, but she realized that maybe it was Annie, coming to the rescue. So, Katniss scrambled out of her pile of blankets and wobbled over to the door, her legs both asleep.
"Well, don't you look stunning," came Johanna's dry voice. "Here I am, all dressed up, and you're in...Cinderella pajamas?"
Katniss' entire body tensed, leaning against the doorframe in effort to look casual. All the grogginess was sucked out of her at the sight of her...friend. "I didn't expect company."
"That's very un-Katniss," she noted, brushing past Katniss and granting herself permission to enter the house, "yet I'm not surprised. I heard about how you ditched Gale, poor thing had to watch Orange Is the New Black by himself. No emotional support from the girl who can't make up her mind."
Katniss clenched her jaw, "What do you want, Jo? If you've come over only to insult me, I'm not in the mood. Try tomorrow."
Johanna feigned shock. "You think I'd stop by your house in the middle of the night to just insult you? Rude." She paused, took a deep breath, and Katniss saw her façade crack. "I came by to apologize, okay? I'm not here to drag you, that's only for when people are around to hear it."
"I'm touched that you care so much." Sarcasm dripped from her words.
Johanna sighed. "I suck at saying sorry, Everdeen. Close that door or I might be tempted to run. I wanna do this right, so sit down on your couch and turn off Glee. Blaine gives me a headache."
"Who says I want to hear your apology? Maybe I don't want to forgive you."
"Tough shit, Brainless. I drove all the way over here because I felt guilty. I never feel guilty, so this is important." She ran a hand through her wind tussled hair. "Please? Hear me out. I promise it's more sincere than how I sound right now."
Katniss closed the door, locking it. She nodded towards the couch. "You've got fifteen minutes."
"What, are you busy? You're watching Glee. You don't have somewhere to be."
"Yeah, yeah, don't rub it in my face. You look like you had a fantastic time, though."
"Sucky time, actually. I finally met my sister's fiancé, and it didn't go too well. Guy's a total douche, flaunting his money in my penniless face. But, of course, I didn't say anything because the dude's loaded and I need a new phone."
Katniss laughed, and it felt foreign to her. How long had it been since she laughed with Johanna? "Typical you, only quiet when it helps you."
"Typical me," Johanna repeated, voice growing quieter. She swiveled on her heels and sauntered towards the couch. Then she changed the topic entirely. "Park your ass down over there, type for some emotional garbage. I see tissues on the table, and I'll pretend you didn't get them just for Glee."
Katniss rolled her eyes, but she couldn't find it in herself to act like she didn't care. In fact, she cared a lot. If she didn't, she probably would've slammed the door right in Johanna's face the second she saw it.
Johanna's face was blank for a long moment as she stared at the surface of the coffee table. She folded her hands together and unfolded them. At a loss for words, it seemed.
"Well, at least now I know you didn't rehearse this."
"Shut up, Everdeen."
They sat like that, in silence, for another few minutes before the girl finally gathered her thoughts and decided on what to say. "I was a bitch, not just a bitch, I was The Bitch. I sucked. You were going through something and I didn't like it when it was all about how you were feeling, and that's some lame friendshipping right there.
"A real friend would've shouldered that and helped you with whatever you needed. Granted, it was something stupid, but even if it was, I still should've been there. Instead, I mocked you and turned my back on you. That was even suckier.
"I'm crap at apologies so I'll just finish this up. I'm sorry that I wasn't a good friend then, but you know that I really am, right? I may insult you a lot but it's because I love you and you're like my best friend. Best friends do that stuff but they don't mean it because they love each other and I love you and I'm sorry."
Katniss sat there, stunned and wide-eyed.
"You said 'I love you' more in thirty seconds than I have ever heard you say in the ninety years I've known you. I think it'd be a dick move if I didn't say I love you, too."
Johanna sniffed particularly loud as she turned her head away from Katniss, which only sparked the latter's interest.
"A-Are you crying? Is Johanna Mason crying? Do you need the tissues you made fun of me for?"
"Screw off, I'm not crying over this. Pfft, I'm not crying at all. Sometimes Glee just really gets to me." She swiped the tissue box of the table, pulled one out, and hid behind it while wiping under her eyes carefully. "Okay, I'm crying a little bit, but if you tell anyone, I will break your peristalsis function."
"The horror."
"I mean it."
"I'm sure you do. I don't doubt it."
Johanna laughed, and it wasn't until the sharp pang in her heart that Katniss realized how much she missed that sound. "We're messes."
Katniss scooted over until their shoulders brushed. "Now hug me or I'll tell everyone you cried over the Finchel proposal."
She shuddered melodramatically before wrapping her arms around Katniss and squeezing her tightly. "I missed having you as a friend, I miss all of us together. I haven't seen Thresh in eighty-four years. Cato, either."
"We'll worry about that tomorrow, since it's eleven-thirty right now. Wanna sleep over or do you have to go back to your sister and the fiancé?"
Johanna sighed. "I should probably get back over there," she decided, pushing up off the couch to rise to her feet. She brushed down her clothes, rubbing out the wrinkles. "If I want Cal Hockley over there to get me a new phone, I'm gonna have to make a good impression on him."
Katniss snorted. "Good luck with that."
"Have a little faith in me, Brainless. Remember when you thought I couldn't glue Coin's chair to the ceiling? If I can do that, I can trick a meathead into buying me a phone."
"Goodbye, Johanna."
"Alright, alright, I'm going. No need to kick me out, bouncer. See ya later, nerd." She saluted mockingly and sped over to the door. She flashed a peace sign over her shoulder before bounding off into the night.
Everything felt like it was falling back into place. Peeta was speaking to her, Johanna was speaking to her, and, who knew, maybe the others would follow Jo's example, maybe they'd speak to her, too.
She curled up in her pile of blankets again and pressed play on the remote, falling asleep to the singing of the New Directions!.
Maybe it could be like it was before.
Maybe.
.
.
.
.
A/N: hello
it's me
i updATED TWICE ARE YOU PROUD
also I love johanna a lot
appreciate her
2krightnow
it's been six thousands years since we last heard of the other friends, so they'll make an appearance real soon. hopefully. but i had to ride the johanna train first bc she was the main reason why nobody was speaking to each other and she'll be the main reason why they all start talking again.
do you ever just suddenly realize how bad previous chapters are and want to cry bc they're so ugly
As always, I hope you enjoyed reading!
Thanks so much for the support!
xx everywhereandnowhere
P.S. yes ik Katniss didn't lock the door after Johanna left but I'm just going to pretend that I didn't notice and that no one else will