Peeta- 19
Katniss- 16
+++
"So who's the hottie?" Her best friend Johanna asks plopping next to Katniss on her window seat. She can see the front of the neighbours' home. Including the college student she's crushing so hard on as he works on what she recognises as his dad's truck with no shirt on
"He's the parents' who lives there son. He's just finished his first year in college" Katniss tells her, never taking her eyes off of the attractive... very shirtless man
"I don't understand. You get to look at a hot college student all summer while I have to deal with an elderly couple and their nuisance of a grandson who is the worst six year old in the universe" Johanna complains, Katniss rolls her eyes. As of today it's the first Saturday of summer break and once she saw the Mellarks son come out of a taxi and up to the house, Katniss couldn't help but thank the lords above
"My dad was talking to Mr Mellark and he said that he's staying for the entire summer. They're coming over for dinner tonight" Katniss is well acquainted with Mr and Mrs Mellark. They moved here half-way through the school year and they were immediate friends to her father, with their two older sons living else where with families of their own and their youngest only just starting college, they were lonely and looked to their neighbours across from them to fill it
"What? I chose the wrong day to go to Glimmers stupid summer party" Johanna grumbles. Katniss gives her a small smile at the mention of the party everyone but her was invited to. Glimmer has hated Katniss for as long as she could remember and it's only because her now boyfriend, Cato Anderson, was un-healthily obsessed with her and didn't give Glimmer the light of day. That was until she made it clear that she wasn't looking for sex and he immediately ran to Glimmer who gave him what he was looking for
"Why did you even say you were going if you want to bail?" Katniss scoffs
"I thought there was going to be alcohol involved. The bitch is only having mock-tails and fake martini's made with soda water. Annie also didn't have the heart to say no and is dragging me since Finnick has gone camping" Johanna grumbles
"What were you expecting? We're only sixteen Jo" Katniss looks at her pointedly
"Well I'm sorry. My dad let me have a beer the other day and now I want more" Johanna shrugs. Johanna's parents' aren't exactly committed, Johanna has to do her own cooking, laundry and cleaning. This was all at the age of ten. Plus, they're not always gentle towards Johanna, something that Katniss has witnessed and it got so bad that her dad had agreed to let her spend a couple of days at theirs, Katniss often feels bad for her friend.
Her and Johanna are dragged outside to the front yard by Prim who wanted to show Johanna all of her new gymnastic skills. Katniss looks towards the Mellark house and her breath hitches to see Peeta looking at them, he notices Katniss watching and flashes her a grin
"Hello Peeta!" Prim calls out, waving frantically. Katniss sees him chuckle before he waves back to her younger sister. Prim didn't hesitate to introduce herself immediately once she saw Peeta get out of the taxi, Katniss shyly waited on her front porch while her younger sister socialised with her new neighbour for the summer. Katniss quickly looks away from Peeta but notices her friend smirking at her
"He was totally checking you out. Not to mention, you're definitely dressed to impress" Johanna snorts, Katniss scowls
"He wasn't checking me out and there's nothing wrong with what I'm wearing" Katniss glares at her
"He was looking you up and down. Your clothes? Short shorts? Tank top that shows your entire stomach? And since when do you wear your hair out of a braid?" Johanna grins amusingly at her friend
"It's summer! I'm allowed to dress like this" Katniss defends herself which makes Johanna roll her eyes
"Oh please, we're in the last day of May. It's barely warm" Johanna gives her a knowing look. Luckily, her dad pulling into the driveway interrupts their conversation, her dad gets out of the car in his usual suit which makes Katniss smile
"Daddy!" Prim squeals, their father catches Prim and hugs her tenderly before placing her down. He locks his car before walking up to Katniss and hugging her, she returns it with just as much love
"How was work?" Katniss asks
"Good. Since I started, sales have gone up. Things were looking good at the meeting today" he replies. After her dad helped the Mellarks adjust and even helped fix up their house, Mr Mellark offered him a job, he owns a two story bakery. The actual bakery down bottom and up top is where business is done. Mr Mellark was looking for someone to handle the financial side and be his advisor, seeing as they were on the brink of losing their house Mr Mellark had told him that there was no other answer to say other than yes. They have been doing much better ever since.
Johanna stays for a little while longer until she grumbles that she better go home to get ready for Glimmers party. Katniss sits on the kitchen bench top as her father puts his popular homemade lasagne in the oven. Katniss listened to her father's request by changing into something more suited for guests and she decided to go for a sleeveless sunset orange dress that finishes about mid-thigh and it has white floral patterns on it, Katniss put on her usual brown knee boots she uses whenever she goes in the forest and has put her hair in her signature braid
"Do I even want to know why you're not going to a party with Johanna?" He asks, moving to the chopping board to start making the salad
"Some girl just hates me so I wasn't invited. Only me wasn't" Katniss' father gives her a sympathetic smile, he knows it's affected Katniss more than she leads on
"Girls can be cruel at your age. School is just a phase you go through. There's a bigger world out there, Kitten. Don't give up on it" he gives her a supportive smile, her face lights up again. She can always count on her father to bring up her spirits when she's down
"Thanks, daddy. I much prefer being with you and Prim instead with people who hate me. Johanna and Annie excluded from that equation" Katniss sighs, her dad smiles and kisses her forehead
"Just know I love you for being you" he says and Katniss nods, the sound of the door knocking puts a stop to their conversation
"Do you mind answering the door, Kitten? I've still got some chopping to do" her dad says
"Of course" she replies, hopping off the bench. She goes to their front door and answers it to find Mr and Mrs Mellark, Peeta behind them
"We brought strawberry and blueberry pie!" Mrs Mellark smiles
"Come on in" Katniss says, accepting the hugs from both of the Mellark parents. Katniss closes the door after Peeta walks in, this is the first time she's been this close to him and he smells amazing...
"Hi, I'm Peeta" he flashes her a grin and extends his hand, she shakes it. Ignoring how good it feels in hers
"I know. I'm Katniss Everdeen" she replies
"I know" his grin stays on his face as they walk further into the house and into the kitchen where Mr Mellark is helping her dad chopping vegetables for the salad
"Katniss, why don't you set the table? Make this process a little faster?" Her dad asks
"Sure thing" she smiles in return
"Why don't you help, Peeta?" His mom suggests
"It's okay, Mrs Mellark, I can hand—" Katniss loses her footing holding all of the plates, cutlery and cups. She never hits the ground though because Peeta catches her in time that nothing gets broken, his arms are tightly around her waist...
"Woah! Let me help. We don't want you falling and breaking your pretty back now do we?" Peeta says taking a few of the things from her, with red cheeks she takes the lead to the dining room where they both set up the table ready for dinner.
Dinner gets served and as they eat her father and Mr Mellark discuss their next fishing trip. Katniss enjoys seeing her father happy again, after her mom died all of her dad's friends disappeared somehow which left him with only his two daughters. That was until the Mellarks came and were quick friends with the Everdeens.
"So, Peeta. Your parents tell me that you're enrolled in Capitol State College. That's quite a tough school to get into" Mr Everdeen says
"Yeah, I guess. My scholarship helped, I wasn't actually planning to go there because I wanted to be close to my parents but even they told me I would be..." Peeta looks to Prim who sits next to Katniss, he then looks to Katniss. "Vacuous" he says, Katniss hides her smile as she drinks her water
"It would've been indeed. What is it you are studying?" Mr Everdeen asks
"Well, I'm studying to get a bachelor's degree in English literature then get my teaching degree. It usually takes five years but I got ahead in all my classes so this year at school I can focus on my student teaching hours" Peeta replies
"You've got an intelligent young man" Katniss' father raises his beer to Mr Mellark who sits at the other end of the table
"That he is, Alder" Mr Mellark says, drinking his own beer
"What about you, Katniss? Anything you have planned?" She's surprised that the question came from Peetas mouth. She thought he would just ignore her for the entire dinner because she is technically a kid in his eyes
"Oh... me? I uh... I was thinking of getting a bachelor's degree in plant sciences then getting my masters degree. I really enjoy the forest and being with nature, I was aiming towards working as a botanist. That way I'm always around what I love" Katniss answers
"That just puts me to shame" Peeta smiles causing the other adults around him to chuckle, Katniss doesn't understand why she's so drawn to him.
+++
"You stuck summer reading, huh?" Katniss looks up from her spot on the couch to see Peeta, she scowls down at her copy of Lord of the Flies
"My teacher sucks. I hate having to do homework over summer. She expects me to ready this and write an essay before school gets back. This book isn't even good" Katniss grumbles as he sits next to her but at what parents would call a "safe distance" from her
"Oh come on! It's not that bad! I found it quite interesting" Peeta says, Katniss rolls her eyes
"Of course you did. You're studying to like crap like this. Boys stranded on an island? Sorry, not my idea of reading material" Katniss replies
"I guess it's not for everyone. I was wondering. Do you not have things planned with your friends? I mean it's the first Saturday of summer" she sighs, closing her book as she does
"There's a party on right as we speak but apparently I'm too good for Glimmers lame summer party but everyone else besides me isn't. I guess you could say I'm not a people person" Katniss shrugs
"Or all those kids are blinder than bats. I think you're awesome. People your age don't know what they're going on about. Don't let them bring you down" he encourages her
"That's similar to what my dad told me. I don't know, I guess it'd be nice not to be hated by almost everyone just because the queen bee does" she frowns
"Of course it'd be nice. You know what though? That "queen bee" you talk about, she's probably haven't had to lift a finger. I've known people like that and they're just privileged and entitled. Those people lost people who would've been great friends to them but chose the people who'll use them their entire lives. Trust me, you're a survivor and in twenty years time, you'll have more to show than she ever will" Peeta says, it makes the corners twitch to pull her lips into a tiny smile
"It means a lot hearing you say that... it's good hearing it from someone who I haven't known for my whole life" Katniss sighs
"It was no problem on my part, you're a great person. You'll do great things" he reassures her before standing
"One more thing. You've got great taste in colour. You happen to have chosen my favourite" he points to her sunset orange dress while give her an award-winning smile then leaving the room, Katniss is on an all time high and she doesn't know what it'll take to bring her down.
+++
"I'm so sorry, Kitten. I know we planned to go to the aquatic centre but there's been a last minute business call" her dad explains as he walks to the car, Katniss follows with a towel slung over her shoulder
"But do you really have to? It's super hot and Prim and I were looking forward to going" Katniss frowns
"I know. I wish I could but work needs me" but before she could argue some more a voice cuts in
"I could take them if you want, Mr Everdeen?" Katniss looks to see Peeta with a dark haired guy with silver eyes like hers and a blonde girl by his side, both are a little behind Peeta
"Are you sure? It seems you have company" her dad motions to the two other people
"We won't mind, sir. I was actually going to suggest going. It's unexpectedly scorching today" the girl chimes in, her father sighs then looks to Katniss
"Last choice is up to you, Kitten" he says
"I guess we'll just go with Peeta then" Katniss shrugs, her dad kisses her forehead and whispers a promise to take her and Prim where ever they want on the weekend before saying a goodbye to everyone. Katniss watches as her dad drives down the street and out of view, she turns to Peeta
"Uhh... thanks" she tells him and he chuckles
"It was my pleasure" he smiles charmingly. After Katniss gets Prim, they are both introduced to his friends who are dating, Gale Hawthorne and Madge Undersee, who have been visiting Peeta for two days. Today being their last full day in Panem before flying back to Madge's family in Ohio. They pile into the five-seater truck after Peeta and his friends get ready for swimming, Katniss in the front with Prim wedged between his two friends.
They arrive and Peeta pays for them to get in, much to Katniss' objection. They walk in the outdoor swimming pools and Prim is literally bouncing around has Katniss keeps a firm hand on Prims hand
"Primmy!" Katniss watches as Prims friend Rue comes bouncing over, Rues mom not far behind her
"Come play with me! I didn't know you were coming!" Rue squeals, Prim looks to her older sister
"Please, Katniss?" She asks but Katniss doesn't want to leave her sisters side
"It's okay dear. I'll be in the pool with them. I'll keep an extra eye out for your sister" Rues mom tells her softly, if Katniss hadn't have known Rues mother as well as she did then she'd have said no but she does know her and she knows that she can trust her
"Okay but you must stay with Rues mom. Understand?" Katniss asks, Prim nods
"Say it back to me" Katniss says, Prim huffs
"I must stay with Rues mommy" she repeats and Katniss smiles
"Get out of here, Little Duck" Katniss says causing Prim to take Rues hand and run off with Rues mom not too far behind
"Right. I don't know about you guys but I'm ready to swim" Gale announces before taking off his shirt leaving him in only red board-shorts, Madge then strips of her clothes to reveal a pastel purple bikini, Katniss realises that she's definitely not a girl, she's a woman. She's got curves that Katniss doesn't have and bigger breasts than Katniss does at this point. Madge puts Katniss' looks to shame, at least that's what Katniss can think. She's seen Peeta shirtless once before but she wasn't prepared to see him shirtless up close in his orange board-shorts
"Are you going to join us?" Peeta asks
"You want me to join? Why?" Katniss replies puzzled as to why three college students want a high school student to join them
"We don't want you by yourself! Come on we promise it'll be fun!" Madge smiles, with a crazy look given by Katniss she shrugs before stripping down. She's a little self-conscious seeing as her bathing suit isn't nearly as appealing as Madge's. Her bikini bottoms are practically shorts and her bikini top barely shows her breasts but if they all think that then they don't show it or say anything.
Katniss actually has fun playing with Peeta and his friends. They even played a few rounds of chicken fights and Katniss wasn't sure how she should've felt about it... seeing as Gale wanted his girlfriend on his shoulders, Katniss had to go on Peetas, his hands were quite high up her thighs and his grip was tight which made something rise deep inside her but she doesn't know how to explain it.
After Gale and Madge leave to get something to eat which Peeta had told her was code for making out. It leaves just Katniss and Peet leaning against the side of the pool
"Thank you. For taking Prim and I here. I know it's a hassle having to babysit two kids on a summer day you'd probably rather spend with your friends" Katniss says
"It really isn't a hassle, Katniss. I'm happy I don't have to third-wheel again today. Plus you're not a kid and I'm not babysitting. We're just hanging out. I just want to be your friend" Peeta replies, Katniss doesn't know why but that causes something to spark deep inside her, she can't help but know that the feeling is up to no good.
+++
"It's been the first three weeks of summer and we've barely seen you" Johanna whines as she, Katniss, Annie and Finnick sit in her front yard
"Well, I've been occupied lately. I don't get to go to all the parties that are happening" Katniss admits to her friends
"I know for a fact that it's a load of bullshit. Clove said that she saw you last week walking around town with a tall guy, blonde? Blue eyed? Sound familiar?" Johanna's gaze goes to the Mellark house
"We're friends. Clove is nothing but a nosy bitch who reports back to Glimmer" Katniss scowls
"They just want to get under your skin, Katniss. Just ignore them" Annie says, Katniss gives her a small smile. Leave it to Annie to say something nice about both sides, Katniss swears that there isn't a mean bone in her body.
Over the past three weeks, Katniss and Peeta have spent quite a bit of time together. Katniss has been enjoying their time together, Peeta makes her laugh and tells her things he's sworn he's never told anyone, she does the same with him. Although, she doesn't mention the kind of dreams she's been having of him lately, that is something she'll never admit to.
She agrees when her friends suggest that they go to the skatepark so Finnick can show off his "mad skills" which Katniss doesn't find interesting. Katniss eventually gets home and just wants to laze around to ignore the heat but that's until she hears her name being called, she turns to see Peeta jogging up to her
"Hey. I was just wondering if you were busy? Maybe we could hang out?" He asks, Katniss doesn't hesitate with her answer
"Sure" she smiles. She walks with him to his truck and they buckle in, she always enjoys spending downtime with Peeta. They drive around for a bit until Peeta starts driving up a dirt track and then he parks the truck before turning it off completely. Katniss looks out the windshield to see all of Panem, it's just before sunset which causes Panem to look even more beautiful
"Wow... how'd you find this place?" She asks, looking to Peeta who's already looking at her
"A couple of days ago I wanted to find somewhere to draw. I was driving and found this place. It just hit sunset and Panem looked magnificent. It was my special spot and now it's ours" the way he said that made Katniss' heart begin to race
"I don't understand. Why would a nineteen year old ever want to hang out with a sixteen year old? I'm not popular enough to even associate with a college student" Katniss says
"I don't care that you're not popular, Katniss. You're the most real woman I've ever encountered besides Madge and my mother. You don't put on a fake persona. You're you. That's what makes me always want to be around you" he replies
"Look" he motions forward and Katniss' eyes become glued to the beautiful arrays of oranges and reds mixing together, making a soft orange
"It's a beautiful colour" she sighs
"Not as beautiful as you" she looks to Peeta surprised
"You think that I'm beautiful?" Katniss questions
"I do. I think you're as radiant as the sun" he replies, Katniss' heart races even faster than before
"I—" she's cut off and she realises that he's kissing her, she doesn't hesitate and tries to make the kiss back as pleasant as she can. This is of course her first kiss and she doesn't want to screw it up. He slowly pulls away but not too far, he presses their foreheads together
"There's so much I want to do with you" he sighs, Katniss suddenly gets a wave of confidence
"Than do them" she says, taking his hand and putting it on her thigh
"Katniss... I don't want you to rush. There's plenty of time for you to do this with someone else" Peeta tells her
"I don't want anyone else. I want you" She whispers, she then un-buckles her seat belt and climbs into the back. With one look of reassurance he joins her and doesn't waste another second before joining their lips back together in a hungry kiss, his hand creeps higher and higher. Up her thigh.
"I don't have anything on me so... are you okay with... touching?" Peeta asks, Katniss nods then takes off her shirt to reveal her green bra with white bows and arrows on them, his shirt soon joined her shirt on the floor. Her breasts look small, hardly anything to show off. She feels her arms go up to cover her covered up breasts but Peeta stops her
"Don't... their perfect" He grins before attacking her lips once again.
+++
Katniss taps her pencil against her notebook as she looks through her AP Biology text book. Her teacher gave strict instructions to her class to study all of summer for the test that'll be first thing Monday morning when they get back. She hears tapping at her window and when she looks she can see Peeta, she quickly kneels on her window seat
"Peeta! What are you doing!" Katniss whispers as he climbs the rest of the way into her room, he looks real good tonight
"I had to see you. Damn, I missed you" he grins
"Well, what a coincidence you chose to pop in when my dads not home" she replies, raising her eyebrow and he shrugs
"Is it a crime to want to see you?" He asks and she sighs
"I guess not" she grins. He walks over to her bed and picks up her text book, shaking his head
"I don't understand Biology. They make it so much more complicated than it already has to be" Peeta says flicking through pages, Katniss rolls her eyes and takes the book from him. He sits on the edge of her bed as she takes her note and text book over to her desk
"I do and it's pretty self explanatory once you get the hang of it" Katniss says walking over to him, he pulls her to him so she's straddling him
"You're such a nerd" he grins
"Am I now? Well, I was going to tell you that Johanna took me to get the rod put in but I guess you don't want to have sex with a nerd" she teases, standing up but all at once she's right back to her previous position, Katniss grins and wraps her hands around his neck
"Lets just hold on, now. I never said it was bad. You're definitely a sexy nerd in these short shorts and crop-top" he says
"Hmm... well in that case..." Katniss takes off her crop-top and throws it on the floor
"Built in bra" Katniss answers his unsaid question
"Are you sure you want this? Some... young guy you like in your year could take it. I don't want you to regret it" Peeta frowns
"I don't want any other guys, I want you" Katniss replies climbing off his lap, she goes to her door and turns the lock, Peeta is looking at her with a raised eyebrow
"We want to be safe. I mean my sister is literally downstairs" Katniss answers before he could ask, he chuckles
She walks back over to lay on her bed, Peeta takes the invitation and hovers over her once his shirt is discarded. Their lips join in a passionate kiss, Katniss runs her fingers through his blonde waves, she can't stop her racing heart, she's actually going to have sex...
She feels his hands pull off her tiny shorts so he can slip his hand into her panties. She thanks the lord that Prim is downstairs, lost in the world of television. Katniss gasps as his finger slips inside of her, they've been fooling around for a month now but it still fills just as pleasuring every time they get this intimate.
After a few pumping he stops which gives Katniss a chance to pull down his basketball shorts and boxers all the way down, she's seen him naked before but that was just in the outline of darkness in his car as she sucked him off or gave him a handjob. Never fully outlined in the light. It's definitely new and it looks bigger than she had remembered.
"Are you sure about this?" He mumbles against her neck and she nods
"Just, take the lead. I agree to anything that you want to do. I just want you" Katniss reassures him, he throws his shorts and boxers on the floor and eventually her panties join the floor too
"This may hurt you. I'll go slow until your comfortable" he tells her as they climb under her covers and she nods in return. He holds onto her hips before slowly pushing himself through her folds, Katniss feels a stretch that is discomforting but not extremely painful like she heard from others.
Peetas thrusts are slow and calm, his kisses on her swollen lips are loving and tender. The more he moves, the less uncomfortable it gets for Katniss and soon she's in pure bliss by every thrust of his hips.
"God... you're like no other woman I've known" Peeta groans
"I—I—" Katniss can hardly get her words out, she encourages Peeta to change his slow thrusting seeing as she is very much adjusted to himself being inside her
"Fuck Katniss you're so—" Peeta is interrupted by a knock at her door, his movements still
"What?!" She calls out
"Are you okay? I heard you groaning" Prim calls out, Peeta decides to be a pain and continue moving
"I—I'm fine" Katniss lets out
"I just stubbed my toe" Katniss grips Peeta's hair as he hits her roughly at the perfect angle, tightly squeezing her hips
"Are you sure?" Prime calls out
"Yes! You can go now!" Katniss calls back, she waits to hear Prim bounce down the stairs until she lets out a sigh
"Fucking hell, Peeta" she groans quietly, she can feel his grin against her neck. Katniss finishes before Peeta does but he's not too far behind. They lay in her bed, basking in each other's body warmth and the moment they had just shared
"Was I a good enough first?" Peeta asks her, Katniss looks up and grins at him
"The best I could wish for" she sighs, nothing but seriousness in her tone.