Chapter Text
Of all the days for her car to fail her it had to be today. She couldn’t say it wasn’t her fault, though. Katniss always kept in mind to fill up her tank when she noticed she was running out, but last night, it had slipped her mind completely. She was stressed about finishing up her midterm assignment that was due the following morning and if she didn’t get her ass in gear, she wouldn’t get it done. It was one of those moments of inspiration that hit her where if she didn’t write down what she was thinking, she would lose her point. She needed a better grade seeing as her last writing assignment earned her a C-. Right, that time, she had forgotten to save her work and the lights went out, taking her nearly finished assignment with it. She managed to half-ass it in time, but she knew it wasn’t her best work.
Now, she knew she had a decent paper and it was safe in her pin drive; it was ready for printing and turning in. If only her car would start, but reality hit her and reminded her gas tanks didn’t magically fill up on their own. She couldn’t afford to waste any more time. Her class started soon and she needed to get to the library. Walking would take her longer and she would surely be late and running wouldn’t exactly help all that much either. Times like these she’d wished she’d gotten a lease for an apartment complex that was closer to her university, but the one she was renting was far cheaper. The downside was it was farther away. Her roommate, Madge, had left some time before, and her best friend, Gale, was already in class… She hated asking for favors and bothering people, but she was desperate and if her pride didn’t hurt her so much, she would have walked up to her neighbor already and asked for a ride.
A head of blond hair caught her attention. He was on the other side of the parking lot, but Katniss’ vision didn’t toy with her as she recognized who it belong to. Peeta Mellark was walking towards his car, ready to hop in when she saw his head turn in her direction. She hadn’t realized she’d called out—more like yelled out—his name until he answered her with an equally loud “Hey!”
Katniss couldn’t really say they were friends, but they weren’t strangers, either. They’d grown up together in the same sector of District 12 and it was common for students to enroll in its university, which was a couple of hours away from their home.
She walked towards him, hoping her throat wouldn’t constrict when she’d start talking. Suddenly, she felt embarrassed without having to say a single word yet. Her predicament seemed silly to her now. She had an assignment to turn in, though.
Sighing, Katniss approached him, but averted her eyes from his. Making eye contact wasn’t one of her strengths. “So, um, my car is out of gas…think you can give me a ride to school?” She didn’t know why Peeta smiled at her, but it was such a bright and contagious one that she couldn’t help smiling as well.
“Sure. I was heading over there.”
He didn’t tease her by asking why her tank was empty, though she suspected Gale would. She appreciated it because she hated giving people explanations about her actions. Instead, once they were settled in Peeta’s car—it wasn’t new, but it was well kempt, taken care of, and clean—he asked how her semester was going. Small talk wasn’t one of Katniss’ strengths either, but she would try for Peeta’s sake since he was going out of his way to drive her.
“Well, I have an assignment due right now, which is why I’m a mess,” she answered, letting out a chuckle she didn’t even know she was withholding.
“It’s that time of the semester,” Peeta quipped, adding he had his own project due at noon. “What’s your paper on?”
“Comparing the democratic government we have today to the totalitarian one of the dark days. Writing about wars isn’t my cup of tea, but when there’s a new government being instilled, that piques my interests.”
Peeta smiled again, but it was different this time. A wry smile. “You sound like a revolutionary.”
Katniss rolled her eyes, though they held no malice as a smile of her own graced her features. It was somehow easy to talk to this boy she hardly frequented. “I don’t think I’d have the strength to even participate in a rebellion, much less be a ‘revolutionary’.”
“You never know. You could be the face of a rebellion.”
“Please, to be the face, I’d have to be attractive, which I’m not.”
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, you know.” Katniss couldn’t figure out what he said. What did he mean? Was he…calling her pretty?
“Well, the beholder clearly doesn’t know what beauty is.”
There was a pause in the conversation, which was partially interrupted by the hum of the travelling car and the turn signal. Katniss hadn’t noticed the radio was off and she wondered if Peeta purposefully kept it off so they could talk of if it was just a habit of his to have his car silent. He didn’t look like the type to stay quiet, but she had been wrong before.
She cleared her throat before speaking. “So, what’s your project about?”
“Not nearly as exciting as your paper. It’s a blueprint for one of my design classes. We’re given scenarios to work on like a small business or even a home, and we have to put together what it would look like. It’s kind of hard to explain without showing it to you, but there’s basically different dimensions to focus on.”
“It sounds like a lot of math goes into it.”
“Quite a bit. I don’t enjoy it, but I don’t struggle with it, either.”
Katniss wouldn’t have ever considered going into architecture like Peeta. It required a lot of spatial intelligence and creativity, two things she did not possess. She was good at arguing and analyzing politics, but she wasn’t sure if that would ever interest Peeta.
With the conversation, she hardly felt the ride or the time pass by, so it surprised her when Peeta parked and the car came to a halt.
“If you want, I can give you a ride back when you finish.”
She didn’t expect the offer, nor had she even thought about asking for one. She owed him one. If anything, she should be offering him a ride instead. Yet there was nothing forceful about his offer, and she even felt rude rejecting it. What could it do, really?
“Yes, please. Although…at what time do your classes end?” She hadn’t even thought about time being an inconvenience until now.
“At around two. Yours?”
Katniss bit her lip. “Three. If you don’t want to wait for me it’s oka—”
“It’s fine, Katniss. It’s just an hour,” Peeta rolled his eyes good-naturedly.
So just like that, it was set? It felt too easy, or maybe it was so because she herself didn’t wait for anyone or even gave them rides. Peeta, on the other hand, didn’t even need to be asked for one. She wasn’t sure how to react. Overthinking it would probably make her look like she was trying too hard anyway. Leaning in, she thanked him and gave him a kiss on his cheek before getting out of the car and telling him she’d see him later.
Over the course of the day, she thought maybe kissing him hadn’t been a good idea and it made her uneasy that she’d made things awkward with Peeta. She had to apologize, she knew she had to! Surely, it had freaked him out or something, just as she was freaked out herself. However, when she went to meet him at the parking lot, she saw him next to his car surrounded by friends that were laughing at something one of them had said. It was almost impolite to have to interrupt the fun. She didn’t have to, though. Peeta spotted her and waved at her and suddenly the group of friends dispersed, as if being dismissed. She saw a couple of Peeta’s friends eyeing her, but she wasn’t sure if they were scrutinizing or simply just looking at her, but she didn’t want to feel so self-conscious in front of strangers.
“I think I may have upset your friends,” Katniss said when she came into Peeta’s hearing range.
“That’s just Finnick and Johanna. They’re okay,” Peeta said with a reassuring tone that made Katniss want to believe him.
Something possessed Katniss to show her gratitude. It was the middle of the day and from the looks of it, their midterms were over, which gave them some time to spare…
“Have you eaten?” she asked as Peeta started to drive.
“Not really. Finnick wanted me to try something he made, but it was green and it didn’t look very…appetizing,” Peeta laughed.
Katniss had a feeling this Finnick person wasn’t the most pleasant guy to hang out with, but if Peeta enjoyed his company then maybe he wasn’t so bad.
She smiled, noting it had been at least the fourth time Peeta got one out of her in one day. “I’m going to make lunch back at the apartment. Would you like to join me?”
She could tell this was something Peeta didn’t expect because she saw the way he paused for words. “You don’t have to pay me back for the favor, Katniss.”
“Then, don’t think about it as payback. Think of it as two friends having lunch together.”
There was another short pause as Peeta thought about it. “What’s on the menu?”
“I forgot the name of it, but it’s basically ham and cheese wrapped in chicken breasts.”
“Sounds fancy.”
Of course it did and the way Katniss prepared it made it all the more elegant, as if she’d ever worried about making her food look presentable. “Madge taught me how to do it.”
“Does it go with some kind of cream?”
“I don’t usually aim so high, but I can prepare one to make it even moreimpressive.”
The image of ham and cheese wrapped in chicken didn’t sound so remarkable to begin with but covering it with cream would at least hide the sorry excuse for a meal she was offering Peeta. When they were nearing the apartment complex, Katniss remembered why she was in Peeta’s car to begin with.
“Peeta…I just remembered that my car is out of gas…” With what had gone on during the day and her focusing on class and turning in her assignment, it easily slipped her mind once again. Now, she may have caused Peeta the good parking space he had spotted and she began berating herself for it.
“Hmm, how about this: you go start on that fancy food you told me about and I can get you gas from the station?”
Katniss looked at him with confusion. How would he even…get the gas? As far as she knew, a car had to be in front of a gas pump for that.
“I have an empty container for it.”
She wanted to ask if this was common knowledge to have a gas container at the ready in case of these emergencies, but she was still processing this information to even find the courage to voice any of her thoughts. Instead, she reached for her wallet to give him money, but he stopped her by placing his hand over hers.
“Don’t worry about it, Katni—”
“I’m not letting you pay for my gas!” First, it was expensive, and second, she would be owing him another favor. Then, she thought about it and wondered if he was paralleling her behavior with favors. “And you are not paying me for the food.”
“Then, don’t think about it like that. Think of it as a friend helping another friend out.”
He was mimicking her, and she would attempt to argue, but Peeta’s hand was still covering hers and she could feel his warmth on her fingers, which surprisingly felt nice. It wasn’t like her to give in so easily, especially when it involved something so sensitive like money, but she figured if she said no, then she had a feeling she would have to walk to the gas station or ask someone else to take her. Once she agreed, she noticed Peeta retracted his hand—he needed it to drive—and she felt the sudden lack of warmth. She had to push that thought aside as she walked towards her apartment and saw Peeta drive off. If that had been Gale, she would have never agreed to let him help her, yet there was something about Peeta that convinced her. She considered that maybe it was the warmth in his hand or his kindness in general, but that didn’t seem like a good enough explanation. Perhaps it was just him and there were no explanations needed for her to understand. Somehow, she had the feeling she would be frequenting Peeta now, and although she didn’t get close to anyone, she hoped she could allow herself that closeness with him. She might have gotten ahead of herself, but what could it do, really?