Chapter Text
From the bar Nick sees Jess touch the man's arm and giggle and his frown deepens. The man is way too blonde and handsome for Nick's liking and what's with that jawline? He looks like a Disney cartoon Prince, which unfortunately looks great with the giant eyed Disney Princess thing he pretends not to notice makes Jess so beautiful.
The guy also has this annoying, stupid bit of wavy blonde hair that keeps flipping in his face so he's constantly running his hands through his hair, the douchebag. Nick sees Jess' hand twitch like she wants to touch his curls, it makes him audibly growl a bit which he has to quickly turn into a cough when the other barman Bob looks at him.
He's some teacher colleague of Jess, so if course that will mean he's great with children probably all caring and understanding. Nick grinds his teeth so hard it hurts.
Jess bounces over to the bar and salutes him. She's the most adorable dork that despite how grumpy he is about the company she's keeping, he can't help but smile.
"Whatcha drinking then sailor?" he asks.
"One light beer and one pink wine please Captain" Jess replies in her best awful pirate accent. "We're busy scheming to make a treasure map for our young charges."
"What?" Nick laughs.
"Peeta's great at art, he's going to help me design an amazing backdrop for the school play."
"Peeta? What the hell kind of name is that? Like the bread? That has to be a nickname. What kind of parent would do that!" Nick is so busy reveling in the victory that the man has such a ridiculous name, that he misses Peeta joining Jess at the bar.
"The kind that run a family bakery and want to honor thair heritage" Peeta firmly replies.
Nick feels his face go to full turtle as he looks over to apologise. He's drowned out by the sea blue stares of disapproval that meet him, so instead of saying sorry to Peeta, he just opens and closes his mouth like a fish. Peeta shakes his head as he takes their drinks back to the table. Jess continues her disappointed stare, then says his name in the way only she can when she's really exasperated with him, all hard N and high pitched i "Nick!". He shrugs a sorry at her but she frowns at him and heads back to their table too.
Nick hangs his head and mentally berates himself. It occurs to him that this means Peeta probably bakes too, yet another thing that makes him perfect for Jess, damn him.
The bar starts to get busier as the evening goes on. Nick is kept occupied but has enough of an eye on Peeta and Jess to know they stopped any work a while ago but are still happily chatting away. Nick is increasingly losing hope that Peeta has a girlfriend he needs to get back to, it's definitely well beyond get back to a wife and family time.
"Whisky on ice" the woman growls at him as she slides onto the barstool. She looks round as Peeta and Jess shout "not enough baking soda" to each other and have a loud giggling fit, turns back to Nick, fixes him with a gray eyed, hard stare and states "large." Nick is a little turned on by the combination of aggression, husky voice and leather jacket, which makes her sexy in an intimidating, but not quite completely terrifying way.
"Coming right up." He grins as he pours her drink and decides to spend a little time talking to her.
Katniss finds she doesn't mind chatting to the barman, he's good at making small talk, asking her a few questions she can answer without really giving anything of herself away. He's also kind of funny in a sarcastic way that fits how she feels.
She knows she's being ridiculous hiding at the bar but Peeta's mentioned Jess more than a few times, how she has the same style of teaching that he does and how he admires the amazing, fun stuff she thinks of to do with the kids. She can bake too dammit, Katniss remembers how much she was enjoying the cupcake until Peeta enthused about Jess' icing technique. The real kick in the guts came when he said how pretty her singing voice was. It was the first time Katniss had ever really considered that someone might come along and take Peeta from her. Not that he's hers. They're just friends, really good friends, who spend all their time together and she doesn't want to lose that okay.
She gives herself two minutes to finish the whiskey before she has to pull herself together and go over to them. Being nice to women who take an interest in Peeta isn't her strong point, so she doesn't see it going well. She wishes she could take the barman, and the bottle of whiskey with her.
"Katniss" she hears the surprise in Peeta's voice behind her. "Why are you sitting by yourself at the bar?"
Brace, brace, brace she thinks as she turns, desperately trying to think of a good excuse.
"My fault" she hears the barman say, "I kept her talking until her drink was almost finished and was just getting her a top up." He produces the bottle and pours her another generous measure. She gives him a small smile of gratitude and he sends back a nod of acknowledgement.
Peeta sees something pass between Katniss and Jess' roommate and frowns, Katniss isn't usually chatty with anyone she's not met before and he's really not sure about Nick after he made fun of his name. He tries to read Katniss's expression but doesn't get anywhere. Katniss has her no emotions, blank face guard up which isn't a good sign. He can't help but touch her arm gently, to see if she'll come back to him.
Jess is excited to meet Katniss, Peeta's told her so much about her, she wants to ask her all about her job as an ecologist, about trees and animals, oh and archery, she's never met anyone with their own bow and arrow before. Maybe Katniss will teach her how to shoot arrows and she'll become like a female Robin Hood, bringing social justice to an unequal world. Jess can hear the theme tune in her head already.
Nick sees Jess grin to herself as she drinks her second pink wine and wonders what's she's thinking. It looks like she's humming too, so she's probably making up a new song. He really hopes it's not about annoying hair teacher bread person. Nick frowns to himself as he tried to come up with a better nickname. Douchebag hair flipper? Stupid Prince painterface? Bread douche? Prince douchey bread ...yes that's it. Nick feels considerably better now he can insult Peeta in his head all the time. Stupid Prince douchey bread with his stupid art skills, painting a backdrop for Jess' school play. Hey I'm Prince douchy bread look at my ridiculous manly jawline and vivid blue eyes, shame my parents named me after a bakery item.
Katniss can feel her fake smile slipping as Jess prattles on. She seems nice enough but her energy level is so high it's a bit overwhelming. Peeta is answering most of the barrage of questions Jess is asking her, which she's grateful for, but it feels like she might as well not be there.
Peeta's starting to get anxious about Katniss, she's quiet even for her and her smile has no depth to it. He worries it's because she doesn't like Jess and he's also a little concerned about Nick. He wants to like him and Jess talks about him all the time, so he knows they are close and he trusts her judgement, but he's not comfortable with the sneaking suspicion that Nick was hitting on Katniss and that she might not have minded. He very much doubts Nick is good enough for her.
Jess is a bit disappointed that Katniss is being so quiet and hopes that doesn't mean she's made a bad impression. She decides to double her efforts to be super dooper nice to her. She's determined to make her a friend.
From the bar Nick watches Jess' energy shift into a really high gear and as Peeta's friend already looks quite uncomfortable decides to head over. He doesn't want growly sexy leather coat girl to get the wrong idea about Jess. Jess thinks the world is a happy place full of people who like rainbows and knitting, which is the most annoying thing Nick's ever encountered, but the idea of Peeta's friend not getting that and how hurt Jess would be if she didn't like her, gives Nick a weird tight feeling in his chest. He grabs a glass of pink wine and tucks the bottle of whiskey under his arm. He fetches himself a glass and after a slight hesitation gets one for Prince douchy bread too.
Katniss isn't sure how much more she can take. She doesn't want to be rude to Peeta's friend but she has a strong urge to run outside and get some air. She at least needs another drink. Maybe she can hang out a little at the bar in the company of the barman who managed to get the balance between conversation and leaving her the hell alone just right. As if she'd summoned them, the whiskey bottle appears in front of her, along with the barman. Katniss is so grateful she gives him a genuine smile.
Peeta's heart lurches as he sees the smile that Katniss gives Nick. It's the first real smile he's seen her give all night. He pushes his jealousy down hard, if Katniss likes this guy he should give him a chance. He squares his shoulders a bit, determined to get to know Nick better.
Jess feels a sense of calm steal over her as Nick sits down and puts her glass of pink wine on the table in front of her. He sits so his arm is just barely touching hers but it anchors her. She thinks she might have got a bit out of control with the whole trying to impress Katniss thing. Speaking of which, Nick seems to have made a good impression from the smile she's giving him, when did he manage to do that? Jess sneaks a look at Nick who is grinning back at Katniss and feels uneasy. Does Nick like Katniss?
Nick genuinely takes a breath as he sees Katniss smile, he has to admit she's beautiful. He sees Peeta notice him smile back at her and and square his shoulders. So that's how it is, Prince douchey bread can flirt with Jess all evening but he's not allowed to smile at Katniss? Well two can play the overprotective friend game. He leans forward angling himself so he's slightly between Jess and Peeta.
'Third ones the charm' Katniss thinks as the whiskey burn hits, she has a pleasant buzz and while she's still not ready to talk to Jess, she can cope with a chat to the barman who seems to know her. She leans forward, holds out her hand and says "I'm Katniss" to Nick.
Peeta is floored, not only has Katniss voluntarily spoken with and genuinely smiled at Nick, she's now initiated physical contact. She must really like him. Peeta chooses to ignore just how devastated that makes him feel.
Jess is stunned, did Nick just angle himself round like she wasn't there to get to Katniss? He's never done anything like that before. Jess can see his attraction to her, she's beautiful and interesting but she's not at all sure that Katniss would be right for Nick. Also how long is he going to keep holding her hand?
"Nick." Nick replies, deliberately holding Katniss' hand a beat too long to wind Prince douchey bread up. He flirts a little just to rub it in. "Nice jacket by the way, the whole leather thing suits you."
Katniss graces Nick with her second genuine smile of the night. "It was my father's." She pauses, debating whether to offer up a deeply personal piece of information so soon after meeting them. Nick honestly seems nice, Peeta's a good judge of character and he really likes Jess, plus he's always telling her to trust people more, so she goes for it. "He died when I was young." She sees Jess' face fill with sympathy and hopes she isn't going to try and console her too much.
As she's revealed something so personal, however much it hurts, Peeta decides that Katniss has his full support in this. If Nick breaks her trust in any way, thanks to Jess, he knows where he lives and he'll bring Haymitch and Gale with him. "Katniss is amazing," he puts a lot of emphasis on amazing, "she virtually raised her baby sister after he died."
Jess swallows her misgivings and jumps in to help Nick impress Katniss. "Nick practically raised his younger brother too, he was the man of the house after his father..." She bites her tongue to stop the word 'abandoned' popping out, "Um went away a lot." she lamely finishes.
Nick can see that it took Katniss a lot to tell them about her father and he doesn't want to get into a game of competitive family misfortunes with her. "My father wasn't any good at the whole being there for his family thing," he confesses. "I'm sure your dad was pretty great though," he says to Katniss, "and he had excellent taste in leather jackets." He clinks her whiskey glass with his and changes the subject. He supposes he should be a good friend and help Jess with Prince douchy bread if that's really who she wants. "So, I bet $50 Jess can make cupcakes to rival any bakery."
The relief Katniss felt when Nick changed the subject is instantly muted by the shift to Jess' baking skills. She's hates how perfect Jess is for Peeta. She pictures them blissfully happy, wearing matching aprons in an unnecessarily large kitchen, filled with perfect bread, beautifully iced cakes and well behaved blue eyed children doing age appropriate crafts. It makes her feel nauseous.
Peeta is secretly pleased that Nick has shifted his attention from Katniss to Jess. He will support whatever Katniss wants, but it will always break his heart that it's not him. He likes Jess too, she's fun and positive, he genuinely enjoys her company. So he smiles and says, "I'm definitely not taking that bet, Jess makes a professional level cupcake." Katniss dry heaves a little next to him and he shoots Nick a cross look for encouraging her to drink more whiskey.
Jess is pleased too, she knows Nick loves her cupcakes and it's flattering for Peeta to say that, even if he was just being kind. It makes her want to bake some and she realises that's a brilliant way to get Katniss to be friends with her. "Let's go to the loft and I'll make some!" Jess is so excited and come to think of it maybe a little drunk.
Nick's not sure if this is a good idea, it's getting late but the bar won't close for an hour and he's not sure he wants to let Jess and Peeta bake together. He gets the impression Katniss won't go with them and Jess will be feeling twirly after her wine. Nope definitely not happening. "Jess I'm not sure cupcakes are a Friday night thing, how about these guys come over tomorrow afternoon for some."
"Yeah, I'm pretty tired, I need to get home," Katniss says with relief. Late night, third wheel baking with Peeta and Jess is absolutely not in her plans. She'd sooner help Haymitch cut his filthy, claw like toenails again, something she had to do once after he injured his back and which would haunt her forever.
"Tomorrow is better for me," Peeta says smiling at Jess so she knows he isn't trying to get out of spending time with her. He's worried that Katniss isn't feeling well and deep down he hopes in the cold light of day, Nick will be far less attractive to her.
Jess is secretly pleased, she'd jumped the gun a bit with her invitation and will need to shop for ingredients in the morning. "It's a date," she grins at Peeta. Despite her concerns about the Nick and Katniss thing, she does think Peeta's handsome and is feeling quite twirly this evening, which must be thanks to Peeta because otherwise it would have to be because of Nick, which would be ridiculous and really only happened that one time by accident.
"Okay, great." Nick over enthuses, pleased that he's scuppered any Jess and Peeta alone time.
Katniss grabs her bag and stands up. The sooner she can get home the better.
Peeta jumps up to offer Katniss a lift. He's well aware of how completely capable she is, but if she's not feeling well, he wants to make sure she gets home safely.
Jess decides to wait for Nick, she wants to get his opinion on Peeta and also see if she can work out his level of interest in Katniss.
Nick is happy that Jess has decided to wait for him, it means she'll chill out with him when they get home and although he'd sooner deep clean his room than admit it, he prefers it when he can wind down after a shift with some bad tv, a beer and Jess.
Katniss and Peeta leave together while Jess goes to sit by the bar and hang out with Nick. Everyone is happiest with this arrangement, although they'd all absolutely deny it.