Chapter Text
“Do you know what that idiot brother of yours did this time?!” Katniss had stormed up to Peeta’s locker where he always waited for her after school. Her olive cheeks were tinged, and her small body was all scrunched up.
Peeta was somewhere between a laugh and a sigh‒His best friend Katniss and his brother Rye had been at this prank war for going on 2 months now-however, as neither response would please Katniss, he replied calmly, “No, Katniss, I don’t. But, tell me. What did your nemesis do this time?”
“He put a dead squirrel in my locker.”
Peeta snorted. “What?” It was certainly creative of Rye, but he had to wonder where his brother even got a dead squirrel. He certainly didn’t shoot it himself. Maybe he traded with Hawthorne? “You’re joking.”
“Nope.”
“Well, guess the joke’s on him, then; you love dead squirrels, Katniss.”
One corner of her lip turned up, and she gave him a little shove to the chest, playful, yet enough to slam him against his locker. “So do you,” she said.
“Not as much as you do,” he teased, shoving her arm lightly (more like just touching it).
This got Katniss to laugh a little. “Well, you’re not wrong.”
“Of course, the thing’s probably not still fresh,” surmised Peeta. “Don’t want to eat that.”
“No, but I could skin it up and make something useful out of it,” stated Katniss matter-of-factly.
He chuckled. “Oh, Katniss, I love you.”
Peeta froze solid at the look on her face as if he’d said the most awful thing in the world. Oh, crap.
Fix it, Peeta, fix it.
“As a friend, I mean.”
Smooth, Peeta. Really smooth. You’re on the debate team and in student government; you can lie, or at least stretch the truth to make it sound better, and that’s the best you can come up with?!
But he never lied to Katniss.
The dazzling object of his secret affection was staring down at the floor, tugging on her braid a little. Great, he made it weird.
“I know that,” she muttered, shuffling her sneakers a bit.
Peeta cleared his throat. “So, Rye, huh?” he deflected. “He’s being a dick again?”
This got Katniss to look up, and he noticed the curve of her smile. He’d gotten so used to this particular smile, and he adored it so.
“Yep.”
“Want me to beat him up?” joked Peeta. Of course, he would beat up his brother for Katniss, if it came down to that. Rye may have taken first place to his second in wrestling, but Peeta had grown since then. He was certain he could hold his own.
“Don’t worry about it, Peeta.” She released a strained huff. “Ugh, Rye is such a dumb jock.”
“Hey, I’m a 'jock,' too, you know.”
“Yeah, but you’re a nice jock, and definitely not dumb. You’re not like the others. Certainly not like that asshole brother of yours. He...”
She took a breath as if to go on a long tirade, but Peeta stopped her there. “Katniss.”
“What?”
“I-I...need to tell you something.” He raised his right arm to tug at a stray curl falling across his forehead.
“What is it?” She seemed almost concerned. And why shouldn't she be? No one ever started a conversation with ‘I need to tell you something’ or ‘I need to ask you something’ without it being rather serious.
“Well...he swore me to secrecy, but I think I should tell you. The reason Rye acts like such a jackass to you is because...because he’s got a crush on you.”
Katniss’s face went blank, and utterly devoid of color.
“What? You can’t be serious,” she finally said.
“I am.”
Peeta was incredibly frustrated. This was not the confession he wanted to be telling Katniss, and it really wasn’t his place, but he hated seeing her so upset, and he felt he owed her some explanation for Rye’s completely bizarre, and frankly, moronic, behavior.
“See, Katniss,” Peeta ran a hand through his hair, “I don’t agree with his methods. I never bought into the whole ‘it’s okay for boys to push girls down and pull their hair if they like them’ crap. But Rye is Rye.”
Yes, he could fault his brother, but Rye did have a totally different personality than him. Rye couldn’t help the way he was, in a manner of speaking, especially living around their mother. But then again, Peeta couldn’t condone Rye torturing Katniss, either. Or any girl for that matter.
“It's even less okay now, though. Rye isn’t a little boy anymore,” added Peeta.
“No, definitely not a little boy. He’s a big ass.”
Peeta laughed in spite of the situation. “That’s true. But, the fact of the matter is, he does like you.”
He studied her expression. Did Katniss like Rye, too? If he stopped being a jerk to her, maybe she would want to go out with him. As much as Peeta despised the idea, he wanted both Katniss and his brother to be happy.
“So, um...what do you think?” Peeta managed to squeak out.
“Well, I…”
Damn was he nervous waiting for her answer, even if only a couple of seconds had passed.
“Wait,” he interrupted her processing. “Before you say anything, there’s something else...”
Way to go, Peeta! Keep hitting her with more and more today. You know Katniss gets easily overwhelmed!
But it needed to be said. This may not be the right time or place to do this, but at least the halls had cleared out.
Okay. He took a deep breath, preparing himself.
This definitely wasn’t the way Peeta hoped to reveal his long-held (longer than Rye) feelings for Katniss Everdeen, but he decided to throw caution to the wind.
Katniss had switched places with him; she was now leaning back against his locker. He framed the side of her face with his hands, and Katniss went rigid, although she didn’t seem afraid or eager to escape. He sucked in another breath.
Normally, he was good with words, but as they were failing him right now with her standing before him looking so lovely and perfect, he decided to just go for it.
So, he leaned in and kissed her.
It was a soft touch of the lips, gentle, but as he pulled back, he felt her tugging him back in by the collar of his shirt. What? Really?
Katniss was kissing him back! The girl of his dreams, love of his life was kissing him back!
Oh my god.
Not only was she kissing back, but she was chasing his lips and tongue hungrily with hers as if she couldn’t get enough of him. It was becoming hard to breathe, but no way in hell was Peeta complaining about that.
When they finally broke apart, he cushioned her back against the locker with his arm and touched his forehead to hers.
“I should tell you," he said, tucking aside a strand of her hair, "what I was going to tell you was...I’ve been in love with you since kindergarten.”
Katniss drew a shaky breath. “You couldn’t have been,” she whispered.
“I could, and I still am.”
She released a small gasp.
Neither of them moving from their spot, Peeta ran his hands up and down her arms.
“Say something,” he urged. “Please.”
That faint smile Peeta loved so much returned, in greater force. “I am, too," she said.
Was this real?
“So, all that ranting about Rye wasn’t a front for having a crush on him, too?” He smirked, hoping to put her at ease.
“God, no," she scoffed.
“Oh, thank goodness!”
“It’s you I want to be with, Peeta,” Katniss said, drawing him in for another kiss.