Chapter Text
Katniss finished her trading in town early for the day and decided to take a shortcut back to the Seam by walking by the slag heap next to the mine entrance. It wasn't unusual for her to see other kids from school here, one of the only places inside the fence away from the prying eyes of their parents or other adults.
So at first, Katniss didn't react when she saw two teenagers kissing against the base of the heap. The boy had his hands in the back pockets of her jeans as she leaned against him, her arms around his neck as they kissed. She ducked her head, trying to give them privacy, but right as she was walking past, she recognized the boys' shoes out of the corner of her eye.
She let out a light gasp and glanced up at the couple, the boys' blue eyes meeting hers, she'd recognize them anywhere: Peeta Mellark. She ducked her head again, her face bright red now, and practically ran home. She'd never spoken to him, never approached him, so she shouldn't feel anything other than mildly embarrassed over the interaction, should she? She tried to put the encounter out of her mind altogether, but as she lay awake that night she found tears on her face.
The next morning at school, she avoided Peeta's gaze, though she could feel him looking at her. Nothing's changed, she told herself. It's the same as always.
She saw the girl from the slag heap sitting with Peeta and his friends at lunch, laughing together over a shared joke. An image came to her unbidden: of herself in the girl's place, kissing him at the slag heap and laughing with him and his friends. She shook her head to clear it. She'd learned a long time ago to not dwell on impossible things.
“Is something wrong?” Prim asked the next day after school. “You haven’t been acting like yourself.”
“I haven’t?” Katniss asked. “How have I been acting?”
“You’re quieter…sadder than usual,” Prim explained.
“It’s nothing,” she replied. And as far as Katniss could tell, it was nothing. There was no logical explanation for it, no reason she should feel as though she lost something.
That Sunday, when she went to trade at the bakery, Peeta answered the door instead of his father. "Good morning, Katniss," he said, his smile bright. "What have you got for us today?"
Katniss couldn't help but smile back, he had an easy charm that put her at ease, and though they didn't talk about anything other than her trade for the day or upcoming class assignments, she left the bakery feeling a little lighter and only a little bit dizzy.
The following week, Mr. Mellark answered the door to the bakery when she came to trade and she told herself she wasn’t disappointed.
“Did you hear the news everyone’s talking about?” Madge said one day lunch.
“Hmm?” Katniss responded, taking a bite of her sandwich.
“Peeta and Ruby broke up,” Madge said, a knowing smile on her face.
Katniss choked, coughing around her bite of sandwich. She took a drink of her water to help clear it before turning back to Madge, her face red from all the coughing. “They broke up?”
“Yeah,” she said, quirking a brow. “I wonder why. They were a cute couple.”
Katniss nodded, taking another sip of her drink to hide her expression, telling herself the relief she felt was because she wouldn’t have any more awkward run-ins at the slag heap with the two of them.
Peeta was back at the bakery door the next week when she came to trade and she smiled at him, surprised.
“Peeta! It’s good to see you,” she said, and then realized that was a stupid thing to say when she saw him at school every day.
Peeta smiled shyly in response. “It’s good to see you too. Where’s your boyfriend?”
“Who?” she asked, shocked. “Oh Gale? He’s–he’s not my boyfriend.” Her cheeks turned bright red. “He’s at the Hob, I’ll catch up with him later.”
“Oh,” Peeta said, nodding. “I thought–nevermind. What have you got to trade with today?”
She couldn’t focus on the rest of the conversation as they finished trading and made small talk about school, the only thing she could think was that he’d thought she was seeing someone else and that that seemed to matter to him.