Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!”

Her loud and somewhat familiar voice fills the cold silence of District Twelve. Effie follows by explaining how there are certain rules for when people can volunteer but the mayor cuts her off saying how it doesn't matter. Those rules are rusty since there hasn’t been a volunteer in 12 in forever. The Peacekeepers go behind the older girl, leading her to the stage as the original tribute, a little girl, screamed for her to not go.

Katniss.

That's the name the little girl yells at the top of her lungs and I am immediately taken back to school.

As Effie led her up on the stage, I quickly realized exactly who that is. Katniss Everdeen. The girl I watched from across the school yard. I wonder if she ever noticed when I was looking at her? What am I thinking, of course she did. But the most memorable thing I remember about her is the bread. The time I gave her those two loaves of bread. Around five years ago.

I don’t know why I did it. I knew if my mother found out, I would surely be hit harder than the time prior. Possibly even beaten. But I couldn’t just ignore her. I mean she looked like she was starving. And the look on her face as the sharp shards of rain fell from the sky.

I burned the bread, got hit by my mother and then ran the risk of being beaten just to give it to some girl I don’t know. But ever since that day, I can’t help but look at her at school. I mean we are in District 12, so no girl here could fit into the Capitol’s stupid beauty standards (well maybe besides the mayor's daughter), but something about her intrigued me. More than any other girl in the district.

“Peeta Mellark”

I hear that name, my name, and I’m instantly brought back to reality. I start to hear a slight ringing in my ear as all the other kids around me part to make way for me to walk towards the stage. An overwhelming wave of disbelief flushed over my body. 21 out of about 8,000. As I walk, I hope my face doesn’t show my fear because sponsors certainly won’t sponsor me if I look weak right off the bat.

I get on the stage and Effie grabs my shoulders and slightly ushers me to my spot. The mayor goes on to say the Treaty of Treason but I’m not paying attention. Not to any of it. I fall into the abyss of my thoughts as the realization of my inevitable death sets in.

Half of me can't believe that Katniss volunteered for her sister. No one here in District 12 would do such a thing. Here, family devotion only goes so far. I know neither of my brothers would, even if one was old enough. What Katniss did was the radical thing. But the other half of me believes what she did was the right thing. From the looks of it, that girl she called “Prim” was only twelve, maybe thirteen. She certainly wouldn’t survive. But Katniss. Katniss at least has a chance with her archery skills. She perfectly shoots all the squirrels my dad buys from her so the arrow doesn't completely puncture the body.

Then I think of the day I gave her the bread again. I wonder if she even remembers that day? Or if she remembers that I was that boy? The boy who risked a beating to possibly save her life. I’m probably giving myself too much credit. I definitely didn’t “save her life”. But I still helped her.

The mayor finishes the Treaty of Treason and prompts us to shake hands. We do so and I feel her cold semi-slender hands in mine. Hands rough with blisters and bruises from probably being in the woods for so long, hunting for the survival of her family meeting hands that are slightly burnt and bruised from the oven at the bakery. The bakery I will never see or work in again. I give Katniss’ hand a reassuring squeeze that might have been mistaken for a nervous spasm. That was the closest I’d ever been to her.

We turn back to the crowd as the anthem of Panem plays. I think about how bad I’ll feel if I have to kill her. All I can do is hope I’m not the one who has to do it.

Chapter Text

After the Panem anthem finishes, Katniss and I are taken in the front door of the Justice Building. I’m then escorted to a room with deep red carpets and a velvet couch. Possibly the nicest thing in all of Panem. After a few minutes of me falling back into my thoughts, the door opens, and my parents come in. The look on my father's face is one of confusion and disbelief. I can tell he hasn’t come to terms with the results of the Reaping yet. While on the other hand my mother doesn’t seem to be phased. Not in the slightest.

My father sits down beside me and puts his hand on my shoulder and rubs his thumb on it for a while. Then he reaches into his coat pocket to pull out a white paper pouch and hands it to me. I open it and inside is cookies. Why did he bring cookies? Is this supposed to cheer me up? But to be honest, it did. A lot. There was something reassuring about the cookies.

“Your brothers said they didn’t want to see you,” My father said.

What? Why? There's almost a 100% chance I’ll never see them again and they won’t even visit me! I wanted to scream this at the top of my chest but I couldn't

After a few bone chilling seconds of silence, my mother speaks.

“On the bright side, maybe District 12 will finally have a winner. She’s a survivor, that one.”

She? She’s a survivor?

The words hit me like a Peacekeeper shooting me directly in the chest. Those words make me feel a little grateful for the Games. But how could she say that? How could she possibly utter those words from her mouth? Especially in front of father. Was that shit supposed to make me feel better? And why does my dad never say anything? All these thoughts flooded my mind all at once but I didn’t have the guts to say them. All I could do was cry.

Then dad pulled me in for a hug and kissed me on my forehead. He let go after a few seconds and just lowered his head. And I swear I could see a tear rolled down his cheek.

Chapter Text

Once our visit time was up, the Peacekeepers guided us to the train as cameras were mere inches away from us. And for a moment, all of the crying made my mind completely ignore the fact that I might look weak right now. But for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to care. Not now.

We stand in front of the doors to the train for a bit as they let the audience watch us. I can only hope that they’re ogling over Katniss and completely ignoring me. But who am I kidding, of course they're looking at me. The red puffy eyed boy from District 12.

Then I remember the girl from District 7. I think her name was something, Manson.

She started by acting like she was some weak and helpless kitten but then when there were only a couple of contestants, she viciously massacred the rest of the contestants. Maybe I could do that. Maybe I could play the Capitol. Maybe not in the same way as Manson but I could play them somehow. I wouldn’t consider myself an amazing actor but I certainly know how to lie.

We step into the train and immediately I’m shell shocked by how expensive everything looks. And I mean everything. It was even more luxurious than the Justice Building. One piece of furniture could pay for at least a couple months of baking ingredients. But it was a Capitol type luxurious. With tacky colors and weird looking food.

Katniss and I stayed near the entrance for a bit before we’re given our own chamber. Effie explains all the things we have in our chambers. Fine clothes in the drawers and even our own private bathroom. I could totally get used to this. Effie says that everything is at our disposal but to be back for supper in an hour.

I take advantage of this hour by changing into the clothes provided for me. I then wander around my room, looking at all of the weird buttons all over the place, wondering what they did. After I got bored of that, I laid on my bed and stared at the ceiling and began to sink into thought. I thought about my clothes. My father picked them out for me. I wonder if I could keep them as a district token. No, probably not.

Then my thoughts slip into my plan. I know I have to come up with some sort of angle in order to get sponsors. I can’t think of any certain angle I could go for on the top of my head. Then, I think about what my mom said.

When my hour is almost up, I walk out of my chamber and pass through corridors until I notice Effie.

“Oh, I was just about to go looking for you! Come and sit, supper is almost here. Excuse me while I go fetch for Katniss.”

Effie scurried out of the dining hall, leaving me alone with my thoughts again.

Katniss and Effie return and notice Katniss has changed too. A dark green top and black pants. But I’m immediately drawn to the gold pin on her shirt. I can make out exactly what it is but it seems to be a circle with something in the middle.

“I wonder where Haymitch is?” Effie says
“Last I saw him, he said he was going to take a nap.” I replied.
“Well, it has been an exhausting day”

And for some reason, I can tell she’s just relieved that he isn’t here. And although I am too, I wish he would just sober up because Katniss and I desperately need him for survival.

Supper comes in courses. Thick carrot soup, green salad, lamb chops, mashed potatoes, cheese and fruit, and finally chocolate cake. Throughout supper, Effie makes a point to remind us that there is more food on the way. Even as a baker’s son, this was the most food I’ve ever eaten in one sitting.

“Well, at least you two have manners. The last two tributes from twelve had horrid manners and ate like a bunch of savages.” Effie says.

It’s almost as if Effie has to say the worst things at the worst times to survive. Even as a baker’s son, I felt offended and I know that Katniss felt even more offended, being from the Seam. The last two tributes she was talking about were from the Seam too. I had seen them once in a while and they always looked one missed meal away from death. After Effie said that, I noticed Katniss only ate with her hands afterwards.