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“Haymitch said that someone’s moving in,” Prim said.
Even if they hadn’t been walking past the house in question, Katniss would have known it was the one Prim was referring to. It’s not like there were many empty houses around, and it was rare that anyone wanted to move out here to the middle of nowhere.
“How would he know that?” Katniss asked. Other than wandering into town to go to the bar or the liquor store, Katniss didn’t think he got out much. She was the one who did his grocery shopping and took his bottles to the recycling depot.
“He didn’t say,” Prim responded, shrugging.
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Katniss said.
The property had been empty and on the market for over a year, after the old man that had lived there had slipped on the ice while walking his garbage cans back up to his house from the end of his driveway. He had been alright, maybe a little bruised but nothing broken. Luck had been on his side too, when Katniss’ mom had been getting home from work and saw it happen. A nurse was probably the best person to have around in that scenario.
When his daughter had found out, she had used it as an excuse to make him sell the acreage and move into the city. As far as Katniss could tell, it had never gotten much traction on the market. She had never seen any house around here get much traction.
They lived on the next acreage, so they quickly turned onto their driveway and forgot about the empty house next door.
On Saturday, Katniss was standing in the kitchen whisking ingredients together when Prim came in from milking her goat.
“There’s a moving truck next door,” she said, dropping the bucket of milk on the kitchen table and hurrying to the front window.
“That’s not where the milk goes,” Katniss called after her.
“I just want to see if I can see anyone,” Prim said.
“You’re going to get the window dirty,” Katniss said, looking up at Prim, who had all but pressed her face against the window to be able to get a good look at their neighbour’s yard.
Prim ignored her.
Katniss put down the whisk and wiped her hands on a towel before walking over to the front window to join Prim.
True to her word, not that Katniss had had any doubts, there was a moving truck in the driveway next door. Katniss couldn’t see much, and she was not going to press her face against the window like Prim.
“I guess Haymitch was right,” Katniss said.
“Mmmhmm,” Prim mumbled.
“Now get your face off the window,” Katniss said, “it’s rude to stare.”
Katniss went back to the cooking as Prim peeled her face away from the window.
“Can I go introduce myself?” Prim asked, walking over to the sink to grab a cloth. She took it over to the window and wiped the prints.
“No,” Katniss said, “they’re busy and they don’t need you bothering them.”
Prim sighed before hanging up the cloth to dry and grabbing the bucket of goat’s milk off the counter to continue with her chores.
—
Katniss was on her hands and knees in the garden when Prim came over. She dropped down next to Katniss and started helping her dig up the sweet potatoes.
“I didn’t see anyone my age next door,” Prim said, in far too happy a tone for her to be as disappointed as Katniss knew she was.
“I’m sorry,” Katniss said. The only kids near her age out this side of town were Gale’s younger brothers, and while Prim got along with them just fine, they were far too rough and tumble for Prim’s tastes.
“But,” Prim continued, “there are a few boys who could be your age.”
Katniss stopped herself from rolling her eyes. So that’s why Prim wasn’t down in the dumps not to have a new friend.
“Interesting,” Katniss said, schooling her tone.
“Maybe one of them is your soulmate,” Prim continued in a teasing tone, bumping her shoulder against Katniss’.
Katniss snorted. “You know how unlikely that is,” she said.
“It could happen,” Prim protested. “They say that soulmates are meant to meet.”
“Don’t believe everything your friends tell you,” Katniss said, “and besides, even if one of them does have a matching soulmark, I don’t want to know.”
“You’re so boring,” Prim huffed, focusing back on the dirt in front of her.
Katniss had no desire to meet her soulmate.
Growing up, it had been a different story. Katniss had been awestruck, watching her parents' love fill their house with joy. Not everyone met their soulmate, and it was said that those who settled down with someone who wasn’t their soulmate were never able to fall as far in love as soulmates were able to. Katniss had dreamed of finding her soulmate and having a love story as romantic as her parents’ had been. And then her dad had died.
Watching her mom fall into a deep depression, made worse by them being soulmates, made Katniss lose her faith in the whole notion. Katniss never wanted that to happen to her; never wanted to make a child go through what she had gone through in the months after her father’s death.
Katniss had decided that she would never get married. The day she had turned 16 and her soulmark appeared, Katniss had ignored it and covered it up. Few people even knew what it looked like since it was on her ankle, which made it easy to cover up as long as she wore socks.
No one around here had a soulmark that matched, and Katniss had never had any intention of leaving this town anyways to accidentally find them somewhere else.
On Monday, Katniss got herself and Prim up like normal. They had chores to finish before they got ready and walked down to the end of the driveway where the bus picked them up.
Their mom got home before they left, and took the opportunity to braid Prim’s hair into two blonde braids down her back. Katniss did her own hair.
In theory, their mother should have been home every morning before they left for school. She worked the night shift at the nursing home in town, and she got off an hour before the bus came to pick up Prim and Katniss. It didn’t take an hour to get home. Despite that, they rarely saw their mom in the mornings. Katniss knew that the house and her daughters— especially Katniss, whose looks took after her father’s —brought back painfully happy memories that her mom wanted to avoid. Katniss resented her. Prim didn’t talk about it.
They walked down to the road together, and waited along the fenceline for the bus to arrive.
Katniss was picking at her fingernails, watching Prim pick some of the wildflowers that grew along the edge of the road, when she heard uneven footsteps. She looked over and saw a boy walking down the neighbour’s driveway. He went around the fencepost at the end of the drive and turned to make his way down the road towards them.
“Hi!” Prim said when the boy was within earshot, “you must be our new neighbour! I’m Primrose, but people call me Prim.”
Prim was one of those people who had never met a stranger. And when she did meet a stranger, they weren’t strangers for long. If they had lived in a big city, Katniss might have been worried about how friendly Prim was, but around here the most dangerous person was Haymitch and Katniss wasn’t worried about him. He also took a liking to Prim, as did everyone else Prim had ever met.
“Hi Prim,” the boy said, with a smile that could light up the darkest room, “I’m Peeta.” He looked up at Katniss.
Katniss didn’t say anything.
“This is my sister Katniss,” Prim said, filling in the silence.
Katniss pressed her lips together and shot him a smile before going back to picking at her nails.
Prim and Peeta talked until the bus arrived. Katniss wasn’t trying to listen, but they were standing right next to her. She learned that Peeta had moved from a small town a few states over, but his dad had grown up here. He had two brothers, both older than him. His parents had bought a storefront in town, and they were turning it into a bakery.
The bus arrived, and Katniss climbed on. She sat on an empty bench near the front, sliding up against the window so Prim could sit next to her. Rory and Vick were sitting across the aisle, and after Peeta walked past to find a seat closer to the back, Prim struck up a conversation with them.
Last year even, Katniss would have been half turned around, talking to Gale over the back of her seat. Now, he wasn’t at school anymore, having graduated in the spring. Katniss shouldn’t have been as surprised as she was when he had told her that he was going to the city, to work and to see if he could find his soulmate. Gale had always been more optimistic about soulmates than she was.
She had talked to him a few times since he had left, but things hadn't been the same between them since Katniss had turned sixteen and her soulmark hadn’t matched the one Gale had on his arm. Once upon a time, she had hoped that her soulmate would be him, but when she hadn’t gotten a matching soulmark all Katniss had felt was relief that she wouldn’t have to break his heart.
Katniss half-listened to Rory and Vick talk as she stared out the bus window. Nothing they said was news to her. Gale still hadn’t found his soulmate in the city. Hazelle was still working just as hard even though Gale sent money back from his new job. Posy was still upset that she wasn’t old enough to go to school with her brothers.
—
Katniss sat through her morning classes. She tried to be a good student, and they were interesting enough.
At lunch, Katniss sat with Leevy and Madge.
“Did you know there’s a new boy in our grade?” Leevy asked. She subtly gestured towards the other side of the cafeteria where, after Katniss turned, she saw Peeta sitting with Delly Cartwright.
“I thought I saw someone new in the halls,” Madge said, having turned to look, then turning back to face Leevy, “but I don’t think I’ve had him in my classes yet.”
“His name is Peeta,” Katniss said.
Both girls turned to her.
“You know his name?” Madge asked, raising her eyebrows. “You barely talk to people you do know.”
Katniss suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. She wasn’t that unfriendly. “He moved into the acreage next door,” Katniss said. “Prim asked him his name while we were waiting for the bus.”
“So Prim talked to him,” Madge said. “That sounds more accurate.”
“What else do you know about him?” Leevy asked.
Katniss sighed and told them what he and Prim had talked about. “But that’s all I know,” Katniss finished.
—
Prim struck up another conversation with Peeta on the way home, asking him how his first day at the new school had been and what classes he had been put in.
He had been in Katniss’ Math and World History classes after lunch, and Leevy’s Geography class before, and Katniss found out his other class today was Phys Ed., but tomorrow he had English, Biology, and Foods. That meant Katniss would also share English and Biology with him.
Katniss had to go to Haymitch’s after school, so she and Prim started walking up the road after getting off the bus.
Haymitch grunted at them in greeting as they walked in. After putting their bags down, Katniss went to the sink to start washing the dishes as Prim climbed onto a bar stool at the kitchen island. Katniss rarely let her help out at Haymitch’s house. Katniss was the one being paid, so she could be the one to do the work. Prim had enough chores at home to need to do chores at somebody else’s house.
“I saw someone moved into that empty acreage next to yours,” Haymitch said, leaning on the island. He looked at Prim, “anyone interesting?”
“They’re bakers,” Prim told them, “and they have three sons. Two are old, but one is in Katniss’ grade.”
“Oh, a boy your age,” Haymitch said, looking at Katniss, “any chance he’s your soulmate.”
“I don’t know,” Katniss said gruffly, not looking up from the pan she was washing, “I don’t go around looking at people’s feet.”
Haymitch enjoyed poking fun at her about her disinterest in finding her soulmate. Thanks to being one of the few people Katniss spent extended periods of time with outside of school, he also was one of the few people who knew where her soulmark was. She would never admit it, but Katniss trusted him enough to feel safe in him having that piece of knowledge. Also, he didn’t talk to anyone Katniss cared about knowing, and she could always claim he was a crazy drunk if she had to.
Katniss listened to Prim tell Haymitch about her day as she washed the dishes. When Prim told him about what she had been learning in history, Haymitch had scoffed and started in on a rant about the things they were teaching in schools these days, and what had actually happened— and he had been there, so he would know.
While Katniss put away the dishes, Haymitch finished his rant, grabbed a bottle from the fridge, and collapsed on the couch. Once the dishes were done, Katniss grabbed the vacuum from the front closet and started vacuuming. She ran over Haymitch’s foot— it was the only way to get him to move them, and Katniss didn’t care about being polite —making him grumble and move into the kitchen where he sat next to Prim on one of the barstools and started helping her with her homework.
Watching the two of them together at the kitchen counter made Katniss think that Haymitch would have been a good father, in a different life where whatever had happened that had made him a grumpy, drunk old man hadn’t happened. She had never said anything about the way he was with Prim— and with Katniss herself, on occasion —for fear of spooking him, but he was good to her, and he wasn’t half bad at helping her with homework.
When Katniss was finished vacuuming and had checked the fridge to make sure Haymitch wouldn’t starve, she grabbed the grocery list off the fridge, they said their goodbyes, and she and Prim started the walk home.
As soon as Katniss had shut the door behind them on Wednesday, Prim turned to her excitedly.
“I saw Peeta in Phys Ed today,” Prim said, grinning as she pulled off her school shoes and started shoving her feet into her farm boots.
“What?” Katniss asked, raising her eyebrows.
“Peeta’s Phys Ed was outside at the same time my Phys Ed was outside, and,” Prim continued gleefully, “Katniss, he has a prosthetic leg!”
Katniss kept her eyebrows raised.
“His left leg,” Prim explained, “it’s prosthetic, so he could have a matching soulmark.”
Katniss sighed, “Prim.”
“He could,” Prim protested. “I haven’t seen a soulmark anywhere else, so maybe it was on his left leg just like yours.”
“Or maybe it’s on his back, like Leevy’s,” Katniss said, “and even if it was on his leg, maybe he lost his leg before he turned sixteen.”
“Maybe,” Prim admitted, “but we don’t know!”
“Go take care of your goat,” Katniss said, walking into the kitchen.
A small blessing of Katniss’ job helping Haymitch was that she had to walk past his house to get to and from town. So, when she did her weekly grocery shopping trip for the two households, she only had to lug a full wagon of food to his house and the rest of the walk back to her own house was with a fraction of the food.
When she pulled the wagon into his yard, Haymitch was sitting on the front porch.
“I have a new job for you,” Haymitch said as Katniss navigated the wagon around a pile of tree branches that half-blocked the path up to his door.
“What does Effie want now?” Katniss asked. She had heard that the county social worker had been down to see Haymitch yesterday, and that rarely meant something good.
“I need you to clean up the yard,” Haymitch said.
Katniss stopped at the bottom of the steps and looked around the yard. She couldn’t blame Effie for complaining about it.
It had been a mess for as long as Katniss could remember, and it had only gotten worse. There were piles of junk in various places around the yard, along with fallen trees, weeds that went past Katniss’ knees, overgrown bushes, and not to mention the grass that hadn’t been cut in years.
“Do you need me to start today?” Katniss asked.
“Nah,” Haymitch replied. “Take your groceries home. You can get started when you’re back tomorrow.”
Katniss nodded and started unloading Haymitch’s groceries.
“Katniss?”
Katniss started as her head whipped around to find the voice. She had been working on Haymitch’s yard by herself for at least an hour, and had kind of forgotten that other people could be around.
Peeta was standing at the end of Haymitch’s driveway.
“Hey,” Katniss said.
“What are you doing?” Peeta asked, taking a step into the yard.
“Haymitch, the man who lives here,” Katniss said, gesturing behind herself towards the house, “I work for him, so he asked me to clean up his yard.”
“Do you want help with that?” Peeta asked, nodding towards the log she had been dragging across the yard.
“Oh, it’s my job,” Kathiss started explaining, “I couldn’t possibly take your help.”
“It’s no problem,” Peeta said, starting towards the log, “I need something to do anyways.”
He walked around her to grab the other end, and together the two of them carried it over to the pile Katniss had been making.
As she was going to thank him, Peeta asked, “what’s next?”
Katniss, flustered, tried to turn down his help again, but Peeta, again, insisted that he wanted to.
It took another forty-five minutes for Haymitch to stagger out onto the porch and notice that there were now two teenagers in his yard instead of one.
“Who are you?” Haymitch called over skeptically.
“This is Peeta,” Katniss called back, “the new neighbour.”
“What’re you doing in my yard?” Harmitch asked, frowning.
“I was looking for something to do, and Katniss looked like she could use a hand,” Peeta said.
“He’s helping me,” Katniss said when she saw Haymitch looking between them. If she didn’t know better, she would think Haymitch was being protective.
“Fine,” Haymitch finally grunted, “but I’m not paying double for two of you.” He turned and went back inside.
“Sorry about him,” Katniss said. Peeta didn’t seem phased, but she felt the need to say it. “He can be… a lot, but he’s harmless.”
The next day after school, Peeta asked Katniss when she was going down to Haymitch’s, and after that he started joining her every time she went over to clean up his yard.
They made a pile of all the dead trees, then made a different pile of the junk that they would need to somehow get to the dump. They managed to get Haymitch’s shed open, and Katniss found an old lawnmower and some tools.
While she worked on getting it running again, because she was not about to mow his whole lawn with the push mower, Peeta found some garden shears and started taming the bushes that grew along the fenceline.
The next Friday, the sun was getting low in the sky when Haymitch swung the front door open and told them that there’d be enough work left for tomorrow, and to come inside and eat.
“Don’t worry,” Haymitch said to Katniss, “I called your house and your sister is on her way. It’s not like your mother’s home anyways. Yours either,” he said to Peeta.
Katniss glanced at Peeta and found him also looking at her. She pushed the lawnmower back into the shed, then wiped her hands on her pants and started inside. Peeta followed close behind.
Katniss wasn’t sure what they would be eating, since she hadn’t brought over any meals in a few days.
“You made this?” She asked when they walked into the kitchen. It wasn’t anything fancy, but Haymitch had cooked a chicken and mashed some potatoes. She hadn’t bought him a chicken recently, so he must have even gone to the grocery store himself.
“Yes,” Haymitch said defensively. “I survived for forty years without you around to cook for me. Now both of you wash your hands. We don’t need dirt on the table.”
They washed up and started helping Haymitch set the table. There was a dainty knock and then Prim joined them.
During supper, Katniss had the thought that she was glad Prim had joined them, for Peeta’s sake at least. Prim and Peeta got along like a house on fire. Katniss and Haymitch were both people of few words, and while they would have been fine conversationalists, having Prim there really took the pressure off of them.
Haymitch insisted on sending them home with leftovers, telling them that it was too much food for just him and it would go bad if he had to eat all of it. He gave Katniss her envelope of pay like he did every other Friday, then he pulled out a second envelope and handed it to Peeta.
“You’ve been doing a half-decent job with the yard,” Haymitch said uncomfortably.
Peeta opened his mouth as if to protest, but stopped at Haymitch’s glare and just said thanks.
When they got down to the road, Prim gave Katniss a wink that Katniss couldn’t read, and started walking ahead of her and Peeta.
Despite spending a good deal of their time outside of school together recently, Katniss and Peeta didn’t talk much. At Haymitch’s, they were working too hard to have the breath to spare for conversation, and the walk to and from Haymitch’s was fairly short and they mostly stuck to topics like things that were happening at school or the weather. At school, Peeta had seemed to find friends in some of the other boys in their grade; on the bus, there was Prim. It should have been uncomfortable for Katniss, to spend so much time with someone she, realistically, barely knew, but for some reason Katniss felt completely comfortable.
They walked in silence for a few minutes, Katniss wondering what Prim’s wink could possibly be about.
“Sunset orange has always been my favourite color,” Peeta said, breaking the silence between them and gesturing at the sunset.
Katniss studied the color for a minute. “It’s nice,” she said.
“What about you?” Peeta asked, looking at her.
“Green, I guess,” Katniss said after a minute, “like the color of trees.”
Peeta nodded, contemplatively.
They got to the end of Peeta's driveway. Prim was still up ahead, almost at the end of the Everdeen’s drive. Normally, Katniss would say a quick goodbye as she kept going, but today she stopped. Peeta stopped as well.
“Here,” he said, holding out the container of leftovers Haymitch had given him.
“Oh, no, I don’t need-” Katniss started.
“If I bring it in, my mom will think that I’m accepting charity or something,” Peeta said, “it’s easier if you just take it.”
“Alright,” Katniss said after a moment’s pause. She took the container from him and put it in her bag next to the one Haymitch had forced on her. She looked back up at Peeta and found him staring back at her. She had never noticed how blue his eyes were.
“I’ll see you tomorrow then?” Peeta asked.
Katniss blinked and looked away. “Um, yeah,” she said. “I have some stuff to do at home, so I’ll go over to Haymitch’s at about 10.”
“Great, I’ll see you then,” Peeta said. He shot her his camera-worthy grin, and Katniss sent him a soft smile of her own before turning in the direction of her house.
She wasn’t sure why his smile made her cheeks feel so warm.
The next day, Katniss and Peeta were sitting on Haymitch’s front step, eating sandwiches Katniss had made for them inside. Haymitch had been passed out on the couch. After checking that he was still alive, Katniss had left him there with a note that there was a sandwich for him in the fridge.
“Can I ask you something?” Katniss asked Peeta. It felt weird to say, as someone who kept to herself as much as possible, but there was something that had been nagging at her since Peeta had said it last night.
“Sure,” Peeta said.
“What did you mean when you said your mom would think you were accepting charity if you brought home leftovers from Haymitch?” Katniss asked.
Peeta sighed, then was silent for a moment.
“Sorry,” Katniss said quickly, “you don’t have to answer, that was really personal.”
“No,” Peeta said, “it’s okay. It’s just kind of a long story.” He shifted how he was sitting. “My family has always owned a bakery, in the city I grew up in. But a bit over a year ago we lost it; there was an oven explosion and it burnt down. That’s how this happened,” Peeta pulled up the bottom of his pants to show his prosthetic leg. “We lived above the bakery, so we lost pretty much everything. Afterwards everyone was trying to help us, and give us things, and my mom hated it. She didn’t see it as people being nice, only as people looking down on us. And me especially, I was in the hospital for a while, and even when I got out she said people were only taking pity on me because of my leg. My mom couldn’t stand it. It’s one of the reasons we moved.”
Katniss opened her mouth, but nothing came out.
“Sorry,” Peeta said, “that was really intense.”
“No,” Katniss said, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry you went through that. That sounds terrible,” she said honestly.
“It was,” Peeta said.
Katniss took a bite of her sandwich.
“Can I ask you something?” Peeta asked.
“I can’t really say no after what I asked you,” Katniss said, trying to make a joke.
To his credit, Peeta did smile, but it faded before he said, “yesterday, the way Haymitch mentioned your mom made it seem like…” he trailed off.
“My mom’s not around much,” Katniss finished for him. “It’s also a long story.” She pushed her hair out of her face. “My dad died when I was 11, so my mom has to work a lot to support us. She’s a nurse, so her shifts are long and she mostly works nights. Even when she’s not working, she’s not always around.” Katniss looked down at her hands. She didn’t talk about this often— she actually wasn’t sure she had told anyone before. “I look too much like my dad, and she can’t stand being around me. She and my dad were soulmates, and seeing me and being around the house reminds her of him.”
“Wow,” Peeta said, “that’s heavy.”
Katniss nodded.
“I guess neither of us have the mother of the year,” Peeta said.
Katniss, unexpectedly, laughed. “I guess not,” she said.
—
After that, Katniss started noticing when Peeta was home, which was most of the time, and when the rest of his family wasn’t, which was also most of the time. When she asked him about it, Peeta told her that they worked a lot. From the stories he told her while they were walking to and from Haymitch’s, Katniss was almost certain that he used to work for them back in the town he grew up in, but it didn’t seem like he worked at his parents’ bakery anymore.
Katniss tried not to notice what Peeta was doing when he was home, but she found that she looked for him when she doing things in her yard. He seemed to be the one who did the yardwork at his family’s house, but other than that, she didn’t know what he did with his time. Homework, presumably; Katniss had seen the mark on the top of a test that had been returned to them, and it had been quite high. But that couldn’t possibly take up all of his time. Katniss wasn’t sure why she cared; she had never even thought about what her old neighbour had done in his free time.
By the next week, Katniss and Peeta had made enough progress that they needed to find a way to get the junk they had piled up in the driveway to the dump.
When Katniss had started trying to clean up Haymitch’s yard, she had planned on asking Hazelle to borrow her truck, but now Katniss didn’t want word to get to Gale that Katniss was spending time with a boy. She didn’t want to hide anything from Gale— not that there was anything to hide between her and Peeta —but Katniss felt weird about him knowing.
Peeta solved that problem. “Delly said we can use her dad’s truck on Saturday,” He told her.
Katniss hadn’t been aware that Peeta had been telling anyone that the two of them were cleaning Haymitch’s yard. Not that he wasn’t allowed to talk about their job. Katniss had noticed that he and Delly Cartwright seemed to be getting along well. She ignored the feeling that it gave her, seeing the two of them talking between classes and eating lunch together. She refused to feel jealous.
So, on Saturday, Peeta walked into town to pick up the truck. Katniss had offered to go with him, but Peeta had insisted that she stay home so she wouldn’t fall behind on all of the chores she did in the morning. Katniss hadn’t realized that he had noticed her and Prim out working in the mornings.
-
Katniss was hanging the laundry in the back when she heard Prim’s panicked voice calling her. She dropped the basket of clothes and ran to the front yard.
Prim was standing under a tree, tears streaming down her face.
“What’s wrong?” Katniss asked, grabbing on to Prim. She looked her up and down, searching for an injury, but Prim appeared fine.
“Buttercup,” Prim said, pointing up.
Katniss followed her gaze and saw Prim’s cat, Buttercup, high in the branches of the tree. He let out a pitiful meow.
Katniss let go of Prim and the tension she had been holding since hearing Prim’s yell dissipate. “Don’t scare me like that,” Katniss chastised, but there was no real weight behind her words.
“He-he’s stuck,” Prim hiccuped. “I don’t think he can get down.”
Katniss had never been the fondest of that stupid cat, but Prim had been smitten with him since the day she had found him in her goat’s pen, so Katniss mostly kept her opinions to herself.
She let out a sigh before walking over to the tree and starting to hoist herself up into the branches.
“Be careful,” Prim sniffled, watching Katniss ascend.
The stupid cat had managed to get himself at least 15 feet in the air, so Katniss had a ways to go. She pulled herself onto the main branch Buttercup was on, and slowly started sliding her feet out towards Buttercup as she held onto a branch above her. The wind was lazily blowing the branches.
Buttercup hissed.
“Yea, yea,” Katniss grumbled at him.
There was a strong gust of wind as Katniss was moving her hand, and in her wild grab at the branch, she missed and her hand connected only with leaves. Her foot slipped, and her grip on the branch with her other hand wasn’t secure enough.
Katniss fell out of the tree.
She heard Prim’s shriek as she landed on the ground under the tree, the wind knocked out of her.
Katniss tried to catch her breath. Her ankle was screaming in pain. Prim was yelling and crying, and Katniss could feel her leaning over her, examining Katniss the same way Katniss had examined Prim just minutes ago.
“I’m okay,” Katniss managed to get out. She opened her eyes and took another breath in. “I’m okay,” she said again, pushing herself up into a seated position.
“Are you sure,” Prim said, still panickedly looking Katniss over.
“Yes, I’m fine,” Katniss said. She went to stand up, but fire shot up her left leg. “Argh,” Katniss groaned, gritting her teeth and falling back to sitting on the ground.
Katniss took a breath before saying, “call Mom.”
They were only supposed to call their mom at work if it was an emergency, not that Katniss ever called her at all, but not being able to walk seemed like an emergency. Katniss didn't know what else to do.
Prim nodded and started to get up when a truck turned into the driveway. Katniss saw that Peeta was driving.
He stopped and got out of the truck, looking bewildered between the two of them. Before he could ask what was going on, Prim changed her trajectory and started towards him.
“Katniss fell out of the tree,” Prim said quickly, “and she tried to get up but she can’t,” she continued as Peeta started towards Katniss, “and I think she has to go to the hospital.”
“I have the truck,” Peeta said. He got to Katniss’ side and kneeled down. Prim hovered over them.
“I’m okay,” Katniss said before Peeta could say anything, “it’s just my ankle.”
“Which one?” Peeta asked.
“Left,” Katniss said, her cheeks turning a bit pink, thinking of the soulmark on that ankle.
“Can I help you to the truck?” Peeta asked.
“I think you’ll have to,” Katniss told him.
Peeta nodded and put his arm around her back as she slung her left arm over his shoulder. She tried not to think about how close they were.
He pulled her up and supported her as she hobbled towards the truck. Prim continued to hover around them, helping by opening the passenger side door for them and climbing into the middle of the bench seat to offer Katniss a hand. Peeta ended up having to lift her into the truck and Katniss did not think too hard about that.
Katniss directed Peeta on how to get to the closest hospital two towns over, and when they got there he was out of the truck and around to her door to help her out before Katniss could protest. He helped her hobble into the waiting room, get checked in, then took her to a chair in the waiting room. As soon as she sat down, Peeta turned to Prim, handed her some change, and sent her to find a payphone and call their mom.
“You don’t have to stay,” Katniss said to him once Prim had left.
“I don’t mind,” Peeta said.
“Really,” Katniss said, “my mom can pick us up.”
“I have nothing else to do today,” Peeta countered.
“Go to Haymitch’s?” Katniss said as if it was obvious.
“Not without you,” Peeta said, quietly. “And anyways, Haymitch doesn’t like me that much.”
“Everyone likes you,” Katniss said because it was true. Their classmates liked him. Their teachers liked him. She saw him at the pharmacy once during her trip into town to get groceries, and he was chatting it up with the pharmacist.
“Not Haymitch,” Peeta snorted.
“Of course he likes you,” Katniss said, “he just puts up with me.”
“He likes you,” Peeta said. “You’re very similar.”
“Ouch,” Katniss said at the comparison to their grumpy neighbour.
“Not like that-” Peeta said quickly, eyes widening.
“It’s okay,” Katniss said, internally cringing. She didn’t want to make him feel bad. She could be a lot like Haymitch.
Katniss was thankful when Prim came back from the payphone. She sat down on Katniss’ other side.
“Mom is going to get off when she can and come down,” Prim said.
Katniss nodded. It’s what she had been expecting. Their mom couldn’t risk her job just to come sit in the ER; And Katniss didn’t want her to.
It took over an hour until Katniss got called back to be seen by a doctor. They brought out a wheelchair for her and wheeled her to a bed. Prim and Peeta followed.
A few minutes later, a doctor came in and introduced himself.
“What happened?” the doctor asked.
“My sister’s cat was in a tree,” Katniss told him, “and I climbed it to try and get him. I lost my grip and fell, and landed on my ankle. I can’t walk on it.”
“Mmm,” the doctor nodded, “which ankle?”
“Left,” Katniss said.
“Let’s take a look,” the doctor said. He pushed up the leg of Katniss’ pants, and pulled off her shoe and sock. Her soulmark was on full display.
Peeta let out a choked cough.
Katniss felt almost naked. Her cheeks were hot.
“This will need an x-ray,” the doctor said, examining Katniss’ ankle. He put it back down on the bed. “I’ll have a nurse bring you something for the pain.”
“Thank you,” Katniss said.
The doctor left. Peeta stood up.
“I have to go,” Peeta said, “I just remembered.”
“Oh, okay,” Katniss said, “thank you for driving me.” For a moment she wondered if he felt as uncomfortable as she did. He looked like it. But why would he? Just because her soulmark was personal didn’t mean he knew that. People saw soulmarks all the time.
“No problem,” Peeta said. He gave her a strained smile before slipping past the curtain, leaving Katniss and Prim alone in the hospital bay.
Once the medicine a nurse brought her kicked in and Katniss wasn’t distracted by the pain in her ankle, it was hard not to think about the look on Peeta’s face and the tone of his voice before he left.
—
Katniss’ ankle was broken, so they wrapped it up, gave her some crutches, and sent her home with her mom who had arrived by that point.
Her mom drove them to and from school when she could, though when she couldn’t, Katniss was still able to hop up and down the stairs of the bus with the help of Prim and Rory. She situated herself and her crutches in the first seat, Prim beside her, Rory and Vick across the aisle.
When Peeta got on the bus on Tuesday after school, he walked to the back, avoiding making eye contact with her as he passed.
On Wednesday, Katniss put a casserole she had made into the grocery wagon, and managed to pull it behind her as she hobbled her way over to Haymitch’s.
“Shit girl,” Haymitch said, all but running over to her when he spotted her coming up the drive, “what are you doing here?” He took the handle of the wagon from her.
“Working,” Katniss said flatly, “sorry about missing the weekend.”
“Peeta told me what happened,” Haymitch said. Katniss had guessed that someone had told him.
“Peeta’s been here?” Katniss asked.
“He came by Saturday evening,” Haymitch said.
Katniss looked around the yard and saw that the piles of junk were gone.
“You might as well come in since you’re here already,” Haymitch said, “but once you’ve had something to eat you’re going straight home. You shouldn’t be walking this far on a broken ankle.”
Haymitch took the casserole out of the wagon and made sure Katniss got up the stairs before opening the door for her and ushering her in.
“That boy was acting real strange when he came over on Saturday,” Haymitch said as he put the casserole on the stovetop and pulled the tin foil off.
“He was acting strange when he left the hospital,” Katniss told him. “He hasn’t talked to me since. He wouldn’t even look at me on the bus home yesterday.”
“That doesn’t sound like him,” Haymitch said.
“Guess something changed,” Katniss shrugged dejectedly. It had been bothering her that Peeta wasn’t talking to her, wouldn’t even look at her if could avoid it. Not that they were ever really friends, but Katniss had gotten used to hanging out with him more days than not at Haymitch’s. And maybe, though she wouldn’t admit it, she wanted to be friends with him.
“Guess so,” Haymitch said, but he was giving her a weird look.
Thursday and Friday were full of monotony. Katniss tried her best to keep up with all of the chores she used to do, but Prim stepped in and made her sit down a few times. Katniss developed a relationship of mutual respect with Buttercup after the cat became her only source of company while Prim was outside working.
Their mom didn’t have any extra shifts, so she drove them to school and picked them up. Since she was around, she picked up the slack on some of Katniss’ chores, though Katniss didn’t expect it to last once she was back on her feet.
On Friday, Prim insisted on going to the grocery store to get things for their family and for Haymtich. Katniss had missed her weekly grocery trip, and they were running low on fresh food. Katniss had been hesitant, and had only given in when Prim had pointed out that Katniss had been walking to and from the grocery store since she was Prim's age.
Now, Katniss was laid up on the couch, Buttercup purring loudly from the armchair adjacent to her. Prim had moved the radio to the coffee table so Katniss could reach it, so Katniss was listening to whatever songs the local station felt like playing today.
There was a knock on the front door.
Katniss frowned, pushed herself off the couch, and grabbed her crutches so she could make her way over to the door. She hadn’t noticed anyone coming up the drive, but she had also been laying with her back to the front window.
She opened the door to see Peeta standing on the step.
“Hello?” Katniss said, surprised to see him outside her house.
“Hi,” Peeta said. There was a beat of silence before he added, “Haymitch came to talk to me.”
Katniss furrowed her eyebrows.
Peeta glanced down at Katniss’ bandaged foot. “Do you need to sit?” he asked, “I have something I need to tell you.”
“Sure,” Katniss said, moving back to give Peeta room to come in. He closed the door behind himself and followed her to the living room.
After she sat, Katniss watched Peeta look between the empty seat on the other side of the couch, and the armchair that was still occupied by Buttercup. He chose to sit on the couch with Katniss.
“They’re not really sure,” Peeta started, staring at a spot on the wall, “if the soulmate connection still exists if you don’t have a soulmark anymore. That’s what the doctors told me when I lost my leg. My soulmark was on my leg, on my left ankle,” he looked down at his hands, “matching yours.”
Katniss her heart stop.
“I didn’t let myself hope that I still have a soulmate, so when I saw that you have a soulmark that matched mine I didn’t know what to do.” He looked up at her. “I’m sorry I left you at the hospital, and I’m sorry that I haven’t talked to you since. I’ve felt this pull, ever since I moved, and I don’t know if you feel the same thing, but Haymitch came to talk to me because he said you seemed upset and he said that I should tell you even if you might not feel the same.”
Katniss had to force herself to breathe. Peeta was staring at her with such pleading in his eyes, and dammit Katniss couldn’t even get up to pace, or go to the kitchen, or something because of her stupid ankle. She opened her mouth to say something, but her mind was going a mile a minute, and nothing was coming out.
Prim walked in the back door. Both Katniss and Peeta’s eyes snapped to her. Katniss could see Peeta’s ears turning pink.
“Oh hi Peeta,” Prim said. She put the groceries she was carrying onto the kitchen counter.
“Hello,” Peeta said, in a far more composed voice than Katniss would have been capable of.
“Peeta was just leaving,” Katniss blurted out before she even knew what she was saying.
Peeta turned to look back at her.
“Let me walk you out,” Katniss said, pushing herself off the couch and slotting her crutches under her arms.
“Bye,” Prim said cheerily as they walked to the front door.
Katniss pulled the door open, then moved out of the way so Peeta could get past.
He walked onto the porch, but turned and they made eye contact.
“I’m sorry,” Katniss said. It was all she could say. She closed the door.
As she walked back to the kitchen, all Katniss could see was the hurt on Peeta’s face. She lay back down on the couch, her back to the front window; she didn’t want to watch Peeta’s back as he walked down the driveway.
Peeta was her soulmate.
Peeta was her soulmate.
Peeta was her soulmate.
Katniss wasn’t supposed to find her soulmate. She wasn’t supposed to like her soulmate. She couldn’t deny that she had felt the pull. Wanting to spend time with him, more than if they were just friends; noticing what he was doing in his yard; blushing when he smiled at her. Katniss had never felt like that around anyone else.
But she didn’t want a soulmate. She didn’t want to fall in love and risk having her heart torn to shreds. She didn’t want to be vulnerable. She didn’t want to risk turning into her mother, too full of grief to even properly take care of her own kids. But for the first time, Katniss was questioning what she wanted.
Haymitch had told her that he didn’t want to see her at his house again until her ankle was all healed up, but Katniss decided to ignore his words and crutch her way down the road to visit him. As far as she was concerned, Haymitch had a part in this.
This time, Haymitch was on his front porch when Katniss turned up his drive. He didn’t get out of his chair as he watched her make her way up to the house.
“I thought I told you that I don’t want to see you here,” Haymitch said.
“What did you say to Peeta?” Katniss asked, ignoring Haymitch’s statement.
“I thought you’d be happier to find your soulmate,” Haymitch said.
“You know I don’t want any of that shit,” Katniss said, angry enough to curse, something she never did. She couldn’t believe Haymitch was acting like he did her a favor.
“Lots of people say that,” Haymitch said, brushing off her feelings.
“I mean it!” Katniss said. “I don’t want to fall in love and then one day have it all ripped away from me.”
“Yes you do,” Haymitch said. “You’re already falling in love with that boy. Do you think that ignoring those feelings is going to mean that staying away from him isn’t going to hurt? And if I had to go through it again I’d still fall in love and go through the pain of losing her. Love is worth it. I’d bet even your mom would say the same.”
Katniss snorted, “how would you know that?”
“Your mom and I are the same age,” Haymitch said.
Katniss couldn’t help her eyebrows flying up in surprise. She thought Haymitch was much older than her mom.
“Yeah, I know,” Haymitch said, “the years have not been kind to me. But I saw your mom and dad together. I saw how happy they were. Just because it’s hard now doesn’t mean it wasn’t worth it.”
Katniss was silent. Haymitch’s words were wearing on her.
“Sit down,” Haymitch said, gesturing to the only other chair on his front porch.
Katniss sat.
“I don’t know how I got involved in a bunch of teenage drama,” Haymitch muttered under his breath. “Tell me what happened.”
Katniss told him what Peeta had said to her, what she had said— and not said —back, and what she was worried about.
Haymitch was a surprisingly good listener.
When she was done, Haymitch finally spoke again. “I still think what I said before applies. You need to talk to Peeta. And apologize for yesterday,”
Katniss sighed. Haymitch was right.
“Seeing as he’s been spending every Saturday until recent here with you, I’d guess that he’s probably home with nothing to do right now,” Haymitch said.
Katniss groaned.
“Do you want a drink before you go?” Haymitch asked.
Katniss looked at him.
“Non-alcoholic!” Haymitch said, “I’m not giving alcohol to a minor. And you’re unsteady enough on those things completely sober.” He gestured to her crutches.
“Sure,” Katniss said.
Haymitch disappeared into the house and returned a few minutes later with two glasses of iced tea.
When she was done, Haymitch took her cup and said, “go.”
Katniss pushed herself off of his front porch chair and started making her way down the steps to start the slow walk to Peeta’s house.
The extra time it took to walk there gave Katniss extra time to think, but when she turned into his driveway and saw Peeta sitting on the front step, she forgot everything she had meant to say.
It wasn’t until she was halfway up the drive that Peeta noticed her. He stood up.
Katniss stopped about ten feet away from him.
“Hi,” Katniss said.
“Hi,” Peeta said carefully. He was guarded, especially compared to yesterday. Katniss internally cringed.
“I’m sorry,” Katniss said.
“It’s okay,” Peeta said. “It was a lot to put on you, and I knew that it was possible that you wouldn’t feel the same way.” He looked down at his feet.
“No!” Katniss said, “no! I’m sorry for kicking you out yesterday. I do feel the same way.”
Peeta looked up at her.
“I told you about my mom, and what happened to my dad. I never wanted that to happen to me, so I never wanted a soulmate,” Katniss told him. “But I- I like you. I’ve never felt this way about someone and it scared me. But I also talked to Haymitch, and he talked some sense into me.
“You- you feel it too?” Peeta asked.
Katniss nodded.
The biggest smile bloomed on Peeta’s face, and Katniss felt her face break into a smile.
Peeta closed the space between them and wrapped his arms around her. Katniss threw her arms around him. She heard her crutches hit the ground beside her.
“Is it alright if I kiss you?” Peeta asked after he had pulled away, a grin bright enough to envy the sun still plastered on his face.
Katniss nodded, and Peeta brought the hand that wasn’t steadying Katniss up to her cheek. She closed her eyes as he leaned down and pressed his lips against hers.
It felt like fireworks.