Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/674811.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Choose_Not_To_Use_Archive_Warnings, Underage
  Category:
      F/M
  Fandom:
      Hunger_Games_Series_-_All_Media_Types, Hunger_Games_Trilogy_-_Suzanne
      Collins, Hunger_Games_(2012)
  Relationship:
      Katniss_Everdeen/Peeta_Mellark, Gale_Hawthorne/Johanna_Mason
  Character:
      Katniss_Everdeen, Peeta_Mellark, Katniss's_Daughter, Katniss's_Son, Gale
      Hawthorne, Johanna_Mason, Haymitch_Abernathy
  Additional Tags:
      Teenagers, Teen_Romance, Smut, Humor, Explicit_Sexual_Content, Sexual
      Humor, Parody, Song_Parody
  Series:
      Part 3 of Peeta's_Pastry_Puns
  Stats:
      Published: 2013-02-07 Chapters: 15/15 Words: 53794
****** Mischievous Mellark Moments ******
by PeetasAndHerondales
Summary
     Sequel to Katniss' Kinky Cravings! Katniss and Peeta's four children,
     Adara, Orion, Rose, and Rue, are reaching adolescence and learning
     what it takes to make their parents go crazy.
***** Monstruating *****
Adara
I woke up with a start when I heard a tap on my window in the middle of the
night. I sat up and looked at my alarm clock: it was exactly twelve a.m. I
frowned as I heard another tap, and I realized that someone was throwing rocks
at my window. I pulled the covers aside and got out of bed to see who was there
as I walked towards the window and opened it. As I looked down, I gasped, and
my heart skipped a beat. It was Hunter Hawthorne. Just thinking about his name
made me feel dizzy.
He grinned up at me, his gray eyes shining in the moonlight, and said, "Are you
going to me let me in, my dear Dara?"
I blushed; knowing that I probably shouldn't, that we could get caught, but
even more ashamed about the fact that I wanted to let him in when I should be
upset at him. "Hunter! What are you doing here, are you crazy?" I hissed down
at him as he began to climb a nearby tree so that he could reach my two-story
window. But before I could continue to protest, he slipped inside my room, his
feet hitting the carpeted floor as his lips landed on mine.
I kissed him back despite myself, letting my body mold into his as his warm
embrace wrapped around it. I took in his scent; he smelled like the woods, of
pine needles and fresh air and leather. His lips were unbelievably soft
and…wait a minute, he's in my room! I pushed him aside in alarm. "Hunter, you
need to leave before someone finds out you're here," I whispered urgently.
But he wasn't listening to me. He backed me up against the wall, right beside
the open window sill. "I just wanted to see you; I'm tired of hiding our
relationship," he replied as he pulled me closer.
I bit my lip anxiously. Ever since the Hawthornes had moved back in town to
expand their business and see their family, Hunter and I had gotten closer than
ever. Perhaps even too close. I knew that although our families got along fine,
my mother had never really forgiven Gale, and my father always stood by her,
saying that no daughter of his would ever become a Hawthorne. But Johanna and
Mom were good friends, so our families still talked to each other. "I-I don't
know, Hunter, if we tell everyone we're together, it may cause some tension," I
said nervously as he kissed my neck. I could barely think straight as I ran my
hands through his dark hair. My mother always said that he looked too much like
his father, as if his handsome features should repel me simply because he was
Gale's son. But I could care less about the resemblance, not when he seduced me
this way and his hands slipped under my shirt - no. I pushed him away again,
impatiently. "No, Hunter, not now. We can't. You should leave. Don't make me
say it again," I told him firmly, using my last ounce of self-control on him.
The last thing I needed to deal with right now was sexual tension.
His gray eyes looked hurt as he winced. I suddenly felt guilty about rejecting
him, but I didn't say so. "I'm sorry, Adara; I thought you wanted this as much
as I did," he said, confused.
"Yes, but this isn't the right time," I argued.
"Then I'll take you somewhere else later today, or" he began, but I cut him
off.
"No, not today, maybe next week, but definitely not today," I said quickly,
hoping that he would understand. Except he only looked even more confused.
"Why, do you have plans this whole week?" he asked tentatively, knowing that I
didn't have any more than I usually did. I could only hope that nobody could
hear us arguing, if my parents found out, they would kill me. Maybe not
literally, but they were perfectly capable of doing so, my mom especially. My
heart sank in dread.
I hesitated as I tried to decide what to tell Hunter. I knew that I had to
decide fast, because sooner or later we would get caught if we kept this up.
Maybe I should just tell him the truth. "It's my time of the month," I blurted
out, then instantly regretted it as he flushed. He obviously hadn't wanted to
know that. I looked down, embarrassed.
"Oh, umm, well, I'll uh…I guess I'll just go then," he said awkwardly. "I'll
see you later," he mumbled as he kissed me on the cheek. I said good-bye to
him, and he climbed out the window and left.
Orion
I had pretty exciting dream last night about Tara Hawthorne. So exciting, in
fact, that I had to get rid of it with a cold shower, but hey, at least I try.
Just as I was coming out of my room to head down to breakfast, I ran into my
older sister, Adara. She looked exhausted, not to mention extremely distracted.
I suddenly remembered that I had heard low voices coming from her room last
night, and I mentioned it to her.
"Did your boyfriend come visit you last night?" I asked teasingly. Her blue
eyes widened in fear.
"How did you know?" she asked in panic.
I shrugged. "I thought I heard some voices last night," I said simply.
"How much did you hear, exactly?" she pressed. Her room was right beside mine.
I chuckled. "Well, I didn't hear the headboard banging, if that's what you're
asking. And I don't know if the twins heard anything, but if they did, then our
parents might have too," I said.
She scowled at me. "We haven't done anything like that, Orion; not that it's
any of your business," she replied defensively.
I smirked. "No, not yet," I added knowingly, and she slapped my arm, but I
simply laughed.
"Don't think I don't know about you and Tara," she hissed threateningly.
I looked at her seriously. "If you don't tell, I won't tell," I told her.
"Deal," she agreed. And with that, we headed down to breakfast.
I was starving. As soon as I took a seat at the table, I grabbed a plate and
started piling up everything on it: pancakes, eggs, bacon, you name it. Today
was Dad's turn to cook, and he was much better at it than Mom, although neither
of us would ever say so. This was partly because it would hurt her feelings,
but more likely because she would kill us, or at least punish us for being rude
and ungrateful. Not to mention the fact that Dad was basically the woman in the
relationship. Not that we could say that either, because, again, Mom would kill
us, and Dad would probably cry. I tried not to laugh as I thought about this.
"What's so funny, son?" Dad asked me curiously as I stuffed my mouth with food
and swallowed it down with milk. I shook my head in response, still trying to
stifle a laugh.
"Orion, stop stuffing your mouth, you'll choke," Mom said disapprovingly.
"He's such a pig," Rose muttered, rolling her eyes. I scowled at her, and she
stuck her tongue out at me. And they say I'm immature.
"Rose, don't say that about your brother, he's a growing boy, and he's just
hungry," Dad said in my defense.
"Well, he has terrible manners," Rue commented as I continued to stuff my
mouth, ignoring them all.
"Don't worry, Rue, if he chokes, we can all laugh at him," Adara assured her
with a grin.
"That's enough, girls, leave your brother alone," Dad said. "And Orion, please
chew with your mouth closed," he told me.
I did as he told me, and looked up at my annoying sisters. I noticed they were
especially irritating today, and Mom looked extremely unhappy. Dad seemed to be
avoiding her gaze. I'll never understand women.
Peeta
Katniss had been acting very grouchy lately, and she had been having more
nightmares than ever. I had tried to help her, but she wouldn't even let me
touch her anymore. And my daughters seemed to be in an awful mood too. I
wondered if this was a woman thing.
"Ugh, I poured orange juice in my cereal! I can't do anything right today!"
Rose whined.
"Ew, Rose, get your cereal away from me, you know I'm allergic to gluten!" Rue
exclaimed. The fact that one of my daughters was allergic to gluten made me
very sad, as I could never bake her anything, but I still taught her how to
paint, and she seemed to enjoy that.
"Rue, don't be ridiculous, being near it isn't going to kill you; it's only if
you eat it," Adara told her.
"Well, being near Rue's bacon is making me sick, since I'm a vegetarian!" Rose
said as she scooted away from Rue.
"Oh, that's enough, all of you! Can't we ever just have breakfast as a family
without everyone fighting?" Katniss finally snapped, and everyone instantly
became quiet.
I sighed, and everyone except Orion and I got up from the table to go watch
television. Katniss turned on the television and a sad romance movie began
playing. All of the girls gathered up around her, and before I knew it, they
all started crying. I frowned. Katniss didn't even like sappy love stories. As
for the girls, it made no sense why they were all acting so sensitive today. It
was then that I turned to look at the calendar, and my heart sank. I had heard
rumors that women living near each other could be on the same cycle, but this
was just outrageous. There were four women in my house, and they all knew how
to use a bow…the weapon, that is. And anyways, wasn't Katniss too old for that?
I instantly regretted having that thought, since I wasn't so young anymore
either, and my hair was graying. At least Katniss still looked young and
beautiful. It was then that it hit him…why Katniss was so grumpy, why all of a
sudden she became so sensitive. She wasn't going through the same thing as the
girls…she was going through the opposite. He gulped.
It was then that Orion that looked at him in shock. "What's wrong, Dad?" he
asked.
I hesitated, "They're monstruating, son," I whispered ominously. "We better get
out of here before it gets ugly."
His gray eyes widened. "You mean menstruating?" he asked.
"Sort of…except they might attack us, and your mother is going through
something different, but it's just as deadly," I explained.
We turned to look at them as we got up from the table. "Let's go to the store,
Orion," I said, loud enough for everyone to hear us so that they knew that we
were leaving. He nodded, and off we went as we headed to the front door. We
almost made it.
Katniss
"Bring us some chocolate," I said to my husband. I could really use something
that would cheer me up.
"And some tea!" said Rose.
"And some pain pills," added Rue.
"Daddy, can you bring me some tampons?" Adara asked distractedly. I turned to
my daughter in surprise. Peeta and Orion looked uncomfortable, and Rose and Rue
started giggling.
"What?" Adara asked, looking around at us.
"Honey, I told you, virgins don't use tampons," I said patiently.
"Mom, that's not true," she scoffed.
"Dara's not a virgin!" said Rose.
"Yes, I am!" Adara fought back.
"Don't think we didn't hear you and your boyfriend last night," Rue taunted.
"Uh…I didn't hear anything," Orion said helpfully as Peeta and I gaped at our
eldest child.
"Adara, is this true?" I asked her.
"And if so, why didn't you tell us that you had a boyfriend?" Peeta asked,
hurt.
"Mom, I am a virgin, and the reason I didn't tell you that I was seeing someone
is because I was afraid of how you would react," she explained nervously. I
studied her carefully. There was something she wasn't telling me, but I didn't
know what it was. I knew that she had been hiding something for a while, but I
figured she would come out and tell us when she was ready. I hoped that she
would tell us now.
"What are you afraid, of exactly?" Peeta asked her patiently.
"She's dating Hunter Hawthorne," Rose said mischievously.
"And Orion is dating Tara Hawthorne; that's why he's defending Adara," Rue
added with relish.
We all gaped at the twins as they smiled at each other knowingly. "How did you
little scoundrels know about this?" Orion demanded angrily.
"And how long have you known?" Adara asked, perplexed.
"Forget about that; what I want to know is why your father and I didn't know
about this!" I yelled impatiently.
"Do the Hawthornes know about this?" Peeta demanded, looking at Adara and
Orion.
They both shook their heads, "No, nobody was supposed to know! I was afraid
that it would cause more tension between our families, and cause the Hawthornes
to move away again!" Adara said exasperated; she looked like she was on the
verge of tears.
"But we had to find out eventually!" I pointed out.
"We just didn't think about that," Orion admitted.
Peeta exhaled. "All right, that's it, you're both grounded. Tomorrow morning,
you're going to help me ice cakes at the bakery…all day. And Orion, you and I
are going to have a discussion about how you need to keep your bosco stick in
you pants and your frosting under control."
"Dad, you're embarrassing me!" Orion blushed as his sisters cracked up. I
rolled my eyes. I then turned to Adara, knowing that I would have to talk to
her as well…and this was not a discussion that I was looking forward to. I only
hoped Gale Hawthorne's son was better than his father.
***** Malarkey *****
Rose
It's been a week since Adara and Orion got grounded thanks to me and Rue, and
today is their last day working at the bakery with Dad. Actually, we're all
supposed to help out at the bakery every once in a while (except of course for
Mom and Rue), but not full-time, like Adara and Orion do when they get in
trouble. I, of course, love baking. Dad says I inherited the Mellark gift, and
that I will also inherit the bakery when I grow up. Orion prefers hunting and
painting things in the forest, and Adara prefers anything artistic-singing,
dancing, painting, and playing instruments. And then there's my twin, Rue, who
is completely allergic to gluten and cannot appreciate my gift. Fortunately, we
both love singing and causing trouble. Rue is like Mom just as much as I'm like
Dad-she loves to hunt. And of course, I'm a vegetarian, so I never eat anything
she catches, just like she never eats anything I bake. It's a win-win
situation, really, since that way neither of us feels bad about rejecting the
other.
"Rose, can you go get the mail?" I heard Dad ask as I was placing cupcakes in
the bakery oven. Adara and Orion were icing cakes, since they were better at
decorating than baking.
"Sure," I replied as I closed the oven door and went outside to retrieve the
mail. This was my opportunity. In front of the bakery was the butcher shop, and
in front of the butcher shop were the hot butcher boys. I may not like to eat
meat, but I knew how to appreciate it. The butcher's sons were irresistible. As
I walked towards the mail box, I noticed that Rue had already beat me to it:
she was selling one of her squirrels to one of them while outrageously flirting
behind Mom's back as she traded with their dad.
"Rue!" I called out as I approached them. Rue turned around in surprise, red-
faced and embarrassed that I had caught her in the act. "Aren't you going to
introduce me to your new friends?" I asked innocently.
"Oh, of course," she said as she tried to recollect her composure. "Rose, this
is Stike, and over there is his identical twin brother, Stark; Stike and Stark,
meet my fraternal twin sister, Rose," she said as she pointed to each one of
us. Stark approached me as Stike said hello to me, and I said hello back.
"It's nice to meet you, Rose…what a lovely name," Stark said to me as his
piercing green eyes locked on mine. I almost melted. He and his brother were
definitely identical: identically sexy. They were both tall and muscular, since
they were at least one grade above me and Rue, and they had short brown hair
and emerald green eyes. Of course, they also smelled like raw meat and were
wearing bloody aprons, but I was willing to look beyond that. Mom and Dad were
always talking about how true love takes sacrifice, so maybe this was it for
me.
"Thanks, I like your name too," I said smoothly as I gave him a flirty smile.
"Cute apron," he said in response. I looked down at my bakery apron and
flushed. It said: "Mellark Bakery: Spread the Loaf." Dad was so corny
sometimes. The "a" in Mellark was a mockingjay and the "o" in loaf was a pink
heart. And this was the most normal apron. His apron at home said "Kiss my
buns," which for some reason Mom thought was hot. I shuddered. Speaking of Mom,
she was now glaring at us.
"Rose, shouldn't you be working at the bakery? And Rue, we need to go home
now," she told us sternly as her gaze switched suspiciously from us to the
butcher twins. They said goodbye to us and retreated silently to the back of
their shop. I tried not to look too deflated.
"Yes, mom," Rue and I chanted at the same time as I went back to the mail box
and Mom and Rue headed home. I took out Dad's Baker's Monthly magazine and went
back inside the bakery.
"Finally, what took you so long?" Dad exclaimed as I went behind the counter.
Orion was smirking at me; he was now ringing up the cash register at the front
counter. He had probably seen me and Rue flirting with the butcher's
sons…great. I needed to distract Dad before he said anything.
"Sorry, Daddy, I just ran into Mom and Rue and got distracted. But look what
just arrived in the mail! It's your Baker's Monthly magazine!" I said
enthusiastically as I waved it in front of me.
He instantly looked up. "Oh, sweet Mockingjay, finally, I've been waiting for
this issue to arrive all month!" He exclaimed excitedly as he took the magazine
and started flipping through it like a giddy little schoolgirl. Adara rolled
her eyes behind him as I joined her at the back of the bakery. "Oh my cheese
buns; Grandma Betty has released her secret chocolate cake recipe!" he cried
out, almost in tears. Orion tried not to laugh. Adara and I simply ignored him
and kept working: he acted like this every time a new issue came out. We even
started calling it his day of the month behind his back. This was going to be
an interesting day.
Orion
Sometimes I wondered if Dad was secretly gay. But then I remembered that Mom
was the man in the relationship, so he would be okay. Today was my last day of
being grounded, and I finally had dirt on the twins. I had seen them drooling
obsessively over the butcher's sons, and Mom had caught them in the act. I knew
that Mom would forget about it though; it was Dad who had to find out that his
precious little twins weren't as sweet and innocent as he thought. Mom would
think that it was just some silly thing, but Dad would make a huge deal out of
it and talk about how they were too young to date boys. I remembered him doing
this to Adara when she was their age. It was hilarious. As soon as we closed up
the bakery, I waited for my chance and helped Dad sweep the floor while he
wiped the counter. Adara and Rose were done with their chores, so they had gone
home to eat dinner. "Dad, there's something you need to know," I began
cautiously.
He raised his eyebrow at me. "Have you been keeping your bosco stick in your
pants like I told you to?" he asked. I blushed. This wasn't going so well.
"Of course I have…and I've been keeping my frosting under control too," I added
sarcastically. "Anyways, this is about the twins, not about me," I explained.
"All right, what is it?" he asked warily.
"Well, earlier today, while I was ringing up the cash register, I saw Rose and
Rue through the front window flirting with the butcher's sons." I said
solemnly.
Dad's blue eyes widened in alarm, "What? My little girls? Flirting with boys
holding machetes? They're too young for that! Orion, what did I tell you about
watching over your sisters?" he exclaimed angrily.
"Dad, I wanted to intervene, but I couldn't just leave the customers unattended
while you and Adara were baking! Besides, Mom saw them and split them up," I
told him defensively.
He sighed. "Fine, you're right, son, I'm sorry for yelling at you. Let's go
home and discuss this with everyone else, okay?" he suggested as we finished
up. I nodded and we left the bakery, walking the short distance home. This was
it. I finally had my chance, and I wasn't going to lose it.
"Dad, can I go out tonight?" I asked him as we approached the house.
"Sure, son, just remember your curfew and don't leave the house until you
finish eating dinner," he told me. I agreed to this, and we entered the house.
As we walked towards the dining room, I saw that everyone was already eating
mom's famous lamb stew. Dad and I took our seats as Mom served us, and that's
when Dad turned towards the twins. I grinned in anticipation as I gave Adara a
knowing look. She only looked back at me confused, but she would find out soon
enough.
"Katniss, is it true that you saw the twins flirting with the butcher's sons
today?" he asked Mom as she sat back down.
Mom frowned. "I saw them talking to them, yes," she replied. "But perhaps you
should ask your own daughters as to how they were behaving," she looked up at
the twins; and, as Dad, Adara and I directed or gazes towards them, we could
see the twins shrink down in their chairs. Rue even gulped. I smirked. This was
just too good. Sweet, sweet revenge had finally come knocking at their doors.
"Well?" Dad asked them. "What do you girls have to say to that?"
"W-we were just talking to them Daddy; they're just friends," Rose mumbled, her
blue eyes wide with faked innocence.
"Y-yeah, we barely just them," Rue added softly.
I snorted in disbelief. "Oh, yeah? Then why were you flirting with them behind
Mom's back?" I sneered.
"We weren't flirting!" they both yelled at the same time.
"Orion, leave your sisters alone; I'll deal with this," Dad said as Mom gave me
a warning look. That shut me up. I wasn't going to lose my night out over some
stupid fight with the twins.
He then turned patiently towards the twins. "Girls, I already told you, you're
both too young to date boys. Your mother and I don't even approve of your older
siblings' relationships with the Hawthornes. Don't make us have to ground you
too," he warned them. They nodded obediently as they continued to eat their
dinner silently, but I knew that they were plotting. "Adara and Orion that
lesson goes for you too. You're allowed to date, but you better be careful with
the Hawthornes; we don't want to make our relationship with them even shakier,"
he said, looking at Mom.
"Johanna and I are good friends," Mom said defensively. "It's Gale that I can't
stand sometimes. Besides, Johanna has even admitted that her kids are often
difficult to deal with, which isn't surprising considering their parents, but
still," she said.
"What your mother is trying to say is that we trust you two to be responsible,"
Dad added.
Adara and I rolled our eyes at this. "Whatever, Dad, our family is crazy too,
it's not just them," I pointed out.
"And Hunter is very responsible," Adara said in his defense.
"Well, I hope so, otherwise I'll have to beat him with my rolling pin, or, most
likely, your mother will shoot him with an arrow," Dad replied, ignoring my
comment completely. We all tried not to laugh as he said this, since we knew
that was being completely serious. Not even Mom could take him seriously.
Rue
After dinner, Adara and Orion excused themselves so that they could go out. It
was so unfair. Rose and I had to stay home while they went and did who-knows-
what with the Hawthornes. After all, Mom and Dad had grounded them for lying,
not for dating. Rose and I had to wait until we were older, which was
ridiculous. I thought about this as Rose and I headed up to our room and gave
each other knowing looks: they would pay for this. Orion especially, and I
scowled at him as we ran into him in the hall. He was on his way out, and he
smelled like some awful cologne.
"Hey, don't look so glum, chums, you'll get your chance," he taunted us.
"Shut up, Orion," Rose snapped.
"This isn't over yet," I warned him.
He laughed at us as Adara came out of her room looking like she was heading to
a beauty pageant. "Quit fighting, you three," she told us as she headed
downstairs. But her heart hadn't been in it; she laws obviously too excited to
see Hunter.
"Finally getting laid, sister?" Orion asked as he followed her.
"Shut up, Orion, I swear, if Mom and Dad hear you say that, I'll kill you, you
unscrupulous mutt!" she hissed at him as they left. Rose and I turned to each
other and laughed as we entered our bedroom. I threw myself across my bed as
Rose sat in front of me on hers.
"So, what's the plan?" Rose asked me eagerly.
I grinned as I sat up. "It's simple, really," I began. Mom and Dad have paid us
for snitching before, so why not regain their trust? All we have to do is split
up and follow Dara and Orion on each of their dates. You follow Dara, and I
follow Orion. But we have to be careful so that we don't get caught. If we see
something immorally juicy, we take a picture of it and show it to our parents.
But they can't know that we did this on purpose. We'll have to put pillows
under our blankets so that they think we're sleeping," I concluded.
Rose considered that for a second, then said, "I don't know, Rue. The whole
pillow under the blanket trick is too old, and it may not work. Besides, what
if something bad happens to them? Do we call the cops? And how would we explain
to our parents that we snuck up to spy in the middle of the night? We need to
keep in touch, you know," she said worriedly.
"Malarkeys," I declared. "We're going to text each other the whole time, dummy,
and we obviously call the cops if something goes wrong, but we won't tell them
who we are. And if our parents find out, so be it, they'll understand that
we're doing this for them. We're Mellarks and there's no malarkey about that.
We are the daughters of two former Hunger Games victors, twin. It's in our
genes to survive this mission," I said dramatically.
Rose laughed, but finally agreed. I sighed with relief. "We need to hurry up if
we want to catch up with them, then," she warned as we instantly prepared
everything so that we could sneak out of the house. As soon as we were ready,
we headed downstairs quietly, so as not to disturb our parents, who were still
cleaning up the kitchen. Mom was washing the dishes as Dad dried them and sang
loudly off-key at the top of his lungs: "I set fire, to the bread! Watch it
toast, as my mom slapped my face! Let it burn, while I cried, 'cause my crush
was digging through our trash, our trash." Rose and I tried not to giggle as we
slipped farther away from them to get to the front door.
"Peeta, that's not funny, and it doesn't even make sense! You saved my life
that day, and now you're mocking me?" we heard Mom say.
"Sweetheart, I'm just kidding, you know I love you," he replied; and that's
when we left the house, because we knew that they would start making out and
that was just gross because they were old. Rose and I shuddered in disgust as
we split up and went our separate ways to stalk our older siblings. This was
going to be a great night.
Adara
Hunter was waiting for me at the edge of the forest, where there was a cliff
overlooking the stars. His back was leaning on his expensive red sports car. He
looked up eagerly as soon as he heard me approach. "Hunter, why didn't you just
pick me up at my house?" I complained as I walked up to him.
His soft gray eyes gazed at me apologetically, "I'm sorry, Dara, I just wasn't
sure if your parents would really be okay with me showing up at their house,
but I'll make it up to you and give you a ride home later," he suggested.
I frowned. "Well I was grounded for a whole week, so I guess I understand," I
said as I leaned in to kiss him. He responded eagerly as I breathed in his
husky male scent and his warm tongue met mine. He wrapped his long fingers
around my dark hair just as I was running out of air. He let go of me as I
gasped, trying to regain my breath.
"Do your parents know about us?" I whispered.
"Yes, and they're not surprised. They also know about Tara and Orion. But let's
not talk about that right now. It's getting chilly out here; do you want to
warm up inside the car?" he asked me. I nodded as I headed around to the
passenger seat while he sat on the driver's seat and messed around with the
heater.
"It's not as easy to see the stars from this angle, but they're still
beautiful," I commented softly.
He turned to me, and even in the dark he looked heartbreakingly handsome. The
shadows overplaying his face provided a contrast that set me longing for
something to paint him with. "You're much more beautiful, Adara," he murmured
as he gazed at me intensely. The desire in his eyes almost made me forget my
own name, even though he had just said it.
"That sounds practiced, Hunter Hawthorne," I said teasingly. "How many girls
have you made swoon with that line?" I asked skeptically.
He smiled, and it was so radiant that for a minute I wondered if it was
daylight. "The only girl I want to make swoon is right beside me. Is she
swooning?" he asked playfully.
"Definitely," I admitted, unashamed. He then kissed me again, and this time, I
was bold enough to climb onto his lap, wrapping my legs around his waist.
Before I knew it, I was grinding against him, and he moaned in response. He
played with the end of my shirt, running his hands up over my belly, stopping
right at the edge of my bra questioningly. I then stopped kissing him and
looked at him directly in the eyes, and without saying a word, I pulled my
shirt up over my head. His jaw dropped in awe as I tossed it aside and slowly
removed my bra.
"Now, it's your turn," I said. He nodded numbly as he took off his shirt,
revealing large muscles that rippled throughout his upper body. He didn't stop
looking at my eyes, and I loved him for that. "Now you can touch me, Hunter," I
said gently as he slowly lifted his rough hands to cup my breasts. My body
shivered in pleasure, and I bit my lip. I closed my eyes as I allowed my hands
to explore his muscular chest.
"D-dara…" he whimpered, and I opened my eyes to see what was wrong. He looked
extremely uncomfortable, and that's when I noticed the huge bulge in his pants.
I wasn't sitting too far from it after all. He was excited, and I knew exactly
what to do about it. He unzipped his jeans at exactly the same time that I did,
and we scrambled awkwardly to the back of the car as we quickly shed the rest
of our clothes. I lay on the backseat of the car, with Hunter on top of me.
"Are you sure about this?" he asked me.
"Yes," I breathed.
He then slid down towards my hips, finally slipping inside me. I felt myself
becoming too stretched as he tried to adjust himself, and that's when I cried
out in pain as he took my virginity. "Adara, are you all right?" he cried out,
but then I realized that he hadn't been the only one. My eyes had been squinted
shut, and as I opened them I saw a figure holding a flashlight at the window.
"Oh, shit, it's the cops!" Hunter cursed as he tried to cover us with his
jacket, which had been draped over his seat.
But I saw the man's face, and it wasn't the cops. It was my dad. And right
behind him was my little sister, Rose, holding a camera phone.
 
***** Madness *****
Orion
The first thing I did after I left the house was visit Grandpa Haymitch. Tara
had sent me a text telling me to pick her up at her house and to bring some
booze. She knew I could get it. All I had to do was ask for it…without letting
my parents find out, of course. Adara let me borrow her car since she had gone
walking the short distance to the forest (and I refused to use Mom's minivan,
since Dad didn't let me use his car), and I drove the short distance to Grandpa
Haymitch's house. I could have just walked, but the idea was to get the car out
of the garage and not let my parents see that I had alcohol with me. I knocked
on his door as soon as I arrived.
"Come on in," I heard his raspy say. I stepped inside the dusty house, and to
my complete and utter lack of surprise, I saw Grandpa Haymitch sitting on the
table drinking white liquor. He was pretty old now, he was at least seventy,
but that didn't stop him from drinking every once in a while. My parents always
got on his case about it, but he never listened.
"Hey, Gramps," I said cheerfully as I took a seat in front of him.
"Orion, to what do I owe the honor? Are you staying out of trouble?" he asked
gruffly. He knew I wasn't.
"Actually, I was hoping you would score me some vodka for me and my girlfriend
Tara," I admitted. I figured I might as well get to the point.
He studied me for a second, and then laughed so hard he almost coughed up a
lung. "Are you serious, kid? You're fifteen!" he exclaimed once he had calmed
down and taken a swig of his bottle, his withered hands shaking with the effort
of raising it to his lips.
I frowned. "I know you gave my mom alcohol when she was around my age once, so
why not?" I asked, shrugging.
He then looked at me seriously, his bloodshot eyes digging into me like a sharp
knife. I tried my best not cringe. "Your mother was depressed because she was
getting sent into the Hunger Games again. I know that's not much of an excuse,
but there wasn't much I could do for her then," he said somberly.
"So then, that's a no?" I asked, disappointed. I didn't want to talk about my
mother's depression right now. It would ruin my mood.
He scowled at me, then. "No, Orion, your parents would disapprove. Your father,
especially, he would be very disappointed. Besides, I don't want any more
trouble with them. Get out of here, you stupid boy, before I decide to tell
them," he growled with finality as I stood up.
I sighed, trying not to get too angry, and started walking away. But I knew
where his secret stash was. As I left the house, I turned towards the outside
entrance of the basement and opened the creaky wooden door as I descended the
stairs. I turned on the light and looked around the grimy room, until I found
the shelf I was looking for. I grinned. Dozens of liquor bottles were arranged
in separate cubbies. I grabbed a bottle of vodka and another one of red wine.
That was probably not a smart combination, but I wasn't sure which one Tara
would want. That girl was trouble. And I loved trouble.
I hid the bottles underneath my jacket and sneaked back outside, making sure to
leave everything as it had been before. I then climbed into the car and placed
the bottles underneath the backseat. That's when I heard a strange noise. As if
someone else was nearby. "Who's there?" I called out suspiciously. I looked
around, but there was no one in sight. I shrugged, figuring that I had imagined
it, and drove to Tara's house. When I arrived, I parked outside the front curve
and honked the horn. She instantly came out running, her shoulder-length brown
hair blowing in the wind. She was wearing a red low v-neckline t-shirt and
tight jeans that showed off her curves. I tried not to drool as she stepped
inside the car and gave me a triumphant smile.
"Did you get what I asked for?" she asked breathlessly I started up the car and
began driving.
"Yeah, I stole some red wine and vodka from Grandpa Haymitch," I replied
smugly.
She laughed. "Nice one, Orion. Do you think he'll miss them any time soon?" she
asked.
I shrugged. "I don't know. Let's hope not. Where do you want to go?" I noticed
that I wasn't really driving towards any particular location.
"Let's go to the lake," she suggested excitedly.
"All right, sounds good," I said as I headed that direction. The lake used to
be Mom's secret place when she was our age, and she took us there every summer.
Eventually, everyone else ended up finding out about it and they had decided to
build a road there so that we wouldn't have to hike the entire distance. The
lake was still pretty remote, though, and the weather wasn't quite warm enough
to swim in it yet, so we would have some privacy.
Once we had arrived, I reached my arm back to retrieve the bottles as we
stepped out of the car. "Red wine, or vodka?" I asked Tara as we headed towards
the floating dock.
"I'll take the wine, and you can have the vodka," she said as I handed it to
her. We sat at the edge of the dock and struggled to pop open the bottles,
eventually succeeding. I ended up having to use my pocketknife to release the
cork from her wine bottle. She took a sip of her drink, so I did the same. The
alcohol burned in my throat.
"Do you want to go for a swim?" she suggested after a while.
I turned to her in shock. "Tara, I don't think that's a very smart idea at this
time of year, not to mention the fact that we've been drinking," I pointed out.
"So? Don't tell me you're scared," she taunted.
"We could get hypothermia!" I exclaimed, trying to reason with her.
She rolled her eyes. "We'll be fine, Orion, we won't be there for that long.
Besides, I'm bored. Come on, live a little," she said as she stood up and began
taking off her clothes. I tried not to gape at her as she removed her bra. Was
she seriously going to go skinny-dipping? Sure enough, soon, she was completely
nude, and before I knew it, she had jumped into the lake.
"Tara!" I yelled frantically as I waited for her to resurface. My heart pounded
loudly against my chest. What if she drowned? A few terrifying seconds later,
however, she came out for air. My eyes widened as she smirked at me. "What the
hell do you think you're doing? You scared me half to death, damn you!" I
screamed angrily at her.
She chuckled. "I'm fine, quit your nagging. The water feels great! You don't
know what you're missing out on," she said seductively.
I gulped. "What do you mean?" I asked; I had the feeling that she was being
suggestive. This girl was going to be the end of me.
She smiled mischievously and winked. "Oh, let's just say that if a
certain someone jumped in here with me, I might let him touch me, among other
things," she replied brazenly.
This time, she didn't need to tell me twice. I tore off my clothes as fast as I
could and jumped inside the lake after her. The water was freezing cold at
first, but I got used to it pretty soon as I swam frantically towards her and
scooped her up in my arms. Her bare wet body was slippery, but I held on to her
determinedly as I kissed her ardently. She wrapped her arms around my neck in
response as she tangled her hands in my hair. I could feel the peak of her
breasts against my chest as I wrapped my arms around her naked back. She gasped
as I ran my hands up and down her body, playfully teasing her skin. "We need to
get out of the water," I exhaled as soon as we had broken our kiss.
"Why?" she pouted. "I thought we were having fun," she whined, her wide-set
brown eyes looking at me dejectedly.
I hesitated, not wanting to admit that I was afraid we would drown. "Well,
let's just say that there are certain things I want to do to you on land," I
teased.
She grinned, "Oh, I don't know…maybe we could do those things in the water
too."
I chuckled, "I don't think so, mermaid," I replied. Eventually, she agreed with
me, and we swam back towards the shore. We were freezing as we ran to retrieve
our clothes and liquor at the dock. We dried ourselves with my jacket and took
and took a swig from our bottles to warm ourselves up. "Oh, shit," I muttered.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"We've drunk half of the bottles already," I told her. My head felt fuzzy.
"You're drinking from my bottle, Orion," she pointed out giggling. I looked
down and realized that, sure enough, we had traded drinks. I hadn't even been
paying attention to what I was drinking. I had been too busy staring at Tara,
who was still naked. I had memorized her tan lines.
I frowned. This couldn't be good…could it? And did I really care? But before I
could decide, Tara pulled me in towards her as she lay down on the wooden dock;
our clothes spread out underneath her. I lay on top of her, seeking her body
heat. She kissed me again, then, and my head swam in a daze. I began trailing
kisses down her neck, her wet hair shining in the moonlight, and just when I
was starting to get excited, I heard a voice call out my name.
"Orion!" Tara and I jumped up at the same time, and I looked up guiltily to see
who had caught us. My heart sank as I saw two familiar figures approach us. One
of them was very angry, and the other one couldn't look more gleeful.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, put your clothes on!" my mom
screamed. Rue took a picture and laughed.
Adara
I was dead. Adara Mellark had died of shame and she wasn't coming back. Or so I
told myself as my father opened up the door and saw us naked. I tried to cover
myself with Hunter's jacket as my dad grabbed Hunter and pulled him out of the
car angrily, shutting the car door so that I could have my privacy. He hadn't
looked at me. He had taken Hunter outside with him, who still wasn't wearing
anything, and I noticed that Rose had left. That little snitch, I thought
furiously as I pulled my clothes back on.
Meanwhile, my dad was outside yelling at Hunter, "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK
YOU WERE DOING WITH MY DAUGHTER?"
"S-sir, we're just two young people in love, you must understand-"Hunter began.
"YOU WERE HIDING HER IN YOUR CAR! WERE YOU RAPING HER? I SWEAR, IF YOU HURT
HER…" he yelled. And that's when I got out of the car and stood defensively in
front of a startled Hunter.
"Dad, don't hurt him, please, it was my fault!" I cried desperately. Dad was
holding his rolling pin in the air, about to strike Hunter with it, until he
saw me and put it down.
His blue eyes were pure, cold, ice as he looked at me. "You…" he whispered. And
then he looked down at the state of my clothing and glared furiously back at
Hunter, and then back to me again. "Why is there blood on your clothes, Adara?"
he asked softly, his voice hollow.
I looked down at my rumpled clothing and vaguely remembered that I had been
lying on my shirt when I had lost my virginity. Well this couldn't be good. I
was wearing the evidence. "I-I lost my virginity, and I bled a little," I
mumbled, my voice shaking. My father tensed as he gripped his rolling pin, and
for a second I feared that the tracker jacker venom in his system would cause
him to have one of his rare anger attacks, the ones where he would try to
strangle my mother as his pupils dilated into black and awful nightmare ran
through his head…but no. He relaxed again as his eyes softened and gazed at me
with nothing but heartbreaking disappointment. It was the worst feeling in the
world.
He finally tightened his jaw as he looked back at Hunter, "I'll have to tell
your parents about this. I don't want to see you near my daughter ever again.
If you even touch her again, I'll kill you," he said coldly. "Let's go, Adara.
We'll meet Hunter back at the Hawthorne's." And with that, we left.
Katniss
Where was my bow and arrow when I needed it? I wondered this as I saw Orion and
Tara scramble up drunkenly to retrieve their clothes. I told Rue to go back
inside the car after I had picked up the bottles of liquor and told her to take
them with her. I noticed that they had consumed half of each one, and that one
of them was vodka and the other one was wine. Stupid kids…they would probably
end up sick the whole week. They were lucky they hadn't died of hypothermia in
this weather. At least they didn't seem to need urgent medical attention.
"Orion, what is wrong with you? You know better than to act this way! Your
father and I have warned you against drinking alcohol; you see how Haymitch is,
and this is what you do? And as for you, Tara, I'm taking you home right now
and letting your parents know about this. You two could have died," I
emphasized the last word, my voice shaking with anger, or perhaps cold inner
fear. I didn't want to think about what could have happened to them had I not
come sooner.
"Mom, I'm sorry, we didn't mean to-" Orion stammered.
"Shut up, Orion, I don't want to hear any excuses!" I screeched furiously as I
lost my temper. The last of my patience was gone. They had finally finished
getting dressed, and I took that opportunity to grab Orion by the ear and Tara
by the arm as I pulled them with me towards the car. They whined and complained
that they could walk by themselves, but that was hardly true. They were
stumbling the whole way, and they both reeked of alcohol. Soon, I had all of
them piled up inside the minivan as I drove to the Hawthorne's house, taking
the keys to Adara's car and locking it so that Peeta and I could retrieve it in
the morning. I was glad that they hadn't driven around drunk; so many things
could have gone wrong.
As soon as I arrived to the Hawthorne residence, I noticed that we weren't the
only ones there. Peeta's car was already in the driveway, and I parked right
beside it. Earlier that night, Peeta and I had checked up on Rose and Rue, only
to discover that they were missing from their beds. Not long after that, they
had messaged us, saying that they had gone spying on their older siblings and
that they were in trouble. So Peeta and I split up to retrieve our children,
only to discover them misbehaving. Peeta's car made it clear that Adara and
Hunter had made poor choices as well.
I sighed, and Rue and I helped Orion and Tara out of the car as we walked
towards the Hawthorne's house. Johanna opened up the door and gasped at the
sight of her daughter. "TARA, YOU LITTLE BITCH! WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT
DRINKING?" she screamed as we stepped into her house and she pulled Tara in by
the hair. Just as I was about to explain to her what had happened, I saw
my own daughter sitting tearfully on the couch, with a bloodstain on her
blouse. Peeta was looking at Orion with the same shock in which I suddenly
regarded Adara.
"Adara what happened, to you?" I exclaimed worriedly as I ran up to her,
wondering if she was injured.
"She was fucking with my son, that's what happened to her," I heard Gale say
from a distance, and I looked up to see him holding Hunter by the arm in a
disturbingly tight manner.
"ORION WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT KEEPING IT IN YOUR PANTS!" I heard Peeta yell.
"Peeta, your son is drunk," I told him.
"WHAT?" he roared, and that's when he got up to slap him in the face at the
same time that Johanna slapped Tara. I wasn't so sure if I could strike my own
daughter that way, and I was suddenly angry at Peeta for hitting Orion.
"PEETA, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU, WE DON'T HIT OUR CHILDREN!" I screamed
at him at the same time that Gale yelled at Johanna for slapping Tara so hard
there were tears in her eyes.
"Stay out of this, Katniss, you take care of Adara!" he told me. I glared at
him, and that's when I noticed that Rose and Rue were sitting in the corner
eating popcorn as they watched us with wide eyes. Something about that didn't
register in my brain, so I decided to worry about it later.
"YOUR SON WAS SCREWING MY DAUGHTER!" I suddenly heard Gale shout as he came to
this realization. But before I could tell him that they hadn't actually gone
that far because I had stopped them in time, he threw himself at Peeta.
"WHAT THE FUCK GALE, YOUR SON NEARLY RAPED MINE!" I heard Peeta shout as he
punched him the jaw.
"YOURS WAS THE ONE THAT GOT MINE DRUNK!" Gale punched him back as Johanna and I
tried to stop them.
"YOU DIDN'T HEAR YOUR DAUGHTER SCREAM IN PAIN! DIDN'T YOU TEACH YOUR SON TO
KEEP IT IN HIS PANTS?" I heard Peeta yell in defense as he wrestled with Gale
on the carpet.
But just then, Orion came to his senses as he heard this, and threw himself at
Hunter, who had been trying to stop the fight along with Johanna and me. "YOU
RAPED MY SISTER, YOU FUCKING BASTARD!" he exclaimed, and landed on the taller
boy as he tried to strangle him from behind.
"Orion, that's not true! Leave him alone!" Adara exclaimed desperately.
Just then, Johanna left the room and came back holding an axe along with a bow
and an arrow. I looked at her gratefully as I took the bow, and we nodded at
each other as we came upon a silent agreement. I drew my arrow and let it fly
at the same time that Johanna threw her axe in between the two fights. My arrow
landed on the edge of Peeta's shirt, pinning him to the wall, and Johanna's axe
landed on the carpet, nearly impaling her husband, only missing him by a mere
inch as it landed on the empty space in between Gale's spread –out legs. Orion
and Hunter saw this with awe as Orion released Hunter and Hunter backed away as
soon as Orion began puking. Meanwhile, our husbands gazed at us with fear as
they stopped fighting and the room fell silent, save for Orion's intoxicated
vomiting.
"Now, all of you better stop fighting before Katniss and I decide to castrate
you all," Johanna said firmly, and I nodded solemnly in agreement as I
approached Peeta to retrieve my arrow. Peeta and Gale scrambled up instantly.
"Y-yes, Johanna, dear," Gale stammered.
"K-Katniss, I'm sorry, sweetheart," Peeta apologized.
"You damn well better be," I told him coldly. "And don't you dare ever
even think about hitting Orion again," I added, as I looked at my son
worriedly. He had finished vomiting for now, and he had left a mess on the
carpet. He looked like he was about to pass out. I then noticed that Tara had
fallen asleep on the couch beside Adara, who was wide awake and terrified.
"Maybe we should settle this problem another day," Johanna noted.
"Yes, I think we better go," I replied. Peeta and Gale looked like they were
about to protest, but both Johanna and I gave them warning looks, and they
stopped. Soon, we all headed home, leaving the Hawthorne house behind us,
perhaps once and for all. Meanwhile, Rose and Rue shut off their cameras. It
was then that I realized with dread that they had been recording the whole
thing.
***** Mischief *****
Peeta
I couldn't believe it. Karma was collecting my debt: I had caught my own
children having sex, instead of the other way around. Not only that, but the
twins had recorded every single thing that had gone on last night, including
the scandalous and embarrassing fight afterwards. Katniss and I had decided to
punish all of them; Adara and Orion were grounded until summer, and Rose and
Rue were grounded for a month for sneaking out of the house and making fun of
the situation. Not to mention the fact that they documented things that they
really shouldn't have. I thought about this as Katniss and I watched the videos
in the living room while the kids were at school.
"Oh no, you've got to be kidding me; I don't want to see this!" I exclaimed as
I watched Adara climbing into Hunter's lap. Rose had zoomed in on this part.
"Did he just touch her breasts? I'll kill him!" I yelled furiously.
Katniss merely frowned and decided to fast forward. Adara and Hunter had
disappeared into the backseat of the car, and Rose wasn't able to tape this,
thanks goodness. I exhaled in relief. Now it was time to watch Rue's tape of
Tara and Orion. My stomach turned. I didn't want to see this either. I was
disappointed enough already. The tape began playing, and it showed Orion and
Tara drinking alcohol; each one of them had a bottle. "Where did they get vodka
and wine from? " I wondered out loud. Surely Katniss and I didn't keep that in
our house?
"Where do you think?" Katniss asked.
"Haymitch? You really think he would do that?" I turned to her doubtfully.
She hesitated. "I honestly don't know what to think of Haymitch sometimes," she
admitted. "But there's also the possibility that Orion might have taken it
without his permission," she added.
I nodded. There was only one way to find out, and that was by asking Haymitch
himself. Orion would probably lie, and he was a good liar just like his father.
Not that I was proud of that or anything. "Do you still have those bottles?" I
asked her as we watched the screen solemnly. Watching our underage son getting
drunk was anything but fun.
"Yes," she replied, and, just then, something shifted in the screen. Tara had
gotten up and was now taking her clothes off in front of Orion, who was gaping
at her like a fish. She then jumped into the water, and Orion eventually ended
up joining her in the frigid water.
"Do you think we should show this to the Hawthornes?" Katniss asked me as they
soon came out of the water and started drinking again. They were still naked. I
shifted uncomfortably.
"Probably," I grumbled as we watched them make out before Katniss stopped them
from going any farther and Rue had shut off the camera. The video then skipped
to the part where we were all fighting, and my face turned red after seeing my
behavior that night. Everyone had overreacted though, not just me. No wonder
our kids misbehaved so much; they had learned it from their own parents, and
the same could easily be said about the Hawthorne kids. I told Katniss this as
she turned off the television.
She sighed, "Look at these pictures, Peeta," she said as she went through the
twins' gadgets and showed me the digital pictures, which were pretty much like
stills of the video. The only difference was that there were also pictures of
Orion's and Adara's expressions after they had gotten caught. I winced, and
told Katniss to delete them. The twins had taken too much evidence from those
scenes, to the point where it was just mischievously cruel of them to do that
to their older siblings.
"We need to go visit Haymitch," I finally decided. Katniss agreed as she stood
up to retrieve the bottles of liquor so that we could show them to Haymitch.
Soon, we were inside Haymitch's house as Katniss slammed those same two bottles
on the table in front of him. Haymitch had been taking a nap on the kitchen
chair, his head resting on the table while one of his hands gripped a bottle of
vodka as if it were his lifeline. He sat up, startled, as soon as he heard the
sound of glass clanking against wood. "Whu," he slurred as he looked up at us,
flabbergasted.
"Do you recognize these bottles, Haymitch?" Katniss asked impatiently.
"And tell us the truth," I added firmly. "Orion and his girlfriend Tara had
them, and we want to know where they came from," I finished.
"From their moms," Haymitch chuckled drunkenly.
I rolled my eyes as Katniss scowled at him. "He meant the bottles, you idiot,"
she snapped.
He frowned then, and his brow furrowed in confusion. "Well, yeah, it's vodka
and wine. Wait a minute! That's my red wine! Why are they half full?" he asked
sadly, his befuddled brain trying to grasp the concept of the situation.
"They're not half full; they're half empty. And if you don't know why this is
the case, then I'm guessing you didn't give these bottles to Orion and Tara,"
Katniss concluded with a grimace.
"NO! Of course not!" he yelled in defense.
"All right then; that's all we needed to know," I told him. "I'm guessing that
means that Orion must have stolen them from you, and we're truly sorry about
that. We'll have him make it up to you later," I promised him.
"Yes, it'll be part of his punishment," Katniss added grimly. Haymitch smirked
before passing out again.
Adara
I was grounded until graduation. No Hunter, no phone, no outings, no nothing
except for school and dance lessons. It was the only thing that I was allowed
to keep, as it was a fundamental part of my education. But even then I could
still paint, and sing, and play instruments if I wanted to. Only I didn't;
there was no beautiful melody in which Hunter didn't appear, and if there was,
I refused to hear it. It was just the same with art: I knew that as soon as my
paint brush hit the canvas, I would start drawing his eyes, or his hair, or his
smile. And this would not make me miss him any less than I already did; it
would not make me less heartbroken. I would never see him again. All that was
left was my body, an empty shell that danced ballet without a soul, twirling
and yearning for a different type of rhythm, a different type of dance. Maybe
all I wanted was a dance partner. I thought about this as I came out tired and
miserable from my dance class; it had not been a good day for me.
"Hey, babe," I heard a familiar voice say. I looked up in shock as I wandered
down the hall towards the exit. There, in front of the outside doors, was
Hunter. He had been waiting for me.
My heart leaped with joy as I ran up to him in delight. He spread out his arms
as I jumped on top of him, kissing him full on the mouth, unable to contain my
excitement. "Hunter, what are you doing here, I thought I would never see you
again, I love you so much, I can't believe this is happening," I blurted out
breathlessly as he released me and set me back down on the ground gently.
He cupped his hands around my face as tears escaped from my eyes. "Hey now,
don't cry," he whispered gently as he dried my tears with the edge of his
thumbs. His soft gray eyes gazed at me lovingly, and he added, "I love you too,
Adara, and you know I would never leave you, not for long anyway. I'll always
come back to you, and you know that. They can't keep us apart."
I nodded, and kissed him fiercely. I clung on to his shirt desperately, afraid
to let him go. "Oh, Hunter, what are we going to do?" I asked him desperately
as he walked me to my car.
"Well, we could always go to the same college," he suggested. "You said you
wanted to study the arts, right? Well, my father wants me to take over the
family business, so he wants me to go to college in District Two, but I'd
rather go to the Capitol with you," he told me.
I bit my lip nervously as we stood in front of my car door. "My parents aren't
very happy about me moving to the Capitol next year, but it has the best art
university in the country," I explained.
Hunter nodded sympathetically. "My parents don't like the Capitol very much
either, but it's our best shot, Dara," he reminded me.
I sighed. "I know…and I want us to stay together. But what are we going to do
in the meantime?" I asked him.
He grinned. "We'll sneak out, like we did before. Only we'll be more careful
this time. And we'll conclude that unfinished business we had in my car," he
teased as he wrapped his hands around my waist. "I'll meet you tonight in the
meadow?" he asked.
"Definitely," I agreed, smiling at him. "I better go now, before anyone sees
us. I need to get home before my parents come looking for me," I told him, and
I give him one last kiss before I got into my car and drove away.
Orion
I stormed out of my room angrily. I was tired of punching the wall, and it
wasn't doing me any good. As I walked down the hall, I ran into Rose and Rue:
the evil twins from hell. I scowled at them in disgust.
"What's wrong, Ori?" Rose asked me innocently.
"Don't call me that," I spat.
"Let me guess; only your slutty girlfriend can call you that?" Rue taunted, and
Rose laughed. I tightened my fists in fury as blood rushed through my face.
That's it. I would kill them.
"Shut up, she's not a slut!" I screamed at them, but they only laughed harder.
Oh, if only I could strangle them…but I needed to be stronger than that.
"Calm down, brother, we don't want you to have a fit," Rose patted me on the
shoulder. "You can't die of a heart attack this young! Who would we tease
then?"
"Yeah, just think about Tara's huge boobs, if that doesn't calm you down, at
least it'll make you happy," Rue teased. "But then again, we've all seen most
of her body already, and we can only hope that she didn't give you some awful
disease," she said this last part as if she were genuinely worried about my
health.
"What is that supposed to mean?" I growled, although I had understood
perfectly. I needed to keep a cool head. I had to get revenge on the twins.
But before either of them could respond, Mom yelled my name from the kitchen.
"Orion, go clean your room!" she hollered as the twins sniggered.
"And quit fighting with your sisters, we can hear you arguing from here!" Dad
added.
"But Dad-" I began to protest.
"I don't want to hear it, Orion! Rose and Rue, you better be cleaning your room
too!" Dad yelled.
"But Daddy, we're taking a break," Rose whined.
"Yeah, and besides, we're too lazy to clean our room," Rue admitted.
"WHEN I WAS YOUR AGE," Mom began. We all rolled our eyes. Oh no, here she goes
again, the twins and I muttered.
"…I HAD TO KILL CHILDREN. SO I THINK THAT THE LEAST YOU COULD DO IS-" she
continued, but I caught her off.
"Mom, you pull this speech on us all the time!" I complained. Seriously, I was
tired of it. And killing children didn't sound like such a bad idea, starting
with my sisters.
"CLEAN YOUR GODDAMN ROOM!" Mom screamed.
"ALSO, YOUR MOM DID IT ALL FOR THE GAMES, AND SOMETIMES I WANT TO CHOKE HER OUT
OF NOWHERE," Dad added randomly.
"Dad, why are you even-" Rose began.
"MY LEG IS GONE!" he roared.
All three of us groaned. There was just no arguing with our crazy post-
traumatic-stress-disordered parents. I wasn't even sure how any of this
connected with the fact that we were all grounded. "This is stupid," Rue
mumbled.
"I'm totally with you on that, twin," Rose agreed.
I smirked at them. "Hey, well at least you two are only grounded for one month.
Just think, after that, you can both go back to drooling over Steak and
Starch."
"Stike and Stark," Rue corrected me, annoyed.
"Whatever," I said, shrugging. "It's the same difference, really. Either way,
they probably won't even notice you. I mean at least my girlfriend has boobs,"
I pointed out, and walked away before they could attack me.
Later that day, after I finished cleaning up my room, we were sitting at the
dinner table and Mom was telling me that she and Dad had paid a visit to
Grandpa Haymitch. Apparently, they had found out about the bottles. I cursed
myself inwardly as she continued speaking: "…and your father and I decided that
you would make it up to him by cleaning his house and looking after him for the
next few months," she concluded.
"What?" I exclaimed, outraged. "Can't I just pay him back?"
"Definitely not," Dad said firmly. "We don't want him to keep drinking. And
besides, he's getting old, and he needs help going to the bathroom and such,
and you could help him with that," Dad explained.
"But that's not fair; I don't know how to babysit old people!" I pointed out.
My sisters giggled at this.
"Well, then you'll learn," Mom said with finality.
"Yes, because when I was your age," Dad began.
"Yeah, yeah, you cleaned up his puke and gave him a bath. I get it, Dad." I
responded.
"And as for you, Adara," Mom said, "You won't have to help your brother with
this, but you're going to work with your father everyday at the bakery. Rose
and Rue will stay home doing homework instead of hunting or baking until their
punishment is over."
"That's not fair, I got the worst punishment!" I complained.
"That's because you were drunk," Dad said coldly.
"But Dara was screwing with her boyfriend," I protested.
"And you would have tried to do the same with Tara if I hadn't stopped you in
time," Mom said matter-of-factly. "Not to mention the fact that you two almost
killed yourselves."
"But," I began.
"But nothing, you will take your punishment like a man and keep it in your
pants from now on," Dad said sternly. Once again, my sisters giggled at this,
and I glared at them this time.
"And I'm sure Adara will act more responsible from now on," Mom added as Adara
looked down at her plate, looking oddly guilty. "When your father and I were
your age, we would fall asleep by each other every night during the Quarter
Quell, and your father never asked for anything more until we were married,"
Mom explained. Dad looked at her fondly as he held her hand.
"You all know that met your mother when I first started stalking her when I was
five years old, and then got in a contest where I had to kill her when I was
your age. But what your mother is trying to say is that I respected her because
I loved her; and that Hawthorne boy wasn't being very respectful with you in
that car," he warned her. Adara blushed and looked like she wanted to protest,
but in the end decided to keep her mouth shut.
"So does that mean that you watched our video?" Rose asked our parents
hopefully. Was I seriously related to these two little monsters?
"Yes, yes we did, and we passed it along to the Hawthornes," Mom said as she
and Dad switched their gazes back and forth between all of us. What you and Rue
did was wrong, but so was what Adara and Orion did." So Tara's parents would
get to see my junk too? How embarrassing. Just kill me now.
"Which brings us back to the topic of why you're all grounded," Dad concluded.
"Orion, you will start helping Haymitch tonight by making sure he goes to sleep
in his bed," he told me.
"I'll go help him," Adara blurted out, and we all turned to her in shock. Our
parents soon smiled at her approvingly, and we were on our way. Adara could be
a suck-up all she wanted, that was perfectly fine with me. At least I wasn't
alone in this.
Rue
"Quick, Rose, we need to follow them!" I whispered to her as soon as our
parents had retired to bed and Adara and Orion had left for Grandpa's house.
"Who, our parents, ugh, that's gross, who knows what they're doing in there,"
Rose said with revulsion.
I rolled my eyes at her. She was such a blonde sometimes. "No, dummy, Adara and
Orion, we could record them cleaning up Grandpa's puke!" I said excitedly.
"But we already have that extra tape of them having sex with the Hawthornes
last night, can't we give it a rest?" she whined. "I don't want to get into any
more trouble, I want to see Stark!" she pouted.
"Shh, don't let them hear you!" I hissed. "Our parents can't know about that
extra tape! It's our secret weapon!" I hissed.
She groaned. "Fine, but just this once!" she agreed, and we sneaked out of the
house again.
Soon, we were outside of Grandpa's house, looking through the window as Orion
and Dara had him puke in a bucket. "Ew, that's gross!" Rose commented as she
recorded the whole event.
"Yeah, but at least he's not puking on them or on the floor," I pointed out.
"I wonder where they'll toss that puke." Rose whispered, and just as she said
that, Orion opened the window, and, before I could stop him, he threw the
bucket of vomit on us. Cold, chunky liquid landed on us, and I did my best not
to gag at the foul smell.
I held my breath as Rose began to throw up in disgust, dropping the camera and
adding more puke into the mix as Adara and Orion laughed at us from inside the
house.
"Whoops, my bad," Orion joked.
I looked at him and Dara with pure hatred before I grabbed my sister and we ran
back inside our house crying in repulsion. As soon as we arrived, we ran up to
our parent's bedroom to complain to them, and instantly regretted it. My dad's
head been in between my mother's legs, and as they looked up at us in horror, I
wondered if anything could have gone worse.
***** Master-Bait *****
Rose
I woke up to hear my dad singing in the shower. I covered my head with my
pillow; Dad sang the most embarrassing songs sometimes, and I was really upset
after what had happened last night. The last thing I wanted to hear was this:
"I've got a bakery got a bakery full of sunshine; I've got a cake and I know
that it's all mine oh, oh, oh!" Dad sang at the top of his lungs, horribly off-
key, as always. "Hunt all you want but you're never shake me; your snares and
traps are never gonna break me, oh, oh, oh!"
"Ugh, what's that awful song? It sounds like somebody's dying," Rue groaned
from her bed.
"It sounds like Dad's shampooing his head while puking butterflies and rainbows
and possibly killing unicorns with his voice," I replied. Rue and I laughed,
but Dad continued to sing, this time even louder:
"Bake through the day! Ice through the night! And in the morning, it's a sweet
delight!" he screeched.
"Peeta, shut up!" we heard Mom scream back. This time, we even heard Adara and
Orion laugh from their rooms. However, this only caused Dad to switch to
another, even more annoying song:
"When I walk out the shop," he began.
"Not again," Mom groaned.
"This is what I see," he continued.
"Peeta, stop," she said.
"Katniss is a-lookin' at me," he sang.
"No, I'm not!" she protested.
"I'VE GOT A LOAF IN MY HANDS AND I AIN'T AFRAID TO THROW IT, THROW IT, THROW
IT!"
"Are you done?" she complained.
"I SAVED YOU AND YOU KNOW IT!" He finished. We all let out a breath of relief
as we heard him get out of the shower. Finally, the baker concert was over. Rue
and I stumbled out of bed and headed to the kitchen, Mom walking behind us.
"Hey Mom, what's for breakfast?" Orion asked as he and Adara arrived shortly
after us.
"Whatever you want, just pour yourself some cereal or something," Mom grumbled
as she prepared oatmeal for herself while Rue and I ate our sugared cereal.
Adara rolled her eyes as she headed for the stove to fry some eggs. After a
while, Dad joined us at the breakfast table and took out some freshly-baked
bread out of the oven, which he had prepared for us earlier this morning. "So
what did you guys think about my new songs?" he asked us as he buttered a bun.
"Pass me the jam," Orion mumbled in response.
I tried to pass Orion the jam, but Dad dug his fork unto the table right in
front of it, and so I couldn't get to it. "THAT IS MAHOGANY!" Mom yelled as Dad
stabbed the green placemat on the table.
"I asked a question, and nobody answered!" he yelled back in defense.
"You killed the poor placemat!" Adara said.
"Forget the placemat, look at the table!" Rue added.
"Exactly my point," Mom exclaimed, outraged.
"I still want my jam," Orion grumbled as I passed him the jar.
"Dad, your songs are to die for!" I finally commented.
"Thank you, sweetie," he grinned at me as he glared at everyone else.
"No, seriously, they almost made my ears bleed," I said earnestly as he frowned
disappointedly while everyone else tried not to laugh.
Dad sighed. "All right, that's it. I was trying to diffuse the tension, but I
guess that's impossible with this family after last night's events," he said
grimly as we all turned to look at him seriously. "I know it's extremely
awkward, but it seems as if we've all seen each other have sex, so I'm going to
have to give you kids the talk," he explained calmly. Mom was blushing like
mad.
"Uh, Dad, isn't it too late for that? We already know about sex," Rue pointed
out confidently.
"Yeah, you and Mom showed us everything there is to know," I added brazenly.
"Hey, at least you two didn't catch them going at it when you were toddlers
like I did! I was scarred for life at the age of three, and I still remember!"
Orion exclaimed.
"Well, I never saw anything, but then again, I got caught," Adara added
embarrassed as she looked down at her plate.
"Well, I tried to give you two the talk when you were little, but your mother
got mad at me, so I had to postpone it, and I even forgot to explain it to Rue
and Rose!" Dad said sadly.
"Peeta, I already gave them the talk, you don't need to do it again," Mom said
awkwardly.
"Yes, but you're not as good with words as I am!" Dad persisted. This was true,
and this was precisely why we were grateful that Mom had given us the talk
while Dad had given it to Orion: Orion had the worst of it.
I decided that it was time to change the subject. "Mom, Dad, what about Adara
and Orion throwing puke on us last night, aren't you going to do something
about that?" I asked them. Last night, after Rue and I had seen Mom and Dad
doing obscene things in bed, we had run into the shower to wash the vomit off
and avoid them for the rest of the night. We hadn't even addressed them until
today.
Mom and Dad glared at our eldest siblings. "So it was you two who did that,"
Mom shook her head disappointedly at them. "This is not how we raised you two
to treat your little sisters," she added firmly, and you could tell that she
was thinking about Aunt Prim as she said this, for there was an ancient sadness
in her grey eyes. It was brilliant; Adara almost started crying and Orion
looked downright ashamed. Rue and I smiled at each other knowingly.
"This isn't funny," Dad told us as he noticed our silent interaction. Rue and I
instantly turned serious. "Rose, you and Rue haven't exactly been behaving
lately either, so you're still grounded. The only difference now is that Adara
will now help Orion take care of Haymitch, and I'm still planning to give all
of you the talk," he said ominously.
"But Daddy-" Adara protested.
"No 'buts,' missy," Dad said firmly. Orion held back a laugh, and Rue and I
rolled our eyes. He was so immature. "We're all going to the living room after
breakfast to begin this discussion," Dad ordered, and Mom simply looked at us
sympathetically. I shuddered. You know it's a bad sign if Mom, of all people,
feels sorry for you. I gulped. I only hoped that I could keep my breakfast down
for this.
Orion
I hated the stupid talk. As if Dad and I hadn't had this discussion a billion
times before! And now my sisters would be there to witness it too! Really, it
could only get worse from here, and we all knew it.
"All right, so here I have a bosco stick and a donut," Dad began as we all sat
around him in the living room. We all groaned. Mom was in the corner, covering
her face with her hands in shame. "As you all know, the bosco stick goes inside
the hole," he demonstrated as he tried to fit the bosco stick (why couldn't he
use a breadstick or a sausage?) inside the yeast donut. As expected, the donut
broke in half and we all laughed.
"Dad, you just failed," I informed him.
But Dad only shook his head knowingly. "No, no, you don't get it; this
is symbolic for the breaking of the hymen," he said as Dara began to blush and
look away in embarrassment. I smirked.
"The what?" Rose and Rue asked simultaneously.
"Didn't your mother tell you?" he glared at Mom, who was now frowning deeply.
"It's when a girl loses her virginity and sometimes-"
"Oh, that!" they exclaimed in unison as they suddenly remembered. I rolled my
eyes. This was getting old.
"Anyways, as I was saying, this can happen sometimes. Notice that the bosco
stick is too big, so it has to make room. Also, it has something inside of it,
see?" he showed us he squeezed the bread and white cheese oozed out of it.
"Ew!" the twins exclaimed in disgust. Well, at least they understood.
"Yes, exactly, and the magical cheese can make babies," he concluded. "And
that's why you should never attempt such a process until you're married," he
said sternly as he waved the bosco stick at us while glaring at my sisters and
pointing at me with it.
"Peeta, that has nothing to do with what they saw us doing last night," Mom
pointed out.
"Oh, yes, that! Well, sometimes your mother and I will get creative and do
things to please each other after we perform this," he explained carefully. I
tried not to gag, and I could tell that my sisters were having the same
reaction to this statement. "But it's only because we love each other," he
added quickly.
"How come she hasn't gotten pregnant, then?" Rue asked.
"Yeah, Mom told us she gave up contraception, right Mom?" Rose asked her as Mom
simply nodded uncomfortably. You could tell she hated this talk as much as us.
"Well, your mother can no longer bear children, as she is going through this
thing called menopause…" he trailed off as Mom stood up and interrupted him.
"That's enough, Peeta. I think it's time we split up this group. You can
continue talking to Orion if you want, but the girls and I have already talked
about this," she said with finality, and, with that, she walked off, with my
sisters following her in her wake.
I was now alone with my dad. Shit. "All right, champ, let's talk about guy
stuff now," Dad said triumphantly, as if I were seven years old or something.
"Dad, we've already-" I began, but he instantly interrupted me. No big surprise
there.
"No, Orion, listen to me. I know what I just told your sisters, but believe me
when I say that I understand you. Trust me, it may have been a long time ago,
but believe me when I say that I remember what it's like to be a sexually
frustrated teenager," he told me. "I mean, your mother has always been
beautiful, and she's been causing me erections since I was able to-"
"Too much info, Dad," I grumbled.
"Okay, sorry, it's just that I've always been in love with her, so I know how
you feel about Tara. But just try not to pitch up a tent in public, that's just
embarrassing. When I was your age, I would do that all the time, but I don't
think your mom ever noticed, thank goodness. I would sleep beside her every
night while trying to keep myself under control. Believe me when I say that I
know how hard it is-literally and figuratively. It was pure torture, but also
pure bliss, because holding her in my arms was the best feeling in the world,
and it was worth it in the end," he explained dreamily, his blue eyes fading
into the distance. I rolled my eyes. Dad was so cheesy sometimes.
"So, what's your point, Dad? I don't sleep by Tara every night," I scuffed,
even though I wish I did. And if I did, I would be banging her all night long
instead of simply holding her in my arms. Dad had some serious issues; everyone
must have considered him gay when he was my age. Mom was practically a lesbian.
I tried not to laugh at that thought.
"What I'm trying to say, is that even though you're not like me in that
respect, I know you're like me when you're done waiting. And I know you
probably won't be able to wait as long as I did, so I've decided to give you
this," he said as he took out his wallet and handed me a condom. I read the
label: bread-flavored. Huh…figures.
Dad grinned proudly. "They're called Baker's Fire; your mom and I love those,
but we won't need them anymore. They come in all sorts of types and flavors.
They get hotter as you go along too. Your Mom's favorite were the cinnamon-
flavored ones, but even more than that, she was addicted to the cheese-bun
–flavored ones, which is why it took her so long to get pregnant," he
confessed.
I gaped at him. "I thought it was because she didn't want kids!" I exclaimed in
surprise. "And I thought I was grounded; when am I supposed to use this?" I
asked him as I waved the condom.
Dad chuckled. "Well, that was partly the reason. And as for your girlfriend,
she'll just have to wait until you're not grounded. I want you to be
responsible from now, do you understand? I trust you, son, even though I
probably shouldn't after what you did," he said seriously.
I gulped. Now I just felt bad. Maybe I should change the subject. "You know
Dad, you just gave me a really bad image of Mom sucking on a cheese-bun-
flavored condom, and, honestly, that sounds really disgusting. I'll never eat
cheese buns again. And don't think I don't remember catching her doing that
when I was three," I reminded him. Now he was the one that looked guilty; score
one for me. "But don't worry, Dad, I don't blame you, since we're being
understanding and all. I just want to know what I'm going to do with all of my
sexual frustrations while I wait for Tara," I explained.
This time, he smirked. "Well, use the old master bait, of course. Unless you
want to get sick with all of those cold showers you keep taking; don't think I
don't know," he said, grinning.
I raised an eyebrow in puzzlement. "Master bait? Is that like, a new fishing
term or something?" I asked. "Don't you mean masturbate? And you know Mom would
kill you if she found out about this, right?"
He shrugged. "Yeah, but this is between you and me. Just pretend you're
fishing…for speedy sperm. And whatever provocative thoughts come to mind…that
will be you master bait," he concluded wisely.
I laughed. Maybe my dad wasn't so bad after all.
Adara
I met Hunter at the park today. I had sneaked out of the house for this, and I
fidgeted nervously as I waited for him while sitting on the park bench. So
nervous was I that I almost accidently killed him. It all happened so fast. One
second I was sitting there calmly, and the next he was sneaking up behind me,
trying to cover my eyes with his hands so that I would guess who he was. The
gesture would have been cute if it wasn't for the fact that he had scared me
half to death and I ended up throwing him over my shoulder, causing him to land
hard on the pavement in front of me. I gasped as I noticed that it had been
him.
"Oh, Hunter, I'm so, so sorry, baby, are you all right?" I cried out as I knelt
beside him worriedly. He was still trying to regain his breath, and I was
grateful that nobody had been around to see me nearly kill my boyfriend, but
also worried that he would need an ambulance.
"Dara," he croaked. His gray eyes were wide with fear and wonder.
"Yes, my love?" I asked as I leaned closer to him, wanting to hear every
precious word he said. Unfortunately, this only caused my long hair to end up
down his throat, since his mouth had been open in his attempt to breathe. He
gagged.
I quickly pulled my hair aside before I damaged him any further. What was I
doing? I had nearly killed the love of my life with an attack and now I was
trying to finish him off with my hair? What kind of girlfriend was I, anyway?
Couldn't I do anything right? "How did you learn to do that?" he finally
whispered as he regained his breath and began to sit up.
"Be careful, I don't want you to hurt yourself any further," I said quickly as
I placed my hands on his chest and stomach to stop him from sitting up too
quickly. Okay fine, it was so that I could feel his amazing abs, but still. "My
mother taught me, she says I need to know how to defend myself," I answered
him.
He grinned. "Well, that's certainly understandable. Your mom has always been
pretty bad ass. I just feel sorry for your dad," he joked as we stood up and
dusted off our jeans.
"Yeah, my dad's pretty strong, but I think my mom could take him any day," I
chuckled.
Hunter laughed, but then suddenly turned serious. "Just do me a favor and don't
tell anyone you took me down, okay?" he pleaded.
I smirked. "Why, are you afraid that all of your friends will find out that you
were taken down by a girl?" I teased him as I ran my fingertip down his chest.
He hesitated. "No, Dara, it's just that I'm already at your mercy, can't you
see? You already own me. You're driving me crazy, and I just want to be with
you forever," he murmured as he stroked my face gently. His gaze was so intense
it hurt.
"Why weren't you at the meadow last night, I was waiting for you," I whispered
in response.
"I couldn't sneak out, I'm sorry I wasn't able to contact you, my mother went
crazy and took our phones away last night," he explained.
"So you snuck out too," I figured.
He nodded. "Yes, but I think we still have some time. Do you want us to go
there now?" he grinned.
My eyes lit up instantly. "Oh yes!" I exclaimed. I would finally get to be his,
even if it had to happen in a meadow, or in a car, the place could matter less.
As long as I was with Hunter, I didn't care. He grabbed my hand and, as we
walked toward the meadow, I kissed him in anticipation. But little did we know
that we were being followed, and that, this time, it was not by someone that we
knew.
***** Meaty Meetings *****
Adara
Hunter and I were walking towards the meadow, hand in hand and eager to arrive
to our destination. Suddenly, I turned around, thinking that I had heard a
strange sound. "Did you hear that?" I asked Hunter.
Hunter turned around and frowned. "Hear what? I don't see anyone. Are you sure
you're not just nervous?" he asked me teasingly.
I blushed; being with Hunter always made me nervous, but in a good way. He made
me feel excitement and anticipation, as if electrical impulses were surging
through my veins. I squeezed his hand in assurance, showing that I trusted him.
"You're right; I'm probably just being a nerve wreck. Hopefully, we won't get
caught like last time," I said as we arrived at the meadow, which was now
mostly hidden by bushes and trees. Hardly anyone came out here anymore, but I
could see a clearing full of dandelions inviting us in, the wind swaying the
stems like beckoning waves.
"Here we are," Hunter said with relief as we sat down on the grass. I sat
beside him, and then changed my mind and leaned forward to kiss him as I pushed
him down to lie down on the grass, my body landing on top of his. "Impatient
now, are we?" he joked, but his low voice was hoarse and his gray eyes had
darkened to a dark storm of desire.
I tightened my grip on his muscular shoulders, and gazed at him longingly.
"Yes," I finally managed to mutter, "Yes we are," and as I said this, I began
to pull off his shirt, pushing it through his head and messing up his perfectly
combed hair. He looked even sexier with his brown hair all ruffled, and just as
I was thinking this, he began to pull my shirt up as well. I probably didn't
look as great with my hair all messed up, but he didn't seem to mind, for he
pulled me closer as his hand latched itself to the back of my head. My lips
once again met his and I darted my tongue inside of his mouth as we kissed. He
twirled his tongue in response and I ran my hands up and down his chest and
abs, tracing every muscle. I could already feel him hardening beneath me as I
teased his nipples with my fingertips, and I instantly raced my hands down to
unbutton his jeans. He did the same to me, and soon, we had gotten rid of our
pants and shoes and were left wearing only our undergarments. Now his erection
was more than palpable, and I thrust my hips in response to him as he moaned.
"You're going to be the end of me, Dara," he groaned as I peeled off his
boxers. His hand then unclasped my bra as he freed my breasts and I shuddered
as the breeze hit me. He then switched our positions so that he was now on top,
and he removed the rest of my clothing so that there was nothing between us.
Just as I was expecting him to enter me, he slid his finger in instead, and I
cried out in half pleasure, half protest. "Shh, just accept it," he whispered
as he added another finger, and just as I felt that I was going to come undone,
he began to suckle my breasts. I held on to his hair in complete and utter
desperation, until I realized that there was something I could do. I reached my
other hand down to stroke him, and a low growl escaped from his throat. He felt
soft and silky between my fingers, and his hardness was pulsing hot with blood
vessels. He was trailing kisses up my neck as I explored his length, and
suddenly his voice was beside my ear, telling me that he needed me, now. I
nodded in agreement as I let go of him and he let go of me so that he could
slide down inside me, slowly and carefully, as he had done last time. Only this
time, I didn't feel pain, and so I urged him to go on. The grass and dandelions
tickled my skin and swirled in the breeze as he made love to me. Something
crept up in the back of my mind and I felt myself expand as he moved in a
steady rhythm, sweat already dripping down his face. The fiery sensation at the
pit of my stomach was growing, and I stroked the side of his face as we both
struggled for breath. I arched my hips up as he suddenly came, and then I
followed along as we gasped and panted in response. I tightened my legs around
his waist as I felt warm fluids pass through me, and it was only then that I
realized what I had been worrying about: we hadn't used protection.
"Hunter…" I mumbled after he had finished and collapsed, exhausted, beside me.
"Yes, love?" He asked as his eyes shined with excitement while he kissed my
fingertips.
"What if I get pregnant?" I suddenly burst out.
He froze then, suddenly realizing what we had done. "Oh no…" but just as he
said this, we heard the sound of a snapshot, and we both looked up, startled,
as we saw a paparazzi run off with a camera.
"Was that…?" I asked, befuddled.
"I think so…looks like we're screwed either way," he said with dread. And
that's when my heart sank.
Rue
"Come on, Rose, jump!" I exclaimed as I looked up towards the outside of our
bedroom window.
"But what if we get caught?" she whined.
I rolled my eyes in exasperation. "Well, we'll get caught if you don't hurry
up! Do you want to see Stark or not?" I asked impatiently.
She sighed, and finally decided to jump towards the tree that was in front of
our window, climbing down from it before she landed on the ground beside me.
"See how easy that was?" I pointed out.
"Yeah, yeah, let's get this show on the road," she said as she dusted off her
jeans, and we ran off towards the butcher's shop as fast as we could.
"What happens if Dad sees us from the bakery?" Rose panted as we ran toward the
merchant side of town.
"Don't be silly, we're going to meet them through the back, and that way no one
will see us!" I explained as we approached the shop.
Soon, we had arrived at the back of the butcher's shop. And there, looking as
glorious as ever while leaning against the wall and waiting for us, were the
butcher's sons. "Well, you two must be the baker's daughters, because you sure
have some nice buns," Stike exclaimed as soon as he saw us.
I blushed, and I saw Rose do the same from the corner of my eye as Stark winked
seductively at her. This was going well so far. We then approached the
identically hot green-eyed twins, who had gotten rid of their gory aprons for
the time being. "Well, yes, that's us," Rose said flirtatiously as we hugged
the boys in greeting. They still smelled like raw meat, but I didn't mind; I
had gotten used to the smell thanks to hunting. Unfortunately, Rose wrinkled
her nose in disgust for a second before Stark saw her again as they separated
from their embrace. I gave her a quick warning look before they took notice.
"So, what do you girls want to do today?" Stark asked casually.
"Actually, we don't have much time since we sneaked out of the house to see you
guys; we're grounded, you see," I explained quickly.
Stike raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Oh, how come?" he asked me.
"Well, it's kind of a long story…" Rose said awkwardly.
"Yeah, but it's basically just our older brother and sister ruining everything,
as always," I said, annoyed.
"I'm sorry to hear that," Stark said genuinely.
"It's okay, at least we got to see you guys," I said cheerfully as I grinned at
Stike.
"Well, don't leave before I give you this," Stike said as he came closer to me
and leaned down towards my face. Just as his lips we about to brush mine, I
heard Rose screech, and we both jumped up in shock as we saw her back away from
Stark, who had also been trying to kiss her.
"What's wrong?" Stark asked, heartbroken from my sister's sudden rejection.
"I'm sorry, but we can't be together!" she cried out dramatically, tears
rolling down her pink face.
"Why, is it because my hands are sweaty?" he asked nervously as he wiped his
hands on his jeans.
"No…it's because…because I'm a vegetarian!" she exclaimed, and off she ran,
without even waiting for me.
I then turned towards the boys apologetically. "I am so, so sorry, I didn't
know she was going to react this way!" I told them.
Stike frowned as his brother ran back inside the shop in humiliation. "Don't
worry about it Rue, it's not your fault. I guess we were just hoping that it
would work for the four of us…I mean, he's crazy about Rose," he then shrugged
sadly. "But I suppose it wasn't meant to be. You and I can still see each
other, though, but right now I have to go," he said. "I'll see you soon, Rue,"
he said as he gave me a quick hug before he ran back inside the shop after his
brother. I sighed as I left to look for Rose. I had almost gotten my first
kiss, almost.And Rose had ruined it, all because of her stupid vegetarianism. I
then became angry as I ran back towards the house in attempts to find her. I
would get her, and she would pay. Heck, she would rue the day. Everyone knew
that I wasn't just named after a cute flower.
Peeta
I was walking out of the bakery and heading towards the house when I suddenly
caught a quick glimpse Rue running in full sprint. I frowned. She was supposed
to be grounded outside the house, what was she doing outside? But just as I was
wondering this, I turned around to see Adara coming from the opposite
direction, also heading towards the house. So they had both snuck out while I
was gone, most likely while Katniss had gone out hunting. I looked up at the
sky as the sun was beginning to set, and I wondered if my son had snuck out as
well. I sighed in exasperation as I kept walking, not even being able to
appreciate the beautiful orange sunset as I headed home.
As I opened the front door, I saw that everyone was already gathered in the
living room, where Haymitch was telling some story about Effie and mahogany
while everyone laughed and he drank his hard liquor. "What's going on here?" I
asked abruptly as I looked around the room suspiciously. Adara had grass in her
hair, Orion was playing videogames, and the twins seemed to be avoiding each
other. Meanwhile, my wife was sitting on the couch beside Haymitch as she
looked up at me in surprise.
"Why hello, Sunshine," Haymitch replied sarcastically.
"Peeta, I'm glad you're finally home, what's wrong? Did something happen at
work?" Katniss asked worriedly.
"No, it was fine…it's just that I have the feeling that some of our kids might
have snuck out of the house while you were out hunting," I explained.
"Well, I was here the whole time playing video games," Orion said as he shot
people on the screen. I frowned. I hated it when he played those games. He
wasn't even supposed to be playing, he was grounded; but Katniss hadn't called
him out on it, so I figured she had given him permission.
"And I just got here," Haymitch remarked.
I then turned to the girls. "Well?" I asked them. Adara bit her lip nervously,
she was obviously hiding something.
"We were cleaning our rooms, Daddy," Rue lied through her teeth.
I shot my eyebrow up skeptically. "Oh, is that so? Then how come I just saw you
and Adara sneak in a while ago? And I bet Rose snuck out too," I said, turning
to her suspiciously. Rose merely bowed her head, avoiding my gaze. She seemed
to be upset about something, but I didn't know what. I then turned to Katniss
for help.
"Girls, answer your father's questions, what were you doing outside?" Katniss
asked impatiently.
"Nothing, we were just out getting some fresh air," Adara said defensively as
she ran her hands through her dark hair, taking out the grass.
"Fine," I said firmly. "If you don't want to tell me, then I guess I can't help
you. In the meantime, we'll do something fun, since I'm stressed out and I just
want to relax," I said.
"Oh no, you two can't have sex now," Haymitch groaned, and the kids laughed.
Katniss rolled her eyes at him. "I'm sure Peeta was referring to a family
event, so that we can all bond," she said, and the kids groaned. They all knew
what this meant.
I grinned. "That's right everyone, it's Peeta-oke time!" I exclaimed
cheerfully.
"No, I'm still playing!" Orion complained as I turned off his videogame so that
I could turn on the karaoke machine. "Dad, neither you nor I can sing, and I
hate baker karaoke!" he went on.
"I don't care about that, who's up first?" I asked enthusiastically as I held
up the microphone. When no one volunteered, I shrugged. "Well I guess that
means you, Adara!" I said. She sighed and stood up as she took the microphone.
I turned on the music, and a girly song began playing as she began to sing:
"Baking my whey downtown, walking fast, tributes pass and I'm homebound…" she
sang perfectly in tune, and everyone clapped after she was done.
"Wait no, I'm next!" Orion shot up after she had finished the song. I then
switched the song and he began to sing: "My burnt bread brings all the girls to
the yard, and they're like, it's better than squirrels!"
"It's my turn, give me that!" said Rose. She switched the song again and
started singing: "Want you to make me feel, like I'm the only loaf in the
world!"
After she had finished that, Rue took the microphone, and sang: "I throw my
bread up in the air sometimes, sayin' ayooo, I don't like bread, no! Because it
makes me fat, and I throw up sometimes, I'm gonna throw it up, in the toilet,
mom!"
"Ew, that's gross, Rue!" Rose complained.
"All right, now I want to sing "Set Fire to the Bread," I told them.
"Again?" Katniss complained.
'Let's hear it, then," said Haymitch.
"Not everyone has heard it!" I explained. And so I began my favorite song: "I
set fire, to the bread! Watched it burn as, mom slapped my face! Then she
screamed, and I cried, and I ran outside, into the rain! The rain! I set fire,
to the bread! Then I threw it at Katniss' head! Then she screamed, and I cried,
and I ran back inside, out of the rain! The rain," I finished as everyone
clapped more or less enthusiastically. "All right, Katniss and Haymitch, you're
next!" I exclaimed.
"All right, I guess I'll go first," said Katniss. So then I switched the song
to something more manly because I know how she is, and she began to sing: "You
gotta, get'cha, get'cha head in the cave! We gotta get our, get our, get our
head in the cave! Let's make sure that we get the sponsors happy, 'cause when
we get it then the crowd will go wild! A second chance, gotta kiss him, gotta
do it right, maybe this time Haymitch will like!" she held on to the last note,
and we all watched in amazement as she sang perfectly.
"Great job, Sweetheart; I sure liked that one!" Haymitch remarked. "Peeta, you
have to sing again; I bet you can't beat that!" he challenged.
"Challenge accepted," I said firmly as I changed the song. I had another one up
my sleeve. The music started and I sang: "You're in the woods with your friend
Gale, he's upset; he's going off about something that Snow said, 'cause he
doesn't, get your blank emotions like I do! I'm at the bakery, it's a typical
reaping day; I'm baking the kind of bread he'll throw away, 'cause he never,
watched you walk home like I do! 'CAUSE I BAKE BREAD, AND HE MAKES SNARES, AND
I SAVED YOUR LIFE, BUT YOU DON'T CARE! DREAMING ABOUT THE DAY, THAT YOU KISS ME
IN THE CAVE, AND SEE THAT I CAN BAKE YOU TONS OF CHEESE BUNS! IF YOU COULD SEE
THAT I'M THE ONE WHO UNDERSTANDS YOU, BEEN HERE ALL ALONG, SO WHY CAN'T YOU
SEEEEEEEEEEEE, YOU SHOULD BAKE WITH MEEEEEEEEEE, YOU SHOULD BAKE WITH ME!" I
sang at the top of my lungs as everyone cheered.
"All right, now it's your turn, Haymitch!" I exclaimed breathlessly. Haymitch
chuckled as he took the microphone and picked out a song. I was surprised to
see that he had chosen "Baker Boi," but I was interested to see how he would
do.
"He was a boy, she was a girl; can I make it any more obvious?" he began
gruffly as the twins giggled, but he ignored them and continued. "He always
baked cakes, she hunted all day. What more can I say? He wanted her, she'd
never tell, secretly she wanted him as well. Gale, her friend, stuck up his
nose, and he had a problem with his baker clothes. HE WAS A BAKER BOI, SHE SAID
THROW ME THAT LOAF, BOY; HIS THROW WASN'T GOOD ENOUGH FOR HER! Well, she had a
hungry face; I mean she was a disgrace, shouldn't have thrown that bread to
earth!" he sang, and we all clapped and cheered as he finished there because he
started coughing and had to take another drink.
"Well, we should probably take a break now," Katniss said as she turned off the
karaoke and turned on the television instead. It was then that we all gasped as
we saw what they were announcing.
The news reporter spoke as a provocative image of two familiar teenagers
flashed beside him. "Well, it looks like the Mockingjay's daughter has more
than just bread crumbs on her lips. She was recently caught having sex in a
meadow that used to be a burial site with none other than one of the
Hawthornes! It looks like she inherited the fire from her mother, but she chose
to be snared instead! Recent reports have commented that there has always been
a bit of a conflict between the hunting Hawthornes and the baking Mellarks, and
now we can see why! The hunter thinks he's a baker…we all know he was putting a
bun in her oven! Until next time, folks! XOXO, Gossip Curls," the curly haired
man remarked as I turned off the television.
I turned to my daughter angrily. "What is the meaning of this?" I demanded, but
the look on her face broke me. So it was true. My seventeen-year old daughter
could possibly be pregnant.
 
***** Moments *****
Katniss
My heart sank. I couldn't believe it; my own daughter, having sex in the
meadow, and what's more, being filmed and shown on national television? Would
my family never be left in peace? Not to mention the fact that she could
possibly become pregnant! But no…I couldn't let this happen. Something had to
be done about this.
"Peeta, we have to sue them!" I exclaimed, outraged.
"Who, the press? Do you really want to bring our family even more into this,
Katniss? You know that they're allowed to do anything, right? No, the best we
can do is ignore them and not give them anything else to root for," Peeta
replied angrily.
"Well, I could give some people a call and bribe them to stay away for some
time," Haymitch said helpfully.
"I guess that's better than nothing," I admitted.
"Thanks, Haymitch. You go blackmail them, and we'll try to keep our kids under
control while you do that. We might also have to contact the Hawthornes," Peeta
said.
"Mom, do you think they're also being watched?" Adara asked me, eyes wide.
"Probably, I mean, I wouldn't be surprised," I answered her.
"Well, I guess I better go home and make those phone calls. I'll leave all of
you to resolve your issues," Haymitch said as he stood up. He then turned
sympathetically towards Adara and said, "Good luck, Sweetheart, you'll need
it."
"Thanks, Grandpa," she whispered softly, her bright blue eyes on the verge of
tears as her bottom lip trembled involuntarily. Haymitch nodded and left, and
Peeta closed the door behind him, all the while avoiding Adara's gaze.
"Well, looks like you're really in for it now, Dara," Orion joked, and the
twins tried not to giggle as Peeta and I glared at them.
"I hope all of you remember that you're still grounded," Peeta reminded them
sternly.
"Right, well Adara and I will have a talk upstairs, and the rest of you can
stay here with your father," I told the rest of my kids as they groaned. Peeta
frowned at them, and I sighed as Adara and I stood up and walked upstairs.
As soon as we had walked into my bedroom, I told Adara to sit on the bed while
I went into the bathroom to fetch something. I opened up the medicine cabinet
and looked through all of our pills until I found the right ones: Plan B. I
took one of the morning-after pills and served a glass of water to give to
Adara. "Here, take this," I told her.
She took the pill and swallowed it with the water, knowing instantly what it
was as soon as I had handed it to her. "Thanks, Mom," she mumbled as I put the
glass back and sat beside her on the bed.
"All right, now tell me what's going on," I asked her gently.
She sighed as she tucked a stray hair behind her ear and stared down at her
lap. "I'm really sorry, Mom, we should have been more careful," she answered
softly.
"Yes, I realize that. But you weren't even supposed to be with Hunter," I
reminded her.
She finally looked up at me and exclaimed, "I know that, Mom! But don't you get
it? I love him! I love him like you love Dad, and he loves me like Dad loves
you! You can't just separate us like this, we need to be close to each other!"
she begged, tears streaming down her face as I suddenly embraced her.
I somehow couldn't even find it in me to be upset at her. "I know that, honey.
And believe me when I say that I understand what you're going through. But your
dad is really disappointed; he thought you knew better than to act like this.
You and Hunter are too young to be parents, and you can't just have sex in
public and not expect for there to be consequences. We don't oppose your
relationship, but we do oppose you acting irresponsibly. We know what it's like
to be watched by the cameras, and right now, you're drawing them in," I
explained to her as I stroked her dark hair soothingly. I knew my mother would
have never understood, but I refused to be anything like her; if anything, I
wanted to be there for my own daughter.
"So all of this is still about the rebellion, even after all this time?" she
asked in disbelief as she looked up at me.
I shook my head. "No, it's not even that anymore. When I was your age, I was
thrown into leading the rebellion, but now they just want my attention. They
never really left us alone. And then after Gale started designing bombs, they
started following him around too, so now both of our families have to deal with
the press. The fact that you and Orion are dating the Hawthornes draws twice
the amount of attention, and we don't want you to deal with that. Your father
and I have worked very hard to make sure that our children lead a normal life,
and not have to play for the cameras like we had to."
"So what do we do, then?" she asked helplessly, her head still resting on my
chest as I held her.
"Well, first of all, I would suggest that you and Hunter start being more
careful from now on. I'll make sure Orion does that too, but you know how rash
your brother is. I'll talk to your father to see if he can calm down a little
bit. Just know that he loves you, and that he does understand," I explained
patiently.
She nodded. "Yes, I know, and I love you too, Mom," she said genuinely as she
sat up to look at me, her eyes the same intense blue as her father's.
I smiled lovingly at my daughter. "I love you too, honey," I replied as I
kissed her forehead.
Rose
"What are they saying?" Rue asked me as I pressed my ear against Mom's door.
"Ugh, I think they're just arguing about who loves the other more," I replied,
annoyed.
"What?" Rue hissed. "Dara sleeps with her boyfriend in a sacred place, gets it
filmed in public, and she still gets all of the special treatment?" she
complained.
"Don't worry, it's not like Mom wouldn't do the same for us," I reminded her.
"Besides, once Dara moves away to college, we'll each have our own room. Plus,
Dad is still upset at her," I added. "Hold on, I think they're coming, let's
hide!" I whispered urgently as Rue and I scrambled away from the door just as
Mom opened the door and Adara walked out behind her, looking much happier.
Rue and I hid behind our doorway just as Mom passed us so that she could head
downstairs, where Dad and Orion where eating, as always. As soon as she was
gone, we ran after our older sister. "Dara, can I have your room once you move
away?" I blurted out as I approached her. She was sitting on her window seat
when we burst into her room.
She rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Rose, you and Rue can fight over it once I'm
gone, but remember that I'm still coming back for the holidays and such," she
told us.
"No problem, we've already figured it out; Rose will sleep here when you're in
college, and then she'll come back to sleep with me when you come visit," Rue
explained.
Adara smiled. "All right then, is that all you need?" she asked.
"Actually, we also have a deal to make with you," I admitted.
"You and Orion, that is," Rue added.
Adara raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Oh, is that so? And what sort of deal is
this? You're not blackmailing us again, are you?" she asked us skeptically.
Rue and I exchanged nervous glances. "Well…not exactly. It's just that we need
a favor from you two. We know that you guys are really good at sneaking out at
night, and we need you both to cover for us so that we can sneak out too," I
explained.
She laughed. "Last time I checked, Rose, you didn't like the butcher's son
because you were a vegetarian. Isn't that what you two were fighting about
earlier? And besides, you're too young to sneak out so late, it's dangerous.
Orion and I know how to defend ourselves, since we've both had training. I'm
sorry girls, but I don't think we can help you, even if you try to cover for
us," she said with finality.
"We knew you would say that," Rue sighed.
"Yes, and for your information, I've decided to give Stark another chance," I
declared.
"Which is exactly why we have a Plan B," Rue finished triumphantly.
Adara winced; now she knew that we were up to something: even the word usage
got her. "Fine, what do you want?" she snapped.
Rue and I grinned. "That's better, Sis. We want to sneak out on Tuesdays,
Thursdays, and Sundays, and you and Orion can have the other nights, since
those are the only nights our guys can make it. Besides, we're leaving you the
good nights. It's not too much to ask, since we're covering for you as well," I
reasoned.
"And what's the catch?" Adara asked carefully.
Rue smirked. "Well, let's just say that Mom and Dad didn't get rid of all the
photos and recordings of the night we spied on you and Orion while you were out
with the Hawthornes. We made copies, and if you tell our parents about it,
we'll sell it to the press. Our parents can't find out about any of this. So,
do we have a deal?" Rue asked innocently.
It was then that Adara's eyes widened in horror. "No, you can't do that! Don't
you two know what a huge mistake we've made already? Our parents have been
trying to protect us from the media so that we could lead normal lives, and now
you're ruining it!" she cried.
"Technically, you and Orion ruined it; Rue and I simply witnessed it. And now
you can't take it back. Either you agree to our deal or we'll sell you out," I
told her.
"But you're our sisters; how could you do that to us!" she complained.
"Business is business, don't take it personally, Dara dear," Rue cooed.
Adara scowled at us. "Fine then, I'll let Orion know about it, but he may not
care enough about his reputation to agree. Either way, you two are going to
regret this somehow, and don't say I didn't warn you. Now get out of my room
before I change my mind," she spat as Rue and I high-fived each other and ran
out of her room. We now had our siblings wrapped around our fingers.
Orion
"They said what?" I shouted in disbelief as Adara told me the news.
"You heard me. The evil twins still have dirt on us, and we have to do
everything they say, or else they'll release our tapes and photos to the
public," she grumbled.
"Those little scoundrels," I muttered under my breath. "Wait a minute, why
can't we just steal the evidence from them when they're gone? Surely it's
hidden in their room somewhere," I suggested.
"I've considered that too, but they're too smart for that. If they get caught,
our parents would try the same thing. And if we betray them, they'll instantly
make sure that that evidence gets released to the public. Which tells me that
someone else has the tapes, someone whom they absolutely trust," Adara said
thoughtfully as she paced around my room while I sat up on my bed.
"You mean their butcher boyfriends?" I asked her doubtfully.
Adara nodded eagerly. "Yes, them exactly, and we obviously can't break into the
butcher shop; we would get caught," she explained.
"So we're pretty much screwed for the rest of our lives," I concluded.
Adara rolled her eyes. "No, don't be stupid, we'll come up with something," she
assured me.
I shrugged. "Whatever. All I know is that it's Saturday night, and I'm sneaking
out to see Tara. At least the little gremlins from hell can cover for us. Any
ideas on where I could get extra condoms?" I asked her shamelessly.
Adara looked at me with disgust, but answered me anyways. "Well my mom gave me
some contraception this morning, and she got it from her medicine cabinet. I
don't know, maybe our parents keep some more stuff in their bathroom, but
either way, you'll have to look in their bedroom. Why don't you just ask Dad?"
she asked impatiently.
I threw my head back against the headboard in exasperation. "Because, Dad
already gave me a condom, and I'm grounded, so he's not going to give me any
more of them any time soon," I explained.
Adara groaned. "Fine, then. I'll help you find some and keep watch at the door
while you look through their bedroom drawers. I'm sneaking out to see Hunter
tonight, so I'll probably raid their medicine cabinet afterwards to see what I
can find. You'll have to keep watch for me too," she warned me.
I agreed, and we set out towards our parents' bedroom while everyone else was
downstairs. I instantly started rummaging through all of their drawers while
Adara kept watch at the doorway. Soon, I found some cheese-bun flavored condoms
hidden at the very bottom of Mom's side table drawer, which wasn't too
surprising considering the fact that she was obsessed with them. I shuddered at
the thought and pocketed a few as I put everything back where it was so that
she wouldn't notice. "All right, Adara, it's your turn," I whispered as we
switched places and Adara headed into their bathroom.
It was then that I heard voices coming from the stairs. It was our parents'
voices. "Dara, hurry up, they're coming!" I hissed.
"Ugh, I spilled all the pills!" she answered, irritated.
"What? How clumsy can you be? All right fine, I'll help you," I gave in as I
rushed into the bathroom and saw the mess that she had made. Mom and Dad were
old, so they had their pills organized by each day of the week, and Adara had
spilled the colorful pills all over the sink.
"I accidently mixed up both of their medicines, but I think I remember where
they go," she said.
"Who cares about that, let's just put them back; they're heading down the hall
as we speak!" I whispered urgently. She nodded and we quickly tossed the pills
into containers and put everything back just as our parents walked inside the
bedroom. Adara and I instantly gave each other terrified looks as we quickly
climbed inside the bathtub and hid behind the shower curtain right before they
walked into the bathroom.
"Katniss, sometimes, when we make love, I pretend that you're cake boss," Dad
was saying. Adara and I covered each other's mouths to keep ourselves from
laughing.
"Peeta, have you taken your medicine yet?" Mom asked, concerned.
"No, but I'm about to," he replied as we heard him open up a pill container and
serve himself some water from the sink.
"All right, well don't forget to take your prostate pills," she reminded him.
"Yeah, yeah, I know," he grumbled. "You need to take your medicine too, you
know," he added.
"Yes, I'm doing that right now…wow look at all of these horrible side effects!
It says here that you could lose facial muscle control," she said.
"This one says one could get a swollen tongue, dry mouth, and a sudden loss of
depth perception," Dad countered. "Good thing we have our pill planners!" he
said cheerfully as Adara and I gave each other horrified looks.
"Peeta, will you help me rub on my scar ointment?" Mom asked.
"Sure thing, Sweetheart," he replied a little too enthusiastically. "You should
help me with mine too," he added.
"Of course," Mom said, and soon we heard her giggle…wait, what, Mom giggling?
"I don't have a scar there, Peeta," she laughed.
"Oh well, I'm just making sure I get everything," he said teasingly.
"Oh, then I guess I'll have to do the same for you," she responded, and before
we knew it, Dad was moaning. Adara and I tried not to gag.
"We should go to bed now," Mom finally suggested as they left the bathroom,
turning off the light and closing the door behind them. Good thing there was a
window.
"We're going to have to climb out of it," Adara realized, just as I was opening
it.
"Yes, we have no other choice," I explained.
Soon, we had both jumped out of the house, and it wasn't until we were safely
on the ground that I realized that we had left the window open. "Crap, I hope
they don't notice!" I groaned.
"Don't worry, it's just a window, if we get back on time, they won't even be
suspicious," Adara assured me.
I nodded. "Right then, let's go." I said. And off we headed, parting our
separate ways.
***** Mortified *****
Peeta
Something wasn't right. Katniss and I always went crazy in the bedroom, among
other places, but this was different. I couldn't concentrate on my task. "Hey,
Sweetheart do you want to rise my yeast?" I asked Katniss.
"Peeta, did we take the right medications? I feel strange," she replied,
ignoring my comment completely.
"I think so…maybe we should go to the kitchen to get something. I feel my mouth
getting dry," I answered.
"All right, but let's be quiet, so the kids don't wake up," she said. I nodded,
and we got out of bed and headed out to the dim hallway towards the stairs.
That's when I realized that everything looked strange; the stairs looked too
small and my foot looked too big… "Peeta!" Katniss screeched as I tumbled down
the stairs.
"I'm okay," I lied as soon as I landed on the floor at the bottom of the
stairs. My body had just been beaten by a staircase, and I had almost received
a concussion, but I was still alive. Now I just needed to find a way to get up.
"Oh, no you're not; you just fell down the stairs! Maybe I should call the
hospital! Can you get up? Here, grab my arm," she blurted worriedly as she
pulled me up. I staggered to my feet and looked around. Everything still looked
strange….
"Peeta, let's go to the kitchen so I can turn on the light and inspect you
further," Katniss suggested as she led me towards the kitchen table and sat me
down on the chair. "Oh, goodness, you're all bruised up, but at least you're
not bleeding."
"Can I get a glass of water, please?" I managed to ask.
"Of course, here you go honey," she said as she handed me a glass. I tried to
grab it, but my perspective kept failing me, and as soon as I had it in my hand
and had it tipped towards my mouth, I spilled the water down my shirt,
completely missing my lips. Katniss laughed.
I glared up at her angrily. "It's not funny!" I complained, but she kept on
grinning from ear-to-ear. In fact, now that I thought about it, her smile was
really creepy and unnatural. Katniss never smiled like that.
"I know, and I'm sorry, but I can't help it; my face is frozen!" she explained.
I frowned. "I think we definitely took the wrong medications," I told her.
"But who would mess with our pills?" Katniss asked me.
"Well, which one of our kids could have been looking through our medicine
cabinet?" I countered.
And, as soon as we locked eyes, we knew: "Adara," we said at the same time.
Adara
"Come on, get on my motorcycle, babe!" Hunter exclaimed as soon as I approached
him. He handed me a black helmet identical to his, and I quickly strapped it
on.
"Where are we going?" I asked him as I swung my leg around the seat and wrapped
my arms tightly around him. "And since when do you have a motorcycle?" I added.
He chuckled. "You ask too many questions, love. Let's just say that I made a
deal with a friend. My dad made me sell my car, but he doesn't know that I
traded it for a motorcycle. I'm keeping it in my cousin's garage," he answered
as he started up the engine and we headed down the road. I laughed as my hair
flew in the wind as he drove through the night, feeling completely alive and
free.
"We're here," he finally said after a while. We pulled up in front of a bowling
alley. "I thought I would take you out on a normal date, for once," he admitted
bashfully as we dismounted the motorcycle.
I grinned at him as we took off our helmets. "Well, at least we're not having
unprotected sex in public again," I joked with mock relief.
But his gray eyes widened. "Oh no, I'm so sorry, Adara! I really meant to use a
condom, but I completely forgot! My dad almost killed me when he saw the news,
and my mom threatened to castrate me. What did your parents say?" he asked me.
I sighed. "No, it's okay, it's my fault too. I'm really sorry about your
parents. My dad won't even look at me, much less talk to me, but my mom was
very understanding. She gave me a pill so I wouldn't get pregnant, and then
Orion and I tried to look for birth control in our parents' room, but I didn't
find any. We almost got caught, and our little sisters are threatening us with
some extra tapes that they have of our first night in your car, when all we got
caught. They say that if we don't help them sneak out, they'll expose us and
sell us to the media," I told him as we headed inside the building. It was dark
with fluorescent black lights, and I noticed that my white T-shirt was glowing.
"Whoa, your sisters are evil. I mean, Tara can be pretty mean, but she would
never do anything like that," he said as we changed our shoes so that we could
bowl. "And is my sister sleeping with your brother? She never tells me
anything, but I hope they're at least being safer than us," he grumbled. I
rolled my eyes at him. I could tell that he wasn't crazy about the idea of our
siblings sleeping together.
"I don't think they've gotten that far yet, but I bet it's only a matter of
time," I warned him. And just as I said this, Hunter and I approached a table
full of hyper teenagers, where they were cheering for the ones bowling in their
lane. I instantly recognized them as Hunter's cousins, but I was distracted by
the two familiar teens making out in the back corner of the table. The girl had
shirt brown hair and she was straddling the boy as he squeezed her breasts in
public. Hunter noticed them too, and he instantly tensed.
"What the fuck? Is that your brother grabbing my sister? What the hell is wrong
with them, everyone can see them!" he yelled angrily as he pulled his sister
off of my brother, who looked utterly shocked.
"Ugh, Orion, don't you have any class? Everyone can see your bread stick from
here," I scolded him as he tried to cover up the fact that he had just pitched
up a tent in front of everybody.
"Leave us alone, we were just making out, everyone here does it!" Tara
complained to her brother. Hunter just scowled at her.
"Uh, I think I'll just go to the bathroom; I'll be right back," Orion mumbled
as he tried to excuse himself.
"Hey, 'Rion, not so fast, it's your turn, man!" a scrawny teenage boy with
freckles yelled up at him.
"I'll go for him, Ronnie," Hunter volunteered, and my brother ran off in relief
as Hunter took a bowling ball.
"Hey, you must be Hunter's girlfriend, we saw you on the news today!" one of
the teenage girls noted. I knew she was another one of his cousins, but I
couldn't remember her name. She was tall and had long red hair with gray eyes.
"Oh, yeah, you guys are his cousins, right? I'm Adara, by the way," I greeted
her politely as I sat down between her and Tara, who was filing her nails as
she waited for Orion.
"Yeah, I'm Veronica, and that's my brother, Ronnie. Our dad, Rory, is Uncle
Gale's younger brother. And over there are our other cousins, Autumn, Dahlia,
and Ivy. Their mom is our Aunt Posy, and she's even younger than our dad,"
Veronica explained as she pointed to the three shy girls sitting at the far
corner of the table. It was hard telling them apart in the dim lighting, but I
waved at them and they all waved back. "Oh, and those two boys over there are
Vickey and Jick; they're our Uncle Vick's kids, and he's older than our dad,
but younger than Uncle Gale," she finished.
"Wow, the Hawthornes have a really big family," I commented, impressed. Hunter
and the other three boys were cheering loudly as they took turns bowling.
"Oh, and that's not even all of us!" Tara said. "My oldest sister, Jayne, just
had another baby with Finn. They named her Annie, after her grandmother. They
also have a son named Titus, he's eight years old, and another daughter named
Ariel, and she's five," Tara told me.
"Yes, but technically, they're Odairs," Veronica argued. "That's why they live
in District Four."
"Oh, I've met them, my parents are close friends with the Odairs," I told them
just as Orion came back from the bathroom.
"What about truth or dare?" Orion asked.
"We didn't say that," Tara teased him as he sat beside her.
"We were just wondering where you were, and then I said, "Odair he is!" I
joked. Everyone at the table laughed, but Orion just smirked.
"I'm sorry you had to say good-bye to my bosco stick, Tara, but I would love to
see your buns on my counter someday; I think they would look great there," he
said smoothly. Tara blushed as I tried not to gag.
"Ew, get a room!" Veronica complained.
"Yeah, that's really inappropriate," Hunter said as he came up behind me. I
smiled reassuringly at him as he grabbed a chair so that he could sit close to
me.
"I'm sorry, but Tara's just hot like an oven! Can I warm my loaf inside of you,
baby?" he asked her as we all looked at them in disgust. Seriously, they had no
shame. Before we knew it, they were French kissing in front of everybody.
"Wow, you two couples are huge on the PDA," Veronica noted as she looked from
Orion and Tara to me and Hunter, who had his arm around me. "I mean, first you
and Hunter do it in the meadow, and now Tara and Orion make out in front of
everyone," she said.
"Yes, but we didn't mean to get caught," Hunter responded in defense. Just as
he said this, a familiar song started playing, and Orion instantly perked up,
detaching himself from Tara.
"Dara, this song is in Dad's Peeta-Oke album!" he exclaimed excitedly.
"Yeah, so?" I asked skeptically. I knew that my brother secretly loved baker
karaoke, but did he have to show it in public? I mean, why hide it from my dad?
If anything, he should admit it to one except to dad.
"Well I love it!" he said as he began singing: "If you wanna be my lover, you
gotta get with my bread! Breadship never ends!" he screeched horribly off-key.
"Ugh, shut up, Orion, you're embarrassing me!" I yelled at him at the same time
that Tara giggled.
"Hey, Tara, I heard you like bread; do you want to make a sandwich?" he asked
her as she laughed even harder.
"All right, that's it; I can play that game too!" Hunter exclaimed angrily as
we all looked at him in alarm.
He turned to me provocatively and said, "Girl, are you from District 12?
Because I want to put my shaft down your mine," he grinned. I instantly felt my
face grow hot as Veronica started teasing us and the rest of the Hawthornes
joined in.
"You tell her, cousin!" Vickey said.
"Oh yeah, well he's not the only huge prick around here," Orion boasted as I
gaped at him and Hunter frowned at him. Everyone else laughed. "Peacekeepers
aren't the only ones who like whipping," he added as he winked at Tara, who
blushed.
"Dara, call me groosling, because I'm game! I bet you taste even better than
cookies. When we get together, even the birds stop to listen," Hunter told me
sweetly.
"Tara, you may as well move in to Victor's Village with me, because that body's
winning!" Orion countered.
"Orion, could you be any hornier?" I asked him sarcastically. But just then, we
heard two voices behind us that sounded deeply familiar.
"Well, well, look what we have here," they said, and we all flipped around in
alarm. It was mom and dad, and they looked seriously messed up.
Rue
"Oh, gosh, I can't stop!" I exclaimed as I held my stomach, which was starting
to hurt from laughing uncontrollably.
"I know, did you see their faces?" Rose asked as she laughed alongside me.
"Whose faces, Mom's frozen face, or Dad's derp look? Oh wait, you mean Adara
and Orion's look of complete and utter horror when they got caught and came
home more grounded than ever?" I added.
"Ha-ha that too, I mean, I know we were supposed to cover for them, but they
were the ones who switched their pills!" Rose pointed out.
"Yeah, and if they cover for us badly we'll release those tapes, so really,
they have nothing on us," I assured her.
"Ugh, it's too bad we're stuck with them today while Daddy's at work and Mom's
out hunting, because I don't feel so well anymore," Rose whined.
"What's wrong?" I asked her, just as my stomach continued to hurt.
"I think I have cramps," Rose moaned.
"I think I do too," I admitted. We both looked at each other and instantly ran
out of our rooms to knock on Adara's door for help.
"Dara, do you have any pain pills?" Rose asked from outside of her bedroom
door, which was conveniently locked.
When she didn't answer, I added, "Dara, do you have any pads; Mom's gone and
Rose and I are on our periods!" I begged.
"Go bleed somewhere else, you monstruators," Orion snorted as he passed us by
the hall.
"Orion, you should help us!" Rose pleaded.
"I'm a guy; I can't help you. Drink some tea and watch a sob movie, isn't that
what you girls do every month?" he asked us.
"No, of course not!" I yelled back defensively, but he had already gone down
the stairs, ignoring us completely. I knew he was mad because we didn't cover
for them well last night, but it wasn't our fault our parents had found out
about the pills!
"How did our parents even know where they were?" Rose whispered, as if
overhearing my thoughts.
"They called all of the Hawthornes," I mumbled in response. Suddenly, we heard
noises coming from Adara's room.
"Oh, that feels so good!" we heard her exclaim.
"That was intense," we heard Hunter's voice reply. Rose and I gave each other
knowing looks.
"Oh, oh, oh!" we heard her moan.
"Okay, that was much deeper," Hunter said.
"Ugh, that hurt!" she protested.
"Here, move your hips like this…" Hunter trailed off.
"Oh, I've never tried this before!" Adara said excitedly as Rose and I giggled
softly while we pressed our ears against the door.
"Yes, now spread your legs a little bit more," he instructed her. Rose and I
gaped. Just then, we heard our parents walk up the steps. They were home!
"Mom, Dad, Orion and Adara completely ignored us, and Dara's having sex with
her boyfriend in her room!" I instantly blurted out as Rose and I approached
them.
"Wait, what?" they exclaimed as they rushed towards her door. Mom tried to open
the door, but it was locked.
Dad pounded loudly on the door, "ADARA MELLARK, OPEN UP THAT DOOR RIGHT NOW!"
he roared angrily.
"All right, fine, I'm coming!" we heard her respond. Sure enough, she soon
opens up the door, and we see Hunter there, sitting behind her…on a green yoga
mat. An identical pink yoga mat lies beside him on the floor, presumably
Adara's. "We were just doing yoga; you told me that I could hang out with
Hunter as long as I stopped sneaking out with him, and that's what I'm doing!"
she told our parents innocently.
"Yes, but not locked up in your room!" Dad exclaimed.
"Well, she did tell us that he was coming over to do yoga with her," Mom
pointed out.
"Wait a minute, they're not grounded anymore?" I asked, perplexed.
"If so, can you lift our punishments too?" Rose asked sweetly.
Dad snorted. "As if it matters if any of you are grounded or not, all of you
keep sneaking out, don't think we haven't noticed!"
"Hunter, I think you best go home now," Mom informed him as he and Adara gave
each other puppy-eyed looks. Yuck.
"All right, but I'm taking my sister with me," he said.
"Wait, your sister is here too?" Dad asked, looking around. Just then, Orion
walked into his room and shut the door firmly behind him.
"Orion is hiding her in his room!" Rose and I exclaimed.
"Orion doesn't do yoga," Mom muttered at the same time that Dad opened up
Orion's door only to see him painting a naked Tara, who was lying luxuriously
on his bed.
"Paint me like one of your French Cakes, Orion," she was saying.
"Tara, why are you naked; put some clothes on!" Hunter exclaimed as soon as he
saw her. Tara lifted her eyes to see everyone standing at the doorway, while
she screeched and tossed on a robe at the same time that Orion dropped his
paintbrush in shock.
"Uh…I can explain," he lied.
"We don't want to hear it; we're calling the Hawthornes right now!" Dad said
furiously.
Mom shook her head sadly, and, twenty minutes later, the Hawthornes were at our
house. Rose and I tried not to laugh as we watched Mr. and Mrs. Hawthorne scold
their kids. Our parents noticed this, however, and soon we were all told to
wait out in the backyard while all of the parents went and "gathered our
punishments."
"What do you think our parents are doing in there?" Adara asked.
"Probably something awful," Hunter answered her.
We all looked around in fear as the four adults finally came out of the house
carrying a large box each. They set them down in the middle of the yard where
we could all see, and our eyes widened in horror as we noticed that they were
full of electronics…our electronics. "We know about the extra tapes, girls,"
Dad told us as he held them up in front of us. "The butcher found them in his
house, and he gave them to us."
"But…but, but!" I stammered as Rose watched in dread.
"And here we have your video game station, Orion," Mom said as she took it out
of the box. Orion's jaw dropped.
"Oh, and look, Tara, here's your laptop," Mrs. Hawthorne said as she looked
through her box. Tara looked like she was about to cry.
"Adara, we have yours too," Mom added. Adara gulped.
"Oh, and don't think we forgot about you, Hunter!" Mr. Hawthorne said
cheerfully. "I have your beloved motorcycle. And you're not getting it back,"
he said as went through the garage and came back with a sleek black motorcycle.
Hunter looked like he was going to be sick.
"Speaking of beloved objects, look what I brought!" Mrs. Hawthorne added as she
took her giant machete. We all shuddered.
"That's right, and I brought my gun and my latest bombs," Mr. Hawthorne said as
he took them out of his pocket.
"Well, I have my bow and arrow just in case," Mom added.
"That's not fair; I don't have any cool weapons," Dad groaned as he took out
his rolling pin. Rose and I tried not to laugh.
Mom rolled her eyes. "All right, let's get this over with," she said.
"With pleasure," said Dad as he threw down our extra recordings on the ground
and stepped on them, beating them with his rolling pin when they didn't shatter
completely. "That was for blackmailing your siblings," he told us coldly. Rose
and I whimpered.
"My turn," said Mrs. Hawthorne. She took out her machete and swung it on Tara's
laptop, breaking it in half. "That was for acting like a whore when I told not
to; now you can buy your own damn laptop," she told her, and Tara started to
cry.
"All right, I'm next," Mom said as Mr. Hawthorne handed her something, which
she placed at the tip of one of her arrows. "Adara and Orion, Gale designed
this tiny bomb which is placed at the tip of an arrow, so that once the arrow
hits its target, it explodes. Your father and I warned you over and over again
not to sneak out of the house, and you disobeyed us. So from now on, you can
buy your own entertainment," she said as she shot her arrow at Orion's video
game system and Dara's laptop. Sure enough, there was a small explosion that
instantly caused them to blow up. Adara and Orion looked miserable.
"And last but not least," said Mr. Hawthorne, "Hunter, since you think you're
such a man and can do whatever the hell you want, I'd like to see you get
another one of these motorcycles-with your own money this time," he said, and
we all backed away as he took out his gun and began shooting the motorcycle,
until he had damaged it beyond repair and his bullets had run out. "By the way,
you're paying me for these bullets," he finished. Hunter began shaking with
anger, and we watched as Adara held him back. It seemed that we had all been
punished today.
Rose and looked at each other, and that's when we instantly knew: one day, we
would receive justice…on our own terms.
***** Malicious *****
Rose
"Okay, so what's the plan, Rue?" I ask her as we sit in our room one day,
plotting.
"It's simple, Rose. We take over the world. We become the twin dictators of
Panem. But first, we must ask Mom and Dad to train us, just like they're
trained Adara and Orion in self-defense. I mean, I'm pretty good with bows and
arrows, but you're not, so we have to fix that," Rue explains.
I laugh. "Are you crazy? You know Mom and Dad would disown us if we took over
the country like when they were young, right? They would totally disapprove!
And archery doesn't sound too bad; maybe Dad can teach you how to lift flour
sacks like he taught me and Dara. How do you think Dara learned to take people
down just by flipping them over? That had nothing to do with archery," I tell
her.
Rue rolls her eyes. She looks exactly like Mom when she does that. "Look Rosie,
we're obviously not going to tell them that! They don't have to know yet; we
have plenty of time. Besides, once we do take over the world, they'll be too
old to even notice, much less complain! Now come on, we have training to do!"
she says as she grabs me by the arm and leads me downstairs and out the back
door, where Mom and Orion are preparing to go hunting.
"Wait, Mom, we want to come with you!" Rue shouts. Mom and Orion look up in
surprise, and I glance up to see Dad staring at us through the kitchen window
as he prepares bread.
"But Rose hates meat!" Orion points out as he scoffs at me. I glare back at
him.
"Yes, but I want to learn how to hunt! I think Rue and I are ready to be
trained in self-defense, just like Adara and Orion were," I exclaim
enthusiastically.
Mom frowns. "Well, you are twelve….oh, I don't know. Haymitch was the one who
insisted we train Orion and Dara, because they were bullied a lot when they
were younger, but you two are popular at school. And Rue already knows how to
hunt, she can teach you," Mom reasons.
"Yes, but it's not the same! I'm not a professional like you, Mom! And Rose and
I want to have the same skills as our older siblings. Why can't you teach us?"
Rue begs.
"Oh, just give them a lesson already, Katniss; they want to be like you," Dad
says from inside the kitchen.
Mom sighs. "Oh, all right. But just one lesson, and then Orion and I have to go
hunt before dinner," she says. Orion groans in protest. "Come on, Orion, you
can help out. Go get Adara, she can help train them too," Mom orders. Orion
scowls at us and rushes back inside to get our older sister.
"All right, now first things first, you must remember that this is a very
dangerous weapon, and so you must be very careful with it. You already know how
to use it, Rue; show your sister how to hold the bow," Mom instructs her as she
hands me the bow and an arrow.
"Okay, stand up straight like this," Rue says as she lifts her chest and sucks
in her stomach. I copy her movements, and place my left hand on the bow like
she tells me. "Good, now place the arrow between these two notches on the
string with your two fingers, and pull it back to your cheek," She says. As
soon as I pull back my arrow, I let it fly.
"Rose, you weren't supposed to shoot yet!" Mom yells as the arrow flies towards
the kitchen window, towards Dad. Dad instantly ducks his head and pulls up a
French bread to shield him. I laugh as the arrow pierces the bread, and
everyone glares at me.
"Oopsie daisy," I say innocently as I shrug my shoulders in apology.
"What the heck just happened?" Orion shouts as he comes out of the house,
followed by an alarmed Adara.
"Rose nearly impaled your father, that's what," Mom responds grimly. Rue tries
not to giggle beside me.
"Oh my Mockingjay!" Dara gasps as she stares at me in shock.
Orion smirks at me. "Loser," he mouths as I scowl at him and secretly give him
the finger.
"No, it's okay, I'm still alive," Dad says half-heartedly. "I feel sorry for my
bread, though," he jokes lightly as he holds up the impaled French bread, with
the arrow still sticking out of it.
Mom glares at him. "This isn't funny, Peeta! Never mind your damn bread; you
could have been seriously injured, or worse, dead! I knew I shouldn't have
agreed to this," she says angrily as she takes the weapon from my hands.
"Now, now, you must have more patience than that, sweetheart!" Dad declares as
he finally leaves the kitchen and comes out of the house, still wearing his
apron. We all look at him with curiosity as he then approaches Mom to whisper
something in her ear as he hands her back the arrow. Mom looks doubtful, but
she soon nods and agrees to whatever he just said. Rue and I exchange doubtful
glances. This couldn't be good.
Katniss
Peeta's idea was somewhat sickening, but it had to be done if we wanted to
teach our children a lesson. Rose and Rue were growing up to be extremely rude,
and Adara and Orion were no better. Honestly, when we were their age, we had to
work hard every day and then survive the Hunger Games, not to mention lead a
rebellion. How hard could it be for them to behave for once in their lives?
There was no other option: we had to call Haymitch. I instantly contacted him,
and he agreed to come and help us with our project. I put the phone away and
sighed. I wasn't against teaching the twins self-defense, but I had the feeling
that they would want to use their training for the wrong reasons. And Adara and
Orion were constantly rebelling against us. I never that thought I would have
to use this method on my own children, but as soon as I saw Haymitch arrive and
grin up at me, I instantly knew that this was the right decision.
"Don't worry, Katniss, nothing bad will happen to them," Peeta whispered to me
in assurance as the kids looked around in confusion.
"Mom, what's going on?" Adara finally spoke up as we all stood around the
backyard.
"Your parents called me in to help discipline you the old-fashioned way, that's
what," Haymitch replied as he took a swig from his flask.
"What do you mean, the old-fashioned way?" Orion asked, his face suddenly
turning pale.
"You heard him. We're putting all of you in the Hunger Games," I finally
announce.
"Wait, what?" they all exclaim, they're mouths gaping open in horror.
"Well, you said you wanted to be trained, didn't you? Your mother and I trained
for the Hunger Games. And now we're going to recreate them, out here in the
woods, until you learn your lesson," Peeta says firmly.
"Don't worry, no one is actually going to die, your mother wouldn't allow
that," Haymitch assured them.
"Well, then what are we doing?" Rue whimpered. Rose was already crying, and I
looked away in guilt. I was already having second thoughts about this
punishment.
Peeta put his arm around me comfortingly. "Well, the Hunger Games
that we're doing are a different type of competition. You all have to go out in
the woods and hunt and forage for your own food for the rest of the day. The
one who brings back the most things from your expedition-the most game,
berries, or medicine plants-before dinnertime, wins. You don't even have to
sleep out in the woods, but the three who lose won't be able to come back
inside the house until morning. We'll set up some supplies out here in the
backyard, so that you can run for them when the game starts. Is that clear?" he
asks as he finishes his instructions.
"But-but, that's not fair! Rue and I don't have as much training as Adara and
Orion do!" Rue whined.
"Well, that's why I'm here, so I can help you," Haymitch tells them.
"That's right, Haymitch will be your mentor, and he will give you survival
advice. You have an hour to train until the game starts," I inform them, and
walk back inside the house before I can change my mind.
Peeta follows me and we wordlessly gather up all of the necessary supplies: a
tent, bows and arrows, a first aid kit, and a backpack for each of them. We
packed up everything except for food, and we head outside to set everything up.
"Now, remember, this is a race, so you can't stop and build a fire in the
middle of it," we heard Haymitch tell the twins. The nodded eagerly as he
added: "And since it's also a competition, everything is fair, and they can
steal your supplies. Remember, only one can win," he said ominously.
I grimaced at his wording, but Peeta smiled at me and said, "Don't worry,
Katniss, this will help them build character." I nodded, and, as soon as the
hour was over, we gathered up the kids and strapped them with tracking devices
so that we knew where they were at all times. They also had audio devices
attached to them so we could hear them talk, and we would watch them from the
top of the roof with binoculars. It was the best we could up with at the last
minute. Haymitch soon started the countdown, and the kids stood ready to run
for the supplies before they headed out into the woods. Peeta and I climbed up
to the roof, and the games began.
"Get out of the way, Rue!" we heard Orion shout as they fought for the bow and
arrows. Each one of them was able to grab a backpack, but Orion and Adara were
the only ones who were able to get away with weapons.
I frowned. "The twins won't make it, Peeta, they're too young," I said
worriedly.
"Don't fret, Katniss, the twins are very intelligent, and they'll figure
something out," he assured me as Haymitch sat down below us on the porch
drinking liquor while holding the timer. An alarm would go off in the evening,
and they would be called back in from the forest.
"Oh for the love of chocolate shrimp; I broke a nail!" we heard Adara say from
our one-way radio. She didn't know that we could hear her, and Peeta chuckled.
"Ugh, I have to go pee!" we heard Rue groan from our other radio.
"They're not even trying, Peeta," I told him as I held up my binoculars and saw
Orion shoot a squirrel.
"Yes!" he cheered.
"See, they're trying," Peeta pointed out as he watched them. "Look, Rose is
already collecting plants and berries; she'll make it."
I sighed impatiently. I wasn't sure how much more of this I could take. Maybe
this was more torture for me than for them. I told Peeta this, and he grinned
at me. "You know what we could do to help you relax?" he asked as he wiggled up
his blonde eyebrows.
I rolled my eyes. "Peeta, we can't have sex now, especially not on the roof!" I
exclaimed.
"Why not, we've never done it up here before, and no one can see us from here,"
he pointed out. "We could experiment a little," he suggested.
"Peeta, I'm not in the mood!" I yelled at him.
Peeta pretended to look hurt. "You're never in the mood anymore," he
complained.
I sighed. "We're not seventeen anymore, Peeta, we can't just make out on the
roof like we used to," I told him.
"You're right, that's what our bedroom is for," he admitted, as if he had just
remembered that fact.
I smiled at him and added, "And we're trying to set up an example for our kids,
remember?" I reminded him.
"That's right, Katniss," he murmured as he held my hand and I laid my head on
his shoulder. Soon enough, the sun had begun to set, and Peeta's favorite color
filled the sky. The alarm then went off, and the kids instantly returned with
their gatherings. Orion was carrying more game than he had ever caught before,
his smile reaching his ears. Peeta and I exchanged impressed glances, and
climbed down the ladder.
Orion
"Orion Mellark, the newest victor in Victor's Village!" I announced proudly
before anyone could say it.
"Calm your tits, kid, it's just a game," Grandpa Haymitch said.
"I'm not a girl!" I exclaimed.
"Whatever, you cheated!" the twins lied as they stuck their tongues out at me.
"No he didn't, he was just better prepared," Adara told them.
"Well, let's see how many things each one of you gathered," Dad said as he
counted all of the things that we brought up to him.
"Wow, Rose, you gathered a lot of good plants!" Mom said encouragingly.
"Yes, but I gathered more, and plus I have game, and she doesn't," I said as I
held up my squirrels and birds.
"Well, it was a close call," Dad allowed.
"Yeah, and now I get to sleep in my nice, warm bed, and eat a cooked dinner
before bedtime while you three sleep outside with the bears," I mocked my
sisters.
"But I'm afraid of bears!" Rose whined.
"Don't worry, they're natural and harmless, like marijuana," I assured her.
"Oh, shut up Orion, there are no bears in the woods!" Adara reproached me as
she slapped my arm.
"And I hope none of you do marijuana," Dad said seriously.
"Of course not, Daddy," Rue said in her annoying goody-goody voice.
"Well, you girls better start pitching up your tents, it's getting late," Mom
warned them. They groaned as they went back out into the woods, and I gave them
the animals I hunted so that they could eat. Rose only glared at me
ungratefully, because she hated meat, but that wasn't my fault.
"Mom, can I go out to see Tara after dinner?" I asked as we went inside.
Mom turned to Dad, who nodded hesitantly. "Sure, son, but don't stay up too
late," he requested.
"And remember you have to help me get home before you leave," Grandpa Haymitch
reminded me.
I nodded, and, as soon as dinner was over and Grandpa Haymitch had gone to bed,
I headed towards Tara's house. I had called her beforehand, and she had
informed me that her parents were going out to dinner, and that Hunter had
spent the night at their cousin's house, so we had the house to ourselves. As
soon as I arrived at her doorstep, Tara swung open the door and greeted me with
a glass of red wine while wearing an impressive black dress.
"Girl, are you from District Twelve, 'cause I'm about to make you mine," I
greeted her.
She grinned. "Is that a baguette in your pants, or are you just happy to see
me?" she replied smoothly as I walked inside her house.
I chuckled as she led me in and served me a glass of wine. "Hopefully my
parents won't miss this," she told me as we held a toast. "I hope you're ready
for a bath, because we're trying out the Jacuzzi tonight," she added with a
wink.
"But I don't have a swimsuit," I protested stupidly.
She laughed. "Funny, neither do I," she whispered seductively in my ear as her
hand landed on my crotch. I gulped. Good think I still had that condom. I then
set my glass down on the table and picked her up, wrapping her legs around my
waist as she wrapped her arms around my neck, her fingers twirling in my hair.
I stumbled forward as we kissed until I had her backed up against the wall, her
hot tongue dancing with mine as her eager fingers explored beneath my shirt. I
ran my hands up her thighs, pulling up her dress as we stopped for breath so
that she could peel off my shirt and I could pull off her dress. She was now
left with only black lace underwear, and I cupped her breasts eagerly as she
unbuttoned my pants. Soon, they were on the ground, and before I knew it, we
had taken off our shoes as I walked her to the patio, where the Jacuzzi was
bubbling hot. I led us inside the Jacuzzi, and she giggled as the hot water
touched her skin while I undid her bra. She then reached behind her to turn on
the stereo with a remote that was built into the Jacuzzi.
"Hey, isn't that our song?" I asked her as a provocative song began to play.
"Yes, it is," she said as she pulled off my boxers and wrapped her hand around
my oh-so eager bosco stick.
I shuddered in pleasure as she stroked me, and I took that opportunity to pull
off her panties. As soon as all of our clothes were gone, I grabbed the condom
that I had been holding in my hand this whole time and ripped it open the
packet with my teeth. "Is that a flavored condom?" she asked me curiously.
"Yeah, it's cheese bun flavored," I mumbled, embarrassed.
She wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Eww, that's weird, Orion!" she exclaimed.
"Well, you don't have to taste it," I told her. But she was no longer listening
to me; she had gone back to stroking me, and I was afraid I wouldn't hold out
much longer as her hand went up and down my shaft, her pinky teasing the tip.
"T-Tara, I'm not going to last very long if you keep doing that," I warned her.
"All right then, what do you want to do?" she asked as she kissed me, the taste
of her mouth intoxicating me. The wine had already made my head spin.
"Here, help me put this on," I suggested as I handed her the condom, and she
instantly put her hands beneath the water to slide it on my hardness. What was
that thing my Dad always said? Oh, that's right…to keep it in my pants and my
frosting under control. Well, so much for that. I was at her mercy, and this
encouraged me to reach beneath the water and touch her.
She gasped as my fingers reached the bundle of nerves inside her, and I began
to experiment, putting one finger in, then two. I would stroke her slowly, then
rapidly, changing the pace as she moaned. "I think it's time… are you ready?" I
murmured softly in her ear. She nodded, and I finally slipped inside her. It
was then that everything exploded; I felt things breaking and tearing inside
her as she gasped in shock. She was a virgin, and she hadn't told me.
"Tara-" I began.
"Shh, keep going," she said as her fingernails scraped my back.
She was leaning against the Jacuzzi, and she wrapped her legs around me tightly
as I found my rhythm. "Go faster," she commanded.
Well, wasn't she bossy….but then again, that's why I liked her. I did as she
commanded, and before I knew it, she was screaming my name nonstop as I found
my climax, and she followed soon after. I reached down to take her nipple in my
mouth as I teased her breasts. She cursed and moaned, and, right in the middle
of that, she pulled my hair as we heard a voice.
"Get the fuck off my daughter, you bastard!" I looked up to see Mr. Hawthorne
yelling angrily at us, with his wife holding a machete beside him. Mr.
Hawthorne bent down to pick up the condom that had floated off in the Jacuzzi.
"It looks like we're going to have to castrate you, boy," Mrs. Hawthorne said
gleefully.
***** Macho Man *****
Adara
I hate sleeping in the woods. One time, when I was about ten, my Mom took us
camping at the lake and not only did I get sunburned and bitten by mosquitoes,
but I ran into poison ivy. Needless to say, we never went camping again.
Somehow, our family vacations always result in complete and total disaster, but
then again, we don't have to go on vacation for that to happen. Only this time,
it's not a vacation. Instead, I'm being forced to spend the night in the same
tent as my evilly possessed twin sisters. And here they come now.
"Adara, look, I found mushrooms so we can eat!" Rose exclaimed cheerfully as
she slipped inside the tent.
"Let me see….Rose, these are poisonous!" I cried out in alarm as I tossed the
mushrooms away.
"Well then how about these?" Rue asked as she handed me some nightlock. I
slapped the berries away from her hand angrily. "Rue, don't even think about
it! You know these are deadly; Mom and Dad told us about them! Are you two
trying to kill me or something?" I screamed in frustration.
Rose and Rue exchanged nervous glances. "No, Dara, we would never!" they cried
out in unison as they shook their heads anxiously.
"We're just trying to find herbs and vegetables and fruits, since I'm a
vegetarian and I can't eat the squirrels we're cooking," Rose explained.
I sighed. "All right, fine. But you two are terrible at finding food. I'm done
setting up our beds, so I'll take the flashlight and try to find something. You
two stay here and watch the fire, okay? We don't want to burn our meat; it's
the only food we have," I told them.
They nodded eagerly as I set out in the dark to look for herbs. This was
absolutely ridiculous. How was I supposed to find anything in this light,
anyway? I knew that they were up to something. Rose and Rue had read the plant
book that our parents had created and they had it memorized by heart. There was
no way they hadn't known those plants were poisonous. I shuddered. My own
sisters might actually be trying to kill me.
"Adara!" someone whispered from behind me. I jumped and turned around,
startled. I rose up my flashlight, throwing the light right in front of him.
"Hey, ow, it's me, that hurts my eyes!" he cried out as he covered his face
with his hands. I sighed in relief as I pointed the flashlight away from his
face, realizing who it was.
"That's much better, thanks," he said gratefully.
"Hunter, what are you doing here?" I asked in bewilderment. Not that I was
complaining, of course. Maybe I liked camping, after all.
He grinned mischievously. "I told my parents and sister that I was spending the
night away at my cousins', when in reality I sneaked out to see you. But when I
saw that you weren't home, I went out and looked for you, and here you are," he
said triumphantly. "I finally found you."
"But how did you know that I would be in the forest?" I asked him.
"I overheard your parents discussing it; they were arguing pretty loudly about
it," he answered apologetically.
"Oh," I replied, not knowing what else to say. But apparently I didn't have to
say anything, since Hunter was already leaning down to kiss me. I kissed him
back enthusiastically, wrapping my arms around his broad shoulders as he backed
me up against a tree.
When we finally paused to breathe, he smiled and said, "So how have you been?"
I laughed. "It's been a crazy day, but I'm better now that you're here with me.
How about you, how did your day go?" I asked, still trying to regain my breath.
"I couldn't stop thinking about you," he admitted as he wrapped one arm against
my waist while he leaned his head above me, his other hand pushing up against
the tree. "Every star seems to be calling out your name. Everywhere I turn, I
see your beautiful face," he continued. "All my hands dream about is touching
you again. All I breathe is your perfume, and all I taste is you. Every single
one of my senses is dedicated to you," he finished.
I giggled. "You're so corny. If you keep that up, I'm going to start assuming
you're gay," I joked.
He blushed. "Well, that's how you make me feel. I'm not a poet, but you make me
want to be one. And believe me, the only thing I'm keeping up is rubbing up
against you just now," he said shamelessly.
Now it was my turn to blush. "We can't do it here, you know," I warned him.
"I know, but we can mess around a little," he said as his hand trailed up under
my shirt before slipping underneath my bra. His tongue darted inside my mouth
just as I gasped at the feel of fingers wrapping around my breast. I could feel
my nipples hardening just as his hardness pressed up against my stomach, making
me groan.
"Ugh, get a room!" someone shouted from behind us. Hunter and I split apart
quickly as we turned around to see who it was, but it was too dark to tell.
"Who was that?" Hunter asked suspiciously.
"Chill out, it's just me, Orion," my brother said from behind some bushes.
"Orion, why are you hiding?" I asked, annoyed. This wasn't the time to play
hide-and-seek. And what was he doing here, anyway?
"I-I'm naked," he stuttered.
"What?" I asked in disbelief.
"I was messing around with Tara, and her parents came home and caught us, so I
ran away before they castrated me," he said.
I couldn't help it; I laughed. Hunter mumbled something about his mother's ax,
and how it was the scariest thing in the world. "That's hilarious! Orion, if
you ever get your bosco stick cut off, you could always be like Dad and have a
fake leg put on, only it would be on your crotch. They could peel some skin
away from one of your legs and…"
"SHUT UP ADARA, THAT'S NOT FUNNY!" Orion screamed, interrupting me just as
Hunter and I burst into hysterics. "And you're not one to talk, considering the
fact that the same thing could happen to your boyfriend if you get caught
again," he warned us.
"Yeah, well you were screwing my sister, so you're not one to talk either,"
Hunter said defensively.
"Ugh, what's the hold up? We could hear you guys screaming from the other side
of the woods," Rue said just as she and Rose appeared.
"How did you guys get here?" Rose added as she looked from Hunter to Orion, who
was still hiding behind the bushes.
"It's a long story, but it all goes back to me and Hunter being Macho Men,"
Orion joked.
"You mean you two being horny, almost castrated men," I pointed out.
"Orion, are you naked?" Rue asked.
"Yes, I left my clothes beside the Hawthornes' Jacuzzi," Orion admitted.
"Dude, you better not have jizzed in my Jacuzzi," Hunter warned him.
"So what if I did?" Orion scoffed.
"That's not cool. You're cleaning that up. You can mess with my sister, but not
with my Jacuzzi," Hunter told him.
I slapped Hunter's arm. "Hunter, don't say that about your sister!" I scolded
him.
"Well, it's not my fault she was willing. My Jacuzzi doesn't have any say in
it, though," Hunter said sadly.
I rolled my eyes along with the twins. "Whatever, we need to get out of here,"
I said to them.
"But I need clothes! Can somebody please go inside the house and get me some?"
Orion begged.
"Bro, you already got some," Hunter pointed out as the twins giggled.
"That's not what I meant!" Orion shouted angrily.
"Yeah, well, thanks to you, I'm afraid that neither of us is in a position
where we're even allowed to go inside the house until morning," I snapped.
"Not to mention the fact that my parents are probably still looking for you, so
they may be inside your house, and if I go in there, I'll get in trouble,"
Hunter said apologetically.
"I just want to go to sleep," Rose whined.
"Fine, you guys stay out here, and I'll sneak inside the house to get Orion
some clothes, how does that sound?" Rue suggested.
"That sounds perfect, Rue! You're pretty sneaky; you never get caught," I
praised her.
"Yeah, and bring us some snacks if you can," Orion said.
"I will; but they won't be for you, since you're actually allowed to go inside
once you have clothes on," Rue said pointedly.
"Well there's no way I'm going in there if the Hawthornes are looking for me,"
Orion replied.
"Okay, I'll find out and then come back," Rue promised us as she ran out of the
woods, her footsteps silently treading on the ground until she was swallowed by
darkness.
Rue
As soon as I arrived near the house, I climbed up the tree that led into
Adara's window, which was usually open. I went in through the window and
silently crept inside her room until I reached her door. I didn't hear any
voices outside, so turned the doorknob and opened the door as quietly as I
could. The hallway was lit, which meant that Mom and Dad were probably still
awake downstairs. I then sneaked inside Orion's room and shut the door behind
me as I turned on the light of his bedroom. I wrinkled my nose at the hideous
sight that lay before me. His room smelled awful, and there were clothes and
papers thrown all over the place. How in the world was I supposed to find his
clean clothes?
I opened his drawers and noticed that his clothes were all disorganized, and
that he hid porn magazines at the bottom of each drawer. Ugh, my brother was
such a pig. How could he possibly be turned on by those creepy, fake, Capitol
women? I shuddered in disgust and eventually found a clean set of clothes,
along with some shoes and a backpack to put everything inside. Just as I was
turning off the light and heading out the door, I heard voices outside, and I
froze in place as I kept the door shut in front of me. I soon heard Dad's voice
singing:
"Body...wanna feel my body?
Body...such a thrill my body
Body...wanna touch my body?
Body...it's too much my body
Check it out my body, body.
Don't you doubt my body, body.
talkin' bout my body, body,
check it out my body
Every man wants to be a macho, macho, man
to have the kind of body, always in demand
Baking in the mornings, go man, go
works out by the oven, muscles glow
You can best believe that, he's a macho man
ready to get down with, anyone he can," he sang loudly as he headed down the
hall.
"Peeta, shut up, you know I hate that song!" Mom yelled at him.
"Hey! Hey! Hey, hey, hey!
Macho, macho man (macho man)
I've got to be, a macho man
Macho, macho man
I've got to be a macho! Ow...
Macho, macho man
I've got to be, a macho man
Macho, macho man (yeah, yeah)
I've got to be a macho!" he continued as I heard him get out his work-out
equipment from across the hall.
"Peeta, turn that horrible music off!" Mom insisted as he turned up the volume
and sang even louder.
"Ugh! Macho…baby!
Body, body, body wanna feel my body,
Body, body, body gonna thrill my body,
Body, body, body don'tcha stop my body,
Body, body, body it's so hot my body," Dad sang along proudly. I covered up my
mouth, trying not to laugh. Dad was anything but manly. And he worked in a
bakery, for crying out loud. Most of my friends had Dads with beer bellies, but
our Dad had what we called a dough baby.
"Ugh, Peeta, I'm not touching you," Mom groaned. "And you're not even that
manly," she spat.
"Fine then, I guess you're not getting this amazing body tonight," he said
seductively. I tried not to gag.
"Good, because I'm watching CSI reruns and Man VS Wild tonight,and I don't want
any interruptions," Mom snapped.
"But you've been watching Bear Grylls for the past two hours already, and Cake
Boss is on tonight!" Dad complained.
"Well that's unfortunate," Mom said dryly. "But that's what you get for
listening to annoying music. Go finish your work-out, Peeta," she told him.
"What does that guy have that I don't, anyway?" he continued, ignoring her
request.
"Well, I'd rather not get started on that. But at least he doesn't idolize
Betty White and Martha Stewart," she pointed out. My jaw dropped as I heard
this; it was a wonder Dad wasn't gay.
"And Oprah, don't forget Oprah," Dad added.
"Whatever, that's not the point," Mom said.
"Then what is the point?" Dad asked, but before she could answer, the doorbell
rang, and they both ran downstairs to answer it. "I wonder who it is at this
hour," I heard Dad say.
I bit my lip nervously- something in my gut was telling me that it was probably
the Hawthornes. There was no way I could sneak downstairs now. I needed to get
out of here, andfast. I ran out of Orion's room and headed back into Adara's,
slipping outside her window and coming down from the tree in record time. It
wasn't until I hit the ground that I heard their voices coming from outside the
front door.
"We're looking for your son," I heard Mrs. Hawthorne's say.
"What did he do now? And why are you carrying a weapon, Johanna?" I heard Mom
demand.
"Because we're going to castrate him for sleeping with our daughter," Mr.
Hawthorne replied coldly. I tensed, and ran back into the woods as fast as I
could before anyone could see me. I had to tell my brother that he was in
trouble. Nobody messed with my brother….nobody except for his sisters, that is.
Peeta
"Wait a minute; you're not castrating my son!" I yelled at Gale angrily as I
clenched my fists. I could already feel a flashback coming as I fought to
remain in control of my temper.
"Peeta, calm down, I don't think they meant that literally," Katniss said
hopefully as she grabbed a hold of my arm.
"Oh yes we did, and we're filing a restraining order against him," Johanna said
as we stepped out into the porch.
"Well in that case, we're doing the same for Hunter, since he's been sleeping
with my daughter and nearly got her pregnant once," I informed them.
"Oh we're well aware of that, and we're going to castrate him too," Johanna
said evilly. This woman was crazy.
"Johanna, we're not castrating our only son," Gale warned her.
"Or ours, for that matter," I snapped.
"That's not even legal," Katniss said. We all turned to her in surprise.
"Since when do you care about following the law, Brainless?" Johanna smirked.
"Since you decided to hurt my son," Katniss retorted.
"They're young men, just because they couldn't keep it in their pants doesn't
mean we need to castrate them," I added.
"Well what if one of our daughters gets pregnant, what do you suggest we do
then, Mellark?" Gale asked sardonically.
I shrugged, "Well that would be up to them, wouldn't it? And besides, my son is
using protection. I hope yours is too," I told him.
"Oh, I know all about your son's little condom. I found it floating on my
Jacuzzi. He's cleaning it up, by the way," Gale retorted.
"Fair enough, as long as you don't actually hurt him," I replied.
"Oh, we can't guarantee that….maybe we'll pass on the restraining order just so
we can get him," Johanna said gleefully as she swung her ax around.
"Not my son, you bitch!" Katniss snapped as she jumped on Johanna, who dropped
her weapon in shock.
"Katniss, be careful, you're going to land on that!" I yelled as Gale and I
tried to separate them before they seriously injured each other. But it was
useless; they had each other clutched by the hair, and they were pulling it out
by the roots as they cursed and spat furiously.
"This catfight is actually pretty hot," Gale mumbled beside me.
I nodded, despite myself. "You're right, Katniss hasn't been this intense in
years," I admitted as we gave up and let them end their fight.
"Johanna has always been pretty crazy in bed, but this is like a whole new
level," Gale agreed as we enjoyed the view. They were now ripping each other's
clothes. Gale and I whistled.
"Whoa, what's going on?" we heard a voice say, and I looked up to see that it
was my son, Orion. He was fully clothed and completely disheveled as he took in
the sight of the fight going on in front of him. Gale and I tried to signal for
him to leave, but it was then that Katniss and Johanna noticed him, and they
stopped their fight as they rushed towards him.
***** Mending *****
Orion
I don't know why I went back home. I guess I'm just so used to the twins lying
that even when they tell the truth I don't believe them. So when Rue warned me
that the Hawthornes were fighting with our parents, I figured it was just
something she made up to get me to sleep in the woods with them. Well, it turns
out I was wrong; for once, my little sister was trying to help me.
"Orion!" My mother screamed as Mrs. Hawthorne launched herself at me, my mother
at her heels.
Dad and Mr. Hawthorne watched with wide eyes as Mrs. Hawthorne kicked me on the
crotch, and I dropped down in pain and shock. Tears stung my eyes as I writhed
on the ground, moaning in agony at the hot, pulsating feeling that wouldn't go
away. I cursed myself for my stupidity.
"My baby!" Mom yelled as she knelt down beside me, and then stood back up to
jump on Mrs. Hawthorne. But before she could punch her, Dad and Mr. Hawthorne
stood between them, breaking up their fight. After the worst of the pain had
eased off, I stood up, wondering why they hadn't done this before; it would
have saved me a lot of suffering.
"That's enough, Johanna!" Mr. Hawthorne told his wife sternly as he held her
back. Dad was holding Mom back the same way; she looked like she was launching
arrows with her eyes.
"What's going on here?" I asked stupidly, as if I hadn't asked that before. I
wondered where Tara was. She was probably grounded for life.
Dad glared at me just as Mr. Hawthorne said: "We came here looking for you
after you ran off naked into the woods, and we told your parents how we found
you with our daughter. My wife wants to castrate you, but we're just going to
leave you with a warning and a restraining order against you."
My jaw dropped in disbelief, and my Mom said, "Well, in that case, we're
placing a restraining order against both of your children, since they're such a
bad influence on ours."
"Oh, look who's talking! Your son was screwing our daughter shamelessly in our
Jacuzzi while we were gone!" Mrs. Hawthorne spat.
"Our daughter was a well-behaved young lady before your son came into the
picture and taught her how to sneak out and have sex in public!" Dad accused
them.
"We're not talking about our son; we're talking about yours! But since you
insist, we'll just agree that all of our children are corruptive and never let
them see each other again," Mr. Hawthorne said with finality.
"Fine, then, we'll never cross paths again," Mom said venomously.
"Good," said Mrs. Hawthorne as she and her husband began to walk away.
"But that's not fair; I want to see Tara again!" I suddenly cried out. But it
was too late; the Hawthornes were already driving away furiously.
"Shut up, Orion; you've caused enough problems already," Mom said
disappointedly as Dad let go of her arm.
"You should have thought of that before you disobeyed us and ignored me when I
told you to keep it in your pants," Dad added sternly.
I hung my head down in shame, wondering what could be worse than being
forbidden to see your own girlfriend. "Go to your bed and stay there this
time," Dad told me, as if he hadn't been the one to give me the condom in the
first place. But then again, he'd only done that because he had obviously
foreseen this. I doubted I would ever have children after that awful kick,
though. Without looking at either of them, I went inside the house and stomped
my feet angrily all the way up to my room, like I used to do when I was three
years old. I didn't care. I lay alone in my bed, wondering what Tara had done
with my other set of clothes, and if she had kept them as a souvenir of our
forbidden relationship.
Katniss
"Maybe we were too tough on him," I told Peeta after we heard Orion's
heartbroken sobs coming from his room.
"Katniss, if he wants to have a serious relationship with this girl, he needs
to grow up and stop acting so immature," Peeta replied as he read his cookbook
in bed.
I frowned. "Well, at least you didn't say he has to man up; I mean, look at
you," I said.
"What about me? Can't a man read his cookbook in peace?" Peeta asked, raising
his eyebrow at me. "I'm reading a great cupcake recipe here."
I sighed. "Look, I understand that we need to teach him how to act responsibly,
but maybe some of this is our fault. None of our children behave anymore; our
daughters are sleeping in the forest and our son is crying in his bedroom. And
all of this because they caught us having sex too many times and we spoiled
them constantly to make up for it," I said.
Peeta finally closed his cookbook and turned to me seriously. "You know what,
you're absolutely right, Katniss. We need to mend this. We need to talk to our
kids and pay more attention to them. When we were their age, we had to grow up
fast because we practically lost our parents before we were even adults, and
now we're overcompensating with our own kids. Let's go talk to Orion, and then
we can have a chat with the girls tomorrow during breakfast," Peeta suggested.
I nodded eagerly as we got out of our bed and headed quietly down the hall
towards Orion's room. I knocked on his door softly, and, when he didn't answer,
Peeta and I crept inside. Orion had fallen asleep crying; his tear-stained face
was red and puffy as he lay on his chest with wet sketches all over his bed. I
gave Peeta a mournful look as I pulled the covers up to his shoulders while he
collected our son's drawings and colored pencils and placed them on the bedside
table. "What did he draw?" I asked Peeta in a hushed tone.
"Well, what do you think?" he whispered back as he showed me the tear-stained
sketches of Tara Hawthorne. I frowned; she looked so much like her mother.
There was even a nude drawing of her that reminded me of the time Johanna took
her costume off in the elevator. I shook my head sadly as Peeta put the
sketches back and we walked quietly out of his room, making sure to turn off
the light right before we closed his door.
"We'll talk to all of them in the morning," I told Peeta as we lay back down in
our bed. "Let's go to sleep. I'm tired," I said.
"You're always tired," Peeta grumbled.
"Well, it's been a long day," I pointed out.
"You don't have time for us anymore," he continued.
"What do you mean?" I asked him.
"You're always busy hunting, or cleaning, and when I get home from work, we eat
dinner and you head directly to watch Survivor or CSI, or some nature show
about hunting. You don't even let me watch my soap operas anymore, and today I
even missed an episode of Cake Boss. And then we head to bed and you won't even
touch me," he complained.
I rolled my eyes. "Peeta, you sound like a sensitive old woman," I told him.
"Well, I have my needs," he said defensively.
"I thought I was the one going through menopause, but I guess it's you," I
laughed.
"Oh, and then you don't even thank me for doing the cooking all the time;
instead you yell at me for reading my favorite cookbook while you sexually
neglect me," he added whining.
I sighed. "All right, how about we go out for one night once a week so that I
don't leave you sexually frustrated all the time," I suggested.
"Sounds good to me, as long as you let me watch my favorite soap opera from now
on; it's getting really good," he said enthusiastically.
"Fine, you can watch The Pies of Our Lives, but I still think it's stupid," I
told him.
"It's about a baker who marries a woman who doesn't sexually reject him for
some stupid nature show about hunting deer," he said defensively.
"I bet she doesn't have four teenagers living in her house," I said.
"The girls are gone and Orion's sleep; can't we just do a quickie?" he begged.
"Ugh, Peeta, no wonder your children are so horny! They definitely got it from
you. Fine, but I'm really tired, so don't blame me if I fall asleep on you." I
warned him.
I didn't have to tell him twice. He instantly got on top of me as I pulled off
his shirt to trace my fingers through his hard abdominal muscles. I chuckled as
I remembered the kids saying that he had a dough baby. That wasn't true; my
husband was as fit and handsome as ever.
"What's so funny?" he accused as he pulled off my nightgown.
"The kids think you're fat," I admitted, laughing.
"Well, as long as they still think their mother is beautiful, I don't care what
they assume about me," he said as he bent down to kiss my neck while I pulled
down his pajama pants. This was always the most difficult part, since sometimes
they got stuck on his prosthetic leg. He helped me pull them down and soon we
had tossed away all of our clothes as we hid underneath the covers.
I giggled as he tickled me and then I kissed him as we fondled each other. We
didn't even have to look at what we were doing; we had loved each other
countless times; we had every single part of the other memorized. He still ran
his fingers though my hair as he undid my braid and I still kissed all of his
scars. I had earned more of those after having been pregnant three times, but
he had grown fond of those too.
And of course, he was the only who knew how to find the exact spot that drove
me into oblivion.
"Oh, Peeta!" I cried out helplessly as I drove my short nails into his
shoulder. He was thrusting into me passionately and deeply as he added a finger
in between us as to push me even farther into insanity. I watched his face as
he mirrored my reactions; the faces that he made when he loved me were the same
expressions I made when I loved him. I ran my hands trough his sweaty blonde
hair as his mouth gaped and his blue eyes rolled to the back of his head. It
was then that he finally released himself and I tightened myself around him as
my legs were wrapped around his waist. He groaned as he finally let go of me
and he lay exhausted on top of me, his head resting on my breasts. I held him
close to me and kissed the top of his head as I caressed his back. Then,
without thinking, or perhaps out of routine, I whispered, "Stay with me."
Peeta grabbed my hand and kissed it as he replied, "Always, my Mockingjay. I
love you."
"I love you too," I murmured before drifting off to sleep.
Rose
"Ugh, I hate sleeping in the woods, and we didn't even trick Adara into eating
the berries," I complained to Rue as I rubbed my stiff shoulders while we were
packing everything. Sleeping on the floor of the tent with my sisters hadn't
been nearly as comfortable as sleeping on my soft bed. Oh, how I missed my bed,
even if it was too close to where my sex-craved parents slept. I'd rather hear
Mom's moans and Dad's snores than sleep outside on the floor.
"Don't be silly, Rose, of course our sister wasn't going to fall for that
trick. We just needed to get rid of her for a while so that we could hide the
poison ivy in her sleeping bag," Rue reminded me.
It was then that Adara came toward us as she scratched the horrible red rashes
that colored her face and the rest of her body. "We need to hurry up so that
Mom can help me treat this and so that we don't miss breakfast; I'm starving!"
she exclaimed as we finished packing everything up and put on our backpacks. "I
always get poison ivy when we go camping," she whined.
Rue and I exchanged knowing smiles; this was not a coincidence. "I wonder what
your boyfriend will think of your rashes," I asked her as Rue held back
laughter.
Adara scowled at us and replied, "Don't be ridiculous; I'm not going to let
Hunter see me like this. I'll have to wait until I get better before I see him
again," she explained.
"Wow, so your snotty boyfriend only likes you when you look hot? What a snob. I
can't believe you like this guy; and to think you let him touch your tits," Rue
observed as we hiked toward the house.
Adara screamed in frustration as she threw her backpack at Rue's head, making
her fall down. "Shut up, you little monster! Don't you dare say any of that
stuff again, you hear me?" she screeched as Rue laughed uncontrollably while I
smirked and helped her get back up.
"You better watch your mouth; she's in a foul mood," I warned Rue as we
approached the back of our house. Adara ran inside as we followed excitedly
behind, already smelling the delicious breakfast that Dad had made.
"Adara, what happened to you?" we heard our parents exclaim as she walked in.
"I got poison ivy again!" she told them as we walked in behind her. Orion was
sitting at the table with our parents as he inhaled his waffles.
"Good grief, did you toss out your sleeping bag?" Mom asked her.
"Not yet, but I'll probably need to throw my clothes out too," she said
miserably.
"Let's get those things thrown out then, and I'll get you treated. Girls, you
sit here and eat some breakfast," Mom ordered as Dad served us our plates. Mine
had waffles and fruit in it while Rue's had eggs and bacon. Orion had
everything on his plate and he was smirking at Adara.
"You look great today, Sis," Orion remarked sarcastically.
"Shut up, Orion, it's not funny," Adara said as Mom led her away.
"Orion, don't make fun of your sister," Dad scolded him as he sat down. Soon,
we were all sitting down eating, and Mom and Adara came back to join us. Adara
was all patched up, but she still looked awful.
"I called my mother and she told me what treatment to use on it. Thank goodness
we kept that medicine we got from the Capitol. Her rash should be gone by
tomorrow," Mom told us.
"Maybe we should get a goat, so that it can eat up all of the poison ivy," I
suggested.
Mom and Dad exchanged looks. "Oh, I don't know about that," Mom said finally.
"We'll see," Dad added, smiling at me. "All right, little toasts, I have an
announcement for you," he said.
"Did you just call us little toasts?" Rue asked with distaste.
"Dad, you know Rue hates bread," I added.
"That's not why I said that though. When were teenagers, your Mom was the girl
on fire, and I was he boy with the bread. So now you kids are toast," he joked.
"You can say that again," Orion grumbled. I looked at my brother; he looked
even more unhappy than usual.
"What's the announcement?" Adara asked curiously as she scratched her face.
"Well, first of all, the Hawthornes have declared war on us; we're not talking
to them anymore. They filed a restraining order against Orion, so we had to do
the same with Hunter and Tara," Dad began warily.
"What?" Adara exclaimed furiously. It was then that I understood Orion's foul
mood. Rue and grinned at each other.
"Now, I know what you're thinking, but the Hawthornes are a bad influence," Mom
explained gently.
"Mom, you can't-" Adara began.
"Calm down, Dara, we're going to get this straightened out," Dad assured her
patiently. "As soon you and Orion start acting responsibly, we'll drop the
charges, and we'll convince the Hawthornes to drop them too," he promised.
"I still think it's unfair," Adara grumbled as I poured syrup on my waffles.
"So is that all of the announcements?" I asked as I took a bite.
"No, Rose, your mother and I think that you and Rue need to behave better too.
From now on, we're going to keep a closer eye on all of you. Rose, I need you
to help me with the garden today, and Rue, you still need to go hunting with
your Mom and Orion. Adara's going to stay home, recuperating and taking care of
the house," Dad said.
"Aren't you afraid she'll bring her boyfriend- oh, wait, never mind," Rue said
as she pointed at Adara's rashes.
Adara glared at us as we tried not to laugh, and Dad scolded us for it. After
breakfast, it was Adara's turn to wash the dishes, so everyone else went
outside as I followed my Dad so that we could tend the garden. "Now, Rose, do
you know what kind of flowers these are?" he asked me.
I smiled. "Of course I do; those are primroses!" I answered proudly.
Dad grinned. "That's right; these are for you, and it's going to be your job to
tend them. I first planted these after your Aunt Prim died, but now your mother
and I want you to take care of them. And if you do a good job, we'll buy you a
goat, and you and Rue can both take care of it. How does that sound? He asked
me.
I beamed. "Wow, really? That sounds great; thanks Daddy!" I said gratefully as
I hugged him.
"Anything for my little girl," he said proudly, his bright blue eyes matching
mine.
It was then that I looked up and saw someone standing a few feet behind him,
someone with emerald green eyes and a hopeful expression. My heart sank. It was
Stark.
***** Moans *****
Peeta
"What's wrong, Rose?" I asked my blonde twelve-year-old daughter as she gasped
at something that was behind me. I turned around and frowned. There was a tall
dark-haired boy standing a few yards behind me, his expression troubled. "Who's
he?" I asked her as he approached slowly; he looked somewhat familiar, but I
couldn't remember where I had seen him before.
"His name is Stark; he's the butcher's son, remember?" she said quickly as I
stood up to meet him.
"Oh, of course, I remember now!" I exclaimed as he reached us.
"Hello, Mr. Mellark. Rose," he said smoothly as he nodded his head towards my
daughter, who blushed in response.
"Hey, Stark," she mumbled shyly.
"Good afternoon, what can we help you with?" I offered politely as I wiped my
hands on a handkerchief.
"I was wondering if I could please talk to Rose for a second," he responded as
he looked up at me pleadingly. I frowned. I didn't know why he would need to
talk to my daughter, exactly, but I needed to keep an eye on him just in case.
"Alright, you can talk out here on the porch; I'll be inside if you need me," I
said to Rose as I slipped inside the backdoor of the house that opened up to
the kitchen. I made sure that the window above the sink was open so that I
could hear what they were saying as I sat down on the table while I poured
myself some tea and listened intently to what they were saying. I wasn't being
nosy; I was being a concerned father.
"Rose I can't stop thinking about you; I think I'm in love with you," I heard
Stark say desperately. I rolled my eyes. Twelve-year -olds.
"Shush, Stark; someone might hear you, and I already told you that we can't be
together," Rose replied with the same intensity. I grinned. That was my girl.
"So what if you're a vegetarian and I'm a butcher's son? You still don't have
to eat meat! You don't even have to smell it; I took a shower twice and even
put cologne on before I came to see you," he begged. I covered my mouth so I
wouldn't choke back in laughter. I should be recording this.
"Yes, and that's very nice of you Stark, but just knowing that you work there
is going to prevent me from seeing you at any other time," she explained.
"Fine, then I'll quit and find another job someday! I'd do anything for you,
Rose! Please come back to me," he pleaded. Wow, this guy was pathetic. Not even
I was that desperate when I was his age…was I?
I heard Rose sigh in exasperation. "Okay, fine, I'll give you another chance,
but only because you're hot," she replied. Wait, what? Over my dead body would
my twelve-year-old date that loser, or anyone else for that matter! I stood up
from my seat and headed angrily out the door, and gasped. Stark and Rose had
been kissing on the lips as I walked in on them, and they separated with looks
of complete and utter shock as soon as they saw me.
"Dad!" Rose screamed in frustration as they both turned bright red in
embarrassment.
"Uh…I better get going now, so bye" Stark stuttered nervously, and started
walking away.
"Not so fast, young man!" I yelled back at him as he retreated away from our
yard.
He stopped and turned back anxiously. "You better stay away from my daughter,
you hear me? She's too young to be making out with boys!" I scolded him, and he
nodded and ran off before I could say anything else. I smirked.
"Dad, you ruined everything!" Rose cried angrily as she turned to me, her face
now red with anger instead of shame.
"You didn't even like him that much!" I pointed out in defense. "I practically
did you a favor by getting rid of that guy! And besides, I already said you
were too young!"
"Ugh, you're ruining my life!" She screeched as she ran inside the house,
stomping her way up the stairs and slamming her bedroom door before I could go
after her. I sighed. This was not what I had planned.
"What's going on?" I heard a Katniss' voice ask behind me. I turned around to
look at her, noticing that she had just gotten back from hunting with Orion and
Rue. They were setting their game bags down on the porch.
"Rose is upset at me because I caught her kissing the butcher's son," I
explained.
"Wait, what?" Rue exclaimed as she ran hurriedly up the stairs as fast as she
could, calling Rose's name as she went. Orion smirked, and Katniss frowned.
"Rose, I want all the details!" we heard her yell from upstairs.
"What the heck just happened?" Adara asked as she descended the stairs.
"Rose was caught smooching Starch," Orion replied mockingly.
Adara rolled her eyes. "Ugh, big freaking deal, we've been caught doing worse,"
she pointed out.
I frowned. "Yes, well that's why you had to suffer the consequences. You too,
Orion, you've both been bad examples for your little sisters," I scolded them.
"Dad, they're evil! You say that like they're sweet and innocent or something,"
Adara complained.
"And obviously they're not," Orion added as he headed upstairs. "I'm going to
go take a shower before dinner," he announced.
"Good. You smell like dead animals. Oh wait, that's ten times better than your
usual smell," Adara told him as Orion scowled at her before turning away.
"Alright, that's enough arguing; I'm going to make dinner," Katniss said as she
headed towards the stove.
"No, wait, Mom, I'll do it. It's my turn to cook, remember? You go ahead and
take a shower," Adara offered.
Katniss smiled and nodded appreciatively at our daughter and said, "Okay, thank
you honey," before turning to me with a questioning look on her face. I simply
shrugged; maybe she was trying to get on our good side, which was fine with me.
"No problem, Mom," Adara said sweetly as she began making the soup.
"Well, then I guess I'll go see if I can talk to Rose," I said as Katniss
headed upstairs and I followed behind her.
As soon as we reached the hallway, I knocked on the twins' room. "Go away,
you're invading our privacy!" I heard Rue yell.
"It's me, your dad," I said through the door.
"I don't want to talk about it, Dad," Rose said from the other side of it. I
sighed.
"Leave them alone, we'll deal with them later, when we're at the dinner table,"
Katniss said to me as she rubbed my shoulder comfortingly.
I turned to her sadly as she led me inside our room. Orion was taking a shower
in the hallway bathroom, and Katniss was just about to take one in our
bathroom. I sat at the end of our bed as Katniss stepped into the bathroom,
leaving the door open so that I could talk to her as she removed her hunting
outfit. "Katniss, I don't know what to do anymore. None of our children behave
anymore, much less listen to me or respect me. Half of the time, they only
listen to you because they're afraid that you'll shoot them with an arrow, but
either way they disobey us," I told her worriedly as she undid her braid.
"Well, for starters, I think that this whole restraining order thing is just
ridiculous. I know we said we were going to place some against the Hawthorne
kids, but you and I both know we were just bluffing so that Adara and Orion
could listen to us. I don't care if my kids are dating them; this is all Gale's
fault, our conflict with him has nothing to do with the kids. And Johanna's
acting crazy, but that's nothing new. If you really want to earn their respect
and end this once and for all, I suggest you beat the crap out of him, just so
I can get my revenge. I know it sounds horrible and selfish, but if I go after
him myself, Johanna will attack me, and I'd rather distract her while you beat
up Gale," Katniss said as she ran her hands through her long, dark hair,
untangling the knots right before she got inside shower. I swallowed. Katniss
talking about revenge as she walked around naked was making me hot. And now the
steaming water was running down her body…."Well, are you going to get in with
me, or what?" she asked after she saw the look on my face.
As if she needed to say so twice. I quickly tore off my clothes and shoes,
tossing them on the floor before getting in the shower with her. The hot water
ran down my chest as she wrapped her arms around me. "Katniss, I don't usually
think violence is the answer, but you know I would do anything for you," I
whispered to her.
"Mm, I know, that's why I love you," she murmured back as she bit my earlobe
seductively. I shuddered in pleasure, and, before I knew it, she was cupping my
balls and I was losing it.
"Ugh, Katniss, you know that's my weak spot," I groaned as my knees weakened,
and I held on the wall for support.
"So are you going to beat up Gale?" she asked as she squeezed me. She then
proceeded to lick my ear. My bosco stick was protruding; I could feel her hard
nipples tickle my back. This woman was going to be the end of me.
"Yes, whatever you say, but you know this is completely unfair, right?" I told
her. But she simply ignored me and began to stroke my bosco stick (yes, I still
called it that) instead. Soon I began cursing in ecstasy and I turned around
and picked her up so that I could hold her against the shower wall. She wrapped
her legs around me as I thrust myself inside her. "You're going to get it now,"
I growled in her ear.
"Faster, Peeta, harder!" she moaned in response. I slammed into her desperately
as I teased her nipples. "Oh, Peeta yes!" she screamed.
"MOM, DAD, WE CAN HEAR YOU ALL THE WAY FROM HERE; YOU NEED TO TONE IT DOWN A
BIT!" we heard the twins yell from across the hall.
"Oh, crap," I groaned as I released Katniss. "Don't scream so loud next time,"
I scolded her.
"Why'd you stop? I wasn't done yet!" she pouted.
"I'll continue if you promise not to scream," I told her with a grin.
"I don't make any promises," she said as she grabbed the sponge and began
running it through my body, letting the soap suds drip down my skin.
"Fine, then I'll just have to make sure they can't hear us," I said as I
covered her mouth with my hand and picked her up again. I slid my finger in at
the same time as my magical bosco stick (I didn't make this up; that's what
Katniss called it sometimes), and she made incoherent noises against my palm as
the heat between us increased.
"Shush, love," I whispered in her ear as I pressed against her core, pushing on
the bundle of nerves with my fingers. She whimpered.
"Mom, Dad, dinner is ready!" we heard Adara shout from downstairs as everyone
else thudded down the hall.
"We'll finish this tonight," I told Katniss as I nibbled her neck and released
her again.
"Good, just remember to beat up Gale," she said childishly.
I laughed, "Whatever you say, Mrs. Mellark." I gave her one last, lustful kiss
before we got out of the shower.
Rue
"Ugh, Mom and Dad are the horniest," I told Rose as we headed down to dinner.
"I don't blame them, that kiss that Stark gave me was amazing; I can totally
understand how they feel," Rose said.
I rolled my eyes. We'd been talking all afternoon about that kiss, and Rose was
acting like she had lost her virginity or something. "Yeah, yeah, you told me
how he slipped you the tongue and whatnot. It's not fair; you didn't even like
him that much. I, however, really like his brother, and we didn't get to kiss
last time because of you. I should've gotten my first kiss too!" I whined.
"Can you two shut up already?" Orion asked rudely as we sat at the table, where
Adara had everything served already.
"How come you're serving dinner this time?" Rose asked our older sister
curiously.
"Because Mom and Dad wanted to fuck," Orion said as he shoved his mouth with
spaghetti. Rose and I nearly choked on our drinks and scowled at him.
"No, Orion, shut up! I just wanted to help out, that's all. Okay, fine, I want
to get on their good side so that I can see Hunter. Can you blame me?" she
asked.
"If you find a way to get us out of this situation, let me know," Orion
grumbled between bites.
"Actually, we have an announcement to make," a voice said from behind us, and
we all turned around to see Mom and Dad walking towards us as they came to sit
down at the table.
"What is it?" I asked.
"We're going to end this once and for all and confront the Hawthornes," Mom
replied, grinning at Dad.
"I'm going to take care of business," Dad added proudly as he picked up his
fork.
"You're going to fight them again?" Rose asked.
"That didn't go too well last time," Adara pointed out.
"Or the time before that," Orion added.
"Yes, but this time, it will be different, because Gale owes us," Dad explained
before taking a drink.
"For accidently killing Aunt Prim thirty-two years ago, really?" Adara asked,
nearly rolling her eyes, but changing her mind when she saw the look on Mom's
face.
"Gale and I used to be best friends," Mom said. "And Johanna and I usually get
along fine. I think we need to settle our differences once and for all," she
finished as she took a bite. "Mm, this is really good, Adara," she praised her.
Adara beamed.
"But I thought you said that violence wasn't the answer," Rose said.
"It's not, but your Mom is just mad about the whole situation and she wants
revenge," Dad told us as he took a bite from a meatball.
"Can we bring popcorn and watch?" I asked. They all turned to me like I was
crazy, and then burst out laughing.
"Good one, sis," Orion said as he patted me on the back.
"Wait, does this mean that you guys are okay with us dating the Hawthornes?"
Adara asked hopefully.
Mom smiled at her. "Yes, Hunter seems like a very nice boy, and I know you
really like him. And I'm fine with Orion and Tara. It's Gale who I didn't
trust, and I'm sorry my dislike for him led to this," she said.
"Well, maybe after Dad beats him up, you can be friends again," Rose said
sarcastically as she grabbed a bread stick and bit into it.
"If not, at least your Mom will finally be satisfied with this whole dilemma,"
Dad said, rolling his eyes.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" I said enthusiastically as we all
finished eating our dinner.
"Not so fast, first we need to wash the dishes," Mom said, and we all groaned.
"Oh, all right, I'll do them. Peeta, you go get ready. The rest of you can have
some free time until we leave," Mom told us, and we all got up cheerfully.
"Hey, let's go outside," Adara suggested, so Orion, Rose, and I, followed her.
"What are we doing out here, again?" I asked, confused, as Adara and Orion
grabbed their bows and arrows. "I thought we were finished hunting," I said as
I tried to grab my own, but Adara stopped me.
"Not so fast, Rue," she said darkly, her blue eyes serious.
"I don't know how to hunt," Rose whined.
"That's okay Rosie; you and Rue won't be shooting. This game is for experts
only," Orion said mischievously.
"What game, exactly?" I asked suspiciously.
"Stand against a tree each, and we'll explain the rules to you as we go along,"
Adara ordered us. Rose and I shrugged and did as we were told; we figured it
couldn't be too bad. Adara and Orion were what we called boobs; they weren't as
smart as they pretended to be.
"Good, now lean against the bark and stand very still," Adara said as she and
Orion prepared their arrows, aiming them towards us.
"Wait, what are you guys doing?" Rose asked, frozen in panic.
"If you move, or cry, you lose," Orion said as he pointed at Rose while Adara
pointed towards me. "Don't make any noise, and don't to try to run. If you move
while we shoot, we might kill you by accident," he added threateningly, and,
before I knew it, they fired their arrows.
I closed my eyes, squeezing them shut. Soon, I heard an arrow fly past my ear,
and I opened my eyes to see that it had landed and inch away from it. I
swallowed. "Score!" I heard Adara and Orion shout in unison. I leaned over to
see that there was an arrow right underneath Rose's armpit, and that she had
frozen in terror. "All right, we have ten more arrows!" Adara said. We were so
screwed.
But before I could protest, I felt another arrow land on my tree, this time
above my head. I stood still, determined not to act scared as Adara and Orion
shot more arrows towards us, each time getting close to impaling us with them.
I was afraid that if I moved, it would indeed happen. Rose was sobbing like a
baby and had probably peed herself by now. What seemed like an eternity (but
had probably only been about ten minutes) later, Adara and Orion ran out of
arrows as Mom called us from inside the house, and the torture was finally
over.
"Not a word about this to our parents, or we'll do it again," Orion hissed at
us as we followed him and Adara inside the house. Rose whimpered, and I merely
nodded gravely, as if it were no big deal. I wasn't going to let him see that I
was afraid. Rose wiped her tears as we slipped inside the house, only to come
out of it again as our parents told us to get in the car. We piled up inside
the minivan, and pretty soon we were on our way to the Hawthorne's. At least
Rose and I would get to watch them suffer there. Things were just about to get
interesting.
Adara
When we arrived at the Hawthorne's, we ran out of the car as Orion and I waited
impatiently for our parents to knock on the front door. As soon as they did, we
were greeted by none other than my beloved Hunter Hawthorne. I couldn't help
myself; I ran into his arms as if I hadn't seen him in ages, even though it had
only been since yesterday. "Dara?" he said, surprised, as he looked up to see
the rest of my family waiting grimly behind me.
"Who is it, Hunter?" I heard his mom ask from farther inside the house as she
approached us. I let go of Hunter as soon as she saw who we were; she looked
extremely annoyed.
"Come in, Mellarks. I didn't expect to see you again so soon," she said flatly
as her husband came in from behind her, and I saw Tara descend from the stairs
on the other side of the house.
"Orion!" she cried out as she saw him walk inside the house while Hunter closed
the door behind him. We were all standing in the living room now, and she ran
into his arms excitedly, just like I had done with Hunter.
"All right, that's enough," Mr. Hawthorne said, annoyed. "I thought we agreed
not to see each other again," he told my parents. "And did you forget that we
placed a restraining order against this boy? He's breaking the law," he
continued.
"Since when do you care about following the law?" Mom snorted in reply.
"Since we saw your son screwing our daughter," he responded.
"Touché," Dad said.
"That's right. Didn't you say you were going to place a restraining order
against our kids?" Mrs. Hawthorne asked. "Unless you were just bluffing," she
raised her eyebrow skeptically.
"Well, maybe we were," Mom said coolly.
"Maybe we want to end things once and for all," Dad added just as calmly. I
noticed he was clenching his fists. Oh no, Dad was having a flashback! I knew
that he wanted to fight, but not like this!
"What do you mean-" Mr. Hawthorne began, but before he could finish his
sentence, Dad jumped on him as Tara screamed, and Mom grabbed Johanna so that
she couldn't intervene.
"Dad!" Hunter and I both shouted as we tried to stop the fight while Orion
tried to calm down his girlfriend.
"Wait no, Hunter, don't do that! My dad's having a flashback!" I warned him as
he tried to grab my dad so that he could push him away from his.
"All the more reason," Hunter argued, but then Dad punched him the jaw and I
cried out in horror.
"Hunter, I told you; Dad's more ruthless when he's like that!" I said as I
tried to help Hunter up as he rubbed on his jaw. My dad and his were still
punching each other on the floor. The smell of popcorn filled my nostrils as I
looked up to see my sisters emerging from the kitchen, and I a sense of déjà vu
overcame me as they sat down on the couch beside Orion and Tara to watch the
fight while eating their popcorn. I groaned. Whatever Orion and I had done to
get back at them didn't give them any excuse to actually enjoy this!
"Take that, Johanna!" I heard Mom say as she fought with her; they were both
squirming on the floor as well, only they were concentrating more on pulling
each other's hair out.
"You stupid mutt," I then heard Dad growl as he punched Mr. Hawthorne on the
nose, knocking him out. Well, at least my parents were winning.
"My parents are losing!" I heard Hunter exclaim worriedly as I got him an
icepack from the kitchen so that he could place it against his sore-but-
otherwise-perfect jaw.
"You're right; we need to end this once and for all," I told Hunter. "You try
to separate your dad from my dad, and I'll take care of my mom, deal?" I
suggested. Hunter nodded, and Tara and Orion agreed to help us. Tara grabbed a
hold of her mother as I grabbed a hold of mine, and together we separated them
as Orion and Hunter separated our dads.
Mr. Hawthorne had already been unconscious anyway. "Gale!" Mrs. Hawthorne
exclaimed worriedly as she ran up to her husband.
"Peeta!" Mom shouted at the same time as soon as she saw that Dad wasn't
himself. He still looked extremely angry, and as Mom ran up to help him, he
lunged towards her throat.
***** Morose *****
Katniss
It was as if time had reverted and I was seventeen again. Peeta clutched at my
throat, enclosing his strong fingers tightly around my windpipe. My air supply
was cut off, and I struggled to breathe. I saw stars; I heard someone yell, and
then nothing. I passed out, my head hitting the floor.
I woke up hours later in a hospital bed. No big surprise there. As I opened my
eyes, I saw Prim looking down at me worriedly. Prim…wait, Prim was dead, wasn't
she? I didn't know what to think; my head was too fuzzy and I couldn't wrap my
brain around it.
"Mom, look at me, are you awake? Can you hear me, Mommy? It's me, Rose," the
blonde-haired, blue eyed girl said tearfully. My daughter…she looked so much
like her Aunt Prim. It was as if she had been reincarnated in Rose. My sweet
little sister, who didn't live long enough to see me with children or have any
of her own.
"Rose?" I finally responded, my voice hoarse. It hurt to speak.
She instantly brightened up, and she turned around and yelled at someone to
come see me. I instantly saw a doctor rush at my side, along with my whole
family behind me. My eyes instantly locked on Peeta's as he approached, and I
could see the guilt on his face. He looked away quickly, as if in shame or
remorse.
"Peeta," I croaked, but the doctor told me not to speak as he handed me a glass
of water before inspecting my throat.
"You'll be fine, Mrs. Mellark; you're lucky he didn't crush your windpipe," the
doctor said, looking at my husband disapprovingly. Peeta avoided his gaze and
looked down at the floor instead. I frowned; was the doctor assuming that my
husband abused me? I turned my eyes towards my children, who were all looking
down at me worriedly.
"He didn't mean to," I managed to say to the doctor. The doctor only shook his
head sadly, as if he had heard this too many times before. He didn't
understand. And Peeta wasn't helping much, either.
Soon, the doctor left the room, but not before letting me know that I couldn't
go home until morning. I sighed; I hated hospitals with a passion. Even more
than that, I hated spending the night in them. I would not be able to sleep
tonight.
"Mom, the Hawthornes are here too; they're waiting out in the hall," Adara told
me as she took her hand in mine comfortingly. Her eyes were so blue…
"Mom?" Rue asked, after I didn't respond.
I nodded slightly, and Orion went to open the door of my hospital room as Peeta
paced around the white room, looking at everything except at me. I couldn't
help but feel angry about this. "Katniss, how are you feeling?" I heard a male
voice say, and I turned to see Gale enter the room, with his wife and children
following behind him. Johanna had a few bald spots on her head from our fight,
but she didn't seem to mind that as she gave me a concerned look.
I saw Hunter hug Adara from the corner of my eye, and I wistfully remembered my
old friendship with Gale. I must have hit my head pretty hard too; I seemed to
be stuck in the past today. I smiled sadly at him. "It's ironic, isn't it? I
wanted Peeta to hurt you, but he only ended up hurting me," I admitted
hoarsely. My throat hurt like hell.
Gale grimaced. "I'm sorry, Catnip," he said softly as he took my hand. And I
could tell that he meant that in more ways than one. "I'm sorry for
everything," he continued. "I didn't mean to kill Prim, and I didn't mean for
our kids to pay the consequences of our problems," he finished.
"I know," I smiled weakly. Of course I knew; I had known all along that it had
been Coin's fault that my little sister was dead. That's why I had killed her
instead of Snow; I'd known who the real threat had been even when everyone had
assumed that I was crazy for shooting the wrong president. It wasn't Gale's
fault that he had fallen out of love with me; the war had changed me so much
that Peeta was the only one who could possibly understand me. But I could still
forgive Gale.
"So does this mean that you're all friends again?"Adara asked us hopefully.
"It looks like it," said Johanna. Gale and I nodded. Peeta looked at me
longingly as he came to sit beside me on the other side of the bed.
"I'm sorry too, Katniss. I didn't mean to hurt you," he said sadly, his blue
eyes hurt.
"I know," I repeated as I touched his cheek. It hurt to talk. But Peeta knew
that I understood; after all, it wasn't the first time that this had happened.
We had learned to live through it over the years.
"I wonder what triggered it this time," Johanna asked, looking at me and Peeta.
Peeta shrugged. "I guess I was just so angry while I was fighting with Gale
that for a second I thought was fighting in the war again, and when I saw the
look on Katniss' face, I thought that she was a mutt," he chuckled, shaking his
head.
I rolled my eyes. I then turned to look at my kids and saw that Rose and Rue
had been eating my hospital food. I frowned, but didn't say anything. I wasn't
hungry anyway. I then turned to see Orion and saw that Tara had him backed up
against the wall, but before I could ask what she was doing, I noticed that she
was holding his wrists, as if holding him down. His gray eyes met mine, and I
saw that they were angry. My heart skipped a beat. Only Peeta had ever looked
at me that way before…when he was having a flashback. "Peeta," I gasped as
Orion released himself from Tara's grip and launched himself at his father. But
it was too late. Peeta cried out in shock as he landed hard on the floor, with
Orion on top of him. Hunter and Gale instantly grabbed him, and Johanna went
outside to call for help.
Soon, a swarm of doctors and nurses filled the room, along with a few security
guards, who took my son away and forced everyone else to leave. I tried to cry
out in protest, but no one listened to me; Orion was fighting against everyone
and everything; I had never seen him this livid before. He cursed and yelled,
saying that we were all mutts even though I was pretty sure he had never even
seen one before. I tried to get out of bed to help, but in that moment, a nurse
came and stuck a needle through my arm, and I was out.
Orion
They had sedated me. Images swam through my mind- horrible, awful, nightmare-
worthy memories that I never knew I'd had. Everywhere I looked, I saw mutts-my
parents had told me about them, and I had seen pictures of them in history
books before. But never like this. They looked real, as if they were coming out
to get me. These memories weren't mine. I opened my eyes to see that I was
lying in a hospital bed identical to the one I had just seen my mom in. The
first person I saw was my father, and that's when I knew. His face was full of
pain and regret. The memories were his.
"I'm so, sorry, son. I don't know how you could have inherited it," he said
mournfully, as if he knew exactly what I had just been thinking. Dad has always
been able to read people well.
"Fuck you," I muttered, my fists clenched. He frowned.
"Don't talk to me like that, Orion," he warned me.
"Why not? What the hell are you gonna do to me now? You've already screwed me
over," I yelled back.
"I didn't know the tracker-jacker venom could pass over to you," he said
defensively. "Apparently it can only be passed on to males; your sisters don't
have it," he explained.
"Typical," I said, rolling my eyes.
"Watch your attitude, young man; remember that I'm your father," he said.
"If only I could forget," I snorted in response. His eyes flashed with pain,
and, as he winced, I knew that I had gone too far. After all, it wasn't his
fault that he was messed up.
"I'm sorry; I shouldn't have said that," I apologized quickly. "I'm just
frustrated, that's all."
He nodded. "I understand," he said. Of course he did.
I then heard the door open and saw the doctor come in with a glum look on his
face. "Orion, it appears that you've inherited your father's mental
instability," he said as he approached us. I didn't like the way that he looked
at my dad, as if he were crazy or something.
"When can I get out of here?" I asked impatiently, not even caring anymore. I
just wanted to see Tara again so that I could apologize to her.
The doctor looked at me disapprovingly and said, "Well, we're going to
prescribe you the same medication that your father has been taking to control
his hallucinations, but keep in mind that they're not always effective," he
explained as he looked at my father, who was listening intently.
"Can't we take a stronger dose?" I asked.
"No, it would be too dangerous. The medication can be deadly if the correct
dose isn't taken; it's very powerful," the doctor explained. Well, so much for
fancy Capitol medicine. All of these years and they still couldn't find the
right cure.
"How come he's never had this before?" my father asked him curiously.
"We're not exactly sure yet, but it seems to me that since you weren't injected
with the venom until you were a teen, the hormones that triggered the
hallucinations couldn't become active until he began turning into an adult," he
explained. Puberty turned out to be complicated than I expected.
After that, the doctor ran some tests, and soon, they released me. By then, it
was late, and my sisters had already gone home to sleep. Dad decided to stay
with Mom at the hospital, and the Hawthornes had already left. So when Dad
dropped me off at the house, I called Tara and asked her to meet me at my house
since I still had that stupid restraining order against me. But no one could
stop her from sneaking out to see me. Soon, I heard her tap softly on my
bedroom window and I opened it and helped her climb in. I didn't want to wake
my sisters up; the twins might record us again.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" she whispered worriedly as I closed the window
again. Dad might like to sleep with the windows open, but I sure didn't.
"I inherited my dad's flashbacks," I mumbled. "I'm so screwed, Tara, and I'm
really sorry if I hurt you," I said quickly.
"No, it's okay; I'm fine," she assured me with a smile as I sat down on the bed
and she began to massage my back.
"That feels great, baby," I said appreciatively as she rubbed my sore
shoulders. Apparently I had fought against everyone during my flashback.
"You know what else will make you feel great?" she whispered seductively in my
ear, her short hair tickling my neck. I shivered.
"What?" I asked, already anticipating her response.
She stood up to stand in front of me and sat down on my lap, wrapping her legs
around my waist as I placed my hands on her hips. "This," she said, and she
licked my ear. I shuddered and started kissing her neck just as she thrust her
hips forward. I groaned and she pushed me back against the bed so that I lay on
my back. I smirked, and she gave me a mischievous smile as she began to
unbuckle my pants. "What do you like?" she asked seductively as she squeezed my
crotch. I gasped. My bosco stick was betraying me.
"I think you know the answer to that already," I replied as I hardened under
her touch.
She shrugged and continued to pull down my pants until she removed them along
with my boxers. By then, I was so hard it hurt, and she licked her lips and
winked at me. She was such a tease. "Just suck it already," I half-begged,
half-commanded.
She laughed- a musical, devious sound, her laugh- and she bent down and licked
the tip with her hot tongue. It was enough to make me pre-cum, and she
continued to tease me as she stroked the rest of it. I lifted my hips so that
she would take more of me in her mouth, and she replied by circling her tongue
all around it. Her hot, wet mouth was driving me crazy as she savored my bosco
stick. I began make incoherent sounds, and she finished me off by grasping my
balls.
"Gah! T-Tara, I-I think I'm about to-"I began. But she merely gave me a devious
look and began to suck it even harder. Soon, I came, and she licked up all of
my frosting, as if it were really a delicious treat. I grasped the covers and
then lay there, spent. I was already drenched with sweat as I gasped for
breath. "That was amazing," I finally managed to say.
She chuckled as she licked her lips once more, and then said, "You taste
delicious; I could just eat you up all day along, you naughty boy," she said as
she suckled my neck, and I groaned as I held her closer to me. She began taking
off her clothes and I quickly helped her out of them, pulling my shirt off as
well. Soon, we were both completely naked, and she was holding me down on the
bed as she held my wrists above my head. But before I could guess what else she
had prepared for me, I heard the door open, and Tara fell off the bed as we
heard Rose scream.
Rose
"What the heck?" I screamed in complete and utter horror. It wasn't that hadn't
seen them naked before, but seriously, lights-on sex? I had never been this
close, or seen that much detail, in my whole entire existence. The fact that
Tara had been on top, leaving my brother completely exposed in front of me, did
not help my case.
"Rose, get out of my room!" Orion yelled angrily as he attempted to cover
himself with a pillow while Tara sat hidden on the other side of the bed from
which she had fallen off of.
I scowled in disgust, "Ugh, fine, I'll come back later, but our parents are
going to find out about this," I warned them as I slammed the door shut and
headed back towards my room, trying not to gag as the hideous images replayed
in my mind. Who needs porno when you have older siblings, right?
"Rose, what's wrong?" I heard Adara ask sleepily as she came out of her room.
"I heard you guys screaming," she said.
"Yeah, well, pretty soon, you'll hear Tara scream as well," I grumbled as I
slipped inside my room, leaving Adara confused.
"What was that all about?" Rue asked from her bed as she sat up curiously and
turned on the night lamp so that she could see me better.
"I went to check up on Orion, as you told me to, and I figured out that the
weird noises coming from his bedroom were indeed sex noises," I said flatly as
I got into my bed.
"So we were right! Oh, he is so busted this time," Rue giggled excitedly.
I glared at her in the darkness. "Yeah, well if you had gotten a close-up of
their genitals, like I did, you wouldn't be so giddy right now," I retorted
glumly.
Rue shuddered. "Oh, I'm sorry, Rosie!" That must have been awful for you.
However, I have something that might cheer you up," she sang softly.
I turned to her in surprise. "What is it?" I asked curiously.
She grinned. "Let's just say that Orion won't be the only one having company
tonight. Stike and Stark agreed to come over for a little while and sneak in
through our window, and I think Stike is going to give me my first kiss," she
squealed in excitement.
I instantly jumped out of bed in surprise, "Wait, what? Why didn't you tell me?
I'm in pajamas; I need to get ready!" I whined, and just then, I noticed that
Rue's hair was neatly braided and that she was wearing a sexy tanks top and
short shorts.
"Well, I'm warning you now," she pointed out as I headed to our dresser and
tried to untangle my long blonde hair with a brush.
"Oh, yes, faster, faster, just like that, baby!" we heard Orion shout from his
bedroom. Rue and I exchanged disgusted glances.
"ORION, SHUT THE FUCK UP; I'M TRYING TO SLEEP HERE! I'M GOING TO CALL MY
PARENTS RIGHT NOW IF YOU DON'T KEEP IT DOWN!" we heard Adara shout at him as
she knocked loudly on his door. She was supposed to be in charge of us, but she
wasn't doing a great job of supervising.
"Do you think she'll really call our parents?" Rue asked me worriedly as she
bit her bottom lip.
"Nah, she's probably busy sexting her boyfriend or something instead of
actually sleeping; she's not going to do that," I assured Rue confidently as I
changed into a more provocative nightgown and sprayed some perfume on my neck.
"Ugh, fuck baby, I'm about to come!" we heard Orion shout again, and this time,
we heard Tara curse along with him, and then some groaning, and then nothing.
"Well, at least they're finally done," Rue noted as we heard a soft tap on our
window.
"And just in time, too," I added cheerfully as I opened the window to see the
butcher boys holding on to a ladder below the window.
"Rue, help me get them up!" I hissed as she ran towards the window and we
helped them climb up one at a time.
"Well, that was easy," Stike grinned as he stood in our bedroom beside his
equally yummy brother, Stark.
But before any of us could respond, Rue launched herself into Stike's arms and
kissed him fiercely on the lips. "I've missed you so much!" she gasped after
she let go of a very shocked-looking Stike. Stark and I exchanged bemused
glances. Well, someone was obviously desperate. My sister never wasted a
second.
"Uh…I've missed you too, Rue," Stike said blushing as he noticed that Stark and
I had been watching.
"How have you been?" Stark asked me gently as he kissed me chastely on the
cheek.
"I've been better," I admitted. "But I'm happier now that you're here," I added
shyly, and he smiled, his dimples prominent.
"We need to set up a double date or something," Rue suddenly piped up.
"Yeah, as in a real date," Stike agreed, nodding.
"But you won't you two get in trouble?" Stark asked, concerned.
Suddenly, I had an idea. "Not if we just go somewhere pretending to be
friends," I began, and everyone turned to me and listened intently.
"Go on," Rue urged.
"Well, Adara's graduation is this weekend, and, since she always gets what she
wants, she'll probably be able to throw a party to celebrate afterwards," I
continued.
"And she'll do it to invite all of her friends, especially her boyfriend
Hunter," Rue said after me, putting it all together.
"Which means that we can invite our friends too, because our parents will be
chaperoning it, and they'll allow us stay," I finished, nodding.
"So we're being invited to this party?" Stike asked, excitedly.
"And they won't mind because a lot of other people will be here too?" Stark
followed.
"Exactly," Rue and I replied at the same time.
Stark and Stike grinned at us, and Stark said, "Wow, we're two weird sets of
twins," he chuckled. "We're all finishing each other's sentences."
"Yeah, but we're cool, lucky, and good-looking too," Stike joked.
Rue and I laughed, and Stike and Stark said their goodbyes as they got ready to
leave. And this time, they both kissed us passionately on the lips. I couldn't
wait for this party.
***** Mischief Managed *****
Adara
"No, Hunter, I am not giving you a blowjob before the ceremony," I scowled at
him as we waited in the school hall, wearing our caps and gowns with our
anxious classmates. We had five minutes before we could come out of the hallway
and into the gym, where our friends and families were waiting for us. Hunter
was a little too nervous….he had gone commando underneath his graduation gown
along with some of his friends as a prank. I wondered if anyone would notice.
"But I'm going to give us away if they see this," he protested as he pointed to
the tent he had pitched up underneath his gown. Now that I thought about it,
his crotch was pretty obvious.
"Why are you so horny, anyway?" I hissed, hoping nobody would hear us. Luckily,
everyone else was too busy joking around and talking to each other as they
tried to handle their nerves. I bit my lip. There was a closet right beside
where we were standing…no. We didn't have time for this. Besides, I wasn't in
the mood.
"You look so hot right now, Adara," he said, looking at me lustfully.
I rolled my eyes. "Just think of something else," I urged him impatiently.
"Like your parents in bed. That usually disgusts me, so it might work for you
too," I said.
He frowned. "Ugh, my parents have the kinkiest sex," he murmured. "I think my
mom uses weapons or something," he shuddered, and that's when I noticed that
his tent was lowering down. I sighed in relief.
"Alright, it's time, let's go!" our principal announced. The line began moving
as we headed out of the double doors that were keeping us in. Just in time.
The next few minutes were a blur. I could see everyone clapping and cheering as
we headed towards the gym and took our seats in front of the stage. The band
began playing pomp and circumstance. There were so many people that it was
impossible find anyone specific, but I knew that my family was nearby. We
walked towards the chairs in pairs, and, as Hunter and I walked side-by-side, I
heard people wolf-whistling and cheering, and I looked up to see Orion and Tara
giving us the thumbs-up. Hunter and I grinned back.
We finally sat down, and the ceremony began. This was the boring part. The band
stopped playing, and our principal made a speech, and then the valedictorian.
Hunter and I were at the top ten percent of our class, so we were able to sit
beside each other as they announced our names. "Hunter Gale Hawthorne, the son
of Gale and Johanna Hawthorne, is graduating with high honors, and will be
going to The Capitol University to major in mechanical engineering," the
principal announced as Hunter stood up proudly. He would be taking up the
Hawthorne family business in bomb designing.
Next, they announced my name as they said, "Adara Mellark, the daughter of
Peeta and Katniss Mellark, is also graduating with high honors and attending
The Capitol University. She will be majoring in music and performing arts," he
announced. I stood up, and then sat back down after they finished applauding.
They then announced the rest of the names, and soon we were ready to receive
our diplomas. Hunter winked at me before he crossed the stage, and his cousins
went wild as everyone cheered. I laughed, and then it was my turn. I walked
carefully across the stage, trying not to trip. As I looked around, I saw my
family cheering for me, and I could almost swear that I saw my mother cry as my
father beamed at me proudly. The twins just looked bored. I smiled at the
camera as they took my picture for the newspaper and then I climbed off the
stage and went back to my seat to watch the rest of the ceremony.
One hour later, we were standing outside the gym as friends and family
congratulated the graduates. I was almost blinded from all of the pictures that
they had taken. I felt someone grab my hand, and I turned around to see Hunter
grinning at me. I smiled back, and he led me away from the crowd where we could
find some privacy. Soon, we were in a janitor's closet surrounded by complete
and total darkness as Hunter backed me up against the door and locked it.
"Hunter, can't you wait till we get to the party?" I whispered.
"No, we have approximately ten minutes before they start missing us, and after
that they're probably going to keep an eye on us. I doubt we'll get the chance
to do this later," he answered back urgently. I giggled as I pulled off his
graduation gown, so that he was completely naked except for his shoes…because
of course, he had somehow gotten away with wearing nothing underneath it. I ran
my hands through his chest as I gripped his tight muscles, and he leaned down
to kiss me voraciously, our tongues fighting for dominance as we breathed
heavily. He tugged off my gown as well, and soon he was pulling up my dress so
that he could stroke my thighs. I shuddered as his deft fingers came
dangerously close to my panties, "Ugh you're so wet," he groaned against my
lips. I gasped as he pulled them down with one swift movement and then picked
me up so that I could wrap my legs around his waist. My mouth travelled down to
his neck, and I suckled on it, leaving a love bite there as I felt his hardness
against me, my nails grazing his sculptural back in anticipation.
"Just do it already," I breathed in his ear. He chuckled softly, and then,
without a warning, he pounded into me, taking me by surprise. I was so shocked
that I bit his shoulder, and he tightened his grip on me as he began to thrust
even harder. I covered his mouth with my hand to muffle the noises he was
making as my walls contracted firmly around him; they were anything but human.
"Wow, I didn't know you had it in you," I teased him in between our labored
panting. Then, "we're running out of time," I urged him.
The fire in between my legs increased its heat as one of his hands travelled
its way up underneath my dress and cupped my breast. He inched his way up
underneath my bra, and I moaned as he rolled my hard nipple in between his
thumb and forefinger. That did it for me, and I felt myself tighten as we both
came, his hot fluids releasing into me. "That was so good," I exhaled as I
wrapped my hands around each side of his face, my fingers threading into his
soft hair. His hot forehead met mine as he tried to regain his breath, and then
he put me down.
"I'm sorry I was rough, it's just that I was so turned on, and…" I broke him
off with a kiss.
"Shh, it's okay; just accept it," I said as I put a finger to his lips. I
couldn't see the look on his face, so I added, "I liked it."
"I love you," he whispered after a while.
"I love you too," I said. And then we spent the next few minutes trying to find
our clothes.
Rue
"Where do you think those horny bastards went?" I asked Rose as we walked
around the school's campus, trying to find Adara and Hunter.
"Who knows, but maybe they're just hanging out with some friends," Rose
suggested innocently.
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, right," I snorted. "I bet they're getting all hot and
heavy in some dark corner, since they love having sex in public," I said.
And just as I said that, we saw a closet door open nearby, and Hunter and Adara
stumble out of it torpidly. They were no longer wearing their caps- Rose and I
had found them and we were holding one each- and Adara was no longer wearing
her gown. "Hey, there you guys are; we've been looking for you two everywhere;
we even had some search parties split up," Rose called out as she approached
them.
Adara and Hunter turned to us in surprise-they looked like two deer caught in
front of a headlight-and they smiled at us nervously. I smirked. They had
obviously been doing the naughty in public, just as I had guessed. "Dara, your
hair is messed up," I said matter-of-factly. Hunter's was too, but that was
less noticeable. I wondered how they were going to explain their red cheeks and
sweaty foreheads.
"Oh, yeah, we were just uh…" Adara began as she tried to fix her hair.
"Having a work out in the closet?" Rose guessed.
"Pretty much," Hunter shrugged, and Adara smacked his arm in embarrassment.
"Well, you two better fix yourselves up before anyone else sees you," I
suggested.
"Right," Adara agreed as we headed into the women's bathroom, leaving Hunter so
that he could visit the men's.
"Ugh, I always feel like I have to pee after having sex," Adara admitted as she
touched up her hair and makeup in front of the mirror.
"Uh, too much info, sis," Rose informed her as she re-applied her lip gloss.
"Yeah, but then I realize that it's just the feeling," she rambled on as she
straightened her bra.
"Whatever, you're lucky we're not telling on you two," I informed her. Adara
scowled at me, and, as soon we were all ready, we headed out the door to find
everyone else.
Five minutes later, we were riding the minivan on our way home. Adara and
Hunter had wanted to celebrate their graduation together, so we were hosting
the party at our house. Adara and Orion had left with the Hawthornes. No big
surprise there. "So where did you girls find Adara and Hunter?" Dad asked me
and Rose casually as he drove. Mom was still dabbing tissues on her face. I had
never seen her so emotional before.
"Oh, you know…" I said.
"Just hanging out with some friends," Rose finished.
"She grew up so fast," Mom sobbed. I rolled my eyes, and Rose covered her mouth
to keep herself from laughing. If only she knew.
"I know, sweetheart; it seems like only yesterday that we had her," Dad said as
she held her hand comfortingly. "I just had an idea! We should show her baby
videos at the party so that everyone can see them!" he suggested excitedly.
"NO!" Rose and I screeched in alarm, knowing that showing Adara's baby videos
would only lead them to showing Orion's, and then ours, and thus embarrassing
all of us. They did that every time they showed them.
"Why not; I think it's a great idea," Mom beamed.
"Yeah, and then we can show them Orion's and the twins', because those are just
hilarious," Dad chuckled.
Rose and I exchanged horrified looks. Stark and Stike would see them! When we
arrived home, all we could think about was how screwed we were, and I wondered
if this could get any worse.
Two hours later, the house was full of guests, and a large majority of them
were being entertained in the living room as they ate Dad's pastries and
watched Adara's baby pictures and videos on the screen. Most of them were just
plain adorable, of course. Adara had been doing ballet ever since she was five;
and they ooohed and wowed at her cute little dances. She basically used to trip
a lot when she was younger, but as she got older, she just got better and
better. Eventually, her videos ended, and while people clapped, Dad suggested
we watch some of Orion's too, because Orion was hysterical when he was a little
kid.
"Just for fun," Dad explained as Orion protested. Tara giggled as she squeezed
his side, and he gave in and told Dad that it was okay. Well, he wasn't getting
that from us.
"So are you two next?" Stike whispered in my ear as the video began. We were
sitting on the floor in front of the screen, and Rose was sitting on the other
side of me with Stark by her side.
"I hope not," I muttered I shoved popcorn in my mouth so that he wouldn't bring
it up again. Everyone laughed as they watched a three-year-old Orion running
around the house and screaming like a hyena on crack. Apparently he had been
excited about the fact that his "magical" Christmas tree had a giant
gingerbread man underneath it.
"Ginger man!" he yelled excitedly as he cut off its arm, and then began to cry
because it had been more fragile than he had thought. The clip then cut to
where he was peeing on the Christmas tree….again. He seemed to do that a lot,
and people found it highly amusing. We then heard Mom yelling at Dad for
filming that, and then the clip cut to where Orion was dancing at the bakery,
wearing nothing but his underpants. Stike was laughing uncontrollably beside
me, and I allowed myself a smile, even though I had already seen these videos
and found them utterly ridiculous. You'd think my parents would have been too
busy raising him instead of filming him, but no. No wonder he was crazy now. We
watched as he climbed on the counter and thrust his hips like a pro. He looked
like a baby stripper, and I vaguely wondered if he had picked that up from Dad
by accident. I shuddered at the thought. Finally, it got to the point where we
were born, and the clips began to mix in, showing Adara, Orion, and us when we
were little. The only reason Adara's videos hadn't been mixed was because most
of them were of her performances.
"Is that you?" Stike asked as the camera zoomed in on a baby with dark hair and
striking gray eyes. She looked pissed.
"Yup, that's me," I said proudly. Rose turned to me, resigned, as they then
zoomed in on her, and people awwwed as Dad talked to us in baby language from
behind the camera.
"That's my baby Rue, who looks like her beautiful Mommy, and that's my baby
Rosie, who looks like her handsome Daddy," Dad was saying in the video.
"Daddy, I wanna touch babies!" we heard little Orion screech as he came running
into the room. "Me make them!" he insisted. Our guests laughed at this; they
had heard seen his Christmas-tree-pee theory.
Rose and I exchanged knowing glances as our boyfriends laughed, and Orion
looked away embarrassed as Tara teased him. The scene then cut to where we were
eating, and the camera zoomed in to baby Rose, whose face was covered in pasta.
"Ha-ha, you're a mess, Rosie!" Dad was saying as he filmed her.
"Oh, but she's not nearly as bad as her sister," we heard Mom reply, and that's
when Dad turned the camera to where I was eating in my own high chair, my hair,
face, clothes, and tabletop completely covered in noodles and soup as I looked
grumpily at the camera while dumping the bowl on my head . Stike nearly lost it
when he saw this, and I slapped his arm playfully as he fell down, laughing and
holding his stomach.
Soon, the videos ended, and the shame was over. I sighed in relief. "Let's go
play spin the bottle," I suggested to our friends. They agreed, and I grabbed
an empty bottle as we headed upstairs towards our bedroom. I locked the door
behind us so that our parents wouldn't see us; most of the adults were
downstairs, joking around in the kitchen about how we used to call the cops on
them when we were little. Apparently, Orion had heard screaming coming from our
parent's bedroom when he was five, and he and Adara had called the police,
thinking that Mom had been injured.
I rolled my eyes as I heard their laughter coming from downstairs. At least
they wouldn't notice that we were gone. "Where are Adara and Orion?" Rose asked
as we gathered around in a circle on the carpet.
"They're probably with making out with the Hawthornes somewhere," I replied.
"This game is for sixth-graders only."
"Guess what I found in the kitchen?" Stike said as he pulled out a large bottle
of tequila from his black leather jacket.
"No way; that's Grandpa Haymitch's booze!" I exclaimed.
"Yeah, how'd you get it?" asked Stark.
"He obviously stole it," snorted one of the girls in our grade who was sitting
beside him. She was a pretty blue-eyed redhead, and her identical twin sister
was sitting on the other side of her. Huh. I didn't remember inviting them, but
whatever.
"Hey, aren't you two the florist's daughters?" Rose asked them curiously.
"Yeah, we invited them, if that's okay," Stike said awkwardly.
"I'm Violet, and this is my sister Daisy," said the other twin.
"Nice to meet you; I'm Rue, and this is Rose," I replied cheerfully. "We're
fraternal twins," I explained.
"Yeah, we've heard a lot about you two," Violet said.
"Well, let's get started on the game, then!" Stark exclaimed.
"Alright, how about we play Spin the Bottle Truth or Dare, and whoever the cap
points at, that person has to pick one, and then that person has to spin the
bottle next," I explained.
Everyone agreed, and I spun the bottle first. It pointed at Stark. "Truth or
Dare?" I asked him.
"Dare," he said confidently. I smirked. "I dare you to drink from that tequila
bottle, and drink as much as you can without stopping," I said.
"That's easy," he said as he grabbed the bottle and popped it open. We watched
in fascination as he brought it to his lips and took a few gulps, but soon, he
began coughing and set it down, claiming that his throat was on fire. We burst
out laughing as he tried to calm down, and Stike took the bottle away from him
and took a sip before he passed it over to me.
I gingerly took a small drink, but hated the burning feeling lingered on my
throat, so I passed it over to Rose. We then waited in eager anticipation as
Stark spun the bottle in a green whirl of color, and then, finally, it stopped
in front of Rose, who had just set the bottle of liquor down in disgust,
passing it on to Violet. "Lay one on me, already," Rose teased as she winked at
him flirtatiously.
"You know it, baby," he said as he leaned towards her, their lips meeting in a
long, tongue-involved kiss.
"Ahem," Daisy said. "I thought we were playing truth or dare?"
"Yeah, well, I guess she got her dare," Stike said as Stark and Rose finally
released each other. They both looked somewhat dazed afterwards.
"I guess it's my turn to spin it, now," Rose breathed, her cheeks flushed with
excitement as she licked her lips, savoring her half-drunken kiss. Violet was
now passing the bottle of tequila to Daisy, who turned it down and handed it
back to Stark and Stike. We all bent down as we watched Rose spin the empty
green bottle, until it landed on Daisy.
"Truth or Dare," she asked her.
"Truth," Daisy replied.
"Who was your first kiss?" Rose asked curiously.
Daisy blushed and knotted her fingers nervously. "Um…" she began, looking
around the room, until her eyes met with her sister's, who nodded
encouragingly.
"Stark," Daisy said quickly, and we all gasped. I looked up to see Stark and
Stike look away in shame, as if there was something that they were not telling
us.
I frowned as my sister gave Stark a heartbroken look. "It's Daisy's turn to
spin now," I said quickly, trying to move things along. So what if Stark had
dated this girl before; he was dating Rose now, and that was all that really
mattered…right?
Daisy nodded and spun it, until it landed on Stike, who already looked half-
drunk. "Truth or Dare?" she asked him.
"Dare," he replied smoothly.
"Umm, I dare you to wear your underwear on you head," she giggled. He rolled
his eyes and stood up to go to the bathroom. A few minutes later, he came back
into the room, wearing his blue-checkered boxers on top of his head, and we all
laughed as I took a picture of him.
"Hey, what was that for?" he accused as I hid the camera.
"Nothing…it's your turn to spin," I said, changing the subject.
He shrugged and sat back down, spinning the bottle until it stopped and landed
on me. He grinned and asked, "Truth or dare?"
"I want you to kiss me like Stark kissed Rose," I demanded, skipping the whole
truth/dare thing, like my sister had.
He laughed, and hot, pulsing, blood rushed through my veins as he leaned into
me. After a warm long kiss scented with tequila, Stike pulled away satisfied. I
flushed; my cheeks burning red. Everyone stared at us knowingly, and Stike sat
back down calmly, ignoring their smirks. I flipped my hair back, trying to look
unfazed. I then realized that they were looking at me expectantly, and that's
when I remembered that it was my turn to spin. It landed on Violet. "Truth or
Dare?" I asked her calmly.
"Truth," she said.
I thought about that for a moment. "Are you in a relationship, and if so, who
are you dating?" I asked.
She raised an eyebrow, and said, "Oh? You mean you don't know? I thought we had
a deal," she told Stike, who turned to her, shocked.
"Excuse me?" I asked, confused.
"Shut up, Violet," Stike warned her.
"Why should I, Stike? You and Stark brought us to this party to show off your
little girlfriends? Well, guess what, Rose and Rue, they're our boyfriends
too!" she exclaimed.
"What!" Rose screeched.
"Girls, calm down, there's a perfect explanation for all of this," Stark said.
"That you two are a bunch of lying cheaters, cheating on us with these two
sluts?" I screamed angrily.
"You two are the sluts!" Daisy yelled.
"This is our house, bitch, so just leave!" I snapped, pointing at the door.
Violet and Daisy glared at us and ran out the door, cursing at us as they went.
"I can't believe you did this!" I cried, tears stinging in my eyes as I grabbed
a lamp and aimed it at Stike's head, but missed as he ducked.
"I gave you another chance, and you lied to me!" Rose yelled at Stark as she
threw a shoe at him, hitting him on the head. I was glad that she didn't miss.
"Ow, that hurt!" he whined.
"Good," she said as I took the bottle of tequila from Stike and threatened to
hit him with it. Where was my bow when I needed it?
"Please, just let us explain," Stike begged.
"I don't want to hear it!" I growled as I kicked his crotch and he doubled over
in pain. Meanwhile, Rose was still throwing shoes at Stark's face.
"What's going on here?" we heard a voice behind us ask. Rose and I whipped
around. It was Dad, and he was livid. He was holding his rolling pin.
Peeta
I looked around the room, wondering what in the world my daughters were up to
this time. "Why are there bottles of liquor here? Haymitch has been nagging
about his tequila bottle, and now I find out that's in your room?" I demanded
angrily, pointing my rolling pin at them.
"Daddy, the boys were drinking it, not us! And they were cheating on us with
the Florist's daughters!" Rose whined; I could tell that she had been crying,
and I frowned at the boys behind her. They certainly looked guilty.
"Well, what were they doing in your room in the first place?" I asked coldly.
"Um, we were just playing a game, but things got out of hand," Rue explained.
"How out of hand?" I insisted as I walked into the room and surveyed its
contents.
"Sir, everything's our fault; we're just going to leave now," one of the
butcher boys said. I scowled at him, and he flinched. I didn't trust him, or
his brother for that matter. I raised my rolling pin in threat.
"Is it true that you two not only took advantage of my daughters, but
also cheated on them?" I asked, disgusted. I clenched my fists. I was
dangerously close to having a flashback, but I had to control it. I then felt a
hand on my shoulder, and I turned to see that it was Katniss. I instantly let
my rolling pin down. Her gray eyes were full of worry.
"Katniss, you know how to contact the butcher, right? Well, tell him to come
get his sons," I told her.
"We didn't take advantage of them; they were dating us!" the other butcher boy
exclaimed.
"Not anymore, Stark!" Rose hissed at him.
"ENOUGH!" I yelled. "This is exactly why I said that you two were too young to
date. Now look at the consequences of your actions and accept them," I glowered
as I pointed at them accusingly with my rolling pin.
"But…" Rue began.
"No buts, you two disobeyed us," Katniss retorted as she dialed the butcher.
They tried to protest, but I signaled them to stay silent as Katniss talked to
the butcher. Even I could hear that he wasn't very happy, and, ten minutes
later, he had come to pick them up. The things he was yelling at them as they
got in the car didn't sound very pleasant, but I figured it was just butcher
slang…although you never know. At this point, most of our guests had already
left, except for Haymitch, who was too drunk to stand up and had nearly fallen
asleep on the couch. Katniss and I then focused our attention towards the
twins.
"What the hell did you two think you were doing?" I demanded once again,
tapping my rolling pin impatiently on the kitchen table.
"Dad, we already told you…." They began.
"Nothing! You told us nothing!" Katniss screeched in frustration.
"You know what, never mind. That's it, you've both lost all of your privileges,
and that includes your privacy. We're taking away your bedroom door until Adara
moves out and you each get your own room. But until then, no technology, no
privacy, and no outings," I told them.
"But Daddy, we were just heartbroken," Rose whimpered. I sighed in exasperation
as I screwed my eyes shut, pinching the bridge of my nose with my thumb and
forefinger.
"Oh, alright, I have something that may cheer you up," I said.
"You're going to beat up the butcher twins with your rolling pin?" Rue asked
hopefully.
I frowned, "No, I think their father has a better punishment for them. Besides,
if you two had obeyed us in the first place, this wouldn't have happened," I
pointed out. I then looked up to see that Adara and Orion were listening
intently to our conversation. I didn't even want to know what they had been up
to tonight. I figured I was better off that way; after all, they could take
care of themselves. "But since we're celebrating tonight, I thought maybe we
could sing some Peeta-Oke to end the night well," I suggested hopefully.
The kids groaned, but Katniss smiled knowingly. "Well, I think it's a great
idea, and this family has always loved singing," she reminded them.
"Oh, all right then, I'll sing, you don't have to beg me," we heard Haymitch
say from the living room as he got up from the couch. We all snickered, and
then joined him in the living room as I turned on the sound system. Haymitch
had already passed out again. I wasn't surprised, so I ended up going first.
Everyone sat around the living room eagerly as I began to sing:
"The buns come out; I find more flour. And all that counts, is baking hours. My
bakery will never be the same. I'm glad you came. You throw more dough at me,
dough at me. You hit me; knead me with a rolling pin, rolling pin. And I
decided you bake well for me, well for me. So let's cook somewhere no else can
be, you and me. Turn the lights out now, now I'm taking home some bread. Hand
you another 'pin; roll it if you can. Can you bake a little pie, or do you want
some cake. Cake is good so just stay; stay with me; I can bake. Make you glad
you baked," I sang, and then repeated the lyrics.
Katniss rolled her eyes, then said, "Okay, now it's my turn!" she took the
microphone and changed the song.
"Peeta take me somewhere we can be alone
I'll be waiting all there's left to do is bake
You'll be the chef and I'll be your helper
It's a chef story, Peeta just bake some bread
So I sneak out to the kitchen to see you
We keep quiet 'cause we're caught if they knew
So close your eyes
Bake a bosco stick for a little while
'Cause you were Peeta, always my stalker
And my friend Gale said stay away from Katniss
But you were everything to me
I was egging you to help me knead the dough, and I said
Peeta take me somewhere we can be alone
I'll be waiting all there's left to do is bake
You'll be the chef and I'll be your helper
It's a baker story Peeta just bake some bread
Peeta save me, they try to tell me how to feel
This recipe is difficult, but it's real
Don't be afraid, we'll bake our way out of this mess
It's a chef story baby just say bake some bread
Oh oh
I got tired of baking
Wondering if you were ever gonna help
My faith in you was fading
When I met you in the kitchen of your bakery, and I said
Peeta help me I've been baking all alone
I keep waiting for you but you never come
Is this in my head? I don't know what to think
He went to the counter and baked a cheese bun
And said, bake with me Katniss
You'll never have to bake alone
I'll bake with you and that's all I really know
I talked to your friend, we'll bake pastries forever
It's a chef story Katniss just bake some bread!
Oh, oh, oh, oh
'Cause we were both young when I first saw you," Katniss sang.
"Ugh, I hate that song," Orion groaned.
"Fine then, you can sing next!" she told him as she handed him the microphone
as he began to sing:
"But you didn't have to cut it off! Take the bread out of the oven as if it
were burning. And I don't even need your knife. But you slice it like a
breadstick and that feels so wrong. No you didn't have to cook so low. Have
your friends try out the pastries and then hand them over. I guess they didn't
like the dough. Now you're just a pastry that I used to know," Orion sang
proudly.
"Pfft, I can do better than that!" Adara claimed. She switched the song and
began to sing, "You know the bread feels warmer, baking here at home. You know
I knead all the dough. And bake the things I want. You think you got the best
kneading, think you've had the last bun! Bet you think that everything yummy is
gone. Think you left bread broken down. Think that I'd come baking back. Baby
you don't need me, cause you knead wrong. What doesn't bake you makes you
stronger, " she sang loudly until she finished the song.
"Okay, we're next!" the twins announced.
"We're doing a duet," Rose said.
"It goes like this," Rue began, "You're in the bakery with your girlfriend,
she's upset
She's going off about the cheese buns and the bread
Cause she doesn't get your baking like I do. I'm in the room; it's a typical
baking night
I'm watching you bake all of the food she doesn't like
And she'll never know your baking like I do," Rue sang.
"But she hunts, runs, and fights; I bake all night
She's the hunter and I'm such a great baker
Dreaming about the day when you wake up and find
That what you're looking for has been here the whole time," Rose continued.
"If you could see that I'm the one who will bake with you
Knead all the dough that you will ever need.
You belong with me
You belong with me," the both chorused.
"Baking in the kitchen you in your old apron
I can't help wanting to dance across this place and grin
Laughing by the counter baking some cheese puffs
Hey isn't this easy?" Rose sang.
"And you've got a smile that could light up district twelve
I haven't seen it in awhile, since she brought you down
You say your fine I know you better than that
Hey, Whatcha doing with a girl like that?" Rue sang.
"She carries a bow, I'm good with dough
She's the hunter and I'm a great baker
Dreaming about the day when you wake up and find
That what you're looking for has been here the whole time," Rose sang.
"If you could see that I'm the one who will bake with you
Knead all the dough that you will ever need.
You belong with me
You belong with me.
Standing by, waiting at the kitchen door
All this time how could you not know baby
You belong with me
You belong with me," they both sang.
"Oh I remember you baking at my house in the middle of the night
I'm the one who bakes bosco sticks and can make great key lime pie
I know your favorite treats and you tell me about your dreams
I think I know where you belong. I think I know it's with me," Rose sang in
perfect pitch.
"Can't you see that I'm the one who will bake with you
Knead all the dough that you will ever need.
How could you not know, baby?
You belong with me
You belong with me," they finished.
We all clapped and cheered, and Haymitch woke up and said, "Alright, that was
beautiful, can you kids be quiet and let me sleep now?" he asked grumpily. We
all laughed as we put everything away. Overall, it had been a great party.
"We love you, Daddy!" Rose and Rue exclaimed as they came up and hugged me.
"We'll behave from now on," they promised.
"I hope so," I replied cheerfully.
"Goodnight, Dad!" Adara and Orion said as they headed upstairs.
"Goodnight, kids!" I called back as the twins followed them upstairs. Katniss
gave Haymitch a blanket and a pillow since he kept passing out on the couch,
and then we headed up to our own room.
"I'm feeling hot," Katniss whispered in my ear as she closed our bedroom door
behind her.
"That's because my bosco stick needs baking," I replied smoothly as I laid her
down on the bed. She chuckled as we kissed and tugged off our clothes. "Get
ready, I'm going to make sweet love to you tonight," I murmured softly.
"Mm, give it to me, Peeta," she said as I entered her.
"You know you smell sweeter than any fragrance ever created?" I told her as I
thrust into her, making her moan as I buried my nose into the lingering
feminine scent of her skin.
She smiled as she took my hand and licked my fingers, "You always have a
something sweet in your hands," she told me."You taste like cinnamon and warm
bread."
"Well, I have you right now," I said I took one of her breasts inside my mouth,
licking the soft mound as my tongue circled expertly over her nipple while my
hand teased the other.
"Oh, Peeta, yes, keep going," she urged as she raised her hips towards me so
that I could thrust even deeper into her.
She then took me by surprise by placing her hand in between us in order to push
her orgasm closer. "Ah, Katniss, don't do that, I'm gonna…" but it was too
late. Her fingers had pushed us to the edge, and now we were panting and
sweating in bed as I released my hot fluids into her so that they mixed in with
hers. For a minute, everything was pure bliss as my blood pounded loudly in my
ears. "That was amazing," I told her, kissing her forehead before I held her
close to me so that we could fall asleep.
Then, out of nowhere someone said, "Good job, Sweetheart." And we knew that it
was Haymitch's voice coming from downstairs. He had heard everything.
To be continued in an epic epilogue
***** Mellarks *****
Epilogue
Katniss
"And the winner of the best alcoholic goes to…Haymitch Abernathy!" the mayor of
District Twelve announced proudly. I rolled my eyes and chuckled as old
Haymitch walked up to the stage with his cane to receive his award. We were at
the District Twelve Annual Festival, where they always gave awards for the
craziest things. Peeta won best baker, of course; I won best hunter, Adara won
best dancer, and Orion won best eater at the hotdog-eating contest. The twins
kept whining that they didn't win the "best prankster," award. Apparently they
were beaten by two older twins with red hair named Fred and George.
"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get it next time," I assured them as everyone
clapped and cheered for drunk Haymitch. He was definitely our favorite
alcoholic.
Today was also our last day with Adara before she went off to college. She and
Hunter would take a train to the Capitol this afternoon, and they wouldn't be
back until the holidays. I tried not to get too emotional; we had decided to
make the best of this day.
"Dude, you just stole my wiener!" we heard an angry teenage boy yell at Orion
as he ate yet another hotdog.
"No way, this one's mine!" Orion yelled back between mouthfuls.
"Liar!" the other boy roared.
"Go fuck a bagel!" Orion snapped back.
"Orion, that's enough!" I said, pulling him back just as the other boy tried to
punch him. And then I realized that he looked familiar.
"Stike, what are you doing here?" Rue accused him. Oh, that's who it was. His
brother was already walking up beside him. I frowned. This couldn't be good.
"It's a public event," he snorted in response. But as soon as he saw my glare,
he backed off.
"Yeah, well, we better get going," his twin (Starch? Stark?) told him as he
grabbed his elbow and led him back towards the hot dog stand.
"Yeah, that's right, you better back off!" Rose screamed at them. I placed my
hands on my hips and glared at my children.
"That's enough arguing, all of you! This is supposed to be a special day for
the entire family, and you're acting like a bunch of feisty toddlers!" I
scolded them just as Peeta came walking back with more tickets for the fair
rides.
"Who's fighting?" Peeta asked as he approached us.
"No one, not anymore," Orion mumbled as he looked away, avoiding his father's
gaze.
"Where's Adara, anyway? I thought she went with you," I asked Peeta.
He sighed. "She ran off with Hunter, as always. They got on that crazy roller
coaster ride together," he told me.
"Of course they did," I muttered.
"Hey, there you guys are! We've been looking for you!" we heard Johanna exclaim
as she, Tara, and Gale approached us. The sight of Tara instantly brightened up
Orion, as his face lit up with a smile. She instantly ran into his arms and
hugged him as if they hadn't seen each other in years, even though they had
gone out on a date last night. I rolled my eyes…teenagers.
"Alright, stop smooching you two," Johanna scolded them after a few seconds of
that. We all gave her a grateful smile.
"Congrats on the best hunter award, Catnip," Gale teased me. I grinned at him.
Gale and I had become good friends again, and we had even gone hunting
together. He won best snare traps.
"Speaking of awards, where's Haymitch?" Peeta asked, looking around.
"Oh, he passed out drunk somewhere, so we took him back to his house," Johanna
replied casually.
"Can we go get on the rides already?" Rue asked impatiently as Peeta
distributed the tickets he had bought.
"Yes, but don't waste them all so fast, and stay together!" Peeta told them as
they ran off, the twins heading one direction and Orion and Tara heading
another.
"Well, I guess that's that," Gale sighed.
"Yeah, they grow up fast," Peeta agreed. Johanna and I simply gave each other
knowing looks. Neither of us wanted to admit out loud how hard this was for us.
A few hours later, the fair was over, and we were at the train station. Adara
and Hunter had already packed up everything into the train, and they were
giving us their last good-byes. I hugged my eldest daughter tightly, "Take care
at the Capitol, okay? Remember that people there are…more liberal and
extroverted," I told her.
"Mom, I'll be fine," she said as tears threatened to escape from my eyes.
"All right, we love you, honey," Peeta said as he hugged her next.
"I love you guys too," she said cheerfully as she finished off by hugging her
three younger siblings. At the other side of us, we could hear Johanna scolding
her son about safe sex; Hunter's face was beet red. I shook my head smiling,
typical Johanna.
"Bye, Mom, bye Dad, by everyone!" Adara shouted and waved as she and Hunter
finally boarded the train. We waved back, and soon, they were gone.
"Remember when we first brought her home from the hospital when she was just
born?" Peeta whispered in my ear as tears rolled down my cheeks. I hadn't even
noticed them until he had handed me a tissue. I looked up at him. His blue eyes
were also watery.
I nodded. "Our baby's gone," I gasped.
He kissed me gently on the forehead, "She'll be back," he promised. And I held
him tightly.
Rose
"We need to figure out why they cheated on us," Rue urged.
"Ugh, I don't care about them anymore," I argued. And yet, here we were: right
in front of their back door. I took a deep breath and knocked on it. I was
instantly greeted by a magnificent pair of emerald green eyes. My heart
clenched. It was Stark. Maybe I did still care….
"Stark, who is it?" Stike demanded as he came up behind his brother, both of
them looking awfully surprised and smelling like raw meat. I tried not to gag.
"You cheaters owe us an explanation!" my sister instantly attacked. Wow, she
didn't waste any time.
Stark and Stike hesitated, and then finally stepped outside awkwardly. "Well,
first of all, we were drunk…" Stike began.
"But before that!" I requested.
"Before that, we realized that it would never work out between us," Stark said
apologetically upon noticing his bloody apron and the look of disgust on my
face.
"Besides, you two are too young for us," Stike pointed out cockily as he
stroked his non-existent beard stubble. They were only thirteen, one year older
than us. They were just being ridiculous.
"What my brother is trying to say is, you girls are too innocent for us," Stark
explained.
Rue and I gaped. Too innocent….us? "Excuse us?" we demanded as we snapped our
fingers at them.
"Yeah, no offense, but Daisy and Violet just give great head," Stike shrugged,
unashamed. Stark turned away, embarrassed.
"You flipping bastards!" Rue screeched as she kicked each one in the crotch,
followed by a swift kick from me. They both bent over in pain, groaning and
cursing at us as their eyes swelled up with tears.
"You two man-whores can keep your sluts!" I yelled at them as Rue and I both
flipped our hair and walked away like we owned the district. Heck, we were the
Mockingjay's daughters, product s of the twice-in-a-row star-crossed lover
victors. We could own all of Panem if we wanted to; we didn't need those
pathetic losers.
I told this to Rue, and she agreed, nodding her head vigorously. She said that
one day, we would. But little did we know that our parents had heard
everything. They had found it amusing, but at least they had been proud.
Orion
It was my wedding day. After six years and nine months of dating, I was finally
getting married to Tara Hawthorne-soon to be Tara Mellark. I stuck a condom in
my wallet in case we couldn't make it through the reception. I sighed. The
honeymoon seemed ages away.
"You ready, son?" My dad asked me. I grinned at him; Dad had made the cake for
us, of course.
"Ready as I'll ever be," I replied as he helped me adjust my tie.
"Now, remember, life is like a bosco stick. Sometimes it gets hard, and
sometimes it's too short. But we Mellarks don't have that problem, of course.
We're the bakers, and we heat up that oven like there's no tomorrow. The only
problem is when the cheese…"
"Okay, Dad, I get it," I interrupted. "I have enough protection to last us the
whole honeymoon, and even through the reception, if necessary," I told him
proudly.
"Good," he said as he patted me on the shoulder. "I had to do that when I
married your mom as well; you know how she is. Just don't wait too long to give
us grandchildren. I'm not getting any younger, you know," he chuckled as he
pointed to his graying hair. "At least your sister is having her baby soon."
"Aw, you look great Dad," I assured him, his blue eyes twinkling with joy. He
would make a great Santa- I mean grandpa, one day.
"Not as good as the handsome groom," he teased as he pointed at me.
"Are you princesses ready, we don't have all day!" Mom yelled at us as she
opened the door and told us it was time to go. She was wearing a forest-green
dress (or at least that's the color that Tara had chosen for the wedding), and
she looked great in it. I was just about to compliment my mother, when I was
interrupted by her. "Oh, my baby, you look so dashing!" she exclaimed as she
came up and hugged me. Wow, Mom was really emotional today.
"Thanks, Mom, you look beautiful," I told her genuinely as I kissed her on the
cheek.
"She looks hot, that's what she looks," Dad winked at her.
"Oh stop, you old horn dog," she waved him off playfully.
I rolled my eyes. "Can we go now?" I asked impatiently.
"Oh yes, we don't want to make the bride wait!" Dad said as we headed out
towards the limo that would take us to the Justice Building.
Twenty minutes later, I was waiting for my bride as she approached me in a
startling white dress that trailed elegantly behind her. I felt like I had died
and seen an angel as she smiled at me, her father by her side. Finally, she was
standing beside me, and we were ready to start the ceremony. "You're drooling,"
she whispered as her father released her and handed her over to me with solemn
look on his face. At least he didn't threaten to castrate me this time. Gulp.
I blushed and tried to wipe the corner of my mouth inconspicuously as the judge
began to speak. We said all the right words and signed all the papers, and
soon, it was time to do the toasting. This was my favorite part, because it was
a District Twelve tradition as well as a family tradition. The bread meant
everything to a family of bakers. We were in front of a fireplace, turning and
toasting pieces of bread with a long fork-only the District Twelve Justice
Building would have a fireplace for this. As soon as it was ready, we waited
for it too cool and then split the bread. I gingerly placed some of it into
Tara's mouth, her perfect pink lips parting as her tongue slid out to take the
bread. She then did the same to me, and we were married. Everyone clapped
loudly and enthusiastically as we kissed passionately, the heat in our kisses
even hotter than the roaring flames on the fireplace.
We then went out to the reception, which was taking place at my parents' house.
Everyone congratulated and hugged us, and even Mom and Mrs. Hawthorne were in
tears. I then saw a very pregnant Adara approach me as she gave me an awkward
hug. "Congratulations, little brother, you did it!" she said as her husband,
Hunter, hugged Tara and told her something along the same lines.
I chuckled. "When are you due, Dara?" I asked her.
"Anytime now, actually," she admitted as she congratulated my wife and Hunter
gave me a manly hug, patting me on the back.
"Go get her, tiger," he said in my ear. It was the same thing I had said to him
on his wedding day.
"Well, since you already knocked up my sister, I might as well return the
favor," I mumbled back, and he grinned.
Just then, the twins approached us, both of them dressed in identical green
bridesmaid dresses. "Congratulations!" they chanted as they came up to hug us.
"Don't release any sex tapes this time," Rue whispered in my ear as she hugged
me. I pretended not to have heard that for the sake of my sanity.
"Well, it's time to throw the bouquet!" Rose announced.
"Already?" asked Tara as my crazy sisters led her to stand up on a chair, and I
held on to her to make sure that she didn't fall. Anxious women were already
gathering around her.
"Oh yes, we want to catch the flowers!" Rue said excitedly. I looked at my
eighteen-year-old sisters suspiciously. Weren't they single? Why would they
care about getting married now?
"All right, is everyone ready? At the count of three….one…two…three!" Tara
yelled as she pretended to throw the bouquet, causing more excitement among the
women. She did this a couple more times, and then she finally threw it. Rose
and Rue dived for it, ripping it in half by accident as both of them tugged it.
"It looks like both of you won!" Tara said, and everyone cheered. I rolled my
eyes. "Now it's your turn," Tara winked at me as she sat down on the chair.
I gulped as everyone watched me, waiting for me to do pull out her garter. I
suddenly had an idea, and I smirked as I sneaked under the long folds of her
silky dress in order to find it. I could hear wolf-whistles and laughter coming
from our anticipating guests. But her garter was at the very top of her thigh,
near her crotch. Tara had always been naughty; she never changed. Well, I would
teach her. I slid my hands seductively up her leg, causing her to shiver as I
began to pull down her garter slowly. This caused her legs to open wide enough
for me to plant a kiss in between her legs, making her jump. I chuckled as I
came out from underneath her gown, holding the garter up triumphantly. Everyone
cheered as I waved it around, and Tara stood up so that I could stand on up the
chair while the single men gathered around me. This, of course, included
Grandpa Haymitch, who was still walking with a cane.
I shook my head grinning as I prepared myself. "On the count of
three…one….two….three!" I called out, teasingly pretending to throw it but then
not doing it. The guys groaned, and, on the second time, I threw it. I looked
down to see who had caught it, and I watched in fascination as Ronnie, Vickey,
and Jick-Tara's cousins- wrestled on the floor as they fought over the garter.
Then, finally, Ronnie stood up and held it over his head, and I gave him the
thumbs-up. Ronnie was one of my best friends since we were kids. He was also my
best man.
I then heard my twin sisters squeal with delight as they saw that Ronnie had
caught it. I found it amusing that they had a crush on my best pal, and, more
ironically, another Hawthorne. "Hey, the garter was mine; you stole it from my
grasp!" Jick yelled at Ronnie.
"Hey, you can share the garter," I told them as I got back down from the chair.
"That way, each of you can dance with one of my sisters," I concluded. They all
nodded in agreement, and, soon we were all waltzing around the dance floor: me
with Tara, Ronnie with Rue, and Jick with Rose. I smirked. They seemed to get
along pretty well, at least.
Soon, it was time for the cake, and Dad rolled it in proudly. Everyone gasped
at the extraordinary sight of it: it was decorated with painted flowers and
fancy vines, just as my bride had requested. "Rue and I helped," Rose told me,
and I smiled at her gratefully.
Tara was overtaken by emotion. "Oh wow, it's just as magnificent as the one he
made for Jayne and Finn, and the one for Hunter and Adara!" she exclaimed.
"Well, of course it is, all of his cakes are wonderful; he even made one with a
beach theme at my parents' wedding," Finn told her. Jayne, Tara's older sister,
nodded in approval as she told Tara that their cake had a beach theme too. They
had come all the way from District Four with their three kids to attend our
wedding. My mother came to help us as we cut the cake while she and Dad
distributed it to the guests, and then my sisters took over serving it as Tara
and I received our own plates.
"Mm, this is delicious!" Tara said with delight. "Thank you so much, Mr.
Mellark!" she told my father.
"It was my pleasure, Tara," Dad replied kindly. "Although, I'll admit that my
daughters helped me decorate it," he added modestly.
"Yeah, but you know you're still the best baker in all of Panem, Dad," I said,
grinning.
Dad shook his head and chuckled as the music was turned up, and then it was
time for the dance. I grabbed my wife (I still couldn't get used to that term;
I felt like I was dreaming), and led her up towards the dance floor. We danced
all night long, not only with each other, but also with many of our guests.
Grandpa Haymitch got drunk of course, but at least he had fun. Adara and Hunter
danced a lot too, despite her condition. But then something happened. I was
standing right beside her as I heard my older sister gasp in shock and say: "My
water broke." And then all hell broke loose.
Adara
Everything turned into a blur. One second, I was dancing at my brother's
wedding, and the next, I was on my way to the hospital. My baby was coming.
"It's all right, honey, we're almost there," Hunter tried to assure me as he
held on to my hand. But I could tell that he was nervous; his gray eyes were
full of panic and worry. Before I knew it, I was being rushed down hospital
corridors, my husband and my mother following along with the doctors. The
contractions were becoming unbearable.
"Mrs. Hawthorne, you are fully dilated and ready to give birth," my doctor
informed me as he inspected me. He then went on to order the nurses around to
prepare everything. "Did you overexert yourself today?" he asked me, concerned.
"No, we just danced a little," I said defensively, but then a terrible
contraction overcame my body, and all discussion was over.
"All right, you're going to have to push," my doctor commanded me, and I did as
I was told, clenching tightly to my mother and to my husband, with one on
either side of me. They were both trying to be encouraging, but I could hardly
listen. The pain was all I could think about, and tears ran down my cheeks as I
pushed in agony.
"You're doing great, honey!" I heard Hunter say as I suffered through another
spasm.
"UGH, SHUT UP, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT I'M GOING THROUGH!" I snapped at him.
"I know, sweetheart, just let it out," my mother told me as she pressed her
palm on my forehead.
"I'M TRYING!" I shouted desperately.
"And you're almost there," Hunter noted excitedly as he watched what the
doctors were doing in the front. He was holding up a video camera and recording
everything.
"YOU BASTARD, WHO SAID YOU COULD RECORD MY VAGINA," I screamed angrily.
"Well, I figured since it's our first baby…" he began.
"AND THE LAST ONE, DAMMIT, YOU'RE NEVER GOING TO GET IT AGAIN! YOU AND YOUR
PENIS DID THIS TO ME!" I raged on. My mother was simply smiling at me
sympathetically and wiping my tears calmly. At least she understood.
"Oh shit, is that the baby's head," Hunter suddenly gasped in surprise.
"Yes, it's coming out!" the doctor announced. I smiled in relief.
"Adara, our baby is blue!" Hunter joked. As if I could find anything funny
right now.
"FUCK YOU, HUNTER, QUIT BEING SO STUPID!" I responded.
"Oh gross, is that the placenta? Ugh, what are those awful green liquids? Adara
you have a green slime fountain," Hunter went on as I finally finished giving
birth.
I was so relieved by the end of that that I didn't care what he was saying
anymore. All I could see now was my perfect baby as it was handed over to me in
a hospital blanket, releasing its first cry.
"Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Hawthorne, you have a bouncing baby boy," the
doctor said cheerfully.
"Oh, he has your eyes!" My mother instantly noticed as my baby finally stopped
crying and opened his beautiful blue eyes. His hair was dark like mine and his
father's, and Hunter went on about how he looked so much like me already.
"No, he looks like both of us," I said, even though it was hard to tell at this
point. But he was ours, and that was all that truly mattered. I'd never felt so
happy in my life.
"So what are you going to name him?" Mom asked.
I smiled. I already knew the answer to this one. "He's going to be named after
his two grandfathers," I began, and then looked up at my husband lovingly
before turning back to meet my mother's steady gray gaze. "Peeta Gale. His name
is going to be Peeta Gale Hawthorne, and he will be the first to have both
Mellark and Hawthorne blood in his veins. He will be proof that we are all
family now," I said. And the proud look on their faces let me know that they
approved.
"Well, we can call him Peet for short," Hunter said as I handed over our son so
that he could carry him in his arms. But not before kissing my lightly on the
lips and murmuring, "I love you."
"I love you too," I told him.
"You just wait until his grandfathers find out," Mom said. And just then,
Grandpa Haymitch stumbled in. When he saw the baby and heard what we had named
him, something in him stirred. And that was the day that he finally gave up
alcohol. Better late than never, I suppose. Even Grandma Everdeen had agreed to
help him recuperate, even though she had already retired as a doctor.
Of course, our fathers became overjoyed when they realized that Hunter and I
had named our first child after them. So overjoyed, in fact, that I secretly
thought that he was their favorite grandchild. Peet turned out to be a healthy
combination of them: a great baker and an excellent hunter….a perfect Mellark-
Hawthorne.
Rue
I waved at the crowd in front of me. I was rich, and powerful, and in charge.
But so was my twin. Rose and I were the first co-leaders of Panem. Yes: we had
done it. And we were only twenty-four years old.
"I can't believe we were actually elected," Rose mumbled under her breath as
she waved back at the cheering crowd. We could see our family members looking
proudly at us near the stage.
I gave my speech, full of promises and crazy plans, and then Rose came next.
Hers was a little less lengthy and more to the point, but it was just as
effective. Soon afterwards, it was time to celebrate. We were hosting a party
at the Capitol mansion, and anyone who was anyone was there. And we were
surrounded by hot men.
Yes, hot men. We were the queens. No one could stop us now. I took a glass of
champagne as one of those hot men approached me. He had chocolate brown hair,
hazel eyes, and a killer smile. I saw my sister Adara wink at me from across
the room as she was talking to our mother. Our whole family was at the party,
and we had invited them to stay here for a week. They wanted to show their
support for us as we began our political career.
"Hey handsome, what's your name?" I asked the delectable man who was suddenly
standing in front of me.
"Josh. Josh Hutcherson. You and your sister are Peeta Mellark's daughters,
right?" he asked me as he sipped on his glass of wine.
I smiled. "Yes, and you're the actor who played him in the movie that they made
about our parents, right?" I asked him, although I already knew the answer. My
parents were so famous that they had made a movie series about their lives
during the Hunger Games, and Josh was playing the younger version of my father.
It certainly earned us a lot of popularity with the public.
"Yes, that's me. I really support your political causes. I think kinky sex
should be allowed in public too," he winked.
I laughed. "That was a joke, Josh." I informed him teasingly.
"Well, I still think it should be socially acceptable," he whispered in my ear,
and I blushed, despite myself.
"It's kind of hot in here, isn't it?" I asked, changing the subject as I fanned
myself.
"No, I think it's just us," he chuckled. The way he smiled made my blood boil
with lust.
I bit my lip nervously. The lights had dimmed, and people had started slow-
dancing to the band. He offered me his hand, and I took it as he led me to the
dance floor. I wrapped my arms around him tightly, as if I had known all my
life and we were just having a moment. Was it creepy that he looked like
younger, brunette version of my father? No, Josh was a completely different
person, I told myself. Across the room, I saw my sister dancing with another
actor. Was that….Daniel Radcliffe? The guy who had starred in the crazy wizard
movies? Huh. I guess we were suckers for famous actors.
The song ended, and I leaned close to Josh's ear and said, "Would you like to
visit my chambers, Mr. Hutcherson?" in my most seductive voice.
He grinned, and taking it as a yes, I discreetly led him away from the party
and into my new bedroom. I had never used it before, but what a better way to
break it in than to party hearty with one of the most coveted actors of Panem?
After all, bedrooms were not just meant for sleeping. Our parents had taught us
that our entire lives.
"Take off your clothes, Josh," I ordered him.
"Wow, bossy, are we?" he asked as I quickly unzipped my dress and slipped out
of my heels.
"Yes, and I get to be on top," I stated as I helped him unbuckle his pants. I
was after all, the new leader of Panem. They didn't elect me to be
submissive…or to sleep with actors, but that was beside the point.
"Yes, Miss," he said as he finished peeling off his clothes.
I tossed him on the bed and climbed on top of him. He snickered nervously, his
cheeks flushed with excitement and anticipation.
"Get ready for the fucking of your life, Joshua," I said as I licked his soft
earlobe, trailing a path along his perfect jaw with my tongue.
I grabbed a rose from the vase on the side table and ripped the stem so that
only the bud was left. "What are you doing?" he asked, perplexed.
"Just imagine that the petals on this flower are the folds on my vagina…what
would you to it?" I asked seductively as I handed it to him. He gaped at me as
I was insane, but I merely grinned. This was a game that Rose and I had made up
and tried on our men frequently. Rue flowers just weren't as romantic.
When he realized that I was serious, he did something no one had ever done
before. He started eating the rose petals. I raised an eyebrow and smirked as I
ran my tongue down his body the same way that he was flicking his tongue on the
petals, making him shiver. "I'd eat you up," he finally responded, and he
tossed the flower away.
"You win," I winked, and he flipped us over so that he was on top. He began
kissing me passionately, heatedly, our bodies colliding as he pressed his
length against me. I ran my hands frantically down his back as his rough palms
kneaded my malleable breasts. I moaned, arching my hips up, but he stopped me,
his wrist pressing down on my hip.
"Now I get to eat you up, remember?" he reminded me, his voice hoarse and thick
with desire. I nodded, and before I knew it, his tongue had darted inside my
folds. My hands instantly flew to his hair, grasping on his brown locks as his
tongue circled my clit. He suckled and slurped my juices; I was so wet for him.
"That's enough," I snarled, and I pulled him up and flipped him so that I was
once again on top. I took his throbbing erection on my hand and grasped it
firmly, pumping it and then placing a chaste kiss on the tip as a tease. I
licked the pre-cum tentatively, rubbing the rest down his shaft.
"I'm gonna come-" he moaned.
"No!" I growled, and I sat my hips down without a warning, making sure that he
was fully inside me.
He groaned in response as I began to rock back and forth, throwing my head back
in bliss, an evil smile playing on my face. Sweat ran down his forehead as he
watched my breasts sway with the motion, and he cupped them as he gazed at them
in wonderment, his mouth open in fascination. The fire in between us began to
rage hotter and hotter, and he flipped us over again and began to move his
hips, faster, almost violently. I raked my fingernails all over his shoulder,
kissing him ardently and breathlessly as he continued to thrust desperately,
seeking his release.
I screamed his name as we both came, the result of our wild affair soiling the
sheets with fluids. He cursed under his breath, and then smiled in relief as he
finished and lay down beside me. Before I could say anything, I heard the door
creak open and Orion's head peeked in. Josh and I screamed as we tried to cover
ourselves, but all Orion said was, "There was a camera in your room, sis. I got
it all on tape in case you ever get any funny ideas with your political
campaigns," he said as he held the tape in between his fingers. Then he shut
the door and left. Well, so much for having total power. He'd found the key to
my room.
Peeta
I never thought I would end up with four successful children and ten
grandchildren. I sat on my front porch with my wife, swaying on my rocking
chair as we watched the kids play with the geese. I sighed. Haymitch had died a
couple of years ago, but he would have loved to see this. At least he had given
up drinking on his last few years; it had bought him some more time, but not
much. He would have liked to know that Adara had become a professional dancer
with three kids, that Orion, who also had three kids, had actually become a
successful painter at the Capitol (painting some really erotic scenes, but
still), and that Rose and Rue were brilliantly leading Panem, each of them with
twins. When he had passed away, things hadn't settled down in their careers
yet. But now Adara was married to the new owner of the weapon design company,
for Gale had retired. The twins had each married famous actors. I clutched
Katniss' hand tightly as memories swirled through my head. The doctors had
finally found a cure for my hijacking, and my son and I no longer had to
struggle with the venom in our systems. Life had definitely been easier since
then.
"Grandpa, the buns are ready," my eldest grandson, Peet, announced cheerfully.
I looked up and my blue eyes met his. He smiled at me; he had inherited my
bakery once I had retired.
"They better be cheese buns!" Katniss grouched.
"Of course they are, Grandma; I made them especially for you," he said. And
then he called the rest of our family inside. Three generations of Mellarks
crowded around the large dining room table as we all sat down to eat bread. I
had never imagined that my family would be this large. I met their eyes briefly
as I looked at each of them, splitting the first bread like I had done at my
wedding with Katniss. She smiled at me lovingly; even after all these years,
the fire had never left her eyes. The odds had, after all, been in our favor.
We would forever be a family of kind bakers. My father would have been proud.
Although I don't know how he would have felt about the pastry kinkiness….but
that was another story.
The_End
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