Everything about her was beautiful, and perfect in its own messy, careless way. Her skin, that had the exact same shade of newly polished ivory contrasted against her ebony colored hair, that fell over her shoulders in a mess of waves. Her eyes, just as it had been said by Peeta's riding companions, were a shade or two lighter than the shade of coal but, to Peeta, they reminded him more of silver than anything else. Her mouth, that had this shape that made it look like she was pouting, gave her face a sweeter demeanor, and when compared to her fierce eyes, rimmed with black eyeliner, applied somewhat carelessly, those rosy lips conceded perfect balance to her features. She was thin, but not curveless, her jean clad legs were long, but not too long. She looked like a godess in a leather vest. And her smell was just as inebriating, although Peeta could tell she wasn't wearing any of those perfumes that his father used to buy her mother on their wedding aniversary.

And then she spoke up, Peeta didn't understand what she said, he was too worried looking at the way her lips moved when she talked, letting himself be envelopped by the sound of her voice, that was grave, but not too grave.

It was only when he noticed she was staring back at him with her challenging eyes, one of her dark eyebrows lifted, that he realised she was talking to him.

"What?" he asks, snapping out of it.

Finnick chuckles "Yup, our little Katniss Everdeen sure can make an impression." he says jokingly. Peeta sees the girl glaring at Finnick, a scowl appearing on her face, and he wonders how on earth does she still manage to look stunning even with that scary expression.

Katniss Everdeen, Peeta ecoos her name in his head. He doesn't know why the name makes him tingle all over. Isn't that the name of a plant?, he asks himself.

"This is Peeta. We met him on the way, his car broke down near Worcester." Johanna explains "We're gonna give him a ride to the nearest tow-to."

Katniss nods once in understanding, seemingly content enough with the answer she got from her fellow friend, before toring her eyes away from Peeta, turning towards the window.

Peeta also turns away from Katniss, feeling too overwhelmed by the effect she has on him. He foccuses his attention on the streets he can see from the car window, in order to make sure his eyes don't drift back to the beautifull girl sitting beside him.

Peeta decides to take this time to make an overall evaluation of how those last couples of days have been going. If he was going to be truthfull, not too great, considering his present circumstances. And hell, was he tired. If Peeta slept sometime that week, it couldn't have been more than a couple hours. His exams had finished only two days ago, to which he had been studying perhaps too hard (not that it had been o fany help to him, considering by how badly his exam had actually gone). The idea of how his Christmas was going to be spent was not of much help to his current state. Deep down, Peeta knew that, if he set his mind to it, he could forgive his mother for having left the rest of the family alone, and therefore causing its ruin, as well as causing his father all that pain that had resulted in his drinking problem. If he thought well about it, his mother was the soul sorce of all his mischief, the cause of all his bad fortune, and that was most likely the reason why he didn't want to forgive her, even if all the reasons she had for leaving those people she was supposed to love with all her heart were valid. And having to spend his christmas with her, even if Peeta himself didn't give much value to the holiday, made his stomach churn with anxiety. Or maybe it was the dark haired girl next to him.

Cautiously, he stole a glance her way, making sure she wouldn't realize his staring. She was looking straight ahead, her gaze foccused on the top of Finnick's head, and a vacant look in her eyes. Her chin was raised in a way that, if it had been anyone else but Katniss adopting that position, Peeta would've thought they were acting superious to him and therefore silently hate them. Peeta's eyes trailed down her lily neck until reaching her chest, he could see the tiniest bit of cleavage. Upon a better inspection, Peeta could make out what he thought to be part of a wing tattooed bellow Katniss's collarbone, peeking out from under her shirt.

Peeta guesses he had been staring for long, because Katniss turned to him, a small scowl etched to her face and looked him straight in the eyes "What?"she asks.

Peeta's eyes snapped back to her pale face, almost getting lost again in the grey of her eyes. "Nothing." he squeaks in a manner he hadn't done since he was a freshman in highschool and had a crush on Clove Kentwell, who had been considered one of the prettiest girls in his class. Still, not even Clove could compare to Katniss, specially regarding the fire she witheld in her eyes. Peeta clears his throat, set on on making a better impression to this girl "I was just noticing you have a tattoo. What's it?"

Katniss looked down at her chest and pulled her shirt up, concealing as much cleavege as she could. She then turned her eyes back towards Peeta, the scowl on her lips only deepening. "What's it to you?" she snaps fiercily.

Peeta pushed himself a little bit further from her, feeling cautious about her sullen attitude. Sheppishly, he shrugged. "I dunno. Just curious, I guess." he mumbles.

For some reason, his behaviour seemed to make Katniss lower her defenses a bit, as her expression softened, and she no longer looked like she was about to chew Peeta's hear off. "Well, you know what they say." she tells him quietly "Curiosity killed the cat."

Indeed, Peeta felt like a very scared cat in that moment. Why was it Katniss seemed to mess with his mind so badly? In the front sits, Peeta could hear Finnick and Johanna snickering quietly.

By the timethe air was starting to get thick with Johanna's cigarrete smoke, as well as whatever it was that Finnick had been inhaling, they arriveat the tow-to.

Johanna stopsthe car. "Well, here we, are at your destination."

Peeta prepares himself to leave the car, whilst feeling disappointed thathe has to leave the car now, just when he thought Katniss couldactually warm up to him.

"Thanks for the lift, guys." he states, opening the car's door.

"No problem" Johanna says "If you need anything you know where to find us."

"In the darkest fucking place in this scumland." Finnick adds.

As soon as Peeta's out of the car, it takes off down the road, away from Peeta's sight, taking with him the most breathtaking person he ever laid eyes upon. For a moment, he feels empty inside, but seen how accostumed he is to the feeling of emptiness, it soon dissipates to a numbing sensation on the tip of his fingers.

He Walks up to the small building that houses the tow-to, and pushes the glassdoors, allowing him inside the establishment. He walks up to the counter, where behind such is a middle aged woman with short brown hair looking boredly at her computer screen.

"Goodnight." Peeta states politely "My car broke down a couple of miles from here, and I'm in need of a tow"

He can barely finish the sentence before the woman is shaking her head. "Our services aren't available at this hour." she tells him hurriedly, "Come back in the morning."

Peeta wrinkles his forehead in annoyance, an habit that's been with him as long as he can remember "What do you mean your services aren't available? This is a tow-to, it's supposed to opened 24/7!" Peeta grits.

The woman sighs exhasperatly "This one ain't." she says, glaring at Peeta. "Come back in the morning." she repeats.

Peeta turns around and walks away, hoping that when he comes back tomorrow morning it won't be the same unpleasent woman attending to him. Just as he's about to cross the doors to the outside, the woman wishes him a pleasent night in a manner Peeta isn't sure it's supposed to be mocking. He closes the door behind him as loudly as he can.

The air is chilly and the cold bites his nose, and Peeta wishes he had worn warmer clothes. The sky was dark, and there was no way of knowing what time was it. "Now what?" Peeta thought to himself. He couldwalk around, try to find an hotel or an inn, but he had no idea how he would afford that, considering he was completely broke. The few money his father could send him was used to pay his college expenses,as well as invested in his basic needs, and the money he had been saving until recently was used for him to pay that crappy second-hand car that was now left alone in the middle of the road, miles from him.

Momentarily, Peeta was worried that someone would try to mug his car, but that thought soon passed, considering how worthless his car actually was.

Peeta walked around the town aimlessly, trying to keep himself as warm as he could, until he came across a pub, by the name of Haymitch's Tavern. He considered his options, and realized that, in the end, it is a pleasent idea spending the rest of his night getting drunk, considering how much of a disaster that day had been. Besides, at least he could be warm inside, and some liquor could help him get his mind off things.

He pushed the bar's doors open and entered the estabilishment, sighing in relief when he immediatly felt the ghust of warm from the inside. The pub was just like any other pub or bar that Peeta had ever beento, a dimly lit room, with booths and a big counter in the middle. The pub isn't empty, but it's not precisely full, there are a couple of older men, around the age of Peeta's father , sitting in the counter, and some booths are taken. Peeta spots a sit in a bench in the counter and walks towards, trying not to feel bothered by the heavy scent of smoke.

Assoon as he sits down a middle aged disheveled man comes towards him behind the counter. As he approaches, his stench of liquor becomes more and more noticeable, and Peeta has to give his best not to wrinkle his nose. When the man is in front of him, it takes the cloth that was resting in his shoulder and uses it to clean the counter separating them.

"What can I get ya?" the man asks.

Peeta presses his lips together, trying to decide if he just wants to get a little tipsy or extremely hammered. He settles with the former. "A beer, please." he states.

"Any preferences?" the man asks.

"No, not really." Peeta answers, shrugging. The man turns around, heading for a fridge that rests next to a coffee machine and takes a bottle of beer from it, returning afterwards to Peeta.

"Thereya go, kid." he says, placing the bottle infront of Peeta. He immediatly picks up the bottle and takes a swig, feeling the freshness of the drink sliding down his throat. Inwardly, he sighs in content.

The first time Peeta had a beer, it was also the first time he got hammered. He was sixteen at the time, and had been invited to a party some guy he must have been acquainted with was throwing as his parents were out of town. Peeta hadn't liked the flavour of the beer the first time 'round, or the second, to be truthfull, but eventually, he warmed up to the drink, and now a days it consisted of the few things he drunk, besides water, coffee, and some energy drinks from time to time. He chuckles to himself, remembering how wasted he had got that one time, eventhough he hadn't even drank more than two cups of beer.

For the next half an hour or so, Peeta stays silent, nursing a few beers slowly, while watching a game of rugby, streaming on the boxy television set up on the wall behind the aisle. Peeta was never a big fan of rugby, or any other type of sport, except maybe for wrestling, he had been in his school's wrestling team for a couple of years, but unfortunaly the school didn't have enough money to support it, and that sport, along with a couple others, was shut. Regardless, Peeta didn't understand much of sports, which probably was the main reason he was always picked last when the P.E. teacher asked for the class to divide in teams. He misses those times, back when the biggest of the problems was getting picked last by his classmates, or having to eat alone in the school's cafeteria because all of his friends had parents taht could come pick them up at school to have lunch with them.

A hand comes to rest in Peeta's shoulder, bringing him back from his small world of childhood memories.

"The world sure is small." Finnick's voice rings out from behind Peeta. he turns around, silently cheering that he no longer has to be that guy sitting alone in the bar getting drunk. "Well, the town, actually. This is the only decent pub 'round here." he says, dropping down in the seat beside Peeta. "What're you still doing here. I thought you'd be now on your way to wherever you were heading to."

"Well, I can't. Not until tomorrow. There's no tow at this hour, apparently." Peeta tells him.

"Ah, I see." Finnick nods and waves, getting the bartender's attention. "Haymitch, pour me and my friend two glasses of your best scotch." he demands, patting my back. "On me."

The disheveled bartender, Haymitch, brings two glasses of scotch, and slams them in the counter in front of them. "Odair." he aknowledges in greeting.

Finnick immediatly picks his glass and takes a big swig from its content. Peeta simply stares at his glass, impressive it might be, Peeta never had scotch before, he normally only had beer, besides, his father was more of a vodka type of person, meaning, back in his highschool years, that would be the only drink he'd be abble to smuggle from him, when he was too drunk to noticed or passed out somewhere.

"How's the night going 'round here, ol'man?" Finnick asks.

Haymitch shruggs, seeming more fascinated with watching Peeta studying his glass "It's been pretty calm, tonight. Only one small ruffle between these two guys earlier, kicked'hem out not long ago." he tells him. Then he turns towards Peeta "You gonna drink that? Are you even of age?" he asks him.

Peeta jumps in his sit, already having lost himself in his thoughts "'Course he is, Haymitch." Finnick says. Peeta looks up, and decides to finally take a swig from his scotch, to reinforce Finnick's point. The scoth isn't particularly strong, but Peeta still pinches his face when he feels the drink burning down his throat.

"I hope so, because they've been on me lately for selling alcohol to minors and all that shit. Things ain't what they used to be, remember, Finnick, when I used to smuggle you and your friends some liquor, back when you were, what? Sixteen?" Haymitch states and Finnick nods vigorously, and grins.

"Those were the days." he says, lifting his glass "Another fill?"

Haymitch takes his glass, and Finnick turns towards me again. "The girls should be here any time now. They went to buy cigarettes in the convenience store a block or so from here."

The girls. He means Katniss and Johanna. His heart starts racing, remembering the girl who had sat beside him in the car earlier that night. It seemed like lifetimes ago, last time he saw here, and he ached be able to look at her eyes one more time. Now he had that chance.

"Anyhow, do you have a place to stay tonight?" Finnick asks, whilst looking at him quizzically, probably because he was grinning like a maniac. It was weird, just thinking he'd be able to see the beautifull girl he had only laid eyes upon once one more time had such an effect on him. Peeta wondered what it was, that made him feel so desperate for her, eventhough they barely shared a couple words.

"Not really, no." Peeta sputters in answer to Finnick.

"I'd let you stay with me but, you see, I gotta leave early tomorrow morning to catch a bus, going to London to spend teh holidays with my sweeheart, Annie." Finnick tells him. "Though I'm sure Katniss wouldn't mind if you crashed in with her. She might act all grumpy about it, but that's just the way she is."

Peeta's heart skips a beat upon hearing taht name again, Katniss, it sounded like the cool summer brease to him, soft and hypnotizing. "I really don't want to impose any trouble." he says.

"You won't. I'm sure you won't."

Just as Finnick finishes saying these words, Johanna's voice rumbles from behind them, and Peeta feels himself envelopped by the intoxicating smell of wild flowers and rain that meant Katniss was nearby.

"Look, blondie's here!" Johanna exclaims, ruffling Peeta's her with her pale hand. "Ain't you supposed to be driving your crappy car away from this shithole?" she asks.

"Unfortunately, I can't get anyone to haul my car until the morning." Peeta explains, trying to make his voice sound as steady as possible, an hard task considering Katniss is staring straight at him with her vibrant eyes Peeta can't get enough of.

"We were actually just talking about it now. Peeta's got no place to stay tonight, so I was thinking maybe Katniss wouldn't mind having him crash over." Finnick says, looking at Katniss, waiting for her approval. Everyone turns towards her, Peeta too, because he could no longer wait to be able to look at her again.

Now that there was proper lighting, Peeta could notice things about her taht he hadn't seen before, like the way she had high and prominent cheekbones, and her nose had a slight slope in the end. Her face is set in an indifferent expression, that she seems to wear quite often.
Unfortunaly, Peeta doesn't get to hear her voice, because she merely shruggs.

"Come on, sit. I'll pay the next round." Johanna says, taking a seat on the other side of Finnick, leaving only one free stool beside me for Katniss.
She relutantely takes it, giving Peeta a small glance, before turning all her attention to her friends.

The next hour or so goes in a blur, with Finnick and Johanna talking loudly, discussing the rules of cricket and what are the penalties for setting a dumpster on fire. When Peeta realizes they're both standing up agressivily and heading towards the pool table whilst sending insults towards one another.
Peeta glances Katniss' way, taking the chancde to study her face. She's watching her friends with a sullen yet amused expression. She sighs loudly.

"Why do they always do that? It's staring to get boring." She complains in a low voice annoyed voice.

Peeta chuckles as Johanna threatens to hit Finnick with her cue "It looks prertty amusing to me." he says, earning a shook of head from Katniss.

"Not if it happens twice every weeks." Katniss argues, and Peeta can't help but smile when her eyes make contact with his. They're both silent for a minute, Peeta lost in the intense stare Katniss is giving him.

When he realizes he is leaning towards her, and for moments it seems as if she is doing the same. And just like that, Peeta snaps back, and so does Katniss, furthering her face from his to take a gulp of her drink. Peeta awkwardly clears his throat, feeling his face flush. Why is it again that he always manages to act like some sort of creep.

Desperate to get Katniss's attention away from that awkward moment, he starts talking again.

"Well, you guys must be close, meeting so often and all." he says, hoping to pick up the conversation where they left it.

Katniss, whose cheeks are also a shade of pink nods her head, whilst drinking the rest of the content in her glass at once. "I guess you could say so. I've known Johanna since I was in highschool. She's a good couple years older and used to buy me beer when I was seventeen. We actually met at a anger management sort of support group." she tells Peeta.

That last statement perks up his curiousity. "Anger management?" he asks, although he instantly regrets it, he didn't know Katniss. Just minutes earlier he was about to kiss her, and now he was asking her for details of her private life? They were basically strangers. "Huh, sorry, I didn't mean to be intrusive." he says meekly.

Katniss shruggs "It's alright." she says "I broke this guy's nose because he tried to have his way with me. It was worth it."

Somehow, Katniss's confession makes Peeta feel even more attracted to her. She sounds so strong, so much stronger than Peeta had ever been, or would ever be. Perhaps he sould be scared, Katniss was intimidating, and truth be told, he was intimidated by her, but he just couldn't stop himself from wanting to be even closer to her. "Well, I'm sure he had it coming."

Katniss smiles. Peeta almost falls from his stool when he sees it, for the few hours they'd had contact with each other, this is the first time she actually smiled, and it loooked like this beautifull miracle. Peeta can't do anything else but to grin back at her, for she is breathtaking.
Unfortunatly, it only lasts a fleeting moment, and then her face returns to her usual endearing impassive scowl. They're both silent for a minute, as if Katniss herself is registering the fact that she just smiled.

Tentatively , Katniss opend her mouth to speak, as if not exactly sure about what she wants to say. "I probably should apolagize you for the way I acted in the car. It was kind of rude of me. I've just been having this really awful day."

"It's alright." Peeta replies. From what he's seen of Katniss she doesn't sound much like the person who willingly apolagizes to someone, or with whom it's easy to hold a conversation. It doesn't fase him though, in fact, it makes her even more alluring to him. Still, he isn't ready for their conversation to finish right there. He wants more. "Are you really sure you don't mind me crashing at your place? We don't really know each other very well, I mean, not that you can't trust me, but, you know, if you don't feel comfortable with it, or anything, I really-"

"I don't mind." Katniss assures him "It's really no big deal. I live by myself, and you don't strike me as some sociopath I should be scared of. I'm fine with it. I just hope you don't mind sleeping on an uncomfortable and old couch."

"Of course not. It's definitly better than actually having to sleep outside, on bench or something." Peeta jokes.

Katniss doesn't laugh, but one of the corners of her lips lifts in a small smirk, as if she's trying hard not to smile. "I wouldn't know that. My place is really that crappy."

Peeta snorts, and then scolds himself for doing so. It was on of those things about himself that he just couldn't control, but embarassed him deeply. He chances a glance at Katniss, the corner of her lip quirks a but more. "Don't worry, as a broke college student I am very much used to crappy places. At least you don't have annoying roommates that wear you underwear all the time, although they have their own."

"I guess not." Katniss says, amused.

A comfortable silence lodges itself between them, just as they start each other down. It takes sometime for Peeta to find another matter to discuss. "So, have you always lived in this place?"

Katniss shakes her head "Not really. I was born here, and lived in here for some time, until my father died, and my mother just couldn't stay in here any longer. I came back in my junior year of highschool. Haven't left since, and really don't want to."

Peeta nods, he knows well that feeling. He also couldn't imagine himself living anywhere else other than Southampton. Sure, now that he was in college he didn't live there, but that was just temporarily. As soon as he was over with it, he'd come back.

"In truth, I find Coalville a rather extraordinary place." Katniss adds, an edge to her voice, as if she's defying Peeta to contradict her.

"I'm sure there's no other place like this in the world." Peeta states.

"Well, definitly not, because, in truth, there isn't a single place in the world equal to any other." Katniss adds, a small smile plaguing her lips, as her eyes adopt this dreamy expression "That's the beauty of it."

"It's sounds like a beautiful place." Peeta says, before he can even think it through. Everything about her in this particular moment is too captivating for him to even process his thoughts clearly.

And with that Katniss stands up, with a certain fire lighting up in her eyes, and holds her hand out for Peeta. "Come on, I'll show you."

And with that, they're both parting towards the chilly night together.