Chapter Text
Peeta answers the door in his boxers, his sleepy eyes widening when he sees me. “Katniss…?”
“I need to sleep in your room tonight,” I say, pushing past him into the room.
He shuts the door and turns to me, a bemused look on his face. “What? Why?”
“Because our stupid roommates sexiled me from my room,” I say. I toss my pillow on Finnick’s bed and sit down on it heavily. “Finnick said I could sleep here. And I have a midterm at eight in the morning, so I’m not taking no for an answer here.”
“Okay,” Peeta says. He grabs a white tee from his closet and pulls it on. “You might not want to sleep in Finnick’s bed though because he hasn’t washed his sheets since the start of the semester.”
“What?! Gross!” I cry, leaping off the bed and grabbing my pillow. Knowing that Annie and Finnick spend most of their midnight trysts here, there’s no way in hell I can sleep there. “What do I do now?”
I eye the floor, but I know from personal experience that it’s like sleeping on cement. And I don’t have any blankets with me either.
Peeta clears his throat. “You can sleep in my bed with me.”
“How do I know your sheets are clean?” I say, raising my eyebrows at him.
“It just so happens that I spilled Ramen on them earlier and had to throw them in the washer right away, so they’re fresh from the dryer,” he says with a smile.
“Well…okay,” I say. “I don’t know how we’re both going to fit though.”
Peeta holds out his hand for my pillow and I pass it over, watching curiously as he turns our pillows vertically and lays them side by side. He climbs into bed, situating himself on his side against the wall, and gestures for me to join him.
I do, resting my head on Peeta’s right arm and he wraps his left around me. Even lying on our sides the way we are, it’s a tight squeeze, what with Peeta’s stocky frame and the small twin bed, so I use the excuse to scoot back a little closer. His arm squeezes me to him in response and I find myself relaxing in a way that I haven’t in years.
“Goodnight, Katniss,” Peeta says. I feel his warm breath against my ear and I shiver. Peeta moves the comforter up to cover my shoulder and I blush, realizing he must think I was shivering from cold.
“Goodnight,” I whisper.
It’s still dark outside when my alarm goes off, waking us both. I scramble out of bed to find my phone where I left it on Peeta’s desk, silencing the alarm with a swipe of my finger.
“Good morning,” Peeta says, getting out of bed. He strides over to his closet, pulling off his shirt.
“Morning,” I say, suddenly speechless. “Thanks for letting me sleep here last night.”
“Any time,” he says, smiling. “We have to stick together.”
“What?”
“You know, because our roommates keep sexiling us. You’re always welcome here.” He pulls on a new shirt that I recognize as one he wears frequently to the gym, and realize that’s where he must be headed so early in the morning.
“Thanks. You’re always welcome in my room too,” I say. My heart speeds up a little, but I ignore it.
“I have to get going to my midterm.”
“Of course. Good luck!” Peeta says.
“Thanks. See you later, Peeta,” I say, heading out the door.
I knock loudly before entering my room, getting ready for the day as quickly as possible while avoiding looking at Annie’s side of the room.
“Good luck on your midterm, Katniss!” Annie says and Finnick chimes in an agreement.
Three hours. That’s the time limit on my midterm and I use every single minute. I walk out in a daze, too exhausted to think straight.
Annie’s sitting in the corner table of the dining hall when I find her, and she’s not alone. Finnick and Peeta are there too. It’s not unusual for them to join us, but after last night...My heart speeds up as I reach the table.
Peeta is in a different outfit now, a textbook on the table beside him indicating that he’s either coming from or going to class. He smiles when he sees me, his blue eyes lighting up. I’m aware of his body in a way that I wasn’t before. It’s too easy now to look at his arms and remember the feel of them around me. How last night was the easiest I’ve slept in years. How the ashy blond waves that fall across his forehead felt against my shoulder and the rise and fall of his chest against my back as he snored lightly.
Annie shoots me knowing smiles all through lunch and under different circumstances I’d still be mad at her, but I can’t seem to be angry about anything that happened last night.
I find myself hoping that Annie sexiles me again soon…
I get my wish a couple days later.