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seasonsofeverlark · 3 years

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I Don't Know Much (But I Know I Love You)

Author: @juxtaposie

Prompt: An international student comes and they never celebrated thanksgiving or seen fall colours before. Coming from a country they don't see those colours often... It's amazing to them becuase they never had anything like this before maybe a first snow fall. [submitted by @katnissandpeeta125]

Rating: T for some swearing and described adult activities

Summary: Katniss might be in love, so it’s really too bad she couldn’t bring herself to tell anyone she was bringing him to Thanksgiving.

Author’s Note: As before, many thanks to @mandelion82 for being my point person, @eiramrelyat for keeping me on schedule, and @jroseley for the proofread!

__________

The drive down from Boston had been rough. What should have taken eleven hours had taken closer to fourteen, the highways clogged with holiday traffic, but Peeta had been a good sport about it. He’d gamely manned the aux cable, fed her french fries in traffic, and even talked her down from rear-ending the asshole who’d cut them off when they’d merged on to US-50 in the last hour and a half of the drive. He’d made a hellish experience bearable, keeping her spirits up when they’d hit traffic - again - outside of Harrisburg and she’d nearly run off the road avoiding a pile-up. He’d smiled at her, and made her laugh, and kept her sane, and that feeling was bubbling again, that feeling that she’d been stomping on since the first time he’d put his arm around her (over the Irish breakfast plate, in a booth at the Wheelhouse Diner, both of them so hungover they could barely sit up).

She hadn’t said it yet, but she could feel the words clogging her throat every time he held her hand, every time he put his arms around her, every time they made love.

It was really going to break his heart when he realized she hadn’t told anybody she was bringing him.

It wasn’t like she was keeping him a secret - not exactly, anyways. Prim knew they were kind of sort of dating, that they’d been out a few times and that Katniss liked him. What she didn’t know was that for the last month Peeta had more or less been living with her. He had his own apartment, of course, but she could barely remember the last time he’d slept there. He didn’t have a drawer or anything, but there was a stack of his clothes on the floor of the closet. His toothbrush was sharing a plastic bag with hers, packed neatly in her duffel, because she’d grabbed both of them out of the cup on the bathroom counter. She was wearing his oversized All Blacks sweatshirt.

Jesus, why hadn’t she told anybody she was bringing him?

A low whistle from the passenger seat interrupted her shame spiral. The two-story ranch house had just come into sight at the end of a long drive lined with live oak trees. Even at 1am, the surrounding lawn was well-lit, and the house gleamed a shining white. Most of the windows were dark, but the porch lights were still on, and Katniss breathed a sigh of relief. She could stave off the shitshow for a few more hours at least.

Peeta groaned as he climbed out of the car, stretching muscular arms above his head and across his chest. “Glad that’s done,” he said, smiling at her over the roof of the car. “I’m knackered.”

“You weren’t even driving,” Katniss groused as she popped the trunk on her second-hand Corolla.

“The control freak at the wheel wouldn’t give me a turn,” he countered, maneuvering her out of the way so he could grab both their bags.

“Can you blame me?” she asked as they climbed the steps up to the front porch. “You flat-out told me you drift into the left lane when you’re tired.”

Their shared laughter died when the front door swung open abruptly.

“Get your asses in the house,” Haymitch grumbled. “I wanna go to bed.”

Katniss froze, stunned by the complete nonchalance her uncle was displaying upon finding her on the porch with a strange man. Beside her, Peeta dropped one of the bags so he could offer his hand in greeting.

“I’m-“

“Peeta, I know,” Haymitch interrupted before saying to Katniss, “He’ll have to sleep in the game room. Guest rooms are all taken.”

“You didn’t have to wait up,” Katniss said, kicking the door shut as they followed him into the house.

“Nah, you know how your aunt is,” he said, waving a hand in dismissal. Then, turning to Peeta, “Game room is in the basement. Goodnight.”

Peeta just laughed, shaking his head a little, and turned to hand Katniss her bag. “Goodnight then, I guess,” he said, bending to kiss her gently, heedless of their company.

“Goodnight,” she echoed softly, already feeling lonely at the prospect of sleeping without him.

“Hold on a second,” her uncle said when she turned resolutely toward the staircase.

Katniss paused, annoyed, and turned back to find him fighting back an obnoxious, shit-eating grin.

“Prim ratted me out,” she surmised.

“Sure as shit did,” Haymitch replied. When Katniss made a displeased sound in the back of her throat, he continued, “Didn’t say anything about him coming to Thanksgiving though, I’m guessing because you didn’t tell her.”

“I didn’t know if he wanted to come,” she tried to defend, but it was only partly true.

Haymitch just shook his head at her, and headed for the stairs.

“For the record,” he said as he passed her, “I don’t care where you sleep. Just don’t let Effie catch the two of you. She’s already so far up my ass about tomorrow being perfect. Think she might stroke out if we add premarital cohabitation.”

“You lived together before you got married,” she protested, smiling.

“Goodnight,” was Haynitch’s only reply as he disappeared up the staircase.

Biting back a grin, Katniss made her way toward the basement stairs. That hadn’t gone half bad. Maybe things would be fine.

***

Much too early, Katniss was dragged into consciousness by a loud slurping sound. She and Peeta had crammed onto the game room couch, clinging together so neither fell off, and she poked her head out from the warm cocoon of body heat and blankets to find Johanna Mason sitting on the floor, not three feet from the couch, with a large, steaming mug of black coffee.

Johanna took another loud, slurping sip, smacking her lips and grinning like the Cheshire Cat. “Who ya got under there, Brainless?”

“Go away Johanna,” she grumbled, turning her face back into Peeta’s chest, which was now shaking beneath her in silent laughter. He’d clearly been awake longer than she had, and Katnuss groaned unhappily. If there was anyone in the house she wanted to keep Peeta away from, it was Johanna Mason.

“Hi,” Peeta said, extracting a hand from the blanket pile and reaching in Johanna’s direction. “I’m-“

“Peeta, I know,” Johanna said, taking his hand and shaking it so enthusiastically that Katniss was jostled.

“Did Prim tell everyone?” Katniss asked as she sat up, her ire rising.

“No,” Johanna said easily, still grinning. “But Haymitch did.”

Katniss scowled at her. “Why aren’t you asleep? In your own room. Far away from us.”

Johanna’s grin just widened. Ignoring Katniss, she said, “So New Zealand. Thrill capitol of the world. Ever been skydiving?”

Peeta sat up beside her, pushing unruly curls back from his forehead. “A couple times, yeah.”

“Bungee jumping?”

“Once,” he replied. “It sort of loses the novelty once you’ve jumped out of a plane.”

Katniss was shaking her head, both at the apparent cheeriness of her morning-person boyfriend and the thought of jumping out of a perfectly good plane.

“What time is it?” she asked before Johanna could continue with her inane questions.

“After seven,” Peeta offered, slinging an arm around her dropping shoulders so he could pull her in against his side and kiss the top of her head before pushing himself to his feet. With a smiling, “Excuse me, ladies,” he stepped around Johanna and disappeared into the bathroom.

Katniss watched him go, but when she turned back to Johanna the other girl was craning her head around to watch the now-closed bathroom door.

“Stop,” Katniss said firmly.

“I’m not even looking at you,” Johanna said. “And can you blame me? Look at you. Look at him! I thought for sure he was going to be ugly, or weird, but he’s actually pretty hot. His arms are almost as big around as my thighs.”

Katniss flopped back over, intent on hiding in the blankets, but Johanna climbed onto the couch before she could burrito herself in the blankets, and continued to make inappropriate comments until Katniss pushed her bodily back onto the floor. She practically skipped from the room, still cackling, when Peeta reappeared mere moments later. “Up, up, up!” she called down the stairs in a surprisingly accurate impersonation of Aunt Effie. “It’s a big, big, big day!”

“I don’t see what you’re always complaining about,” Peeta said as he pulled her up off the couch and into his arms. “She’s not half bad.”

Craning her head back to see his face, Katniss took in his beatific smile and said, “You heard her call you hot.”

“She only said ‘pretty hot’,” he reminded her, tightening his arms around her until her heels came off the floor. She took the hint, closing the last few inches of distance between them to kiss his smiling mouth while he pulled her completely off her feet. Laughing, he spun them around and began walking backwards toward the couch, but before he could sit down there were footsteps on the stairs.

Panicked, Katniss tore her mouth from his and pushed on his shoulders. “Put me down,” she whispered urgently, feet scrabbling for purchase on his shins, but it was too late.

“Katniss!” Effie exclaimed, somehow managing to shriek despite the fact that she was almost whispering. “What are you doing? Who is this?” Then, before Katniss could answer, Effie was hustling back up the stairs, yelling, “Haymitch! There’s a boy in the basement!”

Peeta let go of her as the basement door slammed shut, and took a big step back. They stood in awkward silence as Katniss tried to come up with something to say, but Peeta beat her to it.

“You know,” he said gently, “I don’t care that you clearly didn’t tell anyone you were bringing me, but you could’ve let me in on that.”

“Peeta,” she tried, reaching for him, but he shrugged her off.

“Give me a minute,” he said, kneeling to dig around in his duffel.

Katniss swallowed thickly. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” he said.

The basement door opened again. “Hands where I can see them,” Haymicth shouted before appearing on the stairs. He gave the two of them a long look before saying, “Your aunt wants me to talk to you, so when you get dressed and come upstairs just… act like I yelled at you, or something.”

“I see you come by the avoidance naturally,” Peeta said to her, and Haymicth let out a barking laugh.

Face burning, Katniss asked, “Don’t you have something better to do right now?”

Haymitch shook his head. “Better than embarrassing you in front of your new boyfriend? Not a chance. Hope you’re ready for the third degree.” Addressing Peeta, he said, “She’s never brought a boy home.”

“What, ever?”

“Gale was over here all the time,” she protested.

“Yeah, but you didn’t like him,” Haymitch said. “You thought you did, for some reason I still haven’t figured out, but you didn’t.”

Peeta laughed, teasing, “Do you like me, love?”

“Don’t blame you for not being able to tell,” Haymitch said. “Girl’s pricklier than a cactus.”

“That’s rich, coming from you,” Katniss shot back.

Haymitch held up his hands in surrender. “Alright, alright. Why don’t you two get dressed and come have some breakfast. I’ll, uh, give you some privacy.”

When he’d gone, Peeta reached for her hand and pulled her toward him. Still kneeling, he wrapped his arms around her thighs and rested his chin against her belly, looking up at her through long, golden eyelashes. “Do you like me, love?”

Just like that, the feeling she’d been pushing away roared to the forefront of her mind. Suddenly shy, Katniss plunged her hands into his hair and bent to press her cheek to the top of his head, inhaling deeply. “Yes,” she breathed, feeling like she was confessing something much bigger. “I like you. So much.”

****

The rest of the morning passed in a blur. After they dressed they had breakfast in the living room, eating english muffins, eggs, and sausages off paper plates while sitting cross-legged on the floor around the coffee table. Effie was practically vibrating, peppering Katniss and Peeta with questions as she moved in and out of the room. Prim finally came downstairs, shrieking in delight when she realized who was sitting beside Katniss on the floor, and just as predicted she got along with Peeta like a house on fire. It made Katniss feel warm inside, to see the two people she most adored talking like old friends even though they’d just met.

Haymitch and Johanna left for the airport, and returned an hour later with Finnick, Annie, and their 2-yr old son who was named for his father. Prim immediately commandeered the baby, while Finn and Peeta bonded over surfing, and Peeta promised to take them all to Tauranga if they ever made it to the North Island. They put the parade on the big screen TV hanging over the crackling fireplace, and Peeta put his arm around her. Despite the raucous conversation and an audience composed of almost every one she cared about, Katniss was content to tuck her feet up under her and snuggle into his side.

“Do you need any help?” Peeta asked Effie, causing Haymitch to shake silently with laughter.

“Aren’t you darling!” Effie exclaimed. “No, you just sit right here until Santa shows up.”

“She’s not cooking,” Katniss supplied after Effie had left the room.

“I thought eating was the point of this holiday.”

“Oh, we’re gonna eat,” Haymitch said, “but Effie’s not cooking. No one wants that.”

“We made everything yesterday,” Prim said, bouncing the cooing baby in her lap. “Effie and Lavinia are just heating it all up.”

Even so, after the parade ended Peeta left Katniss with her family and went to the kitchen, where he was promptly put to work making pastry lattice for the three pies - the only things being made fresh that day.

With Peeta otherwise occupied the teasing began, and continued for nearly twenty minutes until Haymitch said, “All right, let her alone. If we keep it up too long she might disappear on us.”

“He seems really nice,” Annie offered sincerely.

“He is,” Katniss agreed, unable to keep a smile off her face.

They kept the TV on, enjoying the dog show and the warmth of each other’s company. Baby Finn was particularly enamored with the animals, which launched a discussion about pets, past and present, wherein Prim reminisced fondly about the absolute monster of a cat she’d lost just the previous year, and no one, not even his wife, could talk Finnick out of the idea of providing a puppy for his son to grow up with.

“You’re leaving for college next year,” Haymitch told Prim. “You’re not getting a damn cat!”

After the dog show they put cartoons on for the baby, and Katniss went to rescue Peeta from her aunt only to find him happily engaged in a conversation about his family’s bakery in Hamilton. He loved the bakery, Katniss knew, even if there was so much bad blood between him and his mother that he’d left the country over it. Effie was in her element, directing Peeta and Lavinia around the kitchen as she finished the place settings in the dining room. When Katniss poked her head through the door to take in the year’s decorations, somewhere tastefully between Thanksgiving and Christmas, she was roped into moving the serving dishes around the table until her aunt was satisfied everyone would be able to reach everything.

“I think we’re almost ready,” Peeta said, bending over in front of the oven to survey the baking pies.

Effie checked her watch, declaring that they were right on time - it was a few minutes before 2pm - before sending Katniss into the living room to corral everyone.

When they were all standing around the table, waiting to take their seats, Effie elbowed Haymitch until he cleared his throat and said, “All right, well… Here’s to the family we choose. Let’s eat ‘til we puke.”

“Haymitch!” Effie exclaimed in dismay, but she was drowned out by laughter and the scraping of chairs as everyone took a seat.

The meal was incredible. Katniss took Haymitch’s advice, having seconds of everything until she felt sick, and somehow still managed to find room for pie. Peeta’s hand rested on her thigh under the table, and every time she looked at him she could feel an unmatched fondness bubbling up in her. He took the teasing in stride, laughing as her aunt, uncle, and sister told embarrassing stories about her, and even offered a few embarrassing stories about himself, and Katniss had to hold herself back from kissing him. Her heart was as full as her stomach.

By the time everyone was done eating she was sleepy and content, and when everyone drifted away to find their own quiet corner in the house, Katniss took Peeta’s hand and led him up the stairs. Her old bedroom was just as she’d left it when she’d moved to Boston for school, and she pushed Peeta toward the bed before shimmying out her jeans and joining him.

“So that’s American Thanksgiving,” he said, his hand drifting up and down her arm.

Katniss laughed. “It’s not over yet.”

“We watched the parade, we had turkey and stuffing and pie, now we’re having a nap,” he ticked off on his fingers. “What’s left?”

“We’ll probably go to the movies later,” she said, “then Effie and Johanna and Prim will get up at 3am to go shopping.”

“Black Friday is real?” he asked with a laugh.

Katniss groaned. “Unfortunately. You might get roped into going. They always need a pack mule, and Haymitch bitches so much my aunt doesn’t make him go anymore.”

“They’re an odd pair,” Peeta said.

“Yeah,” she agreed. “They are.They fought all the time when I was little - they still fight all the time. She drives him crazy, and she used to get so mad at him she’d go into the basement and scream. I didn’t really get why they were together.

“Didn’t like past tense?” Peeta asked, squeezing her tighter.

“You don’t drive me crazy,” Katniss said, immediately understanding what he was driving at.

“Might be doing something wrong then,” he said, pushing up on his elbow until he was leaning over her.

Taking his face in her hands, she stroked his cheek, her thumb catching in the dimple beside his smile. “Did you enjoy your first Thanksgiving?” she asked quietly.

“Love, I enjoy anything I get to do with you.”

She didn’t mean to say it, hadn’t wanted to say it, but the “I love you,” tumbled from her lips before her brain could catch up with her heart, and when she realized what she’d done she pulled Peeta down against her, burying her face in his neck so she wouldn’t have to look at him.

He laughed, and she was mortified - she hadn’t said those words to anyone but Prim, since her dad died, and Peeta was laughing at her - but before she could fall down the spiral of despair Peeta said, “I knew it,” and kissed her.

It was a sweet kiss, just the gentle pressure of his lips against hers, his free hand buried in her dark hair.

“I knew it,” he said again when he pulled away to rest his forehead against hers. “You’re awful at hiding how you feel, you know.”

But he hadn’t said it back, so Katniss swallowed down the lump in her throat and asked, “Do you love me?”

“Are you blind?” he shot back. “Of course I love you. I’m crazy about you.”

Before he could kiss her again, the door to her bedroom flew open and Prim bounded in, heedless of the moment she’d just interrupted.

“Movie’s at 5:40,” she said, “and the mall opens at 10pm this year, so we’re just gonna head over after.”

“That sounds awful,” Katniss groaned, hiding her face in Peeta’s neck again.

“Can’t wait,” Peeta replied. “Better get some rest then eh?”

“Yep, rest,” Prim agreed. “I”ll just lock the door on my way out, shall I? Happy Thanksgiving, guys.”

“Happy Thanksgiving,” Katniss echoed, and for the first time in her life, she meant it.

#everlark #everlark fanfiction #autumn #autumn 2020 #juxtaposie #submission #prompt

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