Won't Stop Until I'm Yours (Peeta Mellark X Reader)

Chapter One- The Reaping

The clang of pots and pans woke me up from my dream-less sleep.

I sat up, still sleepy from a measly hour of sleep.

My little sister, Eliza, 8 years old, came into my room.

"Mum says to hurry up. Today's the reaping, after all." she says with a cheerful tone.

If only she knew the true meaning of the reaping.

Those who were reaped were the ones who had to endure the bloodshed, after all.

"Morning mum." I say as I get to the kitchen.
"Morning sweetie, breakfast?" My mom replied.

"Yes please." Yet my appetite was gone from thinking of the reaping.

Your mom hands you a dish with eggs and toast, followed with some cold water. You knew that it was all the food they had, so you set some aside for your mother and sister.

It wasn't all that easy living in District 12. Your father had died of a mysterious disease a year after you had turned ten. Your mother cried for days. Then your luck went down. Your father was a Gamemaker, and was on good terms with Snow. He had managed to secure a deal with Snow that either you or your sister would never be reaped.

That was when he died. Your father was very powerful in the Capitol, very influential. Suspiciously enough, his death had happened shortly after he was promoted to Head Gamemaker. You had racked your brain for hours trying to figure out why, why it had to have been your father.

In the previous year, your best friend had been reaped. You came to say goodbye to her, and gave her her precious token, an emerald necklace, your most prized possession.

You never watched the Games, too anxious to see your friends death, if  it happened.

After the Games, you waited for the train to come, waited for your best friend to come running out and encase you in a rushing hug. With a hopeful smile, you waited in the crowd.

Finally, a train pulled up. You smiled eagerly and pushed through the crowd, eventually making it to the front.
The train doors opened and your smiled faded.
Your best friend's district partner, Paris Foreman, had survived instead.
On his neck, was your emerald necklace.

You lunged for him, your hands going around his throat and locking in place.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER!" You scream at him, him trying to throw you off.

"Y/N!" Peeta shouts, wrapping his arms around you and trying to get you off of Paris.

"STOP IT PEETA!" you scream, pushing him off you.

That moment of distraction however, was what Paris was waiting for.

In a flash, he's the one now choking you slowly to death.

Your vision grows dim as he clutches your neck tighter.

"LAY OFF HER!" and Paris is thrown off you.

Your vision is still dim though, and can only make out a blonde haired boy crouched in front of you.

"Y/n?" his voice is tentative, so worried.

"Peeta?" your vision brightens.

"Oh my god I was so worried!" Peeta hugs you.

That was why you became so distant with your friends afterward.
You couldn't lose another friend, let alone Peeta.
And you thought, that if you didn't really know anyone, the pain would disappear.

"Y/n?" Your mom snaps her fingers in front of your face. "Y/n, snap out of it."

"Huh?" you return back to reality.

"Eat your food" was your mom's only response.

"I did" you give your mother the generous amount of food.

"Oh sweetie I cant-" your mom starts.

"Give it to Eliza then." you wave the plate away. "I'm not even that hungry."

"Alright. ELIZA! BREAKFAST!" your mother shouts.

Eliza comes running out of your bedroom, her dressed in one of your hand-me-down dresses that you hated. It fit perfectly on Eliza. You had a matching dress with your best friend. Eliza almost looked like her, a clone. You couldn't lose your sister either.

"Now, let's get you ready, why don't we?" your mom leads you away to her vanity.

"Plain, or-" your mom starts.

"Plain."

"Well, what about the hair at least? You should look nice."

"Fine." you groan.

"Alright." your mom smiles.

In about an hour, you have a simple gray tunic, brown capri pants, black combat boots, with your hair in an intricate French braid.

"Don't you look pretty now?" your mom gushes.

"nope."

A sigh echoes.

...

Your footsteps echo the empty roads as you approach the reaping.

"Name?" a Peacekeeper asks.

"Y/n L/n." they take your fingerprint and let you in.

You stay in the back, hoping that you would not be reaped.

"Hello! Welcome to the reaping of the 74th Hunger Games!" The announcer every year, Effie Trinket, says.

"As always, Happy Hunger Games and may the odds be ever in your favor!" a bitter laugh coats your tongue, but you bite it down.

"Ladies first!"

She slowly drew a slip of paper from the bowl, probably for dramatic effect.

"Primrose Everdeen!" she exclaimed, smiling as if she hadn't announced the fate of the young girl.

A girl stands up, barely looking like a twelve year old. She looks scared, and looks to someone into the crowd, her eyes pleading "help".
No one seems to help her.

So instead, I push through the Peacekeepers, only to see someone else push through as well.

Before she can get the words out, I scream, "I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE!"

Effie claps her hands, "our first volunteer! Come one up and join me here."

I pinch myself, hoping if I wake up this will all be a dream.

Nothing.

I sigh and haul myself up the path and up the stairs.

"Gentlemen next! Peeta Mellark!"

No.
The one thing I had hoped that would not happen is now my reality.
I cannot kill Peeta.
But he also cannot kill me.

His nervous eyes meet mine as his steps tremble. However, he sends the crowd a determined look and nudges me to do so, too.

"Now, as you can see, these are our tributes! Happy Hunger Games!" Effie escorts us through the heavy metal doors through the Justice Building.