The New Neighbor

Chapter 4

Katniss' POV

Our lips are just inches apart when he jolts back a little.
"Oh my god, Katniss, I'm sorry I shouldn't have done that." he says with guilt in his voice. His eyes are wide. I don't know why he said sorry. I'm the one who leaned in. I'm the one who almost took things fast between us. God! Why am I so stupid! What were you thinking Katniss? He interrupts my thoughts when he stands up.
"I should head home now. Sorry again."
"Peeta, it's not your fault." I say to him while standing up.
"Yes it is. It seemed like I was trying to take advantage of you." he says with concern.
"No, it didn't." I say stubbornly. "I'm the one who leaned in first."
He doesn't say anything.
"It's not your fault." I say again. "I'm sorry..." I trail off.
He sighs.
"I'm sorry, I just don't wanna mess up our growing friendship." He says sadly.
"How about you come over to my house tomorrow and we can get to know each other a bit more." I say.
He thinks for a moment.
"Yeah, we can do that." He says smiling, feeling a bit more relieved.
"Great," I smile. "And this time we won't make it awkward." I tease
We both laugh at my comment.
***********************************
Next Day...
Today, Peeta came over and he also brought some cookies that he made. Prim ate like twenty of them. She also got to know Peeta and she likes him. I'm glad that they got to know each other. Peeta left a few minutes ago. Things were going great and not...awkward for once. I made Prim and I some dinner and we decided to eat in the living room while watching TV. I hear my phone vibrate on the couch. I check to see who it is. It's Gale.

Gale:} Hey Catnip, I got some great
news!

Katniss:} Hi Gale. What's the great news?

Gale:} I'm all settled in District 4 which means that I can come visit you!

Katniss:} Gale, that's great! I can't wait to see you.

Gale:} Same here, Catnip. I gotta go now, see you in two weeks.

I set my phone down and smile to myself. I finally get to see my best friend again. It's only been about 2 weeks since he moved, but I still miss him. Prim and I finish out dinner and turn off the TV. We both wash our plates and say our goodnights. We each go to our own room to get our rest. With that, I close my eyes and go into a deep sleep.
-
"See ya Prim! Have a good day at school!" I shout and close the front door. I go out to grab my bike but it's not there. Where did I put it? Finally it hits me. I left it in Peeta's trunk. I realize that I never took it out of Peeta's trunk. I forgot to tell him. I decide to go over to Peeta's house. I was just about to knock on the door when Peeta starts pulling out of the driveway.
"Hey Katniss, you need a ride?" He asks.
"Actually..." I say trailing off
I'll get my bike after school.
"That would be great." I smile at him.
I get in the passenger's seat and set my bag on my feet. Peeta smiles and continues pulling out of the driveway. In about three minutes we arrived at school. Madge, as usual, was waiting for me at the front. I get out of Peeta's car and walk with Peeta to meet up with Madge.
"Hey Madge." I say as I walk up to her.
"Hey Katniss!" She says and gives me a quick hug.
She notices Peeta, looks at me and raises her eyebrows.
"So, I see you guys are hitting it off quickly." She says, while smirking.
"Hello to you too, Madge." Peeta says and smiles.
We walk down the halls of the school, talking, joking and laughing. The bell rings and we go to first period. We all decide to sit in the back of the classroom. The day goes by pretty fast. We say goodbye to Madge, and I hop in Peeta's car. Peeta gets in the driver's seat and begins to drive home.
"Hey Peeta?
"Hm?" He says, keeping his eyes on the road.
"I forgot to tell you that I left my bike in your trunk." I say
He chuckles. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that."
I smile at him. My phone buzzes and I check who it is. It's Madge. I read the message and reply quickly.
"Peeta, Madge invited us to her house for a little get-together, you wanna go?" I ask him.
"Sure, sounds fun." He says
I reply to Madge.
"Hey, could you ask Madge if she wants me to bring any food?" Peeta asks
I look at him confused. I'm pretty sure Madge has a fridge-full of food.
He notices my expression.
"I mean like, if she wants me to bring like Pizza or something." He says grinning.
I ask Madge.
"She says 'yeah! Pizza sounds good." I tell him.
He nods.
"Wanna help me make the pizza?" He asks me.
"Um, sure! I'm not an expert at cooking though." It's true. I can cook a little meal but nothing too big.
"I'll help you." He says while smiling.
"Aren't I the one who's supposed to help you?" I tease him.
He laughs at my comment.
We finally get to his house and we set our bags by the door. I quickly text Prim to let her know where I'm at.
I slip my phone into my bag and walk to the kitchen, where Peeta is there waiting for me.
"Alright Chef Peeta, what do we do first?" I ask him.
"Chef Peeta?" He laughs.
"Fine, how about..." I start thinking some nicknames for Peeta.
"Bread boy." I say while giggling.
"Seriously?" He says while laughing.
"Or Peeta bread?" I giggle.
"I think 'Bread Boy' is fine with me." He grins.
We start getting out the ingredients for the pizza. Peeta makes the dough and shapes it into a perfect circle. I look in the fridge to find pepperoni and cheese. I found the pepperoni, but I can't seem to find the cheese.
"Yo Bread Boy where's the cheese?" I say to him.
He chuckles and finds the cheese in the drawer of the fridge.
I start shredding the cheese, but I seem to be slow at it.
"Kaaaatnisss," he sings. "Any day now." He says referring to how slow I am at shredding cheese.
"Shut up, unless you want a brick of cheese in the middle of the pizza." I say giggling. He laughs and stands beside me. He examines me.
"And...done." I say. "Here's your bowl of cheese." I say.
"Thank you." He says and takes it from my hands. We both sprinkle the cheese onto the pizza. I realize that we forgot to spread the pizza sauce on the dough.
I start laughing. He looks at me confused.
"Great job Peeta, you forgot the pizza sauce." I say still laughing.
He looks down at the pizza.
"Shit" he says.
"I'll go get it." I chuckle.
I grab the pizza sauce and grab a spoon. I open the can and pour some on top of the cheese. He gives me the 'what-are-you-doing-look'. And I start to speed the sauce.
"I'm not gonna take the cheese off and sprinkle it back on again." I say and continue spreading the sauce.
"You're crazy." He says laughing.
I put some sauce on three of my fingers and smear a dot on his nose.
"Kat-" he says but I cut him off by putting a pepperoni on the tip of his nose.
He starts laughing.
"That's what you get for calling me crazy." I say and laugh.
He continues spreading the sauce. He lifts his plastic spatula and slaps my cheek lightly, smearing pizza sauce on my cheek.
"Peeta!" I shriek. He bursts out laughing.
"That's what you get for putting this pepperoni on my nose." He says.
We sprinkle a layer of cheese and then place the pepperoni.
He carefully places it in the oven and sets the timer.
He walks back towards me and leans against the counter.
"Good job Katniss," he says and smiles at me.
"Thanks, you didn't do bad either, Rudolph." I say laughing.
He laughs at what I called him.
"I'm gonna go wash my face," I say and head upstairs to find the bathroom.
"Now, where's the bathroom," I mumble to myself.
I open the second door that's on the right. I peak inside to make sure I find a toilet and bathtub and nothing else.
"Oh thank God." I say, relived that I didn't accidentally walk in on someone or anything else. I hurry up and wash my face with soap. Once I'm done, I  dry my face with a towel. I quickly go downstairs and find Peeta cleaning the materials that we used.
"Hey." I say.
"Oh, hey." He says drying a bowl.
"Aw, you took off your pepperoni." I say faking a pout. He chuckles.
"Sowwie," he says in a baby voice.
"Hey did Madge say what we were gonna do?" He asks.
"Hang out." I say
"Noo," he says sarcastically.
I giggle.
"I'm kidding." I say. "We're gonna watch movies, maybe we're gonna hang out in her hot tub after." I say.
He nods.
A while later and the timer finally goes off.
"Pizza's ready." He smiles.
~
A/N
Hey! I know I said I was gonna update last week and I didn't I'm so sorry. I get so distracted and end up not updating I hate myself 😂. I'll try to update sooner cuz I really do love writing fanfic. Anyways, I hope you thought that this part was cute cuz yanno everlark 🌚 Thanks for reading!