You Only Live Once

Chapter 11

I stare boredly at the brick wall in front of me and press my lips together, trying to ignore the stares I'm receiving from the weird looking guy that keeps smiling maniacally at me by staring at the grey brick wall infront of me.

If I knew that stealing a pair of underwear from a celebrety would get me arrested, I would've never agreed to Peeta's plan. But I didn't know, and now I'm seating uncomfortably in a police station, with my wrist cuffed to the armrest of the wooden bench I'm sitting on, surrounded by psychothic. And the worst part is that this will stay in my record till the day I die.

"Excuse me, don't I have the right for one call?" I ask as politely as I can manage (which is hard, since I'm really pissed) to the police officer that seats in his desk right infront of me. I really need to leave this place, I can't just stay here.

"Well, you have to wait in the line miss." is all that the officer answered me, getting a scowl from me in response.

I wonder if Peeta haas any idea of where I am. I noticed he didn't follow me when I was running, why didn't he do that? It was part of the plan. Still, I'm glad he didn't run after me, that way he'd most likely be here too, and I really can't make myself want anything of bad to happen to him. Still, I'm pissed. I'm really pissed at him for making me go with his plan, that's what got me in jail in the first place.

I ask myself how will I use my phone call. I probably should call my parents, although they are a long way from here, and they will most likely be so mad at me. Maybe I won't call them. I think of calling Annie too, but what could she do, she certainly couldn't come all the way to Philadelphia to pay me bail. Probably the most logical thing would be calling Peeta. By now, he is most likely worried about me not being in the place we planned to meet at. Plus, it was Peeta who put me in this mess anyways.

"How long will I have to wait for my turn?" I ask the officer impatiently. He doesn't answer me, instead he chooses to ignore him, speaking to someone through his communicatiff. Afterwards he stands up and walks towards me, while fiddling with his keychain.

"Someone paid your bail." he tells me, while messing with the cuffs and freeing me.

"What? Who?" I ask ,incredulous. He doesn't answer and guides to the entrance. After that he turns around and leaves me standing there.

"Katniss!"

I turn my head to see Peeta, standing by the entrance's door. He walks towards me, smiling.

"Hey!" he greets me. I scowl at him and send him a glare, feeling upset that he put me in this mess. He's smile dropps slightly, but never quite leaves his face.

"Thanks for bailing me." I tell him. Peeta doesn't seem to get a hint of the sarcasm I'm using, or he's simply choosing to ignore it, as he responds truthfully 'You're Welcome'.

"How does it feel?" Peeta asks me, suddenly, not moving a inche.

"How does what feel?" I ask Peeta, making sure that he notices that I'm mad at him.

"You just stole Luke Hemming's boxers!" Peeta states loudly, as if it was the greatest done ever accomplished by mankind.

"No, I didn't. The police confiscated them, plus I didn't get away with it." I say, emphazising the last part.

"It doesn't matter that you didn't get away with it, or that you don't have them right now, you still stole them, and I'm extremely proud of you!" Peeta insists, his good moods not going down.

"Peeta, I was arrested!" I huff.

"And I bailed you! Problem solved!" Peeta pipes up. I scowl and cross my arms in my chest. "Okay, fine, I understand you're mad. And I am trully sorry." Peeta says seriously. I try not to let my guard down and forgive him just like that, although I don't know for how much longer I can keep up with this act. "And I'm going to make it up to you!"

"Really? How do you intend to do that? Because, I don't know if you noticed what happened tonight will stay in  my record for the rest of my life. And stay knowig that it is-" I stop dead in my tracks with my speech when Peeta takes out of his jacket's pocket a pair of red underwear and hands it to me. I don't take them, instead I furrow my eyebrows in confusion asking myself if Peeta is giving me a pair of his underwear.

"Come on, take them." Peeta insists. I stand there, examinating the piece of underwear without touching them. My eyes fall on a signature that stands out from the red fabric. This time I take the boxers from Peeta's hands to examine the signature better.

"Is this-" I don't even finish the sentence, reading the autograph over and over again ,Luke Hemmings. This time I can't stop the smile that is forming on my lips. "How?" Is all I'm able to ask, because suddenley I feel myself overcoming with emotions, as I tryb to controll myself not to start laughing in this precise moment.

Peeta chuckles and looks at the ground, as if he was embaressed or somethig. I can feel my cheeks pinkening at his gesture, not being able to take my eyes from the small dimples that appear in his cheeks when he smiles. "Well, after you bumped into me, I realized that there would be a lot of securities after us if I started running with you, and I know for a fact that we couldn't run from them. I also was sure that they would end up taking the boxers from us. So after the security that was by the door took off after you, leaving the entrance to the backstage unattended, I simply went in without a problem. I looked around since I couldn't tell which one of the many people backstage was Luke, but eventually I found him. Afterwards I simply told him what we were planning to do and asked him if he could give me a pair of his underwear. He did and even autographed it! Also I told him about my natural talent to play the triangles and how I would be willing to join the band, but he said they weren't looking for anyone right now."

When Peeta finishes explaining what happened, I'm already laughing like crazy. Not even thinking much about my actions I put my arms around Peeta's neck in an embrace. Peeta's strong arms soon wrap around my waist and I'm immediatly surrounded by a sense of comfort and security that I never felt before. Peeta's laughter is muffled by my hair and I can feel his breathing tickling my neck. I pull him even closer to me, if that's possible while chanting Thank you non-stop.

"It's fine Katniss." Peeta says chuckling, making his chest vibrate from laughter. "I'd do anything for you." he adds quietly, his voice so low I wonder if I was supposed to hear it.

"I mean it. I'm not just talking about the boxers. I'm talking about everything, these last few days have been the most incredible in my life. Really, thanks for putting me in the middle of all this." I tell Peeta, looking him straight in the eyes, allowing myself to get lost in them. Peeta gives me what would be the most genuine smile I had ever seen from him, or anyone for the fact.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." he states. This time, his eyes are also piercing my own, and I can feel Peeta's gaze analyzing every single detail in my face. I allow myself to do the same, starting up with his still bruised nose, moving to his forehead and finally landing my eyes in his lips. I wonder what they taste like, probably something sweet, like Peeta himself. I simply decide that Peeta's lips taste like chocolate, and nothing more.

The urge I've felt from time to time to kiss Peeta comes back. Still, I don't let myself do it, scared to destroy any sort of relationship I have with Peeta. In the last months, since I met him, he's crept up to me, he all of a sudden turned into a always present matter in my life. And now I know I could never change that, not even if I wanted to, Peeta will always be magically appearing on my mind in the most random moments, and I just know it'd hurt too much to loose him. I don't want to loose him. So, I don't kiss him, instead I pull Peeta into another hug.

"Okay, Katniss. It's time to go back." Peeta says after I pull away from our hug.

I sight, feeling almost disappointed that our adventure is over. The simple idea of going back to campus, to the normal seems boring compared to all this. "I'm gonna miss this." I say.

Peeta nods in agreement "Yeah, me too."