(2) Katnis Swan: Moved On?

Chapter 5: Old Friend

"So, how are things with Jacob?" Katnis asked Bella as they walked into their first class. "I haven't heard you mention him since Prom."

"Things between Jake and I are...going. We've decided to start off as friends first," Bella didn't want to talk about Jake with Katnis. She felt talking about her and Jake would cause her to think about Edward and his family and she did not want her sister hurting anymore.

"Bella, you don't have to avoid talking about you and Jake," Katnis said with a soft smile."Cullen is gone. I've accepted that. There's no need to worry about me. I'm not going to burst into tears."

"That's what worries me, Katnis. Edward hurt you, bad, I could see it in your eyes that night," she said. "And you won't shed a tear. I haven't seen you cry in so long and I'm worried that with moms death and Edward leaving combined...you're going to break. I'm afraid you'll fall apart and dad and I won't be able to put you back together."

Katnis embraces her sister. "I'm fine, I promise. Stop worrying."

Bella just hugs her back. Katnis has to be the most stubborn human, or vampire, being she'd ever met on earth. "I love you, Katnis."

"I love you, too, Bella."

~~~*~~~

Walking I to the lunch room, Katnis noticed a group of guys messing with a kid with short dark hair. "I'll be right back," she said to Bella before walking towards the group.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" she hissed.

They all looked up at her. The smiles were wiped from their faces and replaced with guilty looks. "We were just..."

"Being jackasses!" she snapped.

She looked down at the guy and noticed that it was Damon Peeta Bennett.

That pissed her off.

"Get the hell away from him before I rip your throats out!" she glared at them.

Quickly, they all walked away, leaving just her and Damon. "Hey, are you alright?" she takes a seat on the stool beside him, facing him.

He lifts his gaze to meet hers. "Yeah. Um, thank you for that," he says.

Katnis shakes her head. "Don't thank me, Peeta. I wasn't going to just stand around and let them bully you."

"Peeta? How'd you -"

"I helped the front office secretary sort out some paperwork once before and I ran across your name," she says.

He nods."I still want to thank you," he says. "You didn't have to stand up for me."

"Yes, I did. What kind of person would I be if I'd just let them continue to do what they were doing?"

He stares at her for a moment then smiles. "I guess you're right," he says.

"I am so right."

He shakes his head. "Alright, you're right," he says. "Thank you, again."

"You're welcome," she says softly. "So, would you like to sit with Bella and I?"

He looks behind her at their table to see everyone staring at them. Most of the people at that table he's never spoken to and he didn't know if he wanted to.

"I don't know..."

"You don't have to keep up conversation if you don't want to," she states. "...but if you did want to talk then you can talk to Isabella and I."

Damon stares at her for a moment before a smile stretched across his lips. "Sure. As long as you're going to be there..."

The corners of her mouth pulls up into a small yet tight smile. "Alright, lets go."