Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the Hunger Games.

"Peet, please, I'll owe you big time," Finnick said from the other line on the phone. Peeta pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. It was Saturday afternoon and all he wanted to do after closing the bakery for the day was go home, open a bottle of beer, and put on a movie. As a 29 year old male, he was done with the so called party scene and enjoyed having nights to himself to relax and wind down.

"Finn, it's been a busy day at the bakery and the last thing I want to do is go fill in for you at the bar so that you can go to another bar to hang out. It's not my fault that Abernathy scheduled you for the night. Why can't you go in?" Peeta replied. Haymith Abernathy owns District Twelve. Although Abernathy is a drunk, he sure knew how to run a bar. Peeta worked for him for years before the bakery opened. Though it's been about a year since he stopped bar tending regularly, he still picks up a few shifts here and then when the bar was short on staff.

"Remember that amazing girl, Annie, that's Madge's friend? I finally got her to go out on a date with me, but of course, I asked her out on a night where I'm scheduled to work," Yes, Peeta remembers her. He's never seen Finn so enamored by a girl. Finnick knows how attractive he is to women and always could get a girl to go out with him. That was until he met Annie, who has rebuked his advances for the past three months. Annie is Madge's close friend from work, where the two are teachers at the nearby high school as English and chemistry teachers, respectively. Annie is a sweet girl and he's glad that Finn's finally taken interest in changing his lifestyle. After strings of meaningless relationships and one night stands, it seems the 30 year old play boy finally found his girl.

"So, you finally got her to say yes. Alright, since I know how hard it was for you to get this date, I'll come in. Let Haymith know that I'll be by the bar around eight."

"Peeta, I owe you big, man! Thanks for pulling through."

"Now, if I get a phone call from Madge, saying that Annie's at her apartment in tears after an awful date, then I'm going to kick your ass. Treat her right, Finn."

"No, I know. Trust me. I'm going to try my best to not fuck this up. I'll see you later, Peet."

"Alright, I'll talk to you later."

After putting the phone back in his pocket, he goes out front to the bakery and sees Delly finishing up with a customer. He, Delly, and Madge all went to the same school for years. The blond trio met Finn at university and they've all been best friends since. After his father died during his sophomore year in college, his mother sold the bakery and she moved a few states over where Bannock, his oldest brother, was living with his wife and two twin sons, Pierce and Preston, to help him with the almost two year old boys as their parents worked. Growing up, his mother was a different woman than she is now. It was Panem's worst kept secret that Joan Mellark hit her children after a few too many drinks when the Mellark boys were younger. After his father finally had enough when he walked into his wife hitting a twelve year old Peeta, he took the boys and left. This and the divorce were the catalysts for Mrs. Mellark's change. She went through rehab for years and it wasn't until when Peeta was eighteen that his mother re-entered their lives as a changed woman. She and his father remained as friends and it was still slightly unnerving to see her in the light of a loving mother.

"What's up, Peeta?" Delly said, startling him out of his thoughts.

"I've got to fill in for Finn at the bar so can you close up tonight?" Delly started working the front when Peeta opened up the bakery. Though he himself loved talking to people, he found that having the bubbly, gregarious blond woman up front allowed him to spend his time baking and experimenting in the back. Delly and Peeta grew up together as young children and as a young boy, it wasn't uncommon for him to be at the Cartwright's house for the nights when his mother was drunk. Delly was basically his sister. Well, she was actually his sister-in-law. Delly has been dating his middle brother since high school when Rye finally got the balls to ask her to his senior prom and the two have been inseparable since.

"Sure! Annie called me and said that she and Finn are going out finally. I'm guessing that's why he's having you fill him in." Peeta nodded to Delly and she chuckled. After introducing Annie to the group, the three women became close friends and Delly knew just as well as he did how much Finn has changed for the red-haired woman.

"He owes me big time though. Today's been busy and I'm already tired. God knows how I'm going to make it through the bar shift."

"Peeta, you'll be fine. Why don't you go ahead and head out? I think we have enough stock for the next few hours. I'll close up for you tonight and I'll see you tomorrow for lunch at Madge's." Peeta thanked Delly and headed home to try to get in a few hours of sleep before heading to District Twelve.

"Hey there handsome, can I get a rum and coke?" The busty blonde that had been eyeing him the entire night not so subtly leaned over the bar to attempt to give him an eyeful of her cleavage. He mentally rolled his eyes. He's been used to girls like her flirting with him since college and after dating a few of them then, he knew that over flirtatious, buxom girls like her were not his type. Handing over her drink, she slipped him her number, which he promptly threw into the trash bin after she was out of sight.

"Blondie, you should have kept that! Who knows how longs it's been since you've been laid!" Peeta knew not to give in to Haymitch's harmless teasing so he rolled his eyes and cleaned up around the bar a bit.

"Can I get a gin and tonic?" His attention was diverted to a little down the bar and as he walked over there, he was stunned. A beautiful woman with gray eyes and a long brown braid made eye contact with him. He dumbly nodded and prepared her drink. He noticed that she was alone and the bar finally lulled so he sucked in a deep breath and attempted conversation with the enigmatic woman.

"You know, if the Boston Celtics are going to have a chance against the San Antonio Spurs, they're going to have to up their game a bit."

Never in his life did he think a simple conversation that started out so innocently about basketball would turn into him bringing her home. He was never one to pick up strangers at a bar, but this woman had such an unexplainable effect on him. He stared at her as she slept next to him, the sheets just barely coming up to cover her breasts. He saw her eyes fluttering and just as hers were about to open, he shut his eyes and willed his body to feign sleep. He felt a hand on his arm that was around her waist and as she moved his arm and got out of bed, he felt devastated. She was only looking to have a one-night stand, apparently. He continued to feign sleep to avoid the awkward conversation and he could hear the bedroom door close followed by the resonating thump of his front door.

All he knew about this woman was that her name was Katniss, she had a penchant for gin and tonic, and there was a spot just above her right collarbone that would make her moan in the sexiest way. Fuck, he didn't even realize that he didn't even get her last name. Resigning himself to the fact that he would never see this woman again, he rolled over and attempted to get a little shut eye before going to Madge's for lunch.

A/N: Good? Bad? Let me know what you think please! This is the first time I've written any Hunger Games fan fiction so please let me know if you all have any comments!