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hutchhitched · 4 years

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Hold It

Author: @hutchhitched

Prompt 57: prompt “hey, you’re that asshole that closed the elevator when i yelled at you to hold it!” [submitted by anonymous]

Rating: T

Author’s note: I started this story back in April 2019, but it just wouldn’t work. This past November, I finished it during Nanowrimo, but I forgot to post it in the midst of holiday challenges and finishing up other stories. Without further ado, this is my fifth and final submission for the @everlarkficexchange 2019 event.

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“Hold the door! Hold it, please!” Katniss shouted as she sprinted across the lobby of her office building. She wasn’t normally late for work, but she’d had a morning. Missing the elevator would only cap off the worst day of her life.

“That’s hyperbole,” she muttered as she sprinted the last few yards over the marble floor. As she skidded to a stop in front of the elevator bank, she watched in disbelief as a stocky blonde guy with a cocky grin on his face and sinfully blue eyes waggled his fingers at her as the door slid shut.

“You’ve got to be shitting me,” she cursed and pounded on the closed doors. “Why are you such a dick?!”

Infuriated, she stomped over to the call button and stabbed it. She fumed as she watched the other elevators creep downward as slowly as possible. She was sure they decelerated just to make her late for work.

She finally settled at her desk (ten minutes late) and pulled out the files she needed to get through before noon. She hated her job—a soulless entry level position in corporate banking that made her want to chuck it all and go full Thoreau. She was sure holing up in a cabin in the woods and living off the land would make her happier than the rat race she currently lived. But the money was decent, and that’s what she needed for another few months at the very minimum.

The day didn’t get any better as the hours passed and she entered row after row of numbers and figures. Hour after hour. Column after column. Until finally…

She trudged home at the close of day, still pissed at the nameless guy who’d intentionally left her in the lobby and mocked her as the doors shut in her face. She couldn’t shake that something seemed familiar about him, but the last thing she wanted to do was spend any more time considering that bastard.

When she reached her apartment, she unlocked the door and tossed her keys on the side table before moving across the room to the kitchen where boyfriend—gorgeous, kind, patient, and immensely talented Peeta—sat with a cup of hot cocoa and her favorite pastry, his cheese buns from a family recipe.

“Hey,” she murmured and threw herself into his arms. “I missed you today.”

Peeta hugged her tightly and kissed the tip of her nose. “I missed you, too. Sorry about this morning. I had a bad one.”

“It’s okay. I know how frustrating your family can be. It’s not your fault you got a call from them today, completely out of the blue.”

“Still,” he insisted.

“Still,” she agreed, “you could have handled things better.”

“I could have. I’m sorry.” He was silent for a minute and then released her. “My brother drives me up the wall. Why, after all this time, did he decide he wants to be part of my life again?”

Katniss cradled his face and kissed him firmly on the mouth. “I don’t know, but I do know you’re an amazing person. Maybe he realized he’s missing something really special.”

Peeta smiled wryly and squeezed her hand. “Maybe.”

“Or maybe he misses your cooking.”

“I refuse to have another family holiday with that man, no matter how much he begs. He’ll never get my cheese buns again,” he insisted.

Smiling, she gave a soft whoop in support of his declaration. “More for me, then.”

“Your cocoa’s getting cold,” he said. “Go ahead.”

Peeta’s phone rang just as she settled onto a stool and took the first sip of hot chocolate. He glanced at the screen and cursed. Sucking in a long breath, he held it for several seconds and then answered the call.

“Hello. What do you want, Graham? No, I’m not going to discuss Mom. No. No. I’m not— Graham, tell me what you want before I discontinue this call. Yes, discontinue. No, I’m not putting on airs. God damn it, Graham! You’re a pretentious ass.”

Katniss reached over and put her hand on Peeta’s arm to calm him. His breathing quickened and face reddened as he listened to his brother speak. He squeezed his eyes closed and pursed his lips for several moments before answering.

“I don’t really want to meet, no. Because we haven’t seen each other in years. Because I intentionally haven’t contacted any of you. You know why, Graham. No, it’s not okay to pretend things are fine between us.”

He paused again, and she could hear a rush of words from the phone. He looked pained, and she longed to ease the turmoil.

“Fine!” he snapped. “Fine. I’ll meet you—we’ll meet you tomorrow. My girlfriend. Yes, I have a girlfriend. Shut up. Stop now. Text me the specifics. Whatever.”

Peeta hung up and dropped the phone onto the counter in disgust. She raised her eyebrows at him, but he leapt to his feet and began pacing before she could form a sentence.

“What’s going on?” she asked and snaked her arms around his waist.

He shook his head. “I don’t know. He wants to talk about Mom. I’d rather strip naked and run through the streets.”

“I wouldn’t mind stripping you down,” she teased and slipped her hands under his shirt.

“Mmmm…” He leaned down and kissed her, and she melted against him. “I’d like that.”

“I’d like it, too.”

He moved into her, but she could tell his heart wasn’t in it. He wound her braid around his palm and pulled her head back so he could explore her mouth better. She pressed into him, but his mind was clearly somewhere else.

“What’s wrong?”

He sighed and dropped his hands down to her waist. “I’m sorry, honey. I’m just…”

“You’re just…?”

“I’m just not really in the mood. I’m sorry.”

“Peeta, you don’t have to apologize for being upset. I know your family is something that really bothers you.” She carded her fingers through his hair and kissed his jaw where she knew he liked it. “If you want to talk about it, I’ll listen. If you want to sit in front of the TV and drink cocoa and watch mindless TV and say nothing, I’ll sit next to you.”

“Love you,” he murmured with a soft smile. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“Love you back.”

“Let’s go watch some bad television and drink spiked hot chocolate and fall asleep on the couch after having some really dirty sex.”

“You have the best ideas.”

“Hold it. Let me get my phone. I need to record you saying that.”

She rolled her eyes and pushed him toward the living room. “Shhhh… You talk too much.”

“Better show me something else to do with that mouth then.”

“Challenge accepted.”

****

“Are you sure this shirt goes with these pants?” Peeta asked for the fourth time, and Katniss wanted to throw something at him.

“For the five thousandth time, darling, you look amazing.”

“I don’t know…”

“Do you really care what your outfit looks like? You’re just meeting your brother—the brother you haven’t seen in years and who wants to try to talk you out of the family business again.”

He scoffed and made a face at himself in the mirror. “No better way to make Graham mad than to look like I have it all together. He such a narcissist. Hates it when I’m presentable, let alone looking better than him. Besides, it’s hardly a family business anymore, is it? I’m the only Mellark still involved.”

“That’s because you have vision and foresight and a brilliant business mind and didn’t want to exploit the hell out of your dad’s dream the way your brothers and mom did. You know as well as I do that there would be no Mellarks if it wasn’t for you,” Katniss said firmly. “Graham would have run it into the ground in three months.”

“Tell my mom that,” he grumbled and straightened his tie.

“I would, but she hates me.”

“You have the worst in-laws.”

“In-laws-to-be someday,” she chuckled. “But I sure did get the best of batch when I found you.”

“Thanks for going with me tonight. Thanks for being my shield.”

“That’s what you and I do. Protect each other.”

Thirty minutes later, Peeta tugged her across the restaurant and wound his way over to a table near the windows where a stocky, blonde man waited with appraising eyes. There was something familiar about him, but Katniss wasn’t sure exactly why.

“Peeta,” the man said as they drew near. His voice was arrogant and cocky, and her spine stiffened.

“Graham,” Peeta answered in a bite and tightened his grip on her fingers like she was his lifeline.

Peeta’s brother smirked at them and wiggled his fingers in a little wave. Katniss gasped and narrowed her eyes. Her scowl turned into an outright glare, and she huffed a few times before she couldn’t deny her annoyance.

“Hey, you’re that asshole that closed the elevator when I yelled at you to hold it! What a treat. My boyfriend’s brother is a jackass.”

Graham considered her and clearly found her wanting. “Peeta always did like them feisty. Can’t say that I blame him.”

“I beg you not to finish that statement,” Peeta warned.

“Why? What are you gonna do? Beat me up?”

“If I have to.”

“Ah, little brother. I can still whip your ass. Just like I did every year in the wrestling championships. Always second best.”

Katniss looked at her boyfriend and saw red. He was pale and trembling, which was nothing like the confident, sexy, compassionate man she knew.

“I think you should apologize to Peeta,” she suggested, but Graham clearly didn’t have a lick of sense.

“I don’t really think I want to.”

“That’s really too bad,” she lamented with so much sarcasm she was surprised the words didn’t catch on fire as they came out of her mouth. “I really don’t want to do this either, except I really do.”

“What?”

“This,” she answered and punched him in the nose. She grinned at the satisfying crunch and turned to Peeta. “You know, hon, suddenly I’m not very hungry. You want to get out of here?”

“Absolutely,” he beamed at her.

With as much grace as they could muster, they headed to the door. A man was just entering when Katniss called, “Hold it, please.”

This time, there was no finger waggling. Instead, the door was wide open when Peeta and Katniss breezed out of the restaurant and into the night air.

#everlarkficexchange #everlarkficexchange 2019 #prompt 57 #everlark #everlark fanfiction #hold it

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hutchhitched · 7 years

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Consolation

Once upon a time, my lovely friend @xerxia31 had a birthday. That time happens to be today. For putting up with my inability to find my writing fingers again and for giving me the desire to try, I present to you enemies to lovers (or something) Everlark. You know why. <3

“I fail at life.”

Katniss glanced sideways at her best friend and snorted. “You don’t fail at life.”

“Okay, fine. I don’t fail. I suck at life. What a damn nightmare.”

“Peeta, you were trying to be nice,” she argued patiently. “It’s not your fault that girl is ten ways to bizarre.”

“She screamed ‘Happy birthday!’ at me, and I spilled my drink on her feet,” he groaned. “Can we please watch mindless TV and forget tonight ever happened?”

“I think we should talk about it some more,” Katniss teased, her silver eyes twinkling at Peeta’s discomfort. “It’s not often I get to see you embarrassed.”

He blinked at the softness in her gray eyes and the way her dark braid fell over her shoulder. When her lips curved into a smile, he swallowed as his heart skipped a beat. He couldn’t think of anything he wanted more than to spend the rest of the night cuddled on the couch under a blanket with his roommate—the girl he’d loved for the past two decades.

“I guess I was too knocked off my feet by her good looks to control myself.”

Katniss flinched, and Peeta blinked as he heard himself speak. What in the world was that about? Katniss is the good looks girl. Katniss. That other girl is… Well, I’m sure she’s lovely, but I love Katniss.

“That’s an interesting thing to say,” she ventured quietly, and he gulped. It was time to backtrack.

“It’s been a while since I’ve had a date,” he snapped and internally cringed.

What is wrong with me? Backtrack, Peeta. Do not keep going. Do not be a dick to her. You adore this girl. Even if she won’t give you the time of day outside of your friendship.

“Maybe we should work on fixing that,” she offered.

“Oh, and how are you going to do that? Find me a consolation prize?”

Her mouth hung open as she studied him. His blond curls fell over his forehead, and his stormy blue eyes flitted away from hers. She wasn’t sure what had caused his sudden mood swing, but he’d gone from self-conscious to mortified to angry in seconds.

“There’s nothing wrong with a consolation prize,” she reasoned, but that didn’t seem to be the right answer either because his eyes blazed as he leapt from the sofa.

“Really? Is that why you settled for Gale for so long?” he asked, his voice cold with a hint of malice. “I mean, after you tried out Cato and Marvel and Darius and every other guy who treated you like crap. Was he your consolation prize?”

Katniss’ face flushed, and she tried to quell her roiling stomach. His anger seemed to have boiled up for no reason, and she wasn’t sure why he’d turned on her when she’d only been trying to console him.

“Why— How could you bring all that up, Peeta? You know how hard I tried to get through all that pain, and how much I’ve worked to figure out why I was drowning all of it in bad relationships. How could you… How could you do that to me?” Her voice was plaintive, beseeching, and colored with a deep hurt.

A wave of longing washed over him, but he couldn’t seem to reign in his frustration. He’d cared about her for so long, and he was tired of knowing she looked at him like a kid brother instead of someone who adored her.

“Maybe I’m the consolation prize. It just took me this long to turn into an asshole like the rest of them.”

“I can’t believe I put up with you,” she sputtered, her chest heaving as she sucked in air. “You’re an insensitive, snarky, arrogant…” She ground to a halt as she wracked her brain for the appropriate insult.

“Yes?” he drawled. His tone was so filled with snide mocking that she saw red.

“Bastard. An insensitive, snarky, arrogant bastard,” she spat and turned to storm down the hall to her bedroom.

She didn’t make it more than a few steps before he caught her by the shoulder and spun her around. Her eyes widened in shock in the seconds between him catching her and his mouth crushing against hers. His eyes blazed with fury, and his cheeks glowed pink with anger. His body slammed against hers as his mouth ground into her lips. The kiss was bruising, punishing, and insanely powerful.

Peeta forced her head back as he thrust his tongue into her mouth. Their lips and teeth snapped and snarled at each other as they vented their anger. She swallowed a rasping moan as he grabbed her left leg and tugged it over his hip so he could push her harder into the wall. Her skirt slipped upward on her thighs, and his palms dragged along her burning skin. His hips slammed into hers, and she moaned at the feel of him pulsing against the scrap of lace covering her clit. She felt every minute throb deep in her core.

“Peeta,” she groaned, irritated beyond words that the feel of him around her made her want to rip off his clothes. “You asshole.”

“Shut up,” he snapped and sucked on the pulse point in her neck. His lips suckled against her skin until her nipples puckered, and she lost the battle to keep her hips still. She bucked forward, and they both grunted at the contact.

“What are we doing?”

She didn’t know if she asked or he did, but the question didn’t need to be answered with words. Their bodies burned together. The fire between them couldn’t be quenched by anything but what they were doing.

His hands clutched at her, frantic with need, and she grappled with his zipper. His skin scorched hers as she freed him and wrapped her palm around his erection. She wanted to look, but she couldn’t focus. Time rushed past and stood still at the same time. He tugged her shirt over her head and laved his tongue over her lacy bra until she could do nothing but beg him to keep going. He bit her nipple, causing her to scream and involuntary jerk on his cock so hard he yelped.

“I want to fuck you so bad, Kat,” he confessed. “I want to make your eyes roll back in your head and you beg me to make you come. I want to watch your tits bounce while I pound into you and hear you scream my name.”

“I’ll never beg you,” she grunted but squeezed her eyes shut when he tugged her braid at the nape of her neck.

“I bet you will,” he growled as he slid down her body so that her leg was hitched over his shoulder instead of around his waist. He shoved her skirt up around her waist before tilting his head until his nose settled in the juncture of her thighs. He inhaled sharply, and she felt a rush of warmth that quickly turned to slickness.

“Oh, hell,” she muttered before biting her bottom lip. He shoved her thong to the side and flicked the tip of his tongue into her crevice. She fought to control herself as he found her nub and began his assault there.

Her head fell back as heated jolts radiated through her limbs. He knew what he was doing. It wasn’t gentle or loving. It was hard and desperate, but it made her want to sing his praises. She hummed in the back of her throat as he nuzzled deeper into her, and she prayed he’d keep her upright as he hauled her to the precipice.

Just as she thought she would explode, he pulled away, leaving her bereft and confused. She cursed loudly, but he was standing and his tearing his jeans off before she could say more.

He captured her mouth with his, and she tasted the tang of her arousal. He tilted her hips toward him as he kissed her, and she groaned as he pressed into her. She opened for him, spreading her legs wider around his hips as he pushed into her, his movements uneven and halting, as if he couldn’t maintain control.

“What are we doing?” she whimpered, but he smothered her mouth again in another bruising kiss before pulling his hips back and thrusting toward her again.

At her yowl of pleasure, he tugged at her earlobe and whispered, “What I should have done three boyfriends ago. What I should have done the night that fucker broke your heart. What I should have done when you told me you had a date tonight—on my birthday—for my party. I shouldn’t have let you go. I shouldn’t have gone with you. I should have slung you over my shoulder and carried you to my bedroom instead of trying to celebrate my birthday when the woman I love was with another guy.”

“Peeta… What? I don’t—”

But she did. Somehow she knew. She’d always known. As he slammed into her, she concentrated on the feeling of him between her legs, the way his blonde hair curled around her fingers, the sound of his grunts and moans, the way his hands ran over her skin in a way that made her feel completely overpowered and cherished at the exact same time.

How many times had he watched her leave for a date, fuming and grouchy because she refused to acknowledge the way he glanced at her over the breakfast table? How many times had he blushed as he ran into her in the hall after she’d finished her shower and was covered only in her skimpy bathrobe with water droplets still clinging to her skin? How often had he proven how important she was to him with his constant friendship and sweet good nature? She’d helped drive him to this frenzied state with every sly look she’d tossed his way, knowing full well that he loved her, but not wanting to admit how he felt.

“Tell me you want this,” he begged. “Please tell me.”

She laughed at the absurdity of his request. He was inside her, pumping in and out frantically, and dangerously close to orgasm. If she didn’t want it, it was past time to ask. Instead of answering, she wrapped both legs around his waist and bit his collarbone. She clenched around him, stroking him as he bucked his hips.

“Kat, please. Please.”

She squeezed tighter and felt his control snap. His shoulders shook as he pulsed and shot into her. She reveled in his incoherent groans as he emptied himself. She took everything he had to give before slipping her hand between them and rubbing herself. The feel of him pulsing inside her as she stroked her clit was amazing. It took only a few seconds before her walls fluttered and she gasped as a wall of fire flooded through her.

He held her as she rode out her climax, words of encouragement falling from his lips as her skin flushed with pleasure. A sheen of moisture misted their skin as they clung to each other, both spent from their respective climaxes.

He pressed his forehead to hers, and their breath mingled while they gasped for air. His blue eyes, still hazy with passion, flooded with vulnerability as he struggled to regain his composure. He’d lost it, and he was terrified he’d lost her as well by failing to wait for her to realize how he felt about her on her own.

“Please,” he pled one last time as a sob threatened to choke him.

“I wanted it. I would have stopped you if I didn’t.”

He sagged against her, his relief so strong he almost fell.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry for saying those things to you.”

“I’m sorry for asking a date to your birthday party.”

He shook his head at her, unable to explain that he realized how inconsequential what she’d done was compared to criticizing her choices and manhandling her in the hallway. His shame threatened to overtake him, until she cradled his cheek in her palm.

“Look at me, Peeta,” she ordered, and he raised his eyes to hers. “Happy birthday.”

He started to protest, but she interrupted him before he could say anything else.

“Things got a little off track tonight. That might be an understatement since we’re half-clothed and you’re kinda still inside me.”

“Oh, good lord,” he sputtered and pulled away from her. “This is…”

“Not the worst thing to ever happen to either of us,” she said and fought to keep her face straight.

He tried not to laugh, but the absurdity of their situation washed over him. He bit his bottom lip in an attempt to stay quiet, but he snorted instead. Within seconds, he was laughing, and she joined him as she pulled him back to her.

“This isn’t the way I would’ve expected this to happen,” she giggled, “but I’m not sorry it did.”

Shaking his head, he kissed her cheek. “We should clean up, and then maybe I can start to recover my dignity.”

“We could,” she said. “Or…”

“Or what?”

“Or we could eat some of that cake your dad sent, and then shower. That whipped cream icing would probably look good smeared across your chest. Or mine.”

He gulped at her suggestion. Things had changed too quickly tonight for him to comprehend, but he decided to forego his usual cautious nature and enjoy the night. Tomorrow they could figure out what this meant. Tonight he wanted to celebrate, even if he was only as a consolation prize.

#xerxia31 #everlark fanfiction #everlark #Peeta Mellark #katniss everdeen #hutchhitched loves you

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