Chronicles of a Healing Peeta Mellark.

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/35986345.

Rating: General Audiences

Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Category: F/M
Fandom: Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Relationship: Katniss Everdeen/Peeta Mellark
Characters: Katniss Everdeen, Peeta Mellark, Primrose Everdeen, Mrs. Everdeen
(Hunger Games), Gale Hawthorne
Additional Tags: Injury, Injury Recovery, pinning, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Collections: The Hunger Games 2021 Season of Hope Holiday Gift Exchange
Stats: Published: 2021-12-27 Completed: 2022-02-07 Words: 4,472 Chapters:
4/4
 Chronicles of a Healing Peeta Mellark.
by albinokittens300

Summary

Peeta suffers and injury in the mines and is taken into the care of Mrs. Everdeen. Katniss
struggles at first, but quickly finds Peeta is more than pleasant to have around.

What will she do as he heals, and the prospect of him leaveing begins to loom?

Notes

SO thrilled to be sharing this! My prompt was the following: Peeta and Katniss were never
reaped.
Peeta doesn’t inherit the bakery and has to work in the mines. When Katniss realizes of his
situation she will do everything she can to get him out of them. (Bonus if Gale is jealous)

I didn't follow the prompt to the last detail, but I think what I did do is an interesting take on
how Everlark could happen when/if Peeta went into the mines. It doesn't have jealous Gale,
but contains a lot of pinning Katniss and Peeta and a lot of healing, which I think anyone who
loves Everlark is down for, so hopefully AlwaysEverlark loves it! There is three parts so
more is coming for sure. In fact, I really just need to finish editing the last two chapters.

Please comment and leave a kudos if you want! Enjoy :).

 Part 1

Katniss imagines the cool cloth feels nice on his forehead, with the fever her mother
described.

She has been avoiding being here as much as she could since he was brought to their tiny
shack. When she had heard Peeta Mellark had moved to the Seam to work in the mines, it
was clear something would land him in her mother's care. According to everything, the
youngest Mellark was kind and gentle, including their brief interactions, but he was not a
miner. And putting him to work as one could only lead to accidents.

Peeta, tragically, lost his leg when it happened.

"Do you think he'll survive?" Katniss asks her mother quietly, so Prim doesn't hear where she
tries to cool Peeta off.

Behind her mothers' eyes flashes dozens of patients from whom she has taken limbs. "If he
can fight this infection, yes. The next couple of days will be very telling if he will pull
through."

The fire casts a shallow light on Peeta, and she looks at his breath coming evenly and finds
herself hoping, despite having sworn off such optimistic feelings long ago. If there was
anyone who'd cause her to wish anything at all, it would be him. Two burnt loaves that fed
her family and dandelions made the blond baker inseparable from hope in her mind.

"Here, we should get another pillow for his head." She says, grabbing one from her bed.
_______

"There, comfortable?" She asks, settling a thin pillow under his leg.

"Yes, thank you. But, really, Katniss, you didn't have to do anything." He assures her, but she
is already handing him a glass of clean water. Fighting the roll of her eyes as she lets him
drink.

Her avoidance of the Mellark was more difficult than she imagined when his fever broke.
But, while there was plenty more healing for him to do, Peeta is doing worlds better than he
had been and seemed to be overcoming the infection. Thanks to Prim and her mothers'
vigilance and care. And admittedly, more of her help than most injured miners receive from
her.

In truth, she didn't mind Peeta with her mother and sister around. It was more complicated
when it was the two of them, though. How do you make conversation or avoid it with the
person to who you owe your entire family's lives?

However, talking seemed Peeta's favorite pastime, and he made it look easy. Even immobile
on a kitchen table, the blonde saw fit to joke whenever he could or comment on the weather
he saw outside of the window. She liked it most the few times he told stories. Listening was
easier than trying to talk as much as him. Sometimes she thinks he is doing it because he
somehow knows she is struggling to find her own words. If so, the gesture is appreciated.

When he is settled, Katniss begins to sharpen her arrowheads.

"How do you shoot them through the eyes?" He asks, seemingly at random. Peeta rushes to
finish when her eyebrows raise, quieter and almost embarrassed. "When you trade with my
Dad, the squirrels, they are always shot through the eyes. I never understood how someone
could aim that well. Was just curious how you do it."

Blood rushes to her cheeks. No one has ever said something like that, and it felt like
accolades.

"A lot of practice." Is all she can mumble for an answer.

________

"Successful hunt?" He asks when she comes in, and her headache becomes worse.

Peeta is sitting up on the table now, discontent to continue playing after two weeks of
difficult healing. In the last few days, she had grown to appreciate his warm greetings around
her home, but this afternoon it happened to be unwelcome. As it were, her game bag was
completely bare of any meat. She'd managed to gather a handful of chestnuts and stripped a
blueberry bush of its fruits. All in all, a miserable day of slogging around for nearly nothing.

Her grunt seems to get the disappointment across. Peeta shoots her a genuinely sympathetic
look, one that is true to his very core, and she can't manage to get upset at him for it.

That's when his nose seems to smell what's in her bag.

"Did you find blueberries?" He says, voice full of awe.

Katniss nods in response. "There's a handful of bushes close to a brook on a trail I go by.
They didn't produce that much this year." She says.

Peeta gestures for her bag, and she allows him to look. Pulling out the small cloth full she
managed to take from the bush, he seemed to inspect them for something and gave an even
wider grin at them. Clearly finding exactly what he was curious for. "These are great! You
should trade these to my father. He pays a high dollar for blueberries as fresh as this. The
muffins they make always sell." The boy explains as he wraps them back up and returns them
to the bag.

For a moment, she lets the hungry thoughts about a muffin with juicy blueberries in it run
wild in her mind, pausing as she washes them in a bucket of water.

"He makes muffins with blueberries in them?"

Enthusiastically, Peeta nods. "Oh yeah, and they are delicious. Blueberries are expensive to
buy anywhere, so he can't afford to do it often, but he will always pay good money for fresh
ones. When I was little, it was one of the first things he taught me to bake."
The thought of a little Peeta standing on a stool with sweet Mr. Mellark with a mixing bowl
warms her insides strangely, and she can't stop smiling as Peeta goes on telling her about his
first try at the sweet treat. When she finishes cleaning them, she puts them in an old paper
bag to bring when she trades for bread in the morning.

When he's done, Katniss is also thinking about her own father. She is used to her mother and
sister knowing things about him, but Peeta doesn't, and something tempts her feelings out of
her.

"When I was little, my father actually showed me where to find berries like this." She admits
to him quietly and is focused on remembering it. She thinks her father would enjoy having
Peeta around when he reaches to brush her forearm with his hand comfortingly, something
that Katniss welcomes before overthinking about it.
 Part 2
Chapter Notes

As promised, part 2! Yay!

Heres the deal though...I may need to make a sequel to this? See I am fiddling with the
ending and yea. I don't think I am gonna be finished with this story where I have to end
this one. Not giving anything away but you'll see what I mean when I post chapter 3.
There may be some outtakes, a continuation of some kind. Probably not an entire, fill on
fic but. Something. I'm not done with this AU yet, I don't think.

Anyways, enjoy! Leave a comment or Kudos if you feel so inclined!

The next morning, she brings the blueberries to Mr. Mellark, and he almost cries with news
about Peeta.

Katniss waits awkwardly, knowing the sorrow the man must be having. It was no secret it
was his wife's wish that Peeta not inherit the bakery. The baker loved his son, even if he
lacked the boldness to push back against his wife's cruelty to him and the older brothers. He
missed Peeta terribly, and since his injury, he has asked about him every time they traded.
But, until now, she has been unable to give him much more information other than Peetw was
alive.

Just as she goes to leave, he calls her name.

"Katniss, look, I know you may be busy, but when you're done, why don't you come back?
See, I want to send something to Peeta and if you could pick it up-"

There's no hesitation in her response. "Of course, I'll be back when I'm done trading."

When she comes back, the gift is a paper bag that she smells the fantastic scent of the
blueberries baked into a muffin wafting out of. Her mouth waters the entire walk home.

Peeta's eyes go wide, and he has a grin that splits his face for a second when he peaks into the
bag.

It doesn't last, though, and guilt seems to take over his demeanor. "I can't believe he sent one
of these…he should have sold it." He pulls out a muffin dotted in blue.

The words flow from her mouth before she can stop them. A habit she finds is forming with
Peeta, though truthfully, she considers perhaps she is simply becoming more comfortable
around him. "Your father misses you, Peeta. More than you think. Every time I'm there, he
asks about you."
Opening and closing his mouth, he finally forces the words out. "I know. But that doesn't
change things. If he missed me so much, I could have been there with him."

Katniss has nothing to say about the admission. Even if his father was kind, was loving, Peeta
was still forced to turn to the mines and away from the place he had known as home and
people he considered family because his father wouldn't defend him. So she nods in
agreement with him to show some solidarity.

That seems to help, and his countenance improves as he looks at the muffin in his hand.
"Wanna try?" He asks. It's an offer she immediately denies. But she ends up taking the half he
breaks off for her, and they eat it together before her mother and sister get back, and when
she sees Prim enthusiastically talking to Peeta about her day, she wishes there was some way
to tell Mr. Mellark his son wasn't alone.
____________

She storms in from hunting a second time, and Prim's concerned voice asking if she was
alright forces her to bury the anger. Attempting to fake a neutral face, she promises
everything is fine.

It doesn't seem to convince Prim of anything, judging by the look on her face. But it's enough
for the conversation to end.

While Prim goes to milk Lady, her mother asks her to change Peetas bandages before leaving
to go to the Hob and pick up something or other. Peeta, unlike her mother and sister, seems to
still be concerned. Though he says nothing, he watches her like something liable to break if
he breathes too harshly in her direction. The feeling is like sandpaper and sets her off.

"What?" She says shortly.

"Katniss…I don't want to pry, but…are you okay? You've come back frustrated the last few
days. If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. I'm just here if you want someone to
listen."

"I'm fine." She says harshly as she begins to layer bandages on his stump.

Peetas raises his hands in defeat and doesn't seem to push. Instead, he notes a game he began
to play with Buttercup that day while sitting. "He'll chase the reflection of the mirror,
watch."

Taking a small square of glass, one that functions as the house mirror, Peeta places it in a
beam of light from the window. The beam catches the yellow cat's attention, and after a few
moments, he's laughing loud enough to shake the table, and she's covering her mouth to stop
from cackling. Once Peeta sets the glass down, she tosses Buttercup a bit of cloth to attack in
its place.

Her unnervingly empty game bag reminds her of why she was so upset in the first palace, and
maybe it's because he did the thing where he completely turns her mood around; Katniss
begins to skin her squirrel and vents before Prim returns.
"Gale, he's…my closest friend. But the last few weeks, he's been doing some stupid,
dangerous things, and every time I bring it up while we are hunting together, it's a fight."

"It sounds like you just want him to be safe." Peeta thinks out loud. For a moment, he seems
less happy than his usual light demeanor, enough for her to notice it in his voice.

"I do."

"Have you told him?"

The next day she comes back with a full bag and makes roasted squirrels as a thanks to him.

____________________________

Several days later, she manages to actually thank him when it's dark, and she notices
everyone else is asleep. Her bed isn't too far away from the table where he sleeps, and when
she sees her mother and Prim fast asleep, she turns to him and gathers a deep breath before
whispering.

"Thank you, Peeta, for getting me to talk to Gale. We're at least talking now."

Uncharacteristically quiet, he responds. "That's great- is he coming over any time soon?"

Katniss snorts. "I'd be pulling teeth to get him to walk back here with me when he wants to
rush to see Madge after we hunt."

This piques his interest, and she can almost hear his eyes go wide at her mention of the two.
"Madge, wait, he sees Madge Undersee?"

Nodding, Katniss says. "Oh yeah. They've been together for months now. I'm supposed to
keep it a secret, but you probably are one of the few who didn't know, sounds like."

"Oh," He says. "I-I thought you two…."

That makes her laugh even harder at the thought of her and Gale together. But, of course, he
wouldn't be the first to ask such a question, so she is quick to explain. "Gale is my brother.
Not by blood but pretty much everything else." She explains. "He's been head over tail for
Madge a while now. I wouldn't be shocked if they had a toasting behind her father's back
soon."

"Madge would do that. That's the kind of girl she is…her and Gale, honestly make sense."
Peeta says, a chuckle in his voice, one which she joins in on.

She learns Peeta is close with Madge as they speak in whispers, and she likes the thought.
Madge was a good person, and her being friends with Peeta seemed fitting.
_____________________________

She brings back several pockets full of flowers for Prim's birthday on a warm day. Implying
Peetas help, she ties together a flower crown and several bracelets for the birthday girl.
"She'll love these, Prim adores when I bring flowers back from the woods like this."

Sitting beside her, Peeta says something in response, but her ears don't register exactly what it
is. Instead, her attention is on his hand as he gently takes a bigger flower, one that is out of
proportion to the bracelet he is making, and casually reaches up and sticks it behind her ear.
The gesture was as relaxed as asking about the weather or taking off one's shoes. "Pretty
flower, pretty lady."

Her cheeks warm in response. This was the newest thing Peeta began to do, this flirting. The
other day he said her hair was beautiful as she let it down to comb through it, and the same
about her voice when she was humming cleaning up after dinner.

It would be a lie to say it was unwelcome.

"What's your favorite color?" He asks a second later, just as relaxed.

Sluffing off the reaction to the flowers in her hair, she replies after a second of thought.
Picking out a light green bloom from the bunch. "Green, like this."

In return, he picks up a softer orange one. "Mines orange. Kinda like this, but more like the
sunset."
 Part 3
Chapter Notes

So yea. Part three, and yea. Theres gonna be a part four. Just couldn't fit it all into this
so, you all are gonna get one more smallish part after this! For now, here is a nice, long
part to feast your eyes on. Hope you all love it!

Please comment and leave Kudos if you feel so inclined, as well :).

Katniss thinks she should be grateful her nightmares hadn't woken him earlier.

When she does, Prim is asleep with their mother, and it's Peeta's slightly raised voice that
wakes her. "Katniss!"

Startled into sitting up, Katniss heaves and lets the tears come. The fire, the smoke from the
mines. Prim's name being called at a podium, her precious little sister failing to fight in the
Games. It all flashes behind her eyes for a moment as if she hadn't quite woken up
completely. The feelings they induce stay even longer than that, lingering even as she
recognizes her home bathed in moonlight.

"Hey, hey, you're fine. You're safe." Peeta's voice registers, and its cadence begins to help her
slow her breathing.

Somehow, the next second, he's sitting on the floor beside her and is taking her hands in his.
It is warm compared to the shack around them, and she leans into it. Much like his voice,
Peeta's breathing serves as a pattern to match her own frantic one, and she slowly comes
down from the terror as he caresses her hand.

"Better?" He whispers.
All she can do is nod, actively ignoring the fact somehow, she is now sitting on the floor with
him.

"I have them too, sometimes. Nightmares. Of fires, mostly. But rocks have made a few
appearances recently. And long, dark shafts." Peeta confides in her.

The revelation stuns Katniss, as Peeta had only been a silent sleeper during his stay in her
home. But she keeps the information close even when her mind clears, and she leaves his
embrace to return to bed, in case she ever can help.

___________

Peeta begins walking with the help of crutches, finally, and the looming prospect of Peeta
leaving makes her stomach turn.

"Where are you gonna be going to?" Prim asks innocently one day as they made a rabbit
stew.

It seems the question stumps him for a moment, as his face appears to struggle when he
responds to her. "I probably will have to go back to the miner's lodging. Don't know what
they will have me do, but I'm sure they'll give me some sort of work."

Katniss and her mother share a look, a somber one. Both of them know such hopeful thoughts
were fruitless. They would turn him away outright when they see him with his crutches. No
kindness, hard work, or amiability would make him useful for stipping coal from the shafts.
Peeta would have to find work or money elsewhere to get by.

The thought of Peeta standing outside of town hall with rags for clothes gives her a punch in
the gut. Enough to lead her out the back door and to the Hawthorns' home,
uncharacteristically willing to ask for a favor.

____________________

"Shh, shhh." He whispers, and her shaking begins to calm, slowly stopping.
He's hopped by her bed again, this time finding a place to sit on it beside her. His hand runs
gentle circles into her back, and she almost hides in his chest.

During the day, she wouldn't ever allow something like this, not even consider something
like it. But now, waking up with more visions of Primes name being pulled during the
Reaping in a month, his arms seem like a refuge. In the dark, she can hold him as close as she
wants, and only he knows, and Peeta doesn't mind.

When she pulls away, he still holds her hand.

"You can tell me about," Peeta suggests. "Not if you don't want, of course. But I always
would tell my brother Rye when I woke him up. Saying it helped."

The nightmare is still so vivid it comes from her mouth smoothly. "Prim was spared last two
years, in the Reaping. All I see when I sleep...is in a few months, she isn't that lucky."
Katniss explains. "I can't save her this year, Peeta. I had told myself I could volunteer if she
was ever called, but this time I can't, and I-I."

He takes her hand. "I get it." The words are so tender tears begin to run again. "

Telling the story of her worst fears seems to help, as her body has calmed once it's out.
However, her heart speeds up, and it's for an entirely different reason now. Any fear seems to
be at low tide for a delicious moment allowing her to continue to lean into his shoulder to
steal the feeling of comfort like a thief.

____________________

A few nights later, Katniss comes back late and notices Peeta is trying on some of his mining
gear. He can put it on with a bit of extra care, but it is clunky and the idea of him doing it
every morning to work underground in the dark churns her stomach. He seems more upset
about it than he should.
"They might put me on operating carts, I think. They can have me sit and just pump the lever,
right?" He asks, desperate-sounding.

Then she embraces him and tries to ignore the slight trembling when he leans into and circles
her with his own arms.

I'm getting you out of there, don't worry, she says, you won't be going back there- not if I can
help it.

_______________

That night, she hears quiet whimpering and looks to find Peeta shaking in his sleep. It is
quick to spur her into sitting.

"Peeta, it's okay, shh. It's okay." She says when he opens his eyes.

Deciding to not let her fear control her anymore, she stands and pulls him from the dining
room table. He protests for a moment but cooperates when she gets him to lay on her bed
when prompted and makes herself comfortable beside him. The shock seems to work
wonders at taking away what was left of his nightmares, and he doesn't question her till she's
rested her head on his chest.

"Katniss, what are you doing?"

Half of the truth catches in her throat. I don't want you to leave, I like having you close-

Despite being aware of what it looks like to anyone but her, truly Katniss decides she just
wants him closer. Let everyone make their assumptions about it if they like; Peeta Mellark
deserved a bed. Even a worn one like hers. What came from that didn't concern her, at least
not enough to change her mind. It was one small thing she could do for him right now.
"You've slept on a table for over a month now. I thought you might appreciate a bed. Do you
want to go back-"

"No, no," Peeta says. Seemingly understanding what she meant. "I'll stay. As long as you
want me to."

She just nods into his shoulder. The silence has become uncomfortable, and where she would
have welcomed Peeta's quietness now, she decides to speak. Then, remembering the few
times he did this same thing with her, moves to look at his face.

"What was it about, your nightmare."

He describes the mines, the collapse, and she has to bury her face into his chest. As she falls
asleep not long after him, her only thought is about keeping them at bay for tonight, if not
longer than that. It was something they seemed to be doing for one another well recently. And
if it felt as lovely as sharing it does now, she doesn't want it to stop.
 Part Four
Chapter Notes

Okay, SHORT explanation about why this chapter is so late: Basically I was and idiot
and lost the original one and had to rewrite the entire thing from scratch after I had
already spent like, a whole week looking for the file everywhere I could have possibly
saved it. Don't be like me and not save your stuff twice- always, always save your stuff
in two different places.

That said, yay! The ending! Hope you all loved this story, I know I did. It is officially
the longest fic I've ever written so, kinda a proud of it.

Leave a comment or kudos if you feel like it, and enjoy!

The next morning she gets the news she’s been waiting for. Peeta seems to be buzzing when
she returns from trading as he helps Prim with some of her school work. He seems eager to
share when she walks in and begins sorting things in her game bag.

“Mrs. Hawthorne stopped by today- she offered me a job! Can you believe it? Says she could
use the help with her laundry business.”

Katniss tries, she truly does, to school her expression into one of pleasant surprise. It must be
convincing enough, as he doesn’t seem to notice anything off about her reaction. That, or the
excitement of the announcement, takes attention away from it. She is, however, being honest
when she embraces him, giving him congratulations.

“That’s amazing, Peeta.”

“I told Peeta he was welcome to stay here if he’s getting a wage from Hazel.” Katniss’s
mother speaks up with a knowing glance at her oldest.

All her blood floods her cheeks when Peeta takes their celebratory moment to place a soft,
feather-light kiss on her cheek, almost like he forgets himself for a split second. The horrified
look on his face spurs her to act before thinking it out fully herself by pressing her lips to his.
It isn’t something she’d ever done before, and it shows in her clumsiness, causing it to be
short.

It is short, but leaves a pleasant warmth in her cheeks for long, long afterwards.

Neither of them notices Prim snickering.

__________________

Later that evening, Katniss steals a moment to sit by Peeta on the stoop in the back of the
Everdeen home. He’s watching the orange sunset; for a moment, she slips in to sit close to
him, leaning into his side and resting her head on his shoulder. They are comfortable as they
let the sun warm them with the last heat of the day.

Peeta, though, is clearly wanting to say something. It’s on the tip of his tongue, and when she
looks at him, egging him to say what it is, his ordinarily smooth words are tripped up.

“I know your mother said I could stay but Katniss…I think you know I feel about you.”
Finally, he manages to get out. “I won’t stay if you don’t want me to.”

The words hold more weight when she locks eyes with him.

“Do you want to stay?”

“Of course.” He says.

She means forward, to kiss him again on the lips. Less messy this time, and certainly more
sure of itself. Katniss had known for longer than she cared to admit she wanted him to stay.
As dangerous as love was, somehow, he’s snuck up on her.
“Then stay with me?”

“Always”

_____________________

Later that night, guilt plagues her as she slips out of bed next to him and sneaks out the door
with her heavy game bag over her shoulder.

She steels herself with the knowledge this is for him- for all of them and their future.

Katniss arrives at a large patch of bramble, a short walk on the other side of the fence. She
deposits arrows and a few cheese rolls she asked for from Prim under it alongside the small
pile of things already stored there. Later she reminded herself to save some smoked fish and
somehow convince her mother to give her some creams and salves. She also needed to trade
for salt.

Madge had left several more cans of food, and Gale made more fish hooks and smothered a
sack of coal. She breathed a little easier with the other food and other essential items there
already.

Looking to the north, she thinks about what Gale had promised. Miles away tucked
underground, District 13 was apparently ready to help the other Districts cast down the
Capitol and The Hunger Games. If she hadn’t seen the proof, the notes Gales had been
finding in a knothole about this planned rebellion for months, Katniss would have laughed at
him. Things have changed now, though, and the two of them with Madge were preparing to
stand up with whatever force began to fight back.

Katniss was tired of being scared, and this time she had decided to change things.

When she slips back beside Peeta, she dares to feel a bit of excitement even. Considering
what a life without the Capitol and with him, Prim, her mother, and the Hawthornes could
mean.
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