InsaneJournal

Who: Peeta and Caroline
What: Peeta apologizes for doing nothing wrong. They decide to live together.
Where: UCI Campurs
When: Monday, 3/7
Rating: Fairly low
Status: Complete


Something was going on with Caroline and Peeta was determined to get to the bottom of it. It had taken quite a few empty bottles of beer, a handful of tequila shots, and a no holds barred bar fight in order for him to finally figure out that he needed to talk to her. She had been distancing herself from him and he was worried that it was something that he had done. The OC turning into Panem hadn’t gone over well with him and he had spent a lot of time being out there and attempting to protect people by fighting against the horror. Which mean that Caroline had to heal him multiple times and maybe she didn’t like having to do that. But she had left him a vial of her blood and she had confessed to being in love with him, so he was completely torn on what was going on between the two of them.

With a bruise still fairly fresh on his face and a new change of clothes he decided to show up at her school and wait until she was coming out of class to approach her. This wasn’t a conversation he wanted to have at her apartment full of her roommates and at least this was a public place, so they could potentially keep it contained. As he watched the students pass by him he wondered briefly if he should think about going back to school and taking a few classes, perhaps business, but his thoughts were interrupted when he caught sight of his girlfriend leaving the building.

Pushing off from his spot against the wall he adjusted the flowers in her hand and walked towards her. It took some maneuvering around the other students to reach her, but he was able to reach out to lightly take her wrist and spoke gently. “I don’t know what I did, but I’m sorry,” yep, that was a Peeta type apology. Might as well cover all the bases just in case he did do something wrong.

Things with Peeta had been intense to say the least. Although she had a feeling that was how it went for most relationships between dreamers. It was difficult for it to be any other way when dreams were always interfering. Making things complicated. First her with the whole being a vampire thing and freaking out about being pregnant. Both of which Peeta had taken extremely well. But then his dreams invaded.

It wasn’t his dreams that bothered her, she had heard about how fucked up they were and yes seeing it first hand was somewhat shocking. Really though she just wanted to be there for him, and that included healing him. Which of course she was more than happy to do, but after having some time to think about it she realized just how breakable Peeta was. She was immortal, it was definitely difficult to kill her, but Peeta could die at any moment, and even if nothing happened to him and he did live a long life, natural causes or some shit would eventually get to him, while Caroline was still stuck at twenty. Now that she had fallen in love with him she didn’t want to picture her life without him. But it was bound to happen, maybe it was just easier to cut him out of her life now.

She had been taking some time to think about it all, try living her life without Peeta which was easier said than done, there were so many times she picked up her phone to text or call him and had to force herself to put it back down. Focusing on school and work was the best way she knew how to go about it for right now, that was until Peeta showed up on her campus, with flowers. A smile immediately broke out at the sight of him, it was just a natural response. That was until she got a closer look at his face. “What happened to your face?” were the first words out of her mouth as she cupped the side of his face. But then she realized he was apologizing and her brow knitted together in confusion. “You have nothing to apologize for.”

The moment she cupped the side of his face he winced a little and turned away from her. He probably should have tried out some of the makeup that she left in his apartment and cover it. But that also seemed like way too much work and he wasn’t completely embarrassed by the fact that he had gotten into a fight. It was for dumb reasons, but brotherly bonding was worth it. However it felt slightly childish now that he was in front of Caroline, but at least she had concern in her voice for him, “I got in a bar fight.” Easily enough to answer because it was true and he wondered how far she would push him for details.

“Do I? I figured it’s usually the guy that fucks things up, so I might as well get a preemptive strike on apologizing. I don’t know why else you would be avoiding me, not returning my texts, and not coming over anymore,” he pointed out to her with a similar look of confusion (mixed with a slight hint of pain), but he wanted answers. If it wasn’t something he had done then something had changed in her and he had no idea what it could be. Was he going to be able to keep her because he did love her and being with her made him incredibly happy.

Caroline frowned at both his turning away from her and his explanation, her hand dropping to her side. Of course she was going to push for more details. Getting into fights didn’t sound like the Peeta she knew and loved. “What happened?” she asked softly keeping her eyes on him.

That was until he mentioned everything she had done recently, then her eyes fell to the ground somewhat ashamed of her actions. She hadn’t meant to hurt Peeta even though she’d be lying if she said she didn’t think avoiding him would hurt him. She was just trying to figure everything out. “You didn’t do anything,” she said again because it was true. “But what are we even doing? How is this supposed to work?” she sighed leading him over to a bench. She didn’t want to be unfair to him anymore. He deserved answers, but she wasn’t going to give them to him standing in the middle of campus.

“Just stupidity at the bar,” there was no way he was going to mention that he was with Wash. He didn’t expect Caroline to brand him as a bad influence, but he also didn’t want to color any of her impression of his new friend. He had been just as responsible as Wash was because they both decided to get into that fight. It wasn’t a big deal and it wasn’t his first bar fight, but apparently put him in a room with alcohol and angry emotions and he was a little explosive.

“What do you mean by those questions? Are you having second thoughts about being together? I promised that I wouldn’t hurt you and I mean that, Caroline,” he didn’t want to be like her last boyfriend and end up hurting her. That was never his intention and maybe he put got a little too into relationships (as shown by his rash engagement previously), but this place made him rethink life. He knew the connections between dreamers was a lot more intense than anything else he had dealt with. Caroline was important to him and he would step aside if she needed him to, but he wasn’t going down without at least a bit of a fight to keep their relationship going. As they walked to the bench he slipped his hand into hers, giving it a light squeeze, and still showing confusion and concern on his face.

Caroline wasn’t buying it. She had a feeling there was more to the story. But she wouldn’t push him on it right now. Not when it was clear she had hurt him and really they had other things to discuss. “Are you okay?” she had to at least ask that, because well she needed to know.

“I don’t know. Maybe?” She wasn’t scared of Peeta hurting her. Okay maybe a little bit, she would probably always have that fear. What she was scared of was getting too attached (which honestly she already was), and losing him. It was inevitable really. “I love you,” she said looking over at him and lowering her voice. “But, I’m going to live forever… and you’re not.”

There was a small part of him that just wanted to brush her off and bring his frustration to the surface. She was part of the reason he had been drinking so heavily, but he wasn’t going to do that. That truly wasn’t his personality, so instead all he said was a gruff, “I’m fine.” End of subject and he didn’t really want to keep getting into it about that. He was reaping what he sowed and he would deal with the bruises and such later.

Is that what this was about? She was an immortal vampire and he was a lowly mortal. He couldn’t help but let out a little laugh as he shook his head. It was something to deal with, but this was not the time for that and he needed to show her that. He pulled her closer and let out a sigh, “That might be true, but you’re not going to have to deal with that for a long time from now. We’ve got at least ten or twenty years before it starts looking weird for me to date someone who is staying young. And who knows what could happen in those ten or twenty years, but you’ll never know if you suddenly break up with me if you’re having immortal regrets. You’re too young to be worrying about that right now.”

Well he didn’t sound too pleased with her judging by that fine. Not that she could really blame him, but he could still talk to her about things. Yes, she had avoided him instead of talking to him about what was going on with her, but at least she was being honest now. Once she was with Peeta she rarely held back, it just didn’t feel right. However she dropped the subject for now he clearly didn’t want to discuss it further.

And then he was laughing. she was glad his mood seemed to improve a bit but still. “It’s not funny!” she protested. “I know I don’t have to worry about it right now, but no matter what I am going to end up hurt. I almost lost you, Peeta.” She was of course referring to the fog and she never wanted to have to go through that fear again. Yes it had all turned out okay, but who knew what would have happened if she wasn’t there? At some point or another she was going to end up alone.

The protest only made him laugh a little louder before he moved to wrap his arms around her and hold her closer, “I know, Caroline, I wouldn’t have survived if it hadn’t been for you. But sometimes you need to take the pain to get the good. We could have the most amazing relationship in the world, but you would never know because you’re scared. Every day I spend with you is worth it and I want you to feel the same way. You don’t think I haven’t thought about the idea of you staying young and I have to get old? It’s not fair to either of us and who knows what could happen in the next decade or two.”

He reached a hand up to brush some hair out of her face as he studied her. He wasn’t going down without a fight nor would he allow her to do the same. This was something special and they should give it a chance. “You’re going to ruin me if you break up with me now, Caroline. You can’t keep running scared and I’m not going to let you do that. I don’t tell you that I love you lightly and I know you don’t say it lightly either. We’re going to be okay, I promise,” he moved his arm back to around her and held on tight.

More laughter? Really? So rude of her boyfriend. This was no laughing matter. He did have a point. He was worth it, spending time with him was worth it. But every day she grew more attached, fell more in love and it was scary as hell. Even if the end wasn’t inevitable it was still scary she didn’t like being this vulnerable or have things out of her control.

Why did Peeta have to make such good points all the time? It wasn’t fair. “But everyday I spend with you we just grow closer. I get more attached.” This wasn’t going to end well for her, she knew it. But maybe she should just take the happiness as she could. “You can’t promise that,” she frowned. Yes, she was slowly coming because Peeta was just too difficult to resist which was part of why she was avoiding him. This really wasn’t something she needed to worry about now even if she couldn’t help it. Things were still so new and great with him, she shouldn’t worry about the future so much. “Are those for me?” she asked referring to the flowers, but really who else would they be for?

“I can promise that we’ll be happy together. That I’m willing to take this one day at a time if you want, but I want you to try and forget about the immortal thing. If you keep thinking about it then you’re just going to focus on the gloom of that and not enjoy what you’re experience. Carpe diem, Caroline,” that was probably the simplest way to put it. He wanted Caroline to try and focus on just living her life right now and not think about how the future could end up. He had no idea what he was going to do within the next year, let alone twenty years from now. Maybe if he continued to age he would just play her off as his trophy wife in the future. But he could also potentially come around and ask to be turned into a vampire by her. You couldn’t predict the future.

“And of course they’re for you, but only if you want to continue being my girlfriend and there might be another question if you say yes to that one,” Peeta commented as he moved to grab the flowers that he had set on the bench behind him.

It was a little difficult not to think about it. Especially when she had seen Peeta almost die. She was always going to worry about him, even with him having a vial of her blood. Scary shit happened all the time around here, life threatening at times. Not really for her unless the whole place like caught on fire or something, but it definitely was for Peeta. “I’ll try not to focus on it,” she agreed. She knew it would just make her miserable and she wanted to be happy and enjoy her time with her boyfriend. It was time she got back to looking on the bright side. “But, you have to promise to be more careful.” Of course she understood why he had to fight when his dreams invaded, she wasn’t mad at him for it, but still she needed him to be safe.

“Fine,” she said teasingly. “I’ll still be your girlfriend. But I make no promises on this other question.”

“I promise that I will be more careful. I haven’t really done anything like that since I got blown up, so it’s not really a trend I’m planning on keeping. I’ll do my best to stay safe next time, but I’m going to try and help out. I need to embrace what’s going on and not let it rule my mind by being afraid that everything is going to go to shit again,” Peeta didn’t really talk much about the PTSD that he had, which was mild at times, but slowly flaring back up after the Panem incident here. But he would do anything to soothe Caroline because she was far more important to him than he had realized.

“Well,” he paused briefly as moved to bring the flowers in between them and allowed her to take them, “I just wanted to ask what you thought about moving in with me. I was hoping to ask you after everything happened, but you ghosted. I like being around you, it’s soothing in a way, and I know your housing situation right now isn’t completely ideal.”

Peeta wouldn’t be the guy she fell for if he didn’t want to help out. She knew she couldn’t expect him to just sit by and let bad things happen in this place. But she was always going to worry. The thought of something happening to him was scary as hell. “Just make sure you at least have my blood with you.” That would heal him if he needed it, as long as he had enough strength to drink it.

“I get the flowers before the question?” she teased as she accepted the flowers from him. A part of her couldn’t believe he had brought them for her when she had been so rude to him the past few days. Seriously she didn’t deserve Peeta sometimes.

And then there was the question. She didn’t exactly know what to say. Of course she had thought about it. She already spent the majority of her time there anyway and after staying with him for two weeks straight going back home had been more difficult than she expected. It made the most sense to just stay there, permanently and a part of her really wanted to. Plus then she could always make sure Peeta was safe but there was just one problem. “You have to meet my mom,” which okay that probably didn’t make much sense as her first response to his question, but she couldn’t just move in with a guy her mother didn’t even know.

“I keep it wrapped up in bubble wrap in my pocket,” he commented with a small chuckle. There really was no other way to bring it around with him, but he was more than happy to bring it around just in case. It wasn’t every day that you had a girlfriend that could heal you easily and you didn’t want to make her continue to worry about you. It apparently had weighed on her mind that he was breakable and he was going to do his best to be less so now.

“I’m feeling generous,” he retorted with a small smile. He just wanted to give her the flowers and he bought them because he thought he had done something wrong. He was not above groveling with gifts if he had to. If he had realized it was all her doing then he probably would have told her to bring him flowers, okay - maybe not really.

That response was unexpected and it took Peeta moment to process it before he let out a chuckle, “I would love to meet your mom, but that probably means you should meet my parents.” They should probably get that part of this over with since they were about to get a little more serious, but he counted her response in the positive column since she hadn’t flat out told him no. He would probably gather up the necessary paperwork from his landlord in order to add her to the lease and he was more than happy to move things around for her.

Peeta was very breakable, especially compared to her. While she would always heal him, she couldn’t be around him 24/7. They each had their own lives to live. So having him having her blood was really the best option. It didn’t completely take her worries but definitely helped. And it did mean a lot to her that he took it seriously and kept it with him.

“Maybe I should avoid you more often if it means flowers,” she teased again. But really she didn’t want to do that, it hadn’t exactly been easy. However, she would bring him flowers if he really wanted. Maybe some chocolate too.

There he went laughing at her again. Not that she really minded, she did realize her response didn’t make much sense. “I can’t move in with a guy my mom doesn’t know,” she explained. She was sure her mom would love Peeta, but it just felt wrong to do to her mother. Of course Liz knew of Peeta but that wasn’t exactly the same thing. “But I do want to meet your parents too.” That was intimidating of course, more so than meeting his friends but if they were going to live together it was definitely time.

“No more avoiding. I should have figured it out by now that when you distance yourself it’s something going on in your head. Your vampire logic is getting the best of you,” he commented with a good natured smile. He was slowly picking up on things about her and it would make this relationship hopefully a lot easier to figure out. They didn’t have a complete future mapped out, but he was happy with how things were going so far and he wasn’t going to just let them end because of something that wasn’t a major factor at the moment.

“You’re a good daughter. And perfect, we can plan out when we want this to happen and then when you want to move in,” he was fine with taking it slowly before they officially moved in because he knew this was a big step for her. He didn’t really have to do too much, “Now it’s finally time for my favorite part of a fight.” With that he leaned into her and kissed her deeply. Making up was so much better after they got everything figured out. Caroline made him quite happy and he wasn’t ready to give up on this relationship just yet. It was good that they went through these things together though because it only strengthened them.

He was right on that one. This wasn’t the first time she had tried to pull away from Peeta. She was lucky that he never let her though. Although she might have come around eventually. She needed to stop letting her fear get the best of her. They made each other happy and that was what mattered. “Well hopefully it won’t happen again.” She couldn’t promise but she was certainly going to try and Peeta did know how to handle it so at least there was that.

Peeta was going to have a clear out a lot of space for her. Caroline came with her fair share of clothes. But that could all be figured out later. As well as the meeting parents situation. She would much rather move on to Peeta’s favorite part of the fight. It was hers as well. She returned the kiss, wrapping her arms around him. flowers still in hand. It had been way too long since she last felt Peeta’s lips against hers. She had seriously missed this. And while she would be content to just keep kissing him on the bench there was something else she missed. “What do you say we take this back to your place?”

“Don’t you mean our place?” Peeta commented playfully as he leaned in to kiss her once again. Going back to his place sounded fantastic and after they had their fun they could start looking the place over. He was willing to clear out some space or he could even talk to his landlord to see if a bigger place was available. She could have a whole closet in one bedroom if they went that way. But that was for another time and right now he just wanted to enjoy kissing Caroline.