[FIC]: My Eyes Were Blind

[misspopuri]

Title: My Eyes Were Blind
Author: misspopuri
Fandom: Hunger Games
Prompt: Blind Date for hs_bingo
Characters/Pairing: Katniss/Peeta; Johanna
Summary: Present-day!AU, Katniss discovers she has a blind date set up by her best friend, Johanna Mason.
Disclaimer: I only own the Hunger Games books not the characters themselves.


Sitting on my bed, patiently waiting for Johanna to finish primping my hair, she pokes me in the ribs gently. I know what she was trying to do. She needs me to be happy about the date she set up for me. It isn’t that I’m not happy to oblige her, but blind dates don’t always go very well. Trying to force a smile out of me, it is no easier than dragging a horse to water.

She stands up and leans away from me to admire her work. It wasn’t in my nature to say anything, so she says, “I know you don’t like being set up, but this guy really likes you.” She adds rather coyly, “If he was a few inches taller, I would be all over him myself.”

I roll my eyes at Johanna and stick my tongue out at her. She has to add that because since she moved here from Fort Bragg, California—where her father was laid off due to budget cuts in housing construction. She’s had to adjust to not only a small town, but everything that goes with it. I have to keep telling myself that she’s a good person despite her obvious flaws in judgment and tact.

“Well, anyway, I should probably stop saying anything and let you get to it,” she acquiesces, pulling me to my feet and spinning me around to face the full-length mirror, “you look breathtaking. You can thank the editors at Cosmopolitan for their insight.”

I stare at myself in the mirror. With Johanna right behind, I’m self conscious of looking like a complete idiot let alone breathtaking. My mouth opens before I get the chance to think, “If you say so…”

Gasping, Johanna turns me around to face her, both hands on my shoulders. “You will be marvelous tonight, and I know this for a fact.”

Her closeness unnerves me, so I lean back to question her further, “How am I supposed to know who my date is if you don’t tell me?”

Johanna throws up her hands in exasperation. Her brows creasing in the way that would give anyone wrinkles, looking like she was almost ready to punch the mirror next to her; fortunately, she takes some deep breaths before saying, “I have set up a reservation for you and your date at Machellino’s under the name Mason. This was to ensure that you don’t bail on me with this date.”

Now it was my turn to express my exasperation. I say, “Why do you think I will bail on this date?”

She only raises her left eyebrow in earnest. Of course, she knows exactly what I would do if I knew the name of my date.

“Why didn’t you put it under my name instead?”

“Katniss, I have about had it. You will go now or so help me.”

She directs me towards the door, and I have no choice but to leave.

-

I’m inside the lobby of Machellino’s, and I can’t help feeling exposed all of a sudden. If anything bad happens to me tonight, it will be Johanna Mason’s head on a platter, I could guarantee that much. The hostess greets me by asking, “How many tonight?”
Softly, I whisper, “I have a reservation under Mason.”

The hostess, nametag reads Holliday, says kindly, picking up one menu, “Right this way, your date is already waiting.”

I wipe my hands on the flouncy skirt Johanna had the nerve to put on me. At least, I said no to the revealing low-cut silk top she wanted.

Holliday, noticing my unease, says, “First date?”

I didn’t have the nerve to tell her that it was a blind date. So I unwittingly shook my head, yes.

Smiling, she leads me down the little hallway towards the back of the restaurant. The layout was an even more complex version of Olive Garden. She answers my nod, “Don’t worry, he is quite handsome.”

The blanket statement unnerves me. This is the second time tonight where another female has commented on how handsome this guy is, and I have no idea who they are talking about in the first place.

“Ah, here we are,” Holliday says, having bypassed the busy dining room setting. We are in one of the private rooms with only a few tables. Yes, I will definitely be killing Johanna tomorrow for this extravagance. “What a gentleman you are, young man, standing up when your lady walks in.” Holliday waves me forward and exits the room.

As I was too busy being lost in thought, I forgot to notice who was waiting for me. Short blonde hair, neatly combed, no hair gel. Thank God, I can’t stand the guys at school who use the stuff. When I get to his eyes, the bright blues looking back at me are familiar and kind. If he smiles, I barely notice because his eyes are so stunning. The boy is Peeta Mellark—the one in my history and math classes—he has been waiting for me. Definitely not Johanna’s type with his medium build, but I had better watch Holliday. She’s not much older than 18 from the looks of it.

“Would you like a seat, Katniss?”

He knows my name. Of course he does, he wouldn’t have conspired with Johanna if he didn’t. Never really saying a word in school, he always remains distant from everybody. I sit down in the seat he has pulled out for me, and he goes back to sitting in his original seat.

Another waitress comes up to take our orders. She leaves and I finally have the nerve to say something to Peeta.

He stops me before I get the chance to speak, “I know what you are probably thinking right now.”

This unexpected interruption leaves me without a voice for a second.

“Johanna has some explaining to, doesn’t she?”

I let out a little laugh, smiling at him. He has no idea how much I want to get back at her for this trick.

Peeta clears his throat and says, “It isn’t entirely her fault. She twisted it out of me when she caught me staring at you during History last week.”
Speechless, I am calmly listening to Peeta as he explains his story further. Johanna finds out about his crush, and she wants to set me up with him. Sometimes her intentions are a bit misguided, and I still am frustrated with her.

When the pasta dishes arrive, I ask, “Do you think Johanna is a blowhard?” It seems odd to call my friend that, but I have no regrets.

In between bites of pasta, Peeta burst out laughing—almost choking on his fork before he pulled it out and set it aside. He takes a sip of water to calm himself.

“I didn’t think girls talked like that about each other,” he says, “even as friends.”

“If you want to hear vicious, you should try to become a fly to be able to listen to what goes on in the girls’ locker room.”

Peeta laughs again, “I know what you mean, my older brothers’ girlfriends can be quite testy when they come over to our house. Why do you do it?”

I had never been asked this question before, and it catches me off guard. I shrug my shoulders, there is no answer.

“Johanna tries too hard, but she does everything through her best intentions,” Peeta says, “not everyone likes her methods, but she cares about people despite her motives.”

To repent of my earlier outburst, I agree with him about my friend. We share briefly a look between us before I look down and concentrate on my pasta.

We eat the rest of our dinner in silence, and he escorts me his car to drive me home. He gets in the driver’s seat and turns to ask me one question. “Can I show you something?”

Silently I nod my head, he starts the car and drives past my house, out of town. When we stop, we are at the secluded area of our town’s public lake. He takes my hand as I exit his car and escorts me to picnic table overlooking the water.

“Why did you bring me here?” My voice comes in no louder than whisper, but Peeta merely smiles, pointing towards the moon hanging above the water.

The moon shone bright and full tonight over Lake Piedmont. Overcome by the majestic sight, I leaned back against the picnic table to catch my balance.

“This is my favorite spot to come during the full moon,” his voice calmly fell on my ears as I stared at the moon’s reflection bouncing off the ripples in the water.

“It’s beautiful,” I say, turning to look at him.

He blushes and says, “Not as beautiful as you, Katniss.”

Catching my hand, he squeezes it firmly and warmly in his own. I was about to contemplate pulling away, but then he closes the distance between us. His lips almost even with mine as they touch briefly, his left hand lightly touching my cheek, I felt a blush creep onto my face where his hand lingered, brushing his thumb across my lips.

His second kiss was deeper than the first, using his other hand to pull me closer to him. Not sure what to do with my hands, I rest them loosely on his shoulders.

For all the grief I had given Johanna about setting me up on a blind date, this wasn’t bad at all.

I could get used to this.