♡︎ Bakers Boy ♡︎ (Peeta Mellark x Male Reader)

Chapter 2: Saying Good-Bye

"Peeta Mellark." Effie's voice, loud and clear, spoke into the Microphone. My heart dropped. "No." I whispered to myself. I watch him as he makes his way toward the stage.The shock of the moment is registering on his face, you can see his struggle to remain emotionless, but his hazel eyes show the alarm I've seen so often in prey. Yet he climbs steadily onto the stage and takes his place

Only one thing was going through my head. The fact that I would probably have to kill Peeta. But I can't kill him. I just... I can't. We just became friends and I've treasured every interaction we've had in my heart. I can't just kill him like that. I think I... I think I love him

"Here we are! Our tributes from District 12. Well, go on, you two, shake hands." Effie says before backing up. I turn my body and stare into his eyes. I stare at him for a second before shaking his firm, warm hand and mouthing the words 'i'm sorry'. He gave me hand, what I assume, is a reassuring squeeze before letting go and we were taken into the front doors of the Justice Building

Once inside, i'm conducted to a room and left alone. It's the richest place I've ever been in, with thick, deep carpets and a velvet couch and chairs. It was time for the tributes to say good-bye to their loved ones. I cannot afford to get upset, to leave this room with puffy eyes and a red nose. Crying is not an option. There will definitely be more cameras at the train station

Suddenly, the doors opened and a peacekeeper tells whoever walked in has 3 minutes. I turned around to see Katniss and her family. Katniss was the first to walk up to me and give me a bone crushing hug. "I'm so sorry." Katniss tells me. "It's okay. It's okay." I reassured her. We let go of the hug and I held onto her shoulders

"You're gonna win. You can hunt. You're more skilled than me!" Katniss told me, a tear falling from her eye. I weakly chuckled and gave her another tight hug before Prim ran into my legs, beginning to cry. "Oh. Prim." I crouched down and gave her a lingering hug. "You're gonna be okay Prim. You have Katniss with you." I caressed her head as she started crying into my shoulder. I let her cry for a few seconds before letting go of the hug and wiping away her tears

"Just try to win. Maybe you can" She sobbed. "Maybe I can. I am smart ya know." I started playing with her braids. Then she gave me a pin. "What is this?" I asked, gently grabbing it from her fingers. "It's a MockingJay pin. To protect you." She said softly. I smiled and closed my fingers around the pin. I kissed her forehead and gave her another hug before thanking her and standing up

Then, it was her mother. I never really had a close relationship with Katniss's mother. I walked up to her and gave her a hug. "Good luck." She whispered to me. I let go of the hug and gave her a weak smile "Thank you." I responded. Then, the peacekeepers walked in and said it was time. Katniss gave me one final hug before she was lead out, prim was crying and her mother didn't show expression

"I love you!" I shouted before the door finally closed. I sat down and sighed in frustration before the door opened again. When I look up, I'm surprised to see it's the baker, Peeta's father. I can't believe he came to visit me. I mean, I'll be trying to kill his son soon. What am I saying? I'm not gonna kill Peeta (A/N: This next part will be inspired by the books)

He walks in and awkwardly sits on the edge of one of the plush chairs. He must've just said goodbye to Peeta. He pulls a white paper package from his jacket pocket and holds it out to me. I open it and find cookies. These are a luxury we can never afford. "Thank you." I say. He nods his head and takes a deep breath before looking towards the floor. After a couple seconds of awkward silence I finally spoke up

"I'll protect him." I blurted, fidgeting with a cookie. He looked up from the floor and I could tell his face relaxed a little. "You will?" He asked. "I promise." I smiled and I could see he visibly got less tense. "Peeta has always been... a special boy." Mr. Mellark spoke. "He is. He's very special." A smile crept on my face as I remembered all the time we spent together alone at the bakery. The way he laughed, the way he would get worried if I accidentally slipped on flour, the look on his eyes when we made eye contact

We stopped talking and sat in silence until the peacekeeper came into the room about his time being up. I quickly ran over to Mr. Mellark and gave him a firm handshake "I won't let anyone hurt him." I reassured him. He smiled and the peacekeeper lead him out the door

After some time, we were lead into a car. It wasn't that far of a ride from the train. I tried to talk to Peeta, or at least give him a hug, but the peacekeepers kept us apart. When we got into the car Effie started talking about the train. I looked over Effie's shoulder and saw Peeta's face scrunch up, beginning to cry

He looked out the window, trying not to show his face but it was too late. I already saw. I tried to find a way to comfort him when an idea came to my head. I put my arm behind our seats and put my hand on Peeta's shoulder, trying my best to not touch Effie. I rubbed my thumb back and forth. He didn't look in my direction but I could tell that his shoulders loosened and his breathing was calming down

     The car ride was over and we arrived at the train. Peacekeepers took us out the car and held our arms as they lead us to the train. We have to stand for a few minutes in the doorway of the train while the cameras gobble up our images, then we're allowed inside and the doors close mercifully behind us. The train begins to move at once

     We slowly walked into a room and I was amazed by the decoration. I felt like I was royalty, it was even fancier than the Justice Building rooms. There were drinks, food, fancy chairs, tables, and crystal chandeliers

     Effie sat us down and started talking. "200 miles per hour and you can barely feel a thing. I think it's one of the wonderful things about this opportunity, that even though you're here and even though it's just for a little while. You get to enjoy all of this!" She spoke enthusiastically

     We sat in silence for a couple more seconds before she arose up from her seat. "I'm going to find Haymitch. He's probably in the bar car." She said before leaving room, leaving Peeta and I in the room alone