Part of Me

Chapter One: The Morning After

That damn sun.

Opening her eyes, Katniss glared at the light streaming through her thin curtains; the pounding in her head increasing at the brightness of her white-washed walls. She pushed herself up, feeling her body weighed down by the pain and the nausea.

Her hand went to her head. "Oh God…what the hell did I drink?"

Yesterday had been the best day of her life, after many years of dealing with over-indulgent donors and bitchy sponsors, she was finally promoted to Executive Director of Development for the Panem Art Museum.

Her parents had been supportive about her major in Art History, though she often glimpsed a bit of apprehension in her mother's eyes whenever her career goals had been mentioned. Thankfully, her internship with Effie Trinket, the Chief Director of the museum, had proved fruitful.

Her sister, Prim, had been much more prudent in her career choice, deciding to go into Education. She was now an English and Literature teacher in Panem High School, their alma mater.

Suffice to say, at the ripe age of twenty-four, both Katniss and Prim Everdeen had done moderately well on the career front.

On the drinking side of things, they fucking sucked.

They decided to celebrate with a group of friends at a downtown bar. The Grey Goose flowed…then the Patron—by then, Katniss and her sister were incoherent.

Then, the giant blackout followed—and now this hangover.

Standing slowly, Katniss reached down for her slippers.

Instead, she found her panties.

Why the hell would she take off her panties?

Unless…

Turning, Katniss let out a screech seeing a half-naked man slowly sitting up, his hand on his own head.

"Jesus, Katniss, can you shut your trap so I can gather my thoughts—and my clothes?"

The occupant of her bed was none other than Peeta Mellark, one of Panem Art Museum's largest contributing donors—and her former rival at Panem High School.

Prim opened her eyes slowly.

The room was dim; the blackout curtains keeping her from getting that nauseating headache that one gets after a night of debauchery. Never would she allow Katniss to pick her alcohol; a glass of red wine was her usual choice at bars.

However, Prim could never deny her sister; Katniss had worked her ass off for this promotion.

She tried to sit up but was surprised to discover that an arm was currently wrapped around her waist—her bare waist.

Oh shit.

Usually, her choice of sleepwear were her favorite pair of pajamas, printed with funny little cartoon cats.

Prim never slept naked.

She turned and suddenly screamed seeing the person currently spooning her.

"What the hell?" the man yelped as she scrambled off the bed, falling to the familiar blue carpet.

Prim looked around the room, seeing the black dress that Katniss had let her borrow just a few feet away from her—along with her pink panties.

Their eyes suddenly met, and something crumbled seeing the man standing before her.

"What did we do?" she asked as he helped her up to an unsteady stance.

Gale Hawthorne, Katniss' best friend (besides her), had always been a gentleman.

"Why are you here?"

Katniss reached to the floor, throwing Peeta's dress shirt at him.

"You weren't exactly asking me to leave!" Peeta retorted as he pulled his pants up to his waist. He glared at her through bloodshot eyes. "In fact, I wasn't the one handing out shots like nobody's business."

"Why were you even at The Hob?" Katniss reached for the silk robe on her ottoman, throwing it on and tying the belt tightly around her waist. "Don't you and your uppity friends frequent the more high-end bars? The ones where they offer you hundred-dollar bills to wipe your ass with?"

"Now that's harsh," Peeta pointed out as he buttoned his shirt. "I'm not that much of a dick."

"You were mean to me our entire high school lives!" she argued. "You made fun of my clothes and my hair! And, you were always one-upping me! You just had to be Valedictorian instead of me!"

"Grades don't lie, Katniss," Peeta said easily as he approached her. "And, your hair was a little…frizzy, but you grew out of that." A hand reached to her long waves, his finger wrapping along a tendril. "And well—it was not my fault that you couldn't understand basic chemistry."

Katniss gritted her teeth. "I cannot stand you."

"You stood me pretty well last night." He smirked. "In fact, you stood me up against a bathroom wall while giving me a—"

She held her hand up. "Don't."

Peeta chuckled softly and before Katniss could protest, pressed his mouth fully to hers.

Oh God.

Now Katniss remembered why she hated him.

In just one action, Peeta Mellark always knew how to pull her asunder.

Prim knew that the question sounded idiotic as soon as it left her mouth.

The soreness between her thighs made two things obvious; one, she hadn't had sex in a very long time and two, the grey-eyed man staring back at her was the reason for the ache.

"Katniss is going to kill us," she told him.

"Prim, how is she even going to know?" Gale reasoned calmly, pulling a shirt on and reaching for the boxers tossed haphazardly on the floor. She avoided looking at the area that had caused so much trouble. "Unless you say something, she doesn't have to know."

"Oh, she'll know," Prim replied. "Katniss has always known how to suss things out of me. It's that older twin power that she has!"

Her sister had been four minutes before her and in that four minutes managed to gain rather skillful persuasive powers. She always found ways to convince Prim into doing things that were completely out of her character and often with negative results.

"I understand that." Gale chuckled. "Remember when she made you go out for cheerleading?"

"Yes, and we ended up with three cheerleaders in the hospital after that pyramid debacle," Prim replied. She sat on the bed, her head in her hands. "How could I do something so reckless?"

"Hey…" Gale sat next to her. "It was obviously alcohol to blame on both our ends." Prim lifted her head to look to him. "I would never be so brave to woo the beautiful Primrose Everdeen—unless I was utterly intoxicated." He gave her a half-hearted smile. "I'm no Casanova."

"Oh Gale." Prim sighed. He never really understood the effect he had on her sometimes. "I was never looking for a Casanova."

Prim could never admit that she had always been looking at him.

He put an arm around her. "Do you think we were any good?"

She snorted despite herself.

"Judging by the way I feel totally wrecked down there, I think we did more than good."

Gale laughed, his face brightening, and Prim feel her cheeks warm at the sight.

He lifted her chin. "You're always looking on the bright side."

"Thanks." Prim stood from her seat. "I better get going."

"Do you want me to walk you home?" he offered.

"No, I'd rather that Katniss not kill you as soon as you step into our apartment."

"She would never—"

"Katniss would," Prim told him. "And, she's gotten into a new hobby."

Gale smiled indulgently. "What?"

"Axe-throwing."

Gale's apartment was an easy three blocks away from her own apartment; part of the reason her parents had not been so concerned about her and Katniss living so far from them. The Hawthornes were practically family and her parents felt better knowing that there was a 'big brother' type living just walking distance away from their precious daughters.

Big brother, her ass.

As she headed towards her apartment complex, heels dangling from her fingers and her hair a tangled mess on one side, Prim spotted a figure stepping out of the building.

Something about the person made her hair stand on end and as the person approached, Prim suddenly understood why.

It was Peeta Mellark—looking just as roughed up as she did.

When he was just steps away from her, Peeta suddenly looked up and stopped.

Blond met blonde.

Blue met blue—though her shade had a slight grey hue.

Prim had never had any qualms with Peeta, other than the fact that he always seemed to stir Katniss up in all kinds of ways.

As he was also doing his own walk of shame, it was obvious that Peeta had found a way to stir her sister up once again—hopefully in a less annoying way.

They stared, mid-step, before their pointer fingers drew at one another.

"YOU SAW NOTHING!" they shouted.

Peeta nodded.

She nodded back.

And, they continued on their ways.

Eight Weeks Later…

"As it is Health Week, we have a guest from the Panem Clinic," Prim began. "This is Nurse Johanna Mason and she will be talking to you about—" She took a deep breath. "—safe sex practices."

There was a collective hush of whispers through the class before Johanna stepped up to the front.

"Hello. Like Miss Everdeen said, my name is Johanna Mason," Johanna started. "Today, I'm going to be speaking to you about safe sex practices, followed by a talk about pregnancy as well as some of the services that our clinic offers."

The woman met her eyes and quickly stuck her tongue out.

Johanna was Prim and Katniss' older cousin. However, to them, she was more of a sister and advisor.

Prim stifled a yawn from where she stood to the side of the class. She was recovering from the stomach flu and had spent the two days prior eating crackers and sleeping. Katniss had urged her to see a doctor, but she had put her off. After all, she was a teacher and teenagers were often carriers of some sort of virus.

Her thoughts drifted over the last few weeks since the incident.

She and Gale had agreed to keep their one night together a secret. It had been an accident on both their parts, but at least it had been with one another and not complete strangers.

Or in Katniss' bad luck, a sworn rival—Prim had never mentioned seeing Peeta to her sister.

Prim had tried to dig deep into her memories, trying to grasp some semblance of her night with Gale. She remembered nothing but the feeling of belonging and safety.

Part of her was sad to know that she would never remember, but perhaps it was better this way. Better to not know than to long for something that would never happen again.

"Some of the earlier symptoms of pregnancy include sore, tender breasts, nausea, fatigue…though the most indicative sign of pregnancy is a missed period."

Johanna's words broke through her thoughts and she suddenly scrambled to think when she had her last period.

Prim felt herself sink to the floor.

"What else do you have for me?"

"I have secured the caterers for the Gala," Rue, Katniss' assistant, told her. "They come highly recommended by the Odairs."

"Are Annie and Finnick coming?" she asked.

The Odairs were on the board of directors as well as major donors to the museum. Finnick Odair's family were rooted back to the royals, though the man was just a humble restauranteur. Annie, his wife, had spent years working for Sotherby as a researcher. A lot of the pieces from the museum were found by her; she had a soft spot for the place as she and her grandmother often visited when she was a child.

"They were one of the first to buy tickets," Rue reported. "Along with Peeta Mellark."

"Gag me." Katniss saw the grin on Rue's face. "I wonder which of his many conquests will he be taking."

"Don't be mean," her assistant said. "Peeta is always so nice when he's here. Also…he asked about you last week."

"I can't with that man," she explained. "He was a terror in high school and still is to this day."

There was a knock on her doorway and Effie peeked in, a bright smile on her face.

"Hello!" Her boss looked to her. "Do you have a minute?"

Katniss nodded and stood. "Rue, why don't we finish this later?"

"It's fine," her assistant replied. "I think we're good for now. I'll contact the caterers for the contract, and we can go over it later."

"Perfect." Katniss stepped out of her office, joining Effie. "What's up?"

"It's kind of perfect timing," Effie said as they walked down the private hallway and onto the public floor. "I wanted to talk to you about the Gala. One of our donors has offered assistance as they will be bringing several potential donors for the museum."

"Of course. I could always use more help in planning," Katniss replied. "Rue is great, but I can only put so much on her."

Effie clapped her hands in happiness. "Wonderful! Peeta will be thrilled that you accepted!"

She started, stopping in her tracks. "Peeta? Peeta Mellark?"

Her stomach turned as his name tumbled from her lips.

"Of course, there is only one Peeta." Effie grinned at her. "You know I've always thought that he held a little tendre for you."

Katniss could feel it welling up again, the thought of him stimulating her upchuck reflex.

"We went to high school together…" She placed a hand to her stomach. "…he teased me mercilessly." The churning started and her other hand went to her mouth. "Effie, can you excuse me—"

Katniss rushed away in the direction of the nearest restroom, thankfully right across from where they stood in the gallery. In the ladies room, she found the first stall empty and before even locking it, she threw up all contents of her stomach into the toilet.

Why was the mere mention of Peeta causing this?

Slowly, Katniss stood up and flushed. Emerging from the stall, she went to the sink to wash her hands and caught her reflection in the mirror.

She looked like shit.

Her skin was sallow, and her face looked…fuller?

Something felt different.

Adjusting the buttons on her blazer, Katniss grimaced when she got to her chest and felt a sharp soreness.

"Must be getting my period…" She fixed her makeup in the mirror, wiping the corners of her eyes. "About time, it's been forever."

And then Katniss realized, it had been forever—at least two plus months since her last cycle.

She slammed her palm on the counter. "Damn it!"

It really had to be his baby, didn't it?

"Fucking Peeta Mellark!"

I know I shouldn't be starting anything new, but this just kind of wrote itself.

I'm a big fan of the Bella Twins (look them up if you don't know them, but they're adorable) and when they announced that they were both pregnant, I ,of course, thought—why don't I write a story where Katniss and Prim are twins and get pregnant at the same time?

I know that your face doesn't automatically look fuller earlier on in your pregnancy, but well pregnancy is different for everyone. For me, my hair was the bomb, like full and shiny, during pregnancy, but I also had an unexpected pregnancy allergy to amoxicillin which cause itchiness and rashes all over me.

Anyway, this is the first time in awhile that something is coming out on FFn and AO3 before Tumblr.

I hope you enjoyed this first part and hopefully I'll see you in the next one.

Comments and questions are welcome—here or on Tumblr.

Next: The Appointments

Till the next part, JLaLa