I own nothing.

Rated for language and sexual situations.

In olden times, sacrifices were made at the altar, a practice that still continues today.

Katniss rubbed her hand nervously on the side of her skirt, the soft, nubby fabric repetitively sliding against her palm a weak yet comforting anchor against the storm around her. Grey eyes locked on blue across the room, and she felt her face burn with the agony of knowing that neither she nor Peeta were in control of their own destinies.

I'm sorry, he mouthed, his lips twisted in a grimace.

It was a mockery of the brilliant, untainted smile her best friend flashed daily.

All because of her.

"Is it really necessary for them to marry now, though?" Grandfather asked from his position beside her on the couch, valiantly ignoring the stony glare her grandmother shot his way. Katniss tried to quell the surprise on her face, knowing his timid argument was futile, but still stunned and grateful that someone was attempting to fight in her corner in even a small way. "We'd rather prefer for Katniss to finish school."

"Surely she can still finish school," Bran Mellark agreed quietly from across the room, looking at his scowling wife and faltering at her expression. Peeta sat uncomfortably between them, his blonde curls brushed back and his double-knotted dress shoes gleaming under the artificial lights that only a merchant could afford in District 12.

Katniss knew Peeta's father to be a kind man, and recognized that on some level he was against the current situation, but the marriage of his youngest child to the granddaughter of one of the most prestigious and respected merchants in town was too dear of an opportunity to pass up for even the most noble of persons. Especially considering the current hard times- especially in District 12, where relative wealth and luxury was practically unheard of. The merging of the only bakery and apothecary shops in the district would be a grand coup for both families.

Katniss also knew that the real people running this agreement were the family matrons, both equally hard-nosed in business and ruthless for the bottom line- her grandmother, Drea Stone, and Peeta's mother, Lissah Mellark.

"I want this done," Mrs. Mellark stated flatly, the picture of an immoveable business woman.

Katniss had never hated her more.

She continued mercilessly, "Toasting and consummation, paper work filed in the morning at the Justice Building. No room for error or last minute double dealings, as Lorelai did to my husband."

"If she gets pregnant immediately," Grandmother interjected bluntly, ignoring the slight to her late daughter, "things could change and she might have to leave the school. Stone's are not trash with incomplete educations." But I'm an Everdeen! Katniss resisted the urge to shout, her familial pride outweighed by the embarrassment and horror at the pregnancy inference. Not real, not real¸ she chanted to herself. This cannot be real. She looked everywhere but Peeta's face.

She was thankful that her sister was at a neighbor's house and not witnessing this humiliation.

"But it's not our son that we have to worry about running off into those godforsaken woods with Seam brats at any given time," Mrs. Mellark sniffed, her lip curling. "The girl really cannot be trusted to fulfill a long-term deal."

Katniss gritted her teeth and literally bit her tongue at the thinly veiled insult that shot darts into her friend Gale, her heritage, and the very forest that had given her family sustenance and a way of life. Her grandparents- grandmother, really, made it clear that any defiant acts at this meeting would be directly taken out on her sister Prim. Her precious little sister had already suffered enough on her account, and she would never let it happen again.

It was a year ago when she quickly slipped into a pair of trousers and a ragged shirt that would have made her conservative, old-fashioned grandmother scream upon sight. She reached into the very back of her closest and withdrew her hunting jacket for good measure; it was one of the only tangible remnants of her father that she had left, and when she slipped it on, she felt longing for the woods. She was taking a large risk, planning to be gone this long, and prayed that both her grandparents would linger at the apothecary for the duration of the day's business hours.

It was one of the only upsides to the strict belief that her guardians held in regard to the apothecary being open every day of the week. They spent Sundays brewing and measuring and grounding ingredients that would become the thick syrups, pills and salves that not only multiple other districts, but even the Capitol on occasion, were known to buy. Katniss, though skilled at the work after over five years of intense training and scrutinizing by her grandparents, was not yet trusted to make some of the more difficult medicines that sold out during the week, and Prim wasn't even considered an option after she had dropped an especially expensive draught of cough syrup onto the hard stone of the apothecary floor during one of her first training days in the family business. This was one of the only days of the week that they did not actively dictate where, when and with whom Katniss spent her time, and while Prim was safely playing at a friend's house, she was bound and determined to spend the day in the forest with her best friend Gale Hawthorne. With any luck, and they did come home early, they would assume that she was with her friend Madge. She was the daughter of the Mayor, and someone they heartily approved of.

Her grandmother actively hated Gale. Her grandfather hated him only slightly less. They both despised everything that had to do with the Seam, and the life that they blamed for causing their only daughter to run away with a coal miner and cast shame upon the Stone family name—though, it had been Lorelai who had suffered the most, burdened heavily with the loss of her family and every merchant friend that she had ever had. When Darvin Everdeen died in a mining accident, Lorelai followed soon after, and Drea and Tram Stone had their bitter confirmation that the Seam was a horrid, disgusting place that would no longer hold any influence over Katniss and Prim, their granddaughters and new wards.

She swiftly treaded downstairs and out the front door of the house, quickly looking left and right, hyper aware of any and all eyes that might be on her. Despite the early hour, she knew many were eager to report her comings and goings in hopes of a spare coin slipped into their pockets by her overbearing grandmother. Luckily their house was at the end of the merchant district, and the forest that she was about to slide into was directly behind their house. The apothecary was attached to the other side of the house, out of the line of sight from her escape path into the woods where she would meet Gale at their designated rock.

Just as she was stepping off the porch, she turned towards Mellark's Bakery, which was adjacent to Stone Apothecary. She made eye contact with the baker's youngest son, Peeta Mellark, who was taking out the trash. He was also her neighbor and best friend in town. Peeta raised an eyebrow at her outfit and quirked his lips. Katniss threw her finger up to her lips and smiled back. She saw a shadow move behind him, and her eyes widened with fear that his mother would see her clothing and waste no time in sounding the alarm on her. Peeta correctly read the panic on her face and wasted no time in ripping the bag in his hands, sending a flurry of trash all over the bakery steps and ground.

Katniss would have laughed at the diversion if not for the rolling pin that came swiftly down with a crack on Peeta's cheek, punishment for his clumsy fingers. She slapped her hand over her mouth to stop a scream, filled with horror and concern for her friend. She wanted to help him but knew that there was nothing she could do. I'll be wasting his sacrifice, she told herself as she slipped into the forest and under the fence that lead to Gale. There was nothing I could do, she thought as she retrieved her father's bow from the log that sheltered the weapon during the week. It was all my fault, she agonized as she misfired yet another shot at a squirrel, ignoring Gale's incredulous stare.

In the end, she should have just stayed home. She was restless and guilty over Peeta all day, which angered Gale, and their tense stand-off scared most of the game away. She helped him collect the haul from his snares to take back to his family, as she didn't need it anymore, and practically ran back to town, anxious to check on Peeta.

She knew she was in trouble when she saw all the lights on in the front window of her house. She was greeted by a stern faced grandfather and fuming grandmother. Mrs. Mellark had seen her after all.

They dragged Prim back from her friend's house and made her stand in the corner as they ranted and raved at Katniss for what seemed like hours. They forbade her to ever go into the woods again. She would work in the apothecary every Sunday from then on. They made arrangements to sell Prim's goat, Lady, which was tethered in a meadow close to the woods. Obviously too close for comfort. Katniss heard Prim's heartbroken whimpers from the corner, and died inside. They threatened to drown Prim's rotten old cat, Buttercup, if they ever caught her with Gale again—no loss to Katniss, but a devastating blow to Prim. It became clear that Katniss' shortcomings would now be Prim's as well.

They made her burn her father's hunting jacket in a barrel by the street, curious townsfolk watching Katniss as she was forced to stand by and tend the flames. She refused to cry.

She looked at the bakery and saw Peeta's miserable, bruised face staring at her from his window.

She blew a kiss at him.

He smiled.

She broke out of reverie and watched in silence as Mrs. Mellark looked at her husband for support. When he glanced away, the woman scowled and continued, "We have more to lose in this deal if things go sour."

Her grandmother considered this before nodding her head, her silver hair shimmering under the artificial light. "I suppose it doesn't matter if she graduates," she conceded, albeit reluctantly. "Her only expectations are to continue her apprenticeship to the apothecary and bear strong sons-"

"Or daughters," Mrs. Mellark interjected quickly. Katniss' eyes widened as she saw what was almost a glint of excitement in the normally cold eyes of the woman. That harpy wants a granddaughter. It would almost be endearing, if it wasn't so disgusting and horrifying that they were speaking about her and Peeta as if they were breeding cattle from District 10. If Katniss hadn't decided years ago that she would rather eat a handful of nightlock than bring a child into this godforsaken world, where hunger and starvation reigned. If Mrs. Mellark hadn't taken out her impotent desire for a daughter on Peeta practically every day for the entire eighteen years of his life, as if he were to blame for not being born a girl.

No. Not endearing at all.

"Or daughters," Grandmother agreed in the background, "to take over the bakery and apothecary in the future to come."

"So are we agreed?" Mrs. Mellark pressed. The bakery matron looked out the window, her nose wrinkling as if the very sight of the forest offended her merchant sensibilities. "We've already had offers from quite a few daughters of merchant families," she continued slyly, surely not missing the narrowing of Katniss' grandmother's eyes. "If we wait too long, and she backs out to marry a coal miner," Peeta's mother gestured towards the girl in question, "then we will have missed an opportunity. Most everyone will have secured spouses and apprenticeships before the final school bell rings this year, and will not be looking to make arrangements anymore."

Both Peeta and Katniss' eyes flew to regard Mr. Mellark. The coal miner comment was clearly a stab at Katniss' own mother, who had been slated to marry him before she had fallen in love with Darvin Everdeen. It was fairly common knowledge in the District that her mother had slighted Peeta's father, and ruined a marriage agreement between the Stone's and Mellark's years prior. She suspected that pride and debt honor, both strong motivators in District 12, were as much to blame for her grandparent's push for this particular arrangement as the business benefits were.

"Now Lissah," Grandmother scoffed, the corner of her mouth twisting downward, "You know that they can't offer you even half of what we're abl- "

Katniss tuned out as she saw the alarmed dismay growing exponentially in Peeta's eyes and suddenly, inexplicably felt the helplessness crash around her. She knew then that the future was never really an option, that choice was an illusion, and that she would never let Peeta fall prey to the horror of a miserable marriage like his parents, to one of those vapid, self-centered bitches at school.

Katniss tried hard not to tremble as she approached the lunch room at school, sitting down at the first empty table she saw. She was almost thirteen, and it was her first day back after the death of her parents and her move from the Seam. Her first day as a "townie." She had been effectively blacklisted by the Seam kids, and ignored by the merchant students. Katniss had always prided herself by being thick-skinned, but today was hard. Gale was two years ahead of her and had a different lunch period. Leevy and the rest of her former friends were openly mocking her new, clean clothes that spoke of expert tailoring, the very best that her grandparents could afford. Girls like Shira Clash, the butcher's daughter, and Andes Ladd, whose dad owned the grocery down the street from her house, laughed behind their hand, their eyes filled with an emotion that Katniss had never seen shot her way before.

"They're jealous," came a matter-of-fact voice, followed by the clanging of a lunch pail dropped across from her.

Her stunned grey eyes flew up to meet the bright blue ones of Peeta Mellark.

"What?" she choked out, not sure why one of the most popular merchant boys in school was sitting with her. She made eye contact with Andes and Shira over his shoulder, and saw the outrage and shock on their face. She had seen them following Peeta around the school yard for years now, giggling like idiots and trying to run their hands through his blond curls.

"Seriously, you're pretty and smart and they don't know how to handle that," he shrugged, smiling at her in a strangely shy way, especially after coming over so boldly and calling her pretty.

"Why are you sitting with me?" she asked harshly.

"Because you're my new neighbor. And I want to be friends. I always have," he said with startling honesty, unpacking his lunch neatly and efficiently. He unwrapped a square of cellophane, revealing two cookies designed with delicate swirls of icing. He slid one her way casually.

"Thank you," she said quietly, touched. He looked up and flashed her another smile.

"You're never getting rid of me now."

And she didn't. No amount of cajoling from his friends could convince him to abandon her. Soon Madge Undersee and Delly Cartwright joined their little group, and by the next year, their table became "the" merchant kids table. Sometimes she missed Leevy and her old friends.

Katniss would always hate Shira Clash and Andes Ladd.

She felt as if her heart was going to beat out of her chest, and the nauseating taste of panic and fear permeated her tongue. Katniss noticed that Peeta's hands were clenched tightly in his lap, and wished she could at least offer him the comfort of her fingers threaded through his own. She yanked on her braid reflexively to the rhythm of his clenching hands, and suddenly felt an odd calm wash over her.

She spoke before really working out a response. It was so quiet, and the words came out as more of a croak, but every head turned to stare in her direction- each face full of a different sort of emotion: greed, pensiveness, definitive sadness, and worst of all: one of longing despair.

"What?" Grandmother demanded. "Speak up, girl."

"I said, we'll do it," she responded hoarsely, feeling her face turning bright red at even the implication of she was she agreeing to. Lissah Mellark's face flooded with triumph. "I don't want to argue about this anymore."

"Katniss, no," Peeta cried, his face an innocent mask of sadness and confusion. His mother's eyes widened almost comically, and then flattened with anger as she stood up to face her son. "You don't-"

Katniss saw what was about to happen; had seen it enough times by now to recognize the signs. "Shut up you stupid boy!-" Mrs. Mellark raised her hand as if to smack him across the face, but Katniss was already flying across the room, flinging the older woman's hand backwards.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE," Katniss demanded shakily, interrupting Peeta's mother, who was practically convulsing with shock and anger at the bold, physical move against her. "After tonight, after we're married, you are never going to lay a hand on your son again."

"We'll consummate now. Sign the marriage certificate tomorrow. But I'm not having a toasting without Prim, Duff and Mill," she said coldly, thinking of their siblings. "We'll do that later." Peeta's mouth dropped open at her words. Katniss needed him to go with this. She knew it was selfish, but she could not marry some awful merchant boy like Linwood Tarlin or Garvey Talp. And you would die if Peeta married some townie bitch like Shira, a treacherous part of her whispered, before she pushed it deep down inside herself.

"Now get out and give us our privacy," she said with flat authority, hoping that they'd at least heed her request to go to the bakery and leave them to get through this night alone.

She held out a hand to the stunned blond boy. He stared up at her, and she could practically read his mind. They had perfected the art of non-verbal communication years ago.

What are you doing, Katniss?

Please just take my hand, she begged him with her eyes. "Come with me," her mouth moved without her knowledge. "Please Peeta. Just come upstairs."

Just as she thought that he might refuse, and both their futures were lost to the unknown, his hand slipped into hers.

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Drama, drama!

This is clearly very much an AU and not Hunger Games compliant at all. Peeta is eighteen, Katniss is almost eighteen, and they're past the reapings. It will have little to no bearing on this story as far as our main characters go.

Review and you'll get a preview of Chapter Two and a cookie.

xoxo