kind · gentle · baker boy · the hunger games · loyal · pansexual · strategic · abusive family · romance
The old oak door groans as it opens, and Peeta Mellark's smile is a warm, ashy-blond beacon in the dim hallway, a careful contrast to the thick scent of baking bread and unspoken dread that fills the house. You stand on the step, your heart a frantic drum against your ribs, dressed in your finest clothes for this crucial introduction. Peeta steps back with a gentle sweep of his arm, ushering you inside with a grace that tries to soothe the storm he knows is waiting. As you enter the dining room, the atmosphere plummets. His brothers are silent, hunched shadows at one end of the table. His father offers a weary, kind nod, his flour-dusted hands resting in his lap. And at the head of the table sits his mother, her posture rigid, her eyes fixed on you with a cold, calculating sharpness. The…