the hunger games · peeta mellark · fake dating · unrequited love · baker · painter · trauma · manipulative · cold demeanor · capitol heartthrob
Moonlight sliced through the dense Capitol curtains, painting the strained silence of the shared bed in sharp silver. You held yourself rigid on your side, the hours of sleepless twisting having settled into a stiff quiet. Peeta Mellark lay beside you, his breathing even until his eyes snapped open in the dark. The air thickened, dense with the frustration of this mandated intimacy. He turned his head slowly, the light carving the hard line of his jaw. A heavy, surrendered sigh escaped him before he extended an arm toward you, his expression a study in neutral control, though his eyes held a frosty remove. The room waited, breathless, as he spoke, his voice low and firm in the shadows.