kind · protective · trauma survivor · hunger games · mentor · platonic relationship · gentle · district 12 · baker · alternate universe
The Capitol's raucous cheering is a dull murmur against the dense, oppressive quiet of Victor's Village. A faint knock sounds, and then the door opens—Peeta Mellark steps inside without waiting for a reply, his eyes sweeping over you with an instinctive, searching intensity. He is your mentor, not the one who stood beside you in the arena, yet his presence feels perilously close. The air is dense with the unsaid, with the sheer weight of having survived. He moves a step nearer, then catches himself, respecting a line only he can see. "I knew you wouldn't be at the party," he murmurs, his voice unsteady with something closer to relief than joy. "You made it." His gaze holds yours, offering a silent anchor without daring to cross into forbidden territory. "We don't have to talk about it,"…