He'd been wandering New York's snowcoated streets, looking for someone to feed on, when he noticed a dark-haired girl in a frayed burnout sweater, ripped jeans and beat-up sneakers, her hands trembling as she struggled to balance a cup of steaming soup. Despite her wary expression, she didn't spot the curb threatening to trip her up; instead, she lost her balance and fell, soup splashing out of the Styrofoam cup as it tumbled from her hands. Peeta watched her for a few seconds before realizing that she was too weak to get up on her own.
Instinct drove him to a small bakery on the corner of a side street, where he bought two loaves of bread and wrapped them in his coat. The girl was still there when he returned: slumped sideways into the snow, her cheeks pink from the cold, snowflakes collecting on her long, dark eyelashes. Peeta ran over to her, boots crunching footprints in the snow, and was relieved to note that her heart was still beating. He helped her sit up and draped his coat over her shoulders.
"What… what the-"
All vampires could hypnotize humans; for this half-conscious, unsuspecting girl, one glance was all it took.
"Here." He pressed the bread into her hands. "Eat."
She ate half a loaf before stopping and noticing him. Thanks to the hypnosis, she didn't look scared, just mildly curious. "Who are you?"
"Peeta," he said. "Peeta Mellark."
She nodded. "Katniss Everdeen- and thanks for the bread."
He'd half-carried her to a nearby Starbucks, where she told him her life story between sips of hot tea. Katniss was seventeen years old; her father had died six months ago, stabbed on the subway by an unidentified street person, and her mother, a nurse, had turned unresponsive from grief shortly afterwards. Although Katniss worked round-the-clock shifts at a local diner, it wasn't enough; two weeks ago, their heat had been turned off. One week ago, her twelve-year-old sister, Primrose, had come home with a sniffle, which turned into full-blown swine flu. And fifteen minutes ago, Katniss had opened the fridge, only to find that it was completely empty.
"Thank you for everything, Peeta, but I'd better be going. I told Prim I'd be right back, and- wait, why are you following me?"
"Because I want to help. I'll find a hotel for you to stay until you can get the heat turned back on."
"But-"
"Don't worry. I'll pay for it." He laced his words with an extra dose of hypnosis; after a few moments, her frown softened, and she smiled.
"Okay."

Johanna folded her arms. "Which still doesn't explain how you ended up covered in blood."
Peeta gave her a weak smile, obviously uncomfortable. "I was just getting to that."
"And?"
He took a deep breath. "Coriolanus Snow is back in town."