CHAPTER 1

4 months later

This last 4 months have been a little confusing for me. I guess for Peeta too. We are living in the same house; Peeta's house. Mine only brings back memories about the war... and memories of her. My sister Prim, who died in that explosion. Thinking of her still brings tears into my eyes, so I always try to push it away, but today, I can't help remembering her. I still don't dare going to my house. Just to pick up some clothes. I'm afraid I'll never will gain enough courage to go back there... leave alone entering to Prim's room which no person has been in there since the bombing of District 12.

I'm sitting on the couch. It's been an hour since I got here, just after I haunted in the woods of 12 and stopped by my house to pick up something. And Peeta should be here by now. He always comes back from the bakery around 3:00 o'clock. I check my watch, it's 5:00 o'clock. I yawn. Maybe he just had some extra work and will be a little late. I try to realx, I didn't sleep last night, I had a nightmare, Prim was screaming full of terror, I couldn't find her... I couldn't because it was not Prim, it was the jabberjays. My eyelids are heavy, and I drit into sleep. I don't have nightmares though I don't have any dreams neither.

The sun entering through the window is what wakes me. It's morning, I can't belive I slept the whole night on the couch. I look around. Peeta is not here yet. If he were, he would have woken me up when he arrived. Doesn't he? I look around. he's not in his room or the kitchen or anywhere in the house.

Where is he? I start panicking. No, I can't panick. He's probably just late. He is okay.

I wait for a few minutes. And I can't hold it. I grab my boots and my coat and get out of the house.

The bakery is not far, 10 minutes from here. I finally arrive. He is usually in the back room frosting cakes. I wave hello to Jonas, the second in charge, and he waves back.

"Is Peeta here?". I ask

He looks around. "Guess not. It's too early, he comes a little later. He's not home?".

"He's not home." I say and turn around walking to the exit.

"Well I'll tell you if I see him!". Shouts Jonas from behind but I don't reply, I'm already outside the bakery.

He is not at the bakery and he's not home neither. Where could he possibly be? Maybe he's with Haymitch. I try to walk normally, but I just realized that I'm running. When I arrive, I knock the door, maybe a little too harshly.

"Haymitch!". I shout as I try to open the door and realize it's already open.

I step in. It smells of alcohol and sweat, the usual smell. Haymitch is sitting on the couch, with a bottle in his hand.

He turnd around and sees me, "Hi sweethert. Can I help you?".

"Hi. Have you seen Peeta?" I ask agitated.

"Mhmm... nope. Haven't seen him. Maybe he just got tired of you and went to live in the woods. Because you are such a nice person.".

I don't say anything. His expression changes. I think he regrets what he just said. "Sorry sweetheart, I have not seen him. I'll tell you if I do.".

I nod and start walking to the door. I need to get out of here. Not much because of Haymitch, but for the smell, it's making me dizzy. And I have to find Peeta.

I'm standing outside Haymitch's house, in the Victor's Village. It's freezing.

I walk to Peeta's house, maybe he is there by now. I enter. Nothing. He is not here.

Now I'm panicking. Where is he? Terrible things that might have happened to him start haunting me. I try to push away the thought as I realize I'm running again. I'll re-check the bakery.

I check my watch, it's 8:00 am, almost 9:00.

I finally arrive. I walk through the door and I don't remove the snow from my boots before entering, I don't take my coat off either.

"Hey Katniss! Did you find Peeta?" says Jonas from behind. "Are you okay?".

But I don't reply, I'm climbing the stairs. The bakery has two floors, though nobody goes to the second floor.

I look around. There's nothing but a few sacks of flour... and a door.

"Peeta?" I say. "Peeta!". I say louder this time. I'm about to open the door just as I hear a few noises. I hear footsteps, and whoever is in there starts opening the door, it's locked.

"Hey, Katniss" says Peeta catching his breath. "What's going on? Are you okay?" He says with bewilderment in his tone.

I realize I'm crying. My face is sticky with tears. "Peeta where were you? You scared me.".

He stares at me confused.

"You didn't get home last night Peeta! I couldn't find you anywhere.". I say.

He steps outside the little room and closes the door. "Yeah... sorry Katniss. I had many things to do, someone is having a party and I had to frost many cupackes and things, you know. But I left you a message with Haymitch last night. It was too late and I didn't want to wake you up so I left him a note so he could deliver it to you. Maybe he was just too drunk as usual. I'm sorry Katniss.". He says with a sad tone.

"It's okay Peeta" before I can stop myself, I wrap my arms around him. I catch him by surprise because he stumbles a little, but then he embraces me too. We stay there a brief moment.

I don't want him to see me like this. My face all covered with tears, so I wash them with the hem of my sweater. "Gosh. I hate crying" I say and smile a little as I look up to him because I feel him staring at me.

"Why were you-" he begins to ask. But I know what he's going to ask: Why are you crying? I don't know the answer eiher. I have some thought that need to be cleared. But not now, not now.

I interrupt his question instead, "What's in that room Peeta?" I ask pointing at the door behind him.

He hesitates, "Hmmm nothing, just a place where I can frost cakes alone, I can focus better." he says, though I don't buy it completely.

"Well, let's go home." Peeta says, "I owe you a dinner.".

"Okay.".

CHAPTER 2

And we go home. When we arrive, I take off my coat and sit on the couch as I watch Peeta walking to the kitchen.

"What do you want to eat?" asks Peeta from the kitchen.

"Hmmm... Surprise me!". I say.

"As you wish!" he says and I can hear a smile as he says it. "Why don't you help me with the dessert? We can make cupcakes!".

"Yum! But you know I am a terrible baker" I say as I join him in the kitchen.

"Now you are not".

"Well I'll try! But remember I tried to warn you".

I get the bowl out of the pantry but it slips through my hand and collapses on the floor. I bend down to pick it.

"Oh" Peeta says as he reaches for the bowl at the same time as me and our hands find each other just above the bowl. I look at his hand, a baker's hand. And mine, a haunter's hand. But his hand is so warm, and his touch makes me feel butterflies inside me. We look up at each other. It's like we are in slow motion as I stare into his eyes. The blue of his eyes startle me, it's amazing how you can get lost in someone's eyes. He leans and I do too. Now our faces are just a few inches away, I can feel his breath. I look at his lips. In a moment like this, I'm desperate to taste them. I almost forget the taste of his lips, but at the same time, I know it's impossible to forget such lips.

I want to kiss him, and I would have done it if the ring hadn't bell in that exact moment. I jump, Peeta does too. "I'll go.", he says startled. I can catch a flinch of blush in his cheeks.

I turn around before he can see me, I'm blushing red. "No, I'll go.", I say reaching for the doorknob.

I open the door catching my breath. "Haymitch" I exhale.

"Hi sweetheart.", he says. His breath smells of alcohol, yuck. He's got a bottle in his hand and a note in the other. "I forgot to give you this", he says giving me the note and taking a zip from his bottle.

I stare at it and I feel Peeta behind me.

"Oh, it looks like you don't need it anymore", he says as he looks at Peeta behind me. "Well, I need it." He takes it from my hand and uses it like a handkerchief. "I think I'm getting a flu. It's freezing cold, I'm gonna leave you two alone.".

"Well, thanks Haymitch for delivering the note to Katniss," says Peeta. "You know what they say, better late than never!". Haymitch waves with his bottle and walks away. I smile and close the door.

We go back to the kitchen and as far as I know, it's like nothing happened, like we were never about to kiss.

CHAPTER 3

We go back to the preparing of the dinner, we just exchange a few words, none of them touching the topic of the kiss. The almost-kiss.

I begin baking the cupcakes. Starting with the dough. My hands are focused on mixing the ingredients though my mind is on something else. This is the closest we have been to a kiss since we are living together. I have caught him staring at me but he has also caucht me staring at him, sometimes before I realize it, I found myself really looking at him, and sometimes, it's hard for me to look away. He teases me sometimes, and there had been a few hugs. That's the physical. But Peeta as he sometimes does, tells me I'm beautiful and what an amazing girl I am, though I do not believe him. At nights, -the time of the day I dread the most- we sleep on the same bed and we comfort each other, I've been held in his strong arms so many nights, just after I wake up screaming from a horrible nightmare in which I relive every dead of every person that have died in my life time. And Peeta is the only one who can calm me down, not completely, but I hope that time can fix that. I try to distract myself with the cupcakes but that's what they are, a distractiom because my mind keeps going back to the moment Peeta and I shared minutes ago. And not just that, why was I crying and couln't stop myself when I found him? It's not like he was hit again by the strenght of the force field in the arena. He was just missing... No, he wasn't missing, I just couldn't find him, he even left a note. I guess it's because I have lost everyone who I cared for. Part of me knows that that's true, a fact. But part of me does not believe that completely, part of me thinks that's not the main reason. But what is it?

"It looks like you want to kill that dough", says Peeta grinning.

I'm snapped back into reality by what he just said. I look down at the dough, the ingredients are already mixed, I guess they've been mixed for a while now. "Oh" is all I say.

"Here" says Peeta reaching for the bowl and pouring the mix into the mold.

"Dinner is almost ready."

"Okay, I'll set the table." I say just as the smell brushes my nostrils. "It smells delicious.". Peeta smiles.

I set the table. When I'm done, I sit and wait for Peeta.

Peeta gets out of the kitchen with a bowl in his hands, it smells delicious.

"Hungry?" he asks. He serves the food in both our plates.

"I'm starving" I say. "What is this Peeta? It really smells delicious". Just as I'm asking him I think I guess what it is. Could it be?

"Is this the Capitol lamb stew?" I ask surprisingly. I take a bite. It just doesn't smells delicious, it is delicious. It's sweet at the beginning and then like an explosion of flavors. "Mhmm! With dried plums!". Just like I remembered it. Delicious. If not better.

"I remember it was your favorite, not even during the war or after I was hijacked, I forgot it was your favorite. So I looked up for the recipe though I made a few alterations", he says smiling and I take another bite. "I'm glad you liked it". He smiles at me, and I smile back.