"Ouch!"
I quickly place my reddening finger in my mouth. Closing the oven door, I turn to make the icing. The cake has to be absolutely perfect, just like the girl I'm making it for.
Its good hunting this season, and she'll be home soon, so this cake better hurry. I'd predict that I've got maybe an hour before her game bag is full.
Grabbing a bowl of sugar on my right, I begin mixing up frosting ingredients.
...
Ding!
I startle awake and scramble off the chair towards the oven, all while listening for Katniss' footsteps. I know it's useless - she's quieter than wood - but old habits die hard.
The classic yellow cake comes out spilling its aroma throughout the kitchen. I push it into the refrigerator so that it will cool faster. Can a man ice a cake he's proposing with in less than five minutes? Well, I suppose there's a first for everything.
"Peeta! I'm back!"
My eyes widen. Oh, no. Too late.
I sputter out, "Katniss! Uh, don't come in the kitchen!" I duck out of sight hoping she wouldn't open the fridge and ask about the random cake in there.
"Why not? I'm thirsty. Where are you?"
I pop up again, frantically thinking up excuses. "I...dropped my...uh...spatula!"
She shrugs and walks off with a glass of water saying, "Whatever. Just call me when dinner is ready."
"Dinner? You're not too hungry are you?"
"Starved, Why?"
"It might be awhile."
I gulp as she turns one hand on her hip. "What have you been doing all this time?"
"I -"
She cut in. "Never mind. I'll go get yesterday's game from old Sae. At least it's cooked."
I stand frozen until I hear a door slam. She's gone. She's gone, and that cake has to be cool enough at this point. Time to ice it. Finally.
...
I set the table for two and step away to admire my work just as Katniss walks in with her hands full of steaming venison. She sets the plate down and plops into a chair.
I settle myself across from her, and we begin eating. She shovels food down her throat like a wild animal. I'm beginning to think that she wasn't kidding when she said that she was starved. At this rate, dinner will be over in no time at all.
Sure enough, in just a few minutes she's asking bashfully for dessert. I go to the kitchen and retrieve the cake that put me through such stress just a few hours prior.
Upon returning to the table, I find Katniss waiting with her hunting knife in hand. Completely missing the words 'Will you marry me?' frosted on top, she slips her knife in and cuts out a good-sized chunk. She wastes no time in digging in. I think that I may have a splinter in my chin from my jaw hitting the floor.
"Care to explain yourself?" she asks through a mouthful of cake. I gather my wits about me and focus in on the ring that she's removing from the mountain of crumbs on her plate.
"I... uh... this isn't quite what I had planned."
She squints at me. "Um... okay... So what, exactly, did you have planned?"
I sigh. "Katniss, just repeat after me. 'Yes'."
"...Yes?"
"No. No, not like a question. Simple statement, Katniss- 'Yes'."
"Peeta, please tell me EXACTLY what you're trying to say!"
"God, Katniss, will you at least let me keep SOME of my dignity?"
"What's this got to do with your dignity?"
I slam my head none too gently on the table. "I want to marry you, Katniss. I made you a cake and everything." She finally seems to notice the writing on the dessert. "Please just give me the ring so that I can go to bed with a bit of my pride left?"
She fingers it and soon mumbles, "But, Peeta, I want to keep it."
"Katniss, don't you understa- wait, you what?"
She throws a heavy load of sarcasm into her voice as she says, "Oh, Peeta, let me keep at least some of my dignity and pride; don't make me say it again!"
She laughs over my pointed glare. "So, is that a yes?"
"Yes!"
And so begun a whole new life for us.