A few short and fluffy chapters coming up before the angst returns. The rating will go up in the next few chapters, but perhaps not in the way you might think.
I realize I'm leading us in the direction of the lake. Peeta's probably never been there before. I've certainly never taken him, and he's hardly ever been in the woods without me. I hadn't planned to go there, or perhaps I had?
It doesn't matter. "Let's go to the lake," I say to Peeta.
"Lake?" He doesn't even know it's there. It reminds me of how limited his life was compared to mine, before the reaping.
I tell him how I used to go to the lake with my dad, that this was where he taught me to swim. "I guess we have a lot to thank that lake for, then," Peeta says, reminding me of just how important my swimming skills were at the start of the second games, giving me a head start, the bow, and a deal with Finnick.
When we finally see the lake, we're both warm and sweaty, carrying baskets of nuts, roots and some of the leftover pancakes from this morning for lunch. The sun is glittering on the surface of the lake, and the blue of the sky and the lake are both so intense it nearly hurts to look at them. I'm so happy that I, to Peeta's amusement, dance a little dance right there on the beach. It feels like being 9 years old again.
Without thinking, I quickly take off my sticky clothes. I hesitate an instant before stepping out of my underwear as well. I hear Peeta gasping beside me, but I don't look at him, I run towards the water, throw myself into the lake, going under, washing the sweat out of my growing hair. When I surface, I tread the water, looking towards the shore. Peeta's standing there, his faced flushed. I'm not sure if it's because of the heat.
"Jump in!"
He just shakes his head, sitting down on the beach with a somewhat awkward movement. "Uhm, no thanks, I'll just… Sit here for a while."
I find that a bit odd, until I notice the way that he tries not to stare at me, but at the same time he's unable to keep his eyes off me. I dive under again to hide my face, now blushing as well, from him.