On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me seven swans a-swimming.
Katniss worked from home half a day on Saturdays. She gave that as an excuse as to why she couldn't attend her sister's New Year's Eve party. Really she just didn't feel like being surrounded by her sister's friends.
She was just calling it a day when there was a knock on the door. She opened it to find Peeta standing on the other side with a box. He held it out. "I worked on these all morning and I broke five of them before they set." He opened it to show a set of seven small swans.
"Oh, they're so cute!" Katniss reached in and picked one up.
"They're white chocolate." Peeta watched her as she bit off the head.
She laughed. "They taste good too."
"Thanks." He closed the lid and handed them over. "Got any plans for tonight?"
She took the box from Peeta. "Prim invited me over to her place, but I declined. Probably going to just go to bed early." She took another bite of the swan.
"Want to come to my place? Just hang out? I can cook something." Peeta smiled anxiously.
Katniss nodded. "Okay. Sure. What time?"
"Around eight? Is that too early?" He snorted. "Or too late?"
"That's fine." She chewed her lip. "Is there anything I can bring?"
"Just yourself. Do you like Champagne or are you more into sparkling juice?"
"Champagne is fine." She smiled.
"Good." He backed up. "See you at eight."
"Eight." She closed the door and leaned against it. Is this a date?
Four phone calls with Prim later, Katniss was dressed in a plain green dress. She picked up the box of swans that was left and made her way up to the sixth floor.
Peeta welcomed her in and then hurried to the kitchen. "Do you like lamb?"
"I've had it once. I liked it pretty well." Katniss said with a chuckle.
He grinned. "Well, you'll like it how I've made it." He pulled a pan out of the oven. "Needs to rest a bit." He reached for a bottle of wine on the counter. "I got a red that goes with the lamb. Do you want a glass?"
"Could I maybe have a glass of water? I don't do a whole lot of drinking." She chewed her lip. "Sorry, I feel like a loser."
"Don't even worry about it." He gave her a kind smile as he poured some water into a glass for her. "I've always been a fan of pairing wine with dinner. But other than that, I don't do a whole lot myself."
They stood awkwardly for a moment before Peeta motioned for Katniss to have a seat at the dining table. "Did you have a good Saturday?" He asked as he filled a plate for her.
"I worked for half of it. We have a new line of bike helmets we're working on. We're on the final stages of design." She leaned over the plate and breathed in. "This smells amazing."
"Thank you." Peeta poured them each a glass of wine and sat back. "Do you like doing that?"
"Mostly." She cut some of the lamb and smiled. "When I started, I was just part of the archery division. I moved up. I kind of miss archery sometimes." She took a bite and her eyes fell shut. "Oh my god!" She moaned. "How are you so good at this?"
He chuckled. "Culinary school."
"You went to culinary school?"
"I went to culinary school and college. At the same time." He explained. "Culinary school in the daytime and then I took online classes for a business degree." He went on and on for a while.
Katniss listened intently. Peeta was so animated and passionate about food. She would have gladly sat there listening to him talk all night.
But soon, he stopped and asked, "So how did you get into the sporting goods business?"
She chuckled. "The long story or the short one?"
"Whichever." He said with an encouraging smile.
Katniss sat her fork down and took a sip from her glass of water. "I've known the Hawthornes all my life. They went to school with my parents. My dad was over the archery division. When I was old enough, I got to start working in that same shop as my dad did. I just moved up from there." She picked up the glass of wine and took a large drink.
Peeta nodded. "That's the short version, I take it."
"Yeah." She went back to her food.
"I'd love to hear the long version one of these days."
She smiled, feeling her face heat up. "Maybe."
They made small talk for the rest of the evening, moving toward the living room after the dishes were loaded into the dishwasher. Peeta turned on the Dick Clark New Year's Eve special and they settled in for the next couple of hours.
They flew by way too fast. Peeta told some of the best stories and Katniss was very content to listen to every single one of them.
As the countdown to midnight started, Peeta popped open the Champagne and poured them each a glass. He held up his glass and joined in with the TV. Katniss followed.
"5…4…3…2…1! Happy New Year!"
Katniss clinked her glass against Peeta's and they took a sip. Their eyes locked. He leaned in and pressed a soft kiss against her lips. He backed away slightly, but she pulled him back in. She sighed when they broke apart again.
He smiled and took another sip from the Champagne.
Katniss drank the rest of hers and then sat her flute on the coffee table. She grabbed Peeta's face and pulled him in once more, this time a much deeper, hungrier kiss. He pulled her onto his lap, barely able to set his glass on the table without it falling over. His hands grabbed her hips and she took that as permission to wrap her legs around him.
He broke the kiss once more. "You can say no…" He started, brushing another kiss across her lips.
She smiled and tangled her fingers in his hair. "You gotta ask me first."
"Come to bed with me?" He breathed.
"Yes." She climbed off his lap and waited for him to stand and lead her to his room.