We lie there in silence for just a moment longer until I let out a very large yawn. Peeta glances over at me, "Are you getting tired Miss Everdeen?" I give him a sleepy smile and nod. He gets to his feet and helps me to mine and then he folds up the blanket we were laying on and tucks it in the basket. He grabs my hand and says, "Well then, allons-y."
I stop dead and just stare at him, he looks back bemused. "You've got to be kidding me," I exclaim. "Please tell me that you aren't fluent in French or something and you got that where I think you got that."
He grins, "I got that where you think I got that."
"Peeta Mellark, you just get better all the time."
We leave the park and make our way down the empty sidewalks toward my apartment. It's later than I realized, all of the shops downtown are closed for the night. This is such a small town, nothing stays open later than 11:00 and you never see anyone past then either so Peeta and I probably look really sketchy. The only person that would probably even be up this late or notice us is my landlord Haymitch, he owns the antique shop below my place and he's a bit of a drunk but he's a father figure type to me and we take care of each other. I think of stopping in to check on him when we pass by but decide against it since Peeta is with me. He follows me up the stairs and we linger outside the door for a moment before I even think to reach for my keys. I unlock the door and swing it open before turning to face Peeta. "Would you like to come in?"
"I-uh….sure that would be nice."
We walk into my small apartment and I take the basket from Peeta and carry it to the small bar at my kitchen. "Would you like some tea?" I call to Peeta over my shoulder. He doesn't answer me. I turn around and find myself face to chest with Peeta. He wraps his strong arms around my waist and I breathe in a faint smell of cinnamon and musk. I reach my hands up behind his neck and we just stand there in my kitchen holding each other for what feels like a second and an eternity all at once until suddenly our lips crash together, he coaxes my bottom lip between both of his and caresses it with his tongue. A soft moan rises from the back of my throat as he rakes his fingers through my hair. Eventually we make our way to my bed where we lie tangled together like a ball of yarn until we drift off to sleep.
Over the next few months Peeta and I spend more and more time together. We do homework together, watch Netflix together, read books together, he spends the night with me more nights than I spend alone. One day while I was having lunch with Joanna, Annie, Delly, and Rue, Joanna says, "So, Everdeen, you've been spending a lot of time with Peeta lately. When is the wedding?" She wiggles her dark eyebrows at me sarcastically.
I know that's her way of trying to get me to talk about how I feel about him, but I'm still wrestling with that myself so I deflect the statement with an equal amount of sarcasm. "It's not me you should be asking. It's Annie, so Annie when's the big day? When are you and Finnick getting married?"
Annie's face turns so red it matches her flaming hair. All of us are looking at her inquisitively as she begins, "I…uh, we – we were gonna wait until after Christmas break before we, um, told anyone." We all sit there, jaws dropped in amazement.
"Annie, I'm so sorry, I..I didn't mean, I was just joking…" I'm as red as she is. I'm so embarrassed, I didn't know she was actually getting married and now she told us before she meant to. Shit.
"It's totally fine," she laughs, "I'm glad to have it off my shoulders, I didn't want to not tell you guys, I just wanted to my family first, but I'm really happy you guys know now. And Katniss, I don't think you're supposed to apologize to people when they tell you they're getting married."
Everyone is laughing now. "You're right, congratulations Annie I really am so happy for you," I exclaimed.
"So, how did he do it? Tell us all the details." Delly blurts out hungrily. Delly is pretty with crop blonde hair and blue eyes, but she's never really had a boyfriend and she romanticizes the idea.
"Yeah, Annie, tell us everything," chimes Rue in her bird-like voice.
"Okay," Annie says, her eyes shining, "Well, he picked me up to take me to dinner in a limo, and we went to that fancy French place in the city. We had a lovely dinner and a violinist played right beside our table while we waited for our dessert t come. I got chocolate mousse because, duh, anyway, I'm eating this stuff and it tastes like Heaven literally just shit pure blissful magic into this dish, until I get to the bottom and there's something hard in the mousse. I considered just swallowing it since we were in this fancy restaurant and I didn't want to be pulling stuff back out of my mouth, but it felt cylindrical and I worried about choking, so trying to be discreet I grab my napkin and spit this thing into it. And now I'm curious so I open the napkin to see what was lurking in my delicious chocolate mousse, it was a ring, the most beautiful ring I'd ever seen. I looked awestruck across the table to Finnick for some kind of indication of what this was but he wasn't in his chair, he was on one knee in front of me and he asked me to marry him! And of course I said yes." She finishes the story smiling broadly.
"Wow that sounds so romantic! How did he get the ring into the mousse?" Delly questions.
"He won't say, he just says, 'I'm not telling you all my secrets'"
Hmmm, that sounds familiar, I think to myself.
"So where is the ring?" asks Rue
"It's at the jeweler's, getting cleaned, it was kind of difficult for me to get all of the chocolate out of all the crevices." Annie giggles.
"Wait, so, when did this happen?" I ask.
"Two nights ago."
Joanna chimes in, "So, you ate Heaven shit, then did you go back to your place and fuck?"
Once again Annie's face is flaming and we are all laughing.
Later that evening, Peeta comes by my place and we cuddle on the couch. I tell him the story of Annie and Finnick's engagement and he just sits there grinning smugly. "What are you grinning like that for?"
"I'm not telling you all my secrets," Peeta says slyly.
I swat him on the arm playfully, "I thought you might say that. It was you wasn't it? You made the chocolate mousse and you put the ring inside it didn't you? I mean really, you're the only one that could make something that tastes like 'Heaven just shit pure blissful magic into a dish.'" He raises his eyebrows at me. "Annie's words, not mine." I giggle.
"That's what I really like about you, you're so smart, smarter than me in fact." I'm blushing now. "I'm serious though Katniss," he assures me as he cradles my face in his warm hand, "you really are brilliant." Peeta leans down and presses a soft kiss to the top of my head. "Oh and I've been meaning to ask you, would you like to come to my house over the break? I want you to meet my family."