A/N: Written for Peeta's Paintbox, Prompts in Panem, Day 5 - Blue.

X-X-X

Katniss and Peeta lay in the meadow, a lazy Summer day passing by too quickly, yet all too slowly at the same time.

As they lay side by side, watching the clouds pass by, they pointed out the shapes they saw and would laugh hysterically at one another's interpretations.

"You think that looks like a cow?" Peeta asked Katniss incredulously, despite his grin.

"You think that looks like a T-Rex?" Katniss mimicked his tone, stealing a glimpse at him out of the corner of her eye.

All she could make out through the tall blades of grass between them was a tuft of his blonde summer mop of a haircut, and two blue eyes, shimmering like water, reflecting the clouds passing by. It was as if the sky never stopped between itself and his eyes, it merely continued down to his soul, through those beautiful windows he called eyes.

She found herself staring, her mind drifting, and if Peeta noticed, he sure wasn't showing it.

Why was she here? With him? More so, why was he here…. With her?

Peeta was a good person, kind, strong, confident, and helpful. No one he ever met was a stranger to him, or too far gone to help.

She scooted over and laid so their heads were touching, crushing the grass that obscured her view.

Only, now, she was so close that grass wasn't obscuring her view, but because of their proximity, Peeta was blurry when she tried to steal a glance. She stifled a laugh when she realized it, but it quickly faded as she studied his face, the only clear thing his blue eyes in contrast to everything else in her view. Even when blurry, they still took her breath away.

X-X-X

Katniss might have thought he didn't notice her trying to steal glances at him, but he did. It was very hard for him to keep a straight face as her saw her facial expressions change with her internal thought process.

What she didn't know is that he was stealing glances at her when she wasn't stealing glances at him.

All he could see through the tall blades of grass was the tip of her nose, which he found himself wanting to kiss very badly, the beginning of her signature braid, and grey eyes.

The grey eyes that matched storm clouds. The grey eyes that he saw in his dreams. They looked electric, as if they were literal storms with lightning when she was angry, and clouded over like an overcast day when she was sad. And when she was happy, they sparkled, like steel.

He could see the clouds racing by above them reflected in her eyes, and they looked even more beautiful than they did in the sky. He wanted to point out that one looked like a bunny, but he only saw it in her eyes and could not tell where in the sky it would be.

He tried to keep his face impassive as he saw her stare at him in his peripheral. What he wanted more than anything was to just turn to her and kiss her, but he would never force something like that on her. If he could just turn and look at her, that would suffice.

She moved and laid next to him, the shells of their ears brushing one another and he couldn't tell if it was his or hers that were burning, probably with a blush.

X-X-X

"Peeta," she said quietly. "When did we become friends?"

"Forever." Peeta said.

Katniss laughed. "When did forever start?"

"Oh, now I get it. When we were 5."

"What? No way."

"Yes! You volunteered to sing a song in front of the assembly, and right then and there I knew I was a goner."

"A goner?" Katniss laughed. "Okay, then, what was I wearing?"

She glanced over and saw his eyes shut tight in concentration, then the tension eased and he smiled as he spoke, his eyes still closed as if picturing it. "You had on a red plaid dress and your hair… it was in two braids instead of one."

To be honest, Katniss couldn't remember herself, and the fact that he did should creep her out, but for some reason, it didn't.

Peeta stared at the clouds again, still smiling. "You stood up on a stool and sang it for us. And, I promise this is real, every bird outside stopped singing and listened."

"Oh, please," Katniss said, laughing, though her tone was quiet.

"No, this is real! I'm serious!"

"You have a… Somewhat creepy, but remarkable memory," Katniss dead panned.

Peeta smiled. "Creepy, is it? Well then how about this?" He turned to face her, as did she, and their noses touched. He spoke very quietly and sincerely. "I remember everything about you," he paused and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "You're the one who wasn't paying attention."

"I am now," Katniss said, her voice too breathy for her liking.

"Well, I don't have much competition here," he says with a chuckle and gesture of his arms to the open and empty meadow.

"You don't have much competition anywhere." Katniss said, surprising even herself by not only the words coming out of her mouth, but at how boldly they came out.

They stared at each other for a second, each blushing and turning away.

"So, Peeta Mellark has a crush on me. Aw!" Katniss teased. Her tone turned serious. "Peeta, who do you want to marry someday?"

"She came here with me."

Katniss tuned to see him already looking at her. Those eyes, those blue stained glass windows to his soul were so sincere and confident. "Me?" She squeaked, pointing to her chest.

Peeta turned back to the sky and laughed.

Katniss followed suit, not wanting to see his face when he said he was joking.

"You have no idea. The effect you can have." He said, no trace of teasing or lying in his voice.

They turned once again to each other, holding the other's gaze, and their lips met in a soft kiss.

When they broke the kiss, Katniss turned back to the sky, Peeta following several seconds after.

Several minutes of awkward silence fell on them.

"Stay with me?" Katniss whispered, not ashamed of the little warble in her voice.

He turned to face her, as did she, and their noses touched, just like the first time. "Always," he said with a smile, and a tone implying nothing else had ever crossed his mind.

Kissing the tip of her nose, he whispered, "Always."