Author's note: This chapter is a lot shorter than the previous one, but totally full of awesome! Thanks for the reads, follows, favorites, and reviews! You guys rock!
Happy reading!
Chapter Eight
Peeta paced his apartment for several minutes before he decided to call Katniss and ask her if it was okay for him to come over.
"Of course." She said enthusiastically. "Prim is eating lunch and hanging out with her friends, so I'm alone. Kind of bored."
He grinned. "What do you say to baking something with me?"
"I'm not a good baker." She admitted. "Better cook."
"Well, you'll have to prove that. You're cooking next."
She laughed. "I make good meatloaf. I could make it tomorrow. I work open to eleven."
He thought about it a moment. "Okay, sure."
"So what are we baking. I may have ingredients."
"Shortbread cookies. Sugar, flour, butter."
"That's it?"
"That's it."
"Pretty simple."
"Simple, but delicious." He assured her as he pulled on his coat.
She paused a moment and he heard her cabinets opening and shutting. "I have a bit of flour, but not much. Plenty of sugar, I just bought a new five pound bag. How much butter do you need?"
"A stick."
"I have just one full stick left."
"I'll run by the store and pick up some flour and butter. And what do you say to homemade pizza? I have a great dough recipe."
She paused. "You don't have to do that."
"I know. But I want to." He smiled into the phone. "I'll see you soon."
He ran to the grocery store to pick up the things he needed and then appeared at Katniss's door with several bags. "Hi."
"Hi." She chewed her lip a moment and then pressed a kiss to his cheek before she ushered him inside. "Gale and Madge will be here in an hour. And Prim will probably be back for supper with a friend or two."
"I have plenty for a couple pizzas." He started unloading the groceries. He waved a bag of lettuce. "And a giant salad." After the food was put away and the ingredients for the cookies set out, Peeta turned to Katniss. He took her face gently in his hands and kissed her lips softly. "Much better."
She blushed and looked away. "So what do we do now?"
"Now, we start mixing the dough. Do you have measuring cups?"
She took out the measuring cup and he opened up cabinets until he found a bowl. He dropped a stick of butter into it and opened a drawer she pointed out to find a fork.
"Now measure out a quarter cup of sugar." He pressed the butter through the tines of the fork and mixed as she poured the sugar in.
She stood back and watched the muscles in his arms move as he worked the ingredients together. They rippled underneath his shirt and she couldn't help a sigh releasing from her. He looked over and smiled.
"Now a cup of flour. We may need more to help it come together, but that will do for now." He continued to mix, getting his hands in on the job finally. And as she watched him, Katniss had some not-so-PG thoughts about what he could have been doing with his hands.
She cleared her throat and stepped away. "What temperature do you need the oven to be?"
"Three-fifty." He said as he sat the bowl in the fridge. "That needs to cool down a bit before we can do much else."
"So what do we do while we wait for the oven to heat up and the cookies to cool down.
He watched her a moment and then stepped forward. "I have cookie dough all over my hands."
She smiled and met him the rest of the way. "Is that an almost constant thing for you when you're not teaching or painting?"
He held out his hands. "Cookie dough, bread dough, donuts..."
He trailed off as she traced her fingers over his palms. "Did your dad always have flour everywhere?" She asked softly.
Peeta nodded. "My mother always yelled at him for getting it all over the floor and the counters." His face turned grim.
"Did they fight a lot?" Katniss asked.
He swallowed and nodded. "And she took her frustration with him out on me. Never my older brothers, just me."
She slipped her hands into his and squeezed. Then she pressed a kiss to his lips. "That sucks."
He gave her a small grateful smile. "Yeah." He kissed her again. "Thank you for not acting like you feel sorry for me."
"I'm sad for your childhood. But you are a successful man. There's nothing to feel sorry for."
After a short pause, he said, "She beat me, Katniss."
She gasped and clasped his hands tighter. "What?"
He let go and walked to the sink. As he scrubbed his hands he said, "She didn't love me. I don't think I was a difficult child. I just think she was tired by the time I came around and she didn't know how to treat me, the child she didn't love. She made me do all the yard work and house work. That's kind of how the accident happened that took my leg. I was exhausted. I had no business..." He turned off the water and leaned against the sink.
She walked up behind him and rested her hand on his shoulder. "What should I say?"
He shrugged. "You don't have to say anything."
She wrapped her arms around him and held him with her cheek pressed against his shoulder. He placed his hands on top of hers and leaned back against her. They stayed that way for several seconds before Peeta finally moved gently away. Katniss watched as he removed the cookie dough from the fridge.
"Do you have a rolling pin?" He asked as he applied flour to the counter.
She shook her head. "I don't. Sorry."
"A glass or tall cup will work." He caught her hand and brought it up and kissed her palm. "Thanks."
"What for?" She stepped closer.
"No one's ever just held me like that." He admitted.
"There's plenty of time for more if you want." She assured him. She reached behind him and took a cup out of the cupboard over his head. She stole a kiss just before she handed it to him. "That work?"
He smiled. "Yes. And a perfect shape for the cookies, too. Unless you have cookie cutters."
"I do have some of those. Somewhere. Hold on." She rummaged through her drawers until she produced a few small round cookie cutters. "There you are."
"Now I need a cookie sheet." He began rolling the dough out and she watched as he finished preparing it. He then quickly cut out several circles, leaving very little leftover dough. He put them in the oven and set a timer on the microwave for ten minutes. "And when that goes off, they should be perfect."
"So what do you want to do while we wait?" She asked.
He took her hand and led her toward the table. He sat down in a chair and pulled her onto his lap. He wrapped his arms around her and pressed his eyes into her neck. She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck. She cupped his head with one hand and tangled her fingers in his hair. She rested her head against his and sat in contentment at how perfectly they fit together like this. He began to slowly swirl his fingers over her back and she returned the touch on his scalp. This continued until the microwave timer went off. She kissed his forehead and then untangled herself from him.
Peeta pulled the cookies out of the oven.
"These smell delicious." Katniss said as she leaned over the pans he piled on the counter. "How long until I can try one?"
He chuckled. "Not long." He promised.
"Good." He picked up the flour again. "Want to help make some pizza dough? It's better if it sits for a while."
"Okay, sure. I'll hand you ingredients again." She offered.
He shook his head. "You're going to knead it a bit." He reached his hand in the flour and flicked some at her. "Come on, let's get to it.
A short time later, they were both covered in flour up to their elbows and there were two balls of pizza dough resting on the counter under some towels, one looking a little better than the other. Katniss laughed and attempted to wipe the flour away. She only succeeded in smearing it. Peeta reached up and wiped a bit off her nose.
"Katniss, I…" He started, but he wasn't sure how to finish his thought. So he leaned forward and brushed a kiss over her lips.
"Me too, Peeta." She whispered. She wrapped her arms around him.
He grabbed her waist and kissed her again, longer this time. He backed her up against the sink and she pushed herself into him. Her hands trailed down his back and up again, feeling the strength of his muscles.
His hands stayed parked at her waist, though his thumbs drew slow circles. She moaned into his mouth and wrapped her arms tighter around him. She could have stayed in that kiss forever if not for the knock at the door signaling Gale and Madge's arrival.
Peeta sighed as he stepped away. He turned and started putting the cookies onto a plate while Katniss answered the door.