A/N: I wrote this for the Everlark!Drabble challenge. I hope you enjoy. Let me know what you think. It is unbeta'd so mistakes are my own. As always I own nothing. Please say hello on tumblr (dispatchesfromdistrict7).
Katniss attempted to borrow her face underneath the covers to protect it. Clamping her eyes tightly shut, she took long even breaths to try to calm down. But he was persistent. And it was two in the morning and she had yet to be able to catch more than thirty minutes of sleep. She felt the covers give, followed by soft fur rubbing against her cheek. Darn persistent beast. Giving up, she rolled onto her back and shoved the covers down to her waist. Biscuit crawled onto her chest and lightly kneaded. He was always careful to sheath his claws. She scratched his ears and his purr increased a few decibels. Biscuit had the loudest purr she had ever heard. As she stroked his back, he buried his way into her neck.
"It's okay boy, I miss him too."
Peeta had been gone four days and she and Biscuit were both falling apart in his absence. Okay, not really. But she was having the hardest time sleeping at night. And so was Biscuit. He spent the nights roaming the halls looking for his daddy, while Katniss tossed and turned. She wasn't used to sleeping by herself. She missed the feel of his weight in the bed. The way he would cover her feet with his own when she got cold.
Mellark's was opening a new store across the state. Peeta and Beetee were helping get the staff trained, so for the next few weeks she had their giant bed to herself. Though it wasn't really giant, it was just a standard queen, but without Peeta, it felt like a California king.
With a huff, Katniss carefully shoved Biscuit off her chest, not wanting to startle him. Her tank top wasn't much protection and she only had to learn that lesson once. She flipped the covers off burying the cat, then flipped the covers filled with feline over one more time effectively cocooning the beast. She chuckled as she watched him fight his way out before turning to pad into their living room. Maybe sleeping on the couch would help.
Two hours later and an episode of Firefly, she was still awake. Biscuit had finally settled down at the other end of the couch. She might as well work on editing her current fanfic, she knew better than to try to work on writing her first original fiction after four days of little sleep.
After logging onto her computer, she opened her g-chat, hoping maybe Peeta was also awake. She sighed with disappointment when she saw he was offline.
Katniss was halfway through implementing the fixes Peeta had emailed the day before when the rattling of the doorknob startled her. She popped over the back of the couch and crouched down as the door opened. The intruder did not turn on any lights. Instep, groin, solar plexus she reminded herself as the stranger approached.
"Why are you on the floor behind the couch, honey?" asked a sleepy sounding Peeta
"Damn it, Peeta. You scared the shit out of me. You should have turned on a light. I thought you were a serial killer." Katniss chastised. She crawled out from her hiding spot. "How did you know where I was?"
"Biscuit, was playing with the end of your toes that were sticking out."
Peeta had incredible night vision.
The cat was now winding his way around his legs. Peeta bent down and picked up the cat. "Don't I get a kiss hello?"
Shaking her head, she walked up to him. Standing on her tiptoes she lightly brushed his lips before whispering, "I missed you."
Biscuit not appreciating being part of a human sandwich squirmed to be let down. After releasing the disgruntled cat, Peeta pulled Katniss into his arms breathed into her hair. "Me too."
"Why are you home? Isn't this supposed to be a two week trip?"
"Yeah. Rye showed up tonight and when we were at dinner, he told me that I looked like shit. I haven't been sleeping." Peeta rubs her back before continuing, "That's normal for the first night in a hotel, but by day 3, I guess I was looking like something off The Walking Dead. He told me to go home for a few days, he'd handle it." He shrugged his shoulders, "I knew I wouldn't sleep anyway so I decided to drive back."
"I think it's time to go to bed." Katniss suggested into his shoulder.
She grasped his hand and led him to their bedroom. She helped him strip his clothes down to his boxer briefs, and then pushed him onto the bed. She slid under the covers and curled into his side. She felt the telltale plop at the end of the bed and saw Biscuit curl into Peeta's other side. The last thing she remembered before falling asleep was the comforting feel of Peeta's feet warming her own.