Chapter 3

Merry Christmas! I hope you're having a wonderful day!

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The friendly blonde at the counter grins as she approaches. "How can I help you today?"

Katniss lays down his pass and reaches for hers. "That's my friend Peeta Mellark over there, and I'm Katniss Everdeen. He has a guide dog on account of his PTSD and his eyesight. He also has a prosthesis. Is there any way you can let us sit together?"

The agent is already typing away on her computer. "Peeta Mellark, you said?" She only gives Katniss a moment to nod before she continues, "Arrangements have already been made." The printer next to her jumps to life and she smirks at Katniss. "You get new seats and everything."

"We do?" She whispers. "Thank you."

"We try to help when we can. Now, when are y'all coming back?"

"I'm coming back on January 1st. I'm not sure about him."

She's typing again. "I can arrange it so you can come back on the same flight."

"You can do that?"

"I can do a lot of things with this little computer," she says with a smile and a wink.

"Let me go ask if it's ok with him?" She answers with a smile of her own.

Thump-thump-flip.

Before she has a chance to turn around, she hears, "Do you need me?"

"Peeta!" She exclaims as he surprises her. His answering smirk makes her shake her head even though he can't see her. "How did you—never mind. When are you flying back?"

"I think it's the second."

The sound of typing fills the air. "I can get you two on a return fight on the second. Will that work for you, Ms. Everdeen?"

"Yeah, I can make that work—"

His fingers find hers- thump-thump-flip.

It only takes a moment for the agent to give their passes back to them, and Peeta, with Duke's help, finds his way back to where she left him to begin with. "I almost forgot," she says as she turns back to the ticketing agent. "Can we walk—"

"Of course! We don't want the poor dear on an eight-hour flight needing to go potty. I'll send someone after you before we board."

"Thank you so much."

"It's our pleasure. Thank you for flying Delta."

Not for the first time, her heart squeezes when she sees him all alone, looking ahead, seeing nothing but bright light and shadows. Duke shifts as she gets closer, signaling that someone is approaching. "Good boy, Duke," she says so she won't be a total surprise to him as she sinks down into her seat beside Peeta. "All set?" He asks.

"Yes. She is going to come and get us before we board so Duke can go outside."

"Thank you, Katniss. I need to get you to travel with me all the time."

Thump-thump-flip.

"Do you travel a lot?"

"I didn't, but since I got Duke, more groups are wanting me to come and talk."

"Really?" She asks. She's heard some of his story, but she knew better than to push him to talk before he's ready.

He nods. His brow furrows, and his mouth opens like he is going to say something, but instead closes it when the intercom squawks. After it asks for so-and-so to come to a gate, he asks, "Why are you going to London?"

"It was the weirdest thing- I walked into work on the twenty-third, and my boss hands me an envelope. Inside is this boarding pass and a note saying that everything else is taken care of. That all I needed was my clothes and a ride to the airport. Why are you going?"

"There is a charity ball on New Year's Eve. An old friend invited Duke and I."

"That will be fun," she murmurs as her chest tightens. I bet he's meeting someone. What am I doing feeling this way about him? We're just friends.

His face flushes pink. "It will probably be boring as hell. I'm only going because I was invited. Trust me, spending New Year's Eve with a bunch of strangers? I did that enough when I was in the Marines. I'd much rather be sitting at home listening to the ball drop. I like my couch and my beer."

She can't help to laugh. That's what she would be doing if it wasn't for this mysterious ticket. "That does sound nice."

As their laughter fades, she allows herself the luxury of letting her eyes roam over him. Peeta and Duke graduated the training program back in October, and she will only admit to herself that she's misses him—them—alright Peeta, more than she cares to admit.

Thump-thump-flip.

He shifts, feeling for his backpack. She wants to help, but it doesn't take him long to find his sunglasses. "Are the lights starting to bother you?"

"Yeah, I hate florescent lights," he answers after he slides them into place. "The headaches are better."

"That's good, I'm glad that you are feeling better."

He's quiet for a long moment, and she's about to say something, when he breaks the silence, "You don't have to do this. I'm sure they will give us our original seats back."

"You don't want me to help you?"

Thump-thump-flip—

"It's not that—I want you to enjoy your trip, and I imagine spending it looking after me and Duke is not your idea of a good time."

"What are you talking about?" She asks as she leans forward and without thinking, puts her hand on his knee. His head turns towards the sound of her voice. "You are not and never have been a problem. I thought we were friends."

Thump-thump-flip.

"We're friends?" His hoarse whisper hits her square in the chest.

"Of course, we are, Peeta. Why wouldn't we be?"

If she hadn't been watching him so closely, she never would have seen him shake his head. "I'm not sure. Training was always so hard, it's not like we were there to hang out."

"Well, no. We had to get you and Duke ready to conquer the world."

His snort makes her smile. "Conquer the world. I like the way you think, when all I want to do is go back home."

He starts to bounce his leg, a move she recognizes from training. It's just one of the ways he uses nervous energy. "I want to go back home, too," she admits, "but first, we have to go to London."

"Hell," he mutters as he runs his fingers through those too long blond curls. "I wish we could run away—"

Thump-thump-flip.

Even to her, her laugh is nervous. "We can't do that. At least I don't think we can."

"Probably not."

"Will you be ok, for a minute or two?"

"Yea, I'll be fine. Why?"

"I see a newsstand. I'm going to go get some gum and candy. Do you want anything?" She asks. She has some already, but she needs to step away for a moment, if nothing else so her heart will return to its regular speed.

"Get some cinnamon gum? You know, for in the morning before we land."

Thump-thump-flip.

"Yeah, that's a good idea." She stumbles to her feet, glad that he can't see her being so clumsy as she mutters under her breath as she almost runs from him. She trips over her own feet so even Duke lifts his head to watch her.