Authors Note: Here is a bit of fluff, so you know that I haven't forgotten about you. My New Years Resolution is to get this story finished in a timely manner. I've been having a quite severe spell of writers block, so if anyone has any requests, go ahead and let me know.
Now that I've left my room, there's a pent up energy that I can't seem to shake. I've been pacing the apartment, but Effie's making these huffing sounds, and looking like she's seriously contemplating locking me in the closet. The open layout of the apartment was nice when it was filled with people, people like Peeta, Haymitch, Cinna and Portia, but now it makes it hard to give Effie any space. Not without going back to the bedroom. That's when I remember the roof.
I'm assaulted be memories, and I hurry back to the kitchen, nearly tripping in the process, and order a picnic.
I climb the stairs slowly, my body weakened from my confinement.
I'm assaulted by memories as I take in the rooftop. So many of my favorite memories are here.
After breakfast on the day before the interviews, Haymitch and Effie canceled coaching, saying we could handle ourselves. When I lamented that we couldn't go anywhere, Peeta had suggested that we come up here. We'd grabbed blankets, ordered a bunch of food, and had a picnic in the flower garden. We fed each other little bites of food, stole kisses, that increased with need. He was feeding me a piece of chocolate when I gently bit his thumb, then sucking it until his eyes darkened. He carried me into the gazebo, still wrapped in a blanket, our mouths never separating, as we alternated undressing each other and holding each other close. Within moments we were naked, save for a blanket he kept loosely draped around us. He holds me at arms length for a moment, a blush turning even his ears pink, before he looks down at the ground. He carried me to a bench, laying me down on the blanket, kissing a trail of kisses starting with my forehead, down my nose, to my lips, where he lingers for a moment, before continuing his steady march down my chin, neck and chest. He nuzzles the space between my breasts, before continuing down my stomach, kissing the place that may will soon round with little pearl. I gasped when he found the place where my pulse throbbed between my legs, and when his tongue made contact, I cried out, shattering the silence. My senses were under attack, struggling to stay in the moment, and when he began alternately lapping and sucking, I was driven over the edge. I had not yet returned to earth when I felt him enter me, driving me to new heights, his thrusts getting harder and faster, my moans only encouraging him. I gently ran my fingernails through his hair and down his back, crying out for him to join me, savoring the sweet relief I felt as we found release together.
We lay intertwined for some time before he wrapped me in the blanket and carried me back to our picnic.
Late that afternoon, I had cut vines and flowers, weaving us flower crowns as Peeta sketched me. We lay in the sunshine, my head in his lap, when he looked down at me with his startlingly blue eyes, his fingers playing with my hair. "What?" I ask.
"I wish I could freeze this moment, right here, right now, and live in it forever," he says.
Usually this sort of comment, the kind that hints of his undying love for me, makes me feel guilty and awful. But I feel so warm and relaxed and beyond worrying about a future I'll never have, I just let the word slip out. "Okay."
I can hear the smile in his voice. "Then you'll allow it?"
"I'll allow it," I say.
His fingers go back to my hair and he draws my face to his. We make love in the sunshine, slowly, drinking each other in until we collapse against each other, our lips bruised from kissing. I rest my head on his chest, enamored by the steady cadence of his heart beat, and he wraps us in a blanket. I doze off, but he rouses me to see the sunset. It's a spectacular yellow and orange blaze behind the skyline of the Capitol. "I didn't think you'd want to miss it," he says. We stay on the roof until bedtime and then quietly slip down to my room without encountering anyone. Remembering our prep teams will wake us in the morning, I don his undershirt from last night, before climbing into bed.
The next morning, we're roused by my prep team. The sight of Peeta and me sleeping together is too much for Octavia, because she bursts into tears right away. They gave us a moment of privacy, and I gave Peeta a kiss that promises something more, hoping that he'll spend his day thinking of me.
The chill of the evening pulls me from my reverie, and I'm all cried out. I gather up the remains of my picnic, depositing them in the kitchen before heading to Peeta's room. The bed still smells like him, and I fall asleep telling our growing pearl all about her father.