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Friday evening can't come fast enough. I pass my exam with a 93%, thanks to my over-studying. I get through my shifts in the coffee shop by daydreaming about Katniss's beautiful voice, and I manage to keep from texting her until Thursday. We exchanged numbers last Sunday before she left with Delly and Thom, and Finnick advised me to wait until the night before to text or let her text first. And while she didn't text me at all, I was thrilled to see a reply from her within a few minutes when I texted her, telling her how much I'm looking forward to seeing her again.

I'm sitting at a corner table of the coffee shop with two large cups of hot chocolate and four freshly baked cheese buns, staring at the verse from Jeremiah that's written up on the side wall, near the ceiling. For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you hope and a future. Katniss has to be part of the Lord's plans for me. I can't imagine it any other way anymore.

When I see her pull into the parking lot, driving an older model pickup truck, I'm suddenly grateful that the girl working the counter right now is newer, meaning she doesn't know me that well. I don't really need or want an audience tonight when I'm trying to get to know Katniss better.

"Katniss!" I say, getting to my feet as she walks through the door. She's wearing a different pair of jeans today, with a coral fitted t-shirt that compliments her eyes and her slender figure beautifully. I want to tell her how lovely she looks, but I'm afraid of sounding insincere. She probably has so many guys that tell her things like that. I don't want to lump myself in with the men out there who would be just trying to get into her pants. There are people in Bible college who are still jerks.

So I settle for the next best thing. "I love that color," I say, indicating her shirt. "It goes very well with your eyes."

She blinks a few times, like she's not used to hearing compliments. "Thank you," she says softly, eyeing me up and down. "You... look nice too." She looks around the coffee shop. There's a Tenth Avenue North song playing through the speakers, and the shop is outfitted in soothing colors of light grey and forest green, with a mural of a mountain surrounded by trees and capped with snow that I painted along one wall. The phrase "Faith Can Move Mountains" is written along the bottom. "This place is nice!"

I follow her gaze to the mural. "I, um, painted the mural. During my first year of school. It was just a blank wall with a few prints over it before."

Katniss walks up to the wall, running her hand from the side of the mountain down to the words. "It's beautiful!" she whispers, sniffing. "You painted this?"

Is she crying? I clear my throat and chuckle, trying to lighten the mood. "Yeah. I also drew the picture on the chicken t-shirts from last weekend."

A single tear runs down Katniss's cheek, which she quickly swipes away before turning back to look at me. "You're very talented," she says, her voice throaty.

"Thank you," I say. I've never had anyone react like that over something I painted. "Do you like living up here in the mountains?"

Katniss sniffs again before answering. "Most of the time. I grew up over in Seam County, but Seam County isn't as elevated as this place. My father was a lumberjack."

Somehow I get the feeling that Katniss doesn't really want to talk about her family right now, so I try to change the subject. "That's nice of your uncle to let you use his truck. Does he have another car for himself?"

Katniss scoffs, rolling her eyes. "No, but he never goes anywhere anyway. Ever since I moved in he's been having me run all of his errands for him, which is mainly restocking his liquor. He was passed out on the couch when I left." Way to go, Mellark! Every single thing you've asked her so far has made her upset!

"Um, I got us something to eat," I say, pointing to the table. Katniss sits down and reaches for a cheese bun right away. "If you'd like something else, I can get it for you-"

"This is fine," she says, her mouth full. "I've been looking forward to more of these all week."

Her admission makes my heart flutter in my chest. This is good. Keep the conversation on lighter topics, and feed her plenty of cheese buns. I take a bite of my own cheese bun and sigh. Even if I'm still partial to cinnamon rolls, these really are the best things that I make.

It's quiet for a couple minutes while Katniss devours her cheese bun. Then she takes a sip of hot chocolate, looking at me awkwardly. "I'm sorry," she says. "I'm not really that great at small talk."

I want to tell her that I don't really care what we talk about, as long as I can listen to her ethereal voice. But I somehow know that would scare her. "That's okay," I say instead. "How 'bout I just ask you some questions, and you answer them?" I see her eyebrows raise. "Nothing too deep, I promise."

Her eyes drop to her cup before fluttering up to meet mine. "All right. Like what?"

"Like, what's your favorite color?"

She looks surprised. "Green," she says, running her finger around the rim of her cup. "Like the trees in the forest."

"Like the color of the shirt you were wearing last Saturday at church," I blurt without thinking. Her head snaps up and her eyes narrow. Ugh! Way to make yourself looking like you were creeping her!

But if what I said upsets her, she doesn't show it. "Yes, like that." Then she pauses for a few seconds. "What's yours?"

"Orange," I say. I pull out my phone to show her. "Not quite this orange though. Softer, more like the sunset."

"Oh," she says. "That's pretty." There's another stretch of silence while we both take bites of the cheese buns.

"Um, do you like movies?" I ask after swallowing my bite.

Katniss nods. "Yeah. Uncle Haymitch has the premium cable package with all the movie channels, so I've watched a bunch since I moved here."

"Oh? What kind do you like?"

She shrugs. "Mainly the superhero ones, or science fiction. Pretty much anything that's not real life."

"Really?" I say. "I love both of those!"

Katniss smiles, looking at me warily. "Do you like DC or Marvel?"

"DC for television, Marvel for movies. The MCU has the best superhero movies out there. Except for The Dark Knight trilogy of course." I take another sip of cocoa. "Are you Team Cap or Team Iron Man?"

Tilting her head, Katniss ponders for a moment. "Honestly I could see both sides, but I think in the end I was Team Cap. If only because he was correct to be suspicious of the umbrella organization. And because I just really like Hawkeye."

I don't tell her that I think the exact same way, because I'm concerned it'll sound too cheesy. "That's a really good point," I say instead. "And Hawkeye is one of my favorite characters too."

Katniss nods as she sips her cocoa. "Yeah, although I think anyone could shoot straight with that fancy bow he has. It practically shoots the arrows by itself! Same with Oliver Queen's bow. The bow that I use is a real hunting bow, handmade out of wood, and not that easy to shoot."

I grin at the look of pride on her face. "So, do you like any other sports besides archery?"

"I didn't play any in school, but I like watching football. I used to watch it with my dad growing up."

"Oh? Are you team Redskins or team Ravens?"

Katniss smirks, causing her silvery eyes to twinkle like the beam of early-evening sunlight stretching across our table. "Neither," she says.

"Oh really!" I exclaim. "Is it the Panthers then?" She shakes her head. "Steelers? Eagles? Titans?" Another shake. "Please don't tell me it's the Saints, because my friend Finnick would flip if he found another Saints fan. He and his wife and son live outside of New Orleans."

"Nope. None of those." She's full-out smiling now. She has such a glorious smile!

"Who then?" I ask

"The Vikings," she says, looking rather pleased with herself.

"The Vikings?! How'd your dad get to be a Vikings fan? Did he grow up in Minnesota or something? I've heard it gets really cold there!"

Katniss shakes her head, fiddling with a napkin. "No, but his grandfather did," she says. "He used to spend most weekends with his grandparents when he was little, while his parents worked. His grandpa was a huge Vikings fan, had a blanket and socks and a sweatshirt and everything. So my dad grew up cheering for them, and I guess he passed that onto me. I've never been to Minnesota though. My dad went there once and said it was the coldest place he'd ever seen. The lake was so frozen over, people were driving their cars on it."

"I can only imagine," I say, shivering. "It gets plenty cold enough here for my taste."

"Me too," she says, taking another bite of her cheese bun. "But he also said that the lake his grandfather grew up on was absolutely beautiful. He told me when I was little that he always wished he could take me there someday."

"Ah yes, there's what, ten thousand lakes in Minnesota?"

"Even more than that," Katniss says with a smirk. "His grandfather's lake was up in central Minnesota somewhere. Lake Minnewaska, I think it was called."

"Gotcha. That sounds peaceful. There aren't too many lakes around here."

"So," Katniss says. "Did you play football in high school?"

I shake my head. "No. I always wanted to try out, but my parents said the equipment fees were too expensive, and the games would've interfered with my work schedule."

Katniss raises an eyebrow. "What kind of work?"

I sigh, not really wanting to delve too deep into my family history on our first date. Is this a date? Oh I hope it's a date! "My parents own a bakery, down in Victors County. My two older brothers and I had to work in it either before or after school and on weekends, so my parents didn't have to pay as many regular employees. I had enough time to be on the wrestling team, but nothing else."

Katniss holds up the remainder of her second cheese bun. "So that's where you learned to make these?"

"Yep," I say. "Although since I've been working here I've refined the recipe a little. My parents only used one kind of cheese, but this," and I hold up my last piece. "This has three different cheeses baked in."

"So is that why they're so good?" Katniss asks, popping the rest of hers into her mouth and sighing.

I smile, feeling that warmth creeping across my chest. "Well, partially," I say with a smirk. "I'd like to think that I'm pretty good at what I do, also."

Katniss glances back at the mountain mural. "You seem to be good at a lot of things," she says quietly.

The conversation flows freely after that, so freely that I'm surprised when Delly and Thom walk through the door, not realizing it was that close to 7pm. I quickly excuse myself to run upstairs, grabbing my laptop and the journal containing my notes for group, along with the study Bible I promised to give to Katniss. The shop manager is shutting down the registers as I come back downstairs, with the usual tray of snacks for group sitting on the counter. She wishes me good night and heads out the door, reminding me to lock up once group is over.

Thom gets my computer hooked up to the projector as I sit back down next to Katniss. "We'll do a couple of worship songs, then a short prayer before we start the lesson," I tell her. "Delly picked the songs for tonight."

There are eight people total in my group tonight. In addition to Thom and Delly, there's Leevy, another teacher at the school where Delly works, Thom's friend Bristel from school, and Cecelia and Patrick, an engaged couple that Delly knows from somewhere. After I quickly introduce Katniss to everyone we launch right into worship, with the first song being By Your Side, the same Tenth Avenue North song that was playing when Katniss arrived here tonight.

"So," I say once the opening prayer is finished. "Tonight we're discussing the book of Ruth...". I see Katniss flipping open the Bible I gave her, searching for the correct chapter. Delly notices and helps her as I continue speaking. "So my first question is, why do you think Naomi wanted to send her daughters-in-law away while she was returning to her homeland?"

There's the usual period of silence that always accompanies any of my questions, before Delly clears her throat. "I think it's because, she felt like she'd lost everything. She'd lost her husband first, then her two sons. She didn't expect that her daughters-in-law would show any love or loyalty to her, and since their husbands were dead, they weren't required to stay with her anymore."

Murmurs of agreement flutter around the table. "Yes," Leevy says. "It sounds to me like Naomi was depressed. And really, who could blame her? She'd lost everyone that she loved. She thought she had nothing to show for her life."

"So you could say," Cecelia cuts in. "That Ruth was there for Naomi at the time in Naomi's life when she felt at her lowest. When she felt like she had no one left." Patrick smiles and wraps his arm around her shoulders.

The discussion continues, rather animated at times, for another ninety minutes. Katniss doesn't contribute at all but listens intently, and there are a few times where I see her lower lip start to quiver a little, like she's trying not to cry. My heart sinks, thinking that there's no way she'll ever want to come back.

But she shocks me by staying behind until everyone else is gone. She's standing, clutching the Bible to her chest, staring at the mountain painted on the wall. I walk up behind her, wanting badly to put my hand on her shoulder, or something, but not knowing if she would want me to.

"So, um, do you have any questions?" I ask quietly. "About what we talked about tonight, or anything else?"

Katniss turns to face me, shaking her head. "No," she whispers. "It was nice. I enjoyed it."

"Really?" I blurt out, a little too eagerly. "I mean, really? That's great!" I feel my cheeks burning as I reach behind me to scratch the back of my neck. "So, um, would-"

"What time is church tomorrow night?" Katniss interrupts.

I blush so hard I feel my vision go hazy. "Ah, the service starts at 6pm."

"Will you be there?" she asks.

I nod, feeling like a bobble-head doll. "Uh huh! Yep, I'll be there! Would you like to sit with me again?"

She nods, still hugging her Bible. "Yes, I'd like that."

"Oh that sounds good," I wheeze. "And, um, maybe after church, um, would you want to maybe get some pizza with me, and watch a movie? Maybe Iron Man, or, or Captain America, if you like him better. And if you like pizza, that is." Most people like pizza. But she's not most people...

Katniss smiles. "Yes, I do like pizza. And yes, I'd like that. But only if we go in order with the movies." She looks down, fiddling with the corner of the Bible. "I prefer to go in order."

I smile, probably like a fool but I don't care. "Okay! Iron Man it is."

Song Reference:

By Your Side by Tenth Avenue North

All of the songs in my story are available in iTunes and on YouTube.

Biblical Reference:

Jeremiah 29:11

What do you think of their first date? Please don't forget to leave me a review, I greatly appreciate them! :)