December 16th

Peeta was at his family's bakery by 4 a.m. every morning except for Sundays. His mind had been on Katniss again for most of the waking hours of his day. Any normal baker would probably have ruined all the baked goods they had mixed up if they had been allowing their mind to wander, but not Peeta.

He was so expert at his trade, and his muscle memory was stellar by this point, that he could bake anything on their menu with his eyes closed. He knew the weight, to the gram, of what the doughs and mixtures should feel like, if they were too dry or too wet, too grainy or too smooth. It was this talent of Peeta's that made Mellark's Bakery extremely popular and very well-known around town.

Today the sugar cookies were baked in the shape of the letter K, coated with a smooth, shiny white frosting that caught the glare of the shops lights, and decorated with green holly leaves, pure evidence of his attentions. It wasn't until mid-morning that Peeta was confronted with his mistake.

"Excuse me, sir," beckoned a lady signaling Peeta over to where she stood in front of the K's. "Might I ask what all the K's stand for?"

Peeta stood there for more time than was comfortable, not having an answer for the patron's question. He couldn't very well admit the K stood for Katniss, a personal crush of his that currently wouldn't give him the time of day and acted like a skittish deer believing it was the prey of his chase.

"I like things that start with the letter K," he spat out pathetically. Stupid. He had to keep the charade going, though. "You know, kites, kids… kangaroos. I mean, who doesn't like a kangaroo, am I right?" he laughed nervously.

"Oh," the woman replied, "I thought it might have been for Kris Kringle, being the holidays and all." Peeta mentally slapped his palm against his forehead for not thinking of that first. He sounded like such an idiot.

"Well, ma'am, it can stand for anything you want it to," he assured her with his winning smile. She bought it. Literally and figuratively.

"I'll take two dozen then, for my son's school party. They just look so adorable!" she declared, giddily clapping her hands together. Peeta breathed an inner sigh of relief that he hadn't totally ruined a whole batch of Mellark's famous sugar cookies. Cheap as they are to make, it was always nice when someone appreciated his work.

As he boxed up the cookies, he glanced up to the chime of the front door. He became exceedingly grateful for the customer who had just bought all but one of his K cookies as he stared a hole through the two women who had just occupied space in his bakery - Jo and Katniss.

At their lunch two days before, Peeta had shared with Jo where he worked, which was not far from where they worked, so he shouldn't be too surprised to see them.

As they walked to the counter and surveyed the baked goods, Jo called out to Peeta. "Yo, Peet! What's shakin', baby?" Peeta secretly hoped he didn't have to endure Jo's antics in front of Katniss, but anything was possible with a girl who knew no boundaries.

"Hey, Jo. Hi, Katniss." Peeta greeted them both, but only saw Katniss.

"Hello," Katniss replied quietly, looking away from Peeta's intensely blue eyes. Those eyes could trap any girl, make her weak in the knees, and bring her insides alive with the fluttering of tiny wings.

"Can I help you girls with anything?"

"What do you recommend, Blondie?" Before Peeta could open his mouth to speak, Jo pointed out the last K sugar cookie in the case.

"Oh, look, Kat! It's a K! It must be just for you! You should totally get it," Jo said as she elbowed Katniss in the ribs. Peeta felt his face glow with a scarlet blush. "Did you make these just for Kat?" Jo kept dousing the awkward situation with her word vomit. God, she does NOT have a filter, Peeta thought.

"Actually, a customer ordered two dozen for her son's school party, and just the one was left over." It wasn't a total lie - more like a minor evasion to save his pride and not frighten Katniss. Peeta didn't mind allowing her to see that he was interested in her, but baking and selling cookies with her initial was crossing the creeper line, he was sure.

"We'll take that last K, and four of those yummy looking cheesy bun things over there," Jo put in her order. "Oh, and a blueberry donut. Two blueberry donuts." Peeta wasn't shocked at all that Jo kept adding to her order. She was a small girl, but he had seen her eat. Whoever married that one would have to be a rich man with lots of patience and possibly a shock collar. In a weird way, that might make her happy, Peeta mused with a stifled grin.

Jo excused herself to the bathroom and left Katniss alone with Peeta while he bagged up their order. "So," he started, "this is a swap from the past two days, isn't it?" Katniss gave him a confused look, but remained silent. Peeta went on to explain, "I've been the customer the last two times we've seen each other. Now it's the reverse."

"Oh. Yeah, I guess that's true," Katniss said, running her hand over the braid that hung across her right shoulder. She looked around the room nervously as Peeta observed her. "So do you bake any of these things?" Katniss finally broke the silence.

"Yeah, actually, I bake all of it," he told her.

"I'm a terrible cook. I can't even get toast to come out right," she admitted to him with a shy smile. Peeta noticed the way her face lightened up, even if it was just for a moment. It made him want her all the more, and he wondered if he could get her to smile again, but Jo came back before he was able to try. This time she tried to pay for her food, which amazed Peeta, given what he had experienced with her so far, but he wouldn't allow it. Jo gave him a wink that told him she had never intended on paying, and Peeta knew he was a sucker for both of these girls, just in different ways.

After they departed the store to head for their shifts at work, Peeta contemplated how he had seen Katniss three times in the last four days. He had felt the lasso around his heart on the very first day, and each time he had seen her he could feel the grip of it tighten. Not in an uncomfortable way, though, but in a nervous, panicked way that had his very essence screaming, night and day, that he had to have this girl. She was the one he had been patiently waiting for.

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Yay for another update! I'm keeping my promise! Actually, one of these days real soon I'll have to update three chapters at once to get caught up to the right date. Anywho, I learned something interesting yesterday - you can review your own stories! Lol! I thought, should I? So I wrote out a review from my alter-ego and wrestled with whether or not it would be pathetic to post it, but I decided it would be more humorous than pathetic. My kind of humor anyway! I dare someone to post the same review… if you do please fix the spelling of "your". I hate that I can't delete my review and repost it correctly. Such a basic mistake! Blah! I need a beta for my 12 word reviews.Until tomorrow...