December 23rd

Peeta arrived at the restaurant across from Katniss' place of work a little early, hoping to get a table early and calm his nerves. He practiced a few things he might say to her, trying for something witty, but not arrogant, and funny, but not lame. Sometimes his way with words was a gift, but at other times it was a curse. It became a curse when he was nervous, and Katniss definitely caused those feelings in him.

Peeta's eyes darted to the entrance every time the sun would glint through the glass doors as someone new walked in. He glanced down at his phone, checking the time and looking for any message from Katniss. She was three minutes late. Three minutes is nothing, he tried to tell himself, but she was only across the street. He thought about sending her a text letting her know he was waiting, but decided to give it a few more minutes, not wanting to seem desperate.

Peeta looked at his phone at least once every minute, counting the milliseconds. He felt as though he had been waiting for hours. He knew he had arrived early, so that could possibly have been why he felt that way. Or maybe it was that he was so anxious to see her. That's more likely, he resolved.

Peeta's eyes roamed the restaurant again and stopped at the front doors, but this time he saw what he had been waiting for, and it was the best sight for his sore eyes. He studied Katniss from afar while she checked with the waitress for a table. She wore black leggings set off by knee-high, riding boots and a hunter green, cable-knit sweater that fell just below the apex of her thighs. Her hair was down, and flowed around her shoulders reminding Peeta of the first day he'd met her. She looked magnificent as far as Peeta was concerned.

Peeta stood up to signal to her exactly where he was as she came closer and he pulled out her chair in invitation. "Thank you," Katniss said timidly as she as she took the seat. Peeta took the chair across from her and tried to think of the topics he had previously chosen to start off their conversation, but he was at a complete loss now with her sitting near him.

He decided to begin with something easy. "How's work?"

"Oh, it's good. Busy. Only one more day until Christmas." She said in no particular way. He nodded in agreement while she picked up her menu and flipped it open.

"I bet you'll be glad when things get back to normal," he expressed as more of a statement than a question.

"Actually, I'll be out of a job after tomorrow. This was only temporary. You know, holiday help," she smiled tensley and buried her eyes back into the menu as if it embarrassed her.

"Oh," was all Peeta could think to say. He wasn't sure how to respond, but Katniss filled the impending silence with something Peeta did not want to hear.

"My friend, Gale, says he can probably get me a job at his shop. The secretary is leaving after the New Year so there's an opening. Cross your fingers for me," she joked anxiously. Peeta tried to sound happy for her, raising his two hands above the table with both sets of fingers crossed, showing his support, even though he he didn't want her anywhere near that guy.

"I'm sure you'll find something. Who wouldn't want to hire you?" He said confidently, wishing he had known of a job any place other than at Gale's shop. "You're funny, smart, beautiful-" Peeta was interrupted with a scoff from Katniss.

"I'm not beautiful," she demanded quietly. "No one has ever called me that." Peeta wanted to quell her discomfort that was evident in his admiration of her. "Well, no one may have ever called you beautiful, but I promise you plenty of people think it," He assured her.

"I'm sorry, I'm not very good with compliments. I'm just not used to them, but, um, thank you," she managed to convey.

Peeta wanted to tell her that he would compliment her every day for the rest of his life if she would let him, and feeling emboldened he voiced the next thought from his mind even though he was pretty sure he would be turned down.

"Katniss, can I see you tomorrow? I have this family party I have to attend every Christmas Eve, and it's a big deal and I would love if you would go with me. I've been wanting to ask you all week." He wanted to say more, but thought better of it since it would probably make him sound like he was rambling. A bumbling Peeta was not attractive.

"Tomorrow?" Katniss asked him, her voice unsure. Peeta could feel her putting up a thin wall at his abrupt question.

"You probably have plans…" he voiced aloud. "Right, I'm sorry. That was stupid. Of course you're busy." He wanted to kick himself for blurting out something so idiotic.

"No, actually I don't have plans, but, your family? You want me to go with you to meet your family? On Christmas Eve?" Now that she had said it out loud for him to hear it sounded even more ludicrous than before. Peeta berated himself with the word imbecile over and over again.

"Yeah, I wish I had thought before I spoke. Well, are you, um, ready to order?" Peeta wanted to get as far away from this busted conversation as he possibly could. They both ordered their meals and fell into a surprisingly easy chatter considering the awkwardness of the past five minutes. Peeta learned about Katniss' family, that she had a mother who suffered from depression, although Peeta refrained from asking why, and a sister, Prim, who was four years younger than herself. She spoke of her love for archery and anything that had to do with the woods.

Peeta told her a little about his family, mainly what it was like to grow up with two older brothers. He expressed how much he loved his dad and how close they were, which seemed to make Katniss' mood more somber, but she brightened up when he mentioned that he loved all types of art and dabbled in anything where he could be creative.

After an hour of eating and chatting, it was time to part ways, Katniss needing to get back to the store and Peeta needing a nap after having been awake since midnight. Katniss offered to pay for her part, but Peeta insisted that he take care of it. She thanked him and went back to work with the promise that they could talk more after the holidays.

Well, it wasn't a date for his parent's Christmas Eve affair, he pondered. But at least he could look forward to getting to know her in the new year. Maybe by the next family party he would have Katniss on his arm, able to show her off to everyone and be the envy of his two nincompoop brothers.

He fell asleep immediately upon arriving home and crashing down onto his bed, despite the early afternoon sun shining through his open windows. He needed plenty of rest to be able to deal with the onslaught of what was coming in just a little over twenty-four hours.

So am I hated that she didn't say yes? One more chapter to go! It will be done tonight, probably in the early morning hours, just after Santa departs my chimney. :) Sorry for any mistakes as I only read over this once. I'm exhausted!