Author's note: There are some sexy times cut out of this chapter, so you are in the right place if you don't want to read that. If you want to read the full version, head on over to AO3.
Things with Peeta and Annie are getting a little heavy and heated, so prepare yourself for that.
I alluded to the Evanescence song October in some of Peeta's lines. It's a very Peeta/Annie song. I suggest you go check it out.
Happy reading.
Chapter Seven
Peeta woke up with his head on Annie's chest and her fingers twirling in his hair. She hummed softly and he closed his eyes tight to hold onto a dream of Katniss that was quickly fading. He raised his head and looked into Annie's eyes. Her fingers tightened in his hair as she pulled him close for a kiss, her arm wrapped around his back and her leg twisted with his.
Still reeling from the dream, he clung to Annie and tried to shake the rest of it off, opening his mouth to hers and allowing her tongue to explore his depths. She rolled on top of him and straddled his hips.
She broke the kiss and looked down at him with a coy smile. "Good morning."
"Good morning." He grinned as he pushed up her nightgown and rested his hands on her thighs. "Did you sleep well?"
She nodded and kissed him again. "Did you?"
"Yes." He pulled her down for another kiss.
She trailed her lips across his scratchy jaw and down his neck. She brought her mouth back up to his and asked, "Would you like to pick back up where we left off last night?"
He hesitated a moment, taking note of the hardness of his member pressing against her. He nodded and pulled her back down to kiss him.
Annie broke the kiss with a sigh, moving her hand up his stomach and chest to tangle once again in his hair. She kissed him softly and moved away. "Time to bake some bread."
Peeta laughed and rubbed his face. "Give me a few minutes. Start some shortbread."
"Shortbread is my favorite." She closed his window and walked out of the room, pausing at the door to say, "I love you, Peeta. And I don't think we should run from it anymore."
He moved his hands down his face and watched the door close. He wasn't sure he'd be able to say it back, but he agreed with his wife that it was useless to deny their feelings any longer.
Annie dressed, her body still buzzing from Peeta's treatment. Afterward, she moved to the kitchen and started the fire in the stove before she put together the ingredients for shortbread in carefully measured amounts. Peeta could put any of his recipes together without measuring, with the exception of the fish rolls.
Peeta came in just as she put the first batch of shortbread in the oven. "It may be a little too hot." He commented. "We'll keep an eye on them." He rubbed Annie's back and kissed her cheek. "I agree with everything you said."
She looked over her shoulder and smirked. "I said quite a bit."
He laughed and rested his forehead against hers. "The last thing about running. I don't want to run anymore. I can't. It's so exhausting."
She nodded and brushed a kiss over his lips. "Okay, what's next? Are you going to start selling the fish loaf? Everyone's been asking."
"You mean now that it's perfect?" He smiled and moved toward the pantry. "I don't have seaweed."
"Lucky for you, your wife knows the perfect place to find some. I'll be right back." She walked into the parlor and shook her head. "You left a mess in here."
"You undressed me first." He called back.
She laughed and picked up her wrap from the floor. She retrieved his cap where it had landed on the sofa and sat it on top of her head as she walked through the kitchen.
"Hey, that's mine." He swiped it off her head and stole a kiss. "Don't stay out too long, we're behind here."
"And whose fault is that?" She winked before she skipped out the door.
She made her way down to the beach and walked along for a few yards before she found the perfect patch of seaweed. She quickly gathered enough for a batch of fish bread and hurried home. Peeta had his hands in a wad of dough, she watched the muscles of his back ripple as he kneaded and turned the mixture.
Annie dropped the seaweed on the table beside his work and placed her hands on his arms as she kissed across his shoulders.
He tensed.
She stepped back quickly as though she'd been burnt. "Is something wrong?"
"No." He sat the dough aside and rinsed the seaweed off under the well pump in the sink. "I'm just working, Annie."
Her heart sank and her eyes stung. "Oh. Katniss?"
He shook his head. "No." He sighed. "Yes." Picking up a knife, he started chopping up the seaweed. "Everything was fine and then it wasn't. I'm sorry, Annie."
"No, I am." She swallowed. "I need him, Peeta. I'm starting to forget how he looks. How his arms felt around me. How he smelled." She sniffed and the tears started falling. "I hate this, Peeta." She ran from the kitchen and slammed the door to her bedroom, throwing herself across the bed as she sobbed into her pillow.
Peeta slammed around the kitchen, mixing the seaweed into the batter for the fish rolls. He put the blame of the situation on his mother. She had to be behind this. No wonder his letters went unanswered.
But there was no blame for the conflicting feelings he was having for Annie. They were just there.
He sniffed and used his shoulder to wipe at the angry tears falling from his eyes. Somehow he managed to mold the tiny fish to perfection, even doing the detail of the scales along the length of each one.
He put the bread in the oven and made his way down the hall. Listening to Annie's painful sobs behind her bedroom door, he gathered his sketchbook and pencils and stepped back into the hallway. With a slight hesitation, he raised his hand and knocked.
"Yes?" Annie called.
"Can I come in and talk to you?" He looked at his art supplies. "I have a surprise for you."
She opened the door and averted her eyes. "I don't want to talk."
He smiled kindly. "Then you can listen." He indicated her bed. "Go sit."
After a moment, Annie turned and stretched out on her bed again with her face in her pillow. Peeta followed, sitting on the edge of her mattress. He gently squeezed her shoulder. She slowly turned her face to look at him.
"Tell me what he looks like." He showed her the sketchbook. "I'll draw him for you. I can't bring him here in person, but I can do this."
Fresh tears fell from her eyes and she moved her head to his lap. "Thank you."
He smoothed his hand over her hair. "So tell me. We'll start with his eyes."
It took her a moment to calm herself, but Annie started speaking softly. The description fell from her lips and Peeta's pencil scraped quickly across the paper. It was slow going at first, Annie's eyes shut tightly.
After a while Peeta paused and flexed his fingers. "I need to check on the bread."
"I'll do it." She hopped up and motioned for him to follow. "You keep drawing."
He followed her into the kitchen, she talked as he drew. His eyes were still on the paper as she took the bread out of the oven and put the next batch in.
He held up the picture when it was done and Annie covered her mouth. "Oh, Peeta."
"Any changes?" Peeta asked.
She sat down beside him and pointed. "His chin isn't quite as round. And his nose is just a little shorter." She watched as her husband made the changes and then slid it back. "Perfect. Thank you." She kissed his cheek.
"I'll make a frame for it." He promised as he gently removed it from the book.
She leaned over his book and asked, "Will you draw Katniss? I want to know how she looks."
He smiled and turned to the front of the book. He showed her all the images he'd drawn of his lover.
"Oh. She's so pretty." Annie sighed and closed the book. She watched Peeta a moment and then placed her hand on his cheek. "You should try writing them again."
He shook his head. "I get no response. Ever. I try all the time. And nothing."
She rested her forehead against his. "Maybe I can try."
"Maybe. It's probably useless." He brushed his lips over hers and then stood to finish the baking. "Business is really picking up."
She smiled sadly at the subject change. "It is. People are almost constantly knocking over here." Annie didn't look up from the drawing as she spoke. Peeta wasn't sure if he'd made the right choice.
"What if we change the plan?" He suggested. "You know all the recipes now. And you bake like you're born to it."
She finally looked up. "You think so?"
He smiled and nodded. "I know so."
She stood and pulled the latest batch of rolls out of the oven.
"Even your internal timer is perfect." Peeta put the next pan in.
Annie grinned and shrugged. "Timing is everything in the perfect batch of whiskey. I learned at my father's knee." She pointed to the oven. "The time is just shorter with baking."
He nodded. "My thought is, until we get the permanent bakery, and since we have the stand now, we can take turns manning the stall and baking all day."
"You mean you bring the first bread in the morning and I show up a few hours later with replacement bread and for you to come back and bake? We switch like that a couple times a day?"
"That's exactly what I'm thinking." He smiled and brushed his fingers down her cheek. "You're so smart, Annie."
She blushed and looked down. "I do my best. So is that what we'll do now?"
He nodded. "I'll make a quick sign for the window." He hurried out the back and found a scrap of wood among the pile that used to be the distillery. Inside, he got his paints and a brush and sat down at the table to paint while Annie mixed up a batch of cookies.
"Does this look right?" She asked, pulling the spoon out of the bowl. "It looks too stiff to me."
Peeta looked at her ingredients and then pointed. "You forgot the egg."
She looked down. "Oh, I did." She giggled and cracked it in. "Do you want breakfast? It's almost time for you to go." She finished the batter and started plopping dollops on the pan.
"I'll just eat a roll after I get set up." He waved a towel over the sign to dry it. "Stick this in the window before you head over. One more batch of the flat bread should do it. And then mix up some more dough for the fish rolls and I'll finish those." He picked up the boxes and started filling them with assorted pastries and then headed for the door.
Annie stopped him. She gently grabbed his face and brushed a kiss over his lips. "I'll see you soon."
Peeta smiled and nodded. "I love you." He whispered uncertainly.
"I love you." She said and let out a sigh. "It feels so good to say it."
He shrugged. "It does, but it doesn't."
She kissed him again. "Don't forget to eat something after you're settled."
"You too." He turned and walked out the door.
Annie munched on one of the fish rolls and smiled when she realized Peeta had made all the changes she and Mags had suggested. She sat down and picked up the drawing of Finnick. It looked just like him. Somehow Peeta even included a little smirk that was always on her lover's lips, even when he was having a bad day.
She put the paper down and looked at her husband's sign. It read, "Come visit us in town." Setting the board in the window facing inward, Annie stood to finish the baking Peeta had assigned her.
After that was done, she took out a piece of paper and a pen. She dipped the pen into the inkwell and started writing.
Finnick, I have tried to write you so many times, but I always threw the letters away. I wouldn't even begin to know where to send this, so I'm making all sorts of assumptions and I hope it gets to you. I want you to know how much I still love you. I need you to know that.
I'm married. I didn't want to be. Peacekeepers showed up with this man Peeta one day and my father told me he was going to marry me. I couldn't refuse. There was nothing else for me with you gone. But it's been so hard.
I still love you. And it's killing me that you aren't here with me. It hurts that all I have is my love for you and all our memories. I don't even know if you are alive or where I'm assuming you are. I suppose if this letter makes it to you, then you really are in Twelve, like I've guessed. And if you don't want to respond, or you can't, then I understand.
Peeta takes good care of me. The fog closes in and he sees it as quickly as you used to. He's not always as effective as you were, but he can help pull me out.
Someone tapped on the window and Annie looked up, her thoughts interrupted. Johanna waved on the outside.
Annie motioned her inside as she quickly searched where to put her papers away, folding up the letter and stuffing it in her pocket.
Johanna stepped in and leaned over the display of fish rolls. She smiled and picked one up. "Looks like your husband is finally joining the ranks of District Four."
"That roll is ten cents." Annie pointed out, shoving the picture underneath a pile of Peeta's recipes.
Johanna rolled her eyes and slapped down several coins. "I come to spend time with you, Mrs. Mellark."
"Don't call me that." Annie snapped and picked up her coins, counting them out. She placed two more rolls in front of Johanna and then covered the bread back up.
Johanna grinned. "Someone feeling a little touchy today?" She moved around the room, breaking off pieces of her bread and popping them in her mouth. She retrieved the paper Annie tried to hide and looked at the portrait.
Annie reached up to snatch it out of her hand and it ripped in half. Tears filled her eyes. "Go away, Jo." She grabbed the other half out of Johanna's hand. "Keep your nose out of my business."
"Annie, I…" Johanna sighed. "I didn't mean to."
"Sure you didn't. You never mean anything, do you? Just out for a good time." Her hands shook as she held the ripped pieces together, right through Finnick's left eye and the adorable smirk. "Get your bread and leave. And the next time you think about coming over, reconsider."
Johanna placed a hand on her shoulder. "I just thought it was a love letter from Peeta."
Brushing off Johanna's hand, Annie snapped, "Obviously not." She looked at the picture in her trembling hands, fighting the encroaching darkness.
"Do I need to get your husband?" Johanna asked softly.
Annie looked up with fire in her eyes. "Why are you still here? I told you to leave."
"What if I found him?" Johanna pleaded.
"I know where my husband is, Jo." Annie ground out, looking back at the drawing.
"I was talking about Finnick." Johanna said gently. "What if I could find him for you?"
"You're a liar. You can't find Finnick." Annie shook her head. "Get out of my house."
Johanna sighed and scooped the bread off the table. "Get better, Annie." She closed the door behind herself.
Annie dropped into the closest chair and sat the ruined drawing on the table in front of her. She rested her eyes on her folded arms and sobbed heavily. Her heart was ripped in two just like Finnick's image.
Sometime later, she heard the door open and slowly raised her eyes.
Peeta stood there, worry written on his features. "Johanna said… She told me…" He knelt in front of her and took her face in his hands. "Are you all right?"
She shook her head. "Johanna ripped my picture."
He looked to the torn drawing on the table and then back to his wife. "I'll draw you another." He promised.
"You don't have to." She sniffed.
"I will." He stroked his thumb across her cheek.
"Please don't, Peeta. Please just go back to the stand and leave me alone." She stood and hurried out the door.
"Annie, you should take your shawl." He called after her.
She wasn't sure where she would go until she got to the cave. Stumbling over the rocks and her own feet, she made it to the back and pressed her hands to the side of her head. Everything was so loud. The waves were like voices telling her Finnick would never be back and that she should just give up all hope.
"Annie?" Peeta's voice came softly as he draped her shawl over her shoulders. "Will you look at me a moment?"
She blinked a few times and looked up, her vision was still a blur and there was so much noise in her ears she could barely hear his words.
"If you want to stay in here, that's fine. I'll come check on you in a while if you want to be alone."
She nodded.
He kissed her forehead. "Here, home, or the stand, okay? Please don't go anywhere else?"
After taking time to process his request through the fog of her mind, Annie nodded. "Promise." She whispered.
Peeta stroked her cheek. "I'll talk to Johanna." He paused a moment and then stood. "She's watching the stand, so I should get back and make sure she isn't overcharging everyone."
Annie felt herself try to smile, but it didn't get too far. She nodded and put her face in her hands once more. She already felt her mind slowly clearing. It would still be a while. She wrapped her shawl tighter around herself and curled up on the floor.