Falling For You

Chapter 25

The smell of cinnamon and apples fill my nose as I watch Peeta get the pastries out of the oven. "What do you want to drink?" Peeta asks, handing me a plate with two of the Apple pastries on it, fresh out of the oven. "Um..." I think about it, staring down at my plate. "Milk." I decide, picking up my fork and taking a bite. I Ignore the burning sensation on my tongue as I savor the taste of warm cinnamon apples in my mouth. He sets a glass of milk down in front of me and sits down next to me. We eat in silence for a few minutes, then he turns towards me. "So, what do you want to do today? He asks, in between sips of orange juice. "Can we go swimming in the lake out in woods?" This might be my only chance to go swimming again for a long time. I won't be able to take the baby out into the woods. It's too risky. "I don't know if that's a good idea... How are you going to fit under the fence anyway?" He asks, finishing his juice. "I can find a way to climb over it if the electricity isn't on. Which it never is, so I'm sure that'll be fine."  He gets up and sets his plate and cup in the sink. "What if it is on? Or what if it turns on while we're over there?" I roll my eyes. He's so overprotective. "Then we'll deal with that when we get there. Look, it'll be fun. I'll help teach you how to swim and We can have a picnic and everything." I pout, looking up at him under my eyelashes. "Okay, fine. But we're not going anywhere until you finish your breakfast." He points to my plate, making me look down too. I watch him make sandwiches for our picnic as I eat.

I lead Peeta into the woods, while he carries my hunting bag filled with food for our picnic. After a couple of tries we successfully made it over the fence. "Here it is." I say, gesturing towards the lake. It's beautiful this time of year. The lake is alive with energy and there's a light breeze in the air. I kick off my boots and take my pants off. I pull my shirt off and throw it on the ground with the rest of my clothes. "What are you waiting for? Take your clothes off." I say, taking my hunting bag from Peeta and tossing it on the ground. I dip my toes into the water. It's warm and mossy. I jump in, making water splash everywhere. When I resurface Peeta's stripped down to his underwear like me. "Come on." I hold my hand out to him and he takes it, carefully stepping into the lake. "Are there snakes in here?" He asks, staying as close to the edge as possible. "Yes." I giggle, pulling him further into the water. We swim together into the middle of the lake, mostly with me leading since he's not very good at swimming. He puts his arms on my shoulders and I put my arms on his shoulders. We both stay like that, for a while, not moving other than our legs kicking to keep us above water. "See, it's not that hard once you get used to it." I say, moving away from him a little so I'm not holding him down. "No, it's not. You're a very good teacher." He leans in to kiss me and I stop him, splashing him in the face.

Peeta gets the blanket we brought out of the bag and hands it to me. I spread it out and we sit down to dry off before we put our clothes back on. "Ready for lunch?" He asks, picking up my hunting bag. I nod and he hands me the container with our sandwiches in it. I open it, pick up one of the sandwiches, and hand the container back to him. I lean back, letting the sun warm my bare skin, and take a bite of my sandwich.

By the time we finish eating the sun's starting to set. We get up, pack our things, and get dressed. I pull on my tank top and jeans, while Peeta folds up the blanket and puts it back in the bag along with our leftover food containers. Once we're both dressed, we start walking back towards the fence. I hold Peeta's hand as we walk, swinging it back and forth. As we approach the fence I notice there's something off, but I don't catch it until we're almost there. I hear the buzz of electricity and I freeze. "Peeta, the fence is on." I whisper, stopping him where we are. "What do we do?" He asks, trying to stay calm, but I know he's panicking. He's never been in the woods before. "We just have to wait it out. It has to go off soon." I tell him, as confident as I can manage. This has happened to me and Gale before and the fence always turns off before the day's over. "I told you this wasn't a good idea." He says, not convinced by my answer. "It'll be fine. Let's just go somewhere to wait it out." He walks with me over to a big tree and we sit down next to it. He leans up against the trunk and pulls me up onto his lap. I lean up against him and close my eyes.

I'm woken up by the sound of Peeta's voice. I jerk up out of his arms and look around, but nothing seems to be out of place. I don't know how long I've been asleep. It must've been hours because it's dark. I didn't even notice I fell asleep. "Hey, it's okay." He soothes me, wrapping his arm back around me. "The fence is off. We need to go home now." I nod, looking back up at the sky. He helps me up and we walk back home together.

A/N: GOD THIS SUCKS IM SORRY THIS IS SO BAD I TRIED BUT IT WAS TAKING FOREVER AND I JUST WENT WITH IT