Better Games

18. Today Pt. 2

Katniss POV
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I feel the size of a deer when I finish the breakfast Peeta has made for me. He even made old Buttercup a nice bowl of catmeal and threw in a tiny piece of bacon though he knows it's not good for him. Buttercup deserved a little celebration too, and he was scratching the legs of the table obviously pawing for human food which I've only heard of canines doing but, hey, he's not a normal cat anyway.

"Thank you for the lovely breakfast," I tell him as I get up to put the dishes in the sink. Before he tried to stop me I shuffle to the kitchen and start washing. There's a contraption in the kitchen that cleans them for you that I have only ever seen in the Capitol and the other houses throughout Victor's Village but Peeta and I don't like to use it. Maybe it's habit or how we grew up but we both, it seems, prefer doing things the old fashion way to hold on to what little family habits and memories we have left.

I assume he realizes that he can't baby me like he wants to all day so for now he lets me clean the dishes as he comes with the rest of the plates and puts them in the sink, waiting on the other side of me to dry them. I turn and smile at him and he winks. This is why I didn't need a special day to celebrate my birthday. Everyday with him, even if we are just silently doing the dishes like right now, these are some of the sweetest moments of my life with him simply because he is here with me and we are together. I guess that's one of ways how I realized I loved him. After all this time there is no one I can be truly happy with, safe, and sound with other than Peeta. He is my dandelion, my boy with the bread, and I love him so.

As he dries the last dish I dry my hands and hug him by his side, leaning my head on his shoulder, another silent but sweet thing we do that requires no words but always mean I love you, I miss you, I want you. He dries his hands and turns to kiss me on the top of my head.

"Would you like to go to the lake today?"
I look up at him and nod, "That's a great idea."

---

By the afternoon we are unpacked and at the lake, our three legs dipped in the water as we sit on the shore. Peeta's arm rests around my shoulders as I eat berries and he explains the colors that are present when the sunlight reflects off the water.

"...and when the blues and greens ripple the light ripples with it so they're like thousands of dents on a once smooth surface, all the while being hit with light which makes it even harder to draw since the water is constantly moving and the sun is constantly shining."

I pop berry after berry in my mouth. Before I was asking questions but now I've gotten lost in how passionate he talks about colors and light refractions and focus on how much he holds in his words. I start to stare at him wondrously like a girl absolutely over her head. My head tilts to the side and I stare at how blonde his hair is and how every single strand rustles in the wind, the way the water rustles in its small tide. I see what he's talking about, every single strand moves in waves, the light reflecting as it moves making it harder to possibly draw since it's moving constantly. There is a beauty in something that's constantly moving...breathing, living, talking, staring...

Staring?

Peeta's staring at me now and his eyes break me out of my gaze.

"Katniss have you been listening," he asks grinning.
"Yes I was," I respond indignantly and truthful,
"But then I started looking at you and how foolish it would be to draw a lake or an ocean when you had the whole...when you have...when you have the whole world right in front of you." I stutter. I have never been good with words like he has but I think I've done a good job this time, mind the stuttering.

He looks at me with focused eyes, the understanding slowly showing on his face.

"The whole world?" He asks sure yet unsure.
"My whole world
"My whole world sitting right in front of me explain-...explaining," I stutter trying to find my wording again, "explaining the beauty of the world in front of him."

He looks down at the grass between us where my hand lays and entwines his fingers into mine. Looking up past those long blond lashes and into my eyes he finally replies,
"That was just a lake Katniss, I had the most beautiful thing in the world beside me. I had my world beside me."

I slowly close the space between us and feel his eyes flutter close as do mine and kiss him softly but with more passion than I can muster into this one gesture. His lips are warm and soft but sure against mine, like we were fitted for each other. Our interlocked hands move in unison to lift my shirt over my head in one swift motion, breaking the kiss for only a second. And both of our worlds collided into one.