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Cress was enthusiastic because she would be seeing her brother. She rarely sees him now; he's always busy working in the mines. Her mother was cooking dinner for him since she knows he would come home starving.
Elias barged into the house and shouted "I'm home! I need food and love" the family laughed at his comment, Elias was usually the one who always puts the family in a good mood no matter what he's feeling, if he wants to express his feelings he'll come to you himself.
Elias was the kind of person who kept his emotions to himself and masked them with jokes and fake smiles. Cress always tried to break his walls but failed.
He walked to the kitchen, Elias looked filthy and dirty. the boy gave them a side smile he walked to his mother he kissed her forehead; his father nodded at him. Elias washed his hands and sat at the table. She looked at his brother and saw how tired and exhausted he must be, he worked for hours she wished she could help him in some way.
Cress wanted to announce to everyone that she has a job after dinner, she waited till Elias came back because he would always support her if her parents ever disagreed on anything.
"So did you guys miss me?" Elias asked while shoving the food inside his mouth. The mother slapped his hands "eat slowly or you're going to choke to death" Cress butted in "hey at least he'll die with food in his stomach" Elias nodded with agreement.
The parents rolled their eyes at their children's ridiculousness "Elias how is working in the mines treating you?" the boy shrugged "well things are still the same, I swear every time I go there I feel like the place is getting smaller"
Cress lifted her eyebrows "El maybe you should take a break from the mines, you've been working so hard" Elias answered "you know that I can't take a leave of absence the peacekeepers will question me nonstop" she nodded knowing that he was right. Cress cleared her throat "mom, dad I wanna tell you something" she looked at Elias hoping that he would understand that she'll need his support on this.
"What is it Cress?" the father asked with curiosity, Cress looked at him and said "well the other day I overheard you say that you're lacking food and money and I couldn't just sit around and do nothing so I got a job please don't be mad" the parents looked at each other with guilt, her father asked "where?" she answered honestly "Mellark's Bakery" Elias interrupted "cool, so Mrs. Mellark gave you a job there? nice" Cress muttered, "not helping".
She looked at her parents again, hoping they wouldn't be angry at her. Her Father sighed "but Cress-" the mother interrupted "Cress honey we really appreciate you wanting to help us but you could've talked to us about this before making any decisions" Cress tried to explain her situation "I know that you wouldn't have listened to me" the parents nodded at each other.
Elias said loudly "yeah I know that nod, you two are talking to each other telepathically like you always do. I think it's great that Cress is trying to help and contributing, having a job will help her learn how to be independent and responsible"
They eventually gave in to what Elias said and approved of Cress's decision and told her if she wants to quit working she should do it without hesitation.
Cress nudged her brother's shoulder and whispered "thanks for backing me up" Elias gave her a wicked smile "I didn't do it for you I did it for mom and dad, but I have a question how are you going to repay me? since I helped you and all" she sighed and said "fine I'll get a bagel from the bakery happy now?" he nodded with enthusiasm.
___
The next day she went to the bakery, she was feeling nervous. Cress didn't want to mess this up her family depends on her. She entered the bakery and saw Peeta standing by the counter, she couldn't help but smile at him.
He greeted her "Hey there welcome to your first day of hell" she laughed "well I hope it's warm and cozy" Peeta answered "oh trust me it is" they both laughed "so where's your mom?" he looked at the stairs "she should be coming down here in any minute" Cress nodded and stood there waiting.
Peeta was true to his words, not a minute later she saw Mrs. Mellark coming down with a scowl on her face; she saw Cress standing there she put her hands on her waist "I don't have time, I have simple rules; one don't be sloppy; two do your job with efficiency, and three be here on time"
Cress nodded with understanding "so what do you want me to do?" the mother sighed "well for starters clean this place up I want it to be spotless" Cress nodded "Yes ma'am will do you want me to do something else?" Mrs. Mellark shook her head, she looked at her youngest son "Peeta stay here and make sure she doesn't break anything" he nodded and she left.
Cress shrugged "well I expected worse, but hey cleaning doesn't sound bad does it?" Peeta shrugged "I guess not" She started cleaning the place, at some point, she dropped dramatically on the chair "I want to die" Peeta looked at her and chuckled. "Unfortunately my mother wants to kill you herself so you can't" she groaned, he felt bad for her so he grabbed two cupcakes from the counter and walked to her, Peeta sat next to Cress and gave her a cupcake.
She shoved the cupcake in her mouth and chewed "thank you I needed that" he looked at her and said "you look so tired" she sighed "I know, I just wanna go home and sleep" she said loudly.
Tristan entered "well well, Cressy is still working here what a shocker" Cress rolled her eyes "don't call me that it sounds so stupid" he shrugged "I like it" the girl didn't have the energy to argue with him.
He slumped on the chair with a long sigh "What did you do? you look so exhausted" Tristan answered "I was training for the next match" Cress asked with confusion "what match?" Peeta explained "My brother is the best wrestler in school, and tomorrow he has a match" Cress made an 'oh' face, that's how she recognized him.
"Well, I'll leave you two I need some sleep" Peeta and Cress nodded as he went upstairs. They were both silent for a while, her gaze wandered to the structure of this place it's so simple. The walls were plain white they barely had tables and chairs since people only come here to buy what they want and leave.
Not everyone can afford to buy from here, many people just stand outside and stare at the food wishing they had the money to buy from here. Sometimes, people would stand by the bakery just to smell the food.
She used to do that sometimes, stare at the food wanting to know if it tastes as good as it looks, hoping she would have enough money to buy from there.
Cress asked "Peeta do you ever give people food without asking them to pay you back?" he gave her a sad look "I do that sometimes, but my mother doesn't know about it. I sometimes burn the bread on purpose or add way too much salt so when my mother asks me to throw it away I give it to the people who sit near the bakery" she put a hand on his shoulder "that's really nice of you" he gave her a shy smile.
She looked at his hand and saw a bruise on Peeta's arm, she instantly sat up and grabbed his hands with worry "Peeta what happened?" he flinched at her touch, Peeta instantly pulled his hands from hers "nothing" she argued "that's not nothing"
Peeta forcibly pulled his hands away "I said it's fine" he stood up and walked to the kitchen while Cress stared at him with worry and confusion.
