No Games Left to Play

17: The Date Night

"So I was thinking," Peeta starts.

"Yes?"

"I wanna take you out. We need a date night."

I groan and Peeta looks at me the way you would when discouraging toddler from doing something naughty. I instantly transform my groan into a curious hum.

"Katniss," he gripes.

"What?" I act like I don't know what he's talking about.

"Stop," he whines. "I wanna take you out and do something nice."

"Can't we stay home and do something instead?"

"Don't you think it's time we left the house?"

"You leave the house almost everyday to go to work, and I go hunting."

Peeta flashes me a knowing looking.

"Okay," I admit. "I go hunting occasionally."

"Please," Peeta begs. "I think it will be a lot of fun."

"Peeta, I don't know," I say, unsure.

"I promise we can leave if you're not having a good time. I just really want to do something special with you, you know, mix it up and try new things."

I pause for a moment, not saying anything. Peeta looks at me pleadingly, his eyes begging me to say yes to his proposition. I still don't say anything. I really don't want to go out, I'm not really in the mood to be amongst other people, but I know it will make him happy and that's what I'm here to do.

"Fine," I exhale. He practically jumps off the couch with joy. "Where are you taking me?"

He sits back down, grabbing one of the feet I have propped up on the coffee table and starts massaging it.

"I already have the whole night planned," he grins.

I can't help but not reflect his happiness right now, so I smile. "How'd you know I'd say yes?"

"Honestly, I had a feeling it would go something like this," he says. "But, I figured I could always save the idea for when you felt up to going out."

"Well, what's your plan mister?"

"The district just got something called a cinema," Peeta says. "I was thinking we could go check it out."

I nod, "When do I need to be ready?"

"They're showing a film called 'Within the Stars' at 4:30."

I stretch my neck and look over at the clock hanging on the wall to see what time it is: 2:17 p.m.

"I guess I should go hop in the shower," I sigh, getting off the couch.

"Wait," Peeta calls out before I can get a foot away. He grabs onto my wrist and pulls me down so I'm sitting on his lap, sending me into a fit of giggles.

"What?" I laugh.

"Wear something sexy," he whispers seductively in my ear. "I'm taking you to dinner after."

"Alright," I say and he kisses my cheek.

As I stand up he smacks my butt.

"Go on, now," he commands.

"I'm going, I'm going," I cheer, running up the steps to our bedroom and shaking my head at how much I love my husband.

I get to the bathroom, pull back the shower curtain, and turn on the water. I walk to our closet to grab a towel and a wash cloth, allowing time for the water to warm up before I hop in. I undress myself and lay my clothes on the lid of the toilet to later place them in our laundry hamper. I run the brush through my hair real quick to just get out any potential tangles. After I put that back in its rightful spot, I pull back the shower curtain just enough for me to slip inside the shower and under the water.