A Dandelion In The Sun {Watty Awards 2012}

Chapter 2: Moments Of Love

The night I felt the ache of hunger again was when Peeta gently woke me from a nightmare of lost children in the Capitol. The images were horrific, and I had trouble releasing myself from it even with Peeta's arms holding me against him tightly. He tilted my chin up, and I felt his warm lips press against mine. The warmth of his mouth was comforting.

My lips moved against his without thought – we had shared so many since I gave him the okay to try a real relationship - and I wrapped my arms around him. The touch of his tongue against mine ignited a curious, melting feeling in my stomach. My arms held him tighter, closer, and I felt his body shift against mine.

When morning had dawned, I woke, and there had been no nightmares. My body was still tangled with Peeta's, and I could see he was still asleep. He was usually awake first, so I took advantage of the opportunity and propped my head on my hand to gaze down at his face.

His tangled blonde hair was soft to the touch as I smoothed it back carefully. The sunlight trickling in the open windows lit his golden eyelashes and I found myself transfixed by them yet again.

I stroked a finger down the bridge of his nose, gently sliding it across his cheek and jaw. To my surprise, I felt slight stubble and investigated further. There was definitely some there; fascinated, I slid my fingers along the smooth roughness of it.

Somewhere amidst my daydreaming, Peeta had woken and was watching me.

"You have stubble," I told him with some surprise and uncertainty.

I didn't like being caught unawares with my feelings, but he seemed to be feeling the same tenderness as I did, judging by his look, and he smiled at me.

I got distracted by the curve of his mouth when he smiled and found my thumb smoothing over his lower lip which made him chuckle softly. His warm breath spread over my fingers.

"Did it just start growing back? And how?" I questioned.

His hand rested on my bare hip and he said, "It did. It was some kind of smelly cream they smeared on our faces to stop the growth, but apparently it only works for so long. I'll shave it if you…"

"Not yet," I interrupted. I liked it, but felt a little strange saying so. The newness to our relationship would take a little time to adjust to.

He took my hand and lightly tugged on me until I was straddling him. I gazed down at him with something akin to tenderness flaring inside me, and he sat up partially to kiss me. I explored his body further with hands and lips and heard him give a soft sound when I pressed a kiss to the stump of his leg. His eyes locked with mine.

"You love me. Real or not real?"

He deserved to hear it again and as many times as I could say it. "Real," I whispered.

A year passed with comfortable ease, and I passed my days with Peeta and occasionally Haymitch; when he was at least partially sober. Peeta taught me to bake a few things, and after a few bad attempts, I got better at it. One morning Greasy Sae had made a breakfast of pancakes, crispy bacon, and an array of fruit and mugs of hot chocolate one morning for me and Peeta.

Once we finished breakfast and helped to clean up – and after I gave Buttercup some bacon – I had the idea of taking Peeta into the woods with me to hunt. We hadn't been in the woods together since the Hunger Games, but I thought we could turn it into a peaceful activity to overcome all the death we had encountered in other forests.

He seemed hesitant when had I brought it up, but agreed to go with me if he could show me how to bake a cake later. I had a sneaking suspicion he wanted me to know how because we had inadvertently found out Haymitch's birthday was coming up. It was a warm spring day, so I decided to forego my father's coat and just pulled on my boots and picked up my bow.