The Strings To My Heart

6

*Tiny amount of Smut at the end of the chapter! Be warned!*

~Few Weeks Later; Christmas 23 Day's Away~

Peeta's P.O.V.

THE DIARY OF PEETA MELLARK

Dear Diary,

Also I went Christmas shopping with Finnick yesterday. He's crushing on Annie which I think is a little bit creepy, considering the huge age gap, but love knows no bounds, right? Idk what I'm going to get Katniss though. Perhaps a new car...?

Katniss wants to make out now bye ttyl

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"Peeta!" Prim called. "Can you help us?"

I winked at Katniss, who I was cuddling, got up off the couch and walked into the kitchen. "Oh, wow," I said, eyes widening. Prim was vigorously mixing a bowl of what appeared to be green cookie dough, while Annie was standing on the counter, digging through the cabinet. Flour and sugar were sprinkled across the room like snow, and someone had spilled the vanilla extract, which was slowly dripping down the side of the counter.

"What happened here?" I asked, bewildered and shocked by the mess.

"Prim and I decided to make Christmas cupcakes," Annie informed me. "So we found a regular cupcake recipe, then we added some food dye and sprinkles. We're gonna make the frosting red. That way, it's green and red! For Christmas."

"Ohhh," I said. A smile tugged on my lips. This was quite possibly the cutest thing I'd seen all day. "You guys are adorable. What do you need help with?"

"Everything!" Prim cried. "Annie read the instructions all wrong. Now we're all mixed up. Plus, we put in one third of a cup too much sugar. And I don't know what confectioner's sugar is."

"It's gonna be okay," I said, laughing. "We'll work this out. Oh, and confectioner's sugar is basically powdered sugar. It's just another term for it.."

"Okay," Prim said. "Can you help us with the frosting?"

And so, after much spilling, stirring, whisking, tasting, and nearly burning, the cupcakes were out of the oven and ready to go. Annie had a knack for creating intricate designs with the piping bag, while Prim poured way too many sprinkles on the frosted tops. And although they were a bit too sugary, they tasted fine.

"Hey, it smells good in there!" Katniss called. "Can I have one while I'm studying?"

"Sure," Prim said, then ran across the house to deliver the best cupcake to her older sister.

"Very sweet," commented Katniss. "But very good." Prim smiled and ran back into the kitchen.

"How are things going?" I asked, rubbing her back.

"Oh, it's going great. I love learning about microbiology," she said sarcastically. "And on top of that, my stomach has been achy all day and everything is sore."

I smiled and said, "Positivity trumps negativity all the time. You got this! Do you need anything? Medicine and all that?"

"I'm good... for now," she said. "But could you maybe get me some water? Maybe it'll help my headache."

"Of course. And I'm sure I could get Annie and Prim to bring you out another cupcake if you wanted," I said, grinning.

Katniss smiled and said, "Ah. That would be perfect."

I came back five minutes later with a tall glass of icy water and another sugary cupcake. Katniss thanked me and returned to her school.

The rest of the afternoon passed with more Monopoly, cleaning up the kitchen, relaxing, and watching the holiday episodes of Nailed It. Finnick and Annie decided to go outside for a walk, but when they were gone for nearly two hours, I suspected something different was going on. I was teaching Prim how to draw a portrait, and it wasn't until after six o'clock when I suddenly remembered Katniss.