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Peeta stared at the burnt cookies on the counter. He didn't burn things, not unless there was a purpose, and this was the third time this has happened since they had returned from the games. He considered throwing them away but decided to hand them out to kids in the seem instead. They were just a little burnt and would be better than nothing. He put the cookies in a basket and headed out. He stopped When he saw Katniss walking out of her home, he froze. He knew that his lack of attention was due to the revelation that the love of his life was just pretending to be into him to save herself. He tried to pull himself together and waved slightly trying to smile.

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"Okay." Thank god, he would be able to go back to avoiding her and not be trap into going somewhere alone.

"So what are you going to the seam for? anything in particular?"

"Just some shopping. It's...still a new sensation to walk into town and actually...buy things you want." She chuckled, shrugging.

"Are you going to the bakery? That's one of my stops." As they walked, she realized, they had gone from holding hand to now, brushing shoulders.

Peeta had just realized this and started blushing. Why was he mad at her, she was just doing what she had to to get back to her family. He had been prepared to die so she could do that. He guessed he just was prepared to live and have the same outcome. He wanted her in his life, why should he be picky about how she was in his life?

"Yeah." He smile genuinely for the first time since they had started walking, perhaps since they left the train. "Going to buy a cake for your sister?"

"Maybe. Have any suggeations?"

She gave him a small smile. This was nice. Way nicer than anything she'd had in awhile. Walking with him, holding hands, not stressed about all the details.

"I missed you."

Oh. Oh crap. That was about the worst thing to say to make this situation less stressful.

"I missed you too." He leaned in and playfully nudged her with his shoulder, widening his smile.

"I have a few, it'll depend on whats in stock today." He wanted to kiss her, and that was the problem with just being friends. He knew he would always want to kiss her, to touch her. One day it would just hurt too bad that it's not what she wanted, but that day wasn't today, so it didn't matter yet.

She let out a relieved sigh, nudging him back. Leave it to Peeta to be able to cover over her awkward bumbling.

"She'll like anything I buy her. She's not hard to shop for, really."

"We'll get her something nice." He squeezed her hand gently before falling into silence as they walked again. this was a silence, a calm one, not tense like the last one.

They were getting close to town, a fact that Katniss realize she was sort of dreading.

"Do you wanna walk back together too?" She said softly, feeling quite a bit like a little girl.

He was really surprised how much he wanted to.

"Sure, in fact if you don't mind waiting for a few minutes I could just stay with you. We could spend the day together." He wasn't sure what he would do if she said no.

"Sure, I can do that."

She had no place to be today. Or, really, any day. Life wasn't exactly busy for a victor most of the time, apparently. No wonder Haymitch drank so much.

"Maybe we can pick stuff up for a pick nick, go to the woods this afternoon." It was funny how something he was dreading now seemed like the best possible way he could spend his day.

"That would be really...really good." Her fingers squeezed his, as she pressed closer.

She didn't know where she would take him. Not her and Gale's little outcropping. Maybe...she didn't know if Peeta could make it to the lake. But...she wanted to take him there, she realized.

"Good." He said smiling. This felt oddly like a date, if it was it was technically their first.

"Uhh...what...what kinda of food should we get."

Katniss knew where to buy the things to make food. And where to pay things like sweets. But she had no idea if there even was a place in town that sold ready made meals.

"Well we can get bread out my parents, Prim is letting them sell some of her cheese, so there's that." He stopped to make some sort of meal plan, mostly he just wanted to buy as many things as possible to help out the people in town.

"What would you like?" He asked hoping that Katniss could tell his intent.

"I...I dunno." She shook her head, not sure what to say now she was put on the spot.

"You're in town more often than me."

"Okay We'll just see what we can find." It was worth a shot but this was a good enough excuse he guessed.

She smiled, before starting to pay attention to where they were going as they entered town. More than one path, more people to run into, she couldn't just navigate by instinct.

"So, where to first, town boy?"

"Why don't we start at the bakery and then see what else we might need." He smiled at her, wondering if buying her flowers would be too much. Everything was so confusing with her, and even thought he knew it was wrong, part of him still thought she loved him. He knew things were complicated, and he could expect her to sort her feelings out right in the middle of everything that was going on. He just didn't want to cross boundaries and upset her. The hard part about that was not knowing where the boundaries were.

She shrugged.

"Sounds good."

Being around Peet'as family, especially his mother, was a little awkward. But she stayed near his side, hand locked in his, and smiled when it seemed right. His dad, at least made things easier.

Peeta made his visit quick and tried to avoid the barrage of awkward questions from his brothers. His mother thankfully excused herself almost as soon as she saw Katniss. He bought a few loaves of bread and some tarts, as well as goat cheese. He asked his father what else would be good on their little outing and he provided things from most of the stores around.

Peeta smiled his thanks, glad that his father could read his mind. He always could, and that made him sad. He missed his father, and it made him feel awful, but he was the only one. It was the only down side to not living there anymore, waking up early and baking with his dad. It was one of the few times he spoke freely and at length. He came back a few times, but it felt different. Almost like his dad was jealous that Peeta had gotten the girl that he had failed to in the previous generation. It broke his heart.

"Shall we?" He asked Katniss guiding her through the other stores grabbing odds and ends, with a new type of melancholy hanging around him.

"Let's."

She lead him through town, fingers still tangled together, and then down through the seam. As the houses began to be less numerous, she ducked into their old house, hissing back at Buttercup as the cat greeted them in similar.

"We can leave what we're not taking to the picnic here and pick it up on the way home."

Peeta was still chuckling at the fact that she hisses at the cat. He wasn't sure why, but that had to be just about the cutest thing he had ever seen. It astonished how easily she could put him in a better mood. He set down the thing they weren't taking and arranged them in the sack he had bought.

"I'm ready when you are." He said with a smile offering his hand again.

She grabbed what she needed, and lead him to the loose length of fence. On quick glance to be sure no one was around, followed by a quick pause to listen for the hum of the fence, and then she dipped under it, holding up the chain link for him.

"Come on Peeta, quickly."

Peeta followed her orders and then smiled at her when they were on their way to the woods.

"It's beautiful out here." He said looking around trying to not connect how much it reminded him of the arena.

"Where are we going?" It didn't really matter, he was with her.