#cc loves fall

“Peeta, would you just go over there and talk to her already? You’re driving me crazy.”

Peeta shoots Finnick a look of contempt, though he does have a point. The girl with the silver eyes and long braid caught his eye earlier that day in the farm’s little market, and he’s basically been stalking her ever since. He casually followed her to the corn maze, only to get lost and come out a full fifteen minutes later. He thinks he caught her looking at him as he played with Finnick’s son on the hay bales, but she was gone before he could get a good look. And now here they are, standing in this massive pumpkin patch, the sun setting in a blaze of yellow and orange, and he can’t even enjoy it since it signals that the farm is closing soon.

“Uncle Peeta, why don’t you take Logan over there,” Annie says, motioning to the area he’s been staring at, “It looks like there might be some good ones in that section.”

“Oh, sure!” he says, giving Annie a look of gratitude as she winks at him. “Come on, buddy, let’s go see if we can find a good one.”

He takes Logan by the hand and walks towards the girl, who appears to be having some trouble of her own. That pumpkin is almost as big as she is, Peeta thinks to himself as he watches her attempt to lift it. This is it, he thinks, Just do it.

“Hi, uh, do you need any help with that?”

The girl looks up at him and scowls.

Ouch, he thinks. That’s not a good sign.

“Thanks, but I don’t need any help.”

ABORT MISSION. ABORT. ABORT.

“Oh, okay, sure, I didn’t mean to- ”

“My Unca Peeta’s REALLY strong.”

They both turn to Logan, who is displaying a very serious expression for a four-year-old. “He carries BIG, SUPER HUMONGOUS bags of flour ALL day long.”

The girl chuckles as she stands. “Oh, he does, does he?” she asks, a smile tugging at her lips.

“Oh, hahaha, no…I mean, yes, I do, but I’m not as strong as he says,” Peeta replies nervously, his cheeks heating up. “I own a bakery, so…that’s what he meant by the flour. And the bags aren’t even that heavy...I mean, they’re pretty big, but not ‘super humongous’ big, and- ”

“Logan!” Annie interrupts, appearing out of nowhere, “Let’s go, sweetie. The tractor will be here soon, and I think Daddy found a good pumpkin over there.” She picks Logan up and smiles politely at the girl, but gives Peeta a furrowed brow and slight shake of her head as she passes him.

“Well, ‘Unca Peeta’, if you really are as strong as Logan thinks you are, maybe I could use your help with this,” the girl says, pointing to the huge pumpkin at her feet.

“Oh, sure,” he replies, relaxing a bit. “And I’m just ‘Peeta’, by the way. No ‘Unca’ required,” he says with a smile as he holds out his hand.

She smiles back, and his breath hitches.

She slowly extends her own hand, and his heart starts to beat faster.

“Just Peeta,” she says, slipping her hand into his.