#threesomefic

She was 32, and she was now divorced. She didn’t have any romantic prospects. She didn’t have any children, which was in some ways a blessing and a curse. Good in the sense that no one was getting hurt in this divorce but her. Bad in the sense that at 32 years old, after dissolving her marriage of 5 years, she was now completely alone. No family to speak of after the accident that killed her mother, father, and sister when she was 19. Most of her friends had moved away from the small town where she grew up, in favor of going to big universities and chasing prestigious jobs and internships. Katniss was one of the rare ones that stayed and drove 2 hours to the local community college for classes when she finished highschool. She had gotten a degree in accounting and her small business did fairly well in the sleepy town of Panem. 

She wasn’t rich by any stretch of the imagination. But she would be able to get by without Gale. Piers had made sure she got to keep the house she had inherited after her parents passed. And her new car she had just purchased at the beginning of the year, which was all she really cared about. Gale got to keep his truck, the antique collection of hunting rifles that he loved, and his new girlfriend that was 5 months pregnant. 

Katniss should have known something was up the minute he stopped pressuring her to have kids. But she never thought Gale would actually cheat on her. Especially not with his blond, barely legal secretary. 

Her sister Prim had often accused her of being blind to matters of the heart back when she was alive. And Katniss’ friend Johanna had nicknamed her Brainless during the time they had classes together in community college when it came to dating and relationships. That was before Johanna moved away to start her new job in the big city. 

Suffice to say, any idiot would have seen it coming. Looking back there were so many signs. But she had been oblivious to the affair until Gale had taken her out to a restaurant a week before their 5 year anniversary and broke the news to her over a bowl of her favorite lamb stew. 

Kantiss had promptly poured the hot soup all over his head and fancy suit before walking out. On the drive home she had looked up local family law attorneys. The only one in town just happened to be the man sitting across from her today. 

At first Katniss had worried it would be incredibly awkward to hire an old classmate to handle her divorce. But Piers had been a godsend. He was quick, efficient, hadn’t tried to squeeze her  for every cent she was worth, and he was also great at using humor to diffuse tense situations. There were many a day when his self-deprecating jokes had saved her from dissolving into a puddle of tears. 

He looked over at her then and Katniss realized how much she was going to miss seeing him and talking to him regularly now that this was all over. He had been more than a good divorce attorney. He had also been a really supportive friend. So had his brother. Throughout the whole ordeal.

“Piers, I just wanted to thank you. For everything. You’ve made this process as painless as possible. I would have lost my mind if it hadn't been for you, and Peeta.”  Katniss told him in a quiet voice, as her eyes misted over with tears. 

Piers seemed startled for a moment at the earnest and sad look in her eyes but he recovered quickly. He reached across the table and covered her small shaking hand with his large one and squeezed gently. 

“None of that now Kat, you know it was purely out of self interest I helped you divorce that prick. I would help you divorce a hundred husbands if it meant hanging out with you on Tuesdays and eating my brother’s RIDICULOUSLY UNDERPRICED BAKED GOODS.” Piers called out the last words loud enough for his twin brother,  Peeta to hear from where he was standing over by the counter pretending to wipe down the glassy surface that was already pristine. 

Katniss laughed heartily, brushing at the corner of her eyes as her small frame shook with amusement. Piers always knew when to insert his own particular brand of humor into a situation to relieve the tension. One of his running jokes was how Peeta  was crazy for coming back to their small town to sell his delicious goods at rock bottom rates even though he had a culinary degree and was a professional pastry chef. Peeta took his constant ribbing in good humor and usually gave as good as he got, saying that Piers was the one wasting his talents in Panem, when he could be partnering at a huge law firm in some big city. Usually the only targets of their jokes were the brothers themselves. Although in the last few months that she’d been seeing them more often, the twins had by mutual agreement taken to also making cutting remarks about her soon-to-be ex husband and his lack of intelligence or taste. Katniss knew that both men were just trying to be good supportive friends, knowing that neither man had a truly unkind bone in their strong stocky bodies. 

Katniss heard Peeta’s loud steps before she saw him, and the fact that he and his brother had the same equally thunderous gait made her bite the corner of her lips to keep from bursting out laughing again. The brother’s similarities and differences always astounded her. She turned in her chair to face a disapproving Peeta who wore a festive  holiday themed apron of green and red. She took in his broad shoulders, and his toned torso underneath the apron and brown sweater he was wearing with an almost lurid fascination. But his gaze was aimed at Piers not at Katniss. 

“What are you shouting about now Piers? Is he being obnoxious, Katniss? Because I’ll throw him out, just say the word.”  Peeta threatened as he stared his brother down with mock seriousness. Kantiss shook her head and answered in the negative as she giggled obnoxiously. But not before Piers muttered a pretty loud ‘I’d like to see you try’, quip. 

“No, no. He’s fine Peeta, I promise. Piers was just trying to save me from embarrassing myself. Like always. I was about 2 seconds away from melting into a puddle like Frosty the Snowman on a summer day. Except no one will have compassion on a 30 year old divorcee crying into her cheese buns like they would for a magical snow creature.” Katniss joked but Peeta’s expression became concerned. 

“Of course they would be Kantiss. Everyone in this town loves you. Gale’s an absolute idiot and he was so wrong in the way he treated you. I just heard today that Haymitch told Gale he’s upping the rent on his building space. I think the old crotchety bastard is trying to run Gale off out of spite.” Peeta told her as he placed a large hand on her shoulder and smiled down at her. 

“Oh that’s great! Way to go Abernathy!” Piers commented excitedly before starting to chuckle. Peeta dipped his head in agreement as he locked eyes with his brother and some kind of unspoken amusement flickered between them, but then turned his gaze back to Katniss. She was biting her lip distractedly. 

“I hope he doesn’t lose his business. The hunting goods store is all he has now to support his family with.” Katniss murmured as she looked out the window and down the street. The store in question sat at the end of the block, its sign proudly declaring the name Hawthorne’s Hunting & Wilderness Wares in green and gold. But it had seen better days. And now that Katniss wouldn’t be there to help Gale keep the books and stay on budget Katniss worried that the store might not survive long past the new year. 

Katniss recalled the day she and Gale had picked out the colors of the sign together. Her favorite color and his. It seemed so long ago, a memory from an infinitely happier time that made her heart ache with longing. Not for the husband that left her. Katniss had realized during the divorce that she never should have married Gale when it was clear they wanted such different things out of life. But she mourned the loss of her best friend, her partner, and confidant. 

Things would never go back to the simple way they had been, when she and Gale were young adults struggling to make it in a world with just their wits and their survival skills. For a minute Kantiss even felt she’d never be happy again at all. 

So when she felt an unstoppable wave of tears coming on she did the only thing she could think of doing. 

She choked out a barely audible “I’m sorry, I’m a mess right now. I need to go.” Before her metal chair was scraping loudly against the floor as she pushed up from the table and tried to flee. 

Peeta and Piers' simultaneous cries of “Kat wait!” and “Katniss, where are you going?” could be heard throughout the empty bakery as she darted away. 

End Part 1. 

She loaded her groceries into her trunk after checking out in the self help lane. But before she could even start the car she promptly broke down into a fit of horribly embarrassing tears while still sitting behind the wheel in the grocery store parking lot. She had already shed a humiliatingly large number of tears during the divorce, but the meltdown in the parking lot was less about her marriage officially ending than it was the fact that she felt like a total failure. 

Her life seemed to be dissolving one humiliating piece at a time, and she was having trouble accepting the fact that she was losing just about everything that used to make her feel secure and comfortable around the holidays. No husband or boyfriend, no family to lean on, no friends close by. After today she wouldn’t even have an excuse to hang out with the Mellark brothers, who were the only people that she even came close to calling friends these days, and to top it off she was pretty sure she was developing a hugely inappropriate crush on her divorce lawyer. And his wonderful twin brother. 

“God, what is wrong with me?!” Katniss screamed in exasperation as she beat her fist against the wheel of her car and the horn honked accidently, scaring several people filing in and out of the store. 

“Fuck.” She cursed, and then she had to give the stunned grocery store patrons a small awkward wave to smooth the situation over. 

“Next stop is the goddamn looney bin if you don’t get it together Everdeen!” Katniss told herself sternly as she wiped her runny nose and fixed her appearance in her rearview mirror. But before she fully cleaned off her mascara streaks there was a loud tap on her driver side window that startled her. 

Katniss turned to find her former mother-in-law, Hazelle Hawthorne, staring at her. Katniss plastered on the fakest smile she could and silently cursed the universe for adding this unwanted calamity cherry on top of the shit sundae that comprised her day, before she rolled down the window.

“Hi Hazelle.” She greeted her former M.I.L. with what she hoped looked like a calm and collected expression. 

“Katniss dear, I just wanted to come over and check on you hon. I saw you crying in the car…and then the honking…are you alright dear?” Hazelle asked with gentle motherly concern that Katniss normally wouldn’t have minded in the past, but in that second it was the last thing she wanted from her ex-husband’s mom. 

Katniss had always respected and admired Hazelle, who had kept herself and her four children fed and clothed after the forklift accident that took her husband’s life when Gale was a preteen. When Katniss lost her parents Hazelle had unofficially adopted her into her own family for every holiday and birthday. When Katniss and Gale had gotten married Hazelle was the first one they told and she had been ecstatic to welcome her into the family officially. But looking at her former mother-in-law right now, when Katniss felt at her absolute lowest, just made Katniss want to curl up in a closet and hide for a week. 

“I’m fine Hazelle. Just having a bad day is all.” Katniss admitted with as little detail as possible. She really didn’t want to confess that signing the divorce papers had driven her into a spiral of self pity and despair. 

Hazelle’s eyes filled with sadness as she looked at her former daughter-in-law. She took a deep breath and leaned in close so she could speak directly to Katniss without being overheard. 

“If those tears are over my fool son then let me be the first to tell not to waste good saltwater. He dropped a dime to grab a nickel and he already knows it, though he won’t admit it with the baby on the way. I told him to give you more time before he started asking for kids, but you know Gale. He doesn’t listen to anyone but himself. He’ll regret this, sooner rather than later. And you my dear will be happy again. You just watch Katniss. You always find a way to beat the odds darling, this is no different.” Hazelle told her quietly before reaching out to squeeze her forearm in a tender manner. 

Katniss choked back a little sob and looked down at her brown sheepskin boots so her ex-mother-in-law wouldn’t see her eyes water. She was also worried about passersby witnessing the exchange between her and Hazelle. It was a small town and her divorce along with Gale’s affair had been the hottest bit of gossip people had heard in years. 

“It’s not so much about him, Hazelle. I’m going to miss all of you. You and Vic, Rory, and Posey. You’re the only family I had left and now ....” Katniss trailed off in a hushed tone, unable to keep the tremble out of her voice any longer. 

She didn’t want people to overhear but she also didn’t want Hazelle to think she was still stuck on Gale. That jerk could go crawl in a sewer and rot for all she cared right now. But the angry sentiment struck her as wrong deep inside. She didn’t want to keep harboring resentment against Gale. She didn’t want him to have that kind of power over her life or her emotions anymore. 

Damn it all. Katniss thought bitterly as she tried not to all apart all over again. 

“Oh, honey.” Hazelle cooed sadly as she reached into Katniss’ driver side window and wrapped her arms around Katniss. 

“You will always be family to us Katniss. You were family before you married Gale, and you will still be family once all this messiness is over with. We just need to give it time to scab over darling. Next year when things aren’t so fresh you’re the first one invited to the Hawthorne Christmas party.” Hazelle offered sincerely but Katniss shook her head. 

“No, no Hazelle. I love you all. And you’ll always be family to me too, but I think maybe holidays are out of the question for a while. I’m not even sure a year would be enough time…..” Katniss said quietly as she swiped at her eyes and gave Hazelle a telling look. 

Hazelle only nodded sadly and smoothed down her former daughter’s hair before pulling back and standing up straight. 

“If anyone had asked me which one I wanted to keep dear, I would’ve picked you.” Hazelle told Kantiss with a conspiratorial wink. This made Kantiss laugh through her tears. She knew Hazelle was kidding. She loved all of her children unconditionally despite their shortcomings. But she appreciated the sentiment behind the comment.

“Ditto, Hazelle.” Katniss told her and they both laughed at that. 

“I’ll be going now dear. But you just remember what I said. Anytime in the future you want to show up to a Hawthrone gathering you’ve got a standing invite. I don’t care what Gale says. If he doesn’t like it he can stay home.” Hazelle told Katniss confidently and Katniss smiled at her before nodding. 

“Maybe someday Hazelle.” She replied and then she gave Hazelle a little wave before the woman turned around and started to walk into the grocery store. 

Katniss took a deep breath and let it out in a whoosh, before starting up her engine. She just wanted to go home and wallow in peace. 

~

On the drive home Karniss decided to go ahead with her Christmas for One party plans. After all she had nothing to lose at this point, besides not being able to fit into her clothes by the time New Years rolled around. 

“You’ve got no one left to impress anyway!” Katniss told herself with a scoff as she pulled into her driveway. Once she got inside she packed away her groceries, and started to preheat the oven. 

Then she shucked her boots and clothes in a pile on the floor of her bedroom and slipped into her favorite comfy Christmas pjs. She set her tv to play Christmas music loud enough to be heard through the whole house before she went back to the kitchen to start work on her Christmas themed junk food feast, and poured herself a tall glass of eggnog, to which she added an extra shot of brandy because she needed to get the tipsy train going after the day she had. 

She had just finished polishing off her second glass, and had already slipped the mini crescent dog wreath into the oven when she got the bright idea to amend her Christmas wish list. It was a long standing Everdeen tradition and she had made Gale do it with her every year no matter how old they got. She took her old list off the fridge, which had been made up of frivolous things like new boots, and bowstrings. She crumpled it up and tossed the old list in the trash without a second thought. 

Then she pulled out the notepad she kept in the draw by the fridge and flipped it open to a clean page before she started to write. She giggled to herself maniacally as she wrote. It was all just pretend. First of all Santa wasn’t real. She had known that since grade school. This was just a tradition she had never been able to part with after she lost her parents and sister. Second of all she was pretty sure she wouldn’t be getting any presents this year. Still it was fun to dream.

Dear Saint Nick, it's been a helluva year but so far I think I’ve handled it pretty well. I didn’t set my cheating husband’s clothes on fire, or blast him on social media, even though I could have. I also didn’t shoot him or the little blond floozy he knocked up with my bow and arrows. That would have been easy too, but I restrained myself. So maybe this year you could cut a girl a break and send me one of the Mellark twins to stuff my stocking? Or maybe both of them? Pretty please! I swear I’ve been a really good girl and I definitely deserve to get something off my wish-list this Christmas, and those boys could make a girl forget all about her lousy, no-good, dog of an ex. 

Yours Truly, 

Katniss Everdeen 

Formerly Hawthorne (May Gale Hawthorne stay on the naughty list for eternity)

P.S. If I can’t get sexed by those hot twins then send Cheese Buns! Lots of cheese buns! 

Kantiss was still snickering to herself over her hilariously inappropriate letter to Santa when her doorbell rang. 

“Who the heck could that be?” Kantiss asked herself out loud before she walked back into the foyer so she could look through the peephole of the front door. 

“Shit!” Katniss exclaimed loudly before covering her mouth with her hand just a second too late. She looked back through the peephole to see if they had heard her and judging by the way their ears were cocked in the direction of the door they had definitely heard something. 

Oh well, no sense in pretending nobody's home. She thought. 

The Mellark twins were currently standing outside her front door looking so delicious it made Katniss' thighs clench together in sad desperation. Peeta was sporting a cute and comfy looking grey hoodie and faded jeans that made him look so casually sexy Katniss was pretty sure she could hear her vagina sigh. Piers was looking edgy and well put together in his black leather jacket, and dark washed jeans that fit him like a glove, just as sexy but in a completely different way. 

 I bet their asses look doubly scrumptious in denim. Katniss thought as she began to seriously consider inviting them both to stay for her pitifully embarrassing solo Christmas party just so she could ogle them some more. She didn’t know where so many of those inappropriate thoughts had been coming from lately, but every time she was in the Mellark brother’s proximity she found herself degrading into a quivering mass of lust and need. Kantiss liked to blame it on the idea that her sexual peak as a woman had recently kicked. They said women in their 30s could give teenage guys a run for their money in the horniess department. Unluckily for Katniss she had hit her sexual stride two years later than the norm and now she was divorced and single. 

Oh crap. I shouldn’t have hit the eggnog so hard. Katniss thought before she plastered on another fake smile and opened the door just a crack. 

“Hey Peeta, Piers. I thought I finished signing all the papers back at the bakery. What are you guys doing here?” Katniss asked nervously. 

“Hello Katniss. You left the bakery before Piers and I could give you your Christmas presents.” Peeta replied with a shy smile as he gestured behind him to Peirs who was holding two large boxes. Piers for his part grinned crookedly at her as he poked his head over his brother’s shoulder. 

“And opening Christmas gifts after the holidays are never as special as opening them on the day of.” Piers added as he stepped forward so that Katniss was faced with both of their hopeful smiles. Their brilliant blue eyes were doing quite a number on her resolve.

“Guys, you really didn’t have to.” Katniss muttered quietly as she shook her head. She shivered a little as she stood with the door open in just her pjs. 

“Of course we did! We could never forget about you Katniss.” Peeta told her with such fierce insistence that Katniss was taken aback. 

“But Peeta-” She began to protest with a shiver. Even though she had two presents stashed away in her coat closet for both of them. 

“Kat, can we come in for a minute before you freeze your cute little nose off?” Piers interjected with a pleading look. He widened his impossibly blue eyes and even fluttered his abnormally long golden eyelashes at her. 

“God, you’re worse than a school girl!” Katniss exclaimed with a laugh at his obvious attempts to butter her up before throwing the door open wide to let them both in. It really was too cold out to keep them standing on her porch. 

Piers laughed heartily at Katniss’ teasing but Peeta just rolled his eyes at his brother’s antics as they both shrugged off their jackets and patted themselves off for lingering traces of snow. 

When Katniss saw what was written on the shirt Peeta wore underneath his grey hoodie she couldn’t stifle her snort of laughter. 

Mellarks Has the Best Buns In Town! Come Visit Us Today!

Was proudly printed in festive red and green colors on the plain white tee that stretched just a little too tightly to be decent over his broad chest and shoulders. 

“Advertising at all times huh?” She teased and Peeta’s cheeks flushed bright red. 

“Another one of Peirs’ bright marketing ideas.” Peeta lamented loudly before his twin clapped him on the back. 

“And business has increased lately. But your outfit is decidedly better, Kat.” Piers added as his eyes scanned her length. Just then the timer on Katniss’ oven dinged. Katniss’ cheeks flushed at Peir’s complement, and his undisguised perusal of her form in her christmas pajamas before she looked backwards towards the kitchen. 

“Were you cooking?” Peeta asked curiously.

“Sort of.” Katniss admitted before hurrying away to extract the mini hotdog crescent roll creation from the oven. She didn’t want them to burn, they were the main dish in her Christmas party for one feast. She didn’t even notice the guys following behind her 

She had just taken the tray out and set it to cool when she heard Peeta’s horrified gasp. 

“My God Katniss, what kind of Christmas abomination have you assembled here?” He demanded as he and Piers took in the unholy Christmas junk food feast she had already begun organizing on her kitchen island. The treats were organized haphazardly in a large pile that screamed misery and high blood pressure were in the future of whoever ate from the stockpile. 

“Um, I-I” Katniss said as she stuttered in embarrassment. 

“Grocery store donuts Katniss? How could you?” Peeta accused in a betrayed voice as he held up the box of store bought donuts festively decorated with little christmas tree sprinkles and snowflakes. 

“Well, I….” Katniss began to say but Piers cut her off. 

“Were you expecting company? Having someone over?” He asked as he surveyed the large amount of food. 

“No, no. This was just for me.” She admitted to her humiliation. 

“Oh.” Piers said as he took in her bright cheeks and downturned eyes. 

“Well that still doesn't explain why you’re cheating on Mellark’s with these cheap imitations, Katniss.” Peeta said, redirecting the conversation back to the baked good scandal that she had invariably caused. 

Katniss ground her teeth for a second before answering him. 

“I was embarrassed ok? I bought this crap at the grocery store because I didn’t want to face you both after what happened. I mean I almost broke down in the middle of the bakery like a weak sap. And it was the last day we were going to hang out and I didn’t want to ruin it by crying all over the both of you like a pathetic woman scorned stereotype. I just wanted you all to remember the fun we had together. Not all the emotional crap.” 

“Kat, that's utter bullshit.” Peirs chimed in admately. 

“Piers-” Katniss started to say. 

“No, Piers is right Katniss. Neither of us would have cared if you broke down in the bakery today. In fact I would have felt better if you had. I thought after spending all this time together over the past few months that the three of us had become real friends. It really hurt when you left without giving us the opportunity to be there for you when you were feeling down.” Peeta stated seriously as he pinned her with his convicting blue gaze. 

“Peeta, oh, God. I’m sorry. I never thought of it like that. I just didn't want to ruin things.” Katniss apologized when she realized she had hurt her friends’ feelings. 

“You could never ruin things, Kat. I mean not unless you decided to take Hawthorne back or something.” Piers replied and Katniss wrinkled her nose at the thought. 

“Eww, no. There’s no danger of that happening.” She told them both and they seemed to each relax a little. 

“OK, well as your new official friend I have to say this meal looks….terrible. And I don’t just mean unhealthy, I mean honest to God cheap, full of preservatives, sugar, and zero real flavor awful.” Peeta criticized with a shake of his floppy blond hair. He wore it longer than Piers, and Katniss thought it suited him. Whereas Piers' shorter, slicked back classy look suited his personality. She ached to find out the differences in the length and texture of their hair but that was a fantasy best thought about when she was alone. 

“Still a food snob I see.” She told Peeta with a dry chuckle, redirecting her thoughts to more appropriate channels. 

“Oh, he is. Big time. But he doesn’t just complain. He puts his cooking where his mouth is. If you give him half a chance he’ll whip up a Christmas Eve dinner miracle.” Piers told her with a smile. 

“Seriously?” Katniss asked, turning back to look at Peeta. 

“Katniss please give me permission to toss all of this crap, and I promise I’ll cook you something ten times better.” Peeta vowed with his hand over his heart. She hesitantly nodded her head yes, and he sighed loudly in relief. 

“Okay, first to go are these knock-offs!” Peeta said as he grabbed the box of donuts and stalked towards the trash can. 

“Hey! You’re supposed to make dinner! That’s my dessert. Don’t throw out my donuts!” She pleaded but he only kept walking. 

“They may not be Mellarks but I was counting on them to get me through the next few days.” Katniss exclaimed when she saw what he wasn’t stopping. The bakery was closed for the holidays, today was the last day they were open. Katniss was pretty sure she would need a sugar fix before the New Year came around. 

Peeta just pressed down on the hands free button on the bottom of the  trash can with his large boot and dumped the box in while looking straight at her. 

“What the hell is wrong with you Mellark?!” She demanded angrily as she marched over to him. 

“I won’t let you defile yourself with those donuts Katniss.” Peeta replied, with equal fervor. 

“Who are you the donut police?” She said as she challenged him. 

“No, I'm the guy who brought you a box of all your favorite fresh baked goods despite the fact that you tried to betray my trust with some cheap knock-offs.” Peeta said through clenched teeth. Katniss had never seen him so worked up. Not in all the years she’d known him. His flaring nostrils and the angry look in his eyes made her imagine all sorts of things. All sorts of extremely arousing things that involved a pissed off Peeta showing her the error of her grocery store donut cheating ways. 

“You brought me all my favorites?” Katniss asked him in a bewildered voice. 

“Piers, get the first gift box please.” Peeta directed in a commanding voice and Peirs slipped off to the living room to retrieve one of the boxes he had been carrying when he came in. 

“Here you go Sweetheart.” Peris said before he set the box down on the island and flipped open the top of the box with a dramatic flourish. 

Katniss took a tentative step towards the box and peeked inside. Sure enough inside the extra large pastry box was a collection of all her favorite treats. Maple glazed donuts sprinkled with chopped nuts. White chocolate donuts filled with peppermint creme.  Christmas sugar cookies and snickerdoodles. Gingerbread Men and cinnamon rolls. And last but not least five fresh cheese buns.  

“Oh, Peeta,” Katniss exclaimed in surprise before turning to throw her arms around him and bring him against her for a big hug. His strong arms wrapped around her in return after he got over his shock and she burrowed her face against his stupid funny shirt. She had a hard time trying to fight the grateful tears that threatened to surface. 

Here she was feeling sorry for herself and thinking she wouldn’t get even one gift this year and Peeta had gone and made her a whole box of all her favorite things to eat. She was so happy at that moment that she could have kissed him. 

“I’m so sorry I almost cheated on you-er-Mellarks with those gross donuts.” She said as she dared a glance up at him. He was staring down at her with wide blue eyes that seemed to take her in down to the smallest detail. His gaze was so intent and intense she had to blink rapidly to quiet her stuttering, screaming heart. 

“That’s ok. I forgive you.” He whispered so kindly and gently that Katniss knew if she didn’t disentangle herself from him that second she’d do something stupid like run away or kiss him. 

She cleared her throat as she stepped back nervously. Peeta it seemed, took a second longer to snap out of it. His hands were still raised in the air like he was hugging her before he came back to himself and lowered them. He blushed furiously and Katniss wondered for a wild delicious moment if maybe he felt something for her like she did for him. 

“Trust you to charm Kat with your baked goods.” Piers muttered from where he was standing by the island watching them. Katniss flushed when she realized he had watched her entire exchange with his twin. 

Peeta chuckled tensely before he cleared his throat and proceeded to walk over to her fridge and rummage around. Katniss gingerly retreated back to the kitchen island so she could snag a sugar cookie from the box. She didn’t know what to make of Piers' offhand comment about Peeta trying to charm her so she decided to ignore it. 

“Does anyone want eggnog? I already broke open a bottle before you two got here. And if Peeta’s going to cook I take it, you're both staying?” Katniss asked them and Peeta looked over to his brother as some silent form of communication passed between them. 

“I’m ok, Kat. I think maybe I’ll head out and try to find my own Christmas cutie to party with.” Piers told her with a wink that seemed a little too exaggerated to be genuine. 

“Oh.” Katniss couldn’t keep the disappointment out of her voice when Piers declined her invitation. 

“Unless you want me to stay, Kat.” Piers added carefully. 

“I’d love for both of you to stay, Piers. You’re the only friends I can even contemplate being around right now. But if you have a date or something…” 

“I don’t have a date, or anything planned really. I just don’t want to intrude.” He told her. 

“Intrude? How could you intrude?” Katniss asked in confusion. 

Piers shot Peeta a quick look before he turned back to Katniss and opened his mouth as if to explain. 

“Nevermind. If you want us both to stay we’ll stay.” Peeta said cutting in quickly before setting two glasses down on the kitchen island. Then he turned back to rifle through the pantry. 

“Fill them up please.” He added over his shoulder as he bagan loading up his arms with ingredients. 

“Sure.” She replied and began pouring them both some eggnog. 

Soon the three of them were laughing and helping Peeta prep dinner. He set Katniss and Piers to cut mushrooms and tomatoes while he focused on making the homemade meatballs for their spaghetti and meatballs dinner. 

“Oops!” Piers said with a laugh when he dropped a few tomatoes on the floor by accident. 

“Rinse them off when you find them, Piers.” Peeta instructed as he dropped the meatballs into the dutch oven to cook. 

“Sure thing Boss.” Piers said with a mock salute that made Katniss snort. 

Katniss was just about done with her stack of mushrooms when she accidentally dropped one. 

“Can you get me that Piers?” She asked without looking. 

When he didn’t answer she turned to find out if he was having trouble locating the missing vegetables. She had been prepared to jump down off her stool and help him search on hands and knees if that’s what it took. What Kantiss wasn’t prepared for was to find Piers looking absolutely gobsmacked as he knelt on her kitchen floor reading that ridiculous gag letter she had written to Santa Clause. 

Peeta brought her a small glass of eggnog, sans the extra shot of whiskey this time. 

When she took the glass in her hand she noticed he had topped it off with cinnamon and a few curlicues of orange peel. When she took a sip she almost moaned at the improved flavors. Whatever spices he had added had transformed the grocery store drink into a decadent, creamy, Christmas tasting delight. 

Before he could retreat back to the kitchen she grabbed his sleeve and pulled him down to sit next to her on the couch. She had some questions she wanted to ask him, since he hadn’t said much while Piers had laid out her options in the dining room. He looked startled for a moment but then he relaxed after she took one last sip of the eggnog and set the glass down on the end table next to the couch. She saw him staring at her mouth and figured she had an eggnog mustache. She swiped her tongue across her top lip to wipe away any residue and then fixed him with a steady gaze. 

“What’s up Katniss?” Peeta asked. The only display of nerves she could pinpoint was the way his jaw flexed a little when he studied her, and his eyes seemed a little darker in color than usual. She fought to keep her expression neutral under his scrutiny, but he was so handsome she had a hard time restraining herself from slipping closer to him. She ached to run her fingers through Peeta’s slightly shaggy waves, and across his broad chest, mapping the dips and ridges of his hard body.