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I open my tired eyes and feel a lightness that has been absent from my life for so long. The usual sensation of an elephant sitting on my chest is gone. The gray fog that clouded my mind has been replaced with golden rays of sun and a feeling of hope that I know can only be attributed to Peeta.
Last night I experienced that thing again. The hunger that rushed through my veins that night on the beach. I realized that what I need to survive is Peeta and the warmth and steadiness he brings along with the promise that life can be good again.
Needless to say, he spent the night.
I pull on a t-shirt and make my way down stairs. I find Peeta in the kitchen making breakfast in nothing but the plaid pajama pants that hang low on his hips.
Without making a sound I walk to him and wrap my arms around his waist, laying my head on his back. The feeling of his smooth, bare skin incites memories of the night before. He turns to face me, sporting a beaming smile that stretches from ear to ear.
“Hi,” he says. “Good day, huh?”
“Yeah. I feel really good today.” I nod my head towards the pancakes sizzling away on the griddle. “What did I do to deserve those? They smell delicious.”
“You didn’t have to do anything. I made them for you because I love you.”
“I love you, too.” He leans in, capturing my lips in a gentle kiss. All at once an immense feeling of happiness floods through me, a feeling I thought I’d never experience again, and tears of joy run down my cheeks. Peeta pulls away when he feels the moisture on my face.
“What’s wrong?” he asks as he wipes the tears from my eyes.
“Nothing,” I say. “It’s just nice to wake up and not be sad. Even if only for a little while.” Peeta kisses the top of my head.
“Maybe there won’t be anymore bad days,” Peeta adds hopefully.
“No. There will be bad days,” I assure him. “There will be days when it feels impossible to take pleasure in anything or I’ll wake screaming from nightmares or have flashbacks” — Peeta cringes at the mention of flashbacks, which he has every now and then— “but right now I feel great and nothing else matters.”
“You’re right,” Peeta agrees. “All that matters now is where we go from here. We can’t change the past, but we can determine our future. We should just live for today and not worry about what tomorrow might bring.”
Things like that are what make me love Peeta. He always knows what to say. I pull him into a tight embrace, and we stay that way for who knows how long. I come to my senses when I smell smoke.
“Peeta, I think your pancakes are burning.”
“Wha— oh shit!” he exclaims.