InsaneJournal

Who: Wash and Peeta
What: Peeta and Wash do a little catching up over coffee
When: Before Peeta proposes to Caroline
Where: Mellarky
Rating/Warnings Low/None
Status: Complete!




Friendsgiving had gone over well and he was pleased that he had made the decision to close the shop on Black Friday. Small Business Saturday had been far more productive for people coming into the shop and he had seen a record number of sales. He hadn’t been more relieved for a Monday to come than he was that particular Monday. Things were starting to steady into normalcy again and he knew there would be an upswing again near Christmas. He was taking inventory in the back room to make sure they had enough to cover what they went through this weekend and for the future.

It wasn’t until his employee came into the back and let him know that someone was looking for him did he finally emerge. He stepped out into the lobby and caught sight of Wash on the other side of the counter, “Hey there! Twice in a few days, what’s the occasion?” He had last seen Wash at Friendsgiving and it was nice to see his friend again now that he was back from his disappearance.

Wash had lost a lot of time while he’d been drowning himself in alcohol. Time spent with the family that had come to find him as well as the family and friends he’d made since moving here. Time he couldn’t get back, but hoped to be able to make up while he could.

He had lost contact with Peeta in that lost time, like he had with a lot of people. Seeing him and Caroline over Thanksgiving - Friendsgiving - had been good. Had been great actually. A good time to hang out and catch up with each other again. Peeta seemed to be doing well, and that was good. It had been a hard year for everyone. It always seemed to be that way.

Wash turned when he heard Peeta call out to him. His hands were in the pockets of his sweatshirt, but his stance was relaxed. He smiled faintly. “The occasion is that I want a cup of coffee and a bagel,” he teased as he approached the counter, “your food is addicting, you know. Seriously, though, I wanted to thank you for inviting me and Carolina to your place for Thanksgiving. We had a good time and it was good to see you and Caroline again. I’m sorry I haven’t been around much lately...or at all, the last several months.”

“A coffee and a bagel is something I can do. What kind of bagel do you want?” there was currently a selection of plain, everything, asiago, and blueberry in the case at the moment. When Wash declared his food addiction he couldn’t help but laugh, “I’m glad it’s addicting. It’s what keeps me in business. And don’t worry, we were happy to have people over. I know a handful of people don’t have family in the area, so it makes it nice to get a group of people together.” It was as nice idea and it had worked out well especially since he didn’t have to deal too much with going to his parents except for desserts, so that was a bit of a stress off his shoulders.

“And it’s fine, I’m glad you went and got yourself figured out now. That’s the most important thing,” Peeta pointed out as she turned to pour that cup of coffee. Serving beverages was something he was thinking about expanding into, as well as possible opening a second location, but he didn’t want to follow the same old trend. He brought the cup of coffee over and set it down on the counter.

Wash opted for the everything bagel. “It was just Carolina and I this year,” Wash said as Peeta got him the bagel and the cup of coffee. “Our first Thanksgiving as a family. It was...nice, actually. A little tense. I don’t know, but I think Carolina may have had it out with our father, which kinda put a damper on things. She doesn’t really like to talk about our father much and I don’t really push her too, either. You and Caroline have been really good to me, so I’m glad I’ve been able to show her the family she could have here too.”

Wash picked up the coffee. He’d been drinking coffee for a while now, but he still hadn’t gotten a real taste for it. The only places he really enjoyed it was here or at Baxter’s. It may have had something to do with the people who served it. He picked up the coffee and his bagel (an everything bagel, since that was the only way to have one, as far as Wash was concerned). “I’m still figuring myself out,” he admitted. “It’s a lot easier to do sober. Well, not easy, but I’m more likely to do it sober.” He took a drink of his coffee. “How are you and Caroline doing?”

“You can always choose your family if you want to. It sucks that it was a little tense for you guys, but hopefully Christmas will be better? It’s smart of you to let her do her own thing and not press it. I’m sure when she’s able to talk about it she will - she cares about you,” that much was evident from what interaction he had seen between the two. Peeta knew sibling relationships were important, but they could also be the most dramatic relationship you could have. Communication was key and they were still new at being siblings, so things would come with time.

“Do you wanna sit at all? I can come join you for a bit,” Peeta pointed out the few tables he had around the lobby of the store. He didn’t want to make Wash stand up at the counter the entire extent of their conversation, “And yeah, I would think it helps quite a bit. You’ve been through alot and this place is completely messed up, which doesn’t help matters. And Caroline and I are doing well. I’m, uh, actually thinking about asking her to marry me. I think she’s finally at the point where she would say yes because when we first started dating she didn’t even want a boyfriend. It’s been over a year now.”

Wash wasn’t sure he would ever get the full story about what had happened between Carolina and Dr. Church. He wanted to know, yes, but Carolina was a very private person. He had always known that about her. Wash wasn’t even sure if he had a right to know. Dr. Church was his father, but he had never made Wash feel as though he was his son. The bond between Wash and Carolina as siblings was still brand new, something the two were still figuring out and Wash felt as though he was sticking his nose where it didn’t belong by asking questions. “Yeah,” he agreed. “Hopefully Christmas will be better.”

He took a seat at one of those tables with Peeta and sipped his coffee. He smiled when he heard Peeta was thinking about proposing to Carolina. “Yeah?” He said as he set the coffee cup down. “That’s great, Peeta.”

Peeta took a seat down and didn’t speak much more on Carolina. It would take time for the two of them to work out how to be siblings together and when to share secrets. He knew that he didn’t tell his brothers anything about these dreams that he had. It wasn’t something they understood, but it might be something they could learn about eventually. That was possibly how Carolina was taking things - waiting until she had something to truly tell Wash and for a proper time. Things would happen at their own pace.

“Yeah….I’m nervous about it though. I talk to her mom to get permission, which was easy because she loves me, and I picked out a ring. I just know that it’s time and there’s no real point to waiting to ask her, so hopefully it’ll turn out alright,” Peeta admitted with a small smile. It was certainly supposed to be a time to be nervous. He just didn’t want something to go wrong and for her not to say yes, which would truly devastate him, “I just need a good plan.”

“You actually got her mother’s permission?” Wash raised his brows, clearly impressed. He didn’t think anyone actually got permission from the parents anymore. It seemed like an out of date practice. But at the same time noble to go to the parents of the person you wanted to marry and tell them your intentions, that you intended to make a life with their child. “And a ring too? Shit, Peeta, you really are serious about this. No wonder you’re nervous. I’d be nervous. Shit, I’m scared to death to meet Anna’s sister and we’re nowhere near that point yet.”

He gave Peeta a quizzical look over the top of his coffee cup. “What kind of plan do you need?” He asked. “Like a plan on how to propose?” Yeah, people planned that kind of thing, sure. Made sense. You’d want everything to be just right: the perfect time, the perfect place. It wouldn’t do to just walk up to the person and say ‘hey, you wanna get married’? That seemed…wrong “Do you have any ideas on how you want to do it?”

“It seemed important. Liz and Caroline are basically best friends as well as mother/daughter. Liz seems thrilled to have me join the family and I think that’s mostly because my family cooks and she really enjoys our Thanksgivings,” Peeta commented with a laugh, “And yeah, it’s for real now. The ring has been burning a hole in my pocket since I bought it. And trust me, it’s hard to pick out an engagement ring when your girlfriend woke up to an engagement ring from her dreams. And meeting a sister is easy, you’ll be fine, promise.”

“Basically, how to propose. I want it to be memorable, but I don’t want it to be overly stupid or cheesy. I’m not going to do it at a sporting event, over the holiday, or with a flash mob. I was thinking possible while at dinner,” there were a lot of no’s on his list of how not to propose, but he hadn’t found the perfect way to propose just yet. The last thing he wanted was for it to just happen in a non-romantic way just because he felt like he needed to get it done or he might explode.

Wash set his elbow on the table and his chin in his palm as he listened to Peeta. A small smile pulled at the corners of his mouth. Considering Caroline and her mother were close, it made perfect sense for Peeta to go to Liz. It sounded nice, actually. Pulling two families together as one. And who didn’t like Peeta’s cooking? Wash’s brows knitted together slightly. “She got an engagement ring from her Dreams? Yikes.” Wash wondered if Caroline had kept it, or not. But that really wasn’t any of his business, and if it was a touchy subject, it was probably best if he didn’t poke at it. He grinned a little, “I’m sure whatever ring you got she’s going to love. It’s coming from you and she loves you, man.”

Wash picked up his coffee again. “Speaking of which if it’s burning a hole in your pocket you better figure out what you’re going to do with it before it burns through to your skin.” Kidding, of course. Rings didn’t actually burn. Well, mundane ones didn’t, thankfully. Wash leaned back in his seat thoughtfully. “I knew someone on the network who proposed to her girlfriend at a baseball game and that seemed to go over pretty good. That being said, yeah, I don’t see that for you and Caroline.” He paused thoughtfully, he wasn’t exactly an expert when it came to romantic gestures. “After dinner is a good way to go. It’s classic. Maybe over desert?”

“Yeah…..but I can’t really say anything because I’m married and having children with someone else in my Dreams. But, I guess it’s not as bad as just waking up with a random engagement ring. I’m not sure where it is right now, but at least I know my ring is nicer,” Peeta hoped Caroline felt that way when she saw the ring that he had picked out from her. The compliment from Wash was nice and he couldn’t help but flash his friend a grin, “Well, thank you, but you’ve got to say that as my friend.”

“Yeah, Caroline doesn’t really care much about sports, so that’s out of the question. And it seems like something that happens so much. I mean classic is always good and it would be just our own thing. And dessert wouldn’t be a bad idea, I can talk to the restaurant and see if they’d help me out. I’m sure they would. I don’t want to do it myself,” Peeta had to admit that. It was a lot of work to try and make something, so he would have someone else do it, “So, what else is going on in your life?”

Married? Wash blinked. That was the first he’d heard of that. He knew how confusing his own Dreams were, feelings for the Director’s wife still lingered somewhere in the back of Wash’s mind and those had been residual memories. Props to Peeta for being able to keep both lives separate and pursue his life with Caroline. Wash smirked slightly and waved Peeta off, “maybe, but that doesn’t make it any less true.” Wash’s chin was back in his palm as Peeta started to formulate a plan on how to give Caroline the ring. “Sure the restaurant would help you. I mean I would assume. People like proposals. Makes them feel good. Plus it’s a good reputation for the restaurant too, you know. Are you going to try and slip it into her wine glass, or maybe have it appear on her plate?”

It was kind of fun, actually, helping Peeta come up with ideas. He sort of wished he could see the look on Caroline’s face when Peeta popped the question. They both had done a lot for him this year and he really wanted to see them happy. “With me?” He asked, raising a brow slightly. “Well, mostly putting my life back together. Figuring shit out,” which sounded easier than it actually was. He took a sip of his coffee, “I started dating someone recently. It’s been awhile since I’ve been with anyone and I really hope I don’t screw it up.”

It wasn’t hard to keep things separate because his dreams were so drastically different than his real life. Katniss wasn’t in this world to potentially stir up any kind of feelings and if she was then it was too late for anything like that. He was never quite sure if they were a perfect match if taken out of the Games, but that wasn’t something he ever dwelled on. Caroline was the one for him in this world and he was more than happy to prove to her that they could make it the distance. He wasn’t even going to bring up the kids that he and Katniss had because that would probably blow Wash’s mind a bit more. “I hate the in a glass of wine bit because your girlfriend could so easily slow it. I’m thinking dessert. Just need to come up with some kind of good dessert that it could be put into,” Peeta was going to have to spend some time thinking about that what exactly to do fo that.

“I’m sure things will be fine with your relationship. You’ve acknowledged that you messed up and you’re taking the steps to fix things. As long as you’re working on yourself then you can work on a relationship. If you were still a mess then I would say to end it until things got better because it’s not fair to the other person,” Peeta knew that much from watching various people in relationships. If you’re going to date someone then that person deserves your full attention and the best version of you that you can give. Wash was taking the steps to making himself that best version again, which Peeta was impressed by.

“Desert is a good idea,” Wash nodded with a smile. “A good way to end a good dinner. Though, if you don’t want her accidentally swallowing it, maybe you should put it on top of the dish, or somewhere where she’ll see it.”

Wash’s smile faltered a little as Peeta continued talking. He had acknowledged that he’d messed up. Not only that but he had acknowledged that he was a mess. He was still something of a mess. The underlying reasons that had caused him to drink so heavily in the first place were still there. He was afraid, but who in his position wouldn’t be? “Thanks, Peeta,” he said, his smile returning. “You’re right and that’s what I’m trying to do.”

“That is a smart idea,” Peeta admitted with a laugh. He didn’t want Caroline to break a tooth or swallow the ring. He would have to make sure the restaurant was able to help out with something like that, “And you’re welcome. I like to think the best of people in most situations. I’m glad you stopped by today though. It’s been far too long since we chatted and I really appreciate you helping out with my proposal ideas. Keeping it a secret from Caroline is hard, so I haven’t had much time to talk about it aloud.”

“No problem,” Wash answered. “If you need to talk again, or bounce any ideas off someone, give me a call.” Who knew, maybe at some point Wash would reach a point that he’d consider himself proper marrying material. Plus, Peeta was Wash’s friend, and he was more than happy to help him, especially after all the help Peeta had given him. “And don’t worry, I’ll keep what we talked about between us. Caroline will be nice and surprised.” He polished off his coffee. “We should get together again soon and catch up.” Now that he was sober, Wash planned on re-establishing those bonds he had with his friends that had kept him going through the darkness he’d let himself fall into.