Hello everybody. Its me again. I have decided that I will write a co-fic to go with "My Name Is" and this is it. I hope that you will like it. It will be entirely in Peeta's POV. I hope to get a lot of reviews from this.

I do not own the Hunger Games. I do own Cole Shaeper obviously. Lol

Chapter 1: The Parade

I look outside of the window for one last look at what brought me total happiness. His name is Cole Shaeper. He is a sweet 12 year old with shimmering, golden hair and eyes that are the color of the sky. His skin is the color of caramel, and when he speaks it is as if speaking to an angel. I'm not in love with him but always loved him like a brother.

My family started to take care of this innocent boy when he lost his parents 4 years ago, his father in a mine explosion and his mother in a public shooting execution. He came running to our house the night after the loss of his mother, and he was shivering and weeping like clouds in a rain storm. I remember looking into his soft eyes and seeing the terror and depression that was in them. When I saw his face, it was as if there was a switch within me that turned on, causing me to want to protect this boy.

I was brought from my flashback by the sound of knocking coming from my door.

"Peeta," Effie's voice trilled. "Come to dinner."

I reluctantly get off of the plush bed and walk out of my assigned room and down the carpeted hallway to the dining area. I catch eye of Effie sitting at the table with a drunken Haymitch and a scowling Katniss. I take my seat next to Katniss and then the Avoxes start to serve us delicacies, such as lamb stew and other amazing foods. Effie is pursing her lips at Katniss's horrible manners as she practically inhales all of her food. I giggle as it is hilarious seeing Effie's face.

We all hear someone clearing their voice and turn to see a drunken Haymitch eyeing all of us. He just ignores Effie entirely but looks at me and Katniss as one does two stupid little kids.

"So these are the two tributes I have to lug around for a few days?" He asks while slurring.

This gets Katniss riled up and starts to emit a low growl that gets a "Manners" from Effie. "What is that suppose to me you drunken bimbo?" Katniss growls and seethes with rage. I just keep my mouth shut and don't get myself involved with that.

"Well, Princess," he says emphasizing the word he knows will drive Katniss over the edge. "What it means is that to me you are dead weight."

That drives Katniss over the edge. She takes one of the steak knives from the table and tosses it at Haymitch. He easily dodges the projectile and turns to see the knife lodge perfectly in the wall. He turns back to us and has a small smile plastered on his face.

"Katniss, manners." Effie squeals from her side of the table.

"Well well well. It seems that I have a fighter amongst the two." He says while staring at Katniss, "But what about the other?" He turns to me.

"I can fight." I start calmly. "It's just that I have more control over my emotions than Katniss."

"Shut up, bread boy." Katniss says harshly before standing from the table and storming off to her room, where we can hear her scream.

"Well. I will be the judge of that, boy. How about I make a deal with you?"He inquires.

"What might that be?" I chide in.

"I will stay sober enough to actually mentor you as long as you don't mouth off on me. That means fire princess as well." He says while extending his hand.

I think it over for a minute. If I do this, then it will be easier to get back to Cole. I smile and nod while taking his hand and giving it a firm shake.

"Good. Now my first bit of advice is that you get some sleep. We will be arriving at the Capitol tomorrow and that is also when you will get ready for the 'Death March' as some like to put it." Haymitch says while proceeding to leave to his room.

"Even though I hate to admit it, he does have a point. You do need your sleep since it will be a big, big day." Effie says a bit disgusted by the lack of manners. "Good night, Mr. Mellark."

I stand up and give her a good night before walking back to my room. While in there, I strip down to my navy blue boxers and crawl into bed with my token still latched around my neck. I take of the necklace and give it a once over. It is the music note locket we found while collecting Cole's things from the Community Home. I open it to find different pictures in it than I remember. On the left half, his family is smiling in a family portrait that looks to have been taken when he was a little baby. On the other half, I see a picture of me while decorating a cake. I'm smiling and this picture brings back old memories. I smile and place the necklace on the nightstand next to my bed.

I try to sleep but the blissfulness of dreams doesn't come. It must be from the nervousness of going to the games. I toss and turn in the bed but I can't seem to find slumber. I groan and sit up in my bed, thinking of what to do to pass the time. I decide to go to the lounge car and watch a recap of the Reapings. I slip on some pajama bottoms and stealthily creep my way to the lounge. I sit on the plush sofa and run my hands through it for a few minutes since back in District Twelve we didn't have such luxuries. I finally reach for the remote and turn on the big, flat screen television and find that the Reapings are about to start. Caesar Flickerman and Claudius Templesmith appear on the screen and look as ecstatic as ever to announce the Reapings this year.

"Welcome one and all to the recap of the Reapings!" Claudius says in a booming voice. This year his outfit is a little hurtful to the eyes. His hair is neon green and his makeup adorned the same blinding color.

"Indeed," Caesar agrees. "Welcome to Reaping Recap!" He is still adorning the same looks as always. He still has his cerulean hair color and matching makeup while still wearing his lighting outfit. "Now here we go with District One."

With that, the screen turns black and then a bright and colorful city appears in glimmering colors. The camera appears at the Justice Building where a lot of teenagers are just waiting eagerly to volunteer for the games. Since District One is part of the Careers, they tend to have volunteers along with District Two.

On the stage, there is a man with hair that is tinted magenta and his makeup is a dense shade of maroon. The look is just gruesome to me but I see everyone in the Capitol as this, including Effie.

He starts off the reaping just as Effie does, but instead of deafening silence, there is an uproar of cheers and applause from the crowd. The sound is so immense that I would have heard it from the obliterated District 13.

When the cheers finally diminish and everyone has calmed down drastically, the escort begins to walk toward the sphere containing the slips for the girls in the district.

"Your female tribute for District 1 is… Laura-"he doesn't get to even finish when a girl with shimmering, golden hair raises her hand and volunteers. She slowly saunters up onto the stage where she presents herself to be Glimmer Reece.

After another round of the deafening applause, the escort continues with the program and plucks out a name that belongs to the district's male tribute, but before he could approach the microphone, a boy from the crowd volunteers and races to the stage with great enthusiasm.

"My name is Marvel Laymens." He was a little bit of a stocky boy with jade green eyes and russet brown hair. His smile unhinges me by giving him the look of a serial killer. I glad when the screen finally dies down and continues to District 2.

The escort here is no different than the one from District 1. The only difference is that this one has hair that is electric cyan and matching makeup. It is really bright and hurts my eyes. What is with the bright colors for the Capitol citizens? Then the escort walks to the ladies' orb and retrieves a slip with the name "Clove Leland."

"Don't you even think about volunteering if you want to make it to next years games!" A girl with charcoal hair and evergreen eyes screams from the crowd. She rushes to the stage and is barely taller than the microphone stand. I mentally tell myself to never piss her off. She held her head up high in determination and her eyes showed her lust for blood.

The man proceeded to the container for the guys and just barely touched the slip when a voice booms from the crowd. When the cameras finally find the boy, my jaw literally drops and I just stare. He was a built boy with eyes like sapphires and hair that shined like gold. You could see his bulging muscles from under his shirt and that just added on to his attractiveness. I could not stop staring at the boy that could make the Greek Goddess of Love, Aphrodite, be swoon.

"What is your name my boy?" the escort says in a deep voice.

"My name is Cato Malloy." His voice just adds onto his attraction. The voice is as smooth as steel but holds bitterness behind it.

After staring at him for a few minutes, I realize that the screen has turned to District 3, where I find that there is not a dangerous tribute and this continues on until is see a girl from District 6 with Auburn hair and hazel eyes with traces of gold in them. She looks to be a human computer with the way she scans the perimeter . I didn't catch her name so I just continue on looking at the program. There are, again, no more deadly tributes until we get to District 11.

The landscape is covered in beautiful orchards and also has vast fields of wheat and corn. When we arrive at the Justice Building, the escort has already called the female tribute and my heart sinks in sorrow. It is a twelve year old girl with chocolate skin and matching eyes. She looks as if she could take flight right off of the stage. I mourn for the petite little girl and can only imagine how Katniss will handle this.

The escort has already picked up the slip with the male tribute and calls the name "Thresh Sunder." After the name was called, a giant boy with a dark shade of brown skin than the girl walks on stage. His face is passive and he doesn't say a word. The escort finishes her speech and then the screen turns black once again and then back on to my home district.

I watch again as Prim's name gets called and Katniss runs ahead of her and volunteers for her sister. I was proud that she did that to save her little sister. I would have done the same with Cole. Next comes my reaping and I can already feel the tears welling in my eyes. I watch as Cole comes running up to me and embracing me. Tears are streaming down his face and he slowly let's me go and I walk on stage.

After that, it returns back to Caesar and Claudius and you can tell that have been crying because there makeup is running a little. "There you have it. Your tributes for the 74th Hunger Games." There is a small pause and then the screen goes completely blank.

I turn of the screen and sluggishly walk to my room, where I fall onto my bed and start crawling underneath the sheets where I finally find sleep.

I wake up to the sound of Effie banging on my door and yelling "Wake up, Mr. Mellark! It's a big, big day!"

I sit up and stretch in the bed and proceed to the shower to get washed for today. We are supposed to arrive at the Capitol today so I want to make a good impression on my stylist.

After my shower, I go through my wardrobe and pick out my outfit that will just get ripped from my skin by those styling monsters. I pick out a sky blue tee and some blue jeans from the bunch of clothes and proceed to my nightstand to pick up my token. I put the locket around my neck and leave to the dining cart. As I enter, I see Katniss inhale her food as if it will be her last, which it might technically be counted as one of them. I also see that Effie has yet to touch her food and is chatting with a sober Haymitch about something that I can't overhear.

I sit at the mahogany table and proceed to eat the succulent ham and eggs. I take a look at the drink in front of me and am intrigued by the amazing aroma it gives. I hesitantly reach for the drink and take a sip of the creamy liquid. It is a little hot but it settles quickly and I am in love with the drink.

"It's hot chocolate." says Effie in her bubbly voice. Even though I despised the voice at first, it is already starting to warm up to me. "It's a great drink for the holidays we have in the Capitol."

Speaking of the city, our train enters the metropolis and I gape in awe at the extravagant beauty. There were tall buildings with shimmering colors of gold and silver and pavilions with enormous fountains in their centers. How such a beautiful city could house the most hated games in the world is beyond me.

As we enter the train station, it was like staring at a sea of neon. All of the people in the station are wearing bright shades of reds, greens, and blues that are straining on the eyes. I ignore the pain in my eyes and politely wave to the people and that seems to rile them into a frenzy.

As I get off the train, the screams escalate in volume and become piercing to the ear. I am then taken from my group and into one of the rooms of the Remake Center, where I am picked and scrubbed until I am at "beauty base one" as they say.

My prep team consists of Flania, a skinny woman with skin the color of a tangerine and hair a cyan blue with matching makeup; Luviana, a plump woman with long purple finger nails and matching hair and makeup; and Valio, a rather normal sized male with neon green hair with makeup the same color as Flania's skin.

"Oh, Peeta. You are such a handsome young man." Flania complements.

"What happened with that boy from your district was so touching that I cried myself to sleep." Luviana bawls.

Valio doesn't say a word for some reason as he continuously plucks hair from my body. The other two continue to gossip about me, but I block out what they are saying as I try to live through this. Eventually, they say that I am ready to be presented to my stylist, Portia.

I expect Portia to have bright colors and a weird costume but am surprised to see a cocoa skinned woman in a long, black shimmering dress with long black hair walk in. She doesn't look to be altered in any way. Her makeup brings out the gold in her hazel eyes and her body is slim and gorgeous.

"Hello there, Peeta." She says in a sensuous voice. "My name is Portia, and with Cinna and mine's help, we will make you and Katniss the eye catchers of the parade. I have a question for you. Are you afraid of fire?" A mischievous grin spreads across her face and I gulp in nervousness.

I stand on the District 12 chariot as I await the start of the parade. Katniss is standing to my right and she looks radiant in the black skin, tight suit we are fitted in. Her hair is in a fancy braid on top of her head and the makeup she is wearing brings out the fullness of her steel grey eyes.

I look around at the other tributes and look over there costumes. The District one tributes are wearing some flashy suits adorned with gems of various colors that sparkle with every motion they make. The District Two tributes are wearing what look to be roman armor that suits them perfectly. I give Cato a once over and see that with the armor, he looks even more like a Greek God. I eye him for a few more minutes before I notice him staring at me. He has this little smirk on his face that shows he is amused. I blush and quickly turn away and look straight forward.

I think about what I just did for a few minutes before the giant gates out to the street open and the uproar of applause erupts into the building. I'm suddenly nervous and start to shake like a leaf in the wind. Katniss seams to notice and grabs my hand to comfort me.

We soon are the next to exit the building and Cinna and Portia approaches us with little torches to light us up.

"You won't feel a thing Peeta." Portia says in a soothing voice. "It won't singe you. It is just for show." With that said, they light up the capes on our backs and they go ablaze. I get a look at Katniss and she burns with infinite beauty as she shimmers in the light of the fire.

We head out onto the street and the screams escalate louder than before when the citizens see our flaring outfits. I get a look at the big screens along the sides of the street and see that we are amazing. Portia and Cinna did a marvelous job on our outfits for this.

We approach the head of President Snow's mansion and the flames die off to nothing but a little simmer. I choose to ignore the speech since it is the same as the ones before it and get a look at the other tributes. Some of them look envious while others seem to have rage seething from there eyes. I look at Cato to see what he thinks and I see that he has neither rage nor envy but a look I can't quite place. He seems to blush a little and quickly turns back to face the mansion.

The chariots finally start to move and we head back to the building we left and Haymitch, Effie, Cinna, and Portia are waiting for us as we pull up to them.

"Oh, you two were so divine out there. The flames were fantastic." Effie trills in an excited voice.

"Yes. That was great you two. You both should be reeling in the sponsors." Haymitch congratulates us and pats us on our backs. "I think this calls for a feast."

"Agreed and Peeta, You looked spectacular out there. I'm glad that I get to be your stylist, and hope to continue with that."

They all start to walk away but I stay behind to clear my head a little. I had to process what happened out there. These feelings with Cato were messing with my brain and that look he gave me added onto my confusion. I suddenly feel a strong arm pat me on the back and turn to see said hunk stand behind me. I see that he has taken off that helmet I saw him wearing earlier. It is resting in the crook of his arm and I can see a light sheen of sweat on his forehead.

"Hey. Peeta isn't it? My name is Cato Malloy." He says while extending an arm out for a hand shake. His voice still has that smooth sound to it but there is no bitterness behind it. It sounds more sincere and calm.

"Yes. My name is Peeta Mellark and it's good to meet you, Cato." I grab his hand and give it a firm shake before retracting it swiftly. I look into his eyes and see nothing but sweetness in it, and I quickly look away from those glowing blue gems with a blush on my face. I hear him lightly chuckle as he finds it amusing.

"Cute." He mutters but that just makes me blush more. "Hey. How would you like to come join me and the other Careers in training tomorrow?"

I think it over for a minute. If I do it, Katniss might feel betrayed and come after me in the arena, but if I don't, my chances of going home to Cole will diminish. "I would love to join you." I say mannerly.

"Great. When you come to training tomorrow, head to the weightlifting area, and we will be waiting for you there."

I nod and he heads off to join the rest of the Careers. I run to the elevator and press the button that says "12" and the elevator shoots up to the pent house. When the doors open, I see that everyone has been waiting politely for me to arrive. Well everyone except for Haymitch and Katniss. I hastily walk to my room where I get out of my outfit and into some sweat pants and night shirt. I return to the dining area and proceed to eat my food while everyone except for Katniss gossips about the performance.

Before long, I have finished my meal and return to my room for some well deserved rest but it doesn't come so easily. My mind is reeling over the events of the day. I made a fantastic first impression with the outfits that Cinna and Portia have made. I have decided to join Cato and the other Careers in training tomorrow. The only down side to all of this is that if Katniss found out, she would more than likely hunt me down in the arena.

I hope I made the right decision.

There you have it folks. Chapter one of "Promises." I hope that you all enjoyed it. I have to give a shout-out to my friend fadi25402702. He has helped me out a lot with this. I have an announcement to make as well. It might start to get hard for me to update soon. I am probably getting a job and that will take some serious hours away and also school is starting back soon so yea. Well thanks for reading and please review.