"What's left when we go back home?" I could see the pain in Peeta's eyes, the uncertainty and it made my heart clench.

"Peeta…", I couldn't tell him how I felt about him, not when I didn't know how I felt either. It wouldn't be fair to the boy with bread, to the boy who saved me over and over again all the while never expecting anything in return.

"Just don't Katniss. You don't have to say anything, I understand perfectly." said Peeta as he looked at me with pain and turned to leave. In that moment, I didn't know what came over me, I just knew that I couldn't lose him, wouldn't lose him. And I understood what I had to do.

I wrapped my arms around his waist, my face pressed against his back as I felt him stiffen. I didn't know exactly how to put in words how I felt about him, but I knew that I liked this. I needed this, wanted this. Wanted him.

"Katniss?" he asked his tone unsure and dejected. It pained me to hear the insecurity in his voice, the pain I caused him.

"Peeta, I'm not good with words. Never have been, never will be. And up till the moment I found you by the river, I never thought I would care for someone the way I did for you. I…," my voice faltered as I tried to get the next part out. He sensed my hesitance and turned around in my arms looking down at me with confused eyes.

"You what, Katniss?" he asked delicately, almost as if he's afraid of scaring me away, but I wouldn't do that to him, not this time.

"I never thought that I would need someone like I need you. Never thought that my heart would hurt so much for someone who wasn't my family. Peeta, all these… these feelings, are new to me. So new to me and I don't understand them, but if you're willing, if I haven't pushed you away too much, would you be willing to stick around and find out with me? All I know is that I like this, whatever this is that sparked between us. But, you have to understand that I'm scared, scared to death Peeta because I don't know what I would do if I lost you, I… I…" I felt Peeta gently lift my chin up, making me meet his eyes.

"Katniss, what are you saying exactly?" he cautiously asked as hope returned to his eyes.

"I don't know what I'm saying, but I know this Peeta Mellark. I know I want to be by your side and it'n not because I can't survive without you, but because I want this. I, I want you." I heard his sharp intake of breath when I said those words and saw the happiness in his eyes bloom. Slowly, but surely he closed the gap between us, pulling me closer to him while looking into my eyes. He gave me a sweet and tender kiss, hesitant at first but then gaining more confidence once I reciprocated. This kiss was different, it wasn't like the others where I was unsure about everything because now I knew, I could never leave Peeta again as I had given him a part of me I could and would never take back.

He pulled back for air and rested his forehead against mine, panting slightly with his eyes closed and a blissful expression on his face.

"Katniss, I'm willing to go to the ends of earth for you, don't you know that? I want to be there for you, I want to help you understand your feelings and I want to be there to protect you and love you and care for you. Katniss Everdeen, I'm a goner for you and nothing could ever change that, not since I was five years old. I want to grow old with you and have kids with you, heal with you, and start a new life with you. Hearing you say that you would be willing to try, to try giving us a chance has just made me the happiest man alive, because now I can breathe if I have you."

"Peeta, you know I'm not good with words and that I can act cold and indifferent sometimes, are you sure you don't want to find someone else? A girl who will love you and cherish you with abandon?".

"Katniss, there won't ever be a time that I would want anybody else, that I can promise you."

6 Months Later

"Peeta?" I asked stroking his silky curls.

"Yes sweetheart?"

"I've been meaning to tell you something."

"What is it Katniss?"

"Well, I, I think I know now."

"Know what?"

"Peeta Mellark, I love you." and with those words his face became lit up with joy, his happiness apparent in his crystal clear, warm blue eyes.

"Katniss… Katniss, Katniss, Katniss…" he murmured as he planted kisses all over my face. "I love you Katniss and you have no idea how much I wanted to hear those words come from your lips. I love you, can you say it one more time please, because I still cant believe it."

"I love you Peeta Mellark, I love everything about you."

"Real or not real?"

"Real."