Author's Notes: My first ever fanfiction. I hope you guys like it. I'm going to have a lot of back story because I really want to build the characters' personalities.

This is a Slash Peeta/Cato fanfic and will include a M/M relationship. If you don't like it, or if you feel offended, then please go away.

Rated M for later more sexual chapters.

Enjoy! :)

(Cato probably won't show up until Ch. 3)

Prologue:

Chapter 1: The Cake

It started with bread.

"You got the last of our bread, sir," Peeta informed the customer. "This will cost ten tokens."

"Wow, isn't that a bit much? Will five tokens work?" the buyer asked in an attempt to negotiate.

"Sorry, sir, but we have to make a living off of this."

"C'mon, kid, it's my daughter's birthday tomorrow, she's turning twelve. Can you let this slide just once?" He seemed worried.

"I really can't. Sorry." the blonde boy replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

"How's six tokens?"

The baker boy sighed for a second. "How about eight tokens and I'll just let it go… for your daughter of course."

"Thank you so much!" he responded with gratitude.

The buyer handed him eight metal coins and walked out of the bakery with the medium sized bread in hand and a smile on his face. "Another satisfied customer," the boy thought out loud as he wiped a smudge off of the bakery counter with his dirty-white rag and threw it over his right shoulder.

"Peeta!" his mother yelled. "What was that?" she furiously asked as she finished eavesdropping on her son.

Blankness and confusion was strapped on the boy's face.

"I saw you give that man a discount that never existed!" she accused.

"It was his daughter's birthday. Cut him some slack! The girl's turning twelve, and it might be the last piece of bread she'll ever get from district twelve."

Then comes the wooden spoon taken from its respective place just to the right of the of the cash register as she pointed it at her son's face. "That girl's chances of getting reaped is slim, you fool!" The wooden spoon came in contact with his left cheek bone with a thwaak.

The recoil damage caused the blonde boy's vision to blur due to the pain it caused. He never really got used to the hits his mother gave him. He never really got used to the vision blur either. As soon as his sight reverted back to normal, he glared at the woman who just dealt a blow to his face as he made an effort to hold back tears.

After she smacked Peeta with the spoon, her voice calmed down a bit to a point where she almost whispered her commands. "Now go out there and apply for tesserae. We're out of the supplies needed to bake bread." She later put the spoon back to the right of the cash register and walked back to the kitchen with her chin down.

He held his glare until his will power left him and opted to walk away heading upstairs to his sick father. His dad seems to be the only one that…cared for him. What was he supposed to do but reciprocate, right?

The boy saw his father sick in bed with thick blankets covering him, his face was pale as snow, his mouth was dry, his throat filled with bile, and he was coughing to relieve the pain in his voice box. "Peeta," he saw his son underneath the door frame. "come in."

"Hey, Dad, how're you holding up?" he asked.

"Oh, never better!" sarcasm was in his raspy, ancient voice.

The blonde teen placed the back of his hand on his father's forehead. "Your temperature seems so much higher than yesterday."

A sigh came out of the sick father. "Hey listen," the atmosphere became serious, "if I don't get better… if I don't make it-"

"Dad," the baker's son interrupted.

"No, listen, you have been the most hardworking, responsible, reliable… the point is, I want you to have the bakery."

A shock was slapped on the teen's face. "But I'm only turning seventeen, Dad, you can't guarantee that I won't be reaped."

"That doesn't change anything." he coughed again with the sound of phlegm escaping.

Silence became loud in the room. Regardless of his father's sickness, Peeta hugged him sincerely. It was probably one of those father-son moments that are golden to the memories of the boy's 'old man.' A simple 'thank you' was all that came out of Peeta's lips.

His father gave him an approving nod.

"Anyway," the baker's son tried to change the subject, "mother wants me to apply for tesserae. Apparently, we're out of raw baking needs, and the money we receive is being saved for your medicine."

His father noticed the red mark on Peeta's face. "Did your mother-?"

"Yup." The baker's son held his hand up to the numbing, red mark as if to cover it.

"Listen, don't be too upset. She's only acting that way ever since… I became sick. I really don't have any energy at all to work at the bakery or spend time with her… or my sons," regret filled his voice.

"Don't even defend her, Dad," anger and yelling took over Peeta. "We all know why she's been acting like that, and believe me it has nothing to do with your sickness!" with that, he got up, but a hand stopped him.

"If you sign up for anymore of those, you'll get a higher chance of you being reaped. There's no way I'm letting you do that, you hear me? I mean, can't you split it with your brother?"

"He's turning nineteen before the Games, Dad. He's not legible anymore. Plus, the money we spend for your medicine is the only thing keeping you alive. I-" He paused and broke their eye contact, "I can't let you die." With that being said, he walked to the exit with his eyes attached to the wooden floors as if they suddenly became so interesting. He paused at the door way, and the baker's son turned his chin to his right shoulder, "If you need me, I'm signing up for tesserae."

Peeta left the room cold and silent. His father, with a look of disbelief, can only whisper in response: "But I can't let you die, either."

In District 12, the train station is the only way to contact the capitol, therefore it's the only place where teens can sign up for and receive tesserae. As he walked the shortcut route, he kept his eyes to the ground, guilt took over.

"I shouldn't have yelled at him like that," he thought out loud. He sighed almost wishing he can take back the words he shot his father with. He should've known better than to yell at a sick man, his old man.

His eyes wandered out of the district's borders across the electric fence. He eyed Katniss and Gale with bows and arrows slung on their backs ready to hunt for some game. Going out of the district zones are illegal, but Peeta kept his mouth shut… for Katniss' sake… and maybe Gale's as well.

Don't get him wrong, Peeta tried to love Katniss just like his father wanted him to, but his heart isn't really attracted to her. Scratch that. Peeta wasn't really attract to… girls in general.

He kept his eyes on Gale to admire his very attractive features. His hair, his muscles, his face, his arms. Honestly, the blonde boy was jealous of Katniss the way she could just spend time with the boy from the seam… alone… in the woods… I think you catch my drift. Peeta could only fantasize the possibilities that could happen if he can spend time with the tall brunette.

"Excuse me!" an innocent voice from a little girl caught the young baker off guard.

"Er. Huh?"

"Can you please pass the ball?" she requested pointing at the round object leaning on Peeta's leg. He didn't even notice it there being too distracted by the two teenagers heading toward the forest.

"Um. Sure. Yeah." he replied with his mind back on track. Then he granted the little girl's wishes by gently kicking the ball to her.

"Yay! Thanks!" she began dribbling the ball with her feet as she ran to her group of friends to play some soccer… District 12 style. Soon, there was a cheer of out burst due to a scored goal.

That's when a teenaged girl with jet-black hair and small, dark-brown eyes began walking towards the blonde boy. "Peeta!" she bellowed, "Long time, no see, Cheesecake! How've you been?"

"Summer! Hi!" the young baker smiled from ear to ear at the sight of his best friend approaching him. "What's up?"

"Looks like you've met my little sister. The girl with the ball?"

"That's your sister?"

"Yup." Then she turned to the little girl playing soccer, "Hey, June!" she bellowed again, "I'll be back. Just stay with your friends okay! Stay safe!"

The little girl was too distracted with the soccer game, so she just waved at her older sibling implying an 'okay!'.

Summer followed Peeta to the train station. "So," she began the conversation as they paced through the dirt path, "what have you been up to? We need to catch up on each other's lives, Cheesecake."

They began with basic questions regarding school and the bakery. Of course, without a doubt, the topic of the Hunger Games were avoided. Peeta, or according to Summer, 'Cheesecake' told her about the man who bought some bread for his daughter who's turning twelve and the 'discount' he gave him due to pity.

Soon enough, personal and private questions were unfolding themselves in their mini reunion.

"So, do you like anyone?" Summer began.

Peeta's entire face turned red as cherries after the question. He kept to himself at first and debated whether or not to tell the already grinning girl.

"Oooooooooo!" she exclaimed with enthusiasm as she started to jump up and down ready to hear about her best friend's love life. "So who's the boy?"

The blonde teen became wide eyed. "Shhhhhhh!" Peeta shut her up by putting his left hand behind her head and the other hand covering her mouth like a muzzle. His lips still made that 'sshhhh' shape. Then, he looked around to see if anyone heard her. "Summer!" he said in a harsh whisper, "You know what people do to people like me in this district. You have to be more quiet about this!"

"Who really cares?" she asked defensively, "being who you are shouldn't be illegal anymore!"

"Yeah? Well it is, and we can't do anything about it."

"It's just unfair though!"

"Yeah. It really sucks. Well, at least for me anyway."

There was a long pause.

"So... who is he?" she asked again in a more quiet tone while poking his sides mockingly.

Peeta just decided to tell her anyway. After all, what's the harm? She is his only friend. Best friend, in fact. "It's Gale." he admitted still blushing.

"Awww!" her voice progressively became higher.

"I'm so stupid though."

"And why is that?"

"Because every time, every damn time, my boy-crush heart just gets attracted to a straight guy."

"But you don't know if he's straight or-."

"He's straight." he cut her off.

"How do you know that?"

The blonde boy told Summer about what he saw before his encounter with her little sister June. The way Gale and Katniss just spend every second of their time together in the forest really gives people the wrong idea, you know?

Quickly, Summer locked Peeta's arm with hers as she relaxed her head on his left shoulder. "Don't worry, Cheesecake, you'll always have me." she reassured him. "You know what? I'll even set you up with a hotter boy than Gale. Don't you worry."

"Haha," he laughed, "Thanks, Summer. And can you not call me 'Cheesecake' anymore? I mean, aren't we a little too old for nicknames?"

"No! I'm only turning 16 and you're only turning 17! Besides, no one is ever too old for a nickname… Cheesecake," a smirk appeared on her face as she said his nickname in the most mocking tone possible.

"Whatever," Peeta rolled his eyes. "How'd you come up with that name anyway?"

Summer leaned away from him as she unlocked their arms and hovered both her hands over her lips. She stared at him wide-eyed and gasped overdramatically, "How could you forget?" she asked. "I've been calling you that since you've helped me master the art of cake decorating!" there was a slight shock, drama, and disappointment in her tone of voice.

She soon commenced explaining the long story of their childhood as they walked towards the train station. How they met, how they became friends, how she came up with the name Cheesecake. Everything.

'Ugh. If only I didn't ask.' Peeta thought to himself.

x x

Their friendship began with bread about eight years before.

It was a day before Christmas, and Summer and her mom visited 'Mellark Bakery' to get some bread for the special occasion. The sky was gray, the entire district was covered in snow, but the mood was merry as can be.

Ding. Kring. Ting. Ting. The door opened activating the wind chimes attached to it. Warmth of the bakery was overwhelming in contrast to the bitter cold outside. Summer and her mom entered the bakery.

"Mrs. Mellark," Summer's mom greeted, "Good afternoon."

"Good afternoon, you two," she greeted back to both of the ladies, "How may I help you?"

"Can we get two rolls of bread, please?" she ordered. It was more of a question though.

"Sure thing!" Peeta's mom answered with a vibrant smile on her almost enough to melt the snow outside. She walked into the kitchen and started making some dough with the flour, yeast, and other things. As the baker's wife kneaded the dough, she turned to young Peeta who was watching her put materials together. "Peeta, can you go to the customer and tell them that their bread will be ready in roughly thirty minutes?"

"Okay." he said, following his mother's orders obediently.

"Oh and while you're at it, can you decorate the cake just behind the counter?" she added.

"No problem." he shrugged, walked out of the kitchen, and informed the lady and her daughter how much time is left before the bread is ready. He then took a decorating tool and started adding intricate designs on a two tiered cake, probably made for the mayor.

"Mommy! Mommy!" Summer got her mother's attention by pulling on her left leg with her tiny hands. "What's that boy doing?" she pointed towards young Peeta in curiosity.

"I'm decorating a cake," Peeta answered. "You wanna take a closer look?" he offered innocently.

Summer nodded, but looked to her mom for approval. Her mom smiled and nodded as well and motioned her to go on ahead.

"C'mon!" he waved his hand towards him signaling for the little girl to come. "I'll show you."

"What's your name?" the little girl asked innocently as she made her way around the counter.

"I'm Peeta. I'm 8. How about you?"

"I'm Summer, and I'm one year younger than you." she replied as if to show him her math skills.

"So your named after the season?" Peeta laughed jokingly.

"You shouldn't be talking. You're named after bread."

Ouch. Peeta, being his sensitive self, pouted at the remark.

"Hey, it was a joke." Summer assured him, "Don't be all frown-like before Christmas!"

Peeta wiped his lips with the back of his hand as if to wipe his frown away. Of course, it didn't work.

A few minutes later, Summer tried to lighten up the mood with complements. "You're doing a really good job!"

A corner of Peeta's lips lifted a bit in an attempt to smile again. "Thanks" he continued with decorating the cake.

"Whoa! How're you doing that?" she asked impressed by his crafty hand work. "I wanna try! I wanna try!"

Peeta finally started smiling again almost forgetting her comment about his name. "Okay!"

Summer took the decorating tool with a bag of icing attached to it. Peeta showed her how she had to squeeze the bag in order to design the cake while guiding the tip of it with the other hand for more controlled curves and swirls. Summer's first attempt was pretty mediocre as she stuck her tongue to the side of her lips. The lines and swirls were obviously applied by shaky, first-timer hands due to the minor zigzags.

"Not bad for the first time." Peeta commented. He then began correcting Summer's mistakes by decorating over them.

"Eh." Summer tried to be modest.

The smell of baking bread resonated throughout the bakery. Peeta knew the dough was put in the oven and began salivating at the thought of it.

Young Peeta's mother left the kitchen, walked behind the counter, and rubbed young Peeta's hair in pride as she saw the well decorated cake. "Nice job, Peeta!"

"Summer helped me!" the young blonde informed her, happiness was in his voice.

Peeta's mother turned to Summer's. "I see our children have met each other." she said smiling.

"Yup. And your son was nice enough to let my daughter help decorate the cake." she replied.

"Mommy, can we come here more often? I wanna play with Peeta again. PLEEEAASSEEEE?" she begged being her hyperactive self.

"Well," her mother started. "if it's alright with them it's fine with me." she answered with a smile as she directed her statement towards Mrs. Mellark and young Peeta.

"You should come here and help me decorate some more cakes." the blonde boy suggested.

"Looks like that's a yes form both of us," Mrs. Mellark answered.

Both the kids looked and smiled at each other wondering when they can play again.

After thirty minutes, the bread was ready. Warm, toasty, steamy, soft bread freshly baked from the Mellark oven. Peeta's mom wrapped them in wax paper and handed them to Summer's mom.

"This would cost twenty tokens, but for the special occasion, I'll lower it to fourteen… for the family of Peeta's new friend." she looked towards Summer who was distracted talking with young Peeta.

"Thank you so much." Summer's mother said as she gave Mrs. Mellark fourteen tokens for the bread. "C'mon, Summer, time to go!"

"Aww!" she whined. "Oh well, it was nice meeting you, Peeta. Bye!"

"And Merry Christmas, you guys!" Peeta said aloud.

With that, Summer and her mother exited through the bakery door while the chimes echoed their jingle-jangle. They left being gifted with warm bread and a new friend.

Christmas passed along, and so did New Years, and Summer still played with young Peeta decorating cakes at the 'Mellark Bakery' every other day. Their friendship began to grow as young Peeta taught her his masterful decorating techniques. Pretty soon, Summer gained some decorating skills as well as art skills, and has gotten so much better at decorating cakes since the first time they met.

It was a hot, humid, summer-afternoon. Summer has mastered her cake decorating, with the help of Peeta of course, and she wiped some sweat excreting from her forehead due to the heat. The bakery was even hotter now that it's summer and the oven was radiating a lot of energy.

"Hey, guys, can you come in the kitchen for a second?" Peeta's mother asked.

Peeta and Summer headed for the kitchen to see what's up. That's when Peeta's nose cringed at the smell of this new 'cake' they had to decorate. "What is that smell?" Peeta asked repulsed by the scent.

The cake was flat with what looks like crumbs around the edges. The top was semi glossy, but the heat and moisture allowed the cake to emit a disgusting scent. "This is cheesecake," his mother replied. "I just want you guys to take it to the front and maybe add dollops of whipped-cream around the perimeter of it."

"Alrighty," Summer responded, grabbed the cheesecake, and delivered it to the front counter without a problem.

Peeta followed her and picked up a wooden spoon and whipped-cream. He scooped up a good dollop, like his mother said, and applied it on the cheesecake's circumference.

"This smells more like cheese than cake," Summer commented.

The young blonde was gagging throughout the process of it all, and Summer could tell he was displeased with the cake he was working with.

"You okay there?" Summer asked wondering about his status.

Without responding, he shook his head. Very soon, young Peeta could no longer tolerate the scent of the cheesecake attacking his nostrils. His face turned a very bright red, and Summer knew it wasn't because of the heat. Before long, Peeta bent over to the very right of the counter, and vomited all over the bakery's floor. Luckily, the bakery was empty, and that nobody can see his embarrassing predicament.

Before long, there was a pile of light, yellowish-brown liquid all over the floor with the consistency of oatmeal. Young Peeta wiped his lips to get rid of the leftover saliva.

Summer, being the best friend that she is, pointed at Peeta's puke, and began laughing hysterically. "Whoa! Looks like someone had oatmeal for breakfast!" It's funny how oatmeal looks the same way going in as it does going out.

"Gee," the young blonde started. "you're such a great friend." He said sarcastically putting his palms on his knees while still bent over.

When Summer finished her friendly, comical tirade, she put a hand on Peeta's right shoulder. "You okay there?" she asked still smiling.

"What does it look like?" he responded still bent over.

"I'll go get your mommy for you," she reassured. "I'll be right back."

x x

"I still remember your mom rushing to see if you were okay." she said laughing while finally finishing her unnecessarily long story.

"Wow, so that's why my mother never made cheesecake anymore… or oatmeal." the teenaged boy replied.

There was a laughing outburst of "Ahahahhas!" from Peeta and "Hhrruk!" snorts from Summer. When the laughs and snorts were over, the two friends became silent. Fireflies were beginning to light as the sun started to set over the horizon.

Peeta pointed towards the giant, orange ball of gas sitting atop the mountain range. "That's always been my favorite color," he says in calm voice.

"Hey, speaking of your mom, how is she?" she wondered. "You never really talked about her."

"That's cause I really don't want to," he replied pouting again. The mood became serious regardless of Summer's hyperactive personality.

"Oh c'mon. I remember her being really nice!" she said.

"Well, that sorta changed."

"When?"

"When she found out she was just a second choice."

"Wait, I don't get it."

"Long story short, my dad was in love with Katniss' mom. But her mom fell for a miner, and my dad tried to get over Katniss' mom by going for my mother. When I turned twelve, my mother found out that she's only second rate, and jealousy took over her. That's when she began to change and started hitting me." the baker's son explained looking down at his double knotted shoes.

Even Summer calmed down from her hyperactivity. "So that explains that red mark on your cheek."

He sighed. "Kinda. Well, she kinda just hits me whenever she gets mad now. That's when she sorta yelled at me to apply for tesserae."

Summer repeated her previous procedure by locking her arms with his and resting her head on his left shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. The worst part is that my dad still defends her, ya know? Like just before I left the house, he was trying to justify this red mark on my face."

His best friend remained silent.

"He always blamed his sickness for everything, and it's saddening actually."

"That's really horrible." Summer responded.

"It just annoys me. He knows the reason why my mother hits me, but he always denies it. As if he's living this lie…"

"Well, no offence, Peeta, but you shouldn't be a hypocrite. Aren't you living a lie as well? Being all closeted and all?"

"Ooh. I walked right into that one, huh? I hate it when you're right," he said as they neared the entrance to the train station. "Wait here, okay? I'll be right back."

Summer nodded as she hugged him.

Peeta hugged her back but then broke their embrace. He motioned Summer to stay and wait for him as he walked towards the train station entrance. Ready to seal his fate. Ready for five more slips of paper… with his name on them.

Author's Notes:

Thank you for reading! I hope you liked it!

I'm new to fanficiton and I would love it if you guys would review and give me feed back on what I can improve on. Thanks! I don't really have an exact plot in mind, so suggestions would also be much appreciated. :)