Katniss and I finally arrive. I missed District 12 so much! I look over to see Katniss with her family. She's smiling a mile wide and hugging everyone. I've never seen her so happy. I look over to see my smiling family staring at me. I hug my parents and each of my brothers. "I missed you all so much," I say. This was really only half true. I did miss them in the arena, but I didn't notice because I was with Katniss.

I was still mad at Katniss. To be honest, I can't really stay mad at Katniss for a long time. I'll get over it. I doubt anything she did in the arena was real, though. She just did all that stuff to keep us alive. I don't blame her for anything. I'm just mad she didn't tell me. Well, I waited ten years for her, and I can wait ten more.

My family and I made small talk as we walked home. I wasn't really paying attention. All I could think about was Katniss. We were meant to be together. Why couldn't she see that? I mean in the cave, I meant what I said, but did she? Sometimes she did look like she meant it, but how could anyone be sure? Ugh! All of this gives me a headache.

We arrive at home in no time. I sit down on the small couch near the window. Honestly, I expected things to be different when I got home. Nothing has changed. My family acted as if nothing had happened. Everything returned back to normal. I was kind of glad. I wanted everything to return back to normal. Except for Katniss. Meeting Katniss was the best thing that ever happened to me. I wonder what she is doing right now. She's probably in the woods with Gale.

Ugh. Gale. She probably loves him. He's the reason Katniss is not mine. I mean Gale is older, stronger, and he's a hunter. He's a total package. The only reason I made it out of the arena was because of Katniss.

"Would you like dinner, Peeta," asks my mother. I jump a little bit. I was daydreaming and she kind of startled me. "No thanks," I reply. Really I am hungry, but I kind of just want to go to my room and be alone. "I think I'm just going to go to my room," I say. "Okay," says my mother. Wow. She's gotten a lot nicer since I got home. I guess this could just be temporary, but I decide to enjoy it while I can.

I saunter up the stairs to my room. Everything in my room is exactly how I left it. It's kind of creepy. I sit on the edge of my bed and hold my head in my hands. What am I going to do? I can't live without Katniss. Maybe I should go to her house. Should I? I don't know.

As I am thinking, my older brother comes in. "Hi Peeta," he says casually. "Hi," I say rather flatly. Doesn't he see I want to be alone. Idiot. "I just wanted to say I really missed you when you went to the Hunger Games. I am really glad you're back," he says. I'm touched. I think this might be the nicest thing he has ever said to me. "Thanks," I say. He gives a faint smile and leaves.

That was nice. I really underestimated my family. They actually really care about me. I smile at the thought. My brain jumps right back to Katniss. I remember how beautiful her smile was. I haven't seen it in a while. I wish I could see it again.

The sun is going down, and I decide to go to bed. Tomorrow I will move to Victor's Village. My new neighbors will be Katniss and Haymitch. "Great," I say sarcastically. Today just keeps getting better and better.

I lay down and close my eyes. I don't bother to change. Who cares? About five minutes I wake up from a nightmare. I dreamt Katniss and I were back in the arena. We were running as fast as we could away from the mutts that were chasing us. I climb up the cornucopia before Katniss does. She is halfway up when she falls. She falls flat on her back. The mutts swarm her, and start to chew away at her flesh. I hear her scream just before I wake up. I am breathing heavily, and it is pretty obvious I can't sleep any longer.

I can't take it anymore. I desperately need to see Katniss. I need to make sure she's okay. I climb out of bed praying my family doesn't wake up. I saunter towards my closet and put on my shoes. As I am putting on my shoe, I catch a glimpse of my fake leg. Honestly, it kind of creeps me out. I quickly put on my other shoe, and walk out my bedroom door.

I try to be quiet as I head downstairs, but as Katniss said before, I am not quiet. I don't think I really ever was quiet. I move one step at a time trying not to wake up the whole household. I finally reach the bottom after what seemed like an eternity. I slowly saunter to the front door. I open the door and walk out.

I start my journey to Katniss's house. What am I going to do? What am I going to say? I guess I'll just wing it. I hope she's not mad at me. I know I'm definetly not mad at her anymore. I can see Katniss's house in the distance. I stop. It's now or never. I begin to saunter towards her house again.

I can see Katniss's bedroom light is on as I get closer to her house. I decide to check it out. Then, I hear something. Shoot! I run and hide in some bushes. I must have woken somebody up! Well, I was never quiet, so this doesn't surprise me.

Katniss comes out of her house with a concerned look on her face. She looks so beautiful in the moonlight. "Is anyone there," she calls out. Well, it's now or never. "You caught me," I reply. I step out into the moonlight. She looks startled.

"What are you doing here," she asks in a curious voice. I stare at my shoes. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry about what happened on the train. I mean you only pretended be in love with me to keep us safe, and I shouldn't blame you for it. I'm really sorry." "Oh," she replies.

I wait for an her to say something else. I wait. I wait some more. Finally she says, "Sometimes I wasn't pretending. Were you?" I say, "Everything I said was true." "You love me," she says. "Yes," I say in a whisper. I take a small step closer to her, and she takes one step back.

"Why do you love me? I'm never going to get married. I'm never going to have children. Might as well leave me now before we do something stupid," she says. "There is a problem with what you just said. I already did something stupid. I said I loved a girl on live television." We both laugh. I am so glad to see her smile. "I never got an answer," I say. "What," she asks. "Do you love me," I ask. Please say yes. Please say yes. "I don't know," she replies.

No! Really! She can see the disappointment in my eyes. "I could change," she says quickly. "I have to go," I say. I start to saunter back to my house. "Wait," calls Katniss. She jogs up to me. "Wait," she says again. "How can you be so sure you love me," she asks.

Huh. I never really questioned it. I always just knew. "Well...You just know." She looks disappointed. "Why, do you think you love me," I ask. "Yes," she says so fast and quiet that I can barely understand her. I take a larger step towards her, and this time she doesn't shy away.

I take one more step to break the distance between us. I lean in slowly to make sure she wants to kiss me, too. She doesn't move. I lean in more and more until our lips touch. I get a warm and fuzzy feeling inside. I put my hands on her hips. She puts her hands around my neck.

We break apart just to take a breath of fresh air. "Uh, Peeta," she says. "Yes," I reply. "I'm pretty sure I love you," she replies. I smile, and she smiles with me. This time, she leans in for the kiss. I don't object. This is the best day of my life! There's that warm and fuzzy feeling again. I move my hands to her face. I cup her head with my hands. We break apart for another breath.

"What time is it," I ask. "Probably midnight," she answers. "Our family won't get up for another couple of hours." "Yeah," she says, confused. "Let's do something crazy." "What? No," she says. "Don't you trust me?" She laughs. "What do you want to do?"

"Let's take a midnight stroll through the meadow," I say. She smiles. "You're nuts, but I'll do it anyway. Let's go." I take her hand and begin to walk with her to the meadow. We arrive at the meadow in no time. "You know what's crazy," I ask. "What," she says. "I know you would die for me, but I don't know what your favorite color is," I reply. "Mine is green. What's yours," she asks. "Mine is orange, like the sunset," I answer. "Pretty," she says.

We start to stroll through the meadow holding hands. This is so romantic! I never thought Katniss liked romantic stuff, but she did this anyway. I think she might have done this to make me happy. This makes me smile. "What," she says. "What," I reply. "Why are you smiling," she asks. "I'm happy I'm with you," I reply. This makes her smile, too. "Me too."

We are getting farther and farther from both of our houses. I look back to see we have walked pretty far. Should we go back? I don't know. "Do you want to head back," she asks. Wow. It's like she read my mind. "Do you want to just sit down for awhile," I ask, "I don't want this date to end." "Me neither."

Oh my goodness! Did she just say she didn't want this date to end? When did Katniss become romantic? I have no idea! We sit down in the grass. I reposition my fake leg. I see a dandelion right in front of me. I pick it up and observe it in my hand. I'm going to try to make my move, and hope Katniss doesn't beat me up.

I slowly push Katniss's hair behind her ear. She doesn't seem alarmed. She just smiles. I then put the dandelion in her hair. Her expression changes. She seems to remember something, but then she smiles again. Huh. I wonder what that was about.

"You look beautiful," I say. She blushes. "Thanks," she responds. I scoot a little closer to her. She sees this, and she scoots even closer. Our hips our touching now. I pretend I'm yawning, so I can put my arm around her. She laughs. "That's the oldest trick in th book," she says. "I know," I say, "but it works. She puts her arms around me.

I kind of tense up, but relax. "What's wrong," she asks. "Absolutely nothing," I reply. We sit in silence for awhile. "How was your day," I ask. "Lots of hugging and crying. How about you," she asks. "Unusual kindness from my family. Nothing much," I reply with a shrug.

"Peeta," says Katniss, "I need to tell you something." "What," I asked softly. "Do you want to know the reason I pulled out those berries in the arena," she asks. "I do," I reply. "I did that," she says, "because I couldn't stand the idea of losing you." "Really," I ask. "Really."

I smile the biggest smile I could manage. She smiles, too. I lean in for a kiss. She kisses me, softly. We break apart. "I definetly love you," she whispers. "You don't know how long I waited for you to say that." She giggles. "I know."

I could see the sun peeking over the horizon. "We should probably head back," I say. "Okay," she whispers. She stands up, and I try. My leg fell asleep, and I can't get up. She laughs. "You need some help?" "Kind of," I reply. She reaches out her hand. I grab it. I pull, but Katniss falls on top of me.

"Oops," she says, laughing. I laugh, too. I give her a gentle hug from behind. "Are you okay," I ask. "Yeah, I just tripped." I regained some feeling in my leg now, but I don't want to interrupt this perfect moment. "Let's go," she says. "Okay," I reply.

She gets up again, and I try again. I fall back. She giggles. She reaches out her hand, and I grab it. This time, I actually get up. "Thanks," I say. "No problem," she answers. This time, she is the one who reaches for my hand.

"Are you excited about moving to Victor's Village," I ask. "No," she replies, "I don't want to move." "I am just happy I am going to be closer to you," I say. "I guess that's going to be nice," she says, "We can do more midnight dates." I laugh. "Yeah."

I can see Katniss's house in the distance. I see her sigh. "What," I ask. "I am not going to be able to sleep tonight. I tried before, but I just wake up from nightmares every single time," she says. "Me too," I say, "You know if you ever need someone to comfort you, I'm always here for you." "Thanks," she says.

We reach her front door. "I hate to end this perfect date, but I should go before my family wakes up," she says. "I should get going, too," I say. We just stand there. I lean in for one long, lingering kiss. We break apart slowly. "I love you," I say. "I love you, too," she says. She walks inside her house without another word.

I begin to saunter back to my house. I'm so happy. That date was so perfect! I can't believe Katniss and I actually went on a date! That was more than I could ever ask for! I can't wait until tomorrow!

I can see my house in the distance. I should just head straight to my room. I look around. No one is up yet. What time it is? I should hurry. My family gets up early.

I rush through the front door when I remember I have to be quiet. I slowly walk up the stairs to my room. I enter my room, and am so glad I didn't wake anyone up. I slowly take my shoes off, and crawl into bed. I look at the clock in my room. It's 4 A.M. Wow. Katniss and I were gone for four hours! I wish we were gone longer. Well, I'll see her tomorrow, and I can't wait.