A/N:

CHAPTER PLAYLIST:

Remind Me by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood

Hip to My Heart by The Band Perry

. . . . . . .

Do you remember how it used to be?

We turned out the lights and we wouldn't just sleep

Remind me, remind me

So on fire and so in love

That look in your eyes that I miss so much

Remind me, remind me

God, I'm pathetic.

It's been about two months of me being single now. And I don't like it. I have no idea what to do without her. I was with her for so long, I'm clueless on how to act and not consider her thoughts or how she'll react to them. Everytime something interesting happens, I pick up my cellphone and begin to text her. But then I realized that I shouldn't. We're not together anymore.

We're not together anymore.

I tell myself that everyday, just trying to move on. How are you supposed to move on? You've loved a girl for your whole college life and then some, and just like that, she's gone.

Why didn't I fight harder? We had such a wonderful time together. Yeah, we had it rough for a while. But we could have fought harder. We should have fought harder.

I've been debating for almost an hour with myself if I should call her. Would I seem desperate? But I am. I want her back. I want what we had back. I want to hold her, and kiss her, and make love to her. I still obviously love her, I should call her.

But what if she doesn't love me anymore? But it hasn't been that long since the break-up. I'm sure she misses me even a little bit.

Get it together Mellark! She fucking left you. You would have done it to if she didn't beat you to the punch! Get over it!

But I can't get over it.

Ugh!

Another hour passed and I finally decided what to do. So I pick up my phone and dial the number.

. . . . . .

"Dude! Thank you! Now you can finally have some real fun." Finnick never did like Delly. Whenever I invited him for a night out with us he'd always say he had somewhere to go. Yeah right. "She was always so chatty. All I wanna do is get some duct tape and shut her up."

Finnick is my best friend since high school. Even though we went to different colleges, we kept in touch and are still pretty close until now. He was the first person I called after the break up. Ever since, he keeps inviting me to go out for parties or whatever. And I've declined his offers all the time. Finn is the guy who knows how to have a good time. He's the go to guy if you want to get booze, get wasted or get laid.

But right now I don't think I need that Finn. I need my best friend and his help. Him bashing on my ex isn't helping at all.

"Finn, I still love her. Could you stop?" I try not to sound so annoyed.

"Sorry Peet. It's just when you were together you were always so boring. Waiting on her hand and foot. Have some dignity!"

"She was my girlfriend. I wanted to take care of her. It was love, man." I defend myself.

"Love." Finnick scoffs. "What good does it give you? You say you love each other, but what happened? You broke up. Six years, down the toilet."

"You wouldn't understand. Love is like floating on air. You can't help how you act, okay?"

"You're going gay. But you know what? How 'bout we forget all this and move on?" Finnick says as he orders another round of shots.

"I'll drink to that."

"To forgetting Delly Cartwright and getting laid tonight!" Finnick shouts as he holds up his shot.

"I'm all for it! Except getting laid." I say as I raise mine to his.

"You're no fun." Finn replies as he downs the drink. "Come on."

"Where are we going?" I ask as we pass the bar to pay for the tab.

Usual Finn, he won't say where we're going. This isn't the first time he brings me to places I wouldn't imagine of going myself. The worst was when he discovered a new strip club. He had to lie to me about needing some 'guy help' to get rid of Delly. He got me a lap dance with a girl named Glimmer. Glimmer! What a ridiculous name, but man did she have moves. Okay, so maybe spending time with Finnick isn't so bad.

Hey! I'm single again! I'm gonna have fun tonight!

"We're here!" Finnick stops the car in front a club I've never been to before. "The Capitol. Hottest club here, dude. We are getting you wasted tonight!"

"Don't get all excited Finn. You know I have a limit." Ever since I started dating Delly, I never drank as much as the other college studs. She never approved of getting drunk, the most I got from parties was getting tipsy. She was always so sensitive about underage drinking.

"Do you hear yourself right now?" This is the start of another Finnick lecture. "We're here to forget about that bitch–"

"Stop." I cut him off before he bashes on her more. I just couldn't take it right now.

"Okay. That was out of line. But man, she's moved on. Has she at least texted you?"

I look away, "No."

"No." He repeats. "You have to move on. If you want my help, I say get another girl. Or at least for the night." He winks at me.

"Seriously? I just got out of a long relationship."

"Exactly!" He exclaims as he throws is arms up in the air. "You need to be with other women! You need to expand your horizon." He says as he wraps an arm around my shoulder and using the other to point to "the horizon".

I see no point in arguing any further. I'll let Finn think whatever he wants. I had a great relationship, I had true love. No one night stand is going to fix the hole in my heart.

"Come on. I invited Marvel and Cato, you should have some fun tonight." Finnick leads me to the start of the line. "Brutus!"

"Finnick! Another night out?" The buff bouncer asks.

He must already be a regular. I think.

"You know it!" Finn exclaims as he does a hand shake with the bouncer. "This is my main man, Peeta." I reach out to shake his hand, but he starts with the same hand shake. It did not go well. "He needs to find a lady tonight. He's cool, okay?"

"Sure, man. Come right in." Brutus pulls away the red velvet rope to let us in. "There's a lot of babes I just let in. Chick with a red dress, watch out!" Brutus shouts to us as we enter.

When Delly and I were dating, we never went out to night clubs. We usually went out for romantic dinners, watch chic flicks on the sofa (which I tolerated just for her, she never wanted to watch the action movies I suggested) or do nothing at all but cuddle. So being here right now, with the loud bass music and crowded dance floor, is really overwhelming. I don't even remember the last time I went out like this. I'm still deciding if this is good or bad.

We push our way through the dance floor to go over to the tables at the back where Marvel and Cato are waiting. I met the two in college when we were all athletes. I was in the volleyball team, Finnick in the swim team and Cato and Marvel in the basketball team. Sports teams in our school were really close, having all sorts of parties together. I usually couldn't come to get-togethers like these because Delly always told me that it was a waste of time if you couldn't remember half of it being drunk. Back then I thought it was a pretty rational reason. But looking back now, I gotta say I lost some pretty nice guy time.

Was she really bad for me?

Approaching the table where our friends are at, Finnick shouts, "Hey guys! Peeta's finally here!"

Both Cato and Marvel look up at him sceptically. Cato is the first to speak. "Oh right. I heard you and cheeky finally broke up." He says as the memory came back.

"At least you're out tonight right?" Marvel asks as he raises his drink to him.

"Yeah, sure." I shrug it off. "It beats chick flicks."

That gets a laugh out of them. "I have no idea how you survived that long, Mellark." Cato says as he shakes his head.

"What? Clove never made you watch those dumb ass movies?"

Clove is Cato's on-and-off girlfriend. They've been together since their last year in college. They keep sleeping around, we don't know why. We all could see they love each other. They're just too stubborn to admit it to each other. They're so alike, being aggressive and hyperactive at sports. They actually met at a basketball game we watched and they figured out that they went to the same school.

"Dude, have you met Clove? She hates those as much as I do." He takes a large gulp from his drink. "Besides, she's with another guy tonight."

Well that doesn't surprise me. Once things started getting serious, Cato freaked out and started flirting with other girls. With that it made Clove start flirting with other guys. Even if they had sex with other people, they end up comforting each other. But then the cycle goes over again and again.

"Cato, you guys have to stop that."

"Whatever. Hey, hot chick, nine o'clock."

I turn my head and see a sea of people. But then my eyes focus on this beautiful creature. Her body looks as if it were sculpted by the gods themselves. The red glittering dress she's wearing hugs her body so nicely, showing off all those amazing curves. I'm mentally thanking whoever made the dress for it being so short so I could see her slender legs. And that cleavage, wow. She isn't the least bit slutty, just so gorgeous.

From where we're at, I can't get a good look at her face. I can see her beautiful long brown wavy hair cascading down her back. Swaying with the music as she gracefully dances alongside a redheaded girl.

I almost gained enough confidence to approach her until I feel an elbow jab me in the side. "Dude, stop staring and just dance with her." Marvel says.

"I can't just go there and dance with her." I say as I take a sip of the drink Finn ordered for us.

"It's a club dumbass. You're supposed to dance."

I take another sip of my drink. I have no idea if I should. I haven't even talked to another girl since Delly, much less flirt or dance with one.

"Come on!" Finn grabs my arm and pulls me towards the dance floor. I have half a mind to stop him, but I really want to meet that girl.

We're approaching her slowly when Finnick whispers to me that he'll take the redhead while I make the move with the brunette. I don't get a chance to protest that this is too soon because he's already holding the redhead's waist and leading her to the bar. The amazing goddess turns to look at me, the guy's friend who stole her friend from her.

"Sorry about that." I say, not really knowing how to start a conversation with her. I'm usually good with words, but I can't even think of a coherent thing to say to her right now, let alone speak it. "My friend could be…persuasive."

"So I guess you'll have to dance with me then since your friend stole my dance partner." She grabs my wrist and start dancing with me, her back pressed against my chest. I couldn't think of anything else to say, so I do what I'm told. I put both of my hands on her waist, swaying with her to the music. She eventually turns and looks at me. I don't know if I'm breathing right now. All I could focus on is how beautiful she is. Her gorgeous grey eyes have a fire in them, she has a cute little nose, and her lips are glossy pink and so full. I can't help wonder how they would feel on mine.

We're still dancing when I ask her if she wants to take a break and if I could buy her a drink. She accepts my offer and we head to an unoccupied table after ordering drinks.

"I'm Peeta by the way. Peeta Mellark."

"Pita?" She laughs, "As in the bread?"

I am really hating my parents right now.

"Are your parents like Hansel and Gretel?" She's full out laughing now.

"Okay, okay. You can stop now."

She wipes her eyes for the unshed tears they accumulated.

"My parents owned a bakery, okay?"

"So you were the bun in the oven?" She jokes.

Okay, I gotta give props for that one. "Hey! I wasn't the only Mellark named after pastry. My two older brothers have weird names too."

"No name can be weirder than Pita."

"It's Peeeeta." I make sure to emphasize the pronunciation. "Their names are Pie and Rye by the way."

She's laughing at me again. I don't know if I should be insulted or not, okay I should be. But the sound of her laughter is so pure and melodic. I can't get enough of it.

"Seriously? You're parents are crazy if that's true!"

"Well, their full names are Pyson and Rylie."

"Then that doesn't count." She says in a matter-of-fact tone then crosses her arms as she leans back on her seat.

I also lean back on mine and ask, "What do you mean?"

"Those are their nicknames. Yours is your real name, like on your birth certificate, right?" I nod my confirmation. "Then it doesn't count. You're really named after bread but they have real names."

Okay, I get her point. "Well, what's your name then?" I ask as I place my arms on the table, leaning in.

She chuckles at my question but does the same position. "Oh, Bread Boy, you have to work harder than that. It's gonna cost you more to know my name than just a dance and a drink."

Is she actually flirting with me? God, I don't want to screw this up.

"Hm. You don't want to tell me your name 'cause it's as weird as mine is, isn't it?"

"That's for me to know and for you to fi- "

"Hey Katniss! I'm going to dance with Finn, okay?" Her redheaded friend shouts through the music. Behind her Finn is giving me the thumbs up.

The girl in front of me is fighting the smile on her face as she replies to her friend. "Okay, Annie. I'll be here." And with that her friend happily glides off to the dance floor with my best friend in tow.

When she turns back to face me, she immediately scowls at the smirk I can't help plaster on my face.

"So, Katniss." I give her my biggest smile while she narrows her eyes at me. "That's a pretty interesting name." I try to supress the laughter that's about to escape my throat, but damn am I loving her friend right now.

"Hey! My name is better than yours! You're named after bread, while I'm named after a flower."

"Fine. But my name is NOT weirder."

"I bet that there is NO other person in the whole world named Peeta!"

"Yeah? I bet there's no other person in the whole world named Katniss, either!" We didn't notice until now that we were unconsciously leaning into each other, challenging each other, during the conversation. By now our faces are almost touching. Our lips are only a few inches apart. Right now, we're staring each other down. But then, for just a second, her eyes dart down to my lips. I wonder if she's thinking the same thing as I am; how her lips would feel against my own.

She narrows her eyes at me and asks, "Don't challenge me, Bread Boy." She's giving me a playful smirk.

"What if I will?"

She grabs her purse and looks inside it. She reaches in and grabs her phone. When she looks up at me she sees my eyebrow raised in confusion.

"I'm going to search Facebook, and if there's one other person whose name is Katniss, I win." She says as she starts typing on her phone.

"Okay, but if there's another person out there whose name is Peeta, I win."

"It's a deal, Mellark." She says without even looking up. After about three sips from my drink she slams her hand on the table which causes me to jump and almost spilling my drink mid-sip. "Fuck, Facebook." She mumbles as she slides her phone across the table to me. When I pick it up, the screen shows no results for "Katniss" except for hers. I smirk at it because I know for sure she lost. And I got to find out her last name: Everdeen. But when I check the other window, I can't help the smile on my face.

"I win." I announce proudly.

She just rolls her eyes and says something like stupid parents and annoying bakers. I can't help but laugh at how stubborn and cute she is. But of course this causes a glare, so I try to cover it off with a cough.

"So," I start, "what do I win?"

"Who said anything about prizes?"

"Aww, don't be like that."

"Fine, what do you want?"

Hm? What do I want? I mean, so far, she's great. She teases me a lot, but she actually got me to laugh. She made me smile with her laugh. She made me happy. But can this be anything more than a one-time thing in a club? Am I even ready for something serious? Does she even want to be serious with me?

Oh my god I sound like such a girl even in my head.

"I want a dance." What?! You could have asked for anything, but no! You asked for a dance idiot.

She smirks at me, but then checks her wristwatch for the time.

Shit. Now she's going to turn me down.

"Sorry to disappoint you Bread Boy, but I have work tomorrow." She says as she stands up.

I follow suit, and hold her arm before she could leave. "You're not getting away that easily, Flower." She raises her eyebrow at me at my awful nickname for her. I'm under pressure, that was the best I could think of while conjuring up a plan to see her again. "You owe me."

She smirks at me again. God, she's so damn cute.

She slowly releases her arm out of my grip and pushes up with her tip toes. Her lips are mere centimeters away from my ear, and I can't stop the shudder that courses through my spine when her warm breathe hits my sensitive skin. "If you find me, I'll give you a prize."

I close my eyes for only a second, savouring the feeling of her being near me. When I open my eyes she's nowhere to be found. I try to search the dance floor. But all I see is a flustered Finnick without a dance partner. When he catches my eye, he slowly approaches me.

"Dude, what happened? The chick you were talking to stole my girl and ran off."

I couldn't answer him. I have no idea what just happened.

The rest of the night is a blur. I went back to our original table and found Marvel's arm slung around a girl wearing almost nothing in a lace dress. Cato was dancing, and Finnick, well he was a bit off. He didn't flirt with any girl that crossed him like he normally does. But I wasn't in a mood to care. All I wanted was to find that girl again.

Katniss.

I know I shouldn't be this obsessed with someone I hardly know. But she was something else. She's the first person who actually made me forget Delly for a moment.

I like your lips like I like my Coca Cola, yeah

Oh how it pops and fizzles

What the heck? I was just lying in bed, falling asleep until I hear country music playing out of nowhere. I notice a small light illuminating from my jeans on the floor, and go to pick them up. It's Katniss' phone giving off an alarm.

I smile to myself.

Now I have a reason to see you again.

. . . . .

A/N:

Hope you guys liked it! Tell me what you guys think c: I'll be posting the next chapter maybe tomorrow.