Hello again World of ! Thanks for the reviews, author favourites, and story alerts! You have no idea how much it means to me. :') 3

**Again, no copyright intended. All rights to the creative mind of Suzanne Collins**

And sorry for any grammatical errors. T_T I'm trying my best to spot them.

Enjoy!

CHAPTER 2: THE FAKER

Peeta POV:

I could practically hear my heart breaking.

Katniss doesn't know my feelings for her. I've loved her since we were 5 years old and she sang at a school recital. Her voice was so captivating I swear all the birds outside dropped silent just to hear her sing. Of course, she only thinks of me as her best friend. I always thought some miracle would happen and Katniss would fall in love with me. Then again, I was always too nervous to admit my true feelings to her.

I walked into my apartment and plopped onto the couch.

Who was I kidding? Even if I was right infront of her, Katniss wouldn't think of me in a romantic way. I laughed, despite myself, because I was always going to be stuck in the friend zone with her. I just had to accept it.

"Hey, you stormed out of there pretty fast." Finnick said, entering the apartment and joining me on the couch. I didn't reply, just picked up the TV remote and started switching between channels.

"Come on, don't be upset, Bread Boy." Finnick teased. "I know that you like Katniss and all, but be happy that she's finally going out. I have to agree with Johanna on this one. Katniss has been inside too long. She needs to move on and do something fun!"

"It's only been a month. Don't you think that's too soon to move on?" I asked.

Finnick seemed to consider this, losing his cocky smile for a second before it returned 100 times stronger. "Well, as her secret admirer and stalker, do you really want to see her stuck inside all day thinking about that dick, Gale?"

I snorted. "You sound a lot like Johanna. She said something just like that back at her and Katniss's apartment."

"Then I guess great minds think alike." Finnick shrugged, stealing the remote from me. "It's true, though. You couldn't stand to see her all depressed, could you?"

Well, he's got me there. "I hated seeing her like that."

Finnick patted me on the back. "Then be happy for her, man."

"I'm just afraid she'll meet a guy whose just going to break her heart again." I explained. Or a guy whose going to sweep her off her feet and she'll never even give me a second glance.

It was selfish for me to think like that, but it was true. It toke everything I had to keep myself from locking Gale in a cage when he and Katniss were dating. I was so jealous, I doubt I was even sane during that time.

"Then why don't you go with Katniss on her girl's night out and keep a watchout so that no jerks get lucky with her." Finnick suggested.

"As if Johanna would let me come with them." I muttered. "And I don't want to look like a watchdog to Katniss. I want to get serious with her. But she'll never think of me as her boyfriend."

"Then how about you get a disguise, go to the club, and try to pick up Katniss. She won't know it's you and you get to date her. Plus, you'll get to look out for her too. Ohh, look! A new episode of Modern Family!" Finnick exclaimed, getting too easily distracted.

But, Finnick's plan wasn't such a bad idea.

So now, I'm sitting on a bar stool across The Hob waiting for Katniss to arrive. I did my best at a disguise. I gelled my blond hair back and wore my designer sunglasses (which were a gift from Finnick). I put on black jeans, a tight white v-neck t-shirt, and a black suit jacket I left unbuttoned. Compared to my normally messy blond hair, ratty t-shirts and baggy blue jeans, I was pretty unrecognizable.

I don't know how long I was waiting for Katniss before I finally saw her wavy brunette hair disappear behind a crowd of people as she entered the club.

"Excuse me." I told the girl who was flirting with me and wearing clothes that exposed too much of her skin. She 'humphed', flipped her hair, and turned around to flirt with the bartender.

I got up from my chair and squeezed myself through a bunch of sweaty and drunk people, muttering 'sorry' and 'excuse me' over and over again. When I got to the bar at the other side of The Hob (the bar stretches around the whole right side of the club) I saw Katniss sitting alone with her legs crossed and a drink in her hand, looking very uncomfortable.

Katniss looked absolutely stunning. Her hair streamed down her back like water and she wore a dark forest green dress that hugged her figure perfectly with black stilettos.

I looked around the bar and saw Madge with her arms around a boy and Delly giggling with another boy while Annie was playing with her phone, probably texting Finnick. All the way on the other side of the bar, I saw Johanna grinding against a boy with blonde hair similar to mine.

I toke a deep breath and made my way over to Katniss. Keep calm, Mellark. You can do this. Don't mess up.

"Should a girl as beautiful as you really be sitting in a club all by yourself? You never know what could happen." I said, trying to make my voice seductive.

Katniss looked surprised. "So should I be watching out for guys like you?"

"Guys like me? What do you mean?" I asked, all too innocently.

"A guy who only does one-night stands. You hook up with a girl and then break up with her the next day." she replied, swirling the alcohol around in the cup in her hand. It looked untouched which made me feel more relieved that Katniss wasn't planning to get drunk tonight. I hope.

"How could you immediately assume that when we've just met?" I asked, taking the seat next to her.

There was a look of discomfort reappeared on Katniss's face, but she composed herself.

"Y'know, I could say you're just the same. Work your way around boys with that pretty face of yours and break whatever relationship you guys had right after." I added.

Katniss scowled at me. "If you really think i'm that kind of person-"

"No, I don't think you're that kind of person at all. You seem like a nice person. That's why I wanted to meet you." I smirked.

Katniss looked a bit taken aback. "I...I-I..."

"Another drink?" the bartender intrupted, giving me a glare and Katniss a flirty smile.

Katniss shook her head. "No, thank you."

"Not much of a drinker?" I asked.

"I was never interested in alcohol." Katniss replied, staring at me intently like she was sizing me up. "What about you?"

"Same. It never really appealed to me." I responded in a carefree tone.

"Then what are you doing at The Hob? It is a club and bar after all." Katniss pointed out.

"I just needed a night out. Too much on my mind." I shrugged. "I should ask you the same thing."

"I just needed a night out." Katniss echoed, playing with the rim of her dress. There was an awkward silence between us as we both stared at our feet.

I toke a deep breath. Common, Peeta! Say something!

"I'm Josh, by the way." I said, extending my hand. Josh...that was the great name I thought up. To be fair, it was the first name that popped into my head. Now what was going to be Josh's last name?"Josh Baker."

Katniss toke my hand and gently shook it. "I'm Katniss Everdeen. It's nice to meet you, Josh."

"You too, Katniss." I replied, with a big smile.

Katniss looked at me up and down. Then she settled on my face. Bold move. "Isn't it a bit too dark to wear sunglasses? Especially since it's 11:45 PM and we're inside a club?"

I smirked, trying to look calm, cool and collected but truthfully, I was freaking out inside. What was I supposed to tell her? The real reason I was wearing sunglasses was so Katniss wouldn''t recognize me.

"Uh..u-um, all these strobe lights are really bright. They give me a headache." I lied.

Katniss raised her eyebrows. "So strobe lights give you headaches?"

"Y-yes." I stammered. I felt my face burning up. I was definitely losing whatever 'cool dude' persona I was giving off.

The edges of Katniss's mouth curled up. "You remind of someone else I know, Josh."

"Really?" I asked, trying to sound amused. Though I was afraid she would've already saw through my disguise.

Katniss squinted her eyes a bit, but sighed in the end. "You guys have the same hair colour."

"And who might this guy be? Your boyfriend?" I asked.

"He's just a good friend. My best friend, actually. His name's Peeta." Katniss answered. My heart faltered. Of course, I was only a friend to her. But I couldn't hide the small amount of excitement I was feeling, thinking maybe she thought of me more than that.

"So, no boyfriend?" I asked again.

Katniss shook her head. She looked down, but I could easily tell she was turning red as she spoke. "D-do you have a girlfriend, Josh?"

"No, i'm single." I answered. Then I gave her a cocky smile and leaned closer. "What? Are you interested?"

A laugh escaped Katniss's lips and she pushed me back. "I would like to get to know a guy better before I start going out with him."

I tapped my chin to show I was thinking. "Mmm...then how about this? What's your favourite colour?"

"Green. A dark forest green." Katniss answered.

"Like the colour of your dress?" I asked.

Katniss nodded. "What about you?"

"Orange." I replied. And it was true. I doubt Katniss knew what my favourite colour was.

Katniss furried her eyebrows. "Orange? Like the colour of the fruit?"

I chuckled. "No. More like a...a soft orange colour. A sunset orange."

"Oh!" Katniss looked surprise. "Really? I never saw a sunset before."

This was my chance! "Then do you want to catch tomorrow's sunset with me?" I asked.

"Uhhmm..." Katniss looked down at her shoes again. "I don't know, Josh. I..I-I don't know what to say."

"You don't know?" I asked. Now I was the surprised one. Katniss has never been speechless. She always had something to say, which was one of the things I loved about her.

Katniss looked embarassed. I could tell she was trying hard to answer. Finally, she just sighed. "I'm going to tell you the truth, Josh. I got out of a bad relationship a month ago and it's taking me time...move on."

"So, you really liked the guy?" I asked.

"Yes." Katniss nodded. "And your offer sounds a lot like a date and I don't think i'm ready to start dating yet."

I nodded. "I understand."

"I'm really, really sorry Josh. I really am." Katniss replied.

I smiled at her. "Hey, it's fine. Can't blame a guy for trying, right? If you still want to meet up with me as friends and catch the sunset, that'll be great."

"I-I'll think about it." Katniss said.

"Here's my number." I said, pulling out the paper and pen I prepared from my jean pocket. I wrote down the phone number as neatly as I could and handed it to Katniss. Actually, the number wasn't my real number. It's actually my older brother's old phone number which means I'm also going to use my brother's old phone. All I had to do was buy a new SIM card for the phone.

Katniss toke it and smiled at me. "Thanks Josh." She grabbed her purse off the bar counter and stuffed the piece of paper into it.

"No problem." I replied.

"Heeeeeeeey Kaaaaaaatniss." a female voice said. It was Johanna and she was obviously intoxicated (you could tell by how slurred her words were). She had arm around a boy who looked just as drunk as her.

Katniss stared at her with her jaw wide open. "Johanna! You said you weren't going to get drunk tonight!"

Johanna stiffled out a laugh. "Sorry Kat-Kaat, buuuuut can you drive me annnd Cato hoome?"

"Sure. But we need to find Annie, Delly and Madge first." Katniss replied, jumping out of her seat.

"Pshhhhhhhh! Annie can geeet a drive from Madge and Deeeeeelly." Johanna mumbled. "Cato and I neeed to get hooome right nooow."

"Right nooow." the guy, Cato, agreed. Johanna giggled beside him. Yep, I knew what they were planning to do.

Katniss looked back at me. She opened her mouth to speak, but I interupted her.

"You can go ahead." I said, getting up from my seat too. "I have to get going anyways."

Katniss looked at me apologetically, before running off after Johanna and Cato who were drunkly making their way through the crowds.

Done Chapter 2! Wooh, i have to admit this chapter toke a bit of work. Anyways, you finally meet Peeta's alter-ego, Josh Baker. Get how I came up with the name? ;) (Josh as in Josh Hutcherson, the dude who plays Peeta in the Hunger Games movie and Baker as in Peeta's a baker! GET IT? :D GET IT? Alright, imma shut up now).

ALSO...Modern Family! 333 And I know, I know...the part where Peeta gives Katniss 'his number' or in this case, his brother's old cellphone number was kind of confusing. I had no idea what I was writing and I making up most of it, but work with me here people! I didn't know what else to write. T_T

**THIS PART IS THE IMPORTANT PART** ALSO..i'm going to be going on vacation (since it's summer vacation :D) for a month. I don't know when's the next time i'll be able to write and post on . I'll try my best to post, but it'll be a little slow. But once i'm back from my vacation, I'll be writing and posting a lot more often! So, bare with me here people!

See you guys next chapter!

Thanks for reading and review? :)

-lovetrigger