I still don't own anything! Wow, you guys I can't even believe 1 person Favorited/followed/reviewed but there's like 20! I honestly thought I'd get 1 review telling me it was garbage and that would be it. You've motivated me to write another chapter tonight so without further ado I give you chapter 3! Oh and btw I'm un-beta'd so all mistakes are all me!

The next morning arrives bearing the shrill noise of my alarm, thankfully, its half as loud as Mothers mouth. I manage to get out of the house before the beast awakens for her next dose, that also means Dad must still be asleep as well. I decide to go for a short jog before work, as I can't very well get into the cafe before dad unlocks it. I take my time so as not to injure my un-leg, it still isn't 100% but the doctors tell me if I laze about I'll only do more damage than good.

By the time I make it back home dads truck is no longer in the drive way next to my used BMW I purchased shortly after being released from the hospital. I forgo taking another shower just so I don't run the risk of running into Mother and make my way to the cafe.

Annie isn't there yet when I arrive, maybe that's normal though as I'm actually here before open today. Dad and Uncle Chaff are are already preparing the mornings goods in the back so I head to the sink to wash up and help. As I'm drying my hands Dad turns to me and says "Son would you mind manning the front today? Annie won't be in today, she had some personal business to take care of." "Sure Dad." I tell him although the last thing I want to do is spend the day smiling at the curious stares and "welcome homes". Maybe it won't be so bad, the majority of them have been coming here since I was in diapers and are sure to know the hell I went through and have enough respect for me to just get their food and leave me the fuck alone.

But of course I'm wrong. Seems that is the story of my life. The first customer of the day is the ever bubbly Effie Trinket, and just this one customer alone is enough to make me want to rip out all my hair. "Oh Peeta it's so wonderful to see you back, I missed seeing your smiling face around here!" and "I heard about your leg you poor, poor dear. What a tragedy to befall such a handsome young man, but I'm just positive you'll find some lovely young lady that can see past that. I mean you are a war hero after all and all the ladies love a war hero!" She continues for what seems like ages but must only be a few minutes before I can politely dismiss her to fill orders for the ever growing line behind her. Most of the responses to my homecoming are much more subdued thankfully, I still wish they'd all shut the hell up and just let me forget for a few moments. This is the exact reason I decided to buy a car to drive home instead of flying and dealing with the intercom "Thank you and welcome homes", which is followed by a 3 hour flight of curious stares and pats on the shoulder as the other passengers walk by.

By the time lunch rolls around my mood is foul at best and maintaining a fake smile is becoming almost painful. I guess if you've never been to war you just can't understand the concept of just wanting to forget so I suppose I shouldn't despise these people as much as I do right now. They are ignorant to the ways of war, it should make me happy really, but honestly I just feel jealous of their blissful ignorance. The moment 6:00 rolls around I flip the sign to close and call to my Dad I've got some business to attend to and leave before he can argue. I'd love nothing more than to just go home and collapse in bed, but a text from Finnick asking if I'm still coming by kills that idea. I could always tell him something came up I guess, but then I'm stuck going home to spend the rest of the evening with the she-devil. I shoot him a text back asking for the address and stick it in my phone for the gps as soon as he sends it back.

Katniss was right, it's only about 5 minutes away which is pretty convenient, the neighborhood isn't as nice as where my parents live, but it's not the ghetto either thankfully. It's a street full of older single story brick homes that seem fairly well tended. A few of the driveways sport broken down vehicles with the hoods propped open or up on jack stands, the grass at each house is different lengths suggesting there is a lack of a homeowners association in the area, but it's easy to see most of these houses are well loved even if they aren't mansions. Finnicks house is actually pretty nice and looks like it been updated, which isn't that surprising when you consider the wealth that is the Odair family. It is no mansion like his parents home but it's obvious some of the Odair cash has trickled it's way down to Finn.

He answers the door and embraces me in a bone crushing hug "How the hell are you Mellark! I thought your scrawny ass would never come back but here you are in the flesh! Come on in man, you're gonna love this place, it's the biggest in the neighborhood. There are 4 bedrooms 3.5 baths, and I just had an Olympic sized swimming pool put in last summer." He starts walking off pointing out rooms as we go "Here's the kitchen, I had it renovated when I moved in so it should be up to your culinary master standards." he says with a wink. And he's right, it's one of the nicest kitchens I've seen with black granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances, I give a low whistle before telling him "Wow Finn, this is fucking incredible, I haven't even seen the room yet and I'm already pretty sure I can't afford this." He responds with a sympathetic grin and replies "Don't worry about it Peeta, I don't really need the money, I got all funds I could possibly need for a graduation present, the place is already paid for, I just want some roommates that aren't going to drive me up a damn wall. Place is too big for one person, we'll figure out what'll work for your budget, generally Jo and I just split the utilities anyhow." "Who's Jo?" I inquire. "A friend of mine from my short stint at university, a real riot, you'll get along great, It's been just the 2 of us for a year or so now." He finishes showing me the rest of the house; living room, dining room, laundry room, backyard, and what could potentially be my room. It has it's own attached bathroom, that's a definite plus, it's fully furnished just like he said "I even bought a new mattress for the bed when I heard you were interested Peet!" he tells me excitedly with a wag of his eyebrows and I can't help the smile that creeps onto my face. It may be the first genuine smile I've given in at least a year. We discuss the budget a little more before I agree, I know there's no way I'm going to find anything this good for the minimal price he's offering me. I couldn't even get a studio apartment in the seam for this price honestly. He tells me if I can wait till the weekend he can help me move my few belongings, I really don't need the help as the room has most everything I need other than my personal effects, but I agree to the weekend anyway. It's Tuesday so it'll give me a few days to tell the folks, deal with whatever crap that brings and get all my shit together.

I feel pretty good by the time I leave, maybe living with Finn will be a good thing, I could defiantly benefit from the fact that he treats me the same as he always did. Not like a hero, not like pond scum, just like a friend. Yes, I can definitely get used to being treated like a normal human, by a normal friend again. And maybe this Jo guy won't be so bad, who knows, if Finn likes him there's got to be something worth while about him, I don't remember any Jo's from school so maybe he won't know me at all and he'll treat me normal too. For the first time in a long time I feel optimistic, maybe it's not so much of a stretch to say happy even.