The next three days went by quickly.

On Tuesday when Peeta came home from school, which luckily ended without any uncomfortable incidents between him and Cato, his father was finally back.
Peeta asked him where he'd been, but he didn't give any real answers instead of excusing by saying it'd been something businesslike or by changing the conversation to any non-essential topics.
Peeta was curious and suspicious about where his father went the past day and night, but anyway he wouldn't find out unless his father would tell him, so Peeta's only option was to wait and see.

The next day on Wednesday Peeta felt sick and ill so he didn't go to school and stayed at home. He laid in bed all day and drew some sketches, but slept most of the time. Peeta noticed that his father wasn't home and once more he'd been alone all day. In the afternoon Katniss came over and she gave Peeta his homework. Then they both were talking about school gossip and Katniss occasionally told Peeta that Cato and Finnick had a fight in the cafeteria. Eventually Cato called Annie a 'whore' wherefore Finnick punched Cato into his face which led to a battle between the two different sides. Peeta was unsure what to think about the current situation; he wondered why Finnick became so easily aggressive around Cato and why Cato called Annie a whore out of nothing. In the evening Peeta's father came back without losing a word on where he'd been whole day and acted as if everything was normal.

On Thursday Peeta was able to attend at school again.
His first four lessons were geography and arts in which both Peeta sat next to Katniss. The lessons were pretty boring and unspectacular.
During the breaks Peeta got to know Katniss' friends closer and he found out that Gale, Finnick, Madge and Annie were very nice people to talk with. For Peeta it seemed like Annie and Finnick had a special connection but who was he to judge two people he yet only knew for two days. Johanna didn't talk much and she seemed to be annoyed by some discussions at the table, but now and then she gave Peeta a small smile. In the meantime Katniss mumbled something about a party on Friday, but Peeta didn't really listen when Katniss was talking about it. He also didn't expect to be invited, but he wouldn't want to go there anyway.
In the last two lessons Peeta had his history class for the first time. Unfortunately no one he knew had this course as well so he had to go to the room alone. When he arrived at the history class almost every student already had a seat, but Peeta of course had no one to sit next to.
By the next two minutes everyone seemed to have found the perfect seat but Peeta still didn't find an empty place. The only empty spaces were next to a red-haired girl, two strangely looking guys and, to Peeta's surprise, next to Cato. The teacher walked in and when he saw Peeta standing in the middle of the room he advised in front of the whole class to "Please sit down next to Cato Hadley." Peeta let out an inner groan and made his way to Cato's table. After the fight, Katniss had told Peeta about, Peeta was once more confused and insecure what to think of Cato.
Was he a nice guy like he'd been acting towards Peeta in moments when they were both alone or was Cato a complete dickhead, who liked to play with other people and was only looking for stress and problems? Peeta didn't know.
He walked towards the empty seat next to Cato and silently sat down. Cato looked at Peeta and made the mysterious smile that Peeta knew all too well by now. Peeta shakily nodded in Cato's direction and then looked back to the front, where the teacher stood. During the teacher's speech Peeta found out that the woman in front of them was Mrs. Cresta. Peeta wasn't sure if it was Annie's mother that stood in front of them, but he would ask Annie later. Mrs. Cresta seemed to be a very nice and lovely woman, Peeta thought she explained well and that she had a good handling with the students. During the two lessons Mrs. Cresta most of the time was holding speeches and showing presentations about the most important historical facts they would have to know by the end of this year's semester. Peeta didn't exchange a word with Cato but instead he noticed that Cato was observing and staring at him very often. It kind of unsettled Peeta and he became awfully nervous every time Cato's eyes found Peeta's face. Of course Peeta never responded the gaze but still he'd been immensely confused why Cato was looking at him all the time. When the bell rang Peeta stormed out of class and made his way home. When he'd been there, he texted Katniss about that but she replied Cato had always been a weird guy so Peeta shouldn't worry about such a thing.
In the evening Peeta did his work at the bakery and when it closed he went to bed.

Another day began, today was Friday the 1st in the beginning of September.

As usual Peeta stood up at 6AM and took his morning routine, which included showering, dressing up and getting ready. When Peeta finished his routine he walked down the stairs and stepped into the kitchen. He ate a banana and drank a glass of orange juice. Again Peeta's father wasn't at home this morning but Peeta didn't really bother. He was still confused and wondered if this was still some part of "playing-the-disappointed-dad" card, but in the end Peeta knew his father couldn't go on like this forever and sooner or later Peeta would know where his father had lately spent his time.

By now it was 7:26AM and Peeta should meet Katniss at the coffee shop in a few minutes. He put on his jacket, grabbed his backpack, an apple and walked out of the house. It became windier and also the temperature fell a bit. Slowly fall was present and clearly recognizable.
While Peeta walked down the street he noticed that the wind was way stronger than he'd thought, it constantly flied into his hair and eyes. Luckily Peeta wore a scarf today or he'd probably freeze to death. He didn't mean to remember that the autumn wind had ever been so forceful at such an early time in September, where Peeta used to live before, the wind only became that strong in mid-October.

When Peeta crossed the next corner, he already saw Katniss' braid waving in the wind from afar. He noticed she got the same problem with the heavy wind as him. All the time she had to stroke several strands of hair out of her face to get a clear vision. Peeta crossed the street when Katniss saw him and waved.

"Hey, Peeta. How are you?" Katniss asked and took Peeta into a short hug.

"Hey Katniss, I'm fine, what about you?" Peeta asked while he stroked a strand of his messy hair out of his forehead.

"Pretty much the same, though this wind is killing me."

"Yeah I know what you mean, it's extremely windy." Peeta mumbled while he held his scarf in front of his mouth.

"So, which subject have you got in the first two lessons?" Katniss asked while the both were walking towards school.
"History." Peeta replied and exclaimed an annoyed sigh.

"Cato, right? Why don't you try to kind of get along with him?" Katniss asked and stroked another strand of hair out of her face.

"Wait, didn't you say I should be careful around him? Especially when he just came into a fight with Finnick I don't want to heat things up." Peeta replied and thought about the consequences that it could have if he'd say something wrong in Cato's presence.

"Yea, but every time you'd been alone with him, he acted nicely towards you didn't he? I mean he even came to the bakery to excuse for what he did back in the cafeteria so I guess he can't be too upset about you. Just try to get into small talk, when you're stuck in sitting next to Cato for at least this semester you should definitely try to get on a good way with him."

Peeta thought about it deeply; should he try to get along with Cato to find a way to make the history lessons at least a little pleasant without worrying about how to act around Cato? It could go wrong but if he didn't try it, it wouldn't work between them as seatmates anyways. While Peeta was deep in thoughts he noticed that Katniss was right.

"I guess you're right… but still I'll be careful." Peeta said. He was lucky he found someone like Katniss in the new school. She was super nice and helpful as well.

"Of course I'm right. Trust me; I am sure it will only pay well."

A few minutes later they already arrived at the school. Peeta got his stuff out of the locker and made his way towards the class room. When Peeta reached the floor he already saw Cato walking through the door frame into the class. Out of a sudden Peeta's heart started to thump loudly, he knew he had to start a conversation with Cato in an attempt to get with him on a good level.

Then also Peeta walked through the door frame and into the class room. He walked to his table, where Cato already sat, and placed his schoolbag next to his chair. Before he sat down he looked at Cato and surprised noticed that Cato already stared at him. There was an awkward moment when they both just observed the other one until Peeta sat down with a racing heart.

"Hi Peeta." Cato finally said.

"Uhm…Hey…Cato." Peeta weirdly greeted back and turned to his backpack to grab out his books and pencils. Mrs. Cresta was still not there.
When Peeta turned around again, Cato was still looking at him.

"What?" Peeta asked calm and raised his eyebrows that underlined his confusion.

"I think your drawings fell out of your sketch book. You didn't seem to notice, did you?" Cato asked and had a playful smile on his lips.

Peeta looked down at his feet and indeed there were laying one, two, three sketches he drew when he'd been ill and stayed home. He picked the drawings up and stuffed them back into his sketch book.
Peeta looked again at Cato and into his eyes, blue clashing with blue.

"I-Thanks." Peeta mumbled and broke the gaze. He scratched the back of his neck and looked at the front to see if Mrs. Cresta had arrived, but to Peeta's surprise she still didn't.

"Do you draw a lot?" Cato asked and motioned in the direction of Peeta's sketch book.

This was Peeta's opportunity to get into a conversation with Cato to loosen things up.
"W-well, yes, I do kinda. I actually always draw when I've got the time and when I don't have to work at the bakery or make any homework."

"I see, looks good." Cato said and stroked through his bright, platinum blonde hair.

Peeta smiled about that and thought about how to keep the conversation going.
"So… how about you?" Peeta carefully asked.

"About what? Oh, you mean what I like to do?" Cato asked and Peeta nodded.
"Well I mostly play basketball, do jogging and work out. One would say I'm quite a sports freak, but honestly I can relax and calm down the best while I'm doing any sporty activities."

"Sounds good." Peeta answered.

Cato smiled and in the same second Mrs. Cresta stormed into the room.

"Sorry everyone, I was having an accident with my car, but everything's fine now. So, let's start with the lesson." Mrs. Cresta said and took out her history book.

Finally the school bell rang, which marked the end of the lesson. Peeta became really eager for the break and couldn't wait until the lessons were over. He stuffed his things into his schoolbag and stood up.

"Bye, Cato." Peeta said and expectantly waited for Cato's response.

"See you soon, Peeta." Cato replied and winked.

Peeta then left the class room and walked towards the cafeteria to meet Katniss there.
When he arrived at the cafeteria Katniss waved at him and Peeta stepped to the table.

"Peeta you know Maja, don't you? She's in our geography class and she is throwing a party at her house tonight and the whole school is invited! You need to come with us!" Katniss said and made a pleading gesture with her hands.

"Katniss, I don't know, I'm not really in the mood for a party, I think I prefer to stay at home and –"

"Peeta! No excuses, c'mon it is Friday Night and you plan to stay home? No way, you'll go with us and have some fun."

"Katniss, I don't know…"

"Pleaaaase Peeta, trust me it'll be fun!" Katniss said and looked at the others to support her.

"Yes Peeta, it will be funny, you need to go with us or you'll miss something." Madge said and smiled towards him.

"Come on Peeta, It will be cool." Gale added.

Well what else could Peeta do when even Gale asked him to go to the party? Peeta sighed. "Okay, fine, but let's not stay for too long, okay Katniss?" He asked and sat down next to her.

"Perfect, I am happy you're coming with us! This will be great!" Katniss said and then slightly bent over to Peeta.

"By the way, how did it work out with Cato?" She asked in a whispery tone.

"Good, we had a nice little conversation. I think I'll get along with him throughout this semester." Peeta replied.

"That's great. See I was right all the way." Katniss exclaimed.

Suddenly Peeta had been hit by a crumpled paper ball. He immediately turned around to see Clove standing there, right next to Cato, Glimmer and Marvel, holding a salad in her right hand.
Confused and Surprised, Peeta didn't know what to say before another small paper ball hit his right shoulder.

"Hey newbie! Want this salad?" Clove shouted and all the others laughed.
Peeta quickly looked at Cato who laughed as well, Peeta felt betrayed, disappointed, he didn't know how to describe how he felt, he knew since the beginning that Cato wasn't better than any other of his friends.

In the next second a small salad bowl fell directly in front of Peeta's feet and he had to bend to the right side to not be hit by the glass.

"God, Fuck off you idiots!" Gale screamed and threw the previous paper ball back at them.

Then the school bell rang and Clove, Cato and the rest of them disappeared laughing.

"God I hate them so much." Katniss said while she kicked off the other paper ball that laid on the ground next to Peeta.
"Are you alright?" She asked as she gestured towards Peeta.

"Y-yeah. F-fine. The bell rang, see you after school Katniss. Bye." With that Peeta disappeared, still mad and annoyed because of Cato. How could someone be so self-centered?

Peeta was already upset and now he had two lessons of biology and math. The day couldn't become any worse.

Four lessons later the final school bell rang and the lessons for this day were finally finished.
Peeta left the math room and walked out of the school building. When he walked through the exit he saw Katniss already waiting at the banister.
The sun came out and in the meantime it became way warmer than it had been this morning.

"Hey, I've been waiting for five minutes already, come on let's go, we haven't got all day!" Katniss said as she grabbed Peeta's arm and pulled him on the way.

"Katniss the party is only starting at 7PM, so why do we have to hurry so much?" Peeta asked as Katniss speeded up her pace and pulled him after her.

"Peeta we need to get us ready for the party and put out something nice to wear; it's okay that I am coming home with you, isn't it?"

"Uhm sure, my dad probably won't be home anyway, so why not. Don't you take the party a bit too serious by the way?" Peeta asked as he brought Katniss to slow down her steps.

"Of course not! It's the first party after summer and it's your first party in Silver Lake so we should definitely leave a good impression."

"Who cares about it though? It's not that I need to impress anyone."

Katniss stopped for a moment and let out a demonstrative groan.
"Well, mainly we get ready for ourselves and also just because it makes fun, don't you agree?" Katniss asked and turned around to Peeta.

"Kinda." Peeta replied and smiled slightly. He hasn't been out for months, so maybe it could get funny indeed.

"See? Then let's go to your home and get ready."

After bit more than twenty minutes they reached his house.
Peeta stepped towards the door, put his key into the lock and turned it until the door opened.
He entered the house at first to make sure if they were alone. He called for his father but he didn't reply and the house was scarily silent.

Peeta turned around to face Katniss, who just walked in, and shrugged his shoulders.
"He isn't home. My room is upstairs, just follow me."

Peeta walked upstairs and Katniss followed him, when they entered the room they sat down on the bed. Luckily Peeta unboxed the last cartons from the move when he'd been sick, so now everything was at its place.

"I like your room." Katniss said as she stood up and walked towards Peeta's wardrobe.
Katniss opened the doors and looked through Peeta's clothes. She picked out several things, held them in front of her face and then decided whether it would be party-fit or not.
Now and then she stored a few pieces of clothing on her right arm while she was searching for matching things.
This went on for a few more minutes and Peeta was just about to ask Katniss if she was ready, when Katniss turned around with a full outfit in her hands.
She picked out black tight jeans, a dark deep blue T-shirt, a dark grey cardigan and mud-brown camo boots.

"That is perfect. It's elegant and casual; the deep blue tee will emphasize your blue eye color." Katniss said and threw the stuff onto the bed, right next to Peeta.
"So, get ready, I'll go home and get dressed as well. Gale and I will pick you up at seven and then Finnick will drive us to the party."

"Isn't that a bit late? The party itself already starts at seven." Peeta raised his brows.

"Oh Peeta, being belatedly is part of going to a party. That is kind like a golden rule." Katniss said while she threw her bag over her shoulder.

"Oh. I didn't know that." Peeta replied as he followed Katniss down the stairs.

"No problem, Peeta. Therefore you've got me, right? Okay, see you later then." Katniss said and left the house.

"Bye!" Peeta called after her as she walked through the door. She waved and then Peeta closed the door.

What would he do in the next three hours while waiting for Katniss and Gale to pick him up?
Peeta really hoped the party would be funny, but then again the whole school was invited, which meant that Cato and his friends would probably be there as well. Ugh, he didn't want to see Cato at all. Peeta still felt so silly for believing Cato and he could get along well with each other, but instead of changing his attitude, Cato laughed at Peeta and let his friends throw shit at him.
Now when Peeta thought of it he wished he'd never agreed to that party, he was definitely not in the mood for it. Whatever it was too late now anyway, so he should try to make the best out of it.

In the next three hours Peeta took a shower, put on the clothes that Katniss picked out and watched some TV. It was about 6:30PM when Peeta got a text message.

- Will be there in about 25 mins. R u rdy? -

- Yes Kat, I'm ready, don't worry. Didn't u say being late is part of going to a party? -

- Whtevr boy, take a jacket it's cold -

Peeta laid his phone aside and walked to the kitchen. His father didn't come home yet so Peeta made himself something to eat. He made two sandwiches with cheese, beacon and salad and now still had a half one left.
In the kitchen he took out a plate, took the sandwich and went back into the living room in front of the TV and ate his bread.

A few minutes before seven, the door finally rang. Peeta grabbed his black outdoor jacket and opened the door. There stood Katniss and behind her was a big black jeep wherein Finnick sat at the weel and Gale on the passenger seat next to him.

"Let's go, do you have all your stuff?" Katniss asked and Peeta nodded.

Peeta looked down at Katniss and she looked great. She wore black leather leggings, black ankle boots, a midnight blue sequin crop-top and underneath that she wore a black top. Above it all she wore a woolly, grey kind of parka coat. Her hair was as usual in a beautiful braid and her makeup was simple as always, except that she wore shimmery midnight blue eye shadow, which playfully underlined her grey eyes in an alluring matter.

"You look great Katniss." Peeta said and received a smile.

"Thank you, honey." She replied and pulled Peeta out of the door frame.
Peeta locked the door and then they walked towards the car.

They stepped in and Peeta had been greeted by a joyful 'Hi' from Finnick and a small smile from Gale.
The car drove off. Peeta assumed it was Finnick's car since he was driving and also seemed to be a bit older than the rest of them.

"How long does it take to Maja's house?" Katniss asked.

"About fifteen minutes." Finnick replied haltingly, he seemed to be very concentrated on the road.

There was a long silence in the car until Peeta had to get rid of a question.
"Guys, you think Cato and his friends will be at the party as well?"

"Hmm, I'd say so. But don't worry, they won't bother you unless we're in your near." Gale said. "Right Finnick?" He asked while tapping at Finnick's shoulder.

"Yeah, right." Finnick answered. "Cato's a hypocrite, a douchebag, an idiot and a complete braggart. In real he isn't as far as daring and adventurous s as he claims to be. Let's not start to talk about his friends."

Somehow Peeta bothered the way Finnick talked about Cato. Of course Cato lost all sympathy for him as well and hands down Cato's friends were awful, but those insults Finnick threw at Cato were kind of harsh and judgmental. Maybe Cato had his reasons to act the way he does.
Hey wait a second, why did Peeta even care about this? Wasn't Cato the one who played the nice guy just to get Peeta's trust in order to take the piss out of him and laugh at Peeta at how pathetic he actually was?
Or was Peeta wrong all the way and Cato claimed to be someone he is not and in the end he's after all proper and friendly? Peeta was more than confused and why the hell was he spending so many thoughts on Cato?
Peeta brushed his thoughts off and came back to Finnick.

"Well, sure Cato's mean, but don't you think those words are quite harsh? I completely agree with you about his friends, those are some real idiots, but maybe Cato isn't as brutal and ruthless as he seems to be?" Peeta carefully asked and first didn't notice the doubtful gazes he received, even Finnick turned around for a second to give Peeta a dumbfounded look.

"Are you serious? It's probably because you don't know him as long as we do, but trust me; Cato doesn't have any good characteristic at all." Gale half laughed and said.

"Hey, maybe Peeta's right and Cato is just misunderstood." Katniss stated and added a bit of lip-gloss to her lips.

"Katniss, don't you start as well please…" Gale replied and chuckled as if the thought of Cato actually being nice was totally out of this world and unreal.

"Well, Gale I am just -

Suddenly Katniss was interrupted.
"We're there everyone, let's go, I am quite thirsty now." Finnick spoke as he stopped the car and turned the car key.

"Okay, let's go." Katniss said and stepped out of the car door. Peeta did the same and Gale and Finnick followed them as well. The music was already audible the second they got out of the jeep.

They teamed up and walked towards Maja's house door.
Gale rang the ball and a few seconds later the door opened with a loud pull.

"Heeey, you're there, Madge told me you were coming, come in everyone and get something to drink in the kitchen." Maja said as she waved the four teens into the house.

They walked down the hallway and went through the left door frame which led to the living room. As they entered the living room the music got extremely loud and it looked like almost half the school was already present. Peeta observed the room and looked out for Cato and his friends, but to Peeta's relief he couldn't find them.
Besides the ridiculous loud music Peeta noticed the uncomfortable heat that dominated the room and made the thought of stepping into the crowd and dance more than nauseating.
In the right corner there was a small seating area where Madge, Annie Johanna and a few more people, who Peeta didn't know, were talking.
Katniss, Gale and Finnick were walking towards Madge and the rest and Peeta followed them.

"Hey Madge!" Katniss said and hugged her friend.

"Hii, finally! We almost died out of boredom. The people here are dancing and drinking like there was no tomorrow, but luckily you're here now." Madge replied and pointed at the crowd.

Peeta turned around and observed the room, Madge was right, everyone was going completely crazy. They drank vodka out of bottles, spilled it all over the floor and on the dancing people. Some were already heavily making out with each other while dancing so shameless that the dance floor quaked and trembled.

Peeta looked back at Madge, who just pressed Katniss and Peeta a bottle of lemon beer into their hands. Gale and Finnick denied the drink and went to the kitchen to get something else instead.
A few seconds later they came back with a bottle of vodka from which they both took huge sips.

"Are you serious? You really aim to get drunk, don't you?" Katniss snapped and rolled her eyes.

"To be honest I do and Finnick here does as well." Gale snickered and patted Katniss' cheek.
"Indeed." Finnick said in a husky tone and took another sip from the bottle.

"Seems like those two really don't take long to get drunk." Katniss whispered to Peeta and both chuckled.

"Let's get this party started!" Someone screamed through the whole room. Peeta and the others turned around to see Marvel standing at the entrance, carrying two bottles of vodka and another green liquor in his hands. Right behind him stood the rest of the gang and of course Cato, who had a six pack of beer in his hands, stood next to Marvel.
Peeta turned around in annoyance and also Katniss, Madge, Gale and Finnick seemed to be pretty pissed about the fact that Cato and his folks attended the party.

The time passed and they were all talking and chatting about gossip and other unimportant stuff. Peeta all the time stayed with Katniss and Madge and throughout the evening he tried to avoid Cato and his friends as much as possible.
After opening another bottle of vodka Gale and Finnick became obviously drunk, they started to dance along with the music while fooling around and making weird dance moves.
Peeta, Katniss and Madge then also moved to the music and it seemed like this could become a funny evening. The two didn't drink much which was good for Peeta since he never really felt comfortable drinking in public and in presence of so many foreign people.

"I have an idea!" Katniss suddenly said as she waved Gale, Finnick, Johanna and Annie to her.
"So, why don't we play 'Spin the Bottle'?" She asked.

"Puurrrfect idea." Gale hummed and put his arm around Finnick.

"Let's sit down guysss." Finnick warbled and took another big sip out of his vodka.

"Okay… but we need a bottle!" Madge said and threw her blonde curly hair over her shoulder.

"Already have one." Maja said as she stepped towards them with a few other people behind her.

"Great! The more people the funnier." Katniss said and turned around to Peeta.
"You'll play with us, don't you?" She asked.

"Umm, of course, just let me get something to drink. I will be right back, you can already start." Peeta said and walked towards the kitchen.

In full honesty, Peeta really had no desire to play 'Spin the Bottle' with a bunch of foreign teens and people he just knew since almost one week. He only really know Katniss; Gale, Finnick and Madge seemed nice, but Peeta didn't really get to know them yet.
However, Peeta had no other option than to play with them, if he didn't he would seem as shy, prude, boring, anxious or whatever, either way it wouldn't end positive.
While Peeta walked past the whole crowd that danced in the middle, he noticed that everyone seemed to be drunk or at least tipsy and additionally there was an oppressive heat reigning the air, which became even warmer than when they first entered the party. The music became louder in the meantime and drinks, broken glasses and other liquors were spread on the floor. Peeta didn't think the party would escalate so soon. A few people were already laying on couches, either making out with each other or laying in some kind of sleep to transpire the drunkenness.
God, weren't that only two or three hours since the party started?

When Peeta finally entered the kitchen, the window was opened and a pleasant cool air hit his face.
Peeta stepped to the kitchen bar and looked at the different liquors. Most of them were vodka, compari, cocktails and other alcoholic drinks that Peeta couldn't quite identify. There were also thousand bottles of beer, but Peeta didn't really enjoy the original taste of normal beer. He looked under the table and there finally stood a case with flavored beer. Peeta took out a grapefruit beer and then looked for a bottle opener. It had to be somewhere; it would be quite pointless if there were so many bottles but no opener to actually open those bottles.

"Do you search this?" A voice appeared, somehow familiar to Peeta.

Bewildered Peeta turned around and unexpectedly looked at Marvel. What would Marvel want from him, why couldn't he just leave the bottle opener at the table?

"Uh...Yes". Peeta mumbled afraid.

"Take it." Marvel said and threw the bottle opener to Peeta; it landed next to Peeta on the kitchen bar. Still confused Peeta didn't think of taking the opener right now and at once Marvel walked a step closer to Peeta. What was he going for?

"Uhm…" Peeta murmured but Marvel already interrupted him.

"You are shy Peeta. Why don't you give me the opportunity to let me explore your inner-beast?" Marvel said in a hoarse tone, his voice in a playful sound.

What?! Peeta's heart pounded loud, what did Marvel just say? He couldn't be serious, was he?!

Then all of a sudden Marvel leaned down to Peeta. Their faces were only a few inches apart and Peeta was adhered to the wall so he couldn't move forwards or to the side, his heart was beating loud and fast.

"Marvel, what-" Peeta tried to interact, but Marvel shushed him. Peeta's voice was clearly frightened.
He looked right into Marvel's eyes and their expression scared Peeta. They were filled with lust and need and Marvel's lips formed to a greedy smile.

"I'm sure you're a wild one." Marvel whispered in a purring tone, he raised his hand and brought it up to Peeta's face, but right when he was about to touch Peeta's cheek, Peeta quickly pushed Marvel from him.

Shocked from this act Peeta stormed out of the kitchen without taking the bottle with him, his heart was racing and he could feel it pounding up in his throat. Thoughts went wild in his brain and as he entered the living room everything seemed different.
The room was even more filled with shameless dancing people and the lights were out, only a few headlights lighted the room. The heat became even more oppressive and suffocating, the music boomed louder than ever before and it almost clouded Peeta's senses. With heavy breaths Peeta looked out for Katniss and the others, but they were nowhere to be seen. He looked at every corner of the room, but they were gone.
Peetas breathing became heavier and faster, he panicked in thought of being left alone. Quickly, Peeta wanted to make a search upstairs, but when he reached the stairs he suddenly tripped over a beer bottle and fell against the banister with a harsh impact. For a few seconds he laid there in an attempt to recollect his senses; the music became an inaudible, roaring, awfully loud sound that was mixed with a pounding high pitch which sounded in Peeta's ears. A terrible pain spread in Peeta's forehead and hands which cushioned his fall.
When Peeta got up everything was blurred, white stars were in his vision and the high pitch became even louder and the noisy music hammered even harder onto Peeta's head.
At once Peeta could feel a knot tying up in his lung, which made breathing even graver than it had been before.
All of a sudden the vulnerability, the intimate attack by Marvel and the loneliness gave Peeta a flashback from that one night three months ago; he suddenly lost things and started to hyperventilate. Peeta's stomach trembled and he was about to throw up. He couldn't take it anymore and ran completely dazed and breathless out of the house.
As he reached the sidewalk he crashed down on his feet from exhaustion and nausea feeling. He desperately tried to regain his breath which was accompanied by loud sobs and coughs. Peeta felt as if his body would totally shut down and leave him completely alone without every ability to retrieve control over himself.

Then suddenly Peeta felt firm grip on his shoulder and the sudden friction caused him to wince.
He looked up and saw Cato, who was resting his hand on Peeta's right shoulder.

"Peeta? Are u alright?" Cato said in a soothing tone.
"Cato? What are you-?" Peeta half cried, still breathless and unable to finish his sentence.

Cato then helped Peeta up.
"Are u okay? Do you plan to go back in there?" Cato asked and put his arm around Peeta to help him being able to stand.

"No, I'll go home, but why do you even care?" Peeta choked out and slowly regained his breath.

"You can't walk home by yourself at that state, I will walk you home." Cato replied, completely ignoring Peeta's question.

"Why do you care?!" Peeta asked again, this time way more aggressive.
"You play nice and in the next second you mock and laugh at me, so please just leave me alone." Peeta said and tried to free from Cato's arms, but he really had a strong grip.

Cato sighs. "See, Peeta. It's not that easy, but let me explain it, please."

They shared a gaze and Peeta nodded slightly, enough for Cato to go on. It's not that Peeta wasn't annoyed anymore, but still he'd wonder what Cato had to tell.

"You know, since I can remember my parents have never really been there for me. They were always busy with their jobs, giving brunches and parties, traveling around the world for important meetings and sometimes staying away from home for several months. When I was younger we often had to move from town to town so they could perform their jobs, because of that I also had several nannies. To date, my parents don't really care about me, they feed me with their money; money I don't need and have more than enough of and that's everything I get. I used to build up walls around me and now sometimes I don't know how and why I act and do things the way I do. I didn't want to come off as weak to anyone, so I started to become part of the "cool kids" and build up this whole "bad boy"-image." Cato made a short break and looked down at Peeta.
"I never wanted to harass you Peeta, I'm sorry for anything we've done. I will tell Marvel, Clove and the others to let you alone of course. You don't deserve it. Sometimes I don't even know what things I'm doing and I'm sorry that it hit you this time. You're the first one I'm telling this about, so please don't spread it around."

Peeta was perplexed, things started to make sense snow. Did Cato say the truth? But why should he invent something like this, that wouldn't make any sense. No one would like to give out such a story about oneself. Peeta understood now and he somehow felt really sorry for Cato.

"Cato, I understand and it's okay. I forgive you; I mean it wasn't that of a big deal anyway. Thank you for telling me though." Peeta said and received a relieved smile from Cato which Peeta returned.

"Do you feel better now; do you think you can walk on your own?" Cato asked and removed his grip from Peeta.

Peeta made a few test-steps but everything seemed to be alright again. His breathing was even and calm, his nausea feelings were gone and he could walk in a steady pace.
"Yes, I think so. Thanks." Peeta answered.

"Would you now tell me what happened in there?" Cato asked and had a serious look in his eyes.

Should Peeta tell him? Somehow he felt the commitment to tell Cato the truth since he'd been doing the same. What could go wrong now anyway?
"Well, basically I went to get something to drink and there happened something strange which immensely churned me up, so I stormed out of the kitchen to see the room completely changed… well at least in my eyes. I looked for Katniss but she was nowhere and I couldn't find the others as well so I was left on my own and I started to panic. I wanted to search for them upstairs when I suddenly stumbled over something and fell against the banister. The fall caught me off guard and I only felt a blur. When I stood up my vision was filled by white stars, I felt nauseous and I started to hyperventilate. I had to get out so I ran outside and crashed down at the sidewalk…and then you came."
He decided to leave the part with Marvel out, because who knew for what it was worth, and while telling this, Peeta noticed he must have seemed like a complete freak, who couldn't even stay alone for a few minutes.

Cato nodded understanding. "I see, but why did you react so harsh to this? That couldn't be everything if it caused you to hyperventilate and panic."

A few seconds of silence filled the night air. The streets were empty and they were the only two people that were on the streets.
Peeta of course knew the answer to Cato's question, but could he trust him? Could he tell him the reasons?
Peeta knew they weren't close, but he needed someone to understand his character and personality. At this moment Cato seemed to be the only one that could perceive and comprehend this.

Peeta took a deep breath, knowing all too well what he would have to re-experience in the following minutes.
"A year ago my mother and my younger brother Lucas died in an accident when our summer vacation house had been destroyed by a terrible storm. Ever since then I felt lonely, lost, completely left to myself and awfully empty. I thought my life would end as well and I didn't see the sense in life anymore. I'd been suicidal and time was cruel. My father drank himself in alcohol and didn't care about me anymore and I had to go through this all by myself." Peeta took a breath, a single tear rolling down his cheek.
"I thought it couldn't become worse but destiny proofed me how wrong I'd been. I was bullied at my old school and one late afternoon in summer when it had already darkened, I had gotten detention, because the bullies claimed I'd stolen one of the guy's phones. When detention was over it had already been dark, I had a very long school day and the detention took up to two hours, because the supervising teacher forgot the time while he'd been correcting exams. When I left the school and walked down the usual alleyway to get home, suddenly a hand pressed my mouth shut and two strong arms pulled me into the bushes. There I looked right into the face of five students with white masks on, each one seemed to be older than me and altogether they were ten times as strong as I was. Three of them kept hold of me while the two others were hitting me several times. They beat me up until I choked blood and every part of my body was either bruised or bloody. After that I had a few fractures and an open, steady bleeding wound on my head and left alone on the cold, wet grass. If that one pedestrian hadn't found me, I probably would have died there. I was brought to hospital and stayed there for two weeks. I assumed my attackers were the bullies, but they were never punished since I didn't have any proof and the attackers had white masks and black clothing on that hid ever little evidence. The police said it were probably anonymous attackers that were walking around in the park at that late night and just took use of me. The students from school who used to bully me of course had all alibis that night and in the end everyone said I was still traumatized by the death of my mother and brother so that I didn't see things correctly and tended to make wild conclusions. For sure, deep in myself I knew that it was them, but no one believed me. Of course that's why they never found my attackers and described this incident as unlucky." When Peeta said the last sentence he fought with tears but couldn't keep them in.

"God Peeta, oh my god I am so so so sorry." Cato muttered and grabbed Peeta into his arms who couldn't prevent the cries and sobs even more.
Shocked, Cato tried to sooth the smaller boy down. "Shhh, Peeta. It's okay, you're safe, I'm here with you, nothing will happen." He said while stroking Peeta's back in a calming movement.

They just stood there on the side of the street, Cato who held Peeta and Peeta who cried into Cato's shoulder.
After a few minutes Peeta probably let out all tears he had left and actually wondered about the position he and Cato were in, but to Peeta's surprise he liked it and right now needed it more than anything else. He didn't have any human contact in months and it felt good to have someone who embraced him with warmth and comfort. Peeta supposed it was some normal reaction anyway if someone had been told such cruel things by another one, who right after telling it, burst out in tears.

When Peeta's tears became less and the sobs stopped, Peeta decided to free himself from the embrace.

"I'm sorry, I lost things." Peeta stuttered and took a deep breath.

"Hey, it's fine. I am sorry for all the things that happened to you, this is so terrible, I'm really so sorry, I don't even know what to say." Cato replied and scratched his forehead.

"It's alright, you don't have to be sorry Cato and it's not your fault anyway. I shouldn't have told you that." Peeta said as they continued their walk to Peeta's house.

"No Peeta, you shouldn't blame yourself for what was done to you. People are cruel and reckless and they should burn in jail for what they did, especially those who labeled you as 'traumatized' so that you couldn't make right decisions for yourself. That's so blinded and silly; I can't find the right words." Cato looked down at Peeta and noticed the vulnerability he radiated.
"I assume you didn't tell that anyone before, did you?"

Peeta shook his head. "You're the first one I told that since I'm here." He let out a breath.
"And I feel relieved." He added.

Peeta looked up and smiled at Cato. Cato smiled as well and warmth spread in Peeta's stomach. They stared at each other for a while, blue clashing with blue a second time, but this time Peeta realized how beautiful Cato's eyes were; they had a light shape of an ice blue with a splash of a turquoise crystal-clear ocean blue. Peeta noticed Cato was looking at his eyes the same way he'd been looking at Cato's eyes and a light blush occurred on Peeta's cheeks.
Then Cato smiled which turned into a chuckle.

"What?" Peeta asked, a smile on his lips as well.

"Nothing, just… your eyes are beautiful." Cato said and stared right again into Peeta's eyes.

Peeta blushed a deep red and he couldn't hide the huge smile that started to form on his lips.
"Thank you." Peeta mumbled, almost inaudible.

"No need for." Cato replied and slightly grazed Peeta's right hand with his own.

The rest of their walk they spent next to each other in silence, but it was not an uncomfortable, embarrassing silence, more a pleasant, enjoying-each-other's-presence silence.
Peeta didn't know what happened but he suddenly felt different about Cato, there was something about Peeta that made him curious to know more about Cato…and maybe even a bit more than that.

At some occasions Cato's hands slightly grazed Peeta's and sometimes their hands brushed so obviously together that Peeta had the appearance Cato did it on purpose, but when he looked up he saw Cato looking straight on the street and only a playful glisten in Cato's eyes revealed him, but Peeta wasn't sure if it were just the streetlamps that reflected in the taller blonde's eyes.

"There we are." Peeta said and interrupted the silence.

"Hm?" Cato asked and looked at Peeta.

"There is my house." Peeta replied and pointed to the bakery at the corner.

"Oh right, Mellark Bakery. I'll bring you to the door." Cato said and followed Peeta to the house.

They walked behind the bakery where Peeta would be able to enter the house. They stepped the sidewalk along and then followed the small stone path, which led past a few flower beds to the small terrace where the door was placed.

They stood awkwardly in front of the door, both not sure how to say goodbye to each other.

"I enjoyed the walk." Cato said and smiled innocently.

"Me too." Peeta said and blushed.

"You think you would give me your phone number?" Cato asked and already picked out his phone.

"What? Y-yes, of course." Peeta said, his blush got worse and he quickly grabbed Cato's phone and typed in his number.

"Thanks." Cato smiled and grabbed the phone. "I'd really like to repeat this, Peeta." He said and slightly brushed his hand against Peeta's, this time definitely on purpose.

Peeta blushed even more if that was even possible and almost forgot to answer. "Y-yes, I would like that as well."

Suddenly Cato leaned forwards and pressed his lips on Peeta's. Startled from the sudden contact Peeta immediately stepped back, his cheeks were on fire. Cato had a bewildered expression on his face but his eyes were still glistening playfully.
Peeta walked another step back, he looked at Cato with a sweet innocent smile on his lips, he opened the door and walked inside. Before he shut the door he gave a last look at Cato, who had his mysterious, playful grin on his mouth that Peeta already knew so well.
Peeta then closed the door and as soon as he was inside he let out a deep sigh. He walked upstairs and his thoughts were only about what just happened.
Did Cato really want to kiss him? Peeta really liked the walk and he definitely got very interested at Cato, but did that mean to kiss him all of a sudden? Though as Peeta thought it through, the memory of how Cato's lips felt on his own, even if it was just for a tiny second, was more than nice.
It was just that Peeta pushed back because he'd been caught off guard and the kiss didn't feel right, it was too early. If it would ever happen then Peeta would want it the right way, it should be perfect.
One thing was clear though, Peeta felt completely warm, protected and secure around Cato and he didn't want to miss this feeling.

An hour later Peeta was laying in bed with a just finished sketch in his hands. Meanwhile it was 1AM and Peeta got really tired, the day exhausted him and everything he now needed was to have some rest.
Peeta's father was already sleeping when Peeta came home, so he only took a shower, got ready for bed and then drew a little sketch of Cato, which he now held in his hands.

Suddenly Peeta's phone vibrated and he received a text message.

- I enjoyed talking to you, would u like to hang out with me tomorrow? – Cato -

As Peeta read the message his heart pounded slightly heavier.
He also enjoyed talking to Cato, very much even… would he want to see him tomorrow again? Peeta thought about it and he really urgently wanted to see Cato again.

- I would. Will you pick me up? -

A few seconds later Peeta's phone vibrated again and he already got a reply.

- I'll be there 2PM, good night ;) -

Wow, was that a date? Did Peeta have a date with Cato?
He shut his handy, laid it down next to him on the bedside table and closed his eyes.
Tomorrow would be a great Saturday.