Chapter 3

AN: I am terribly terribly sorry for the long wait! I just had a lot to do in school and my private life wasn't the easiest either. I hope there are still some people left who are willing to continue the trip of this story with me. And also, happy Mockingjay release weekend!

I hope you all also enjoy this chapter, leave me some feedback!

Disclaimer: I don't own The Hunger Games or any characters which are mentioned in my story, it all belongs to the wonderful Suzanne Collins.

Peeta's pov

To say that the drive home was awkward would be an understatement. The whole time, Katniss refused to speak or even acknoledge me and I just had no idea what to do. The one time I tried to say something, she immediately managed to shut me up with one deadly glare into my direction so I opted to stay silent.

But when silent tears started streaming down her face I just couldn't hold myself back anymore. The way she flinched when I reached over to cover her hand with mine made my heart ache, but I was glad that she didn't take it away completely.

After a few more minutes of silence, I finally found the courage to say something. "You have to know that I'm under no circumstances angry at you or anything. It just kind of hurt, you know?" She didn't even bother looking at me so I just continued rambling. "And confused. You know that you can talk to me about anything. I won't judge you."

Out of the corner of my eye I was able to see her looking at me, but I forced myself to concentrate on the road ahead. Her voice was hoarse and barely a whisper when she finally replied. "Just take me home Peeta. I'm so tired." Another tear started making its way down her cheek.

Apart from the occasional sniffle coming from her direction the rest of the ride was filled with dead silence between the two of us.

When we arrived back at her apartement complex I was determined not to leave until I was certain that she was safely tucked into her bed. And despite all her protests, I didn't give in this time around.

Immediately after entering the apartment, it only took Johanna to take one good look at the state Katniss was in to instantly pin me against the kitchen wall. "What have you done, blondie?" Her voice was full or anger.

As I looked over her shoulder beg for Katniss' help, everything I saw was her closed bedroom door. My shoulders slumped and I looked back at Jo. I guess I deserved being threated that way. "Go on, shout at me as much as you want. Whatever it is I did, I'm pretty sure I deserve it." The defeated tone on my voice made her raise her eyebrows at me. "What do you mean?"

A sigh escaped me. "I don't know what I did okay?!" It came out louder than I expected it to and an apologetic look crossed my face. "One moment she was practically tearing off my clothes and in the next one she burst out into tears." Tears started pooling in my eyes and I looked away, not wanting Johanna to see how bad I felt about the whole situation.

Without another word she shook her head, took me by the hand and led me out the front door. After closing it, she returned her attention back at me. "You need to leave, Peeta." It was the first time I heard her use my actual name, and not some stupid nickname. "Leave, and don't call her for a few days. Wait until she reaches out to you."

I didn't know what to say to that so I just turned around to go, but Johanna wouldn't have any of that and swiftly caught my ellbow, causing me to stop. "It's not your fault, okay? But please be patient with her, fuck, just be patient."

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The next week was spent with throwing myself into work and trying my hardest not to think about what had happened with Katniss. I still couldn't figure out what had gone wrong, but after another had week passed in which she had made no effort to contact me in any way, I just started convincing myself that we just weren't meant to be.

Just when I was about to drown my self pity in beer and pizza, a sharp knock on my apartment door brought me back to reality. Without expecting anything special I started making my way over to the door and threw it open, not bothering to check who was on the other side first.

Nothing could have prepared me for seeing Katniss standing in front of me. It wasn't just the fact that she hadn't talked to me in two weeks, but also that I had absolutely no idea she actually knew where I lived, let alone that I had apparently told her before.

I couldn't bring myself to say anything, so I just kept staring at her like an idot. When she cleared her throat after a few seconds I finally managed to snap out of it and waved her in. She took a seat on my couch and I was still staring at her dumbfoundedly. "Uhm, hello?" I immediately felt incredibly stupid for not coming up with something better to say.

A huge smile appeared on her face and my head started swimming. How could she be sitting here in my appartment, smiling and acting like nothing had happened? I couldn't wrap my mind around it. But at the same time I wasn't able to keep my gaze off her. She looked amazing. Her hair was down and she was wearing a pair of black skinny jeans paired with a white tank top which gave me a fantastic view of her cleavage.

"Hello Peeta." A shudder ran down my spine at the sound of her voice.

She didn't even give me the chance to reply, because suddenly she was standing up and took her place in front of me. We were so incredibly close that I could smell her perfume and it made me feel even more dizzy. I wasn't able to concentrate on anything else than her body so close to mine and the heat radiating off her.

I was still trying to figure out what to say when I suddenly felt her lips on mine. At first, I wanted to protest and demmand what the hell she was doing here after ignoring me for weeks, but the feeling of her lips against mine was like toxic and I couldn't help but give in. When she melted against me, I threw my arms around her waist to puller her even closer to me. A loud groan, which made my dick twitch, escaped her.

Soon we were both lying on my couch, with her on top of me, and she was once again franatically tearing on my clothes. Just as she was about to slide down my sweatpants I cought her wrist with my hand and forced her to look at me. "What are you doing?" I tried to hide the tremble in my voice, but the smirk on Katniss' lips told me that it wasn't working.

Her voice was almost like a purr when she answered me. "Trust me, Peeta. I want this."

All the while she kept running her hand over the bulge of my pants and a half cry-half moan escaped me. I couldn't help but give into her actions. A smirk appeared on her face and relief flodded over me when she finally continued pulling down my pants. After I helped her kicking them off completely, she immediately returned to her place between my legs and started sliding her hand into my boxer shorts.

When her hand closed around my erection a yelp escaped me. "Hmmm, a little eager aren't we Peeta?" My tongue felt like sandpaper and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get the words to leave my mouth.

She kept working her hand up and down my member and I had to stop her from finishing me off completely because the urge to feel her around me was completely overwhelming. When she finally let go off me it was my turn to undress her. Seeing her naked in front of me just turned me on even more. I didn't know it was possible for someone to have that affect on me.

The urge to explore her entire body was immense, but when I finally plunged my fingers into her wetness I knew that it had to wait for later. I didn't waste any more time on foreplay and as soon as I thrust into her I knew I was home.

She locked both her legs behind my waist and her walls started clenching around my dick as I kept on thrusting into her again and again. I nearly lost it at the sight of her sneaking her hand between the both of us to rub her clit, but instead it pulled her hand away, determined to finish her off all by myself.

I was sure that my neighbour would fill a complain against me, but when we both started crying out at the same time it felt like I had not a single problem in the world. All I cared about was the girl in my arms.

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Waking up to her naked body pressed against my own must have been the most blissful feeling of my entire life. She was still asleep so I was able to study her freely. Katniss was truly beautiful and definitely not that kind which required tons of make up to be labeled as such.

On one hand I couldn't wait for her to wake up and to see her stunning smile, but what if she regretted what we did last night? What If she would freak out like the last time we came close to having sex? I had no idea if I could bear it if she would shut my out again like she did for the past two weeks.

Thinking about it, I kind of started to regret what we did. It just hadn't been right to take advantage of her like that after not speaking to each other for two weeks. We should have sat down to talk, and not to fuck like some crazy animals. Even though I had to admit that what we had last night was the best sex I've had so far, I wasn't sure if it was worth the risk of losing her again.

I could finally feel Kantiss starting to steer beside me and a smile crept on my face. It took her a while to wake up completely, but when she opened her eyes to look at me my heart skipped a beat. "'Morning" her voice was wonderfully raspy and thick with sleep.

Before I could stop myself, I placed a chaste kiss on her lips. My cheeks immediately started turning pink. "Sorry," I wasn't able to bring myself to meet her eyes "is that okay? Are we okay?"

She didn't answer immediately, but the smile which was still playing on her lips told me she couldn't be too pissed off. A shudder ran down my spine when she threw her arms around my neck and placed a kiss against my collarbone. "Hmmm yes," she kept pressing her nose into the crook of my neck, "more than okay."

I tightened my grip around her waist and a surprised yelp left her mouth when my morning erection brushed against her center. "I'm sorry." I blushed again. "How does breakfast sound to you?"

A sheepish smile appeared on her face. "Sounds perfect. But not quite like you imagine it."

In one fluid motion she wasn't by my side anymore but instead with her face between my legs. "Good morning, Peeta."

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After Katniss' disastrous attempt at making pancakes which ended with some scrambled eggs we managed to put together, we finally curled up on the couch, still clad in our pajamas. After a few minutes of silence between the two of us I finally found the guts to ask what I was dying to. "What are we now, Katniss?" Her hand which had been tracing patterns on my stomach instantly stopped and I could feel her tense up beside me.

Her voice was impossibly small when she answered me and it seemed like the overly confident version of her from last night had finally been replaced by the Katniss I had gotten to know all those weeks ago. "I don't know." The hesitation in her voice was clearly audible. "What could you possibly get out of this? I'm damaged goods."

Katniss' words broke my heart. I had no idea she felt that way about herself, or about our relationship. Did she really think I wasn't able to see what an amazing person she was?

I couldn't stand the distance in her voice so I turned my body to face her completely. "You listen to me now. I know you have been hurt in the past, we all have. But you are amazing Katniss and everyone who isn't able to see that doesn't deserve you. And I hope that someday you can let me in and tell me what happened to you. I just want you to know that I'm willing to be there for you, for as long as you will have me."

A few tears started making their way down her cheeks and I reached up to swipe them away. When I tried to pull my hand away, she caught it in hers and kept in pressed against the side of her face. "What have you done to me?" her voice was barely more than a whisper.

I leaned my forehead against hers. "I feel like I barely know you at all, but on the other hand I have never been more attracted to someone before, not just physically." Our faces were merely inches apart, but nobody made a move to close the distance between us. We both knew that it wasn't what we needed right now.

"I know Peeta," a steady flow of tears kept streaming down her face "I'm trying, I'm trying so hard to be the woman you imagine me to be."

A wave of anger suddenly washed over me. Was that really what she thought of me?

I placed my hands on either side of her face and angled it the way she was forced to look at me. "Listen to me carefully right now. I think you are a really strong woman, amazingly strong, but that doesn't mean you can't carry any burdens. We all have them. Hell, I do have more than any guy my age should have. But I want to learn to love your flaws, if you let me that is." I didn't intend for the last part to come out, but the look on her face told me that it was good I had said it. She needed to hear it.

"Do you really think I'm worth it? Going through all of this?"

"Yes, definitely. There's no doubt." A small smile crept on her face at my immediate answer.