Katniss's POV

It didn't surprise me that by the time I had gotten home Clove was already there waiting for me. I swear sometimes that girl drives like a maniac. I pulled up in the drive way and stopped my car. Willow was asleep in her car seat so I quickly and quietly got her out and brought her into the house, Clove was right on my heels carrying Willow's stuff. I placed Willow in her crib, shut the door and then lead Clove outside away from Willow so she wouldn't wake her up if she started yelling.

"So would you like to tell me what happened?" Clove asked her voice calm and collected. I told her the whole story. When I got to the end I couldn't even describe the look Clove was giving me, it was like she was happy for me but annoyed at me and weary at the same time.

"Okay so you let some guy you've known for one day hug you, but when Annie touched your hand today you freaked out" Clove said in a questioning tone.

"Look what happens if I touch you" Clove said and put her hand on my shoulder and I nearly jumped out of my skin and moved away from Clove. Clove gave me a minute to calm down before she started speaking again.

"And then you kissed him on the cheek" Clove finished and I nodded in agreement.

"Well, you're insane" Clove concluded and we looked at each other and started laughing. After a few minutes we finally calmed down and headed back into the house. I got myself a glass of water and Clove headed straight for my fridge, I swear this girl eats like a pig but doesn't gain any weight. Clove grabbed a can of whip cream and sprayed it into her mouth.

"You know, I use that on my pancakes" I told her and she smiled at with whip cream in her mouth.

"So…Peeta huh?" Clove said to me.

"What about him?" I asked taking a sip of water.

"Oh I don't know he's hot, amazing body, kind, totally into you, sweet and caring" Clove said putting more whip cream into her mouth. I chocked on my water.

"I'm sorry what, repeat that please?" I asked Clove.

"He's hot, amazing body, kind, totally into you, sweet and caring" Clove said.

"He's what? No I mean I met him today" I told her.

"Yeah I know. He told me that you sung for Willow" Clove said.

"Yeah I did, and Peeta was there. He told me how you're voice made everything stop, everyone stopped to listen" Clove said and I stood there shocked.

"He said that?" I asked and clove nodded.

"How come none of your friends have heard you sing before?" Clove asked looking a bit hurt.

"I wasn't singing for Peeta, I was singing for Willow, she asked me too" I told her and she nodded. Clove's phone went off.

"Sorry I have to go, Cato is taking me out tonight" Clove said as she put her phone away.

"Yeah Gale and Prim should be here soon" I told her and she nodded.

"Okay, bye Kat see you tomorrow" Clove said as she made her way out the door.

Once Clove left I went about cleaning the kitchen. Ever since 'it' happened I found a way to not think about it is to keep busy, never have a moment to stop and think. That's the reason that this house is so clean, and if everything is clean I cook. There's always heaps of food in the fridge for everyone and plenty of stuff for mum and Prim to take to work or school.

After the kitchen was clean I made some blueberry muffins. By the time Gale and Prim had gotten here the muffins had just come out of the oven.

"Something smells good" Gale said as him and Prim walked into the kitchen.

"Careful, they've just come out of the oven" I told Gale has he went to grab one.

"Katniss!" Prim yelled and I shushed her.

"Willow is asleep upstairs Prim, please don't wake her up" I told her and she closed her mouth and gave me an apologetic look. We were all quiet for a moment waiting to hear Willow crying but it remained silent.

"I have homework to do" Prim said and frowned.

"What's wrong with that, you know that if you wanna be a doctor you have to do really well at school" I told her and she sighed.

"I know, I know" Prim said and walked upstairs to her bedroom.

"So are you okay Catnip?" Gale asked using his nickname for me.

"What do you mean?" I asked him.

"You left school early and asked me to drive Prim home, something must wrong" Gale told me.

"Glimmer and the rest of that group happened" I told him.

"I mean I'm used to all the names and the whispers and it doesn't get to me but when they do it in front of Willow and don't even care if she hears it or not" I told Gale, my voice getting angrier with every word I spoke. Gale, who had known me for a few years and was like the older brother I never had, tried to comfort me. He put his arms around me and attempted to give me a hug. I shrieked and tried to wriggle my way out of his hold the memories started to flash back and I started kicking him away and screaming. Gale let go and I moved away from him letting my heart rate calm down.

"Katniss I…I'm…" Gale tried to say but I shook my head at him, tears in my eyes.

"Katniss! Are you okay?" Prim yelled running down the stairs. When she got into the kitchen hers eyes took in the situation.

"Gale I think you should leave" Prim told him, authority in her voice.

"Okay and I'm sorry Katniss" Gale said and he tried to give me a hug but I backed away from him and held up my hand as a warning not to come any closer. Gale got the message and backed off. With one last sorry glance he left, and a few moments later I heard his car start and then fade away.

"Katniss are you okay?" Prim asked me and I nodded my head unconvincingly.

"Come on Katniss, let's get you cleaned up" Prim said and she helped my upstairs into the bathroom and turned the shower on for me. She left me to get undressed and shower. The running water on my back helps me calm down.

10 minutes later I got out of the bathroom and was heading downstairs when door bell rang and it woke up Willow up which resulted in her starting to cry.

"Prim can you get the door" I yelled to Prim as the door bell rang again. But Prim didn't answer. I went down stairs and saw she was outside and hadn't heard the door bell or me. With Willow still in my arms and crying I headed to the door.

"Coming" I yelled as the door bell was rung again. I opened it and saw a van parked out front with Mellark bakery written on the side. A boy stood at my door holding a crate with baked goodies on it and it took me a minute to recognize him.

"Peeta?" I said wondering why he was here.

"Katniss, hey" Peeta said.

"Hi, um not trying to be rude but why are you here?" I asked him confused by the situation.

"Oh since my family and I are new to town and no one knows about the family bakery we're giving out free samples" Peeta said.

"Oh okay, cool" I said and Willow stopped crying and looked at Peeta.

"Peetaa" Willow said and smiled at him.

"Hello Willow, do you want a cupcake?" Peeta asked and looked at me and I nodded.

"Which one would you like?" Peeta asked and Willow looked at the cupcakes that were sitting in the crate.

"The pink one" Willow finally decided and I smiled, as hard as I've tried she still loves pink.

"Here you go" Peeta said handing Willow a pink frosted cupcake with a butterfly made from icing. Willow smiled at Peeta and thanked him. He then handed me a green frosted cookie that looked like a hypnotic spiral but with different shades of green.

"Wow that's amazing, who did it?" I asked him.

"I do, that's what got me started on art" Peeta said and gave me a smile.

"Well I better get going" Peeta said and I nodded.

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow" I told him and he hugged me goodbye and I didn't flinch away, I embraced it with my free hand and though I'd never admit it to anyone I really liked the feeling of being hugged by Peeta. We parted and he waved at Willow and Willow waved goodbye to Peeta as he walked back to the van.

The next day

"Hey Katniss" Annie said to me as I was walking towards her, Clove and Jo sitting down eating lunch.

"Hey" I said to the three of them as I sat next to Jo.

"So Gale looks upset today" Annie said to us, noticing how Gale looked, he was standing with the guys but he wasn't his normal self, he was kind of withdrawn from everyone and if he caught my eye he would give me a apologetic look and I would turn away. My friends new not to touch me so I don't know why he tried to hug me. Peeta walked over to the four of us.

"Hey girls" he said with a smile.

"Hi Peeta, how are you today?" Annie asked as he sat down next to me and begun talking to her. I zoned out of the conversation, like I always do, until I got hungry so I reached into my bag and brought out the first thing my hand got, and it was Peeta's cookie. I broke off a little piece and tried it and oh my, it was amazing. I woke out of my day dream the conversation was still going but Peeta wasn't talking, he was watching me try the cookie.

"Do you like it?" Peeta whispered to me and I looked up at him.

"Yeah it's amazing" I told him and he smiled at me.

"I can bring more if you want?" Peeta asked me and I smiled back at him.

"Yeah, I'd like that" I told him and I really meant it. We kept talking and the guys soon joined us. I noticed how Gale kept looking at me apologetically every so often and it started to annoy me. Peeta got my attention again by telling me this really corny joke and I couldn't help but laugh at his attempt to make me laugh. We kept up our conversation and I noticed Clove and Jo talking quietly.

"She actually let him touch her?" Jo said quietly and my ears zeroed in on their conversation.

"Yeah, and she kissed him yesterday" Clove said back and I knew that they were talking about me.

"But why is Gale so upset?" Jo asked confused. Peeta continued to talk to me so I smiled and nodded.

"Because he hugged Katniss yesterday" Clove told Jo.

"And I'm guessing she was the way she always is when someone tries to hug her" Jo said and I saw Clove nod out of the corner of my eye. That really got me thinking, why had I let Peeta hug me twice when I've known him for two days but when it comes to Gale, someone I've known for years, I start kicking, screaming and crying like a little girl.

"But what's making Gale so upset, I mean he knows not to touch her, we all do" Jo said.

"Because he heard that Peeta and Katniss hugged and he thought she was getting better" Clove whispered back. I turned my head and looked at Gale. He was glaring at Peeta, and I had realised that Peeta had stopped talking.

"Why is Gale glaring at me?" Peeta asked me, confusion present in his voice.

"Because I let you hug me" I told him and looked back at him to see that he was more confused than ever.

"You're the first person other than my mother, sister and daughter that I've let touch me" I told him back.

"I still don't understand" He told me.

"Good, I don't want you to understand" I told him looking away from him, okay maybe I was a bit harsh but I just wanted to stop talking about it.

"Katniss, you know you can trust me right" Peeta told me in a small voice, I turned to look at him and saw that he was being sincere.

"I...I" I tried to saw but nothing came out. Peeta just waited not forcing me to say anything but he touch my hand in a caring gesture. I looked down and noticed that everyone had gone quiet around me. I looked up and saw my friends looking at me, trying to decipher what my next move would be. I made the mistake of looking at Gale. I could see the hurt in his eyes as he stared at Peeta's hand on top of mine. I looked back at Peeta and tears came to my eyes.

"I'm sorry" I whispered to everyone, to no one. I took my hand away from Peeta's and got up and ran out of the cafeteria. I ran to a janitor's closet and hid inside, letting my silent tears escape.

Annie's POV (I don't change the pov often; it's just so you can see what happens after Katniss leaves)

After Katniss had run off, everyone was quiet for about 2 seconds until Gale started.

"Good job Mellark" He said harshly.

"Gale!" I yelled at him, it wasn't Peeta's fault, he hadn't done anything.

"What, look what he did to her" Gale yelled back.

"Excuse me; I didn't do anything to her, I was talking to her" Peeta said in an even tone. He didn't even raise his voice and it sounded so calm.

"Oh really Mellark, you didn't do anything. Then why did she go running off crying?" Gale yelled at Peeta and I looked at Peeta's face, it was calm not a trace of anger anywhere, but his eyes gave him away. I saw that he was worried, really worried and I knew it was about Katniss.

"Gale calm down, Peeta has done nothing wrong, just because of what happened last night doesn't mean that you have to act like a dick" Clove said and everyone turned to look at her. What had happened last night? I looked at Finnick for an explanation but he shook his head, telling me that he would tell me later.

"Excuse me, I think it does give me a right to act anyway I want" Gale hissed back.

"No it doesn't" Jo told him. Okay seriously what was happening?

"Just because she won't let you in, doesn't mean you have to act like a total dick to the one person she actually is letting in" Finnick told him and I saw Gale's face soften, has he took in Finnick's words.

"You should be happy that she's letting someone in other then her mum and sister" Clove told him and he just glared down at his food. I looked around and saw that Peeta wasn't there anymore; he must have left while everyone was yelling at Gale. God I hope everything is okay with Katniss.

Katniss's POV (okay so I promise I won't do that much, I just wanted you to see that scene)

I was still sitting in the closet, I hadn't moved. My sobs got louder but they weren't loud enough for someone who was passing by to hear them. My heart stopped when I heard a knock on the door.

"Katniss, it's Peeta, please open the door" I heard Peeta say. I sat there for a moment thinking about what I should do.

"Katniss, I'm not leaving until you open this door and let me in" He told me and I got up, knowing that it was pointless to tell him to leave me alone. I opened the door and he stepping in and closed it behind him.

"Well this is the second time you've seen me cry, you're doing pretty well seeing as none of my other friends have seen me cry once" I told him and gave him a fake smile.

"So am I a friend now?" Peeta asked me.

"Well you've managed to see more of me than any of my friends in two days. Yeah I think that makes us friends" I told him.

"So friends share secrets, right?" He asked me.

"Sometimes, but I not really a sharing type" I told him.

"Well how about I tell you a secret and then you tell me one?" He asked me and I gave him a small smile.

"Okay, deal" I told him and in the small amount of light in the closet I saw him smile too.

"But these secrets stay between us, no one else will ever know about them" Peeta said and I nodded.

"Of course" I told him.

"Okay, well here's my secret...I get abused by my mum" He told me and my breath got caught in my throat.

"What?" I said, wondering why someone would ever want to hurt Peeta, he was so kind and sweet and gentle.

"Yeah" He said and he looked into my eyes. I did the only thing that felt natural at that point in time. I hugged him and he hugged me back, his arms wrapping around my waist, pulling me closer to him. We stood there for a while, in each other's arms.

"What's your secret?" Peeta asked while we were still hugging. I pulled back away from him so I could talk.

"Well, almost three years ago, I...I was...um...raped" I managed to spit out. I looked down not wanting to see the look on his face.

"So Willow is..." Peeta started to say but stopped, not knowing how to finish the sentence.

"Yep" I told him.

"Katniss" Peeta whispered and then I was in his arms sobbing, again. After a few minutes I finally calmed down but I didn't move away from him. Peeta pulled back, just enough so that he could see my face.

"I must look like a mess" I told him, my eyes were probably red and puffy, tears staining my cheeks.

"Why do you care how you look, you don't seem to strike me as someone who cares about their looks?" Peeta said kindly.

"I usually don't" I agreed with him. "But I want to look nice now" I said and looked up at him.

To give you the short version, right then and there was where I had my first kiss. It wasn't like how the movies make it out to be. It was sweet and it was the type of kiss that made me want another one.