A/N: Thank you to Ct522 for her wonderful beta work and the wonderful person she is.

Chapter 3

That afternoon Peeta finds the girls sharing a bucket of chocolate ice cream over the kitchen table. "We are celebrating!", Madge says smirking at him. Katniss flushed cheeks and Madge twinkling eyes make Peeta think they we having a good time; he wondered if it would be okay for him to join them and find out what put that spark in her eyes but something keeps him distant.

"Come on, before there's nothing left," Madge gestures him to join, bringing the bucket of ice cream to an empty place on the table is, just next to Katniss.

He doesn't know what to do. If he sits with them, it would send the message to Madge that he approves what she is doing having Katniss in their home and he is not about to do that anytime soon. He declines the offer, wondering why that simple decision weighs so much on him

As soon as the ice-cream is over and the girls lock themselves into Madge's bedroom, doubts claud Peeta's mind again, Are they doing the right thing? Should he stand up and tell Madge NO for a change? Peeta hopes a few drinks help him to get rid of all this new unwelcomed thoughts that he doesn't quite know how to handle. He decides to see if Finnick is free that night. He also calls Glimmer in case her tantrum is over by now and if she wants to join them, secretly hoping she is still pissed.

He and Finnick decided on their regular bar. Peeta is focused on removing the label from the bottle, until he feels a sudden pain on his shoulders "Fuck dude, what's wrong with you today?" Finn asks.

"What's wrong with me? Why did you hit me?" I say in irritation as Finnick gawks at me.

"Because you missed the two chicks flirting at us ass."

"What?" He demands raising his hands in exasperation, still mad for the punch.

"Those two hot chicks where throwing her panties at us and you didn't even blink in their way. Are you telling me you really didn't feel me bump you?"

"Well I felt them but… I guess I was distracted." Peeta sighs, having no choice than recognize.

He indeed, saw the girls; it wasn't uncommon for Finn to flirt with whoever crosses paths with him, so it wasn't an uncommon sight. Finnick is too handsome for his own immature good, and apparently woman find his red hair and tall complexion irresistible. His playful nature helps too, or at least, that's what he is always saying. He is not normally a cheater but Glimmer often breaks up with him often, especially whenever he says no to something she asks; so there's been a few times when he takes advantage of the situation while it lasts, although is really more common for Peeta to be Finnicks wingman. "Is everything alright?" Finnick asks in concern.

They have been best friends since day one on college, roommates at first, but Peeta moved out as soon as he could. It was better for him, he was getting tired of not being able to enter his own room because there was a sock on his door knob everyday, that was finnick signal to indicate that he was "busy" with some girl. Sometimes more that one time per day. It's not that Peeta doesn't have luck in that department but he just doesn't share Finnick obsession on the subject.

"Is this about Glimmer?"

"She broke up with me." Peeta nods so Finn thinks it is. He is not in the mood to explain the strange situation at home just now; after all, he went out to forget about it.

"Again?" Finnick mockingly, Peeta throws a warning look in his direction.

"Wow, I didn't realize she actually matters to you." He says raising his hands in mock surrender. The gesture gets Peeta attention.

"What's that supposed to mean? We've been together for over six months now."

"Hey! Don't get pissed at me. She is hot and everything but she doesn't seem like, I don't know, the right one for you."

"Have you been talking to Madge recently?" Peeta questions .

Finn laughs "She still hates her?"

"Man, you have no idea." He slouches in the chair. Finn shakes his head amused and turns toward the waitress to ask for another round of drinks t . She brings them for free,leaning toward Finnick, showing him more cleavage. Peeta can guess by now who he's taking home tonight.

Peeta returns to his and Madge's apartment, he fidgets a little with the key on the doorknob because the fatigue of the day is starting to hit him like a brick to the head. He finally opens the door, and finds his sister on the couch "Hey you, can't sleep?" He greets.

"I was waiting for you. I hope you're not drunk because I need to talk to you."

"No, I'm not. I only had a couple of beers. What's going on?" He furrows his brows questioningly.

"I wanted to talk to you about Kat, now that she is sleeping."

"Okay," he answered slowly and sits next to Madge; noticing she is tapping her fingers nervously over her legs. "I'm listening."

"Well, I think I'm going to start with the beginning."

"That's usually the best place to start anything," he teases.

"Shut up, you dick."

"Why are you so anxious about? Tell me. It can't be that bad."

"Promise not freak out?"

"Madge," he warns "I'm tired and I have to open the bakery tomorrow . Just whatever it is, please say it already."

"Okay, just so you know I'm very thankful that you allowed Katniss to stay here , giving the circumstances, and I also wanted you to know that she is ready to get her life back on track. She got a job today, in a bar, and she just needs a little support, the bar is really close, exactly midpoint from here and the bakery, you know? It belongs to that old man, Abernathy."

"That's great news, I'm happy for her." He thinks for a moment "Is she really in the condition to work? I mean she looks like she is about to faint, she is so skinny and..."

"She is stronger than she looks Peeta." Her sister cuts him off mid sentence. "I bet she will handle this job perfectly now that she has food on her belly and a place to rest properly." Peeta raises a questioning brow at his sister at her last statement, something tells him he is not going to like what she has to tell next.

"I wanted to tell you, well more like I'm begging you to let her stay here until she can afford a place on her own. Please."

She can't be serious right? She spoke so fast he is sure he misunderstood something.

Peeta was happy about this girl, well, Katniss finding a better panorama for her life but this is just too much, he can articulate his sentences correctly "Madge you can't possibly be serious about this. How can you expect…? We don't know her."

"I do. Trust me."

"No you don't. Normally, there is a reason why someone lives on the streets and maybe I'm being a biased idiot but no, definitely not. I'm drawing a line here." Madge pulls out her secret mortal weapon and lets her eyes start to water.

Needless to say that on sunday, when Madge has to go back to school, Katniss and Peeta are saying goodbye to her at the door.

As soon as Madge is out of sight, Peeta walks to his room; he can feel Katniss walking slowly behind him.

He knows an awkward week is ahead from them. Katniss seems so at ease when she is with Madge and as soon as he pokes his head Katniss clamps up, he can tell how uncomfortable he makes her feel and he actually doesn't quite knows how to act around her. So the feeling must be mutual

"Peeta?" She calls him, her voice sounds unsure, wavering. He stops death in his tracks, surprised that she is addressing him, and even more surprised for the sound of his name on her lips.

He turns to face her slowly, noticing the she is biting her bottom lip and that action doesn't seem to help the annoying flutter in his belly "Yes?" He responds curtly.

"I know how awkward this has to be for you and I really wanted to thank you for letting me stay." He turns away again, after nodding, clenching his jaw because he indeed is mad at himself for having been persuaded. He tries to reason with himself what a good action this is, and that it's Madge's home too, but the mix of emotions this situation awakens in him is really unsettling.

Katniss calls him again. He doesn't turns to face her this time, not until she finishes her sentence.

"I really need this right now; otherwise I wouldn't be intruding in your life this way. I feel terrible about it, but I can't think of another way. I promise you won't even notice I'm here. I will save all my tips and as soon as I have my first paycheck, I'll find a place."

He involuntarily turns to see into her graphite colored eyes, he finds himself studying them. They radiate honesty, and that fire that gets to him. He shakes his head intending to break a spell."Its okay Katniss, we will figure this out." She nods and goes to Madge's room.

Katniss bunkers in Madge's room for the rest of the day. Peeta can't hear a sound, he wonders if she is really there.

Not much he can tell about her whereabouts in the subsequent days. When he wakes up she is still asleep when he is back from the bakery, she already left to the bar. He knows she is avoiding him, by leaving earlier, sparing herself the awkwardness to be around him and its okay, really, is not like he wants her to be around, he is noticing because it is his home, he has to know what is going on under his roof.

And at night, she is so quiet he really can't tell when she is back.

They get to the end of the week this way.

Madge is home on Friday but this doesn't make the situation different "Did you miss me?" she asks throwing herself to his brother arms the next morning.

"Terribly," he says sarcastically.

"You're horrible. Did you behave with my guest? How did that go? How is she?"

"Yes. Better than I originally thought. And she seems good to me."

"Good, so will you let her stay longer?"

"Madge!"

"Oh come on Peeta, you can't possibly believe she has what is necessary to settle down in one week. Let her start fresh, let her save some money, I don't care that she uses my room or my clothes, in fact, you have to help me with my suitcase, it's too heavy for me. I brought everything I'm not going to use anymore so she doesn't need to spend money buying clothes." Peeta doesn't understand how his sister is the way she is with the mother they have, she is open, caring and sensitive, everything that was missing at home. He agrees reluctantly, again, assured by Madge that it will only be for a short time.

Next day Peeta wakes up early, is his day off but he can't sleep anymore. He is so used to baker's hours. He did breakfast for the three of them but he guessed the girls would wake up late based on Madge's giggles in the wee hours of the night, so he doesn't wait for them to start eating. He almost let the food in his mouth drop when he saw them coming to the kitchen. Katniss was wearing shorts, well, Madge too but who he didn't give a damn. Turned out Katniss had legs and they are to die for. This girl just kept surprising him. Peeta swallowed hard,trying to look anywhere else besides her legs. He succeeded but no thanks of his willpower; and Madge's raised eyebrow at him.

Breakfast was amenable, Madge and Peeta did most all of the talking but sometimes Katniss smiled at something they said, chuckling when Peeta mocks his sister and slapped his arm, so he pursued that task, looking to Katniss every time he gets a punch.

Sometimes their eyes meet and Katniss quickly looks away; but Peeta can't stop himself from looking in her direction, other times she isn't the one watching Peeta, is Madge looking intently at her brother, questioning him. She can tell Peeta is on to something and Peeta can tell he is just been caught.

As soon as Madges leaves on Sunday, the house returns to silence. Katniss avoids him, so he is totally surprised both,by the fluttering on his belly and the note he finds on the kitchen table when he is at home after work next Thursday.

Peeta:

I know I promise to save all of my tips but I needed to reciprocate in some sort for what you agreed to do for me. I can't cook so I hope you like Chinese.

K

Peeta finds himself reading the note with the cute, sloppy handwriting over and over again the .

He is awake at midnight when Katniss gets home but he can't find it in him to leave his room and thank her. Another option comes to mind.

Before leaving to the bakery he decides to leave some pancakes for her, she is still too slender, he reasons. But he wonders why his hand trembling uncontrollably when he writes a note for her behind the plate.

Katniss:

You didn't need to do that but I do love Chinese. Thank you.

I hope you like pancakes.

P

He can't really place the moment in which he draws a Katniss flower at the bottom of the note. It's been so long since he drew anything.

Something snaps in him with the apparently insignificant draw, Peeta never gets to work that day, spending the afternoon painting. He dropped his most cherished hobby a few years ago after the accident, deciding his mother was right, you can't make a living out of drawings. You could never earn too much money, she told him. He needed to stop dreaming and put stupid wishes and dreams aside.

He refused to be a failure. He would never give his mother that satisfaction. So, on the day he took that decision, Peeta put his brushes and paints inside the closet, although the masochist in him kept his empty canvass in front of his bed, in his former favorite place to paint, next to the window, where the light was just right, probably as a reminder of what he used to love.

But he founds himself rummaging through his closet, Peeta had to took out his paints and brushes and start mixing colors. When he took a step backwards to see his work finished; the sight scared the living daylights out of him.

Her long, dark braid resting over her shoulder, slender neck, upturned nose, plump lips and those incredible iron eyes stared at the space. His skin erupted in goose pumps. Why was he drawing this girl? Damn. Why the hell was he drawing again? He got in this flux state he used to love when he dedicated his afternoons after dinner to draw and he wasn't really aware of what he was painting. Of course Madge was in the picture too, laughing at the kitchen table the way he'd found the two friends that Saturday morning. But why on earth?

He abruptly put everything away, frightened at the possible meaning of this actions. He was even more surprised when, peering at the clock, he spent hours in his room without noticing. He didn't put his paintings and brushes in the closet again. He'd also forgotten about calling Glimmer.

That night. an agonizing screams wakes Peeta up. He runs to the living room, disoriented by sleep, thinking someone had entered the apartment. But as soon as he realized where the screams were coming from, he runs to her door, he doesn't dare to open it but he listens behind. Katniss was sobbing repeating "Prim" over and over again, begging whoever she was dreaming about, to please not die. Peeta then, dared to knock softly but she didn't answer, he opens then, just a little to be sure everything is okay. Respecting her privacy,he stands there by the door until she starts waking up, breathing fast; she touches her face damp with tears and then turns to him, finally noticing there.

"Sorry, I just wanted to make sure you were fine." He says, hoping she is still too disoriented by sleep to realize his state of undressed, disheveled hair, shirtless and in boxers' briefs. She wasn't more covered than him, though but as soon as he notices he turns around.

Still coming back from her dream. "It was a nightmare," she mumbles in a hoarse voice.

"Are you okay now?"

"Yeah. This was one of the bad ones. I'm sorry to wake you."

"Don't worry about that. Do you want to talk about it? Maybe it will help."

She nods"Do you ever have nightmares?" She asked, her voice still hoarse.

"Not really, I always have the same one and it isn't frequent. Do you have them a lot?"

"Yeah. Almost every night, there are some worst than others, though. What is yours about?" she asks rubbing her eyes.

"It's very flurry. It's like I found something or someone and for a while is a nice dream but I suddenly lose this thing and everything becomes scary and anguished, I wake up with my heart pounding, damped with sweat. I don't really understand it, but I've have it since forever."

She studies him, intently, contemplating his answer. She woke up in the same state than him but she knew exactly what she is losing in her dreams and why. He asks her the dreaded question "What are yours about?"

She pales and her lips trembling, she is about to tell him she can't answer that question but something in his gaze makes her act differently and she responds with trembling lips "About my little sister."

So Prim is her sister, he thinks, he shouldn't ask but he can't stop himself "Is she dead?"

"Yes she is." Is a whispered response, she isn't crying or sobbing but he can't tell the profound pain that answer provokes He nods and tells her how sorry he is, he leaves to his room wondering what could have happened to Prim.

The shape of her legs tangled in the sheets, and her shoulder leaning out her big t shirt under the dim moonlight plagues his dreams that night.

Not giving more thought to the reason why, he finds himself frustrated that week. It doesn't matter how much he rushes to finish his chores at the bakery, she is already gone when he gets home. Apparently she is more keen to avoid him since that night.

When Madge is back on Friday, and she insists on paying a visit to Katniss at the bar, claiming that it's been a long time since they were out for fun, she calls Finnick and her friend from District 12, Johanna.

That afternoon Peeta taps his fingers anxiously waiting for Madge to be ready. He'll never understand what takes her so long. "Please Madge, I've been waiting forever. It's only an informal bar."

"Ditto."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Why are you so anxious? It's just a night with friends at an informal bar, right?"

"I'm anxious about anything is just that you've taken enough time."

"Yeah sure, I guess I'm paranoid for assuming it's because you can't wait to see her."

"Who the fuck are you talking about? Are you in lunatic mode again?"

"I don't think so. I'm talking about the pretty grey eyed girl living with us, you know? The one that you can't take your puppy eyes away for more than two seconds."

"Gosh, you really are delusional. And now she is living with us?" Peeta dismisses her but this only makes Madge laugh without giving an answer, irritating him even more.

When they get to the bar Peeta stops dead in his tracks. Finnick is already there. Of course the asshole has to be after Katniss. He is flashing his dimples at her and Peeta is praying to the highest deities that she will be the only woman on the face of the earth to be immune to Finnick Odair charms; he studies the exchange from afar.

Crap, he is playing all his moves, Peeta thinks.

Thanks for reading!