The back of the couch faced the front door, so Katniss and Peeta had a two second reprieve before they were noticed. This was just long enough for them to share a look of horror before Delly exclaimed, "Oh my god!" and slapped a hand over her mouth.

Gasps from the remaining parties came next as one by one they noticed Peeta half-dressed and Katniss's dark hair beneath him and put two and two together.

Peeta sprang to his feet as Katniss rolled to her side. Everyone stared. Rye finally whistled to get Peeta's attention and pointed down at his fly. Cheeks flushed, Peeta zipped up his pants. He could have turned around to do so, but Katniss was in a much worse state, so he had to keep the attention on himself.

She sat up, arm crossed over her chest, her bare back facing the door, and grabbed her tank top. Luckily, her bra was tangled in it.

"How dare you!"

Peeta whipped his head around toward the door, shocked to find Mrs. Cartwright standing there. She wasn't supposed to be back until later that afternoon. Just like Peeta's family shouldn't have arrived home for at least another hour.

It clicked then. For whatever reason, the Cartwrights had arrived earlier than expected, contacted Delly, and everyone had skipped the church's brunch. They had all come home to the Mellark household to catch Katniss and Peeta in the act.

Merry freaking Christmas.

"You—you're unbelievable!" Mrs. Cartwright yelled. "How could you do this to my sweet girl?" Mrs. Cartwright looked over at her daughter. "Well? Don't you have something to say?"

Delly's eyes widened. She wrung her hands together before walking over to Peeta and slapping him across the face. 'I'm sorry,' she mouthed with a pained expression.

"How dare you! I can't believe you would do this to me!" Delly shouted half-heartedly. Luckily, Mrs. Cartwright was mad enough for the both of them, so she hardly noticed Delly's lackluster reaction.

"I knew it!" Mrs. Mellark shouted. "I knew there wasn't something right about that girl." She pointed at Katniss lest anyone think she was referring to Delly. "I knew it the minute I laid eyes on her. She's a—a harlot!"

"A harlot? What year is it?" Katniss asked, pulling on her cardigan.

"Mom!" Rye exclaimed. "Don't call her that!"

Mrs. Mellark put her hands on her hips. "Are you really going to defend her after you found her underneath your brother? On Christmas?"

Finally, Mrs. Cartwright left the doorway and came to stand with Delly. Hannah began to fuss, which gave Emily the excuse to get the hell out of the living room. Tyler remained, a silent figure behind his parents.

Katniss, fully dressed, stood up beside Peeta. Hidden behind their backs, she linked her pinky with his. He looked over at her in surprise, and she offered a small, reassuring smile. It seemed to say, 'don't worry, we're in this together.'

At least, that's what Peeta hoped it meant.

"What happened? Whatever Delly did, we can fix this," Mrs. Cartwright said.

"Mom!" Delly shrieked at the same time Peeta said, "She didn't do anything."

"Is it her weight? Are you not sexually attracted to her anymore?"

"Mom, this is not the time," Delly forced out through clenched teeth.

Mr. Cartwright hovered in the doorway, looking more uncomfortable than angry.

"Well, look who he chose," Mrs. Cartwright said. "Look how skinny she is. I've told you over and over again that men prefer slender women."

"We are not discussing this right now. Whatever happened is between Peeta and I," Delly said.

"Well, we all know what happened," Mrs. Mellark cut in.

Mr. Mellark covered his face and groaned.

"Katniss cast some sort of spell of seduction and stole Peeta away," Mrs. Mellark finished.

"Yes," Katniss deadpanned. "That is exactly what happened."

"Mom, you're insane," Rye said. "She didn't—"

"She did something! She seduced your brother, cheated on you, and ruined a perfectly good engagement. On Christmas!"

"You need to calm down with this Christmas thing," Peeta said. "I assure you, this situation would suck any day of the year."

"You listen to me, young man, I've put up with your sass for long enough! How could you do this to your brother? To Delly? To me?"

"How is this even about you?" Peeta threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. "Not everything that happens in this family is about you."

"You're an embarrassment," Mrs. Mellark snapped. "You can't hold a job—"

"Now that's not fair," Peeta interrupted.

"—you're sneaking around behind Delly's back with your brother's girlfriend of all people! It's just a matter of time before you're living back at home, with no job, no fiancée, no prospects. You'll be sitting on your ass useless, lazy—"

"I'm gay!" Rye shouted.

Silence. Everyone except Mrs. Mellark subtly shifted their eyes toward Rye. She twisted around and stared at him, mouth agape.

"Don't be ridiculous," she finally said. "One failed relationship with a woman doesn't make you gay. You'll find someone else." She turned back to Peeta. "Do you see what you've done to your brother?"

"No, I mean it." Rye stood ramrod straight, his hands fists at his sides. "I'm gay. Like super gay. Like, I-have-a-boyfriend-and-it's-getting-pretty-serious-gay."

Mrs. Mellark opened and closed her mouth several times. She spun around and stared at Katniss. "You! You seduced one son and turned the other gay! You really are a witch!"

"Your mother cannot honestly be this stupid," Katniss said under her breath. Peeta choked back a laugh.

"Mom, seriously, stop. I've known I was gay since I was, like, seven."

"You're not. You just haven't met the right woman yet. Don't let this setback lead you down the wrong path," Mrs. Mellark said.

"Mom—"

"You are not gay!" she yelled.

"Peeta and I broke up," Delly said in an attempt to shift the attention away from Rye.

"Oh, honey, no. You won't do much better than Peeta. You just have to give him another chance," Mrs. Cartwright said.

"How are these women so terrible?" Katniss wondered out loud.

"Lots of practice," Peeta replied.

Mrs. Cartwright glared at the pair. Mrs. Mellark barely heard them. She was still staring at Rye, puzzling over him like he was a broken heirloom she had to glue back together.

"No, Mom, I mean, we broke up a month ago," Delly said. "We're not even living together anymore. He didn't cheat. He didn't do anything wrong!"

"I don't—I don't understand." Mrs. Cartwright grasped Delly's hands. "Why would you break up? You two are in love. And honestly, sweetheart, you're not getting any younger."

Delly yanked her hands away. She sounded surprisingly calm when she opened her mouth. "We are not in love. We never were. We used to be best friends and we're barely that anymore." Delly cast a pained expression in Peeta's direction. "But you know what? This isn't any of your business. We're both adults, and we can make decisions without your input."

"Delly, you will not speak to me like this."

"I just did," Delly snapped. "Now I'm going to pack up my stuff, and then I'm going home. I think this goes without saying but dinner tonight is cancelled. Merry Christmas everyone."

She stormed up the stairs.

"Delly! Delly, come back down here! Honestly, Michael, are you going to stand for this?"

"I think no matter what I say or do I'm going to get myself in trouble," Mr. Cartwright said. "I'll be heading home now." He patted Mr. Mellark on the back, muttered a 'good luck' and left.

"Michael, get back here!" Mrs. Cartwright followed him out the door.

"This is unbelievable!" Mrs. Mellark said. "Everything is falling apart. You two are such disappointments," she said.

"They are not," Mr. Mellark said. "Rye, you are a smart young man, and you make me proud. Gay or not, you are my son, and I love you." Mr. Mellark turned to Peeta. "Peeta, you are anything but an embarrassment. If you and Katniss want to see each other, then by all means do it. Just try to do it somewhere other than our couch."

Mr. Mellark stepped in front of his wife. "And you, don't you think you could tone down the theatrics? You're the reason Rye and Peeta don't visit more often."

"How dare you say that to me! On Christmas!"

"Yes, yes, we all know it's Christmas, and how dare we all be less than perfect on your favorite holiday." Mr. Mellark shrugged. "I'm going to make a gin and tonic, sit down, and watch nine hours of The Christmas Story. If you'll excuse me." Without waiting for a response, he went into the kitchen.

"I think I hear Emily calling," Tyler said, suddenly realizing how few people were now left. He didn't need any attention turned toward him. He saluted and ran up the stairs.

"I can't take this. I'm going to lie down. Just know that you ruined Christmas!" She pointed at Katniss to once again make it clear who she blamed.

Katniss forced a smile and said, "Merry Christmas, Mrs. Mellark. Thank you for having me."

Mrs. Mellark's eyes nearly bulged out of her socket. Instead of yelling, she took a deep breath and stalked up the stairs.

"I'm so sorry, Rye," Katniss said once the three of them were alone.

"It's okay."

"No, it's not. I promised I'd pretend to be your girlfriend, and I screwed it all up."

"At least you gave my mom a hard time," Rye said with a small smile. "You fulfilled that end of the bargain."

"I'm sorry too. I can't believe how badly all of that just went," Peeta said.

"It was going to come out sooner or later." Rye scratched the back of his head. "Of course, when I imagined it, it was just me, mom, and dad, and we were all calmly sitting on the couch. In exactly zero of the scenarios I considered did I just blurt it out mid-argument in front of our family and closest friends."

"You were trying to tell me last night, weren't you?" Peeta asked.

Rye shrugged. "Sort of."

"Hey, I'm going to get my stuff and run before your mother decides she's in the mood for round two." Katniss froze. "Shit. I don't have my car."

Rye held out his keys. "Take mine."

"Oh no, you'll be trapped here."

"I'll drive him wherever he needs to go," Peeta offered.

"Yeah, and Gale and I can come pick it up later."

"Are you sure?" Katniss asked.

When Rye nodded, she hugged him tight and whispered another apology in his ear.

"Do you feel any better now that it's all out there?" she asked.

"Not really. But my dad took it much better than I thought he would. Even my mom's reaction wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it'd be."

"She wouldn't want to make a scene in front of our closest family friends," Peeta added.

"That wasn't a scene?" Katniss asked. "Seriously?"

"You really should have seen us on Thanksgiving," Peeta said. "That was a scene."

Footsteps alerted them to someone coming down the stairs. Luckily, it was Delly rather than Mrs. Mellark.

She dropped her bag and threw her arms around Rye.

"I'm so happy for you!" she said. "We need to get together as soon as possible, so you can tell me all about your boyfriend."

"I'd like that," Rye said. "Thanks Delly."

She kissed his cheek and turned toward Peeta. "I told you Katniss wasn't his type." She winked, wished Katniss a "Merry Christmas," and left.

Katniss packed up her book, make-up bag, and a few other miscellaneous items. "I may have left a few things upstairs. Just burn them if your mother hasn't already."

Rye laughed. "Will do."

Katniss hugged Rye once more before heading to the door. With a quick wave, she left.

Peeta stared at the closed door, his brow furrowed. Had she really left without another word? No hug or kiss? Touch of the arm? Hell, he would have taken a handshake.

"Do you have her number?" Peeta asked.

"If she didn't give it to you, then sorry, you're out of luck."

"Oh come on, help me out."

"I'm sorry, I'm not sure how much more help I can give you. I brought a girl home. For you, apparently. Then, I managed to get you the entire house to yourself. I'm basically brother of the year. Decade, even," Rye said.

"Sorry, you're right. Although a heads up about your early arrival would have been appreciated."

"Seriously?" Rye asked. "Check your phone. You'll find plenty of text messages and missed calls."

"Alright, I give up. You are the superior brother, and I'm the worst. Worse than Tyler."

Rye shook his head. "Now you're just exaggerating."

"You want to grab your stuff?" Peeta asked.

"Hell no. Let's just get out of here."

"Good call."

"So I'm sorry for being such a shitty brother," Peeta said once they were on the road.

"What are you talking about? Katniss and I weren't dating."

"That's not what I meant." Peeta tried to swallow but his throat was dry. Last night, he had felt terrible when he thought Katniss was Rye's girlfriend. He felt ten times worse now that he knew the whole truth. Rye had been carrying this giant secret around, and not only had Peeta not noticed, but he had blown Rye off when Rye tried to tell him.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you," Peeta said.

"What? Last night?"

"Yeah, last night, Thanksgiving, any night you felt you had to hide who you really are."

"I just…I wasn't ready to tell anyone outside of school. Last night was kind of a spur of a moment thing. I felt like I had been lying to you for way too long."

Peeta cast a quick glance at his brother. "I'm sorry I didn't wait to hear you out. I shouldn't have run out on you for a girl."

"She's a pretty awesome girl."

"Still."

"You think we could do lunch or something tomorrow? Maybe catch a movie? Just hang out the two of us?" Rye asked.

"I think that sounds perfect. You know you can stay with me until you have to go back to school."

"I might take you up on that," Rye said. "But for now I can stay with Gale."

"So he's the boyfriend?" Out of the corner of Peeta's eye, he saw Rye blush.

"Yeah. Eight months as of last Wednesday."

"Wow. I guess it's serious?"

"I think so. I hope so." Rye shrugged and looked out the window. "When I told him I felt like I had to bring someone home for Christmas, he was so…understanding. He didn't push me to bring him or tell the truth. He just said, 'I've got the perfect girl for you.'"

"He sounds pretty great."

"He is pretty great."

"Can I meet him?" Peeta asked.

"Hell no. If we make it to a year, then I'll consider it."

"Oh come on! I'm the most normal one out of our entire family."

"That isn't saying much. Let me introduce him to Delly and see what she says," Rye said.

"Completely unfair." Peeta drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. Despite how well the conversation was going, he was filled to the brim with nervous energy. "Are we okay?"

"Uh, yeah. I mean, unless, you're not okay. With…everything."

"I don't care if you're gay. Actually, I'm kind of happy," Peeta said. "Less competition for me."

"If you're talking about Katniss, I don't think you have much competition anywhere. She was staring at you all night. And let's not forget the position we found you in."

"Yeah, and she left without giving me any way to get in contact with her."

"Just give her some time. She might surprise you." Rye pointed at an apartment complex on the left. "You can pull up right here."

"Merry Christmas," Peeta said as Rye removed his seatbelt. "I'm sorry everything came out the way it did today, but thank you. I know you were trying to make things better for me. You always are."

"Yeah, well, you're my brother." Rye said, which in Rye speak meant I love you.

So Peeta grinned and said, "Yeah, I guess I'm stuck with you," which meant I love you too.

When Peeta finally arrived home, he realized he was exhausted. More than that, he was emotionally drained. He still felt like a shitty brother for ditching Rye the night before. He felt like a shitty ex-fiancé for letting Delly find him with Katniss like that. It didn't matter that she had a date coming up, and they had been broken up for a month. He wouldn't want to walk in on Delly with her new boyfriend.

Of course, Katniss wasn't his girlfriend. She wasn't his anything. She had been hot and cold since the moment he met her, and she seemed less than optimistic about relationships let alone one with him.

He still couldn't believe she hadn't said more before she left. They had been minutes away from having sex before his entire family walked in, and then nothing. Maybe that was the problem. Maybe his mother and Mrs. Cartwright reminded Katniss that relationships were more trouble than they were worth. What was it Katniss had said? All relationships end in pain?

Well, she wasn't wrong.

He fell into bed and passed out minutes later, hoping he wouldn't wake up until the new year. Maybe 2015 would be better.

It was early evening when he rolled onto his back and stretched. He grabbed his cell phone to check the time and saw a text message from Rye sent a couple of hours earlier.

Rye (2:17pm): Don't say I never gave you anything. Merry Christmas.

Rye (2:17pm): 16 Mockingjay Lane, Apartment 3A

Rye hadn't elaborated, but it wasn't necessary. Peeta knew what this was.

Katniss's address.

Thirty minutes later, he was walking up her steps, wondering if he was making a colossal mistake. Had Rye given him her address out of the kindness of his heart, or had Katniss asked him to? Peeta probably should have checked. He doubted Katniss wanted him showing up out of the blue, even if they had very briefly discussed hanging out tonight.

He wasn't sure Katniss ever wanted to see him again.

He knocked on her door. A moment later, she answered, dressed in black yoga pants and an oversized gray sweater.

"What took you so long?" she asked.

"I fell asleep."

She sighed. "I watched the stupid cat movie. This is what happens when I get left alone for too long. I make stupid decisions."

"Like sleeping with me?"

"Get your ass inside. It's freezing," she said.

"Your roommate left you alone, and you went home with the loser sitting at the bar."

Katniss walked into the living room, Peeta trailing behind her. "I actually liked the cat movie. I don't even like cats!"

"Shortly after meeting me, you told me you weren't sleeping with me. And then you did."

"You're not allergic to cats, are you? Because I have one," she said, falling onto the couch.

Peeta sighed, realizing that these two separate conversations were not going to converge unless he forced them to. "Nothing about you makes sense. Not one thing."

"It's my sister's cat. I'm stuck with the hell beast until she comes back."

Peeta looked down at her. "Okay. One things makes sense about you."

"Look, this is who I am. I get scared. I make bad decisions. I run away. I can try to be better if you can try to be patient with me."

"Are you being serious right now?"

"Are you going to sit down or not?"

Peeta sat on the couch, leaving a respectable amount of distance between himself and Katniss. She rolled her eyes and pulled on his arm. "You can move closer. It's not like I'm going to run away now. We're at my apartment."

Peeta slid over and put his arm around her. She grabbed the crumpled throw blanket she had been using and laid it over their laps.

"I've got some royal Christmas movie with Lacey Chabert on my DVR if you're interested?" she asked, lifting up the remote control.

"Wait a second. You're moving too fast and in about five hundred different directions. Also, you hate Christmas movies."

She dropped the remote control in her lap and stared down at it.

"Explain," he said.

"I hate watching Christmas movies by myself. Having company makes it less pathetic."

"That's not what I meant," Peeta said.

Katniss sighed and looked away. "I don't like relationships. They kind of freak me out."

"I noticed."

"Even the good ones that you think will last forever. They might be the worst."

"We don't have to be together forever. I was hoping for one date. Maybe two if I impress you."

She glanced back at him, trying and failing to hide her smile. "Maybe I want to be with you forever."

"I guess we'll have to see what happens."

She leaned against the arm of the couch and laid her legs across his lap. She lifted her locket out of her sweater and opened it, revealing three pictures. "When my dad died, my mom kind of disappeared for a while. She was here, but she wasn't. She was completely broken, and I don't want to feel like that. Ever."

"Isn't that part of life?"

"Yeah, a shitty part. I felt bad enough that my father was dead. Seeing her completely shatter was terrifying. I thought I could be stronger than that, but I'm not sure it's possible."

"We can watch the royal Christmas movie," he said.

She bit her lip. "Yeah? I can just press play, and we'll watch, and that's that? End of conversation?"

"Sure," he said. "We don't have to talk anymore right now. There's always our date the day after tomorrow."

"Oh, we have a date?"

"We do. You're very excited."

"Maybe I am. Depends on where you're taking me."

"You'll just have to wait and see."

"Hey," she said. She knelt in front of him and leaned in. "Merry Christmas, Peeta Mellark."

His heart fluttered—actually fluttered!—in his chest. He wasn't sure he'd ever be able to predict her next move.

"Merry Christmas, Katniss—oh shit."

She frowned and sat back on her heels. "What? What's the matter?"

"I don't know your last name! I can't believe this!"

Originally, two days ago, his goal had been to make her laugh. Now he couldn't get her to stop.

"This isn't funny," he said.

"It's Everdeen," she finally choked out. "Katniss Everdeen." She held out her hand. "It's so nice to meet you."

He grabbed her hand and pulled her forward. She fell against his chest.

"Merry Christmas, Katniss Everdeen."

Okay, so they weren't standing outside in the softly falling snow, and sure, five minutes ago, he hadn't known her last time. But when her lips met his, all thoughts of cliché, sappy Christmas movies flew out of his mind.

He liked this version of a happy ending better anyway.

Because it was theirs.

A/N: Epilogue to follow.