Chapter 4

Author's note : I want to thank every people who is following this story and give an giant hug to the ones who are writing reviews^^ . They are my fuel to write this story. The time has come for Katniss to talk to Peeta in this Chapter and also more drama between the sisters. I hope I won't disappoint you.

Katniss's pov.

I was hoping that I could talked to Peeta at school but my hopes vanished as our teacher announced that Peeta had a special authorisation to quit school. The reasons for it were obvious and I felt even worse.

Should I quit school too to help him? I could. I didn't need an authorisation. I was eighteen like others but I already got over my last reaping, unlike some. I got lucky. Very lucky when the new gamemaker : Plutarch Heavensbee declared The hunger games needed a new release date. Sooner, so instead of mid July it was now schedule for mid May. Only 10 months separated the two last hunger games. I couldn't believed my own ears when it was announced. But it was bad luck for the one who were still 17 at the time. They had been reaped at the age of 17 for a second time. But I was already 18. It had been my last reaping and I wasn't reaped. I was free.

Madge too. We were two very lucky girls. I didn't think about the others at the time the ones who were still 17. Prim wanted to celebrate, my mother too and of course the Hawthorne. Madge and I and some others lucky kids were allowed to finish the school if we wanted. I accepted. I didn't want to work at the mines yet. To stay in school had also two majors advantages: I kept free time to hunt in the late afternoon and I could kept an eye to my baby sister a little longer. I sighed because I still couldn't stopped the mess that happened after all.

If I wanted to talk Peeta, I will need to talk to him at the bakery. I needed to hunt squirrels to trade them with the baker and then I could asked to talk to Peeta for a minute. I grimaced at the idea: A second Everdeen girl who will want to talk to him outside the bakery for a minute. I didn't have another choice.

I felt so very nervous at the idea to speak with him. I needed to explain what happened. I didn't know if he was able to understand. What price he could demanded for his silence? It was even worst because I never thanked him for the bread that saved my life. I should have gone to thank him long ago. Now the whole thing was tainted. My thanks would looked fake and forced. Not genuine. I was in trouble. It felt horrible to know how much power Peeta Mellark would have over my life now. He could do anything he wanted to my family. I was so afraid.

Anyway, I needed to protect Prim. She deserved to be punished but she couldn't be whipped or worse. She did one stupid mistake and I was going to act on it. I was going to do whatever it took to protect her. Today I was the prey and Peeta mellark was the hunter.

As soon as school was over, I spotted Prim.

"I'm going for a walk with my friends" She declared.

"Oh no you don't. You come back with me at home." I ordered.

"No. I promised my friends" She protested. I took her by the arm.

"I don't care what you promised. You are not going. End of discussion". I glared at her.

"You aren't my mother Katniss. Let me go" But I didn't let her go. I gripped her tighter.

"You are hurting me" she complained.

"Good!" I replied. "I'm not your mother Prim. But if you don't go with me now! I promise that I will tell everything to Mom. About the robbery." I threatened.

"I trusted you when I talked to you Katniss!" She whinned.

"Your mistake not mine. Come with me now." I seethed.

Then I heard his ugly voice: "Everything is okay Prim?" Khaled said as he looked at me with a challenging look. He was coming closer slowly. If only I had my bow with me. I would have shooted him straight in the head. I hated him. Prim blushed and it annoying me to death.

"Did you told him that I know?" I whispered to her. At my words she panicked. She didn't. "Well Prim, if you want me to keep my mouth shut, tell him you need to go back at home".

I let her arm go. Khaled was now near her and he put his hand around my little sister waist. I was about to lash out on him when Prim declared in a sweet voice.

"Everything is okay Khaled. I can't come today. I forgot I have to take care of Lady's milk today."

"Oh " He said. He didn't looked convinced. He watched me unimpressed and smirked before kissing my sister on the mouth without shame. I was stunned. So much arrogance and I had to stay calm in front of this disgusting scene to not make things worse.

"I will miss you so much baby" He said once their lips parted. Prim was red as a tomato with a large stupid smile placated on her face and stars in her eyes.

"I will miss you too."

"Prim, we have to go now." I recalled. We left. Prim glared at me. We didn't talk until we arrived at our house. Mom wasn't there as usual.

" I hate you Katniss! You are ruinning my life!" Prim yelled at me. She ran upstairs and slammed the door of our bedroom. I was so pissed at her. I didn't recognized her at all. I joined her few minutes later with some food and water. I put them on the small table we got last year.

"I'm not hungry" She muttered.

I didn't answer and didn't look at her. I went toward the door, opened it and closed it but this time I had taken the key and locked her inside. As soon as she heard the click, she screamed:

"Katniss! How did you dare! I hate you! I hate you"

I wanted to be sure she was going to stay at home while I was going to hunt and then talk to Peeta.

One hour later I came back from the forest with two fat squirrels. I was so proud because it didn't take long. I got lucky. But the more I approached the bakery, the less comfortable I was. They will close soon. I couldn't delay the discussion. I was nauseous but I didn't want to look nervous. I put my best scowl on my face. I went to the back of the bakery like usual. Mr Mellark arrived few seconds later.

"Hey Katniss" He greeted me with a tired smile. The man probably didn't sleep much. I felt even more guilty.

"I have two big fat squirrels to trade" I declared.

"Oh Katniss…" His face fell. "I'm sorry, I have nothing to trade for them. I probably won't be able to do some trades… You probably know, we got robbed. It's a very difficult situation for us".

I nodded. I was unable to say a word. All of this happened because of my sister and his evil boyfriend. They didn't deserve such a fate, the Mellarks, except for the Witch, they were good people.

"I'm sure the butcher, will appreciate them " He suggested.

I considered giving them for free to help but it would probably looked suspicious. I was known to be hard in business.

"Is Peeta here?" I finally asked. " The teacher told us he had to quit school." I explained. My heart sped up but I'm pretty sure it didn't show in my face. I was good when I had to hide my emotions.

"Yes, he's here. Peeta!" He called him. " Someone wants to see you, come here.". I gulped.

The baker left when Peeta arrived. My heart was about to explode. He didn't looked really surprised but confused.

"Katniss" He spoke. It was the first time I heard his voice and he was saying my name. His voice was deep and soft.

"Peeta" I replied. I've never been so close to him either. He was tall but less than Gale but a lot more muscular and broad. I felt very self concious of our proximity. I eventually dared to look at him and something inside me broke. The way his eyes were watching me. It was nothing like all the other times I caught him staring at me. The eyes no longer seemed shy or embarrassed nor caring. They were suspicious eyes, with a touch of sadness and betrayal.

It was when I realized that Peeta thought I was involved with the robbery too. I completely froze. I should have been furious he could dared to think I was that kind of person. I wasn't. He should have known. But it was logic, Prim didn't look like a thief either and still she was no innocent. I couldn't helped but scowl at him.

" Well… I need to go back" He declared. Certainely because I wasn't able to speak and wasn't friendly either. His eyes became colder and it was when I knew. If I didn't force myself to talk to him, to explain to him what really happened and why. I will loose the boy with the bread for good. I didn't know why it was so important for me to not let this happen. So I spoke.

"I need to speak with you Peeta. I didn't…" It was so hard. The baker was still around. I had to be careful about my words.

Peeta grabbed my hand and just said " Come with me". I nodded as we started to walk away. His hand was so big, so warm, so soft. I followed him and I heard him tell to his father that he will be back. Mr Mellark answered but I didn't pay attention to his answer. My heart was racing again, Peeta was holding my hand and I was scared to death because I could sensed my life would never be the same again.

We stopped when we reached an empty square surround by trees. Peeta looked around and started to walk again, my hand was still in his, I followed him. He let go of my hand and I missed his warmth. We sat behind a huge tree. Nobody could guessed we were here. I didn't even know this place. The silence between us was awkward. He was waiting for me to talk, the only problem was : where did I start? His stomach growled and broke the silence.

"You are hungry " I stated like an idiot.

"Well I didn't had a proper meal since the robbery". His voice was a bit cold. I felt immediately guilty. "We don't have much anymore and Mom is punishing me. I barely ate anything since."

I remembered the squirrels I had in my bag.

"You should take the squirrels. I brought them for a trade but…" I felt stupid I thought they could still trade something for it. Even if I was ready to lower my price because of what happened and hoped it could have helped them.

"No… you can't give them to me. Not only it will get suspicious, but my mother won't ever accept charity or will enrage her just at the thought."

And like that, I learnt that I shared a common point with the witch. I wasn't happy with it at all.

"You don't have to give them to your parents" I suggested "You could cook them for yourself once you are alone."

He looked at me like I've grown another head.

"What?"

"I don't know how to cook that…" He gestured to the bag.

I raised my eyebrows, I was confused.

"What do you mean? You are a baker…"

"I know how to make bread , pastries and cakes but I have no clue about average cooking. Especially meat. I'm not a butcher, I would never known where to start." He was embarrassed that I assumed that because he was a baker he knew how to cook everything else.

"Oh" I felt out of place. I knew nothing about him after all. He tried to explain:

"Mother cooks and she teached us how to cook. It's funny when you think about it , she is a decent cook but she can't achieve a decent cupcake."

"Oh" I repeated. I was so good at this: "Talking". I needed to be more eloquant. His stomach growled again more loudly this time and I cringed. The guilt washed over me again.

"I'll cook them for you" I declared without thinking before pronouncing the words."

He was suddenly speechless at my proposition.

"I'll make a squirrels stew." I suddenly got up. What the hell I was doing? And from his look it was exactely what he thought too.

"I will need a couple of hours to cook it. No make it three, the meat will be more tender."

"Katniss I thought..." He started but I interrupted him.

"Can you be here at 10 pm?" I asked nervously ready to bolt.

"Yeah. I…"

"Good, we'll talk them while you'll eat" and then I litterally ran away. I ran like I was chased by a bear. I didn't even turn back to look at him. I ran wondering what the hell possessed me? Now I had to cook a squirrels stew for Peeta. I made a promise. He needed to eat. He was starving and he was tired: That was the least I could do for him. He needed his belly full for me to be at peace.

I entered our house and my mother was here.

"Hi Mom" that when I noticed she didn't look pleased with me.

"You locked your sister inside your bedroom? Prim was crying when I came." I heard Prim coming from upstair. She had puffy eyes. But I didn't feel any guilt.

I didn't want to tell my mother what Prim did. I didn't know how she could reacted to the news. She could broke and closed off again from the shock besides it was a threatening card I could hold against her for now, and I needed to keep it.

"I didn't want her to go out with her boyfriend" I revealed " I caught them kissing, at her age it's innapropriate " I added.

My mother gasped.

"Prim! You are too young to have a boyfriend!"

Prim blushed and glared at me. In fact they were hatred in her eyes. Mom didn't loose anytime : "Prim we have to talk about this."

Prim rolled her eyes. But my mother was old fashionned , no dating before a respectable age, which for her was when a girl was over her last reaping which I was. But she never had to worry about that for me before, because, she knew I didn't want to date, or marry ever. But Prim was another story. At best now, If Prim and Khaled wanted to see each other , they will need a chaperone. I smiled happily . Why didn't I think about this sooner?

"That's so unfair" Prim whined. "You never said anything about Katniss and Gale and they are rumors about them…"

"Rumors that I know are false Prim. You know how your sister is and Gale is a young man I trust and I know Hazelle raised him to be a gentleman."

"He had been seen at the slag heap, Gale is not a saint" She answered back.

She looked at me while she talked about Gale and his conquests. She probably thought it would hurt me to know. I already knew. Gale was handsome and I wasn't stupid. Yes, I felt a bit jealous and disgusted when I first learnt about it. Gale was my best friend and I was afraid one of theses girls could take him away from me. One day, one will succeed. But Gale and I didn't have a romantic relationship. It reminded me that Gale talked a lot about change , love and the idea of marriage recentely. Maybe, he had a girl in mind. I didn't want to think about it. I didn't like the idea to loose my best friend and my hunting partner. Gale and I were inseparable. It had been hard for me when he had to go work at the mines. I missed our hunts during the week. Only the Sunday were left for us. Gale was right. I hated when things were changing. To be honest, I had no clue if I could behaved the day he'll tell me, he won't be able to come on Sunday anymore because he met the one.

"Don't change the subject Prim" My mother scolded her. " You 've grown a lot these past two years… You look older than you are. Your breast and curves are even bigger than Katniss now."

" Could you talk about this somewhere else?" I asked annoyed. "I have to cook a stew".

My mother nodded at me. " Let's go upstairs Prim." Then spoke to me "Once I'm done, I'll come to help".

"It's okay mom, have a rest. I can handle this myself"

"You sure?"

"Definitely, go talk to Prim. The boy had his tongue inside his mouth ".

My mother saw red "Prim" She yelled.

"I hate you Katniss! I hate you". Prim screamed at me. My mother watched at her like she was possessed by the devil then looked at me. She understood it to. Prim had change and not for the better and for once, I hoped she was going to share responsabilities for her with me.

An hour later Prim were still pouting in our bedroom. I could tell my mother was worried. I thought she was going to talk to me but instead she sat on her favorite chair, looked at Dad's picture and felt lost. Here went my hopes.

Another hour passed and she still hadn't moved. Prim came to the kitchen but said nothing. I was cooking. I wanted the stew to be perfect and even added some potatoes. Then she left without a word. She played with Buttercup. Another card I have, I could threathened to death that damn cat and be serious about it, if I needed her to obey me .

The stew was almost ready. Mom got up to eat. I felt relieved. She wasn't gone too far away. I served the soup and I noticed Prim didn't help me for anything. I felt exhausted by her behavior.

" Why don't you served the stew you just cooked?" She asked.

"Because it's not for us."

"What?" She blurted surprised and my mother seemed a bit confused too.

"It's for Peeta Mellark. Since the bakery had been robbed they don't have enough food anymore". I stated.

"I heard about it, what a disaster for them" my mother said " The baker always does such a good bread, I proud of you Katniss." She added.

Prim had a thight smile "Yes me too, and it's not really like you to cook for a stranger…"

"Peeta was in my class… Did you know he had to quit because now they needed him to work full time of the bakery?" I tried to guilt trip her.

"There are other places a lot worse than the bakery to work : Like the mines. Peeta won't die at his bakery… Like Dad."

I got up

"Don't talk about Dad! Just don't!" I yelled. Dad would be absolutely desperate to see who Prim became because of a single boy. I wished he was here. He sure would have known how to handle her.

"I'm not hungry anymore" She declared and got up.

"Mom" I said but it was hopeless. She was gone. We shouldn't have mentionned Dad.

I ran after my sister and caught her in the stairs.

"Prim. This is insane. We can't keep doing this!"

"I trusted you Katniss. I told you everything. I thought you were going to be proud and all you do is making my life an hell." She replied. "Now you are cooking for them? They will get suspicious. You will put me in danger! "

"I'm not! I don't cook for the mellarks, only for Peeta. He was starving today".

"And since when do you care for Peeta Mellark? You and him aren't even friends." She stated.

I was about to say something when she spoke

"Oh it's because you know he has a crush on you?"

"No, it's not that! He doesn't have a crush on me! I cared because unlike you I feel guilty". I told her. She looked at me with a suspicious look.

" He'll know why you are doing that! It's too dangerous Katniss please" she whined.

"Maybe it's a risk I'm ready to take." I Lied and immediately regreted it. I hurt her badly.

"You are not my sister anymore. The sister I know always protected me." She was in tears and she ran to our bedroom. I was about to cry as well.

The last hour passed and the stew was now ready to be served. I tasted it and I had outdone myself. I was calmer now. I needed to be , because I was going to face my fate. It was in Peeta's Mellark hands now.

I left with the stew. it was still hot. He was already there and he seemed surprised that I came. So much for the trust.

His hairs were wet. I never seen him like that. It was cute I thought. He looked different. I just couldn't tell how different. The stew smell good and he looked at my arms which were holding the pot with hunger in his eyes. He licked his lips and I suddenly shivered. It was odd because the wind wasn't cold. We were in summer.

'Hi Peeta. Dinner's ready " I said clumsily.

"Hi Katniss" He answered then he smiled. A large genuine, dazzling smile that reached his eyes. I felt a burst of warmth stroke me . Of course, like I said it was a hot summer night after all.

To be continued.