Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games nor do I own Tom Hardy or David Beckham. Although it would be awesome to have Tom or David at my disposal whenever I wanted them. But I do own a copy of The Notebook. It is mine, free and clear.

AN: I can not believe the reaction the last chapter has gotten. All I can say is thank you and that I appreciate it very much. As usual, let me know what you think.

It had taken some getting used to but after three weeks of living with Madge but Katniss was finally hitting her stride. Madge was gone most of the time since her interior design business kept her busy but the girls ritual of Friday night dinner was something that was mandatory.

Mrs. Everdeen hadn't shown any change in behavior with the outpatient program that Delly had suggested and there was talk of getting her into a clinic in Bristol and Haymitch had promised to pay for it if the paper work that Katniss had painstakingly filled out went through.

She found herself talking to Peeta more and more often. They talked on the phone at least two times a week and texted at least once a day. They were still exchanging letters but it was now in e-mail form since it tended to take three weeks for her to get a response from him through the mail.

Her life was slowly starting to settle down but the wounds of her father and Prim's deaths were still there even if they were starting to close. She still found herself dialing Prim's cell phone number because something had happened that she needed to talk to her about only to remember that Prim was gone and that she would never be able to talk to her again.

Peeta had proved to be a patient listener and a great sounding board when they talked. Katniss was opening up a little bit more every time she talked to him. They had yet to exchange pictures but she wasn't worried about it. It added an air of mystery that she had come to accept when it came to Peeta.

Katniss was helping Cressida with dinner one Friday night when her phone pinged, letting her know that she had a Facebook notification.

"Jo, can you check that?" Katniss asked, not stopping from peeling potatoes.

"Sure," Johanna said, neglecting the newspaper that was strewn across the table.

Katniss didn't bother to ask Johanna what the person wanted. If it had been important she would have let Katniss know.

"Holy cow!" Johanna exclaimed a little too loudly.

"What?" Katniss questioned, now concerned.

"I did not expect him to look like that. Yum, yum," Johanna said, not looking away from Katniss' phone.

"Who?"

"Peeta sent you a friend request and I accepted it. I didn't think that you'd mind."

"But who's yummy?" Cressida asked.

"Have a look," Johanna suggested, holding out Katniss' phone.

"How cute can he be? Have you never seen a picture of Finnick?" Katniss asked.

"Whoa Momma!" Cressida said before whistling.

"Finnick is too perfect to be true and plus, he's married. Peeta is a real man," Johanna said, snatching the phone back and as she looked through Peeta's pictures again.

"How is he single?" Cressida marveled.

"Can I have my phone back please?" Katniss asked in exasperation.

Johanna handed her the phone and took over potato duty while Katniss sat at the table. A guy with blonde hair and the bluest eyes she had ever seen stared back at her. This was Peeta, the guy she had steadily become to rely on and consider her friend in the past four months? He was wearing his uniform in the current picture and Johanna suggested that she swipe to the left to see the next picture.

'Holy cow' and 'Whoa Momma' didn't begin to describe the next picture. Peeta was wearing a blue and white flannel shirt open with a white t-shirt underneath. His head was down and he was rubbing the back of his neck giving the camera a shy smile. Katniss' heart melted at the thought of all the secrets that smile held.

"He's hot, right?" Johanna asked.

"He's no Tom Hardy, but he's pretty close," Katniss agreed.

"Who's almost as hot as Tom Hardy?" Madge asked, coming into the kitchen.

"Peeta," Katniss said quietly.

"You friended him on Facebook? Good for you!" Madge praised.

"He sent her a friend request and I accepted on her behalf."

"He's such a nice guy. I figured he'd be the one to make the first move."

"Okay, no more talk about Sergeant Yummy because if I don't eat soon there is going to be a hostage situation and it will not be pretty," Johanna warned.

Madge took over for Katniss when her phone rang juast as she was putting the potatoes on to boil. Peeta's name flashed across her screen as she jogged up the stairs to her room for some privacy. Once her door was shut behind her she finally swiped her finger over the answer button.

"Hello?" she answered, her breathing labored.

She could hear footsteps pounding against the stairs as Peeta greeted her. She locked her door quickly before Johanna's voice could be heard on the other side.

"Let me in!" she demanded, kicking the door lightly.

"Is this a bad time?" he asked.

"No, Jo's just being her normal pushy, nosy self. How have you been?"

Johanna stared to pound on the door when she realized that Katniss was ignoring her.

"I'm doing alright. I lived to see another day and in my line of work that is something to be proud of."

"Well that's good. I can't say the same for Johanna if she doesn't let up," she warned loud enough for Johanna to hear.

"I heard my name. Are you spreading gossip about me?"

"You are confusing me with that snotty girl you work with," Katniss accused.

"Glimmer actually likes you, so I wouldn't put it passed you."

"Give it a rest before I decide to smother you in your fucking sleep Mason!" she threatened with a laugh.

Johanna could be heard stomping down the stairs and Katniss heaved a sigh of relief.

"Sorry you had to hear that," she said sheepishly.

"It's fine. I need a dose of reality every once in a while. I tend to forget what it's like to be normal," he said with a light laugh.

"Yeah, Jo's not normal," she said, laughing along with him.

"I was calling to see if you gotten my friend request or not, I haven't had a chance to check my phone in a while."

"Johanna accepted it for me. You were the talk of the house a little while ago."

"Is that good or bad?"

"We were all in agreement that you are very cute."

"Cute? Babies are cute."

"Okay, so you're more than cute, but you're no Tom Hardy."

"You're very blunt aren't you?"

"I don't like to beat around the bush."

"Well, thank you and I'm sorry that I don't measure up to Mad Max."

"It's very hard to do. The only person who has is David Beckham."

"So it would help if I were British?"

"It might. Think you can pull it off?"

"Not even if my life depended on it," he said with a hearty laugh.

She laughed along with him as she slid down the wall next to the door to sit on the floor. She had been surprised how easy he was to talk to when they had first started talking over the phone. He had an air about him that invited people to confide in him and he could talk her out of a bad mood faster than anyone she knew. She found herself trusting him more and more with every conversation they had.

XXXX

Katniss' life came a screeching halt less than a week after putting a face to the person that she had been getting to know over the last few months. She had gone into her mother's room to wake her up one morning to find her unresponsive with an empty pill bottle on the floor by her bed. Delly claimed that all of her mother's medication was locked in a cabinet in her room and that she didn't know how Mira had gotten it.

"Is the key missing?"

"It was for a little while last night. She shouldn't have been able to take it and get the pills herself. She's not lucid enough to carry something like that through," Delly said with tears in her eyes.

Katniss had no choice but to fire Delly and then call Haymitch and plead for his help. He was livid, cursing the situation until Effie was able to calm him down.

"How many pills did she take?"

"Delly says that there should have been five in the bottle. I stripped her bed myself to see if maybe she had just stuffed them under the mattress but it was no use."

"Your mother needs round the clock care Katniss, this kind of thing never should have happened!" Haymitch ranted.

"Don't you think I know that? I just had to fire one of my really good friends. Do you know how hard that was? My heart nearly broke when Delly started crying when she realized what had happened!"

"Now is not the time to yell or argue. Haymitch, this is not Katniss' nor is it Delly's fault. It was a freak accident and we will have to be more careful form now on," Effie rationalized.

"You're right Eff, we will. Help Katniss pack Mira's things. She'll be living with us from now on."

"Haymitch," Effie said sadly.

"No, I gave her a chance to deal with this without my direct help and look what has happened. She shouldn't have to worry about things like this," Haymitch said with a shake of his head.

"Again, this is not her fault. I would love to have Mira live with us but she made the decision to stay with Katniss when all of this started," Effie stated.

"Do you really want to trust the word of a woman who has not been of her right mind for the past year?"

Katniss finally saw the point behind her uncle's argument. He didn't trust her and he didn't agree that her mother should be with her. Tears stung her eyes as she tried to hold herself together long enough to walk up the stairs to her room. The slamming of her door reverberated through the entire house making Effie glare at her husband of twenty years before she made her way to the back of the house to Mira's room.

Katniss had left the bed in disarray and she quickly made the bed fore pulling Mira's luggage out of the closet. Half an hour later Haymitch was carrying the bags and trunk out to his car. Katniss watched from her bedroom window as tears ran down her face and she didn't bother to brush them away. She hated being weak and letting her emotions get the better of her but this really hurt. Her ability to take care of her mother had been found lacking and there was nothing she could do about it.

XXXX

Peeta sat in front of his computer waiting for it to boot up. He was always on time for his weekly Skype sessions with his dad and brothers. Even though he talked to each of his brothers at least twice a week and his dad had mandated that he call him everyday this was the one time out of the week that he actually got to see them. Bran had become a dad for the first time less than a month ago and this would Peeta's first time seeing his nephew, he didn't even know the baby's name.

His welcome screen finally popped up and he typed his password in as quick as his hands could fly over the keys. His wallpaper caused him to smile as he opened up his Skype app. He had taken the picture he used as his wallpaper over a decade ago. It was a once in a lifetime lucky shot of the sun setting over the water of the beach behind the bakery. It reminded him of everything he loved and gave him hope that he would sit on that same beach some day very soon.

A message popped up to let him know that his dad wanted to Skype with him and he accepted. Pretty soon his dad Rye came onto the screen and Ansel smiled proudly at his youngest son. Peeta smiled back bashfully with a wave.

"You know the drill, stand up," Ansel said sternly.

"Dad, come on. I am a grown man, we don't need to do this," Peeta said with a scoff/sigh.

"Humor your old man, okay? I want to see that you still have all of your limbs, I'm not asking for a lot."

Peeta stood with a shake of his head, holding back the urge to smile. Secretly he liked knowing that his dad cared so much. He stood back far enough that the two men could see him before turning in a slow circle. Ansel tsked disapprovingly as Peeta sat back down.

"What?"

"You got another tattoo," His father said sternly, giving him the look that all kids seemed to associate with their parents when they didn't like something.

"Just a small one," Peeta rationalized.

"How many does that make now?"

"Three."

Which was the truth, after Peeta had enlisted he had gotten his dad's and granddad's dog tags tattooed on the inside of his wrist and he had gone with Rye to get the tattoo of a starling on his shoulder blade. The newest one was a star on the inside of his bicep and he thought that it had been tastefully done.

"Just don't tattoo some girls name on yourself like your brother did. It took me three months to pay off the doctor I had to take him to to get it removed."

"Hey," Rye said, pretending to be hurt.

"Yes Sir," Peeta promised, not able to hold back a smile.

"Is that Peet?" Bran asked from off screen.

"I called a little early," Ansel announced.

Bran came into view holding his newborn son. He sat down in between Ansel and Rye and held up the baby so that Peeta could see him. The baby was bald headed, just like all of the Mellark boys had been when they were born and he had Bran's chin and high cheek bones and chin but other than that he looked like Bran's wife Melanie.

"Are you going to finally tell me his name?"

"This is Jonathan Charles Mellark," Bran said proudly.

"You gave him mine and Dad's middle names?"

"I didn't think that you'd mind," Bran said, smiling down at his son.

"No, I like it."

"How much longer do you have, Son?"

"Just a couple more minutes. I've got a meeting across base in twenty."

"Could the two of you give me some time with Peeta?"

The two men waved before stepping out of sight. Ansel adjusted his glasses on his nose before clearing his throat.

"How are you doing over there, Peet?"

"Things are okay, I guess. I could be worse, we could be in a war zone. Right now things are calm and I spend most of my days teaching the local kids how to play soccer and my nights in the guard or control booths. I'm not in harms way dad."

"But you'll tell me when you're being shipped into a war zone, you won't hide it so that I won't worry?"

"I did that once and I promised you that it wouldn't happen again."

"I am so proud of you son. Seeing you in your fatigues is like looking at a picture from twenty years ago."

"You think I look that much like you?" Peeta asked with a small smile.

"Exactly like me. Your brothers can't say that, not that I love them any less than I love you."

"Thanks, Dad."

"I'm proud of you Son. You come home in one piece, you hear me?"

"I can't make any guarantees dad, but I promise to not do anything reckless."

"That's all I ask. I'll see you next week."

"Love you, Dad."

"I love you too, Son."

Ansel turned off his screen first, just like always. Peeta wanted him to be the one to break contact so that his dad could hold on as long as he wanted. It wasn't that Peeta minded that his dad worried so much but it could be a little daunting having to reassure him every single time they saw each other. He wished that he could hop on the next flight home and hug his dad the way that he wanted to, play basketball with Rye in the park less than a mile from the bakery or hold his nephew like a normal person but he wasn't normal. This was the life that he had chosen and he didn't feel that his time with the Army was up yet.

XXXX

Madge had given Katniss her space for the first few days after her fight with Haymitch. By that weekend she felt that things had gotten out of hand and she made it her mission to drag her best friend out of her funk. Katniss had yet to come out of her room when Madge slammed her bedroom door against the wall on Saturday afternoon. Katniss was sprawled across her bed sideways watching The Notebook, which was a sign that she was still down in the dumps because only Ryan Gosling's undying love for Rachel McAdams could cheer Katniss up at the moment.

"You've watched this three times this week. How many more times are you going to watch it?"

"Until my uncle brings my mother back," she said with determination.

"Kat, you know that isn't going to happen. She got accepted into that place in Bristol; Effie told me yesterday. They're taking her down Monday."

"They weren't even going to tell me?" Katniss asked, bolting upright.

"I told you that Effie was on the phone for you yesterday, it isn't our fault that you chose to not come to the phone," Madge pointed out, her arms folded over her chest.

Katniss flung herself back onto the bed with a grunt, throwing an arm over her face.

"Turn it off," she said with a sigh.

"You want me to turn the movie off?"

"Please," she said quietly.

Madge turned off the movie and then helped Katniss off the bed and into the bathroom. Katniss came out in hiking gear but Madge didn't say a word. Katniss usually came back from the woods in a better mood so she was going to let it go. She followed Katniss out of the room to the front door where Katniss stopped to lace up her boots.

"Be careful and take a jacket, it's supposed to rain later."

"Yes, Mom," Katniss said with a roll of her eyes.

"I only do it because I love you," Madge said with an endearing smile.

"Answer my phone if it rings," Katniss said before slipping out the door.

Madge gave her a few minutes just in case she came back inside for something before going back up to Katniss' room. It was time that Madge took matters into her own hands. She looked through Katniss' pictures on her phone until she found the one she was looking for. It was taken by Effie at the Fall Carnival last year. Katniss' hair was loose and falling over one shoulder and her head was thrown back in laughter at something Haymitch who was out of the frame had said. It was the perfect profile picture for Katniss. Anything was better than the picture of Katniss and her ex from Senator Crane's Christmas party two years ago. She looked so sad in the picture like she knew that her and Thresh's relationship was reaching it's end. Madge quickly changed the profile picture before placing the phone back on it's charging dock. 'Let Peeta see that, and give him something to look forward to.' is what she would tell Katniss when she asked about the change. The other picture was outdated anyway, it was time for a change.