So originally I was never going to write more than the first chapter of this story. But your reviews made me want to continue! I decided to rate this M for an obvious reason, and this is the chapter when it comes into play. So please be prepared for it! Thank you all again for your kind reviews, please let me know if you have any suggestions or comments!

My time in 2 is unpleasant. I get moved from place to place for safety reasons, although I am allowed to hunt. I spend as much time as possible outside in order to take my mind off of Peeta. Gale doesn't press me for information about our relationship; in fact he doesn't really speak to me at all. It's so cold this morning, so I sit with my knees to my chest and set my bow at my side. I hear quiet footsteps behind me; I don't have to turn around to know its Gale.

"Hey Catnip" he says with a smile in his voice.

"Hey, they let you out for a change?" I don't know what else to say, what happened to not speaking?

"I asked to come hunting with you, you left earlier than I expected."

"Oh, yeah. " I mumble, "I couldn't sleep ".

"I think we are having a meeting about cracking the Nut today, you should come. There's food."

I laugh because he mentions food in order to convince me. When I finally look up at him he's standing so tall and he looks breathtaking in his uniform.

"Okay, I guess I have no choice if they are feeding us."

"I thought that might convince you" He gives a light hearted laugh and sits down next to me.

We sit and stare into the distance for a few minutes, but no game wanders by. I turn and look at Gale, I'm about to open my mouth to ask how he has been doing when he kisses me. I'm shocked; but I don't stop him. It's been weeks since I have had any real connection with another human being, since Haymitch yapping in my ear doesn't count. Gales kissing becomes more intense and his hand settles on my cheek, the second it does I think of Peeta. My head drops and I don't want to look back up.

"Gale…I can't." I hope that my words were audible, because I don't think I can manage them again.

"I'm sorry Katniss. I just—" He sounds hurt, or confused. I'm not sure. "I just had to know for sure. That you made up your mind, I mean."

"Oh. I have, I really do love Peeta." Am I convincing him or myself?

"Okay. I'm happy for you…see you at the meeting then."

Why. Why does this feeling keep creeping back up on me? I love Peeta and he loves me. Gale is just my friend and I have to keep it that way. Later that afternoon I make my way into the Justice Building and take a seat in the window while the rest of the group is banging their heads trying to find a way to "crack the nut". When Gale bursts out with an idea, I'm stopped short of my day dreaming when I realize what he is purposing.

"That sounds an awful lot like a mining accident."

"I don't care, it will work."

I don't bother arguing with Gale or Beetee at this point. When the Nut does fall, I am struck with the pain of what has just happened. I want it to end, to reverse our decision! After hours of no sign of life from the mountain Haymitch tells me I will be making a speech. No. I am awful at these sorts of things; I will only make things worse. Instead of a successful speech I have just watched myself get shot on live television, along with the entire country of Panem.

Everything is dark after I see myself fall forward. I can't move or breath and the amount of noise surrounding me in so faint I think this might be it. Everything goes black. I have no memory from this time forward, except for Haymitch yelling for me in my earpiece. If he sounded scared, this must be bad.

xXx

Hazy. That's how I feel when I wake up in my hospital bed in 13. I try to sit up but the only thing I manage is a moan. I don't see anyone in the room with me, not even Haymitch. I know it's probably wrong that I am so hurt by this but, not even Prim is here? Do they know I was shot? I was shot. I should be dead, why am I not dead? I just want to see Peetas face, hear his voice and hold his hand. I pull myself upright, is someone screaming? Oh right, that's me. The second I stand up I feel sick; the morphling is getting pumped into my system at a very high rate. I rip out the needle and set it on the bed. This doesn't help at all, if anything I am more nauseous than before. I stumble to the door and fling it open; I look down at my bare feet. My free hand makes sure I am wearing clothes before I continue down the empty hallway.

Judging by the stabbing pain in my left side, I won't make it any further than the dining hall. This turns out not to be such a bad thing because this hallway is full of people filing in for lunch. Suddenly I feel like I may pass out, I drop to my knees. Just before I am about to lay myself down and curl up into the fetal position, I see Peetas face. With everything I have left I scream his name. He doesn't see me, but he hears my voice and is instantly frantic.

"Katniss?" His voice is unsure, like he may have been hearing things.

"Peeta!" The pain has intensified to a new level.

Immediately Peeta is at my side, he looks so confused. Maybe they really don't know what happened. He scoops me up like a rag doll and begins carrying me back down towards the hospital.

"Prim! Prim, I need your help!" Peeta sounds so nervous, and when I look down and see the blood oozing onto my shirt I realize why.

"Peeta" I manage to get out again, "I think I am going to be sick".

I throw up all over the two of us. The last thing I remember is Peeta adjusting his grip under my knees and back before my head drops and my arms go limp. His body feels strong; this is not the same Peeta I left sleeping a few weeks ago.

xXx

Freezing cold water is stinging my skin like a thousand needles at once. When I open my eyes I am in nothing but a bra and underwear. Peeta is holding me up against the shower wall with one arm, and rinsing out my ripped stitches with the other. The water never gets warmer, but Peeta does his best to clean my hair and skin of vomit and blood. He is soaked from head to toe, as he lifts me back up and gets Prims help to dry my skin. He gently lies me back down on the bed and pushes the wet hair off of my face. I can feel Prims small fingers re-stitching my side, she is quick and before I realize it she also replaces my morphling drip. Peeta lies down next to me, propping my head against the pillow. I notice the tips of his fingers are stained blue and green. Again I am unconscious.

Judging by the circles under Peetas sleeping eyes, I have been out for a minimum of two days. The pain in my ribs in excruciating, when I try to sit up it only makes it worse. Peeta lies on his side with one arm under my head and the other resting on the inside of my thigh. Since I cannot sit up I do my best to turn onto my side with him. My movement wakes him up and he searches my face for any discomfort or pain, when I smile he seems relieved. Neither one of us speaks; Peeta just pulls my body up against his and falls back asleep.

"He's been sitting up for the past two days, you know."

"What about you? Why weren't you here when I woke up?" I hiss at Haymitch in a whisper.

"I only left to change; I didn't think you would wake up through the morphling." His voice is sincere, almost concerned.

"I was scared…" I admit to him in a sheepish voice.

He stands and walks over to the bed, and I roll onto my back slowly to look up at him. Peeta is so limp in his sleep his hand just slides off my hip onto the mattress.

"I'm sorry Katniss. I wanted to tell you what was going on but you had other plans it seems."

"Why didn't Peeta know I was here? Or Prim? Or anyone?" I am not trying to sound accusing, but I can tell it's coming off this way.

"I didn't want to scare them; Peeta was doing so well in training. And Prim is getting trained to be a doctor. They both—"He stops suddenly. "There is no excuse, I'm sorry that we weren't all here Sweatheart."

Haymitch has called me Sweatheart thousands of times, but this time I feel comforted by it. I roll back over and face Peeta, the scruff on his face shows me he hasn't left my side since we found each other in the hallway. I touch his chest, and arms. His body has been fully restored, he looks healthy and…new.

"Haymitch," I say with a pang of question in my voice "what did they give him to make him look so good?"

He laughs, "The accelerator, remember? Don't worry they've been injecting you too. You'll feel better in a week or so."

"They have? Did you make this decision for me?"

"Don't act like it wasn't what you wanted." He smirks and makes his way to the door, "Let him sleep for a little while."

I do. We both sleep through the rest of the day and into late the next morning. I wake up when Peeta is playing with the hem of my shirt and kissing my nose. I don't want to open my eyes at first; I just want him to admire me this way for as long as possible. While Peeta is touching the edge of my hip, I notice that the pain in my ribs has gone down a considerable amount. My eyes flutter open.

"Hi" Peeta chirps and smiles at me so brightly.

"Thank you" I kiss him softly and wrap my arm around his neck.

"For what? Not being there when you got shot?"

"No, for carrying me back here and cleaning me up, I'm sorry."

"You were awake for that; you could have helped me out!" He's joking of course, but it makes me feel bad. "How do your ribs feel?"

"They hurt a lot less than before; Haymitch said they gave me the same thing they gave you." I say as my hand runs down his arm.

"Yeah, I feel a lot better. More like myself, they even let me train."

We talk for what feels like hours, until I am forced to get up and walk around. Plutarch finds me and slows his pace down to match mine. He is going on and on about a propo, a wedding propo.

"Who's wedding? You don't mean Peeta and me?" The thought makes me feel nervous and sick all at the same time.

"Oh no Katniss! Finnick and Annies!" He sounds excited, since he hasn't planned anything cheerful in his

entire life.

"That's wonderful, when is it?"

"In a few days, you should feel much better by then. I want to make sure Snow knows you're all right."

After fighting about the extravagance of the wedding, Coin and Plutarch finally reach a settlement and plans begins to roll. The people of 13 are more than delighted to make decorations and help set up the large dining hall. My mother lends me a dress to wear to the wedding, even though I feel over dressed next to some of the people from 12 who did not have the luxury of returning to their homes for items left behind.

The dining hall looks so beautiful, as do Annie and Finnick. They glow as the ceremony takes place, and not once does Annie need to cover her ears. I don't even know I'm smiling until Johanna pushes me a little and actually giggles at my expense. "Go dance! You don't want to miss an opportunity to show Snow!" She's right, so I grab Prim and we dance for several songs. My ribs start to hurt a little, but not enough to show on camera.

"I didn't know you liked to dance" Peeta says from behind me, "You wouldn't want to dance with me, would you? His arm reaches up behind his head to itch the opposite shoulder in a nervous way.

"Sure." I say smiling as I take his hand.

"You look beautiful Katniss" Peeta blurts out as we come together in the center of the room.

"You don't look so bad yourself" My heart is pounding out of my chest and I stumble over my own feet.

The music is slow, and the lights get dim. I notice there is no one dancing next to us, or anywhere in the room for that matter. I look up at the cameras red light, trained on my face. Peeta meets my gaze and turns my chin back to face his. "Forget it" he mouths then smiles. I can't just forget I'm on camera, but I do want to show Snow that I am alive and well. That I have Peeta now, and he has nothing to stop me. I stand on my toes, wrap both my arms around Peetas neck and kiss him. It's not a gentle kiss but a deep, wet invigorating one. I feel his hands immediately wrap around my waist, the whole room starts to clap and whistle. I break away from Peeta as people start to rejoin us on the dance floor. His eyes demonstrate pure happiness, and then look away from mine into the corner of the room. The lights brighten as four men from 13 wheel out the largest cake I have ever seen. I remember Peetas stained finger tips, so this is why. The cake is gorgeous waves of blue and green, it's perfect.

After the celebration, Peeta walks me back to my room. I lean up against the wall and his arm rests extended next to my head, his body directly in front of mine. We laugh a little about how awful some of the dancing was from 13, and some about how great the food tasted for once. After a few minutes Peeta leans his body against mine, his forehead pressed to my shoulder. This is my last chance.

"Johanna is staying with another girl from 12 tonight. " I suddenly announce into the air.

"She is? So it's just you tonight?" His voice is hopeful and anxious.

I reach behind me and push open the door. We slip inside with anyone noticing, and Peeta pins me up against the wall. His breathing is already shallow from kissing, and he inhales sharply at the touch of my hand under his shirt. I just want to touch every part of his body, it's so strong now that's it has been restored. His hands tussle in my air and my braids begin to come loose, eventually my hair falls in waves around my shoulders. I push Peeta off and take him by the hand to my bed. I lay down immediately on my back, but he just stands there.

"Katniss…you are sure?" He sounds sincerely concerned.

I kick off my shoes, sit up and pull the dress off. It lands somewhere on top of the dresser across the room. I lie back down, and glance down at myself laying in just a bra and the only pink I own, my underwear. I think I can see Peetas heart actually pounding back in forth in his chest.

"I'm sure." I say as the corners of my mouth turn upwards.

Peeta slowly makes his way over to me, tossing his shoes aside. He crawls into the bed, and lies down next to me. His eyes take in every inch of my body, I have to actually take his hand and place it on my hip. I push my body against his and kiss him; he kisses me back as the tension in his movements starts to loosen. After several minutes I have to roll back over and catch my breath. Peeta props himself up on his elbow and kisses me again, his fingers run from the center of my bra to just above the line of my panties. My hips buck reflexively against his touch, I look up at Peeta as he bites his bottom lip. I know he wants this as bad as I do. He's just such a gentlemen, he won't be the one to push it all the way.

I catch Peetas hand on the way back down my stomach and push his fingers underneath my underwear. I surprise myself when I let out a loud moan, and push my hips against his hand. He buries his face in my neck whispers my name, I can't respond with words because Peeta starts making small circles at the core of my body. My hands clench onto the sheets so tightly my knuckles turn white. Peeta shocks me again when he suddenly stops, sits up in front of me and pulls my underwear off. We stare are each other for a few moments, before he takes off his shirt and leans over my face. He kisses me, holding himself up with one arm, his other hand travels down my side and under my back. He can't do it. I sit forward slightly and unhook my bra and kiss him before lying back against the pillow. He looks down at my naked body, his free hand tracing the edge of my side, back down my hips and in-between my thighs. He wouldn't even have to do anything else at this point; I am so ready to have all of him. He doesn't care, his touch is so gentle and just his hand near my center is almost too much to handle. I'm about to say something when Peeta pushes his fingers inside me, I toss my head back and arch my back. My lips are quivering as a try not to yell his name.

It happens so fast, my whole body shakes and I can't control it. It feels so amazing I never want it to end; Peeta looks down at me with satisfaction written on his face. My breathing is deep, and so is Peetas as he lies down next to me. I look over at him, watching his chest rise and fall. I sit straight up and swing one leg over his body. His mouth is wide open with shock and he just rests his hands on my legs. I lean down and kiss him, then sit back up and wriggle off the remainder of his clothing. He swallows, well tries. Again he starts biting his lip as I re-position myself on his lap. I can feel his erection, so I know he wants me as bad as I want him. Suddenly he sits up and supports me with one hand on my back, the other cups my breast. This time it's Peeta that lets out a load moan as I grind my hips against him a little. I steady myself so he can use both hands on my chest, which he takes full advantage of. Peetas hands eventually find my hips again, he looks up at me.

"I love you" Those big blue eyes make me smile and I kiss him and slide my arms around his neck.

"I love you too, Peeta."

No more talking. I lift myself up enough to find Peetas rock hard, without further consulting him I slowly lower myself onto him. It hurts, much more than I expected. But Peetas reaction is so reassuring I can't stop now. He pushes his face into my chest and lets out an "Oh god, Katniss". This only makes me want to please him more, so slowly at first I grind my hips back and forth against him. Eventually Peeta lies back down and helps me move at the right place by holding my waist. His face is bright red and he can't stop saying my name, the sound of his voice is making my body hotter and hotter.

Peeta pushes me off and I land softly on my back next to him. At first I'm disappointed because I think we are done. Until Peeta sits up and pushes my knees apart and re-enters me at a much faster pace. I scream. It feels too good not to. My finger nails dig into his back, and hold on for dear life. He pushes much harder and faster than I could have on top of him, he grunts in my ear and holds onto my waist. It's too much, I lose it again. I moan Peetas name and my body shakes uncontrollably, I wrap my legs around his waist. Peetas grip on my waist gets tighter, his thrusting even harder he whispers my name one more time before he collapses on top of me.