A/N: Hi guys! So before I say anything else, I just needed to say I am so sorry this chapter is insanely overdue... But I had finals, and I really needed to do well on them, but now they're over so I promise I will update more frequently! Anways, here is Chapter 4!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games

Katniss POV

"Katniss! Wake up!" Prim, yet again, screamed into my ear.

"Huh? I'm up! I'm up!" I said startled.

"You need to hurry up and get ready, we have to leave in an hour!"

"Fine." I grumbled and got up.

I took a quick shower, brushed my teeth and hair.

I walked back into my bedroom and looked for something to wear.

Oh, right. I'm going to Peeta's after school today. I need to at least try and look presentable.

I searched through my drawers until i found skinny jeans and a light purple, flowy tank top. I quickly braided my hair and put on white flip flops.

i ran downstairs grabbed some toast and headed out the door with Prim.

"Why do you look so nice today?" she asked me.

"What do you mean?"

"You look... girly. I don't know. But you look nice."

"Oh, well thanks." I smiled at her.

We reached her school and I said goodbye to her and that's when I remember again that i was going to Peeta's after school.

"Oh, hey Prim?"

"Yeah?" she turned around.

"I'm going to Peeta's house after school today... Do you think you'll be okay walking home alone?"

She smirked. "I'll be fine Katniss. At least now I know why you're all dressed up. Have fun!"

And with that she walked away and was quickly surrounded by a group of people.

I sighed and started heading to my school.

She's one crazy little duck.

The school day went by in a blur and before I knew it I was at my locker with Peeta getting ready to go to his house so he could teach me how to bake.

"So are you excited?" he asked me.

"About what?"

"Learning how to bake!"

I laughed and gave him a small smile. "Of course I am!"

With that we started walking out of the school and to his bakery.

"So how was your second day of school?" he asked trying to make conversation as we were walking.

"I mean, I guess it was okay. This school is so much better than the one I used to go to in District 2. I mean all the teachers there didn't care, all the girls were sluts, and all the guys were jerks. But here it's different. Most of the girls aren't sluts, and the guys from what I've seen seem pretty nice." I nudged his arm, and that made him smile.

"Well thank you Miss Everdeen, you're pretty nice yourself."

I smiled at that. No one has ever told me that. Back in District 2 I was always know as the girl with no friends, the loner. I was basically a loser. But here, I felt like I was welcome.

"Here we are!" Peeta said as we walked up to a building that had a huge sign that read Mellark Bakery on it.

We walked inside and put our school bags down.

"Do you want anything to drink?" he offered.

"No thanks, I'm good."

I can't believe I'm in Peeta Mellark's home. Ew, that makes me sound really stalkerish. But he is one of the nicest guys I've ever met and the fact that I am actually becoming friends with him is amazing.

"So... What are we gonna be baking?" I asked him.

"Probably a bit of everything because it's just me to run the shop for the next three days. My two brothers and my dad are in the Capitol for some meeting, and my mom is who knows where, so it's just me for now."

I nodded.

"Let's get to work!" he exclaimed as he handed me an apron.

"What first, boss?" I teased.

He thought about it for a minute.

"We'll make some bread first, start out easy for you."

"Sounds good."

He lightly floured the surface of the counter and he started to show me how to knead the bread. It was a little confusing so when he asked me if I wanted to try I was a bit hesitant.

"C'mon Katniss, I'll help you." he said with that award winning smile.

"Okay.." I said still a bit unsure of myself.

I walked over to the counter and poked to dough and it was so squishy it made me laugh.

"What's so funny?" Peeta smiled.

"It's squishy."

This made him burst out laughing, and the sound of him laughing made me laugh.

We ended up laughing for about five minutes before we actually started to calm down.

"Okay, here I'll help you."

He walked up behind me and places his hands on my hands in front of me.

"Is this okay?" he asked me.

My breathing rate was increasing because of how close he was so I just managed to get out, "Mmhmm."

He laughed and he started moving our hands.

I was barely doing anything because I didn't think I could move because of how close he was to me.

By this point his chest was pressed up against my back, but after a few minutes he stepped away letting me knead the dough by myself which I actually got the hang of.

But as soon as he let go, I immediately felt cold. It was like his body was a space heater, it was just so warm and welcoming.

After about five more minutes of kneading he said that it was enough and he cut them into loaves and stuck them into the ovens.

He turned to me and started laughing.

"What?" I asked him.

"You have... You have flower on your face." He was cracking up.

He walked over to me and put his hand up to the spot the flower was on and tried to wipe it off but instead he put more flower on me.

"Oh. It's on Mellark."

For the next ten minutes we threw flour and all sorts of ingredients at each other. We were a mess. We both had flower and icing all over our clothes and faces.

We were b oth sitting on the group laughing when he said we should change our clothes.

"But I don't have extra clothes with me..." I said.

"Don't worry. I have some clothes that don't fit me anymore."

We both got up and I followed him to his room above the bakery.

His room was plain and had a small bed in the corner of it, and a desk in the opposite corner. It was kind of cozy.

I walked across the room and sat on the edge of his bed as he looked for clothes for us to wear.

He threw mea pair of basketball shorts and a sweatshirt.

"Uh, the bathroom's right through that door over there." He pointed.

"Okay thanks." I walked over and closed the door behind me. I put Peeta's clothes on which were still a little big on me, but not by a lot. I pulled my hair out of it's braid and let it fall down to the middle of my back.

I turned the door knob to go back into Peeta's room and as soon as I walked in I immedeatley froze. He was standing there looking for a shirt with just a pair of sweatpants on.

He must have noticed me staring because he said, "You like what you see, Everdeen?" He flexed his arm muscles.

Oh my sweet baby Jesus. That boy has the nicest muscles, and oh my goodness, his abs...

I just laughed it off even though I could feel myself blushing. "You wish, Mellark."

We walked back down stairs into the kitchen where we made a huge mess.

"We'll clean this up in a little while... Do you want some water?"

"Sure." i said as I sat down on a stool in the middle of the kitchen.

A minute later he came back with two cups of water and set them down on the table in front of us.

"So, how did you like baking?" he asked me.

I laughed. "All I did was knead bread, but I had fun."

He smiled. "Well I'm glad."

After a few moments of a comfortable silenced I finally remembered the hand holding.

"Hey Peeta?"

"Hmm?"

"Why did you grab my hand in the hallway yesterday?"

"Or right, that. Well... Earlier that day, that girl you saw, Johanna, she asked me to meet her in the janitors closet. So I did. But before you get the wrong impression, i did it just to tell her that I didn't want to do what she wanted to do and that I wasn't interested in her... But then she didn't believe me and I basically had to force her off of me. So then later that day when we saw her, I thought she would leave me alone if she saw I was taken by someone else... But I'm not trying to use you, I just wanted her to leave me alone."

"Oh... It's okay, I completely understand." I gave him a reassuring smile.

I took a sip of my water and I heard the front door swing open with a loud bang.

"Peeta Mellark!" a lady's voice yelled.

"Oh no..." Peeta mumbled.

"Wha-?" I barely got out before a lady came storming into the room.

She looked around the room for a brief moment and then looked at Peeta and I.

"What is the meaning of this? Who is this girl? Peeta Mellark, you are dead."

He looked at her with frightened eyes, and I got up out of my seat not knowing what to do.

She walked over to a nearby counter and picked up a spatchula.

"WHAT IS THAT GIRL DOING HERE PEETA? HMM?" She screamed at him, clearly aggravated that he hasn't answered her yet.

"She's my friend mom." He answered through gritted teeth.

"No she is not. Not any more. She is not welcome back here! She is trash. Just look at her. And she made a mess of our home!"

"Mother, do not talk about her like that!" he screamed back at her, standing up.

She looked shocked, "How dare you raise your voice at me!"

She took a step forward and brought her arm with the spatchula in her hand back, and before I knew it she whipped it forward right across Peeta's face and he went crashing to the ground.

"Peeta!" I screamed.

I ran over and sat next to him. I grabbed his face and looked at it. It was already starting to swell up.

"Oh my gosh.." I could feel tears starting to roll down my cheeks.

I turned around to face his mother and she was staring at me with angry eyes.

"You! Get out of my house! And never come back!" she screamed.

I grabbed Peeta and picked him up and we quickly walked out of the store.

We walked and walked until I had no idea where I was.

We ended up in a small meadow and I had noticed that not one of us had spoken a word.

We sat down next to each other in a patch of grass.

"Peeta..." I whispered.

"Katniss, I am so sorry you had to see that..."

"Peeta, there's nothing to be sorry about. I'm just glad I was there to get you out of there."

He looked up at me and I saw his face was all swelled up on the left side.

"Oh my gosh, Peeta! Your face!" I cried.

"Katniss... Really, I'm fine.. It's nothing new.." he said quietly.

"You mean she's done that to you before? Peeta, you need to tell somone! Please, I can't stand seeing her hurt you!"

"No Katniss, I can't tell anyone... It'll just get worse. You're the only one who know about it besides my family... I'm begging you, please don't tell anyone."

I looked at him in the eyes. His bright blue eyes. One was half shut because of the swelling and the other one was just brimming with tears.

"I promise I won't tell anyone."

He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me in for a hug.

I rested my cheek on his chest. And I heard him silently sob.

Peeta didn't deserve any of this. He didn't deserve such an awful mother, and he sure does not deserve being abused like that. He was too amazing, sweet, kind-hearted, caring... The list could go on forever. He really was just amazing, and I did not want to lose him.

We sat in each others arms for another fifteen minutes and then he pulled back.

"Thankyou, Katniss. Thankyou for being here for me."

"What are friends for?" I smiled at him, and he smiled back.

I really don't want to lose the Boy with the Bread.

A/N: There you go! Please review it means the world to me! And I'm sorry for any mistakes. Chapter 5 should be up within the next two - three days!

Thanks for reading! xx