Hey Everyone! I just have to say the response I got for the last chapter was incredible! Thank you so much for all of your kind reviews and PM's despite the end of the last chapter! You guys ROCK!

Thank you to Court81981 for making me a better writer, and to Pookieh for telling me all the time that I'm a better writer...LOL XOXOX

Lyrics from 'Closing Time' by Semisonic

Enjoy!

Damn it!

She missed him and his text message that she is currently staring at:

I wish hert drinking with me. Rifgr now.

The jumbled message makes Katniss laugh out loud despite her tired eyes, her empty stomach and the crick in her neck. She glances up at the clock and sees it is nearly three am. Peeta must have texted her after she went into surgery for the laryngeal paralysis on a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel who was brought in, unable to breathe, by his panicked owner.

Katniss is tempted to text him back, but she worries that if the sound of her incoming message will wake him, and from the state of his message she is sure he had no trouble getting drunk without her. So instead she puts the phone back into the pocket of her light blue scrub shirt and resolves to text him back later, at the very least to make sure he got home okay and that his hangover isn't too severe.

She wishes she had been off work and had seen the message in time to respond. The good-looking blond has taken up the majority of her non-medical related thoughts lately. And although they have communicated by text since the last time they saw each other, the messages never branched out past the standard 'hello, how are you doing?' If anything, Peeta has seemed less like himself and more distant from his abrupt one-word texts. Katniss can't help but wonder how much it has to do with the 'not kiss,' as she refers to it to her friends.

When she had called Johanna right after Peeta was out of sight and told her what embarrassing thing she had done now, her spunky best friend ruthlessly howled with laughter into Katniss's ear until she pulled the phone away. When Johanna relayed the story to Gale, who was obviously next to her, he had assured Katniss that she did the right thing; after all she barely knew the guy, and he had just broken up with his long-time girlfriend. His disagreement with Johanna over the matter didn't go well, however, and the two ended up fighting, effectively forgetting that Katniss was still sitting on the other end of the phone. She ended up disconnecting the call in the midst of their fight as they flung insults at each other.

But now as she stares at Peeta's inebriated message, she can't help but feel the slight flutter of hope in her gut. That same bit of hope stays with her on the ride home after the surgery and when she crawls into bed. She falls asleep to image of Peeta wearing his sexy grin in her head.

She is awoken by the sound of Toto's 'Africa' filling her bedroom. When she opens her eyes, she can feel the sharp pain of not sleeping nearly long enough shoot through her brain. In her bleary state, she fumbles for the phone and almost ends the call instead of answering it.

"Hello? Prim?" she says in a raspy, just-woke-up voice.

"Katniss?" She hears her younger sister answer back.

"Yeah, hi."

"Did I wake you?" Prim squeaks. "I waited until after 9 where you are." she adds apologetically. Katniss glances at the clock to see its 9:07am.

"No it's okay. I had an emergency surgery last night. I didn't get home until almost four."

"Oh Katniss, you work too hard," she scolds in her cheery voice, and it makes Katniss smile.

"So what's new with you?" she asks her sister.

"I saw my first case of ebola!" she squeals, causing Katniss to chuckle out loud.

"Sounds delightful." She listens intently as her sister recounts the gruesome details of this case while she's over in Nigeria doing a pre-med internship with Doctors Without Borders."That's awesome, Prim," she praises when the woman finishes the tale.

"So what's new with you?" Prim asks eagerly. Katniss sighs at the question, but regrets the action immediately.

"What's going on?" The sisters have always been close, especially in the years since their parents' deaths. She knows the subtle gesture revealed more than she was ready to. Katniss gnaws on her bottom lip, trying to decide if she should tell Prim about Peeta.

"I met a guy," she blurts out. She can hear her sister gasp on the other end, and she rolls her eyes.

"Oh my god! Kaaaaatniiiiiissssssss! Oh my god, oh my god, who!?" Katniss groans at her sister's enthusiasm.

"His name is Peeta."

"Jesus, Katniss that Boston accent is really starting to set in." It takes her a second to figure out what her sister means, but then huffs in frustration.

"No, it's not Peter; it is actually Peeta. P-E-E-T-A."

"Ah, well what does he look like?"

"Um, well, blond hair, bright blue eyes, muscular but not too much, and he's, oh god Prim he's gorgeous, gah!" Her sister giggles in her ear.

"Ok, where did you meet him?"

Katniss stops at the question, knowing her sister will give her shit for the answer. "Um, his dog is one of my patients."

"Katniss!" Prim admonishes. "You can't date your patients' owners...can you?"

"Well, that's just it Prim, we aren't dating." She sighs and then explains everything to the girl on the other line, ending with the text message from last night.

"Oh wow, it sounds like he likes you as much as you like him."

"Oh yeah, how do you figure that?" Katniss asks.

"You really can't see how? Ok, well, I mean there was Dunkin Donuts, the muffins that were just for you, the half hot chocolate-half hazelnut which he obviously took time to figure out, then he went with you to the barbeque and then he tried to kiss you and then still sent you drunken texts. Katniss, you two have it bad for each other."

"I mean, but..."

"But what?"

"I don't know, I mean, I gave him cheek."

"So," Prim interjects, "and he still gave you his number and even texted you to tell you he wished you were out getting drunk with him"

"I mean I know that, but, well, my residency..."

"Oh god, Katniss, no...just no. All your life you have always been obsessed with making it to the next goal. First it was high school, then college, then medical school, and now it's your residency, and next it'll be you studying for your ACVS, and it will be something after that. You are so focused on the next step that you don't take any time to enjoy all the stuff that happens in between." Her sister sighs deeply. "After mom and dad died, you told me how much you wished you had enjoyed the time you had with them, but you're doing the same thing now."

For a moment they are silent; the emotion of mentioning their parents is still at times raw for both of them.

"Listen, Katniss, I love you, but you are boring and I just need you to start enjoying yourself."

"You need me to?" Katniss says with a chuckle.

"Yes, I do," her sister says in mock seriousness. "Promise me you will try, promise me you will start making decisions that will make you happy, please."

"Ok, Prim, I promise," she relents.

"Oh good, now tell me how Buttercup is doing." As if the ornery cat can hear his mama's voice through the phone, the chubby orange Persian comes plodding out of Katniss's bedroom. He gives Katniss a once-over before sticking his squashed nose into the air and walking right out of the room again.

"I don't even notice he's here half the time," she admits to her sister. It's true; her and Prim's cat manage to coexist without much interaction, and both seem to like that just fine. Despite being a vet, Katniss is not much of a cat person, and usually when there is something between her and Buttercup, it's bad. Once Katniss stepped on a particularly fresh hairball that Buttercup left on the black shag rug in the bathroom. Another time the cat left a dead mouse in her bed, and although this can be a normal thing for any cat to do, the fat Persian mutilated the corpse first, leaving blood splotches and tiny entrails all over her bed, and she had to throw that sheet set away.

"Oh good. Thank you so much for taking care of him while I've been gone."

"I can't wait for you to come home," she says wistfully, dismissing Prim's comment.

"I'll be home in a couple of months."

"I know." She sighs. "I just miss you."

"I miss you too."

Katniss talks to her sister for another 20 minutes before she has to hang up and get ready for her afternoon shift. Right before she walks out the door, she remembers Peeta's text from the previous night. She pulls out her phone.

I wish I had seen this last night. I hope you got home alright and that your head isn't hurting too much. Hope you're having a good weekend. :)

Katniss hits send and then heads to work.

Katniss sits in the big comfy black chair in Johanna's apartment, nursing a Blue Moon and trying to ignore her friend's pension for stripping right in front of her.

"So where are we going tonight?" Katniss asks while trying to look away from Johanna's freed breasts as she changes bras for the third time. Katniss has every other Friday off, so she and her friends usually take the opportunity to go out drinking, since Katniss is not on call.

"Um," Johanna begins while strapping her boobs in, "I think the plan is to go somewhere near Annie and Finn." Her answer makes Katniss pause. The gang has never left the city on their Friday excursions... ever.

"Why?"

"Well," Johanna studies her profile in the mirror after putting on a tight black v-neck shirt. "Because we never go into Salem to drink, but I guess there are a lot of places there that Finn says are legit."

Now Katniss knows something is up. One of the major reasons why she and her friends never leave the city on nights like this is because Johanna will bitch and complain about not wanting to take the train until finally the Odairs relent to go into Boston

"And you're okay with this?" Katniss asks in a measured tone.

"Obviously, Brainless," she says before kicking off her gray skirt and walking into her closet again. "Plus," she calls out when she's out of sight, "maybe you could ask your boy with the muffins to join us." Katniss groans. "What?" Johanna peeks her head from around the door.

"It's just..."

"Just what?" her friend challenges.

"Gah, I totally embarrassed myself."

"Agreed, but he still drunk-texted you, so you couldn't have made that bad of an impression." Katniss thinks back to the adorable, misspelled message, and allows herself a small smile. After her return text, she didn't hear back from him until that night.

I did get home alright, thanks for asking. I'm sorry we missed each other.

But she hasn't heard from him since, and with her week being as busy as it was, she never thought to reach out again.

"I don't know, Jo." She can hear the defeat in her own voice. She looks up just in time to see that Johanna has emerged from her closet, now clad in tight dark jeans and is rolling her eyes at Katniss.

"Come on, we'll talk about it when we get there." And before she can protest, her friend is dragging her out the door.

Katniss is happy to see their destination—a bar/restaurant called Tavern in the Square, otherwise knows as TITS, according to Finn. When she looks up at Gale, she sees the same relief on his face. Johanna hasn't stopped bitching since they stepped out onto the platform at North Station. It was a long train ride.

"Over here!" Finnick yells from across the crowded bar area, gesturing with his hand. He and Annie are seated with drinks at a table next to the window. Katniss, Johanna and Gale approach the table and climb into the stools around it. It is not lost on Katniss that there is an extra seat.

"So who are we expecting?" She gestures to the empty stool, wanting to get this out of the way. Finnick glaces at Katniss before shooting Johanna a confused look.

"She knows who the stool is for; don't look at me like that." Johanna barks. Katniss looks down, still annoyed that her friends have been plotting behind her back.

"What would be the harm in just texting him to see if he's around?" She glances up to see Annie smiling sweetly at her. "I mean he is practically up the street." she adds. Katniss catches Finnick nodding wildly next to his wife, and in a last ditch effort she looks to Gale, who is always the voice of reason, but he betrays her with a shrug.

"Go for it, Kat," he says with a small smirk.

"Fine," she snaps, then pulls out her phone and types a message to Peeta, letting him know where they are and asking if he wants to join them. She is nervous as she hits send, but as the time ticks by and his response never comes, her nerves yield to the sting of disappointment, which she proceeds to try and drown with round after round of whiskey sours.

Katniss eventually forgets about her quiet phone and begins to start unwinding and having fun after a brutal week. Haymitch had her schedule stacked to the brim, and the other surgery resident has been out with the flu since Monday.

The group orders their last rounds and agree to move the party back to the Odairs' house where everyone plans on spending the night. When they walk outside and begin moving up the street a ways to wait for their cab, Katniss feels her phone vibrate in her pocket. Her hands, clumsy with alcohol, fumble the phone from her jeans.

Sounds like a lot of fun, sorry I couldn't make it. She smiles at the message, and the irony of their bad timing, and at the bravery she feels coursing through her veins. Then she remembers the promise she made Prim—to just go for it. She stops walking.

"How do I get to Peeta's coffee shop from here?" She calls out to her friends, who are a few feet ahead of her now. She laughs out loud at the way the four of them turn in unison, wearing the same confused look on their faces.

"Um." Annie looks around. "Take a left onto Derby, and it's about ten blocks up the street on your right." Katniss nods her appreciation and then begins walking past the stunned group.

"Kitty Kat," Finnick calls to her. "Do you want us to come with you?" Katniss just waves dismissively back at him.

"No, I'll be ok, thanks."

"Do you want us to wait somewhere for you?" Johanna asks.

"No, it's cool I'll meet you back at the house," she calls over her shoulder.

"Kat." Gale's voice is what stops her in her tracks. She swivels around and sees their concern for her unorthodox actions.

"Fuck guys, I'm an adult. I'll be ok, and I'll meet up with you later," she insists, and before they can question her actions again, she stalks off up the street.

A combination of nerves, adrenaline, alcohol and Prim's words fuel her. As her heart pumps furiously in her chest, she realizes how drunk she actually is. She doesn't blame her friends for being surprised—she herself is surprised, but while a sober Katniss would second-guess herself to death, an intoxicated Katniss couldn't give a shit.

Because really what could go wrong?

She begins giggling uncontrollably when Mellark's comes into sight. She glances at her cell—11:05pm—and she wonders if they are still open. When she gets to the door, she spots that the lights are still on, and there is a woman behind the counter, looking down at something. Katniss wraps her fingers around the door handle and is ecstatic when she finds it unlocked. She takes a deep breath and lets her liquid courage push her over the threshold.

"Um, we're closed," says the gorgeous and vaguely familiar-looking redhead behind the counter.

"Oh...ah... I'm sorry, um is Peeta here?" she asks and hopes the woman doesn't realize how drunk she is. The redhead looks surprised and then her mouth pulls into a thin line. It is at then that moment Katniss realizes where she recognizes her from. "Has anyone ever told you...look just like the...Bruins' locker room reporter?" She stumbles through her words.

The woman responds with a curt smile. "Who are you?" she asks, a heavy edge to her voice. Katniss tries her best to work through the fog in her brain to try and decipher what she did to offend the person in front of her.

"Um, Katniss?" she answers.

"Are you not sure?" The woman's condescending tone grates at Katniss's nerves.

"I'm sorry...um...is Peeta here?" She hopes that if she asks the question again, this unexpected interrogation will be over.

"Sure." She sneers. "Let me get him." When she turns around, Katniss starts feeling like something is off, and she curses the amount she drank earlier because she is sure the situation would be quite obvious to a less inebriated version of her.

"Peeta." The redhead calls through the open door that leads out back, all the while intently staring at Katniss.

Katniss can feel her heartbeat in her throat as she waits nervously for Peeta to appear.

"What?" the blond asks as he walks through the door. Lavinia gestures with a hand towards Katniss. Peeta turns and for that perfect moment when his eyes meet hers, she starts to feel better; for the briefest of seconds, she and Peeta are the only ones there, nothing else matters in her addled brain, that is until a look of sheer panic spreads across his face, and suddenly in a moment of clarity, it all makes sense to her. Her eyes dart between Peeta and the woman next to him.

"She's your..."

"...Girlfriend." Lavinia finishes for her, although Katniss was going to add 'ex' to it." Katniss catches Peeta flinch slightly.

"Oh fuck." She drags out the 'O' and the 'F' like Ralphie from A Christmas Story then pinches her temple with her thumb and forefinger and closes her eyes. Suddenly the whole situation is unbelievable humorous, and she feels like it's either laugh or cry so a giggle turns into a chuckle which turns into a full-bodied laugh. The only thing that stops her is when she feels something tug on the sleeve of her jacket. When she pulls her fingers away and wipes tears of laughter off her face, she looks down to see Charlie staring up at her, his brown eyes wide, his pink tongue hanging out of his mouth in a gentle pant.

"Hi Charlie," she whispers then crouches down to pet him vigorously around the neck and head.

"She knows Charlie?" the redhead asks a dumbstruck Peeta.

"Uh..."

"I'm his doctor," Katniss finishes for him. She glances up and when her brain finally registers that Peeta hasn't uttered a single word to her, she realizes how foolish this visit has been, and how stupid she must look—a drunk veterinarian petting a dog.

She leans over and kisses the kind chocolate lab on the top of the head and sighs deeply before standing up. Her movement must have been too fast because she suddenly feels off balance, and she is sure she is going for the coup de gras by falling face first in front of Peeta and his beautiful girlfriend, but instead something steadies her, a hand on her elbow. When she turns, she finds herself looking into two sad-looking pools of deep blue. She nervously glances over Peeta's shoulder and finds the woman staring at the place where she and Peeta connect. Katniss pulls away.

"I'm going to go...sorry," she mumbles before moving around Peeta and pushing her way out the front door. Once outside she finds she has to gulp for air as the panic attack she has been fending off hits her with full force. With her breathing erratic and her stomach contents churning, she knows what's coming next and runs over to the public trash barrel outside the coffee shop just in time to vomit.

"Thanks Prim," she croaks into the barrel when her heaving has subsided. She stands up, still feeling drunk, but at least the sick feeling is gone. She wipes her mouth with the back of her hand and glances into the shop's window. She regrets that decision when she can see Peeta and his gorgeous girlfriend staring back at her. "Fuck me," she mutters before walking down the road, hoping it will lead anywhere but here.

"Katniss." She hasn't even made it ten feet when she hears Peeta calling from behind her. She turns around and sees him jogging towards her.

"Peeta!" his girlfriend yells as she walks hurriedly out of the bakery. Peeta pauses for a moment, allowing the woman to catch up with him. "What are you doing?" she demands.

"I'm driving her home," he replies calmly.

"No you are not."

"Vi, she just fucking vomited and she's having a hard time walking. I'm driving her home." He goes to move away from her, but she grabs his arm.

"You can't drive the girl you've been fucking while we were taking a break home." Katniss watches Peeta's jaw clench angrily as he wrenches his arm away.

"I haven't fucked her. She's my friend, and we weren't on a goddamn break—you broke up with me," he says through gritted teeth. He glances over at Katniss. "Are you going to Boston?" His girlfriend's eyes go wide.

"Ah...no...ah...I'm staying at Finnick and Annie's," Katniss answers. Peeta nods.

"Who are Finnick and Annie?" Lavinia breaks in. "How do you know these people?"

Peeta rubs his temples with his fingers. "Lavinia," he says with a sigh, his shoulders slumping.

"No, uh uh, you wouldn't do anything with me, and you completely ditched me when I needed you, but I'm gone a couple of weeks and you've made yourself a whole new set of friends? What the fuck, Peeta?"

"Are we seriously going to talk about this right now? Because maybe we should have talked about this before..."

Katniss isn't sure if Peeta's sentence just trailed off or if she had just moved out of range; all she knows she can't stop giggling at their argument and she needs to get away from them. As she tries to figure out what she finds so damn funny about the situation, she takes a corner past the maritime museum by the wharf and there docked in front of her is a large antique boat. At first, she just stares at the vessel in front of her, but then she lets her eyes flutter shut and begins to sway her body as she tries to imagine sailing on such a boat, in the middle of the Atlantic, lost in a storm.

"It's called the Friendship." Peeta's voice from behind startles her, and the act of opening her eyes while spinning causes her to stutter-step to regain her balance. He reaches out a hand to help her, but she ignores it.

"What?" she asks.

"The ship." He gestures behind her. "It's called the Friendship. It's an exact replica of one built in the late 1700's.

"Oh." She nods and turns back to look at the black and gold-trimmed boat behind her.

"Shall we?" She looks back at Peeta to find him gesturing for her to follow him.

"Peeta." She says with an over-exaggerated sigh. "I'm not getting a ride from you."

"Why not?" he questions.

"Ahh...because...ahh..." Her speech is clumsy as she searches for the right words. "Because it makes me uncomfortable," she says defiantly and watches as a look of hurt flashes across his face.

His eyes have darkened in the night, but every once in awhile, the moonlight catches them and they sparkle.

Why is he so good looking? She laments to herself as she unabashedly stares at him, and her resolve begins to crumble, but before she can give in, Peeta speaks up.

"Listen, Katniss, if you are uncomfortable being in a car with me I understand, but I am going to make sure you get back okay, and if that means driving along next to you as you walk home, then that's what I'm going to do." He looks so serious, but what he said is so absurd that the combination sets Katniss off into another fit of giggles.

"Oh my god, can you imagine?" she says in between her laughter. "Yeah that wouldn't look shady." Her hands find her sides as she laughs loudly. At first Peeta looks annoyed.

"I'm serious." But the corners of his mouth betray him and begin to turn up. "Stop it," he attempts to scold her, but by this time Katniss is gasping for air, and tears are running down her cheeks. Peeta rolls his eyes in mock disdain, but waits for her to calm herself. When she does she wipes off her cheeks and smirks at the blond in front of her.

"Fine, lets go." She relents and Peeta smiles triumphantly, and she follows him, only stumbling once or twice. When they get to his Jeep, he opens the passenger side door for her, and she sighs longingly at the gesture. She slides into the Jeep, and Peeta closes the door for her once she is settled. He's pulled out of his lot before Katniss speaks again.

"You know, it's not that I was uncomfortable being in a car with you, it's just that... I've gotten you into trouble enough for one night." She can see the relief on his face just by gazing at his profile. "I'm sorry."

Peeta glances at her confused. "What are you apologizing for?" he asks.

"I should have called or something, texted you to let you know I was coming."

"Katniss, no. I should be apologizing to you. I should... I should have told you what was going on."

"You don't owe me anything," Katniss mumbles quietly. There is a pregnant pause between them, and although she is feeling a little less drunk, her bravado hasn't faded yet. "She's beautiful, your... girlfriend."

Peeta sighs out loud. "Yes she is," he answers solemnly.

"She looks like the Bruins' locker room reporter."

Peeta chuckles. "Yeah, that's because she is." Katniss's eyes go wide.

"Shut the fuck up! Are you serious?" Her reaction causes Peeta to laugh louder. He nods as she gawks at him. "Jesus fucking christ, I never had a chance, huh?" She realizes what she has said the moment it slips from her lips, but her altered state of mind doesn't allow her to regret it. Peeta is quiet though—too quiet—and the slight flutter of nerves begins to bubble in her gut.

"What do you mean?" he finally asks, his voice strained.

"I mean I am nothing compared to her." She sighs wistfully.

"Don't say that."

"Why not? It's the truth" Peeta takes a sudden sharp left and pulls his car over on the side of the road, he puts the car into park and turns to look at her.

"It's not," he states, and his blue eyes bore into hers.

"She's beautiful," Katniss says.

"So are you," Peeta counters, and Katniss can feel her cheeks heat.

"She's successful."

"So are you," he says frustratedly, and it pisses Katniss off to no end. Why is he making this so difficult?

"Yeah, well, she's your girlfriend." Katniss tries to ignore the way her own words hurt her. "And I'm not." Even though she mumbles the last part, she knows Peeta hears her, just by the way his eyes widen, his mouth falls open, and by the sad expression he wears. Katniss sits back in her seat, suddenly feeling like she is going to throw up again. Her fingers smash the keys of the radio above the center console, trying to find a distraction. Peeta must realize the conversation is over because he starts the car again.

She scans the stations, finally landing on a familiar song that makes her laugh out of irony, and when the chorus begins to play she joins in.

"I know who I want to take me home, I know who I want to take me home, I know who I want to take me home, take me hoooome." Peeta flicks the knob, and lowers the volume abruptly.

"I'm sorry," he begins. "I'm sorry that I'm not...that I'm...I'm sorry I didn't..." Katniss doesn't want to hear Peeta apologize to her for being with the person he wants to be with or for some other made up reason to make her feel better so she ignores him and turns the volume back up. The music is loud enough for her to sing along with the last line of the song.

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."

Peeta doesn't try apologizing again.

They sit silently in Peeta's Jeep as it sits parked outside of Annie and Finnick's house. Moments earlier she wanted out of this situation, but now that she has her opportunity she is finding it hard to move. After Peeta turns off the car, he rests his forehead against the steering wheel, and Katniss becomes mesmerized by the rising and falling of his back.

"That text you sent me...when you were out drinking," Katniss begins, "were you back with her then?" Peeta lifts his head up and looks at her with alarm.

"No." He shakes his head emphatically. Katniss closes her eyes and sighs.

She hears a sound coming from the house; she opens her eyes and spots Johanna lighting up a cigarette on the front porch, a habit her friend only indulges in when she's drunk. When Johanna spots Katniss and Peeta, she waves and begins walking towards the car. The nausea returns when Katniss realizes that now she will have to face her friends.

"Hey guys," Johanna greets. "Nice to see you, Blondie," she says when she dips her head to look into the car.

"You too, Johanna," Peeta returns with a smile.

"So you guys coming inside, or...?" She smirks and waggles her eyebrows suggestively. Katniss groans.

"Actually I have to get going. I just wanted to make sure Katniss got back to you guys ok," Peeta replies. Johanna looks at him confused.

"He has to get back to his girlfriend," Katniss adds, causing Johanna's eyes to snap to hers.

"Oh," Johanna mutters. "Well, um... I'll leave you guys alone then." She looks to Katniss for approval, who nods. Before her friend leaves them she turns and waves. "See you Peeta." He gives her a small wave in return. Katniss is grateful when she sees that Johanna hasn't actually moved that far from the Jeep.

"Well, I guess..." But she trails off. She knows she should just get out of the car because the longer she stays, the harder it's going to be to say goodbye, but all she can think about is that stupid conversation with her stupid sister and the stupid promise she made which has already caused her problems.

But a promise is a promise, she thinks to herself. So using the last of the alcohol coursing through her veins as an excuse, she leans over to take one last thing from Peeta.

Her lips meet his, and she is startled by how warm and soft they are, and she is even more surprised that instead of his mouth being stiff against hers like she expected, it has quickly melded to hers, so she ventures to go further. Her tongue wets the seam of his lips and with a soft moan, he allows her access and as soon as the tip of her tongue touches his, he moves his hands to her face, dragging his calloused thumbs against her cheekbones, and the kiss morphs into something else, something more frantic.

Their tongues thrash against each other as they explore the entirety of the other's mouth. The kiss makes Katniss's heart beat wildly and all she wants is more, more, more. She moves herself closer to him using her hands to push herself up with his seat's armrest. She sucks his sweet-tasting bottom lip into her mouth and nibbles on it lightly, causing him to groan. The sound, which shoots right down to her core, causes moisture to accumulate between her thighs, but it also snaps her to attention. She pulls back slightly, releasing his lip from her mouth, and his hands slide off her face. She bows her head, her forehead barely grazing his chin, her breathing erratic. She could fall in love with this man, very easily, and because of that she needs to leave now.

"I'm sorry," she whispers, feeling guilty for what she has just done. "But I had to try that once..." She pauses and takes a shuddering breath. "I should have done that after the barbeque... thanks for the ride... bye Peeta." She pulls away entirely and exits the car before waiting to see if he responds. She meets Johanna's flabbergasted gaze right away.

"Wha...?" Her friend starts, but Katniss cuts her off right away.

"Not now, Jo" and to her surprise, her usually loud-mouthed friend keeps her mouth shut.

"Katniss." She hears Peeta call to her, and she turns to see him hanging out the passenger side window, looking around frantically like he doesn't know what to say, and she doesn't know what to say back, so instead she tries to smile reassuringly at him and then turns away. She waits until she hears his car start before she looks back.

Her fingers gently touch her lips, which still tingle, as she watches him drive away. Why is this bothering me so much? she asks herself, not really wanting to know the answer. When Peeta's Jeep is finally out of sight, she drops her fingers and looks at Jo.

"Are you ok?" Johanna asks. But all Katniss can do is shrug, give a half-hearted smile, and then burst into tears. Johanna pulls her into her arms as Katniss sobs over the loss of something she never had to begin with.

Visit me on Tumblr: Streetlightlove1 (I'll post a picture of that ship)

Thanks for reading!