Author's note: I decided to reward us all by posting a new chapter. I'm ahead a bit on my word count for NaNoWriMo. If you're interested in some of my original writing, go check out Danielle Cheri on FictionPress. I'm publishing my NaNo2015 story A New Way to Love over there.

Thank you all so much for all the love you've been giving this!

Much thanks to LavenderVanilla for the great beta work. It really helped even out some of things in this chapter. Go read her stuff! Especially Blinds.

Happy reading!

Trigger warning: Lots of verbal abuse, attempted hitting, and talk of abuse.

Chapter Seven

Peeta hobbled up to the house. His leg hurt a lot less, but it still bothered him. He wasn't looking forward to his mother's reaction to his absence or his injury.

As his hand touched the knob, he registered the yelling. It wasn't an unknown sound. His mother was prone to bursts of anger and he usually bore the brunt of it. He almost turned back around and headed to Finnick's, but he feared the punishment would be harsher if he tried to hold it off.

With a deep breath, he turned the knob and stepped over the threshold.

"I can't believe you kept this from me, Conrad! And how do you even know this brat is yours? Iris Everdeen's poorer than dirt. Maybe she's just trying to milk you for money to pay the bills."

"Prim needs bone marrow." Conrad tried to explain. "Peeta and I are getting tested. Landon and Sam should be tested, too."

That started her off again. She rounded on Peeta. "You knew about this?"

Peeta opened his mouth to say something, but Conrad pulled Peeta behind his back. "This isn't about him. This is about you and me, Mo."

"How did he know and I didn't?" She started yelling again about how useless both of them were.

Peeta fought the urge to cover his ears and curl into a ball to make himself disappear like he used to as a boy. He felt small. His mother made him lose all confidence he had just gained being with the Everdeens. The yelling continued and he couldn't make out the words anymore. He was useless in her mind and a betrayer.

The only good thing was his father calmly defending him. "This isn't Peeta's fault. He didn't do anything wrong. This is all on me. I am in the wrong, Mo. Cut him some slack."

"Slack? Cut him some slack? He knew about the brat and your whore before I did and I'm supposed to cut him some slack?"

Conrad kept his voice steady. "He knew even before I did. Someone else told him."

"And that's supposed to make it better?" She screamed.

There was a dead silence and Peeta finally looked up. Conrad held onto Maureen's raised fist. They were at a stand-still. Peeta could see the loathing in his mother's face. Conrad's back was still in the way, so he wasn't sure of his father's expression. He pushed her hand away.

"You won't lay a hand on him." Conrad said in a deadly soft voice.

Maureen's lip curled in contempt and she stomped away.

His father finally turned and pried Peeta's hands from his ears.

"I'm sorry, Dad." Peeta said softly.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Peeta." The words he'd spoken to Katniss earlier. He didn't believe it of himself.

"I should go to my room." He inched away from Conrad and headed for the stairs, working hard not to make any sudden moves and anger his mother from the other room. He curled into a ball on his bed fully clothed. He didn't even remove his shoes.

His father brought him supper, but he didn't touch it. He didn't felt worthy of a meal. Peeta was sure his mother hadn't approved.

He woke up the next morning at the normal time and, as if on autopilot, headed to the bakery to help. Every time he passed his mother she belittled him, making snide remarks about his appearance, making fun of him for his limp. He swallowed the tears and did the morning work as best as he could under the circumstances.

Before he started his walk to school, Conrad pulled him aside. "You remember I love you."

Peeta nodded.

"And remember that I won't let her hurt you."

"You haven't stopped her before." He walked away. He knew the words hurt. Of course, she rarely ever hit him when his father was around. She saved the worst beatings for when they were in the house and Conrad was at the bakery or when he was out shopping or performing other errands. Most if it was when he was younger and didn't know how to get away from her. When he was still too young to be in the bakery much.

But Conrad had always tended Peeta's wounds afterward. There was that. His father loved him and protected him when he could. But he wasn't always around. It wasn't possible to be with him all the time.

A car horn beeped, making him jump. He looked up to see Katniss waving at him from the driver's seat. He looked over his shoulder at the bakery to see if his mother noticed and then slowly made his way to the car. He slid in the passenger seat and gave her a grateful smile. "Perfect timing."

She smiled. "I figure if you walk home, you must walk to school, too."

He nodded and looked ahead.

"You okay?" She asked gently.

He shrugged. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay."

He couldn't stand the silence after a while. She'd opened up to him, so he should tell her something. "My mom." He said softly.

She nodded and said nothing in return.

He was glad she didn't push it. But he was compelled to tell her everything. Why did he trust her so much?

Katniss pulled into a parking spot at school and sighed. "Super early."

"It's fine." He picked at a spot on his jeans. "She hits me." He said it so quietly he was sure she didn't hear.

But a moment later Katniss let out a soft, sympathetic sound. "Your mother?"

He nodded.

"Oh, Peeta, I'm... I don't know what to say." She brought her hand to rest on his knee. "Have you told anyone? Does anyone know?"

"My dad."

"Why...?" She shook her head and moved her hand away. "That's none of my business. I'm sorry."

He pulled her hand back and squeezed it. "If my dad had reported her, she would have said it was him. I guess he was too scared..." He quickly wiped at a stray tear. "That night... You helped me forget, too. It sounds cheesy, but that was a great night for me. I've replayed it so many times in my mind."

"We can never do it again, Peeta." She said adamantly. "It's awkward now."

"Now?" He snorted. "It was awkward that first day back to school. When we were paired up for chemistry?"

"Oh, god. Don't remind me." She smiled and shook her head. "I couldn't even look at you."

"I couldn't stop looking at you." He smiled. "I could tell you'd rather be anywhere else, with anyone else. I told Annie…about what happened. She fixed it. In every class She can be a bit of a mother hen."

"I'll have to show my appreciation." She looked down at their still-connected hands. She asked softly, "Was that… Was it your first time?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

"Mine too." She admitted.

More cars pulled into the lot and the buses started arriving.

Peeta squeezed her hand and let go. "Glad we could experience it together." He got out of the car and watched as she emerged out of the other side.

Katniss ducked her head as they walked to the front door. He followed her to her locker and watched her put her things away. Her movements were fluid and he couldn't break his gaze.

She nudged him with her shoulder. "Stop it."

He shook his head to clear it. "Sorry."

"Just stop." She closed her locker. "I'm not going to sleep with you again."

"Because of Prim?"

She nodded. "But I really need a friend in this. So…"

Peeta gave a resigned sigh and nodded. "Sure."

Katniss gently shoved his shoulder. "Get to class."

"Yes, ma'am." He turned and started to walk in the opposite direction. He looked over his shoulder once and saw her watching his retreat with a curious look on her face.


Katniss turned on her phone as soon as the last bell rang and started checking messages. Iris had kept Prim home another day, the cough was worse and she'd spiked a fever the night before.

"Taking Prim to hospital. Fever came back. Not going down." The message was from just a few minutes before.

She paused outside of school and bit her lip as she typed the reply. "On my way." She hurried out to her car and was shocked to see Peeta leaning against the passenger side.

"Mind if I catch a ride again? My leg is killing me from being on it all day. I don't even think I can stand to sit in the bleachers for practice. And I never miss, so Coach is okay with it." He smirked. "I get one pass, he says."

She blinked a few times. "Yeah, I guess. We have to be quick about it, though." She hurried to the driver's side and unlocked the doors.

"Is it Prim? Is she okay?" Peeta was all concern.

"I don't know." She was distracted. Have to get to Prim.

"Take me with you. Can I borrow your phone?"

She passed it over and made her way out of the parking lot as quickly as possible. Someone sped in front of her and she laid on her horn until they moved away. From listening to Peeta's side of the conversation, she gathered that he'd called his dad.

"Oh, well, I guess it's kind of good then." He paused. "Okay. See you in a bit." He hung up and handed the phone back. "Dad set up the testing for this afternoon. He said he tried to tell me, but I wasn't listening." He went silent and Katniss turned to him at a stop light.

"That stuff you told me this morning…"

"She didn't do anything last night." He said. "But Dad told her about Prim. So she's pissed." He swallowed. "She wanted to, but Dad stopped her. And I was a jerk to him about it this morning."

She pulled into the hospital parking lot and called her mother. She hurried ahead and didn't look back to see if Peeta was following. She forgot about his injured leg until she stopped at the elevator and turned back to see him practically hopping on his good leg to move faster.

"I'm sorry." She hurried back to him and wrapped her arm around his waist. "I'm not used to having other people around."

"Me neither."

"But you have two older brothers." She helped him into the elevator.

As soon as the number was pushed, he said, "Landon is only fifty-one weeks older than me." He pointed to himself. "Completely unplanned. He and Mom both resent it. For different reasons. She uses it against me. And Sam resents Landon because he came along when Sam was almost three and took away all his attention. Both of them were well-planned." He gave her a forced smile. "So we're a big, happy family."

The doors opened and she helped him out. "You'll be okay, I think."

"Maybe." They moved down the hall slowly as Katniss looked at the numbers. He asked, "Will you be?"

"Only if she is." She said softly. She found the room and stepped out of Peeta's grasp to walk inside.

Prim lay out on a bed. A nurse took her vitals while Iris looked over her shoulder. The girl's face was white. Had it been that white this morning? She opened her mouth to say something, but Prim noticed the young man behind her first.

"Hi, Peeta." Prim croaked, a happy smile on her face.

"Hey there, Prim." He walked in, favoring his bad leg, and stood beside the bed. "Why did you go and get sick?"

She shrugged. "Guess I wanted a couple nights away from home." She started coughing and Katniss stepped closer. Her heart clenched at the phlegmy sound. Prim sat back. "It's just a cold. I'm fine."

Katniss said, "You can't have 'just a cold' in your condition, Prim. Your immune system is compromised."

"Katniss." Iris warned. She smiled at Peeta. "Thank you for coming."

Peeta shrugged. "It's nothing."

"Your dad just tried calling me, but nd I just spoke. r. eta. "e system is compromi the s rs. " at the elivator as she typed the that he'the doctor was in here." She sounded distracted. Her eyes didn't quite meet anyone's.

"He's on his way over." Peeta explained. "He set up the tests for this afternoon."

"Good."

Katniss sat beside Prim as the nurse walked out of the room. "You need to get better, little duck."

"You'll be fine if I don't." So confident.

"No, I won't." Katniss said, her voice breaking just a little. Peeta's hand fell on Katniss's shoulder and she looked up. "Want to call your dad to see where he is?"

Iris waved her hand, her phone was already pressed to her ear. "Sure, Conrad. Room three-twenty-seven." She hung up. "He's on his way up." She sat on the other side of the bed and took Prim's hand. "Your fever is going down. But that cough is getting worse and Carla agrees that it doesn't sound good."

"I'm fine, Mom." Prim said just before she started coughing again.

"It's worse." Katniss said. "Is it just a cold or is it something else?"

Iris sighed. "It's nothing too major right now, but Dr. Paylor ordered antibiotics to try to fight it off before it turns into pneumonia."

Katniss nodded.

Prim's eyes drooped. She yawned. "I'm tired, Mama." She said softly.

Iris assured her, "You can rest, honey. You're right where you need to be."

Katniss rubbed Prim's hand. Conrad stepped into the room and stood awkwardly and Katniss looked up at the movement. Relief flooded her until she took in his features. He looked haggard and beaten-down. Prim didn't seem to notice.

"Hello, Mr. Mellark." She said with a bright smile.

"Hello, Prim." He smiled back. "Under the circumstances, I think it's okay for you to call me Conrad."

She nodded and then started coughing again.

"Prim, you need to rest." Katniss warned her. "I'm sure Mr. Mellark will come back once you're a little better."

"Conrad." He corrected. "You all should call me Conrad."

"Even me?" Peeta asked with a grin.

Conrad matched his smile. "You stick to Dad, Peanut."

Prim chuckled. "Peanut."

"Silly nickname. I'll tell you some time." Peeta said quickly. He shot his dad a warning look.

"We should get going." Conrad said. "For the tests. And then home. Mom's fit to be tied."

Peeta nodded. Katniss saw the fear sweep across his face, but he hid it quickly. Both men bid theme farewell.

Conrad said, "I'll come back in the morning, Prim."

She nodded.

"Thank you, Conrad." Iris said softly.

"Anything for you, Iris." He said so quietly Katniss wasn't sure she heard it correctly. "I'll see you all later."

Peeta and Conrad stepped out of the room. Katniss hurried after. She grabbed Peeta's arm and pulled him into a quick hug. She let go and returned to Prim's side, her face burning.