As always thank you for reading and reviewing! You guys are amazing and I love you. Follow me on tumblr jushutcherson

Katniss twirls the ends of her hair through her fingers nervously. Time seems to have stopped as she waits for Peeta in his office. She can't help but worry about him. He's been through so much lately.

The last thing Katniss wants is complications in her relationship with Peeta. She's done that before. It's never ended well. Her last relationship was picturesque on the outside, but if anyone looked deeper, they could see the trouble. Darius was a good man, but he didn't care about Katniss' feelings. They stayed together because it was easy, but it was endless drama day after day.

It didn't help that he wasn't the most giving lover. Katniss touches her lips with her fingers, remembering Peeta's tender kisses. When she applied for the position as Peeta's secretary, Katniss never believed it would change her life.

Her relationship with Darius had just ended. Katniss wanted a fresh start and finding a new job was just the beginning.

Peeta was never part of the plan. She certainly wasn't planning on assisting him with his study of human sexuality, but one look from him and she was a goner.

She knows what this study can do for the medical community, and Katniss plans to help anyway she can. They make a great team. Peeta values her opinion and listens to her suggestions and thoughts. It's refreshing to feel truly wanted by someone.

The door to his office opens slowly. Katniss turns and sees Peeta standing in the doorway with a defeated, pained look on his face.

"Peeta, what's wrong?"

He slams the door shut, causing Katniss to jump. "You want to know what happened? I'll tell you what happened. I got fired. He fired me without giving me any chance to defend myself. That's what happened."

She stays in her spot by his desk, unsure of whether or not to approach him. His fists shake, and his cheeks are stained a bright red. "I don't understand," she whispers. "You're doing so well with it."

Peeta laughs bitterly. "It's just like my mother always use to tell me." He slumps down on the couch. "I'm a failure who will never amount to a goddamn thing."

Peeta pulls at his hair, yanking the curls as hard as he can. Katniss grabs his hands to keep him from hurting himself. "You're not a failure," Katniss tells him firmly. "You need let her words go, Peeta."

He looks up at her with misty eyes. "I've tried to forget her, but I can't." Katniss reaches to rest her hand on his cheek but hesitates. It's the first time she's completely lost when it comes to Peeta. His troubles are bigger and more complicated than she ever realized.

He's a broken man.

"This isn't the end for you," Katniss reassures him with a hopeful smile. "This can be a new beginning. You can do whatever you want now."

Peeta shakes his head. "I was doing what I loved." Peeta looks over at his wall, full of pictures from the babies he's helped delivered over the years. "Holding new life in your arms is unlike anything I've ever experienced." He pauses for a second and smiles softly. "Except maybe being with you."

"There are other hospitals," she suggests in hopes of improving his mood. "You're a great doctor, and just because Dr. Abernathy is letting his own personal feelings get in the way, that doesn't mean that it will happen with other places."

He smiles sadly. "Maybe he's right about the study. I should just let it go."

"Peeta, that's not what you want."

He stands from his chair with a huff. "I don't know what I want anymore." The uncertainty is clear in his voice. He runs his hand through his hair with a defeated sigh. "I've never failed at anything in my entire life."

"Stop looking at this situation in a negative light," Katniss tells him softly. "Bad things happen in life, but if you believe in yourself, it can be good again."

Katniss wipes the tears forming in the corner of her eyes. She hasn't talked about that day in a long time. "Peeta, you aren't the only person who's lost family." He looks up at her quizzically. "When I was little, my father died from an accident at work. It was the worst day of my life, and I still think about him all the time. His death changed my mother. She became withdrawn and depressed. A year later, she swallowed a bunch of pills and killed herself."

"Katniss, I'm so–"

"I've had enough people tell me sorry in my life," she cuts him off. "I've managed just fine. My sister and I moved in with different foster families until one decided they wanted to keep us."

She can see the sadness in Peeta's eyes. The guilt is also highly visible. Katniss sighs, shaking her head. Her story wasn't meant to make Peeta feel guilty, but the way he's looking at her shows how he truly feels.

"Why did you tell me all that?" Peeta asks, raising an eyebrow.

She shrugs with a soft laugh. "Because I don't want you to give up." He reaches for her hand, squeezing it gently. His touch immediately calms her. "I believe in you."

"You always have this way about you," Peeta tells her with a smile. "Even when everything in my life feels like it's falling apart, you bring me back out of the darkness."

He captures her lips with his swiftly. Katniss positions herself so that she straddles his waist, her arms wrapped around his neck. "Thank you," he murmurs against her lips. "Thank you for always believing in me."

"Believe in yourself, Peeta."


The days blur together for Peeta in a haze of frustration and anger. He tries to keep himself busy with reading and studying, but not going to work everyday leaves him feeling empty.

Katniss is there for him without fail. She's the only person that makes him smile. Peeta can only imagine how she must feel about this whole situation. Luckily, Katniss was able to keep her job, and she informs Peeta of what's going on in the hospital.

Peeta wakes up every morning with the intention of looking for a new job, but when his mother's words fill his brain, he goes back to bed and forgets about it.

A soft knock on his front door surprises him. He doesn't get many visitors. Peeta's never told Katniss where he lives. They've always spent time together at his office or at her house.

When he opens the door and sees an angry looking Katniss staring at him, Peeta knows he's in trouble.

"This needs to stop," she tells him firmly. "I know that it's only been a few weeks, but Peeta you need to stop beating yourself up about this."

He slams his coffee cup on the ground, shattering it into tiny pieces. "Katniss, I'm always the guy who keeps it together when life gets shitty." Peeta remembers being the rock for his entire family when his mother died. "I don't know how to move on."

"There's no right way to do anything," she explains, running her fingers through his curly hair. "You just need to remember the good things and try to focus on that."

Katniss presses her lips to Peeta's slowly. His scruff scratches her face, and she wonders how it would feel between her legs. Peeta's usually clean shaven, but since losing his job he's let his facial hair grow out a bit. She finds it so incredibly sexy.

"I miss you." Her fingers tease the waistband of his pajama bottoms. "You drive me crazy, Peeta."

His cock begins to swell at her touch. Katniss slips her hand inside his pants and underwear with a devious smirk. She wraps her hand around his growing shaft, stroking it.

"Have you been thinking about me?" she whispers against his lips. "I think about you all the time."

Peeta groans. "What do you think about?"

Katniss rubs her thumb around the head of his cock, marveling in the precum seeping out from the top. "I think about your tongue and how good it feels on my pussy." He thrusts into her hand. "I want you to go down on me, Peeta."

She grabs his hand, leading him to his sofa. There's nothing he loves more than burying his face deep in her slick, wet folds. Peeta's mouth waters with anticipation as Katniss lies backs, spreading her legs open wide.

He pulls down her skirt and nearly chokes when he sees that she's not wearing any underwear. She dips her fingers inside her heat, coating it with her own arousal. "I'm so wet for you."

Katniss removes her two fingers and presses them against Peeta's lips. He breathes in deeply, taking in the distinct, musky smell that is all Katniss. Peeta grabs her wrist and sucks the juices right off her fingers.

Her taste makes him dizzy. If he could always have Katniss on his lips, Peeta is sure he would perfectly happy.

Peeta grabs her waist and pulls her close to him. All he wants is to bury himself deep inside her heat, but hearing Katniss beg for his tongue is almost better then fucking her.

Almost.

He's learned so much since the first time they've done this. Peeta's intricate movements make Katniss writhe on the sofa, panting heavily.

One long stroke to start off and then he plunges his tongue into her opening, causing Katniss to grind her pelvis into his face. She needs to feel him. The hair on his chiseled jaw tickles her inner thigh, and Katniss decides that she loves it.

The softness of his tongue and the rough, scratchy texture of his beard make the experience all the more pleasurable. "Peeta!" she gasps when his two fingers plunge into her sex.

His fingers are thick and long, stretching her walls just the perfect amount.

Her orgasm is building deep in her stomach, the tightening spreading throughout her entire body. When Peeta wraps his lips around her clit and sucks gently, the rope she was holding on to snaps. "Oh Peeta! I'm coming!"

Peeta laps up the evidence of her orgasm greedily. She tastes better than anything in the world.

He grins at her with a glistening chin. Katniss quickly yanks down his pants and straddles him. "Do you want me to fuck you, Peeta?"

Peeta nods, his thumb rubbing circles on her nipple. She lowers herself onto his pulsing cock, and when their bodies connect, they both release a deep sigh of satisfaction. He meets her movements with upward thrusts, wanting to be as deep inside of her as possible.

Katniss crushes her mouth with his, needing to taste herself on his lips. Peeta knows he won't last long. He needs the release that only Katniss can give him.

"Katniss, I'm gonna come," he warns her with a soft grunt.

She clenches her walls around him, indicating that it's exactly what she wants. A few more quick thrusts, and Katniss feels his cum spurting into her heat. She follows shortly after with her second, mind-numbing orgasm.

After it's over, they lay on the sofa curled up together naked and sweaty. Katniss doesn't want to push him to talk about his problems, but she can tell he wants to avoid the subject altogether.

She needs to help Peeta. A smile spreads across her lips. She has the perfect idea.

Hopefully, Peeta will agree to it.