Hello again readers! I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter

I'd like to start with paying my respects to Philip Seymour Hoffman, it's such a shame to see the loss of an amazing actor. I'm so glad to hear his footage will be used in the last two hunger games films as a final homage to his career.

Hopefully the delay wasn't too long for this chapter, I try to do one a week and I just made it on time for this one.

Thanks everyone for your amazing review, I love hearing what you think! Thank-you to; leah97, zbethg, kelmikmag, dancingintherayne, eliley, angels041630, RG, and two guest reviewers.

and as always a massive thank you to my beta reader ct522 who did a great job on this chapter

Disclaimer - I do not own any of the characters etc, they all belong to the amazing Suzanne Collins

Happy Reading!


Peeta's POV

I stood alone in my kitchen, almost in a state of shock. Katniss had just left my house, after spending the night, after kissing me. I let out a shaky breath, unable to contain the smile which spread over my face. She did still care about me, she might not have said it in so many words – but she had to. Katniss wasn't the type of person who could kiss me without meaning it. Okay, maybe she'd done it before during the first Games, but this was different. I could feel the passion in her kisses; she had missed me just as much as I had missed her. I couldn't wipe the giddy smile off my face as I returned to cleaning up the kitchen. Seems I'd been too distracted to finish the job.

I spent my time cleaning the kitchen before leaving to call on Katniss. I resisted the urge to laugh at the thought of Haymitch's reaction to the development in mine and Katniss' relationship – I highly doubted I'd be able to hide the excitement on my face. I stopped by the small mirror hung by the door to adjust my hair – trying to flatten it against my head the best I could. I scowled at my reflection as my hair fell past my eyes; getting a haircut hadn't been a priority as of late. I pushed it to the side, sighing as it continued to stick up in all the wrong places. Normally I wouldn't have even considered how I looked when going to visit Haymitch, but of course this time was different.

I quickly made my way over to Katniss' house, already eager to see her. I felt slightly pathetic; after all, I'd only seen her an hour ago, but I quickly pushed the feeling away. I was allowed to be happy, I finally had her back in my life – as more than just my friend. When I reached her door, I walked through without even thinking to knock. When I realised what I'd done, I spun on my heels ready to walk back out when I heard her behind me.

"Oh, Peeta." I turned round and saw she was smiling, instead of being pissed I'd let myself in. I felt slightly disappointed when I saw she'd returned her hair to its usual braid. Of course, she looked beautiful no matter how she wore it – but something about having her hair down made my heart jump into my throat at the mere sight of her. "Don't you knock anymore?" She laughed lightly.

"Sorry, I didn't think, the door was open…" I babbled, but she just shook her head at me.

"I was joking," she rolled her eyes.

"Oh," I muttered lamely, forcing a small smile. Since when had I been so lost for words around her? "You ready to go?"

She nodded quickly before walking past me to lead us out of the house. As we walked towards Haymitch's, I took her hand in mine – smiling to myself as she closed her fingers tighter around mine. However, a few meters away from Haymitch's door she dropped my hand. I looked at her questioningly.

"Peeta, I was thinking…" She started, her eyes dropping to the ground. I felt my heart fall, had she already had second thoughts about us? I hadn't put any pressure on her to make this serious, but it seemed even the thought of being with me could scare her away. "Maybe we could keep this quiet? Especially from Haymitch, I don't want him sticking his nose in while we're still adjusting to this."

I laughed lightly as she scrunched her nose up. I couldn't deny the relief I felt that she wasn't rejecting me. Of course she didn't want Haymitch to know, he'd only keep pestering and taunting her about it. I brought my hand to the back of her head, pulling her forward so I could place a kiss on her forehead.

"If that's what you want, then I'll control myself." I winked at her, earning a small smile of gratitude. I reluctantly loosened my hold on her, and we walked up to Haymitch's house.

I knocked loudly on the door before pushing it open. "Haymitch," I called into the house before stepping inside – having to dodge several empty bottles in the hallway. Would it really kill him to walk over to the bin?

"How come Haymitch gets a knock, but I don't." Katniss teased.

"Because, I would be a lot more traumatised if I saw an indecent Haymitch." I joked, earning a scowl from her. "But seriously, it's not a pretty sight." I shuddered, thinking of my second visit to see Haymitch after I'd come back from Thirteen. He still hadn't gotten used to having visitors, nor getting dressed in the middle of the day…

"'Bout time boy," I heard Haymitch shout from within the house. "Been waiting for my bread all morning." I rolled my eyes, even though he couldn't see me. He wasn't going to be pleased when he found out I'd been too distracted this morning to think about making anyone's bread.

I followed the direction his voice had come from, Katniss quickly pointed towards the kitchen door – her hunter's ears quickly detecting where he was, but she allowed me to walk in first. I frowned at the pile of unwashed dishes stacked in the sink, and the sides were covered in bread crumbs. Did he bother to make himself anything other than the bread I brought round? I found him seated at the kitchen table, twizzling his knife in his hand. It was the knife he always slept with, I coudln't help but wonder if he had spent the night in here. I sighed at him, and the prospect that he would never learn to take care of himself.

"What? No drink today, it's already early afternoon." I joked, although I did find it unusual than he didn't have a glass in his hand.

He shrugged nonchalantly at me. "Cutting back." He grunted.

I laughed lowly, "you've ran out already haven't you?"

He let out a short laugh, before placing his knife on the table and crossing his arms over his chest. "Well, I wouldn't have if you'd let me have that stash I know you have stored in your kitchen." I shook my head at him, he knew I kept a couple of bottles in my kitchen, they were expensive ones Effie had sent me. I kept them there under the pretence that I might want them myself someday, but really it was just in case Haymitch's withdrawals ever got too much to handle.

We were interrupted when Katniss finally walked in behind me, Haymitch stared at her with a lifted eyebrow. He smirked at her, immediately earning a deep scowl in response. I waited on edge for whatever comment he had brewing.

"Well sweetheart, didn't expect to see you today." He paused, letting me relax for a moment, but of course he had to say more; "to be honest, I had a feeling you'd returned to the land of the dead."

"Haymitch," I warned him, but Katniss just stared him down.

"Hey, that's my way of saying I was thinking of her." Haymitch chuckled lowly before gesturing to the chairs across from him. "Sit will you, you're making me feel on edge." Once we'd both sat down, Haymitch glared at my empty hands. "Where's the bread then?"

"I didn't make any." I shrugged, like it was a normal thing to do. But we both knew I baked every morning – it was my routine.

"What?" He stared at me. "What am I supposed to eat then?"

"Sorry, I overslept." I lied. I had woken later than usual, but if it hadn't been for me wanting to make Katniss breakfast, I'd have had plenty of time to make his bread.

Haymitch tutted loudly, looking between the two of us. "Come to think of it, you two are looking more rested than usual." He smirked directly at Katniss, waiting for her to react. I saw her eyes widen quickly before she regained her composure.

"Well, I went to sleep pretty late because of the storm. Thought I'd let myself have a couple of hours sleep this morning." I interjected.

"Same for me." Katniss added flawlessly. Haymitch just raised his eyebrows at us both.

"So, how are you then sweetheart? I know how this one's been doing." He nodded his head towards me. "But you're not exactly as chatty as he is."

"I'm fine," she shrugged. She wasn't doing a brilliant job at convincing Haymitch.

"She's been doing loads better. We both have." I added, "We've been going through the letters people sent her." I tried to ignore Katniss as she glanced at me; obviously not happy I was telling Haymitch about her progress. But she deserved credit for how well she was doing.

"Hmm, bout time. I'm fed up of getting pestered by everyone who wants to talk to you." He rolled his eyes. "So, you replied to any?"

Katniss bit the inside of her lip, letting her silence do the talking. She'd barely gotten through Dr Aurelius' and Effie's letters. Replying to them was a step I wasn't sure she was ready for.

"Well, I thought as much." Haymitch shook his head. "At least tell me you've spoken to that Doctor. I can't act like I'm doing a good job watching over you if you won't even talk to him."

I stared at Katniss, I'd already tried to convince her to ring Dr Aurelius. It wasn't just because she had to as part of the conditions for her release, I wanted her to get better.

"I don't need to talk to some Doctor who has no idea what I've been through." Katniss spat, rolling her eyes at the suggestion.

"So, you still haven't rang him?" I asked cautiously. She simply raised an eyebrow at me, as if I was asking a ridiculous question. I sighed, dragging a hand through my hair. "He's a good man Katniss, he's helped me a lot."

"Plus, you're still crazy according to the government." Haymitch smirked at her.

"I didn't come here to get lectured." Katniss pursed her lips before crossing her arms over her chest defensively.

"Alright sweetheart." Haymitch chortled lowly. "You two had good timing coming round today, I could do with a hand later."

"What with?" I asked quickly, Haymitch hardly ever did anything with his day.

"Sae's found some geese up for trade at the market, I'm going to keep them in the back yard. Need to build 'em a pen though."

"You're going to raise geese?" Katniss asked, unable to stop herself from snorting in amusement. "Haymitch, you can't just feed them liquor you know, they'll be dead in a week."

Haymitch rolled his eyes at her, "I managed to keep you two alive didn't I? A couple of geese will be a breeze compared to a pair of intolerable teenagers."

I laughed, but Katniss simply shook her head at him. "I think it's a good idea." I liked the idea of Haymitch doing something productive with his day, rather than just keeping himself cooped up indoors with a bottle. I nudged Katniss, trying to get her to appear more positive.

"Sounds great, dirty geese wandering around next door." She added sarcastically.

"So, have you got anything to build a pen with?" I asked, trying to move the conversation forward.

"Yeah, got some wood out back. Managed to get some recycled wire fencing from the old fence."

"Sounds doable." I nodded to myself. "When do you want to get started?"

"Now?" Haymitch smirked.

"Right, have you got any paper? I'll have a look at what you've got outside and quickly map out a plan for the pen." I had already pushed the chair back and stood up, I looked down to Katniss, who was smiling softly back up at me. I held my hand out to her and she took it as she stood, before she quickly dropped my hand. Haymitch soon noticed the interaction though, and was staring at us both with a raised eyebrow.

"There might some in the study. Probably had some put in when the place was furnished." He muttered before stalking off.

"You really think him raising living animals is a good idea?" Katniss turned to me, a smirk on her lips.

"Give him a break," I replied lightly, "it's about time he had a life."

Katniss' expression softened, a look of guilt passing over her features. "Hmm, I guess so." She murmured.

Both our heads snapped towards the door when we heard a crash come from the study, along with a string of curses from Haymitch. I rolled my eyes in his general direction, before turning to Katniss who was doing the same thing.

"Why don't you head out and see what he's got. I'll go help him find some paper before he tears the place apart."

"Probably for the best." Katniss smiled, she reached out to brush her hand down my arm before she walked past me towards the door. I tried to ignore the tingling she'd left across my skin, no matter how many times she touched me, I'd never be able to get enough of her.

When I walked into the study, Haymitch had already managed to tip out the contents of most of the desk drawers, even though there was a stack of paper clearly on the table.

"What's the point in all this crap?" He tutted loudly, throwing aside a large paper weight which he found in one of the draws. I tried not to cringe as it smashed against the wall, clearly creating a crack in the paint.

"Have you ever even used this room?" I asked, looking round at the obviously untouched room. Apart from the chaos Haymitch had created, it looked identical to how mine had been the first time I'd walked inside. I'd since converted it into my painting room.

"What use would I have for a study, boy?" Haymitch muttered, finally finished with emptying the contents of the desk. He quickly picked up a piece of paper and a pen and held them out to me.

I took the paper from him, still eyeing the mess around the room. "Do you plan on cleaning this up?" I asked him, almost finding it amusing that I felt like the adult in our relationship. The look of disgust on Haymitch's face told me I was being much too hopeful. "Well, come on then." I turned round to head outside when Haymitch called me back.

"Hang on boy," He shuffled through the mess on the floor so he was standing on the same side of the desk as I was. "I need to talk to you about Katniss."

"What about her?" I asked quickly, already dreading where he was going to go with this conversation.

"I don't know what's going on between the two of you, but trust me I'm not stupid."

"I don't see how it's your business anyway." I felt a little too defensive, but it didn't help that I didn't really know what was happening with us.

"It's my business because I don't want you two hurting each other. I know you've waited a long time for her Peeta – but is she really ready?"

"I told you she was doing better." I insisted, she didn't stay cooped up in her house anymore – she hunted, and she'd even kissed me. Although he didn't need to know that part.

"That's what she wants you to think. C'mon boy, she won't even speak to anyone apart from me, you, and Sae."

"That's just Katniss." She wasn't exactly known for her communication skills.

"Just be careful, boy. She's still not right in the head. Anything could make her snap. Until she actually deals with what's happened, she'll never get better."

"Well, what can I do?" I asked, feeling helpless. "We both know I can't convince Katniss to do anything but what she wants."

"Just keep trying to get her to talk to that Doctor, see if you can get her to reply to a letter, or even talk about Prim. Anything just to get her to open up a little at a time."

I stared at the older man, not sure when he'd become so wise. Of course, he had our best interests at heart. However, he was also so similar to Katniss that it was no wonder he had been able to figure her out so quickly.

"I'll try." I sighed, feeling my good mood from earlier begin to disappear. Was Katniss just trying to hide what was going on in her head by distracting herself with me? She'd shut herself away from the world before, I couldn't imagine what it would do to me if I lost her again.


Katniss' POV

I sat down on a pile of wood I'd created from the bits Haymitch had accumulated for his geese pen. I was amazed how much he'd managed to acquire, and it seemed he was actually pretty serious about his new venture. Although, I still could see myself and Sae skinning them for a stew in a few weeks' time. All it would take is the next liquor delivery to distract him from feeding the birds. I began picking at my nails, although there wasn't much left of them - I tended to either bite them down to the skin when I was left alone, or they'd snap while I was hunting. I snorted a laugh to myself, imagining what my prep team would make of them – of my general appearance altogether. After ten minutes of staring at my hands I groaned to myself; what were those two doing in there?

I stood up, ready to march straight back into the house. Why was I even helping Haymitch? I was pretty sure it was Peeta who had agreed to this, not me. Finally the two of them appeared, Peeta a few strides ahead of Haymitch – talking animatedly while already scribbling down on the sheets of paper in his hands.

"What the hell were you two doing in there?" I groaned, Peeta looked up from the paper, eying me almost cautiously. My eyes narrowed at the two of them, suddenly convinced that Haymitch had said something to Peeta.

"Ever heard of patience sweetheart?" Haymitch grunted.

Peeta quickly made his way to my side, flashing a much too animated smile. "Haymitch decided to tear down half the house."

"Why?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows at Haymitch.

He shrugged, almost I could tell he was smirking. "Never did like that study." He grunted.

Peeta just shook his head before he began surveying the materials Haymitch had accumulated. He spent the next hour or so trying to create some kind of design for the pen, although Haymitch just insisted on throwing pieces of wood on the ground and telling us to 'wing it'. I didn't offer much in terms of help, I found it much too amusing to watch the two of them bickering about whether it would be better to have one mesh wall or four. Once Peeta had finally worked out a rough design, we began to build – although by that point Haymitch had completely lost interest and was now on the ground with a flask of alcohol that seemed to have materialised from thin air. Peeta would only let me help by holding pieces in place or handing him tools; every time I even went to hit something with a hammer he took it from my grasp. I could see Haymitch found the whole thing highly amusing, and I had to bite my tongue in order to stop myself from snapping at Peeta. I hated being treated like some kind of wall flower. I couldn't help but watch Peeta as he worked, he had pushed his hair completely off his forehead which was now glistening from the layer of sweat. I could see his eyes clearly for once, rather than being hooded by his hair – which I really needed to remind him to cut. But for once it wasn't his eyes that were transfixing me, I found my gaze drifting across his forehead – where the flames in the Capitol had licked across it, searing away one of his eyebrows. Although the hair had grown back now he was still left with the scar, which trailed across his forehead before running down his hairline to his neck. When I looked at Peeta's scars I didn't see them as ugly and disfiguring as I did mine – they showed how brave he'd been. He'd risked his life for me, and I'd repaid him by letting him recover in solitude.

"Katniss?" Peeta's voice broke me away from my thoughts.

"What?" I quipped, trying to pretend I hadn't been staring at him.

"I said can you pass me that piece of wood next to you?" He chuckled and I felt my cheeks burn red. He'd definitely caught me staring.

The sun had already gone down by the time we were finishing up, Haymitch had wandered inside hours ago – muttering some excuses about tidying the study. We all knew that wasn't going to happen. I'd asked Peeta numerous times why he was still bothering making the pen, if Haymitch couldn't even stick around for that – I dreaded the state the birds would be in. Peeta would simply shrug and reply along the lines of; Haymitch had done a lot for him, it was the least he could do in return. I couldn't hold back from retorting that he also fed him every day and visited him weekly, to which Peeta had shrugged again. I wasn't able to stop myself thinking of how Haymitch had left Peeta in the arena, something I'd never forgiven him for. Surely Peeta didn't owe him after that, but he always had been much too kind.

"What on earth are the pair of you up to?" A familiar voice called from the front of the house. I turned to see Sae staring at us – her usual bag of food slung over one arm. Had we really spent most the afternoon and evening building this stupid pen for Haymitch?

"Building a pen." Peeta smiled over to her and gave her a quick wave.

"Ah, for the geese." I could see her shoulders shaking as she chuckled. "At least they'll be warm at night." She shook her head to herself before walking towards my front door. "I'll get started on dinner, don't be staying out too long."

"I'm nearly finished here, why don't you go and get Haymitch? He'll be starving since he missed out on his bread this morning." Peeta laughed lightly.

"Do I have to," I groaned. "He'll only be a pain all evening."

"Yes," Peeta chuckled, "but one thing before you do." He dropped the hammer on the ground before stepping forward to take my hands in his. They were dry and scraped from the day's work, I ran my fingers over them softly – smiling apologetically when I reached a sensitive spot.

Peeta pulled me forward by my hands before leaning down to touch my lips with his. The kiss was barely existent, the butterflies in my stomach the only thing assuring me that it had even happened. As Peeta pulled away, I couldn't help but look up and smile at him. He smiled lightly back at me, but for some reason it didn't seem to reach his eyes. I wanted to ask him what was wrong, but he interrupted me before I got the chance to.

"Go on, it's getting cold." He insisted.

At the mention of Sae's cooking, Haymitch had been round in a heartbeat – constantly complaining that Peeta had deprived him of sustenance all day. Sae had been more than happy to add another plateful, apparently she'd been trying to get him to join us for dinner for weeks. I had no idea what had changed his mind this time. Dinner went by uneventfully, I'd expected Haymitch to spend the evening making remarks at my expense, but he and Sae spent most the time caught up in their own little conversation about what was going on in town. Haymitch had even hinted about the bakery at one point – still a sore subject for Peeta, who had practically ignored the comment altogether. When it was time to clear up, Haymitch quickly decided to try and rush out the room.

"Where are you going?" I called after him, smirking as he scowled at being caught.

"I don't clean sweetheart, you've seen my house." I shuddered slightly at the thought, god knows how he lived like that.

"Well you do today." Sae threw a cloth at him, "I'll wash, and you dry."

"What do you want us to do?" I asked once Peeta and I had cleared the table.

"You two go sit down, you always clean up." Sae swatted us away as we continued to argue with her, although eventually we both realised she could be extremely stubborn when she wanted to be.

Peeta sat down on the sofa in the front room, rubbing the area where his prosthetic met his leg and letting out an exhausted sigh. I quickly began tidying away the opened letters scattering the table in the middle of the room, the last thing I wanted was Haymitch spotting it.

"Maybe we could go through another one tonight?" Peeta asked almost cautiously. "We haven't looked in a few days."

I bit the inside of my lip, I knew the letters left were the ones I'd been putting off – they were the ones most personal to me.

"It's a bit late isn't it?" I asked

"Sae and Haymitch will probably leave once they've finished cleaning. It shouldn't be too late." He pushed. I narrowed my eyes at him, he'd let me go at my own pace when it came to reading the letters. Why the sudden rush?

"Not tonight." I said, a little sharper than I'd meant to. "You're tired." I added quickly.

"Oh, okay." Peeta's eyes dropped down into his lap – his voice suddenly defeated.

I sat down next to him and forced a small smile, trying to break the tension. "Is your prosthetic hurting?" I asked.

"A little," he admitted. "I haven't given my leg a rest for a while."

"Why don't you take it off then?" I asked, he'd been on his feet all day. I knew it was more than he was used to doing lately.

"Maybe later." He replied quickly. I stared at him confused, what difference did it make when he took it off?

I didn't have time to ask him before Haymitch poked his head through the doorway.

"I'm going home," he grunted.

"Okay," I muttered, barely even turning to look at him. Out of the corner of my eye I caught him motioning for me to go with him to the door. I sighed exaggeratedly before pushing myself off the sofa.

"I just need a quick word, sweetheart." Haymitch murmured under his breath as we reached the door.

"What is it?" I asked, thinking it might be about Peeta, which would explain why they'd been acting strangely earlier. Had Peeta told him something?

"I don't know what going on between you and the boy, but I need you to stop hiding how you feel."

I scowled at him, immediately wanting to push him out the door. Peeta and I were none of his business. "What makes you think you know how I feel?"

"Because we're all struggling, Katniss! It's just the rest of us are facing up to our problems."

"How am I not facing up to my problems? Peeta told you I was doing better. I'm not lying." I snarled.

"You're pretending you're better, but when was the last time you actually talked about anything that happened? If you just keep ignoring everything it's going to build up until you explode."

"A few months ago I barely left the house!" I argued, pushing past the embarrassment I felt when I thought back to the state I'd been. "How is this not better?"

"You are better," Haymitch rubbed the bridge of his nose, clearly getting frustrated with my refusal to agree with him. "But you've still got a way to go."

"I don't see why I should take advice from the person who drinks their problems away." I crossed my arms over my chest. "Is that how you suggest I get better?"

"No," He snapped, "I suggest you call that goddam doctor before the government has you put away."

"What?" I dropped my arms from my chest.

"I'm meant to be looking after you, as part of your release remember. Aurelius has been using my word as proof of your recovery. But the government isn't going to buy it for much longer. He needs to talk to you Katniss, or they'll remove you from Twelve."


Author Update

Okay guys, sorry this isnt a new chapter, I just felt terrible leaving you all in suspense

I promise I am working on the next chapter, it's about two thirds done, but I am coming to the end of my final year at uni and my 21st birthday has just rolled around so i've been extremely busy!

I can't tell you when the next chapter will be done, but I just wanted to let you all know that I havent abandoned the story

thankyou for being loyal and patient!


Update No. 2 (29th March)

Hey guys, once again im SO SORRY for the wait. But good news, my huge final year project was handed in this week and I am once again writing. I go to Barcelona on sunday morning so am hoping to get the next chapter to my beta reader by then so I can post it asap (as I will still have internet).

But on an another note, I have had some amazing news. I Found You (the predecessor to this story) has been nominated in the Fanatic Fanfics Multifandom Awards for All Time Favourite Hunger Games Fanfic. I am honestly amazed and so thrilled! Thankyou to whoever nominated. It would mean the world to me if you guys voted. Votes open on the 31st of March fanaticfanficsawards . blogspot . co . uk/ (remoe spaces for weblink)

Thanks again for your patience, it will soon be rewarded!