I'm skipping a few months in this chapter because I'm running out of things to write about and I really need the snow to melt off. This isn't the end guys.

They went home the next day and I haven't seen Peeta since because I'm ditching school. He stays on the phone with me all weekend and when it hits two in the morning and I have to be up in three hours for school, I hang up.

When I wake, I'm nervous. What will people say now that everyone knows about my issues and how I want to die? I shower and pull on red skinny jeans that are really tight, like skintight, and a white tank top with a pushup bra and then a leather jacket. I start to braid my hair but I give up. I force myself to eat because I'm scared of getting my phone destroyed.

Silently, I leave, clutching my phone in my hand.

I have to steady my breathing to keep myself from having a nervous breakdown on the way to school. I park in my place and rest my head on the steering wheel and wait for the song sorry by the Jonas Brothers to finish.

Then I grab my bag and my phone and get out and lock my car door, taking a deep breath before walking up the path and into the school. Every single eye snaps to mine. Glimmer is there, sitting on the little half wall. Cato and Clove are in the corner, glaring at her. Not a word is said, everyone just stares at me.

It takes every ounce of strength in my body to keep myself from bursting into tears and leaving again.

"I'm sorry for laughing at you." Someone says; someone on the football team.

"Yeah Katniss, honestly I never laughed." Someone says. It's a guy with dark skin and dark hair and dark eyes. I recognize him as Thresh. "I be honest, I think your sexy as fuck." I open my mouth to tell him that I have a boyfriend but he puts his hands up. "Hey girl, I respect that you've got a guy, I'm just saying, he's lucky. I've had a crush on you since third grade." He laughs. I raise my eyebrows.

"Is that why you got kicked off the football team?" I ask.

"Yes."

"We can be friends, I guess, but if you touch me in a way I don't like, I'll snap your wrist like a twig."

….a….

Months fly past and before I know it, it's May and finals are literally right around the corner, I got a job at Steak N Shake.

Prom is May 25th, a Saturday. We have Sunday, and then Monday starts finals. We finish finals Friday and then on Saturday we meet at the school at five in the morning and we go to Florida. Cinna says that even though my grades are extraordinary, I need to keep my grades up. Peeta and I still haven't had sex and I'm not upset. I don't want to rush things. It's a week before Prom, May 18th and I am studying my ass off. Peeta hasn't asked me to Prom and I honestly don't know if I want to go. If he asks, I'll go, but if he doesn't, I'm not going.

I've paid for the trip to Florida and I don't know a senior that isn't going. Thresh has joined our 'group' and at first, Peeta wanted nothing to do with him, but now he's alright with him. He does say something when he catches Thresh looking at me though.

I can hear pots and pans banging downstairs and the voices of my family, everyone, because they're all down for Prom and they're here a week early because the kids from Maine are already on summer break.

"That's it," I snarl to myself, having been locked in my bedroom. I grab two backpacks and stuff them with textbooks and paper and pens and everything I could possibly need and then I sling one over each shoulder.

I have on a soft pink skirt, a white crop top bra and a jean jacket with tank top straps, a spiked necklace and I pull on my black leather and storm downstairs, pissed off. "Katniss honey, why don't you join us?" Aunt Effie chirps.

Well she's Effie. She's Haymitch's girlfriend and she isn't related to me yet so I'm not considering her my Aunt. "No." I say curly, going into the kitchen and getting my bag of chips that I bought with my own money and a ton of other snacks and drinks.

"Why not?" Mom asks.

"Because I'm trying to study; don't bother with my phone, I won't have any service." I walk out the back door and jump the fence that leads to the huge field. I'm going to the exact same place that Peeta and I went when we were little kids, the place I broke my leg at. I trudge through the grass. The property is private but I won't get in trouble because the neighbor owns it and she gave us permission to go on it and she told me that other day I can come out here whenever I want. She doesn't use it, it's just there and she keeps it mowed. Since they don't know where I'm going they're going to panic. Since I'm not going to be answering Peeta, he's going to flip and show up at my house. They're going to tell him I went out back but I'm gone and he's going to put two and two together and he's going to come out here. It's a few miles walk. I walk silently, remembering all the memories.

The gigantic oak tree is still tall and healthy, and the branch I fell from is there still. I sit down and lean against its trunk.

Silent, I break out my books and snacks and dive into everything.

…a…

The sun is starting to set now. I don't care; I might just sleep out here. I know that there won't be rabid animals out here tonight and it won't get cold in mid-May.

Peeta sits down next to me and I jump. "You scared the shit out of me!" I gasp.

"Sorry," he mutters. I haven't seen him since we got out of school yesterday and we haven't talked. "Do you love me?" he blurts. Something is bothering him; I can see it. I look up from my Calculus book.

"I love you. You know that." I reply.

"Okay." He adds nothing else.

"Peeta, what's wrong baby?" I ask.

"Nothing," he lies.

"Peeta…if you don't want to tell me I'm not going to force you…you're not mad at me, are you?" I ask.

"Why haven't we had sex yet?" he blurts. Then he exhales sharply and swears under his breath. "Sorry…you don't actually have to answer that. I'm just kidding."

No he isn't kidding. "I don't know…" I trail off. I don't like talking about sex or how nice somebody else's sex was and I hated H.O.P.E. class for that exact reason. I get embarrassed and hell, Johanna is right, I'm pure as fuck. I always have been and I always will be.

"Because…Thresh and Finnick have had sex with their girlfriends and they said that since we haven't had sex we're not in love. I know I love you and if we are not in love then it means that you don't love me because I love you more than anything…"

"Well Thresh and Finnick are horn dogs and they think that in order to be in love you have to have sex."

"We've hardly ever made out." he mumbles. "Do you love me but not like my appearance or something?"

"Peeta…it just hasn't happened yet. Every time we get close to making out we get interrupted. And for the sex problem…" I shrug. "I love you Peeta; every single thing about you. Don't listen to Finnick and Thresh."

"Johanna said you don't want to go to Prom with Me." he blurts.

Dammit Johanna. "I never told her that. I told her if I'm not going to prom with you then I'm not going."

"So will you go to Prom with me then?" he demands.

"Okay." I reply.

He sits back against the trunk. "I'm sorry." He whispers.

"For what?" I ask, flipping the page in my study guide. I got this assigned two weeks ago and it's at least twenty pages filled with questions. Everyone is urging me to get them off Google but I won't learn that way. I'm almost done though, I'm on page fourteen. It's not due until Thursday.

"For…putting you on the spot like that."

"It's okay." I reply.

"What if we did start to get close to having sex?" he blurts. "Would you shove me off?"

"No, I would take your shirt off."

"What if I already had my shirt off?"

"Then I would take your pants off."

"What if I already have everything off?" I laugh softly.

"Then I would give you a blow job."

"What if I wanted to touch you; every single inch, would you let me, even if it took hours? Or days or weeks or months or decades or centuries."

"Yes." I reply honestly.

"What if we had sex right now?" he asks.

"I would push you off. We're outside in my neighbor's yard."

His shoulders slump, "Right," he mumbles. I start stuffing everything back into my bag. "We're leaving?" he asks. He looks so innocent and sweet and it makes me smile.

"No, I'm just putting my stuff away. We never get to be alone. Like really alone. We're miles from my house and from Sae's house. Nobody is going to bother us out here." I lay down in the grass and he scoots closer to me. His hand outstretches towards my body for a second but then it drops into his lap. "Peeta, if you want to touch me, you can, just don't take my clothes off me." Sae is my neighbor, the one who lets us back here.

He hesitates for a moment before his hands start to wander my body. He sits me up and slides off my jean jacket. He runs his hands up and down my legs but stops at my skirt. He looks hot. He's only in black basketball shorts and a tight white t-shirt that shows his abs through. He runs his hands all across my stomach, not touching my chest although I know it's killing him. His fingers leave hot tracks that feel incredible across my skin. He runs his fingertips along my cheekbones, my nose, he traces my lips, and he looks into my eyes before running his hands over them, making me close them. He traces my eyelids and my forehead and my ears. He runs down my cheek, down my neck to my shoulders, letting his fingers linger there for a moment before moving down my arms to study my hands. He traces the patterns on the pads of my fingers and moves his hands to wander my stomach again. His eyes will occasionally flick to my chest and his hand will twitch. I laugh softly when he does it for the third time. "What?" he murmurs.

"I said you couldn't take my clothes off. I didn't say you couldn't touch me." I whisper. His eyes flick tom my chest again. He doesn't say anything; his hand just rests high up on my thighs. He looks like he doesn't quite understand, so I grab his wrist and rest his hand right on my left breast, the only separating him from my skin being the crop top I'm wearing.

He sucks in a sharp breath and his cool blue eyes go dark, filled with love and lust. He has a boner, but he makes no move to hide it. "So beautiful," he mumbles. "You're so incredible. I'm in love with you."

"With me, or my boobs?" I ask. He smiles and I laugh.

"With you," He whispers.

"I love you too." I whisper. His hand draws back and rests on my stomach now.

We stare at each other for a long time, his blue eyes melted into my gray ones.

I can't take it. I scramble into his lap and kiss him, swaddling him.

…a…

We don't get back to my house until three in the morning. We kissed heavily from seven at night to two in the morning.

It was so hard not to rip his clothes off, but we did cross boundaries and hands definitely touched one another in places forbidden to anyone else. "Your leaving?" I whisper.

"Let's go somewhere." He whispers back.

"It's three in the morning." I remind him. "Just sleep over." I take his hand.

"I can't sleep over." he whispers back.

"Why not?" I whisper.

"Because your entire family is here and I really want to take your clothes off. I told you a while ago I can't control myself around you and I meant it."

"Okay…will I see you tomorrow…or I mean later?"

"Probably not, I have to work." He says.

"Oh…" I sigh. "I'll see you tomorrow then, as if Monday." I kiss him for a long time and walk him to the front door and wait until his car is completely out of sight to shut it and lock the deadbolt.

"Katniss?" Dad asks behind me. I jump and whip around.

"Yeah Dad?" I ask.

"Did you just get home? At three in the morning?" he asks.

"Uh yeah…is that a problem?" I ask.

"No just…" he looks me up and down. "Did Peeta find you?" he asks suspiciously.

"Yeah, why?" I ask.

He frowns. "Katniss Joy, are you still a virgin?"

"Dad!" I whisper shout.

"Answer the question." He answers loudly.

"God Dad, yes, I am!" I snarl.

"Are you lying? I think your lying."

"Well I'm not lying!" I shriek.

"What are you two shouting for?" Uncle Haymitch walks into the kitchen.

"Do you believe that she is a virgin?" Dad demands. Other adults in the family come into the kitchen and they all agree that no, they think I've lost my virginity.

"I haven't had sex!" I snarl.

"Well why were you out so late?" mom asks suspiciously.

"Because I was studying…" I lie.

"I bet she's a virgin, but they were screwing around; using their hands and stuff." Haymitch smirks at the rest of the adults and they all snicker.

"God! Fuck you!" I shove him out of my way as I storm upstairs, my face flushed bright red.

"I bet that's why she is in a skirt!" Haymitch add loudly. They're laughing hysterically and it just gets louder when they hear my door slam.