I know I updated yesterday but I am just honestly so excited about the upcoming chapters/the ending that I want to post them as soon as I can. And I love love love getting reviews from you guys, it honestly makes me so happy and I think about it all day! Y'all are the best ever.

Peeta's POV

I don't go after Katniss. Partially because I'm too stunned to move and she had every right to leave. I betrayed her trust on so many levels. I told Alma that Katniss is a hooker and I've been paying her to attend the repetitive business functions with me in hopes to cure boredom. I also told her that Katniss isn't like any other girl I've met before and I've crossed paths with my share of the opposite sex. I neglected to tell Katniss about Delly; there wasn't much to tell in the first place however. Yes Delly and I are dating at the moment, as much as we can call dating. It's more like fucking and using each other's names for good networking. We have a long history of break ups and make ups and it's gotten to the point where it's no longer a relationship and more of someone to place blame on when there isn't anybody else.

Delly is the type of girl that my mom would want me to end up marrying, and I would have married Delly just to please her because I'm still craving the love and acceptance that I never got as a child. But now, after this week, I've forgotten all about her. The moment Katniss walked up to my car window with her blonde wig and her fake name.

Katniss thought I actually view her as a hooker. I don't know how she could possibly think that after last night. I thought that we sealed the deal after everything that happened. After we kissed, and kissed again and a few more times after that. Katniss said that she doesn't kiss clients on the mouth, so I'm not a client anymore. At least I wasn't until twenty minutes ago when Katniss' walls came flying back up at an alarming speed.

So what if I offered Katniss to buy Katniss a place? It isn't that big of a deal. It'll get her off the streets and whatever shitty apartment she can barely afford now. Katniss was supposed to be happy about all of that. But she wasn't. Instead she claimed that was me treating her like a hooker. But I've never treated her like a hooker, not when we first met and certainly not a few moments ago before she slammed the door on me.

I shake my head in frustration and go to make myself a strong drink. I throw back a scotch then pour myself another one that I take the time to savor the burning feeling on the back of my throat as it slips down into my stomach with each sip.

Four glasses later and I am regretting my decisions. My decisions to let Katniss walk out of the hotel room, not finding out the other reasons why Katniss was so upset because it couldn't have been the Delly and apartment buying things as both of those could have been talked out, drinking in general.

I fumble my phone for a few minutes before finding the contact that I've been looking for and press call. I have Haymitch pick me up at the front of the hotel.

"Do you know where Katniss lives?" I ask once he's in the driver's seat.

"Yeah but I don't think it's a good idea to be going over there in your state."

"You've probably had more than me tonight," I sneer.

"Yeah but I've also been using booze to drown my sorrows way longer than you, Kid."

"Shut up. I don't pay you to lecture me, just drive to Katniss'."

Haymitch grumbles something but I've drank too much to catch exactly what he said. He does however put the car into drive and slowly leaves the hotel parking lot. The houses become smaller and the shops start looking less and less expensive the further Haymitch drives.

Finally we pull up to a dumpy little apartment building that looks like it could fall down if I stared at it too hard. Haymitch tells me what door is hers and before I can back out, I knock on the door loudly.

After a long minute a tall, fierce look woman with short dark hair. She gives me a smile like she's picturing me naked. I immediately feel uncomfortable.

"Sorry, I must have the wrong address," I stumble over my words quickly. Drinking and coming here wasn't a good idea.

"Nah, you're in the right place."

"How do you know?"

"Not many guys like you come here looking for someone in particular," she tells me. "You're Peeta Mellark, right?"

"Yeah, who are you?"

"Oh I'm going to be the person to put an axe in your skull if you hurt Katniss anymore. She's gone through too much shit in her life for a big rich and swanky douche like you to make her feel like the dirt dogs shit on."

"I'm here to make it right," I tell her honestly because I fear that this lady is serious about the axe thing.

"Yeah that's all white knight of you but I Katniss doesn't want to talk to you right now."

"Come on, please. I need to speak to her. She needs to know that she's wrong."

She laughs loudly. "Good luck telling her she's wrong. Katniss is more pig-headed than I am."

"Can I just talk to her please?" I step forward hoping she'll move but she doesn't, of course. I let out a huff of hot air and pull my wallet out. If pleading with this girl won't work, I'm sure money will. "I have five hundred dollars cash, let me talk to Katniss and it's yours."

The lady snatches the money from my hand and steps aside. "Kat, you've got a visitor!"

"I told you to get rid of him, Jo," I head her call from behind a closed door.

"Yeah well he gave me five hundred bucks, so what can I do?" the girl named Jo shrugs her shoulders even though Katniss can't see. I give myself a second to psych myself up before I head towards the door I know Katniss is behind. "Lover boy is coming in!" Jo shouts behind me to warn Katniss about my arrival.

I open the door and walk into Katniss' bedroom before closing the door behind me. Katniss I sitting up on her bed still wearing the leggings and tee shirt she left in and looking absolutely gorgeous. Her room is bare, white walls, small desk with a lamp next to her twin sized bed that is low to the ground and has an ancient looking patch quilt draped across it. A small stuffed, yellow duck sits on the pillow.

"I hate Johanna. She was supposed to keep you out," Katniss mumbled, she hasn't looked up at me since I walked into the room.

"Yeah well who can pass up money? Besides she threatened to stick an axe in my head if I hurt you, and I believe her."

Finally Katniss' eyes meet mine. They are a darker grey, like storm clouds right before a heavy storm and rimmed red from escaped tears. I want to do nothing more than to kiss those tears away and find her lips again. I'd give up all the money in the world to kiss her one more time, if Katniss would allow it.

"If you're here to give me my money, you can give it to charity or something because I don't want it."

I shake my head. "That's not why I came."

"Then why did you because you certainly didn't come all the way here just to plead forgiveness."

"I did."

"Then you're the stupidest businessman I have ever met, and I've met a lot of businessmen Mr. Mellark."

I sink to my knees in front of her, circling my hands around her waist and pulling her closer to me until we're touching. "Then I'm the stupidest businessman, because I am here to plead forgiveness, and I don't intend to leave until you come back with me."

"I'm not going back with you."

"Then I'll stay here."

"No Peeta. You need to leave," she says sternly as my grip on her tightens to show her I'm not going anywhere until Johanna comes in her with that promised axe.

"We were happy yesterday, everything was falling into place. What happened?" I place a kiss Katniss' neck, right in the spot that makes her weak.

"My feelings for you got in the way of my job."

"Then quit your job, I thought you were self-employed," I joke, kissing her neck again, this time using my teeth to graze the skin gently.

"I can't, okay?"

Katniss says it so forcefully it's like she's trying to convince herself. As if she'd love nothing more than to come back to the hotel with me so I can fully explain everything and then have incredible make up sex that includes a lot of kisses. Why is Katniss so against this when I know she wants this too?

"What did Alma say to you?" Katniss looks down, her chin touching her chest. "Katniss, tell me."

"We're just not in the equation for each other. Your girlfriend is."

"Katniss, Delly is just a placeholder. Really, I haven't even thought about her since the moment I met you. We're just friends really. Friends with benefits that use each other to get ahead in life."

"Well she'd make a better choice than me."

"No, not at all. I feel nothing for her. I feel everything for you. Tell me Katniss, what did Coin say to you?"

"You told her that I'm a hooker so she used that to her advantage and gave me a choice. I could work her as a mole and sleep with the people she asks me to in order to get information; Seneca would be the first person. Or I could leave. Either way she made it clear that you were not an option."

"I don't understand. Why didn't you just tell me?"

"She found out about why I'm a prostitute and played it to her advantage. I'm afraid that if I defy her she'll retaliate and I can't have her hurting the ones I love. Coin is a powerful and dangerous woman. She feels threatened that I'm stealing you away from what is essential to her power plays and she can't have that."

"What did she find out?"

Katniss looks down again and takes a deep breath before diving into the story of her past. "We were a really happy family for the first few years of Prim being born. We didn't have a lot, but that was okay. We didn't need money to be happy, just each other. Then at three, Prim started getting really sick and turns out she has cancer. It put a lot of strain on our family, but we pushed through. My mom was a nurse so she cared for Prim at home a lot. I'd get jealous that Prim would all the attention so my dad would take me out into the woods and taught me how to use a bow and how to hunt and track animals. Then my dad died, so suddenly. And my mom was stuck with me, a kid with cancer, and a broken heart. She all but shut down. Doing nothing but care for Prim. She forgot that existed entirely and it got to the point where I had to start taking care and providing for the family because my mom couldn't. She checked out and was too busy dealing with Prim. Prim went into remission a year after my dad died, and I thought that everything was going to be okay."

I could tell that there is more to the story. The part on how Katniss fell into this profession. I remain quiet and let her continue.

"Then when I turned eighteen, the cancer came back. We didn't have any money for chemo and I was desperate, so I went to this guy named Cray. He was notorious for being a pervert and it was common knowledge that he pays for sex regularly. So I knocked on his door and I asked him how much he paid and he said normally one hundred dollars a night. Then I asked him how much he charged for virgins. I cried the entire time but I walked out with five hundred dollars and I was that much closer to getting the medication Prim needed. So I moved closer to the city, met Johanna and she caught me everything she knew. Everything I make besides rent money and what little I can spare for food goes directly to fund Prim's chemo. I thought that the selling your body would get easier the more you do it, but it doesn't."

I want to wrap Katniss in my arms and never let her go. I want to hold her forever and tell her that no one can ever hurt her again because I'll protect her. Then I realize that Coin probably offered Katniss money to sleep with the men Alma wishes to destroy, probably enough money to cover all of Prim's expenses plus extra. Dread fills me as I think how hard it would be to turn that offer down knowing how much she loves her sister.

"Katniss, did you say yes to Coin's offer?" I ask in a timid voice.

Katniss shakes her head no and dread is quickly placed with relief. "I couldn't do that. There is a reason why I don't have a pimp now. I like control. I say when and with who and how much and how long. With Alma I wouldn't get that, I'd be her dumb little whore that is waiting at her beck and call because she desperately needs the money to save her sisters life."

I take Katniss' face into my hands. "I'll take care of Coin."

"No. She's going to hurt my family. She made it clear that whatever we had was to end. So this has to end."

I get up, startling Katniss. I head towards the door in a rush to leave. "This isn't over Katniss. Everything will be okay, you'll see."

I leave with a wave to Johanna who is fanning herself with the five hundred dollar bills I gave her. In the car I pull out my cell phone. I still might be a little drunk and this might be the worse decision of my life but it's the only thing I can think of right now, and I'd do anything to be with Katniss and make her happy.

"Snow, I think we need to talk. I have a counter offer to your business proposal."