Sorry for the delay in updates. Hopefully this will be the last chapter before the epilogue and we can call this one complete. Then on to other stories! YAY! I have some good ones outlined and I can't wait to get them rolling! I will need some betas for my new ones, so if anyone is good with plots and storylines, please let me know! They will be multi-chapters, angsty and, ngl, a bit heartbreaking. All with Everlark HEA's, though. Okay, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Read away, my pretties.

PS - I'm not sure what the boundaries are of the ratings. I just click the acceptance box without reading and move on. Hopefully I haven't gone too far. I'm calling it T+ again.

Part 13

The kiss only lasted a few seconds, barely a molding of warm lips to each other. Peeta pulled back, and Katniss saw the questions in his eyes.

"What do you mean?" he asked her. Katniss could feel the fear climbing through her like a relentless vine in summer, wrapping its way around any and everything, choking the life out of its anchor until it reached the highest point. She fisted her hands at her sides, trying to block it out. Now was no time to crumble to terror, and so taking a deep breath, Katniss closed her eyes. It was easier to tell him if she wasn't looking straight into his soul.

"I don't want to forget because… because I- I think," Katniss stopped, choosing to rephrase her words. She had to get this right, leave no confusion behind. "No, I don't think. I know that I feel more for you than just friends. I don't want to forget because... I can't go back to just being your friend, Peeta!" The last part was babbled and rushed, and probably loud enough for the neighbors to hear, but at least it was out there. She hoped with everything in her that he felt the same. If he didn't, she had no clue what she would do.

"Katniss, look at me," Peeta asked her. His request was soft, encouraging enough to cause instant compliance. "Are you saying you want us to be together for real? No pretending?"

Without hesitation, Katniss answered. "Yes, Peeta. I want it to be real." She had expected Peeta to react to the news in some way, possibly even annoyance. She had hoped for happy and elated, had even imagined him lifting her and spinning her around in glee, but this - stoic and and unemotional - was bothersome. It was almost like he didn't believe it was true. The panic began to spread again, so she launched into the rest of her speech.

"I've missed you. I've missed when you touch me, when, when your arms are like this-" Katniss reached down to move his arms around her waist. She took it as a good sign that he didn't pull away, leaving them dangling around her hips, and she timidly skimmed her fingertips up his arms, past his shoulders and neck, and into his hair, massaging it gently. She felt him shiver and his skin turn to gooseflesh.

"I've wanted to run my hands through your hair since..." Katniss paused, realizing she was about to reveal her dream. Peeta didn't seem to notice, and she felt a steady increase in her boldness when he closed his eyes and moaned softly.

Leaving his hair, Katniss trailed her fingers over the ridges of his ears, and down his neck until her hands rested flatly on his muscled chest. Her heart was beating wildly, and she expected any minute for him to say stop, but he didn't. She stared at his perfect lips, quivering slightly with his breath, and she reached up to trace a finger over them.

"Your lips, they're so... soft. I have thought of them on mine everyday since we first kissed." Katniss watched as Peeta's eyes fluttered open, definitely a darker shade of the brilliant blue they normally were. She was fully aware of how his arms had tightened around her so that their chests were flush against each other, and how her breasts were aching to be touched. Katniss was sure if she stood back Peeta would be able to tell exactly how turned on she was.

"Kiss me, Peeta," Katniss asked, her gravelly voice exposing her want. Peeta didn't say a word, just lowered his head so that their lips touched. The kiss was sweet and promising, until Katniss swiped her tongue across his bottom lip. Almost instantly it became fierce and heavy with need, hands roaming, tongues searching as weeks of frustration and years of longing poured from one into the other.

Katniss finally relinquished the control she usually exercised over herself, jumping up to wrap her legs around Peeta's waist. His hands immediately went to her thighs to hold her in place, and she was surprised that their kisses could intensify. They were as connected as they could be without being completely naked, so much so that Katniss was sure Peeta was breathing for her, and she for him. He spun her around, pressing her back to the refrigerator door for leverage, and she groaned loudly when she felt the sweet pressure of his hips against hers.

It wasn't exactly the same, but Katniss vividly remembered the dream she'd had - how Peeta had kissed her senseless and hooked her leg around his waist, pressed her against the cabinets in her kitchen. This was better, though. It was real. And she wasn't about to wake up.

Katniss greedily sucked air into her lungs as Peeta's lips left hers, a trail of wet kisses strung along her jaw and down her neck as he made his way to her collarbone. If the dream were any indication, she was going to love this. She dragged her nails over Peeta's back in anticipation and he hissed against her skin.

"Did I hurt you?" Katniss asked as she pulled back slightly, afraid she'd done something wrong.

"Not a chance," Peeta answered, the husky tone of his voice testifying he felt as much desire as she did. "You could touch me anywhere and I'd love it." Katniss closed her eyes as he tugged the sleeve of her oversized shirt and her thin bra strap down her arm, exposing her shoulder and upper part of her chest. A haze of lust had settled over her so heavily the voice in her head screaming that all of this was too fast had been reduced to barely a trace. They had already known each other for years, she reasoned. They were the best of friends, had already kissed, slept in the same room, and were fake engaged. It was expected of them, wasn't it? People probably already thought they had done this years ago. And it felt too good to stop.

"Peeta." Katniss breathed his name as he rocked his pelvis into hers. He whispered her name back to her, and it had to be the sexiest way she'd ever heard it. "Peeta? Do you have, um, do you have..." her voice faded when she recognized she didn't quite have the boldness to ask if he had a condom.

"Anything I have is yours, Katniss," Peeta said, lowering her legs to the floor and collecting more delicious kisses from her lips again. She wanted to be bold, to finally express what it was she wanted, and after completing the entire sentence she felt him freeze. The absence of space between them grew, and Peeta looked down at her with eyes as big and round as the moon.

"A c-condom?" he choked out. Katniss felt inches tall instead of feet. She was pretty sure she had read him right, but maybe he wasn't into having sex with her yet. She mentally kicked herself, realizing she had probably gone too far, too fast.

"I'm sorry, I, I thought-"

"No, I do. I've wanted you for a long time, Katniss." Peeta hesitated before continuing. "I just want to make sure this is something you won't regret. Do you really want me? Like this?"

"I think we've gone pretty far already, Peeta," Katniss said, pointing to her shirt halfway down her arm. "The tops of my breasts are peeking out-"

"I know, and it's amazing," Peeta interrupted. Katniss narrowed her eyes, leveling him with a suspicious scowl. She wasn't used to being on display, and Peeta's verbal acknowledgement embarassed her.

"What?" Peeta asked innocently. "I've dreamed about seeing you naked for longer than I can tell you," he admitted, and Katniss could see the faintest blush on his cheeks. "That's why you have to be sure this is what you want, and you didn't give me a straight answer just now."

No, she hadn't. She had avoided it, hoping he would catch her meaning, but he wanted to hear her say it out loud. Isn't that where all their problems had come from? Keeping their feelings and what they really wanted under lock and key?

"It's what I want. You are what I want." There. She'd said it. It was all out; there were no confessions left inside her. Katniss felt like a tethered balloon, just released from its bond.

"Katniss." Peeta went quiet, but the wistful look on his face told her everything she needed to know.

"I know," Katniss whispered to him, cupping his face with her hands and pulling him close to her. She brushed her lips against his, quickly reigniting inside herself what had quieted during their brief exchange. She yelped in surprise when Peeta swept her up, walking out of the kitchen and depositing her on the living room couch. She reached for him when he stood up.

"I'll be right back," Peeta said.

"Where are you going?" Katniss whined.

"Condom!" Peeta yelled at her from the bedroom. Katniss could hear a moving box being torn open, and things being discarded and rumbled through. A quick glance around while she waited brought a smile to her face. This place was perfectly Peeta. The light from the windows, the spacious, open layout, the bedroom with its large, french doors opening from the living room. She had been angry when she'd heard he rented a space so quickly, but being in it made her realize how much he needed this, and she was relieved and happy she would get to be a part of it.

Her gaze was drawn to the coffee table in front of her, where a familiar book lay. Alcohol Infused Cupcakes. How had that gotten here?

Katniss picked up the book, turning it over in her hands the way she had done when she'd first seen it in the store. Peeta must have taken it with him after their fight. She hadn't paid enough attention in the hours after he'd left to notice if the cookbook was still around her kitchen. It had completely slipped her mind.

A piece of stray paper fell from the book into her lap when she went to place it back on the table. Her name was at the top.

Katniss,

I'm sorry I yelled at you and said those awful things. You're my best friend. I don't want to see our friendship destroyed over something fake. I think it's best if we stop pretending, go back to being just friends, and if I don't escort you to the reunion.

I need some time to sort this out. I'll call you in a few days.

Peeta

She read the note over again, wondering why she hadn't seen it before now. The bliss she'd felt moments ago gave way like a trap door, plunging her into the darkness of dread. She realized in all her confessing that Peeta hadn't shared his own feelings. She'd heard them from Finnick, and a small confirmation from Rye, but Peeta had yet to acknowledge any of them, unless you counted the heated kisses, curious hands and Peeta rummaging around for a condom. That should surely count for something, but still, in light of the note, she needed to hear they weren't ruining their friendship.

Hurried footsteps sounded on the wood floors as Peeta came back from the bedroom, a triumphant look on his face as he held up a small, square packet. "Found one!" The grin died when he looked down, seeing what Katniss had been reading.

"What's this?" Katniss asked, trying to keep calm.

"You're, um, not supposed to see that," Peeta said, letting out a deep breath. He looked defeated, tossing the tiny, unopened package onto the table.

"Then why does it have my name on it?" she challenged him. "From the look of things, you don't really want this," Katniss said, motioning between herself and Peeta. "You were going to fake break up with me, and leave me to go to the reunion alone and face Gale! And you promised you would be there!" Katniss knew she was getting out of control, but something about it felt betraying. It seemed to her a complete three hundred and sixty degree turn from the note to what they had been about to do. "Were you just messing around with me? Did you want to get back at me for asking you to pretend?" Katniss stood and headed for the door, not wanting to hear what she feared would be the truth.

"Katniss, no! It's not what it seems. Just let me explain. Please," Peeta pleaded. Katniss slowed before she got to the staircase, stopping completely and turning around to face him. Something in her knew she needed to hear him out. She had felt awful when he left the other day, and she didn't want to leave him with the same insecurities, so she marched back to the couch, hard as it was to listen when everything in her wanted to defy.

"Katniss," Peeta sighed and slumped his shoulders, sitting in front of her on the edge of the coffee table. He dragged his fingers through his hair, leaving the ends sticking up all over. Katniss normally would have laughed, but now was not the time.

"I love you. And not like a friend," Peeta said. Katniss knew he had strong feelings beyond friendship for her, but this was more than what she thought he would admit. She also knew deep down she felt the same.

"I've loved you for a long time. And, I knew it was a bad idea to pretend to be engaged to you, but I didn't know how else to be closer to you without making things between us awkward, and ruining the amazing relationship we already have," Peeta said, shifting from the table to the couch beside her. He took her hands in his, and Katniss could feel a flutter of relief welling up inside her.

Katniss wondered how he had kept it all inside for so long as he continued to confirm his feelings for her. "I can't live without you, and I didn't think you could ever feel the way for me that I feel about you. The letter was more about distancing myself from hurting us both, but I think it did worse."

Katniss was silent for what felt like ages, eyes on the table, thoughts rolling through her mind, until Peeta asked her to say something, anything, to let him know she wasn't angry with him. Today was all about admissions and truth, and she knew she had no right to be angry with him.

"I put you in an awful place, and for that I'm sorry, Peeta. I understand now why you did what you did. I'm just sorry that I didn't realize my feelings for you sooner. That it wasn't real before today, but I know now." For the first time in her life, Katniss didn't want to run. She wanted to stay.

"There is no one else I see myself with," Katniss said. It was Peeta's turn to be silent, although the smile on his face was anything but alarming.

"So, we're doing this? You and me?" Peeta asked for the second time that day. Katniss laughed at his kid-in-a-candy-shop enthusiasm.

"Yes, Peeta, we are doing this," Katniss said, mimicking his words and motioning between them again. She picked up the little foil packet. "I think, though, that we may need to ease into this part of our relationship. I'm sorry if I got a little too excited." She blushed remembering the earlier encounter.

"You're right," Peeta agreed, his thumbs brushing over the backs of her hands. "I want you to feel free to ease in however slow you want to. We have all the time in the world to do this the right way."

"Yes, we do," Katniss said, unable to stop the huge grin from taking over her face.

Next stop - reunion town! The next chapter will probably be the last - wrapping up with Gale and seeing how Everlark moves on. :) I did struggle with this chapter, so if it doesn't quite make sense I'm sorry! I wanted Katniss to have one last reservation, but stay to talk it out. Also, since I rated it T I had to break up the action before it got too far, and a faithful reader, LACR, gave me the idea of Katniss finding the note. She actually said she hoped Katniss didn't find the note, just so no one blames her. All blame goes to me! Thank you for reading and please talk to me! I'm also on tumblr as peetabreadgirl.