AN: HAPPY NEW YEARS MY FELLOW READERS! Wish you guys all the best!

Aaaand, there WILL be a chapter on January 2nd, I promise it (but remember, I live on the east coast of the US so it might be diff for you guys)! Sorry for being so inconsistent. And just as a heads-up, I have midterms coming up soon so there might be a slight hiatus.

I've never been so nervous standing on Peeta's front doorstep. It's been only a day since I last confessed to Peeta, but to me it's been forever since I last saw him. I'm a bundle of frayed nerves, waiting for him to say anything, tell me his answer.

Last night, my mind was only occupied with thoughts of Peeta. Peeta Peeta Peeta. So was the night before. Since today is Sunday, knowing that his schedule is usually clear, I've decided to see if I can at least get things back to how they were before I confessed.

With two knuckles, I rap on his door. I hear someone unlocking then opening, and to my delight, it's him. My Peeta.

"Hey," I breathlessly say. He looks stunned.

"Um, hi." He stands in the doorway, completely obstructing it. Hm. He'd usually invite me in…

"I was wondering if you wanted to go downtown and grab something to eat for lunch?" I tentatively ask him. I notice he's still in his pajamas, but I'll wait for him if he has to change.

Peeta fidgets with the bottom of his shirt. "Sorry…I think my parents planned a family thing this afternoon, so I can't go." He can't seem to meet my eyes when he says this, and it worries me.

I think I compulsorily sigh. "It's okay. Maybe next time?"

"Yeah. Maybe next time Cato." With that, he shuts the door in my face. The scene would be complete if it just starting pouring right now.

I've literally never felt so dejected in my entire life. Not even when I wasn't invited to Marvel's sixteenth party, because he had 'no room left'. I mean, that was a pretty dick move of him, but it's to be expected of Marvel. I let it pass and I never got him a birthday gift, he never talked about how wasted he got, so it worked out fine, no hard feelings. But somehow, Peeta rejecting me for this one small offer kind of makes me want to go home, slip under my covers, and cry. I think it's because I confessed my love for him just a day ago, and it feels like…he's rebuffing my feelings, really.

I think I'll go home and lay low for a bit. Unless it's Peeta, I don't want to talk to or see anyone. Lately, my phone has been filling up with texts and missed calls from Glimmer, and a few from Marv himself too. I'm not ready to face them yet. When it's just Peeta and me, it feels like a stronghold, a haven where I'm completely safe and sheltered from the outside world. I wonder if he feels that way towards me.

Peeta's probably just getting over the breakup. He has a lot of things to go through, like Katniss and me, so I'll give him the time he needs. Hopefully, at the end of his recovery period, he'll at least tell me his answer, what he feels about me. It would be a lie if I said that I don't think about that almost every hour of my day.

Of course, my parents are out for the week at some socialite gathering in upstate New York. It's not unusual to have the house to myself from time to time. Now though, I feel so lonely. I've turned off my phone, it's glum and silent, and there's nothing even good to eat in the fridge. There's only one thing to do: have a bowl of cereal, take a shower, and then a nap.

MONDAY MORNING AT SCHOOL

"Have you seen Peeta?" Finnick asks me. He hops off of his bike, losing all momentum from coming around the corner, and then tosses it onto the grass near my car.

"No, I haven't," I say, feeling like I've been punched in the gut. He hasn't called or texted at all, and it's actually killing me.

"Oh. Alright." Finnick adjusts the straps of his canvas backpack before speaking again. "I heard you ditched Glimmer on Friday night," he casually says.

I wince at that. "Yeah." I turn away from him, heading towards the bustling school building.

"It was Peeta, wasn't it? I heard that you said something about Peeta, and then left for him."

My steps come to an abrupt halt. It seems to quiet, even though freshman girls are screaming about how their weekend went just a minute's walk over. It's your fault. You were the one that couldn't pick him up. "Is that why you asked about Peeta?"

"Pretty much." The scraping of his footsteps tells me he's trying to catch up to me. "I get it. You guys have been best friends for a really long time, so bros before hoes, right?"

I can only nod.

And we stand there. We stand there for a good minute or two, staring at the impossibly blue sky and just thinking.

Finally, I pipe up with, "Looks like Peeta's a no-show then."

"Yup. But what can we do about that?" Finny slaps me on the back, and he proceeds towards the high school.

MEANWHILE…MARVEL…

"I don't know! Stop screaming at me!"God, this cunt's voice is about as screechy as it gets. Glimmer is blaming me for Cato's stupid-ass behavior. How am I suppose to know why he decided to stop making out with one of the hottest girls for his best friend?"

She says something that completely goes in one ear, out the other. It's all a complicated mess now with her screaming at me. "Okay, okay, you know what? You, shut your trap, and I'll take care of it, alright?" Without waiting for an answer, I hang up on her. God.

I'm then out the door and on my way to school. While driving there, I can't help but contemplate about Cato and Peeta's relationship. I mean, yeah, they've been friends for the longest fucking time, and we have our crew mantra: bros before hoes, but the way Glimmer has been shouting at me for the entire weekend makes me think that maybe Cato took this to another level.

I realize I'm late to school, but fuck it. I saunter in, head towards my first class. Thinking that I'll see him in the hallways, I proceed to fall asleep in the back row of the classroom.

The bell wakes me up. I'm out of there as soon as possible, and I'm on my way to see if I can catch up to Cato before he gets to his next class. Sure enough, there he is at his locker.

"Cato! Get your ass over here," I shout towards him. At least ten people turn their heads to look at me. However, Cato isn't one of them. That bastard.

I shove my way towards him until I reach his locker. With my best theatrical sigh, I then proceed to give my best monologue on the situation, "Cato, you dumb fuck. I can't believe that you left Glimmer in the middle of the date we so carefully planned out. Shame on you."

He shuffles around for something in his locker. After putting a binder into his backpack, he finally speaks. "Date? You call drinking with other people a date?'

I scoff. "Well, you were with Glimmer. So it may not be a date, but you did get to spend some time with her," I shoot back.

Cato rolls his eyes at me. He rolled his eyes at me! Me! "I wasn't interested in her in the first place. Sorry for making you go through all of that trouble."

The fact that he made me set up a date with her when it really wasn't needed doesn't mess with my head. But the fact that he said he wasn't interested in her… "No interest? Whatsoever? Like, you don't find her attractive or anything?"

The hallways have pretty much cleared up by now. A few stragglers remain. "No. Not really."

I clear my throat. "Alright, so you're telling me, this gorgeous girl, with a nice set of tits, great legs, awesome ass, and probably really freaky in bed, and you're not even attracted? Not even interested? Not one bit?"

There's conflict clearly taking place in his mind; I can see it on his face. He opens his mouth a few times, then shuts it. His brow is scrunched.

"Just say something, goddammit," I spit out.

His tense shoulders relax a bit. "Fine. But you promise that you can't tell anyone else, not even Finnick."

"Yeah, yeah, just tell me." It's probably something stupid anyway, like 'oh, I'm not into huge boobs' or something. Whatever man, just say it.

"I'm not kidding, you seriously can't tell anyone."

I nod quite affirmatively.

He sighs, looks around a bit. I look around too. The hallway is practically empty.

"Marvel, I don't like girls."

Um…what? "Yeah, and I don't like alcohol. Seriously Cato, if you're not into her or whatever, it's fine. I respect that. Besides, she's kind of a bitch."

"I'm serious. Don't tell anyone."

Cato actually has to cut the crap. He's the epitome of every girl's dream guy. He looks so right with a babe on his arm, and he's basically rejecting all of that. Unbelievable.

"Shut up Cato. I'm not falling for that," I reply, slightly shaking my head.

"I'm telling the truth. I'm—" he looks around, seeing if anyone was nearby, "—gay. I'm gay, Marvel." His voice drops down a few notches. And that's when I know he is being serious.

My stomach basically drops to my feet and my head is pounding. So…Cato's gay. Hm. Cato. Is. Fucking. Gay. I will admit that I had some trouble breathing for a few moments trying to comprehend all of this, since it hit me like a wall. I honestly still can't grasp it to its fullest. We're in school right now, and it just doesn't seem like the right place to take it in.

"Okay, I believe you. I think I'm going to sit on this for a little more, but I'm going home. That's some crazy shit to take in. But I get it, I won't tell anyone. It might ruin your reputation and all, so I'll keep quiet." I pause, trying to think of anything that I might've missed saying to him.

However, his expression catches me off-guard. Cato looks so…relieved. And that makes me happy. "I'm going now." I pause. I still can't seem to get over what he just said. "See you around, bud," I say, giving him a pat on the shoulder.

He gives me a wave with a dopey smile on his face. "See you. And thanks, Marv. This means a lot to me."

"No problem." I turn around, walking away from him and fishing my keys out of my pocket. I'm still slightly shocked. Looks like I'll have to make up an excuse for him next time I talk to Glimmer. Maybe I'll just tell her that her tits are just too big for him to handle. Yeah, that'll do. It is partly true, after all.

NOW BACK TO CATO:

I never knew that it would feel this amazing to come out. It's relief along with the feeling of joy. Now two people know: Marvel, and Peeta. My best friends. It's never been an issue before, hiding my sexuality, until now, and I'm glad to have some of the burden off of my chest. And when Marvel handled it really well, for some reason, I couldn't have been more proud of him.

The rest of my day passes with a little more ease. I still think of Peeta.