I wake up in the morning to the dim lights of District Thirteen. I shift my head a little to look at Peeta's face, but find that our heads are far too close together to see each other fully, so I pull back and kiss the spot under his jaw, making him groan. He tightens his grip on me.

"G'morning," I say.

"Morning," Peeta replies.

I don't know what comes over me, but I flip myself over so I'm on top of Peeta, sit up and straddle his waist.

Peeta grins. "Like the view?"

I look at him and I see that his chest is bare. I didn't notice last night, I guess. Suddenly I get the urge to kiss every inch of skin that is showing, but instead I just laugh.

"Just so you know, I'm quite enjoying the view," Peeta says, his voice husky. Then I remember that all I'm wearing, besides my underwear, is his blue t-shirt.

Just as I'm leaning down to kiss him, there is a sharp knock at the door.

"You take it," I tell Peeta. "It might be my dad or something, and I don't want him to know I'm here."

Peeta nods. I hide in the washroom while Peeta goes to answer the door, still shirtless but sporting a pair of plaid sleep pants. I think that Peeta would look much better sleeping if he had just his boxers on.

Or maybe naked.

I don't even bother trying to tell the voice in the back of my head to shut up, because I've been having these thoughts too often to force myself to believe that they're not real.

I am completely attracted to Peeta Mellark.

I hear Peeta open the door and greet whoever is on the other side of it in a stiff voice.

"How are you doing, Gale?"

My stomach drops. What does Gale want? I know I shouldn't be worried, but Gale and Peeta... they're not exactly the best of friends.

I hear Gale step forward. "I want you to stay away from my Catnip."

"Excuse me?" Peeta asks, obviously confused.

"Stay away from Catnip. She's mine." I hear silence for a moment, but then Gale's footsteps recede and I come out of the washroom, sitting down on the bed.

"What was that all about?" I ask, pretending I didn't listen to the conversation.

"Gale was here," Peeta says, sitting next to me. I widen my eyes, so that Peeta thinks I'm surprised.

"What did he want?" I ask, trying to sound suspicious.

Peeta gulps. "Katniss, do you- do you want me to back off?"

"What?" I ask. Now I'm actually shocked. "No! Of course not! I'm the one who's been coming in here every night. If I didn't want to be around you, then why am I here? Why am I wearing your shirt? Why was I sleeping in your bed?"

I'm being a little bit defensive, but it seems like it worked, because Peeta has relaxed.

To prove my point even further, I crawl forward and sit in his lap, my legs on either side of him. I rest my forehead against his.

"Why do I kiss you, even though nobody's watching?"

My voice comes out in a whisper. Peeta's blue eyes get darker, and shine with love (although they always do when he's around me). He brings his hand up to caress my face. I close the distance between us and our lips meet. Soon, the kiss goes from sweet and soft to passionate and feverish. My hands are all over Peeta's torso. I slide my hands over his chest, his arms, and his abs that, I remember, he gained while we were training for the Quell. They are a bit less hard and distinguishable than they were before, but- wait. Why am I obsessing over his abs?

I feel Peeta's strong, steady hands shakily venture underneath the shirt I'm wearing, but he instantly pulls his hands back.

"Can I- I mean- you..."

I don't say anything to answer the question he asked, but I grab his hands and place them back underneath the hem of my shirt. I connect my lips with his again and we fall onto the bed, me on top of him. For a second our kiss breaks, but I smash my lips to his again.

Peeta's hands travel further and further underneath my shirt, and his hand grazes the bottom of my bra. When I just keep on kissing him, although harder, he pushes my shirt off of me, leaving me exposed in only my bra and panties. I feel him, rock hard, against me.

With a growl Peeta flips us over, so he's hovering above me. My heart is fluttering in my chest.

Am I ready for this?

Another knock on the door breaks us apart, but this time I feel thankful. I don't think I'm ready for sex, and I'm pretty sure that Peeta doesn't own any condoms. I'm definitely not ready to get pregnant.

I decide to change into proper clothes, and I see Peeta's face fall a little bit before he grabs his own shirt and pulls it over him.

When he opens the door, I see that Haymitch is there. It's amazing how perfect his timing is all the time.

"What do you want, Haymitch?" I sigh.

"You're expected at a meeting with Coin in an hour," he says. "It's something about Two. Continue... whatever you were doing." Haymitch smirks, and that's when I become aware of our swollen lips and mussed hair.

"Fuck off, Haymitch," I say.

"Ooh, Mockingjay is using no no words now!" he says. I roll my eyes and look at Peeta, but he's just annoyed at Haymitch.

I've heard him curse a few times, but never at someone. He's heard me swear plenty of times, though. It's surprising that this is the first time that Haymitch has ever heard me swear.

"How about you leave, Haymitch?" Peeta says exasperatedly. When he doesn't, I just slam the door in his face and wait until I hear him leaving.

"Haymitch sucks," I say, shaking my head.

"Yeah, he does," Peeta agrees.

"Really his timing is impeccable," I grumble, and Peeta nods.

He wraps his arm around my waist like it's the most normal thing in the world, but after a few minutes of me leaning into him, I feel his body tense up.

"What?" I mumble, muffled by my face being half pressed into his shoulder.

"Nothing, Kat," Peeta says. "Can I call you that? Kat?"

I smirk, and decide that Peeta's tensing was probably nothing. "Well, it is better than 'love', so yeah, I guess it's fine."

"Kat," Peeta says slowly, tasting the name. I think his voice saying his nickname for me is sexy. "Kat, Kat, Kat, Kat, Kat, Kat, Kat, Kat, Kat-"

I pull away from him and put one finger over his lips. "If you do that I might rethink my decision," I say. "And then no more kisses."

"NO!" Peeta shouts loudly, and I can't tell if he's acting or not. I never could, anyway.

"Ah, I'm just teasing, knucklehead," I say, but then I regret calling him that so I give him a kiss.

"I love you, Kat," Peeta blurts out, making me feel all warm and tingly from head to toe. Then his face goes red. "You don't have to say it back," he says quickly.

The tone of his voice almost breaks my heart, and my earlier playfulness dissipates. I try to open my mouth to tell him that I love him, too, because I know it's true, but I just keep blushing no matter how hard I try to say something. I really am bad with words.

Peeta's shoulders slump, not dramatically or in a surprised way, but in resignation, as if he was expecting silence. Why can't I just say three words? I know that I'm in love with him, so why can't I just say it? Why do I have to act like a fucking blushing schoolgirl around him?

"It's okay," Peeta says.

I'm still incapable of speech for some reason, so I wrap both of my arms around him and hug him. Peeta pushes me away.

"What?" I ask, my voice finally coming back.

"I just... need some space right now," Peeta says. After seeing my disappointment, he adds, "I'll come back, I just need some time to myself. I mean, you basically just told me you didn't love me... again... after you did all that stuff. I'll see you at the meeting."

"But I do love you," I say as he walks out of the room, but obviously he doesn't hear me because he doesn't stop.

I enter the meeting room where Coin, Plutarch and a number of other high-ranking officials are already seated. They occupy one half of the table, leaving the other half empty. My dad and Gale are already sitting down at the table, with two spots empty.

I end up sitting in front of my dad with an empty spot right next to me. Peeta hasn't arrived yet.

As soon as I have that thought, Peeta enters and sits down in the empty chair, but not before flashing everyone a warm smile. His gaze lingers on me for a little longer, and I see that out of the corner of my eye my dad is glaring at him.

Coin breaks the tension by speaking. "I'm sure you're wondering why you're here."

My dad nods, but I can see the cold fury in his eyes.

"You four are going to go to District Two," Coin says. "You, as the Mockingjay, are vital to the rebellion."

"And it would be most exciting to see the Mockingjay fighting along with the men in her life!" Fulvia cuts in. I roll my eyes at 'men in her life'.

My dad's eyes flicker to Peeta distrustfully, and Peeta doesn't meet his gaze. He turns his stare back to Coin.

"Alright, we're going to Two."