Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins does.

Ch: 4

Peeta's POV:

When I woke up the next morning, I didn't want to get out of bed. I was in too much pain; but if I didn't go to school, my friends would wonder about me. And I didn't want them to find out why I was covered in bruises. I let out a groan of pain as I got up. I was pretty sure that I had a few bruises around my ribcage. I walked into the bathroom to see how bad the damage was. There were bruises all over my abdomen as well as a few more burn marks. I lightly touched my ribs and flinched at the sharp pain I felt. I checked my back and saw more burns and scars. I found the bandages under my sink and wrapped up my ribs.

I got dressed in my dark grey school hoodie, a red shirt, jeans, and black converse. I looked at my clock and saw that had an hour left before I had to leave for school. I went downstairs and poured myself some orange juice and made some toast. I still had a half hour left before I had to leave, but I figured that it might take me awhile with all of these injuries. I was nearing the end of my street when I heard someone yell

"Peeta, wait up!"

I turned around to see Katniss running towards me. She was running too fast and couldn't stop in time. She crashed into me and we both fell down with her on top of me. I had to hold in a groan of pain when I felt her elbows land in my ribs.

"Hey Peeta." Her breath smelled like mint.

"Hey Katniss."

We were on the ground for a few minutes looking into each other's eyes. Her grey eyes piercing my blue ones. She shifted her body and her elbows dug a little deeper. I couldn't prevent the groan from leaving my mouth.

"Do you think that you can get off of me now?" I asked.

Katniss seemed to break out of her trance. Her face turned red as she saw the position that we were in.

"Sorry for running into you." She said as she got up.

"Don't worry, Katniss. I'm fine."

We started walking to school. We told each other more about ourselves like our favorite holidays, favorite seasons, and favorite sports. It wasn't long before we reached the school.

"Meet you here after school?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'll see you then."

Skip to Lunch

I decided to eat lunch outside today since all of my friends had team meetings during lunch today. I grabbed one of the burgers from under the heat lamps, paid for it, and walked over to the spot that I usually went to. I pulled out my sketchpad and colored pencils and got to work, taking the occasional bite from my burger. I was attempting to sketch the forest that was behind our school. I was almost finished when I heard someone sit down beside me. I looked up and saw that it was Katniss. Her face was a beet red.

"Hey Peeta."

"Hi Katniss."

There were a few seconds of semi-awkward silence. I returned my focus back to my sketch.

"What are you drawing?"

"The forest," I said, pointing to the trees in front of us.

"Can I see it?"

"Sure, but it's not finished yet."

I nervously handed her my sketch book. She looked at it for a minute or two and started flipping through the book before I could stop her. I couldn't see her reaction to any of the pictures, and she didn't say anything. After a few minutes of silence, I couldn't take it anymore.

"So what did you think?"

"They're really good, Peeta." she replied.

I felt my cheeks heat up at the compliment and gave her a small smile in thanks.

"So do you want to meet at my house after school today for our project?" She asked me.

I had to think about it for a few minutes. I didn't have to help my mother at the bakery today, and I had nothing after school.

"Yeah that's fine," I replied.

The bell rang signaling that lunch was over. I packed everything back into my bag.

"See you in art class, Peeta."

"See you later Katniss."

Skip to Katniss's house

Katniss's family was really nice, especially Prim. She was really energetic and talkative. On the way back to Katniss's house, Katniss was talking to me about Prim: how she wanted to be a doctor, how she took care of the family goat, how Prim first got her cat Buttercup. It was really easy to see how much Katniss cared about her sister. It kind of reminded me of the way that I used to talk about my older brothers.

I had been at her house for a few hours. Katniss and I were working on the sketches for our art project. We decided to do some rough drafts first before we started on the final colored sketches. We wanted to have an idea of what our sketches should look like. We decided that we wanted the sketches to reflect our personalities. We were using our favorite colors, noticeable characteristics, and favorite places. We just used pencils since we were only doing rough drafts. We were making some progress in the drafts. Katniss's sketch started to looked more realistic instead of lines and circles. I had finished my sketch about an hour ago and was helping Katniss with hers.

"Katniss, Prim, time for dinner!" Mrs. Everdeen.

I looked at the clock, and it read 8:30. I hadn't realized how late it was. I had to get home soon.

"I guess we're done for the day," I said.

I felt disappointed for some reason, but I don't know why. Most likely because I didn't want to go home to an abusive mother. Yeah, that was definitely it.

"Do you want to stay for dinner?" Katniss asked me.

I need to get home. I wanted to tell her but instead I said okay. Dinner with the Everdeens felt really nice. I hadn't had a family meal in what felt like forever. I made small talk with Katniss and Prim, occasionally answering Mr. Everdeen's questions. It felt great to have a family dinner together even if it wasn't my family. Katniss walked me out after dinner. We told each other goodnight, and I walked home.

It was about 11:30 when I made it home. I was able to get back into the house without waking my mother and went to bed.

~Line Break~

It was around six in the morning when I woke up. I was hoping to leave before my mother woke up and hit me for staying out so late. But it seemed that my luck from yesterday ran out. When I was about to leave, my mom was waiting for me in the living room. I could also tell that she had been drinking.

"Where were you last night?" She asked in an eerily calm tone.

"I was at a friend's house." I told her.

"LIAR! I know you don't have any friends." She hissed.

Next thing I know, there is a stinging feeling on my cheek. I'm used to the feeling, but I still reeled back from the force of the slap. Mother then dragged me into the kitchen and threw me on the ground. She placed a few kicks to my ribs. I could tell that she broke a few ribs. I coughed up some blood. Then she picked me up and propped me up against the counter. I placed my hands on the counter top to hold myself up. When I looked at her, she had a rolling pin in her hands. I realized what she was doing too late as she brought the rolling pin down on my hands.

~Let me know what you think about the chapter. Constructive criticism is always welcome.