PEETA

I shoot Katniss an apologetic look as my parents took a short break from their bombardment of questions and stories over dinner. Most of the questions came from my mom, the stories were my dad's working; it was clear he was trying to defuse the tension that my mother had created. She smiles back sweetly but continued to nervously tug on the ends of her hair occasionally.

My mother had hounded her with questions about school for a good fifteen minutes when we first sat down to dinner and Katniss had managed to answer them all with a smile, but if the way my mother acted when Ryan and Alex brought home any past girlfriends was any indication, it wouldn't end there. We'd managed to get almost through dinner before she said anything that could cause too much damage.

Katniss took a sip of her drink in front of her at my mother cleared her throat, yet again.

"So, Katniss, what do your family do?" she asked.

"Oh, well my mum is a nurse and my little sister, Prim is about to start her first year of high school." Katniss replies, setting her glass back down on the table.

"And your father?" my mum pressed with a raise eyebrow

I open my mouth quickly, hoping to change the subject before anyone had the chance to notice. Katniss had opened up to me about her Dad when we were away, but even then it was obvious it wasn't something she wanted to openly talk about. I didn't want her to get upset tonight when she had already been so nervous about it.

"You don't –"I start, putting my hand over hers

"It's ok." Katniss says reassuringly "My uh …my Dad died when I was eleven."

"Oh, Katniss we're sorry." Dad says as a dull mood shifts through the room.

"No, it's ok, you weren't to know." She insists hastily.


I help dad clear the plates from the table and follow him into the kitchen, pulling myself up onto the counter with a sigh. Pulling my hands through my hair, I look up to see Dad giving me a slight frown.

"Don't worry about your Mum too much Peet, she'll come 'round." He insist, raising en eyebrow "you know how she can get."

"Yeah, that's exactly why I'm worried for Katniss' sake. I should probably get back in there before she says something else." I say with a sigh, heading for the dining room again.

"Hey" Dad says, taking my arm before I have the chance to leave. He looks me in the eye and smiles "Katniss is great, son. I'm happy for you."

I smile and head back to find mum and Alex lecturing Ryan about college, Katniss was smiling along with their conversation. She looks up as I sit down next to her, taking her hand in my own.

"I'm sorry." I tell her with a grimace.

"Peeta, it's ok." She says with a smile.

"Are you sure?" I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Positive."


An hour later Katniss and I find ourselves back in my bedroom and away from the drama and un-ending questions my mother inflicted, intentional or not. I was thankful to be away from them, however ungrateful it sounded, I just didn't want Katniss to leave here with an impression of my family that wasn't accurate. I'd always been uncertain about introducing Katniss to my family, I just hope they knew how important she was to me.

"What's on your mind?" Katniss asks giving me a quizzical look, an eyebrow raised.

"You." I say with a timid smile. "And them." I motion my head in the general direction of my family. "I just wonder if they know how happy you make me."

Katniss leans forward and wraps her hand around the back of my neck, pulling my closer and placing her lips on mine. My hand begins to slide around her waist as I kiss her back.

"You're such a sap." She laughs between kisses.

Katniss leans back against the bed head and runs a hand through my hair, a certain urgency rising between us. I pull her closer but can't help but let out a little laugh as she pulls at the bottom of my t-shirt. I take her face gently in my hands and look into her eyes as she gives an exasperated sigh, leaning against the bed head again.

"I'm sorry." She laughs "I just …" she sighs again, trailing off and shifting next to me on the edge of the bed

"I know. Me too."

I scrub my hands through my hair and place a gentle kiss on her cheek. Katniss flops back on the bed causing her t-shirt to rise over the top of her jeans slightly; I can't help but smile as I notice the way her skin is still tanned from the summer. How could one person be so flawless? It was beyond me.

There's a knock on the bedroom door and Alex comes into my room with a smile and takes a seat at my desk.

"Just coming to see if you've run away screaming yet?" he looks to Katniss who was sitting up now.

"Nope, not yet." She laughs looking at me from the corner of her eyes.

"Yet" Alex confirms with a wink at me. He turns to Katniss again. "Hey, I know it's easier said than done, but don't take anything Mum says seriously. She did the same thing to my girlfriend, but she gets over it eventually, just give her time."

"That's good to know, I guess." Katniss says with a smile

"I'll leave you guys to it." Alex says standing up and ruffling my hair with a smirk. I hit his hand away and shake my head at him as he leaves.

"We should probably get you home; don't wanna give your mum a bad impression before I've even met her." I tell Katniss, taking her hand in mine and pulling her up into my arms.

"That's impossible." She says, resting her head against my chest.

Regardless, I take her hand and lead her back through my house, thanking my parents on the way out. We're met with a warm smile from my father and a curt nod from my mum. We head out to the car and begin the short drive to Katniss house. As we drive through the night I can't help but glace over at Katniss every few minutes, curious as to what she was thinking, but the ten minute drive seems to be over all too soon. I pull into the driveway and look over to Katniss with a timid smile.

"Peeta, it really wasn't as bad as you seem to think it was." She says smiling.

"It wasn't?" I raise an eyebrow as Katniss shakes her head. "Still, I'm sorry about my Mum."

"Stop apologizing." Katniss reaches over and pulls me to her with a smile, placing a small kiss on my lips.

"Sorry." I laugh as she pulls away and gives me a stern look.

"Thanks for taking me tonight though, it was nice to meet your family, Peeta." Katniss smiles.

"Anytime." I tell her as she climbs out of the car. She quickly walks around to my side of the car, sticking her head through the window as I roll it down.

"Mmm?" I ask with a smile, raising an eyebrow.

"Goodnight." Katniss smiles, kissing me on the cheek.

"Goodnight, Miss Everdeen. I love you."

"I love you, too." She heads up the path and inside her house. I wait until she closes the front door behind her before driving home.


I head up stairs to find Dad in the kitchen sipping on a mug of hot chocolate. He looks up as I enter and gives me a big smile.

"Katniss is a great girl, Peet." He says with a beaming smile, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah, she is." I couldn't wipe the smile off my face.

"I'm really glad you found someone like her; it's high time. It's good to see you happy. Y'know, it was a bit worried about how you would adjust when we moved, especially considering how distracted you looked before you all went away at the beginning of summer. But, I'm glad you've got her." He says, nodding his head.

"Thanks Dad."

"And don't worry about your Mum, just give her some time and she'll come around." Dad insists with a sincere tone.

"I hope so." I sigh "I'm gonna head to bed, G'night Dad."

"Night, Peet." He calls as I head to my bedroom.

I flop down onto the bed with a sigh, wishing Katniss was still here with me, already looking forward to seeing her again.


hey guys! Here's chapter 3, i'd love it if you could tell me what you thought of it and also what you thought of Peeta's family? Also, my new friend TornPages03 and I are starting to working on a new THG story; its gonna be Modern Day Au and each chapter will be based on/inspired by Parmore songs! So it'd be great it you could check that out once we get started, and go give Ambers storys a read, theyy're great! Have a good week! R&R! :)