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Chapter Twenty-Three

Katniss stretched and rolled over. She nudged Peeta who was still sound asleep. He mumbled something and rolled away. She moved in behind him and kissed his shoulder.

"Hey, are you guys awake?" Prim called softly as she opened the front door.

"Well, that's the end of that." Katniss said as she got up and started dressing. She called out, "Just waking up."

There was silence for a while and Peeta sat up to stretch. "Oh, I forgot my leg."

Prim knocked on the door. "Is there a reason for the fake leg in the living room?"

The couple shared a look and Katniss hurried out of the room. She grabbed it up and said, "It's Peeta's."

Her sister looked at the limb she held. "How did it happen?"

"Super-secret mission." She said with a smirk and hurried back into her bedroom.

"I'll tell her." He said, already dressing. He held out his hand. "I have to tell her."

"You don't have to tell her anything." She handed it over.

He pulled on a shirt and left the room. He found Prim in the kitchen making a pot of coffee and scrambling an egg. He watched her a moment before he said, "We should talk."

She looked over her shoulder. "So it wasn't some secret mission?" She asked with a smirk as she sat down with her eggs and toast and a cup of coffee. "I didn't figure. But secrets are called that for a reason. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"But you're my girlfriend's sister. And I've been living here for long enough. You should know some things about me." He made himself a cup of coffee and sat down across from her. "My mother was abusive. I don't remember a time she was ever loving toward me. She made me do all the housework. She punished me harshly for small infractions."

"Did she cut your leg off?" Prim asked with wide eyes.

He chuckled. "No, nothing quite so harsh. But a lawnmower did."

Prim gasped. "That bitch is going down."

Peeta patted her arm. "Get in line behind your sister."

Katniss wrapped her arms around Peeta's shoulders. "It was all I could do to not throw a drink in her face."

"You've seen her?" Prim asked.

Katniss nodded. "She was Snow's date to that charity dinner Peeta and I went to."

"Both of them together? Snow always gave me the creeps. I felt him looking at me like a piece of meat every time I went in there to talk to you."

"Yeah, he's gross." Katniss kissed Peeta's cheek. "This guy's not, though."

Peeta chuckled and patted her hands. "You want breakfast?"

"I'll cook it." She pulled his head back and kissed his forehead, the tip of his nose, and then his lips. "How do you want your eggs?"

"However you're making them for yourself would be fine." He smiled.

"Then you're getting them scrambled." She stepped toward the stove and he followed. He wrapped his arms around her and she looked over her shoulder. "I can't cook with you attached to me."

"I just wanted my arms around you for another minute." He kissed her cheek and stepped away. He sat down at the table once more and watched her.

Prim said, "I noticed something."

"What's that?" Katniss asked.

"Just that you've never been this relaxed." Her sister said. "Like after you started dating Peeta, you loosened up. And after he moved in, you were even more. But now, it's like you're a whole other person."

"I feel like a whole new person." Katniss said as she sat a plate in front of Peeta.

He rubbed her back as she sat beside him. "I love you." He looked to Prim. "You too, kid. As long as I'm with Katniss, and I hope it's a long time, you're as much my sister as hers. That also means, anything that happens in this house, stays in this house as far as personal stuff goes. All that I told you about my mom has to stay between us. Can you do that?"

Prim nodded.

"Finnick and Annie know, so if you feel like you want or need to talk about it with someone that knows, you can go to them."

"Or me." Katniss said. "I'm always here."

"Okay." Prim looked between the two and then sat her hand in the middle of the table. "Family."

Katniss laughed and placed her hand on top of her sister's. "Family."

Peeta added his hand to the pile. "Family."

The weeks passed and the trio fell into a routine. Katniss sent Prim and Peeta off to school and then she finished getting ready for her first class of the day at nine on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Her first class Tuesday and Thursday was at eight, so she left when they did. Her Tuesday and Thursday didn't end until late, so Peeta always had supper waiting those days. She picked up for it on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday as much as she could. Occasionally Prim would cook, but it was mostly them. And Prim graciously tried to spend her weekends with friends as much as possible to give the couple privacy.

At the end of the day, Katniss was exhausted. She looked at Prim over dinner and said, "Don't take a four year break. Keep going. I'm too old for this."

Prim chuckled. "You're going pretty well, it seems. You're not dead yet."

"I've been doing it barely a month and it feels like two." She turned to Peeta. "How are you at shoulder rubs? I'm dying from the stress."

"Pretty good, I guess. Rub my foot in return?"

"Sure." She patted his knee. "And your leg. Which I'm sure hurts just as bad."

Prim started clearing the dishes. The other two got up and moved to the living room.

Katniss dug in her bag and produced a textbook. "Homework sucks."

"What do you have?" Peeta asked.

"I have a chapter to read in this business basics book." She sat in front of him and opened up the book on the coffee table. "Hand over your foot. I can do two things at once."

"Will the TV distract you?"

"I don't think so. This stuff isn't completely boring." She pulled off his sock and began to massage his foot and read as he picked his show.

Peeta chose and placed the remote on the coffee table. Then he put his hands on her shoulders and started pressing his thumbs into her neck. She moaned and dropped her head.

"Please be careful with the sex noises." Prim said from the other room. "I have enough of that in the middle of the night."

Katniss laughed. "We're not that loud."

"The walls are thin. I sometimes end up wearing my earphones."

"Sorry." Katniss turned her page and moved her hands further up Peeta's leg. She looked up. "Oh, crap, I have to pay bills. Remind me to do that tomorrow."

"You know, I can help out with that." Peeta offered.

"Yeah, we'll work it out later. I have to finish reading. Must keep eyes open!"

Peeta chuckled and kissed the top of her head. "How much more? I can read to you."

"It's fine. If I listen to you reading, I'll stop paying attention to it. You have such a smooth voice. It really turns me on."

Prim came in quickly with her fingers in her ears. "Lalalalalala! I'm uncomfortable! I need an adult!" She ran through the living room and shut herself into her bedroom.

Peeta chuckled. "Teenagers."

"And you haven't been around them for long." She pulled his other leg around and removed his prosthetic leg. She massaged his leg as he moved his hands over her shoulders.

"Do you… Have you ever thought about having kids?"

She looked over her shoulder. "We haven't even had the marriage discussion."

"We talked about it a little. That we're not ready for it. But what about kids?"

She twisted and looked up at him. "I raised someone already. And with my mom's issues and my own, I'm not sure right now if that's something I want."

He nodded. "I understand."

"But you've thought about it." She leaned her head on his lap. "So tell me."

He smoothed his hand over her hair. "I want to be like my father. He loved me. He loved my brothers. You're definitely not my mother. You have a heart and you have love and you would never hurt another person."

"I want to hurt her." She trailed her fingers up his calf. "I hate all she did to you. And all that she still does by just existing."

He kissed her forehead. "I have you now."

"I'm not your mother, I'm your girlfriend."

"Which means special perks. Are you done with your reading yet?"

"I can finish it tomorrow before class." She stood and held out her hands. "I'm so tired."

They made love quickly and clumsily and then fell asleep in a tangle of sheets and limbs. They woke up the next day to the same routine.

Katniss came home. She sigh reached for the pile of bills she kept by the door to get that out of the way while Peeta finished supper. But it wasn't there. "Hey, Peeta?"

Peeta called from the kitchen, "I'm in here."

She walked in. "Where are the bills?"

"I paid them." He said nonchalantly.

"You paid my bills?" She asked.

"Yeah. You said we were going to talk about it, but I saw that most of them were past due, so I just sent them all off."

"You shouldn't have done that." She said low. She was getting angry now. "I know you were just trying to help, but you made me feel useless. Just because I don't have a job right now doesn't mean I don't have money to support my family. I've been paying bills since I was twelve."

He deflated. "I'm sorry, Katniss, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

"I'm pissed off, Peeta. My feelings aren't hurt, you made me angry." She turned around and left the room.

He hurried after her. "Hey, don't just walk away. I want to talk about this."

"Before I say anything I regret, I need some time alone." She slammed the bedroom door shut behind her.

Peeta heaved a sigh and went back to cooking. Maybe he should have talked to her first, but he thought he was doing her a favor. It was one of her late days. He just wanted one less stressor for her. And now the bills were out of the way. It was something his father would have done.

Prim came in from her study group and took in a deep breath. "Smells good in here, housewife." She teased as she walked into the kitchen.

He gave her a small smile. "You know, you could pick up the slack a little."

"Why would I cook when you're the best in the house?" She leaned over the pot and breathed in deeply. "Stew?"

"Yes. And rolls and salad. Help yourself. I need to talk to your sister." He dried his hands and started to walk away.

"What's wrong with her?" Prim asked as she set the table.

"Nothing you need to worry about." He patted her shoulder as he passed her. He tapped on the door. "Hey, can I come in?"

Katniss opened the door and let Peeta in.

He watched her a moment. He said softly, "I didn't realize it would upset you so much. I'm sorry."

"You took it upon yourself to do something you had no right doing. I was going to pay those bills. I've got money, even though I'm not working. There's money set aside for that purpose. You completely undermined me, Peeta. And I don't appreciate it."

"I understand."

"I don't think you do."

"My father waited on my mother hand and foot. And she loved it. And he loved that she loved it. I had no other example. I saw how they were together and that's all I know. I'm struggling to figure out this partnership because I know fiercely independent you are and that's one of the things I love and admire about you."

"You should have waited and talked to me, Peeta."

"And we can talk about it. Let's figure this out together for next time."

"I'm having a hard time being rational right now. You just standing there is pissing me off."

He let out a breath. "Are you just fighting me because you need to let off some steam? Because if that's the case, you need to get your bow and go outside. I didn't realize what I was doing was wrong in your eyes. And I am sorry. How many times do I have to say it?"

"You know what? You're right." She walked to her closet. She got her bow and a quiver of arrows and stomped past him. "This doesn't mean this conversation is over."

"I don't expect it to be." He called after her.

Katniss stayed outside until late, shooting arrow after arrow into her target. She retrieved them and started over again. Peeta stood by the window and watched her for a long time.

Prim asked, "Are you guys okay?"

"We're fine." He sat down at the table and ate his supper.

Katniss finally came in as Peeta was putting the dishes away. She walked over and wrapped her arms around him and pressed her face into his neck. "I love you."

"I love you, too." He held her tightly. "You're still mad, though, aren't you?"

"Yeah." She looked up. "We'll decide before next month how we're going to make it work. You're right that it shouldn't be all me. But it shouldn't also be all you. And you shouldn't have just done it without saying something to me. I feel like a little kid. Out of control. I'm a grown woman who has been paying my bills for a decade."

He kissed the tip of her nose. "Next time, we talk. I really am sorry I just did it. I am. You're right that I had no business taking that upon myself and I won't ever step on your toes again if I can help it." He brushed a kiss over her lips. "Are you hungry?"

"I am. Did you already put the food away?"

"Just put it in the fridge. Want me to make you a bowl?"

"I can do it." She stepped away. "I'm not helpless."

"I know." He caressed her arm.

She smiled at him. "I hope we can go another couple months before our next fight."

"Me too."