The weekend passed quickly, Sunday morning Katniss went to the kitchen for breakfast cautiously, paranoid that her mother or Haymitch had surely seen Peeta either sneak in or out of her bedroom and were waiting for her to arrive to breakfast. Everyone was in the kitchen already eating, Prim and Rue looked at Katniss and giggled their heads off, Katniss' mom asked what was going on but Prim insisted it was nothing.

Later after Rue had gone home Prim deliberately opened the door to Katniss' room as if expecting to find someone there again. Katniss asked Prim if she was going to tell, to which she replied she wouldn't, but wanted the same curtesy of silence if Katniss ever found Prim in the same situation. Both girls laughed and spent the rest of the day together.

Monday morning Katniss and Marvel caught up to each other in the school parking lot and walked together hand in hand to their home room English class. They took their seats, as she glanced at Marvel she caught a glimpse of Peeta who was sat a seat ahead of him one row over in her line of vision. He had a sly grin on his face, it made Katniss look away from him to her hands, a deep blush starting in her cheeks as she thought of their risky make out session in her own bedroom. She remembered how he had laid her down in her head gently and how she had welcomed his kisses and daring touches so easily, wanting more and practically begging for it. She smiled and lightly giggled at the memory of it, at how exhilarating the whole experience had been.

"Katniss?" Marvel asked.

Katniss' mind was jolted from her thoughts, she looked to Marvel. "What?"

"What's so funny?" Wondering what had urged her to laugh softly to herself.

For a brief moment Katniss looked passed Marvel and locked eyes with Peeta's deep blue ones. She looked away, not realizing that Marvel had seen the look that the two had shared.

"Nothing, just something Prim said to me this weekend." Katniss lied.

The teacher walked into the room at that moment and began the class.

The month of September was busy, all of the guys in their circle of friends sighed up for their school football team, so they didn't have the time to hang out with the girls after school like they used to. Some of their friends started pairing off into couples of their own. Johanna and Cato, it seemed that Johanna's wit and sarcasm was a good balance to Cato's arrogance and brought him down a notch or two to be more like a regular person. Madge and Thresh were cute but didn't seem all that serious, Delly and a guy named Darius who they had never hung out with before but turned out to be really cool so he joined their circle of friends as well. Katniss noticed that Clove and Glimmer didn't hang out with them all that much anymore; they seemed to be chasing after other eligible guys from outside their circle of friends for a change.

Sometimes Katniss and Peeta would find a moment alone, usually after school she would wait around until the halls were almost bare and then sneak into the "Mellark make out closet" where Peeta would either join her or already be waiting. It made him late for football practices, but he assured her that it was worth it. She would usually have to wait around after on the days that they did this. She would have the choice to finish out watching the practices and get a ride home from Marvel after, or she'd hang out at the mall until Peeta would come pick her up and drive her home.

One Friday afternoon she had the urge to be daring again. Her mother needed some bread for dinner so Katniss volunteered to pick it up knowing that Peeta was working. She walked to Mellark's Bakery, when he heard the bakery door chime when it opened Peeta came out from the back. She went around the counter and practically jumped on him, kissing him recklessly. He took her into the back of the bakery, which was empty, and she ran her fingers through his soft hair while he kissed her back deeply.

She loved the feeling of his hand lightly pulling the hair on the back of her neck while he ran his hand through her hair, he held her waist tightly. She wished that there was a way for him to hold her even tighter, to be even closer to her. Her phone rang in her pocket, but she ignored it, lost in everything that Peeta was doing to her. He seemed in tune to her thoughts as he leaned her against one of baking tables lifting her slightly so she was sitting on it, she wrapped her legs around his waist, achieving the delicious closeness that she craved.

He phone rang again and they broke their kiss, breathless. She looked into his deep dark blue eyes before she pulled her phone from her pocket. She looked at the caller ID, and saw that it was Marvel. Wanting him to stop calling her she answered the phone.

"Hey Kat, where are you?"

"I'm at home." She lied.

"No, I'm here at your house. I came to see you, your mom has invited me for dinner, she said you went to the bakery, are you there? I'll come pick you up." Marvel explained.

Katniss immediately jumped off the bakers table and ran to the front of the store. "Yes, I'm still here, I mean, I just got here. I haven't even put in my order yet, I'll be here." She hung up the phone and immediately noticed that she was covered in flour from sitting on the bakers table and from Peeta touching her with his flour covered hands. Peeta came out from the back, and with his mischievous grin held out a damp cloth for her to clean herself up with.

"What did you come here for Katniss?" Peeta asked, with a bit of a grin on his face, but his eyes held a deeper question.

"What? What do you mean what did I come here for?" Katniss asked, confused by his question. "You said anytime I wanted to have some fun I should come to you."

"Things have been good between you and Marvel lately; I don't think any of us have heard from Glimmer in weeks." Peeta pointed out. "We're still playing this game, but I think we are the only two in it at this point."

Katniss nodded her head, she'd noticed that too lately but didn't want to admit it to herself, and Marvel had been the best boyfriend lately. Attentive, caring, it seemed he was always going above and beyond for her. They spent plenty of time together, she got the feeling that he was making up for something, but she still loved the rush of being with Peeta.

"I came here for a loaf of sourdough bread and half a dozen cheese buns." Katniss replied guiltily, she really didn't want to have to talk about this with Peeta at the moment. Marvel was on his way, this was not the time. Peeta silently handed her the order, she paid, and went outside where Marvels car was already waiting. He leaned over and she gave him a chaste kiss compared to the one she had just shared with Peeta.

They had dinner with her parents, and afterward they went downstairs to the den. They put on a movie, but after a while their attention was no longer on the movie. Marvel kissed her deeply and she returned his kiss eagerly. He began to lay her back on the couch, but as he was running his hand through her hair he stopped kissing her. She looked at him curiously, wondering what had happened to make him stop. He sat them both upright.

"What is this in your hair?" He asked. "Whatever it is looks like it's on your neck too."

She ran her hand along the back of her neck and felt a dusting of what could only be flour, she had only
wiped the flour from her clothing, and she forgot Peeta's hands had been in her hair as well. She stood, thinking as fast as she could for an explanation.

An angry Marvel asked from behind her, "Why do I get the feeling I've been competing with Peeta Mellark?" She froze, not knowing what to say, she kept her back to him hoping that he would say something, anything that would give her a clue as to how much he knew about her and Peeta. "I see the way he looks at you, I don't know if you've seen it, but I have and I don't like it." He revealed in a kind of angry defeated voice that she'd never heard from Marvel before. "That's flour in your hair isn't it?" He asked.

"Well, yeah, but it's not what you think." Katniss lied with a stone cold look on her face, praying that he face didn't show the fear underneath.

"Oh, it's not? You were just at his bakery. I was here, at your house waiting for you for like ten minutes before I even called you. You're mom said you'd be back any minute." Marvel accused.

"The flour in my hair is from me and Prim making cookies earlier. It must have gotten there when I put my hair in a ponytail" Katniss lied desperately, keeping her features as controlled as she could despite shaking under her skin at the thought of being caught. Marvel still looked quite upset, but, seemed to be doubting the pieces he had thought he had put together. She took advantage of the doubt she saw on his face, walked up to him, and slowly took his hand into hers and held it to her lips for a reassuring kiss. Then she slowly dragged her hands up his arms, lingering on his shoulders, then up his neck and jaw, then finally held his cheek in her hand and looked into those brown doe eyes she had fallen in love with. "There's no one but you for me Marvel." She kissed him deeply and reassuringly, lovingly. "How could you even think that?" She questioned.

"I've seen the way you look at him; it's the same way you used to look at me, before Glimmer. You hardly look at me that way anymore." Marvel accused.

"You're jealous, that's all." She reassured, wishing that some miracle would happen at that moment to get her out of this situation. "It's kind of an honour actually; I've never seen you jealous before."

"You've never given me reason to feel this way before." Marvel said icily.

"And there's no reason for it now, I don't know what you think you saw, but there's nothing to worry about." Katniss lied. "if you've been having doubts about us that's on you, not me. Maybe you're looking for things that aren't there, and so what if I did notice the way he looks at me? Is it really so bad that I like the feeling that I'm not someone's second choice?" Katniss snapped.

"It's Peeta Mellark, the guy's a player. The looks that you two have been giving each other, you don't think I notice but I do, and I'm starting to think you want him too." Marvel hissed.

Katniss took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves, keeping her features as controlled as she could despite shaking under her skin at the thought of being caught. "I don't know what you think you saw, but I haven't noticed, the way he looks at me." Marvel still looked quite upset, but, seemed to be doubting the pieces he had put together. She took advantage of the doubt she saw on his face, walked up to him, and slowly took his hand into hers and held it to her lips for a reassuring kiss. Then she slowly dragged her hands up his arms, lingering on his shoulders, then up his neck and jaw, then finally held his cheek in her hand and looked into those brown doe eyes she had fallen in live with. "There's no one but you for me Marvel." She kissed him deeply and reassuringly, lovingly. "How could you even think that?" She questioned.

"Cookies anyone?" Prim came in with a batch of cookies on a plate. She approached Marvel and Katniss, offering them each a cookie. "Katniss helped me bake them earlier, be careful, she may have accidentally poisoned them. You know Katniss' cooking, plus she wouldn't stop playing with her hair." Prim teased.

Marvel sighed with relief and laughed with Prim, the familiar ring of a text message came from his phone. He read it, and then gave Katniss a kiss on her forehead. "I've got to go." Marvel said.

"Ok, we're solid right?" Katniss asked worriedly.

"Yeah, it's just the guys are hanging out. I'm going to meet up with them, I'll call you later." They gave each other a deep reassuring kiss and he left. Katniss walked him to the door and waved to him as he left, then ran downstairs to the den and gave Prim the biggest hug, they both almost fell to the floor.

"Oh my god, you saved my life, you didn't have to do that, but thank you so much I owe you big time" Katniss gushed giddily. "How did you make cookies so fast?"

"They're from Mellark's Bakery. I just warmed them in the microwave and pushed them and made them look imperfect while they were still warm." Prim explained. "And yes you owe me big time."

"How did you know?" Asked Katniss.

"Mom sent me down here to check on you two and I heard pretty much everything." Prim revealed.

"Ugh, I'm so glad you did. I'd better warn Peeta." Katniss grabbed her phone and sent a quick text.

"Why are you doing this anyway?" Prim asked. "Seeing both of them at the same time?"

Katniss finished with her texting and looked at Prim. "Peeta's ok with it, I'm just having a little fun, no one is going to get hurt." Prim gave Katniss a look like she didn't believe her. "It's just a little fun. I'm going to make sure Marvel never finds out."

************

Peeta checked his phone casually; he and his friends were at a sports restaurant in The Capital watching a game on one of the many televisions having a guy's night. None of his friends brought their girlfriends; they'd been here for a couple of hours when Cato said that Marvel messaged him and said he was on his way.

Peeta hadn't really thought too much about it until he saw the message from Katniss. He swiped the screen on his phone to read it.

He suspects something's up between us. We got into a bit of an argument but I think I took care of it. :)

Peeta smiled and put his phone back in his pocket. He thought of Katniss, beautiful, strong Katniss. When she came in and surprised him at the bakery, the girl was daring. He has never known this side of Katniss even existed. Their secret relationship was more than he ever thought it would be, she seemed so innocent, but when he touched her she would whisper to him "more" and he would take his kisses and touches as far as he dared. It was definitely a bonus that he was not expecting. He thought he'd just help her out a bit, not make her feel like she was just a tool for Marvel to pay with, but it seemed that both Marvel and Peeta had somehow turned into hers, and Peeta was loving every minute of it.

Peeta had been chasing other girls for years, trying to get Katniss Everdeen out of his head, but she somehow always had a hold on him that he could never explain, he's been in love with her since he'd first seen her in kindergarten. He couldn't help it; he opened his phone back up quickly to the selfie he'd take of the two of them the night he'd snuck into her room. In the picture she's wearing his t-shirt and they're kissing. Immediately after he took it she demanded he delete it, fearing someone would see it, he told her he did, but didn't.

Finally being with Katniss after years of pining for her was tremendous. When they had become a couple in the eighth grade Peeta was already planning on marrying her, he never wanted to let her go, but then she drifted away and he didn't know why. He thought maybe he had scared her off, that his love for her was more than her thirteen year old self could handle. He gave her the space she seemed to need, but fully planned on getting her back in high school, but it seemed that Gale had staked his claim on her and...well, that was history for him.

He was too nervous to approach her the year after Gale had graduated, afraid that she would shut him down, tell him that she was too madly in love with Gale to ever even give him a chance. Then when Marvel started to bring her around it was like a nightmare. Being so close to her and not able to touch her or kiss her, he remembered their adolescent kisses, but it was like she didn't remember them at all. Then she and Marvel started dating and Peeta knew he just had to wait for Marvel to get tired of her and move on, much to Peeta's distress this didn't happen. Why did everything with Katniss have to be so hard, why couldn't he just be with her?

Then his miracle happened, Katniss caught Marvel with Glimmer at that party, Peeta was actually coming down the hallway at the moment he saw Katniss rage up the stairs and open every door in a frantic search, it wasn't hard to guess what was going on. Peeta had been standing next to the door of the room she found Marvel and Glimmer in and was standing immediately beside her and saw all of her emotions pass through her face in that instant, even though she attempted to hide them. He wanted desperately to run after her, to make everything better for her, but decided it would be best to give Katniss space.

He decided to wait until the start of school, he didn't want to be down rebound fling, and he wanted to be the real deal. He planned on telling Marvel that he was going to make a real attempt for Katniss after their weekend at his parent's beach house.

It was a great week, Glimmer was there, and she was always by Marvel's side, stretched out next to him on the beach in her skimpiest bikinis, at the beach house partying late into the night with the guys, loving every minute of the attention. Then on the last night Peeta himself saw Marvel and Glimmer head into his parent's bedroom. Peeta was so happy, his friend had found someone else, he probably forgot all about who Katniss even was by now.

Marvel came out of the room about a half hour later, looking frustrated and followed by a triumphant looking Glimmer. Peeta gave him some time then joined him out on the patio that overlooked the beachfront.

"Nice, with Glimmer." Peeta began talking to Marvel as he pointed to the house hinting that he knew what had just happened. Peeta was surprised when Marvel put his hands in his face and groaned regretfully.

"That was a mistake." Marvel admitted.

"Why? Do you think Katniss will still care or something?" Peeta asked casually.

"Yes, she will. We're back together." Marvel revealed. "She was amazing to forgive me once, she'll never do it again. I'm such an idiot."

Peeta felt like he'd just been punched in the gut. He felt sick. Why were they back together, when did that happen? How could he do this to her twice? How could he do that to sweet innocent Katniss? She was the single hottest girl at school, and she was selfless, giving up her free time to help her mom out and take care of her sister. She was crazy awesome. "Yeah, you are an idiot. She's too good for you man." Peeta muttered.

"Oh god, I've got to fix this. She can't find out. She's the best thing to ever happen to me and I'm messing it up twice." Marvel ran into the house to do some damage control. Peeta sat there, dumbfounded.

He'd waited years for his chance with her, the right way, believing that fate would bring them together. This was it; he was done waiting his turn. He knew that he had to be with Katniss, he was done waiting.

So he'd pursued her at Cato's party, and she'd kissed him back, it was amazing, if it took everything he had he would we with her. He'd give up anything to be with her, an arm, a leg, his sanity to be with her in this life or any other. He needed to be with Katniss.

He played confident, but each time he proposed they sneak around he was terrified, then Glimmer served him a gift on a platter. An angry and rebellious Katniss who had come running into his waiting arms. Every time he was with her he did everything he could to try to wipe Marvel from her memory, and it seemed to be working. Over the past month and a half Glimmer had backed off, Marvel was being good to her again, on the surface they were as good as they were when they first became a serious couple, but she kept coming back to Peeta. He knew that meant something, and he wasn't going to give her up.

Marvel walked into the restaurant and joined his friends. On one level, Peeta and Marvel were friends, and Peeta did feel bad about what he and Katniss were doing to him, but on another he wasn't about to just give up on Katniss. Peeta was quiet despite his friends all talking loudly around him, Marvel seemed to be the only one who noticed.

"Hey Mellark, what's up with you?" Marvel asked.

"Nothing, man." Peeta said.

"I think Mellark is mourning the loss of his charm. What's the deal man, you haven't had a single girl since summer." Marvel teased.

"Yeah, normally you're playing the field, not so much this year. What's the deal, you got a girl you're hiding from us?" Cato asked.

"Yeah, she's everything I ever wanted and more." Peeta said sarcastically.

"Come on Mellark, you haven't checked out any of the hot freshman or anything." Cato said.

Peeta scoffed, "Who wants a freshman, and we're seniors, that would just be wrong. Like shooting fish in a barrel, it wouldn't even be worth it, they're practically babies."

"Ok, what kind of girl do you want?" Marvel asked.

Peeta couldn't help himself. He smiled mischievously, and leaned across the table to look at Marvel a little more meaningfully than he intended. "Maybe I want a girl just like Katniss."

Marvel's eyes darkened. "What's that supposed to mean?" He angrily, leaning forward in his seat as well so he could give Peeta a warning glance.

Peeta shook his head, and stood up. "Nothing, man, guy's I'm going to head out." He threw some money on the table to pay for his food and started to leave when Marvel stood up.

"No really, I want to know what you mean by that." He challenged.

"It's nothing." Peeta said trying to back off. He really didn't want to do this here in front of everyone.

"You're in to my girlfriend aren't you?" Marvel questioned.

"Who wouldn't be man, she's smoking hot." Peeta tried to play it off confidently.

Marvel walked up to Peeta so they were practically nose to nose. "I don't know what you think you are planning to try to do, but stay away from Katniss. She's mine."

Peeta rose up to the challenge and said "Then treat her better, before she's someone else's."

Their friends stood up and tried to calm the boys down, but the two were already arguing, Marvel accusing Peeta of trying to steal his girl, and Peeta denying every word of it, but somehow saying all the wrong things and making it more obvious how in to Katniss he was. Soon the two were pushing each other, and the restaurant staff got involved and everyone was trying to calm the boys down. It ended with Marvel taking a swing at Peeta and connecting with his jaw, splitting his lip. Both boys were in an all-out fight soon enough. Their friends broke it apart and soon everyone left.

It was late when Peeta got home; his parents were out, probably at their own party. Peeta walked around the house miserably, knowing that there was only one person who could make him feel better. He put his shoes on and walked down the darkened streets to the Everdeen house, he checked over his shoulder and at the windows making sure that no neighbours saw him, or that anyone in the house was awake. He went to the window, to the downstairs den, hoping Haymitch hadn't fixed the lock. It slid open silently and he let himself in quickly. He walked to Katniss' bedroom and silently opened the door, he went to her bedside and found her sleeping peacefully in his t-shirt again. His heart beat quickened at the sight of her, he loved her more than she would ever know. He removed his shoes and removed the covers and slid into the bed beside her. She awoke with a start.

"Shhh….it's just me. I couldn't sleep so I went for a walk; l thought maybe you wouldn't mind some company." Peeta whispered before she had a chance to really get scared.

"Peeta?" She asked incredulously

"Do you have many other guys climbing in your window at this time of night?" He asked half jokingly.

He heard her giggle lightly in the dark, "No, just you." Peeta wrapped his arms around her slender waist and put his head on her shoulder. "Is something wrong?" She asked.

"I just want to hold you; can I just lay here with you for a while?" He asked.

"Always." She whispered to him in the dark.