I begin to stir as the sun shines through my window in the early hours of the morning. Images from the night before dance around my head. I agreed to go meet Peeta's family. We had sex, amazing, passionate, sex. I reach across the bed to feel Peeta, longing for his strong arms to wrap around me but I don't find him. Instead there is a single Katniss flower and a piece of paper on the pillow.

I'm sorry for not waking you up, but I had to go to work. I'll come back when I get off I promise. If it makes a difference I did kiss your forehead before I left but you didn't even move. You looked too peaceful to wake up.

P.S. I don't know if you know or not (but I'm sure you do) but you and this flower share a name.

Love, Peeta

I smile slightly to myself and feel my heart racing at the word 'love.' Well, shit. I really am in deep. It is very, highly possible that I have fallen in love with Peeta Mellark. This thought scares the hell out of me, but it excites me at the same time. Life does go on. These optimistic thoughts make realize something, it's time for me to tell my family about Peeta. I take my phone off the charger, take a deep breath and dial the number.

"Katniss!" She answers after the first ring.

"Hey, little duck, what's up?" I ask my little sister.

"Oh, you know, just trying to put off my Algebra 2 homework for as long as possible," she laughs.

"You and I have very similar plans," I chuckle. "So…you're not busy then?" I ask her nervously.

"No, I am not. Why? Is something wrong?" She asks suddenly serious.

"Well, Prim yes and no. I think I might have fallen for a guy and I'm considering bringing him home for Thanksgiving."

Prim squeals with excitement, so loudly in fact, that I have to take the phone away from my ear. She gushes into the receiver, "Ohmigod Katniss! How is this bad at all?!"

I can't help but laugh at her excitement. "It's bad because it's terrifying, I never expected to feel anything for anyone again and now I do and I want him to come meet you guys."

"I think it's great. You just needed someone to show you that not all guys are the same. I'm so excited for you! Now, spill tell me everything about him," Prim demands.

"Well, his name is Peeta, he is an amazing baker, he is absolutely the most gorgeous boy I have ever seen, his eyes are like deep blue pools I could swim in for days, he has golden wavy hair, and he's so sweet and sincere and caring."

"Katniss! Listen to you! You have fallen for him! I hear it in your voice! So, what is he going to after school?"

And there it is, the truth. How much do Peeta and I really know about each other? My stomach sinks as I stutter, "I-I don't.. I don't know. Oh my God Prim, I don't know! Here I am saying I think I might love him and I don't know much about him! What am I supposed to do?"

"Katniss, don't freak out, it will be fine, you just have to talk to him. He sounds great, so I'm sure his future plans are great. And invite him for Thanksgiving, he can bake us things!"

I laugh, "You're probably right, how'd you get so smart?"

"Probably because I have a highly intelligent older sister."

"You flatter me. Is mom there?" I ask

"Yeah, just hold on. MOM!" I hear her yelling at our mom at the house, "KATNISS IS ON THE PHONE AND SHE WANTS TO BRING A BOY HOME!"

"WHAT?!" I hear my mom yell from somewhere else in the house, her voice growing closer, "Are you messing with me Primrose Everdeen?"

"No! She's on the phone, talk to her!" Prim hands my mom the phone

"Hey mom," I say sheepishly, "I guess you heard the news."

"So, you really want to bring a boy home?" my mom sounds serious.

"Yeah, his name is Peeta and I really like him. I agreed to go meet his family over the Christmas break and I want him to come meet you guys for Thanksgiving, is that okay?"

"Of course it is sweetheart, I'm just glad you're happy again."

"I am mom, I really am. Anyway, I have to get going, I need to read something for homework. I'll let you know what he says. Love you guys."

"Love you too."

I hang up thinking about this very large step I'm thinking about making with Peeta. I decide I want a couple more opinions so I send a text to Annie and Joanna: I'm thinking of bringing Mellark home for Thanksgiving. Thoughts? I get two responses almost immediately: YES!

Well that settles it. I'm going to ask Peeta to meet my family. And I am scared shitless

I'm involved in a reading when Peeta opens the door and comes in smiling with a smallish white cube in his hand. "Hey beautiful, how are you?" he asks grinning.

I look up slowly, I can' help but break into a grin myself when I see him, "I'm a lot better now that you're here."

"Well get ready to be even better, because I brought you something."

"Oooh, what is it?" I ask getting to my feet and walking over to him to claim my prize, whatever it might be.

He pulls me into a tight embrace and kisses the top of my head lightly before answering me, "A cupcake, a pumpkin spice cupcake."

"No way! I love pumpkin spice!" I exclaim as I reach for the white cube greedily.

"I know," he retorts smugly.

I take a rather large bite out of the spicy cupcake and let out an audible moan. It is so sweet and delicious I keep my eyes closed to help me savor the taste a bit longer. The spiciness makes me think of Thanksgiving and my eyes snap open. I set the cupcake on the counter and take a shaky breath. Peeta notices something's up and becomes shifty.

"Can I, uh… can I ask you something?" I begin nervously.

He takes me in his arms, "Of course, babe, you can ask me anything."

He's so genuine, it makes my nerves subside slightly. "Peeta, I really like you, and, um, I'm going to meet your family so…I was wondering if you wanted to maybe, come meet my mom and my sister for Thanksgiving – only if you want to I mean."

He gently places his hand under my chin and tilts my face up to his and molds his lips to mine as he pulls me flush against him. "Of course I will," he smiles as he pulls away from me. I smile back at him but it doesn't reach my eyes. "What's wrong?" Peeta asks worried and clearly confused.

"Well, I, uh, there's some things you need to know about my family before we go and um – well when I was telling my sister about you earlier I realized I don't know a whole lot about you…" I begin to tear up as I continue, "Peeta, I think I lo-, well…I really like you, so what do you say to just ordering some pizza tonight and just talking about ourselves or whatever…" God, I am so bad with words, he probably thinks I'm a blubbering idiot. I hope he didn't notice that I almost told him that I think I love him.

His crooked grins breaks into a wide smile as he pulls me back into him, "That sounds wonderful, I'll order it now." He presses his lips gently to the top of my head before pulling his phone out and ordering us pizza.

Yep, I really think I love Peeta Mellark. And I hope he cares about me as much as he seems to because tonight is going to be a long night.