A/N.

Hey guys! Well you liked the last chapter so I think I'll do maybe half of this chapter in Katniss' POV and half in Peeta's POV :)

Enjoy x

Chapter 7 - August (in Katniss' POV)

Katniss woke up early to the sound of her phone beeping on her bedside table, and she cursed whoever was texting her at eight o' clock on a Saturday morning. She picked up her phone and looked at the screen after rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

Hey Kitty ;) wanna do something today? Prim can come along too! x

Katniss smiled and began to type a reply.

Sure, what? And why this early? I think Prim was meant to meet up with Rory today, so can he come too? There's definitely something going on between them. x

Rory was a boy that had been in Prim's class for two years. Prim hadn't stopped talking about im for the first year, and Katniss had to put up with constant 'Rory said this!' or 'Guess what Rory did!'. It took Prim up until a couple of months ago to pluck up the courage to talk to him, and they were practically inseparable since. The first time Prim had asked Katniss if she could go to Rory's house, Katniss had been a little worried. Prim begged for hours, and eventually she gave in. Katniss had driven her there and talked to his parents before she left, just incase. She had insisted that they weren't left alone for too long. It wasn't that she didn't trust Prim, but she knew what 14 year old boys could be like.

She got out of bed and threw on some clean clothes from her drawer. She put her hair in a braid over her left shoulder and looked in the mirror.

What she saw staring back at her almost disgusted her. She knew that she hadn't been eating properly since the incident with Cato, but she didn't realise how much of a toll it had taken on her. Her hipbones were sticking out and she could almost count her ribs through her shirt. Her hair was limp, even in her braid. Her eyes, which were usually bright grey, were dull and lifeless. Katniss decided that she would start eating regularly and socializing again. Finnick would make sure of it.

He always seemed to put her first. He was an only child, and his mother and father were a seven hour drive away. He didn't have many friends, but the people he was friends with were very close to him. Katniss suspected that, to compensate for not having any family at hand, this was the reason that he was always having so many one night stands and week long relationships. Katniss worried about him sometimes, but Finnick always insisted that he didn't care.

Her phone beeped again, pulling her out of her thoughts.

Couldn't sleep, nightmares. Wanted to talk to you, cheer me up? Yeah Rory can come along, I wanna play the role of protective big brother ;) Scare the crap put of him haha! I was thinking beach? It looks pretty sunny :) x

Katniss smiled. Finnick loved the beach and anything to do with the ocean. He had his first swimming lesson when he was three, and he said that he swam whenever he had the chance. It was still scorching outside, so Katniss took off her jeans and out on some shorts. She packed her bag with towels, a bathing suit, sunscreen and her camera. At the last minute she picked up a book and shoved it in, thinking that Prim and Rory will want some alone time and Finnick would spend most of his time in the water.

Then she realised that he had said he couldn't sleep because of nightmares. Katniss got worried. Finnick had suffered from nightmares as a result of a hit to the head that he got when he was ten. He had told her that he was running out of his house and he had fallen and hit his head off of the pavement. They had subsided lately, and Katniss was worried that they were coming back.

Katniss walked down the small hallway in her apartment and knocked on Prim's door. When she got no response, she opened the door and walked in to wake her. Prim looked so beautiful and peaceful while she was asleep, but Finnick was probably going to be here soon to pick them up.

"Prim," she said quietly, laying a hand on her shoulder. "Prim, wake up."

Prim's eyes slowly opened, and she scowled when she looked at the clock on her bedside table. "Why so early. Katniss?"

"Finnick's taking us to the beach. You can take Rory if you want." Prim perked up at this. She got out of bed and shooed Katniss out so that she could call Rory.

Katniss went into the kitchen to make breakfast for them, and jumped when she saw that Finnick was already sitting in the kitchen, helping himself to a bowl of cereal.

"Make yourself at home." Katniss said to him flatly. "This isn't why I gave you a key. That was for emergencies."

"This is an emergency. I was out of cereal," he mumbled through a huge mouthful.

They arrived at the beach and it was packed. Finnick pulled into a parking space and they jumped out, grabbing all of their bags and towels with them.

They found a good spot in the sun, and Finnick instantly discarded his shirt and ran into the water, calling for Katniss to follow him.

"Wait! I have to put on my bathing suit!" she shouted back to him as she dug through her bag looking for her bikini. She got it out and ran to the small make-shift changing rooms. She re-emerged a few minutes later, and was met with the sight of Prim and Rory making out on her towel. She approached them and coughed, and they sprang apart.

"Oh, uh, K-Katniss sorry, um, it just, uh, happened." Prim stuttered, while Rory's face turned the colour of a tomato.

"It's not that you guys are making out, just stop doing it in the middle of a crowded beach!" Katniss replied, trying to keep her anger in check. She knew that they liked each other a lot, and if she tried to come between them then Prim would resent her.

Katniss ran towards the water after Prim nodded and apologised again. She spotted Finnick talking to a girl who had a lot of make-up on, even though she was in the water. It annoyed her, as she wasn't about to play third wheel while they made out on the beach. She swam over to them and threw her arm around Finnick.

"Hey baby, who's your friend?" Katniss said, batting her eyelashes at him, and saying it in a tone that mad her want to be sick.

"Oh, uh, hey Katniss. This is Johanna." Finnick said, motioning to the short haired girl in front of them. She looked a bit shocked, but hid it well enough.

"Hi Johanna, it's nice to meet you. Come on Finnick, let's go back to the sand. Bye!" Katniss purred, internally cringing.

As they both lazily swam away, Finnick laughed.

"Care to explain what that was

about?" he asked, looking surprised.

"Hey, you took me here. I'm not about to sit on my own on the beach while you make out with some girl that you just met. Even if that means dragging your desperate ass away from her." Katniss glared at him while she said it, but Finnick knew her well enough to know that she was just joking with him.

They had a great day at the beach. Finnick taught Katniss how to do a handstand in the water, and Prim and Rory walked off holding hands and didn't re-appear for about an hour. When they did, they both looked pretty happy. They went to get ice-cream after, and Rory invited Prim to his house.

Finnick and Katniss were sitting in Katniss' living room eating a pizza tat they picked up after leaving Prim in Rory's house.

"So you still never told me what happened with Gale," Finnick asked while looking at her curiously.

"Oh, uh, yeah, um, it just didn't work out." Katniss replied, and she knew as soon as she looked at Finnick that he didn't fall for it.

"Come on. I know you better than anyone. You're lying," Finnick said to her, and then something dawned on him. "Did that son of a bitch do what Cato did? I swear to god I'll kill him!"

"No, no, it wasn't that extreme. He just, uh, said some stuff when I wouldn't kiss him at the end of the night. And he said that Prim was a burden. It's no big deal, Finnick. Please don't do anything to him."

Anger flashed in his sea-green eyes. "What did he say to you, Katniss?"

Katniss looked away from him, avoiding eye contact. "He said that I'm a slutty tease. That it was no wonder that I'm a virgin."

Peeta sighed as he walked down the street. He was going to meet up with Delly for around the third time this week. She had been awfully clingy around him for the last month, ever since he had shown her the letter from Katniss, and his reply. When she saw it, he could have sworn he saw her face drop, but only for a second before she put on a huge smile and started telling him how great it was.

"Hey Peety!" Delly screamed at him when she saw him strolling towards her. Peeta cringed at the nickname that Delly thought he loved. Katniss had called him that once to tease him while they were joking around, and it just seemed strange coming from anyone else.

"Uh, hey Delly," he replied, flashing her a half-hearted smile. He had been working over time in the bakery to save up for flights to America, and it was beginning to take its toll on him.

"What's wrong?" Delly asked, pouting at him in a way that she must have thought was cute.

"Oh, nothing, just tired I guess. What time does the movie start?" he asked, changing the subject quickly.

"3, I think. Let's go inside." she replied, threading her arm through his and walking beside him. They each paid for the movie and their food, and sat down in the theater just as the movie was starting.

The movie was boring, and he was about to suggest going somewhere else when he looked at Delly and found her already looking at him, biting her lip. She leaned in and kissed him slowly. He was in shock, and his mind was blank. Delly scooted over as much as the cinema seats would allow, and wrapped her arms around his neck. Peeta still couldn't think, but eventually all of the pent-up hormones in his stupid eighteen year old body got the better of him. He started to kiss her back, and Delly opened her mouth, deepening the kiss. Their tongues moved together, and Peeta could feel himself getting a little bit too excited, considering he was sitting in the middle of a cinema. And then a quiet voice began to surface in his sub-conscious.

What would Katniss think?

He came back to his senses, and pulled away suddenly.

"Oh God Delly, this was a mistake. We're friends." Peeta said, not making eye contact. "Just friends."

"I-I'm so- Oh god Peeta I'm sorry, it's just I r-really like you and I thought you liked me too and-"

Peeta cut her off, "It's OK Delly, can we maybe just pretend it never happened? I love you, but like a little sister."

"O-ok, um, I have to g-go now, uh, bye." She ran out of the theatre, and he heard a muffled sob just before he heard the door closing.

A/N.

Hey! Hope you liked this chapter, thought I'd throw in a little complication with Delly. And a little hormone raged Peeta, sorry! But it had to be done.

Please, please, pleeaaase keep reviewing, it helps me write! Thank you :)