I'm so sorry I haven't been updating regularly. I am in eighth grade so I have a lot of homework. I will try to be better with updating but I can't make any promises.

Chapter 4

Peeta's POV

I see my sister talking to my crush and immediately panic. Oh no, oh no. Don't get me wrong, I love my sister and the thought of she and Katniss being close warms my heart but my sister is a blabber mouth. I once told her what I was getting my mom for her birthday and the next day, not only did my mom know, but every single person (except for Katniss and Madge) came up at one point in the day and told me how sweet I was for getting my mom's old necklace reset for her.

Finally, after much torturous waiting, I see my sister walk up to be with the biggest smile on her face. I try to act nonchalant but Prim knows me better than anyone.

"Don't worry; I didn't spill your love to Katniss. Although, thanks to me, you will be getting to see a lot more of her."

Before she can even finish her sentence, I am lifting her up off the ground and planting kisses on each of her cheeks and repeating "thank you, thank you thank you," like my life depended on it. Primrose Everdeen is the best child in the world. "How?"

"Well, she wanted to use my amazing goat cheese to make a new type of roll thingy and she said that, after she talked to mom and dad, that she would give me free baking lessons so I could decorate the cakes like her! Isn't that great, Peeta? I get to learn how to bake and she said that you could come if you wanted to! It works out for everybody!" she exclaims. At this point, I couldn't feel any prouder of Prim. She is so excited and on the inside, I am jumping up and down like a school girl. Before I get too excited, I text Gale to make sure we can reschedule our hunting times. We always go after school but I think if he sees that I am getting close to Katniss and he can get close to Madge, he will happily make changes.

After Prim and I arrive home, I get a text back from Gale. Sure. What 4?

I quickly snuck my phone out from my pocket and hide it under the table to type my response, knowing that if my parents see it, I will get in huge trouble for texting at the dinner table. I have plans with Katniss. They may only be through my sis but I definitely think that this could lead to us dating. PLEASE DON'T RESPOND. U know how mom and dad r about texting at dinner.

Dinner conversation dies down when the doorbell suddenly rings. Without question, I get up to answer. My mom looks at me with hesitance because the people that usually visit us either don't ring the doorbell, never come this late, or come through the back door.

I walk through our tiny living room to our front door to save whoever it is from the nippy fall air(a/n: I know in the first chapter I said that it was summer but I really wanted it to be fall so I changed it. They are still both 16 but Peeta will be 17 soon). When I turn to my family's simple porch, I cannot believe the sight before me.

There, in front of my house, is Katniss Mellark.

Katniss POV

When I hear the door click open, my nerves kick in. I am always nervous around people period but when it involves the Everdeens, my nerves go into overdrive. I turn around to see a stunned Peeta Everdeen.

"Hey," I say, just hoping to start out on a safe note. It is a long while before he responds, and when he does, the bluntness of it shocks me. I always knew Peeta as a guy who has a way with words.

"What are you doing here?" He doesn't say it in a cruel way, but it startles me for a few seconds.

"I just need to talk to your parents. Is this a bad time? Should I go home or….?" I trail off, already starting to turn around until I feel a wonderful tingling in my elbow. I look down to see that Peeta is pulling me into his home. Okay, so that is definitely not what I was expecting.

Before I knew it, I was in a simply decorated living room with Mr. and Mrs. Everdeen. Well, here goes nothing. "I was talking to your daughter this morning and I thought that maybe I could use some of her cheese to make a new recipe and in turn I would give her free baking lessons and then once I surprise my father with the new recipe we could work out how I could pay you and I know this must sound crazy but I really just want to make my dad see that I can handle the bakery when I am older and that he doesn't need to worry about which one of my brother to give it to and-"

"Katniss, we think that is a wonderful idea. Calm down. So, how much cheese do you need? Prim makes around a pound a week with Lady. Would that be okay?" Mr. Everdeen asks. I don't know how he could be so kind.

"Yeah, that is perfect. I was thinking that the lessons would be Tuesdays after school. Mondays, my dad works and I don't want him to know about the cheese buns yet. There are only around 5 weeks before his birthday and that was when I was going to give him one of the rolls to taste." I respond. But then I get thinking. Both Mr. and Mrs. Everdeen work on weekdays. Prim and Peeta are home alone. If I am with Prim on Tuesdays, then Peeta will be alone. I am not worried that it will turn out like one of the Home Alone movies, but I do feel bad that he might be lonely, so I quickly add," But Peeta can hang out and do homework in the back if he wants. It's nice and quiet so he won't have to worry about losing concentration or anything. The only people who might tease him would be my stupid brothers, but they can't do much harm."

"Well, I think that sounds like a wonderful idea. Prim is always saying how beautiful the bakery cakes are and this would be a great thing to help her get out of the house, don't you think hon?" Mrs. Everdeen says and looks over to her husband. Even after all these years that they have been married, I can still see the love in her eyes when she looks at him.

"I think that this will work out great for her."

Before her father can even finish his sentence, Prim is out of her room and flinging her arms around her parents' necks and screaming "thank you" over and over.

"Thank you so much, Mr. and Mrs. Everdeen. I can't wait for Tuesday." I say as I exit their small house. I can't help but break out into an enormous grin on my way home. They said YES! This is perfect.

When I get back to the bakery, I am shocked by the visitor I have waiting for me. I am always the only one at Mellark's at 7 o'clock. Everyone knows that. I am almost always alone at the bakery. This and Sunday mornings with my dad are some of my favorite times of the week.

Anyway, when I walk in, there, in the flesh is Finnick Odair. (I felt like I needed to bring in Finnick and Annie. Don't worry all you Everlak fans, there will be no Katniss/Finnick romantic drama.)He used to be one of my best friends but he moved and I never saw him again. That is, until now, of course. Before I can process any of this I am running over to him and squeezing the daylights out of him.

We split apart after I heard a ringing by the door. Then, in walked one of my friends, Annie Cresta. She used to live in Florida but there was an awful accident with her parents and she was forced to move up here to New Jersey.

When she saw Finnick, her jaw dropped. Okay, I'll admit Finn, with his bronze hair and amazing green eyes was very attractive, but not like Abercrombie model attractive. I then looked over at him and saw that his facial expression mirrored hers. Awwwwww, Finnick has a crush. I am so going to talk about that with him later.

"Hey, Annie. This is my friend, Finn. Finnick, meet Annie Cresta."

For the first time ever, Finnick Odair could not come up with anything suave to say to a pretty girl. Finnick has always and will always be a ladies man, but never has someone rendered him completely speechless.

Annie, however, was just as graceful as she always was. "I'll come back later Kat. Nice meeting you, Finnick." She then walked out with a slight blush on her face.

Now it was time for some fun. "Finny's got a crush! Finny's got a crush!" I sang as I gleefully ran around him. His cheeks were the color of a tomato and he didn't even bother denying the fact. We had know each other for years and I knew him better than he knew himself (in a total best friend/brother kinda way).

"Let's not focus on my feelings toward your red-headed friend. How about you? t\ell me about your love life. What's new?" He asked as if he were a detective on one of those old cop shows my dad likes to watch.

"Well Finnie, truth be told, there isn't much to tell. I went out on my first date about 3 months ago and it turned out awful. The guy was either talking about some stupid thing his friend did or flirting with our waitress. I have ha many offers, but they are all such jerks. I haven't felt a connection with any of them. I just want my own fairytail. Enough about my disaster of a love story, lets come up with a plan for you to ask Annie out."

"Let's not. Kat, I want it to be natural. Plus, want to get to know her. i have never even been nervous around a girl and now look at me, I can't stop thinking about her. Annie" he sighs dreamily. I wish there was a guy thinking about me like that...

A/N: Sorry about the long wait. i really have been super busy with 8th grade and high school applications and family things and this thing called the scholastic Olympics(1st place in girls science!) and I'm rambling. I promise that I will have one more chapter done by the time I have to go back to school from holiday break. Oh, and Merry Christmas/ Happy Holidays/ Happy New year!

P.S. I don't own anything