Sorry I wasn't able to update sooner. I need glasses and was at the doctor for like an hour with my parents and, as my friend daddyslittlefangirl said, our algebra teacher loves to give us homework. It's like she gets some strange pleasure out of it. Oh whatever, I got my grade up from a B+ to an A+ so, eh, its okay. I'll be out of middle school next year anyway so...

Sorry for the ranting. I tend to do that. :(

DISCLAIMER: Does my user name say Suzanne Collins? Yeah, I didn't think so.

Chapter 8

Peeta's POV

As soon as the snow died down and we were able to get out of the school, Katniss rushed out of the building like it was on fire, dragging Madge right behind her. Gale and I take out time getting home.

He has he biggest grin on his face. I mean, I love Gale like a brother and I'm happy for him, but I can't help but be a little jealous. Ever since Kat asked Prim to come over on the weekdays, we started to get to know each other better. I started to fall even harder for her. But now, I feel like we have nothing to work on together, thus nothing to talk about. The whole Madge and Gale thing gave us something to do and made me a lot happier. Now I'm all snippy because I've been deprived of my Katniss-time (or so I've began to call it). Even my moody, pre-teen sister noticed my bad attitude. And that's saying something.

A gentle, familiar tap on my shoulder brings me out of the endless pit called my mind. I turn around to see Katniss there, waiting for me to join heron her way to home ec. Turns out, she always felt lonely in this class (even though she was the teacher's favorite and knew everything before she said it) and thought that maybe we could become partners since I really was never good in this class. It was mainly because I was always staring at her, wondering if she'd ever notice me, but I decided to leave out that little detail.

When we make it to class, all male heads in the room turn toward the brunette. Katniss walks to the front desk as if she didn't notice a thing. And maybe she didn't . I was talking to Madge one day when Gale was on his senior intern thingy at the mines and Katniss was out and she told me that Katniss really doesn't think much of herself. She thinks she's average, nothing more than a normal teenage girl. If only she knew.

Before I get a chance to take the seat next to her, I see that it's already taken. By Cato Ludwig.

If you rated the jerkiest guy in the world on a scale of 1-10 (and gave him and 11) and then multiply that by infinity, you would barely reach 1% of just how awful Cato is. Last year, I heard him talking with his slightly-less-jerky friends about how he was planning to charm every girl in the school into going out with him. He went out with all but one and I was extremely pleased with that fact. I already had my hands full with trying to restrain Gale from punching Cato in the face every time he came within a mile radius during his brief fling with Madge.

In heinz sight, this probably wasn't the best thing to do, but you know what they say, heinz sigh is 20/20.

I walk right up to Cato and punch him in the face.

The shrieks of horror coming from my classmates and teachers to nothing to subdue the rage building up inside me. I thought EVERYONE knew(except maybe Katniss) about how much I love Katniss. Yet, here's Cato Ludwig, obviously flirting with MY Katniss.

The element of surprise and my experience in wrestling help when I take Cato down to the floor. I wind up taking a few blows to the cheek but get a few on his nose, which I think I broke. I can vaguely register the cheers coming from all the guys who, for the most part, despise Cato as well.

The fight goes on for 20 minutes before we are ripped apart by our gym teacher, Boggs. We are sent to the nurse's office following a terrifying threat from our superintendent, Dr. Snow. I choose to skip the nurse's "check-up" and wait outside for Katniss to head over to the bakery.

Wait, what if Katniss liked Cato?

What if she wanted to go to with him?

What if she liked him flirting with her?

What if she's mad at me for beating him up?

What if she doesn't want to talk to me?

What if she hates me for breaking them up?

What is she never wants to talk to me?

What is she starts to hates Prim, too?

What if she makes Madge hate Gale now?

What if Madge breaks up with Gale because of me?

What i-

"Peeta, are you okay? What happened? Well, I know what happened, but why did you do that? Knowing you, there had to be a good reason," Katniss being right in front of me, gingerly touching my cheek and checking my injuries is enough to calm me down. "Come on, let's get you back to the bakery and get you cleaned up. Then, I'll take you back to your mom for some medicine or something."

Katniss's POV

As soon as we enter the bakery, I run to the bathroom and grab everything I could possibly need to help his cuts. I've never been good with first aid and all that. When I was little and my brothers came home with cuts and scrapes, I would flee the scene ASAP. It was like they had a fatal, contagious disease that I could catch within a second of being in contact with them.

Now, my brothers are off in college and I'm a big girl who needs to take care of the boy she's in live with.

Simple, right?

WRONG! When I go up to Peeta and see the blood coming from the gash in his cheek, I almost lose it. I almost run and never look back. But then I see his discomfort and decide to suck it up and deal with it. I cup his chin with my hand and examine the wound. It doesn't look too bad but, its bad enough to give him a fair amount of pain. Each time I touch his cut with the disinfecting wipe, see him wince. I can tell he is trying to hide it, but I can see the subtle crease in his eyebrow and how he blinks just one second longer.

When he's all bandaged up, our eyes lock. I put all of my hastily grabbed supplies back on the work table without breaking our gaze or taking my hand off his chin. It's only then that I realize how soft his skin is. How beautifully blue his eyes are. How close are faces are.

Slowly we lean closer.

And closer.

And closer.

And closer.

Until-

''Hey Katniss."

I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a while. Feel free to hate me. Okay, well maybe not hate me but, you know, be mad at me. I've been pretty busy with all kinds of stuff but, you should definitely check out my friends daddyslittlefangirl and emilycenahutcherson. Oh, ad if your into Percy Jackson (which I just finished) you should check out Jiper Helps Me Sleep At Night.

I really hope to update next week. I have tomorrow off so I may be able to do most of a chapter then.

Review, follow, favorite, or all three.

See you soon. Or read you... :)