Hellooo! x

I'm sorry that I took so long with this chapter, but I've been so busy with all my classes and work and whatnot. I think you guys will really like this chapter though, I hope it was worth the wait! Enjoy!

I break one of the chocolate chip cookies in my hands as Prim picks up a sugar cookie from the box and looks at the beautiful icing design on top.

"It's almost too pretty to eat. I swear I'll never understand how he makes these so pretty."

"Me neither."

She giggles as she hesitantly bites into the cookie like it might explode if she bites down too hard. I smile as she closes her eyes and declares that it is in fact the best cookie ever.

"Okay." She puts it back down and dusts off her hands. "Now show me what you needed the chain for."

"I did say that you could finish a cookie first."

"No, you said that I could eat first." She smirks as she points the tiny bite that looks like it came from a mouse. "I ate."

"Fine." I roll my eyes and pull the ring out of my pocket, being careful to cover it with my hands. "Ready?"

"Oh wait hold on." She smooths down her hair, takes a deep breath, and giggles at the look that I give her. "Yes, I'm ready to see it!"

"Okay. Here it is." I uncover it and hold up the ring so that she can see it. "What do you think?"

"Whoa..." She gapes at it and leans in to see it from every angle possible. After she has seen every side of it, she smiles and looks up at me. "He got this for you?"

"Yes." I smile back proudly. "It's a promise ring."

"Promise ring?" I shush her and she puts her hand over her mouth. "Oh my god! Katniss, he seems so sweet. I wish you could bring him over here."

"Trust me. So do I." I sigh as I look down at the ring. "Do you have the chain?"

"Yeah." She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a long, plain silver chain with a clasp at the end to close it behind the neck. "Is this good?"

"Perfect." She hands it to me, and I put the chain through the ring and hold it up by the ends. "Now I can wear it without Mom seeing it."

"So what is a promise ring?" she asks. "I mean, like, what does that mean?"

"It pretty much means that he wants to marry me," I say quietly as my cheeks turn red.

"What?" she shrieks. I jump and tell her to shut up so that they don't hear us, but she doesn't listen to me. "Are you serious? Oh my god, that's so adorable! Can I be a bridesmaid? Wait I'm your sister! I should be the maid of honor! I'm just saying!"

"Prim!" She looks at me finally, and I sigh. "That doesn't mean we're getting married tomorrow. It just means someday. And listen. You can't be talking so loud about these things. Mom already hates him, and she already hates me for not hating him."

"I doubt that she-"

We hear a knock at the door, and we both freeze. I shove the ring and the chain into Prim's hand and whisper for her to hide it. She nods and shoves it into her pocket right before our mother walks in. Prim grabs her cookie and starts picking at it again as I look up to see what she wants.

"Can I come in?"

"You're already in," I mutter.

Prim looks up at me with the smallest hint of a smile on her face as my mother sighs and takes a couple steps closer to my bed.

"We need to talk," she says more firmly. "Prim, would you mind going downstairs with aunt Effie?"

"Sure," she says reluctantly as she pushes herself off my bed and closes the door behind her.

"Where did these come from?"

She points at the box of cookies as she sits down at the edge of my bed where Prim sat just a few seconds ago.

"They were a gift." I look down to avoid her eyes. "From Madge. For my birthday."

"I didn't see Madge come by."

"It was while you guys were shopping with Effie."

"We ran into Madge in one of the stores." I look up and she raises an eyebrow at me. "So who gave that to you?"

"I bought it," I mutter.

"Katniss, why are you lying?"

"What do you expect? Nothing good ever happens when I tell you the truth."

"If you had just been honest with me from the beginning-"

"I was honest with you from the beginning. I told you that I love him, and you yelled at me. You wouldn't even listen to my reasons. You just yelled at me and told me to stay away from him."

"And did you?"

"No." I cross my arms over my chest and look down. "But then again you never listened to me when I told you to go to work so that Prim wouldn't starve."

"Katniss." She sighs. "That's in the past."

"This could be too. If you would just talk to him, I know that you would like him too. He's not like his mother or his father. He's amazing, and he loves me."

"I know." She looks down at her lap, and those two words leave me too confused to reply. "I know he does."

"But you said-"

"I know what I said, but that was before."

"Before what?"

She looks down at the box of cookies next to her.

"Before I talked to him at the bakery today." She can probably see that I'm about to interrogate her, so she stops me. "I just wanted to get some bread for dinner. I didn't think he would be there, but it was only him. We ended up talking."

"About me?" I ask hopefully.

"Yes. And about him too."

"Okay." I stare at her, but she doesn't say anything. "What do you think now?"

"Katniss, this isn't so black and white." Her eyes wander to the picture of my father on my desk and she reaches for it. She holds it in both of her hands and smiles at it. "He reminds me of your father, you know."

"Peeta?" She nods without looking away from the photo. "How?"

"He seems to love you." Her finger traces the outline of his face. "He's very good with his words. You know, when I first started dating your father, my parents were livid." It seems more like she is talking to the picture than me, so I stay quiet to avoid breaking her out of her trance. "And he did the same thing as Peeta. He kept trying to convince them that he loved me and he couldn't care less if I was rich or poor. He would even argue with them sometimes. He just wanted a chance."

"Mom-"

"They called me naive, but I wasn't naive." She looks up at me. "I don't think you are either. You wouldn't have survived all that time if you were. I know that I wasn't there for you guys, but I really am proud of you for taking care of Prim."

"I don't..."

"I don't want the same thing to happen to you. I don't want you to get hurt, but I don't want to be the one hurting you either. When- if- you have kids, you'll understand. This isn't an easy choice to make. There's so much behind it, and sometimes you just don't know what to do. I want to do what's right for you, but I don't know what's right. I choose something and I don't know what'll come of it. I can only hope that it's right."

"Mom." She shakes her head. "I get it. Okay?"

"I know you do." She chuckles shortly. "The worst part is when your child realizes it before you do. I know I was hard on you and Peeta, but I want you to understand why I was so worried about you."

"I do, but you don't have to worry anymore."

"I'll always be worrying, Katniss. I'm your mother. It's what I do."

"Then what are you saying?" I ask, hoping she won't break out of this good mood that she seems to be in.

"I'm not saying that you two can leave for hours on end without telling me where you are. I'm not saying you can go and do stupid things behind my back." She sighs. "But I am saying that I'll give him a chance."

She looks at me as if she's expecting an answer while I stare at her expecting her to take it back. Surely after all that's happened, she can't be serious. There's no way that she would just change her mind like this. There has to be some kind of catch.

"Are you serious?" I ask hesitantly.

She nods her head and smiles at me, and I keep staring at her. I'm not sure what I should do or if I should thank her. But she holds out her arms a few seconds later, and although I hesitate, I know that it's the least I could do in exchange for her acceptance. I hold out my arms too and accept her hug as I try to fathom the fact that one of our largest obstacles has suddenly disappeared.

I noticed there was a lot of hating on Mrs. Everdeen... How about now? :P Please review to tell me what you think - I love hearing your opinion!