A/N: I tried to post this chapter earlier, but I kept getting an error message, ughhhh. Hopefully that doesn't happen again!

Katniss' POV

I was packing my school bag and trying to decide what to cook for dinner when my thoughts were suddenly interrupted.

"Howdy, partner." Peeta's voice came from over my shoulder. I turned to see him standing behind me, with his books in his hands.

"Hey," I said, continuing to pack my bag. It was the end of the school week and I was desperate to get out of this place.

"I was wondering if maybe you wanted to work on that project tonight?" Peeta asked. I stared at him for a moment, until he dropped his eyes, embarrassed. "Unless you have plans, I mean."

"No, I don't." I said slowly, "But it's Friday night. Don't you have some party to go to or something?"

"And watch Finnick make out with every girl there?" he laughed, "I need a break from that tonight."

Peeta seemed like he genuinely wanted to get out of whatever it was he was invited to. It struck me as odd, I thought he of all people would be in his element at some penthouse party with an open bar and all his friends. It just didn't fit with his 'image' to spend Friday night working on a school project. He was still looking for an answer though, hope in his eyes. Maybe he really did need a break from his regular life.

"Ok." I agreed. I told myself my real reason for agreeing was not to help Peeta but for the sake of getting a good grade on the project, the point of why I was at the school in the first place. But when his face lit up with a smile, my heart seemed to tell me otherwise. "Where?"

"My place?" he asked.

I froze, "Is this just some excuse to get me in your room, give me something to drink and then joke to all your friends that you got with the new girl on the scholarship?" It was his turn to stare at me. "Sorry, I don't think before I say things sometimes…"

Peeta started to laugh. "I think you have the wrong idea about the people at this school. We aren't all like that."

"Oh really?" I challenged him.

"Yes, really." he smiled, "So do you want to come or not?"

I rolled my eyes, "Sure."

In my whole life I had hardly ever spent any large amounts of voluntary time in the Upper East Side. When I was younger, my father would take Prim and I window shopping during the summer, and for a few hours we could pretend that we really lived there, amongst people carrying trays of coffee, negotiating art deals on the phone and walking tiny, fluffy dogs along the street. Prim loved those outings, but I didn't. I didn't see the point in pretending only to return home to an apartment with no air conditioning and poor lighting. I decided to try and keep an open mind this time, and not be too quick to judge the Upper East Side lifestyle once again.

That decision did not last long. I knew it was a mistake to agree to this when Peeta ushered me into the limousine waiting outside the school entrance. We sat in an uncomfortable silence in the dark cabin of the vehicle until it pulled up outside an apartment building ten times the size of mine. I knew it was a mistake again when a doorman held the door open for us as we walked into a beautiful lobby with a marble floor and a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. When we stepped into the elevator and Peeta pressed the button for the penthouse, I regretted it even more.

To be fair though, the apartment was amazing. Light poured through the massive windows that gave a perfect view of the New York City skyline, and reflected off the stainless steel kitchen bench tops that probably were never used. It formed rainbows on the walls as it shone through the smaller chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.

"Wow." I said, despite myself.

Peeta laughed, "Make yourself at home." He gestured towards the pristine white leather couch in the centre of the room. "I'd offer you a drink, but I don't want to give you the wrong idea." I looked at him for a moment to see if he was joking, until he cracked a smile, "A soda?"

There was something about his smile that made me want to smile too. "That would be great, thanks."

I realised pretty quickly that my previous judgement of Peeta's intentions were completely wrong. We worked on the project for an hour, him sitting on the floor and me on the couch, and he didn't once look at his phone that was sitting beside him, even though I could see that Finnick was calling him.

"Oh hey," I said, suddenly remembering Prim, "I should call my sister, to let her know I won't be home for a while."

"Go ahead." Peeta replied, "I'll still be here."

When I called, I could practically feel Prim's grin over the phone when I told her where I was.

"Told you so." she said in a sing song voice.

"Told me what?"

"That he was cute!" she laughed.

"That has nothing to do with it!" I exclaimed, "It's for school."

"Sure, sure." Prim said, "Whatever."

"So you'll be fine tonight?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'll go hang out with Rory."

"Don't get in any trouble!" I joked, as if Prim would ever do anything wrong.

"That's more your style." she joked back.

Once again, my little sister had me smiling.

After I called, Peeta seemed actually interested to know more about my family. I had no idea why he was so interested in getting to know me, I figured that no one at the school would care about my life at all.

"You have a sister?" he asked.

"Yeah- Prim. She's twelve" I smiled.

"You love her a lot." Peeta observed.

"I'd do anything for her."

"I wish I had the same relationship with my older brothers." Peeta looked saddened.

"You aren't close?"

"We used to be, but once we got older it became clear to my mother how much better they are than I am. They're the favourites, and they leave me alone."

"I'm sorry." Unable to think of what exactly to say. Peeta looked upset and it seemed to me that he didn't share that kind of information with many people. I wished I was a better person and could say something to cheer him up.

"No, I'm sorry. I don't usually tell people that…I don't know why I just did." He looked embarrassed, "It's just, my family is pretty messed up."

"Tell me about it." I muttered, rolling my eyes.

"What are your parents like?"

I sighed, "Well, my father is dead…and my mother hasn't been able to get out of bed since…I take care of my sister now." I looked away, "I don't usually tell people that either."

"I didn't mean to pry." Peeta said uncomfortably.

"No, it's fine." I said, "Just don't go telling all your friends. They think I'm enough of a freak already."

"They don't think that." he said honestly, "They're just messing around. Things can get pretty boring around here, and you're fresh blood."

"Great, just waiting to be slaughtered."

He laughed, before thinking for a moment, "Will your sister be ok, if you aren't home for dinner?"

"She'll be fine, my best friend Gale will look after her."

"Best friend Gale?" Peeta looked at me to tell him more.

"Yeah, we grew up together, we've known each other our whole lives." I paused for a moment, "His dad died too, so he knows what it's like to do it tough."

"Sounds like you really like him…" Peeta suddenly looked vulnerable, "Are you really just friends?"

"Yes." I answered him suspiciously, "Why?"

"Oh, no reason." Peeta said quickly, "We should keep going."

I ended up staying much passed dinner. Peeta served us left over lamb stew that he had made himself the night before and I immediately took back my initial judgement that no one had ever used that spotlessly clean kitchen. Not only that, but Peeta was a really good cook. I was beginning to think that there really was more to Peeta than I first thought, and the more we spoke, the more I wanted to properly get to know him.

However, I knew I had to leave, to make sure I was home before Prim went to sleep. Before I left, Peeta asked if we could meet up again tomorrow.

"I can't sorry, I have work." I said, and I was surprised at how annoyed that made me feel. Then I felt annoyed that I was annoyed I wouldn't be able to see him. "Sunday?"

"I work on Sundays." Peeta replied. Another surprise that Peeta threw at me. I never expected any of the kids at The Capitol School to work a day of their teenaged lives. Why would they need a job when they had enough money for anything they wanted?

"Maybe after school on Monday then?" I suggested.

"I guess that will have to do." Peeta said glumly.

"Well, I'll see you then."

Peeta gave me another sweet smile, which stayed with me as I rode the elevator back down to the lobby and walked into the fresh night air.

As much as I found I enjoyed studying with Peeta, his question about Gale played on my mind long after I left his apartment. Was Gale just my best friend? Or was he something more? Gale had always been there for me- sticking up for me in neighbourhood fights, practically helping me raise Prim after our father died, even submitting the scholarship application. We also had a darker past of stealing things together when we were kids. As part of our Seam gang it was all a game to us, and we were good at it. But we were young and stupid, and I regret it now. However, that secret binds us together forever.

It was almost 10pm when I walked into the stairwell of my apartment, and found Gale sitting on the bottom step of the stairs in the semi darkness. I'd tried to get a better light for the area, but not matter what, the globe always seemed to flicker on and off.

"Where have you been?" he asked.

"I was working on a group project, I thought Prim would have told you." I replied.

"Well you should have called me, so you didn't have to come home alone."

"I was fine by myself." I had been catching the subway alone since I was ten years old.

"I don't like you being out here alone when it's dark," he said, "It's not safe out here, Katniss!"

"Gale, I'll be fine." Where had his sudden protectiveness come from?

"Hey!" a slurred voice came from the flight of stairs above, "If anyone tries to hurt Katniss here, they'll have to come through me first!" Haymitch appeared in the dark stairwell.

"You're not helping, Haymitch." Gale said through gritted teeth.

"Katniss knows how to look after herself." Haymitch said, "Besides, that snarky personality of hers would send anyone running a mile."

"Thanks, Haymitch." I rolled my eyes.

Haymitch was the resident drunk, never seen without a bottle of liquor in his hand or, unfortunately, with clean hair. From what I'd gathered, he had a tough childhood, which turned into a tough adulthood, which began when the love of his life left him for another man. He never spoke about her, but I know it still hurts him. When sober though, Haymitch was actually an okay guy. Sure, he liked to insult my personality but he does care about us, and looked out for both Gale and myself as we grew up. We're kind of the only family he has.

I pushed passed both Gale and Haymitch and stomped up the stairs. What I really wanted was to take a shower and go to sleep, so this day would finally be over. However, when I reached my apartment door, I found Prim sitting outside in the dark hallway.

"Hey little duck." I said, sitting down beside her. "What are you doing out here?"

"Mum's crying again." she said softly, "I couldn't bear it anymore." She rested her head against my shoulder.

My heart dropped. So often it was Prim who could calm our mother down and comfort her when she got so buried in her grief that she couldn't break free on her own. I had given up long ago, I felt little compassion towards her anymore. We all lost someone the day our father died, but she wasn't there to look after us. It had to be the other way around and some how I was the one who had to raise Prim after that day. Now, if even Prim couldn't help her, I wondered what would happen to her.

"How was your study night?" Prim asked, to change the conversation.

"Confusing." I said honestly.

"Why?"

"Peeta isn't as bad as I thought."

"And that's a bad thing?"

I laughed, "Yes Prim! Peeta is supposed to represent everything I hate- rich, popular and free from any kind of worry in life. To find out that he is actually a really nice guy…well, it's harder for me to hate him." I realised that didn't really make much sense.

"Maybe the people you go to school with aren't really as bad as you think, Katniss. Maybe if you gave them a chance, you would have a better time at school. It's worth a try, isn't it?"

When did Prim become so wise? When did my little baby sister, who asked me how to spell words and if I believed in Heaven, grow up into such a mature girl? Maybe she was right, hating the people I go to school with was easy, and letting them in was harder, so maybe I should give Peeta more of a chance.