A/N: Thanks for the positive feedback on the Finnick and Annie storyline, it will continue next chapter :)

Peeta's POV

It was the last lesson of the day, calculus, and I was staring at the clock willing time to go faster. I had found out from Katniss that tomorrow was her sister's thirteenth birthday, and I was anxious to get to the bakery to bake her a surprise cake. The only problem was, I had no idea what Katniss' address was, and that meant I had to speak to Johanna, who clearly hated the entire school population. Time was still passing slowly, and the numbers written on the board in front of me started to blur together as I stared into space. I kept hearing muffled laughter from beside me, and looked across at Finnick who was texting under the table. Whoever he was talking to, some girl called 'Annie' from the looks of it, was clearly making him happy. I decided to ask him about it later as finally the bell rang for the end of the class.

I found Johanna by her locker, and she glared at me when I approached.

"What do you want?" she asked, pleasant as always.

"Do you know Katniss' address?" I asked as calmly as I could.

"Why do you want to know?" she looked at me suspiciously.

"It's a surprise."

She crossed her arms, "I don't know if I trust you, Peeta."

"Come on, please?" I was prepared to beg.

"Ugh fine, but only because I know she likes you." she wrote the address down in a torn out page of her exercise book and handed it to me.

"Thank Johanna!" I said happily. That was easier than I thought it was going to be. I wondered how much Katniss had actually said about me then.

"No worries." Her eyes narrowed. "But listen to me Peeta. If you hurt her or try at all to turn her into one of Cashmere's little clones, I swear to God I will murder you."

I gulped. The scariest thing about her threat was that I actually believed her. "That's not going to happen." I reassured her, and the got the hell away from her in case she changed her mind.

Luckily, the kitchen at the bakery wasn't busy, and I was able to find a quiet corner of the room to begin baking. It didn't take long to bake the cake, but I took even more care than I usually did when icing it. I chose a white frosting to cover the cake and piped primrose flowers over it as decoration. I wasn't exactly sure what Prim would like, but I hoped it would be ok. To be honest, my main reason for making the cake was to impress Katniss of course. It was a silly idea, but maybe I could win her heart through sugary baked goods. But really, Prim was so important to Katniss that it was important for me to get to know Prim too. So two hours later, I set off for Katniss' apartment.

I had never entered Katniss' area before, and I couldn't help notice the contrast between my neighbourhood and hers. I finally completely understood just how different Katniss' world was from mine, so no wonder she hated it so much. Everyday she was surrounded by luxury and excess to return home to a place where people were hungry and broke. Again, I felt sick for ever wishing for a different life. I had everything I needed and it made me feel guilty.

Katniss' apartment was on the fifth level of a small, shabby apartment block. It looked as though the rusty old elevator had been 'Out of Order' for almost two decades, so I took the stairs to her level. The stairwell was pretty dark and had a damp smell to it. On the way, I could hear the sounds of TVs blaring, people yelling and children crying through the paper thin walls around me. Behind Katniss' door I heard nothing, and for a moment I feared that she wasn't at home. I knocked regardless, and within moments Katniss was opening the door for me.

Katniss looked at me with an entirely different expression to what I had imagined. Instead of being happy to see me, or surprised even, she looked at me with utter horror. It took me back for a moment, maybe this wasn't such a good idea. When I thought about it, Katniss had been pretty reluctant from me to come to her apartment in the past, and was hesitant to tell me much about where she lived and what her home life was like, other than when she talked about Prim.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered. She looked over her shoulder before stepping out into the hallway with me.

"Nice to see you too." I joked, trying desperately to lighten the mood that had sudden turned very dark.

"Seriously, Peeta." she continued.

I held up the box containing the cake. "You told me it was Prim's birthday tomorrow, so I baked her a cake." I explained.

I saw Katniss soften a little, and a small smile formed on her lips. "Really?" she asked, "Peeta thank you, but you didn't have to do this."

"I wanted to." I replied.

We stood in an awkard silence for a moment. I wasn't sure if she was going to invite me inside or if she wanted me to hand her the cake and leave. Before I could say anything, a small girl appeared in the doorway.

"Katniss?" she asked cautiously. She looked a little scared.

Katniss turned to her, "It's alright Prim." she said softly, "This is Peeta."

Prim quickly turned to me, looking relieved. I wondered who she had been expecting me to be.

"Hey Prim." I said, "I heard it was your birthday tomorrow, so I made you this." I handed her the box. She didn't look much like Katniss, with blonde hair and blue eyes, but she had the same determined look in her eye that told me she was a survivor.

She looked at me suspiciously before opening it. "Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed, "This is beautiful! Just like the one's I saw with dad!"

"Do you like it?" I asked.

"I love it!" Prim said, "Thank you, Peeta."

"No worries."

Prim gave Katniss a knowing look, " "I'll say it again- it told you so."

"Told you what?" I asked Katniss, confused.

"Never mind!" Katniss said quickly. Was she blushing?

"Would you like to come in?" Prim asked me.

"I don't think that is such a good idea." Katniss said before I could reply.

"Katniss, it's ok." Prim said quietly, "She's asleep now."

"If it's not a good time, I can leave…" I said, feeling uncomfortable.

"No, no it's fine." Prim assured me, "Come on in."

I looked at Katniss and she gave me a slight smile, standing aside and letting me enter. She looked nervous and I could tell that Katniss didn't feel comfortable about me being in her apartment. It made me feel a little uncomfortable too- was I overstepping the line or did she think I would judge her? There was no way I would ever do that.

The apartment was small and dark, with a tiny kitchen and a dining table piled high with laundry and Prim's homework. I noticed that two plates were smashed on the ground by the oven, and I wondered what had happened.

"Sorry about the mess." Prim said, noticing that I was looking at it. "Sometimes our mother..." she trailed off, not sure of what to say.

Katniss had told me about her how her mother often had intense fits of grief, which could last hours. I supposed that the scene was a casualty of her most recent breakdown. It made me feel guilty again, about how difficult Katniss' life must be.

I didn't stay long, because I could sense that Katniss was fairly uncomfortable with the situation. As much as I enjoyed meeting Prim, Katniss was not having a good time. She walked me down to the ground floor of the apartment before I left.

"Hey Katniss, I'm sorry if I cross the line, coming here tonight." I said honestly.

"No, I'm sorry." Katniss replied, "I've been acting weird. It's just that I'm not used to having people other than Gale and my family in the apartment. It was kind of a bad time."

"Did something happen with your mother?"

"Yeah..." Katniss sighed. "She was screaming, throwing plates...Prim was scared that you were going to be the police, we thought that someone might have reported the noise."

I felt terrible. Katniss had so much to deal with, it wasn't fair. "Right well, I'll call in advance next time." I said.

She looked at me for a moment, "I figured that you wouldn't want to see me again after finding out where I lived."

"Why would you think that?"

"My apartment is a mess, and this neighbourhood sure isn't like the Upper East Side."

"That doesn't matter to me."

"I didn't think it mattered to me either…" she said sadly, "I guess I was a little embarrassed." she shook her head, "I hate that I was embarrassed."

My heart sank when I realised she really was scared that I would judge her. She couldn't have been more wrong though, because after witnessing Katniss and her sister together, I realised that I really didn't have everything at all. I didn't care about money or possessions, what Katniss had was so much more important- family and love.

"You don't have to be embarrassed." I told her. I wished I could tell her how I really felt, but somehow I couldn't find the right words.

"You're just saying that."

"And I definitely want to see you again." I continued, before she could say anything else.

"Oh yeah?" she challenged.

"Yeah." I took a deep breath. This was it. I had to ask her. It was now or never. "Would you like to have dinner with me this Friday?"

Katniss stared at me, obviously thinking it over in her mind. I must have caught her by surprise because she hesitated before replying. For a moment I was scared that she was going to say no.

"Are you really asking me out on a date?" she asked incredulously.

"Yes, Katniss!"

A smile crept onto her face. "Pick me up at seven thirty."

Before I could say anything more, she turned and disappeared up the stairs. In true Katniss style, she had left me feeling stunned and breathless, but I couldn't help smile the rest of my way home. How could I not, the girl of my dreams just agreed to go on a date with me.

I had it all planned out. I would take Katniss to a quiet restaurant that I had been to once before with my family, and then we would take a walk around Central Park before coffee at my favourite café two blocks away. It seemed perfect, but unfortunately, none of those ideas went according to plan.

I tried to avoid my brothers for most of the afternoon, because I knew they would want to cause trouble if they knew I was going on a date. It was like their main source of entertainment was watching me suffer. I thought I had escaped any teasing or interrogation as I approached the elevators, however, suddenly Wyatt stopped me. He stood in front of the elevator doors, not letting me leave until I told him what he wanted to know.

"Hey little brother, where are you going?" he asked, smirking.

"A date." I replied. It was better to be honest straight away, I had learned that the hard way.

"A date?" he was surprised, "With who?"

Before I could answer, my mother appeared and I tensed up. "You're going out tonight?" she asked in a sharp voice.

"Yes." I told her, not meeting her eye.

"Don't be out late- I want you to come in and work tomorrow too and I don't want you making any mistakes, you hear me?"

I sighed. "Fine, I'll see you later."

When I finally arrived outside Katniss' apartment, I found her sitting on the curb playing with the strap of her handbag. I slowed my pace down for a moment to take it all in. She looked absolutely breath taking in a flowing red dress and her hair down passed her shoulders.

"Hey, sorry I'm late." I said to her when I approached.

"I was beginning to think you'd stood me up." she replied, standing up.

"I'm not that late, am I?" I was concerned that she really was upset.

"Relax, I was only joking." she smiled, "Something tells me you're not the kind of guy that would do that."

"Especially not to you." I said.

One condition of our date, made clear by Katniss, was that there would be no limousines invovled. So we took the subway to the restaurant that overlooked Central Park. It was apparent very quickly that the 'quiet' atmosphere that I was hoping for was never going to happen. A rowdy group beside us ordered more and more drinks as the night progressed, and got louder too.

"Heeeey." One man said to Katniss in a slurred voice, "Are you kids on a daaaate?"

"Awwww how cute!" crooned the woman beside him. "Look at the lovebirds over here!"

Katniss looked at me, visibly uncomfortable with the entire table now looking at us, but I was at a loss for what to do.

I was relieved when our waiter appeared with drinks for Katniss and I. However, the man closest to our table reached out at the same moment, accidently knocking into the waiter. As if in slow motion I watched the waiter wobble, the tray of drinks shift and the drinks spill all over my white shirt.

"I am so sorry!" the waiter exclaimed, flushing bright red. "Let me get you another."

"No, it's fine." I replied, starting to mop up some of the drinks with my napkin. "Maybe we could just get the bill?"

All I wanted was to get Katniss and myself out of that place and away from the group of people at the table beside us. I felt more relaxed as we stepped out into the cool night air.

"I'm really sorry, Katniss." I said sadly, "I didn't think it would be like that."

"Don't worry Peeta." To my surprise, she started to giggle, which I had never heard her do before.

"What are you laughing at?" I asked, and I couldn't help but smile.

"Come on, it was pretty funny!" she laughed.

"Well you're not the one with a drink spilled all over you, are you?" I replied, pretending to be hurt.

"Aww, poor baby." she mocked me, "I hope it doesn't cost too much to get it cleaned."

Laughing, I rolled my eyes and put my arm around her.

"So where to next?" she asked.

"Central Park?" I suggested, hoping to salvage at least some of the date that I had planned.

However, it turned out that Central Park wasn't the best idea either. We walked through the park for a few minutes, before stopping to sit on a park bench. For a moment we were quiet, just watching others walk by us.

"Peeta, can I ask you something?" Katniss said quietly.

"Of course." I replied.

"Why me?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

"You could have any of the girls at school…" she didn't meet my eye when she spoke.

It surprised me how vulnerable Katniss appeared. She always seemed so sure of herself and I never expected her to ever feel self conscious, firstly about her apartment and now about my feelings towards her. There was so much more to Katniss beyond her confident demeanour, and I realised just how badly I wanted to properly understand her.

"Katniss, I don't want any of those other girls." I told her honestly. Looking into her eyes I could see that she still wasn't sure, so I decided to tell her what I had been thinking about since the day I met her. The reason I liked her so much was because she wasn't like any of the other girls at school, and I had been waiting for so long to find someone who wanted more than money and a good reputation. "The truth is, I've never really liked the world I come from- all the money and the parties and the private cars…I went along with it anyway because what else could I do?" I looked at her, "Until I met you, and you made me see that it didn't always have to be like that." I wasn't sure I explained that well enough, but she seemed to understand.

"I knew you were different." she said softly.

"Different?"

"When I first met you, I thought you were just like the rest of them. I hated that I liked you anyway because I didn't want to like anything about your world." she took a deep breath, "But I couldn't help it."

"You like me?" I said, a smile creeping onto my face.

"Maybe." she said with a cheeky grin.

"As in, like like me?" I joked.

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, you idiot."

I laughed. That was more like Katniss. "Well luckily for you, Katniss, I like like you too."

I knew this was the right moment to kiss her, and even though my heart was beating at one hundred miles an hour, I slowly leant towards her. Her eyes closed gently as I pressed my lips to hers. Finally, the moment I had been waiting so long for. We broke away and I could tell that I was grinning like crazy, but so was she. I went to lean in again, and that was when I felt the first drop of rain. I looked up, and with in seconds rain started to pour heavily down on us.

I groaned. Great, another part of the date ruined. However, Katniss only laughed. She grabbed my hand and we ran through the park together and I couldn't help but laugh too. We must have looked ridiculous, laughing and running hand in hand to escape the rain, all while I still had a huge stain on the front of my shirt. To get out of the rain, we ducked into the entrance to the subway and stopped, panting and out of breath.

"Do you want to go back to my place?" Katniss asked.

I smiled. Only a few days ago Katniss hated the thought of me seeing where she lived. I took it as a good sign that she was letting me go back into her apartment. "Sure."

As we waited for the subway, I noticed that Katniss was shivering.

"I would offer you my jacket, but…" I trailed off. We were both completely drenched, our clothes soaking wet.

Katniss started to laugh again. I had never heard her laugh so much before, and I loved the way it sounded. Even though her hair was dripping wet and her mascara was running slightly, she looked completely happy.

I kept her hand in mine the whole journey on the subway and through the streets to her apartment. Luckily, it had stopped raining and we managed to dry off a little. Prim was surprised when Katniss knocked on the door.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. She looked at both of us before bursting out laughing, "You look awful!"

"Thanks, Prim." Katniss said, rolling her eyes and pushing passed her little sister.

Prim got us towels to dry ourselves off with, and Katniss made hot chocolates for us all before we collapsed on the couch, exhausted. We spent the rest of the night watching some rom com that Prim wanted to watch and Katniss absolutely hated. I loved how close the two of them were, even though they were completely different. As the credits rolled, we were all yawning and sleepy.

"I should probably go." I said, cautious not to make my mother angry again by staying out too late.

"I'll walk you out." Katniss replied sleepily.

In the corridor, we looked at each other for a moment before I couldn't take it anymore. I pulled her into my arms and kissed her again, not wanting to part from her for even a second.

"I'm sorry this date didn't go exactly to plan." I said quietly.

"Well it's definitely one I'll never forget!" Katniss laughed. "We should do it again some time."

"Oh, I absolutely agree." I said softly, giving her one last kiss before we said goodnight.

I left the apartment wanting to run, or jump or dance or do something else just as embarrassing. Everything was finally working out, and not even my mother could ruin how good I felt.