Katniss' POV
In the weeks that followed the situation with Gale and Cashmere, a lot of things had changed at The Capitol School.
First of all, Cashmere had certainly fallen from her position as queen of our year level, and now spent more time at the library than Delly and Madge did. Her followers had found a new girl to idolise, and despite the frenzy of gossip that once surrounded Cashmere, she was now mostly left alone. It was still awkward, whenever we made eye contact in the halls, but it seemed that for the moment our truce was still in effect.
Secondly, our small group seemed to have become a permanent arrangement, and it was nice to feel like I belonged in a place that was so different to where I had come from. We were a little dysfunctional, sure, but it definitely made lunch more interesting.
Regardless of the day, Finnick and Johanna would always have something to argue about. Topics ranged from whose favourite band was better to who got a better grade on an assignment. It was all fun, but neither of them were willing to accept defeat.
Even more so, Finnick would spend at least ten minutes a day complaining about how much he missed Annie. He never gave away any details of their relationship, but it seemed that all of a sudden they were even more inseparable, or as Johanna said 'insufferable', than before, if that was even possible.
Magde would also blush suddenly after checking her phone, and we would all immediately tease her about what Gale had just sent, making her blush even more. Gale wasn't one to give much away either, but from the way he smiled whenever I mentioned her, things were going well.
The third change was how much better it was to not feel so self conscious about being with Peeta. Since Cashmere's threats had disappeared, and Gale no longer hated Peeta, it was like an enormous weight had been lifted of my shoulders. I could finally enjoy just being with him.
Our rain check on Peeta coming back to my place had been delayed for quite some time, but finally school and work had stopped being so hectic and Peeta was walking with me into my apartment.
Prim took one look at us when we entered and started to pack up her things immediately. "Don't worry, I'm going!" she laughed.
"Thanks, Prim." I smiled.
"I'll see you later." she winked at me before disappearing out the door.
As we went into my room, I tried to convince myself that nothing bad was going to happen this time. It was a little hard to believe that though, because it seemed like Peeta and I were never getting a break when it came to things interrupting us. However, it was easier to calm myself when I looked at his eyes. As we sat down on my bed I asked him, "So, where were we?"
Peeta smiled. "I think you were about to tell me something?"
"Oh." I bit down on my lip, "Look, I know things have been kind of crazy these past few months…and I'm really sorry."
"You don't have to apologise, Katniss." Peeta said sweetly. "I'm glad things have settled down a bit though."
"What I was going to say to you before all of this was…" I took a deep breath. It wasn't like to me confess my true feelings, it made me feel vulnerable, which was not something I enjoyed. But I had to say it, for Peeta's sake, because he had been nothing but good to me. Honestly, it was for my sake too, because I was done with keeping things secret. "I'm in love with you."
Peeta gave me the sweetest smile I had ever seen, which spread right up to his glittering eyes. "Really?" He asked, as if he couldn't actually believe it.
"Yes, really!" I laughed.
"Katniss." He said slowly. "I'm in love with you too."
Deep down, I knew he was, but it still made my heart leap when he said those words.
To be honest, I never thought I would have that conversation with anyone, let alone someone from the Upper East Side. Peeta was right, I was stubborn, but I didn't want to fight my feelings for him anymore. It was strange, to be in love with someone and to let someone else into me life, but as Peeta kissed me I knew it was something I could definitely get used to.
It was Thursday, and we were sitting at our usual table in the courtyard at lunch, when Peeta made an announcement.
"Attention everyone." Peeta said, pretending to clear his throat. "I happen to have a free apartment this weekend."
"Peeta, have I told you recently what a great friend you are?" Finnick joked.
"Oh please." Peeta rolled his eyes. "So how about all of you come over on Saturday night?"
"Hell yeah, Peeta." Johanna said. "I haven't been to a free house in forever."
"I vote that I get to chose the music!" Finnick said quickly.
Johanna glared at him. "We'll just see about that."
I was looking forward to it, I really was. Much more than I expected I would, actually, so much so that I got to Peeta's apartment early on Saturday. He was just getting a tray of brownies out of the oven, and the whole place smelled delicious.
"Hey you." he said, kissing me on the forehead. He still had his oven mitts on and had flour in his hair, and he looked absolutely adorable.
"Hey." I replied, jumping up onto the counter top.
"You're early." he observed.
"Had to make sure I got some brownies before Finnick turned up." I laughed. "Although what's the bet he and Annie will be late?"
"I'd say it's very likely." Peeta smiled. "They distract each other way too much."
"Do I distract you?" I joked, mimicking Finnick's seductive tone.
"Yes!" Peeta laughed, "I hadn't burnt a cake until I met you."
Our eyes met and we were both quiet. The way he looked at me, there was so much love in his eyes, that it made me blush. However, the moment was interrupted by Delly and Madge arriving. Peeta brought the brownies to the coffee table and we sat around happily talking.
"Hey Madge, you should have brought Gale along tonight." Peeta suggested suddenly.
"Oh." Madge blushed. "I wasn't sure if this would be his thing."
"Next time." I said. "I'll make sure he's here."
Madge gave me a grateful smile. She was way too shy to invite him anywhere, while Gale was too stubborn to admit that he would want to spend time with her, so I knew it would be up to me to make sure things worked out for them.
We all turned towards the elevator as the doors opened and we heard Johanna sigh in relief. Moments later she stomped into the living room shortly followed by Finnick and Annie, who were gripping each other tightly.
"Talk about a nightmare." Johanna complained, flopping down on the couch. "I just had to share an elevator with these two- kill me now."
"Whatever, Johanna." Finnick said, pulling Annie onto his lap as he sat down. He dipped his head down to kiss her and Johanna groaned.
"Get a room." she said, exasperated.
"Don't tempt us." Finnick winked, but Annie started to blush.
"Finnick!" Annie scolded him, but the way she was looking at him was as if she wasn't too upset.
This was nice, I thought, as Peeta brought over drinks. It wasn't some ridiculous Upper East Side party, just a group of friends having a good time. Peeta's old friends probably would have scoffed at us, because it was pretty tame compared the party I had gone to with Peeta, but it was much more 'us'. We spent the night playing ridiculous games like Twister, but we gave up on that once Finnick and Annie starting making out on the plastic mat. Instead we tried for Pictionary, and Peeta of course was amazing at it, while my drawings looked like a mess. In the end, we stopped playing all together because we were all way too giggly and feeling pretty light headed.
Eventually things started to wind down in the early hours of the morning. Delly was already asleep, and Finnick and Annie were all over each other again, while Johanna sat next to them on the couch looking very unimpressed. Finnick was so caught up in Annie that he didn't even realise that Johanna had turned off his music and put on hers.
I was happy curled up next to Peeta, but tiredness was starting to set in. Stumbling a little, we pulled mattresses and blankets out into the living room to set up places to sleep. Finnick and Annie created some kind of elaborate fort out of sheets and blankets by the couch, that I had to admit, looked pretty comfortable.
"A castle for my queen." Finnick joked, pulling aside the sheet for Annie to crawl in.
Peeta and I found our own little spot behind the opposite couch. I didn't hesitant to lie down beside him and rest my head on his chest, and immediately his hands were wrapped around me. I could actually enjoy it this time, as opposed to the night of the ball when I was too busy panicking about Cashmere.
Peeta played with my hair as we lay together, and slowly heard our friends start to fall asleep. Occasionally we would hear a giggle from inside Finnick and Annie's fort as they whispered to each other, but mostly I could imagine that it was just the two of us.
"This is nice." Peeta said softly through the darkness.
"Very nice." I replied. "We should do this again sometime."
"If I had it my way, it would be like this every night of my life."
It was a simple statement, but there was so much meaning behind it that I suddenly felt dizzy. Peeta wanted to spend the rest of his life with me? That was a big thing to admit, but his commitment didn't seem to frighten me as much as it did at the start of our relationship. So I found Peeta's lips in the dark, to let him know that I felt the same way.
It was late in the morning when we all started to wake. The room was a mess of empty glasses, pizza boxes and scrunched up Pictionary drawings, but I was way too sleepy to try and clean up just yet.
"Alright boys, it's time to go get us some coffee." Johanna ordered.
"Can't you get it?" Finnick whined.
"Nope." Johanna crossed her arms. "Off you go."
Finnick and Johanna stared each other down for a moment, neither wanting to back down.
"Remember what sand tastes like, Finnick?" Johanna said.
Finnick groaned. "Fine." He untangled himself from Annie. "We are seriously outnumbered right now." Finnick added to Peeta.
The two of them dressed and went out the door, in search of coffee that was up to Johanna's standards, and I was looking forward to it because I was still extremely sleepy.
"Sooooo Katniss." Johanna turned to me as soon as they left. "You and Peeta were looking pretty cosy last night."
"Not as cosy and Finnick and Annie." I joked, trying to turn the attention away from me.
"Oh nice try, but I have had more than enough of talking about Finnick and Annie." Johanna laughed.
"So are things going well with you two then?" Madge asked me, smiling.
"I guess." I tried not to smile. I'd never really had a group of girl friends I could talk to about this sort of thing, and I decided that maybe I wanted to share a little more with them. I was surprised by how nice it was to talk about Peeta and I. "I told him I love him."
While Delly and Madge grinned, Johanna just shook her head jokingly. "Who would have thought- Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark?" She turned to Annie quizzically. "You don't look so surprised though."
"Finnick's only good at keeping secrets when they aren't about Peeta and Katniss." Annie laughed. "Seriously, I think Finnick and Peeta talk about their feelings together more than we do."
It was a funny thought, Peeta and Finnick sitting around talking about their relationships with each other. Peeta had probably told him a lot, because Finnick was pretty persuasive when it came to finding out other people's secrets. While this was much more lighthearted than the secret that Cashmere had found out about me, it made me realise that I couldn't keep everything to myself. What was more, I didn't even mind. It was pretty cute actually, that Peeta would tell Finnick that we loved each other.
Before I could reply though, Peeta and Finnick returned with the coffee.
"There you go ladies, anything else we can get for you?" Finnick joked, handing out coffees. He took his place back with Annie again, pressing a kiss to her neck.
"So, did we miss anything interesting?" Peeta asked, looking around.
"Ah Peeta, it is clear to me that they were having a 'girl talk'." Finnick observed. He kissed Annie again. "Spill any secrets, my dear?"
"Oh Annie's not the one we should be worried about." Johanna scoffed.
Finnick looked puzzled for a moment, but contented himself by pulling Annie in for another kiss. Once again, it was as if they were the only people in the room.
Once revived somewhat by the coffee, we got to work cleaning up Peeta's apartment, before all collapsing back down on the couch. Finnick suggested another round of Twister, but Johanna quickly shut that down. Groaning, I knew I had to leave to get ready for work, so I said my goodbyes. It was funny, but I never thought that I would actually be unhappy to leave the Upper East Side.
However, my good mood all but vanished when I took the stairs up to my apartment. I knew something was wrong immediately, when I saw that the front door was open. When I stepped inside I found Prim, Gale and Rory sitting huddled on the couch.
As soon as Prim saw me, she jumped up and ran to me, hugging me tight.
"Prim, what's wrong?" I asked, starting to panic.
"Someone broke in last night." Prim told me, pulling away.
"What, while you were here?"
Prim suddenly didn't meet my eye. "No…I was at Rory's house." she said quietly, "When I came home the front door was wide open."
I felt sick for a moment. My little sister having a sleepover with a boy was the last of my worries, but the whole situation was just too much.
"What was stolen?" I asked.
"That's the thing- nothing."
I met Gale's eye from across the room, and the grave look on his face told me he was thinking the same thing.
"A warning I suppose." I said wearily. "The other gangs around here are making sure we know they aren't on our side, you know, with the whole Cashmere thing." I sat down on the couch next to Gale and Rory.
"We'll just have to be extra careful from now on." Gale said.
"And get better locks!" I added. All I could really do was try and lighten the mood.
Gale laughed for a moment, but it was short lived. We all fell silent again.
"Well, we better head off." Gale said eventually, standing up. "Rory has homework to do."
Once they had left, I turned to Prim to make sure she was alright. She looked pretty shaken up by the whole situation, and I was actually kind of relieved she hadn't been at home when it happened.
"Are you okay, little duck?" I asked.
Prim nodded, putting on a brave face. "Let's just talk about something else." she suggested.
"Okay, like what?"
"How was your night with Peeta?" she asked with a cheeky grin.
"Oh nice try, missy." I laughed. "How was your night? The one which you didn't tell me about, by the way."
Prim blushed. "Are you mad?"
"No." I told her honestly. "But I don't want you to hide anything from me, okay? I want all the details."
"Rory and I are just friends." Prim replied.
"Hey, I was suggesting that you weren't!" I laughed.
Prim blushed. "Whatever, I've got homework to do too."
I was left alone on the couch to think about what had just happened. I wasn't too concerned about the break in itself, but what it meant was much more serious. Even though everything with Cashmere was over now, we still weren't completely safe at home.