Next chapter! This one's a lot of fun with mistakes, scares, and embarrassment.

Enjoy!

I snuggle deeper into Peeta's bare chest, not ready to wake up and leave his warmth, both inside and out. Instead, I take to matching my breathing with his, trying to make it lull me to sleep once again. After about ten minutes of this, I realize I'm not going back to sleep and look at the clock on the other side of Peeta. 9:15 Am. I sigh, figuring I should get up and start breakfast; it'll be nice for him, since he's always the one doing it.

I slip out of his arms as quietly as possible, and then put a pillow in my place before he realizes I'm not there. When I begin to walk, I quickly realize how sticky the inside of my thighs are, making my nose scrunch. "Better clean that up." I walk into the bathroom, intending to take a shower, but stop when I come to a realization. We didn't use any protection. My heart starts beating wildly as I run out of the bathroom, still unclothed, and jump on Peeta to wake him up. "Peeta! Get up!"

He groans and turns on his stomach, putting his arms on top of his head. He goes back to sleep.

Can't he see I'm freaking out? I groan and frustration and shake him harder. "Peeta! I swear if you don't get up, you're never getting this again!"

"I'm up!" He sits up so fast that I fall off of him. When he sees me, he looks me over and smiles. "Hello, beautiful." He goes to pull me toward him for a kiss, but I push him away.

"Peeta, we have a serious situation," I say, sitting up so my legs are bent under me.

He raises an eyebrow with a worried expression on his face. "What situation?"

I swallow and I'm sure I look panicked, because he suddenly does too. "We didn't use anything."

At first he looks confused, and then it dawns on him. He's definitely as panicked as I am now. "Oh."

That's it? Oh? I sigh heavily. "Peeta, this is a big deal!"

He takes a deep breath to calm himself down, probably on my behalf. "All right, let's just calm down. We don't know for sure if you're pregnant or not. When's your next…err…female cycle?" He's as red as a tomato and looks down when he says this.

I blush too. This is definitely not something I want to talk about, and I don't understand why he needs to know that. "Um…in two weeks?" Now I'm looking down. "Why?"

"I heard they have these home pregnancy tests, but you're supposed to take them if your…you know, is late for the best results. So, I guess we wait until then and see if you have it, and if not we'll buy one."

I then look up, my brow furrowed. "How do you know this?" I know he's never done anything like this except with me, so I'm incredibly confused.

He shrugs and says, "When I was in confinement, they had me near the regular hospital rooms when I was in more control. I heard one of the healers talking about them."

I nod. Good enough for me. I take a deep breath, now trying to calm myself, but more for my benefit than his. It's not working. I can't have a child. I can't. "Peeta, I can't have a kid. I don't know what to do, but I just can't. Do you understand?"

I'm surprised to see a small amount of disappointment in his eyes, but I have to remember that he does want kids eventually. Better not to think about that right now. "We can't have…do that again until we find out. I don't care if you find something for protection; we're waiting until I get my period." Have to think positively. When I have it, not if.

He takes a moment before he nods. I know he understands why, and I'm sure he doesn't want to piss me off anymore than I already am. "All right. That's fine. But um, I'll still try to find something for after all this, okay?"

I swallow and nod, bringing my legs up to hide myself, since I'm suddenly aware of how naked I am. "But you can't just walk around asking for something. Do you even know what we can use?" What kind of things do people use for that? Hopefully nothing with needles. There's no way we'll be able to get something without somebody knowing.

He scratches the back of his head, his teeth gritted. "I…don't know. I'm sure your mom would know, but I doubt you want that."

My eyes widen. There is no way that my mother is going to know about this. I barely talk to her as it is; she does not need to know about my sex life. "Well, I guess if you go to that market you can act like you're just browsing and happen upon something. I mean, I'm sure you can figure out if there's something for this. Labels, right?" Please let there be labels.

He nods, and looks hesitant. Uh oh. I don't think I want to know what he's about to say. "Okay, but…maybe you should come with me."

I look at him incredulously. Is he serious? "Why?"

He shrugs and says, "Well, it could be by the things you use for…" He motions toward my nether regions, and I realize what he's saying, and sadly it sounds accurate. I mean, those things go together in some messed up way, right? Why not put them all together to get the embarrassment out of the way in one sweep? "I…well, can't you get them for me? Just pick up the box and act like you're being a really good boyfriend."

Suddenly he's smiling, making anger boil within me. Why the hell is he all of the sudden happy? I glare at him. "What?"

"You called me your boyfriend."

I'm about to deny this when I realize he's right. Damn it. "Well, I guess technically you are." I did say I loved him last night. Kind of.

He tugs at my arm until I'm lying on top of him, his arm going around my waist. "Good."

I pull out of his grasp and sit back into my earlier position. "Peeta, we have other things to think about right now!" I glare at him and want to get up to change, but he doesn't deserve the show. "Turn around. I want to get dressed."

He raises an eyebrow with a smirk. "Katniss, I've obviously already seen you naked. You're naked right now, even."

When I growl, he realizes I'm in no mood for playful comments and turns away. I get up and grab the closest pair of pants and plain v-neck t-shirt. Nevermind that it's pink; I'm not taking my time. I throw on some socks and my boots. "Okay."

He turns back around. "That looks nice on you."

Great, now he's going for the compliments. I can't tell if he's being genuine or just making up for earlier, so I roll my eyes and walk out of the room. "Hurry up." Lucky that all of his things are now in my house.

He's down ten five minutes later dressed much like me – I'm surprised that his v-neck turns me on – and his hair brushed, making me remember my own locks. If looking for protection isn't obvious enough to what we've been doing, my hair must be. I know I'm right when he starts to smooth down my hair. "All good."

I nod. I just want to get this over with, so I'll trust him. He'd never let me embarrass myself, anyway. "Let's go."

The walk is quiet and I'm happy when we make it inside; time for us to split. "You go look wherever, and I'll go to that section."

He nods and is off. I let out a breath; time to look. I casually make my way over, knowing where it is since I've obviously had to get them before. Since I've been eating better my period has gotten more regular. I stand in front of the products, glancing to the side to see anything. I'm about to give up when I notice some product I've never seen before. I shuffle my way over to the end, taking small glances.

They're…condoms. Never heard of them. Even though we had sex Ed, our district was too poor to afford any sort of protection so they didn't bother to teach us. I look around to make sure that no one is near and then move in front of them. When I read it, it's obvious what they are. Good, now I'll just tell Peeta about them and he can come over and get them while I leave.

"Been gettin' busy, Sweetheart?"

Oh no. Please, no. I turn slowly and come face-to-face with my ex-mentor. I'm screwed. "Uh…"

He smirks and stumbles over beside me. "Oh don't mind me; it was only a matter of time. Since you're married and everything." He winks at me and puts an arm around my shoulders; he reeks of alcohol and I try to move away. No luck. I decide the best tactic is to turn this back around on him, so I cross my arms and say, "What are you doing here? Out of booze?"

He laughs. "You know me so well."

Great. Of course I'm right; what else would he need?

Before I can say anything else, he leans in closer. "Don't screw this up." With that, he is gone.

I groan, utterly mortified, and hurry away to go find Peeta. When I catch sight of him, he's over in the art section. I want to scream at him, but the last thing I want is for me to draw attention (though that's probably inevitable). I rush over to him and hit his arm, making his jump. At least he has the decency to look guilty. "What are you doing!" I'm whispering, but loudly.

He's sputtering, causing me more irritation. Now I don't feel bad at all for choosing to leave him to buy the things. I cross my arms and glare at him. "I found what we need. And to make it worse, Haymitch found me over there!"

He raised an eyebrow. "What was he doing over there?"

"I don't know, looking for booze. Don't change the topic!" I huff and turn away, ready to leave. "Go over to the feminine hygiene section. I'm leaving." I walk away before he can say anything else, happy to get out. I just hope he hides them well enough and goes to a quiet cashier, if that's possible. Definitely not the one I saw a couple months ago.

When I make it back to our house Haymitch is already outside, laughing when he sees me. I growl at him and slam the door behind me, hoping to never have to do this again.

Once my embarrassment dies down, I remember the first reason that we went to the store to begin with. I sit down at the kitchen table and put my head in my hands, suddenly feeling sick.

And now I've brought my torture to THG.

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