Hey, all! Thanks for the incredible amount of reviews! I was surprised. I could name some of the reviewers, but there are too many to count (plus, I don't have internet when writing this so I can't check to make sure spelling is right). But someone had the idea of having Ivy be the flower girl and Caroline be the bridesmaid instead. Now, that wasn't a bad idea, but I got to thinking about it. Obviously, it isn't going to be a normal modern wedding, so I don't think there's going to be a flower girl, otherwise that's be the obvious choice. But plus, Caroline's quite a bit older than both Annie and Katniss, so it wouldn't be the best of choices. Anyway, I'm continuing as planned, but it's going to be amazing, so don't have any doubts! I already have more of it planned out than you'd ever think. ;)

oOo

We took our time walking to the bakery. The air was clean and warm, a light breeze blowing the leaves of nearby trees awry, brushing against one another in a summery tune. The sun's rays beat down on us not unkindly, somewhat easing the tenseness in my throat. There wasn't even anything I was supposed to be nervous about. I kept repeating that to myself over and over, and the more I thought it, the more I felt foolish for being nervous at all.

Prim walked beside me quietly, face relaxed and emotionless. She looked deep in thought, so it was easy for me to have excuses to not make conversation.

The road to Peeta's bakery was a pleasant walk, and before we knew it, the powder-blue building stood still in front of us. Light shone from inside the large glass display windows. Though there was definitely less goodies visible on their shiny clear platforms, there were still the usual trays of cookies and cakes, loaves of fresh bread, fogging up the glass. My mouth watered as we got near. The smells from inside wafted out, making my stomach twitch with impatience.

"I think I'll leave you to this one." Prim smiled a bit, peering into the bakery as was I. She glanced over at me and her smile flickered encouragingly. "I'm going to go pick up the flour Mother wanted. Good luck."

I tried a smile back, and it worked. "Thanks, Prim. I'll see you later." My eyes turned back to the white bakery door, too late to see my little sister walk off.

It was a few minutes I stood there, just staring through the display windows inside. There were a two people in there; one at the counter, and the other considering the treats on display. It was surprisingly vacant for being one of the only bakeries in town, especially after being closed a while and being run by Peeta, the famous guy he was. I nearly scoffed. He was just Peeta to me. Just Peeta. Shaking my head to myself, I pushed open the door and entered.

The smell hit me immediately, ten times more powerful than it was outside. Icing and sugar and yeast filled my nostrils, temporarily cutting off my other senses. It was only when I blinked and looked back over to the front counter I realized there was a man standing there. And he wasn't Peeta. My head cocked automatically in curious assessment.

The man looked about the same height as Peeta. He didn't have as much muscles as him, but he was lean and sinewy, and most certainly pretty. Cinnamon-colored hair framed his oval head, messy and askew. His eyes were dark, but the irises a semi-familiar green color. He had dimples on either side of his wide smile and he…was…staring right at me.

I opened my mouth in surprise, and then eyed his inquisitively. "Um… You…?" My words didn't work very well currently, but the man didn't seem to mind.

He leaned on the counter, grinning at me with a shocking smile. "Good evening, miss. May I help you?"

I assumed Peeta's "help wanted" ad worked, and this was his new employee. Strange, though, and extremely flirtatious. Good-looking. And still grinning at me as if he lived to worship me. I was annoyed.

When he didn't get an answer right away, the man held out his hand. "I'm Benjamin Erik, the new baker here. You can call me Benj."

Something clicked in my head when I shook his hand. Benj Erik. The man that got his foot crushed by a cow? District 1. No wonder he was so dashing and chivalrous. District One was known for producing fairly good-looking people.

"You're, um…" I let my hand fall, and I rubbed it against my opposite arm. "The man that got his, uh…foot crushed. By a cow."

Benj threw back his head and laughed a chocolaty ringing of bells. "Yeah, that's me. I guess I'm sort of a celebrity here." He cast me a wink. "I didn't realize anyone knew about me. And my infamous Bessie."

I hoped he was just joking about that cow name, because I nearly retched. "No, I uh… I heard it from my sister. She worked at the hospital."

"I see…" Benj leaned forwards on his arms again, cocking his head charmingly, letting a stray strand of light brown hair fall into his eyes. "So, you didn't tell me your name."

I opened my mouth—a little nervous by the enticing grin—to answer, but just then, the door to the back kitchen opened.

"Hey, Benjamin, if you could…" Peeta, who was busy brushing flour off his apron, glanced up, "take…the…" He trailed off, eyes locking on me, and then drifting over to the flirtatious grin of Benj's face. His face then became purely menacing (a glare shot at his new employee) and then he looked at me. "Hey, Katniss. Nice to see you here."

"K-Kat…niss…" Benj's mouth popped open in surprise, and he glanced at me. I could see by the twitch in his eyes, what he was thinking. Ooohh crap. "Katniss. Katniss Everdeen. Right. Of course." His green eyes flicked nervously up to Peeta. "Y-your Katniss. Of course. I'm going to…go, um…take care of that rye bread in the oven. Yeah." Face pink with embarrassment, he shrank past Peeta (who had his arms crossed, still glaring at him) with a wooden crutch and a limp to his walk.

Peeta glared at Benj all the way up until the kitchen door swung closed behind him. It was his "that-was-my-girl-you-were-just-flirting-with" look. As soon as Benj vanished, though, he shook his head and went to take his place behind the counter. Peeta leaned on his elbows in front of me. "Sorry about him."

"It's, uh… It's fine." I was still a little shook up and weirded out, but I was able to look up and give him a miniscule smile. "Charming guy…"

Peeta sighed and scowled at the floor, refusing to meet my eyes. "Yeah. Real charming."

I got the overwhelming urge to comfort him, reassure that he was still my guy, and I didn't care for (or about) Benj's charm or handsomeness. But the twinge in my throat reminded me of my mission. Instead, I just cleared my throat. "So… How are you doing?"

He glanced back up, seemingly recovered from his fit of jealousy. "I'm doing okay. So is business. Ever since I hired Mr. Erik, things have become a whole lot easier, less stressful. He can bake alright. But I tried having him ice a cake. It was real simple."

There was a pause.

"It took an hour to clean up afterwards, and we almost had to throw the cake out, the damage he did to it." Peeta actually laughed a bit, and I could see in his eyes that smugness I so rarely saw. He could do something Benj couldn't.

"Well, good thing you're amazing at icing." A teensy smile touched my lips. That couldn't hurt anything. I let his responding smile get to me, warm me up.

"Thanks. Me: one. Benjamin Erik: zero."

I scoffed. "You're a lot more ahead than just one. For instance…" A tiny panic reaching my head, I racked my brain for anything. It wasn't too hard. "For instance you've lived two Games. He can't say the same."

It could have just been my imagination, but his face seemed to fall a tiny bit at that.

"And," I added hastily. "And you're a really great kisser."

Oh, CRAP. Did I just say that? Crap, crap… A rock thumped its way into my throat and I clapped my hand over my mouth in horror and mortification. A squeaky groan escaped my fingers and I shifted my eyes side to side. "Ehh… I-I need to-to…eehhh… M-Mother's waiting for me." And without even waiting for Peeta's response, I turned around and practically ran out of the bakery, head clutched in my hands, face brilliantly red with embarrassment. "Smooth move, Katniss… Smooth move…"

I didn't even glance behind me in time to see Peeta lean forwards on the counter, grinning madly to himself.

Back at home, I refused to tell anyone why I had a permanently humiliated face on. Prim asked me several times, but each time I mumbled some excuse and shuffled away quickly.

It was past lunchtime, and I was laying in bed. I was tired from not getting a lot of sleep, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't fall asleep to my nap. The covers were tucked snugly around me and my pillow and fresh and cool. The lights were out and everything was silent, but the sleep gods must be working against me right now. I sighed into my pillow. No nap for me I guess.

My stomach was empty because I'd skipping lunch, but I didn't feel very hungry. I felt fine, in fact, other than secretly hating myself for making such a stupid comment to Peeta. I could have thought of anything. I could have said anything, anything except for "you're a really great kisser". Sure, it was the truth, but that went against everything I was pounding on myself. First off, I was trying to temporarily wean myself from needing him (and wanting him) so much, including admitting there was something romantic between us. That was strictly out-of-bounds, and even if it wasn't, you just don't SAY stuff like that. Double out-of-bounds. I moaned to myself.

Mother came home at six-thirty, but it was seven until I noticed. Just an hour before, I had miraculously managed to fall into a very light sleep. I woke up to Mother tapping on my door.

"Katniss, it's dinnertime." She said, cracking open the door. "Come on, honey, you can sleep after you get some sustenance in your system."

I groaned.

"Come on, hon. Prim told me you've been acting odd. You probably just need to eat. Come on." She came into my room and turned the light on.

The fluorescent yellow pierced my sleepy eyes as I sat up. "Ow," My mind, though fuzzy, assured me food was definitely wanted right now. I sighed. You win, I'm up.

Mother seemed pleased with herself as she saw me get up and shuffle out the door.

It was only until I went into the kitchen (with my wrinkled clothes and mussed-up hair) when I realized there was an extra voice added to our dinner setting. Prim and Peeta were snorting with laughter over what seemed to be soup and cheese sandwiches. When I took a disgruntle seat next to Prim, they both looked up. Judging by how Prim acted completely normal, Peeta hadn't told her about my stupidity (she surely knew by herself). I wanted to look up and thank him with a straight face, but the rush of blood into my cheeks again was inevitable.

"Were you sleeping?" Peeta inquired, taking a bite of his sandwich, acting completely innocent and nonchalant. But when I looked into his eye, I could tell he was trying to hold in laughter. About what, I knew exactly.

"Yeah." I dropped my gaze and began eating. Maybe if I engage myself wholly in this dinner, I'd convince my mind he wasn't actually there. It didn't work. I felt his laughter echoing in my head, even though it was one-hundred percent silent.

When the eating slowed down to a halt, Mother set down her silverware. "So…" She cleared her throat. "We have a big week ahead of us."

I raised my head, doing my best not to look at Peeta. "How so?"

"Well," Mother folded her hands on the table. "Tomorrow I got the hospital to give me and Prim a day off to plan more of the wedding. And Wednesday Annie and Finnick are coming with Jace. I might be able to get then off as well. And something….something was happening Thursday…" She furrowed her brow and pulled a yellow notebook out of her pocket, ruffling through the pages.

Peeta cleared his throat. "Katniss has an appointment with Dr. Aurelis."

Mother's face split into a semi-relieved grin. "Oh, that's right. Thank you, Peeta."

I couldn't help. My eyes narrowed into slits and I dragged them slowly onto Peeta. He caught my menacing glare and immediately his smile disappeared.

"It's alright, Mother." I said, still glowering at Peeta. "You can cancel the appointment. I'm fine."

But Mother didn't get a chance to reply, because Peeta shook his head,

"It's just an appointment, Katniss. It'll do you some good to go."

"'Do me some good'? I'm doing fine on my own, thanks!" My hands were quivering ever so slightly, so I lowered them onto my lap. "You had—You have no…no right to-to…"

I reached up and ran a hand through his unkempt blond hair with a look of barely contained frustration. "I had no right to what, Katniss?"

Answers boiled in my throat, but I swallowed them down with difficulty. If I responded how I wanted, a fight would start and we shouldn't have a fight. We couldn't have a fight, not in front of my family, or them in the same house for that matter. In fact, we shouldn't ever fight. I should answer, I shouldn't answer. No… I took a moment to rub my forefingers on my temples, and then I stood up. "Never mind. I'm going to bed. Goodnight."

And I left before I could see any of their expressions. It was a shame, though, because if I'd seen Peeta's, I would have known he'd come after me. I knew it anyways.

He caught my arm just before I reached the stairs and spun me around. When I just scowled, he opened his mouth to say something. But he didn't. Instead, Peeta sighed and dropped my arm.

"I told you, Peeta," I began, my voice cracking only slightly. "I don't need anyone's help. I want to do this on my own."

"But we're not just doing this for you, Katniss. It isn't just this…thing you started Saturday. It's the entire past two years." Peeta took my wrist again, but gentler this time. "All we want is to see you better again, Katniss. And besides," His mouth twitched into a sad, crooked smile. "It's just one appointment. What could it possibly hurt to go?"

Suddenly exhausted, I sat down on the stairs and put my head in my hands. "My dignity? My pride?"

He had no answer to that.

After a few seconds, I felt Peeta sit down next to m. He kept silent for a while, not moving, not touching me. Part of me wanted him to, wanted to feel the security that had failed to make a reappearance ever since I banned myself from him. It was awful.

"You'd better get some sleep, Katniss." He said softly a few minutes later. When I finally brought my hands away from my face, I took his own and let him help me up. "We'll talk more tomorrow?"

And at that moment, when the corner of his mouth twitched up into a smile, I saw…something. Past the scares, protective boy in the arena. Past the bakers' son, town boy, past all that. I think…well, I wasn't sure, but I think I saw Peeta just then. My Peeta, the real one, which is what I think I might have been looking for when I banished myself from him. But as soon as I supposedly pinned it, it was slipped away.

Peeta caught me staring. "What?"

"Nothing." I just shook my head, feeling odd in the stomach. "I thought I saw something…"

I got a nice, typical-Peeta smile in return. "Sleep well."

Nodding, I took a few steps up the stairs. "You, too." I had gotten about halfway up when I faltered and turned around. Looking back, I saw him still standing there, looking up at me. "Goodnight, Peeta."

For a second he looked sad, longing. "Goodnight, Katniss."

Feeling odd, I turned back around and walked up to my room. Confused, afflicted thoughts bounced around in my cranium for a bit while I stripped off my clothes and put on some pajamas (the pj pants Peeta had given me, and just an undershirt). Standing there in the middle of my large room, staring at m bed, it looked surprisingly sad. Maybe it missed Peeta, too. I knew I did. It was lonely at night, but in the end it'll work and turn out to be good.

I had almost convinced myself of that when I crawled into bed, propping my chin up on my folded arms. It was cool in here, but under the blankets it was toasty. For a second I let my eyes close and I imagined a week ago. It didn't seem too long ago, but it felt it. And when I opened my eyes, I had thought Peeta would be there next to me like always. He wasn't.

I sighed and closed my eyes. It'll turn out, Katniss. It'll turn out…

When I opened my eyes next, I was sitting on the forest floor with my little sister. Prim was fiddling with a chain of daisies,

"What are you doing here?" I asked, my voice echoing oddly.

Prim looked at me with her usual dimpled smile. "I want to talk to you."

A squirrel passed.

"About what?"

"Peeta."

Oh, Jesus, not this again. How come I didn't dream about normal things like normal people? Because I wasn't normal, obviously.

Groaning, I rolled over and grabbed the lovely aspen tree next to me. It was already in full bloom, green leaves swishing in the wind. Too bad it was only a foot tall. I hung on tighter.

"Since you won't tell me in real life, I thought I might—"

"Get out of my head…" I mumbled, still holding the tree. "You're not really here."

Prim sighed. "That's childish, Katniss, stop it."

I didn't. Instead, I squeezed my eyes shut, and when I opened them, I was in my room again, back in bed.

"Jeez…" I grumbled to myself. Rubbing my eyes, I stood up and shuffled to the bathroom. I used the toilet and filled up on some more water, but in case I need to rely on my bladder to wake me up out of another insane dream.

It was completely dark outside, but I had no clue what time it was. There wasn't talking going on downstairs as far as I heard, and there wasn't a light penetrating the dark of the hallway, which meant no one was up. Stifling a yawn, I just crawled back under the covers and closed my eyes. Sleep found me in no time at all.

The next dream came to me quick and I was sitting on the grass. It took my dream-self a moment to orient herself and realize the dark shapes in front of her were houses. I frowned, not at all surprised, but just because it felt like a good thing to do, frowning. What an odd, pointless dream. I was about to stand up when a presence nearby made me pause.

Prim was there next to me, as she was in my last dream. I just didn't remember the last dream, so I just shrugged and looked back at the houses.

"Hey, Katniss." She said nonchalantly.

I greeted her back. "Hello, Prim. What are we doing here sitting on the ground?"

She shrugged, then nodded towards the nearest house, which happened to be mine. "Waiting."

We waited. There wasn't much to think about in a dream, I realized. It was actually kind of boring as we sat. But then I spotted a movement over by the house, and both mine and Prim's eyes trained over there.

The front door opened and Peeta, of all people, walked out. Past him into the house I saw that it was me who opened the door. But, in being in a dream, I didn't find this odd, and I kept watching. The look on the third Katniss' face was like a grimace, except vulnerable and upset. She said something inaudible to Peeta, who nodded, obviously not too overjoyed. Prim and I watched as the other me closed the door, leaving Peeta standing on my porch, along in the dim light of my dream. Something tugged in my chest and I felt guilty. My eyes followed the dejected form of Peeta as he just sat on the porch steps and rubbed his hand on his forehead.

"Peeta!" I called out, but nothing came from my mouth except puffs of air.

There was a silence between the three of us for a moment, obviously, or else I would have said something.

"Are you going to be childish and wake yourself up again, Katniss?" Prim finally broke the quiet and glanced over at me with a surprisingly menacing 15-year-old scowl.

This is a dream, I told myself. Where are all the purple trees and strangers attempting murder? Normal dreams didn't have shockingly realistic versions of your little sister giving you advice and lectures about your fiancé

I sighed. Only a dream. "I'm not going to. But I still don't understand what's going on! This is just a dream, right? I'm not like some crazy version of the Ghost of Christmas Past, am I?"

Prim laughed, sweet and light, like the Prim I know. "Don't be silly. This is all just in your head."

"Then what is Peeta doing over there and what are we doing over here?"

"Because…" She paused and folded her legs neatly under the edge of her blue dress. "We've noticed, Mother and I. I want you to talk to me, even if only in a dream. You barely said anything at all the night before. Talk, Katniss." It was a command.

I sighed. "What's to talk about? I made a decision that I was going to get…sane before Peeta and I marry, and that means distancing myself from him. I'm trying to…to…" My dream-self scoffed, suddenly feeling stupid. Thankfully, Prim let the sentence hang.

There was another long silence, but I wasn't the one to end it.

"I think it's hurting him." Her voice wasn't low or sad, but factual, to my surprise.

Glancing up, I saw that Peeta had left. No idea where he went, I didn't see it.

"Something is really messing him up." Prim continued, not waiting for me to say anything. "You should realize that maybe you're taking this too far.

Frowning, I scooted over on my behind to face Prim, legs crossed. "Prim, I'm doing this for him. He doesn't want to marry an insane woman, no one does."

"Has he ever asked you to stop talking to him? Has he ever actually wanted you to do this?"She wasn't looking at me, but her young voice wasn't just coming from where she sat next to me. It echoed from out in the field, from the sky above, quaking everywhere around me. "Peeta's told you that he's trying to help. All he wants is you, sane or not, and he's willing to do anything to help, but…you need to want him to help."

I didn't say anything, trying to let the words soak in.

"Let's face it, Katniss, you're not being very fair." Primrose looked at me again, this time her brows sad. But not for me. "Peeta is known by every single girl in Panem. He's intelligent, he's gorgeous, and he can cook. He's probably nicer than any other guy in Panem, but he wants you. He chooses you, and you're making him sit there while you debate whether or not to take therapy. He could have literally anyone he wants, he could leave you any second for any reason, but he doesn't. And he won't. Because he loves you, Katniss, and doing all this for you…" she shrugged. "Well, you owe him."

If this was real life, I'd probably be in a fit of furious tears by now, stomping all around in a bout of rage and self-loathing, crying my eyes out over the sheer truth of things. But instead, I just sat, letting the words float around in my head like they're in honey. I knew them, I understood the words, but I didn't …understand them enough to argue or pick a fight. I just responded as I did before.

"This is for him, though. I-I love him and…and..." For no reason I fully comprehended myself, I stood up and began a brisk walk towards the house I knew to be Peeta's in the dream. He had to be in there, where else would he be? I needed to apologize to him. I need to…I need to…

"Katniss," A grip on my wrist made me spin around, but a wave of vertigo washed over me. Because when I opened my eyes wide to stare at the person behind me, it wasn't anyone. It was my bedroom ceiling.

It was hard getting my mind dragged back into reality. My brain followed a second after my eyes, but a second too late. Like water through fingers, the dream fell away from me, whisked from my mind. Someone was yelling from downstairs, but I was only fully conscious when they stopped yelling. I had no idea what they were yelling, or who was yelling in the first place. Grumbling slightly, I just buried my head back in my pillow. I thought they'd leave me alone. I thought wrong.

"Katniss," Prim burst into my room, breathless, and hopped onto the bed next to me, sending me jolting a few inches into the air. Good thing all the beds in the Victor's houses were king-sized. "Get up, Katniss! Annie and Finnick are here early!"

oOo

Not much to say in this except review! I know a bunch of people read each chapter on average, so it should be that hard to get over 20. Honestly. :D But anyways, have a good…beginning of July, and such. Love you all, and stay tuned for the next edition of GRAVITY: Unleash the Mellark Babies. Now in theaters.