Omg guys! i love all the comments and i hope this chapter sums up some over your questions!

(Peeta's POV)

I sit on the school steps with a flashlight in hand. I think Katniss is starting to really trust me. At 10:15 I hear clapping and I flash the light. Katniss stands with a notebook and a full paragraph or two written. She hands me the book and I shine the light on it.

'Sorry I ignored you today. I didn't get much sleep last night. And um the bandage (look up)'

I do and she removes it slightly. A gash about half an inch wide connects to her eye to chin. I wince at the wound. I look back down.

'To all start, Cato is a guardian but an abusive one. At first he was a great friend. Then when a boy named Gale looked at me and took interest Cato became more protective or abusive. It continued as I grew up. Cato was more protective than angry. He became hungry with power over me and yeah. He always thought I was with another boy. And about the other day he gets mad if I'm late, past 3:30, he beats me. And when I came home that one day at 5:10, he wasn't happy, especially since I was with you. That's when I wasn't in school that one day; I woke up with bruises covering my arms and stomach. I could barely walk. And he hates it when I leave anywhere besides school. I snuck out to see you.'

I take this all in. If Katniss does anything out of Cato's knowing she gets hurt.

"I'm so sorry Katniss. I should tell my father. He will have you taken from Cato for your safety of course, and you could go to a group home or foster care." I tell her. She shakes her head and takes the notebook back and writes something else.

'No, my mother made me promise that I'd stay with Cato. Another thing, as long as I'm living with him, my ma and pa don't go to prison for debt they owe to Cato's family.'

My stomach drops. And I complained about not being able to hang out with a friend and she has to deal with this just so her parents are safe.

"No. My father could get you family out of debt and take care of you. Please just let me help," I beg her.

'I'll think about it, thank you'. She kisses my cheek again and runs into the darkness. I still hold her notebook in my shaking hand. A perfect, and possibly crazy, idea pops in my head. I run home and burst into my parents' room.

"Dad read this!" I yell turning on the light in their room. They both sit up with a groan. He crankily snatches the book and reads it. His face hardens just like when he is angry or trying not to look sad.

"Who wrote this?" He asks fully awake. "Katniss. We gotta help her. She had this giant gash on her face and bruises covered her arms…" I blabber on until the point I don't even know what I am saying.

"Come with me," he says getting out of bed. On the way to his office he speaks, "Should I be mad that you snuck out after your curfew or be proud that you helped a girl in danger?"

I laugh nervously. He sits at his desk and types something in something. He turns the screen to me. A giant contract pixelates on the screen. "Peeta, this is the contract binding Katniss to this Cato man. Every month she spends with him the family receives $50. She has to spend 5 more years with Cato until her family is out of debt and free." He tells me.

"Can't you get them out of debt?" I ask him.

"Peeta, I can't just send $3,000 out. It's not sensible. But I take Katniss into a foster home and arrest Cato for child abuse," he explains.

"Then her mother and father would go to jail and stay there forever!"

"This is a complex situation but I could set officers around the home to find proof. I'll ask some lawyers to try to find a loop-hole. I'll let you know but tomorrow, I'm getting you two out of school so you can take her to the hospital to get her injures treated. Okay, now go to bed," he waves me out with him. When I'm about to turn the corner he calls me, "I'm proud of you Peeta." I smile and run up to bed. The next morning I wake up early and run to school hoping to find Katniss before classes begin. Hopefully she will come with me to the hospital with me. She comes up a few more minutes later and hugs me tight. I hug her back, "What's wrong?" I'm a little surprised that she's hugging me. She pushes her head into my chest and breathes heavily. She backs away and looks at me. Her bandages is still there but added with a cut on her forehead and black eye.

"What happened?!" I say looking at her pale silver eyes and face.

OHHHHH! little bit of a cliffhanger! I'll update sometime in the next 5-6 days! Keep fav-ing, reviewing! thank you guys again!