The next morning Peeta left Cato's house early to be able to spend some time together with his dad before he'd have to leave for a business meeting concerning most of the bakeries in Panem.
As he walked down the street, he still lingered in memories of how he woke up next to Cato.
Peeta laid with his head on Cato's bare chest and his right arm hugged Cato's torso slightly and rested on his left shoulder. Cato stroked Peeta's hair as he met him with a tender kiss and uttered a hoarse 'Good Morning' in that typical morning-voice which Peeta noticed he liked a lot.
Cato seemed to be the one to always wake up before Peeta.
The blonde baker boy was happy that Cato had been so understanding and sweet about the fact that Peeta had to go so soon. To make it up to Cato, Peeta promised to come by in the evening and bake some choco chip cookies for Cato later. The taller blonde agreed with that happily and said goodbye to Peeta in a deep, lovely kiss.
Now Peeta was just about to hit the corner of the street of the bakery and then he'd be finally at home.
A minute later, he arrived at the door and rang the bell. His father opened the door smiling and enclosed Peeta in a tight hug.
"Peeta, I'm glad you came." His father said.
"Well, we agreed on that, didn't we?" Peeta replied.
"Yeah, but I wasn't sure if you would come here after all that happened." His dad said, sounding disappointed by himself.
"Of course I would have come. I mean, what happened was awful but after all you're still my dad." Peeta smiled weakly and stepped inside before he followed his father into the kitchen.
"I know I said that already but Peeta I really am sorry for the way I acted." Mr. Mellark turned around and supported his elbows on the kitchen counter. "I should have listened to you right away and shouldn't have doubted your health."
"Dad, it's fine. You excused several times. We really don't have to stick around that topic for the next few days."
"I wasn't sure you would accept my apology." His dad explained.
"Well, I really don't see why I shouldn't have accepted it. I'm just happy we're here right now. I really want to forget the past and move on and I am glad you'll be part of it." Peeta uttered smiling.
"Of course I will." His dad said, looking warmly at Peeta the way Peeta used to know his father.
"By the way, don't you want to tell me a bit about your new friends?" Mr. Mellark asked his son as he walked around the kitchen bar and took out some of his new recipes which he wanted to present in the meeting later.
"Well, that girl's name is Katniss. She was the first person to welcome me in the new school. She's quite funny and spirited." Peeta explained.
"Yeah, she seemed so. It's noticeable that she cares for you." Peeta's dad said smiling as he fiddled with the collar of the blazer jacket he'd wear later to tighten it.
"When are you leaving anyway?" Peeta asked.
"Uhm…" He looked at his watch. "In about thirty minutes." His dad exclaimed.
Peeta nodded understanding.
"…So, how about your other new friend?" His dad asked, concentrated as he grabbed the iron out of one of the drawers and started ironing the collar.
"Oh, yeah… I still wanted to talk with you about that guy yesterday." Peeta said, fiddling uncontrollably with his fingers as he felt the nervousness building up inside of him. Peeta reconsidered many times whether he should tell his father about his feelings or not but right now it felt like it was the right moment to confess what had to be said.
"Okay, what's up? Cato was his name, wasn't it?" His father asked, moving the iron down from the collar to the sleeves.
"Yeah ..." Peeta mumbled, suddenly doubting if he was entirely sure about this whole thing, but there was no turning back. He would say it. He had to.
An awkward moment of silence followed until Peeta's dad stopped ironing his clothes for a moment and laid the iron aside to look at his son. Peeta's face color faded immensely and out of a sudden he looked extremely sick. Mr. Mellark raised his eyebrows questioning.
"Are you alright? You look like you've just seen a ghost."
"Uhm… well…" Peeta couldn't find the right words to begin his sentence.
"Are you alright? Is something wrong with that Cato boy?" His father asked, sounding suddenly concerned.
"No…" Peeta looked down to his feet, his heart pounded massively. His throat felt awfully tight and he gulped complained.
Finally Peeta raised his voice. "Uhm…well… Cato…he is my boyfriend…" Peeta muttered anxiously. "…thus I'm gay." He slowly looked up to his father, scared of his reaction.
Mr. Mellark smiled and walked towards Peeta to deepen him into a hug. Relief came over Peeta as he accepted the hug gladly.
"I know." His dad said quietly.
"What?" Peeta slowly pulled back. "How did you know that?" He blurted out.
"Oh, Peeta." His father snickered. "I may not be the best father, but still, I notice when my son is attracted to the person in front of him."
Peeta blushed slightly.
"...Then, it's not a problem that I like guys?" He asked, rising his brows reassuring.
"Peeta, as long as you're happy, I'm happy. I actually assumed it for a little while already."
Peeta breathed out deeply as all the tension left his body. "I was so nervous you'd reject me because of this." Peeta admitted with a weak voice.
"I would never, Peeta. You're my son, I love you and I will always support you. It doesn't matter if you're in love with a girl or a boy, as long as you love the person everything is alright." His dad uttered, embracing Peeta into another hug.
"Thanks dad." Peeta mumbled into his father's chest "It really means so much that you're standing by me."
"Come; sit down with me for a second." His father said as he sat down at the kitchen table. Peeta did as advised and sat in front of his father.
"So… this may sound a little awkward, but you two use protection, don't you?" His father asked with a serious tone.
"W-What?!" Peeta broke out dumbfounded, fearing the subject his father might want to talk about.
"What do you mean?"
"Peeta, don't act silly. You are two young homogeneous teenager boys; of course you will come to a point where… you might explore each other's … appearances. So, to make sure, you're being safe, right?" Mr. Mellark asked uncomfortably.
Seemingly the conversation was just as awkward for Peeta as it was for his father himself.
"I-I, well…" Peeta stuttered, he'd never thought his dad would mention such a heavy subject at this time.
"Peeta, I know that's a weird situation to talk about with your dad – but we have to discuss it, it's necessary."
"Right…" Peeta blushed. "…but we didn't do any of these things."
"So, you didn't have any sexual intercourse with Cato, yet? Alright, but you're not planning to get sexually active with other boys, are you?"
"Of course not. Cato would be the only person I… uhm, would be planning to have sss… this with. Don't worry… I know how to protect myself and I'm sure he does as well." Peeta answered, trying really hard to sound as normal as possible.
"Are you sure Cato does know about that, because-"
Peeta cut his father off. "Yes, dad I'm sure. It's okay. We'll be safe."
"Okay, I just want you to be educated about this subject. There are many incurable diseases which are transmitted through sex."
"I know dad, thanks. It's fine; I'm not twelve years old anymore." Peeta grumbled out.
"You're right." Peeta's father breathed out, smiling nostalgically.
"I have to leave in a bit, do you have any plans for tonight?" He asked.
"I wanted to go and catch up with Katniss, but I thought maybe she should stop by in the evening and join us for dinner? Her parents are out and her sister is at a sleepover party so she'd be alone tonight anyway." Peeta suggested.
"Yeah, of course, that would be nice. I shall be back home in the evening." Mr. Mellark agreed and got up from the kitchen table as he took a look on his watch.
"Oh, I will have to leave now." He said as he put on the just ironed blazer jacket, grabbed his briefcase and took a bottle of water from the kitchen counter.
"Oh okay. I can get some nice treats for dinner from the grocery store around the corner if that would be helpful. You wouldn't have to get in a hurry once the meeting is over."
"Yes that's a good idea." His father exclaimed with a smile. He walked to the door and opened it nonchalantly. "Bye, Peeta. See you tonight, I'm glad we're doing this."
"Me too, see you later, have fun and good luck." Peeta hugged his dad and closed the door behind him.
It was late-midday when Peeta finally gathered up to catch enough motivation to go to the supermarket.
The whole afternoon, Peeta mostly did nothing. He took the spare time to shower, do most of his homework, watch some TV, eat a few snacks now and then and most of it all simply relax.
The reason he eventually agreed on getting ready to buy some stuff at the supermarket was that afterwards he thought he could stop by Cato's house and spend the rest of the afternoon together with him before he would have to get home to prepare a few things for dinner. Even though he'd just seen Cato this morning he already felt like he missed his appearance.
Either way, it was already a quarter past four p.m. so it was time for Peeta to leave the house and follow his plans. Since it was a warm but windy fall day, Peeta simply grabbed his black jacket, got his phone, pocket and keys and shut the door behind him.
Right now, he was the only one outside on the streets, but usually there wasn't much going on there as Peeta and his dad were mainly surrounded by elderly people that were living around this block.
On a further note this was quite a convenient situation because the most pensioners were getting their daily coffee & cake at the Mellark Bakery which of course made a great business for Mr. Mellark. Also Peeta's cookies and chocolate cupcakes were really wanted as they were the most sold pastries at the bakery which helped to give it a good reputation as well.
Sometimes Peeta had to prepare some extra trays over the weekend so they could refill the showcase constantly on a daily basis.
Peeta already saw the sign of the small grocery store from afar, if he read it right it said "Capitol Mart" and was written in a yellow, almost golden, italic font.
He walked over the street and crossed the small parking lot as he stepped inside the store through the automatically, to-the-side opening doors.
Since Peeta had never been inside here before he first of all looked around the store to get a general overview of the shop. Even though it was being called small, for Peeta it looked like a damn labyrinth. He tried to figure out where the different kind of foods where being stored at but after a while of struggling to recognize the various grocery shelves, he decided to just go for it and orientate himself by going chronologically through the several corridors.
He decided to go left and ended up in the vegetable, fruits and bread section. Peeta grabbed a few tomatoes and two fresh baguettes before he walked around the corner. There he met the first chest freezers and at the end of the corridor he saw a familiar, big and muscular statue, though the typical bronze blonde hair betrayed him. Maybe Peeta would be able to get to know a bit more about that Finnick and Cato feud.
Without thinking Peeta aimed straight towards him and patted him on the shoulder.
"Hey Finnick." He said, smiling at the other guy.
Finnick turned around immediately, smiling back at Peeta.
"Oh, hey there, Peeta. What are you doing here?" He asked, balancing his right arm casually on the chest freezer next to him.
"Well, obviously doing the same thing as you. I'm getting some groceries for dinner later with Katniss and my dad." Peeta uttered as he pointed at Finnick shopping basket.
"Oh right, of course." Finnick snickered. "Wish you a nice dinner then. We unfortunately ran out of milk so pity me had to go to the supermarket and get some new packs of milk…and well, a few other things, too." He smiled and looked down at the several fruits he had in a little transparent plastic bag.
"I see." Peeta replied. He looked down to his feet for a second and then looked back up to find eye contact with Finnick again.
"Actually, I wanted to ask you a specific thing." Peeta explained, chewing on his bottom lip.
"Okay. Sure, spit it out." Finnick frowned bewildered.
"I thought a lot about what you've been trying to tell me yesterday. What exactly did you mean by saying I should be aware of Cato? I know I don't have to be – but uhm… what makes you say that?" Peeta asked nervously.
"Peeta, it's fine. It's nothing, just forget about it. Some rocks one just shouldn't turn over." Finnick brushed it off.
"Finnick stop dodging me. I already talked to Cato but all I found out was that there has been an unnecessary and stupid rivalry between you which still seems to carry on."
"Oh, so that's what Cato said?" Finnick chuckled. "Well that is like not even half the story."
"Finnick, tell me – what has been going on between the two of you?" Peeta insisted.
Finnick looked thoughtfully onto the ground as if he considered something hardly. Before Finnick raised his head to finally speak up, he stopped immediately as he caught a glimpse of something specific.
Peeta raised his eyebrows questioning as he followed Finnick's gaze and turned around to look right into Cato's face which looked anything but pleased.
Cato stared at Peeta and Finnick for a second before he headed straight to Peeta. He grabbed the smaller boy's hand and pulled him about two feet away from Finnick. Possessively Cato increased the pressure on Peeta's hand as he held the boy harshly to his side.
"Ouch." Peeta moaned quietly.
"What are you two talking about?" Cato asked tensely, ignoring the fact he had just hurt Peeta.
Surprised by Cato's sudden almost aggressive reaction, Peeta thought it would be the best to not tell Cato what they have been talking about just moments ago.
"Um, nothing important, Cato. Really…. we were just-" but Peeta got interrupted by Cato shushing him forcefully.
"I'd really like to hear Finnick telling me what you two were so intensively chatting about." Cato insisted, looking angrily at his bronze-haired rival.
"Well, Cato, we were just discussing things from the past and talking about the oh-so delightful memories us two made together." Finnick stated ironically, grinning at Cato tensing up at his words even more.
"Finnick, don't provoke me!" Cato hissed, tightening his grip around Peeta's hand.
"Cato, let's go! You're hurting me." Peeta exclaimed emphatically.
"Oh Cato, you better behave. Peeta won't be as naive as the last one had been. Better play a safe game." Finnick teased, pronouncing each syllable provocatively.
Cato tried his best not to rip off Finnick's head right away. "Finnick, stay the fuck away from Peeta and don't you DARE channeling me!" Cato hissed sharply and finally followed Peeta's advice as he walked out of the supermarket without giving Finnick another look and tore Peeta along with him in his fixed grip, leaving Peeta's supplies back in the grocery store.
Outside, Peeta eventually managed to free himself from Cato's grip. His hand throbbed slightly and it felt achy but at the moment all that Peeta cared about was how the fuck Cato just acted.
"What the fuck was that, Cato? Have you gone mad?!" Peeta hissed at Cato, who took him behind the corner of the small mart so they could talk alone together in silence.
"Peeta, calm down, you don't understand it anyway." Cato replied; suddenly back to his casual, calm, cocky self.
"Yes, that's the point! I don't understand it because no one can tell me what the heck is wrong with you two!" Peeta explained demonstratively.
"I know Finnick tried to flirt with you and you obviously agreed to that, chatting happily among the lines."
"Hell no! I told you it was just a normal small talk!" Peeta insisted.
"It was not! I know you asked Finnick about what happened between the two of us. You should have asked me in the first place Peeta. Why did you right away run to Finnick in an attempt to get nothing but only lies?" Cato crossed his arms angrily in front of Peeta.
"You're being unreasonable, Cato! Of course I decided to talk to Finnick, because when I was asking, you couldn't even give me one useful answer. But – hey - don't worry it's not like I'm smarter about this whole thing now anyway, because neither of you could manage to involve me in your childish rivalry of cockiness!" Peeta raised his voice and turned his back on Cato as he brought his right hands up to his forehead in a thoughtful matter.
"Peeta, I'm totally reasonable!" Cato defended himself in an aggressive tone as he turned Peeta around by his shoulder.
"No, you're not! Finnick is my friend, why do you even worry about him so much? It's not that I am interested in him for a tiny bit! I don't get your overly possessive acting." Peeta stated as he looked deeply in Cato's eyes.
Cato avoided Peeta's gaze and looked down to the ground. He couldn't help but even though he felt raging, he also kind of felt guilty for not telling Peeta about the truth of it all. Peeta was right, Cato thought. Maybe, he was indeed not reasonable.
"Peeta, I think you don't get it-" Cato started but got interrupted.
"I want to be honest, Cato; Finnick does seem like a good person, so I don't get your point of view. Is the reason you're not telling me about it, because in fact it was you that did something wrong?!" Peeta added accusingly, his tone sharp.
Unexpectedly, this got to Cato. He somehow felt hurt by Peeta for accusing such a thing but also he felt deep anger pounding in his veins, which although wasn't directed against Peeta, more was it some kind of self-disappointment that Cato didn't play with open cards and actually caused this situation by himself.
How could Peeta understand him in any way when he didn't know about his past connection with Finnick at all? Cato breathed in deeply and decided to tell Peeta.
Cato looked at the agitated blonde boy who chew nervously on his lower lip. Touching his waist gently, Cato looked deep in the baker boy's oceanic blue eyes in front of him.
"Listen, Peeta." He blurted out. "Last time I was in a relationship with someone, Finnick managed to bring us apart and made the person fall for him. Finnick spread rumors about me which made my ex detach more and more from me till I finally found him in the locker room with Finnick all over him." Cato gulped and paused for a moment.
"That bastard stole my then boyfriend who naively believed each of Finnick's lied and hypocritical words. Peeta, the reason I'm acting so intensively towards Finnick is because I know what big effect Finnick has on other people and he's not at all the charming person he claims to be."
Peeta kept quiet and just stepped forwards to hug Cato tightly. "I'm sorry Cato, I understand now. I'd never thought Finnick would be one of those guys. Don't worry, I will try to put some distance between me and Finnick."
Peeta stepped back. "I'm not the other guy and I would never hurt you like that." He said before Cato leaned in to give Peeta a sweet kiss.
"Thank you." Cato said as he pulled away from the kiss.
"No, I thank you for telling me the truth." Peeta uttered sincerely.
"It feels good to have it off my shoulders." Cato admitted, smiling cockily.
"You know, I was going to have dinner with my dad and Katniss later. Would you maybe like to join us? I think it would be a nice idea." Peeta asked and smiled sweetly.
"Sure, that would be fun." Cato answered.
"Great. Though, we still need some groceries 'cause when you pulled me out of the supermarket, I left all the supplies behind."
"Then we shall go in there again, shouldn't we?" Cato suggested.
"Right." Peeta smiled as they walked back into the grocery store.
Fifteen minutes later they left the mart with two big paper bags, filled with several treats and groceries for tonight, standing proudly in front of their chests.
As soon as they stood outside the store, Cato offered to carry both bags which Peeta at first denied but Cato succeeded to convince Peeta by saying that he still had to make up for not telling him the truth right away. Indeed Cato felt kinda an obligation to carry all bags even though it would be way easier if each was wearing one bag but Cato was stronger than Peeta anyways so he didn't see the need to let Peeta wear anything.
"Cato, seriously, I feel kind of stupid for letting you carry all the bags." Peeta said as they walked down the street.
"Peeta, really it's fine. I told you it's my pleasure to do so." Cato explained.
"Still, I feel so useless not helping you in any way. Normally, I'm used to carry everything around in the bakery." Peeta exclaimed.
"Yeah, that's why it should be enough already and let me just point out that we're not in the bakery."
"Luckily, we're not! I'm so glad the bakery is closed today – otherwise we couldn't spend this afternoon together." Peeta smiled.
"Yeah, that would be quite a shame, but honestly I think I had enjoyed coming into the bakery, seeing you standing there behind the tray, white flour covered all over your body, your cheeks pinky red from exhaustion and your ever-so-coyly lip biting while being concentrated on that damn dough roll that just won't fit into its form. What a beautiful sight that would be." Cato imagined, smiling cockily.
Peeta blushed immediately and tried his hardest to ignore Cato's allusion. "I-I'm n-never covered with flour all over my … body when I'm working in the bakery!" Peeta stuttered.
"That would be so unprofessional!" He exclaimed as he caught himself before he chew on his lip again. This was an annoying habit Peeta got used to over the time. He didn't manage to get rid of it yet, most probably because he didn't know how to control it.
Cato laughed at Peeta's coyness which was adorable, funny and loveable at the same time. Peeta on the other hand though didn't seem to find this very entertaining.
"Shut up and carry those damn bags." Peeta hissed as he stepped up his pace, leaving the chuckling Cato behind with the two bags.
Quickly though Cato caught up his speed, still finding the situation obviously funny. Pissed-off Peeta was just as cute as flustered Peeta.
"Wait, Peeta!" Cato snickered. "We shall stay together; I might trip over a stone and can't catch myself because my hands are full, so you would have to safe me." Cato told.
"Well, it wasn't my idea to let you wear both bags, was it?" Peeta snapped.
"Oh, that's true." Cato snickered and also Peeta smiled, not able to stay mad at Cato for a long time.
"Was that everything?" Cato asked as he sliced the last two remaining tomatoes and split up the mozzarella cheese and added them into the salad bowl.
"Yeah, that should be it." Peeta considered thoughtfully. "I don't think we can prepare anything more." He agreed with himself.
"Yeah, I doubt that, as well." Cato approved as his gaze wandered over the table with the prepped food.
"So, we already did the tomato-mozzarella salads, we sliced up the baguettes and served the antipasti. I suggest we'll do the pasta and the Italian pesto when my dad and Katniss arrive so the food is fresh and warm."
"I agree." Cato smiled; Peeta was so into this, he really seemed to enjoy cooking and baking a lot.
"I love Italian food. It's interesting; you're not only good at baking but also at cooking." Cato said and stole one of the olives from the table.
"Well, first of all you didn't even try one of my baked things yet and secondly, I'm not that great at cooking actually. I always preferred baking, I don't know why. I suppose it lets me be more creative." Peeta explained.
"I see, that's nice… and Oh, you're right, you still have to bake me those promised cookies." Cato said playfully.
"Aw Cato, I know. I'm sorry, I'll do them in the next days, I swear. I didn't expect today to be so stressful." The golden blonde boy excused and walked to the fridge next to Cato to get out some orange juice.
"You know, we've still got half an hour to kill, what should we do?" Cato asked, placing his hands on Peeta's hips from behind and gave his boyfriend a gentle kiss on his right cheek.
"I… don't know." Peeta mumbled, enjoying Cato's proximity. "We can watch some TV?" Peeta suggested.
"Sounds good." Cato replied as he followed Peeta into the living room.
They sat down on the sofa couch and put on the TV.
After switching through what felt like thousand of channels and watching one sick joke after another, Katniss finally rang the door bell and shortly thereafter also Peeta's dad's car drove into the driveway, signaling his arrival.
Peeta switched off the TV and walked to the entrance hall, feeling pretty shaky. Peeta's dad would get to know his boyfriend on a better and more personal note which made Peeta really nervous since the last time Cato and his dad met wasn't necessarily the best situation.
Cato followed Peeta to the door and as he stood behind the smaller blonde, he gave a gentle kiss on the right spot of his neck, which soothed Peeta immediately.
Peeta hoped his father would get along with Katniss and especially Cato who Peeta hoped would be liked and accepted by his dad. In the end Peeta of course didn't really care whether his father would like Cato or not, but the aspect that your parent stands behind you and your partner as much as you do, was still nice to know.
Peeta just hoped that this evening would be more pleasant than he thought of it right now.
Dinner went by surprisingly quick, everyone enjoyed the food Cato and Peeta had prepared. Luckily, everyone seemed to get along with each other.
When Peeta and his dad were alone in the kitchen, he told Peeta that he really liked Cato and thought that he's a good guy and seemed to be the right person for him.
Peeta was happy and relieved that his father accepted Cato so much and throughout the evening Peeta's dad and Cato really had many conversations and the chemistry between the two appeared to be great.
Right now Cato and Peeta's dad were finishing off the dinner table while Peeta said goodbye to Katniss as she was about to leave the house.
Mr. Mellark really liked Katniss for her humor, jauntiness and sincerity.
Peeta gave Katniss a tight hug before she said goodnight and walked out of the door.
Peeta then shut the door and walked back into the living room to see his dad and Cato walk out of the kitchen.
"We're finished, everything's clear." Cato said
"Thank you very much for your help, Cato." Peeta's dad uttered.
"Oh, no problem at all Mr. Mellark. It was my pleasure." Cato smiled and walked straight to Peeta to kiss his boyfriend softly on his cheek.
Peeta smiled appreciatively, even though he didn't expect Cato to kiss him in front of his dad so soon and Peeta watched closely at his father to check out his reaction to this intimate interaction but surprisingly Peeta's dad just smiled kindly and didn't seem to find the situation weird at all.
"I'd like to show you something." Cato whispered into Peeta's ear. "Outside." Cato added quietly.
Peeta frowned confused but didn't object and looked at his father.
"We'll be right back; we're having a walk outside." He said.
"Sure, enjoy yourselves. Make sure to take a key with you, I might go to bed before you'll be back." Peeta's dad replied.
"Okay, no problem." Peeta answered smiling as he took the key from the kitchen counter. "See ya later then." Peeta smiled but got stopped in his course as Cato raised his voice.
"Bye, Mr. Mellark." Cato spoke cheerfully. "Thanks for the invitation by the way, I really enjoyed the dinner."
"Oh, I enjoyed it as well and I actually have to thank you for preparing the food. It was really delicious." Peeta's father replied and winked at Peeta.
"Oh, you're welcome of course." Cato said and stroked Peeta's back while he stood next to him.
"Thank you Cato. I'm glad Peeta found someone that makes him feel happy." Mr. Mellark said sincerely.
"I try my best." Cato smiled and Peeta's dad laughed.
Feeling kinda out of this conversation – and, as usual, blushing slightly – Peeta started taking a step back to the door to signalize his will to leave.
"Okay Cato, I think we should go now, before it gets too late." Peeta uttered and already got hold of the door. "Bye dad." Peeta added.
"You're right. Okay, then goodbye, Mr. Mellark." Cato smiled.
Peeta's father chuckled slightly. "Bye boys." He said as the two walked out of the door.
"My dad really likes you." Peeta said pleased, looking up to Cato."
"You think so? I'm glad he does." Cato replied and helped Peeta above the creek that separated the well-covered meadow from the deep green forest.
"Well, he told me so in the kitchen. He really thinks you're a good person." Peeta concentrated on not falling into the water because of the slippery shore.
"That's great. I really like your dad as well." Cato told and led Peeta deeper into the forest. The feeling of the darkness in this unknown, kind of scary – even though romantic – forest, made Peeta feel a bit unwell and heavy but he ignored his complaints. Something about these woods made Peeta remember something but he couldn't figure out what it was.
"Where are you taking me by the way?" Peeta asked, feeling rather confused since Cato didn't explain a single word as to why they are going here.
"Um… It's a surprise, we are there in a minute, but you will like it." Cato promised.
As told, they arrived at the place about a minute later and Cato was right. Peeta did indeed like it.
They stood at a clearing on a cliff where sparkling moonshine flooded through the blank space, deep dark green trees were set around the place, their leaves rustling soothingly in the wind and the whole area was covered with soft, fresh moss.
"Wow…" Peeta breathed out. "This is beautiful."
"You like it? Lately, I found this spot here and I wanted to share it with you. As today is full moon, I thought it would be a nice time to go here tonight.
Feeling overwhelmed by his emotions, Peeta turned around in an instance and brought his lips gently to Cato's. Deepening the kiss, Cato got hold of Peeta's hips and pressed them close to his body. During the kissing, they sank deeper until they reached the ground.
Cato turned Peeta around so he laid beneath him on the soft, comfortable moss.
Luckily it was one of those warm fall nights when the last summer breezes streak over the land. It warmed up the whole ground and made the make out session on the soil even more pleasant.
Usually Peeta liked being dominated by Cato this way, it made him feel safe and protected but something about this situation made the unwell feel increase in Peeta's stomach. Ignoring the feeling, Peeta gave more pressure into the kiss whereupon Cato pinned Peeta's hands above his head. Out of a sudden the sick feeling became stronger and stronger and Peeta's heart started beating fast, faster than usual.
While Cato melted into Peeta's lips and became more and more passionate, Peeta struggled hard between the warm and frightening feelings. There was something stuck in Peeta's mind that caused him these feelings but he wasn't able to find the reason before Cato put him into another heated kiss. Cato turned them around a second and a third time. Peeta, in such a position being pretty much at Cato's mercy, couldn't help but feel helpless but wanting at the same time. Cato didn't stop kissing Peeta's lips for a second while his hands started to fiddle on the hem of Peeta's shirt, baring an inch of skin with every bygone second but the more Cato's hands pulled up Peeta's shirt the more it felt like Peeta's throat tied up inch by inch. The feeling got heavier and heavier, his heard pounded louder and louder and his stomach felt like it laced up his guts more and more and a certain memory forced itself back into Peeta's brain until he couldn't bare it anymore and flashbacks of the past overcame Peeta's senses.
Suddenly Peeta jumped back from Cato, breaking down next to the tree beside him and sobbing achingly into the ground – the horrible images from the past now clear back in Peeta's mind.
Shocked Cato stared at Peeta with wide eyes, worry and confusion filling his thoughts.
"P… Peeta?" Cato questioned startled. "Did I hurt you? Did I do something wrong?" He asked, crawling slowly back to Peeta.
"No…" Peeta got out between sobs and rasps.
"Was I too harsh? Sorry, I thought you were into it as well…" Cato uttered nervously as he reached Peeta's hands.
"T-That's… not it…" Peeta cried out, hiding his face in his hands.
"What's wrong?" Cato soothed and comforted Peeta's back as he put his arm around his sobbing and panting boyfriend.
Peeta pulled himself together, sniffling a few times before he looked up at Cato.
"D-do you remember… when I told you t-that I w-was b-beaten in the… dark alleyway in my old town…?" Peeta mumbled due to his sobbing sounds.
"Yeah, I do of course. What's up with it?" Cato stroked the back of Peeta's hand in a calming matter.
"I-I wasn't just b-beaten… they… they, Cato… they r-raped me." Peeta whined through uncontrollable tears. "They all f-five…. t-took … u-use of me…" Peeta cried out before he broke down in painful sobs into Cato's immediately enclosing arms.
Soon the night overcame them and Peeta fell asleep in Cato's arms. Since it was a warm fall night, Cato decided they could stay this night in the forest, at Peeta's state he doubted Peeta would be able to walk the whole way back home. They were using their jackets as pillow and blanket and Cato found a soft place covered with moss to lay on.
The confession of Peeta's sexual abuse shocked him more than anything else ever before. He felt an unbelievable rage and anger towards those cruel men that did this thing to Peeta. At the same time Cato felt uncontrollably worried and he was awfully sorry for Peeta. It hurt him to see Peeta like this. He couldn't understand how one could hurt someone so innocent, helpless and sweet.
Cato didn't really know how to make Peeta feel better from the cruelty and violence he experienced but Cato knew that now he would be there for Peeta all the time and care for him to make him feel safe, precious and beloved.
Cato could only imagine how hard it had to be for a victim of such a violent and abusing act to start a new relationship and be able to forget the past memories while trusting another person in such an intimate way.