LAST CHAPTER! THANK YOU FOR READING! ENJOY!

I wake up with a sleeping Katniss wrapped around my torso and I instantly sigh in relief. I thought she would be gone—would have run away after what happened last night. And then my stomach drops. She will be gone today.

Fuck. I need to do something. Tell her how amazing these last two weeks have been with her. About how she's made me feel things I've only ever dreamed about feeling even though we've only know each other for such a small amount of time and about how every time I see her, my heart pounds in my chest and I feel lighter. It's now or never.

I stay as still as possible not to wake her up, thinking of the right words. I don't want her to leave. I want her to be with her. Forever. Damn the hurt, damn the consequences.

But even though I try not to, it's only a couple minutes later that she stirs, waking up. She stretches out, yawning loudly, before she realizes that she's naked and in bed with me—then she freezes. So I freeze too, unsure of what's gonna happen. Then slowly, she turns her head in my direction, and I brace myself for the worst.

She doesn't do anything. She relaxes against me once again and tucks her face into my neck. I wrap my arms around her small frame, my fingers spreading out over the smooth, olive skin of her back; she feels like silk, her skin just begging to be touched and caressed. And I want to be the one to do it. Only me.

I want to say something—I swear I do.

But my tongue gets stuck in my throat. The crippling fear of being hurt again chokes me. I can see it in head: Katniss saying no, her firm, "there will be no discussion" voice overwhelming me, her brown waves swishing as she turns around and leaves me all alone, once again. So I stay silent.

Even when she says,

"I should probably get going."

I just nod my head. Like an idiot. My heart pounds with anxiety, my eyes pricking with tears I don't want to cry. But I need to let her go. I don't want to drag her down. My relationships equal doom; and doom is the last thing Katniss needs. She's had too much heartbreak in her life already. I don't want to add to it.

Katniss stares at me for a long moment, her eyes round and pulsing with some emotion I can't understand. Then she's gone, tossing the blanket off her magnificent form and bouncing off my bed. I slide off the bed and follow her lead, grabbing the discarded clothes from last night and pulling them on. I know I have clean clothes in my closet, but this is the last time I'm going to be with Katniss and I don't want to miss a second of looking at her.

When we're dressed she still doesn't say a word. She throws her duffle bag over her shoulder and exits my room; I practically have to run after her she's going so fast.

I don't know what to do. Should I offer her breakfast? Should I beg her to stay just a little bit longer?

But Katniss doesn't give me a chance to do anything. She books it through the front door and I follow her, close on her heels. I barely have time to unlock the Jeep before she's opening the door and throwing herself into the open seat.

We drive. Something we've done so much of these last weeks. But it's not like it was before. My heart hurts for an entirely different reason. And it hurts so much, getting smaller and smaller in my chest. It's getting harder to breathe, too; my lungs shrinking, my throat closing. Why am I doing this? Why am I letting her go?

Katniss's car is parked where she left it, two long weeks ago, kitty-corner to the bakery. I park a couple cars down the block, unable to find a spot closer. Katniss immediately jumps out, and I take a wheezing, shuttering breath before I do the same.

We walk the three cars to her beaten-down Honda. She throws her bag into the back seat and turns to me. Her eyes are red, her cheeks blotchy, her grey eyes unbelievably fierce. So I do the only thing I can do. I pull her into my arms.

One.

Last.

Time.

She hugs me back, digging her nails into my shoulders. We breathe deeply, our bodies rising and falling together. She sniffs, so quiet I'm not sure if I actually heard it or if it was just a figment of my imagination I made up to believe she actually cares about leaving me.

I press a kiss to her forehead for a long second and pull away, unable to hold onto this anymore. This hope of something new.

"I, uh, I'll see you around, Katniss."

I turn around unable to look anymore into her heartbreaking silver eyes that won't do anything but hurt me. I walk towards my car down the street—force myself. Don't cry. Don't do it. But I can feel the tears welling in my eyes and I can't help let one slip out of the corner—but I quickly wipe it away with the back of my hand. This is ridiculous. I've barely known her; she shouldn't affect me like this. I shouldn't have fallen for her so fast. But she was only going to hurt me. My mother, my exes—all women have ever done is break me. I'm broken. And I'll never be put together again.

"Wait!"

I whirl around and see Katniss sprinting at me, her curls bouncing off her shoulders. She stops when she's only a foot away. Her eyes are wild and scared, so silver they're almost white.

"I don't want to lose you, Peeta," she says urgently, her words rushed. She places her hands my chest and once again I feel lighter. Her touch makes me feel whole. She shakes her head. "I can't."

"What are you saying?" I clasp her beautiful face in my hands and pull her closer to me, until we are only inches apart.

"You know what I'm saying," she says with a scowl. God, I love that scowl.

But now I shake my head. "I need you to say the words. I need to hear them so I know I'm not crazy. That I know I'm not the only one here."

She takes a shaky breath, her scowl morphing into a small smile. "I think I'm falling in love with you."

I exhale shakily, happiness igniting my bones. "You think or you know?" I ask, moving my hands from her face to wrap around her back, pressing her body to mine. Please god, let her know for sure.

She smirks, her hands sliding up my chest to wrap around my neck, her fingers weaving into the hair at the nape of my neck. "I know."

So I do it. I take Gale's advice and take a fucking chance. She barely gets the sentence out before I sweep down and press my lips to hers, kissing her with everything I have. Her lips tremble with mine, and oblivion is upon me. Lord help me, I'm falling for her too. Fuck, I've already fallen.

I don't know how long we stand there in the middle of a busy street, kissing and whispering our affections, but the world and time ceases to exist when she's in my arms.

"You're not leaving now," I growl when we finally break apart, our breathing ragged. I drag my nose along hers, a smile permanently etched on my face. She nods and brings her lips back to mine again for another short kiss.

"Look, I know it's not going to be easy with the distance," I tell her, staring into her eyes. "But we can do it. I will do anything to be with you."

She's it for me. I've known it almost since the moment I met her. This woman has me, body and soul. The possible and past heartache doesn't seem to matter right now—or at all. Not with her. I need to take this chance and ignore what has happened with the other women. It's a fresh start with her. Just the two of us, recovering together.

She bites her lip, a smile forming. "Actually, uh, I'm moving here in the fall."

"What?" I almost shout, both confused and unbelievably happy.

She nods. "Cameron University. I want to go there in the fall. I want…I want to be with you, Peeta.

"God, Katniss, I want to be with you, too. I'm sorry I didn't say anything before. I wanted to, I'm just…scared," I tell her honestly. "But I want to risk the hurt if it means I get to be with you."

"I'm scared, too, Peeta. And I promise I will never hurt you. I know I've only known you for a few weeks, but I know that this is real. Very real."

I look into her eyes, these beautiful eyes that tear me in two and help me stitch myself back together, and kiss her lips one more time. I agree.

So I tell her, "Real."

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING! Your support has been incredible this past year and I'm so happy I could share this story with you-and that you seemed to like it! Haha! You can definitely expect more from me in the future, so feel free to favorite or follow me if you'd like. I'm sorry that this last chapter was short, but I think it was perfect for the story and any more would have been unnecessary, in my opinion. I LOVE YOU ALL!

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