Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games. The characters belong to Suzanne Collins.

"Catnip, where have you been?" Gale says, striding toward the truck. I've been waiting here for about 15 minutes. Peeta offered to drive me home, but I told him I had better wait for Gale. I wanted so badly to accept his offer, especially now that I can't stop shivering.

"I could ask you the same! You ditched me two hours ago."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry. I was talking to Thresh, and by the time I turned back to find you, you were gone." He unlocked my door, and I jumped in as quickly as I could. The cold leather seat did nothing to help my body temperature. Gale climbed in the other side and started the truck. He turned the heat up. It took forever for his truck to get warm. "The upside of all this is that you were relieved of your wingman duty. Thresh was happy to do it."

"That was probably for the best. So, you asked her?"

"Yeah."

"And?"

Gale sighed, "She said no."

"I'm sorry, Gale."

"Ah, it's no big deal. I'll ask her again on Monday," he said, a smile growing on his face.

I give him an incredulous look, "Seriously?"

He laughs, "Yeah. I think she's playing hard to get is all. I'll just show her that I'm serious."

"How's that?"

"Well for starters, I'll ask her until she says yes. If it takes further persuasion, I am willing to go there."

I decide that I'm not going to ask what that means. I know Gale and how headstrong he can be. He's a guy that always gets what he wants if he wants it bad enough. I have no doubt that Madge Undersee will be going to homecoming with him. "Good luck, Gale."

"You ready to get out of here?" he asks as he puts the truck in gear. He starts driving out of the parking lot and then looks over at me. "So, what were you up to that whole time? Did I see you with Mellark?"

I get butterflies in my stomach at the mention of his name. I try to evade his question. "You saw me and didn't bother to come and get me? Asshole."

"You looked like you were having a good time," Gale said with a smirk. "You guys were walking arm in arm. I wasn't going to break that up."

I blush. Of course that's the part he saw out of the whole two hours.

"He offered to get me hot chocolate. I felt bad for him, so I let him to take my arm, okay?"

He looked slightly confused. I knew he is wondering how it even got to that point, but I choose not to elaborate. After a few moments, he replies, "I'm surprised he still has a face, to be honest. Why did you feel bad? Did he ask you to homecoming and you rejected him, too?"

My throat starts to close up at the idea. I try my best to swallow and clear my throat. "It's a long story. Anyways, we are friends now."

Gale looks at me in shock. "You, Katniss Everdeen, made a friend?"

I punch him in the arm. "Ow! Damn. Sorry," he says as he rubs his arm.

"Yes, we are friends, okay? He's really not so bad."

"No, he's not," Gale says seriously. He doesn't press the issue any more. For the rest of the way home, he gives me a recap of what happened with Madge. We pull into my driveway at 10:50.

"Well, I got you home on time." Anger rushes in and washes away my good mood. I had forgotten all about that. "I know you weren't thrilled about going, but did you have a little bit of fun?"

I had to admit that I did. I'm glad that I had a chance to talk to Peeta about what happened a few weeks ago. "Yeah."

"Good," he says with a smile. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yep." I open the truck door and hop to the ground. I walk quickly to the front door. I hear Gale start to pull away and open the door. I'm met with a rush of warm air. I hustle to my room. If possible, I would like to avoid a conversation with my mother. Success.

I am so, so glad that I talked to Peeta last Friday. This week has been far better than the last few. I have been able to look at him without feeling ashamed, and I can finally calm down enough around him to pay attention in A&P. When we have free time, I let him do most of the talking, but when I do speak, he is extremely attentive. We decided at the beginning of the week that we would meet at the bakery on Thursday to talk about the project. I couldn't help but feel nervous about it, and he could tell. He said, "Don't worry. My mother won't be around, I promise. She doesn't come in on Thursdays."

I am doing well socially this week, but physically I feel like shit. What started off as a tickle in my throat on Sunday night has become a full blown, barking cough by Thursday afternoon. I take the bus home alone, because Prim went home with a friend. I make my way toward the Mellark Bakery. All I want to do is lay in my bed, but I can't bring myself to let Peeta down. The walk takes longer than it should, and by the time I walk in the door, I can't control my shiver.

"Hey!" Peeta flashes me a smile, but his expression quickly changes to concern. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I'll make it," I manage to croak.

"I could tell that you were sick, but you seemed alright this morning."

"Thanks for politely telling me that I look like shit, Peeta," I say with a smile before I begin hacking.

He runs out to me from behind the counter. He looks at me, serious. "That's not what I meant, and you know it." He starts rubbing my back as my coughing fit begins to taper off. I step away from him. I can't tell if I have the chills because he is touching me or because I'm feverish. He notices that his touch has made me uncomfortable. Instead of being embarrassed, he quickly tells me to have a seat at his favorite table. I do as he asks.

I wait for a couple of minutes. He comes back with a cup of steaming liquid and places it in front of me. I look up at him with an eyebrow raised.

"It's tea. Dandelion. Trust me, it's good for you." As I start to object, he silences me with a stern look. "Drink it," he says.

I relent, and I do what he asks. It tastes amazing and feels even better on my throat.

He pulls out some notes from his book bag. "This is what I have so far. Here are all of the different types," he says, spreading out pictures in front of me. "I have also started the report." He tosses a copy at me. "I thought that it might be a good idea to have some type of visual aid for our presentation, so I started making a powerpoint." He tosses a copy of that at me as well. Holy shit.

I place my tea on the table and begin looking over his work. "You've outdone yourself, Peeta. This is great."

He smirks and says, "Thanks." As I look through his work, it becomes clear to me that he is an excellent writer. His half of the paper is probably close to done. I can't believe this. Wow.

I pick up my tea and take another sip, trying to think of how to say that I haven't exactly put as much time into it as he has.

I cough but manage to suppress it to say, "I'm sorry, but I haven't done as much as you have." I reach into my bag and pull out my research. I have a large pile of sources, but nothing is typed up. I hand him my things, and he begins to look through them.

I clear my throat, "I haven't typed anything up, but I have a general idea of how it will go."

"What's with all of the DNA stuff? I'm not sure I understand."

"Basically, psoriasis is a genetic disease. It is hard to pinpoint exactly where in the DNA sequence it occurs, but scientists think they have pinpointed some."

"Whoa," he says with his eyebrows raised. He continues to look through my information. "There is a special type of arthritis people with psoriasis can get? Damn."

I nod. He looks up at me and says, "I think we are off to a great start."

I take a sip of tea. "Especially since you are already done."

"No, I'm not even close. It's just a first draft." This boy makes me look bad.

"I'll have something written up for you next week, okay?" I start gathering up my things and the copies that he gave me. I shove them into my bag and then take the last gulp of my tea. "That was good. Thank you."

"Katniss, let me take you home," Peeta says as he rushes to clean up the table.

"No, it's alright. It's not a long walk."

Peeta takes my cup into the back room and shouts to his father, "Dad, I'm driving Katniss home. She isn't feeling well." He reappears behind the counter with one arm in his jacket.

"Peeta, this really isn't necessary…"

"Katniss, I'm going to do this for you. It is freezing outside, and you are sick. You don't have a choice."

"But…" I'm betrayed by my cough. He takes this opportunity to speak.

"I don't see anything wrong with getting a little bit of help." His expression is stern. I wait for a smile, but it never comes. "I'm taking you home."

He walks toward me and places his hand on my back. He leads me out the door to his car in the side parking lot. He opens my door, and ushers me inside. When he gets in and starts the car, the heater blows at full blast. It takes much less time for his car to heat up than Gale's.

He begins driving toward my house. We don't speak. My head begins to pound, so I hold it in my hands. The car ride takes maybe two minutes, but the silence makes the time drag. Is he mad at me?

The car is stopped. I look up and realize I am home. How long have we been here?

"Are you alright? Come on, I'll walk you to the door."

"No," I say. I grab my book bag and open the door. I manage to get out, but my head begins to swim. I stand still for a moment to let my brain catch up. I must have stood to fast. I begin walking toward my front door, coughing. I make it to the side walk, and I feel like I am about to throw up. My head swims again.

I feel arms wrap around me. I turn and look into Peeta's ice blue eyes. I'm beginning to miss his smile. I hate the way he looks when he is worried. "I'm alright," I say, but I don't struggle out of his arms. They are warm and strong, just like his hands. I don't know how long we stand like this, but I don't want it to stop. I feel safe.

"No, you're not." He puts one arm at my back, bends down, and puts his other arm behind my knees. He scoops me into his arms effortlessly. My mind is freaking out, but my body seems to be alright with it. It relaxes instantly. Of their own accord, my head rests on his shoulders, and my arms wrap around his neck. What the hell am I doing right now?

I hear my door open. I try to focus on anything but the pounding in my head. Peeta's loud footsteps, the heat from his body, the strength of his arms, his scent. It's a little different today. He smells like vanilla.

He gently lays me on my bed. He sits down near my feet and begins removing my shoes. "How did you know this was my room?" I ask. My voice sounds hoarse.

I hear him chuckle. "It's the only green one." Oh.

With my shoes removed, he gets up and heads for the door. "Wait," I whisper.

"Hmm?"

"Stay with me."

He sits down next to me and begins rubbing my back. I begin to drift off to sleep. I think I hear him reply, "Always."

Oh, I love me some fluff. So, what are you guys thinking? Katniss finally let her guard down a little. That can only be a good thing, right? Also, poor Gale :(

Don't forget to review! I love hearing from you! Thank you to those of you that have followed and are reviewing.

Lacey