Disclaimer: i do not own The Hunger Games. All of the characters belong to Suzanne Collins.

I walk into Mr. Abernathy's classroom before anyone else on Monday morning. Mr. Abernathy is drinking at his desk, like normal. I don't acknowledge him and walk to my desk. "Mornin', sweetheart."

When I don't respond he says, "Have you made up with him yet?"

I stop in my tracks and turn around to glare at him. "Oooh. I guess not. When were you planning on doing that?" I turn away from him and continue toward my desk, taking my seat when I arrive. I dig in my bag for something to look at so he will quit talking to me.

"Well, I hope it's soon. I'm sick of this 'will they, won't they' shit." He takes another swig from his flask. "You know he's had feelings for you for a long time." I look up from the textbook I pulled out. "News to you?" he asks. I nod at him, my interest piqued.

"Pretty soon after I first met him, he told me about it. I drank a little too much, and I asked him if he was into boys or girls. He told me that he liked this one girl, but he didn't think that she knew he existed. Obviously, he was talking about you." I am shocked by this. How could I not have known about Peeta Mellark, especially after what he did for Prim. "I don't know what he sees in you. I find that you are a strangely dislikable person." I roll my eyes and look back down at my book, flipping through the chapter we are covering today. After a few moments he says, "You could live a hundred lifetimes and not deserve him, you know."

I think that the liquor is starting to talk for him, but I know he's right. That is just what I was afraid of. "I know," I reply.

He hiccups. "Figure it out, sweetheart." The warning bell rings and people start to trickle into class. Peeta takes his seat next to me; I offer him a feeble smile. The corners of his mouth move upward slightly but not into his full smile, the one that I miss so much. I start to speak, but I'm interrupted by Mr. Abernathy. He looks over to me while addressing the class and shakes his head. This pisses me off a bit, that he feels he can tell me when the right time is, but I am also grateful. He's probably right.

It seems like I will never get an opportunity. Nearly a month has passed since I spoke with Mr. Abernathy, and my interaction with Peeta has been minimal. Basketball season is starting, so there is a constant rabble of jocks surrounding him, not to mention a blonde girl. I find out from Gale that her name is Delly Cartwright. I see the way that she lightly touches his shoulder, and I hear her cackle after almost every sentence he speaks to her. This ignites something within me that I never expected, a feeling that I don't remember ever experiencing. It isn't until Gale brings it up that I realize what it is.

"It's alright, Katniss. They aren't going out. Not yet anyways."

"She's not his type. Her laugh is annoying and her hair is too," I struggle to find a word, "…too blonde."

Gale quirks his eyebrow and smiles. "Is that so? Jealous much?"

I glare at him, offended. "No. Absolutely not."

"Oh, I think you are. I never hear you insult someone out loud, except for me."

Damn it. "Well..." I'm flustered and can't think of what to say. I start to fidget and look away.

"It's alright. If he likes you as much as he think he does, he isn't interested."

I nod and we start walking to his car. "If it makes you feel any better, I agree. Her hair was looking much too blonde today."

I punch him in the arm and say, "Asshole."

I am shocked when Peeta approaches me on a Thursday afternoon just after school lets out, a week before our presentation. "Hey uhh…"

My heart skips a beat. I hold my breath.

"I was um…wondering if you could come by the bakery today to practice our presentation. I don't really like to go up there and wing it."

I blush. I haven't set foot in the bakery since our date. The memory of what happened there and the embarrassment over what has happened since then threatens to suffocate me. I nod. "Alright," I say breathlessly.

He gives me a small smile and says, "Good. See you then." As he walks away, I stare at his back. I can smell him, the scent that is distinctly Peeta.

The bus ride home with Prim takes forever. She has quit being so passive aggressive, but she still asks me about Peeta on a daily basis. I assure her that I have a plan to fix the situation.

After I drop her off at home and tell her that I will be home soon, I can't walk fast enough to the bakery. I try to keep calm, but I am almost running. I feel excited but also anxious. I hope that we can get back on some sort of friendly level and that he understands how incredibly sorry I am. I hope that he will want to start over.

I enter the bakery out of breath and cold. The wind blew strongly outside and chapped my cheeks and lips. I could really go for some of that dandelion tea. I look around; the bakery is empty like normal. I take a seat at Peeta's favorite table and wait for him to join me.

After ten excruciating minutes, he appears from behind the counter with a mug and a plate with a cheese bun. He places them in front of me. I stare at him incredulously. It's like nothing ever changed. "Hey," he says.

"Hey." We look into each other's eyes for a while. I can see the sadness in his, the longing. I wonder what he sees in mine. I hope he can read the look on my face, which I hope is apologetic. I am the first to speak.

"Peeta…"

"Katniss, you know that I am not going to take no for an answer. Just eat the bun. Drink your tea."

I nod and take a quick sip of tea, which I am pleased to discover is dandelion. He knows me too well. I oblige.

Our run through of the presentation went extremely well. He outshines me completely in his ability to speak. I love the way his voice sounds when he explains the information. It is authoritative and purposeful. I watch the way his mouth moves around the words coming from his mouth. He is truly a beautiful human.

"Great job, Katniss. I think that our presentation will be perfect."

I snap out of my reverie and try to recover with a smile. "You were great."

He smiles back at me, finally. I am so happy to see him smile at me like that again. "Thanks."

I pack up my stuff to leave. If I am going to apologize, it is now or never. He is walking toward the counter. I notice he has flour on the seat of his pants. It's adorable.

"Peeta." He turns to me. His eyes are sparkling. They take my breath away.

"Yeah?" he asks.

"I just needed to say that…" I inhale sharply.

"PEETA MELLARK!" a voice shouts.

We both jump. A look of disappointment settles on his face while I look at him in horror.

His mother rounds the counter wearing an oven mitt with a hot tray in hand. She tosses the tray at Peeta. Instead of trying to catch it, he shields his face. I look on as burnt cookies fly across the room and hit Peeta's arms. The tray lands on the floor with a clatter.

"WHY ARE THESE COOKIES BURNT?"

"I think the obvious answer is that I left them in the oven too long." His mother walks over and slaps him, full force, across his left cheek.

"Don't be a smart ass. How many times do I have to tell you that this wastes our money? Maybe if you didn't bring this little tramp here all of the time, you would remember to take things out of the oven on time."

"She's not a tramp, and it's not her fault."

I watch their exchange, uncertain of what I should do. Do I leave? Do I wait for them to finish? I need to finish my apology. I am unbelievably pissed at his mother. If I wasn't so scared I would never see Peeta again, I would hit her just as hard as she hit him.

His mother's eyes go wide. "What did you say to me?"

"I said that she is not a tramp, and it is not her fault," he says condescendingly.

His words infuriate his mother even further. Her face has turned a dark red. She stands on her toes to reach the top of his ear. She clasps on it tightly and yanks him down to her height. "I am sick of you and your smart mouth." She starts tugging him along. I can see his eyes are watering.

He motions for me to go. I quickly grab my belongings, but I hesitate. I can't just leave him here. As if on cue, I hear him shout from the back of the bakery.

"Katniss, I'll call you later. I promise!" I hear a loud crash.

I hustle out of the bakery and begin my walk home as quickly as I can without running. My breathing is fast and my heart feels like it is going to beat out of my chest. When I make it home, I ignore Prim and sit in the kitchen next to the telephone. My foot taps anxiously. Should I call the police? I don't know.

"What's going on?" Prim asks, obviously worried.

"I'm waiting on a phone call," I mumble.

The phone rings and I pick it up mid-ring. "Hello," I almost shout.

"Hello. Did you know that a house is broken into every…" I slam the phone back on the hook.

"Fucking telemarketers!"

"Katniss, calm down! Are you alright?"

"Peeta could be getting beaten to death right now, that's all. No big deal," I say, my words dripping with sarcasm.

"What?! What's happening?"

The phone rings again. I pick it up quicker than I did the first time. "Hello."

"Katniss?"

Relief washes over me. "Peeta," I sigh. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Trust me. My dad intervened pretty quickly. He heard her shouting, and came over to see what was going on. I'm sorry that you had to see that."

"No, no it's fine. I wish that I could have helped."

"I'm glad you didn't step in, actually. If she would have hurt you, I don't know what I would have done."

I blush. He is so sweet. I wish I knew how to respond to him when he said things like this to me.

"I am okay, though. I just wanted to call you so you wouldn't worry. Anyways, you were saying something before my mom interrupted. What was it?"

"Oh um…" I stall for a moment. I really didn't want to have this conversation over the phone. Prim is standing across the counter looking at me with worry, although now that I have calmed down a bit, she has relaxed. "I uh…" I can't. Not now. "I just wanted to say thank you for everything, and I really enjoyed working with you on this project," I finish lamely.

He is silent for a moment, and then he clears his throat. "I have really enjoyed working with you, too."

The silence between us is awkward. "I'll see you tomorrow, Katniss."

"Bye." I hang up the phone. I roll my eyes at myself and place my head on the counter. I start to bang it against the surface just hard enough for it to hurt.

Prim's hand is on my back, rubbing back and forth and up and down. "It's okay. You'll have another chance."

I'm so glad I don't have to explain what happened, although I probably will with time.

"He will understand."

A/N: I AM SOOOOOOOOOO SORRY! I haven't updated in forever, I know. It is a piss poor way to thank you for following. I broke 100 followers! That's insane! Anyways, I have been so busy. I had a death in the family, I went to a music festival, AND I moved to a different state for graduate school in the time since I last updated. It has been a crazy couple of weeks. I will try my best never to let that happen again.

So. Here we are. Katniss tried and then drama, drama, drama. Peeta's mom is a bitch, as always. I wanted to get them to make up much quicker, but I think you will find that it is worth the wait. At least they are talking to each other a bit more. It's better than nothing. What's going to happen next? Do you think you know?

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you think! Please continue to review, fave, and follow. You guys are amazing! Oh, and who is excited for the Mockingjay trailer? Have any of you seen it? I was like, "OK. I DON'T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT FIFTY SHADES. GIVE ME SOME MOCKINGJAY TRAILER. DAMN." The teaser trailers were great, but they only did what they were made to do: tease me until I get so frustrated that there isn't a full trailer that I want to throw things. I will be waiting as patiently as possible for the trailer that is supposed to be coming out on Sunday online. Please forgive me for any freaking out that will occur in my next author's note.