"That song's about a girl that I'd fallen in love with and it was basically about being connected to someone so much, that not only do you love them physically and spiritually, but when you sing along with them you harmonise perfectly."
- Dave Grohl, on the song 'Everlong'.

.｡ ｡｡ ｡ ｡｡ ｡.

It all started with a dream.

One stupid, nonsensical dream that Katniss had one night. A dream that meant nothing. A dream about her best friend, Peeta Mellark.

The dream had started innocently enough. Katniss was simply standing on the rooftop of her apartment building, wearing a short white slip dress. A dress that she had tucked away in her closet after Johanna had given it to her for her birthday last year.

In the dream, she had been admiring something on the ground below her. Katniss always adored being up high, whether it was swinging on the top of a tree branch or being on a roof like this one, she always loved being above everything; loved feeling untouchable.

Everything had felt so real. The feeling of the cold of the midnight air, and the satin of her dress rubbing on her thighs as she pointed over at what she was admiring was so vivid.

"Do you see it?" Dream Katniss asked, turning around and speaking to her best friend of nearly ten years, Peeta Mellark.

Dream Peeta was dressed in a similarly fancy way, donning a tightly tailored dark suit that brought out the marvellous blue in his eyes.

"What I really want to see, Katniss, is you."

Dream Katniss had turned to look at him, but it wasn't with surprise like she suspected but with intent. Dream Katniss knew exactly what she was doing when she approached Peeta and placed her arms around his neck.

"Well you've got me Mellark. Whatever are you going to do with me?"

Dream Peeta just smiled, bending his head slightly and kissing Katniss deeply. The feeling of his lips on hers was not strange, but comforting. And instead of pushing him away, Katniss just kissed him back, wanting more.

"I'm going to keep you to myself, forever and ever." Dream Peeta smirked, his hand fingering the flimsy material of the slip between his fingers. "And maybe get you out of this dress."

Dream Katniss giggled. Giggled. Katniss couldn't remember the last time she had ever giggled.

Peeta skated his big hands down her back, cupping her ass and bringing him closer to him. His hardness was prominent and Katniss moaned, kissing him and grinding herself against him needily. He felt so real and so willing to please, and as they kissed and Peeta's hands touched her, she felt her orgasm build, the tension in her core ready to snap.

"Katniss," dream Peeta said, pulling his lips away from hers, "Katniss," he repeated, and dream Katniss pulled away, looking into his loving eyes.

"Wake up."

"Katniss wake up!"

Real Katniss woke with a start, finding herself slightly sweaty and extremely horny as she looked into the blue eyes of her best friend and roommate, Peeta Mellark.

"We've got class in half an hour," he said as he walked further into her room, throwing open her curtains. "Don't look at me like that, you told me to wake you up!"

Katniss scowled in reply, she did remember asking Peeta to wake her up. But she found herself wanting to be back in that dream, the dream where said best friend was about to make her come.

"Whatever jackass, I've made you a coffee," Peeta replied, and Katniss noticed a mug in his hand. Her mug was the one that he had painted for her all those years ago. It was covered in birds and trees and everything else she loved in this world — and even though it was chipping away and the paint had faded, Katniss still drank out of it every morning.

"Thanks," she whispered as he put the mug down on her nightstand. This earned her a small smile, the corners of his pink mouth curling upwards softly. He could never stay annoyed at her for too long.

"Get dressed and I might just give you some of the breakfast I made," he replied, walking out of her bedroom and closing the door with a cheeky wink.

Katniss collapsed back into the safety of her bed covers again. A sex dream was usually out of the blue for Katniss. But a sex dream about Peeta? That had never happened before.

Groaning and pulling the covers over her head, Katniss tried to ignore the throbbing between her legs. This is Peeta she's thinking about. The same boy who used to pull her braids and chase after her in the playground. The same boy who watched her grow up into an awkward, scowly teenager. The same guy who let her pop his back pimples and shave his premature beard. The same Peeta who goes to the same university as her and lives with her.

The same Peeta who knows her better than she knows herself.

Katniss huffs, crossing her legs under the covers, trying not to think of Peeta and how broad he had gotten recently. She squeezed her eyes shut and told herself not to think of his welcoming smile and quick-witted mouth. Of how he always made her breakfast and let her copy his notes.

She told herself that she wasn't thinking about Peeta as she snaked a hand down her panties, stroking her clit. She tried not to think about how well his jeans fit him recently, or how he looked after a shift at the bakery, with flour in his hair and a tired smile on his face.

Katniss tried not to moan Peeta's name as she thrust a finger inside herself, totally not thinking of how Peeta smelled like cinnamon and dill. And not thinking of how his soft, curly blonde hair would feel under her fingers.

As Katniss came, almost suspiciously quickly, she told herself it wasn't because she was imagining what Peeta would look like between her thighs.

Of course, it was all because of him, but Katniss was not ready to admit this to anyone, let alone herself.

.｡ ｡｡ ｡ ｡｡ ｡.

"You took a while."

Katniss was startled at Peeta's question as she padded into their dinky kitchen. She was red-faced and already felt as if a big fat; I just wanked off whilst thinking about you! Sign was plastered on her forehead.

"W-what? I took as long as I always have!" she sputtered defensively, pulling down the hem of her Panem State sweatshirt.

Peeta raised a quizzical brow in Katniss' direction, taking a sip of his coffee. His mug was one that Katniss had gotten him for Christmas many years ago, it had a dorky drawing of a loaf of bread, with World's Worst Buns , written on the side. She couldn't help but smile at the teasing nature of the mug.

"Jeez Everdeen, it was a question, not an interrogation," Peeta laughed good-naturedly, pointing at the kitchen counter where some fresh croissants lay.

"Breakfast is over there, but you'll have to eat on the way, class is in twenty minutes," Peeta said, drinking the last of his coffee and standing up, dusting off some stray flour from his blue jeans.

Katniss nodded and approached the counter, breathing in the delicious smell of the baked goods. She picked two croissants up tentatively, smiling when she realised that they were still warm.

"Couldn't sleep last night?" Katniss asked, turning around and seeing Peeta looking at her softly, he looked away as soon as he realised she noticed. Just like he always did.

Peeta huffed and shoved his laptop into his backpack quickly, his cheeks blushing slightly.

"What makes you think so?" he asked whilst throwing his backpack over his shoulders. Katniss took a bite of the croissant as she mimicked his actions, however forgoing the laptop as she had broken her own several months ago. She now resorted to using the dusty computers in the university library instead.

"C'mon Peet, croissants take at least three hours to bake, and not to mention all the prep work," Katniss said, shrugging on her own bag.

Peeta sighed as one of his hands gripped the strap of his bag. Katniss walked with him to their front door, and up close she noticed the dark circles that protruded under his eyes. She knew he hadn't been sleeping, but she didn't know it had gotten this bad.

"I'm fine, just a bit restless."

Katniss scowled at this as Peeta fumbled with the keys to their door, fighting slightly as he tried to lock the door. Katniss watched for a moment before it became too painful, and she placed her hand atop Peeta's.

"I'll get it," she whispered, and Peeta's hand stilled. Katniss could feel the heat radiating from his hand as she gripped it. She wondered if Peeta also felt the small flip of excitement from the touch.

Peeta let go of his keys and stepped away with an awkward cough. Katniss tried to uncloud her mind as she locked their door. Thoughts of dream Peeta, of how he had kissed her like a man starved, had been plaguing her ever since she had woken up.

"I'll drive," Katniss said as she handed Peeta his keys back. He must have not slept at all last night, and if he was this uncoordinated at locking their front door, Katniss didn't want to think of how he would fare driving on the busy roads around their university.

To Katniss' surprise, Peeta put up no fight as they walked over to Katniss' beat-up Jeep. It had been her father's, and it had seen better days. Well, that was an understatement. Twenty years ago it had seen better days, now she was lucky if it survived the day.

Peeta threw his bag and Katniss' bags into the backseat and got into the rust bucket. Katniss was suddenly concerned as she watched him sink into the passenger side, his head resting tiredly on the window. Suddenly, she touched his hand, the one that was resting on his leg.

"It's okay if you want to skip today, I'll tell Professor Abernathy that you've got that mono that's going around," Katniss said, trying to lighten the mood.

Peeta looked down at their hands, his shock evident. Katniss cursed herself and pulled her hand back, what was up with her touching him today?

"No, I need to go in, I promised Annie I would work on the project with her."

Katniss tutted, letting Peeta know her disapproval of this. He was always pushing himself too far. Always picking up yet another unpaid shift at the bakery, always helping everyone else apart from himself.

"Don't look at me like that Kat. I'll be fine, I'll take a nap in the student union or something," Peeta jokes, putting on a signature boyish smile that he knew Katniss couldn't resist.

Pulling up the squeaky handbrake and putting the car into first, Katniss pulled out of the parking garage that was next to their apartment, thinking of ways she could help Peeta get some rest.

"Okay, but you're not doing that early shift at the bakery tomorrow," Katniss said sternly as she started the short drive to their university, Panem State.

Peeta groaned, ready to come up with an excuse, but Katniss interrupted immediately. "No protesting, you really deserve a break Peeta."

"Fine, but you can help me draft the text to my mother," Peeta jokes, patting Katniss' knee and pulling his hand back almost as quickly as he had put it there. He then leaned back and shut his eyes for a quick cat nap.

Katniss blushed slightly and almost missed their turn. She realised that she didn't want him to let go.

.｡ ｡｡ ｡ ｡｡ ｡.

Nine Years Ago.

Katniss continued the charade of getting her lunch box out of her bag and carrying it as if it weighed a ton, not wanting any of the teachers to find out that she actually had nothing inside of it.

Katniss sighed as wandered around the lunch hall. She had given up on trying to sit with anyone weeks ago, she had learned that no one wanted to sit with the skinny, new kid from the wrong side of town.

Finally finding an empty table, Katniss sat at it and pulled her knees up to her chest. The one advantage to going to this fancy school was the school uniform. She, unlike her classmates, liked the fact that they all had to wear the same uniform. It meant she never had to worry about anymore finding out just how little clothes she owned.

Her papa had insisted she go to this posh merchant school, he insisted that it would allow her more opportunities than the run-down Seam school that was closer to her home.

Even with Katniss' scholarship and the fact that she had aced the entrance exam, she still felt like an alien who had landed on a different, snobbier planet. One where the kids around her mocked her for not having a maid, and for not having a living father.

It had been three weeks since she had first walked into the new school, her head held high as she remembered what her papa had told her all those months ago, that she deserved to be here.

But now, as she sat with an empty stomach and an even emptier lunchbox, she felt more out of place than ever. At least at the Seam school, many other kids were going without lunch — not just her.

"Hey," a quiet voice sounded, bringing Katniss from her daydream. She was startled as she looked up from her scabby knees, seeing a small boy standing in front of her.

"Hi," she replied timidly. She hadn't spoken to many people since starting. She recognised him from her class. He was the shortest boy and combined with his thick glasses, that meant that he was a punching bag for the taller, less pudgy boys in their class.

"Can I sit?" he asks, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. Katniss just stared at him for a moment, trying to remember his name. Was it Peter?

"What's your problem Peter?" Katniss asked, she wondered if this was some sort of prank. Peter was a merchant boy, his ocean-blue eyes and curly blonde hair told Katniss all she needed to know.

Peter, instead of scurrying away from the table as Katniss expected, just stood as tall as he could and puffed out his chubby chest.

"Peeta. My name is Peeta Mellark."

Katniss looked up at him with narrowed eyes. "Why do you want to sit with me, Peeta Mellark?"

Katniss expected Peeta Mellark to burst out laughing, shouting out to his buddies that he'd done it. He'd fooled the new kid. But instead, Peeta just flashed her a genuine smile and placed his heavy-looking lunchbox on the table.

"My dad over-packed my lunch this morning, and I thought if I sat here you could help me eat some of it?" Peeta asked, that sweet smile on his face a stark contrast to Katniss' suspicious face.

"Why me?" Katniss asked in a small voice. She couldn't wrap her head around why this kind, blonde-haired, rosy-cheeked boy would even bother with her. She was Seam trash.

Peeta unzipped his lunchbox, and Katniss' eyes popped at the sight. He had two full cheese rolls and three, (three!) whole cupcakes. Not to mention two delicious-looking cartons of apple juice.

"Because I liked the way you sang today, and… my friends are mean," Peeta said, handing her the other half of his lunch without looking up. His chubby cheeks had flushed even redder, and Katniss couldn't help but smile.

"You heard me?" Katniss asked, thinking of how she had been singing to herself during their Golden Time, it was an old song that her father had taught her.

Peeta finally looked up, his cheese bun in his hand. "Yeah. I think you should sing all the time, it's very pretty."

Katniss blushed and picked up the roll, her grumbling stomach unable to resist it.

"Why are your friends mean?" Katniss asked, biting into the roll eagerly. It was delicious.

Peeta chewed his own food, the tips of his ears burning.

"They call me names, I'm sure you've heard them," Peeta whispered, turning slightly to a table that was directly behind theirs. Katniss heard the giggling whispers of the mean merchant kids.

"Yo! Pudgy Peet. Save some food for later eh?" Cato Collins called, his prepubescent voice booming over the lunch hall.

Katniss watched as Peeta sunk even further into himself, pulling at the hem of his school shirt. She was filled with a fury she usually reserved for either herself or Prim.

"What is their problem?" Katniss said, putting down her food to glare at the table. Cato Collins just giggled further, egged on by Glimmer Matthews and Clove Fields.

"Ignore them," Peeta muttered, chewing his food slowly, his entire face was redder than Katniss had ever seen it, and the sight made her boil with anger.

Before Peeta or anyone else could stop her, she got out of her seat and marched over to the table, and straight up to Cato Collins.

"Hello Seam slut, got yourself the biggest boyfriend have you?" Cato goaded, earning a fist bump from his spotty friend, David Marvel.

"Leave Peeta alone you asshole," Katniss threatened, her little fists clenching. She could see everyone around her fall silent as they watched the interaction.

"Ooh defensive are we? Don't worry Seam-trash. Your father will come to the rescue. Oh wait…" Cato said with a hiss, and that was when Katniss lost all of her cool.

She leaned forward raised her fist, and punched Cato straight in his perfect straight nose. The crack of the impact was satisfying to Katniss' ears, and the sound rang in her ears long after, through all the shocked screams. Throughout the entire lecture that she had received from the Headmistress of the school, Madame Trinket.

The sound made the bruises on her knuckles worth it. She watched them form on her skin as she waited outside of the office whilst her mother was receiving a talk from Madame Trinket.

"I think you broke his nose," Peeta said with a laugh, bringing Katniss' eyes away from her knuckles. She grinned cheekily as the boy sat next to her. He had snuck away from his class just to see her.

"Good. It was too straight anyway," Katniss quipped, watching Peeta dig around in his jacket pocket. Out of the depths of it he pulled out one of the frosted cupcakes from earlier.

He handed it to Katniss, and the small sweet smile was back on his face. "Thank you Katniss. Nobody's done that for me before."

Katniss looked at the cupcake. The flower frosted on it was squished but discernible. It was the familiar leaves of a katniss plant.

"It's me," Katniss said proudly, pointing to the flower. Peeta grinned, meeting her gaze fully for the first time.

"I've wanted to talk to you for a while," Peeta confessed, rubbing the back of his neck insecurely. "Sorry about it being squished, but I wanted you to have it."

Katniss smiled a rare soft one. Again, something usually reserved for Primrose.

"Thank you Peeta."

Peeta's cheeks flourished again. "I was also wondering, and only if you wanted of course. But would you want to be… my friend?"

Katniss looked at Peeta, this boy whom she had risked suspension for. The boy who had made a cupcake, just for her.

"Yes, I'll be your friend," Katniss agreed in a whisper, and for the first time, she noticed how blue Peeta's eyes were behind those coke-bottle glasses.

Before Peeta could reply, the door to Madame Trinket's office opened, and she and Katniss' mother walked out. Clara Everdeen was still dressed in her nurse's scrubs and looked extremely tired.

"Peeta? What are you doing here boy? Get back to class!" Madame Trinket chastised, her haughty tone making Peeta rise out of the chair immediately.

"Of course, sorry Madame Trinket. See you tomorrow Katniss?" Peeta asked, smoothing down his shirt. Katniss nodded and waved him goodbye, the frosted cupcake still in her hand.

Madame Trinket and her mother just looked on at this interaction, and the stern headmistress' features relaxed slightly.

"Now Miss Everdeen, I will let you off with a warning this time, but next time there will be a suspension."

Katniss nodded and eyed her mother, seeing the relief fall on her weathered face.

"Now go home, and come back tomorrow. I hope being around Peeta Mellark will improve your disposition somewhat. He is a nice boy," Madame Trinket said, walking Katniss and her mother to the front door.

"Sorry again Madame Trinket," Katniss said, mainly for the benefit of her mother.

"Never again Miss Everdeen."

Katniss nodded and agreed, but she knew that if Cato Collins ever tried to hurt Peeta again, she wouldn't be able to control herself.

As she walked silently out of the school and into her mother's beaten-up Toyota, she expected her mother to shout, or chastise her. Instead, Clara Everdeen just smiled as she reversed out of the car park.

"I'm glad you finally made a friend, sweetheart."

Katniss was secretly glad too, and as she ate her smushed cupcake, she realised that she had never tasted anything so good in her life.

.｡ ｡｡ ｡ ｡｡ ｡.

Present Day.

"Katniss, you can't just type, I hate you, please choke, to my mother! I really need help here," Peeta laughed, biting into his half of the bagel.

Katniss laughed again, unable to get a handle on her laughter as she looked at the drafted message to Mrs Mellark.

It was a rare day when Peeta and Katniss had the same space between classes together and could eat lunch with each other. Annie, Finnick and Johanna had joined them as well, and they were all extremely rowdy as they ate in the cheapest cafe their university had to offer.

"Hey that sounds reasonable, maybe if you added a kiss to the end it would sound better?" Johanna suggested, dipping her french fry in a disgusting combination of sauces that she had invented during their second year.

Katniss nodded and grabbed Peeta's phone once more, careful not to actually send the text but just draft it.

I hate you, please choke x

"See! So much more polite," Katniss teased as she bumped Peeta's shoulder. They were sharing their lunch; a habit that they had not been able to break since elementary school.

"Not funny, I think she has laser eyes that allow her to see text drafts," Peeta grumbled, stealing a crisp from Katniss.

Finnick rolled his eyes as he slung a lazy arm around Annie. The pair had been dating longer than Katniss could tell, and she always admired just how in love they seemed.

"Listen, Peet, there is no worries here. Only the government has that power—" Finnick began, interrupted by a sighing Annie, who was sipping on a vegan milkshake.

"Here he goes again talking about the damn government," Annie mocked, sharing a cheeky grin with Katniss.

"You laugh now, Cresta, but they are watching us!" Finnick said, sounding oddly serious for a frat boy who wore a puka-shell necklace.

"I say let em' watch. I've got nothing to hide. Let them have my nudes, there is a reason I took them, because I look fuckin' hot!" Johanna said, earning a groan from everyone.

"For the millionth time Jo, nobody wants to see your nudes," Katniss sighed, uncrossing her legs and realising that now her and Peeta's legs were touching. Neither of them moved.

"Just because you're a prude Everdeen. I bet you've never even taken any nudes," Johanna argued, crossing her arms defiantly.

Katniss rolled her eyes and chewed her bagel. Trying and failing not to let Johanna get to her.

"You're right, I haven't. Why would I?" Katniss said, looking around the table. All of her friends just looked at her in amusement. Katniss scoffed.

"You're telling me that all of you have sent nudes before?"

Everyone nodded, and Katniss watched out of the corner of her eye as Peeta's cheeks flushed as he did so. She raised her eyebrows in surprise. Peeta had sent nudes? To who? And when?

"We're twenty-one Katniss, it's a normal thing to have done," Finnick said, looking as nonchalant as ever.

Katniss huffed slightly, sagging in her seat.

"I can't believe you haven't Katniss, I mean, what about Darius?" Annie asked, tilting her hair slightly.

Katniss shook her head, thinking of her ex-boyfriend. "He asked… but I never wanted to."

Peeta looked oddly relieved at his, and he patted her shoulder and said, "that's good, probably means you were saved from receiving a picture of his wrinkly dick."

The entire group laughed, and Katniss cringed. She had regretted telling them about her and Darius' sexual exploits during that drunken game of Truth or Dare.

The topic shifted to easier things, like Johanna's ever-going rivalry with her hockey coach, and Finnick's aversion to sea urchins.

Katniss listened quietly the entire time, her mind racing as she imagined Peeta sending nudes. She supposed that they were for his ex-girlfriend, Cashmere, but she couldn't stop wondering about them.

"Hey," Peeta said, shaking Katniss' shoulder slightly, bringing her out of her trace. She looked around the table to see everyone but her and Peeta gone.

"Sorry, I was thinking," Katniss said, and Peeta smiled. He knew how Katniss could get lost in her thoughts, and he was always patient with her when this happened.

"I know. I was just asking what other classes you have today?"

Katniss opened her phone and checked her timetable. "Nothing else, what about you?"

Peeta smiled at this, checking his own phone. "Me neither, wanna go back to the flat and watch some Desperate Housewives?"

Katniss smiled and picked up her back. "If I ever say no to that question, I'm either dying or I am already dead."

Peeta laughed and picked up his and Katniss' food trays, dumping them in the rubbish bins and holding out a hand for Katniss to take.

This wasn't an unusual thing for the two to do. It had started off as a way for Katniss to "protect" Peeta from Cato and other bullies in the school hallway in elementary school. But now, as they walked the campus of their university, the two just did it for comfort.

As the two walked their way to the car park, Katniss couldn't help but reminisce as she stared at the campus. Had it really only been two years since she and Peeta had started university?

She could remember the day the two had received their acceptance emails, Katniss had been fretting for months about it. What if she or Peeta didn't get in? What if she had to do it all alone? But some god that neither Katniss nor Peeta believed in must have smiled on them that day — as they had both been accepted.

Katniss was on a scholarship for environmental science, and Peeta was here for business studies, on his mother's insistence. But Katniss had urged him to pursue artistic modules, like painting and sculpting.

Katniss couldn't believe they were in their third year already. During their first and second years, they had both lived on campus, (in separate dorms of course).

Katniss' all-female dorm was where she met both Annie and Johanna, and Peeta had met Finnick in his. For their third year, Katniss and Peeta both confessed that they wanted to live together, something they had discussed since they were children.

They had only been living in their tiny, two-bedroom apartment for three weeks now, but it was perfect, and the two had adjusted to life together very easily.

Naturally, everyone around them assumed them to be a couple. They joked that they were friends without benefits. And Katniss had always found it funny before but now, and after that blasted dream, Katniss could only think about the benefits that they were missing out on.

The two finally reached the car park of their university and were heading to Katniss' rusty jeep. Their hands were no longer interlocked as Katniss scrambled around in her backpack for her keys, and Peeta stood, joking happily about how disorganised she was.

Just as Katniss had finally found her keys, her attention was captured by a voice behind her, calling to her.

"Catnip! Wait up," Gale Hawthorne, her lab partner and someone whom she had known even longer than she had known Peeta. An old family friend from the Seam.

Katniss turned around, groaning slightly at the childish nickname being called so loudly in a public space.

"Please stop calling me that," Katniss said as Gale jogged up to her. Gale was attractive, there was no doubt about it. He was absurdly tall and every girl's type. Rugged, dark and moody. However, Katniss had been immune to his charms for as long as she had known him.

Not like that stopped him nowadays.

"Whatever. Catnip I was just wondering… do you have a date to your mother's wedding?"

Katniss stood agape as she processed Gale's brazen request. Yes, he had asked her out before, but never so seriously.

Her mother's wedding, of course, Gale had been invited to that.

"I um," Katniss stuttered, looking behind her to Peeta, who stood with his big arms crossed over his broad chest. Peeta was the complete opposite of Gale in every way. He was stocky whereas Gale was lithe. Golden where Gale was dark. Peeta was a comfortable height that matched Katniss' at 5 '9 where Gale spanned well over 6 feet.

Katniss looked from Peeta to Gale, watching as the two boys sized each other up. Her mother's wedding had been the last thing on her mind as of late, and she had always assumed she was going with Peeta.

Gale looked at her, clearly imploring for an answer, and Katniss opened and closed her mouth.

Suddenly, Katniss thought of something. Something that was so utterly bizarre yet perfect. A decision fueled by a stupid dream and the feeling of Peeta's skin on hers. A decision that would change the dynamic of her and Peeta's friendship forever, (not like she knew that just yet).

"Sorry Gale but actually I'm going with Peeta. My boyfriend," Katniss said bravely, unable to stop herself as she stepped back and linked her arm with Peeta's. Peeta looked down at their interlocked arms with shock.

Gale's entire face fell into scepticism. "Oh come off it Catnip, you are not dating bread-boy!"

Peeta, who was thankfully seemingly willing to go on with this charade, finally spoke up.

"What do you mean by that Hawthorne?"

Gale looked wide-eyed at Peeta's defensive nature. "Nothing buddy just that you and Katniss have been best friends for so long and—"

"And what Gale?" Katniss said, unlinking their arms so she could link her fingers with Peeta's and hold his hand. This was safe, they had done this a million times.

"There's just no way!" Gale said with a snort and Peeta huffed.

"Get over it Hawthorne, she's mine. We'll see you at the wedding," Peeta said, a protective growl in his voice. Katniss couldn't help her smirk as Peeta brought his arm around Katniss, pulling her into his body wonderfully.

"You won't last that long. Don't worry Catnip, I'll be waiting for you whenever you feel like dumping this joke." Gale walked away and Katniss felt the gravity of what she had done as she and Peeta were left alone.

"Shit," Katniss whispered as she turned to Peeta, whose arm was still tightly wrapped around her small frame. She found she didn't want him to move it.

"Boyfriend huh Catnip," Peeta mocked, he had always hated Gale's nickname for Katniss, and Katniss couldn't help but hate it as well.

"I'm so sorry about that Peeta. I just panicked and I wasn't even thinking," Katniss said as Peeta slowly let her slip out of his grasp. Her head was racing as she continued her ramblings. "I'll phone him right now and tell him it was a lie. He'll tell everyone about us Peeta, his mother is friends with my mother and then it'll be everywhere!"

Katniss hurriedly brought her phone out of her back pocket. It was secondhand, cracked and could barely work. Like most of the stuff in Katniss' life.

Peeta hadn't spoken a word in well over a minute, but he simply raised his hand and placed his hand over Katniss' screen.

"Don't do that. It's… It's okay Kat."

Katniss just looked up at her best friend with worried eyes. Why now? Why was he letting her do this to them, their mothers would go crazy. Everyone important in their lives would know.

"I don't mind pretending for a bit. We'll go to the wedding, together, and we'll just magically break up and stay friends after. Nothing will change."

Nothing will change. Katniss repeated in her head. She decided to test this on her tongue.

"Nothing will change?" Katniss implored, putting her phone back into her pocket.

"Nothing," Peeta reaffirmed, "It's just a convenience thing. It'll get both of our families off our backs for a bit, yeah?"

"Yeah," Katniss repeated. She felt a complete whirlwind of emotions. Why was Peeta being so calm? What had she done? What would everyone say?

"Kat, stop thinking. You'll fry your brain. It's all okay," Peeta comforted, and he brought her into his arms. Katniss accepted the hug eagerly, again — this wasn't nothing they hadn't done before.

"Fake boyfriend and girlfriend. It's been done before," Peeta laughed as he stroked her braid.

"Yeah in bad movies," Katniss quipped as she pulled away from his warm embrace.

Peeta laughed softly, his hand caressing her braid, he wrapped the hair around his finger before letting it go. His gaze was intense, and Katniss felt her throat dry.

"Let's go home. I'm sure that we've earned some leftover pizza and some time with those Desperate Housewives," Peeta said as he grabbed Katniss' keys, unlocking her Jeep.

Katniss stood for a moment, realising that this wasn't going to be easy at all.

Mainly because as she stood there, watching Peeta climb into the passenger side door of her rusted jeep, she realised that she might have real, uncontrollable, crushing feelings for her best friend.

Oh shit.