And now for the exciting conclusion to Eventful Times of Senior Year... Well, it's not really exciting, it just is. Anyway, a big thank you to everyone who hung in there with me. I really did appreciate all the support and it really did help me complete this story. I can't thank everyone enough. Hopefully you guys enjoy the conclusion.

Once again, nothing is mine but the story idea. That's about it.

She lost her nerve when she got to his house. Not because she was nervous, but because when she got there, Peeta's brothers, father, and even Peeta himself were throwing bags into the trunk of Peeta's car. Finn had told her Peeta was leaving. She didn't think it was today. She was in love with a boy who she would never see again.

All of a sudden, she wasn't upset. She was furious. Things had gotten a little tough and he was running away. Her nerve came back as she jumped out of her car and ran right up to him. He was placing a bag into the trunk when he turned to look at her and she slapped him.

Peeta brought his hand up to cup his cheek, "What the he-"

"So, you're just going to go?! Leave me?! Leave us?!" Her face was red with anger. Peeta opens his mouth to speak, but Katniss wouldn't let him. "You know what…you don't say anything. Peeta, I love you. I love you so much that it hurts." Katniss puts her arms around his neck. She hides her face in his chest as she starts to cry. "I know you love me. I should have never questioned that. There was never a doubt." She kisses his jaw as Peeta stands there brooding. "I love you, but I guess I'm too late." She grabs one of his hands, placing something into it. She pulls his head down to hers giving him one last kiss, then runs off leaving in her car.

"Alright boys. Everything all packed up." His sons shake their heads. He walks over to Peeta who is staring at where Katniss' car was. "Peeta, you okay?" Peeta looks up at his father still out of it. "Hey, I'll be back soon. No need to get so sad." His father tells him. He shakes his shoulder and Peeta gives him a weak smile. "Hey, look at the bright side, you get to drive my Land Rover for a few weeks! That thing is killer on gas!" His father tells him, clearly not knowing why his son was depressed. Peeta and his brothers watch as his father drives away. Soon, his brothers leave and Peeta is left alone standing in the driveway. He still has his hand closed tight over whatever it was Katniss gave him. He knew what it was before he opened his hand. As soon as he did, the memory came flooding back.

Flashback

He found her crying in the corner of the room.

"Hey there." He hands her a tissue and she wipes her eyes. "Prim, right?" The little girl shook her head yes and smiled up at him.

"Who are you?" she asked him in the smallest of voices.

"I'm Peeta."

"Mr. Mellark's son?" Peeta smiled at her. She starts crying again. "My mommy says, I'm never going to see my daddy again. Where did he go, Peeta?"

He looks at her sweetly. He sits down next to her holding her hand. "I'm not sure where they go. But, I know that they never leave you." She looks at him hopefully. "Your daddy will always be right here." He points to her heart. "And right here." He says pointing to her head. Prim looks up at him lovingly and embraces him in a hug. "I promise, it gets easier. You just have to remember that no matter what, your daddy will always love you."

"Thank you, Peeta." Prim wipes her tears and gets off the floor. "You should talk to my sister. She's feels worse then I do." She walks to the door with him. As they look towards the main room, they see where the wake is being held. "Peeta, will you walk with me?"

"Of course." He holds her hand as they walk down the aisle to where Mr. Everdeen's coffin is. The coffin is closed with a picture of him on top.

"Katniss is so sad. She lost the pin that Daddy gave her." She points up to her father's picture. Pinned to the collar of his shirt is a pin of bird with an arrow surrounded by a ring. "It's her mocking jay pin. She can't find it."

"Where is your sister?"

"She's so sad. She's probably in the woods with Gale or something." Peeta walks her back to her mother. She thanks him for coming. Prim gives Peeta a hug thanking him again.

Peeta walks out of the church. Finn is outside waiting for him.

"I'm sorry Peeta. I just don't feel comfortable in there." Finn looks at him dejectedly.

"It's okay. I paid respects for the both of us." He smiles at Finn as they walk the gravel path back.

"How is Katniss?"

"I don't know. She wasn't there." Peeta pulls a pad out of his jacket pocket and sketches something.

"What's that?" Finn looks over Peeta's shoulder asking him.

"Apparently, it's a mocking jay pin. Katniss' pin." Peeta looks at it curiously. "I'm going to get it for her." He runs off happily with Finn in tail.

It took him three weeks to find the pin. It also cost him a lot of allowance money, but he found it. Peeta wore a huge smile on his face as he made his way to Katniss' house.

"I thought you would never find that thing."

"But I did Finn! I did!" His laughing and skipping came to a halt when he got to her house. Suddenly, the house looked intimidating. Peeta was scared for a second, but then he remembered Katniss. How she was so sad at school walking the halls like she was going through the motions, never once smiling. Peeta would give anything to see her smile again. Peeta walked up to the door. Finn followed.

"Finn! Go hide in the bushes." he points across from her house. "Over there!" Finn looks at him. He just shrugs his shoulders and hides. Peeta takes a deep breath then knocks on the door. Then, he's scared again. He thinks of all the things that could go wrong. What if her mom answers? Or she's not home? What if she hates it? He drops the box on the porch and runs towards the bushes where Finn is hiding.

"What the heck?" Finn stares at Peeta as he falls on top of him.

"I can't do it, Finn!" They stare at each other for a second until they hear the door open.

Out walks Katniss. She looks around for a minute then looks down to the ground. She picks up the box eyeing it curiously. Katniss opens the box. She pulls out the pin and a smile creeps up on her face. The smile gets bigger and she starts crying. Once again she looks around hoping to find the person responsible. Seeing no one, smile still there, she walks back in the house.

Peeta pops out of the bushes. "Did you see that Finn?!" Peeta's smile is the biggest ever. "Did you see?! Did you see?!" He pulls Finn out of the bushes and hugs him. "She smiled! I did that!" Peeta jumps out and starts dancing around. "I love that smile. I love her!" He starts running home. Finn shakes his head and chases after him.

Peeta stares down at the pin he was still holding. Why would he ever want to forget her? He loved her so much. He pulls out his phone.

"What took you so long?" Finn yells at him through the phone.

"Finn. Look I'm sorry about this morning. But I need your help with Katniss one last time."

"Come on, Katniss. Cheer up! That's what we're here for." Johanna tells her trying to get her mind off Peeta.

"I can't! How can I?" She tells her putting her head down on the table. "Why are we here anyway?"

"No one's going to the prom because somebody wanted to quit the party planning committee at the most important time." Rue tells her.

"Just because I quit doesn't mean you guys had to follow." Katniss tells her.

"Well, once two thirds of the committee quit, there was no one left. That's why prom is at this club tonight." They look around the room and most of the seniors were there. Tonight was supposed to be prom night. There was still prom somewhere, but all the seniors decided to hit this club instead. The club was conveniently holding a "teen" theme night so it was perfect.

"Where are the guys anyway?" Rue asked. Johanna gave her a menacing look as they heard Katniss groan. Last thing she needed was a reminder guys still existed.

"I'm going to get something to drink." Katniss tells them heading over to the bar.

"I'll come with you." Johanna tells her getting up as well. They get to the bar and order some drinks for the table.

"You know that asshole told him we slept together?" Katniss was rambling.

"Huh?" Johanna asks her. "You have slept with him…"

"No!" Katniss sticks her tongue out in disgust. "Gale! He told Peeta we slept together."

"What an asshole! How did you find that out?" Johanna asks.

"Finn didn't know I was behind him when he mentioned it to Annie the other day. And you know what?" Katniss looks at Johanna. "Even though Peeta thought I slept with Gale, he still wanted me." Katniss tells them. "I really don't deserve him." Katniss cradles her head in her hands.

"Speak of the devil…" Katniss turns in the direction Johanna is looking. Gale was walking towards them.

"Hey, Katniss." Gale says. She stands and slaps him as hard as possible.

"Asshole!" Katniss keeps hitting him. After letting her get enough hits in, Johanna finally stands and holds Katniss back.

"Katniss?! What the hell is wrong with you?!" He asks her while trying to soothe the areas Katniss attacked.

"What's wrong?!" The only reason Katniss didn't seek Gale out and kill him was under Peeta's request. He asked her not to make it worse. Secretly, Katniss had tried to deal with Gale, but he had been avoiding her. But now Peeta was gone and she had so much pent up anger towards Gale. "Let's see…You tell me you're in love with me, for one," Katniss picks up a handful of peanuts that are on the bar counter and flings them at him. It's all she can do with Johanna holding her back. "You pick a fight with Peeta! Mind you, he's still underage and you are supposed to be a grown man!" More peanuts fly. "You lied to Peeta about us…I should kill you for that alone!" Katniss picks up an empty glass ready to throw it at Gale's head, but Johanna rips it from her hands. Katniss turns to look at Johanna.

"As much as I would like to see that, no one is going to jail tonight!" Johanna shakes her head at Katniss. Katniss turns angrily back to Gale.

"And as if that's not enough…The man I'm in love with left! Forever!" Katniss takes a breath. "I think I'm allowed to have something wrong!" Katniss waves her arms around in frustration.

"To sum up…Just go away!" Johanna tells him while trying to pull Katniss back to their table.

"Who are you now?" Gale asks her. He shakes his head. "Never mind. Katniss look," He tells her holding her back from leaving, "I'm sorry about that. Almost all of it. The fight at the bar, on the court. And by the way, I never actually said we slept together, just that I was your first. I let his mind assume after."

"Don't fucking play with me Gale! If I told someone I was someone's first, what the fuck do I expect for them to think? You jerk!" She shakes her head at him in disbelief. Katniss manages to slap him again. She wants to go again when realization hits her. "Wait! Bar?! Fight at the bar?!" She yells at him pushing the arms he still has holding her back away from her. "You fought him at a bar?!" She looks at him angrily. "The brawl at the bar! That was you?!" She picks up her drink off the bar. Johanna goes to stop her again. "How I wish this had alcohol." She chugs it down and walks away. Just as she's about to make it the bathroom, Gale grabs her hand forcing her against an adjacent wall. She struggles against him for a bit.

"Katniss, I'm sorry about all this Peeta mess. But I'm not sorry about loving you," he caresses her cheek. She quickly smacks his hand away.

"Are you deaf?! I tell you I'm in love with somebody else, that I'm hurting, and your trying to get into my pants?!" She pushes him away. Gale catches her arms again, pulling her back into him. Their lips meet in a forced kiss. Katniss tries pulling back but he's too strong. The next thing she feels is a pair of arms around her finally pulling her away from Gale. She looks back to see Finn. Finn places her behind him. He turns back to Gale with a menacing look on his face.

"This is for Peeta." Finn tells him, then punches Gale in the face. Annie rushes to Finn pushing him away from the Gale's inevitable wrath. When Gale gets back up, instead of going for Finn, he's staring past Katniss. Gale starts walking in Katniss' direction ready for a fight. When he walks past her, she's surprised. When she turns to see who he's headed for her heartbeat picks up it's pace. Next thing she knows, she running towards him.

Peeta had completely forgotten it was technically prom night. With all the craziness in his life, it was the last thing on his mind. When Finn told him to meet him at the club, he had no idea how that was going to help him get back Katniss.

"Trust me, alright buddy?" Finn tells him. They don't get too far. Straight ahead of them they see Katniss and Gale kissing. That was all Peeta needed to see as he barreled towards them with his fists clenched tight. Thresh grabbed Peeta before he could get there.

"Get off of me!" Peeta yells in frustration. No one held Finn back, though. Peeta watched Finn hit Gale. It was the best thing he'd seen in awhile. The guy had it coming after all.

Next thing Peeta knows, Gale is headed towards him. Peeta doesn't know how, but Katniss manages to push Thresh off of him and throws herself on him. His arms wrap around her instantly. She turns in his arms as Gale reaches them.

"Stop!" Katniss extends her arms to keep Gale away. "Don't fight!" She yells. Peeta tightens his hold on Katniss getting her attention. She turns to face him. Katniss looks up at him; their eyes hold each others gaze. "Don't fight." She whispers to him.

"Never again." He whispers back to her.

Gale roars in anger. Thresh stands between him and Katniss. Gale pushes Thresh back. He stumbles back slightly pushing Katniss further into Peeta. Peeta is pushed back against the bar with Katniss leaning against him. She cuddles further into his arms.

"I'm sorry." Peeta tells her caressing her face gently, "For being an ass and all that."

"I'm sorry for what I said." She tells him. "I didn't mean any of it! I just wanted to hurt you like I thought you hurt me! I'm so sorry! I know now and I love you, Peeta." She reaches up to his face kissing him sweetly.

Peeta smiles, "It worked!" He readjusts his arms around her. "And, I love you, too" Peeta rests his forehead on hers.

"Peeta, what are you doing here? I thought you were leaving." She asks him.

"My father left for a week or so. Borrowed my car. Business elsewhere." He tightens his grip on her. "I just helped pack. As much as I wanted to leave, I don't know if I could have." He kisses her forehead. "God, Katniss. I love you so much."

Both of them are so caught up in their newly rekindled relationship, that they had forgotten about Gale. He's still struggling against Thresh, but now his attention is to Finnick. Katniss tries heading over to Gale. Peeta's immediate reaction is to keep her in place. Gale was angry. Peeta didn't want her to get hurt. Katniss gives him a reassuring kiss and he lets her go.

"Gale," She starts. She grabs his head forcing him to look at her. "I love you Gale. But not like that. I need you to understand that I will always love you and I want you in my life." He stares at her dejectedly.

"You really do love him? Even after all that talk about not loving anyone?" Katniss looks back at Peeta. He smiles at her and she smiles back.

"I do. I really do." Gale embraces her in tight hug. He kisses her forehead then looks to Peeta.

"I can't even be your friend anymore can I?" Katniss looks at Gale questionably. Gale motions to Peeta. "I don't expect him to like our friendship."

Peeta walks over to them grabbing Katniss' hand. "Gale, I could never ask that Katniss rip you from her life. She's who she is, in part, because of you. And I love all of her. So, I won't stop you guys from being friends. I want you there for Katniss." Peeta extends his hand out to Gale in a truce. When Gale takes his hand, Peeta pulls him into earshot and whispers, "But if you ever try to interfere with our relationship again or insult her in my presence, I'll kill you. Kill you! As in dead!" Peeta pulls back and gives him a big smile. "Okay?" Gale can only shake his head in compliance. He wishes them the best and leaves.

Katniss turns to Peeta. "Dance with me?" She asks him.

"What?" Peeta asks her with a smile.

"It is prom after all."

"I kind of have other things in mind." Peeta grabs her hand kissing it gently. He gives her a mischievous smile, "If you know what I mean."

Katniss turns to the table where her friends are. She shares glances between them and Peeta. "Yea, lets get out of here." She waves quickly to her friends. Peeta wraps his arm around her shoulder walking out of the club.

"You know where I've always wanted to do it?" Katniss looks at him curiously. "The ocean." She laughs at him. "You want to…maybe…make up sex…?" Peeta asks her. Katniss kisses his chest forcing Peeta to duck down and catch her lips. They stop in the middle of the sidewalk and begin passionately kissing each other. Peeta pulls away.

"Please tell me this isn't a dream? This is real right now?" Peeta asks her.

"It's real, Peeta." She kisses him. "And I love you."

Graduation went by without a hitch. After graduation, their parents had rented out a restaurant to celebrate the momentous occasion.

Peeta was lounging on a couch with his arm draped around Katniss. She was leaning into him placing kisses on his jaw, trying to get his attention. Peeta was busy laughing at his friends performing really bad karaoke. Katniss runs her hand up Peeta's thigh on the cusp of fondling his goods. That gets Peeta's attention.

"Katniss!" He grabs her hand before she can proceed. "Here?! Really?!" He laughs at her. Finally getting his attention, Katniss pulls his face down to her and kisses him passionately. They're making out on the couch when Cato busts into the room.

Cato looks flushed and he has lipstick all over him.

"Don't go in that room!" Cato yells pointing at the room where he just came from. The room he came from was where all their parents were celebrating. The rest of them were in an adjacent room where they could have some privacy from them.

"What happened man?" Peeta asks Cato.

"This," He points to his face where the lipstick is. "Is my mother! She's spazzing man!" He shakes his head with a laugh. "I go in there and she's all like 'My baby' and 'I can't believe he graduated.' Then, she starts to cry and she wouldn't let go of me! She acts like she's never going to see me again!" He shakes his head and goes to find Johanna.

Katniss' demeanor shifts dramatically at what Cato says. She's gone stiff in Peeta's arms and he definitely felt the shift.

"What's wrong?" Peeta looks at her, but she avoids his gaze. He moves his head to try and catch her eye. Eventually, he gently grasps her chin forcing her to look at him. "What's up, Katniss?"

"Peeta," She starts. She removes his hand from her chin and looks to the ground. Katniss takes a deep breath and sighs.

"Baby?" Peeta runs his hand up and down her thigh soothingly.

"Just get it over with, Peeta." She tells him. Katniss looks like she's about to cry.

"Get what over with?" He asks her curiously.

"This!" Katniss points between the two of them. "I know you're leaving for college! I don't expect you to keep this going with me! With the long distance…"

Peeta shakes his head at her in confusion. "What are you talking about, Katniss?!"

"I know you want to go to Florida and be the next Tim Tebow! That's a lot of distance between you and me!"

"Tim Tebow!?" He shakes his head, "You must have been talking to Finn! Tim Tebow?!" He laughs. "That was when I was like fourteen or something!" Peeta looks at Katniss who doesn't share his amusement. He reaches for her hand. "Katniss, I'm not going anywhere."

"Please, Peeta. Don't patronize me." Katniss tells him.

"Why would I go to Florida and have to compete for a spot in a sport I don't even want to play anymore?"

"Because it's what you want and they have one of the best football programs in the country."

"It's like you don't even listen to me! Stubborn girl." He mumbles the last part. "I told you already, I'm only doing football to get through college and that's it! I don't want anything to do with football after." Peeta sighs. "Katniss, I'm staying here and going to college here at home, with you."

"I don't want you to stay just because of me…"

"Katniss," he reaches for her chin bringing it up to meet his face. "This is what I want. I want to stay here, play locally, and be with you. I love you, Katniss."

"I still don't get it Peeta. You could go to Florida and get all the hot blond bimbo ass you want…" Katniss tells him sadly.

"Maybe, but they're not you." Peeta smirks at her. Katniss looks up at him.

"You've said that before…"

"And it's still the truth, Katniss." Peeta leans his forehead against hers. He puts her hand over his heart. "Only for you, Katniss. Always."

She laughs at him. She kisses him sweetly. "You know always is a long time."

Peeta shakes his head at her. "Not long enough." He kisses her again. "I want to be here for everything; all your milestones. When you finally go from undecided to choosing a major. When you agree to marry me…" Katniss blushes at his words. "When we have little versions of you and me running around…" Peeta snuggles closer to her.

"Peeta, you've really thought about this." Peeta kisses Katniss' neck. "You know, all that's not going to happen for a while right?"

"I'd wait forever for you." Peeta gazes into her eyes.

"I don't even know if I want all that stuff." Katniss tells him honestly.

"You also didn't know if you wanted to be with me." He kisses her cheek. "Look at us now!" He tells her with a laugh.

"So, you're really staying?" She asks him while kissing his neck.

"Yep." Peeta pulls her head up to look at him. "And you love me. Real or not real?"

Katniss only smiles, before whispering a "Real" against his lips. Everything was going to be alright.

Well, this is over now. I guess it's back to playing video games. Nah, I'll probably post my other story soon enough. It kind of stares at me every time I turn on my computer to do my homework. But whatever.