Hey peoples, this is a short story I am writing as well, it shouldn't go for too many chapters but I loved the idea of the story when I thought of it so hope you all like ! please tell me if I should continue I have many ideas for this story but I want your feedback !

I don't own the Hunger Games

Peeta POV

Through my entire life I have learnt to fight when all the odds are against me. My life has been one big battle, a battle to walk, a battle to talk and even a battle to write or hold a pen. I was born with Multiple Sclerosis (MS); this effects my muscle and nerve contractions in my body. I am told I have horrible case of MS and on top of my disorder I have a very prominent stutter. I learnt to walk at the age of 5 and learnt to finally talk at the age of 6. When I did finally talk it came out stuttered and gibberish, it feels like my body is a prison, a type of Hell for me. My parents didn't know what to do with me. They took me to the finest doctors they could afford but there was nothing they could do to help me, they only said to be patient and I will slowly learn well that's hearer said than done. My mother's patience lasted all of two days before she would go back to hitting and kicking me for being a big screw up. My brothers have always been there to help me through primary school and they would always help me when I had trouble walk or talking.

I am finally 17 years old and moving to a new school for my final year of school, my brothers have both left home and have moved far away from home and I am stuck here hoping to blend in and finish the rest of my schooling. At my old school I never had any friends because everyone thought I was a freak that randomly had twitching in his legs or jaw. No one ever realised that I was always in pain when this happened and I could never tell people the truth because my stutter would always stop me. I am hoping this new school will give me a chance to start fresh and meet new people who won't judge me because of my disability.

Today is my first day and it takes all my energy to get out of bed. I slowly pull on my beanie which matches my uniform, I always feel secure with a beanie on, and it makes me feel safe. I never go without one and even school allowed me to have it. My legs are particularly bad today and it's painful to walk plus the twitching makes it even harder, I don't want to tell my parents this because I will either get the shit beaten out of me for being such a wimp or I will be forced to stay home but I don't want to miss my first day.

I sling my bag over my shoulder as I hear Dad wish me luck but I know he only pities me, Dad has always helped me through battles and he blames himself for something I was born with. I slowly drag my feet out the front door and start walking to school, it's not far only a couple of blocks away and I think I can handle the walk without too much discomfort. As I walk I take in my surroundings, the trees sway slightly in the breeze, and the birds sing songs that put a small smile on my face. There are people out for morning jogs and I only wish I could run and be free like everyone else. I am a block away from school when I start seeing all the boys and girl that are in the same uniform as me; accept for the girls who wear skirts. This is when my legs start to become excruciatingly painful and I stumble a bit as I lose my balance, this is what I hate about my condition it's so unpredictable. I don't know anyone that I can ask for help, I'm swaying from foot to foot trying not to collapse from the pain when I am met with piercing grey eyes full of worry.

"Hey, are you ok? You look a little tip-"she's cut off from her sentence as she goes and catches me from falling, she is surprisingly strong and she slowly carries me to a bench nearby, my legs completely failing me and I feel so embarrassed. I finally get a good look at my rescuer and see she has a long braid over her shoulder, freckles dot her face and her smile is worth gold. I stare in awe at her as she is stunning and I can't stop looking at her, for a split second I forget all that is wrong with me and just stare at the face of beauty. I nervously adjust my beanie and wait for the twitching in my legs to go, I expect her to walk away as most people do but she continues to look at me with curious eyes and waits.

"It's okay I am not going to hurt you, I just want to make sure you are okay" She says reading my startled and surprised look. "I'm Katniss by the way"

"I-I-I-I'm P-Peeta" I stutter out as I mentally kick myself for how terrible I must look. I meet the eyes of Katniss again and I see she is smiling but not in a judging way more of a cute way. I am surprised when she continues with the conversation

"Nice to meet you Peeta" she says as she extends her hand, I reach my shaky hand out and shake hands with her. She seems to notice the shaking. Shit!

"By the looks of it you're new!" she says brightly winking at me. I feel a blush creep up on me as this is the longest conversation I have had with a school mate. I don't know whether she is talking to me out of pity or if she genuinely wants to talk.

When I don't reply she asks in a gentle tone "Do you mind if I ask why you almost fell over?" and I suddenly get nervous, my jaw starts twitching and I slowly rub it trying to make it stop. She looks at me with patience waiting for my answer. I have never been good with telling people about my illness, they usually just run away from me thinking I'm contagious.

"I-I-I have a-a c-condition" I say speak quietly hoping the people that walk past us don't hear. She still has a smile on her face and I have a feeling she is not going anywhere anytime soon.

"Oh that's a shame, I hope you get better" she almost whispers looking at the ground. I am star struck. Never once in my life has a single human being ever wished I would get better and now I have a stranger say it to me and it over whelms me. I just nod and sadly look down at my shaky hands.

"Come on let's get you to school" Katniss says in a happy tone as she lifts one of my arms over her shoulder and lifts me to standing position. While I stand there I can smell the sweet perfume that comes off her and I take a deep breath, she smells of home. I test my weight on my legs and I find that they are not as painful and she sees this. In one quick movement she lowers my arm from her shoulder and holds my hand. Her hand is small and sweaty in mine as she intertwines our fingers. I look down in amazement at our hands and she giggles.

"It's like you have never seen hands before" she states while giggling. I smile and try to start walking. My legs are weak and I stumble for a moment, Katniss then places her other arm under my own for leverage. As we walk to school I can tell she is deep in thought and I wish I could hear what she was thinking, the way her brow creases and her lip between her teeth makes her look so attractive. I never expected to meet anyone so having someone help me to school is so over whelming that I might just explode.

Once we finally reach school she stops and looks at me as if she wants to say something but doesn't know how to say it. So I speak up and say

"T-t-t-thank you K-Katniss..." I say quietly, she is looking at me calmly waiting for me to continue "F-for helping m-me to s-sc-school and c-c-c-catching m-m-m- ummm ahh..." I choke on my words in frustration and I shut my eyes tight and rake my fingers over my beanie. I calm my breathing as I try to relax and not make a fool of myself, when I reopen them she is still smiling at me and I am confused.

"Just breath, don't rush I am not going anywhere" she says smoothly and she patiently waits my answer. How does she know what to say to a blabbering, stumbling idiot who can't even speak right? I am amazed at how she has so much patience and I'm surprised she doesn't look bored yet.

I nod and slowly take a deep breath in and out as I continue "A-and c-c-catching me b-before I f-face p-planted" after taking her advise I am surprised that I can get reasonable words out and I sigh as I finish the sentence. Katniss smiles at me, proud to have helped. She then looks to the ground with a serious look on her face and I fear I have done something wrong, but then I see she is blushing slightly, why would she blush?

She then seems to gather up all her courage and speaks "I was ahhh... Wondering if maybe you would like to hang out with me?" she asks timidly and I sense her nervousness. I just stare at her in shock as the question slowly sinks in and I don't have words to describe how I feel. Happy? Joyful? Over the moon? I have never had a friend before and this comes as a big shock.

After a few minutes and I say nothing she then says "You know, you don't have to or whatever, It's just I don't have many friends and you seem nice but if you don't thats cool, I'll just leave now" Katniss says this very quickly and I need to respond or I will lose my only potential friend.

As Katniss turns to walk away I grab her arm and say "I w-w-would l-love to b-be y-your f-f-friend" I look at her deep grey eyes and see hope flicker through them and I know this is the best decision I have ever made. Her smile turns into a full ear to ear grin and she jumps up and down excitedly. I laugh and smile at her as she does a cute little dance like a 5 year old. Once Katniss calms down she grabs my arm and pulls me into a hug which I hadn't expected and I nearly over balance. As Katniss loosens her grip on me I want to protest and learn as much as I can about her body, she then moves her lips to my ear and whispers

"We are going to be best friends and I am going to rock your world" I blush at her words and I suddenly have so much hope for the future. I suddenly get a warm feeling inside my stomach as I am happy and privileged that she wants to be my friend. Her words fill me with joy and I sence there is something magical about this girl.

XXXXXXX

School went by quickly as I found out that Katniss is in all of my classes and she nearly hit the roof when she found out, she sits next to me and buzzes with excitement throughout the day. I don't say much during the course of the day but Katniss keeps conversations light and whenever I do talk she makes sure I take deep breaths and go slow. At lunch we sat by ourselves and talked, I have learnt so much about Katniss in the past few hours that I would ever learn about my own parents. I found out that she has a little sister named Prim who is now 12 and got a boyfriend (much to Katniss's disgust), her Dad passed away 5 years ago and her mother shutdown and no longer cares for them, she says these things with great sadness and I wish I could stop the pain she is feeling. I know she used to have a best friend named Gale that went to our school here but he moved countries and they lost touch. Katniss has never been good with people and has little friends at school, she has one close friend who she sits with occasionally, and her name is Delly. Katniss says she can try your patience and is to girly, I smile at this.

Katniss seems to scare people with her enthusiasm and forwardness but I see her as a confident and beautiful young woman. I know that she would never date me but I'm so happy just to have a friend, and a friend she becomes. By the end of the day my legs are painful to walk on and there is a headache seeping through the base of my skull, I don't want to ask Katniss to help me get home because I don't want to seem like an invalid (even though I am).

"K-k-katniss?" I ask as we walk out of school together but I am slow and dragging my feet on the ground, I can't seem to lift them properly and people start to stare at my shaking form. Katniss notices this and takes my arm to steady me on my feet.

"I'll walk you home, just in case you want to face plant again?" she says with a giggle as if reading my mind. I am thankful that she adds the humour as it makes me smile. We begin to walk at a slow pace and I begin to feel my legs buckle again but Katniss only hold onto me tighter never letting me go. We've been walking for a few minutes when some girls and boys from our school come up behind us and give us cringed looks, as if they are disgusted with what I am. Katniss just stares daggers at them, that's when they finally say

"Katniss what are you doing with a cripple, look he can't even walk" one of the guys say as they all start to laugh hysterically, I am used to this but it stings every time. "Don't waste your time on this piece of shit. Is he even human?" another one says and they continue to laugh.

I feel my body go rigid and Katniss stops our walking and just stares at them, I can see hate and disgust in her eyes and I am not sure if it directed at me or them. She then lets go of my arm and I steady myself, but I fear I have driven her away and she is leaving me. What she does next shocks me, Katniss walks up to one of the guys and says "Fuck you, why do you have to get so low as to say things like that" she yells this at him and continues "Go to HELL!" she screams then lefts her arm and slaps the boy across the face with a giant 'SMACK' sound. I stand there in shock as I have never witnessed such a reaction from anyone for me sake. The other boys look in horror as they see his friend with a red mark across his cheek.

They scurry away like rats, running away from Katniss and they leave around the corner with them yelling something incoherent. Katniss turns and walks back to me with anger still in her eyes but walks triumphantly as she has a soft smile playing on her lips, she comes up to my face and take my face in her hands and says "Don't you dare for one second believe them" firmly holding my head making me look at her and I see the worry and sorry in her face, her words are forceful and strong. I envy her strength; I wish that one day I could stand up for myself without stuttering, walk without shaking or limping I envy her ability to be normal. I frown at the thought and look down at my moving hands and sigh sadly, tears stinging my eyes.

Katniss notices my mood and takes my face in her hands again "You have to promise me Peeta that you will never let them bring you down, I will be here for you, don't let them ruin your life!" she says with more passion and desire and I know she is serious. I gather up my courage and reply

"I-I-I-I p-promise" she looks at me smiling then brings her lips to my shaking hands and kisses my knuckles. I am speechless at her action and I just want to feel those lips on every part of my body. I am dizzy from happiness as Katniss continues to walk me home holding my arm to support me. The previous events still reeling in my mind it's almost too much to comprehend, what feels like forever we finally reach my house and I walk up the steps one at a time. Katniss watches me as I do this and she hovers at the bottom step then meets me at the top.

"Can ask you something that could be potentially life changing?" she asks with seriousness in her voice. I nod and she continues. "I know I only met you this morning but it feels like I have known you my whole life, I feel some connection that I just can't shake and well... umm I was wondering if you.." she clenches her lip between her teeth "Maybe you want to become my best friend?" when she asks this she becomes shy and shifts from foot to foot. I stand their leaning on the front door and I nearly fall over by her words. I have never had a friend I my life, so having a best friend would mean heaven and earth to me. A big smile spreads across my face and she takes that as a yes.

Katniss jumps up and down on the spot and squeals then says "Ok now you have to know that the job requires rules. One, NO secrets" as she holds up one finger "you have to be there for me even through PMS you can't let me become an emotional wreck" she smiles and adds a second finger "and finally, stay with me forever" she says this last part as a whisper and I slowly nod thinking about what my future is going to be like with my best friend. Before I register what's happened she has flung herself at me and pulled me into a hug, I stand there no sure where to put my hands and I feel her hands cover mine and bring them to the small of her back. We stand there for a while in each other's arms and I learn the scent of pine tree and vanilla that radiates off her, she finally pulls back and looks at me with a mischievous grin her face as she says

"I have got to teach you how to hug" and with that she turns on her heal and walks away. I watch her until I can no longer see her and I feel my heart drum in my ears. I wish I could freeze this moment forever, I am happy for the first time in years, this has been the best day of my life and all I can think about is a future of happiness with that girl. My best friend.