Chapter 2

I don't see Peeta Mellark for a while after our meeting. During one of her visits, Madge lets it slip that he's gone to District Seven to check on the bakeries there.

"Why is Rye still here though?" I ask. Every time I drop by the bakery he's there, ready annoy.

"Rye isn't as . . ." Madge hesitates. "I want to say popular but that kind of sound bad."

"I wonder why." I snort. Primrose, who's reading a book about plants by the fire, looks up. I don't think she's left the house in a week and I'm beginning to wonder where she keeps getting those books. I certainly don't bring them to her – I didn't even know she liked plants. I guess she could have had the book store owner bring a few here but it seems ridiculous considering it takes five minutes to walk there.

"I know Rye can be kind of annoying but he's a really good guy. You just have to get to know him." Madge says.

"Or, you know, don't." Primrose's comment takes me back. Was I an idiot to assume that Primrose might have started to warm up to me? She has been nicer since I brought home the cookies and I've made sure to involve her in more things. When I make dinner, I ask if she wants to help and I invite her to go on a walk into the forest with me. On the rare occasions that she says yes, she'll quietly walk next to me with her head in a book.

"Primrose –"

"Do you and Glimmer like to see who can fuck the most guys before their thirty? 'Cause I'm pretty sure you're winning." She snaps her book close and saunters to her room. She has never said something like that in front of someone else and I'm worried about how Madge will react. I know that Madge and Primrose talk sometimes. When I leave them alone, Madge strikes up a conversation with Primrose and they talk until I come back. At first, Madge tried to keep the conversation going with Primrose, but she refuses to say anything with me present.

"Should I leave. . .?" Madge asks. I hesitate because I don't want her to leave. I like talking to Madge but I'm pretty sure the rest of the conversation will be awkward thanks to my little sister.

"I'm sorry, Madge." I sigh. Madge shrugs and picks up her bag.

"I'll come and visit tomorrow." She smiles. I walk her to the door where she pauses and turns to face me. "Katniss, she's not bad. Put yourself in her shoes and I'm sure you'll agree." She hugs me one more time and leaves. I wait until she's in her car, speeding away before closing the door.

Agree? Agree with what? That I'm some type of slut? Does Madge agree with Primrose? I shake my head in disbelief.

I make my way to the kitchen to fetch myself something to drink and just as I'm pouring the orange juice, the music starts. I sigh. It's not the typical teen rock or pop music, no, Primrose isn't that normal. It's the stupid classical music that Primrose seems to adore. And it's not just a normal piano piece – I don't mind those. It's the blaring twenty-piece orchestra that annoys me. Don't get me wrong, I love classical music and I wouldn't mind it otherwise but this, this seems like another way Primrose is trying to get under my skin.

"Primrose!" I yell. I walk upstairs and bang on her door. To my surprise the door just slides open to reveal an empty room. I walk toward the stereo and turn off the music. She's not in her room and the window is open. "Well, damn."

0o0o0o

"So she's been sneaking out?" Johanna asks through the phone. I nod then remember that she can't see me.

"Yeah, I think so. She usually only plays the music at night."

"At night? She plays classical music at night and you never wondered why?" I can hear her disapproving tone. Johanna isn't one to judge. She lets the kids she babysits do whatever the hell they want and Johanna herself isn't exactly a rule follower.

"I don't know. It helped me sleep." I shrug.

"I still don't see the big deal. She's a big girl. She can take care of herself."

"I know." I say. "I just don't understand why she would need to sneak out. It's not like I would stop her from leaving."

"She's hiding something. I know she is." Suddenly she gasps. "You say she got all upset when you mentioned the baker – oh my god. What if she's doing that guy, Roy."

"It's Rye." I tell her. "And he's like twenty five!"

"So?"

"She's fourteen."

"And your point is…?" I scowl.

"Gross Johanna." I don't know why I called her in the first place. Annie would have been a better choice or maybe Rue. Huh, Rue's fifteen years old. She and Primrose might get along. I wonder if I can get Rue to visit District Twelve for a little bit…

"I've got to go. Pinkie is looking for me." And just as she says Pinkie, Effie's voice appears.

"Johanna! Unwanted nicknames are rude! And you are late!"

"Late for what?" I ask her.

"My parents are having a dinner with your dad's people." Johanna sighs. She ignored Effie protests. "Effie's here to make sure everyone follows the rules. You suck for leaving her with us by the way." I laugh.

"Johanna!"

"Okay, I've got to go. Good luck with Blondie." For a minute I'm wondering if she's talking about Peeta but then I realize that I haven't even told her about him.

"Thanks." I sigh. The line goes dead. Who else can I call? Finnick? No, he's on his Honeymoon with Annie. Glimmer? No, it's Saturday so she's probably out partying somewhere and I can't call Cato or Clove because they're at some camp learning even more ways to throw knives and spears. Rue and Thresh are probably helping with the gathering in their District. I need more friends.

"Katniss!" Primrose yells. I jump and drop my phone. She appears behind me a minute later. "What were you doing in my room?"

"I was looking for you and the music was loud." I say. "Where were you by the way?"

"I was in the bathroom." She scowled. I roll my eyes. Okay, sure.

"Really?" I mutter. "Look, I get that you don't like me but there isn't a need to sneak around. I don't care where you go. I'm not your mom." Primrose is silent. I see the blood drain from her face and her eyes get this torture look. I regret my words the instant I see her pained expression. "Prim –"

"Shut up." She scowls. "Just. Shut. Up." She runs back up the stairs.

0o0o0o

As I'm sitting in the living room Madge's words come back to me. "put yourself in her shoes." Primrose's mother committed suicide the night she was free from Prim. The nurse had left to go check on the baby, who had been moved to another room in order to let Selene rest. The nurse came back to find Selene hanging from the ceiling. A week later they found Selene's private diary and in the last entries the words "Too much" were written over and over. A picture of my father with a very pregnant Selene was taped to the page. They say she always hated the spotlight, she would have never married the President if she didn't love my father. Before she married she made it clear that she didn't want kids and, I guess, the pressure a baby would bring was too much on her.

I wonder if Primrose blames herself for her mother's death.

The doorbell rings before I can convince myself to go upstairs. I open the large brown door without looking to see who it is. My eyes widen as I take in the sight of Peeta Mellark standing on my doorstep.

His hair is wet from the walk to the car. The rain really started to come down hard in the past thirty minutes. His clothes are slightly wet and beads of water still hang on the ends of his blonde locks. Damn. He looks hot.

"Hey." He said.

"Hi." I stood in the doorway, unsure of what else to do.

"I brought some pastries."

"Oh, I didn't order anything – but Primrose might –"

"Prim didn't order these. I just brought some things I thought you might like."

"Oh, that was really nice of you." I smile. I take the bag from him. "Would you like to come inside and dry off for a bit?" He flashes a smile that makes my knees feel weak.

"Yeah, thanks." He walks into the house but not before wiping his shoes off on the doormat. I hold back a smile.

There really isn't much in here to show save for the furniture that was already here. There are no real frames or knick-knacks, nothing to show that two teenage girls live here.

"Nice house." Yet he still says that.

"Let's go into the family room, its warmer there." He follows me. I can tell he's pleasantly surprised by the warmth and homeliness of the family room. The fire from an hour ago is still burning and the bookshelf is filled with my most beloved books as well as some of Primrose's plants and biology books. There's a picture of my dad and me hanging on the wall.

"I like this room." He chuckles.

"Me too." And I do because from the window I can see the woods. Occasionally I'll see a Mockingjay fly past the window and squirrels and, if I'm lucky, I'll see a flash of a deer. "So, to what do I owe this honor?"

"I told you I would visit." He says. "I don't break promises."

"I wasn't really going to hold you to it anyway." I mutter mostly to myself. He pretends not to hear me and I know he's pretending because his body becomes stiff – not that I was looking at his body.

"The pastries are some of the ones that are unique to District Twelve. You probably will never see them outside of the District." He tells me. He opens the bag and takes out five small boxes – the king his bakery uses for cakes and breads.

"This one is called a Rhubarb Strawberry Crisp." He tells me as he takes out he brown and red dish. "It's one of the mayors favorite and you can find countless strawberries outside of the District gates." The pastry is still warm and I can smell the strawberry. He places a piece in front of me and a spoon.

"It smells delicious." I smile and take a bite of the Crisp. "And it's delicious too."

"I'm glad you like it." He chuckles. "Next we have the Orange Cookies, Goat Cheese and Apple Tarts. . ."

"You're trying to make me fat!" I laugh.

"Just try the Cookies, they're delicious." And they were. And so were the breads filled with this sweet yellow cream as well as the tarts and cakes with coconut. Everything was delicious. I felt like I was going to throw up by the time we were done.

"Is this some kind of promotional stunt?" I joke. "Get me to fall even more in love with your food." Peeta rolls his eyes.

"Hardly, there are no photographers here anyway."

"What a shame. I think I might need evidence."

"Evidence for what?"

"To prove that I spent the evening with the mysterious Mellark." I take another bite of the cookies he brought. Peeta rolls his gorgeous bright blue eyes. His eyes. . . wow, they are so blue. They're a blue that no one can recreate. No surgeries or contacts can duplicate his blue. It's breathtaking. He's breathtaking.

"I'm hardly mysterious." He says.

"Oh, but you are. Barely anyone has seen you." I say. "Up close, I meant. Sure there are pictures but. . ."

"But what?"

"You don't look anything like your pictures."

"Neither do you." He smirks. I laugh.

"Is that a bad thing?" I dare ask.

"No. I like woman without feathers and sparkles." He says. Then his eyes narrow mischievously. "Real life fits you very well." I curse myself for blushing. But I won't let him win.

"I could say the same about you." I mutter. "You're eyes are blue enough without Photoshop."

"Oh?" He raises his blonde eyebrow. "Dare I say you like my eyes?" I nod slowly.

"Of course." I whisper. He doesn't tear his eyes from mine and I can't so much as breath. Damn those blue eyes.
Silence consumes us and i'm overwhelmed with the need to touch him. Finally he stands up and grabs his jacket.

"I better get going. I don't trust Rye at the bakery for too long." He chuckles. "Maybe I'll see you tomorrow." There's that maybe again.

"Okay." I say. "I'll walk you out." He pauses at the doorstep.

"It was really nice getting to know you," he smiled. Then he turned around, got in his car, waved, and drove off.

I am overwhelmed with the response this story got. Thanks everyone who added this to their favorites and follows. Thank you to those who reviewed the last chapter. They really mean a lot to me! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and don't forget to review and tell me what you think!