Chapter Twelve

"Family Dilemmas"

After spending a total of three days in the hospital, Willow was finally discharged – after a lot of begging and three sets of puppy dog eyes. And although Peeta had to work on the weekdays, he now made it a point to stop by Katniss's house right after shooting. This time, he spent equal amount of time with the boys and Willow, though Willow was still trying to avoid him. After a week, even with all the gifts that had accumulated- gifts Peeta had bought for Willow -she still didn't fully trust him. However, she has slowly become more willing to accept the gifts than she used to the first few days of his visits. But whenever Peeta attempted to talk to her, all she said was the usual 'yes', 'no', and 'thank you'.

Besides not progressing with his relationship with Willow, he hasn't gone very far with his relationship with Katniss either. Not that he minded.

**Flashback**

"I need to talk to you," Peeta said into Katniss's ear as they watched Luke and Rye doing impersonations of a character they saw on TV to entertain Willow who was giggling from the patient's bed.

Katniss frowned at him but nodded. After excusing themselves and leaving Sae in charge of the kids, Katniss followed Peeta out of the room.

"What is it?" she asked, wanting to get straight to the point.

"About what I said yesterday, about Willow," he started, in such a low voice it was a miracle Sakura could even catch his words. "I'm sorry about what I said."

Not expecting this sort of thing from Peeta at all, Katniss's brows shot up to her forehead in obvious surprise.

"I thought wrong and my own thoughts got the better of me," he explained, sighing and leaning onto the wall with his arms crossed in front of him. "I had assumed that Willow wasn't my daughter. I never even considered the possibility that she could be my daughter. I thought you remarried or something and had her. I also never knew you'd been to the hospital with her for her check-ups all those times you left the boys with Sae at home. I had thought you genuinely preferred her over the boys because I'm the boys' father and therefore disliked them as much as you dislike me. So I ended up hating Willow too."

"I-I understand," Katniss said, leaning onto the wall beside Peeta and following his gaze to the blank white wall opposite them. She never expected to understand their entire situation but from what Peeta had just said, it certainly explained a lot.

Peeta glanced down at her looking amazed and doubtful. "No you don't, how could you possibly understand?" he blurted out in an incredulous voice without thinking.

Mentally smacking himself, he hoped Katniss wouldn't blow off again and start screaming at him.

"And I don't dislike you," Katniss added, completely ignoring his last statement, much to Peeta's relief. It was also much to his surprise as her words registered to him. Seeing the look on his face, Katniss smiled at him. "I haven't fought, much less screamed, at anyone like that…ever. That was a first for me, so I think I got a bit carried away."

"A bit?" Peeta repeated with his brows raised. "If you screamed any louder and any higher, you would've broken every piece of glass present in the area," he pointed out sounding quite sure that could happen.

Katniss couldn't help but giggle at this statement, guessing that Peeta hadn't forgotten just how high her voice could get when the notes call for it whenever she sings.

Can't help the grin forming on his face, Peeta gave in to his emotions and laughed with her for a while until both calmed back down.

"I can't just blame you for what happened you know," Katniss started after their laughter subsided. "We both know that we're both at fault," she added somewhat sadly with traces of regret in her voice. "We were both so caught up with our own issues, the kids got affected. And Willow…Willow just got the worst end of it."

Peeta said nothing to this.

"So I propose a truce," she said, pushing herself off from the wall and standing in front of Peeta with a hand outstretched towards him. "Can we at least be at peace when the kids are around? For their sake, and I guess for ours as well. It would be great to at least know that I won't end up screaming my head off at you again."

With the oh-so familiar smirk crossing his features as she said this, Katniss could almost feel herself melt down to the ground as she always did years ago.

"Truce," he agreed, taking her hand and shaking it. "But I do have one question Katniss."

Katniss had dreaded this, and was hoping he wouldn't ask what she knew he would.

"Why did you leave five years ago?" he asked. He was burning with curiosity now but he tried to keep his tone mild.

She was smiling, albeit very sadly, at him. And Katniss was silent for a couple of minutes before letting out a long, almost tired, sigh. "A lot happened Peeta," she said, the sad smile still playing on her lips. "You had a very promising career ahead of you as an actor, and I was holding you back," she said truthfully. "I never even thought of things like that before until…well, until that thought suddenly came to my mind. And as I thought more about it every day, as I contemplated on that thought further, I realized that it was the truth. I was holding you back. So I…I left."

**End of Flashback**

Peeta didn't know if Katniss meant that explanation to sadden him but whether she did or didn't, it didn't have that sort of effect on him at all. He didn't feel at all sad or touched about it. Her reason only proved to him how easily she can dump him, despite her reason for leaving was supposedly for his benefit.

Her explanation also didn't make much sense to Peeta either.

When she did leave him, there was no indication at all that he had a 'promising career' ahead of him. In fact, he never got his first big break with Mr. Abernathy until after he realized Katniss had left him. It wasn't long after she had left that Peeta got the call from Mr. Abernathy and his proposal to him regarding his acting career.

By now, it was obvious to him that Katniss was lying, unless she was actually a really good psychic without him knowing, to predict that he'd actually become a star shortly after she left. Katniss had probably just left him because he was such a failure as an actor. That was the only reason Peeta could think of for her leaving him. He had starred in a few independent films when they were together, and also a few very minor roles in much larger films, but only as an extra, and that was pretty much it. What girl would be happy with that? That must have been the reason for her sudden departure. And she was just merely saving him the embarrassment by not telling him beforehand.

'Maybe I should thank her for not further embarrassing me," Peeta thought almost bitterly to himself.

After their little talk, he had treated Katniss friendly enough as would two newly acquainted friends, and nothing more. Try as he might, he didn't want anything much to do with someone who had broken his heart, it was hard enough to maintain a properly decent relationship with her as a friend.

"Hey Peeta! Are you staying for dinner?"

"Yeah, mom's asking if you are," added Rye after his brother.

Smiling at the boys, Peeta shook his head. "I can't I have an early day tomorrow. I have to get back in a few minutes."

The two frowned but nodded before running back into the kitchen to tell Sakura.

"Is it okay if I visit and play with you again tomorrow Willow?" Peeta asked the little girl who was analyzing a 50 piece Jigsaw Puzzle that had the image of a butterfly and a flower.

Willow looked up at Peeta without smiling but nodded. "Thank you for this," she said, pointing to the puzzles which are still mostly scattered in a pile in front of her. She had already connected one-fourth of the pieces ever since he gave the box to her earlier that afternoon.

"You're welcome," he said with a grin before she resumed looking through the unsolved puzzle pieces with a look of concentration on her face.

"Where have you been?" Glimmer asked in an accusing tone the minute Peeta closed the door to the suite.

Eyebrows raised, Peeta held up the white plastic bag he was holding which had several brown paper bags inside. "Dinner, you want some?"

A grin spread through her features and she nodded. "I'm famished. What did you get?"

"Chinese," he responded, handing her the plastic bag as he took off his shoes, shrugged off his jacket and took off his cap.

"So, where have you been since you left the studio?" she asked conversationally as she laid out all the food on the kitchen counter and transferred them to plates.

"Nowhere in particular," he replied with a shrug. "Just went out to buy stuff."

Glimmer looked back at him, knowing full well that he didn't bring anything else besides the food as he came in. She had gotten the vibe that Peeta had been keeping something or another from her. Ever since he called her in the dead of the night last Sunday saying that he won't be coming to work the next day due to 'unforeseen circumstances'.

'Unforeseen circumstances indeed,' she thought to herself as she continued on with setting up the dinner table while stealing constant glances at Peeta.

"Something you want to talk to me about?" Peeta asked point blank, getting slightly annoyed with all the looks Glimmer had been throwing at her from across the room ever since he arrived.

"Nothing important," she said hastily with a smile. "Dinner's ready," she announced after a minute or so later.

Immediately digging into his food so he can retire for the night, Peeta was already halfway through his plate of rice before Glimmer finally came to sit across him.

"By any chance do you have any more plans later?" she asked with an amused look. Peeta looked at her questioningly, making her nod at his half finished plate. "You're in a hurry."

Gulping down half a glass of soda, he looked at her. "You've seen the stuff I had to do earlier. Doing some of my own stunts may be fun but it takes its toll. The sooner I go to bed, the happier I'll be and less disagreeable tomorrow."

"Where have you been running off to at the end of the day lately anyway? You must be in a lot of stress. Maybe you should head straight back here after shooting. You don't want to strain yourself too much," she suggested sounding hopeful that he would at least tell her.

"It's a…personal matter," he said with an apologetic look on his face. "I have to run off after shooting. I have to buy a couple of things in several places," he added, thinking of all the things he had bought and given to Willow for the past few days. He has still bought several things for the boys but he's been giving Willow just as much things in order to compensate all those times he had neglected getting her anything when he was out with Luke and Rye.

"I see. Well, anyway, I talked to the director earlier," she started looking more pleased now. "He says we've only got a month, maybe two, of filming left. Depending on how well it goes this month. If we don't have much re-shoots to do, then the sooner we finish. Isn't that great?" she asked brightly.

Peeta stopped eating, his chopsticks with a dumpling at the end suspended in the air, midway to his mouth.

He replaced the dumpling onto his plate and looked thoughtful.

'I hadn't thought about that,' he told himself. Indeed he hadn't even considered what would happen when he leaves Los Angeles for another movie he might do. In fact, most of the movies he has done besides the one shot here, have always been shot in Europe. What would he do when he's called for another movie away from Los Angeles? What will happen to Luke, Rye, and Willow?

"Peeta?"

He looked up at her.

"Is something the matter?"

"It's nothing," he answered curtly before resuming with his meal.

"You suppose Peeta will come tomorrow?" Rye asked out of the blue, making his siblings look at him.

Willow didn't say a thing although gave him a curious look,

"Of course he is. He comes here every day doesn't he?" Luke answered with brows raised.

"You think we should ask him tomorrow then?"

This time, Willow spoke up. "I don't think you should and I think mommy isn't pregnant. And I also think that maybe what you heard that lady say mustn't be right."

The boys looked at her before looking at each other. They had already told Willow the topic of their interest since they came from the hotel, feeling guilty they hadn't done so sooner. Katniss did tell them to never let Willow feel so left out because of her condition. Now they blamed themselves for what happened and so told her about it as soon as they got the chance. It was hard at first because they had to explain a lot to her like who Glimmer is and all they knew about her. That was the precise reason why they decided not to tell her in the first place, since she might not feel as strongly about it like they do. She never met Glimmer and doesn't know just how mean she is like they knew she was.

"Well, I checked the dictionary what 'suspecting' mean," piped up Luke although looking defeated. "I still didn't understand what it meant. Mommy says we can read in that book if we want to check meaning of words but their meanings are even more confusing. There are numbers and weird letters there too."

"That's an unhelpful book," Rye said with a frown. "Maybe we should ask Sae? Or Gale? We still didn't talk to him. When's your next check-up Willow?"

Willow looked thoughtful for a while. "Mommy didn't tell me. Maybe I'm not going for a check-up anytime soon," she said.

The boys didn't think she needed one either. Ever since she got back home she's been looking better every day. She's even talking more than she usually did, although not when Syaoran was around. But they were sure that Syaoran's constant attention to her was one of the main reasons of her- almost miraculous -change.

"It's me," Boggs said into his cell.

"What have you got? Found anything yet? It's been weeks!"

"Stop complaining, I'm no detective! Katniss Everdeen right? Well, I found the hospital but they wouldn't give anything away," he said sounding annoyed. After all the trouble he's gone through, he ended up not getting any sort of information at all. "Something about patient's rights and that everything they have is confidential. All they could give was that Everdeen was there just recently. About three weeks ago I think, but had already left. But they said it was her daughter who was just hospitalized, not her."

"Her daughter?"

"Yes her daughter, and that's all they told me," he told her slightly irritated now. "I'm heading back there to the studio. Tell Peeta I'll be there for when he leaves. I've been missing for the past couple days, it's a miracle he hasn't fired me yet!" Boggs yelled the last part before flipping his cell to a close.

Frowning, Glimmer replaced her cell into her purse before taking a seat by the snack table situated just beside the set Peeta was currently acting in.

"So that brat was hers after all," she told herself, remembering the little girl in the lobby of the hotel the other day.

"What are you looking so serious for?"

Glimmer jumped with a start at hearing the familiar voice talking into her ear from behind.

"Mr. Abernathy!" she exclaimed before giving the man a friendly hug. "What are you doing here?"

The much older man laughed before taking a seat on one of the free seats by Glimmer.

"Business, as usual. An old friend called me over for some fresh talent. Although I have a few personal reasons as well," he said before looking over to Peeta who was now talking to the director. "I just stopped by here to see how you and Peeta are doing with shooting. Hiro gave me a call just a few days ago. He says that Peeta's almost done shooting all of his scenes."

Glimmer grinned at him and nodded. "He's been doing great! Better than usual! Hiro-san only just told us earlier this morning that Peeta might be done in three to four weeks."

"That's my boy!" Mr. Abernathy said with a proud look on his face.

"So, when we do wrap up filming here. Is there any other project in particular you have next in line for Peeta?" she asked rather hopefully.

"Sweetheart, Peeta's been working non-stop for almost two years!" he said with a hearty laugh. "He's spent more than a year in Paris, plus all the months he's spent here. He deserves a break," he said with a smile, making Glimmer's own smile falter. "Besides, between you and me," he said in a whisper, leaning slightly towards her. "The main reason why I forced Peeta into taking the project here was more due to personal reasons."

"Yes, you mentioned that before, that Mr. Heavensbee is a friend of yours," Glimmer supplied, already knowing.

"No, no, no. Well, that and also for Peeta's own good," he said in earnest before nodding in Peeta's direction. "Just look at him! He's gotten his spunk back don't you agree?"

"Spunk?" she echoed, not getting what he meant.

"I mean his passion, you know?"

Glimmer looked at Peeta. I guess he had been far more happy lately but she knew well enough it was because of those kids, and not just because he's back to his roots in Los Angeles. But for whatever reason, Mr. Abernathy was right. Peeta has been better lately. At least his attitude has improved, and he's been more motivated to do well in his work more than usual too which greatly pleased the director.

"Well, I best be going," Mr. Abernathy announced, standing up.

"Already? But you just got here," she pointed out. She didn't want him to leave yet, especially not when she still didn't get the chance to convince him to list Peeta in another project after this one.

"Yes, but I have to meet a few people in a while," he said, mistaking her tone for actually missing him. "Just tell Peeta I dropped by to say hello for me!" he called back as he made his way towards the warehouse gate.

"Well, if he won't find another job for Peeta to do, then I will," she said in a huffy voice before taking out her cell again and scanning her list of contacts. The sooner they leave Los Angeles, the better.

"Anybody home?" Katniss called out into the silence of her house. Just as she did, thumping of feet on the wooden floor echoed through the hallway.

"Welcome home mom!" Luke and Rye greeted, pulling her down for a kiss on each cheek before dashing back towards the living room.

"Hi mommy!" Willow said, wrapping her arms around Katniss's neck and kissing a cheek.

"Willow! It's almost your turn!" One of the boys called out.

"What are you guys doing?"

Willow grinned at her. "Playing a video game! The one Peeta had gotten for us two days ago!" she replied excitedly, making Katniss smile after her retreating form.

"You guys hungry?" Katniss asked aloud as she went inside the kitchen. "Hi Sae," she greeted with a smile.

"Still full from lunch!" they all chorused from the opposite room.

"You're home early Katniss," she pointed out, looking at the wall clock above the doorway which read 37 minutes past 12 o'clock. Katniss usually arrives at 2 in the afternoons.

"One of my students didn't come in today. Is there any food left from the kids' lunch?"

Sae nodded to the pot on the stove. "I left it there, Peeta rang me earlier, saying he'll have lunch here too. He should be here by now, he called me over half an hour ago. He says he's off work early today."

Katniss almost tripped as she mentioned Peeta's name but immediately recovered. She hastily grabbed a plate and filled it with food.

The doorbell rang.

"Speak of the devil!" Sae said rather amazed. "Boys! Will you get that? Your mother's eating and I have to get Peeta's meal ready!"

A few minutes later, Peeta's voice drifted into the house and a lot of laughter from all three of them followed shortly.

"Peeta! I have your food ready here dear!" Sae called out, wiping her hands on her apron while placing the plate directly across from Sakura.

"Thank you Sae!" Peeta called out before he spoke to the boys. "Where's your sister?"

"Playing that game you last got us. She's in the living room!"

The boys dashed back in and Peeta peeked through the doorway. "Hi Willow!"

Willow turned and waved at him with a small smile on her face although not saying anything. She had really gradually learned to accept him. Although she still hadn't spoken much besides the usual words she used to, she had learned to smile at him, which greatly pleased Peeta.

Peeta flashed her a smile, making her blush and turn back to her game.

"I swear, you really are something," Sae said, appearing beside him. "You even make little girls blush!" she said with a laughing tone.

Peeta grinned at her and winked.

Sae raised a brow at her. "That won't work on me young man. Besides, I'm too old for you." Peeta swore he heard a trace of dejection in her voice, making him laugh. "Come, have lunch. It sure took you a while to get here."

"I had to stop by to buy some stuff for the kids. I left them in my car," he informed her and followed her into the kitchen. "Ah, Katniss, you're here?" he asked, his jolly tone faltering considerably and not at all trying to hide it though Sae was present. He only maintained a fair attitude towards her when the kids were in the same room.

Katniss looked up at him and smiled slightly without saying a word, her eyes glassy.

"Have you been crying?" Sae asked worriedly, surprised.

Shaking her head, she smiled at the nanny reassuringly before taking a long sip of her glass of water.

Peeta's brow shot up, understanding the scene perfectly well. Seeing the mess surrounding her plate and the way Katniss was clearing her throat in between sips of water, it was obvious she was in a hurry in finishing her meal.

"Katniss had just gotten in as well," Sae told him, oblivious to the discomfited aura emitting from both adults.

"Of course. I can see that," he replied pleasantly though openly eyeing Katniss's plate which was already half empty.

"Peeta! Come play with us!" the boys' voices called out.

"Boys, give him time to eat!" Sae called back with a disapproving click of her tongue.

"Thank you," he told Sae before heading to the fridge to grab a drink. He has long felt at home in Katniss's household, ever since Willow got discharged from the hospital those many weeks ago. And they have all treated him more like family than a guest as well. Even Katniss, even though he still acted like a newly acquainted friend towards her, has been very friendly with him ever since their truce.

Although sometimes quite awkward when the kids weren't around, like now.

Peeta took his time at the fridge, picking his drink. As soon as he got around to pouring himself a glass, Katniss was done eating and was already washing her plate and utensils at the sink.

"So what brings you here so early anyway?" Sae asked conversationally as Sakura washed.

"I got off work early," he answered with a shrug before, taking a bite off a fried chicken leg.

"What a coincidence, so did Katniss," she pointed out with a nod towards her turned back.

Peeta nodded at this. "It's quite lucky really, I need to talk to you about something important too Katniss."

Katniss's back visibly tensed up as he said this.

"Oh? What about?" she asked without looking back at him.

"I'll tell you later. Nothing to worry about though," he assured her, though she didn't believe him for a bit.

"Where's Peeta?" Glimmer asked a passing crew member.

"We just saw him leave," he said, pointing to the warehouse gate. "He left alone. The director said he was done for the day," he added before making his way back towards the set with a couple of props for the other actors working on a certain scene.

"Honestly! He didn't even tell me!" she said irately, making her way outside, stomping her feet as she did.

"Oh that's good!" Katniss replied earnestly, earning her a glare from Peeta. "I-I mean, it's good that you're finally done with another movie, n-not that you have to leave I mean," she amended immediately.

He was still glaring at her before closing the passenger door to his car. He had purposely left the things he brought for the kids so he can have a private word with her outside.

"Yes, well, I'm not exactly sure when I have to leave," he continued with furrowed brows. "Maybe as soon as I finish filming for this movie or maybe a few weeks later, I'm not really sure. I just wanted to tell you this now so we can come up with some sort of plan."

"A plan?" she echoed, somewhat baffled. "What do you mean?"

"The kids Katniss, a plan with regards to our kids. Don't tell me you actually believed for a second that I'd leave here so easily without settling this do you?" he said rather harshly now.

"No, of course not," she said hastily, although that was a downright lie. She had indeed believed- or rather hoped -that he would just leave and let them live the rest of their lives as they did before he ever came.

"Good because you shouldn't. You should even be glad I didn't sue you for trying to keep our kids from me for all these years. Believe me, that thought came to me more than once ever since I found out that Luke and Rye were actually my sons."

Though Peeta talked in a casual tone, Katniss paled at what he said. She didn't even think at all that Peeta would sue her for that. She knew he could, it had crossed her mind from the day she first saw him again but she never dreamed that he had ever considered doing such a thing. Let alone considered it more than once!

"I'm not going to sue you Katniss," he assured her, seeing the look on her face. "I don't want to worry the kids, especially Willow. Besides, they don't even know I'm their father. Yet."

"Yet?" Katniss echoed yet again, meekly.

"Well I don't plan to live the rest of my days without letting my own children know that I'm their father," he told her with a frown. "It's hard enough I have to act like some close family friend instead of their father."

"Of course," she agreed in a resigned tone. "What do you propose we do then?"

"How about I take them with me for a certain time?" he suggested.

"All three of them? In a single time?" she asked incredulously. "You have work, who will take care of them? That's three of them to handle. And you can't just take one or two of them at a time, that'll break their hearts to be apart. They're triplets after all," she pointed out.

"I can take them altogether. I could always hire a nanny for each of them. That wouldn't be a problem. Money's not really an issue," he said with a shrug.

"But being with you is different from being with nannies," she pointed out with a frown.

"I suppose you're right," Peeta said regrettably before catching himself again. "But I bet they wouldn't mind. I mean, they'll have loads of fun anyway. I usually film on location, I'm sure they'd have a great time in places like China or even somewhere in Europe. Who knows, I might get to go back to Paris. I know they'd love it there."

"Paris!" Katniss exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air, not believing her ears. "They're just kids! They'll be starting school soon, and I don't think they'd like the language barrier either. All they know is English, traveling internationally would put a strain on them!"

"Well then let's hear your ideas!" he shot back at her with a glare. He understood her point perfectly, and they were really fair points. But she's not helping at all by just shouting there about how wrong his points were.

"W-Wouldn't it be easier if you just drop by whenever you can here in Los Angeles?" she suggested immediately though in a calmer tone. "I mean, it won't stress out the kids so much if they just stayed in one place and have you visit them instead. They are starting school soon after all. I-I couldn't afford paying for all three of them to go to kindergarten before," she admitted, covering the blush on her cheeks by looking down. "What with all the hospital bills I had to pay and with Willow's health getting in the way, it made it impossible for all of them. Her health hasn't stabilized at all from when she was born until she turned four. B-But she's gotten better since she turned five, and all the more now, so it's also safe to send her to school. A-And I saved enough for them to go to the school just near here, so, it'll be fine to leave them here with me…"

Katniss trailed off and Peeta looked at her without saying anything. He could tell she was deeply embarrassed about saying all this. And he doesn't blame her. Not after he just said that money's not really an issue for him. Now he felt like a total jerk for ever saying that.

"I'll think about it," he replied curtly and rather awkwardly before making his way back towards the house.

Katniss sighed and followed him.

"And Katniss," he said, abruptly stopping in his tracks, causing Katniss to crash into his broad back and lose her footing.

She gave a little yelp of surprise just as Peeta caught hold of the small of her back, holding her in place with him leaning over her.

Katniss looked up at him, his blue eyes boring down into her grey ones. She could literally feel her heart, her mind, and even her lungs stop functioning all at the same time.

Peeta looked down at her, his eyes searching hers. Searching for what, even he didn't know. After everything that's happened ever since he came to Los Angeles, his whole world's been turned upside down, and all of it is because of this woman. The girl he loved all those years ago.

Katniss's breathing hitched, noticing him lean even further towards her. This has been the closest she has ever been with him for five years, and he seems to get even closer with each passing- and agonizing –second. She was fairly sure she had been holding a bag in her hand, the things she and Peeta had gone to get in his car, but somehow, though she can't and won't bother explaining how, her hands were free of anything and she found one of them snaking their way up his chest and stopping to grip his hair at the back of his head by his neck.

She felt his breathing cease.

"Peeta…" she whispered, a trace of longing and even regret evident in her tone.

Something in him snapped. As soon as his name left her mouth, he felt all his control over his body and even his heart- which he thought had been dead over the years –leave and betray him.

Katniss watched his eyes darken considerably before the small gap between their lips swiftly dwindled into nothing.

"Rye?"

The sound of his brother's voice startled him, making him jump and his face color at getting caught. Not that it made any difference. His cheeks were already a flaming red at what he just saw.

"Y-Yes?"

Luke frowned at him before standing on the chair beside his brother and looking out the window as well.

"What are you…"

Rye jumped off the chair just as Luke's voice trailed off, his eyes now widened and cheeks flared up just as his brother's did.

Standing on the pathway leading to their house, just by the small gate in front, was Peeta and Katniss holding each other close, in a tight lip lock.

Luke looked away quickly and ran after his brother and back into the living room.

Peeta's free hand- the bag he was carrying had been dropped unceremoniously on the ground beside them sometime earlier –held Katniss by the back of her head, holding her in place as his lips finally settled on hers. His other hand's hold on her back tightened just as she wrapped both hers around his neck.

He had forgotten just how soft her lips were after all these years, and just how smooth her hair was too. How it would part when he ran his fingers through its length.

Remembering all this now and recalling just how perfectly she felt in his arms caused him to kiss her even more urgently.

A moan escaped Katniss's lips as she felt his kisses become fierce and she responded with just as much yearning, and she could feel his strong muscles relaxing under her touch as she started rubbing his neck lightly with her fingers.

Peeta knew his traitorous body wouldn't have stopped, and knew his mind would've willingly ceased functioning for a few more hours if he hadn't felt it.

His cheeks had become soggy. Only when he realized this did he hear Katniss's tiny sobs.

So he stopped.

Pulling away slowly, he opened his eyes and looked at her just as she bent her head down and hastily wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, the other still holding onto his shoulder.

"I-I'm sorry," she whispered, trying to calm herself down and control her breathing.

Peeta didn't let go of his hold on her back either, but placed his other hand under her chin, pulling her gaze up to look at him.

Her eyes were glassy and tears were still trailing down her cheeks. He wiped them away lightly with his thumb.

"So am I," he whispered, unsmilingly. He bent down, placing a kiss on both cheeks, freeing them of tears. He trailed his thumb over her lips before giving her a final kiss on the forehead and finally released his hold on her.

Peeta picked up the dropped items on the ground and made his way back into the house without looking back.

I just wanna say I'm so, so, so sorry. I know it's being so long since I posted the last chapter... but life happened and time went by so... I'll do my best so posting won't take that long again, I promise.