Five years after the fall of the Capitol, Katniss and Peeta struggle to find normalcy in District 12 while living under the relentless gaze of Panem's media. As rumors swirl about them starting a family, they play along-only for the joke to turn into reality. Faced with her deepest fears, Katniss must decide if she can embrace the future Peeta longs for or remain trapped by the ghosts of their past. DISCLAIMER**** I do not own these characters from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

It's been almost 6 months since the end of the war. Katniss and Peeta have managed to regain the friendship they'd thought they lost, but Katniss is unsure if Peeta is ready to face his old feelings and pursue something more between them. Katniss herself worries that she may not be mentally prepared for what a relationship might entail. The problem is, that hunger she felt for him on the beach in the Quell won't relent, and it only grows stronger when they resume their previous sleeping arrangements. In an attempt to stave off the hunger she feels for Peeta without putting pressure on him to label what exactly he feels for her, she suggests a simple proposition-that they become friends with benefits. But friends with benefits is never as simple as it sounds. (Post-Mockingjay Everlark growing back together fic) **previously titled "Cruel Summer"-changed due to developments in personal views of that artist; edits to come**

Instead of 'playing' in the quarter quell Katniss and Peeta actually mentor it. What happens when snow calls for the 76th annual hunger games the be an honorary quarter quell, but this time they actually know their tributes, two twins that the couple has grown very fond of. Will Katniss and Peeta actually save one of them from dying such a cruel fate or will they not be able to save either one of them