Do not fret, I am going to continue working on my other fic, "I'll Never Hurt You, Never," but for some reason I had another idea that I really wanted to work on. This may or may not work, but I can't get it out of my head. So, I figure I'll just give it a shot

So, in this fic, basically Katniss does not enter the Games and she and Gale get married. This is kind of my take on what their marriage would be like. Believe me, not fluffy, or even stable. I know writing them together is non-traditional, and I definitely do not by any means think that Katniss and Gale should be together, but I want to explore what this would be like a little more. Please tell me what you think and if I should continue. :)

Also, disclaimer- I do not own the Hunger Games or the characters in this fic. They all belong to Suzanne Collins. Also, this is rated M for a reason, mainly violence. But you have been warned.

Chapter 1

"Everything Will Be Normal"

I sit in my kitchen…my kitchen, that sounds weird. I still can't get use to the fact that I have things that are mine now. Well, mine and Gale's. Two weeks into marriage and I am still having trouble adjusting to my new name—Katniss Hawthorne just doesn't have the same ring to it. I can't get used to waking up every morning next to Gale instead of Prim. I can't get used to having a home that is considered ours. Being married has led me to realize that the whole concept of marriage is just strange and really takes some adjusting.

I stand up and move to the window. Gale is outside chopping a few pieces of wood for the stove. It's his day off from the mines. Even that is something that's weird. I never thought that we would be a product of the Seam, but we are. Married and just trying to make it, that's my life.

I know that Gale is having trouble adjusting as well. He hasn't been himself lately, and he doesn't even realize it. I think he's afraid. He now has a family that is his. The responsibility was not passed on to him—we are a family. I definitely shoulder the responsibility just as much as he does, but I don't think he sees that. In his mind, he is the provider and if something goes wrong it's on him. I don't think that way at all. I've been trying to reassure him of that, but he doesn't seem to listen.

As a matter of fact, he never seems to listen. Our whole approach to one another is different. It's as if I'm no longer his friend. Wife Katniss has a different role, a different set of expectations than friend Katniss. He doesn't seem to see this shift in dynamic either. I'm sure that it's nothing. I'm sure that once we settle in everything will be fine. This is only an adjustment period; we just need to feel out our new situation. Then things will be back to normal.

I watch him out of the window, solemnly working. I still haven't decided if I ever loved Gale. But what is love exactly? How do I know if what I feel for Gale is love? I don't. I move back to the kitchen chair and sink into it.

I don't know if I love Gale, and I am still not sure why we got married. I never intended to marry. I knew that I could make it on my own, but I still said yes. I said that I would marry him for some reason. I thought about that for a moment. We had just watched as our friend Madge was reaped. It was awful. We all thought that she of all people was safe, but we were wrong. After she was reaped, it was like the bottom fell out and our world turned upside down. Gale and I went into the woods and we both cried. I wasn't very close to Madge, but feeling so unsafe in our world struck a chord somehow.

He held me close, and then he kissed me. He said that he didn't want to spend the rest of his life without me, he couldn't possibly. He asked me to marry him, and I said yes.

Going back to that moment, I can't figure out why that was my impulse, but I'm assuming it was out of love. Two weeks later we were married. And now, two weeks later I'm here in my kitchen with my husband outside of our home, cutting wood for our stove. I'm sure that when the weirdness rubs off things will go back to normal. They have to.

I run my fingers through my dark hair and move to the bedroom to get dressed, something I should have already done. I glance at my reflection and spot my now-fading black eye. I look for only a moment, the purple-ish, green color almost unnoticeable, only leaving the deep shades of grey to rim my left eye. I quickly look away and enter my…our bedroom. "Everything will be normal," I whisper softly into the silence. "Everything will be normal."

Ok, so what do you think? I'm kind of excited about it. Should I continue?