A/N Heyy I'm back! Didja miss me? Of course you did, everyone loves me. Anyway, thank you so much for your reviews! And guess who's e-mail was flooded with alerts of favorite author and favorite stories? No, it's not you. IT'S ME! Haha thank you all soooo much! In my language: Maraming Salamat, po! Yes, I can speak my language, though I'm not good at it, haha! Anyways, if you ask me how I got this idea, I took the challenge of putting my iPod on shuffle and writing a one-shot about the first song. Well the first song was Liv It Up by Alexander Ludwig! It was all about YOLO, ya know? Anyways I decided to throw away that, then I looked at photos of Alexander on Google. *cue drooling*...anyways, I saw this photo of him on a boat thingy, and I thought OMG I should write a one-shot about the tributes on the beach! Well, the tributes we know, at least. Marvel, Glimmer, Cato, Clove...yeah people like that. Then after that, I thought Gale should be there too! And...I'll be his partner MUAHAHAHAHAHHA. So you now know what's in my mind...kind of.

And...sorry if you wanted Rue in it, but this is for teenagers...Rue is 12-13... :/ and I can't really find a way to put Thresh in...sorry

Disclaimer: I do not own a beach, nor do I own The Hunger Games, or anything familiar. Unfortunately, I do not own Gale Hawthorne, though I would like it if I did.

This is AU! :) and maybe a bit OOC...sorry, but it's just in my mind.

Katniss's POV

I wake up to the sound of a harsh ringing on my bedside table. I groan, sit up and reach for the source of my rude awakening. Apparently, it's my phone. I check the caller ID. Peeta. Great, what does he want now? I was planning on sleeping in for the day. I click the answer button.

"Katniss!" Peeta's voice rings in my ears. "Are you doing anything today?" he asks me. I'm getting a bit suspicious now. "No..." I answer. "Great! Pack up your swimming stuff, we're going to the beach!" he exclaims. "Wait, hold up. Who's going with?"

"The gang. Cato, Clove, Glimmer, Marvel, Foxface, Gale, Julia, me, you."

"That is a lot of people."

"The beach is big. Expect it. Now go pack up your stuff, I'll be there in about a half hour."

"Okay...?"

"Great, glad you agreed! Bye!"

I hear the click. He hung up. Oh well, I've got like three minutes to warm up, then about ten minutes for a shower, and the rest for packing up. I smile, knowing I have already planned everything out. I slowly climb out of bed and stretch my limbs. Oh that feels good. I enter my bathroom and start brushing my teeth and washing my face. When I'm done, I feel alive, so I turn on the shower. I make sure there's a towel nearby, then I hop in.

That's refreshing. I let the water run down my body for a good minute, then I start to use the soap, shampoo, the basics.

After my last rinse, I step out, wrap a towel around my head to dry my hair just enough to get it ready for blow-drying, and I put on a white robe. I exit my bathroom, leaving the door ajar.

I open my wardrobe and start picking things out. A suitable swimsuit, a sundress, sunglasses, a hat, sunscreen, flip-flops, shorts and a t-shirt for after. I pack all those things in a bag and just in case, I bring my wallet. Though I think if we're ever going to buy something, Peeta will insist on paying. Ever the gentleman, but I really don't need it. I'm independent enough.

After double-checking that I had everything, I make my way back to the bathroom, unwrap the towel and grab the blow dryer. While I'm doing it, I run a wide-toothed comb through my hair to help. Finally, after about three minutes, I'm not sure, my hair is dry, but still a bit damp.

I leave my bathroom and check the time. Five more minutes until Peeta arrives. May as well take the time to dress, seeing as I'm still in my robe. I settle for the flip-flops that I set beside my bag, and the sundress that I packed. After dressing, I find something to hold my hair up and pull it into a messy bun. I snatch my bag up from my bed and start heading downstairs.

Ring! My doorbell signals someone is at the door. Just on time. I open the door to be greeted with a smiling Peeta, decked out in a plain white t-shirt, navy blue board shorts, and of course, flip-flops. "Hey," he says. "You ready?" I roll my eyes at him. "No, I'm still asleep. Of course I'm ready," I tell him sarcastically. "Ease up on the sarcasm, just making sure!" he says defensively. I mutter an apology. He brightens up and leads me to the car. Since Peeta doesn't have his driver's license yet, Gale is driving. "I got dibs on shotgun by the way," he tells me. He opens the door to the backseat for me and before I can react, runs all the way around the car to shotgun. I let out a sigh, wondering how I ever put up with him. Then again, it must be hard to put up with me too. I push all thoughts away from my head and step into the car. I close the door and Gale starts it up.

"Hey, Katniss!" I'm greeted by a familiar voice. "Julia, what are you doing here?" I ask her. She lets out a small laugh. "Didn't Peeta tell you?" Doh! Now I remember Peeta mentioning her. Of course she was coming, her and Gale are inseparable. Nobody minds though, everyone likes her. She's nice, she's friendly and she's not very demanding. In a way she's like my best friend. "So...why are we going to the beach?" I ask. "Who are you talking to?" Peeta retorts at me. "Everyone in this car, duh." Julia speaks up. "Gale told me," she says. I send a look at Gale. "Peeta told me!" he defends. The look lands on Peeta. "You woke me up just to go to the beach?" There's a dangerous edge evident in my voice. Unfortunately, Peeta has gotten used to it and refuses to cower under my glare.

"I knew you were going to sleep in, so I thought I 'Hey, I'm bored. I should go to the beach.', but then, I thought 'Wait, I'll be alone. I know! I'll invite the gang!' and it all leads up to me calling all of you," explains Peeta. I take a good hard look at him to check if he's lying. To be honest, I have no idea when he's lying and when he's not, unless I'm in on it. And right now, I'm not. He's not doing anything out of the norm, so I guess he's not lying. I shrug and lean backwards.

The ride was starting to get boring, and I can tell Peeta knew that. "Let's play a game," he suggests. "No, you're doing it all wrong! Say it like the Saw's puppet!" Julia exclaims. She clears her throat, and in a deep, raspy voice, she says, "Let's play a game." Peeta looks back at both of us with a scared look in his eyes. Julia and I burst out laughing. "Keep it down back there, I know you want to have fun but I still need to concentrate," says Gale. "Boo," Julia says. "Party-pooper!" she starts calling Gale names, such as killjoy, no fun, and other things that I have no idea how she came up with them.

"Okay, now that we've calmed down enough," Peeta says in between deep breaths. "Let's play a game. And don't think about correcting me again." Julia fakes an insulted impression on her face a bit dramatically. "Well, I never!" she says in an accent. I'm about to laugh, but I hold it in for the sake of Gale not crashing us into a tree or something.

"The Number Plate game?" Peeta suggests. "Sure," I agree. I turn to Julia. "You know how to play?" I ask her. She gives a simple nod to show that she does. "Great! Now...how about that one?" Peeta points to the car in front of us. I squint my eyes to read it. "PLK...um..." I think about it. Julia's face lights up as if she's gotten an idea. "Lightbulb! Peeta loves Katniss!" She cracks up at my expression. "Oh calm down, it's just a game. So what's yours?" I strain my mind to come up with something. "Pie likes koalas," Peeta blurts out. Cue another laughing fit from Julia. "Oh shut up. At least I made one, unlike Katniss." I glare daggers at him. "I'm still thinking," I defend. "Peel lime keys," I finally say. "Oh my gosh that is hilarious!" Julia exclaims.

"Not to be a killjoy," Gale starts. Julia rolls her eyes. "But you are." Gale ignores that statement and continues. "Could you be a little quieter?" he asks. "Fine..." Peeta answers. "I declare myself winner as my answer actually makes sense," Julia announces. "Mine did!" says Peeta. Julia is about to launch a witty remark at him, but I stop her. "Peeta, just admit it. Hers did make sense," I tell him. Julia sticks her tongue out at him and leans back with a smug look on her face. "Whatever," Peeta says nonchalantly. "Next one?" Julia looks back and points to another one. "TNA," she states. "I got one! Ti-" she starts. "Timmy needs animals!" Peeta breaks her off. "That was my answer!" she complains to Peeta. "Well find another one." Luckily, Julia is a quick thinker. "Troll Nicaragua always!" she says. "That's unfair to Nicaragua," Peeta retorts. "Oh fine. Tea needs appointments. Happy?"

"Makes sense, I guess."

"Of course it does."

"And as usual, Katniss is the last to answer."

I glare at him for what seems like the hundredth time today. "As usual? We just started the game!" I was about to yell, but I don't really feel like another telling off from Gale. "We're here," Gale announces. "Which is good, because I couldn't stand your bickering, honestly." Julia huffs and pushes the door open. She steps out, followed by me.

A hot rush of air hits me as I stand up straight. I take my surroundings in. The sound of the impact of the waves hitting the sand roars all throughout the beach. I hear the door slam behind me and Peeta steps out. "Well?" he asks Julia and I. "What are you waiting for? Let's hit the beach!" Peeta sprints down heading towards the water. I look at Julia and shrug. She gives me a simple smile with a hint of a devilish smirk. Oh, I know what she wants. "One," she mouths. "Two," I mimic. "Three!"

Both of us run as fast as we can, following Peeta, leaving Gale to catch up. The sea breeze feels cool as I sprint, refreshing me, urging me to run faster. Unfortunately, it affects Julia just the same and she keeps up with my pace.

We spot Peeta nearby the edge of the beach, accompanied by the rest of us. Cato, Clove, Glimmer, Rue, Thresh...basically the whole gang.

I remember I'm sprinting against Julia, and I pick up my pace. My legs scream complaints, but I push them away. I'm determined to win this. Peeta notices I'm racing her, and he grabs a hanky from Cato-though I don't know why he owns a handkerchief and why he brought it- and waves it in the air, waiting for one of us to finish. I speed up as much as I can, and so does Julia.

Then we pass Peeta.

We both fall onto our knees and look back to Peeta. I raise my eyebrows, asking him a silent question: Who won? He comes up to us and waits for us to catch our breath. "Both of you," he says. Oh well. I'll take it. "Great race," I say to Julia. She grins at me and holds out her hand for me to shake. I accept the gesture. She stands up and pulls me up with her. "You could have at least told me you were going to race," Gale says. "Sorry," Julia apologizes. "Apology isn't accepted." Julia takes a deep breath. "Okay." She shuts her eyes. Oh no, I know where this is going. She opens her eyes again and puts on a pout. "Sorry," she repeats, but this time she pulls off a puppy dog face. Gale closes his eyes and tries to turn away. "It's not going to work on me," he says. "Then why are you turning away?" Julia says, the puppy dog face gone, now replaced with a smug expression. "Because...it works on me," Gale replies. "Aw, Gale is scared of a little puppy dog face?" she taunts. "Shut up."

"Okay, but I'm not going to drop this. I will use this on you."

"No, you won't."

"Don't make me do it again."

Gale gulps. Oh, he's just scared of the weirdest things. Preferably girlfriends who act like your best friend and insult you in any way possible, but still love you.

"Shit!" Cato swears loudly. Clove immediately smacks a hand over his mouth. "What are you thinking? There are kids on this beach, Cato! That was loud enough to be heard by half of this place!" Clove scolds him."Oh yeah, you're definitely not clumsy," Marvel says sarcastically. "Like you're not."

"I'm not."

"Calm down," Glimmer says. Fortunately, she manages to stop a fight between those two. It's happened before, and it's not pretty. Both ended up with a black eye, and they were taken to the clinic. Not before Cato kicked Marvel in his...soft part. Of course, Marvel crumpled to the ground, holding his hands over his manhood to protect it. Cato got suspended for that. Marvel did too, because both of them started the fight.

"But-" Marvel starts to protest. "No," says Glimmer firmly. "Come on, how about-" Glimmer turns around and shoots him a look. "No!" she snaps. "Ohoho, dude you're letting your girlfriend control you?" Cato tells Marvel. "Watch your mouth Cato, I can do that too," Clove says. "As if," scoffs Cato. Clove raises her eyebrow threateningly. Cato's eyes widen and clamps his mouth shut. I almost feel sorry for both of them.

"Guys, are you going to argue all day or are we going to go swimming, sunbathing, or whatever it is that people at the beach do?" Foxface says. She's already in her swimsuit. I wonder who helped her pick it out. It was a green cut-out one piece, with small red accents brimming the cut-out. It brought out her bright red hair, which was pulled back, showing a splash of freckles across her nose.

"Of course we're going to swim. It's those people," Clove points to Cato and Marvel. "Who keep fighting." Clove, much like me, is not a big fan of bikinis. Technically, we all hate bikinis except Glimmer. Clove is wearing a simple one-shouldered black one piece. With black flip-flops. Matching her raven black hair. And her black bag. Clove is a big fan of black. In her words, she says it reminds her of death, which is cool since she loves war movies. When she told us that, all of us except Cato backed away from her. We've gotten used to it though, but we all made a mental note that if we ever went to the cinema, we wouldn't let her or Cato choose the movie.

Glimmer on the other hand, is very fond of bikinis. She's wearing a pink-peach number, with purple swirls. It looks good on her, but then again, almost everything does, right?

Julia isn't really a fan of swimming. She explained it to me maybe a month ago. She liked swimming, she was just happy with her skin color since she was already tanned. She made an exception today, though. A simple blue halter swimsuit and matching shorts.

What I'm wearing is similar to Clove's, just in green. Not green flip-flops though. My flip-flops are decorated in a forest scenery. I won't lie saying I bought them, but Peeta bought them for me on my birthday. He said they used to be plain white and he painted the scenery on it. So I was really thankful that he gave them to me, they're perfect.

The boys...well it's simple. They all took their shirts off and left on their board shorts. Why can't girls have clothes as simple as that?

Cato, being the competitive guy he is, challenges Marvel to a race. Marvel agrees, also being competitive. And Glimmer, the usual argument-stopper, was too late as they are already sprinting towards the water. Glimmer sighs in exasperation and walks slowly, following her boyfriend's path. Clove does the same.

When all of us reached the shore, Cato and Marvel are bickering. Again. No surprise there.

"You cunt! I won that fucking race!" Marvel curses at Cato loudly. Cato seems taken aback by this, but quickly regains his composure. "You are such a wanker, I won that!" Cato swears. "Stop it!" Glimmer's screech grabs the attention of both boys. "You guys are cussing so loudly, everyone in the perimeter of the whole beach and more can hear! And I think you forgot, there are kids here, too!" Marvel clamps his mouth shut, but Cato opens his mouth as if ready to blow up on Glimmer. "Don't even think about it," Clove commands him. "But what if I will?" Cato asks. Rhetorical question, probably, but Clove doesn't seem to notice. "You deserve a well-earned slap if you do." Cato manages to keep a straight face on, but his eyes clearly show fear.

"Hey, guys! Watch this," Foxface exclaims from a dock not too far from where we are currently standing. She jumps off, does a perfect front flip and enters the water gracefully. "Wow," I say in awe. I wasn't the only one who was amazed, because when I turn back to look at the rest of them, they're also staring wide-eyed at her dive. "I'm doing that," Clove announces and sprints towards the dock. "Me too." Glimmer runs off, following the path of Clove. I look at Julia. She shrugs and begins to walk towards the dock, too. I catch up to her and we walk in silence.

Right before I step onto the wooden boards of the dock, I get splashed by salty water. I turn towards the source of the splash. Peeta. I hadn't noticed, but he had entered the water and he was slowly following us, getting ready for a sneak attack. "You are such an-" I stop myself from almost cursing. "Idiot," I say. Peeta raises his eyebrow at me and then splashes me again. By this time, my whole body is wet. No point in not swimming now. I dive into the water, not bothering to do a dive like Foxface's as I planned.

As I resurface, another splash hits me. I glare at Peeta and start splashing him, too. In just a few moments, it's turned out into an all-out splash war. He gets ready for a big one, and I hold my hand over my head for protection.

We're distracted by a big splash to my right. I manage to shield myself just in time for the next one. The first splash was from Cato, and the second one was from Marvel. Glimmer joins Marvel and Clove swims over to Cato, but he doesn't notice. Clove sees that he doesn't know she's coming over so she submerges herself underwater. I wonder what she's going to do. After about twenty seconds, Cato curses again. "What the fuck!" Clove resurfaces and she's having a laughing fit. "What the fuck was that?" Cato demands. "I'm going to ignore the cussing because this is too funny," Clove says, trying to hold in her laughter, making her laugh harder. "What did you do?" Glimmer asks in between giggles. "I tickled his foot with a bit of sea grass, not much really," Clove answers. We all give Cato a look. "What?" he asks. "You're ticklish?" Julia asks him. "Yeah..." he mutters, loud enough for all of us to hear. Cue another fit of laughter. "Yes!" Julia cheers. "Thanks for the blackmail material." Cato's eyes widen. "Gale, tell your girlfriend not to use that against me!" Gale just laughs. "No can do, man. She's got some blackmail material on me, too," says Gale. "You would blackmail your own boyfriend?" Foxface asks Julia. "I've got blackmail material on almost anyone. Just in case I need something done. Don't think I don't have some material on you, because I do," Julia says with a cheeky wink. I make a mental reminder: Do not get on her bad side.

We basically spend the whole day swimming. Thankfully, Julia had the sense to nag Gale to bring a picnic basket. We all wondered why Gale had a picnic basket, but he said Julia left it in his house. And on his way to get Peeta, he stopped by a shop and bought us a few sandwiches, junk food, drinks, and basically food that teenagers love. We ate that for lunch, so we didn't have to worry about starving on the beach. Technically, we wouldn't starve since there's a hotdog stand not too far off, and everyone brought their wallets, but we figured we should save our money and eat what Gale had packed/bought.

Before we knew it, the sun is already starting to set. I sit on the dock, with only my lower legs submerged in the water. "That's pretty," a voice says beside me. "That's your favorite color, isn't it?" I ask. "Yup," Peeta says, popping the 'p'. "That's not the only thing that's pretty, you know."

"What are you implying?"

"I'm just saying...you're pretty, too."

I feel a blush creeping to my cheeks, only hoping that it isn't visible because of the orange light from the sunset. "Thanks." That's it? That's all I could come up with? Peeta's been my best friend since forever, and all I can come up with is thanks? Good going, brain. I turn to Peeta, and I notice he's been staring at me. Not even knowing what's going on, we both lean in. Right before our lips touch, I feel a cold sensation. Not sparks, but literally a cold sensation.

Standing over us, is Gale holding an empty bucket that was filled with water. "You probably hate me, but I just thought I should do that," says Gale. Peeta glares at him but Gale just gives him a smile. "You two lovebirds going to sit here making googly-eyes at each other the whole night or do you want to go home now?" he asks us. "Let's go home," says Peeta. "Sure," I agree. "Great. I'll meet you at my car, and try not to do anything...intimate." Gale laughs at Peeta's expression. "Just kidding!"

"Gale is such an..." Peeta starts. "Go on, you can swear. Just not too loudly." I urge him to continue. "Ass," he finishes. "Yay, you're done. Now...where were we?" I ask him. "I believe we were about to do this." Before he gives me a chance to answer, he smashes his lips into mine, cupping my face and tilting his head to get more access. It takes a few moments for me to regain my thoughts and kiss him back. I rest my hands around his neck, while his is on my waist.

As if on cue, I hear fireworks going off in the early night sky. We break away, a bit disgruntled by the sudden interruption. "Beautiful," Peeta says. "I agree. The colors are so pretty," I say. "What makes you think I was talking about the fireworks?" Peeta asks. I blush and look down. "Let's go now," says Peeta. "Before Gale thinks we're doing something-in his words—intimate." I let out a small laugh. He stands up and offers his hand to help me up. I gladly take it and pull myself up. Then we walk towards Gale's car, hands still intertwined.

Today is probably one of the best days ever.

A/N omg this was the longest I have written. In my whole life. The most I've written is only 2.1k words or something, but this..I'm too lazy to count, sorry. Haha but I hope you appreciate this! I wrote this is three days, so you better review and make me happy. Much love! xx

P.S: Gale doesn't deserve hate. *warning spoiler if you hadn't read Mockingjay* he didn't know his bomb would kill Prim!