Title is subject to change. This is my first Gale/Katniss story, so don't kill me if it sucks, kay? :) Also, I will be placing the setting right after the part where Katniss healed, except Katniss is not with Peeta, and Primrose did not die.

All characters, settings, etc. belong to their rightful owners.

I walk in the garden beside my sister, Primrose. She is talking, but I am not listening. I am still thinking about the conversation with Gale I had earlier. What did he mean, they don't know whose bomb it was that nearly killed Prim and I? I had shielded Prim with my body, taking most of the burn, and gripped her hand tightly as the flames licked my body. Despite the feeling of her hand slipping through mine, I gripped it, pulling her to safety in Gale's arms.

Should that make a difference? It was Gale who caught her when her hand slipped through mine and her body began to fall.

But it was Peeta who caught me. As Primrose fell below me, I screamed for someone to catch her before losing my grip. Peeta ignored my call, catching me instead of my beloved sister.

Am I thankful to the one who saved my own life, or am I thankful to the one who saved the one who means more than my own life? I loved Gale as a brother long before I met Peeta, but the sunny character of Peeta is hard to resist. Gale has a fire, the same fire that burns within me.

Forcing myself back to the present, I slid my scarred hand into Primrose's smooth one. She looks up at me, somehow sensing that I was elsewhere as she spoke. We stop walking, and I realize that we are back at our new home in District 13. I release her hand to turn the doorknob, opening the door and stepping inside. My mother looks up from the counter where she is cooking, and announces, "Gale is waiting for you." I nod wordlessly, and head to the storage closet where I keep my bow and arrows. Whenever Gale is waiting for me, it means that he wants to hunt. I walk out the door to Gale.

Listening to the almost silent crackle of leaves beneath my feet, I walk to the clearing where Gale and I always meet. It was him, as well, who had taught me to walk silently on the forest floor. Him who had helped me feed my family when I could barely feed myself.

But it was Peeta who had showed me how to live my life. To be free and happy.

Sighing, I shake off the internal dilemma and arrive at the clearing. Gale is standing there, no weapons in sight. However, this is normal for him, mostly he sets traps and checks back on them later. As I walk towards where I know his first trap will be, he falls into step beside me. Compared to his silent cat-like steps on the forest floor, my sneakers sound like gunshots in the still air.

"So..." Gale's deep voice seems to blend perfectly with out surroundings. I am silent, waiting for him to continue. When he doesn't, I speak.
"So?" My voice doesn't fit with the trees around us. I turn to look at Gale, the person who has been like a brother to me for so many years. Unusual for him, he refuses to meet my eyes, staring straight ahead at the foliage before us.
"Did Peeta ask you?" I know instantly what he is talking about, but pretend not to to see Gale's reaction.
"Ask me what?" Now Gale turns to look at me. His face is blank, perfectly arranged in an uncaring mask, and I don't believe it.
"He said he was going to ask you to marry him." Now Gale's face is pleading, pleading for me to tell him that I said no.
"I said I needed time to think. I'm not sure I want to marry Peeta, even though my mother and Primrose want me to." Unexpectedly, Gale stops and turns to me, putting his hands on my shoulders. He leans his face in close, so that I can feel his breath wash over my face.
"Please," he whispers urgently. "Don't marry Peeta." And with that, he is gone, vanishing into the woods. For a while, I stare at a random tree, thinking over what Gale has said to me. I love Gale as a brother, but does he love me as more?

I get up, not knowing how much time has passed, and begin walking home to Prim and Mother.

So? Should I continue or is it not that good? Improvement ideas, plot ideas, criticism, anything's welcome in a review. :)