"Thank fuck we're getting out of here, eh?"

I smile at the sound of my best friend Thom's voice. He saunters up behind me, two open bottles of Heineken in his meaty hand. Tossing me a bottle, he raises his eyebrows and takes a large swig from his. He guzzles almost two-thirds of the bottle before facing me again, a stupid grin plastered on his face.

"You're sick," I say, shaking my head.

"Liven up, Gale!" he says as he playfully cuffs my head. "We're done with school!"

The thought really sinks in as Thom says it aloud.

"We-we're done." I say, my voice only a breathy whisper.

"Yup," Thom replies, his lips popping on the 'p' as he lifts his bottle to his mouth again for another drink.

"We're done!"

I'm so excited that I swing my bottle of beer up to my lips and drink deeply from it in a few eager gulps. Thom beams at me as I clap him on the back appreciatively.

"It's really us now, you know?" I say. "This is it. The beginning of our lives."

Thom is about to reply when he's interrupted by a sharp click clacking of high heels and an even higher pitched voice.

"Thom!"

Madge Undersee is a dreadfully bubbly girl; all blonde curls bright blue eyes and pink lips. She's sickly sweet…much too saccharine for my taste.

I prefer brunettes.

"Hey, baby!" Thom crows, whipping around to face his girlfriend. She races into his arms, placing chaste kisses all over his face. They quickly begin to make out, causing me to snort into my bottle as I raise it to my lips.

"Madge!"

I'm a little surprised to hear another voice calling Madge's name. I'd been under the impression that the only ones in the deserted square were Madge, Thom and myself.

"We have to get home," the girl says, her tone both frustrated and amused.

Her words make me smile. I pull off my cap and swiftly chuck it at the couple, causing Madge to protest as it knocks her square in the ear.

"Ow!"

The girl laughs, and as I turn to look at her, I'm surprised for the second time tonight.

She's hot.

Straight black hair hangs down to her waist, drawing my eyes to her gentle curves. Her plump pink lips are stretched into a smile, revealing a row of pretty white teeth that shine against her olive skin. Her eyes are the most gorgeous shade of grey I've ever seen, not stereotypical blue or boring brown or dull green. She's unique.

"I'm sorry, have we met?" I ask, not remembering such a pretty face.

She raises an eyebrow. "Yes, a few times actually. I'm Madge's roommate."

Great. This chick remembers me and I've absolutely no clue who she is.

"Oh," I say intelligently.

"Don't you remember me, Gale?" she asks innocently. "You crashed my birthday party last May. You were totally smashed-you came bursting into my apartment and called me Clove, begging me to go out with you."

Even better, I made a complete asshole of myself in front of this girl and didn't even know it.

"Charming, wasn't I?" I joke. Luckily this coaxes a smile out of her, and she laughs.

"Katniss. Katniss Everdeen," she says, sticking out a thin hand towards me. I take it, giving her hand a firm squeeze.

"Gale Hawthorne. Although, I guess you knew that."

She smiles again, the action making her pretty face radiant.

"So, Katniss. What do you say we get out of here?"

My back hurts as it hits the mahogany door, my small frame being overpowered by Gale's larger one. His brawny arms envelop me as he smashes his lips against mine once more. All previous conversation about the Capitol has ceased as he shoves his tongue into my mouth.

I don't want to give in to Gale. I don't want to become another girl on his long list of conquests.

I'm quickly discovering that the end of college is nothing what I thought it'd be like at all.

I had fully expected to return to my dorm tonight, celebrating with a bottle of Jack Daniels and loudly singing along to my worn out copy of Let It Bleedand sleeping it off into the next day's late afternoon.

That didn't seem like that was going to be the case anymore, however.

I pry my lips from Gale's as I reach under my ghastly graduation robe to fish out my apartment key from my pocket. He takes the opportunity to attack my neck with his lips instead, which I have to admit, feels great, although it manages to make me nervous at the same time.

Pushing away my apprehension, I open my apartment's old door and pull Gale inside. We kiss again, this one more electric than the last. I find myself wanting to be closer to him, wanting more of him.

It scares me. I don't want to feel like I need anyone.

Gale hugs me closer to him as our kiss continues, his arms circling around my waist as he does so.

"I'm just going to go wash up," I tell him as we enter my bedroom. "No jacking off while I'm gone." He nods, kissing me one last time before letting go.

I dash over to my bathroom, shutting the door behind me tightly.

"Stay calm, Katniss," I whisper to myself. I never do this kind of thing, and the thought of it is a little scary.

I splash some cold water on my face, trying to convince myself that I'm not dreaming. I smile at my reflection and pop back out into my bedroom. I'm disappointed, however, to find that Gale is slipping back into his jeans.

"Oh! You're going!" I say in surprise, trying to keep the disappointment out of my voice.

Gale must notice my despondency, because he instantly stops getting dressed.

"Well, it's getting light out. I thought...I thought you might want to get some sleep."

"You should, um, go if you want to go," I say, suddenly feeling incredibly self-conscious.

"I mean I can-"

"No, no, go!"

"I just thought..."

"I'm not bothered, just sneak off! Jump out the window, for all I care!"

"I'll stay! I'll stay."

Gale slides off his pants again, dressed only in his boxer shorts. He plops himself down on my bed, pulling the covers up higher over his chest. He motions for me to come and sit next to him, and I oblige, trying to fight off the horrible feelings of insecurity.

"I'm sorry," I say after a few awkward moments of silence. "I'm really not good at this."

"It's okay," Gale says, shifting a little so I'm leaning against his chest. "We can just be friends."

I turn my head to look at him, and see that a silly grin has made its way onto his face. I can't help but return it with one of my own.

"Okay. Friends it is," I reply, pulling the sheets tighter around us. "Let's try and get some sleep."

We settle into a comfortable position in my tiny double bed, becoming relaxed at the thought of a peaceful sleep.

"You want to do something tomorrow?" I ask after a moment. "Just the two of us?"

I can feel Gale's smile against my neck before he answers.

"I'd love that. Tomorrow...tomorrow will be our day."

Just wanted to quickly thank you for taking the time to read this story! It's unbearably short, so I'm hoping to get out another longer chapter by Monday.

I really appreciate any feedback...this is my first fanfic in a while and it would be great to hear your thoughts.

Once again, thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed!