This story started as an Everlark Drabble Challenge ~ I was challenged by ghtlovesthg with the prompt Retail!Everlark. The first thing I thought of was Where the Heart is by Billie Letts. You will find quotes from the HG series and WtHi (I own neither). As I was afraid of, this is only the beginning. I used to wonder how people could write such long fics, now I don't know how any writer can keep a story under 2,000 words. I will update it when I can, this is not my main WiP, but I will add to it when I can. Big thanks to to ghtlovesthg for cleaning up all my messy grammar and spelling errors; she is the best.

Warnings: Rated M

~ Gale lovers beware; I turned Gale into an awful guy here, if that bothers you, stop now.

~ Brief talk of molestation

~ Teen pregnancy

Home is... by flip-fantasia

Katniss Everdeen, seventeen, seven and a half months pregnant, twenty-seven pounds overweight - and superstitious about sevens - just couldn't get comfortable in the seat of the old Plymouth Supercharger and nervously ran her hands along the curves of her belly.

Normally sevens were thought to be a lucky number, but not for Katniss. On her seventh birthday, an explosion in the mines killed her father. Then, on July 7th, 2007, when she was 10, her momma announced she was running away with a baseball umpire named Fred. In the seventh grade her only friend, Madge, stole an ice cream truck for her boyfriend and got sent to the Virginia State School for Girls.

Katniss knew that sevens were bad news for her, and she did her best to steer clear of them. But sometimes, she thought, you just can't see what's coming.

Sevens were not her problem at the moment, as she twisted and squirmed, trying to ease the pain in her hips. She had to go, again, but it was too soon to ask. It would only make him mad. Gale had the pedal to the floor, and though he seemed to hit every pot-hole and crack in the pavement, the car never dipped below seventy-five. The road signs screamed out their warnings in bright orange and yellow, but he didn't notice.

The car hit a curve too fast, dropping the front tire off the shoulder, and every bump and shimmy of the car went straight to Katniss's bladder. She couldn't wait any longer.

"Hon, I really need to stop again."

"Jesus, Katniss," Gale said, smacking the dashboard, "You just went!"

"I know, but…"

"If we stop every fifty miles, we are never going to make it. Why don't you sleep or something?"

She was tired, maybe that would take her mind off of it for a little while longer. "Alright, I'll try," she told him, as she carefully reached down to unstrap her green sandals. They were too tight now that her feet were so swollen from sitting, but they were the only shoes she had. She placed them carefully to the side, as far away as she could from the T.V. tray covering the hole in the floor board, before drifting off to sleep.

As she let her mind wander, her thoughts went to Gale's mom, Hazelle. Some would find it strange that Katniss didn't miss her own mother much, especially given her current state. But Hazelle had been so kind to take her in all those years ago after her mother left. She felt like such a part of the family.

Katniss had always thought of Gale like a brother, so it was strange when he began to look at her differently. Their relationship had changed so fast. One minute they were washing the dinner dishes, and then suddenly he took Katniss's face in his hands and kissed her.

She was completely unprepared. You would think that after all the hours she'd spent with Gale—watching him talk, and laugh, and frown — that she would know all there was to know about his lips. But Katniss hadn't imagined how warm they would feel pressed against her own.

She tried to decide how she felt about the kiss, if she liked it or resented it, but all she really remembered was the pressure of Gale's lips and the scent of the oranges that still lingered on his skin. He started coming into her room every night while she was sleeping. Katniss was too stunned to say anything, she shared the room with his little sister Posy and didn't want to wake her. At first it was just kissing, then touching, but he wanted more.

Whatever she pretended, she could never look at him in quite the same way. Katniss had this whole speech worked out, about how she didn't want a boyfriend and never planned on marrying, but she didn't end up using it. He was sweet, charming even, when he came into her room. Then one night, he said, "I have to have you. At least once." But it wasn't once. During the day Gale acted as if nothing was different.

Maybe he was waiting for her to say something. She couldn't. What if Hazelle kicked her out? She didn't have any place to go. So Katniss didn't say anything either. They pretended like nothing was happening. But it was. Gale had changed everything.

When Hazelle found out Katniss was pregnant, she was so happy, but Gale wasn't. Every change in her body brought a new look of disgust from him. He spent months looking for a way out of town. But he never expected Hazelle would make him take Katniss too.

Gale was racing out west on a tip from his cousin, J.P. Katniss knew that Gale was going to work for the same rail company that his cousin worked for. What she didn't know was that he planned to make big bucks the same way his cousin had; by losing a finger in the rail yard. J.P. got a sixty-five thousand dollar settlement from the accident, and Gale figured that he could live without a finger for that kind of money, at least until he struck it rich at the dog track.

Katniss had never seen Gale so excited about a job, but didn't think much of it. This was the furthest she'd ever been from Rockingham County, Virginia. While Gale dreamed of winning big at the races, she had a simple dream: a home without wheels. Katniss had lived in double-wides, an abandoned train car, campers, and for a little while, her boss' mini-van, but she had never lived somewhere without wheels. She liked to cut out pictures of pretty rooms in those home and garden magazines, and keep them in a big zip lock bag. Someday, she would have her own home, with a front porch swing, and a yard where kids could play.

Katniss thought her hopes were small enough, but her troubles were a different story. She had never wanted to be a mother. Katniss was convinced she would be horrible at it, and Gale would never be father of the year either. This baby needed her to be strong, so she would do what she had to for the little life inside her. But she couldn't shake the feeling that something horrible was going to happen, something that she couldn't control. There were flashes, images she couldn't quite hold on to. Broken glass. A train rolling towards someone on the tracks. Wind whipping around her, loud in her ears.

"Katniss, Katniss, what are you screaming about?" Gale was shaking her shoulder to wake her. It must have been a dream, but she could still feel it. Hot wind blew up into her face, and she looked down to see the pavement rushing by. They must have lost the T.V. tray, along with her shoes, while she was sleeping. Great, she thought, that won't make Gale any happier.

Katniss looked up, trying to see where they were now, and spotted it in the distance. "Gale look, a Wal-mart!"

"Wow! Good job Catnip, there's only about a million of them."

"But they'll have a bathroom! C'mon Gale."

"Fine," he said shortly.

"And I need some money too," she knew he would be upset about that, but he had all the cash.

"Are they going to charge you to pee?"

"No, but I…my shoes, they fell through the hole," she smile at him ruefully, but Gale didn't find it funny.

As they pulled in to the parking lot, she felt the baby begin to move around. "Oh, give me your hand," she told Gale, but he just looked at her like she was crazy. "It's the baby, it's moving," Katniss reached for his hand and placed it on her tummy.

"You feel that?"

"No."

"Can't you feel that tiny little bomp, bomp, bomp?"

"I don't feel nothin'."

Gale tried to pull away, but she held his hand tight and moved it lower, pressing his fingers into the curve near her pelvis.

"Feel that right there? That's where the heart is. Our baby." Katniss held his hand there for a moment, before he jerked it away.

"Couldn't prove it by me," he said, and reached for his wallet. "Here," he said throwing her a ten.

"I won't be long; do you want me to bring you some popcorn?"

"Just go on, Katniss."

She knew he was watching her walk away, she could feel his eyes on her. She tried to move her body like she used to, when her breasts and belly and thighs were firm and smooth. But she knew what she looked like now, and knew the expression he was wearing, so she didn't look back.

The bathroom was, of course, all the way at the back of the store. She speed-walked, on bare feet, clutching her beach bag purse as she follow the signs to the restroom. When she finally made it to a stall, she didn't even bother to lock it or check to be sure there was paper on the roll. She just peed and peed, and then laughed out loud at the amazing feeling of relief, taking pleasure in life's little victories.

She washed her hands and splashed a bit of cool water on her face. The shoe department was close by. The cheapest shoes she could find were a pair of orange flip-flops. They would have to do.

As she reached the front of the large store, she saw thirty-six check-out lanes, but only five were open, so she just picked the one closest to her. She was fourth in line. To pass the time, she looked at the candy and gum selection, but decided it would be best to bring back as much change as she could for Gale. When she was third in line, she felt it: someone watching her. Maybe they noticed she was missing her shoes. She quickly looked behind her, but everyone was busy with their shopping.

Katniss turned back to the front of the store and saw him. The cashier was waiting as the man in front of him wrote out a check, but his eyes were on her. All she could see were those eyes, blue as a winter storm, staring deeply into her gray ones. She was trapped in his gaze until he turned back to the man with a bright smile, took his check, and finished the transaction. Katniss pouted a little as she looked down. She could barely see her dirty, bare feet. She probably imagined the whole thing. No one would look at her like that. Her hair was a mess of tangles; her dress was worn and threadbare in several places, and she was huge.

"I love this color," a voice said, causing her to finally look up from the floor. Those eyes were on her again. Now that she was closer, Katniss could see that little flecks of gray around his pupil made a star. He smiled at her expectantly. Had he asked her something?

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I said, 'Will that be all miss?'"Impossibly, his smile became more brilliant.

Katniss nodded vaguely and then shook her head to clear it. He probably thought she was an idiot. "Yes, that is all. Thank you," she squinted to read his name tag, "Peeta." She smiled back at him and handed him the ten dollar bill. Her fingers brushed his as she passed him the money; they were so warm. Peeta had thick strong fingers, and she couldn't look away as his hands worked the register with ease. Katniss wondered how those hands would feel on her cheek. What would his large fingers look like, entwined with her slender ones? She imagined his warm hands running through her hair.

"Are you okay?" Peeta wished he had more time with her. The beautiful girl looked so lost, and he knew it was likely he would never see her again. "Miss?" Peeta asked as he touched her arm. Her skin was as silky as he imagined it would be. She looked up from where his hand touched her. "Your change, miss."

"Oh, sorry." She held out her hand.

"Seven dollars and seventy-seven cents."

Katniss jerked her hand away and the coins clattered to the floor. "No," she said in a whisper, staring at Peeta in horror. "No!" she yelled. She turned on shaky legs and ran for the doors.

Katniss knew he was gone, knew before she reached the door. It was like watching herself in a movie; she could see it all. She saw herself running into the parking lot, calling his name – running to an empty parking space, the Supercharger nowhere to be seen.

He was on his way to California, and he'd left her behind…left her with her simple dreams that were never his. The baby chose that moment to kick, maybe to remind her that she wasn't alone. Gale had left them both.

Thank you for reading, please review and/or visit me on tumblr (flip-fantasia)