Disclaimer: Not mine.


About strawberries and its benefits...


I knew following him was not a smart idea.

But I did it, anyway.

Katniss told me that he's going in the woods today, I decided to join him. Without his permission, of course.

Somehow, I doubt he would've taken me along if I asked. Not that I'll have the courage to ask. Gale Hawthorne's default mood was surly. Ask anyone.

Maybe I'll have better chances of Katniss taking me, but her sister was not feeling well. So, here I was, discreetly following her best friend. Not an easy task but I managed it.

I was right behind him as he slipped into the woods.

Going right, three trees, then a left turn and then more trees.

I was never going to remember the direction so I stopped memorizing the way. And just followed him, hiding behind trees whenever I'd came close to his peripheral view. It was surprisingly easy.

I was on the other side of the fence.

For the first time in my life.

And he didn't even notice! Ha!

He led me, unknowingly, to a lake. Was he going fishing? Were there fishes in there? How was he going to fish? With a net? A fishing rod? But he didn't have any fishing tools with him. Was he going to fish by hand?

By the way he looked, he totally could. But he didn't go directly to the water. There was a small shack near the lake that I didn't notice right away.

He went in.

And I waited.

It wasn't a long wait. He emerged from the shed with a spear, sort of. It was shorter. He also had a small net.

What he didn't have, however, was clothes.

He wasn't naked. He's wearing underwear. But as it's the first time I saw a guy that naked, my face was burning. I quickly turned, my back flat against the trunk of the tree.

Concealed behind it, I was blushing and thinking of the stories by those girls in school. Sure, I thought he was attractive, objectively. But I also heard that he's got a really nice body. And he kind of, did.

Yeah, I was still watching. I chastised myself and went back into being flat against the tree.

This was not how I imagined my first foray to the forest would be. I thought it'll involve more of a stealthy activity not a voyeuristic one!

Well, technically, it was a just peek. So, it wasn't really voyeuristic, right?

I hadn't heard splashes, though. Maybe I was so caught up with my inner musings that I didn't hear him go into the water? Perhaps I should take another peek. He might have left or something. And I'd given up remembering the way back to the fence, so I needed to check. He's my only way back.

Slowly, I leaned to take a look.

And saw something that made me choked in an attempt to swallow a gasp.

I was staring at a chest. A nice one, up close and pretty much personal.

"What are you doing here?" said the chest. My eyes traveled quickly downwards. Nice stomach. And hallelujah! He's wearing his pants, again.

I finally looked up and saw him glaring down at me. Waiting for my answer. And I knew it should be a good one.

So I said, "Hi."

"What are you doing here?" he asked again.

"I was just taking a walk."

"Outside the fence, deep in the woods?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't say where," I said, petulantly. He just stared at me, leaning at my tree. And I looked at everywhere and anywhere except at him. His stare was uncomfortable.

"Okay, I'm following you," I confessed.

"I figured that out," he said, and now it's my turn to raise an eyebrow, "You've been following me since the school, I even purposely walked slowly so you could catch up."

And I thought I was sneaky.

"Then why didn't you stop me?"

He smiled and lean towards me, "I don't know, why did you think, I didn't?" There's something in his voice. And it grated on me. It's full of mischief and knowingness.

"Katniss told you," I said, remembering the earlier conversation with her.

"She didn't tell me that you'll follow me," he told me, "She just said you're pretty interested with our hunting schedule."

"I wanted to see where you harvest the strawberries," I finally admitted. It's pretty stupid to deny why I'm following him. The only other reason I could think of was a blush inducer. Either way I came out as a shallow townie and if I was to be accused as shallow I rather it because of something that is true.

He snorted, "Strawberries?" he shook his head, he opened his mouth to say something when his eyes caught something over my shoulders. I was about to turn to look when he pushed me against the tree, a hand on my mouth.

"Bear," he whispered, "I'm going to remove my hand but don't scream."

I nodded. He slowly lowered his hand , his eyes on the bear, wherever it is. I tried not to shake, to panic and I'm fairly succeeding at it. I just need focus on something less threatening. Like his arms. Big arms. No, it's pretty intimidating. The chest I passed over, I already know it's nice but still. I gulped.

Teenage hormones, why are you now making yourself known?

I shifted, too aware of his body. The proximity was making my hormones in overdrive.

"Don't move," he said, still looking at the bear. Easy for him to say. Talk about seeing someone in a new light. From grumpy guy to a blush inducing one.

"It's gone," I heard him say, "You can open your eyes, now."

Oh, I didn't realized that I had closed my eyes. When I opened them, I saw him, grinning. He did that a lot in the woods. I rarely see him do that inside the fence.

"You looked like a tomato," he chuckled, "Are you blushing?"

"No," I lied, "It's just hot in here."

He smirked and leaned closer to me and said, "Yes, it is."

"Oh, shut up," I said, pushing him away. He laughed.

"Is my nakedness bothering you?"

"You're not totally naked!"

"Then why are you blushing?"

We just run full circle. "It's the proximity," I said, sighing at how easy I admitted to things with this guy. Maybe it's the air in the forest. Less coal dust.

"Something tells me you've never been to the slag heap," he said, stepping back, his arms across his chest.

"That something is obviously the blood rushing in here," I pointed at my cheek.

"True," he told me, "And it's cute, actually."

I didn't say anything about that. Because my blush had said enough for me.

"You're doing it again," he was laughing again. Jerk.

"Shut up!" I said, but he ignored me.

Impulsively, I reached for the laughing boy.

Whatever happened next, I blamed the fresh air.

I grabbed him by the back of his neck and pulled him down.

Shutting him up with my mouth.

At first it was just pressing of the lips. Then he seemed to come out of his initial shock and instead of pulling away, he had tugged me closer. He deepened the kiss and I moaned. I snaked my arms around his neck as he lifted me up, pressing me against my tree.

We pulled away when breathing becomes a problem. We were still holding each other, panting.

"That's some kiss, Miss Undersee," he said, breathless. And I agreed with him. I couldn't have asked for a more memorable first kiss. Until today, I didn't even dream of kissing this guy. The fresh air was getting into my head.

"Can you take me to the strawberries now?" I said, equally breathless. He laughed again, "It'll take more than one kiss to make me take you to the strawberries."

"Oh, then I'd like another one," I found myself admitting once again.

He didn't need to be told twice. He didn't even treat it as a joke. He just leaned and kissed me again.

I only kissed him because I wanted to see the strawberries badly, but the kissing was good, too. Yeah, that's what I'm trying to tell myself.

It's all for the strawberries.


"How did it go?" Katniss asked, casually. We were having lunch at school. I looked at her assessing if she knew something, she still seemed her normal self so I said, "He caught me."

"Yeah, he told me about it," she said, opening her brown bag.

"He did?"

"Yes, he said there was a bear, too."

"There was, but I didn't see it," I said, slightly relieved that she didn't have a clue about the kisses. Then someone sat beside me, I turned and saw what was becoming a familiar grin. "Hi, Madge," Then turned to Katniss, "Hey Catnip," he greeted his best friend who just glared at him and resumed eating her lunch.

"What are you doing here?" I hissed.

"Sitting," he said.

"You never sit with us."

"Now, I'm sitting with you," he said, patiently. I was about to argue back when Katniss suddenly asked me, "I forgot, did you get to see the strawberries?" and without waiting for an answer, she rounded at Gale and said, "Didn't you harvest them yesterday? You're supposed to bring it last night."

Gale and I looked at each other, unsure what to answer. We didn't even left the lake for a long time and when we remembered what we came in the woods for, it's already getting dark.

"Is that a hickey?" I heard Katniss say, we looked at her and saw that she's looking at me. Specifically, the neckline of my blouse. I reached to cover it while Gale clamped her mouth shut with his hand. We looked around, no one seemed to hear her. Maybe except for Peeta Mellark, who was sitting not far from us, smirking at me.

Gale looked apologetic, probably thinking I'll be mad. But I'm more amused at the moment. How on earth did Katniss Everdeen know what a hickey was and what it looked like?

"It looked like a strawberry, too," Katniss said after Gale released her.

It's sort of fitting. I went to the forest for strawberries. I went home with one, sort of.

Gale laughed. I did, too. Katniss just rolled her eyes.


Thoughts?