Heyy so admittedly I have read a fanfic that was based off of this idea. I really enjoyed it but there was a bunch of things that I wanted to do differently so I decided to take a stab at it :D Let me know what you think.

Chapter One

I wake up early, earlier than normal. A hunger pain has woken me up. I roll over looking to find my sisters grumpy old cat lying next to me. It glared grumpily at me as I shooed it off my bed whispering, 'don't be a pest. You will wake Prim.' He perked up at the sound of Prim's name. Rolling my eyes I slipped my feet into my hunting boots and began to lace them up. As I did my eyes wandered across the room to Prim and my mother fast asleep. Thoughts of guilt crept into my head; this had been a bad hunting week. Gale and I had not caught very much. I tried to keep the amount that my mother and sister ate normal and went without at times. Prim caught me half way through the week and insisted that I eat more. It was my fault that they were going without and part of this guilt was what had me up so early.

Slowly I tip toeing through the dewy grass on the other side of the District 12 fence, when suddenly out of the corner of my eye I saw a dark figure. Before I could register who it was the figure was lunging at me and I was tumbling to the ground. A moment of panic shot through my body until the person began to roar with laughter. 'Eh, Catnip. Couldn't sleep either I see?'

Of course. It was my best friend, Gale.

I punched him in the arm, 'way to scare off every animal in the forest.'

'Yeah, as if you weren't already doing a good job of that yourself loud ass footsteps.'

'My footsteps were just fine. You need to take this more seriously Gale. We have hardly caught anything this week. Your family must be just as hungry as mine. I can tell or you wouldn't be out here at this hour either.'

Gale's face turned stone cold. He turned away slightly for a moment, gathering composure and then shot back at me, 'yeah well why don't you just get your boyfriend to give you some bread?'

'He is not my boyfriend, I have no clue why he does that.'

This was not entirely a lie. There was a boy who went to our school, named Peeta, once when I was in grave need of food and starving he gave me a burnt loaf of bread. It probably saved my life. After that every few weeks he would slip me a note in class, telling me to pick up some bread from the bushes behind his families shop. A few times he even left pieces of cake. I often puzzled over why he did this, we were not friends, I had never even spoken to him.

Gale laughed and then stood up, 'okay fine. Let's hunt.'

We hunted for hours as the sun began to rise over District 12 but were still not having much luck. Eventually I sat down on a log in frustration, 'Gale we have been at this for hours and hardly caught anything. It must be almost time for school, we should get back.'

'I can't bring nothing home again today, let's skip school.'

'You know tomorrow is the reaping right? We don't want to draw attention to ourselves today. There will be officials from the Capitol coming in to set up and do routine checks. It's not worth us getting caught.'

Gale hung his head low and without a word he headed off back to town. I called after him softly and grabbed his hand, 'Gale, it's going to be okay. We can come back out after school. We won't leave until we have caught something. I promise.'

He let an airy breath escape from his mouth and nodded. Slowly he pulled me into a hug, 'thanks Catnip.'

I squirmed away and then ran off towards town.

School past by painfully slow, I kept a watchful eye on the clock, waiting for the time when I could be out in the woods hunting with Gale again. I did not care about the history of coal production, how would this help me keep food on my families table? I tapped my pencil against the decrepit desk I was sitting at when I felt a poke at my back. I turned around to see the happy face of a girl whose name I could not remember. Her family was well off; we did not live in the same end of town and did not have many of the same friends. I suppose we did not have a lot in common. For a moment I could not figure out why she was trying to get my attention, until I noticed the note she was handing me.

I quickly took it and turned back to the front of the class. Flattening the paper into my textbook I instantly recognized Peeta's handwriting. 'Noticed you are having a rough week. You know where to go tonight,' was scrawled across the paper. I looked across the room to see him smiling at me. Even though I should be thankful, I wasn't. I couldn't help but me filled with anger for this boy. How would I ever be able to repay him for this, there was no possible way. I didn't like accepting handouts but what else could I do.

After what felt like forever the teacher was finally letting the class out. We all began to file out of the class room. I kept my eyes peeled for Peeta's blonde hair but he was lost in the sea of kids. I could hear Gale's voice down the hall calling me, we had work to do, but I was determined to speak to Peeta once and for all. I could not tell if it was Gale's mocking this morning or if it was pride but I had to talk to the baker's boy.

Finally I spotted him, he was at his locker placing books into it. I stormed up and slammed his locker door a bit more fiercely than I had expected to. It clanged against the other lockers causing a few students to look in our direction.

'Why are you doing this?' I demanded.

'Doing what?' he stammered.

'You know exactly what I am talking about.'

'I'm just trying to help you out.'

'Help who out? Why?'

He gaped at me, 'I don't know. Your family. Gale and his family. You. I'm trying to help you.'

'Why?'

'I don't understand what the problem is.'

'Of course you don't. You never will. You are not from the Seam.'

'I know I'm not Katniss but I- I wanted to help.'

I could see the kindness in his heart. He really was just trying to help us, 'I'm sorry it's just. I can never repay you for this. I have to repay you and I can't. I don't know if I ever will be able to.'

'You don't have to,' he said putting his hand on my arm.

I moved away hastily from his touch, 'I just don't get it.'

Peeta grabbed his bag from his locker, 'you don't have to. Just know that what you need will be there for you tonight. I will try to put some extras.'

Peeta walked away leaving me more confused than ever. I stood there for a moment until Gale walked up, 'what was that all about?'

'Nothing. Let's go hunting.'