I do not own any of the characters and did not write the Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins did that. Hope you like it! ENJOY!

Chapter 1. The Dream

Peeta: As I push my way through the crowd I hear Katniss' voice scream "No!" I aimlessly begin shoving people aside as I try to get to the middle. Just as I break through to the cleared space, I see Katniss get whipped in the face. It slaps her across the left side of her cheek. She falls to her knees, struggling to stand her ground. "Stop it! You'll kill him" She shrieks. My body is paralyzed, shocked from the event that just happened. My mind is struggling to get my attention.

Thankfully Haymitch comes barging in and orders a stop to this punishment. The man with the whip and Haymitch were fiercely barking harsh words at each other. When I heard the man ask "What business is it of hers, anyways?" it caught my attention. "He's her cousin" Says Haymitch. My body finally follows my commands. I rush over to Katniss and catch hold of her arm so she doesn't collapse to the ground. "And she's my fiancée. So if you want to get to him, expect to go through the both of us" I say firmly. I take Katniss' hand and help her up. The man was not happy but fortunately for us he only let us off with a warning.

Next thing I know everyone's frantically rushing Gale to Katniss' house in victor's village. Once we got Gale to Katniss' mom, she instructed me to get snow to put on Katniss' face. When I come back from retrieving the snow I see Katniss, she looks exhausted and worried. Her face was pale with red eyes from crying and one of them was swelling from the lash the whip gave her. And her hair was in its signature braid. It was really tangled and was starting to fall out. Even in her current condition, in my eyes she still looked like the beautiful women I want to marry, have kids with, and share the rest of my life with. "Gosh, I love her so darn much. Heck I don't deserve her." I think to myself. She's so courageous, strong, and she'll do whatever it takes to make her little sister, Prim happy. I mean ever since the first time I laid eyes on her, when we were five, I knew she was the girl I was going to marry. Even though we were so young I was determined to make her mine.

I chuckle at the memory I was replaying in my head and approached Katniss. I hold the snow against Katniss' cheek. She grabs my hand giving it a strong squeeze. I understand she has a great discomfort as she's watching Gale thrash around in pain. I look down at our hands entwined with one another and smile. I wish someday she could hold my hand just because she loves me. Not because one needs comfort during a tough situation or for the cameras in the capitol when we do our "star-crossed lovers" act, but I know that's not the case. I leave Katniss' side for just a minute to figure out the story of Gale's punishment.

When I get back Katniss is screaming something about medicine. Suddenly I hear Katniss' mom yell"Get her out!" Not knowing what's going on, Haymitch and I obediently take an arm and carry her out of the room. She shouts and squirms as she tries to break free of our grip. We set her on the bed and I pin her arms down. She scowls at me and keeps screaming "she needs to help Gale". I don't blame her for acting this way. She's been through a lot today with the whipping scene and I know how much she cares for Gale. Everybody in district 12 knows they're best friends and hunting partners. Some even say they have a secret relationship going on. But I don't dare believe in that rumor for a second. It frustrates me that there could be another guy who wants Katniss and could win her over.

I try my best to calm her down but nothing works until I say "screaming won't help Gale get any better." She falls silent and breaks down into tears, apologizing multiple times in between sobs.

All of a sudden my dream changed to the next morning. I specifically remember I fell asleep with Katniss last night. Due to the traumatizing event yesterday I knew she'd have trouble sleeping. In the night she woke up three times screaming and crying from horrible nightmares. The only way she actually got some decent sleep was because I was there. Arms wrapped protectively around her, ready to ward off all the bad dreams she has.

When I wake up it's the crack of dawn. The sun is barely peaking over the horizon. My fingers stretch out to the other side of the bed never finding Katniss' frame. I jolt up to a sitting position and find Katniss nowhere to be seen. I lazily get out of bed to search for her. I walk downstairs to find Katniss hovering over Gale's body. Without out a sound I creep further down the steps to get a closer look. As I get closer to them I realize Katniss' lips are upon Gale's. "Katniss, what are you doing?" I say softly. Katniss' head snaps up at the sound of my voice. Instantly her cheeks flush in embarrassment. "I-I, it's not what it looks like Peeta" she stutters. On the inside it bugged me what they were doing but I didn't want to show it. I ignore what she said before. "Katniss it's really early. You should get to bed. I'll watch Gale for now" I walk over to her and help her to her feet. Then I guide her upstairs to her bedroom and tuck her in. "Get some sleep my love" I say leaving the room. "Peeta wait. There's something I have to tell you. It's about what you saw earlier-. "Shhh. We'll discuss it when you wake up "I interrupt before shutting the door.

My vision is blurry and my mind keeps wandering back to my dream. Katniss' words echo in my head. "I wonder what Katniss meant to tell me" I think sleepily. I rub my eyes to wake myself up. I only got a little amount of sleep last night as usual but it wasn't like most nights where I wake up to terrifying nightmares of things like a life without Katniss and the mutts with the dead tribute's eyes staring at me as they're about to tear me limb from limb. I'm not sure what caused me to be so restless last night. I didn't have any nightmares. But I just can't quite put my finger on it at the moment. I put the thought off to the side and get dressed for the day.

Ever since the whipping Katniss has been getting nightmares about Gale. So I've slept over to comfort her. It seems like I'm just the remedy because when I'm sleeping with her, her body relaxes and she sleeps peacefully. Two weeks after the whipping, Gale went home to complete the rest of his recovery. It's been weeks since he went back home and I've gotten no information on how he's doing. Every time I ask how Gale is to Katniss she just says the same answer every time "fine". For Katniss' sake I try to help out with Gale but she always insists on doing it herself.

Once I'm dressed I sneak across the hallway to check on Katniss. When I enter her room I was shocked at the scene before me. The good news was it appears Gale is fully recovered and well. The bad news was he was kissing Katniss.

HOPE YOU LIKED THE FIRST CHAPTER! Read and review if you want more!