To say that I was nervous would be an understatement, terrified would be more exact. I knew a lot about fear and I knew how to handle it in most cases, but this was a whole new ballgame. Katniss Everdeen-Mellark was going to be in my kitchen in exactly thirty minutes for the dinner that I was cooking.

I was friends with Katniss to an extent, as in we'd fought together and bonded over that, but the word acquaintances was more appropriate. I was almost positive that she didn't think I was good enough for Gale, I don't think she thought anyone was. I was too small and weak in her opinion; I'd heard her say it to Finnick before. She was amazed that I'd won my games, even after she'd seen how good I was with a trident. Finnick had been my mentor and trained me to use one efficiently. I could sever body parts, heads included, from ten feet away accurately with minimal pain, or so I hoped.

I knew that dinner had to be perfect so I started planning it three days ago. Gale told me I was crazy, that anything I cooked would be fine, but I didn't just want to be fine. I wanted to make Katniss Everdeen eat her words for ever thinking that I wasn't good enough for Gale. I wasn't usually vindictive, but Gale brought out a lot of emotions in me that I didn't know existed.

I started cooking that morning after Gale left for work, making him smile and kiss my head. I'm still not exactly sure when he moved in, but he just didn't leave one night. I knew how big of a step that was for him. He had this thing about always being in charge of himself… I didn't question it because I was the same way sometimes.

I made sure the crab was cooked perfectly before I started to simmer it in the butter sauce that I'd made. I even used tiny shallot onions that I'd heard she enjoyed on her train ride to the Capitol. Tonight was going to go perfectly even if I had to force it.

I had just enough time to change into a soft, cotton dress and swipe some of the colored powder that I'd gotten from my mother years ago onto my eyes before Gale came in. He looked me up and down and I saw something flash across his face that I couldn't place. It almost reminded me of what he looked like when he was making a snare: deep in concentration but hungrier…

"You look amazing," he said, stalking up to me slowly and taking my hips in his big hands. "You're gorgeous without it, but you look pretty damn good with it."

I knew that was his way of complimenting me so I just smiled and stood on my tiptoes to press a kiss to his mouth. I thought it would be brisk and over quickly, but he seem to have other ideas. He pulled my body close to his and took advantage of my open mouth.

I let something like a whimper escape and felt my entire face turn red. Gale didn't seem to mind the sound because his hands trailed down further than usual and made the sound leave my mouth again. My body was heating up so quickly that I thought I'd gotten too close to the stove.

I pulled my mouth away to make sure I wasn't, but the heat was all from him. His rough lips scorching a path down my throat was the reason for the heat welling up inside of me. I don't know how far that would've gone if I hadn't started to smell smoke.

"Gale, what is that?" I slurred out through my heat-induced haze. Then I saw the flames coming from the stove, "Oh no, the soup's burning!"

Gale just looked confused so I pushed him away from me and grabbed a bowl to fill with water. I tossed it onto the flames, they went out but destroyed the soup in the process. I felt tears burning my eyes as I realized all of my hard work was ruined.

I heard a chuckle leave Gale's mouth and felt my tears overflow. He was making fun of me; he must've been making fun of me earlier, too. To him, making such a big deal out of a measly dinner must be ridiculous. This meal would've been too frivolous to him and Katniss. They grew up in District 12 where food was meager and tasteless; I must look like wasteful brat to him right now.

"Cory, what's wrong?" he asked, coming over to me and placing his hands on my waist. "It was just some dumb dinner; it's not a big deal."

"Maybe not to you, but it was to me!" I sobbed, literally getting hysterical over nothing. "I'm so stupid! I know Katniss hates me and thinks that I'm not good enough for you and I wanted to prove her wrong. The only thing I proved was that we're so different, too different! I practically made a meal straight out of the godforsaken Capitol even though you both hate it with a passion. I'm so stupid!"

I pushed his hands off me and ran into the bathroom. The ridiculous powder that I'd put on my eyes was running down my face, I'd splashed some of the crab onto my pretty white dress, and my hair had escaped from the intricate plait I'd placed it in earlier. I was a total mess and I'm sure Gale was second guessing every decision he's ever made that included me, especially the one about falling in love with me.

I sat on the floor and pulled my knees up to my chest as I continued to cry. Even after the Games, I could tell you the number of times I cried and show it on one hand. Yet, here I was sobbing like a baby over some burned soup. I just shook my head, it was so much more than that and I knew it. It was about all the things I'd shouted at Gale earlier in the kitchen: my fears of never being good enough for the ones that I loved.

I'd lost track of how long I'd been in the bathroom when I heard a quiet knock on the door. I sniffed a little bit and wiped my eyes before opening it a crack. I expected it to be Gale, but it was Peeta. He had a small smile on his face when our eyes met.

"Can I come in?" he asked, giving me a chance to say no.

I just nodded and scooted over so he could come into the bathroom with me. I remembered his leg and quickly shut the seat on the toilet in front of me. He smiled gratefully before sitting down on it and turning his body to face me. If it had been anyone else, I would've felt ashamed of what I looked like, but Peeta didn't make me feel like that. He made me feel like it was okay to be a little bit broken. He had a calming effect that I was very grateful for.

"I have them too, you know? The flashbacks of the arena, the ones that make you lash out," he said out of the blue. "Katniss doesn't understand them, she just tries to handle me the best she can. I feel bad when I have them now because she's pregnant, so I don't usually tell her."

"Finnick used to have them too, but he never told anyone other than me. I try to handle them like he taught me to, but sometimes it's too hard. I have to force myself to break away from them," I said, wiping my face messily. "I'm sorry dinner was such a bust. I tried really hard, but it all fell apart like usual."

"You and I have a lot more in common than you think, Coral. I know what it's like to try and compete with the person-you-love's bond with another," he said, sobering up quickly. "Katniss and Gale have something that we can never compete with, but that doesn't mean they don't love us in a different way."

"That's easy for you to say, she has your ring on her finger and you baby in her belly," I grumbled. "I know she doesn't think I'm good enough for him. She thinks I'm small and weak, too weak to be with Gale."

He just shook his head with a grin. "It's the exact opposite, actually. She was talking about how strong you were and how much you keep Gale in line on the way here. He really loves you, you know? I can tell by the way he talked about you when we came in earlier."

"He's not wrong, I do love you a lot," Gale's quiet voice said from the door. "I didn't mean to upset you; you just threw me for a loop saying all of that earlier."

"I think I'm going to go make sure Katniss leaves some cheese buns for the rest of us," Peeta smiled, getting up and heading into the kitchen, shutting the door back behind him.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, scooting over so his large frame could fit in the floor with me. "How did I throw you for a loop?"

"I just never thought it would cross your mind that you weren't good enough for me," he said, reaching up and wetting a rag that was sitting on the counter. "You're so much more than I deserve, Cory. You look so fragile, but you're the strongest woman I know. And as for being like Katniss, I wouldn't want you to be."

He was wiping the powder off my face when I asked, "What does that mean? You were in love with her for most of your life. Why wouldn't you want me to be like her?"

"I thought I what I felt for her was love, but you showed me that it wasn't. What I felt for her doesn't come close to what I feel for you, not even a little bit," he said, tossing the rag into the basket and moving closer to me. "I'd be lost without you, Cory."

"Even if my hair is falling down and I have soup stains on my dress?" I asked, moving to sit myself on his lap and look him in the eyes.

"Even more," he told me, pulling the pins out and letting my hair fall down around my shoulders. "But I like your wild curls better. Don't pull them back; don't try to change anything about you."

He slid his fingers into them and used them to anchor his mouth to mine. I smiled and kissed him back just as fiercely as we were kissing before the smoke and the hysterics. It didn't cause heat to stir in my tummy, but there was pleasant warmth radiating through me.

"Are we going to eat or are you going to keep kissing?" Katniss asked from the hall outside the bathroom. "I'm hungry and tired of waiting."

Pregnancy brought out the best in her, I see. "I forgot about the food! What are we going to eat?"

He must've sensed that I was about to get flustered because he held me tight and said, "That's where I was while Peeta was with you. I went and got food that I had Annie make earlier. I know how you are when you're flustered and figured something like this would happen. I figured a backup plan would be a good idea."

"What did you trade for it?" I asked, standing up and offering him my hand to pull him to his feet.

"Let's just say that Finn is going to be running through the house for the next little while," he told me, pressing his lips to the crown of my head.

I just laughed as we walked into the kitchen to eat the food that I didn't make.

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