Hi everyone! Thank you so much for all the lovely reviews you left. :) You all gave me incentive to write faster, so I got this chapter out much sooner than I thought I would have. From here on out though, I'm not sure how frequent updates will be. My life is kind of crazy so sometimes I don't have a lot of time to write. But I'll do the best I can to keep the chapters coming. :)
A big hug and kiss to my lovely betas, tweety4be and madamemouse (who, by the way, has two fantastic fics up for the Darkest Powers Series by Kelley Armstrong, and I strongly suggest you check them out if you have read that series :D).
Oh, and since I forgot it in the first chapter- I unfortunately do not own the Hunger Games.
Anyhoo, enjoy, my sweet readers!
The next morning I awoke to the sounds of my younger sister rustling through a pile of clothing. I turned over to face the direction she was in, and she looked up at me and smiled.
"Morning!" She greeted me cheerfully.
"Mm," I mumbled, stretching my arms above my head. I never could understand how she was so bright and energetic in the morning. I, on the other hand, was always at my most antisocial.
Prim went back to folding and sorting our clothing (there weren't many) while I stretched and let the fuzziness seep out of my brain. It was Sunday—that meant Gale and I were hunting together. He had been afraid that after I moved into the bakery our Sunday hunting would end. I had assured him it wouldn't. Whether my family needed the game or not, I still wanted to spend time with my best friend.
After I had showered (still relishing that fact that I got to have daily, heated showers) and dressed in my hunting attire, I followed my nose downstairs to the kitchen, where the incredible smell of fresh bread was emanating.
I walked in just as Theo was pulling a huge batch of sweet rolls out of the oven. My stomach growled just looking at them.
"Morning!" Everyone greeted me. All but my mother and Peeta were in the room, and I assumed those two were showering.
"Morning," I replied, joining the crowd around the counter that were currently trying to swipe rolls.
"Back, back!" Theo said, his voice playful. "Actually, no, take them. Take all you want. But don't cry to me when you burn yourself." That made us reluctantly back away and wait for them to cool.
My mother entered the room just as everyone began to eat. Fresh sweet rolls and cold milk was the best breakfast I can remember my family ever having. My mother and sister seemed to be thinking the same thing from the strange looks of amazement on their faces as they ate.
I finished quickly, wanting to leave before Peeta came down. I didn't know what he was doing or why it was taking him so long, but I knew I had no desire to see him and his conflicting emotions this early in the day. When I told Theo I was going out hunting with Gale, he gave me enough wrapped rolls for each member of Gale's family to have two. I was beginning to see more and more why my mother had chosen to marry him.
Walking through the Seam to Gale's was very strange. I had almost expected myself to miss it a bit, since it had been my home for so long and every one of my memories, both good and bad, had taken place there. There was, however, no positive feelings toward the place whatsoever. It nearly made me want to forget the hunting and run back to the warmth and comfort of the bakery immediately.
When I got to Gale's, he and his family all were ecstatic about the treats I had brought them. After the many thanks from Hazelle, Gale and I finally made our way out of the house and into the forest. Once we were to our usual spot, we poured hot tea out of a flask into two cups and sat together. Gale spoke first.
"So, how was the first night as a big happy family in the bakery?" He asked.
"Good. Really good. It was nice and warm." I almost felt bad talking about it, since I knew he still had to suffer the cold nights with no heating and thin blankets. Even though it was spring, nighttime in the mountains was still freezing.
"Glad to hear it," he said, seemingly unfazed by this. "How were the Mellarks?" He said their name in a tone you would expect one to talk about suspicious strangers with, like he didn't trust them. I couldn't blame him, of course. Being raised in the Seam, people you weren't familiar with weren't to be trusted until they proved themselves otherwise. Still, it left me feeling a tad uncomfortable.
"They were wonderful. I'm starting to warm up to Theo more and more. He's the one who gave me the rolls to give to you, you know. Ben and Terence are great, too." He was quiet for a minute, sipping his tea and thinking.
"What about the other one? Peeta?" He asked. I bit my lip. I had been hoping to avoid talking about Peeta. As irritated as I was with him, it didn't feel right to talk badly about him to Gale.
"Um," I started, trying to be as vague as possible. "Well, he's alright, I guess."
"Just alright? Not great, like the rest of his family?" I was used to Gale's subtle sarcasm, but at the moment I found it frustrating.
"I just get the feeling that he doesn't like me very much. Intruding on his territory or something. I don't know. But we should start hunting if we hope to catch anything." I stood before he could respond, venturing into the forest with my bow ready.
It was getting dark by the time we finished. We hadn't been able to find many animals that day, and after several hours we only had two rabbits and a turkey to show for it. We took the rabbits to Greasy Sae and Gale kept the turkey.
I walked home with him to say goodbye to his family, but I then remembered that tonight was the televised tributes' chariot rides. I was surprised that I had forgotten about it—it was pretty hard to forget about anything going on with the Hunger Games, no matter what else was going on in your life.
Chariot rides, along with every other Hunger Games ordeal, were required viewing for all of Panem. Since there was no time to go back to the bakery to watch, I stayed with the Hawthornes. Every household in Panem, no matter how poor, was provided with a television and electricity, specifically for the games. Heating and other necessities, however, were not provided by the government.
I sat on the edge of the couch next to Gale. The screen flashed past the tributes, all standing with their mentors, victors of past games. District 12's victors, however, stood with what looked like a trainer, not with the drunk Haymitch Abernathy, our district's only victor. I found this strange. Though I didn't imagine Haymitch was any help at all to the tributes, I still imagined that the Capitol would require that he be there.
We watched as pairs of tributes from each District rode by, some in costumes that gave off vibes of strength and power, and others that were just so stupid I was nearly embarrassed for the tributes that had to wear them. When our district went by, I inhaled sharply at seeing the tiny twelve year old girl, horrified that she had to face the Careers and every other strong, brutal killer in the games. Gale noticed my discomfort and grabbed my hand and held it. He had never done anything like this before. It wasn't bad necessarily, just so strange and unusual that it made me uncomfortable, so I pulled my legs up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them, freeing my hand from his.
Later, once the rides had finished, I said my goodbye's to Hazelle and the kids, and Gale walked me outside. I bid him goodnight, but just as I was about to leave, he pulled me in for a hug. I was sure the look on my face was of pure bewilderment. Gale had never hugged me before, not even when my father had died. We just weren't that way—neither of us was really that affectionate with anyone. I hugged him back, awkwardly, not having a clue what it was that had brought this on.
He pulled away finally, and I stepped back, looking at his face for some kind of indication as to what he was thinking. Unfortunately, I couldn't read him like I could Peeta.
"Come by tomorrow, okay?" He said, not acting like anything was different when something clearly was. "We can hang out?"
"Uh... okay..." I said slowly. Since when did he ask to hang out? Why was he even asking me to come over in the first place? I usually did anyways. "Um, I gotta go home. They're probably, uh, wondering what's taking me so long." He nodded.
"Night Catnip," he said, smiling at me.
"Night," I responded, turning on my heel and walking back to the bakery. I was in a daze all the way home, wondering what was going on with Gale.
When I got back, I expected everyone to be asleep, considering it was so late. The kitchen light, however, was on, and I stepped inside to find Peeta sitting at the table, drawing. I found this strange considering how late it was. He didn't look up, but he spoke.
"Where were you?" He asked, his voice accusing. Anger flared up inside of me.
"Well hello to you too," I retorted.
"I'm sorry. Hi. Where were you?" He said sarcastically. He finally set down his pencil and looked at me.
"Why does it matter to you?" He stared at me a moment, not saying anything. I raised my eyebrows, as if saying "Well?"
"Uh, your mom. She was asking if anyone knew where you were. You had her worried."
"Oh," I said. My mother should have know I was with Gale. I always was on Sundays.
"Are you going to answer my question?" He asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.
"Well if you must know, I was out with Gale." I don't think I imagined the slight wrinkle that formed in Peeta's nose.
"Is he your boyfriend?" What?
"Wha—I—No!" I responded, wanting to scream in frustration. "He is just a friend!"
"Doesn't seem like it," Peeta said, returning to his picture. I gritted my teeth.
"Well we are, and all we did was hunt." My mind flashed back to the hand-hold and hug, but I ignored it. "It was late when we got back so I had to stay at his place to watch the chariot rides. And why do you care so much about whether he's my boyfriend or not anyways?" Peeta chuckled softly and shook his head, but gave no other response. My brow furrowed. I wanted to ask what in the world that was supposed to mean, but more so I wanted to get away from this uncomfortable conversation, so I changed the subject.
"Where were you this morning? I didn't see you before I left."
"I was visiting a friend," he told me.
"Oh. Your girlfriend?" I said this only to get back at him for asking me about Gale being myboyfriend, but for some inexplicable reason I didn't really like the idea of Peeta having a girlfriend.
He laughed before he responded.
"Hardly," he said, still chuckling slightly.
"Well, who then? Hm?" I asked, getting annoying that he always demanded answers to the questions he asked me but rarely gave answers to the ones I asked him.
"Haymitch Abernathy," he told me after a short pause, as if he was considering whether to share this information with me or not.
"Hay—what? Why is he still here? Shouldn't he be in the Capitol with our tributes? You know, helping them prepare for the games?"
"You honestly think he would be much help? And he refused to go. There was no way he could be punished, since he was so drunk he didn't have a clue what he was doing. He left earlier today though, slightly more sober than usual. And the tributes got some game expert to guide them until Haymitch got there. It's probably a shame that Haymitch made it at all, because I'm sure whoever they had before was a lot more help." I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. I had so many questions rolling around in my head that I didn't know what to choose. Mainly, though I was wondering how in the world Peeta knew Haymitch Abernathy, the rude, drunken man who was District 12's lone victor, and how they had possibly become friends. But before I could ask anything, Peeta snapped his drawing book shut and stood.
"I'm going to bed," he told me. "Goodnight." And without even giving me a chance to tell him goodnight as well, he left the kitchen and went to his tiny bedroom, slamming the door shut behind him.
I growled to myself as I walked up the stairs to mine and Prim's bedroom. Despite being tired, it took me a long while to fall asleep. Peeta, I had decided, was rude and arrogant and completely frustrating. What I couldn't seem to understand, however, was why I had an inexplicable desire to talk to him again.
The next morning before breakfast, I found my mother alone in the kitchen making coffee. Everyone else was still sleeping, so it was just the two of us. I apologized to her for worrying her by coming home late the night before.
"It's quite alright," she told me. "I knew you were safe with Gale."
"You... weren't worried?" I asked.
"Well, no. I worry only if there's a reason. I know you and Gale manage by yourselves just fine."
"Was Prim asking about me?"
"No... she knows you and Gale spend Sundays together just as I do. Why are you asking?"
"Oh, no reason," I said, quickly changing the subject before she could question further. I couldn't concentrate much on our conversation though, because I couldn't stop thinking about how there was clearly more to Peeta Mellark's intrusive questioning than I had originally thought.