A/N: This is the same time-span as the previous chapter, but this is Peeta's POV.
This chapter is inspired by The Format's "A Mess to Be Made."

No one trusts me to guard by myself—I don't blame them, I don't trust me either—but I do not trust Gale to guard with me. It has nothing to do with the hatred and jealousy swirling around his dark, but vivid eyes. No, it's not that he would kill me in a second if she told him to. No, it's not that. It's the wounded look on his face I see as he watches her; the look of defeat and loss drowning out the fight in his demeanor.

I watch him studiously. He never notices, never even glances away from her momentarily. If he would, he'd see my face with what I'm sure must be a rabid expression. I've got so many questions for him, but he won't even look at me. Always her. Katniss this; Katniss that. It's always about her. Can you stop looking at her for one god-damned second and at least acknowledge me?

His head flips around and his eyes meet mine with a quizzical look about them. I look at him, confused—wondering how he could have read my mind—before I realize I must have accidently blurted out that last thought. We sit there, having an awkward stand-off of sorts. I can tell we both want to say something, but every time I try to, I just fall mute. We play this game for what seems like hours, and then suddenly he speaks.

"She loves us both, you know?" He whispers. I don't know what to say, but luckily he has more to add. "I never wanted to believe it, but I knew it the moment the feast was announced in your first Games."

"Oh, yeah? Then why'd she leave me to be tortured after the Quell" I spit the words angrily at Gale, but I can't help it. I'm constantly waging a battle in my mind between myself and the hijacked-me. I know I care about her, somewhere in my heart I know that's real. But my mind just won't let me believe she cares about me the slightest. She won't even talk to me, which makes sense since I did try to kill her.

"She didn't, Peeta! Listen to me. This is the hardest realization I've had to make. So you owe it to me to listen, OK? Listen well," he says with such vigor that I feel assures of the truth behind whatever he plans to say, before I've even heard it. And so, I nod. I focus all my attention on him and his words.

"She loves me, but Katniss loves you," he pauses. I'm not supposed to say anything, but I have to.

"But Gale… You support her family, and you two have spent years hunting together. Years I never had. She never had to fake your relationship, never. I don't even have to ask 'real or not real' to know that you two had a closeness we never had, and that she was thinking of you when she was with me." My voice comes out in an embarrassingly small, wavering jumble of words.

Gale looks at me, so much pain in his eyes, as if my words have truly cut him. Deep. He sighs. "You don't see it.. I've been in love with her since before she was reaped. But, when I finally kissed her…" His words seem to get stuck in his throat, "I could tell she didn't love me, or at the very least was confused about her feelings. Then in 13 I knew it wholeheartedly. With you gone, even when we thought you were safe, she was more distraught than I'd ever seen her. She acted like my mother, after my father's accident," another sigh. "Peeta, no, she loves you. No matter how much she tries to convince herself otherwise, she will never have the feelings for me that she has for you."

"That's not true. You're just trying to make me feel better. Maybe she's confused, but in the end it's always been you that she'll pick. Always." With that, he moves closer and puts an arm on my shoulder. I flinch at the touch and he chuckles.

"I'm not mad anymore. I just don't want you to hurt her again. As much as I wish she could forget about you just to be safe from your episodes, I know being apart from you is causing her far too much pain to carry on for much longer." He reassuringly grips my shoulder and he begins to tell me everything—everything —from their years hunting, to their kiss, to their time in 13. As he tells me of her pain and suffering while I was gone, I can't help but shed a tear.

When he finishes speaking, I look into his eyes; all the hatred and jealousy has melted away, leaving behind a look of acceptance. I know in my head that I will fight anyone and anything—even my own mind—to get back to her. I vow to never hurt her again.

I barely get out a "Thank you," as my voice is cracking from inevitable tears. He pats my back and says, "Welcome back, bread boy." He then wakes up Finnick and Jackson for their shift as I drift off to sleep.