We change the sheets on Gale's mattress in record speed and bundle up the old ones to take out to Hazelle. I fasten up my pants and straighten my t-shirt in an attempt to make myself look as inconspicuous as possible. I can already tell that the fact that Gale and I have been alone in his bedroom far longer than the time it takes to change his bedding, will not go unnoticed.

Gale stands facing the wall over his dresser where a small mirror hangs from a chain and hook. He's flattening his hair where my fingers have caused it to stick up at odd angles. The look of sheer concentration on his face that I can see reflected in the mirror, as he attempts to wrangle a particularly stubborn section of hair, makes me smirk. He must sense my amusement because less than a second later, his eyes flick to mine via the mirror.

"You caused this." He says with mock seriousness, indicating the unruly lock of hair.

"Yep." I reply, still smirking and popping the 'p', crossing my arms over my chest.

Gale manages to flatten the hair and turns to me fully, the seriousness gone and amusement now in it place. "So you're proud, Miss Everdeen?" he asks, crossing the few feet separating us and snaking his arms around my waist.

I mimic him, moving my arms from my chest up to wrap around his neck. "Oh, I'm proud." I smile.

He twitches an eyebrow and leans down to whisper in my ear. "Oh really now?" he asks, his breath tickling my ear and making my stomach flip. I nod. "Well, I think you need to look at yourself…because I'm pretty proud too."

My eyes go wide and I lean back to see Gale's smug grin. He sidesteps around me and nudges me towards his tiny mirror. I have to go up onto my tiptoes to see myself, the mirror at Gale's eye line and not mine. My mouth falls open when I see my own reflection. It's Gale's turn to smirk.

As much as I have tried to make myself as normal and innocent as possible by straightening out my clothes, my hair in its current state in certainly a dead giveaway to our activities. At the current moment, I may as well have 'Gale and I have been doing naughty things in his bedroom' tattooed on my forehead. My braid, which was reasonably messy to begin with after a day of wear, is now almost non-existent. Where Gale has had his fingers entwined in my hair, the braid has come completely loose, and the only thing really holding things together is the hair tie, which is keeping a pathetic dark braid at the bottom of my hair in-check.

I glare at Gale through the mirror but his smirk remains intact. "Might want to fix that, Catnip." He suggests, and it takes a colossal amount of strength not suggest he goes and fucks himself. Gale seems to sense this and his face softens. "I'm sorry." He says sincerely and comes to stand behind me. I can feel the heat of his chest warming my back through our clothes. My face softens. Gale pushes lightly on my shoulders so I stand flat on the ground. Like this, he is a good head above me.

Gale watches us in the mirror. I'm not tall enough to see anything other than the top of my head and Gale's face in the reflective glass. He looks up at himself, then back down, past my face. I feel his hands move from my shoulders, down to the end of my braid.

"What are you…?" I begin to ask, but Gale's fingers quickly undo my hair tie and the question dies somewhere in my throat as he presses the elastic into my palm, and his lips to the back of my neck.

"Keep hold of that, will you?" he whispers into my skin and I grip the elastic for dear life.

Gale runs his fingers through my dark waves, dislodging any of the hair, which had somehow remained in the braid. With each caress of my hair, he presses another open-mouthed kiss to my neck. A groan bubbles from between my lips. Gale presses his lips to the top of my spine, to the ridge of my collarbone, to the join of my shoulder, before finally kissing and nuzzling the sensitive skin behind my ear.

When I let out a helpless sigh of pleasure, Gale places a final kiss under my earlobe and pulls back. I begin to turn to him in disapproval, but he gently holds my head firm towards the mirror.

"Stay still." He instructs, and I comply.

Gale combs my hair once more with his fingers, pulling the strands that have fallen in front of my face back. He begins carefully tugging at my roots, and only being able to see the concentration on his face and not his actions in the mirror, it takes me a second to work out what he's doing. As his hands work lower on my head, still tugging lightly, and I suddenly realise he's re-braiding my hair.

I feel Gale's fingers ghost over the skin of my neck at the hairline, as he starts braiding down my back. He stops and runs one hand from its position on the centre of my back, up the line he has just plaited, and rests it, palm up, on my shoulder.

"Pass it here." He says, and I silently place the hair-tie in his hand. Gale fiddles with the end of my hair, twisting the elastic in place. "There." He strokes the plait and places it over my shoulder.

I look down at the plait resting on my chest and rise up onto my toes to get a better view of my hairstyle. I can only marvel at how well Gale has done in braiding my hair. Turning my head to either side and fingering the braid that lies on my chest, I can't help but smile. He has done such a good job, that it's almost too good for it to be believable that I have done it. My hair is certainly neater than it was when I arrived at the house today. Not that I'm complaining.

I drop down onto the flats of my feet and turn to Gale. He looks down at me and brushes his fingers over the side of my face, tugging some of the shorter hair out of the braid so that a few strands fall around the front of my face.

"There's my Catnip." He smiles, leaving his fingers resting on my cheek.

"How do you even know how to do that?" I say, curiosity getting the best of me.

"You sound impressed." Gale grins and begins rubbing my earlobe between his thumb and forefinger, gently.

"I am." I admit, supressing a moan at the sensation. I swallow past it. "Who taught you?"

"You did." He states. The confusion must show on my face because Gale chuckles. "Well, you did unintentionally. I've watched you braiding your hair for years."

He's right, of course. Running around and hunting in the woods for hours, my hair is constantly being re-plaited after being caught on branches and brambles, but I can't quite understand how simply watching me has awarded him so much skill.

Something occurs to me and a small smile creeps onto my face. "Have you been practicing?" I ask quietly, and the widening of Gale's eyes is all I need in answer. His hand drops from my ear. "You have! On who? Posy?" Gale doesn't answer me but his ears have turned red. "Why have you been practicing on your sister?"

He shrugs and scratches the back of his head, looking away from me. "I just…you know…she asked." He looks back to me and I can tell he's lying.

"Really?"

Gale looks at me almost guiltily and decides there's no point in lying. He sighs heavily. "I've been practicing braiding on Posy." He admits, and I reach out and take his hand, squeezing it, encouraging him on despite his obvious discomfort. "I just thought that maybe, one day in the woods, when you take your hair out and you start to braid it, I could swoop in and braid it for you, and you'd be really impressed, and…and…" he trails off his rambles and stares at our feet. "Yeah." He finishes quietly.

I stare at him disbelievingly. His admission is something so uncharacteristic and unexpected, that it takes me a moment to recover. I tug at the hand still laced with mine to get Gale to look at me. His ears are still red when he looks up.

"You", I begin, shaking my head in disbelief, "are ridiculous."

Gale's expression is unreadable, but he doesn't look away from me.

"I mean, completely, and utterly, ridiculous." I continue. "You really do make me smile." I grin, and his expression lights up. I reach up and kiss his lips lightly. Gale smiles at me properly and kisses me again, rubbing circles on my hand. "Come on, or the kids will come looking for us."

Gale nods and lets go of my hand. He picks up the bundle of bedclothes off his dresser and we leave his bedroom one at a time, weaving through the narrow gap in the door. I am through but Gale has barely closed the bedroom door when I am ambushed by Posy, who throws herself into my arms. I pick her up and rest her weight on my hip to get a more secure hold. She wraps her skinny arms around my neck. Despite being four, a life of poverty has left Posy much smaller than the merchant kids of her age, and she's featherweight in my arms.

"Katniss, you said you were going to be a minute and it's been way more than that." Posy pouts.

I feel a surge of guilt at the little girl's expression, despite the fact that I am very aware she is playing me and milking the situation for all it's worth. "I know", I pout back at her, sticking my lower lip out exaggeratingly, "I'm sorry, but it was all your big brother's fault." I turn to Gale and he feigns an offended expression.

"It was your fault!" Posy accuses, one arm leaving my neck to point at Gale.

He grins at her menacingly, drops the sheets, and lifts her pointed hand higher. "Ooh, you caught me, Pose", she giggles as Gale lifts her arm even higher.

"Katniss!" she squeals, anticipating her eldest brother's next move and attempting to pull back, but Gale keeps a firm hold and begins tickling her armpit. "Stop…Gale…Kat" she laughs, and I have to tighten my grip on her to stop her falling as she squirms in my arms.

Somewhere behind me I can hear Prim giggling. When Posy's laughs become breathless pants, Gale stops his attack and lets her recover. She puts her arm back around my neck at a slightly awkward angle and I smile as I realise Posy is trying to protect her armpit from more tickles.

"It's still your fault." She smiles, looking at Gale as he retrieves the dropped linens.

Gale stands and cocks his head towards me. "She's to blame too." He remarks casually and Posy scrunches up her face in slight confusion as he walks across the room to deposit the bedclothes in his mother's washing basket.

"What were you even doing?" Prim asks and I turn to look at her. She's perched on the back of the sofa, looking from myself to Gale and back again, waiting for an answer.

"Yeah", Posy pipes up and adjusts herself so that her face is directly in front of mine, "what were you doing?"

My mouth falls open but words fail me. I'm used to this feeling of, not really speechlessness, just, literally not having the words, but now the feeling is also tainted with a thick layer of panic and mortification. I look to Prim, but she is looking at Gale who is unnecessarily folding the sheets he's putting into the washing basket. When both of us fail to answer, Posy gets frustrated and takes my face in her hands so I can't look away from her.

"What were you doing, Kat?" she asks me directly, and I begin rifling through excuses in my head before Gale jumps in.

"Stuff." He says, turning to look at us all.

Posy looks confused again, Prim raises her brows in amusement I just stare at him blankly.

"Oh, really!" Prim smirks, looking over to me, her eyebrows getting even higher.

I attempt to ignore Prim watching me and instead look over at Gale. "In what universe was that a good answer?" I ask him and he has the decency to look sheepish.

Gale seems to get over this quickly enough though. "Hey," he defends, "you aren't exactly 'Queen of good answers' yourself." He looks at me poignantly and I know he's referring to our conversation with Hazelle earlier after our tickling incident. I roll my eyes and he smiles, recognising when he's forgiven.

"So", Prim says, swinging her legs on the back of the couch, a glint in her eye. She looks at Gale and smirks and my face falls. "What kind of 'stuff' were you doing?" she drags out each syllable until she's practically signing the question.

I put Posy down on the ground and walk over to my little sister, stepping in between her and Gale. Despite my attempt to look as threatening as possible, her smirk doesn't waver.

"Nothing that concerns you, Little Duck." I say, crossing my arms over my chest.

Prim looks over my shoulder at Gale; I can see in her expression she's debating whether to push the subject any further. She open's her mouth to make another comment, but is cut off by Posy.

"Katniss, will you read this to me?" Posy asks, popping her head up behind Prim. Having lost interest in the conversation, which was beyond her, she has instead chosen a book from the cardboard box in the corner of the living room. I silently thank Posy for her impeccable timing.

I look over Prim to the younger little girl. "Of course I will, Pose." I say, and as I make my way around the sofa to sit on it, I catch a glimpse of Prim, looking genuinely disappointed at this interruption.

Sitting on the couch, I lift Posy up onto my lap. She passes me the tattered storybook and leans back on my chest. Gale comes to sit next to us, leaving a small gap.

He pokes Prim in the back lightly to get her attention. When she looks around at him he smiles. "You joining us?" he asks, nodding at the space he's left between us.

Prim seems to consider this offer for a second, but smiles and hops over the couch, landing in the space. Posy giggles as we jump slightly at the small intrusion of Prim's weight.

"Will you tell me later?" Prim asks both Gale and I, looking between the two of us.

"Probably not." I say honestly, and she sighs in defeat, settling down between Posy and I, and Gale.

The story is one both kids have heard at least fifty times without any exaggeration, because I know I have easily read it to them that many times. There are only four books in the box, and this is the only one that includes a Princess, making it a favourite of theirs. I'm careful turning the pages and showing the pictures as the spine has been repaired more times than I can remember and they're at risk of falling out at any moment. In fact, some of the pages have fallen out, long before Hazelle acquired the book for her own children, so every so often I have to make up a section of the story to keep it making sense. It's better that way anyway, it means each time the story is read, it's a little bit different.

When I finish reading, and the Princess is happily married to the Prince, Posy is a dead weight on my knee, one hand wrapped around the end of my braid where she had been playing with it. Just like her brother, apparently, loves playing with my hair. Her slow, deep breathing, tells me that the four year old is out cold. Prim, it appears, is not far behind. Her legs are pulled up, knees resting against my thighs, but her back leans against Gale's side, her head drooping on his shoulder. His arm lies on the back of the sofa, his fingers lightly stroking my neck.

"I liked that story." Prim says quietly. I look over at her and don't see the twelve year old who insisted she was too old to share a room with the boys, but instead see my baby sister who for a few years I brought up practically singlehandedly. She yawns and Posy shifts slightly in her sleep, and I'm suddenly overwhelmed with a wave of an unfamiliar feeling. Perhaps for the first time in five years, outside of the woods, I feel completely content. I'm happy. I make the conscious decision to remember this moment for the rest of my life if I am able to.

Posy's weight on my lap and chest, the warmth of Prim's legs against my own, and the feeling of Gale's fingers drawing patterns on my neck, it's nice. We all sit quietly, Prim looking too tired to extend any conversation, and Gale and I tend to enjoy the quiet over the conversation anyway. I can hear our mothers' dull murmuring of conversation coming from the kitchen. There's a thud and a giggle from Vick and Rory's room, showing that despite being sent to bed well over an hour and a half ago, they're both still awake. I smile.

The murmurings coming from the kitchen gradually get louder and clearer until I can hear exactly what Hazelle and my mother are saying, and they emerge from the room, mugs of something hot in their hands. Gale twists around best he can with Prim still using his side as a pillow, and I crane my neck towards the doorway, careful not to move too much and risk waking Posy.

"Looks like it might be bedtime." Hazelle smiles, putting her mug down on a shelf, and walking over to where I sit with Posy on my lap. The book still rests in one of my hands and she takes it from me, taking a moment to look at it fondly, and deposits it back in the box. "You know" she unwraps Posy's fingers from my braid gently; "whenever I offer to read her that book she tells me 'only Katniss is allowed to read that one'".

I blush slightly and feel a surge of love towards the little girl on my lap. This is the first time I've ever been told this. I look towards Gale who just answers me with an affirmative nod of his head and squeezes my neck lightly. Suddenly aware his hands still reside on my skin with an audience of our parents, my blush grows.

"Yes" Hazelle says quietly, reaching down to lift Posy off my lap and smiling at me warmly, "only Katniss can read that book properly." She lifts Posy gently and adjusts the sleeping child in her arms.

"Come on, Prim." My mother chimes from behind me. "Bed for you, too."

I half expect Prim to argue, and ask more about what Gale and I were doing in his room before, but instead she just nods and stands up. My sister leans down to hug Gale. "Night, Gale." She yawns, "Sorry we have to sleep in your room." Prim lets go of Gale and shifts to hug me.

"It's alright." He smiles, "I don't mind bunking with Katniss."

Prim hugs me but looks at Gale when she says, "I'm sure you don't." and pulls away from me to stand up straight.

The lack of reaction from our mothers tells me that Prim was careful to keep her voice low enough, and that that comment was purely for the benefit of Gale and myself. She grins sleepily at both of us. "Well, goodnight." She says and without another word follows my mother into Gale's room.

Hazelle makes to follow them but pauses at my side. I look up at her questioningly but her expression just leaves me puzzled. She tucks a strand of hair behind my ear before bringing her hand back to support Posy. "You're…" she pauses, looking to Gale with the same expression. "…You're both such good kids. Remember that." She looks back to me. "Both of you."

I look to Gale, who looks just as taken aback as I feel. Hazelle sighs and carries Posy into Gale's room, closing the small gap in the door behind her. When I turn back to Gale, he's watching me already.

"What was…?" he trails off, eyes glancing towards his bedroom door.

I have no answer.