The mutts were closing in. Their sharp fangs nipped at my ankles, and I felt their hot breath on my back. Prim was running alongside me, when she tripped and the mutts leaped on her. She tried to fight them off, but they were much stronger, and she was overwhelmed in a matter of seconds. "PRIM! PRIM, NO!"
I woke up with a start, and clamped my hand over my mouth so I wouldn't scream. There was a cold sweat on my back, and I panted like a dog. My room suddenly felt like a prisom, with its walls closing in on me. I dashed downstairs, grabbed an apple off the counter, slung my hunting bag over my shoulder, and ran into the woods. I sat down on the cold rock, and inhaled deeply.
"You're up early today."
I whipped around, bow drawn in the blink of an eye.
"Whoa, easy there Catnip."
"GALE! You scared me!" I lowered my bow, and put the arrow back in its sheath.
"Sorry, but you're the one who scared me."
"What? How?" I was thoroughly confused at this point.
"Well you see, I was perfectly happy, sitting beside this bush when you decide to crash through here, and disturb me from my slumber." Despite the fact I was terrified from my nightmare, his Capitol voice managed a laugh out of me.
"Oh, I am terribly sorry sir, but you are so filthy you blend right in with the overgrowth," I retorted in my best Capitol accent. He chuckled and gave me a light kiss. But I wasn't done. Before he could pull away, I wrapped both my hands around his neck and pulled him closer to me. He didn't resist, obviously. Grabbing my waist, he pulled me down so I was laying on top of him. His nimble fingers undid my braid, and my hair cascaded down in gentle waves.
"You're beautiful, you know," he whispered in my ear. I smiled, and said, "What if I was wearing tattered old clothes, covered in mud, and smelled like a dead pig?"
"Hmm..." He stroked a fake beard and put on an over exaggerated pondering face. He broke out into a smile, and said "We'll you already look like that, and I'm not complaining, am I?" I laughed, and leaned in for another kiss. He quickly deepened it, and we battled for control. I won this time, though I think he let me. He nibble on my bottom lip, and trailed soft kisses down my jawline and onto my neck. I involuntarily let out a soft moan, and he retraced his path back to my lips. He whispered, "You taste like cherries."
"Cherries?"
"Yep. Cherries."
"That's odd, considering I had an apple this morning." He laughed quietly, and placed another gentle kiss on my lips. Despite myself, I couldn't stop the smile from coming.
"Your smile is making it very hard for me to kiss you," he whined.
"Good, we have some hunting to do anyways." I rolled off onto the grass, and he offered me a hand.
"I have to go around noon for some kind of photo shoot, but it will only be around two hours, then I have absolutely nothing to do until you take me to the Underground."
"Good. I'll come find you later?"
"Okay. Now let's hunt." We stalked through the undergrowth, eyes open for any prey. I could obviously buy butcher meat now, but I still loved rabbit stew and wild turkey, and Gale's family still needed the food. A rabbit bounded out of a bush, and an arrow found its way into the eye before I knew what I was doing.
"Good shot. Great shot actually. I'm gonna go check my snares quickly though, I'll find you around here later?" I nodded, and he silently disappeared into the trees. I shot a wild turkey and two squirrels when Gale showed up with three rabbits. He motioned for us to head back, and I ran towards him.
We headed down to the Hob, and bartered for a while with Greasy Sae. We emerged with a handful of coins, before stopping by Cray, who gave us a fair price for the turkey. I pressed the money into Gales hand and started to walk back to my house, hoping he wouldn't notice that I gave it all to him. But obviously, he did.
"We split the profits half and half, remember?" Gale reminded me.
"No, Gale, you need it. I don't."
"Katniss-"
"We're not going over this again. You keep it, but if you think it's so unfair, then the next time we get a wild turkey, it's mine. Happy?" He raised his eyebrows, and conceded,
"I would argue, but it's pointless with you." I laughed, and pushed him off towards his house. "Bye, Gale." He pointedly ignored me before ducking inside. I laughed.
As soon as I walked into my house, my prep team swarmed around me like ants, clamoring about my unkempt eyebrows and my rough nails. The swept me to the bathroom, before they started on a 'big, big job!' I emerged and hour or do later, looking 'human'. Cinna touched up my makeup and pulled a beautiful red and gold dress out of a bag, and pinned my hair up into the braided updo I wore for the reaping. He lightly dusted something over my arms, leaving them with a shimmery glow.
"It's beautiful Cinna, but you already knew that." He laughed, and ushered me out the door. When I got to the set in my living room, Peeta was already there. He motioned for me to sit down, and pulled me into a hug, planting a kiss on my head. CLICK. Then, he gave me a kiss on my cheek. CLICK. The camera man made a few adjustments, and Peeta stood up, pulling me with him. He left a soft kiss on my lips. CLICK. He grabbed both my hands in his, turned me so my back was against his chest, and tucked his chin on my shoulder. CLICK. Many poses later, we were finally allowed to leave. He asked me, "Are you busy tonight? I thought... maybe we could go get some dinner or something together?" Did he just ask me on a date? I guess so...
"Sorry, I'm going to the Underground with Gale tonight. We're meeting up with some of his friends." He looked disappointed at that, but quickly recovered and asked "Tomorrow?" I wasn't sure if I wanted to go if I'm honest, but I nodded and replied "Okay, what time?"
We finally decided we would go at 7:00 for a picnic before going on a walk through town. I excused myself and dashed up to my room, telling him wanted to change and wash off my makeup.
Gale knocked on my door right after I finished dinner. He was wearing a nice shirt, not as dressy as his Reaping shirt but nicer than his hunting clothes.
"Gale, do I have to wear a dress?" I never thought I'd ever ask him that.
"No, most people don't. Wear something nice though." He plopped down on the couch and started chatting with Prim. I went upstairs and changed into a pair of dark pants, and a pale green flowy top with beading around the edges.
"You look beautiful, Catnip. Lets go."
"Okay. You head in before me; I don't really want the headlines of the Capitol newspaper to be 'Girl on Fire cheats on true love!'" He laughed, but headed out the door. A few minutes later, I headed out but I took a slightly different path.
When I reached the back of the slag heap, Gale was waiting there for me. He pulled open the trapdoor, and said "Ladies first." I climbed down the wooden ladder into a, well, for better lack of words, a pit. It was dark, but there were lights placed around the tunnel. There was some slow music being played, and I saw many of the kids I went to school with dancing. Gale grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the dance floor.
"Gale?"
"MmmHmm?"
"I don't know how to dance." He just laughed, and despite my protests, pulled me over.
"Here, follow me."
The first dance was simple enough, when he put his foot forward, line went back. Simple. The next one had a few spins, but nothing much. My favorite was probably the last one. The fiddler played a nice, slow song, and Gale put his hands around my waist. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and he pulled me close to him. Our foreheads were gently pressed together, we shared the same breaths. When it was over, he pressed his lips to mine. Being devoid of his touch for almost a whole day left me craving unconsciously, and I kissed him back ferociously, but he pulled apart far too soon.
"Come on, fast dances are next."
If being poor gave District 12 anything, it was the ability to know how to entertain. We danced and laughed, and tripped more than once over my feet. After a few dances, he pulled me away from the crowd.
"Where are we going?"
"Just meeting with some of my friends." We kept walking, when someone jumped out.
He yelled, "Ha! Scared ya!"
"Not quite, sorry Phoenix," Gale replied.
"So you brought the ever elusive Katniss, huh?"
"Yup." Gale turned around, and introduced me to his friends.
"Okay, I think you already know Phoenix. This is Jake, Dustin, Dennex and Ceran."
"Hi," I said tentatively. Gale looks quite at home with them though, and pulled me along. They set out some small glasses with some type of liquor in them, and explained the game that they were playing.
"So, it's Truth or Dare, but if you don't do it, you have to take a shot. When one of us has to leave, whoever has the most glasses left wins." It seemed pretty simple, but I haven't had liquor since I was in the Capitol, and it was very light too. I wasn't sure if I wanted to play. Luckily, Gale seemed to notice and spoke up.
"The lady here gets to stop when she wants to, okay?"
Phoenix said "Sure, lets play. Ceran, you're up first."
"Sure. Gale, truth or dare."
"Truth, I guess?"
"Tell me, you two are dating right?"
Gale turned a peculiar color, resembling a strawberry.
"Yeah..."
"Good. I knew she was faking in the games." How did he know? I didn't have too much time to ponder it, because Gale was up next.
"Dennex, truth or dare?"
"Dare."
"Go tell Madge you like her." Dennex promptly downed one of his glasses. Phoenix yelled "WIMP!" but he just shrugged. "Let's see... Katniss. Truth or dare?"
"Umm...Dare?"
Gale looked at me skeptically. "Are you sure?" Before I could say anything, Dennex said "Too late. I dare you to play seven minutes with Gale."
"What's seven minutes?"
"Well, there's an old supply closet in there. We go in for seven minutes," Gale explained to me. Seven minutes, alone? Sure.
"Okay." Gale looked surprised, probably at my answer, but led me over to a small room. Dennex closed the door, and told us he'd knock when time's up. It was dark, and I could hear Gale's heavy breathing. Suddenly his mouth was pressed against mine, and his hands were wrapped around my waist. My hands travelled up his back and to his neck. He gently bit my bottom lip, nibbling lightly. I flicked my tongue against his, and he returned the favor. Then he pushed me against the wall, and I was glad to have the support. I ran my hands down his back and around to his stomach. He trailed his mouth along my jaw, and sucked lightly at the skin between my collarbones, which made me let out a soft moan. We were interrupted by a sharp knock. I pulled back, disappointed, and slowly followed Gale out the door.
When we were back in the tunnel, Gale's friends gave us both knowing look. I'm pretty sure I blushed, but Gale cleared his throat pointedly, and told me, "Katniss. It's your turn."
"Oh, Dustin, truth or dare?"
I didn't pay much to the rest of the game; I couldn't keep my mind off what happened in the supply closet. When Gale said he had to turn in early for work tomorrow, I decided to leave as well. He walked me home, and pressed a kiss to my temple before whispering,
"I love you."
He slinked off into the night.
Like it? Please review! This chapter was mostly filler, but the next one will have more action. I just have to wait until the Victory Tour to continue. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I won't go into too much detail but I promise, I read all of them. Bye!
