Chapter 4! In Katniss's POV, just thought it should be there. I put a dramatic twist in :) Hope you guys'll like it. :))) Enjoy!
Chapter 4
Katniss's POV:
"I didn't know either. I notice I care when you're with someone else. I notice I care, when I'm not the one next to you making you smile and laugh."
His words are still echoing through my mind as I walk home, confused.
"I understand, but…if we can't be more, than I'd wish we can go back to the old times, as best friends."
It should be simple. I just need to decide on what I want. Simple. Well, not simple. But totally simple compared to being put into an arena and trying to survive while others want to kill you. However, it's true. A lot of things are going on now. I can't worry about this. However, this is a big weight.
I open the door to my new house. Warm air rushes to greet me, a big change from our old little cold house. Prim comes to welcome me, too. "Welcome back, Katniss!" Her smile can brighten my mood any day. But part of me still wants to have that little duck beside me. See, this is what the Hunger Games does to everyone. Changes them. 'Change is good.', who said that? I hate the changes. Prim is different, still lovable and sweet, but not the same little girl who screamed and cried the day of the Reaping. Gale is different, still protective and loyal, but doesn't welcome me into his arms like the old times.
Okay, Katniss, calm. Let's go to the basics. What is the question? The question is, do I like Gale or Peeta better? Peeta gives me kindness and patience. The patience and I don't have, and the kindness I need to keep going. Gale makes me feel safe and protected while giving me laughter. It seemed like the world would end without him. He's never let me down. It's always been me. But what about Peeta? He saved my life. He gave me bread to feed my family when I most needed it. Yes, it's something they both have in common. Selflessness. Peeta got hit by his mother to give me that bread. Gale would give food to my family when I'm unable to hunt, like while I was in the Games. Yes. Haymitch said something like this before, I can live a hundred lifetimes, and I'll never deserve Peeta. And I get the feeling it's like that for Gale too.
*A Little While Later In The Woods*
I don't have to hunt. I have enough money to buy food everyday. But I hunt anyways. It's a part of my life that stays the same, and the tiny spark of hope that not everything has changed. I'm here alone today. Gale can only come with me on Sundays, which is currently a big relief. I'm not a big fan of Gale working in the mines; sometimes I wonder how he's so strong. I can barely ride an elevator without an overly amount of emotions take over. How can he go to the place where his father was killed and work? Sometimes, I try putting different people in my place. How would Prim have dealt with the Hunger Games if I didn't volunteer? That's the one thing I'm proud of, saving my little sister from going through that nightmare. How would Gale have dealt with it? Sometimes I think I'm overreacting through the nightmares. Even Peeta doesn't have them like this, and he was the one whose leg was almost cut off.
I shoot an arrow at a squirrel. I still have my clean shots. Right in the eye. The baker always trades for them, even though they must be filthy rich like me. I find a rabbit, Maybe I'll give Gale this one, he can't hunt daily anymore, so his family still needs food, I'm about to release my arrow when a bell rings. The sound freezes me in the spot. It takes me a while to unfreeze and process everything…like…if the bell is ringing, there's a mining accident, if there's a mining accident, Gale could die like our fathers.
When the last thought registers, I gasp, drop my bow – having the arrow fly directly ahead in the process – and run with a single thought, Gale.
Noooooo! Gale! D: R&R!