Please don't kill me for this chapter :(. To GalexKatniss fans I hope you enjoy this though. This chapter might be confusing for you cuz why is Gale at District 4 and some other stuff that will happen later.

The moment I saw Gale's bloodied and sweaty body whipped by the middle-aged man. I unhanded my hand from Peeta's and ran towards him, blocking his attack on Gale with my back. The pain was unbearable… Imagining Gale received this kind of pain so many times would make him think this is hell. But I didn't mind, I kept on standing, protecting him there. When the sound of the whip stopped, I turned my head towards my back and saw some bloody cuts. I raised my head and saw Peeta stood in front of me, holding the whip tightly on his grip and there was blood pouring from a cut on his face. He protected me. Both Gale and I.

The man said, "Do you realize what you are doing?"

"Yes, I do. You're hurting both my fiancée and her cousin," Peeta said with an angry voice, "and now I'm protecting them."

Oh yeah, I forgot that Gale was my "cousin" now.

Peeta turned his head towards me. "Check on Gale, Katniss,"

I faced Gale and held his face in my hands. "Gale, are you okay?" I asked him in a whisper.

"C-catnip..?" He gasped, slowly raising his head to face me.

"Yeah, it's me," I assured him.

"Why did you hurt him?" I heard Peeta's voice behind me.

The man who introduced himself as Romulus Thread and confessed the reason he whipped Gale was because he was caught illegally hunting in the woods. He was about to continue his punishment on Gale when the people of District 4 begged him to stop. I know most of them did this was to make sure that the Capitol wouldn't hear about this and destroy the whole district like District 13. Or maybe some of them felt sorry for us.

When Haymitch arrived, he took us back to the Capitol Building and called my mother to treat Gale, Peeta and I. She and Gale had to stay here with us for a few days. Mother treated Gale first then me, but I asked her to treat Peeta first because it was my fault that he got hurt too. She disagreed because my wounds were worse than his and I couldn't say anything more. That night I visited Gale in his room, he was laying on the bed with his body covered with bandages. I sat on the chair next to his bed and held his hand. He stirred and opened his eyes slowly.

"Hey," I said.

"Hey..." he responded weakly.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, kind of."

"What were you doing here in District 4 anyway? And why were you hunting here while you can hunt in District 12?"

He was silent for and finally he answered, "I came here to find you, Catnip. I want to take you back to District 12 and live the way you used to have with me, hunt with me and do other things with me. And not live under the Capitol's rules."

This really confused me and so I asked, "Why, Gale? Why are you doing this for me?"

"Because I love you," he said, tightening his grip on my hand.

Those three words really shocked me and I froze there. Flashbacks of my life with Gale rushed into my mind in an instant. Memories of us being together for such a long time made me realize something important. "I..."

"I know you love me too, Catnip," he said.

Yes, I do but I also loved Peeta. But Gale had been my friend for such a long time and accompanied me in all those years, holding back the feelings he had for me. That's when I decided something in my head. I leaned towards him and placed my mouth near his ear.

"I love you too, Gale," I whispered on his ear.

He moved closer to me, smiling then he pressed his lips against mine, gently and softly. I kissed him back and knotted my fingers in his hair. We pulled back when we ran out of air. He slowly drifted back to sleep when the effects of the medicines that mother gave him took over his body. I stayed there with him and stayed awake for the whole night. I heard something behind me and I turned around.

I saw Peeta standing behind the room's door with a sad expression on his face. His lips were barely open and I saw his right hand's grip on the door and his left hand tightened. I had the feeling he was watching us for the whole time.

"Peeta..." I gasped.

He walked away and I jumped from the chair and released Gale's hand silently and ran out of the room. I chased Peeta in the hall, calling his name, "Peeta! Wait!"

He didn't respond my call, instead he quickened his pace.

With no other choice, I ran as fast as I could, finally caught up to him and stopped by wrapping my arms around his waist.

"Peeta... I..." I panted. "I'm sorry..."

He faced me with an expressionless face. "For what, Katniss?"

"For what you saw."

"I don't get it. Why did you come for me after declaring your love for Gale?"

"Because..." I hesitated though I already know the answer.

"Who cares anyway?" He snapped while he loosened my arms around him and let them fall on my sides. "As long as you're happy with him, I'm fine," he said with a sad voice and walked away with his hands in his jeans pockets.

"Peeta!" I called behind him and no answer came from him. I just heard the echo of my voice in the hall.

Once again, please don't kill me .". This will get better for Katniss and Peeta, trust me. Read and review please thank you :)