Here it is...another chapter! This one is from Gale's POV.

Chapter 10

Gale coughed for about a minute after she said those words. When he had recovered from the coughing spell, he spoke.

"That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard, Katniss." he said with a laugh.

"I know. It's funny the things you think of when you're angry." she said shrugging her shoulders.

'That was close; she almost figured it out.' he thought. It was the only secret he had ever kept up from her in all the years he had known her. 'If she ever finds out, it will change everything. Only a few weeks left to go and the secret will die with me. My best friend will never know that I am in love with her.'

"Gale, is everything okay?"

"I'm just thinking about my family. I'm going to go to my room until training starts. I'll meet you at the elevator." He left quietly and returned to his room, sitting on the edge of his bed. He rested his elbows on his knee and pressed his hands to his forehead.

Truth of the matter was that he was jealous of Peeta. When the Games were over, he would get to be with her. If he played his cards right, she would be in his life forever. He always knew Katniss had a thing for Peeta. When he would hang out with her at school, she would glance in Peeta's direction at least once a day. He would even try to make her jealous by flirting with girls right of her. She never looked the least bit annoyed.

Gale stretched back on the bed and remembered that first moment when everything changed. It was seared into his memory. It was a couple years back. They were racing through the forest, weaving through the trees. Katniss was about 15 feet ahead of him. She turned around and gave him the warmest smile. He remembered how beautiful she looked when the shadows of the rustling trees shifted around her face. He was so captivated by her he almost ran into a tree. He quickly shuffled his feet and managed to avoid it. He tried to stay focused but every time she looked back to see if he was gaining on her, he felt his heart flutter. He continued to chase her, not being able to keep up with her. She had always been quick. Eventually, his inability to concentrate caused him to trip over a fallen tree that he had not seen. When she realized he wasn't behind her, she turned around and found him lying on the forest floor. He was lucky he had only sprained his ankle.

Gale's thoughts were interrupted when he heard a knock on the door. A few seconds later, Katniss rushed in.

"Come on, Gale, we are going to be late for training!" she said.

He looked at the clock and realized they only had a minute to get to the Training Room. He jumped off the bed and they raced down the hall to the elevator. She looked back to make sure he was following her. Gale smiled when he saw her do this. By the time he caught up with her, she was pushing the down button repeatedly.

"Come on…come on." she muttered.

"Calm down, Katniss."

"We shouldn't be late!" she said.

"Sounds like Effie is rubbing off on you." he said with a laugh. She glared her eyes at him.

'She's even cute when she's angry.' he thought. The elevator doors opened and they quickly got in. She hit the button marked TR and the doors closed. He wondered what she would do if he pulled her towards him and kissed her.

"Why the smirk, Hawthorne?" she asked, still a little heated.

"Oh, nothing." he said as he watched the numbers light up as the reached each floor.

"Why didn't you meet me?"

"I lost track of time. I'm sorry." he said. The doors opened and they briskly walked to the entrance. All the other tributes were in the training room and they turned to face Gale and Katniss. Luckily the head Trainer hadn't addressed them yet. A few minutes later the she greeted them, and began the training session.

Gale and Katniss went to the camouflage station first. This would give them a good chance to spy on the other tributes. The trainer gave them instruction on how paint themselves to blend in with trees and then he let them try to duplicate the work. Gale was more interested in the other tributes than he was at learning how to do this. He realized that the Careers weren't their only competition this year. The boy from District 11 was stronger than anyone he had ever seen. He easily took down the assistant every time in the hand-to-hand combat station.

Next, they went to the knots station. After fidgeting with the rope, he looked up at Katniss. She had her eyes fixed on the little girl from District 11.

"I couldn't imagine what Prim would be doing if she was here." Katniss said breaking the silence.

'Of course she's thinking about her.' Gale thought. He had always found it sweet how devoted Katniss was to her little sister. She would risk her life for her; in fact, that is what she is doing right now. He figured it was his turn to say something. "Well it's a good thing you thought to volunteer on her behalf."

"I didn't really have much of a choice, did I?"

"Plenty of people wouldn't…like that girl four years ago. She had a sister that was 17 and she didn't volunteer."

"I remember. That was my first time in the Reaping. That was the day I realized that if that ever happen to Prim, I would volunteer for her. There is no way she'd last a day in the arena with this lot."

"That girl is pretty quick…and a good climber." Gale said trying to cheer her up.

"Yeah, I guess so." she said. "Maybe we could try to make her the victor."

Gale felt his heart stop. Was she reconsidering their plan?

"No Katniss!" he shouted. Half of the tributes looked over at him. He grabbed her by the arm and took her into a small room that connected to the training room. "Do you have to be so selfless?"

"I can't help it if that the way I think."

"If you die in that arena, Prim is as good as dead. If the starvation doesn't kill her, then it will be from the tesserae. You were worried when she had one slip of paper in the Reaping ball. What happens when her name is in there 10 or 15 times?" he asked. He saw the fire ignite in her eyes and she pushed him against the stone wall. She didn't say anything.
"You know it's the truth." he said with worried look on his face. He could see tears welling up her eyes as she nodded her head. "Katniss, don't cry."

She managed to hold back the tears. Before any more words could be exchanged, Haymitch busted through the door and slammed it shut.

"I got a call from a trainer telling me that my tributes have trespassed into one of their offices and are fighting each other. Explain!" he shouts. Both Gale and Katniss are shocked at how composed Haymitch seems. They aren't sure if he if actually sober or if the news has sobered him from his drunken state.

"It was my fault. I said something stupid." Katniss said.

"I brought her in here so I could talk to her without the other tributes hearing."

"Well you certainly got their attention. They've all had their eyes on this room, waiting for you to come out. I don't know why I told you two to stick together since you obviously can't stand each other." Haymitch fumed. He calmed his tone. "The two of you will work separately for training…no contact whatsoever while you are in front of the other tributes."

"What!" Gale and Katniss said at the same time.

"You heard me. Not even during lunch. You sit at separate tables and don't even look at each other."

"No." Katniss said.

"You're the one that got us in this mess. We need to change our strategy now. This might actually be better. The Careers will gain some confidence that there isn't another team to compete with in the arena. That is what causes them to get killed in the Games. They are overconfident and then they let their guard down. That's when you will take them out."

"You plan on having us attack the Careers in the arena?" Gale asked surprised.

"They need to be taken out eventually. We can talk about this later. You need to get back out there and continue your training." Haymitch said. He opened the door and left. Gale watched Katniss quickly walk out of the office. Gale stepped into the training room to see what she would do next. He saw her head right for the archery station.

'What is she doing?' he thought. Haymitch told her to avoid that station until the private sessions. He watched as she swiftly picked a bow and arrow. She faced the target, drew back the arrow and hit the human target right in the heart. She dropped the bow, then left the room. All eyes went from her to Gale, wondering what he could have possibly said to her.