Title: ABC for The Hunger Games

Fandom: Peter Pan what the fuck do you think

Pairing: many~

Plot: A is for Against the World. B is for Bananas. C is for Cockroaches. D is for Dying. E is for Enemies. F is for Friends Who Do Stuff Together. G is Good. H is for Heeding. I is for Idiot. J is for jester. K is for kook.

K: kook

Peeta may have been a bit of his rocker, but he didn't miss the looks and the whispers, the stray 'lunatic' and 'kook' strangled by the wind as it carried it, seemingly purposely to his ear.

The fact that his guards whispered when they thought he was asleep didn't help at all.

Eventually one of two guards is traded out for someone that actually knows something about him, like Katniss or Finnick or the like. Which is good, because even Gale doesn't talk poorly about him. He even punched out a guy for trying to start a shitstorm about him. It was.. strange, but nice, he supposes. It's probably mainly for Katniss, but that's nice, too. Peeta isn't sure if he loves her or hates her or what, but either way, everyone deserves a friend. There must be some good in her if Gale likes her. He seems to have good judgement.

"Hey, Gale." He says one night, rolling onto his side. Gale grunts.

"Yeah?"

"My brothers died. Real or not real?"

He practically feels Gale frowning. Which is weird, but whatever.

"Real."

"My parents abused. Real or not real?"

"There were rumors about your mom, but I can't be sure." Gale lifts a shoulder. "You'll have to wait to ask Delly or Madge when you get back."

"What makes you so sure I'm getting back?"

"Our dear Mockingjay would go off on a tangent if we let anything happen to you. She loves you, you know that?"

"I think I do."

He reaches over and thumps Peeta on the back, but the blonde sees that the other boy has the smallest of smiles on his lips, albeit a bit rueful. "Good. She deserves that, at least."

"Did I love her?"

"Sure seemed like it. Anybody could see that you were head over heels - what're you doing?" He asks, noticing him digging his nails into his wrists.

"Katniss is still... sore to me. I'm trying to not freak out. The pain's an anchor."

"Let's stop talking about her, then."

"No, I want to." He protests, before adding hesitantly, "I.. I /need/ to."

"You really are a kook."

Peeta frowns and shuts his eyes tightly. "On second thought, I'm going to bed.

So, this is a headcanon of mine. Gale, while in love with Katniss, can't bear to see Peeta hating her. It hurts her, therefore hurting him by extension. I like to think that he was selfless in that aspect. Also, name calling actually really hurt Peeta. Like, he gets it, he's fucked up. He's had enough torture to last a lifetime at the Capitol, he doesn't need this shit, too. I'll try to make a fluffy one next~