When I woke it was already bright. My eyes hurt as I squinted against the bright sunlight that invaded the entrance to our shelter. I tried to squash the panic rising in my throat at the thought of how visible we were in the lean to I had made. Sure, it had provided adequate cover when it was dark but now that it was day I worried that it wasn't enough.

"Good morning," Gale said smiling at me and I turned to look at him. During the night we had somehow wound our way closer together. My head had slipped from his arm and onto his chest. His arms were wrapped around me and our legs were pressed tightly together. As I realised I had never ever been this close to anyone else I quickly scooted back a couple of inches. I tried to shake off the thought. It was cold in the woods and one warm body was as good as any other!

"How are you feeling this morning?" I asked Gale and he shrugged his shoulders moving from the ground into a sitting position. I copied him.

"Better than yesterday," he said. This didn't really answer my question. He had been in a lot of pain yesterday so even if it had alleviated slightly he would still hurt. One look at the firm expression on his face told me that arguing with him would be pointless. Gale was not one to show weakness.

"I think that I'll go looking for something for us to eat," he said and I opened my mouth to argue then closed it again. He was right. We were both tired and hungry and I had no hope of catching anything. Since the Games had begun I had learned that I had more survival skills than I had thought but hunting was not one of them. I lacked the grace and patience that it required.

Gale shifted around and couldn't hide the wince of pain he made at the movement. He crawled towards the edge of our shelter and once outside attempted to straighten up. He groaned and pushed himself upright. I couldn't watch any longer and scrambled out after him.

"I know we need to eat Gale but I don't think that this is a good idea," I said crossing my arms across my chest as Gale breathed heavily from exertion and pain.

"If we don't keep our strength up Madge we won't make it very long. Starvation will kill us long before Cato gets a chance to," Gale said his voice sharp as he furrowed his brow and began to assess the quiver full of arrows he had removed from his back. I wasn't upset at his tone. I knew what he was trying to do. He thought that if he could disguise his pain with anger than I would let him go but I knew him better than that.

"Gale Hawthorne," I said putting my hands on my hips and stretching out to my full height, which wasn't exactly impressive considering I didn't come up to Gale's chin. "You'll do more damage than good if you go now. You are not even slightly healed and I won't let you go."

"Oh, yeah?" Gale sneered and I glared back at him. God, he was acting childish!

"Yeah. You will injure yourself," I argued and Gale rolled his eyes.

"Wouldn't that be a good thing?" Gale asked. Am, no? Why would he think that? Of course I didn't want anything to happen to Gale. Gale was my only friend here and I cared about him. A lot.

"With me out of the way you'd be a step closer to victory." Realisation dawned on me and anger set in. I marched closer towards him.

"Do you know so little about me that you'd think I would rejoice in your death? Do you honestly think that if Cato came after you I wouldn't die right alongside you? At this stage it feels like it's one of us or both of us." Gale's eyes flashed and he reached for me. For a moment I thought he was going to strike me but instead his hand landed on the back of my neck and he pulled me towards him before planting his lips firmly on mine.

Suddenly, I couldn't think. I could only feel. Feel the lean muscles in Gale's arms and chest. Feel the heat of his body. Feel the press of his lips against mine before they opened slightly and his tongue reached out to touch against my lips.

I opened my mouth without hesitation and the kiss increased in pace as our tongues moved to caress each other. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling myself closer to him that I thought was physically possible. My heart beat so hard that I feared that it would burst through my chest at any moment as the kiss grew fiercer and deeper as both of us were throwing everything we had into it. Every pent up emotion released all at once in a whirlwind of raw passion.

Gale's hand moved from the back of my heck, trailing down to my waist. He smelt like the forest and the damp and slightly of sweat and I couldn't get enough of it. I moved my hands to his soft hair and my fingers entwined themselves in it. Gale pulled back slightly and I made a noise of protest.

"Madge," he moaned softly, his breathing heavy and slightly shaky. His eyes were alight and his own sallow cheeks flushed. I smiled at him and he grinned back for a split second before his eyes darted down to my mouth and he leaned in again. His lips had just landed on mine when something hit my head and it was my turn to gasp.

"What was that?" I asked and whirled around. Gale looked over my shoulder to see the small silver parachute holding a large loaf of bread and a small white tub. He laughed and I bent down to pick it up.

"Haymitch obviously agrees with me," I said, smirking and trying for a snotty tone but I failed miserably due to the fact that I was beaming. Gale had kissed me. Gale! Gale seemed fairly pleased with the development himself and grinned at me.

"Obviously so," he said with an eye roll. "Of course Haymitch and I never saw eye to eye. All the same…" he paused and tilted his head towards the sky. "Thank you, you arrogant bastard!" I laughed and crawled back into our little lean to with our spoils. Gale followed me gingerly but even the pain didn't wipe the grin from his face. Instead he leaned himself against the sturdy inner wall of the shelter.

"Give me the knife," he said holding out his hand, "I'll cut the bread for us." I reached for my sheath and handed him the blade. Immediately he began cutting the bread and the warm, rich aroma of freshly baked bread engulfed us.

"It's still warm," Gale said handing me a large slice. I laughed and agreed. Warm bread was a daily occurrence back home but in the arena it seemed almost too luxurious. We devoured too slices each in quick succession before we both agreed it would be best to save some for later and maybe even tomorrow.

As I wrapped up the bread in the parachute I noticed the small, white tub.

"I forgot about this," I said untwisting the cap. "What do you think it is?" Gale didn't need to answer though because the second that the lid was off the overpowering, familiar smell of antiseptic assaulted my senses and I beamed for what seemed like the hundredth time in the past half hour.

"Gale!" I said reaching for his hand, "It's a healing cream of some sort. I just know it." Gale smiled and he wrapped my hand in his.

"Maybe Haymitch isn't such an asshole after all," he said.

"Let me put some on for you, I'll try a small one first. Just to see what it does." Gale nodded and lifted his shirt up tightly. I made a concerted effort not to look at the toned muscles on his stomach that I had ignored last night but things were different now.

Carefully, I peeled back a bandage that covered a smaller mark. I smeared a little of the cream onto the wound and Gale sighed.

"How does it feel?" I asked him. "Is it hurting you?" He shook his head.

"No, no. It feels really good. The pain is almost leaching from it but it's stinging slightly. If I'd to guess I'd say it is a pain killer of sorts with some anti-septic in so that they won't get infected. Go ahead and do the rest now if you want."

Half an hour later Gale was a lot more comfortable and we still had enough of the medicine left to re-do the cuts tomorrow. When I was done I pulled down his t-shirt. Gale's eyes were closed and he was smiling softly. He looked peaceful and content- a rarity here where everything was a violent swirl of hatred and pain.

He sensed me watching him and opened his eyes and beckoned me forward, his movements lazy. I scooted towards him and leaned against the stone wall that made up the inside wall of our shelter. Gale draped one arm across my shoulders and pulled me towards him causing my head to fall against his arm. His arm tightened briefly around my shoulder and then relaxed. I watched him drift off to sleep and wondered briefly how much sleep he had gotten last night due to the pain he was in.

As his chest rose and fell I felt my own eyes begin to droop and try as I might I couldn't fight it. I let myself fall into oblivion with a full stomach and a full and hopeful heart.

On three let's all say 'aw'. One, two, three…. Awwwwwwww! I hope everybody like this chapter as much as I did, though I know it was shorter than usual. It was nice to finally write the kiss between them and I hope I did it justice. Also… 92 reviews? You guys are beyond amazing. This is by far my favourite story I've wrote on here and I'm glad you are all enjoying it too. Twelve chapters in already… I can't believe it. :)