I had come here to be alone, same as today, but I wasn't alone that day, and neither am I today.

As I continue to examine my surroundings, his presence becomes increasingly certain.

Gale…

The last time a saw him he almost hit me, I don't know if he's still mad and out here will be difficult to escape him. As I'm sure he has still not noticed me, I begin to retreat.

"Catnip… Please don't go" he says. I stop, but I don't turn around. "I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking, I should never have done that" I sigh.

"No, you shouldn't. You had no right" I answer, turning to face him.

"I'm sorry, I just wasn't expecting those news, I got mad. Had I known the truth I would never have acted the way I did" I now realize that I'm still mad at him.

"You should have come to me and talked to me like a normal person, I would have explained everything to you. You're my best friend of course I was going to tell you" I say, he sighs.

"I'm sorry. Now that I had time to calm down, I see how stupid I was being"

"What you did was awful, i don't know if I can forgive you right away" I walk forward and seat next to him. "But I'm working on it" I add. He looks at me and smiles.

"Thank you" is all he says. "Are you hungry? I brought some food from home" I take a cheese and all kinds of breads from my bag. There are cheese buns, milk bread and small breads with nuts and raisins.

"Thanks, I've been here a while, I was starting to get hungry" he takes one bread with nuts and raisins and I give him a piece of cheese.

"So how is your family?" he asks me while examining the bread.

"We're fine, Prim loves the new house and my mother has been using one of the rooms in the house as a doctor's office, How's your family?" I ask back.

"We're doing fine, I don't get to see my family as much as I would like, but I'll manage. My mother tells me that you have been going by the house and leaving meat for us, you don't have to do that"

"Why not? I don't mind, and now that you have less time to hunt, I thought I could help you feeding your family like you did for mine" I say.

"Thank you. This is a very good bread, did you cook it yourself?" I laugh, it's like he doesn't know me.

"Of course not, I can't cook and you know it. It's from the bakery, Peeta's father has been coming by the house and always brings something with him" I explain.

"Peeta's father? Why?" he looks confused.

"He sometimes comes to have breakfast with my mother and sister; he says that now that we're going to be a family we should get to know each other" I can see is face turning red. He keeps quiet trying hard not to be mad.

"How are you? I know it mustn't have been easy to hear Snows last announcement" I say trying to change the topic.

"Somewhat difficult. A part of me wants to volunteer and the other thinks I should be quiet because of my family" volunteer? Why would he want that? This must have been what his mother meant when she said she hoped he wouldn't do anything stupid.

"Volunteer? Why? Why would you do something like that?" it makes no sense.

"Because of you" What? I look at him confused "If I go through the games I'll be able to understand what you went through, I'll be in the same situation you are, and then Snow will see that I'm better for you than Peeta and we'll finally be together" What did he just say? I don't even know what to think, let alone say.

"What?" I'm still trying to process what I heard.

"That way you don't have to move forward with this charade, you don't have to marry Peeta, you can marry me and it won't be an act anymore"

"Are you kidding me? Is this a joke? Are you out of your mind? You can't do this to your family; you have to think of them, if you go there and die they will be left alone…" I can't believe him "Plus, I don't think Snow will change his mind, he wants me to marry Peeta because of what we did with the berries in the arena. To prove to the districts it wasn't an act of defiance. You going to the games won't change that" I say trying to convince him.

"Then, I'll go, win the games and then the President will have to talk to me and I'll convince him" is he serious?

"That would never work, forget it" I say "Plus the wedding will be the day before the reaping, so you going won't change anything." I add. He still doesn't look convinced.

"Fine, then, if I can't stop it, you'll marry him and I can be your lover, and you'll be married to him only in paper" What is he saying? I thought I made it clear that he was only a friend to me, nothing more. I think it's time we have a serious conversation.

"No Gale" I sigh. "I thought I made it clear to you, I only see you as my friend, nothing more. The marriage might be an act but what I feel for Peeta isn't." Now he's really mad.

"I don't believe it, I know you love me, everybody can see that" Oh boy…

"No Gale I don't, I like you as a friend, my best friend, nothing more. Peeta is the one I love, I'm sorry if I let you think otherwise" I say. He gets up still clearly upset.

"No, you love me and I'll prove it" he walks over to me and plants a kiss on my lips. I immediately pull back and slap him.

"Are you out of your mind, didn't you hear what I just said?" he doesn't react so I turn my back on him and walk away from him.

I end up leaving the woods and going back home. I'm still mad when I get there, I feel like talking to someone about what happened but nobody is home.

I walk over to the front porch and seat there admiring the entire victor's village. Looking at Peeta's house I suddenly detect movement, so I decide to go over.

"Peeta" I say as I knock on the door. I hear steps and the door opens.

"Katniss!" he says and then looks at me "Everything all right?" I throw myself in his arms.

"Not really" I say, "I'm glad you're home". "Yes, I was about to have lunch, care to join me?" he asks and I nod "Thanks".

He puts an extra plate on the table and then looks at me. "So, want to tell me what's wrong?" he asks.

"Yes, but I don't want you to be mad" he looks at me apprehensive, but doesn't say anything.

"Even though you couldn't come, I went to the woods, just to walk for a bit" I start, "While I was walking around I ran into Gale and we talked for a while." Peeta's face has no expression.

"He apologized for his behavior the other day, but you should have seen him he was out of his mind" I explain.

"What do you mean?" Peeta asks.

"He said that he was going to volunteer to go to the games to understand what I was going through" "So that's what Hazelle meant when she said she hoped he wouldn't do anything stupid" he interrupts.

"Yes, but there's more. He said that he was going to win the games and them Snow wouldn't force me to marry you anymore, that way I could marry him because he would no longer be a nobody he would be a victor"

"Wow" is all Peeta says. "I know. Then I said that Snow wouldn't go back with his decision and although the marriage was an act, what I feel for you isn't"

"What did he say?" he asks. "He said that he didn't believe me, that he knew I love him and that he was going to prove it"

"You weren't kidding, he really is out of his mind" he takes his arm fondles my face. "What did you say next?" he asks.

"I told him the truth, that I only saw him as a friend and that I love you and only you" … "And then he kissed me"

"He did what?" I've never seen Peeta this angry before. "I slapped him and got out of there, please don't be mad!" I plead.

"I'm not mad at you Kat, I'm mad at myself for not being there with you" he's unbelievable; with all the people he could be mad at he's mad at himself, classic Peeta.

"You shouldn't, this is not your fault and I resolved it. Plus if you had been there Gale would probably try to beat you, so I'm glad you weren't" I say.

"The nerve of that guy, kissing someone else's Fiancée…"I can see that he's not mad anymore!

"I know…" He wraps me in a hug and starts to kiss me. We end up having sex right there on the kitchen table!

After a very good lunch and even better dessert, I go back home because Peeta has to go back to the bakery.

Prim and mother are in the kitchen finishing their lunch when I arrive.

"Katniss!" Prim notices me first "Are you hungry? You can have lunch with us" Mom made a stew with one of the rabbits I brought home yesterday.

"No, thanks little duck, Peeta was home so I had lunch with him" I say.

"You and he are inseparable now, who would have thought…" she mocks, mom just laughs, but she notices something is off with me.

"Katniss, dear, is everything alright?" she asks. "Not really" I reply and then procced to fill them in on what happened between me and Gale this morning.

By the time I finish talking both my mother and Prim have their jaws dropped.

"I can't believe he did that…" Prim says.

"Maybe I could talk to Hazelle, see if she can talk to him" my mother says.

"Thanks mom, but I don't think that will help" I reply, she comes forward to hug me, but before she can the bell rings.

"I'll get it" my mother walks to the door and we hear it open. Peeta enters the kitchen behind my mother.

"Peeta?" I say surprised "Shouldn't you be helping your parents at the bakery?" If I recall correctly he had to help his parents at the bakery today.

"Yes, but you need me more, besides I think my mother was only pretending to be sick, so they don't really need me" He gives me a hug and I kiss. I can't stop to think that his decision will get him in trouble with his mother; he'll probably get beaten for this.

We spend the rest of the day as a family, Peeta and I help Prim with her homework and afterwards mother brings us a snack and we all play card games.

Peeta invites everyone to dinner at his house saying is going to make some sort of meat pie, a Shepard's pie, as he calls it. He then leaves for his houses and I go with him to "help" making dinner.

He tries to teach me how to make dough, but I make a huge mess and we end up chasing each other around the kitchen trying to cover one another with flour. Peeta finally gives up and returns to finish our meal. While he's cooking I head upstairs and take a quick shower.

"There's flour in my hair" I yell, but I doubt that he heard me. I get out of the shower, get dress and wrap a towel around my head. As I'm walking down the stairs there's a knock on the door.

"I'll get it" I yell to Peeta and run down the remaining stairs. I open the door to find Peeta's older brother Rhys on the other side.

"Rhys… My god, what happened to you?" He was almost unrecognizable. His face was all swollen and bruised, he had scratches all over his body, it seemed like he was attacked by an animal.

Peeta, alarmed by my voice runs to the door and immediately freezes once he sees his brother.

"Come in, I'll go get my mother and Prim" I say to him. Peeta leads him to the leaving room and I run to my house to get both Prim and my mother.

Once there I rush my family out while I tell them what happened. By the time we get to Peeta's house Rhys is already seated on the couch, with Peeta cleaning his wounds.

Unlike Peeta and me, both Prim and my mother don't freeze when the see Rhys, they hurry to him and begin trying to restore his natural color. They give him some morfling, sterilize and bandage the cuts. Peeta, who had returned to the kitchen to put our dinner in the oven, comes back with a cup of steamy tea. He hands it to his brother, who seems calmer, replies with a distorted smile. Now that everybody has calmed down, i surreptitiously inspect the length of his cuts and bruises. Every bit of exposed skin is bruised, his face looks like a bloated eggplant, his arms and hands are full of scratches and small cuts, it looks like he was attacked by a bear.

"Thanks" Rhys says in a weak voice. Peeta extends his arm to comfort him, but quickly rethinks it fearing to hurt him.

"What happened to you?" he asks, his voice filled with sadness. Both Prim and my mother are still examining him, checking if he has any broken bones.

"It was mother" I can't believe it; how someone can be so mean as to hurt this badly one of her own sons. Prim and mom don't say anything but I can she they're as shocked as I am. Peeta remains silent as well so his brother continues.

"She was mad at you for stooding her up at the bakery, she was going around the house saying it was because of Katniss that you were abandoning your family, and how you owed her everything you had…" I knew Peeta's choice would bring us trouble…

"I was sick of it, I tried to defend you, I said we didn't need help, that you probably didn't come probably because something important had come up. She said nothing is more important than family, than her. That was when I said that Katniss was family too…" Oh no, please don't tell me that I'm to blame for his state.

"And then she lost it and started beating me up, saying Katniss is not family and never will be she wouldn't allow it. Father tried to intervene, but she punched him and he fell to the ground and couldn't get up." I feel so guilty; I don't know what to say.

"I feel so guilty. This is all my fault" Peeta says.

"No it's not, nor is it yours Katniss. She's just jealous and when I tried to point that out… well let's just say she threw me out of the house, which means I'm homeless now" he sighs. My mom and Prim are horrified by what we just heard, I don't know what to think either, and I can't sake this feeling that this is my fault.

"No you're not, you'll stay here with me" Peeta says. I can't imagine what he must be feeling right now…

"Thank you little brother" Rhys says. "It's the least I can do" Is all Peeta says. After that, mother gives him another dose of morfling and we leave him in the couch to rest.

The rest of us gather in the kitchen and eat the pie and cake Peeta prepared. Everybody is still digesting what happened so no one is talking; finally my mother breaks the silence.

"It's all superficial wounds, scratches and bruises, with rest they all will heal fast" she says. I give her a smile back, she's trying to easy the environment. I grab her hand and whisper a thank you. I'm so glad I have her as my mother, even with all the problems we had, she's still a better mother than Peeta's.

"I can't believe she did that, how could she?" Peeta says almost crying. I rub his back and give him a quick kiss.

"I'm so sorry Peeta" I don't know what else to say. He doesn't respond and we finish our dinner in silence. Prim and my mother offer to clean the kitchen while Peeta takes a slice of the pie to his brother. Rhys, who is feeling a lot better due to the pills we gave him, accepts and eats the entire slice. Peeta takes him some more tea while I escort my mom and Prim to the door.

Peeta meets me at the foyer, I give him a goodnight kiss and prepare to head back home. I think Peeta probably wants to stay by his brother's side tonight, I turn to the door but he catches my hand not letting me move.

"I need you, please stay with me" he says. I guess I was wrong.

"Always" He pulls my arm and wraps me into a hug, I burry my head in his shoulder and he sighs.

"I don't know what to do" he confesses. "Be there for him, is all that you can do" I say.

Peeta prepares a room for his brother and we help him climb the stairs. Once Rhys is in his room Peeta and I make way for Peeta's room and fall asleep without talking to each other.

When I wake up the next morning Prim and my mom are already here. They examine Rhys and then we all gather in the kitchen.

"He's far better than he was yesterday, I expect a full recovery within two to three days" my mother says. Peeta smiles; he thanks my mother and serves a cup of hot chocolate to everybody. It's a cold day outside so a cup of steamy hot chocolate comes in handy!

The news about Rhys recovery relaxed us all, so this morning we're all more chatty than we were yesterday. Half through my second cup of hot chocolate the bell rings, Prim, who was closer to the door gets up and goes to open it, she walks back to the kitchen and Mr. Mellark walks in after her.

"Dad!" Peeta almost jumps out of his chair when he sees his father. He has a bruised eye and a tired look on his face, apart from that he looks far better than his older son.

"I wanted to come in sooner, but I couldn't leave the house, how is Rhys?" he asks. I can't help but to feel sorry for him, I can't believe what he must have felt seeing his wife beating one of their sons while he was helpless on the ground.

"He's better, he's in his room sleeping, don't worry dad." Peeta tries to comfort him "Did you have your eye checked?" his father shakes his head no.

"I can give it a look" my mother says.

"Thank you" Mr. Mellark says and then turns to Peeta. "I'm so sorry son, I tried but I couldn't do much, I'm so sorry" a single tear runs down his face.

"It's ok dad, you did what you could" he squeezes his father's hand "Where was Naan in the milddle of this?" he asks, I assume Naan is his middle brother.

"You know him, he never intervenes in these situations, I can't really blame him for it" looking at Peeta's face I can see that he doesn't agree with his father, I think he does blames Naan.

"It's just bruised, apply ice for some time and the swelling should go away" my mother interrupts.

"Thank you" he looks up at my mother and that's when I realize that he's still not over her. She nods and Mr. Mellark turns back to Peeta,

"Can I see him?" he asks.

"Of course" Peeta takes him upstairs leaving me with my family. We decide to give them some privacy and head back home, where I take a shower and change clothes.

When I get back downstairs I find Prim waiting for me.

"How are you?" She asks. "I'm fine little duck, why do you ask?" I reply.

"I know it couldn't be easy seeing Peeta's brother like that" she continues. "It wasn't easy for everybody" I respond.

"Yes I know, but I think you blame yourself for what happened" I knew she would, after Peeta she's the person who knows me better.

"I can't stop thinking that maybe if Peeta and I never come clean about us, Rhys wouldn't have to go through that".

"You can't blame yourself Katniss, none of this is your fault. The only person who's to blame is Peeta's mother. Although nobody understands why, she has the right not to like you, but she can't express it the way she does, much less take it out on one of her sons like she did."

"Yes, I know, but…" "No buts, it's not your fault nor Peeta's. It's her, that woman has problems" Prim interrupts me.

"She has a problem alright, but it is with me" my mother comes out of nowhere and into our conversation.

"As you girls know, Peeta's father and I grew up together; both our families had stores in the village and our parents were friends, so inevitably Mr. Mellark and I ended up spending a lot of time together. We went to the same school and had the same group of friends. I guess he grew an interest for me, but he never revealed his true feeling until it was too late." She begins explaining; we already knew Mr. Mellark liked my mother, so none of this is news to us.

"One day a new boy entered our class, he was shy and mysterious, always alone by choice. He had come from district two with his parents, I found out later that his father was a trusted commander of the peacekeepers in two, who was demoted and forced to move to twelve by the Capitol" both mine and Prim's eyes widen, we had no idea our father wasn't originally from our district.

"We rarely talked to each other and when we did was only to say hello or goodbye, but somehow I felt drawn to him. On day my father sent me to pick some leaves for a medicine he was making, giving me precise instructions where to get them. There was a small bush near the fence where I could get them, but I had to be quick not to get caught.

When I got there all the leaves in the bush were dead, I was discouraged, I didn't want to go home empty handed, and my father was counting on me. That's when I saw an identical bush on the other side of the fence, it wasn't far, I could still see the village from there. Determined not to disappoint my father I found a small gap in the fence and passed through it. I approached the small bush and began filling my little basket with leaves, not paying attention to my surroundings. I was only there for a few minutes but it was enough for a wild dog to notice me, I immediately panicked, I didn't know what to do, I started heading back slowly but I could never overthrow the dog. I was getting out of options when your father appeared" mom stops and catches her breath. Prim and I don't say a word; we're both too engaged in the story.

"In no time he pulls his bow and arrow and shots the dog, which drops dead at my feet.

"You shouldn't be out here alone, the woods are a dangerous place" he said to me.

"I know, but I had to gather these leafs for my father and the bushes in the village were dead"

"I'm surprised, not many people would risk coming out here just for a couple of leaves" he was laughing but I could see he wasn't expecting a village girl to be in the woods.

"I bet, but my family relies on these to survive so I had to, I wasn't going back empty handed when there is a bush right here" I said. He picked up my basket and handed it to me.

"Well then, I don't want you to fail your hunt!"

After that day he started talking to me more, he began inviting me to go with him to the woods and I accepted. He showed me everything, the lake, the little house, he even tried to teach me how to hunt, but I could never hurt an animal.

We became good friends and when we were old enough he asked me to marry him and I did. It wasn't easy to convince my father, but your father showed him that he could take care of his family and my father finally agreed." She makes another pause. I can't believe mom has been in the woods before, after we were born I never once saw her go down there…

"I never stop being friends with Peeta's dad, not even after I started dating your father" she continues "Not long before my wedding, Mr. Mellark came to my house and revealed to me his true feelings, he said that he loved me, that he had loved me since we were kids and started to play together and then he asked me to marry him, said that he could give me the life I deserved, that I could stay close to my family… But I was in love and truly wanted to marry your father, so I did that." I always thought that Peeta's father had never revealed to my mother that he liked her. I thought that he did like Peeta, only loving from a distance…

"Peeta's father understood my decision, but said that I was the love of his life, that he would never stop loving me." I have heard the same words from Peeta, but our story had a much happier ending.

"I married your father and moved to the seam. Meanwhile Mr. Mellark tried to go on with his life, he was prepared to live alone for the rest of his life, but his father had other plans. You have to understand that we lived tougher times, the food was far more expensive than it is now and the jobs were far scarcer. Peeta's mother was the daughter of the only rich man in town, he had friends in the Capitol so his family had a lot of money, more than you have now Katniss"

"We have" I correct her, I might have won the games but this money is as much hers as it is mine.

"Yes, he had more money than we have now" She smiles at me "Mr. Mellark's father saw that his son refused to choose a wife so he made a deal with Peeta's mother's father to save his bakery. By marrying his son with the daughter of the richest man in town he guaranteed enough money to keep his business and a future for his son. Peeta's father agreed since it would help his father"

"That's awful, I can't believe he was forced to marry that horrible woman" Prim speaks for the first time.

"She wasn't always like that" my mother replies to Prim. "She was forced to marry Peeta's father too, and unlike him she never agreed to it. She was in love with another man when her father made the agreement and not only couldn't she marry the man she loved, she had to marry a man that was in love with another woman" I almost feel bad for her, I'm also being forced to marry against my will, but at least I'm marrying the man I love, she wasn't so lucky.

"That's why she hates you?" I ask my mother.

"Yes, not only had I the love of her husband, I also got to marry the man I loved. I had all she wanted and could never had, and that is why she hates you two as well. You two reminder of what she could have had, that's why she has so much bitterness inside her"

"That's not excuse for the way she treats her kids, well at least Peeta and Rhys. They are her sons after all" I say.

"I know, I'm not excusing her actions, I'm just saying that her life hasn't been easy and seeing another man in her life choosing an Everdeen over her again can't be easy" I've never thought about it that way, I must have remind her of her life all over again, what she lost…

"What happened to the man Mrs. Mellark loved?" Prim asks.

"He was found dead soon after she and Mr. Mellark married, some say that he killed himself, others say it was her father in an attempt to keep his daughter from breaking the deal he made" I wouldn't be surprised if they were right, her father being from the Capitol would have been capable of killing her loved one to send her a message.

"What an awful story, I almost feel sorry for her" Prim says. "I know you do little duck, and I feel sorry for her too, but what she did is unforgivable" I say.

"But she doesn't treat them all badly; I've never seen her treat Naan badly. Why do you think that is?" Prim asks.

"Well, I don't know for sure, I have my theories though" Prim and I wait for my mother to reveal her theory.

"It's something in his eyes, they are not as blue as his father's and not as brown as hers, they remind me of the eyes of the man she loved, maybe they remind her the same, that's why she's better to him" my mother finally says.

"Oh…" that's all Prim says. I guess it makes sense, if Naan reminds her of him, of the one good thing she had in her life, I can understand why she protects him more.

Mom doesn't add anything else and Prim doesn't make any more comments, they both return to their thoughts and so do I. I think of my father and how much I still don't know about him, I had no idea he was from two. What must have been like growing up in a district so different to ours? I wish I could talk to him again, to ask him all the questions I have in my mind…

We remain in silence for a little while until someone knocks to our door. Thinking it's Peeta I go open it but find Haymitch on the other side.


Hello!

I hope you liked this chapter!

What do you think of my story so far?

Thanks For reading :)

Catarina :)