Katniss and Gale walked all day. She tried to keep up with him, but as he was stronger and less injured than her, it was difficult. He slowed his pace because of it, not that he'd ever admit it, to spare her pride. Katniss was breathing heavily and moving slowly, but she tried her best to look normal whenever Gale looked back at her. With her injured side and after her adventure in the tree earlier, she was exhausted and practically collapsed when they decided to make camp. Gale gave her a water bottle and let her rest as he gathered some wood for a small fire and set up camp.

"Let me see," Gale said, looking at her side when he finished building the fire.

"No, it's fine," Katniss scoffed between heavy breaths. But as she looked down, she realized she was cradling her side unknowingly, and Gale had clued into her pain. She nodded, somewhat unhappily. Gale came over and crouched next to her. Katniss slowly pulled up her shirt.

"I think you tore it open climbing the tree," Gale said with a frown. Katniss wanted to deny this and argue, but she knew there was no point. He pulled the medical kit from his pack and began to clean the wound. She winced a little as the antiseptic burned the area clean. "Sorry," Gale whispered as he finished wiping and applied a fresh bandage. He looked around her body, finding several other minor cuts and scratches. He cleaned those as well. "Good as new," he said brightly when he finished, looking up into Katniss's eyes. She didn't return his happy glance, but sank into his arms for comfort. She was exhausted and her whole body hurt. She was sore from the crash, the slice across her ribs throbbed in pain, her legs ached from so much walking. Gale held her for a few minutes, gently rubbing her back and trying to make her body more comfortable. She let out an exasperated sigh and finally looked up. "Do you want some food?" he asked sweetly. She nodded. Gale pulled out two more meal bars and handed her one.

"We should hunt tomorrow," she said, "while we can. We don't want to waste this food if we don't have to." Gale agreed.

When the finished, Gale spread out the blankets and they snuggled close for comfort and sleep. Katniss was so tired she was out before Gale had even situated himself comfortably. He looked down at her small, sleeping form lovingly and gently kissed her cheek before reclining his head and finding sleep himself.

The morning birds woke both of them early. The forest was misty and gray and still quite chilly at this time of day. Gale, who still wasn't entirely convinced having Katniss with him wasn't a dream, squeezed her tightly and drew her in for a kiss.

"Hey," she said fondly as she pulled away, caressing his face.

"Hey," he returned with devotion. They each helped the other wake up, sharing touches and kisses.

After a few minutes of this, Gale pulled off the covers and got up as Katniss scooted out from under him.

"Oh my god, Katniss, you're bleeding!" Worry was written all over Gale's face as he looked down at the red smear that appeared under Katniss as she moved. Both Gale's and Katniss's eyes look down to her bandaged side, but there is no fresh blood from her wound. It was clean. Gale looked alarmed, trying to understand the source of the blood, but Katniss realized what was happening.

She swore loudly and she looked between her legs. The blood soaked through her underwear, smeared between her legs. She knew exactly what this was.

"Don't worry," she told him, trying to give him a reassuring smile. The worry didn't leave Gale's face. She reached out and cupped his chin in her hands. "This is a good thing….kind of…"

"But Katniss…" his voice was still concerned, "you're bleeding! What's wrong?!"

"Nothing wrong," she said in an unpleasant tone, "I'm just a girl."

And realization slowly dawned behind his eyes. Gale had uncertain knowledge about these things. But Katniss's look confirmed what he was thinking. "Are you okay?"

"It's not fun, but I usually survive."

"Is there…is there…anything I can do for you?" Gale didn't know much about women's cycles. His mother never talked to him about it and Posy was far too young for it to be an issue. He only had the most basic knowledge about women's cycles, and that was hardly anything.

Katniss just shook her head and pushed him away. She didn't like to talk about it, think about it, and she especially didn't like to deal with it. "I'm going to go clean up," she told him, and walked in the direction of the small creek they'd found the other evening. She cleaned herself up as best she could and returned to camp.

Gale opened his mouth but she raised her hand to silence him. "I don't want to talk about it," she snapped.

"I was just going to ask if you wanted breakfast," he said submissively as he showed her the two small birds he was roasting over the fire.

"Oh…yeah, breakfast would be good."

Gale looked at her quizzically, unsure what to say. He was beginning to understand some of the jokes his classmates made about their girlfriends and teenage sisters. He gingerly handed Katniss one of the cooked birds and they both ate in silence.

"Well, are we going?" She yelled at him as he sat there after he finished the bird.

"Oh..." he fumbled with his words, "I didn't know if you would…um…want to walk today."

"There's nothing wrong with my legs," she glared at him, "or with me, for that matter!"

"I know!" he tried to recover, "I didn't mean to imply that…I just didn't know….know if you were…feeling okay."

"Of course I'm not feeling okay!" she stormed, "but that doesn't mean I'm an invalid!" She got up and started to walk. "Are you coming?" Gale scrambled to gather their supplies and follow her.

He slowly learned that nothing he did was going to make her happy. He if walked too slowly, she was insulted because she thought he thought she couldn't keep up, and if he walked too quickly she was mad he was being insensitive.

The next day wasn't any better. Katniss felt a little bad about being so moody and snapping at Gale. She'd always prided herself in hiding her irritation during this time of the month, but she only did this so that no one would know what was happening. Now that Gale knew, she couldn't be bothered to try and cover it up.

Gale was at a loss because he didn't know what to do. He wanted to help, but he'd never been told or talked to a girl about this sort of thing before. He wanted to understand, but whenever he tried to ask Katniss questions, she got upset.

On the third day, she didn't seem quite so grumpy. When they made camp in the evening, Gale tentatively tried to rub her shoulders. For the first time, she didn't reject him. "How are you feeling?" he asked cautiously as he massaged her.

"Okay, I suppose," she scoffed.

"It doesn't…it doesn't hurt, does it?"

"It's more uncomfortable now. But sometimes the cramps get pretty bad."

"How long does it last?"

"About a week."

"And when did you start?"

"When I was thirteen."

"I'm sorry," he said.

"It's not your fault," she said with a small laugh. She turned to him and ran her fingers through his hair. "Anyway, it's better than a baby."

Gale nodded as she took his face and kissed him.

They continued for several more days, and were making much better time as Katniss's wounds healed and mood improved. But on the tenth day of their hike, the skies darkened.

"It looks like it's going to rain," Gale frowned after they stopped for lunch.

And just then it started to pour. In seconds, they would be drenched. Gale grabbed Katniss's hand and led her under a large tree. Its thick, heavy branches provided them with descent cover from the storm, though they were both already dripping.

"Great," Katniss scoffed as she turned to look at Gale, "what are we going to do now?" She hated the idea of wasting a day. Gale agreed.

Gale smiled and looked at Katniss curiously. "Rain check," he almost laughed.

"What?" Katniss was genuinely confused.

"Rain check," he repeated, looking at her with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

She was about to ask him what he meant when he spun her against the tree. His one hand cradled her back while the other undid her pants and pushed them down. Gale moved so quickly Katniss wasn't sure what he was doing until she felt him hard against her. She had to admit she was turned on by his command and easily excited since it'd been a week since they'd done this.

"Oh," she breathed with the same smile on her lips now. She could hardly believe he was this hard already. She started to undo his pants and reached down to hold it and begin with their usual foreplay. But Gale was beyond that. He'd waited patiently for a week, now he was ready. He wanted her. He knocked Katniss's hand out of the way and put his to her privates. He began titillating her a bit, warming her up. She responded quickly to his touch, having missed it so. She reached up to kiss him, but before she could, Gale spun her around. He wasn't interesting in their normal love making session. Katniss now hugged the tree, her cheek pressed against it tightly. She was about to ask Gale what he was doing, but before she could, he thrust himself inside her, fully and deep. Her body tensed for a moment, not accustomed to this position or the swiftness with which he entered. She moaned into the bark, digging her nails into the tree.

"You like that?" Gale breathed into her hair. He didn't wait for her to respond before thrusting again. Katniss had never done this vertically before and was not used to Gale's roughness. She hardly had time to process what she thought or what she felt before Gale increased his rhythm. Despite her uncertainty and initial discomfort, part of her liked this less tender side to love making. No, they weren't making love. Gale was taking her. Making her his. And she loved it. It tapped into something more innate, more animal. No time wasted with kisses or caresses. This was raw.

Gale grunted as he made his fast, hard rhythm deep into her body. His hands held her hips and she desperately clung to the tree as she took him, biting her lower lip and trying not to scream until he finished. And when he did, he wrapped his arms around her, crossing her front, pulling her back tightly to him, and let his head rest on her shoulder, utterly spent.

He stayed there for a minutes, letting both their bodies calm and minds return to them. When he did, the slowly pulled out and she spun around in his arms, looking up at him. His eyes had the look of an apology in them. He didn't know if he'd been too forceful, if he'd been too rough. If she'd even liked it. Katniss didn't want to spoil the moment with softness just yet. She reached up and grabbed Gale's face and kissed him, making him fully aware just how much she enjoyed what has just happened. She hooked her legs around his waist and pulled herself up to him. He rushed to support her wish his strong arms. Eye to eye now, she kissed him again. Not sweetly, but urgently again, tapping into that same primal instinct, that urge to be together and satisfy a basic, bodily need.

The rain raged on for the rest of the day, and both Gale and Katniss would agree that their day was not wasted.