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"Catnip! Catnip! Katniss!"

I kept on running as fast as those shoes would allow me to go through the Justice Building; I knew that he was following me; I could hear perfectly how his shoes were slamming against the ceramic tiles, each time coming closer. To my surprise, I found a door that was ajar and I opened it wide and went inside. When I tried to close it, something stopped me, and a piercing shout came from the other side of the door. I opened it fearfully, and there stood the culprit of my last dream, shrunken and clutching his left hand.

"Damn it, Katniss!"

"What?"

"You caught my hand with the door; you could be a little more careful!"

"I'm sorry…"

"Why are you running from me?"

"I don't want to see you, Gale."

"Why not?" He seemed angry, and I couldn't tell if it was because of what I said or because of the pain in his hand.

"You know why; if you want to be near me then don't ask again." I pronounced the words between my teeth, tightening my fists around the dress's cloth.

"Katniss…I…"

"Shut up, Gale," I sighed.

In that moment his eyes dug into mine and I couldn't tell what they were saying, since they were a mixture of several things, from pain to sorrow. I tore my gaze from him, embarrassed, and directed it towards his bruised hand. The truth was that I must have hit him really hard since the back of his hand was starting to turn purple. I sighed, feeling guilty about it; I just wanted to get away from him, not hurt him.

"I have something at home for that," I pointed at his hand with my chin, "come with me."

"I'm fine."

"I'll just go tell Peeta," I ignored him deliberately, "I'll tell him that I'll be back in a few minutes."

"He's going to take it the wrong way, Catnip," he tried to joke, but I didn't find it funny.

"Peeta trusts me; he doesn't have to worry at all." I tried to sound cold, but that hardly ever worked with Gale.

"As you wish; I'll just wait for you here."

"Good."

I went back down the hall with my emotions flooding my heart and reaching my brain, overwhelming it. I was going to be alone with Gale. In my house. Just the two of us. I bit my lip without knowing well why I was so nervous, and I entered the room in search of Peeta so that I could tell him. It took me a few minutes to find him. When I saw him, my world crumbled down a little more. He was at the very end of the large salon, surrounded by people and holding a baby with soft bronze hair on his head. It didn't take me long to recognize him. He was Annie's son, and every day he looked more and more like his father. But it wasn't the sight of the baby that shook me, no, it was seeing Peeta holding him in his arms, it was watching how my boy with the bread cradled the six-month-old baby, cooing him, watching how he smiled when the baby smiled back. Seeing Peeta with a baby made me feel ill.

Peeta liked children; I knew that well, more than once I had seen him give away pastries to children who were barely old enough to walk, nearly every child from the Seam. He had fun watching them giggle and coo, and he would laugh when they placed their sticky hands on him so that he would pick them up. And I knew that sooner or later it would happen. He would want one of his own. Peeta would want his own baby, one that carried his blood. He would ask me for it. And I would refuse to bring a child into this world. I wasn't going to watch my children suffer. I wasn't going to force upon them an unstable mother and a father who sometimes lost his mind and wanted to kill their mother. A baby didn't need parents like that. They couldn't suffer unnecessarily. They shouldn't have to. Peeta and I couldn't have children, and that was something that Peeta would have trouble understanding. But he would have to. I wasn't going to be a mother.

Annie touched Peeta's arm and indicated with her gaze that I was here. He smiled as he looked at me, and then he looked down at the baby without the smile fading from his lips. And I had to admit that Peeta's smile was absolutely adorable. With the smile still on his lips, he approached me slowly. He crossed the entire salon with everyone's eyes on us.

"How are you feeling?" he murmured as he kept cradling the baby, who directed his big eyes at me.

"Better…"

"You sure?" I nodded rapidly. Peeta placed a kiss on my lips carefully so that he wouldn't crush the baby.

"Yes, don't worry," I gave him a light smile.

"Do you want to hold him?" He offered me the baby with a grin.

"NO!" I stepped back, realizing that I might have sounded too abrupt. "I would drop him…" I tried to explain.

"It's okay…"

"I…." This was going to be more difficult than I thought. "Um…I hurt Gale and I have to go cure him."

"Why?

"Peeta… I'll be back soon." I noticed how he clenched his jaw, and I began to fear that he was having an attack, so I instinctively tried to reach for the baby, but his clear eyes focused on me again.

"Yes, don't take long."

He was about to turn around when I took him by the arm and pressed myself to him to seek his mouth and place my lips on his. I ran over them with my tongue, and when he allowed me, I played with his in a slow and soft kiss, which caused a light fire to burn inside me. I moaned against his lips and he let go of me with a slight smile.

"Katniss… remember that I'll help you out tonight." I bit my lip.

"You may have to help me before that, I don't know if I'll be able to stand Gale."

"You want me to go instead?"

"No, I was the one who caused the damage and I have to be the one to fix it. He shouldn't have followed me."

"What did you do?"

"I caught his hand with the door." Honestly, looking at it from the outside it sounded fun, and Peeta must have thought the same, since he let out a low chuckle.

"Stupid."

"Peeta…" I scolded him, "it was my fault."

"Whatever, don't' take too long, I miss you already."

"I know," I grinned and kissed him again, then walked out through the exit.

Gale was waiting for me in the hall while he clutched his hand; he gave me a questioning look, but I didn't say anything to him, I just kept on walking, and he followed a step behind me. If they had watched me incredulously when I had walked away from Peeta, now they were watching me with horrified looks while I walked away with Gale. Soon people began to murmur and whisper, people gossiped as they watched us, assuming the wrong things. I knew I shouldn't care, but I did care, I cared about all of those people talking about me, and more than anything what they might tell Peeta; I cared about his feelings. But thinking about it thoroughly made me realize that they didn't have much to talk about, Gale following me through the District's streets, nothing more. We weren't even talking, we weren't touching; he was just following me.

When we reached Victor's Village, I let out a breath; no one would see us here or gossip something senseless. We arrived at my house after a few minutes. I opened the door, and for the first time in a long while I let him walk ahead and enter first. As soon as I went inside, I took my shoes off, sighing in relief as I felt the cool, flat floor beneath my sore feet. I hated those shoes. I indicated that he follow me again as we headed upstairs to the bathroom on the upper floor. That's where I kept the First-Aid kit.

He took off his tuxedo jacket, leaving only his shirt. I gulped as I confirmed that his muscles had gotten bulkier, Gale was stronger than before, and his face looked more mature, adolescence no longer etched upon his features. He also looked taller. He was more attractive than ever. I sighed, feeling stupid for having those thoughts as I observed his hand. Ugh, that must hurt a lot; it was completely swollen and bruised.

"What if it's broken?" I whispered as he sat on the edge of the tub.

"Katniss, you're strong, but not that strong," he laughed.

"Your hand doesn't seem to agree."

I sat beside him and took his wounded hand. An electric current went through my body, from the tips of my fingers to the underside of my belly, contracting it, but even then I ignored it and continued to observe his injury.

"I'll apply an ointment for the pain and another one for the hematoma…it'll pass soon."

"Great."

I got up with a tingling feeling in my fingers and opened the cabinet where we stored the few medicines that we usually used. I rummaged in search for the two ointments, and making a show of my nervousness, dropped one of the boxes that were stored in there. Gale got up to catch it in the air but failed, and he had to pick it up off the floor. I wanted the ground to swallow me whole when I noticed which box it was. I didn't even recall Peeta storing the birth control pills that he had bought for me there, but it was logical, and I had forgotten it. I cursed myself for not putting them on the bedside table beside the ones that I had bought.

"Uh…oh…wow…" he stammered with surprise. I simply sighed.

"I didn't mean for you see that, Gale." He handed me the pink and white box.

"Right." He sighed as well, passing his healthy hand through his hair. "I see that you and Peeta are pretty serious."

"Completely."

"And you're being safe."

"What?"

"The pills, you're using them for protection."

"Ah, yes, of course. You know how I feel about having children."

"I guess I'm happy for you."

"Because I'm being safe?" I mimicked his words.

"Because of your relationship."

"You don't seem too happy about it." His smile turned sad as he shifted.

"Yes, I assumed that I…"

"That you what?"

He didn't say anything, managing to press me against the bathroom wall, leaning his body against mine. I didn't understand his reaction. But even then my heart sped up along with my breathing. My chest rose and fell as I remembered the stupid dream I had the night before. Gale smirked at my embarrassing state. He ran his fingers over my cheek and neck, making me gasp before I could stop myself.

"Get away from me, Gale."

"Something tells me that you don't want me to do it."

"Do it…don't give me another reason to hate you."

"You don't hate me." He inhaled my hair, and I had to close my eyes at the sensation.

"Don't make do it, Gale." I tried to back away, but he was obviously stronger. I didn't recognize this new Gale; he frightened me.

"I know you want this… and the truth is that I do too… we're very much alike, we're meant to be together."

I looked at him straight in the eye, he was right, we were exactly the same. Pure fire ran through my veins, and there was that slight tickling in my belly heading down to the place between my legs. It was destiny. Fire with fire. His lips neared mine slowly. He was going to kiss me, and I was going to let him kiss me. Fire, his lips were fire. I let him place his lips over mine and his tongue to find mine. But I quickly tore away from him, gathering all of my strength to push him away from me. I didn't need fire. I had enough fire myself. I needed a reason to go on, a reason to be. And that reason was the bread, the bread that needed fire to take shape, and the fire that needed the bread to have a reason to exist. I needed Peeta, no one else. No, I didn't need him. I loved Peeta. That went beyond need.

"No Gale, I don't believe in destiny, and if I did then my destiny would be Peeta. Peeta is the only one that exists for me."

"That's not true."

"It is, even if you don't believe it; it is, Gale. I chose him, it's always been him. I'm sorry."

"You need him to survive."

"No, I need him to live. Just because I love him. Without him I would be incomplete. Understand it, Gale. I would be able to survive without either of you, but I need Peeta in my life. I love him, and he knows that."

And with that last phrase, I tossed him the two bottles of ointment and left the bathroom so that he could apply them himself.

A/N- Did you expect Katniss to react that way to the kiss? It seems like she has it clear that her heart belongs to Peeta. Has it been clear to Gale, or will he keep trying something? Thank you for all of your reviews and continued support!

Teaser:

I looked for Peeta again from where I stood, and when I saw him, a piece of my world crumbled, today was definitely a bad day. Dancing with Peeta, with one hand on his waist and another holding his hand, was Delly. A beautiful and perfect Delly. Her dress was lilac and it fit perfectly against her curvy body, bringing out her generous chest even more. Her cleavage insinuated that what was hiding beneath the cloth wasn't small. And Peeta was way too close to her, grabbing her waist. He smiled while he danced and turned to the rhythm of the music. Every once in a while he laughed heartily. He was having fun without me again.

Fire Kisses!