A/N:

Gotcha.

No, I'm not dead or dying or sick. I'm healthy, thank God. I'm just bored right now. I know, I know you guys are angry with me. I know it wasn't a funny joke. I was just…curious. You know, to see what are your reactions. Please don't get mad. I promise I won't do it again. And if I could, I would want all of you at my funeral. Like, real funeral when I really die. Because I think you guys are not my readers anymore. You're my friends too. And Guest, no, I asked the question because I was wondering about it myself. ronnie07, I don't have any particular favorite genres, it's mostly random. But I do like ballad better than rock music.

Disclaimer : I'm a first-year medical student, not a grown up yet.

Percy's POV

I couldn't sleep last night.

Not after I watched Katniss caressing Gale like that.

Does she like – no, love – him? What about me? Does she love me? Not to sound like a total prick or something but seriously, I'm confused about my feelings. I don't know what am I feeling anymore. I mean….oh, I really don't know! I stomp down the stairs, my chest and head aching from all these confused feelings.

" Oof!" I look down and see Katniss, her hair all tousled up and bags under her eyes. " Sorry. Didn't see you there." She shrugs nonchalantly. " Did you honestly stayed by his side all night?"

" It's what friends do," she says, yawning. " Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed." She pushes me against the wall and climbs up. " And I'd really appreciate it if you don't bother Gale."

" I was just going to get some pancakes or something!" I say defensively. She makes a face at me before disappearing off into her room. " Sheesh. Talk about not trusting," I mutter to myself as I enter the kitchen. " What are you doing here?"

Peeta looks up from the bread he is cutting. " I brought some bread," he says, gesturing to the neatly piled bread slices on the sink. " Table's occupied, though," he adds, pulling a jar of jam from the cabinet.

" What are you doing here?" I repeat my question.

He shrugs. " I've always been bringing bread to Katniss and her family every morning. Ever since…well, since you 'died'," he emphasized on the word 'died'. " Hey, that's for Katniss!" He swats my hand away as I reach for a cheese bun. " That's her favourite," he says, rearranging the buns in a pyramid. " And she doesn't share it with anyone."

" Really?" I ask, reaching again for the bun. " Because she doesn't seem to mind me eating it since, like a week ago."

" You're impossible," he mutters.

" As always," I say, smirking as I stuff the bun into my mouth.

There is silence for a moment. An awkward one. Well, not totally silence since Gale is still snoring away and Peeta is munching noisily on his sandwich. But still awkward, nonetheless.

" What was it like, after I 'died' ?" I decided to break the silence. It was too unbearable. " When I arrived here back, it seems like nothing has changed." I reach for another bun. They're seriously yummy. You should try it sometimes.

" Nothing has changed?" Peeta nearly chokes on his sandwich. " Are you serious? Haven't you seen what a wreck she was after the Games?"

" You don't say," I say mockingly. He shakes his head, apparently frustrated with me. " No, you dingleberry. I meant about the district."

Okay, now he looks annoyed. " Nothing. There was nothing different about the district after you 'died'. Why would they be different anyway?"

" Oh, I don't know. Maybe some sort of uprising?" He opens his mouth, then closes it. Unable to utter anything. " She told me about the uprising in District 8 she saw on the mayor's television. The night of the Victor Tour feast at his house."

" She didn't tell me about that," he says, looking totally gobsmacked. " She didn't tell me anything like that."

I shrug. " Maybe she wasn't too sure about it herself?" I suggest.

" Yeah. Maybe," he says, looking suddenly worried. " Do you think I should warn my family? Just in case if there really is an uprising?"

" No," I say. " Don't. You'll only create mass hysteria." He puts down his sandwich. " We'll just…we'll play it cool." I stuff the rest of the bun into my mouth before turning to leave.

" Hey, Percy?" I hear him call me. I look back at him. " I never did get the chance to thank you properly for volunteering for me."

"You did, Mellark. Before they took me away to the Capitol. Remember?"

" I do. But still," he struggles with his words for a moment. " Just let me thank you, Jackson." He walks over to the back door and puts his hand on the doorknob, before turning to face me, an expectant look on his face.

" Okay. Um…you're welcome?"

He gives me a small smile before leaving the house and disappearing into the snow.

While I was waiting for the other residents of this house to wake up, a snow storm starts. I watch it in fascination, since I've got nothing better to do. An hour later, Mrs. Everdeen, Prim and Annabeth are finally awake and I am finally having a proper breakfast : some toast and butter and some mushroom soup. And a half an hour later, Katniss shows up, the bags still under her eyes.

Her gaze falls on Gale(whose painkillers had probably worn off ) as soon as she steps into the kitchen and I am sure there is going to be another shout match. I brace myself, not wanting to get caught between the crossfire. But lo and behold, no shouting match occurs. Instead, I watch as she takes a deep breath before asking her mother.

" Can't you give him another shot? Another dose of the morphling Madge gave last night?"

" I will, if it's needed. We thought we'd try the snow coat first," Mrs. Everdeen says, throwing away the bloody bandages she had placed on Gale last night. This, of course, reveals the gruesome wound. You can practically see the heat radiating off his back. She lays a clean cloth across his angry flesh and nods to Prim.

Prim comes over, stirring what seems to be a bowl full of snow. But it's tinted green and gives off a sweet, clean scent. I suppose that is what Mrs. Everdeen said is a snow coat. She carefully begins to ladle the stuff on to the clean cloth. I can almost hear the sizzle of Gale's tormented skin meeting the snow mixture. His eyes flutter open, at first he looked perplexed and then he lets out a sound of relief.

" It's lucky we have snow," she says, ladling another round of the snow coat on to another clean cloth. " Here. Put this on your back," she says to me.

" It's okay. It barely stings anymore. Hey!" I say to Annabeth as she grabs the snow coat and presses it against the spot where the whip hit. " Oh. That's nice."

" You should listen to the doctor more, you know," Annabeth says. " You nearly gave me a heart attack yesterday. Don't," she stabs me in my midriff (don't worry : she stabbed me with her fingers), " do it again. Or I'll kill you myself."

" Noted, ma'am." Out of the corner of my eyes, I can see that Katniss stiffened when Annabeth made the endearing gesture. " You said it's lucky we've got snow. What do you usually do in the warm months?" I ask Mrs. Everdeen.

A crease appears between her eyebrows as she frowns. " Tried to keep the flies away."

Oh. I suppose that makes sense.

I guess.

" Why didn't you put the snow coat on him last night?" Katniss asks her mother, pulling a stool over to the table where she can sit close to Gale.

" I needed to let the wound set in first," Mrs. Everdeen replies. She nods, apparently satisfied with her mother's answer.

" How are you today, Percy?" she asks me, her grey eyes landing on me.

A shiver goes down my spine : no wonder I'm having a hard time deciding my feelings. Her eyes are the exact replicas of Annabeth's. Now, if her eyes were a light shade of blue or even coffee brown, it would definitely be easier to decide. I mean, I'll just have to choose who's eyes make me feel all warm and fuzzy and -

Please don't tell Annabeth that I thought that. She'd kill me.

" Percy?" Annabeth pokes me.

I jerk away. " Stop poking me," I say, rubbing the sore spot.

She shrugs. " You were dreaming, as always. Katniss asked you a question."

" Oh. Yeah. I'm cool. I mean, I'm alright. I'm not dead or anything, right?"

" Oh, I wouldn't be that cocky about not being dead just yet," she says, her tone teasing. " Who knows when the awful Peacekeepers are going to show up."

" Har-de-har-har," I say, rolling my eyes.

She smiles for a moment, taking a cheese bun from the plate. " Where's Peeta?" she asks.

" He went home about an hour and half before you woke up," I say. " Says he didn't want to get stuck here during the storm."

" Did he get back alright?" she asks, looking suddenly worried. Which makes me feel rather annoyed.

That doesn't seem right.

" Why don't you give him a call and check?" Mrs. Everdeen suggests.

She heaves a sigh, gazes at Gale for a moment before leaving the kitchen for the study room, where the telephone is. But before she leaves, she suddenly turns to me and asks, " Where's Haymitch?"

" Probably at his house, dead drunk?" I shrug. " I'd check on him but the snow is getting a bit thick."

She looks at me uncertain for a moment before nodding. " Um…I want to talk to the both of you. Um…just you and Haymitch," she says.

" Maybe after the storm ends?" I say.

" Yeah. Okay."

And then she disappears to make that call to Peeta.

And I'm sitting here, with something that seems like jealousy seething inside of me.

Have I mentioned what kind of deep shit I'm in?

A/N: In all honesty, this is one of the crappy chapters I've managed to produce. Sorry, I've tried but a lot's going on in my head right now. Anyway, again, I am sorry for the not-funny-at-all prank I pulled on you. I love you guys!