(A/N: I do not own any part of the Hunger Games trilogy. The only thing I own is bits of the plot that I'll be incorporating into the story. This chapter was particularly hard for me to write, for obvious reasons, but felt like I would give it to you early because I left you with a cliff hanger. Thank you for the reviews and favorites, xoxo.)
"Gale." One name. Seeing his face, saying his name has created a paradox of emotions inside of me. I can barely believe my eyes, but I step back almost as if he's slapped me. He takes this opportunity to step forward into my house.
"How have you been, Katnip?" That name stings. No one has called me that in a very long time.
"It's Katniss, and I've been keeping." I say, dangerously low. I hadn't even notice that my arm had wrapped itself protectively around the swell in my stomach until I looked down so I could keep my gaze away from his eyes. Suddenly, though, I feel Gale's gaze switch from my face to my obviously pregnant stomach.
"Katniss…" He bites back and I flinch. "I thought you were never having kids?" It's both a question and a statement. He takes another step forward, and I carefully take a step back. My gaze snaps back to his eyes so I can watch what he's doing. He closes the door and locks it behind him.
"I didn't plan on having children. But I found that once Peeta and I got pregnant, I couldn't let it go." Both of my hands are folded protectively over my stomach now, almost like I could ward off anything that could hurt my baby with myself as my weapon. Gale flinches too as I say Peeta's name. He backs me up into the room until I stagger into a sitting position on the couch.
"I've missed you, Katnip." He's way too close to me, and my hands instinctively come back up to shield my child. His hand comes up to my face and I turn away from him, but he forcefully takes my face in his hands and forces me to look at him. "I think you know you've missed this, too." I'm about to respond when I feel his lips, hard and cool against mine, so different from Peeta's soft, warm kisses that I've become so accustomed to. I try to pull away but his grip on my face tightens and he pins my against the couch, his knees on my thighs. He groans.
"You've filled out so nicely," he comments, crushing me against the back of the couch. My stomach tightens with a very uncomfortable clenching and uneasy feeling. That off feeling suddenly comes back to me, and for some reason I don't think this is where our meeting is going to end. He moves my body so my backside is lying across the couch and then he moves his own body so he's straddling me. Fear like I haven't felt since the games, like I haven't felt since the Quarter Quell, is suddenly gripping my throat, choking me. "I'd love to see what it looks like out of these." He pulls at my shirt. My hands leave my belly for a moment to try to push him off of me. He responds with a chuckle, and he pulls me up by the collar of my shirt. "Don't fight, Katnip. It'll only make it worse." He forcefully throws me into the wall across the room, and I crumple into a heap on the floor. I pick myself back, feeling a steady ache growing in both my back and my stomach and I cry out as I see blood beginning to gather around me on the floor.
Gale's footsteps are picked up vaguely by my ears as I focus on where the blood is coming from. I look up at him with pleading eyes. "Gale, please stop this and help me to my mom." I beg him. "I can't lose this baby," tears pool in my eyes. He smirks wickedly at me.
"I'm just helping you out. You didn't want kids anyways." He grabs me again by the collar of my shirt and pins me to the wall, tearing my tee shirt away from me. I try to cover myself with my arms, I wasn't wearing a bra since I was in the comfort of my own home and my pregnancy had caused an uncomfortable swelling in my breasts, the cool air hits my breasts and causes my body to react despite the way I feel. Gale just smirks again and pins my wrists to my sides.
"Don't bother trying to hide it, Katniss. I will have you, one way or another." He takes my nipple into his mouth and bites down, tasting it with his tongue. I cry out in pain, my breasts are especially sensitive right now. He smiles around my breast, and moves on to the next one, biting down on this one a little harder.
I'm suddenly very aware of the blood that's dripping down my legs and onto the floor, and I look back at him. "Gale, please, I won't tell anyone, just take me to my mom." He pulls away from my breasts and then looks up at me with a stone cold face.
He slaps me across the face, and smiles as I fall to the floor, my hand rising to the stinging part of my cheek. He kicks my face next, square in the nose. I can taste blood as it flows from my nose into my mouth.
He says nothing. He just picks me up and places me on the couch again, tying my hands up over my head onto the armrest. I feel a tight clenching in my stomach which alone makes me cry out again. He forces his lips upon mine, and then starts kissing me all over my neck and chest, leaving a trail of my own blood on my skin. His hands grip my breasts and his fingers twist my nipples, an extremely painful motion with how sensitive they've become. His hands move down and he pulls my pants with my underwear away from my body. I try to kick at him, but he just takes my legs and spreads them uncomfortably far apart.
"Stop!" I cry out at Gale, I have to. I have to try to reason with him. His hands come up to my throat and squeeze tightly until I see speckles of darkness filling my vision. He cuts off all of my air supply, putting his whole weight on the hands that are restricting my air flow.
"What did I say about fighting?" He lets go of my throat and I breathe loudly. His face is not amused and he forces 3 fingers into me. He lingers inside me for a moment before pulling his hand back, dripping with blood. "You're ready for me," he smirks. He unbuttons his pants and pulls his length out. I look up at him one last time before he slams into me. The area is extremely sensitive, especially where Peeta hasn't even made love to me since the day I found out that I was pregnant. It's so different than the way Peeta feels. It's so rough, so painful. I feel tears pour down my face as he pulls out and slams back in again. The motion is repeated for what feels like hours before he finally releases himself into me. He pulls out, blood and his own residue clinging to his manhood and he smiles at me. He unties me, and pushes me to the ground. My stomach is clenching with pain and I curl up into fetal position on the floor. "If you're lucky, I won't be back." He says. He kicks me hard in the abdomen before he straightens up and walks out the door, leaving me bleeding and broken on the floor.
I lay there, unable to move, just holding my stomach and curling up into myself. I let myself fade into darkness.
"Katniss!" I hear shouting, vaguely. Everything's so dark, and fuzzy. Where am I? "Katniss! Katniss wake up!" I'm being quite forcefully shaken. I'm suddenly quite aware that I'm sprawled across the ground, someone's hands on my shoulders. "Katniss, please," the voice is choked up with tears. I try to pull away from myself so I can wake up. I wince, which I immediately regret. The past few hours come back to me, and I realize that my nose is probably broken. I open my eyes, and I gaze into piercing blue ones.
"Oh my god, Katniss," he pulls me up and holds me close to his body. "I came in and there was blood, everything was thrown everywhere, you were… You were on the floor. I thought you were dead."
"Peeta," I whisper. I can barely form words, and his name comes out as a broken, raspy noise.
"Katniss… I shouldn't have left you." He strokes my face gently, wiping my tears away with his thumb. "What… What happened?" I just shake my head, trying to remember exactly what happened.
"Gale was… Gale came by and he…" I let out a sob. "He said that… He said that he wanted it for so long." Peeta's eyes turn dark blue with rage, and I can see the venom of hate creeping into his face like a poison. I flinch away from him when I see the hate fill his face, he reminds me too much of Gale, and I can't stand it. He immediately softens and pulls me back against his chest. He kisses my forehead.
"What did he do, love?" He asks, barely above a whisper. He probably knows already, he just needs to hear me say it.
I jump up suddenly, and again, regret the movement and fall back down. Peeta lifts me onto the couch and soothes me before I'm able to have an anxiety attack. My hand flies to my stomach, which is still slightly swollen with my pregnancy. I look around. See my blood splattered on the walls, all across the floor and the couch. Peeta looks at my stomach and then back up to me.
"Katniss…?" I burst into tears and he rests his hand over mine, suddenly understanding so much more than he wanted to know. "The… the baby?" He questions, tears reforming in his eyes.
"I think I lost the baby."