Author's Note

As promised…Here's Chapter Five :D

What If?

Katniss POV

Gale crumples at my feet, clutching his crotch. I see him shut his eyes and grind his teeth. After about a minute of this, he slowly tries to get back up on his own, but falls to his knees. Then, he tries again, and this time manages to shakily stand up using a tree, and looks right at me. I look back at him.

"Don't," I say.

"Look Katniss, I know you're mad, but I just want to talk." Gale says weakly.

I close my eyes and shake my head.

"You had no right," I whisper.

"I know...But maybe you'll understand if you just give me a chance to explain…" Gale answers.

Gale has been my hunting partner and best friend for years, so I figure the least I can let him do is let him explain.

"Fine," I tell him through gritted teeth. He looks relieved.

"Okay Katniss, here's what happened," Gale starts. This time, I don't interrupt.

"I went to go collect Prim in the twelve year old section after the reaping, but she wasn't there. I looked around and spotted her about 60 feet away talking to a couple of stoners, so I rushed over." Gale stopped for a second to take a breath, then I gave him a look that said 'hurry up or I'm leaving'.

Gale got the message.

"So when I was about 20 feet away, I saw them shove Prim to the ground. I went to help her up, when I heard the stoners laughing. Once I made sure Prim was okay, I turned around and punched one of them square in the face, and he fell unconscious with a bloody nose. The other four guys took one look at their buddy and said I was just asking for a fight, and that's when things got out of hand. One of the guys picked up a glass bottle and smashed the bottom half of it on the ground so it was broken and sharp. Another guy pulled out a knife. The last two guys were a little buff, and just balled their hands into fists. I was going to tell them to just calm down when one of the buffer guys punched me right in the nose. I staggered back, but automatically knew he was obviously not as strong as he looked, because I didn't start bleeding. I planned on letting it go for Prim's sake, but one of them jumped on top of me, forcing me to lay flat on my stomach. I yelled at Prim to run, telling her I would take care of it, but she wouldn't listen."

That's Prim all right. Always wanting to help people. I thought.

Gale continued, "As you know, Prim stayed anyways, saying she wouldn't leave me there like that. I shouted at Prim to just leave because I didn't want her to get hurt, and that's when the biggest guy had yelled for his friends to grab her. That's when Prim tried to run saying she'd get help, but she wasn't fast enough. I managed to get loose from the guy sitting on top of me and I ran right over to Prim and tried to distract the guys who held her by slapping one of them really hard, so she could run. It almost worked, but then out of nowhere two guys jumped on me and grabbed my wrists roughly, while forcing me on my knees. I kept fighting to get to Prim, but the guy with the knife bent down and whispered in my face that they were going to kill her and I would watch. I spit in his face, and with one flick of his wrist he cut deep into my left side. I refused to give him the satisfaction of screaming, so I kept silent. That's when Prim screamed. The guy looked at me with a smirk, then walked over to Prim who was crying. I couldn't take it anymore. Prim is like a sister to me, and I couldn't stand seeing her so scared. I didn't give up. I was kicking, punching, hitting, everything. I managed to knock out one of the guys holding me, and then there was only the guy holding Prim, the guy forcing me on my knees, and the guy with the knife. I lunged at the guy with the knife, but he dodged. He was slowly making his way towards Prim who stopped crying but had red, puffy eyes, and was shaking her head begging him not to kill her. I was so angry he was torturing her like this. I mean, come on, where are the peacekeepers when you need them? Finally, when he was a few feet away, I managed to slam my head as hard as I could against the guy who was holding me, and he fell unconscious, like the rest of his buddies. Then I ran towards the guy with the knife and tackled him. He shoved me off him, got up, and drove his knife into Prim's arm, and she let out a bloodcurdling scream. She pulled out the knife in her arm and I caught the guy who attacked Prim. I punched him in the nose, and he started bleeding badly. He snatched his buddy's bottle off the ground and swung it at me. I could feel the broken bottle slice into my chest, but since I was wearing a shirt, the cut wasn't too deep. I shoved the bottle out of his hand and it smashed to the ground. The guy got really angry so he punched me in the jaw. That time, I fell to the ground, and struggled to get back up, because I could tell this guy was way stronger than the other guy. Prim yelled 'Stop it! Just STOP!' but I ignored her. I was pretty beat up though, so I swung one last punch hoping to nail him in the head, but at the last second Prim got in the way...and…" Gale doesn't need to finish. We both know what happened.

"Well who were these guys?" I asked him. I know they can't possibly be from the seam, because no-one in the seam can afford alcohol unless its for a special occasion, much less get drunk off it RIGHT after the reaping. They usually wait till around 7 at least to start drinking, especially those who have kids.

Besides, no-one from the seam would dare touch Prim or Gale, because they know how easily Gale and I loose our temper. Even if they ever decide to lay one finger on Prim, I would demand my mother never to help their family again. Or I'd kill them. Both ways work for me.

"They were from town, but I don't know their names. I think they might go to our school. Maybe a year ahead of me I think." Gale says.

Now that I've heard Gale's story…I'm even more confused then when I got out here. Great.

Gale looks at me, and I look at him. Neither one of us says anything for a few minutes. This isn't our usual comfortable silence we have when we hunt together. This silence is way different. Like the awkward silence you have with your friends when you and them fight, then have to work on a big science project together.

I break the silence.

"Gale look…I'm still really mad at you, so…" I start. What am I supposed to say? I still don't forgive him. Not yet.

"Gale…I…I got to go." And with that, I turn around, and sprint out of the woods.