Two Paths

PastelPuke

Pairing: Cato x Peeta x Gale

Summary: Peeta is a young baker boy with an abusive mother and a best friend named Gale Hawthorne. Everything takes turns for the worst when he and three other tributes are reaped for the 75th Annual Hunger Games, including two of his best friends. What is he going to do when a certain male from district 2 takes a liking to him.

Authors Note

Hey my babes!

Sorry I've been busy but I'm back and better than ever! There's not much to say, I'll just respond to reviews and hop in.

Xoxox

•Dri•

Ardie: thanks babe

Genbo: thanks so much!

Queen of Faeries: that really means alot to me!

BlueberryChills94: No Peeta will not be a Gary Stu! Lol and Katniss was never supposed to be likeable in this story. I don't normally like her in fanfictions is general. She is definitely an antagonist in this one!And Delly is a bit obnoxious, but that's for good reason. Finnick flirts with all that's just what he does. He would fuck anything with legs but he is still a good guy. Thanks so much for your constructive criticism! Unfortunately I don't think that I will be able to make them that much longer until I get a computer. I'm using my phone for the time being and I try to make my chapters as long as possible although it's hard to tell how long they are.

And so we begin...

Peeta awoke to a blinding light and Effie's obnoxious voice saying,

"Up now Peeta, it's going to be a big big big day!" Said boy rolled over in his sleep and buried his face in the pillow, groaning. Effie swiftly gripped the end of his sheets and yanked them off his body, making Peeta squeal and curl into himself. "Take a shower. And get dressed in your training outfit," she pointed to a set of folded clothes sitting on his dresser. "Be quick and meet the rest of us in the kitchen for breakfast."

Peeta contemplated the thought of getting up. He rolled to the side, not realising how close he was to the edge and landed with a thud onto the wooden floor beneath him.

"Ow.." He muttered as he clambered up to a standing position, making his way to the high tech shower.

There were rows of nozzles on every wall of the shower and the teen felt slightly intimidated by them. Nonetheless he stripped and made his way into the shower, clutching his body as if his arms would shield him from the onslaught that awaited. He looked at the buttons on the panel inside and read their functions in awe. Eventually he chose one and uncertainty pressed it.

"Full Body Scrub commencing." A robotic female voice rang around the shower.

Peeta would later object to the high pitched scream that erupted from his lips as he was suddenly being beat with pressurized water from all sides, including above and below. He turned in circles and flailed inside for 20 minutes as the shower ran its course. The door was locked so that he could not get out and flood the room. He shouted and squealed until the wretched thing finally stopped. He was relieved for a moment before the nozzles started blowing air with brutal force. The panic began once again before the giant blow drier stopped and the small door swung open.

"Have a nice day." The robotic voice said.

"Fuck you!" He shouted, clutching his body and trembling as he ran out of the bathroom.

He changed into his uniform grumpily. He felt so violated. His uniform was pretty simple, it was a black t-shirt with 12 printed on his shoulder and dark brown cargo pants. He slipped on the boots that were sitting at the door and beaded to the dining room. Everyone was sitting at the table including Gale, Katniss and Delly who was dressed in the same attire as he. Gale looked different. He seemed off.. Not in a bad way just weird. Delly grinned at Peeta,

"Well you sounded like you were having a good time in there" she nods towards Peeta's door. Peeta flushed and looks at the table as he sits.

"That shower tried to kill me." He defended. Gale let out a boisterous laugh and Haymitch chuckled as he sipped at his coffee while Effie looked confused. Katniss just remained scowling as she normally does.

Avoxes came and lifted the leds off of all the dishes in front of them. Everyone's eyes lit up as they was the exuberant feast before them. They quickly dug in.

"Okay, so training is important today. Everyone is getting their first impression of you. Including the capitol. Its different this year because this effects your sponsors greatly. Try to be likeable. He looked at Katniss pointedly who just glared back at him. "Make alliances, you're going to need them. There is talk of multiple victors this year.. I don't know how many for certain so I suggest you pretend that all of you are getting out for the time being. Everyone show a bit of their strength, enough to get people interested but not enough to seem challenging, understand?" Everyone at the table nodded grimly. "Good. Now get your asses on that elevator and get down to the training center."

They did as they were told and went down to the lowest floor. There was a large crowd of all the victors and tributed participating this year. Everyone was waiting outside of two big metal doors. As soon as they got there the doors swung open revealing the large, gym-like training center. Everything was grey, black, or silver except for the survival section which looked like a small jungle. Peeta saw, bow's and knifes and spears lined on wracks. He slowly trailed behind the others with Gale who looked just as in awe as he. A woman was giving an introductory speech but he sure wasn't listening. This was the perfect time to ask Gale what happened last night.

"Psst." He elbowed Gale in the side.

"Ow! Peeta." He whined "What?"

"What happened with you and that Cato guy last night?" He asked curiously. Gale raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"Oh nothing." He teased, looking all too happy with himself. Peeta suddenly grew a bit jealous as he had his own theories on what had commenced. "We just.. Player around a bit." Peeta's eyes widened and he gasped.

"Gale!" He said, scandalized. Okay maybe he was a bit jealous but he wasn't going to say anything. He clutched his head. Gale smirked.

"What? It was good." Peeta stared at Gale for a moment. Well now he knew Gale's type. And it sure wasn't him. Peeta wasn't tall or buff like Cato. He didn't consider himself very attractive.

"Well glad you enjoyed yourself." He put on a playful mask and nudged his best friend. Gale grinned. And the group started to dissipate and wander throughout the training center.

Peeta quickly grabbed Delly's hand and they walked off to the survival center. Her eyes widened.

"Whats wrong." She asked, alarmed.

"Nothing." He said quickly.

"Peeta, you something's wrong. Does it have to do with Gale?" She whispered the last part. She was the only one who knew of his feelings for Gale. Peeta looked down. "Oh Peeta.." She said sadly. "Don't get discouraged. You guys still have a chance." But Peeta knew that wasn't the case. He didn't say anything about the games because he knew it would upset her. Peeta looked up across the training center and saw Gale and Cato eye-fucking each other as they showed off, in sword training. "Oh god." Delly's voice behind him made him jump as she saw what she was looking at. "I'm gonna talk to him."

"Delly.." He gave her a warning glare.

"Fine.. But he knows you love him, why is he doing this to you?"

"Delly he doesn't know I love him."

"Um.." Her voice was strangled. "Yes he does.." Peeta suddenly felt sick.

"Delly what did you do?!" His voice was cautious.

"It may have.. Slipped out." Peeta couldn't take it. "Peeta wait." She sighed. He left Delly at the station, playing with ropes and headed towards the bathroom. His stomach was doing backflips as he opened the door.

He was met with the sight of Finnick O'Dair was drying his hands and he looked up. He looked about to tease Peeta but stopped and raised an eyebrow at Peeta's watery eyes.

"Hm.. Whats got you all upset?" He asked curiously, getting a little too close to Peeta but the latter wasn't in the mood. "Leave me the hell alone, O'Dair." he muttered, pushing past the man and going into a stall.

He stayed quiet until he heard Finnick leave before groaning in annoyance, running his hands through his hair. "Fuck.." This was all so fucked up. He felt like complete and utter shit. But he knew he had to get his game face on. He would go out there and do as Haymitch told him. He left the bathroom and headed towards a hand to hand combat station.

The instructor taught him different offence and defence moves and soon he was sparring with the guy.

"You're pretty light on your feet, I would suggest throwing knifes for your weapon." The trainer said matter-of-factly. Peeta nodded as the lunch bell rang. He would visit that station after.

As Peeta collected his food he coukd feel eyes on him. He turned to see Cashmere an Gloss from District 1 eyeing him. Peeta furrowed his brow and decided it was best to ignore it. Gale nudged him from behind.

"What's that about?"

"I-I don't know.." Peeta stuttered, blushing. Gale gave him a funny look. He felt awkward around Gale now that he was aware that Gale knew his feelings towards him. Peeta looked at his toes as they walked to a table. Gale sat right next to him as he usually would, but this time Peeta didn't feel butterfly's he felt like he was going to puke. Here's Gale pretending like everything is normal while Peeta pins for him. On top of that, one of them was probably going to die.

"Peeta, are you okay? You look a bit pale." Gale's voice rang through his head. Cato looked at him curiously. He hadn't even seen he was sitting there. Peeta's head hurt. He was tired of this day.

"Yeah. Fine." He said curtly, turning to his plate and picking at the food. Gale eyed him concerned. "What?!" Peeta asked irritated, turning to look at Gale with fire in his eyes.

"Um.. Nothing. I'm just.. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes Gale I'm fine." Oh but he wasn't. Everyone at the table spent the rest of lunch in silence.

Once lunch was over Peeta headed towards the knife station. The trainer there showed him the correct form and easy ways to throw from different angles. He got the hang of it pretty quickly. The instructor said he was a natural. He hit his target a few more times before he heard a cough from behind him. The instructor took her leave. Peeta turned to see Gloss and Cashmere lookin at him. Cashmere gave him a slow clap.

"Wow. Really that is impressive. And they said 12 doesn't train before the games." Her voice irritated him.

"We don't." He said rolling his eyes a bit.

"Oh? Even more impressive." Gloss said coming closer. "We are both rather impressed with you. First day and you already know combat and have a weapon nearly mastered."

"We'll be watching you." She said and with that they took their leave. Peeta stared after them for a second with a weird look on his face.

"Um.. Okay." He shook his head before returning to what he was working on.

A sound rang through the center and everyone headed back to their penthouses. Gale, Peeta, Cato, Clove, Delly and Finnick O'Dair were crammed into an elevator. The whole time, Gale and Delly were staring at Peeta while Cato was eyeing Gale. Clove raised a brow at Cato and Finnick just stood in the center awkwardly. Everyone got off onto their respective floors until Gale, Peeta and Delly were the only ones left.

"Peeta what's up with you today?" Gale asked irritated by his best friends standoffish behavior.

"Nothing Gale, just leave me alone." Gale rolled his eyes exasperated.

"What the hell, no! Did I do something wrong?" Peeta just closed his eyes, running his fingers through his hair. He didn't want to deal with this at the moment. He didn't want to talk about his feelings with Gale. Delly was in the corner pretending to be invisible. Soon enough they were on their floor and Peeta was the first one off.

"Hey kids how was the-" Haymitch started only to be cut off by the slamming of Peeta's door. "What the hell is wrong with him?" Haymitch didn't look at Gale though, he looked at Delly pointedly. He knew exactly what was wrong. Mentors had free access to this year's "everything is filmed" shit.

"I-I.. Gale.. Peeta. Im..." She didn't finish, she just ran to her room just as Peeta had, slamming the door. Gale stood in the center of the room with a bewildered look in his eye. Haymitch left him there. It wasn't his problem but these kids need to get this shit together. Katniss came up in the elevator seconds later, ignoring Gale and heading to her room.

TBC

Author's Note:

Well that's all folks! Again, so sorry for the late post I had bad writers block but im on and poppin again! Until next time!

Xoxox

Dri