A/N- Hey! Thanks for the reviews! REVIEW AGAIN, PLEASE! Fifteen more reviews and I'll update tomorrow!

Rue is dead, and it's a sad day for everyone. The little girl was so small and innocent. No one wanted to see her go. Katniss was devastated by the loss, and I don't blame her at all.

I bet Katniss thinks this whole thing is her fault, but it's not. She really tried to protect Rue, but she just couldn't get there fast enough.

The only good thing, though, is that Katniss never has to kill Rue. I'm positive she never would've, but at least it didn't come down to the two of them. That would've been terrible. Katniss wouldn't have killed her, though. She would've figured something out. She always does.

I try to sleep that night and get the image of Rue out of my head. I keep seeing her dying. I keep seeing that spear impale her tiny stomach. I keep seeing all of the blood.

"Katniss is still alive," I murmur to myself. "Peeta is still alive," I whisper to the darkness. "Katniss and Peeta are still alive. Katniss and Peeta are still alive. Katniss and Peeta are still alive." It becomes a chant for me.

The next morning is as lonely as the previous day. Theo has a list of chores to do, and he won't let me help with any of them. I sigh.

"Why don't you go visit someone?"

"They all hate me, remember?"

"Oh, come on. They're over it by now."

"Theo, I'm not going anywhere."

"You're not getting any younger."

I almost do leave the house. Almost.

"Madge, someone is at the door for you."

I quickly fix my hair while sauntering down the stairs to greet my company. It's Gale. He's holding a pail of strawberries. Go figure.

"I have to go check up on Mrs. Undersee," he says while winking in my direction. I roll my eyes at him.

"Hi," I greet Gale.

"Hey."

We stand there in silence, not knowing what to say or where to begin. Gale holds the pail of strawberries awkwardly as I think of something to break the ice. I come up with nothing, so I decide to address the topic on hand as I retrieve the strawberries silently and put the money in his hand.

"You know I didn't say those things, right," I ask as I put the strawberries away. I'll eat them later.

Gale takes a deep breath before answering my question. "Madge, it doesn't really matter."

"Yes it does, Gale! Patrick said all of those things about me because he was mad at me! Don't you see?"

"Madge, it doesn't matter," he stresses.

"Gale, I'm telling the truth. Why don't you believe me?"

"Everything Patrick said is true about me anyway. It's fine."

"Gale, it's not true. Patrick had no right saying those things about you." I take a step closer to him. Gale does not back away. "You know I wouldn't say anything to harm you."

"I know," he sighs. "I was stupid. I shoulda known."

Another awkward silence falls over us. When in doubt, serve drinks! "Do you want anything to drink?"

"I'll just have water." I nod and rush to the kitchen as he follows. I don't do well with people watching me. I'm always afraid I'll mess up something, and then I always do. Pretend Gale isn't there. Pretend he isn't watching me closely.

I grab a cup and place it under the faucet. It spurts out cold water. I place another cup under the faucet and fill that one up, too.

"Here you go," I say to Gale as I hand him his drink. He nods. I learned that nodding means thank you. I don't know why he can't just say the two tiny words.

I lean against the counter while I sip my water, and he does the same. He chooses the spot right next to me. We're very close to each other.

"Let's sit on the couch," I say loudly and abruptly. My voice scares the both of us a little bit. I scurry to the couch and sit down quickly. He follows in suit and sits right next to me. This stupid couch is too tiny.

That's when the Capitol makes an announcement. I don't believe my ears. Two people can win if they're from the same district? Seriously! Oh my gosh! I squeal a little as I wrap Gale in a surprise embrace. I hear Katniss yell Peeta's name once.

Gale slowly returns the hug, but it's awkward. I didn't think this one through. I slowly remove myself from his arms and look into his eyes. I'm about to apologize when I realize something is different. I think Gale feels it, too.

My arms are still wrapped around his neck as we gaze into each other's eyes. I don't know what we look for, but we just stare. His steel grey eyes bore into mine. Neither of us looks away.

I feel Gale lean in just a tad, but it's enough to wake me up from my haze. I immediately remove my arms from his neck, and this startles him a little bit. "What great news," I burst out with too much enthusiasm.

He nods his head, looking just as confused as I feel. We watch the rest of the Games in silence. I keep thinking about what just happened. Was he going to kiss me? No, he was probably getting situated. Maybe he was going to hug me again. Maybe he leaned by accident.

It didn't look like an accident.

Why did I extract my arms so quickly? Why didn't I wait a little longer to see what he was going to do? It would've been a lot easier.

I was scared.

Why didn't I just let him kiss me if he really wanted to? It wouldn't hurt. It's just one kiss. It's not the end of the world. We would see if we had any chemistry. It would be a good thing.

I don't want to be another one of his girls.

I cannot fall for Gale Hawthorne. He's sullen, he's a player, and we're from two different worlds. How would we ever be able to deal with all of our differences? How would our relationship work?

Maybe I already fell for him…

Peeta better come home soon.

A/N- REVIEW, PLEASE!