I hate having to put disclaimers at the start of every chapter.

*DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE HUNGER GAMES OR ITS CHARACTERS. THIS APPLIES TO EVERY NEXT CHAPTER IN THIS FANFICTION.*

I bolt upright at the sound of Peeta's voice. Peeta and Gale. Talking. Most probably about me. I push the covers off me and tiptoe out of bed, careful not to make a sound. I slip out my bedroom door and huddle by the top of the stairs, in a corner where they won't be able to see me. Gale is sitting at the kitchen table, and Peeta is still standing. I can't see either of their faces, but I have a feeling I won't need to.

"Well, it took you long enough," Peeta sighs.

"I wasn't sure it's what she wanted."

"How could you ever doubt it?" I can hear the bitterness in Peeta's voice. My heart sinks. I keep hurting him… "She needs you. She loves you. Whether it was your bomb or not, whether she's even forgiven you or not, she loves you. She can't ever stop loving you."

I don't have to be able to see his face to know that his jaw is tightening. There's a short pause. "Not the way I want her to."

I risk sticking my head out from behind the corner to look at them. Peeta sighs and pulls up a chair. "Katniss can't survive without you. That's how we know she'll choose you." The sadness in his voice breaks my heart. How did I do so much damage to such a strong person?

"She can't survive without you, either." Gale leans back in his chair.

Peeta looks at him and shakes his head. "Honestly, that isn't even the point right now. She's unhappy. She's empty. Sure, she cleaned up after I got back. But she's still broken."

Gale runs a hand through his hair, and closes his eyes. After a moment, he asks, "What happened, exactly, after they sent me away?"

"Not much. We spent hours a day in court, fighting and trying to negotiate. She was locked up. The avoxes that stood by her room said they heard her singing." Just for a second, a hint of a smile flashes across Gale's face. "We kept getting witnesses in, made more speeches, had more meetings with lawyers, and finally they settled on sending her back here as long as she keeps up her therapy." Gale raises an eyebrow. "Which she hasn't been doing." I can't help smiling when I see Gale holding back a grin. My defiance is one thing that will never change, and he knows it.

Gale looks down. "I wish I could've helped…"

Peeta shrugs. "I guess they didn't want you around when they left. You know, seeing as how you pointed a gun at her?" He sounds agitated. So does Gale when he responds.

"She wanted it! Couldn't you hear her screaming? I thought they were going to torture her! So did she!" I suck my breath in. He was going to do it. He was going to save me. He was still going to honor our agreement, even after I didn't.

"But they didn't torture her. They kept her alive, and they let her go."

"They kept her in solitary confinement and left her to go insane!"

"But what if you had shot her? What if the peacekeepers didn't get you in time? She would be gone right now. We wouldn't even have to be having this conversation. She would be dead. And we wouldn't even have to opportunity to try to fix things for her."

This gets him. He groans and tilts his head back. "Fine," he says after a minute. "Fine. What happened next? After she got home?"

"Nothing." Peeta's voice softens. "She just…she came home. And she was a wreck. Still is, from what I can tell." Ow. "We asked Haymitch to check up on her once in a while, but we should've known that he wouldn't be sober for a second." He shakes his head. "He's been through a lot, too."

Gale closes his eyes again. Then he stands up, frustrated. "I can't… I'm such a… Why did I even…?" He's pacing back and forth, wringing his hands running them through his hair, occasionally stopping to smack the wall. Gale is not Peeta. Expressing himself never came quite as easily as it did for Peeta. "I'm an idiot!" He grabs his hair with both of his hands and lets out a shout of frustration. Peeta stays seated, watching him. "I got too into it. I was so angry at the Capitol, I just wanted to break them with everything I had. I didn't even think about what would've happened, or what the consequences would be." He lets out a string of obscenities, something that he tries not to do so often. My eyes sting. I do my best to keep the sobs in my throat. "How is it that I was trying so hard to be there for her, I was trying so hard to be her savior, and I ended up being the one to break her?" Even if I hadn't been spying on them, surely this noise would have woken me by now. But he's not done. "And even then, I was selfish. I could only think about how much I wanted her to love me. How much I still want her to love me. I spend every waking minute thinking about her, how I'll never get her, how much I love her, how much she must hate me, how I killed her sister. I didn't come down to visit her because I thought she didn't love me, but I should've visited to check if she was okay! Because she isn't okay! And I can't stand seeing her this way. I can't stand knowing that I did it. That I'm the one that caused her to be so…so torn up!" He slams his fist into the wall. "I broke her." He lets out a yell and sinks to the floor.

There's a short silence that follows. "But none of that means that she doesn't still need you." Peeta says finally. His voice is soft. "Gale, when was the last time you saw her? What was the last thing you said to her?"

"I told her to shoot straight," he mutters.

"You didn't even get to say goodbye." Peeta says for him, waiting for Gale's nod of confirmation. "Now look at me and tell me that the lack of closure didn't kill you every time you thought of her." Gale keeps his mouth shut. "That's how she feels. There was no closure. Eventually, she would have lost her mind because of it, and it would have driven her to her grave. But now you're back." Peeta doesn't sound too happy about this. "Now you're back, and you can make things right. Whether you're going to stay after that or not…" he hesitates for a moment. "I'll leave that up to you. But the way you left things weren't right. Now do me a favor…no, do Katniss a favor and stay by her. Go hunting with her. Fix things between the two of you. When she's completely healed, you're free to leave."

Gale stays silent for a minute, his face unreadable. Then he stands up. "And what if I choose not to leave?" His eyes stay on Peeta, not wavering for a second. The challenge is unquestionable.

"Then I'm ready to fight for her." Peeta stands up, regards him, turns around and leaves.