For the rest of the day whenever Peeta's name was brought up a fit of giggles was overcome Prim and she had to thrice be scolded by Mama.
The next afternoon Prim and I were getting ready to go out and find some flowers and herbs that Mama uses for her ointments.
"Yarrow should be growing on the hill, look around for some burdock also," She's telling us. Prim and I are stepping outside when we see Peeta trotting up on his gray horse.
Prim and I lag behind as Mama takes a look at his eye. She gives him some ointment to rub around his eye.
"Mind you don't get it in your eye, it'll sting something awful."
"Yes ma'am, thank you ma'am," He says. Then he looks over at Prim and I, both carrying baskets we made from hay.
"We're getting ready to go gather some flowers and herbs," I tell him.
"Do you want to help us, Peeta?" Prim asks, then quickly looks at Mama, "May he join us?"
She gives Peeta a hard stare and then tells us that he can, but we aren't to take too long.
The three of us head towards the streams.
"I'll go and look for some yarrow," Prim tells us.
I lead Peeta to a clearing where we had found burdock in years past. It had rained the night before, leaving the ground soft with small puddles in a few places. I discribe the plant to Peeta as we look around for some.
After a few minutes of looking Peeta bends down and picks a dandelion. He holds it out for me and I take it with a small blush and a laugh, "You aren't suppose to give me gifts, remember."
He gives a little laugh, "From one friend to another."
I look over at him, "Your eye looks better, today."
"Your Mama knows what she's doing, I've never had the swelling go down so fast before."
How many black eyes has he had.
"You need to be more careful," I say. He looks over at me. I look down, "I-I don't like seeing you hurt."
I can tell his eyes are still on me and I look up and meet his gaze for a moment, I don't know what it is that makes me feel the fluttering in my stomach, it must just be the way he looks at me, nobody else looks at me that way, so it has to be the look he gives.
"Stop it," I say sharply.
"What's wrong?" He looks surprised.
"You can't keep doing that," I tell him, "If you want to be friends with me you can't keep making those… eyes, at me."
Peeta stops and thinks for a moment, he starts to look a little amused.
"You keep giving me that look," I say, "That googley eyed look." I don't know how else to describe it.
This causes Peeta to laugh, "Do I get googley eyed?"
"Yes," I say and twist my toe in the mud, "It's distracting."
"I'm sorry… I will try to stop looking at you with googley eyes."
I can tell he still thinks it funny and I'm about to make a retort, but then Prim comes back. I see her eyes go from Peeta to me and then gives me a knowing glance as she shows me the yarrow plant she had picked for Mama to make an astringent with.
"Finding anything?" She asks sweetly.
"Nothing yet. I'll go see if the blackberries are ripe," I suggested and quickly walked in the direction of the blackberry bushes.
I took a few steady breaths to try to calm the fluttering in my stomach then turned my focus towards the berry bushes. I see the bushes dotted with the unripe green and red berries but I also see quite a few dark berries. I call out my findings to Prim and her and Peeta come around the low hill shortly after.
Peeta immediately pops one into his mouth.
"One of the best parts about spring," He said.
The three of us have a pleasant time leisurely picking the blackberries, Prim started a game with Peeta where she throws it in the air and he has to catch it, he takes the game as far as diving to catch it, the more harder he would try to catch it the farther he would miss. We were all laughing after a blackberry hit him straight on the nose.
None of us noticed Gale approaching until he was standing in the clearing.
"Hey, I could hear you a mile away, you're scaring away all the game," He said to us, I watch him as his eyes linger on Peeta before they land on me.
"Sorry, I didn't know you were hunting today," I say. I look at the gun clutched in his hand.
He ignores my statement and asks, "Your folks know you're down here?"
"Yes, Gale," Prim says, "We're gathering. Got some flowers Mama uses and we found that the blackberries are ripe."
"Didn't sound like you were getting a lot of work done."
"Did you come over here just to scold?" I asked putting my hands on my hips.
"It's my fault, I shouldn't have been goofing off," Peeta said.
"Katniss and Prim should be getting' home, they have a lot of work to do, that's what we farm folk do, work. You can go back to town and goof off."
"Oh, Gale," Prim said, looking crest fallen, "We really were gathering berries. Look how many we've gotten." She showed him the berries we had collected so far.
"That should be enough than," He told her firmly.
"I should be getting home," Peeta says glumly.
"No," I said to Peeta, then spun back around to face Gale, "Stop being such a bossy stick in the mud. Just cause you're a few years older doesn't mean that you can tell us what to do."
"We should be getting home, Katniss. Mama will be happy to see the blackberries. Maybe we'll have time to make a pie for supper."
I scowl at Gale for a moment longer.
"I'm going to go, Katniss," Peeta says.
Prim and I say our good-byes to Peeta and start to head home. Much to my annoyance, Gale starts walking with us.
"You aren't the boss of us, Gale," I tell him, "And you don't need to walk us home, we can find it on our own."
He startles me when he starts shouting, "What were you two doing out here with a townie!"
"Katniss and I were getting ready to come out here to find some yarrow," Prim lifts her basket to show him her collections again, "And to see if any burdock were blooming yet, and then Peeta came to visit and Mama said that he could join us. And Katniss found the blackberry bush…" Prim is rattling off and I'm still fuming.
"You had no right to tell Peeta to leave."
"You have no business runnin' around with some boy-"
"He's a friend, Gale," I interrupt him.
"He doesn't want to be your friend, Catnip," He said with a hard laugh, "I've seen him look at you."
I don't have a reply to that, because Gale is right, Peeta does want to be more than my friend and not 20 minutes ago I had chided Peeta for giving me those 'googley eyes'.
"I won't let you ruin your reputation. Running around in the woods with some town boy, you'll get everybody talkin about you - and it won't be good things."
"I'm not runnin' around with him, he joined Prim and I… Why should it matter that he's from town."
"You have nothing in common with townies, you need to stick with your own kind."
I scoff, "My own kind, Gale?! So if it were a farm boy out here with Prim and I you wouldn't be throwing a fit."
Gale pauses for a moment before saying, "You shouldn't be runnin' around with any boys."
"Well that's not fair, Gale. If I enjoy spending time with someone I will, Madge and Peeta are my friends and I like to see them."
"Aren't I your friend anymore, Catnip?" He asks and I can hear the hurt in his tone.
Prim makes a big show of walking ahead of us moving out of hearing range.
"Well, yes, Gale, but you're always so busy with everything," I say quietly, I honestly didn't mean to hurt his feelings by talking about my other friends, "You keep bossing me around and treating me like a child…"
"I'm busy helping my Papa with our farm. In 5 years I'm going to be 21 and Papa said that he'll give me the west fields," He pauses then continues, "I'll build a little house right close to the dividing property line," His voice has taken on a tender tone. He's three years older than me, but right now it seems much older, he's already thinking about starting his own farm and building his own house, I've had no thoughts about leaving my parents yet.
"I'm sorry that I scold you or tell you what to do… It's just, I want what's best for you. I care about you Katniss," Gale stops walking and looks at me, "I care about you a lot." He hesitates for a moment then I see his hand reaching towards mine, he takes my hand gently with his big calloused farm worker hands, "A lot," He repeats and my heart start thumping so loud I think it'll pop out of my chest, a voice in my head screams out a warning the second before he continues, "Whenever I think about starting my own home, it's always with you. I don't think that I can picture my future without you."
A/N: Thanks for reading.
