AN: Thanks for all the support! I am having a great time writing this story, so I am glad that people are having a good time reading it! I tired to make Gale and Katniss into convincing kids, but let me know if you disagree. Personally, I think the two of them would get into a lot of trouble together. As always, any feedback is always appreciated!

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Susan Collins owns everything.

Song of the Mockingjay - Chapter 2

Gale Hawthorne was everywhere. At least that is how Katniss felt as she walked through school during the week. They weren't in the same grade - he was two years older - so she didn't have any classes with him, but he still seemed to be lurking around every corner. She saw him out of the corner of her eye as he walked by the cafeteria during lunch. She saw him chatting with friends as she walked to her next class. She saw him walking home from school and playing in the meadow with friends as she picked dandelions for her sister.

Almost every time she saw him, Gale Hawthorne was surrounded by people. He had an easy smile and loud laugh. He seemed likeable enough, then he would see her and all that would change in an instant. He would glower and any inkling of him as a good person would disappear and she would frown back.

The crease in his forehead would make her happy they were in different grades. The downturn of his lips would make her glad that they had different friends, otherwise she would smack his stupid face. The glare in his eyes made her satisfied that she had kicked him and she knew she would do it again if he opened his mouth around her again.

She really hated Gale Hawthorne.

But it was finally Friday, which meant school was over and she wasn't going to have to see him for two days.

A part of him thought she was stalking him, just waiting with what he had decided were steel-toed boots, to attack him again. She was out of her mind and she was always staring at him. He was used to people looking at him - even glaring at him - but her gaze was different. It was heavy and he knew in an instant that it was hers.

Perhaps it was the deadly intent behind it.

He didn't understand her. He had just been concerned that she was going hunting and the girl had jumped down his throat; now she had a grudge against him. Actually, it was more like a vendetta. He had learned that word the other day - apparently it was how his father viewed their relationship with Capitol. He wasn't supposed to repeat what his father and him talked about in the woods, but the word seemed appropriate when it came to the Everdeen girl.

The thought made him scowl. It was an expression that he realized was on his face more and more these days. Every time he saw her it would just appear. She would look at him with such intensity and then it would evolve into a frown, then a glare, and then she would turn away.

He was really glad it was Friday. No school meant no Everdeen, and that made him smile.

Sunday had started with passing summer storms, keeping Katniss inside with her mother well past dawn. At first Katniss had been disappointed, but seeing her father play with Prim while she and her mother took inventory of the healing herbs was relaxing. The rolling thunder and rain outside kept them isolated and it brought Katniss a sense of peace. In the woods with her father she felt like she could run forever, go anywhere, be anything. Here, with her family she felt grounded, suspended in a happy moment between seconds that stretched on forever.

The sense of completeness continued, even after the sun had emerged. Her father threw on his leather jacket and grabbed their game bags. Her mother kissed him and then Katniss, slipping their lunch into her smaller bag. Katniss all but ran to the woods, a feeling of contentment filling her body. Nothing could put a damper on her spirits today.

Nothing but Gale Hawthorne waiting for her in the forest.

Katniss blinked, looking at the two Hawthorne men before shooting a disbelieving glance back at her father. "What is this?"

Gale wasn't in much better shape, his mouth hanging open as he stared at her, the rabbit in his hand largely forgotten.

John ignored them and reached out shaking Marcus Hawthorne's hand. "Marcus, glad you could make it."

"Me too." The taller man said, "I was worried you wouldn't come out with the storms this morning."

"If they continued much longer it wouldn't have been worth it." John looked at Gale. "I see you've already gotten started."

"Just checked the snares." Gale mumbled, still staring at Katniss. It was beginning to make her uncomfortable. Couldn't he look somewhere else?

"Gale is really good at snare work." Marcus said, patting his son on the back. "He's even designed a few of his own."

Either the praise or the contact snapped Gale out of his daze and he finally looked at John Everdeen and her father look back at Gale, clearly impressed. It made Katniss glower. She didn't want her father to be as infatuated with the Hawthorne boy as everyone at school seemed to be. The thought of her father taking him hunting suddenly filled her with a possessiveness she had never really encountered before.

"Good for him." She growled, grabbing her father's hand and pulling him in another direction - any direction away from the Hawthornes. "Enjoy your snares. We need to go."

"Katniss." Her father says, stopping her. She knows that tone of voice - and hated it. It's the tone that says I-am-your-father-and-you-will-listen-to-me. "We are hunting with the Hawthornes today."

Katniss couldn't help the glare she shot at Gale.

They spent the rest of the day hunting together. Gale's father and Mr. Everdeen making polite conversation, but Gale was sure if Katniss opened her mouth either she or he would start a fight. She hated him, he hated her. It was a match made in hell.

What were their father's thinking? Didn't they even notice that the two hadn't spoken one word to each other, let alone looked at each other without glaring? His father was a bit thick at times, but this was bordering on insanity.

After a few excruciating hours, the two split up and Gale could feel the wave of relief that washed over Katniss as she all but dragged her father away.

Gale just shook his head and looked up at his father. "Well that was fun."

"It was, wasn't it." Marcus said. Gale looked at him like he had grown another head. His father sighed. "That was sarcasm, I know Gale. Just look at it from our point of view. We are taking you kids outside the fence - a criminal offense I might remind you, and dangerous beyond that. We just want you to be safe."

"I am safe."

"But you could be safer. Two adults are better than one. Besides, John knows a lot about the woods that I don't. You could learn a lot from him."

Gale hated when his father had a point. Marcus Hawthorne was very good a winning arguments - the only person Gale knew that was better at it was his mother, Hazelle.

He didn't want to ask, but he did anyways. "So are we meeting them next Sunday?" Marcus nodded. "And the Sunday after that?"

"Yes Gale." Marcus sighed. "We will be meeting them for the foreseeable future."

"Great." Gale grumbled. "Just what I always wanted: more Katniss Everdeen in my life."

"B-But..." Katniss stammered, trying to get the words past her lips. Her father was just giving away their time together.

"Look Katniss, it will only be for a few hours every Sunday. We'll do it early and then you and I can go to the lake. It will be good for you. I only know one snare, and I'm not the best at it."

"But you are a great shot! We don't need snares."

"You do. I'm not letting you touch this bow for another couple of years. Knowing how to make snares will be good for you."

Katniss almost stomped her foot in frustration, but instead she grabbed a rock and threw it into the woods. It made a satisfying crunch as it hit a tree and she pictured it was Gale's stupid face. He really had dazzled her father and taken him away from her. He had inserted himself in her time in the woods and that was unforgivable.

"Do I have to be nice?" She said, only half serious. Her father glared at her. "Fine! I'll be nice."

"Good." He said, "Now, let's make sure we've gotten everything on your mother's list."

Weeks past and every Sunday was spent in the same way: Gale and Marcus would teach Katniss and her father everything they knew about snares and in return, the Everdeens shared their knowledge of edible plants.

The whole time, Gale and Katniss said as little as possible to each other - and she liked it that way. When Gale talked, she had to admit that he was smart. He knew the animals and the way they thought. His fingers were surprisingly nimble with the lines compared to her awkward attempts. They usually earned her a mocking smile and a snide "Maybe next time Catnip." She was beginning to really hate the name.

Every remark, every smirk, every failed attempt made her want to work harder to beat him - and it seemed that he felt the same. Every little thing quickly turned into a competition between them: who could climb higher, who could move quieter, who could find more plants, who could check more snares.

One day when she was boasting about how she had beaten Gale again, her father had just sighed and muttered "At least you're learning something." She knew he wanted her to get along with the Hawthorne boy, but Gale just made it so hard.

As with many Sundays before, Katniss took out her frustrations on the snare lines.

"Jeez Catnip." Came the drawl as the snare was taken from her hand. "If I left you alone longer this line would have been useless."

"It's Katniss." She hissed for the thousandth time. "And it isn't that bad."

"Not that bad?" Gale laughed, holding the mess of wire up for her too see. "I think you're closer to a noose than a snare."

"Maybe that's what I was going for." She ground out.

Gale just tutted her. "Don't let our fathers hear that. They want us to be friends."

That was never going to happen. She had a better chance of being Reaped tomorrow. She glanced over his shoulder. The two older men were working on a snare up the hill. They were chatting softly, paying them no attention.

That meant they weren't going to get in trouble for fighting again. Katniss smirked, opening up her mouth to issue a biting remark of some sort - she really hadn't worked out what yet - when Gale held up a hand.

"Do you hear that?" He asked.

Katniss frowned. "Hear what?"

Gale tilted his head to the side. "That buzzing."

Katniss really listened and there it was, a faint humming noise. She looked at Gale, and then made a dash towards it. The boy cursed dropping the tangled line and dashed after her.

A few trees over she saw it, hanging on a low branch: a large honeycomb covered in bees. She can hear Gale behind her, telling her to wait but she's too far ahead of him. He won't catch her in time. Honeycomb goes for a lot in the Hob since it's fairly rare and sweets are such a luxury in the Seam. This victory was going to be hers and she could rub it in Gale's face for weeks.

She didn't realize that Gale's shouts had turned from annoyed to fearful until she had made the turn around the tree. He had been farther up the hill and had seen it but she hadn't - a bear, big and black, and she ran straight into it.

Katniss was frozen on the ground. Her brain was ordering her to run, but her limbs weren't cooperating. She could hear her mother's voice in her head, telling her to think before she acted, to watch out for predators and to come back safely. She hadn't, she had failed and now she was going to die.

The bear turned on her, snarling as it's lips pulled back from large teeth. Katniss couldn't tear her eyes away from it as spittle flew from its lips as the beast roared. It pulled back one large paw, but it didn't strike. Katniss blinked, registering for the first time Gale's voice. He was shouting and throwing rocks at the bear, anything to get it's attention.

It moved towards him, running and Katniss knew it was her chance to escape. She did the first thing she could think of, climbing the tree as fast as she could. Off in the distance, she heard their fathers rushing towards them. Even with her father's bow, Gale was too close to the bear and her father too far.

"Gale," She shouted. "This way!"

Now that she wasn't face to face with the bear, she had an idea.

Gale was throwing anything that he could at the bear. It was bigger than he was, which made it huge when compared to Katniss. Her small form had looked so much smaller when the bear had stood over her. He had almost forgotten that she was two years younger than him in the last few weeks, but seeing her like that, cowering in front of the bear, he was hit with how young that really was.

He had acted on instinct, picking up the first rock, then another and another, hurtling them towards the bear. He had been desperate to get the bear's attention, but once gotten, he was desperate to get rid of it.

He ran through the underbrush, away from the bear. It was fast, probably faster than him. He realized that running in a straight line was going to get him nowhere, and he wasn't fast enough to climb out of it's reach so he made a sharp turn to his left, back down the hill.

"Gale!" He heard. It was Katniss. She was alright! That was a relief. He stopped her up in a tree and she was waving frantically at him.

"This way! Hurry!" For the first time ever he listened to her. He turned towards the tree, dodging a swipe from a large black paw. It made him stumble, causing him to roll down the hill and hit something hard. His head was ringing, and he wasn't sure if it was from the bear, Katniss or the loud ringing in his ears, but it was there and it was getting louder.

Blinking, Gale pulled himself up off the ground. He stumbled for a moment, trying to get his bearings. He was at the bottom of the hill, just past the tree and there was the bear, swiping madly at its face as bees swarmed him. How had they gotten there?

Looking up, he saw a smiling Katniss and one conspicuously empty tree branch. His father and John Everdeen came barrelling through the forest, making such a loud ruckus that the bear finally left, wounded pride and all.

His father ran straight to him, gathering him up and inspecting him for injuries.

"I'm fine Dad." Gale said, pushing off the probing hands.

"Fine my ass." Marcus snapped. "You're bleeding."

Gale frowned and reached up into his hair. His fingers came back sticky and wet. That was probably the reason his head felt like it was about to split apart and his could still hear something buzzing.

His mother was going to kill him.

Katniss climbed down the tree and tried to make it to Gale, but her father's hand on her arm stopped her.

"What were you thinking?" He yelled. Katniss winced, she had never seen her father so mad. His hands moved to her shoulders shaking her, as if to jostle loose and answer.

"I'm sorry!" Was all she could manage. She had known what she had been thinking. She had been thinking about her stupid competition with Gale instead of where she was. She had gotten too complacent in the woods and it had almost cost her.

It had almost cost Gale too. Her eyes widened and she tried to get away from her father. Gale had fallen and hit his head. She needed to check on him.

John just gripped her harder. "Dammit Katniss. I've taught you better than that!"

"I know! I'm sorry!" She cried. She needed to know if Gale was alright. She didn't mean for him to get hurt, seriously hurt. "Please Dad, I just-"

"Just what?" He yelled. "Just had to play your stupid game? Just had to have the upper hand?"

She was on the verge of tears when Marcus put a hand on her father's shoulder. "John." He said. "She's fine. Gale's fine. Relax."

Katniss was sure he was going to keep yelling at the other man, but John deflated a little.

"We need to head back. I want your wife to look at Gale's head."

John nodded, walking up the hill. Marcus sent her a sympathetic look. "Come on." He said, placing one hand on her back. "Let's go."

Katniss nodded. She turned to see Gale with one hand on his head, following them obediently.

No one said anything on the way back, and Katniss thought it would have been better if the yelling had continued. Anything would have been better than this heavy silence. Tears prickled behind her eyes. She didn't want to cry, but her father's back looked so big and so far away. She had disappointed her him, disappointed Mr. Hawthorne and herself.

A nudge on her shoulder brought her up short. Gale elbowed her again and Katniss hastily wiped away the small tears that started falling.

"You save my life Catnip." He said, and for once the nickname didn't sound like an insult.

"After you saved mine." She replied. Gale smiled at her then. Not the cocky, half smile she had always seen, but a genuine, brilliant-as-the-sun smile. She blinked. He had never smiled at her before.

He glanced at the two men walking ahead before reaching into his game bag. He pulled out a large piece of honeycomb and handed it to her. "Guess we earned this then."

She held the sticky sweet mess, staring at his stupid face with his stupid smile and found it hard not to smile back.

"Guess we did."

Their mother's had been horrified of course and the two had been grounded, but the lingering sweetness from the honey was worth it.