Katniss hadn't been out of the shower long when she heard the knock at her hotel room door.

Boy, Peeta wasn't kidding when he said he was going to come get me! She thought to herself, smiling.

She had just put on her pajama pants and a comfortable cami top for the evening. She was emotionally spent from grieving for Prim the last two days, tired from the hectic pace of dress designing and fittings, and was upset that Gale still wouldn't see her. She looked and felt like hell. She couldn't wait to snuggle into bed with Peeta and just escape into sleep... or try to, anyway.

She hurried out of the bathroom to get the door, drying her hair with a towel as she walked. She expected to see Peeta when she opened the door, but it wasn't.

It was Gale.

She gasped. "Jesus Christ, Gale, you look terrible! Why aren't you in the hospital?"

She threw her arms around him.

"I've been so worried about you!" she scolded him.

Gale looked far worse than she did. He looked like he hadn't eaten, slept or showered in days. He was pale, he looked exhausted and mentally drained. He was wringing his hands, which the nurses in the hospital had gotten just about healed from the cuts he'd received from Raven's spear in the arena. Unfortunately, his emotional wounds were much deeper and more damaging than his physical ones.

"I need to talk to you." he said. "Are you alone? Can I come in please?"

"Yes, come in, come in. Are you okay?" she said, as she pulled him in and shut the door.

"No, I am not okay at all." he told her, as he sat down on the edge of her bed.

"They let you out of the hospital in this condition?"

"No, I just left. Pulled my IV out, got dressed and just walked out. I couldn't stay there anymore." he said. "I decided that I needed to see you now."

"What's wrong?" Katniss asked, getting very concerned. She sat next to him on the bed.

"I get it now." Gale whispered, tears filling in his exhausted eyes.

"What are you talking about?" she asked. "You get what now?"

"I finally get why you need Peeta. Why you have always needed Peeta."

"What do you mean?" she questioned.

"The nightmares." Gale answered, so quietly that she could barely hear him.

"You're having nightmares?" she asked.

"Oh my God, Katniss, I am haunted by them! It's torture! I can't even close my eyes without being back in the arena. I keep seeing Prim die over and over. She calls to me but I can't get to her..."

Katniss took him into her arms and held him. She knew how awful it was to be captive to the nightmares.

Gale continued, "I can't even remember the last time I slept. Now I know what you were going through when you got back last year. I'm so sorry I never got it before!"

Now Gale was crying in her arms. She held him and rubbed his back, and just listened as he poured his heart out to her.

"When you used to tell me that you suffered from such horrible nightmares... now I get why you used to sleep with Peeta all the time! It makes sense to me now! Peeta was the only person who knew how much you were suffering because he lived through it with you! Peeta was there for you and I wasn't! I never could have understood the depths of your torment! But I do now, because it's my torment now too. I'm so sorry that I didn't get it! I'm so sorry that I wasn't there for you!"

"Shh, shh." she quieted him. "It's okay, Gale. How could you know what it was like? No one can until they've lived through it. I certainly don't hold that against you."

"You should hate me," Gale said. "I failed you then, and I have failed you now. I was supposed to keep Prim safe so she could come home to you, and I even managed to fuck that up! The most important thing I ever could have done for you, and I failed you in that too! I'm so sorry, Katniss!"

"Is that why you wouldn't see me all this time? You thought I hated you?" she asked.

"Yes!" he answered. "I didn't see how you would ever be able to forgive me for not keeping my promise to keep Prim alive!"

Katniss started crying too, feeling the weight of her own pain as well as Gale's. She held him even closer.

"Oh, Gale, you can't blame yourself for Prim. I watched you every step of the way. I saw you take care of her, protect her. You made her feel safe. You gave her hope. So even though she didn't get to come home, I still owe you a debt of gratitude that I will never be able to repay, as long as I live!"

"How can you be so forgiving?" he asked.

"It's not your fault, Gale. You didn't kill her. "

She took his face in her hands, lifted his chin, and made him look her in the eyes.

"Look at me, Gale. It's not your fault."

She wiped away the tears from his face, then dried her own as well. His gray eyes looked so tired and lifeless.

"Gale, I can see that you haven't slept. Have you eaten anything lately?"

He shook his head at her.

She sighed. "Go get in my shower Gale. Everything you need is already in there because I just showered. Get cleaned up and then I'm going to take care of you and feed you. You can't show up at the crowning tomorrow in the shape you're in. Not even your prep team would be able to make you look alive."

He started to protest, but she wasn't taking no for an answer.

"Gale, I wasn't asking you, I'm telling you. Go get in the damn shower. I'll go to your room and find you some clean pajamas. Now go!"

He obediently stood up and headed into her bathroom. When she heard the shower turn on, she left the room. First she went across the hall to Peeta's room.

"Ah, there you are, I've been waiting!" he said, as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her.

"Hi, love." she said, as she kissed him back. "Um, I hope you won't be mad, but there's been a slight change in plans for tonight..."

"Why? What's up?" he asked.

"I can't spend the night with you tonight, because I have to let Gale stay with me. He's not well."

"What? Why does Gale need to stay with you? And why isn't he in the hospital?"

"Because he just showed up at my door a few minutes ago... he is in my room right now, having a meltdown. He left the hospital, he is exhausted from having nightmares, he is consumed with guilt over Prim, and he hasn't eaten or slept in days. He looks awful. He thought I hated him, that's why he wouldn't see me. He has a big day tomorrow, and I can't let him show up to the crowning ceremony in the state he's in. I'm going to make sure he eats something, and I'm going to let him sleep in my room so he won't be alone. He needs to get some sleep tonight, and he won't be able to if he's alone!"

Peeta frowned. He clearly did not think that this was a great idea.

"No." he said. "I don't trust Gale to be alone with you all night, especially if he's that upset right now."

"Come on, Peeta. I have to do this. It's my fault that he got reaped and now his head is a mess. You know what it's like for me, when I can't sleep because of the nightmares. I can't just ignore him!"

"He's a grown man, Katniss, he'll be fine." Peeta argued.

"And I'm a grown woman." she retorted. "Can you just ignore me, when I'm the one screaming at night from my nightmares?"

"That's different. I'm your fiance, not your friend. I'm supposed to take care of you."

"I seem to remember many months of you taking care of me when we were not much more than friends." she reminded him. "And I don't know how I ever would have gotten through it without you."

"If he's in such bad shape, why don't you bring him back to the hospital and they can take care of him!"

"Because, he doesn't want to be in the hospital! He needs a friend right now and I owe him that!" she argued.

Peeta just stood there before her, rubbing his forehead. Katniss could be so damn stubborn sometimes. He knew she meant well by taking care of her friend, but he didn't like it, not one bit. He understood that Gale was upset and hurting right now, and with good reason, but he also wouldn't put it past Gale to use that to his advantage with Katniss, especially when they both were emotionally vulnerable.

"Please, Peeta." Katniss said softly. "He needs to be functional tomorrow. It's just for one night. I promise you'll have me back tomorrow!"

He sighed. He knew he wasn't going to win this battle. "Oh, okay, fine. Just for tonight..."

Peeta pulled her body close to his. "But I really don't like the thought of another man being in your bed." he whispered to her.

"Don't worry, there is only one man I want in my bed." she said. "And the day after tomorrow, that man will be my husband!" Katniss leaned in and kissed her fiance.

Then she added, "Thank you for letting me do this for Gale, he doesn't have anyone else."

"Like I really had any choice!" he said, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. "When you get something in your head, there is no changing your mind!"

"That's why you love me!" she said, smiling sweetly at him.

"Yeah, something like that!" he answered, then waved her off. "Well, go on then and take care of Gale. But remember- boundaries! Set down your boundaries and make sure he respects them! If he doesn't, then he can look forward to a little chat with me, and I will be redrawing his boundary lines far, far away from you. I'll see you in the morning. I love you."

"I will. I love you too," she said. Then she smirked at him and added, "By the way, you're awfully cute when you're jealous! I think I kind of like it."

"I'm not jealous," he said. "I'm just protective of what I care about."

"Well, it's sweet. And Gale is not a threat, so I don't need protecting." she said.

"Hmm, where have I heard that before?" Peeta asked sarcastically. "Oh yeah, I remember- it was right before Gale made out with you and then tried to take you away from me."

"Oh, stop..." Katniss said, squeezing his hands affectionately. "That was a long time ago."

"Not long enough." Peeta answered.

"I'll miss you tonight. I hope you'll miss me too." she told him.

"Of course I will. Goodnight." he told her.

"Goodnight." Katniss said, as she kissed Peeta goodbye, then headed to Gale's room, where he had stayed until the games started, to find him some clean pajamas. She managed to find him some clean boxers, a t-shirt and pajama pants.

Gale was still in the shower when she got back to her own room. She knocked on the bathroom door and told him that she was leaving clean pajamas on the sink vanity for him.

Then she ordered some soup and bread and fruit from the hotel room service. She needed to make sure he ate something.

Right after their dinner arrived, Gale emerged from the bathroom, smelling of soap, and in his clean pajamas.

"Ah, much improved already!" Katniss said. She walked over to him, took his hand and led him to the coffee table. "Come on, Hawthorne, you need to eat. I'll have you back to life in no time!" she said cheerfully.

He had to admit, he did feel better after showering and eating. But he was dreading the night ahead, already fearing the nightmares looming on the horizon.

Katniss saw his eyes cloud over as he thought about it.

"Don't worry Gale. You're going to stay here with me tonight and I'll be here to help you get though it, okay? You won't be alone. You need to get some sleep."

"What about Peeta?" he asked.

"He knows you're here." Katniss explained. "You just worry about getting a good night's sleep."

She tucked him into her bed, and then she crawled in on the other side.

"Goodnight Gale. Remember, I'm right here if you need me, okay?"

"Goodnight Katniss, and, um... thank you for doing this for me. It means a lot. You're the best friend I could ever ask for."

Katniss reached over and squeezed his hand, then shut off the light.

It was only about an hour later that Katniss woke up to Gale screaming, in the throes of a nightmare.

She turned on the light, then shook him to wake him up.

"Gale! Gale, wake up! You're dreaming!" she said loudly.

Gale's eyes flew open. They were all teary, and he looked terrified. As soon as he realized that she was right there in front of him, he suddenly sat up, grabbed her and pulled her close.

"You're really here with me!" he said.

"Well, yeah, Gale, you're in my bed, remember?" she asked.

"Oh, thank you, thank you." he whispered. "It's such a relief to wake up and not be alone!"

"I know." she replied. "Come on, lie down. I'll lie with you, okay?"

Gale lay down on his back, and Katniss snuggled up next to him, her head resting on his shoulder. For a second, it caused Gale to feel a sharp stab of sadness in his heart, because it reminded him of how Prim had often slept with her head on his shoulder in the arena.

"Are you comfortable?" she asked him.

"Yes, this is nice. Thank you." he answered, yawning.

She shut off the light again. Gale fell instantly back to sleep, comforted by her warm presence next to him.

Gale woke up again about an hour or so later, but this time it wasn't a nightmare that woke him. It was because Katniss had disturbed him when she changed her position in her sleep. She turned over so that she was facing away from him. At first he was disappointed that she had moved because he had been so warm and comfortable with her snuggled up to his side.

Then, a moment later, even though she was obviously asleep, he felt Katniss reach back towards him, find his arm and pull it towards her body. She wrapped Gale's arm tight around her waist, so that his body ended up spooned up against hers. He felt her snuggle backwards into his warmth, pressing her ass right up against his crotch, and she held his hand against her chest, pressed against the swell of her breast.

"Mmmmm..." she sighed contentedly in her sleep.

Gale thought he was going to hyperventilate from being so close to her body, his hand practically on top of her breast, only her thin cotton camisole between them.

Oh my God, Gale realized, This must be how she sleeps with Peeta. She thinks that it's him in bed with her.

He suddenly was very envious of Peeta. To get to sleep like this, wrapped around her beautiful body every night?

Oh, Peeta, you are SO God damn lucky! Gale thought.

He relaxed his head on the pillow and tried to sleep. His face was practically touching her neck, and she smelled so good. Being this close to her was intoxicating. He looked at the soft skin of her neck in front of him in the moonlight, and he couldn't resist leaning in and kissing her lightly on the neck once, and then again.

She softly sighed in her sleep.

Gale felt himself getting hard, and he decided he better stop before Katniss woke up and got mad at him. He didn't want to ruin this wonderful moment. He wanted to enjoy it while it lasted.

He forced himself to relax, and after a few minutes, finally succumbed to his exhaustion, and fell back to sleep, spooned up against her. It was the best sleep he'd had in weeks. Maybe it was the relief of knowing that she didn't hate him, or maybe it was just the warmth and comfort of his friend's embrace. He and Katniss slept like that, spooned together, for six solid hours, and neither one of them had any more nightmares.

The next time Gale woke up, it was very early in the morning, when the dusk was just beginning to give way to the first light of dawn. He woke because Katniss was moving again in her sleep. She turned over towards him, so that they were both on their side, facing each other. She slowly slid her thigh up over his legs, and draped her arm over his waist. Her face was just inches from his. She looked so peaceful and serene as she slept.

Gale suddenly felt that stab of jealousy again.

Peeta gets to wake up to this beautiful sight every morning.

He studied her face, wanting to memorize every detail, so that he would always remember this moment, waking up with the only girl he'd ever loved, their bodies entwined together.

Gale reached up and touched her face. He traced his finger along her forehead, and then tucked a loose tendril of hair behind her ear.

Katniss opened her eyes sleepily. Gale just stayed there, gazing at her dreamily, with his hand still touching the side of her face near her ear.

As soon as she realized that it was Gale she was so intimately embracing and not Peeta, she instinctively started to back away, looking embarrassed.

"Oh, please don't do that!" Gale whispered to her. "Please don't pull away from me..."

She stopped moving. "Gale-" she started.

"Please," he begged. "He gets to watch you wake up every single morning. But me, I will only ever have today. Please let me have this moment for just a little while longer... For the past two weeks, I have felt nothing but pain. Being here with you like this, holding you, it takes away the pain... It makes me feel whole again, even if it's only for a short time. Please let me hold you just a little longer..."

"Oh...okay," she sighed. "Come here." She hugged her friend close to her again.

He held her, gently caressing his hand up and down her back. He nuzzled his face down into the side of her neck and breathed in the scent of her skin, clean like soap and lavender.

Katniss had never seen Gale this tender, gentle, needy. She had to admit, she was enjoying this emotional side of Gale.

Be careful, girl. She thought to herself. Don't let Gale get to you.

But Gale looked at her with those adoring eyes, and she was falling.

He brought his hand up and touched her face again. He ran his fingers down her cheek, then trailed his thumb lightly across her bottom lip. With his hand so close to her face, she could see the jagged pink lines on his palm where his cuts from Raven's spear were still healing. It reminded her of how grateful she was for how he had protected Prim.

As he slowly moved his thumb along her lip, she gently took his hand, brought it to her mouth, and softly kissed the healing scars on his palm, as if kissing the cut would make it better... then slowly pulled her mouth away.

She heard Gale catch his breath in surprise and pleasure, and she watched his gray eyes change from soft and adoring to dark and lustful.

Uh-oh.

As soon as she'd done it, she wished she hadn't. She had just given Gale the totally wrong idea. She had only meant it as a gesture of caring and affection for her friend, but Gale had taken it as an invitation for more.

"I would give anything to feel your mouth like that all over my body," Gale said in a very low voice.

"Gale, you know I can't do that." she whispered. "I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong idea, I just wanted you to know how much I appreciate everything you did for Prim."

Katniss knew that Gale was hurting so much...he was heartsick that she was marrying Peeta tomorrow, he was sad about Prim, and she wished that she could make him feel better... she wanted to ease his pain, to try to heal his broken heart, even if it was only a little bit. But she couldn't do what he wanted her to.

"I wish you could love me..." he sighed.

"I know you do," she said to him. "If things were different, if I didn't have Peeta, I would give you more. But I can't. I love you as my best friend, but I can't love you like that."

He was looking at her longingly, with flushed cheeks and his eyes dark. They were still wrapped in their close embrace, lying on their sides, gazing at each other.

She didn't want to hurt Gale's feelings, but she needed to make it clear that she wasn't going to let this go any further. She loved Peeta too much.

"Gale, I think we better stop this. Please." she said, pleading.

Gale backed off a little, breaking some of the sexual tension between them.

"Okay." he said softly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"Thank you." she whispered. "I'm sorry I can't give you what you want."

"It's alright, I understand... but could I make one last request?" he asked.

"What is it?"

"Please let me kiss you, Katniss. Just once. I need to kiss you one last time."

"I don't know, Gale," she said softly. "I've already bent the rules too much tonight, just by letting you stay here. Peeta was not in favor of this."

"I know you have, and I am so grateful for what you've given me. But I have to stand next to you tomorrow and watch you marry him. He will get to kiss you every day for the rest of your life. But me, I will never, ever have the chance to kiss you again. And I don't want your only memory of kissing me to be the kiss we shared in the woods. I didn't handle that the way I wanted to... I was hurt and angry, and I pressured you and hurt your feelings. I want one more chance, to kiss you goodbye before I have to let you go."

She was quiet as she thought about it for a moment. Was it really so much to ask, after everything he had done to protect Prim in the arena? This man had been ready to die for her, and all he wanted in return was a kiss.

"Please, Katniss," Gale begged. "Please just give me two minutes... one last kiss for closure."

His eyes were so sad, and so sincere. She held her hand against his face.

She was so torn. She hated to tell Gale no, after everything he had done for her, but she remembered how Peeta had reacted the last time she'd confessed to a kiss with Gale... how she'd thought that Peeta was going to leave her. She never wanted to feel that way again. She couldn't imagine her life without him. She understood that it had taken an enormous amount of trust for Peeta to allow her to spend this night with Gale. She couldn't break that trust.

Her eyes filled up with tears. Her voice cracked as she spoke, barely above a whisper.

"I'm sorry Gale, but I can't. I love Peeta, and I am marrying him tomorrow. Do you have any idea how hurt and angry Peeta would be if he knew I kissed you on the day before our wedding?"

"So don't tell him." Gale pleaded. "I won't say anything, I promise!"

"Dishonesty is no way to start a marriage, Gale."

The tears that had welled up in her eyes now streamed down her face. Gale wiped away her tears with his hand.

"I'm sorry, Katniss." he said. "Now I've gone and made you cry. I'm sorry, it was selfish of me to ask, especially the day before your wedding. Peeta is a lucky man. He deserves you more than I do."

"I'm just sorry that you're hurting and I can't fix it."

"We're all hurting Katniss. You, me, Peeta... we are all fucked up, thanks to the government."

"I'm tired of hurting, Gale, and I'm tired of everyone I care about hurting. We've all been through enough. I just want to live happily ever after."

"And you will." Gale promised her. "Tomorrow you are going to be a beautiful bride, you are going to marry the man you love, and I will be right there next to you, supporting my best friend."

She hugged Gale tightly. She knew it couldn't have been easy for Gale to say that.

"Thank you, I needed that." she said.

"And thank you." Gale said. "For the best night's sleep I've had in a long time. I needed that. Thank you for taking care of me. I feel so much better now that I've slept."

"You know what's funny, Gale? I slept too. This was the first night in a while that I've gotten a good night's sleep. Maybe it was because I was the caretaker, instead of the one being cared for. Whatever it was, I feel a lot better."

"That's good, I'm glad that you slept too." Gale told her.

He paused a moment, then said, "Well, I'm going to go back to my own room now, before Peeta comes over to make sure I haven't had my wicked way with you." He smirked at her as he climbed out of her bed. "I'll see you this afternoon for the crowning."

He gathered up his dirty clothes from the bathroom that he'd worn over last night and turned to leave.

"We'll be there." she replied, as she watched Gale heading for the door.

She sighed, rolled over and went back to sleep, hoping that Gale was right... that everything was going to be okay for the three of them.

A little while later, Peeta was awake and pacing around his room. It was driving him crazy, knowing that Gale had spent the night in Katniss' room. He trusted her, but he didn't trust Gale.

He wanted so badly to go across the hall and go into her room and see if Gale was still there...but what if he didn't like what he saw? Even if they were just innocently lying close together fully clothed, he would still feel jealous, that Gale shouldn't be in her bed.

Peeta decided that he needed to know. He was missing Katniss very much anyway, so if Gale was gone, then he could crawl into bed with her.

He went across the hall and turned the doorknob. It was unlocked. He slowly entered, and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that there was only one body in her bed. He lifted the blanket and slid into the bed next to her.

She opened her eyes when she felt the movement.

"Oh, hi love." she murmured, reaching for him.

He curled himself around her.

"Gale left already?" he asked carefully.

"Yeah, he said he didn't want to be here when you came looking to make sure he hadn't had his way with me." she said, yawning.

"Smart man." Peeta said. "Did he behave himself?"

"Yes... mostly."

"What do you mean, mostly?" Peeta asked.

"He did ask if he could kiss me goodbye this morning..." she admitted.

"What?" Peeta exclaimed.

"But I said no." Katniss told him, turning herself over so she could hug Peeta close to her. "There is no one I want to kiss me but you." She smiled sweetly at him. "In fact, I would like it very much if you kissed me right now."

Peeta did kiss her. Then he looked into her face, so close to his own.

"You look better today." he observed. "You look... Rested."

"Yeah, I feel better. It was funny, Peeta... I slept really well. I don't know if it was because for once, I was being the caretaker, looking after Gale, or what it was, but we both slept. It was good. I needed the rest."

"So Gale is feeling better too?" he asked.

"Yes, he looked much better this morning than he did last night."

"That's good." Peeta said.

"In fact, we both slept so well that I told him he could sleep over with me again tonight." Katniss teased.

Peeta looked at her, and try as she might, she couldn't keep a straight face... a giggle escaped her lips.

She must be well rested, Peeta thought to himself. Her smartass mouth is back.

As quick as lightning, Peeta grabbed onto her waist, flipped her over so she was on top of him, straddling his body, and he playfully gave her a good swift slap on the ass.

"Ow!" she laughed, rubbing her bottom where he'd just spanked her.

"That's for being a smartass." he teased, grabbing her face with both hands and pulling her in for a deep kiss.

"Oh, so we're back to that again, are we?" she finally said when he released her mouth from the kiss.

"If you're going to be naughty and tease me like that, then I'm going to have to spank you."

"I don't think I would do that if I were you..." she purred. "You know I like it when you spank me. And by the way, I haven't even begun to tease you yet."

She started moving her hips, rubbing herself against him, and leaned her upper body down towards him, so that her chest was practically right in front of his face, so tempting in just that thin little camisole...

He moved his hands from her hips up to her waist underneath her shirt. He wanted so badly to pull that camisole off her body and kiss her breasts, but he was fighting the urge.

"What do you think you're doing, miss naughty girl?"

"Now I'm teasing you." she answered, as she leaned down further and sucked on his earlobe for a moment.

"Oh, that's just cruel." Peeta grinned at her.

"You're the one who put me on top." she replied, as she continued slowly grinding herself against his growing hardness.

With that, he quickly rolled her over again so that now she was on the bottom and he was on top of her.

"Well, let's just see how you like being teased." Peeta whispered in her ear, as he kissed down her neck, at the same time rubbing himself between her legs, making sure she could feel how hard he now was for her. He spoke in a low, sultry voice into her ear again...

"I guess I'll have to thank Gale for getting you good and rested for me, because you won't be getting any sleep tomorrow night. I am going to fuck you again...and again...and again..."

Her hands moved to Peeta's hips, pulling him tighter against her body, enjoying the delicious friction of him moving between her legs.

He felt her breath catch with excitement, and saw her eyelids flutter as her eyes rolled back in her head with the enjoyment of his movements against her, combined with the thoughts of what he was promising to do to her tomorrow.

Then he quickly pulled away from her, stood up next to the bed, and reached for her hand.

"You ready to get up and start the day now?" he asked, with a twinkle in his eye.

Katniss just lay there, with her legs spread wide open still, looking disappointed.

"Now that was cruel." she pouted.

"Now we're even." he smiled, taking her hand to pull her out of bed.