Author's Note: Hello Little ducks. So this is finally it! This is the first half of our plan to punish Gale. The great winner of my challenge is Yepperz, good job for guessing it correct. Please let me know what your idea is by private messaging or just by review. I really hope you like it and don't forget to review. Here is chapter 37. Enjoy.

I don't own The Hunger Games

Chapter 37

Peeta's POV

"Peeta I have to go to my house. GET OUT OF MY WAY." Katniss yells as I stand in front of the door. Once we both thought that she was going to be asleep for a long time, Greasy Sae left and I resume my place on the couch next to her. It only took a couple minutes before she woke up looking way better. I gave myself the luxury of thinking that maybe she was okay, but it didn't take long for her mood to change again. Now she is angry, I'm not sure at what exactly but she would shoot an arrow at the first think that crosses her way if she had her bow.

"No! You are not going anywhere. You are sill not strong enough to run around on your own. Either I go with you or you are not leaving this house." Out of a sudden, Katniss claimed that she needed to get something from her house. I offer to go with her and she refused saying that she didn't need a babysitter. Well I was hurt, but now I'm angry too. How dare she use me whenever she feels like and just run away from me? This is not going to work this way anymore.

"Peeta! I'm serious, get out of my way." She yells. I just shake my head and look down at my feet. I hate playing games with Katniss, but the only way she will calm down is if she thinks she hurt me. So I fake sniffle, like I'm starting to cry, and it doesn't take seconds before she is by my side apologizing.

"Why do you keep running away?" I ask, trying to make my voice sound small and hurt.

"I'm sorry Peeta! Oh I'm so sorry. I never meant to say or do anything to hurt you. I….I…." Now she is crying. Okay, maybe I took this a little too far. "I-I-I'm s-s-sorry…."

"Hey, hey, It's okay baby, it's okay. See? I'm fine now." I say, walking towards her and hugging her to me tightly. Her mood changes are starting to drive me crazy.

It takes me some time to calm her down but soon we are both under the shower kissing passionately. I still can't bring myself to push this any further. I don't know what she can handle at this moment and I'm not going to push it and make things worse. So I make myself happy just by kissing her soft lips and caressing her body.

"Peeta…" She whispers against my lips, gasping for air. I move my hands over her waist and hips, she just feels so good. "I love you." She whispers over and over again.

"I love you more." I whisper back.

We stay under the shower for more than half an hour, most of this time just kissing and caressing each other. As we step out of the shower I wrap a towel around my waist and another one around her torso before picking her up and carrying her to the bed. I lay her and remove the towel from around her body. Her eyes are wide and her mouth slightly open.

"Don't worry, we are not doing anything you don't want to." I lay next to her, still wearing the towel, and look into her eyes asking for an answer. She nods slowly and helps me to remove the towel and I bring the blankets up to cover both of us. Tonight, we just need to feel each other close, maybe we are not stable enough to take things further but with a day like tomorrow ahead of us we need each other more than never. The feel of her naked skin brushing against mine gives me assurance that she is real and she is mine, doesn't matter what happens. Soon we are both drifting off into restless sleep, both fearing what lies ahead of us.

Katniss's POV

I can feel myself going insane by the minute. I couldn't let Peeta know the reason why I needed to go to my house so I had to step down and find a way to get through this. The night is long and filled with nightmares. I wake up multiple times screaming Peeta's name as I watch him die or burn to ashes. I also wake up to him trashing next to me, trying to fight his demons himself.

When morning comes it doesn't bring any peace. Today is the day I'm meeting with Gale in the woods. I will be meeting him by the rock we used to meet to hunt together before Prim was reaped and I volunteered. Then, if it all goes according to the plan, he will try something, which will give away what his intensions are declaring him guilty. Peeta will be close by just to make sure things don't go out of control, and that is what I fear the most.

"Good morning baby." I hear a sleepy voice saying. I look up into Peeta's azure eyes.

"Hi" I say. I bring my lips to his and we share a delicate kiss. We both know that doesn't matter how much we try, today is not going to be easy for neither of us. I'm determine to hold on as long as possible and try to control my moods for him. I have to be brave one more time for the ones I love.

Peeta gets up first and goes to his closed to change into a pair of swear pants and a t-shirt. He leaves the room after giving me a kiss on the forehead giving me space to change and get my thoughts straight.

We eat breakfast in silence; there is not much to say at this point. We are both lost in our own thoughts. After we clean the kitchen together Peeta excuses himself and goes to his studio. Since I was left alone I decide to sneak out and go to my house without being noticed. I feel like I'm betraying Peeta by doing this but I don't have another choice if I have to find a way to hang on for the sake of both of us.

I manage to go and come back without leaving any evidence. I sit on the couch in the living room and practice a couple of Dr. Aurelius's relaxing exercises he taught me before I left the Capitol. I spend the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon just thinking and trying to find a way to act strong. It feels like forever when I finally hear Peeta's heavy footsteps coming down the stairs. He doesn't say anything as he comes to sit next to me on the couch.

"They are going to be here soon. Are you sure you want to do this?" He asks. No. I'm not sure I want to do this. I'm not sure if this is going to work. I'm not sure what will happen. But if this is the only way, I have to put myself together enough to look in to his eyes and lie.

"Yes, I think so." My voice is shaking. He just hugs me and doesn't ask more questions, and I'm so grateful. He knows how much I just need him here, no talking or explaining, just his warmth.

The nock on the door brings us to pull away from each other. He gives my shoulders one last squeeze before he gets up. Colonel Cristobal, Greasy Sae and Haymitch walk in, all wearing worried but determined looks on their faces.

"I've talked to him Sweetheart. Everything is all set." Haymitch doesn't waste any second. Soon, I'm been giving a bunch of information from Colonel Cristobal and Greasy Sae while Haymitch is talking to Peeta. I try to register what they are saying but I keep staring at Peeta, he looks so lost and worried, so on the edge. It makes my chest burn whenever flashes of my previous nightmares take over my thoughts.

Before I know it I'm being handled a leather jacket that apparently contain a tracker, which connects to a small device that is being, carried by the head peacekeeper. Peeta gets a small ear bug and also a small microphone that is attached to his coat. We are both ready to go as the sun is begging to set. As we receive last minute details Peeta grabs my hand and intertwine our fingers. His skin is cold and I feel his accelerated heartbeat through his hand. Before I know it we are leaving his house heading to the woods. Neither of us say a word until we get to the fence, when Peeta brings us to a stop.

"Whatever happen today I want you to know that I love you and I will not let anything happen to you. Katniss, I….I…I will be there okay? I promise you he will not touch you again." He says. I basically jump into his arms, hugging him like it is the last time; you never know when it will actually be.

"I love you too. Please don't do anything stupid. Peeta, I would never be able to live with myself if something happened to you." I say. I can feel tears burning behind my eyelids. My vision is blurry and my head is spinning. "You have to hold on Katniss." I say to myself. We pull away and resume walking. We have to make sure we get there before Gale or everything will be lost. It feels like years until we finally get to our destination.

"Colonel Cristobal, this is a device check." Peeta says to the little microphone attached to him.

"All set Mr. Mellark. We can hear you clearly. Can you hear me?" I hear the head peacekeeper saying through the little ear bug Peeta is holding on his hand.

"Yes, Sir."

"Okay. Ms. Everdeen's tracker is working perfectly. We are able to identify your exact location. Please be alert we will send you the signal as soon as our target is located." Haymtich was to be standing somewhere near the opening in the fence by now. He will make sure to let us know as soon as Gale is approaching, which will give us a couple minutes to get set.

"Alright. Thank you Sir." Peeta reaches for the microphone and presses a small button, which makes the light turn red, probably turning it off.

"This is it than." He says.

"Yes." My voice is shaking too much to say something else. Peeta brings his hand to my cheek and start caressing it.

"Katniss I…."

"Shhhh…" I cut him off. "You don't have to say anything. We are going to be all right. After all this is over I just want to cuddle with you on that warm bed and show you how much I love you." I'm not good at declarations of love, but if someone deserves this it's Peeta. My boy with the bread, the one who went to infinity and beyond to keep me alive and be here for me when it all ended. "I love you more than anything my dandelion." We both lean in until our lips are touching. We kiss passionately, trying to put as much love into this kiss as possible. Peeta's hand is under my jacket on my waist and mine are tangled in his blonde curls. I never want this kiss to end; I want to stay here in Peeta's arms until the end of our lives. I want to keep kissing him until I run out of breath. I want to…

"He is walking through!" I hear someone yell. Peeta gives me one last kiss before he pulls away.

"You are going to be okay. I love you. Please remember that. Whatever happens I love you Katniss Everdeen." He says as he walks to his position, which is behind a big tree a couple feet away from where I'm standing. My muscles, who were warm from Peeta;s kisses, turn ice cold. The feel of Peeta's lips is still on mine and I can't help but think this is the last one. My vision is clouded. Everything around me is spinning. Black spots are making it hard to see what is in front of me.

That's when I see it. The face that have been haunting my nightmares. The face of the man who took my innocence away from me. The face of the man who made me feel dirty and unworthy of love. The face of the man who had been my best friend but now was one of the people I hated the most. The face of the man responsible for so much suffering and so many tears, so much pain. The face of the man who had tried to hurt my boy with the bread and still is. The face of the man who raped me. Gale Hawthorne's face.

"Hello Katniss. It's been so long since we last saw each other. I've missed you."

Here we go again folks. I know, this is short and didn't help a lot, but I'm trying to build the suspense. Two chapters in a day, so please don't complain. Also, I've received some negative reviews because of last chapter being a short filler, sorry guys I was just trying to add more stuff . So this is part of and I will finish it next chapter, so please review to give me some incentive. Thank you for reading. See you next time.