Chapter 4 down the hole. This chapter was a little hard for me. I kinda see this as an in-between major chapters chapter (if that makes any sense). I had a great idea for a future chapter and I cant wait to get there. But until then enjoy the ride.

"Of all the idiotic, barbaric, and foolish things to do." Effie stormed onto the train in a huff. She looked like she was going to have to have a stroke. "Punching a victor. You're lucky the Peacekeepers didn't have your hide. So very embarrassing, and to top it off kicked out of district one." None of us knew you could even be kicked out of a district. But after Gale punched Gloss in the face the Mayor insisted that we leave immediately. This was day ahead of the schedule and this really ruffled Effie's feathers. She hadn't stop yelling at all of us since it happened.

"This throws the whole trip off schedule. I'll have to phone ahead to district two, tell them we're on our way tonight. Everything has to be moved up. " She began to go into panic mode.

"Loosen your corset will ya?" Haymitch said as he poured himself another drink. "Now the way I see it, the less time we have to spend showing these kids off, the better. We all just want to go home."

She ignored him as she grabbed her clipboard and began to make adjustments to the coming days. "And you," She said looking at Gale with a murderous glare. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I told you already he was attacking Peeta. I helped him." She threw her hands in the air as if she didn't believe him before leaving the car to go tweak what the following days will bring.

"Come on Prim, let's get you ready for bed." Katniss ushered her sister off to their room. Haymitched downed this drink before giving Gale a pat on the back and heading towards his room. We were alone again. He began tot head to his room.

"Wait," I cried out and he stopped in his tracks. He turned to face me. My tongue felt like it was stuck to the roof of my mouth. "Thank you." I said awkwardly rubbing the back of my head. It still throbbed from then Gloss slammed me into the wall. Gale still stood there; I wasn't sure what more to say. "He really took me by surprise."

He nodded and began to head to his room again. "I'm glad you like the ring." I blurted out. "I saw you wearing it. And I saw the mark it left on Gloss' face."

He turned back to me, twisting the ring on his finger. "It's nice." He says, "But I can't keep it." My heart drops to the floor like an anvil. Of course he can, I bought it for him. "It's too much." He plucks it from his finger and holds it out for me to take. I fold his fingers over the ring. Just the touch of his skin is enough to make me turn to a puddle of mush.

"Of course you can."

"No," he snaps. "You don't understand. This," he said holding up the ring. "This could feed my family for a month. And you expect me to just wear it on my finger. I wouldn't expect you to know what it's like to go hungry for days, you grew up in a bakery." His voice was deep and tone harsh. But it didn't hurt; instead it just made me angry. I could feel the rage begin to flow through me.

"I may have grew up in a bakery, but that only made it that much harder when I went nights without food." How dare he ever assume he knew what my life was like at home? "I also know what it's like to be tortured. To be forced to kill to survive." I pushed passed him and stormed off. He didn't try to stop me. I slammed the door shut behind me. I was still fuming when I flopped down on my bed and pull out a sketchpad and began to draw. I want to free my anger but almost instantly that anger came full circle to sadness. I spend so many of those nights in the hunger games just thinking about him, wishing that I could see his face just one more time. Now it all seems like a waste. Every time I look at him my heart just breaks a little more.

When I finish the drawing, it was him on the paper. His handsome face, pale grey eyes and tan olive skin. As much as I wanted to be mad at him I couldn't be. My heart wouldn't allow it. No matter how angry he could make me, it always ended up with me just forgiving. Maybe giving him the ring was little much. I should have known that he wasn't a materialistic kind of guy. I felt so stupid, I cant do anything right. I wouldn't have made it out of the Hunger Games if it weren't for Katniss. I curled up into ball on the bed. I wish he were here right now.

XXX

The blade slashed across my skin, splitting the flesh open and allowing the crimson fluid to spill out. I cried out in agony but the only one around to hear it is my tormentor. His cruel smile grows as he hears my pain. He's a twisted monster. My body is bound around a tree, my hands held tightly around the trunk. I tug at the restraints but they dig into my skin. Cato has me right where he wants me. He's taking his time killing me, making sure I suffer before the final blow. My ribs are broken, that for sure.

"Why don't you just kill me already?" I cry, wishing I could free myself. Another swift smash across my face and my mouth fills with the salty-metallic taste of blood. He towers over me like a giant but I still stare him down. I knew I was going to die here, so fear doesn't flood my body.

"Because I need you." He says. "As long as you're alive, she'll come to save you. Then I have the chance to kill both of you." That's the only reason I'm still alive. He wanted me to as bait to get to Katniss. She outranked him in score and outsmarted him at the tree. Of course he wants her dead. She's a thorn in his side, the only one that might be able to outlive him in this competition. "Besides, you're a fun plaything." He slash's my skin again and the pain shoots up me. At this rate wont be much left of me to keep me alive.

"I see why you're in love with her, she's a tough girl." He begins to slice an apple with the blade he uses to cut me. The sweet fruit is tainted with my blood but he doesn't seem to mind. "I can't wait to break her neck with my bare hands."

He makes me sick to my stomach. But no matter what he does to me, I wont let him get to Katniss. I wont scarifies both of lives so I could live a little longer.

"I don't love her. That was just a lie I told to get sponsors on our side." I hoped that they weren't showing this right now; I wouldn't want sponsors to stop helping Katniss because of my big mouth. "There's someone back home that I do love. But it's not her. I'm not going to be very useful bait to you."

In an instant he is enraged and in my face. He large fist wraps around my throat and begins to press down. My air is cut off; my blood begins to pound in my ears. As much as I want to hold on my vision begins to black out.

XXX

I gasp for air. My lungs are instantly filled with the cool, crisp, oxygen that fills the room. I'm in my bed, not in the arena. I've sweated so much the sheets are soaked where my body way lying. Another nightmare. It been six months but they still haunt me like I was in the arena yesterday. I'm shaken to my core. Is that my life, doomed to relive the horrors of my past. And the only person I want there with me wouldn't talk to me. I want him there to hold me, to show me that everything was going to be all right.

It's still the early hours of the morning but I do not feel tired anymore. The shower I take to wash my body of the drying sweat is warm and helps me feel like everything is okay. But it's not. I feel bad. Gale was at the center of my mind. Even though he had made me mad I shouldn't have been as angry as I was. The ring was too much, like I was asking him to marry me. Yes, he was rude but two wrongs never made a right.

Why did love have to be so complicated? I had always heard that the easiest thing in the world is to love. But I guess that's only half the story. Loving someone is the easy part, being loved in return as what made it hard. After I get out of the shower and get dressed and leave my room. As the door slides open, I run into a big burly chest and I'm knocks me to the floor.

I look up to see who the hell was standing outside my door but when I do I feel like my mouth has been glued shut. Gale is standing there, looking freaked out that I just ran headfirst into his body.

"I'm so sorry," he says offering me a hand to help me up. I take it but touching him makes my legs feel like jelly. I steady myself.

"Why are you standing outside my room?" For the first time he looks unsure of what he wants to do. Debating if he wants to say something or just run away as fast as he could. He has his hands tucked into his pockets, his face nervous.

"Can we talk? Somewhere private?" I invite him into my room. He takes a seat on the bed. I sit next to him. For a minute we sit there in a strange nervous silence. Looking down at his hand, he's still wearing the ring. I feel a since of relief flood over me.

"I wanted to say I'm sorry for what I said earlier. It was out of place for me to say something like that." His voice was sincere and but nerve-racked. "And I was a total jerk for trying to give back your gift. I do like it."

My body felt warm from sitting next to him. Heat radiated from him, a sure sign he was freaking out as much as I was. "I shouldn't have given it to you. It was too much."

"No, no it's fine, it's just…" He his breathing became ragged like his heart was running a mile a minute. He stood from the bed, running his fingers through his hair. He looked around the painted and sketches that where hung in my room. He picked up the sketchpad and looked at the picture I drew of him. My face burned with embarrassment. He wasn't supposed to see that. "It'd be better if you were easier to hate."

"What do you mean?"

He sighed and sat back down next to me, the picture in his hand. "I mean… I don't know what to feel around you. One second I think I hate you, the next I feel bad about yelling at you, and the next I cant stop thinking about you." I move my hand over his. At first he flinches away but then relaxes at my touch. Our fingers being to intertwine each others and soon we sit there, my hand in his, firmly griped. I feel his pulse racing, his palms are sweaty but I don't want to let go.

"I don't understand how you have such a strange hold on me. But I don't think I can love you the way you want me to." He looks down at his shoes, as if ashamed of what he just said. His words are somber in tone, but I always feel like he wants to make sure he doesn't break when he talks to me. As if he says the wrong thing I'll shatter into a million pieces.

"You act like I'm made of glass, I'm a big boy. I can handle what you want to say." He doesn't move, just holds onto my hand. Instead, he just sits there and looks down at our fingers looping into each other.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm just confused." His body relaxes as he lays back in my bed. I lie down next to him and imagine if we were outside we'd be looking at the million of stars. "Everything about you is telling me to stay away but for some reason I couldn't let you be mad at me."

I nuzzle my body closer to his. He has calmed down from his bundle of nerves he was when he first came in here. He smells like a sweet intoxicating scent of the forest, as if all the time he spent out in woods has permanently invaded itself into his pores.

"You didn't seem too confused when you kissed me… or when you saved me from Gloss." He turns his hear to look into my eyes. His beautiful grey eyes seem to shine even in the darkness of my room. My face draws closer to his but as our lips are about to touch he shoots up from the bed.

"I'm sorry… I… I just cant." His hands fidget wildly like a caffeine buzz just hit him. "I should go to my room"

"Wait…" I cry out for him. He stops and wait for me to talk. I take my second to think about what I really want to say. What I really want to say is I want him to kiss me and feel his body next to mine, to have his heart in my hands and to cherish it forever. But I bite it back. "Will you stay?"

He seems confused by the request. "Ever since the games ended I've been having really bad nightmares and I just want someone there to wake me up in case… in case they come back."

He takes a second to mull it over. He doesn't say anything, just gives me a small nod of his head. My heart flutters like a hive a million tracker jackers. He kicks off his shoes and socks before starting to undo his tie. I want intently and feel almost ashamed of enjoying the show he was putting on. As soon as his tie was off he begins to unbutton his shirt.

"I hope you don't mind but I sleep in my boxers." My heart races even faster and my body react to the thought. Now I was really embarrassed if he knew what I was thinking about. I cover myself with the blanket and continue to watch him. As he slides the shirt over his shoulder, the muscles of his body flex through the skin. I feel my cheeks blush as bright as a rose. Everything is toned from years of hunting and running through the woods. He slowly begins to unbuckle his belt. I lie down under the covers and wait for him to climb into the best. It isn't long until I feel him crawl next to me.

"Goodnight Gale." I whisper into the darkness. Why did I think this was a good idea? This is even worse than having him across the hall from me. Now all I want to do is have his arms around me, to pull me closer to his body. It's almost maddening to think about.

"Goodnight Peeta."

XXX

When I wake up in the morning I feel different. I feel refreshed. For the first time I months I was able to sleep through the night. My nightmares about the games didn't come to haunt me. I roll over to find an empty space in my bed. Gale was nowhere to be found; he and his clothes have disappeared. As much as I wanted to feel upset by the fact that I woke up alone I cant help but be proud that I was able to make it through the night. It was because of him. Just being near me allowed me to let my defenses down with him next to me.

In the dining car everyone is ready for the day. Effie tells us all about how the schedule has changed and how we are no longer going to be gone for six weeks.

"Because of the unfortunate… nature of last night we will be cutting the victory tour. We are now only going to spend a two days max in each district. I know it's not ideal but it's all I could do." None of us are that upset by this news but no one tells Effie otherwise. Gale sits there as if nothing has happened. I look at him but he just turns away.

As the train arrives at district two we are briefed on proper behavior. We still stay together as a group, no one will owner out on their own and when it comes time to meet the victors of the games we will be keeping our hands to ourselves. None of us can keep our laugher suppressed as she continues to discuss the rules.

We stayed together down the cobble streets. I didn't think it was possible but the building in district two were even more beautiful than district one. Being the masonry district every building was hand carved marble or stone. Gale fell behind the rest of the group. I slowed down to be able to talk to him.

"Thank you." I said. He didn't say anything back. I continued on even without his response. "It was really nice. I didn't have any nightmares since you were there."

"That's good." His response was listless.

"Is there something wrong?"

He looked at the group ahead of us and without warning grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me down a small side ally.

"Look," He said in a stern tone. "Whatever happened last night was a one time thing. I felt bad about what I said and you caught me in a moment of weakness. I wont be spending the night in your room anymore. I wont be holding your hand anymore. And," He said getting closer to my face until we were eye to eye. "I will not be kissing you anymore. Sorry to disappoint you." He turned and left me standing there in the ally. My mind was racing. I didn't understand why he just did a one-eighty one me. Last night he stayed with me, held my hand but today he doesn't even want to talk to me. I felt like I could curl up into a ball and sob.

"Peeta, what are you doing," I heard Katniss call to me as she looked down the hallway. "Effie told me to come find you." She takes one look at me and can tell that I'm noticeably upset. "What's wrong?"

I fight back the tears that are trying to desperately to escape my eyes. "Nothing. Let's go." She knows I'm lying but doesn't push her luck. I want to scream out load but I keep it bottled up inside. I bury it deep down where no one will ever find it. I lock up everything that I feel towards him. From now on I wont let him get the best of me.

Damn look at that, another new chapter. This one I had a little trouble with. I'm not really sure what I wanted to happen but I know where I want to do. I know next chapter we will get betting our first look at a flirty Finnik and just how Gale will deal with his jealousy. Please review. Hope you enjoyed.