A/N: Eeeek! I'm back! :D I DEEPLY apologize for waiting so freaking long to update again. I wanted a break from the Fanfiction scene but I didn't intend for it to be this long! D:

I've been incredibly busy with birthdays and driving tests and college and freaking out over the last few weeks. Not an excuse, just a reason.

But now that I'm back I intend to stay. School starts for me on the 26th, so my goal is to get this story done before then (hopefully by the end of this week!). We'll see :)

I must say, I was kind of surprised to only get one review for the last chapter. But oh well, no big deal. That's my least favorite one anyway, and we all know it sucks :P

Anyway, please enjoy this chapter, however short or long it may seem. I reread the ending of the last chapter, as well as the entirety of the first 3. Hopefully my writing here will seem more like the ease and flow of those first few chapters :)

Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games.

Chapter 27: Caught~

Gale was at a loss for words. He honestly couldn't believe the sight before him. Katniss had kissed Peeta. Peeta had kissed Katniss.

Katniss.

And Peeta.

Kissing.

He wanted to clear his mind, to erase that which could not be unseen, to say something, but his brain refused to work and his emotions refused to generate anything other than disbelief, hurt, and anger. Anything else was temporarily closed off and locked down. All was silent, and the three individuals stood frozen in their spots.

Everyone was speechless.

Katniss was the first to recover.

"Gale! I didn't know you...I, uh..."

Her sentence died, not really knowing what to say – what she could say – and she fell silent once more.

Luckily, Gale had plenty to say on the matter.

"...WHAT THE HELL?!"

His voice boomed with volume, and both Katniss and Peeta jumped at its intensity. Under regular circumstances he would have felt guilty, but he was far past that now. Katniss had just done the unthinkable and broken a heart she didn't even know she had in her possession. She tried to console him, but he had already crossed the point of no return. They all had.

"Gale, please, let me explai-"

"What the hell is your problem?! Are you insane?!"

Peeta shrunk back behind Katniss, her backbone obviously much larger (and tougher) than his own. He stuttered an apology.

"I- I- I'm sorry! I- it won't happen again! I...I, um...Bye."

He started to head towards the double doors behind Gale, but upon seeing the look of utter rage on his face, he stopped, turned around, and headed in the opposite direction around the shelter.

Gale's anger deflated a bit at his departure, but not by much. Katniss hooked her fingers around her elbow as if nursing a broken arm. She looked at the ground, ashamed, before finding the courage to look back up and him and attempt to speak.

"...Gale, I'm really sor-"

"Don't."

Taken aback by his bluntness, she furrowed her eyebrows together and blinked rapidly, obviously unprepared for his curt behavior.

She tried again. "Gale, please, just let me explain..."

She took a step towards him, only to have him take a step back. She sighed, opening her mouth to say something else, but Gale cut her off.

"Look, you don't have to explain anything. I heard enough."

She blinked once, twice. "...You...you heard?"

Every. Goddamned. Word.

He nodded gravely, not trusting whatever words would have come out of his mouth in reply. God, this woman really was going to be the death of him. And judging by the sudden look of anger that flooded her face, death may come sooner than he had originally intended.

"You were listening?" She asked, anger flaring in her hard grey eyes.

Instead of being thrown for a loop at her change in behavior, Gale only got angrier himself.

"Yeah, I listened! Prim told me where you were! I was looking for you!"

"So you decided to eavesdrop on a private conversation?" She asked incredulously, crossing her arms.

He scoffed coldly. "Please. From what I heard there wasn't much conversation going on."

Her jaw fell open. "Excuse me? Since when did you start caring about my love life?"

He scoffed again. "You mean lack thereof?"

It was her turn to scoff. "I can't believe you!"

"Yeah, well I can't believe you! I thought you had no feelings for that mama's boy whatsoever! And then you go and-"

"I'll have you know I don't have any 'feelings' for that 'mama's boy'! And if you would've just stayed in your little spy perch instead of barging in on something you didn't have half a clue about, you would have seen me giving him the beating of a lifetime!"

"Right, because we all know how experienced you are with rejecting little boys."

She bristled. "Well at least I'm not heading off to the Seam to make out with a different person every week!"

Gale shifted his weight to the other foot, nostrils flaring.

This was far from over.

"Yeah, well it's better than having no one! And at least my friends don't think I'm some kind of emotionless robot who couldn't hold a steady relationship even if I tried!"

Katniss gasped and fell silent, leaving his words to hang in the air. He felt regret tugging at his heartstrings (yanking, more like it), but he didn't let it show. Instead, he continued to stare at his only best friend as his inner feelings were quickly shrouded by the anger and rage that was still coursing fresh through his body.

After the longest time, Katniss spoke.

"Well I guess you would know, wouldn't you? Since you obviously have more of a life than I do."

Gale stepped forward, anger melting off of him like hot wax. "Catnip, please. I didn't-"

"And I guess that it would be shocking to you if anyone like Peeta were interested in me, right?"

"...Catnip-"

"Because everyone knows that an 'emotionless robot' like me could only deserve a self-centered egotistical womanizer, right?"

"Catnip, please-"

"Don't call me that."

He stumbled over himself, trying to find something, anything, to say that would make this better.

"...You don't deserve him."

She stayed silent for a moment and Gale hoped that maybe she would see reason, would see that the whole reason he was even angry was because he loved her and didn't want to see her with anyone else, but as her eyes shifted to a darker shade and she opened her mouth to reply, he knew it was nothing more than a fantasy.

"...No. You're right. I don't deserve him," She admitted sadly, eyes sharpening to steel. "I deserve you."

Her words were like venom and they hit him like an avalanche, and he stood there frozen, jaw slack. She breathed angrily through her nose, and with nothing more to say, Katniss straightened her back and held her head high, roughly shoving past him and back into the shelter, leaving Gale to stand in the mess he had so confidently created.

Great.

Now he felt even worse than he had since...well, ever.

He cursed under his breath. How could he be so stupid? He had just ruined his chances of ever telling her how he felt, maybe even of ever seeing her again after this. Why, oh why did he have to screw things up all the time? That was supposed to be Rory's job!

As Gale wallowed in his own self-pity, Prim's voice sounded behind him.

"Gale?"

He turned around, fearing the worst from the miniature Everdeen.

"...Yeah?" He asked reluctantly, wiping his crestfallen expression clean and trying his best to cover up how terrible he currently felt.

Prim seemed not to notice. "The raffle's starting soon. Are you gonna buy tickets?"

He felt for his wallet, feeling especially disgusted with himself for what had taken place just moments before.

"Uh...yeah. How- how much are tickets?"

"Five dollars."

Gale briefly flipped through his wallet. "Got it."

Prim smiled. "Great!"

They both turned to go back into the shelter, but at the last second she turned back around to face him.

"Have you seen Katniss?"

Gale froze.

Did she know?

"Uh...y- yeah. I did. Why?"

"Well, I just saw Peeta a little while ago and he didn't look too happy. I can't find Katniss anywhere, either, so I wondered if you knew."

"Uh, no, I'm sorry, I don't." He replied, looking at the ground to avoid her innocent, probing eyes.

Prim shrugged. "Okay."

She turned back around as if nothing had happened, and Gale followed suit. He wanted to go and find Katniss, but he knew she wouldn't want to be bothered. If he tried to patch things up now, while she was still hurt and angry, he might as well just hang himself right there and then. He numbly followed Prim around like a zombie, buying tickets from a less than pleased looking Sae and drifting over to the raffle tables to try and find something he wanted.

He could only hope that, at the end of the day, he and Katniss could still be friends.

A/N: Aw! Poor Gale! :(

I hope this chapter was to your liking, the fight scene could have gone in so many different directions, but I chose this one.

Only 3 or 4 more to go until it's finished! :D

I actually have my family reunion coming up this month (24th of August) and I'm looking forward to it. Maybe I'll get some more inspiration for another Galeniss story :)

Anyway, please review. I love to read your thoughts! *reads mind* lol jk XD

'Til next time!