Behind the Seams

Gale had to leave early the next morning. He had to go fill out some papers at the Justice Building since he turns eighteen soon and will have to go work in the mines. That was a scary thought for the both of us. I continued to lie in bed. I did not want to leave its comfort and warmth. I figured Gale could bring me back some food after he was done, so I slept.

That is, until there was a knock at my door. I groaned. Who would be knocking at my door? I opened it and saw Peeta there.

“What are you doing here?” I said, coldly. His face fell.

“You asked me to go out to the forest with you yesterday. But you were not there so I came here.”

“I did?” he nodded. “I don’t remember anything from last night.” I decided to lie to him. May what came next would not hurt so much for him if I did.

“Are you alright?” I nodded.

“I’m fine. Just a little tired. Why?”

“It’s not like you to forget something like that. I figured that after last night we might have a chance.” I opened my mouth to say something but was interrupted.

“What happened last night?” Gale was behind us. He must have come through the back door. My eyes widened.

“Gale.” I said, shocked. I immediately glared back at Peeta.

“What chance is he getting, Larsen?” The tone in his voice sounded angry.

“You saw him, didn’t you?” I asked. “You saw him behind me and decided to make me look like the bad guy.”

“Larsen?” Gale asked.

“It’s not like that, Larsen!” Peeta pleaded at me. “I thought—”

“You thought that he would leave and that I would be forced to be with you. Well, guess what. I hate you. So even if he did leave, I would not go crying to you.” After that I slammed the door in his face, and turned to face my other problem in the room.

“Care to explain why Peeta was here talking about last night?” he looked so angry and heart broken.

“Gale, I’m so sorry. I lied to you. I just panicked. He kissed me and said the whole thing was a charade.”

“Wait. He kissed you?!” I bit my lip, afraid of what was next. “I’m going to kill him.”

“Oops.” I said.

“Who does he think he is? He broke your heart and comes over here to kiss you? Were you ever going to tell me or were you just going to hide it?”

“No!” I responded quickly. “I was going to say something. I was just scared. I didn’t want to lose you. I didn’t want you to leave me. I don’t want you to. I love you.”

“You realize you did exactly what Katniss did?”

“What are you talking about?! First off, you and I were not even together. I don’t even know what we are right now. And second, you don’t even know the whole story. He kissed me. I didn’t kiss back. I was just confused.”

“Did you feel anything? When he kissed?”

“With all honesty? Yes.” He turned away from me. “But then you came. And I saw you and knew.” He turned back with a solid unreadable face. “Peeta and I look great on paper, but after that…” I trailed off. “I saw in your face how worried about me you were. I realized that the butterflies that I got from a kiss from Peeta; I get them with a simple touch from you.” His face softened as I started to tear up. “I should have told you. I was so wrong not to. Whether we are together or not.” HE crossed the room and wrapped his arms around me. I was full-on crying by now. But I felt so happy that he was holding me.

“I just don’t understand why you didn’t just tell me, Moo.”

“I was so scared. Please don’t leave me, Goose.” He tightened his grip, and kissed my hair.

“Never. I’ll never leave you. I’ll never go. I’ll be here always. I love you too much to leave.”

*

Peeta slammed his fist on Katniss’s front door. Katniss quickly threw the door open. The look on her face was far from happy.

“What the hell, Peeta? You realize it is pretty early. Too early to be slamming on doors.”

“You have ruined everything!” Peeta screamed at her and walked himself into the house.

“Okay, calm down. I haven’t done anything.”

“Because of you, Larsen won’t even look at me.”

“What I did? Peeta it takes two people to kiss like we did. And at the time I thought you were going to die. I just gave you what you wanted since you have a crush on me.”

“HAD! I had a crush on you. Before the games. I needed a fan base.”

“And so did I.”

“Oh, please. You had an automatic fan base. You’re beautiful.” She thought for a moment.

“You still kissed me. I wish you have told me that you were seeing Larsen. She was my friend, too. She won’t talk to me now. Neither will Gale…” She trailed off. Sadness struck her hard.

“I’m pretty sure Gale wants to kill me. He walked in when I was begging Larsen to forgive me and take me back. Apparently, they are together now, I guess.” Saying that out loud tore Peeta to pieces. It also made Katniss realize the mistake she had made. Then she got an idea.

“Peeta. I’m sorry. I do need to tell you that it wasn’t all for the games. I do like you a lot.”

“Oh, please. You say that because you’re lonely.”

“No, I’m not. When we were in there, I really did feel something. I had to act on it then. It saved our lives. It saved your leg.”

“Not really.” He said, referring to it being amputated.

“True, but you’d be dead if it weren’t for me. That’s because I care about you.” Peeta thought. And she was right. He believed her. For a moment, Katniss even believed herself. She did care about Peeta. She was not sure if it was in that way or not. A she knew was that they had to be together if they wanted to live. She would do anything to make the Capitol believe that. Even if it meant tricking her only friend into believing she really loved him.