Disclaimer – I do not own The Hunger Games or any of its characters. All credit goes to Suzanne Collins.

A/N: Thank you again for your kind reviews. Anyone else liking the new updates the FanFiction team is making? Okay well enough about that, as I said previously, there's not too long left till the story is over. There's around 3 more chapters left. This next chapter is a little shorter than usual, but nevertheless I hope you enjoy it.

The deep voice alarmed the doe and she quickly bolted off into the midst of the thick woods as fast as her hooves could take her. My game? Gone. I could recognize his voice anywhere, but underneath his calm voice there was a thread of anger behind his words.

I whip my head around in frustration and come face to face with his cold gray eyes staring down at me. His usual calm demeanor had been replaced by anger and irritation.

"Gale!" I lower my arrow that was pointing directly at his chest. "What are you doing here? I thought you were helping your brothers," I ask, knitting my eyebrows together in confusion.

He doesn't bother to answer, but instead grabs my wrist, his fingers coiled around the small circumference tightly. What was he playing at? "Don't play dumb with me, Katniss. What do you think you're doing?" he gruffly asks, his words scented in an imperial tone.

I felt suffocated as he hovered me over, his eyes boring into mine. I could see the spark of fire that was gleaming in his eyes. My eyes narrowed into little silts, sharp like daggers as I yanked harshly away from his tight grip.

"I'm hunting, in case you haven't noticed," I say, gesturing to my bow and arrow. Honestly, what else would I be doing? "And thanks to you, I just lost the biggest game all year," I snarl. "Now, I'm gonna have nothing."

"Not that!" he says through gritted teeth, his jaw clenching tightly. "With the baker kid," he says, his dark eyes flashing.

"What are you talking about?"

He raises his voice, the anger rushing through his body. "I just heard that he kissed you. God, Katniss, is that true?" he shouts, the veins in his neck emerging from underneath. I'd never seen him this angry before.

My orbs grew round with surprise; had someone really seen us?

"So it is true! God, Katniss, I thought you were smarter than that," he growls lowly, narrowing his eyes at me.

"W-what?" I ask incredulously. I could not believe the words that had just escaped his mouth.

"How many times do I have to say this? We're just friends," I say tightly through my lips. "There's nothing going on between us."

He rolled his eyes in utter annoyance and scoffed. "And friends kiss each other now do they?" he rhetorically asked. "You know why girls from the Seam only hang out with people like him," he hissed angrily.

"How dare you think I would even do such a thing like that? You're suppose to be my best friend, you know me better than anyone else, Gale!" I yell out in frustration, my voice resonating throughout the woods, causing some birds to fly away.

"I thought so, too," he says icily, his words cutting through me like knives. "He just doesn't want to be your friend, Katniss. People don't kiss each other accidentally unless it means something."

"You have feelings for, don't you?" he asks, his eyes flashing dangerously again.

"No! I didn't kiss him back. I don't," I say, at least I think I don't.

"Then you better go tell him that, before he gets the wrong idea," he says turning around, leaving me with my own thoughts.

"You don't understand," I whisper.

He stops in his tracks and turns around to face me. "What is there to understand? He's not like us, Catnip. He'll never know what we go through everyday just to survive. Think about it!" he says before walking away out of my sight.

It then becomes clear to me. The walks after school, the baking, the gifts and finally, the kiss. Peeta doesn't just want to be friends with me.

I touch my lips again and find that they're still burning from Peeta's touch. My stomach rolls uncomfortably. I just want to be friends with him, that's why I didn't kiss him back, my mind tells me, but my heart is screaming something else.