Author's note: This fic contains spoilers for the first book, but that's it. If you haven't read the the second and third book yet, you're safe to read this.

This is a Gale/Katniss fic with some one-sided Katniss/Peeta. The first few chapters take place before the first book. It won't be about the Hunger Games, obviously.

Though I have a copy of each, I don't own the rights The Hunger Games trilogy. But you already knew that.

Seasons of Wither, Chapter 1

As I trek towards the sometimes-electric fence that borders District 12 this morning, heaving my game bag up onto my shoulder as I take a quick sip from my canteen, I glance towards the rising sun and estimate by it's position in the sky that it is around 7 o'clock. There's a thick haze of fog that hangs heavy in the air from last night's rain, but I know that the rising sun will most likely rid the land of it, quickly making things visible again.

I duck through the usual opening in the fence after a quick pause to listen for the slight hum of electricity, but finding none. I retreat to the hollow log where my bow is always stashed, noticing that Gale has already taken his and is waiting for me in our usual meeting spot. He's sitting against the trunk of a large oak tree and sipping warm tea from a mug when I find him, and he smiles in my direction.

"I checked the snares already," he informs me, holding up his kill for the morning—three rabbits and one possum, all plump and round. I smile in satisfaction.

Spring has come early this year, and our usual haul has definitely increased. We're often finishing our hunting trips early and retreating to the Hob with a good amount to be traded. It's a happy time of year for our families. They are all well fed, and whatever we manage to trade has helped us even pick up a few rare delicacies we usually don't have the pleasure of partaking in.

"And the day is still young," he says with a grin.

We travel deeper into the woods where we had set up a hunting blind earlier that month in a place where deer often frequent during mating season. There isn't as much sport in hunting them this time of year, and young bucks and does often pass by our camouflaged disguise near a slow-moving brook deep in the woods to get a drink of water. If I can pick one off today, we'll be more than set for the rest of the week.

We sit silent in the blind for a couple of hours waiting for the sound of the hoofed animals walking delicately through the forest. Gale nods towards me, and I hand him my canteen. He smiles in thanks as he takes a long drink of the crisp, cool water. Even though we can't really speak in the blind, this is one of my favorite places. I appreciate the way that Gale merely glances at me, and I can understand exactly what he wants. It comes from years of hunting together.

Not much time has passed when the sound of twigs crunching alerts me, and I quickly draw back an arrow into my bow, readying myself for the impending kill. When a twelve-point buck walks into our view, I steady myself for an accurate shot in it's chest. Taking a deep breath, I finally release the arrow, and the buck scampers off into the woods, the projectile still hanging from the animal as it flees in shock and pain.

Pleased, Gale pats my back and we both exit the blind to follow it's blood trail further into the forest.

"Nice shot, Catnip. A week's worth of kills all before lunchtime. Not bad."

I grin to myself as the blood trail ends and we find the deer's lifeless body on the forest floor. Gale sinks down to his knees, holding his hand out for a knife which I pull out of it's place tucked behind my belt before handing it to him handle first. A short while later, the deer is gutted and we begin to drag it along with us.

"What to do with the rest of our time?" I ask with a sigh. If I remembered correctly, my mother had a patient with a festering accidental stab would this morning, draining a steady stream of pus from his infected limb. I turn green at that very thought and the idea of returning home right now was not a desirable one.

Gale heaves the deer, dragging it haphazardly behind him. "It's cool enough that it'll keep for awhile," he assures me, motioning to the deer. "An early lunch at our usual place before we drag this to the butcher's?"

I nod in agreement as we walk along.

Our usual bush of berries isn't ripe this early in the year, but I had a small stash of fruit I had dried last fall, so we sit down as we snack on our sweet treat along with a few pieces of roasted rabbit my mother had been cooking that morning.

"I'm glad your mother knows to cook," Gale comments, causing me to smile. We both know that I definitely lack in my culinary skills, as I'm not the best future homemaker in District 12. "I feel sorry for the poor guy who ends up having to eat your cooking every day. Maybe you'll be lucky enough to snag yourself a husband who's more handy in the kitchen?"

I laugh a bit at that idea. "We both know that's not going to happen, Gale."

He shrugs. "I don't know. There's a lot of soft men out there. What about the baker's son? Every time we knock on the back door of the bakery, he's always pulling pies and cakes out of the oven."

I shake my head in disagreement. "That's not what I mean. What I meant is that we both know that I will never marry."

Gale, who's sitting back on his elbows now, looks towards me with curiously. "Come on, Catnip. There's plenty of young men who'd have you."

I feel my cheeks heat at his comment, shaking it off. "I'm never going to marry. Never going to have children. Not here. Not ever."

Gale's expression softens at my declaration, and I mentally chastise myself for saying it. These are the types of conversations that usually set him off on a verbal rampage about the Capitol. Though I usually join in, he tends to get pretty worked up over them and often we both go home angry.

"You'd never want even a casual relationship?" he asks, surprised. "You'll be lonely in the world once you're grown and your little sister doesn't need you to look over her anymore."

I feel my heart sink a bit at his comment. Prim has matured a lot since our father has died. At the tender age of 12, she's already much more self-reliant than most girls even my age. I imagine what life will be like when we're both grown. Even though I'm completely opposed to starting a family, Prim will surely find someone to love. Her heart is so much bigger than my own, after all.

I swallow hard this realization, and I can still feel Gale's steady gaze on me. Suddenly, he clears his throat.

"What about the intimate aspect of the relationship? Never gonna let yourself experience that either?" he asks matter-of-factly, dropping his hunting knife so that it sticks into the soft ground below him.

He words his question so nicely, but I know what he's trying to ask me: Am I going to remain a virgin for the rest of my life? It's no secret that I have no experience with boys. I've never kissed anyone, let alone slept with somebody. It's not a topic that we've ever discussed, but Gale knows me well enough to realize it.

My eyes quickly meet his, and I find that they're burning with intensity. I can feel my entire body blush at his question, and I quickly grasp my bag and begin to stand. However, his hand reaches out to stop me before I do, and his eyes are filled with sorrow.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't..." he begins, and I sink back down beside him. I can tell by the look in his eyes that he regrets asking, but it did seem like an innocent question coming from a guy like Gale. This isn't something he would ever tease me about. He would never judge or make me feel awkward for my decision, but still he looks so curious.

"I don't care about..." I trail off a bit nervously. "I don't want kids."

He lets out a small laugh. "I'm not talking about making babies, Catnip. I'm talking about the entertainment value."

I raise my eyebrows. "Gale, have you ever...?" I begin, and his reply is to sit back and sigh before taking another sip from my canteen. I know that I shouldn't have asked in the first place, but I still wait patiently for him to answer my question. "Yes," he finally admits, and my eyes widen. I don't know why I expected Gale to be a virgin. I never have seen him with a girl, though he does have a life outside of me, I suppose. But to be honest, it's a naïve thing for me to think. Gale is older, tall, muscular, and handsome, and the girls at school all recognize this, too.

I realize the next words that come out of my mouth are the wrong ones. "Do you? With lots of girls?" The question doesn't seem to bother him though.

"No, Katniss."

I frown as I look down over the treeline below us. And I can't help but to wonder how often? And when? Or, more importantly, with who?

"It's not a bad thing. It's fun, actually," he finally says when we both realize there was not turning back from this conversation. It's already started so we might as well go forward with it.

"Well, I don't feel like I'm missing out on much," I say.

"You have no idea," he says with a laugh. "You're denying yourself a basic human need, and for the rest of your life."

"I bet it's not as amazing as people let on," I mumble. "It's for a man's enjoyment while keeping women at their beck and call as they push out babies left and right."

Gale merely laughs at my comment as he shakes his head. "You're never going to need a man in your life, Katniss, but please don't knock it until you try it." He stands up, brushing the dirt off of his pants and I quickly follow in suit. "You'll always be innocent. You can barely stand the thought of a naked man, let alone deal with the sight of one."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask him, beginning to grow angry.

"That day down by the brook. When I soaked my clothes checking the fish trap we'd built? I hung them up in a tree to dry and you were as red as a tomato."

"You were in your underwear!"

He smiles out my outburst. "Don't take it personally. I think it's precious how bashful you are about sex at your age." There, he'd said it. The very word we both had been trying so hard to avoid saying.

"And look at you," he says, tapping my nose lightly with his fingertip. "I didn't know it was possible for someone to blush this much. Just the very discussion of you being intimate with someone-"

I gape, pushing him roughly, but he only laughs harder as he stumbles backwards. "I am not innocent!" I quickly defend myself. "I escape into the forbidden woods—daily almost—to break the law by poaching! If anyone who cared ever found out, I would be publicly executed!"

"Sure, Catnip."

I shake my head and watch as he sinks down to the ground to throw the deer carcass over his shoulders as he ignores my scoffing. Then something comes over me. I feel like I have to prove to him I wasn't the little girl he'd met in these woods four years ago. I had to prove that I wasn't afraid. Being innocent is almost as bad as being weak, and before I know it, I'm grabbing him possessively by the collar of his button-up shirt and placing a rough kiss onto his lips.

To say that Gale is surprised by my actions would be an immense understatement. I watch his eyes widen as he drops the dead animal back to the ground, his body tensing before I finally let go of my death grip on his shirt, backing up to catch my breath.

"Well," he finally manages as he stares at me in shock. "That was..."

I wince. I can't believe what I had just allowed myself to do. I was just trying to prove my point, but I hadn't allowed myself to think about how awkward the action would be before I planted a big, wet kiss onto his lips.

"Forget it," I say with a groan, spinning on my heal and walking away, honestly hoping that he does.

"Come on, Catnip!" he calls after me, but I only walk away more quickly. He finally catches up with me, spinning me by my shoulder to meet my gaze.

"You just... You caught me off guard is all." He still looks like he's surprised I'd kissed him, and I have to admit that I am, too. "I didn't know that you thought about me like that."

"I don't," I mutter. "I'm not innocent, okay? Inexperienced? Yes. Innocent? No."

"So that's why you kissed me? For experience?"

We're staring at one another now, and I don't know what I'm supposed to say. Maybe part of it was curiosity. Maybe I wondered what his lips would feel like against my own. Maybe I wanted to allow myself this one intimate moment with a member of the opposite sex before I lived out a life of celibacy.

"Yes."

My answer seems to be the wrong one, and he picks the deer up once again as he begins to drag it back to the District.

"I mean no," I begin as he stops, not bothering to turn back around. "I don't know, Gale. I see you at school, the way the girls look at you, and I have to wonder if I'm missing out on something. But kissing and ogling over boys just isn't me. It's not what's important and it's not who I am. I just wanted to see what all of the fuss was about. Obviously it's important to you."

He turns around and his eyes meet mine.

"It's a terrible thing," I say. Because I know there's a lot more to worry about than boys or what I will be missing out on when I grow to be an old maid. There's the thought that the moment I loose my train of thought on survival and what is important, my family will pay the price. I have an crucial role in keeping them fed. In keeping my mother and Prim from the starvation which has taken so many in our district.

Gale shakes his head as he stares at me with solemn eyes. "It's not, Katniss," he assured me. "It's human nature. You want to enjoy the pleasures of life. There are only a few that exist here. What else do we have?"

I shrug, and for some reason I can't look at him right now. Admitting to your best friend that you're aching for human affection after planting a sloppy kiss on his lips isn't the most comfortable of situations. I begin to wonder how hard it will be to find another hunting partner, knowing that I'll never be able look at him again.

But my eyes meet his again as he cups my chin and raises my head to meet his gaze. "What did you think of this kiss?"

I can feel my blush returning as I stare back into the eyes that are the same color as my own, feeling his calloused hand against the delicate skin of my chin. He smells like hearth and animal skin and I try to fight off the feelings that I'm having for a person that I shouldn't be having them for.

"It was satisfactory." It's not much of a compliment, but he still smiles. Without another word, his lips tentatively meet mine. This time his arm locks around my waist, and my hands become entangled in the front of his shirt as we yield to the moment of passion between us. The kiss is so different from the first one that we had both been so unprepared for. This one is needful, attempting to fill a void that has been so deep and so empty for so long. Now I am certain that I was missing out this entire time.

My fingers go to my lips as we part, and Gale studies me intently. My nervousness over the situation causes me to tremble, and Gale's thumb brushes over my cheek and he continues to hold me in his arms. I want more, and judging by the look on Gale's face, so does he. His eyes soften before he speaks again.

"You can trust me, Katniss. Do you trust me?"

I nod dumbly. Gale Hawthorne may be the only person that I do trust.

There's an unspoken understanding between us about what happens next.

We make love beneath a large shade tree in the meadow. It's not about love or lust. It's about doing something so completely selfish after years of being weighed down with such an enormous responsibility. It's about living for ourselves for once rather than the well-being of the families we had become the unintended breadwinners for. It's a relief that—for one moment at least—I can think of what I want rather than what Prim and my mother need from me.

It's all like a dream flashing through my mind in the middle of the night, because it feels so surreal. I'm afraid for the pain, but it doesn't hurt. The tough life in the Seam and hunting in the woods for the past four years has taken what physically remained of my virginity. Gale is so gentle, staring down at me with warm eyes, making the act feel as if it is one between a man and a woman who are madly in love. He even holds me against his chest afterwards, running his hands through my messy dark hair as we both attempt to catch our breath.

We know that we can't really be together. That we shouldn't be together like this and probably don't even want to. I have quickly become one of Gale's conquests, and I don't expect anything more from him after this moment. Because we both know although we've given into this one desire, neither of us can allow ourselves to live this greedily.

We don't say much to each other as we leave for home with our trades. We go our separate ways, knowing that what happened between us today in the meadow must never be relived. It's a moment that I'll remember forever, but can never speak of again.