Disclaimer: I do not own, or claim to own The Hunger Games. I am not profiting from writing this in any way.

Warning: Rated M for coarse language and sexual situations, reader disgression advised.

Katniss stared at her reflection in the mirror. Today was the day, it was her day, and the day she had been waiting for since she was eleven and first handled a bow. It was opening day of the three day deer archery season in the state of Oklahoma and her first official outing as a hunter. At fifteen, she was still considered a 'youth' hunter meaning that she had to be accompanied by an adult and that any kill she made would technically go to her father's limit. Nerves ate away at her stomach as she placed good luck token from her best friend Gale on her head covering her French braid. The worn orange Tennessee Vols hat would serve as indicator to any other hunters that she was not a target, however, another human on the hunt.

Katniss' thoughts were interrupted by her father bellowing from downstairs, "The Hawthorne's should be here any minute. You ready?"

"I'm coming dad!" Katniss replied as she bounded down the stairs to the entryway where her dad was checking the equipment.

By the third and final day of deer archery season, Katniss' excitement and nerves had been replaced by anger over not having bagged a deer yet. She had taken a shot on the first day only to have it deflect off of a tree. Her mood was increasingly somber as she climbed into the back of the Hawthorne's jeep. "C'mon Catnip, cheer up and have a donut. They are pretty amazing and I had to get dad out of the house thirty minutes earlier to be at the shop for the first batch."

Gale's enthusiasm irritated her, "Easy for you to say Gale. I seem to remember someone bagging a deer the first day of their first hunting season when they were FIFTEEN."

"Go easy on yourself, Catnip. Not everyone can be the amazing hunter than I am. I mean you are just setting yourself up for disappointment comparing yourself to someone as skilled as myself." Joking with her best friend lightened Katniss' mood considerably and a smile replaced her scowl.

Gale had always had that effect on her. He was the big brother she never asked for and people usually thought that they were siblings. Both with dark hair and grey eyes the resembled each other physically and carried the same stubborn attitude. The pair had been inseparable when they first met at a company Christmas party thrown by Seam, the oil company that both Mr. Everdeen and Mr. Hawthorne worked for. Tucked underneath a large Christmas tree they sneaked peppermint candy canes and giggled at how ridiculous the adults were acting after hours of Ripper's famous egg nog.

From that moment on, Gale took it upon himself to be Katniss' best friend and protector. When she joined him at the large Middle School that all the children in town attended, he protected her from the harsh reality of no longer being in a small, separate school with other children whose parents worked for Seam. In the small town there were two distinct class systems that Katniss was unaware existed before being thrown into Middle School. The students whose parents were professionals in the community considered the students whose parents were oil field workers for the Seam to be 'oil field trash.' With her quiet nature and book worm qualities, Katniss, missed most of the ridicule Seam children were subjected to and Gale protected her from the rest.

It was Gale who noticed the large buck on the trail in front of them and motioned for Katniss to take stance, it was Gale who scooped Katniss in his arms and twirled her around when the buck fell, it was Gale who realized the way his heart skipped a beat and the electricity in the air when Katniss was in his presence, and it was Gale who pressed his lips to hers and claimed her as more than a best friend.

He was her first friend, her first kiss, her first boyfriend, and her first love and today Katniss knew he would be another first of hers. An unfortunate first, but another milestone to adulthood, Gale would be the first heart she would break. Clenched in her hand, Katniss held her ticket out of her small town. She held a packet from the University of Tennessee accepting her and offering her a full ride. Room, board, tuition and even a work study position in the horticulture department. Her dream was coming true!

This dream like everything else in her life was irrevocably tied to Gale. Years ago when she asked why he always wore a Tennessee Vols hat when they lived in a state dominated by alliance to two state universities his answer was unsurprisingly a tale of love and devotion to his family. Gale had laughed and recounted how he had really wanted a Oklahoma State hat but his baby brother Vick had picked out the Vols hat off the shelf at Lids because he 'liked the orange better.' Not being able to deny his baby brother, Gale used his Christmas cash on a hat for a university he knew nothing about. Katniss' interest was piqued and she started researching the University of Tennessee and realized that the agricultural resources program was exactly where she needed to be. She knew it would be hard work but she was naturally intelligent and driven with the knowledge that her parents would never be able to afford sending her out of state. Her grades were impeccable, her SAT scores outstanding, and her duties within the community earned her the recognition of National Merit Scholar.

"I should have never bought that fucking hat." Gale mused as the tension rolled off of his shoulders. He wrung his grease stained hands together as he and Katniss sat on the porch swing of her parent's modest house. "I love you too much to try and talk you out of it and I love you too much to let you go."

"Gale, this isn't the end of us. Yeah, I'll be a few states away but we can email and IM and talk on the phone. I'll save my work study stipend and visit for Christmas and the summer. Nothing will change. Tell me nothing will change, tell me this is okay, I need for us to be okay." Katniss' voice broke shattering the confident façade she had built while preparing to tell him.

"Catnip," emotion lacing his voice, "you know that's not enough for me. It's so fucking hard on me only seeing you after a twelve hour work day, how can I survive when your almost a thousand miles away." His sadness quickly turning to anger, "there are TWO state schools both less than three hours away and one has a damn good agriculture department. Please choose one of them! I want you to go to school, you deserve it more than anyone else I know but I can't stand the thought of you leaving me behind." Gale's words trailed off as a single tear slid down his cheek.

"I have to go. You know more than anyone else how hard my parents work to provide for me and Prim. You know I have to go. Please don't be mad, please don't stop loving me." With that, Katniss presses forward and wraps herself around him pushing her lips to his forcefully. Pressing her forehead to his, she pleads "Let's not talk about it anymore. I'm not leaving for another six months. We need to make the most of our time. Please."

"I'll never stop loving you. I guarantee you will be the one who stops loving me." Gale whispers into her hair.

In two weeks time she would leave the security of the small town that she was raised in and move out of her childhood home and into the dorms at the University of Tennessee. Her mother, father, and baby sister Prim were going to follow her to Knoxville in the family suburban and leave her and her old Honda sedan there. The closer time got for departure the more real it seemed and Katniss was beginning to realize why her mom's eyes watered up when she walked in the room and why Gale had become increasingly distant.

Katniss knew that she had to do something to get Gale to reconnect with her and be like he was before the letter came. She had something very specific in mind, as it was something that they had been working towards since that first kiss when she was fifteen. Deep in her drawer, hidden in a roll of socks within a roll of socks was a small box of condoms. Tonight was the night she would finally go all the way with Gale. For three years they had kissed caressed and shyly became acquainted with each other's bodies. Ever the gentlemen and protector Gale had not once pushed the issue of sex even though she knew restraining himself was sometimes extremely difficult for him. They had discussed it but Katniss had never felt ready and he had never pushed. This was something she could give him to show her that she was his. Having sex with Gale would erase any doubts he had about her love for him.

Katniss let herself into Gale's tiny apartment and started browning hamburger and boiling noodles for spaghetti. She heard the door open as she was pulling the bread from the oven and felt arms envelope her from behind. "Come home from work and find a beautiful woman cooking me dinner, now this is something I could get used to." Gale murmurs into Katniss' braid.

"I figured you would be hungry, I know dad is always starving when he gets home. How was work?"

"Hot as hell! I'm beat. What was I thinking becoming a roustabout? I know that is how are dads started but shit it's getting hard being at the bottom of the food chain." He grimaces and then smiles broadly at Katniss, "Food ready?"

Katniss nods and directs Gale to the table where she hands him a plate of spaghetti. Dinner is nice but the feeling of domestic happiness that it evokes causes Gale to pause at what will not be with Katniss moving instead of marrying him. Katniss notices his change of mood and goes to him and crawling into his lap and placing a soft kiss to his mouth. "Wow. I can tell it was hot out there you have definitely smelt better Hawthorne. Why don't you shower and I'll clean up in here and we can watch a movie I brought?"

Katniss waits for Gale to settle himself in the shower before taking off her own clothes and opening the door to the bathroom. "Catnip? That you, babe?" Gale asked from behind the curtain. Instead of answering, Katniss reaches for the shower curtain and pulls it back stepping into the shower. Gale inhaled sharply. He had seen pieces of Katniss' nudity when things had gotten carried away between them but never like this and never fully naked. "Fuck. What are you trying to do to me?"

"Something I should have done a long time ago." Katniss coos with a slight tremor in her voice betraying her nervousness. She gazes at Gale's body taking in the sight of it. Tall and lean with sculpted arms and abs from long days on the oil rig. 'What have I gotten myself into' Katniss thought to herself as took in the sight of his manhood with a furious blush. 'Okay this isn't so bad, he isn't…" Katniss' thoughts trailed off as she watched him grow in front of her.

Looking at her delicate frame with tight muscles and perfectly round breasts caused Gale to harden instantly. This woman would truly be the death of him. Gale pulled Katniss to him in a rushed kiss, his erection pressed into her side as he trails kisses down her chin and neck.

Hands grasping her breasts and thumbs rubbing over her nipples, Gale strains to push the words out "Are you sure about this?" Instead of replying with words Katniss chooses actions and moans softly while arching her chest into his hands. "Not here. Not like this. You deserve to be worshipped and I've been waiting way too long to rush this." Gale then sweeps Katniss into his arms and takes her into the bedroom. He positions himself to the side of Katniss and kisses her, tugging at her lower lip with his teeth and forcing his tongue into her mouth. Trailing his hands down her body he traces circles around her hip bones waiting for a sign that he can move further. Her hips thrust up to meet the circling of his fingertips and he skirts them further down her skin to where her thighs connect. Finding her wet and ready he starts to stroke.

Katniss moans softly and Gale isn't sure he will be able to prevent himself from spilling himself onto the comforter. They have been here before, it isn't the first time he has touched her but it is the first time he has allowed himself to believe it could go further. She wraps a hand around his hardness and he immediately stills her hand with his, "Believe me Catnip, I don't need any preparation. I'm going to concentrate on getting you ready. I want this to be so amazing you realize you can't leave."

Katniss is startled that he would say such a thing at a time like this. 'Just ignore it' she tells herself, regardless, she feels her face betray her true emotions. It is this look that shatters his heart into a thousand pieces. It is the look that confirms what he already knew, that no matter what he does she would not stay. He would lose her. She would leave. He sits up suddenly and Katniss immediately feels the shift in the room. From the edge of the bed with his back turned to her he asks her to leave.

"Just go." He chokes out. "I want you more than anything but not like this. Not as a consolation prize. Not as something to remember you by. I'm not taking this piece of your innocence so you can regret it later." Tears freely falling from his eyes at this point. "Leave. I'm not mad we can talk about it tomorrow."

Katniss falters, "Are you serious?" she questions as she scrambles to find her clothes trying to get him to turn around and look at her. "Will you at least look at me?"

"Just go. I love you. Go, please?" Gale buries his head in his hands remaining on the bed and unable to walk her out.

"Fine." Katniss fumes. "Be an asshole! I cannot believe I wasted three years of my life with a complete dick." She screams as she storms out the door.

Gale cannot bring himself to call her the next day and explain his actions. He is too stubborn to admit how much he loves and needs her. How can he tell her that he believes that he may not remember to breathe without her in his life? Katniss is too embarrassed and stubborn to call him. Instead, they are both left to form their own conclusions as to what happened between them that night with neither version doing the true story justice.

Later, on the car ride to her new life in Knoxville she will regret those words. The last words she spoke to her first love laced with anger and passion. It is in remembering those words she makes a promise to herself, Katniss Everdeen, will never open up just to be humiliated again. If Gale did not want her then that was just fine with her because she refused to love anyone else again. Besides, she told herself there would not be time to date or anything else with her busy schedule.