Authors Note: Thanks for all the reviews and here, as I promised, the next chapter - much faster =) Have fun

Big thanks for my great beta!

Chapter 6

Gale

We were in the middle of eating at our favourite Italian restaurant when Katniss's phone started ringing. She looked at the display and groaned.

"It's my chef," she said before answering the phone. She was working part time at a cocktail bar and always had to be ready to work an extra shift.

"Yes, of course I can work tonight," she spoke into her phone, rolling her eyes at me. "Alright. See you then." Throwing her phone on the table, she put her head in her hands. "I'm his favourite, so he thought that he'd call me to step in for Miranda," she mumbled, clearly annoyed.

"Well if you don't want to go, you could've told him no," I suggested, taking a sip of my coffee. She moved her hands away and glared at me.

"If I'd said no he'd have thrown me out immediately. Thank you for the great advice, though."

I shook my head. "Catnip, no one will throw you out if you can't step in once," I insisted, and she put a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I've already told you that this kind of thinking will get people to take advantage of you."

She took a bite at the piece of chocolate cake I ordered for her a few minutes ago. "Are you taking advantage of me, Hawthorne?"

I grinned. "Maybe. Who knows? This happens unintentionally. When do you have to go?"

She glanced at her watch and sighed. "I start at eight and go till twelve."

"What can I say? Lucky you," I added, receiving a glare from my best friend.

"Are you going to visit me?" she asked, taking another bite. She was like a chocolate addict; I couldn't think of a day where she didn't eat the stuff.

"Do you want me to?" I retorted, and she pricked my hand with her fork. "Alright, alright. I think I can arrange it. My lecture tomorrow starts at one anyway, so I can come later and stay till you're done."

"Just don't bring Jeremy with you," she practically commanded me.

"Why would I bring him? It's not like I'm hanging around with him regularly. What does it matter if he comes, anyway?"

Katniss let out a quick laugh. "Gale, the last time he came, he started asking out every single girl in the bar. And since the others knew that I know him, everyone was looking at me. It was so embarrassing."

I asked for the check when the waiter passed by. "Catnip. It doesn´t matter what others think, does it?"

She pouted, playing with her earring. "No, but still. I don't want to work tonight. Oh, my dear chocolate cake, you are the only one that makes me happy," she whispered, glancing at her dessert.

Half an hour later we left the restaurant, and I stopped at Katniss's apartment to let her out.

"So, see you tonight," she said, unfastening her seatbelt. "If you see a motivated waitress, pacing back and forth with a big grin on her face, that's probably not me."

I laughed, letting my hand rest on her knee for a second. "I'm sure your motivation will increase the moment you see me." She pushed my hand away and opened the door.

"I'm too moody to laugh about that," she said, getting out. When I started the engine, she turned around, sticking her tongue out to me.

It was after 10:30 when I decided to visit Katniss in the cocktail bar. I was hanging around with Mike, a friend from my university, and he agreed to accompany me.

"So how long exactly have you and Katniss known each other?" Mike asked while we were riding the bus downtown. He was drinking, and I wanted to drink as well, so it was best not to drive the car.

"I don't know. I guess I was seven or eight when I first met her. Why are you asking?" Looking around the bus, I noticed there were a lot of creepy guys inside.

"Just asking, dude. It's still unbelievable that you two have been best friends for so long and haven't ever dated or something like that," Mike stated, and I shrugged.

"Pretty normal for me," I replied simply, bored with this topic. Mike was not the first to comment on the relationship between Katniss and me. People just couldn't understand that a guy and a girl were friends without any benefits.

As we got off the bus, a chilly wind greeted us outside. It was cold, and I fastened up my jacket. The cocktail bar was just a few steps away, so we hurried towards it.

"Just don't drink yourself to death again. Tomorrow is Monday," I said to Mike jokingly when we arrived at the building.

"I can take it," he replied and opened the door.

It was pretty full for a Sunday evening, and the music was as loud as always. Mike was already heading towards the bar as I stood still and tried to spot Katniss somewhere. When I started moving, I saw her, heading right towards me.

"Gale, hi," she let out, hugging me tightly for a second. "I need to get an order. Find yourself a table," she said, already starting to move away, but I grabbed her arm to stop her.

"I didn't bring Jeremy," I said, leaning closer so she could hear me.

She gave me a funny look and smiled. "That's awesome, Gale. Thank you."

"I'll sit at the bar with Mike," I said, letting go of her arm as she give me a quick smile before disappearing into the kitchen.

I sat down beside my classmate, who had already ordered beer for us—or maybe two for himself. I couldn't tell.

"Beer?" he asked, moving one glass to me. I took a sip.

Katniss was coming back with some orders, blinking at me. I turned around on my stool, following her with my eyes as she put the plates down on a table with two women. Turning around, she walked towards me and stopped a few inches away.

"Having fun?" I asked her while Mike turned around in his stool as well, waving at my best friend.

"Hey, how are you?" he greeted, and she smiled back at him while I held onto her hand.

"Of course. You miss out on all the fun if you don't work here," she replied with dry sarcasm, making Mike laugh.

"Don't bullshit me," I said as she pulled herself from my grip, nodding.

"Okay, I'll prove it to you. I need to take out the trash. That's a lot of fun. You wanna come?" she suggested, grinning.

I shook my head. "No."

"Great. Then let's go outside for a second," she responded, pulling at my arm to get me off the stool. I gave in, and she smiled happily.

"Lina, I'm taking out the trash," Katniss yelled towards another waitress, who nodded and smiled. My best friend then disappeared for a second behind the bar, only to come back with two trash bags.

"Here we go. One for you and one for me," she declared, handing me the bigger one. I pinched her cheek with my free hand.

"Be right back, Mike," I said and then put my hand on Katniss's back to lead her out.

As we walked through the door, a bearded guy almost bumped into us, grinning at Katniss.

"Hey, babe," he said, winking at her.

"Hi, George," my best friend replied, and then we left the bar.

"Your new boyfriend?" I asked Katniss on the way to the huge trash can around the corner.

"Very funny," she retorted, and I jokingly pushed her to the side. "Gale, stop it."

"Well, babe, is every customer talking to you like this?" I asked when we arrived at the can. The smell was not as bad as I had expected but still very unpleasant.

"He's in his forties and talks to every girl like that, so stop worrying," my best friend replied after we threw our trash away.

"Who said I'm worrying?" I retorted, taking off my jacket to put it over her shoulder. "I'm a selfish and rude guy who just thinks about myself."

"And now you're giving me your jacket?" She laughed, pulling it closer around herself. "Why didn't you think of this earlier?"

I pushed my best friend to the front before stepping up to her and wrapping one arm around her shoulder. "By the way, this is really the most fun thing ever," I said sarcastically, and she nodded.

"I know, right? I told you so," she replied before we entered the bar again. Mike was already hitting on some blonde, mumbling something in her ear. Player. I sat back on my stool, while Katniss continued to do her work. I watched her taking the order from the babe-guy from before, all lovingly. I got a weird feeling observing them, although the guy was much older than my best friend.

"What are you staring at?" Mike interrupted my thoughts suddenly.

"I'm not staring. Just looking around, since you're busy," I replied pointedly, my eyes still fixed on table twelve, where Katniss was talking to the bearded guy. Mike followed my view and clapped me on the back.

"Dude, don't worry. She's way out of his league."

"So are you. Look at the way he's gaping at her, the old fart." Finally Katniss left his table and headed back.

"But there's nothing going on with you two. Definitely," Mike pointed out sarcastically, receiving another glare from me.

"What's going on with whom?" Katniss asked, overhearing Mike's last words.

"With you and the old fart at table twelve," I replied grimly, making Katniss open her mouth in shock.

"Stop insulting my customers, Hawthorne!" she demanded with a wagging finger.

"Or what?" I challenged her as she stepped closer, touching my knees.

"Or you get a house ban," she retorted, crossing her arms in front of her chest and receiving a laugh from Mike.

"Bullshit. By the way, I don't think you're in any position to ban someone from this bar."

She leaned her face closer to mine and tried to glare at me. "Dare me."

I was thinking about a good retort when suddenly that guy was standing behind Katniss, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Everything alright here, beautiful lady?" he asked in a raspy voice. I stood up from my stool. "Or are these guys bothering you?" he added, and I was ready to tear his ugly beard from his face.

"No, we're fine. Just joking around," Katniss replied, standing in front of me. I wrapped my arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer to me.

"What's the problem? Is your drink bad?" I asked him, receiving a nudge from Katniss. The guy glanced at Mike and then back to her.

"I just saw him glaring at you and wanted to make sure you were alright," he said to Katniss, ignoring me completely.

"Well, guess what, weirdo? She's my best friend, so I can glare at her as much as I want. Got it?"

"Gale!" Katniss glared at me, pulling my arm away. "I'm so sorry George. He's a little moody today," she apologized for me.

"That's fine. The main point is that everything is fine. I'm going back to my table, then," he announced, turning around.

"You'd better go," I dismissed him, receiving a punch in my stomach from Katniss.

"What the heck has gotten into you?" she growled at me while I sat back on the stool. My job was done.

"Gale," she hissed, since I hadn't answered yet.

"Nothing. Just showed him his limits," I replied, smiling at her.

"Don't you grin at me like that, Hawthorne. I'm really mad at you," she said, crossing her arms again.

"Oh, come on, Catnip. I didn't do anything wrong."

"Nothing wrong? This was—" I was pretty sure she wanted to argue the whole night about the incident, but Mike interrupted her.

"Please stop it now! You're giving me a headache," he pleaded, already a little tipsy.

"Or maybe it came from something else," Katniss said to him pointedly, but of course he didn't get it.

"Anyway," he pointed at me, still addressing Katniss, "he just likes you soooo much and would do anything to protect you. So don't be mad at him for acting like an asshole. He—" I put my arm around Mike, stopping him from babbling more nonsense.

"I think she got it, dude. Thanks."

"You're very welcome," he replied, lifting his empty glass to take a sip.

"Mike, there's nothing in that cup," Katniss tried, but he still drank. She laughed and then looked back at me, smiling. "You're stupid."

I opened my arms for a hug. "You love me," I said as she wrapped her arm around me for a second.

"Can I finish working without you scaring my customers away now?" she asked, and I nodded.

"Back to the salt mines."

A/N: What are you thinking? Good? Too lame? Let me know? Do you need more drama? I am not sure how to continue, so I am open for any ideas..