What If

Chapter Two:

KATNISS POV

My eyes fluttered opened and suddenly I awoke with the sudden and violent urge to vomit. I threw myself out of bed and rushed to the bathroom that was adjoined to my room.

After throwing up I wiped my mouth with a towel and brushed my teeth. I straightened myself up but my stomach still felt strange.

I decided that all the expensive and lavish capitol food was the reason behind my sickness and trudged on with my day, completely putting the incident out of my mind.

After I finished showering I dressed myself in the plainest clothes in my closet and walked downstairs. 

Since it was still early, neither of my family members were up. I quickly scribbled a note to my mother and Prim before leaving the house.

Out of habit I walked into the Hob. It was its usual busyness. The usual buzzing of customers and occasional yelling was comforting.

I missed when I used to go into the Hob before the games. Then no one would recognize me. I was just another face in the crowd. Now I hear occasional cheers and the pestering of Darius.

Darius is a peacekeeper who, in case you couldn't already tell, isn't that great at his job. The Hob is an illegal market, yet he doesn't ever try to stop it even though that's his job. Instead he trades here and pesters me.

Darius never means any real harm to me, so I just let him tail me while I shop. He ridicules me, but I don't really mind it. Growing up in Twelve gives you thick skin.

"Hey, look, it's the Girl on Fire! Back from her little Victory Tour!" Darius jeered to no one. The crowd in the hob always seemed to ignore him.

"Hello Darius," I replied completely emotionless, continuing my business as usual.

He frowned at my lack of a reply and continued to follow me around, much to my dismay.

"Did they put lots of little pretty ribbons in your hair?" he asked in a sing song voice and flicked the bottom of my braid. I slapped his hand away.

"Jeez, I the message," Darius said as he raised his gloved hands in surrender. "Tell me if you catch any good animals, Girl on Fire!"

And on that note he sauntered off to go annoy another poor soul. I sighed with relief as I walked off and into the center of the Hob where I knew all the best goods to be.

After aimlessly wandering around the hob for a while (I no longer needed to trade for survival), I spotted Gale. He was bent over a vendor's table and I could tell he was haggling by the furrow in his brow and the fact that his lips were turned over in a frown.

"Gale!" I called out, rushing towards him. I hadn't seen him since before the victory tour, so I was glad to see him. He clearly didn't reciprocate the feeling.

"Just a second," he said to the vendor before turning to me. His expression lightened. "Hey, Catnip."

"Can we talk?" I asked, the words feeling heavy. I had decided that today was the day I tell Gale everything—explain the engagement, my feelings towards Peeta, and the lingering threat of Snow.

Gale nodded, but he clearly agitated, his mind elsewhere. I was sure he'd already heard of my engagement as the capitol was already shoving it down everyone's throats. He quickly shook his head at the person he was trading with and shoved his game back into his bag. "Fine. What do you want to talk about?"