Panem High

Chapter Twenty-Three - It Ends Tonight

*THE GUYS' POVS ABOUT THE CURRENT SITUATIONS: PEETA, GALE, CALEB*

%Gale%

After Katniss had left, there was a weird feeling in his stomach. He'd gotten a text from Peeta a few moments before Katniss knocked on his door, and the text basically told Gale to distance himself from the girl, she'd be nothing but heartbreak and pain for the both of them. Gale couldn't argue with Peeta, he'd already suffered a fair bit of rejection from Katniss. But he didn't feel like he could make himself stay away from the brunette, even if he wanted to. He really cared about her, dare he even say he loved her. Gale understood that whatever fantasy he had about Katniss and himself being together in the end was foolish, and unrealistic. Even he could see that if Katniss were to end up with any of them, it would be Peeta.

He took his phone back out and stared at Peeta's most recent text.

From: Peeta 🍞
Ik it's not my place to tell u 2 stay away from her, but hear me out k? Katniss is only going to bring unnecessary pain for both of us. We should get away from her while we still can.

From: Gale 🙇
Look, Peet, go ahead and stay away from her. I don't think I'd be able 2 do that, srry. Whatever happened at the dance, I don't know abt, and I'd like to keep it that way.

From: Peeta 🍞
U're making a mistake Gale. i love her too, man, but she's not as worth it as I originally thought. She's gonna take ur heart and crush it w/o remorse. Take it from me, she's already done it 2 me.

From: Gale 🙇
Maybe I am making a mistake, and maybe I'll regret it one day. Who knows? Who cares? I don't. Kat just wants to be friends, and I'm okay with it. Just becuz u won't be able to get in her pants doesn't mean she's any less of a human then u r. I really didn't want to turn this into an argument.

From: Peeta 🍞
She led us on. U, me, and Caleb Snow. She doesn't care about any of us. I hope u realize that soon. This isn't an argument, I'm not going to waste my time on something hopeless. See u around.

Gale frowned down at the screen, not typing in a response. He thought for a long, hard moment. Maybe Peeta was right. Maybe Katniss would break his heart, maybe she'd never cared about him. Despite Peeta's firsthand experience with his heart being broken, Gale couldn't think of Katniss doing that to him - to anyone.

Even though he'd agreed to be just friends with her, he allowed himself to dive even deeper into the feelings he had for a certain Katniss Everdeen.

%Peeta%

He was in the bathroom, his face wet with tears. He leaned on the sink for support, able to hear his heart crack inside of him. It hurt. It hurt really bad. Peeta had broken his arm once, sprained his ankle, gotten a tooth knocked out - but nothing could compare to the pain he was feeling internally. It was indescribable, the feeling. Peeta never thought a person would be able to cause him that much pain without even trying. And he called himself strong.

He felt pathetic, he really did. He hated himself for still loving Katniss, even after what she'd done. A sob escaped his quivering lips, and he silently thanked God that his parents and siblings weren't home. Peeta sank to the floor, unbuttoning his dress shirt, shrugging his suit jacket off.

And then he completely broke.

Sobs racked his body, and he was yelling incoherently at nothing in particular. He ripped all his clothes off and crawled towards the shower, turning on the cold water. His hands were shaking as he stumbled into the flow of freezing water. He felt so weak, so vulnerable, and he didn't like it. He willed for everything to go away, for the world to stop spinning, for the sun to crash into the Earth. Peeta knew it was slightly dramatic, but how else was he expected to react?

He'd been in love with a girl since before he could remember, and just found out she'd only ever interested in him as a toy to play with. But he couldn't help but think back to Katniss' destroyed expression as he ranted on about his feelings. Peeta reminded himself that it was just a façade. That the brunette would've done anything to manipulate him back into her hands, just to play with him again like Play-Doh and reshape him into something he himself wouldn't be able to recognize.

His fingers traced the thin white line on his arm - a scar - he'd gotten when he was eight and he dropped the knife he was using to cut a load of bread. He remembered how much it had hurt at the time, and how he'd screamed and cried all the way to the emergency. He compared it to the way he felt right now, and Peeta found that the ache in his heart was ten times worse than the blade of a knife would ever be.

Peeta smacked his forehead, both sides of his face, and gritted his teeth. No, he wouldn't feel like this anymore. He was done with pain. He was done with being disappointed by people. It ends tonight, he thought. I'm so done with her.

%Caleb%

Caleb had another strategy for his recovery over recent events. He sat in his grand living room, leaning back on the couch, arms resting on the back, a bottle of whiskey in his right hand. He took the occasional gulp, his eyes glossy and distracted. He cast a lazy look at the young butler dusting a nearby bookshelf, picking up a familiar book every now and then and giving it a special cleaning.

"Antonio," Caleb slurred. The young man whipped around at the sound of his name, brown locks flopping over his forehead. "Yes, sir?" Antonio responded. Caleb pursed his lips when he noticed the lipstick on the butler's collar. "Fetch me another bottle of whiskey, this one's almost out. Then, of course, we'll discuss who in the house you've been fooling around with. You better," Caleb said as casually as if he were asking a friend to get him a bag of chips.

"The, um, the good whiskey?" Antonio stuttered, eyes widening as he met Caleb's diamond colored gaze. Caleb scoffed, feeling suddenly dizzy. "Mother would kill me, you know that, Antonio. Get the kind she won't notice is missing, please. Thank you, Tony," he replied, twirling the nearly empty bottle in his hand.

~

Caleb grabbed a fistful of Antonio's shirt. "You idiot," he spat drunkenly, letting the open bottle of whiskey hit the ground. "What? Did you think I wouldn't find out you've been screwing my sister? God, I bet you forced yourself on her, you gross excuse for a human," he growled. Antonio shook his head vigorously. "No, no, sir. I haven't. It wasn't anything of importance, it was just once. She made the first move, I gave her my consent, she gave me hers. There was no forcing, sir. I can promise you that," he whimpered.

Caleb shoved Antonio away with such force, he stumbled back himself. Caleb bit his lip and collapsed onto the couch, burying his face in his hand "Look, I'm sorry, Tony. I just - I've had a rough night. The dance didn't go as planned, Cinderella ran away," he chuckled bitterly. "Why don't you take the rest of the night off, yeah? Get some rest, sorry for attacking you like that. I shouldn't tear your happiness down just because mine's gone."

Antonio nodded. "I understand, I've been in your shoes before. And, it's okay, I'm certain I would have reacted the same way if I discovered you'd been seeing my sister."

Caleb nodded, lips curling into a smile as Antonio wished him a goodnight and scurried away to his room.

The dance. What had he done wrong? Was he not enough? He certainly thought so - someone like Katniss deserved much better than him. But it didn't make it hurt any less when he accepted the fact that he was second to whomever she ran off after.

Katniss was definitely Cinderella, Caleb decided, Maybe I just wasn't her Prince Charming.

.

.

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A/N: okie then

Idk about u guys, but I really like Caleb. I don't even know why, I just do.

ANYWAYS, the guys are all obviously taking the whole Katniss situation differently. Gale's decided to be just Katniss' friend for now. Peeta's having a breakdown, but he's trying to fight through it, poor bby. And Caleb is just drinking his confusion and sorrows away.

Sorry for not updating in so long, and for the short chapter. I've just been a bit busy lately, :( I really hope you enjoyed this chapter though! [I think this is the only chapter with multiple POV changes and Katniss wasn't one of them. Yeeah!]

Thanks for reading!
-everywhereandnowhere