for Katniss on TV in order to make her look desirable so she would have sponsors. Also, he decides to team up with the Careers and misleads them about Katniss. However, when the careers find this out, Peeta fights with them to save Katniss and is severely wounded. In the Quarter Quell, he volunteers to replace Haymitch Abernathy as the male tribute from District 12, so that he can protect Katniss in the arena. The only time Katniss can sleep without nightmares relating back to the Games is when she is being held in Peeta's arms. Peeta is captured by the Capitol at the end of the Quarter Quell and submitted to 'hijacking', a process of torture and brainwashing which gives him a fear of Katniss and effectively turns him into an assassination weapon against her. During the civil war, he is rescued and eventually rehabilitated by the rebels. After the Capitol is defeated, he returns to District 12 with Katniss and marries her. Fifteen years after the war, they have two children. Gale Hawthorne Gale Hawthorne is a Seam resident boy who is two years older than Katniss and shares her hunting skill, dark hair, olive skin, and gray eyes. Through hunting, they have become best friends. Muscular and handsome, Gale has caught the attention of several girls in District 12. Gale lives with his mother Hazelle and his three younger siblings (Rory, Vick, and Posy) after his father's death in the same mining accident that killed Katniss' father. Being from the Seam, Gale shares a slight resemblance to Katniss. This allows the people of the Seam to cover for his close relationship with Katniss by saying they are cousins to hide the fact that the "star-crossed lovers" storyline with Peeta was staged, as it is presumed her closeness with someone as good looking as Gale would draw suspicion. Though their portrayal as cousins effectively satisfies the press from the Capitol, it makes both Katniss and Gale very uncomfortable on several occasions. In the second book, Catching Fire, Katniss returns to District 12, but their relationship cannot continue as it was, since Katniss and Peeta must play the part of lovers due to threats from the Capitol. Gale confesses his love for Katniss after she asks him to run away with her. Soon afterward, he is brutally whipped in public for hunting on Capitol land. Katniss rescues him, getting