As Gale was forced out of the room away from Katniss perhaps forever, he could not help thinking about what she had said when he suggested they run away together. She had looked stunned, as if she had never thought about her relationship with him that way. It seemed that she had never considered a romantic relationship with anyone. But he was forced to admit that she was right to stay in District 12 and to go to the Hunger Games in place of her sister. He wondered if he could have made the same sacrifice for his younger siblings and wasn't sure. Katniss is so brave and noble, and this is why he loved her.
Although he knew in his mind that Katniss only had a one in twenty-six shot of surviving the Hunger Games and that she was so weak and small compared to most of the tributes, especially those from the wealthy districts who train their whole lives for the glory of competing in the Hunger Games. But he refused to believe in his heart that she wasn't coming home.
He would wait for her.