Author's note: I wrote this after reading book one. I'm not sure if this story would have been different if I wrote it after reading the next two.
"There's a piece of you that's here with me, If I could find you now, I remember the look in your eyes,
It's everywhere I go, it's everything I see
When I sleep, I dream and it gets me by,
I can make believe, that you're here tonight,
That you're here, tonight.
Things would get better.
We could leave this town and run forever.
I know somewhere, somehow, we'll be together
Let your waves crash down on me and take me away.
When I told you that this was goodbye
You were begging me not tonight, not here, not now.
We're looking up at the same night sky
And keep pretending the sun will not rise
We'll be together for one more night, somewhere, somehow."
-Yellowcard
Static.
"This is Caesar Flickerman , reporting you from District 12. I am here with Gale Hawthorne, friend of District 12 Tribute, Katniss Everdeen. So, Gale, tell me about your relationship with Katniss."
Gale stumbles for a way to describe his relationship with Katniss. "Well, we met when I was thirteen and she was eleven," he answered sheepishly.
Caesar's face lights up with an artificial glow. "Interesting! How did you meet?"
Gale looks down, fixated on his fumbling thumbs and sweaty palms. "We met because our fathers died in the same mine explosion."
Caesar's emotions flick like a switch. "Oh no! How tragic!" He tries to change the subject to stay on track with the Hunger Games typical interview guidelines. "What kept the two of you together?"
Gale knew the exact answer to this question but bit his tongue because the Capitol would not approve of their leaving District 12 boundaries and sneaking off to hunt. "We bonded because we both – err – had to provide for our families."
Caesar didn't understand the idea of having to provide for a family. He didn't know what it was like to be so poor that you have to skip meals for days on end so your younger siblings don't go hungry. Caesar has never counted his ribs after undressing. Caesar has never seen the guilt in his mother's eyes when there isn't enough food on the table. Katniss and Gale have that common thread tying intertwining them together. Caesar then asks, "how would you describe your relationship with Katniss?"
"Friends," Gale instantly replies, "well more than that," he adds slowly with a faint blush that Caesar doesn't notice. Caesar is used to seeing cheeks tinted vibrant shades of red and pink.
Caesars adds in a naïve tone, trying to get Gale to say the words himself, "best friends?"
Gale replies, flustered, "I guess," blushes, hesitates, then "I can't really describe it."
"Why is that? Is there more to it?" Caesar suggests.
Gale fumbles for words. He's always had feelings for Katniss, but struggled with admitting them to himself, let alone the world. The only words he manages to sputter are "well, err, I, umm–"
Caesar cuts Gale off. "No need to say more! When did you first start to have feeling for Katniss?"
There was no use trying to hide now. Gale looked down again and replied sheepishly, "the first time I saw her smile."
Caesar's face lights up again. "Ooh! Tell me more!"
"Well, you don't see smiles that often in District 12, so when you do they're extra special."
Caesar gasps over the romance. "Continue, continue!" He demands, anxiously.
Gale remembers that Katniss is supposedly in love with her rival, Peeta. Anger wells up inside him. His feelings for Katniss are true. There are no ulterior motives. "I can't."
"Why not?" Caesar asks, with genuine disappointment.
Gale's throat grows dry with thirst and tension. "Cameras," he chokes.
"Pardon me?" Caesar tilts his head.
"Can you ask a different question?" Gale asks plainly, trying to stifle emotion.
Caesar knows he can't win. "So what did you tell Katniss in the Justice Building?"
Gale coughs. "It was...painful...to say goodbye. Knowing I may never see her again."
Caesar tosses in some Capitol-style energy. "Well maybe with that attitude! I mean an eleven in training! She has potential!"
Gale smiles. "Yes. She does." He sits there, frozen on thoughts of Katniss. Her smile, her loyalty, her spirit. He snaps back to reality, abruptly. "I...I can't imagine losing her. I lie awake every night thinking of her. Everything reminds me of her. The glimmer of the stars in the night sky..." He trails off. "I found a patch of the katniss plant and plucked the white-petaled flowers." He reached into his pocket and ran the pad of his finger across a petal. "They remind me of her. When I miss her, at least I have her aquatic namesake. It's almost like she there with me. I feel like she's already gone. It's strange to think that each night, when I'm lying awake, we're looking at the same sky, the same stars, the same universe."
Gale's brain drifts to the morning before the reaping. Suggesting to run away with Katniss. Her refusal. Thoughts like 'what if she said yes?' Their last morning together before the reaping. Their last morning together before the Hunger Games. Quite possibly their last morning ever. A chill runs through his spine. She has to come back, she just has to. He shakes his head.
"Is something wrong?" Caesar asks.
Gale completely forgot when he was, lost in thought. "No, uhh, nothing. I just miss her. I remember hugging her and not wanting to let go. We didn't have much time to say goodbye. Maybe it's better that way. More of a clean break. But that's the opposite of how it feels now. I feel chemically attached to her and that bond can never be broken in life or death..." He stops himself. "Before the Peacekeepers dragged me out of the room, I tried to tell her something...but it was too late."
"Ooh, what was it?" Caesar perks up.
Gale swallows and looks down, then back up. "I wanted to tell her I love her." He said plainly, innocently, truly.
Caesar lets out a hushed breath.
"Hey, Caesar, can you do me a favor?" Gale begs in an indifferent tone.
"Of course, Gale, anything" Caesar replies with a sense of sweetness.
"Please don't air this."
Static.