Hellow to all of you. Because of this oneshot, the number of Gally fics in existence is now...*drum roll*... TEN. Yeah. Still not that impressive. That's okay though. This is a pretty rare pairing, but I love it. Okay then. This fic includes:
A) My hard work
B) The hipster pairing Gally
C) Me asking for reviews (PLEEEASE REVEIW!)
D) A kick-ass pep-talk from our very own Johanna Mason
This is a oneshot, but depending on the reaction I get, it could become up to a threeshot. But anyways... Enjoy!
"You are so self-centered. Did you know that?" The unmistakable sound of Johanna Mason's voice snapped me back to reality.
"What?" I asked turning my head.
"You are wrapped up in your own little world sulking about shit when the world is on fire." She said. The first thing I think of when I hear "on fire" is Katniss. The girl who was on fire. I killed her sister, she's suicidal, and Peeta is so conveniently there. Nobody cares about the loose ends and left out third wheels. Nobody cares about me.
"I killed people. Get it through your thick head Mason." I spat. "You think that it doesn't matter. I'm a murderer."
"Shut up." Johanna said. "You're not a murderer. Your stupid bomb was used for something it wasn't intended for. That's not murder."
"Katniss-"
"Are you still crying over her?" She cut me off. "We're all tired of that story Gale. 'I loved her and then some smooth-talking baker comes in and sweeps her off her feet and all of a sudden all those ideas of marriage flew out the window.' Annie is pregnant and the father of her baby is dead. Haymitch is barely sober. All the other victors are dead. I don't even talk about my life. You think you're messed up? Try a ring around the hunger games, then talk. Because I would love to have a chat with that Gale." Johanna's words stung. The worst part was that everything she said was true. I couldn't say anything. "Cry me a river, build yourself a bridge, and get over it."
"I get it Mason." I shot back.
"And he's back." She said smirking.
"But I wasn't in the hunger games." I said. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do."
"She wasn't in the hunger games." Johanna said pointing to Delly Cartwright who was walking by. "The two of you have a lot in common."
"Not really." I said. "She used to be pudgy. That means she could afford to eat more than others. I had to kill to eat."
"Fuck that shit." Johanna said. "Not the past, I'm talking about right now. Delly said that she used to tell people Peeta was her brother. They must've been pretty close."
"What's your point?" I asked. By then, Johanna looked like she was going to break something she was so angry.
"Do I have to spell it out for you?" She screamed. After calming down she spoke softly, "You both lost someone you really cared about to the Capitol, the Games, mental disease... You were both there when they needed you, you both fixed them." I took a second glance at Delly. Someone called out her name and she faintly smiled, then laughed, and walked away smiling to herself.
"I never thought of it that way." I said before stopping myself.
"Obviously." Johanna muttered. "But I guess there is one thing that's different about you two."
"What's that?"
"She's moved on. Delly walks around smiling all the time." Johanna said turning away.
"There's no way she's really over it though." I said. She stopped in her tracks. "If she was really that close to Peeta, it's just a mask." Johanna walked off.
"Whatever Hawthrone." She called. I got up and jogged around the corner in the direction Delly was going. I had an idea of where she was headed, even if I was wrong, I could use some fresh air.
Since 13 had "won" we could now freely go above ground. Most people didn't. Still afraid of sunlight I guess. Sunlight and the Capitol. I walked around until I saw her. Delly had let her hair down, her blonde curls blew softly in the cool breeze. She'd also unzipped the top of her uniform and let it hang down. So all she wore was her tank top and the bottom of her grey suit. It showed just how much weight she'd lost. Delly was pale, underweight, and had that look of waiting in her eyes; just like every other 13 citizen. The sun was at its lowest point before it would disappear behind the I walked over, I could see that she was scrubbing hard on her arm with a scrap of fabric to remove the ugly purple ink. She wiped at her eyes, using her own tears as water. Blood stained her knuckles.
"Delly?" I asked. She gasped turning to face me. Tears filled her eyes, some had already spilled over.
"Gale!" She said looking down and wiping them away. "I didn't know you came up here. Most people don't."
"I'm not most people though." I said sitting next to her. Delly nodded looking up at me. I looked at her arm. "Tears don't work that well for trying to get that off y'know. And I don't think that blood does either."
"Yeah... I just hate this. I guess j just got worked up about it." She said looking down.
"If you start bleeding, isn't that a sign you should stop?" I asked pointing to the blood spots on her hands. Delly blinked at me. "If that wasn't a sign, I'd think that tears of pain would be."
"That's not why I was crying." She said.
"What is it then?" I asked. Delly looked at me for a second, then covered her face with her hands crying again.
"My brother died today." She choked out. I let her cry for a few minutes. "He was on his first mission, they were just sent out there for cleanup I think and some of the remaining Capitol supporters shot them all."
"I'm sorry." I said. She kept crying and trying to stop. Her nose started running and she had to keep wiping her face with her wrist.
"It's just- first my parents died in the bombing and I had to take care of him. Now he's just gone and there's nobody left. All if my family is dead, I can't even talk to Peeta anymore. I mean, I'm happy for him but..." Delly trailed off.
"You wish you weren't the spare." I finished. She looked at me, blue eyes with impossibly large pupils.
"Yeah." She said. I nodded.
"I know the feeling." I said. "How do you manage?"
"I don't." Delly said. "Ever since Peeta was in the Games for the first time, I've had insomnia. They keep giving me these sleeping pills here. They work sometimes. But I doubt they will now." She stared at the setting sun. Eyes filling with tears, just on the verge of falling down her pale face. I wrapped my arms around her. She smelled like honey. How was that even possible? Delly didn't move, didn't make a sound, just stayed there until I pulled back.
"It's Peeta's favorite color." She whispered staring off. "The orange of a sunset. I could never understand until now. It's beautiful."
"Did you ever like him?" I asked. Delly looked confused for a moment. Then she understood.
"I always loved Peeta. Not in that sense. I knew it wouldn't happen because he loved Katniss." She said.
"How?" I asked. Delly's pale eyebrows tugged together, not understanding. "How can you just stop yourself like that?"
"I know that if I really care about him, I'll let him go." She said.
"Just like that?" I asked. Delly nodded. The sun was almost gone now. Sinking into the distance. She let out a sigh and ran her fingers through her hair. "We're not that different." I blurted.
Delly turned to me. "How so?"
"I loved Katniss. You loved Peeta." I began. Johanna is going to kill me for stealing this from her. "We both cared about them and lost them to the Capitol and their Games. When Peeta was hostage, I helped Katniss."
"I know." Delly didn't mean it in a rude way, but I could tell she was thinking it. Everyone knew how I helped Katniss get through though things. The same way I'd helped myself get over her both times she in The Hunger Games, only there was no slag heap in district 13.
"And you helped Peeta get thought the lies they put in his brain." I continued. "But now, we're just here. Alone. We fixed them." I thought of something Johanna didn't. "But now we're the broken ones, and nobody is going to help us."
"I thought of that once." Delly said. Smart girl. "But I never thought you'd want to be my friend." Maybe I don't. With the way you look right now, I wasn't thinking we could be friends. The sun was just barely peeking out. The rest of the sky was already a dark indigo with sparkling stars. Delly wasn't the prettiest of girls. She was average looking. But right then, she looked pretty. Maybe even beautiful. Her eyes sparkled, it was probably the stars reflecting in her tears. Delly turned her head as the sun disappeared leaving us in the blue-white glow of the moon and stars. She smiled and I put my hand to her cheek, turning her to face me. I pulled Delly towards me, her mouth was less than an inch away from mine when she pulled back.
"I don't want to be a replacement." She said. I couldn't see her face, but I knew she was crying. "Not of Katniss, or Madge, or anyone." Delly faced me. "Don't you get it? I was one of the only girls in district 12 who didn't go to the slag heap those nights that Katniss wasn't there. Didn't you ever wonder why? I'm not going to be used."
"That's just it Delly." I said. "I don't want you to be Katniss or Madge. I definitely don't want you to be any of those girls I used either."
"Then what the hell do you want be to be Gale Hawthorne?" She asked. I leaned in close to her.
"I want you to be mine." I whispered before kissing her. Our mouths met and Delly shook slightly, after a few moments, she stopped. Her face was still wet with tears as her hand reached out to hold my jaw. Delly gasped pulling away. Then she smiled, crying. "Dammit Cartwright, do you ever stop crying?" I joked. She laughed and put her head on my shoulder. I kissed the top of her forehead. It was all happening so fast. Delly was perfect and I'd never even noticed. But now...
"Gale?" Delly asked looking up at me. "I think I might be in love with you. But, I've never been in love before- so I don't know what this feeling is."
"I'm not sure either." I said. "But we'll figure it out." I said standing up. I held out my hand for her.
"Together." Delly said taking it. We walked back to the underground living compartments. We slept together in mine that night. I knew after I'd kissed her, if she wasn't with me, I wouldn't sleep. After all the times I thought about how it would feel to Katniss lying next to me, or Madge, even Leevy at one point. The real thing with Delly was so much better. There was no sexuality involved, just two people sleeping in the same bed; both fully clothed. I thought I would be the one to fall asleep first, but I didn't. Delly feel asleep after twenty minutes of silent crying. At first I thought she was awake and just not making a sound. Then she turned towards me, burrying her face in my chest. I felt something in my throat, I wrapped my arms around her and buried my own face in her hair before I could figure out what it was. It took a long time for me to fall asleep after that. Not because I wasn't tired- believe me, I was- but because with Delly next to me, sleep was a foregin word that seemed impossible. At that point I was almost sure I was in love with her. Because I didn't care that she was sleeping in my compartment, my bed, or even my arms. I cared that Delly Cartwright- an insomniac- was smiling in her sleep. That was what made me fall asleep with her.
AWWWW! THEY'RE SO CUTE! GALLY FTW.
If you enjoyed this, I recommend my other Gally fic; The Unexpected, it's my pride and joy. Now then, I'm going to sit in a corner and wait for November 22.