Hey everyone… So, this is my first Hunger Games fic, and I wrote it just after I finished reading the last book a couple months ago, but I haven't posted it till now. Anywho, I hope you all like it, and I hope it's not terribly OOC. It's mostly epilogue compliant, I think –although I haven't checked- and is a Katniss/Peeta fic, although Gale is the main character. It does, however, reinstate the fact that Gale is totally and irreversibly, eternally in love with Katniss… so it's minorly tragic. …I'm going to stop rambling on now…
Disclaimer: All things Hunger Games belong to Suzanne Collins
Gale stares up at the big white house in the Victor's Village of District 12. He finds it daunting. He takes note of the primroses planted around the house, and they put him a little more at ease, perhaps because they are the only sign that there is actually someone living there.
If it weren't for the people he'll meet inside, Gale would much rather be going to the house next door. It's painted a pale green, the color of a green leaf being held up to the sun, and the trimming is sky blue. The door, however, is orange. Not a bright orange, but the color of the sunset. It shouldn't match, indeed it should clash horribly with the green and blue, but all in all, Gale finds himself thinking the combination is surprisingly pleasant and rather welcoming.
He looks back at the house in front of him. Plain, white and foreboding. But inside is Katniss, the girl he'll always love, but never be able to get. And he's here to see her for one last time. One last time before she marries the man of her dreams. Before she marries Peeta.
Gale takes a deep breath, and knocks on the door. He hears some thumping around inside, perhaps someone running down a flight of stairs, and then the door swings open to reveal Katniss. She's a little older, perhaps, but then he hasn't seen her for 5 years. Her hair is in its regular braid, though a little messed up, and she's wearing a loose t-shirt and pants, along with her father's old hunting jacket, looking like she's just gotten out of bed. To Gale, however, she's never looked more beautiful.
"Gale…" she says softly, looking quite surprised. There's a hardness in her eyes he's seen plenty of times, every time she kills anything and anytime she's really, truly mad, but only seen once directed at him… the day she walked away.
"Hey Catnip." Says Gale, sending a tentative smile her way. "Sorry it's early, but I was in the area, and…"
She looks at him for a moment, and then says "Come in.", holding the door open wider now, an uncertain smile on her face.
"I can't." says Gale, making a split second decision after realizing the hard look in her eyes is for him. She hasn't forgotten or forgiven the death of her sister, and as he thinks about it, he realizes he shouldn't have been expecting her to. Then again, what did he expect? Her racing into his arms and kissing him? Certainly not. Perhaps her yelling at him, or even simply slamming the door in his face? Not quite. Her welcoming him like she used to, as her best friend and hunting partner? Perhaps.
But he never expected her to tentatively invite her into her house, even though her eyes say she doesn't want him here. And yet that's what she's doing, and he can't bear it. "I don't have much time to catch my train," He lies, as a little more surprise blossoms across her, in his opinion, flawless face. "I just came to stop by."
Katniss nods. "How have you been?" she asks.
"Fine." He tells her. "You?"
She contemplates his question for a moment, then says "Good."
"I heard you and Peeta are… engaged." He says, hating the things he's saying.
A genuine smile flits across her face for a moment as she says "Yeah, we are."
He can tell she's sincerely happy about it, and all half developed dreams of crashing their wedding go flying out the window. Gale opens his mouth to say something, he's not sure what, but then he closes it again. Katniss watches him closely. Finally, he manages to say "Keep in touch." Then, as an afterthought, he adds "If you've got the time."
At this, he can almost see the grin she used to get when he'd made a joke. "Time." She says, "All I've got is time, time, time."
Gale smiles a sideways smile. "Well, if you've got extra, I'd love to hear from you." He says.
"I'll do that." Says Katniss, "I'll guess I'll see you then?"
Gale is about to confirm this, before he realizes that the next time he would be able to see her is once she's married, and he knows he wouldn't be able to bear it. So instead, he says "No. I won't be back. I just came to see you one last time."
Katniss looks at him curiously, then shrugs and says "Alright Gale. But stay out of trouble."
Gale laughs, and says "You know me Kat, I can't stay out of trouble."
Katniss rolls her eyes, and a smile plays around her lips. "Bye Gale." She says.
"Goodbye Katniss." He tells her. He turns and walks away, but just before she can close the door completely, he yells to her "And may the odds be ever in your favor!"
And then, he's pretty sure he hears her laughing as she shuts the door. He walks through the square, and sits by the train station.
He's got an hour to kill before the train comes, and so he begins pulling up grass for no particular reason as he thinks about her, her and Peeta.
Deep down, he knows that Peeta is best for her. He knows it because Peeta saved Prim, only for Gale to kill her. He knows that she doesn't need another angry, hate driven person in her life, because she is angry enough for two people. She needs someone who'll care for her forever, who'll give his life for her a thousand times over, and who won't ever give up on her. Gale can't do that for her, Gale isn't that person. Gale won't ever be that person. She doesn't need Gale. She needs Peeta.