Disclaimer: I don't own The Hunger Games.

Summary: After the Games, Gale started to notice little things about Katniss, the things that she'd love to hide but couldn't. Especially not from him. GaleKatniss, oneshot

Happy New Year! I've had this finished for a bit, but decided to start the new year off right and post it today. I haven't written for The Hunger Games in so, so long, it seems, and for some reason I wanted to try my hand at a Gale and Katniss fic. It's not a very lengthy fic, but I hope that y'all enjoy it!

Minutiae

The woods looked particularly beautiful when there was not an animal in sight, when the sun streamed through the branches of the trees and was able to just barely reach its fingers to the forest floor. He had always appreciated the stunning nature of the wilderness, but now it might have been a bit sweeter.

Of course, Gale Hawthorne had always been a bit biased.

She was with him, of course, standing next to him while looking steely-eyed and determined with her trademark bow in her hand and the quiver of arrows on her back. This image had been plastered all over Panem, the silent and thoughtful Victor that walked out with just a bit more than her life.

These moments were rare, the moments in which they could just sneak underneath the fence and out into what seemed like freedom.

Gale found himself staring at her. He found that he did this often, in regards to her. And, often, he found himself with a tight chest, a strange pressure developing in his bones as if they would burst from inside out. These feelings were uncomfortable at best, crippling at worst, but he had always been someone with a skill for adaptation, so he never let it show on his face.

He couldn't, after all.

Katniss Everdeen perched herself on a nearby, moss-covered rock, the light breeze brushing the hair from her face. She ran her fingers over the soft green growth and gave a sigh. He knew this was where she felt truly at home, where she could smile and laugh without the eyes of the entirety of Panem on her.

However, her smiles have been even less as of late. Her laughs have been less mirthful - if they ever were to begin with. He remembered just how hard it was to garner even the faintest of smiles from her in the beginning, and now she was just folding in even more on herself, allowing no one in. No one at all.

He knew that the only one who could even begin to understand what she was going through was the baker's son, obviously. And there was a piece of him - however small or large that piece was, he'd never tell anyone - that was jealous.

But there was no time for thoughts like that, Gale reasoned. This was his time with his Katniss, and he couldn't allow things as trivial as jealousy to take their hold on him.

Katniss leapt from the rock, landing as quietly as a feather, and stayed in her crouch. Her lips were pursed in concentration, her eyes intense as they stared ahead of her.

Of course, other than her usual mannerisms, Gale noticed new things about her. Things that made him worried each and every day. The increasing darkness of the circles beneath her eyes, they way she would sometimes jump at even the slightest touches. She'd put up a good front, but there was obviously some residual damage from the Games that she had been dealing with for quite some time.

He supposed he was a fool when he thought that things would become normal once again after she was home. Things had gotten worse, if anything.

Normal, he thought, letting a bitter smile curve his lips.

Things were far from normal.

Katniss held the look of someone haunted, and that made him hate the Capitol all the more. Gaunt and still so thin, despite having all the food one could ever want. Still on guard, even though her family were well taken care of. Eyes still so sharp they could cut glass.

Gale supposed certain habits died hard, especially those intensified by fighting for one's life.

Katniss took that moment to look at him. She quirked a brow at him, jabbing a thumb in his direction. "What are you smiling about?"

The bitter smile from before had turned into one more genuine at her question. It was so blunt, so Katniss, that he couldn't bring himself to do anything but.

"Nothing," he answered. "Nothing at all."

There was a moment of quiet in which she sighed, bringing the bow down to her side and allowing a finger to slide over the wooden surface.

Gale couldn't take it any longer. He inhaled deeply and turned to her, giving her a look that should communicate what he can't. She stared at him in wonder, her eyes curious in her face. Shaking his head, he asked, "Are you alright?"

"Fine," she replied, giving him a pathetic reassuring smile. Faint, crooked, barely there. It looked just like the one she gave him before the Games, but different. As if plastered on by someone other than herself.

"Well," he started, "I'm here if you need me."

That brought a real smile out of her, one that made chills go down his arms and a weight settle in his chest.

"You always are." She pressed a hand to his shoulder, the touch bringing a more genuine smile to his own face.

Frankly, he couldn't even imagine a future where he wasn't there for Katniss Everdeen.

And, really, he didn't want to.

End.