someone like you, a hunger games fanfic

-x-

I hate to turn up out of the blue, uninvited but
I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight it.

He had no idea what he was doing here, in his former home, surrounded by replicas of the buildings he had once known.

He had no idea what on earth had compelled him to return. Why he was here, surrounded by choking memories and the faint smell of soot.

Yet he knew why. He didn't want to admit it.

Of course, he had found out, in one of the gossip magazines that plagued District 2. How could he have not? Everyone buzzed about it. They had a fancy Capitol wedding, despite their objections. The not-so-drunk former victor, Haymitch Abernathy, had walked her down the aisle. Finnick Odair's son was the ring-bearer, with his mother, Annie Cresta, and the former victor Johanna Mason as bridesmaids. Everyone was there.

Except for the people who should have been there.

He pulled the creamy white invitation out of his pocket, fingering the ribbon on it. He knew he should have RSVP'ed, even if it had been a checkmark next to the "no".

He wondered how she had figured out his address. Wondered if she had ever stopped by the District, searching for the tell-tale gray eyes, out of place with everyone's dark eyes. Wondered if she had ever had any regrets about spending the rest of her life with the baker's son.

Who would have known how bittersweet this would taste?

He stopped by Victor's Village, completely aware of his stupidity and how he wasn't supposed to be there. He slowed down in front of an open door and found himself confronted with Haymitch himself.

A flicker of recognition crept along Haymitch's facial features.

"Gale Hawthorne," he grunted. "Back again?"

He gave a small nod. "That I am."

"Well, you're a little late for the festivities, kid, you know?"

"I know."

There was a period of awkward silence as Haymitch looked him up and down. He allowed himself a small half-smile.

"How's your fancy job?"

"It's…fancy." He had no other words. He felt that, if provoked, he could tumble out words in an excessive show of emotion.

Haymitch took a swig of a bottle. "She's in the woods."

A flood of feeling washed over Gale. Anger, excitement, happiness, unhappiness. All mixed together in a flurry.

"Thank you. I hope that you're doing well."

Haymitch shrugged. "I never am, but that never stopped me before. Happy hunting."

Gale smiled tersely at the farewell and trekked off in the path he had known so well. The stones under his feet looked disturbed and resembled his thoughts. He prepared to slide under a crack in the fence, but then remembered a beat too late that the fence was gone, disappeared. Slowly, cautiously, and with only a few remnants of his youthful agility, he crunched through the forest. It had been ten years since he had come back. The memories flashed across his mind of running through the forest, Katniss at his side.

You know how the time flies
Only yesterday was the time of our lives.

A hollow feeling formed in his stomach. So many things were different. He had a proper shelter and food now. His mother and siblings were living comfortably. Catnip was simply a thought, a name, a memory.

He was almost at the lake when he heard a beautiful sound. A voice. The voice. With his ears perked up, he followed the direction and stopped when he was several yards away.

Even though a full decade had passed, none of her former beauty had changed. Her dark hair was still in that braid that he knew tickled the back of her neck. Her gray eyes, although conspicuously creased around the edges, maintained that vigor that she always had. Her spunk. Although she was now approaching thirty, she was still, to him, seventeen and fearless. Unstoppable.

She spun around in a circle, singing to the birds. Her bow and arrow were thrown haphazardly on the ground as rabbits scampered by, ready to flee the area in case she wanted rabbit stew for dinner. The words floated above the air and seized Gale with a kind of passion he hadn't felt in years, wrapping him in the ribbons of melody. Gale knew he should go out and embrace her, but he was frozen. With fear, with hope, with everything.

Old friend, why are you so shy?

She finished abruptly, leaving Gale with the abominable silence of his own thoughts. He stepped out from behind a tree and was about to start walking towards her.

"You're such a beautiful singer," a figure stepped off a log and wrapped its arms around Katniss, ducking its head down for a kiss on the lips. As the two broke apart, Katniss smiled.

"Oh Peeta, shush. I'm nothing compared to your paintings."

Peeta smiled. "Well, maybe that's true," he winked mischievously.

Katniss pelted him with twigs. "SHUT UP."

He grabbed her waist and pulled her closer to him, nuzzling her neck with his face, kissing her up and down the arm. They linked hands.

"Let's go home."

They bumped hips on the way out.

I heard that your dreams came true.

Stunned into silence, Gale waited a few minutes and then slowly left through a different path. Walking slowly throughout the quiet district, he looked at the Victor's Village, watching Katniss and Peeta in the kitchen. Peeta kissed Katniss on the tip of the nose and she laughed, her eyes flitting to the window. For a split second, she saw him, and he saw her. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened. Gale didn't want to stick around. He walked quickly, his mind suddenly overcome with everything that had just happened.

There was no more Gale and Katniss. No more Catnip. No more of that. She couldn't survive without Peeta. They were together.

His face hardened as he walked towards the train station at lightning speed. He was sorry he had come. He was sorry he had seen.

He was sorry.

Never mind, I'll find someone like you.

I wish nothing but the best for you.