Chapter 3 - July
It took Katniss weeks to get over what happened. Finnick took great care of her, as he had so much free time. He worked as a swimming instructor in a fancy private school nearby, and they were out for the Summer. He only taught in an optional class every weekend, so Katniss has him all to herself on other days. He made her her favourite food, played her cheesy Rom-Com movies and filled Prim in on what had happened, as she wasn't ready to talk about it yet.
Katniss didn't leave her apartment for about two weeks after the incident. Every time there was a knock on the door she flinched and panicked. Eventually, she plucked up the courage to take a short walk to the grocery store, with Finnick by her side of course, and found it wasn't as bad as she had been anticipating. Cato wasn't there, and apparently he hadn't been seen around the small town for about two weeks.
Katniss got back into routine, beginning to take care of Prim again and going back to work. She was very close to the manager of the store, Haymitch, so he told her that her job would be waiting for her when she was good and ready. Haymitch was the closest thing that Katniss had to a father figure, and he absolutely adored Prim. He was a surly old drunk, but always sobered up before he came to the apartment to see them. He had been her mother's best friend before she died, and got her her first, and only, job when she died. He took them in until Katniss was able to get her own apartment and look after Prim. When Katniss was behind on rent, Haymitch would always find out, probably from Prim, and he was willing and able to help out. Katniss always paid him back, of course, as her pride wouldn't let her just take the money.
She even made a new friend, Gale. They had met a few months back at the archery station in the local gym, but never took much notice of each other, until they met at the grocery store and got into a lively conversation about sports. Katniss loved football and basketball, and Gale so happened to be a fan. They went for coffee regularly, and became very close within a couple of weeks. Nothing romantic ever went on between them, and they both seemed to be happy with that. Or so she thought.
They were having coffee in Katniss' favourite local cafe, and they were laughing about how Gale had walked into the clear glass door on the way in, twice. Katniss' hand was outstretched on the table, when Gale's large, calloused hand covered it. Katniss looked down at their hands in shock, but was too polite to pull it away.
Even though this tiny show of affection scared the hell out of her.
"Sooooooo what's going on with you and Galey?" Finnick slurred, making kissey faces. Prim was staying over at a friend's house, so Katniss had headed over to Finnick's house with a bottle of vodka and two shot glasses shoved in her bag. They had only had a few shots each, but it had already gone to their heads.
"We-we're j-just friends silly!" she replied, bursting into laughter for no reason, "but I'll admit, he is hot. Not my type though."
Katniss had been trying to subtly distance herself from Gale for the past few weeks, since he had held her hand. But Gale wasn't giving up quite that easy. He was trying to make plans with her every night, and always showed up at the gym when she was there trying to clear her head. Archery wasn't a very popular sport around their town, so most of the time that part of the gym was empty.
"Well he wants you," he hiccuped, and giggled a very girly giggle, his usually smooth, deep voice disappearing, "I've seen the way he l-looks at you Kitty Ca-"
"Don't call me that Finnick!"
"Fine. But I mean it, he wants you. A lot more than he's telling you. I think you should either go for it or just let him down easy so no feelings get hurt later on."
"Why do you always get so god-damn wise when you're drunk?" she asked, taking another shot and wincing as the liquid burned down her throat.
"It's one of my many talents," he said, wiggling his eyebrows at her suggestively.
"Ew, Finnick. I do not need to hear about your sex life!" she screamed, lobbing a pillow from the couch at his face. He laughed and threw it back, and it turned into a full blown pillow fight.
They passed out at around three in the morning, Finnick on the kitchen table and Katniss on the huge armchair in his living room.
She woke up with a pounding headache and looked at the clock.
Shit.
It was almost three o' clock, and Prim would be home any minute. She ran into the kitchen and shook Finnick awake, imagining that his headache must be just as bad as hers. "I gotta go, Prim's gonna be home soon! Call me later."
Finnick only grunted in response, and rolled onto his side. He made a gagging sound, and threw up into the trash can next to the table.
Katniss began the short walk back to her apartment, enjoying the beautiful Summer day. It was sunny and hot, making her grateful that she had worn shorts. She rounded the final corner and pulled her keys out of her bag, jingling them in her hand.
"Prim? I'm home!"
When she got no reply, Katniss looked at the clock and saw that it was only three o' clock. Her head was still incredibly painful, so she went into the kitchen and got out two aspirin. When she turned around, she dropped the glass and it shattered all over the floor, and she got a cut on her foot where her flip flops didn't give much protection from the glass.
"Oww ow ow shit!" she shouted, "Gale what the hell are you doing here? How did you get in?"
"Your door was opened and I wanted to ask you something, so i waited for you to get back," he replied with a smile. Katniss silently cursed, remembering that she didn't lock the door when she left for Finnick's house yesterday.
"Well what do you want? You can't just let yourself in to someone's apartment without asking you know." she snapped, getting more irritated by the second.
He scratched the back of his neck, suddenly looking nervous. "I was wondering.. Well I thought.. Would you like to go out on a date with me? Like, a real date?"
"Gale.."
"Please. Just one date, and if you don't enjoy it I promise we can just be regular friends again!" He looked so desperate, and Katniss couldn't help but say yes, no matter how reluctant to date she was.
"Fine. Now please, go. I have to get this cleaned up."
"Ok, see you tomorrow at seven?"
She tried to muster up a warm smile, but it came out as more of a grimace.
"Sounds.. Good."
A/N.
Hey guys! The story's getting a great response, so I'm gonna keep it going. I know that the chapters are short but I just don't have very much time to write great big long ones. Sorry! Please Please Please keep reviewing, they help me write! And they put me in a good mood :) If there's anything you'd maybe like to see in coming chapters let me know in a review and I'll see what I can do!
I'm going out tomorrow night so it'll probably be Saturday or Sunday when you get an update, but I'll try my best to have it up by Monday. I'm getting my holidays tomorrow so I'll have a lot more free time to write!
See you soon!
