I stretched, waking up on my couch. It's been a week since I have seen Gale. That was due to him working in the mines. Today is Sunday, the only day I get to see him for a while. Not wanting to waste any moment longer from being away from him, I change into a new set of clothes and speed-walk to the fence. I figured Gale would already be in the woods, but to my amusement, he's sitting along the fence, waiting for me.
"How do you feel, Catnip?" He asks, standing up and embraces me.
I laugh and kiss him on the cheek, "Great. I missed you so much, though." His body feels so warm against mine. It just feels so natural to be in his arms. His hugs always make me feel so safe and relaxed.
Gale pulls away from the hug a bit before kissing my forehead, "I missed you, too. Working in the mines sucks when I can't be around you."
"It worries me, Gale… I don't want you to get injured down there…" I add in a whisper, "I'll offer you some of my winnings, again…"
Gale shakes his head, "I couldn't do that. You earned it yourself."
With a chuckle, I nod towards the fence, "Ready to go under?"
"Of course."
Gale lets me crawl under first. I slide under the fence and slowly get to my feet. I watch him come through and giggle as he stands up. He instantly grabs my bow from under the tree and hands it over. I let out a small burst of laughter as he hands me my sheath of arrows, "Thanks, Gale."
"No problem, Catnip." He gathers his snare supplies and smirks, "Where shall we go?"
"Anywhere." I nod towards the dense forest, "You lead the way."
He grins and takes my hand, leading me through brush. He squeezes my hand and stoops down, pointing out to a pair of turkeys. Slipping my hand out of his grip, I grab my bow and nock an arrow. Aiming just a tad bit above the turkeys, due to them being a bit more far away, I shoot. The one drops to the ground, and the other takes flight. Immediately, I sling an arrow and take down the other one.
Gale lets out a great whoop of celebration and clasps me on the back. "That's the Catnip I've know and love!"
I lay my bow on the ground and rest my head on his shoulder. This is much more normal than being with Peeta. Whenever I'm with him, it feels too rushed. Too forced. Now, this feels just right. Although, if anyone found out, I'd surely be dead. Everyone in Panem thinks I love Peeta, but only Gale and I know the truth. I want Gale. He was the only one I thought of when I was alone on the roof before the Games. I missed him. I needed him. I wanted him to know how I felt. At least he knows now. I'm just curious to see how Peeta and I's false relationship will affect him.
"Gale." I murmur as he runs a hand down my braided hair.
"Yes, Kat?" He responds instantly.
I take a deep breath, "No matter what happens with Peeta, I just want you to know I love you, and you only. I can assure you, Peeta's thing for me is one-sided." It's true. Things feel too fake around Peeta. Out here with Gale, it's all real. We love each other. I don't think anything could change that.
"You promise?" He asks, looking at me.
"I promise. Please, don't get jealous. I have a bad feeling that if Snow found out somehow…"
"I see…" He stands up straight, "I'll go bag the turkeys. You stay here."
As I nod, he heads over towards the turkeys. I sit down and lay back on the ground. I noticed the faint rays of sunlight peeking through the thick treetops. I smile, watching Mockingjays hop from branch to branch, singing a familiar song. I whistle the next verse, giggling as they send it right back to me and on through the woods. A moment later, Gale walks over with the turkeys in his game bag. "
You have the most peaceful voice." He flops down beside me on the ground after sitting his stuff aside. "I could listen to it all day, Catnip."
I feel my cheeks burning and poke him on the nose, "Oh, is that so?"
"Absolutely. I couldn't sing like that.." Gale peers at me before snorting, "Even if I tried."
I stand up on my knees and giggle, "Oh, that's something I'd love to hear… Gale Hawthorne, the singing miner!" I run a hand across his chest, "Surely, your voice isn't that bad."
"It's horrific…" He scoffs. I stare at him, encouragingly, "Oh, give it a shot."
He sighs, shaking his head, "Sometime else… I don't exactly remember too many songs…" He pauses before continuing, "After I double check the words to the song, I would love to sing with you."
I mimic him, "You promise?"
He catches on and chuckles, "I promise."
I slowly stand up, "I almost forgot, did you check the snare over there by where I shot the turkeys?"
"Yep, got a squirrel." He beams at me and rises to his feet. "It should be a loaf of bread as usual."
I grab my gear, "We should go trade this stuff." Gale agrees and we trek out of the woods, making sure to drop off our supplies in the hollow of a tree. I slip back under the fence and reappear on the other side. Gale scoots the bag of game through to me before coming through. We head on down to the hob, deciding to get trading over with. I am about to walk into the Bakery when Peeta opens the door. It seems the world freezes as we look blankly at each other.
"Oh… Hey…"
"Hey…" I reply. I sense the strangeness and turn to Gale. He's standing off the porch, looking the other way. I peer back at Peeta, pulling a squirrel out if my bag. The only reason I still trade is because Gale won't accept any food I buy with the money from the Games. Also, it brings back memories of us when we were younger, going around with game in our bags. "We got three squirrels," I said, handing them to him.
Peeta nods, taking the dead critters, "Alright, I'll be right back." He shuts the door and goes to get a few loaves of bread, the usual reward for a squirrel.
"So much for not being awkward." I mumble.
Gale snorts, laughing, "Yeah. I'm trying to ignore it."
I walk back down to Gale and embrace him. We stand there, enveloped in each other's arms. Thankfully, no one was around other than us. If Snow finds out, were screwed. I'd rather die in love with Gale than fake being in love with Peeta. I know Snow is still out to get us over the nightlock trick we pulled last year. Even then, the only person I wanted to be with was Gale. Nothing's changed about that. Gale pecks me on the side of my neck and I giggle, nuzzling my face into his strong chest, "Gale…"
He smirks and whispers back, "I know… we'll have to keep it on the down-low, but I can't help myself."
"Neither can I." I say and kiss his cheek.
I hear the door creaking behind me and instantly pull myself away from him. Peeta has three loaves of bread in his hand. The look on his face seems to be trying to tell me something, but I can't figure out what. Then, something weird happens. Without a word, he hands the bread to me, nods in Gale's direction, and walks back into the bakery.
"What was that?" Gale says, taking the words right out of my mouth.
"No idea…" I mumble, shrugging. Did he see us hugging and whispering to each other?
Gale nudges me with his foot, "Want to head back to your place? Or we can go to my house. No one's home." He raised an eyebrow, making me laugh.
"Sure, that sounds great." I smiled and followed him to his house. He eagerly led the way, speed-walking the whole way. The streets were eerily empty. It was definitely odd. Once we got to the front door, he unlocked it and held it open.
"After you, Catnip." He grinned.
I pushed on his chest playfully as I stepped inside.
