A/N: Just wondering if you guys think i should go through the details of the games from Prim & Rory's POV, or if i should only hit the highlights and get on to Catching Fire! Please review and let me know what you think!
It's only been ten minutes since Katniss volunteered, but Gale can't stop pacing or mumbling to himself. Mother took Vick and Posy home, but I offered to stay with Gale in the Justice Building so he wouldn't do anything stupid.
Family members and friends only get three minutes apiece, and that time is usually spent saying goodbyes, because for 23 tributes this is the last time they're going to see their family. But Katniss has basically been a member of our family for the last four years, and I know her well enough to know that emotions aren't really her thing. Instead of saying goodbye, Katniss has probably spent the last three minutes giving her mother and Prim instructions on how to eat and things like that.
And I'm sure if Gale ever gets his turn with her, he's going to be giving her instructions for once she gets in the arena. I can imagine that his mumblings are condensed instructions on how to get her home safely.
When Katniss volunteered, I felt Mom grab my shoulder and Vick's too, because we knew what was coming, we had seen the reaction in our dreams too many times before, Gale was going to volunteer with her, because there was no way he'd let her go in the arena without him. But we also knew that if Gale went into the games with Katniss, there was no way he would come home—he'd die to save her.
But when the scary Capitol lady called Peeta's name, Gale didn't say anything, he just let a tear roll down his face before crossing the 18 year olds section to find us and the Everdeen girls. It confused me, but I didn't want to upset him further. So when he looked at Mom and said he was saying goodbye, I offered to stay too.
The guards look at him and I can see them tighten their holds on their guns, but Gale just keeps pacing. I'm not sure if its Gale being up and around makes them nervous or if they know Prim and her mother are almost done. Either way, they tighten their holds on their guns each time he paces by them.
When Prim and her mother finally come out of their room, I rush to her to hug her, hoping I can help in any way. She hugs me back, and I see the Peacekeeper mention that it's time for Gale to go in.
Prim and her mother sit on the bench to wait with me, but it seems like Gale has just gone in when the Peacekeeper opens the door to bring him out. We can hear Katniss's tears and her instructions to not let us starve, but Gale struggles, hoping to be closer to her just for a second. Gale looks at her, and we can hear him start to shout, "I love you!" but the door closes before he can finish his sentence.
He slumps over to the three of us, and collapses on the bench, holding Prim and I close. After a moment, Madge Undersee comes from a room asks to speak to Katniss as well. She has something in her hand, but it doesn't confuse me half as much as her going to see Katniss—I didn't even know they were friends.
After her three minutes, Madge emerges, and walks silently over to where the three of us are on the bench. Gale starts to cry even harder, the shudders running through his body, "I should have volunteered, I should have volunteered," he says, over and over.
Prim holds his hand and tries to shush him, but she cries just as loudly as he does. I grab their hands, and I can feel the hot tears running down my face too. I start to understand everything that Gale had been saying to me about Katniss going into the games. He had tried to tell her he loved her, and now it was too late.
Madge just crouches in front of all three of us, and takes Gale's hand, "Hush your mouth, Gale Hawthorne," she says. "Katniss volunteered for her sister because she knew you would be here to take care of her family. She only went because she knew she could trust Prim with you."
Gale sniffled, "I should be there, I should be protecting her."
"But you are, Gale," Madge replies. "By protecting Prim, you're protecting Katniss's heart. So dry your tears, and be strong."
"She didn't even hear me… she doesn't know that I love her, she'll never know that I love her."
Madge narrows her eyes, "Hush your mouth, Gale. You know as well as I do that she's going to come back."
"Yeah, Gale," I agree. "You're always talking about how good Katniss is with an arrow and how she could survive on her own if she was left in the woods."
Prim nodded, "Kat will come home."
…
That night Prim and her mother came to our house for dinner, as they did every reaping day. Normally we celebrated another year safe for Gale and Katniss, but tonight it was more like a funeral than a celebration.
"Of course, Gale doesn't have to go through another reaping, so that's something to celebrate," my mom blurts over dinner.
Gale shakes his head, "I go from the threat of a death sentence from the Hunger Games to a death sentence from the mines. Oh goody."
Mom just shakes her head at him, I know that deep down she wants to get on to him for such rude behavior, but everyone at the table can tell how deeply his heart has been broken. It was just like Gale told me, he didn't know if he could survive without her.
After dinner, Mom tries to turn on the television to see the recordings of the reapings from other districts. We gather around, trying to determine which ones would be hard for Katniss to beat and which ones would be easy.
Gale and I sit on the floor, the only words escaping from us are "problem" or "easy." The Career districts only make Gale angry, because their tributes are so eager for death, while Katniss only volunteered so her sister wouldn't die. By the time we see the recording from our own district, the veins in Gale's arms are bulging from anger. We watch Katniss volunteer, and the straight face Gale wears as he pulls Prim away from her.
I look up at my mother and Prim's, and both of them are crying. Prim isn't though, she just watches with a smug smile. I raise an eyebrow at her, and she giggles, "Katniss is coming home."
Gale turns to face her. "What makes you so sure, Primrose Everdeen?" he says, mocking the pink lady's Capitol accent. She smiles, and suddenly Gale launches himself at her, pinning her down and yelling for me and Vick to come tickle her. We all start screaming and squealing, giggling and crying.
Our celebration is meager and before long, Prim and her mother start to get ready to leave. Prim turns back to me and takes my hand, "You'll all be over to watch the opening ceremonies, won't you?"
Gale tries to force a smile, but it doesn't work very well for him, "Yeah, Prim. We'll be over to watch with you."
We're all sad after they leave, and I'm not sure why, but Gale announces that he needs to leave too because he needs some space to think. "Can I come too?" I ask him, and for whatever reason, he nods.
He knows he can't go past the fence this week, since the fence will be electrified for the games and everything to impress the Capitol people, but oddly enough, he goes to a little meadow on our side of the fence. He finds a nice tree log to sit by and motions for me to sit next to him.
He takes deep breaths and runs his hands through his hair, so I assume that he's going to break the silence whenever he's ready to talk. Gale and Katniss are a lot alike—neither one of them likes to share their feelings—but sometimes it makes me wonder how they even became friends. I chalk it up to mutual need or something like that, but I often picture how their first meeting went. And as I do, I start to giggle.
"What's so funny?" Gale asks.
"Just picturing your first meeting with Katniss," I admit.
Gale smiles at me, "yeah, I guess it would've been funny to watch. Two scared kids who didn't trust each other."
And Gale starts telling me all about his meeting with her, all of their close calls, growing closer and closer to her. While he talks, I just smile and nod when I'm supposed to, just letting him talk. He starts to quiet down, clearly caught up in the fact that she might not be coming home.
"When did you fall in love with her?" I ask him.
He sighs, "Just one day in the woods, I looked at her and—wait a second. I never told anyone that I was in love with her." He cocks and eyebrow at me and I laugh, "How'd you know?"
"It's obvious," I shrug. "It's been obvious to everyone else for a long time."
Gale lets the comment go and looks up at the night sky, so I look up with him. A star shoots across the sky so we both gasp and close our eyes to make a wish. I'm not sure what Gale's is, but it's probably similar to my own wish of Katniss getting to come home. Gale stands up and gets ready to go back, "C'mon, Rory. Maybe the next few weeks will pass quickly and she'll come home and realize she loves me."