There's a mandatory viewing in all of the districts today, for the opening ceremonies of the Games. Delphi and I walked the short distance to Gale's house where we would watch with his family, but when we arrived Gale had already disappeared into the woods. His mother seems more frantic than usual, and all of the children are quiet for once. I decided to ask Hazelle if Gale was hunting or simply hiding, but when she shook her head unknowingly, I knew he was hiding.
I looked at the clock and quickly excused myself, heading for the woods. It's about two hours until the ceremony begins, so the peace keepers haven't circled the town yet, but they will be starting soon. As long as I make it out of the district unseen, no one will notice our absence. I double check my every turn, making sure there's no one around. Once I make it through the fence, I walk quickly into the woods to hide myself. I can only guess that Gale is sitting at the pond, but when I get there he's nowhere to be found. I keep searching, until I find him just past the tree cover, looking out over the hill. I've never been here before.
"You know there's a mandatory viewing today, right Hawthorne?" I call out as I walk forward. He simply shrugs and doesn't reply. It's always been assumed throughout the district that Gale had strong feelings for Katniss, but I can tell at this point that the assumption is true. My heart pangs at the thought and I push all my feelings away, this is the time to be worried about Katniss.
I continue walking forward and sit on the slope next to him, close enough that our arms are touching. He leans further onto me when I settle in. "I'm sure she'll be okay, Gale. She's strong, she's smart, and she's amazing with a bow. You know she can make it through this. She'll come back for you."
He laughs slightly under his breath and I don't understand what's so funny. I don't have long to ponder before he speaks for the first time. "It's not like that. She was the one that helped me pull through the most after the mining accident. When I didn't know what to say, or how to feel. She made me realize so much, with her stubborn attitude. I always knew this was a possibility but to think of losing a friend like that to the Games," he cuts himself off and throws a rock he had picked up earlier. It travels a long distance, showing how upset he must have been to throw it that hard.
I don't know how to reply to Gale's explanation, so I just lean my head on his shoulder. After his father's death, I had begun helping Hazelle around the house. I watched the boys and occasionally cleaned some of the laundry she had received for the week. I saw Gale most days, of course, but he was so tired from the mines he was asleep in minutes, it didn't leave much time for catching up. He went hunting every Sunday, but I was so busy helping his mother that I didn't have time to go with him anymore. He and Katniss became good friends and eventually she came to visit him at home, where I became friends with her as well.
I love Katniss more than any of the other girls in District 12, but I always regretted that I had stuck around Gale's mother and blown him off for so long. Maybe if I had helped Gale through the hard time, our friendship would be closer.
"I'm sorry I was never there for you. After the accident, I mean." He sighs and places his arm around my back, pulling me closer to him for a hug.
"You were there for my mother, and that's what I needed. Without you I can't imagine how she would have handled my father's death." I breathed in deeply, inhaling the familiar scent of maple trees and coal dust. We sat like that for a few minutes before Gale laid back in the grass, pulling me down next to him. I watched the side of his face silently as he closed his eyes and relaxed.
Gale was breathtaking, none of the girls in the Seam could deny it. Valeria had always held some feelings for her best friend, but she tried not to think on them for very long. After Gale's father died, there was no time for them to talk about the kisses they had shared the week before. Gale hadn't kissed her on the mouth again, only on the cheek and forehead when he would get home from the mines, but she could only assume it was friendly.
She stretched her neck to lean up and kiss Gale on the cheek before dropping back down and turning her eyes to the sky again. She couldn't help but worry about Katniss and how she was going to survive.
HA okay I'm really sorry this took SO LONG to upload but this is the last chapter I had prepared before I started uploading it and I haven't had much time to work on the fic with school/work/essays/raising baby bunnies and I really wanted to get the next chapter done before I uploaded this but that was a fail. I AM caught up with all my homework now but I need to start cranking out the chapters after this week! Hoping for 2 more reviews before the next chapter, let me know what you guys think!