Chapter 7: Unanswered Questions

Johanna woke with the sunlight streaming through the blinds making patterns across the sheets and Gale's bare chest. As the memories of the night before coursed through her, she felt her heartbeat quicken. She sighed and stretched relishing in the feeling of the warmth in her muscles. Quietly, she slipped out of bed and threw back on her shirt. She dug an old pair of jean shorts out of her suitcase and pulled them on, too.

She crept up the stairs and peeked into Annie's room. Annie appeared to still be asleep, but she must have been awake recently because the baby was cradled in her arms. Across the room, the midwife was out cold on the cot snoring slightly. Johanna took the baby from Annie's arms and rocked him gently. He opened his eyes and made a slight gurgling sound.

"Hello there, Handsome," she whispered. "It's not time to get up just yet." She placed him in the crib by the bed and stroked his soft, downy hair. Once his eyes slipped closed and she was fairly certain he was back asleep, she left the room and went back downstairs and out the door.

Johanna followed the small trail at the back of the house down to the beach. She sat on the sand and stared out at the waves. She had only seen the ocean a handful of times, and it always managed to take her breath away. She heard footsteps behind her coming through the grass on the dunes. She turned her head to smile at Gale.

"Hey," he said sitting down beside her. "Hey" she said back.

"I've never seen the ocean before," His hand found hers and pulled it into his lap. He stroked the top of her hand with his thumb. "It looks like it goes on forever."

"You can see up to eight miles before the turn of the earth," Johanna said. Gale considered this.

"Really?"

"I don't know. Finnick told me that once," she said and then laughed. "I trusted him with all the most important things, but other than that I never believed a word he said. He loved to mess with me, with everyone really." She sighed, "I don't know how he did it."

"Did what?"

"Kept it together so well," she explained. Gale glanced back to the house then back to Johanna.

"I know how," he said. Johanna raised her eyebrows, and he continued. "You didn't see him in Thirteen before the rescue mission. He didn't keep it together then, but as soon as he had Annie back...". His words hung in the air between them. Johanna remembered the Jabberjays in the arena, how Finnick had collapsed hands over his ears trying to block out the screams that sounded just like Annie's. Gale was right. Poor, mad Annie Cresta held Finnick Odair together even though she couldn't keep herself from falling apart.

Gale broke the silence with words Johanna never thought she would hear, at least directed at her.

"Marry me?" he asked with a casualness that suggested he was asking her to go for a walk, not commit to a lifetime together.

"Marry you?"

"Yeah, why not?" He said shrugging his shoulders. Johanna was shocked. She didn't know what to say. Of course, if the expected answer didn't come to her immediately then maybe that in itself was her answer.

"I'm not really a relationship kind of girl. I told you that," she responded slowly.

"What kind of girl are you then?" he pressed on.

"Come on. You said it yourself. We are just friends," she responded.

"Who have sex," he countered.

"We were having sex when you said we were just friends." Johanna said rolling her eyes and digging her fingers into the sand. "I didn't expect you to be such a girl about this," she added with a forced laugh. "I mean it's just meaningless sex…".

"Bullshit. Last night wasn't meaningless sex."

Johanna's mind returned to the night before. The image of his hand intertwined with hers flashed before her eyes. His murmured admiration for her still sounded in her ears. His slow, purposeful, sometimes torturous movements still burned on her skin at the memory. Although the term usually made her want to gag, the only way to describe the night before was making love, gentle, sensuous, tentative, explorative. She shivered despite the sun. She wrapped her arms around herself. What had she gotten herself into?

When Gale realized she wasn't going to answer, he stood wiping the sand from his pants. "I guess I'll leave you to think about it," he said. Johanna could tell he was struggling to keep the annoyance out of his voice. He was never one to hide his emotions.

When she trekked back to the house later, she was relieved to hear her shower running. Good. She had some time to herself. First, she went upstairs to check on Annie and the baby. She found Annie getting lessons from the midwife about the best way to change a diaper.

"Good morning," Annie chirped wrapping little Finnick back into his blue swaddling blanket.

"How's it going?" Johanna asked.

"She is a natural," the midwife broke in. "She's got those maternal instincts all right." Annie beamed from the praise.

"Hey, Annie, I just wanted you to know Gale's here. He..uh.. stayed with me last night. I hope that's okay," Johanna said.

"Of course! I'm glad he came. I was sad when you told me he couldn't come with you," she said then smiled. "He's very cute," she added giggling.

Johanna cringed inwardly. "Well, he is not as cute as this little man," she said, nodding toward the baby, desperately hoping to change the subject. "I will let you get back to learning all about diapers." Annie lifted Finnick's tiny fist, waving it in the air as Johanna exited the room.

Once back downstairs, she listened for the shower. Still hearing running water, she dashed to the kitchen and picked up the phone, dialing quickly.

"Hello?"

"Gale asked me to marry him," Johanna blurted out without even considering a preamble. What would she say anyway? Best to just get it out there. After several moments of silence, Johanna couldn't take it. "Well, say something."

"Peeta asked me the same thing," she finally responded.

"Wait. What? You weren't already getting married?"

"No, of course not. You think I wouldn't have told you?"

"I don't know. I guess with having been engaged before and you moving into together and finally having sex I thought it was a done deal. I mean you said yes, right?"

"Actually, I didn't say anything. I pretended to be asleep. Hold on. What about Gale?"

"I'm still at Annie's. He showed up last night, thanks to Peeta by the way, and today, he asked me to marry him."

"What did you say?"

"It was just about an hour ago at the beach so I couldn't pretend to be asleep." Johanna groaned. "I don't get it. First, he wouldn't even come here with me then he shows up and now this. What the hell did Peeta say to him?"

"Once Gale makes up his mind about something, he just goes after it. He's stubborn."

"Shit. Since when are boys the ones wanting to get married anyway? I mean he is a great fuck, but getting married? I don't even know for sure how I feel about him." As soon as Johanna said it, she knew it was a lie. She knew how she felt about him. She just didn't know how she felt about those feelings. Now she was getting confused. She put her hand on the counter to steady herself closing her eyes. Suddenly, she realized she didn't hear running water anymore. She could hear Katniss's voice coming through the phone, saying something about not wanting to hear about Gale's skills, but her voice sounded really far away. Get a grip, Mason.

"Hey, I got to go. I'll call you later," she said returning the phone to the hook. As she turned to go back to her bedroom, she saw Gale standing in the doorway. Shit. "Oh, hey," she said trying gauge how much he had heard. When he didn't respond but just stood with his arms crossed and jaw clenched tight, she dropped the act. "How much did you hear?"

"Enough," he said.

"Look, I just…" Johanna began, but he interrupted her.

"No. I'm not going to do this again, chase after a girl who doesn't want to be with me," he turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" she called after him. She heard the front door slam. She ran to her room, and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw his bags still on the floor. Well, at least he would have to come back.

To pass the time, Johanna showered. She then made lunch for Annie and carried it carefully upstairs.

"Perfect timing," Annie smiled from the bed. "We just got the little man to sleep." Johanna sat the tray of food in Annie's lap and sat beside her on the bed. The midwife nodded to Annie telling her if she needed anything else to just call.

"Why hasn't Gale come up to see Finnick?" Annie asked after swallowing a bite of food.

"Oh, he went for a walk and hasn't come back yet," Johanna said, avoiding Annie's gaze. She brushed some stray crumbs from the comforter.

"What did you do?" Annie asked.

"Why do you assume it was me?" Johanna huffed, offended.

"Well, he did come all the way out here to be with you," Annie explained.

"Yeah, he did," Johanna replied lamely. When she still wouldn't meet her gaze, Annie dropped her food and gently placed a hand on each of Johanna's cheeks, titling her face up to meet hers.

"Why won't you just let people love you?" Annie whispered. Johanna rolled her eyes and took Annie by the wrists bringing her hands away from her face.

"For a crazy person, you sure are perceptive." She tried to laugh off Annie's inquiry, but Annie only ignored her.

"You know nothing will happen to him now. It's all over," she said. When Johanna opened her mouth to protest, Annie raised her voice. "No, I don't want to hear it. People…Finnick… didn't die in the rebellion for nothing. Stop being so stubborn. You have Gale, here, with you. Please, don't waste it."

"Damn it, Annie," Johanna whispered before pulling her into a tight hug. Annie stroked her back softly. They stayed like there for a while, clinging to each other. Only the soft cries from the crib pulled them apart.

…..

Johanna sat in the kitchen stirring a cup of tea. The tea had cooled off long ago, but still she sat staring into its murky brown depths. She almost jumped out of her skin as she heard the front door open, close, and then Gale's footsteps as he trudged into her bedroom. Johanna abandoned her tea and followed him. When she reached her room, she saw him stuffing his things back in his bag.

Johanna leaned against the doorframe and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm not good at this," she admitted.

"Good at what?" he asked in a voice that echoed the exhaustion she felt herself. He zipped up his bag and looked over at her.

"Don't make me say it," she whispered as he lifted her chin so she couldn't avoid his eyes.

"You are not good at what?" he asked again.

"Needing someone," she finally relented. He abandoned his bag and moved across the room from her. He pulled her into his chest, and just as she was getting comfortable, he held her out at arm's length.

"So," he said his face breaking into a grin. "You need me?" Johanna rolled her eyes, but nodded.

"God, your ego is already big enough," she said.

"You know what else is big…" he laughed, pulling her back against him.

"Now that's something I really need," she answered, pushing him toward the bed.

Author's Note: Hope everyone who is reading is still enjoying. I'm not 100% where I am going with this story or what else to include. Suggestions are welcome :). In the next chapter, I will go back to Peeta and Katniss for a bit.