A/N: Hey, it's me again! Sorry this update took a little longer than I expected, but it's here now! I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Things I forgot to mention last time: A HUGE thank you to my superb beta laxgoal31 who is a big help to me! Also, I promised the fluff in the last chapter would be dedicated to Fragile-Strength!
Things for this chapter: Special mention goes out to Palistus who reviews nearly every chapter faithfully and has stuck to the story from the beginning! Thanks to The Dramatic Sneeze who reviewed every chapter, so like 8 reviews in a row. Finally, another huge thank-you to laxgoal31!-- You're the best! Check out her stories, they're absolutely amazing!
Anyways, here's the next part in the story! R&R!Gale POV
EDIT: I totally forgot to write Katniss POV before the switch! Originally, I wrote Katniss's part before Gale's and wrote 'Gale POV' to separate the POVs. I copy and pasted Gale's POV so that it would come before Katniss's and forgot to show the switiching of POVs! Thanks Woot woot and laxgoal31 for pointing it out!! sorry for the confusion! 05/29/09
I wake up early this morning, willing myself to get out of bed and get ready to go out hunting. Today is Saturday, which means that it's also hunting day. Katniss and I usually went out hunting together on Saturday mornings, getting both foods to feed the family and to trade at the Hob. I guess Katniss would never have the need to hunt again. The Hunger Games winners had plenty of food delivered to them. But she would still come with me sometimes, right?
I remember the hunting trips before I met Katniss. I was barely getting enough to feed my family of five. After I met Catnip, the amount of food got better. There was more to go around and suddenly, we weren't just barely getting by; the complaints of half empty stomachs lessened and we were doing the best since Dad's death.
I sigh, thinking of Katniss and feel a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth.
Katniss.
She's safe. She's alive.
I close my eyes for a second and remember what happened yesterday. I finally did it; I told Katniss that I loved her. And we kissed. I shudder and my pulse begins to quicken at the memory. She was caught off guard; I don't think she realized just how much I loved her. I exhale happily at the thought that she might just love me too.
But then again, there's Peeta. Stupid Baker's son, thinking that Katniss will just fall in love with him. Well, I know her like the back of my hand. She's not like that.
Katniss told me yesterday in the forest that she didn't love Peeta. As she'd said it, I saw something flash in her eyes. Perhaps it was uncertainty. Maybe she did love Peeta Mellark. I mean I was watching the Games on TV and let's just say that I didn't like what I saw. Suddenly I am filled with a feeling of hatred towards the Baker's son.
He should have at least tried one of those Nightlock berries. I hear they taste great, I mutter to myself.
I open my eyes again and remember the current task at hand. It's time to bring home something to fill all those clamoring stomachs. Mother will be awake by the time I'm done and she'll prepare a breakfast for everyone.
My brother and sisters sleep in the beds next to mine; the two little girls, Zara and Aria, share the bed beside mine while my brother Jace takes the small bed beside the door. I pull on an old pair of jeans and manage to slip out of the room quietly, despite the creaky floorboards. Thankfully, nobody is woken up. The kids need their sleep; it's only 5:30am. On my way out, I grab my black, waterproof jacket and the thick brown, belt that holds my knives. I slip the leather belt through the belt loops on my jeans, secure it tightly and then slip on the coal black jacket because it's raining lightly outside.
I make my way to the fence which is a fifteen minute walk from my house. Rain drizzles down lightly from the grey sky, falling all around me. I look up to see that a thick mass of dark grey clouds is slowly approaching District 12. It's still pretty far from us now, so I still have at least two hours to hunt.
As I get nearer to the fence, I pass Katniss' old house. Some family living on the streets has probably moved in already. Somehow, it saddens me to know that Katniss isn't living there anymore. I think of Katniss and wonder. What is she doing right now? Is she thinking of me at all?
Well, now that she has no need to hunt, she's probably going to sleep the day away. I think, answering my own questions. I chuckle lightly at the thought of Katniss sleeping all day. On our hunting days before the Hunger Games, I would usually have to go to her house to wake her up. If I didn't, she probably would sleep all day.
As to my second question, I do not know the answer. I keep telling myself that things will work out, but somehow the feeling of uncertainty rests in the pit of my stomach. I shake off the thoughts and get down on my stomach to crawl under the fence that now stands in front of me.
I walk over to the hollowed tree where the hunting tools are kept. Katniss' bow and arrows are there next to mine and there's also a couple coils of rope and wire for snares. I grab a couple lengths of rope, my bow and arrow, and the small leather knapsack so that I can carry around anything I hunt or gather today.
I start to head deeper into the forest, setting up some twitch-up snares every now and then. Usually, Katniss and I would start with some snares, try hunting with the arrows, and then move on to fishing in the stream. When I finish with the snares, I climb up a tree and position myself so that I am sitting on a low branch. Time passes slowly as I wait for something to scamper past me. The air is cold and the forest is quiet except for a few birds singing in their trees.
This is the first time for years that I've hunted all alone. Without Katniss' presence, time seems to drag on and on. We generally remained silent when we hunted in the trees like this, not wanting to scare away any potential food, but it still felt good to know she was there. Right now I feel her absence as if I were missing the air in my lungs. I miss my hunting partner. I wonder if she misses me too.
My head snaps to attention when I hear a rustling of leaves and scampering on the forest floor. There they are. Two fat squirrels chase each other around in circles, unaware that they're about to become dinner. I draw back the string of the bow; arrow loaded, and then let it fly. The arrow slices through the air, skewering the first squirrel in the temple. My arrow nearly hits the second as it passes through the first. But no, the second squirrel will not get away. Quick as lightning, I reload the bow and shoot again; it's a direct hit. I jump down from the branch to collect my kills. I pick up the two dead squirrels, bodies hanging from the shafts of the arrows.
Katniss would've had a much cleaner shot. I think to myself as I examine the punctures. If it were Katniss shooting, the arrow would have gone cleanly; right through the eye.
I shrug and stick the two used arrows into a plastic bag and then into my knapsack. I have enough sense to not pull out the arrows, knowing that if I did, they would bleed all over the sack.
I decide to move on to fishing. It takes about ten minutes to get to the stream and I feel all the more lonely without Katniss to talk to. When I get there, I grab a fishing pole out of the hollow log where the fishing supplies are kept. I bait the hook and stick it into the ground while I gather some greens and berries.
Five minutes into gathering and I'm already bored. I miss my hunting partner.
* * *
By the end of my hunting trip, I've managed to get two fat squirrels, half a dozen fish, a gallon of strawberries and bag of greens. On the way home, I stop by Greasy Sae's to sell one of the squirrels and two of my fish.
"Not your best shot, Gale, but once it's in the soup, what difference will it make?" she asks, giving me a sly wink. I shudder to think about what's actually in the soup, but continue to Mayor Undersees' to sell the berries.
Before I can even get a hand on the heavy brass knocker, the door swings open. Behind it is a flustered- looking, smiling Madge. When Katniss was…away… Madge started talking to me. She was actually a pretty nice girl and she had expressed a genuine concern for Katniss. Other girls used Katniss' absence as an excuse to talk to me. Ugh. It was disgusting.
"Hey Gale," she says to me brightly.
"Madge," I nod in acknowledgement.
"What's up?"
I respond to her by holding out the burlap sack full of strawberries. She raises her eyebrows and smiles at me. Madge would never say no to a good gallon of strawberries.
"Hold on, I'll go get the money," she says, turning back into the house.
I hand her the sack of berries when she comes back and in return she drops some coins into my hand.
"Thanks Madge," I say giving her a smile.
She blushes pink and thanks me too before softly shutting the door. I hop down the short flight of stairs and decide to drop off my things at the house. When I arrive, mother and the kids are awake. I push open the front door and with a flying leap, Aria tackles me, causing me to become unbalanced.
"Gale, Gale, Gale!" she shouts. Her dark curls bounce with her as she jumps excitedly up and down. "Look what Momma made me!" she says, shoving a hand-made doll in my face. I smile, glad at how happy a simple doll could make a four year-old.
"That's great Aria," I say, giving her my best smile.
I pull out the one squirrel, four fish and bag of greens and set them down on the table.
"Is that all for us Gale?" Aria asks.
"Yup, it is," I nod at her.
"Yay! Because I'm really hungry Galey," she says, using her nickname for me and rubbing her stomach.
I wince. I wish that I could give them enough food so that they could eat whenever they were hungry. My mother sees this and comes up to me. She wraps her arms around me and reaches up on the tips of her toes to whisper in my ear.
"It's okay Gale. You do so much already," she says, kissing my cheek.
I shrug and tell her that I'm going to Katniss' place. She smiles and gives me a knowing look. I don't know how, but she has always known—about me and Katniss, that is. I guess it was a mom thing.
Anyways, I head out the door, pulling up the hood of my jacket. The clouds that I had seen earlier have made their way above District 12. It's raining moderately as I walk to Katniss' house. The nearer I get to the Victors' Village, the faster my heart beat gets. By the time I reach her house, my heart is going a mile a minute and my chest swells with joy.
I ring the doorbell of her house and wait. I take a huge breath as my foot taps impatiently on the doorstep.
"Gale!" It's Prim who answers the door. She jumps up into my arms and I hug her tightly. "Come in!" she exclaims brightly.
She takes my hand, ushering me inside the house.
Holy crap. My eyes are as wide as saucers as I take in the mansion's interior. Polished hardwood floors, painted walls, expensive furniture… they had it all. Now this was luxury.
Now I know where I will be spending most of my time, I joke to myself.
"Gale! Come in, come in!" Mrs. Everdeen shouts from somewhere in the kitchen. I walk towards the direction of her voice and a delicious scent hits me smack in the face. My stomach makes an audible grumbling noise and smile sheepishly.
"Are you hungry Gale?" Mrs. Everdeen asks. She's standing in front of the stove preparing these golden brown batter cakes.
I ignore the desperate rumbling in my stomach and tell her, "Actually, I'm looking for Katniss."
"Okay then. Well, she's sleeping right now. Could you go upstairs and tell her to come down and eat?"
"Sure," I smile.
"Thanks, it's the farthest room at the end of the hallway."
I have to force myself to walk to her room instead of running. I make my way up the stairs, and for some reason I am feeling slightly nervous. As I was told, I go to the door at the end of the hallway. I turn the knob and with a click, the door opens.
"Katniss! Your mother sent me up—" I start, but then I look at her in bed. She's not alone. My eyes dart from her to the figure lying beside her. Katniss stares at me with her mouth hanging open as I realize who is in the bed. It's none other than Peeta Mellark himself. At first I'm shocked and confused. Peeta, in bed…sleeping… with Katniss?
And then realization hits me.
Fucking bastard, is my next thought and I feel white hot anger building up inside of me. I feel my hand twitch toward the knife still hanging in my belt. I want so much to pull it out and kill that stupid Dough Boy, but I can't. I can't do anything. I can't think, I can't breathe, I can't move; my body stays utterly frozen on the spot.
I see Katniss throw the duvet off of her and make her way to me. "Gale," she whispers.
"No," I manage to pant out. No, no, no. This can't be happening.
"Gale, please," she says desperately. Please, what? Gale, please understand? Is that what you want? What happened to yesterday in the forest? Did that mean NOTHING to you? I want to shout these questions at her, but I am unable to. My vocal chords feel paralyzed.
Katniss reaches her arm out to me and touches my arm in what's probably meant to be a comforting gesture. When her hand comes into contact with my arm, my body unfreezes and I jump back, away from her.
"Katniss…" I trail off. I feel a pang of sadness in my heart. I try to convey my question with my eyes. Why? I feel my eyes beginning to prickle. No. I will not cry. I shake my head vigorously and turn away from Katniss.
My mother always told me never to play with fire because you only end up being burned. I guess she was right.
Before Katniss can catch me, I am sprinting down the stairs; away from the only reason that I kept on living.
"Gale? Gale!" Prim cries once she sees me sprinting down the stairs and out the door. I ignore her and keep running. It's pouring now; fat water droplets fall around me and splatter when they hit the pavement.
"Gale! Gale!" This time, it's Katniss calling my name. I could recognize her sweet voice in the middle of any crowd. The rain pelts my body and the thunder booms loudly overhead. Katniss shouts my name over and over, but I do not dare look back. I can't bear to look at her. I need to get away.
Don't look back. Don't look back, I chant to myself, and I don't.
But there's one thing I that I make sure I do.
Run.
Katniss POV
He stands frozen in the doorway, eyes gaping. Several emotions play across the angular plains of his face: Shock. Anger. Hurt. Betrayal.
"Gale," I manage to whisper. I toss the duvet cover off of me and hastily make my way to him.
"No," he pants, still frozen with shock.
"Gale, please," I say imploringly, reaching my arm out to touch his.
Gale unfreezes the moment that our bodies come into contact. He draws his arm away from mine as if I had bitten him. I look into his eyes that are practically mirror images of mine, begging for him to understand and he returns my stare with a look of disgust.
"Katniss…" He says my name like a question. The look of disgust on his face goes back to pain. Why? his eyes seem to ask me. He shakes his head slowly and bolts away from me towards the stairs.
I look back at Peeta and see that he has gotten himself out of bed. I glance at him with pleading eyes and he sighs.
"Go Katniss. I'll meet you outside," he says, walking around the bed to the still open window. I nod quickly and run out the door.
My stomach does a somersault and I wince. Why did Gale have to find out like this?
I nearly fall down the stairs as I hastily sprint out the front door. Outside, the rain falls hard, making loud pitter-patter noises on the pavement. It's pretty cold out too; my breath forms little clouds of vapor in front of me.
"Katniss!" I hear Prim's voice coming from behind me, but I ignore it, racing ahead into the downpour.
I look frantically to my left and right, trying to see what direction Gale was headed in. There he is; he's running west towards the Seam and I dash in the same direction, chasing after him.
"Katniss!" I hear Peeta's heavy, lumbering footfalls as he attempts to catch up to me. Right now, that prosthetic leg was doing him no good. I spare him a glance over my shoulder, but keep running after Gale.
"Gale! Gale!" I call his name over and over again, but my shouts are lost in the sounds of the pounding rain and claps of thunder. My soaking-wet clothes feel heavy with water and cling tightly against the shape of my body. The skin of my arms and legs are raised with tiny goose bumps. I try to ignore the deadness in my limbs caused by the biting cold and force my feet to keep moving. Breathe in… One foot in front of the other… Breathe out. The pattern continues like this as I will my body to keep going. I push the feelings of cold and numbness to the back of my mind, forcing myself to think of nothing but to keep on moving.
Gale and I run at the same speed, separated by no more than seventy-five metres, but I am unable to catch up to him. I continue to shout out his name, even though I know that doing so is completely pointless. He doesn't even glance at me. Gale was like a running machine. He was so fit and if need be, he could go for hours on end. I chase him for what feels like hours until we reach the edge of the Seam.
Suddenly, my ankle rolls and I feel my body falling forward. I collapse onto the hard, cold gravel road and cry out in pain. My knees scrape across the gravel, shaving away the top layer of skin and I whimper as shards of rock dig and cut into the soft flesh of my hands. I scramble to get up, trying to ignore the pain; the injured spots are stinging like dozens of little needles and my hands and knees are bloody. I set my foot down trying to see if it can bear any weight. With a sharp stab of pain, I find myself collapsing down again into the sharp, rocky gravel.
Get up Katniss! I shout mentally, picking myself up off the floor. I get up, but there's no use in running. Gale's so far away now that I can only see the blurred shape of his coal black jacket. Besides, I'd get nowhere with this ankle. A few tears cascade down my cheeks and I wince in pain from the sharp, throbbing pain in it. I gasp, sucking in the icy air that freezes my lungs and throat.
As I continue to watch Gale disappear into the icy, pelting rain, my head starts spinning and dark spots begin to cloud my vision. All of a sudden, the ground seems to swirl up from underneath me and the world around me is whirling. I feel my body starting to sway as I lose my balance and fall to the wet ground.
"Katniss! Katniss!!" I hear Peeta shouting from not too far away. His footsteps draw nearer to me and I feel his hands cradling my head.
It's the last thing I feel before being consumed by the numbing, black emptiness.
So how was that? I think it was one of the longest chapters so far.. Tell me what you think about the story--anything. Constructive Criticism, your ideas (I'd love to hear from you), things you liked... etc. Leave a review, anonymous or signed, or PM me if you'd like!
Peace,
--PeetaMellarkLove