Peeta and I made it through the Harvest Festival with no major problems. And after it was over, the cameras left. We were free again. He didn't mention talking to Haymitch to me. We acted happy and then went our separate ways.
A couple days later, I was sitting down on my bedroom floor, staring out the window at a dying tree in my backyard. It wasn't very large, but it was hideous. I walked down the stairs and outside. Haymitch's yard was perfect due to all my unnecessary work. Cleaning his house and yard… it had given me something to think about. I stared at my messy yard and house. If I was to be miserable and alone for the rest of my life, I should be miserable and alone in comfort.
So, I walked over to Haymitch's house and barged through his backdoor. I walked to a closet in which I had stored all of the supplies I used on his yard. Haymitch grumbled from the kitchen about me barging into his house again, but he didn't say anything to me. I grabbed what I would need and walked back to my yard.
I stood in the middle of my wild lawn, not knowing what to do first. My fingers had just wrapped themselves around a hatchet to start taking down the tree when I heard a bunch of footsteps walking down the street. Still carrying the hatchet, I walked around front to see four boys carrying a board with a bloody body on it. Katniss Everdeen followed behind them, cupping her cheek. I dropped my weapon and ran up to them. Peeta, Haymitch, and two boys from the Seam were carrying the board. I looked up to see that the body was Gale. A shocked gasp escaped from my mouth as they passed me.
Gale is… dead? I thought to myself. I stopped Katniss as she passed by me.
"What… what happened?" I asked. Katniss dropped her hand from her face, and I cringed when I saw a long red cut stretching down the side of her face.
"Gale and I were in the woods… talking. He had a turkey he had shot with him. We returned and were going to sell it to Cray, but instead, there was a new Peacekeeper there. And the Peacekeeper dragged us out to the square. He hit me once before Gale took all the blame for the turkey. Gale was whipped around 40 times. I didn't know what to do!" she said. She was in pain and scared, but she wasn't crying. I didn't really understand most of her story, and I didn't know who Cray was. But I had a feeling he didn't whip teenagers when they brought turkeys to his door. Whoever this new Peacekeeper was, he was dangerous.
"So, is Gale alive?" I asked. Katniss bit her lip.
"For now…" she said vaguely. We looked to see that the boys were bringing Gale into Peeta's house.
"Did you send anyone to get help?" I asked.
"Yes, I sent someone to get my mom," she replied.
"Okay, good…" I stammered out, nodding. I wasn't sure why I was scared; I didn't have any feelings for Gale anymore.
"You should go ahead. I'll wait for my mom," Katniss told me. I took a look at her, confused. Why should I go ahead? What help could I be? Yet, I walked to Peeta's house and through the front door.
Peeta looked up at me as I walked through the door, but I tried to pretend like I didn't notice. Moving towards Gale, I could see he was unconscious. They had laid the board on Peeta's dining room table.
"Sweetheart, I don't think you need to be here," Haymitch said. I didn't listen and sat down on Peeta's floor. Haymitch walked up to the two Seam boys and pressed coins into their hands, thanking them I guess. He murmured something to them that I couldn't hear, and then they left. I looked up at Gale's face, remembering when I would've died to be this close to him. When Gale was a main thought that would run through my head daily.
I stole a glance at Peeta who was staring out the window, waiting for Katniss's mother to arrive. As hard as I tried to forget my feelings for him, I still desperately wanted Peeta. He lied to me and would lead me on, but I still loved him. I felt a weight lift off my chest at admitting that to myself.
No matter what, you're going to love Peeta. So you may as well not ignore him for the rest of your life.
Peeta made a concerned face at me, and then I realized I had been staring at him for a long time. No doubt with a crazy look on my face.
"Did the girl tell you what happened?" Haymitch asked me.
"Her name's Katniss," Peeta interrupted. Haymitch shot him a bored look before looking back at me.
"Yes, she did. Do you think he'll be okay?" I asked, looking back at Gale. Haymitch shrugged.
"I think he will be," Peeta said, since Haymitch remained silent. I sighed.
"Good," I said with relief saturating my voice. Peeta's face remained unnaturally blank.
"You care for him?" he asked. I remembered that Peeta didn't know yet about Gale kissing me. It didn't really mean anything right? I saw how Peeta was watching Katniss out the window. He wouldn't care. Yet, I still wanted to keep it to myself.
"I know him," I said with a shrug. Peeta left it at that before claiming he was going to wait outside with Katniss for her mom to arrive. I stayed sitting by Gale's side.
"Sweetheart, you should tell him," Haymitch said.
"Why? What would it matter?" I asked. I was about to say more, but Haymitch gestured for me to follow him. He took me into the living room, afraid that Gale would hear us talking. We never knew when Gale would wake up, but I doubted it would be anytime soon. I took a look at his back, which just looked like a bloody slab of meat from the many lashes with the whip. I choked back vomit.
"Remember when you caught him with Katniss?" Haymitch asked. A pang of hurt hit my heart. How could I forget? Sudden hate for Haymitch welled up inside of me. How dare he bring it up again.
"Yes."
"What did you feel?" he asked. I didn't answer; I was afraid Haymitch would make fun of my answer. "Jealousy? Hurt? Anger? Betrayal?" he asked. I crossed my arm.
"Yes," I spat out, refusing to look at him.
"Then imagine what he would feel if you told him about your little kiss with Mr. Hawthorne," Haymitch pointed at Gale's body. I shook my head.
"I know exactly how he would feel. Relieved. Happy that maybe I would move on from him," I leaned in closer to Haymitch, "I saw how he was watching Katniss." I walked to the front door.
"Sweetheart, where are you going?" Haymitch called. He sounded exasperated. My hands balled up into fists.
"I have a tree to cut down," I called. I walked through the front door.
"Good luck, sweetheart!" Haymitch laughed. As I closed the door, I understood why. Snow had begun to fall. I stomped back to my house, angry at the snow. Why did it have to come here now? I finally had something to do. My eyes shifted to notice Katniss and Peeta huddling by each other, awaiting help. My shoulders dropped a little; he was still with her then.
I stomped heavily through the piling snow back into my house, peeled off my clothes that had become wet from the white flurries and started a fire in my fireplace. After sliding into warm clothes, I sat by the fire until night fell. I started to wonder if Mrs. Everdeen had ever made it to Peeta's house. Or how Gale was doing? My curiosity got the better of me, and soon, I found myself standing by Peeta's door. My hand was raised to knock, but I lacked the courage. My hand fell. Why was I scared? I was just going to see how Gale was. I shouldn't be nervous.
Just as I was about to knock, Haymitch dragged Katniss out of the house. She was thrashing and screaming as he pulled her out. I reached out my hand to her, but Haymitch shot me a look that told me I shouldn't interfere. My body stealthily slid through the open door and into the house.
Mrs. Everdeen and Prim rearranging the skin on Gale's back. I fell back against the door at the sight. You'd think after my leg getting cut to the bone I would be able to stand the sight of blood. Yet, it always made me queasy. Peeta walked up to me cautiously and stood next to me.
"Katniss was screaming that he needed more pain medicine. Her mother made Haymitch take her out," he explained. My eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. I glanced at Gale's face. He wasn't unconscious anymore. His teeth were clenched together in pain.
"Why don't they give him something more? A shot of morphling or something?" I asked.
"What's morphling?" Peeta asked.
"It's a painkiller. My mom used to use it when she had bad headaches," I explained. Her headaches were still there, but they weren't as harsh as they used to be. She could bear them without medicine now. I looked up at Peeta, my eyes wide.
"What?" he asked, turning to face me. I must've looked semi-crazy, which I might have been. My mother still had her morphling, but she didn't use it.
"I'll be right back!" I whispered. I was about to walk out the door when he grabbed my arm. My hand stayed on the doorknob.
"You can't go out there. There's a huge storm!" he said.
"I'll make it. I'm just going home," I told him. He let me go, thinking I was just walking a couple houses down. I laughed to myself. I wasn't going to my house in Victor's Village; I was going to my old home to steal my mom's old morphling supply. After pulling on my hat and sliding on a pair of gloves from my coat pocket, I started to make my way through the blizzard.