"Katniss? Peeta? What are you doing here?" I asked as all three of us sat down on the couch.
Katniss held Peeta's hands in both of hers on her lap. I couldn't believe she was here. Talking to me. Finally!
They looked at each other, and Katniss said "Well we had a family meeting today, and it seemed that everyone agreed to meeting you."
"Really? That's amazing!" I exclaimed. But they didn't look so excited.
"Well actually," Peeta said, "we were planning on inviting you over on Sunday to see us. But, we just found out Rory's birthday is on Saturday, and so is our son's, so you'll be seeing the family...earlier than we anticipated. And it's Wednesday, so two days to be exact."
"Oh, I actually found out about that today too," I said looking down. "So what do you want to do?"
Katniss sighed and said "Well Pane is busy tomorrow, and Peeta and I have plans on Friday which we can't get out of, so we really won't be able to see you until Saturday. But of course, you need to go to the festival for Rory, so we were hoping that maybe you would wait to have a serious conversation with us. We really don't want to let Pane have a difficult birthday."
"So, we'd all just ignore the elephant in the room? And wait until Sunday to talk about it? I- I don't know if I can do that Katniss. Honestly it's hard for me not to talk to you about it all right now."
Katniss set her jaw and spoke. "Well you're going to have to, Gale. Our kids are what comes first. And it's supposed to be a special day for Pane- so I beg of you, just stay quiet and stick to small talk, please."
"Listen Gale," Peeta said more calmly. "Now our daughter Ivy is very- outspoken. She's going to be asking you questions about everything and will want to confront you- but we can trust that you'll wait until a better time for Pane to talk?"
They both looked at me uber determined. They were set in stone on this, and there was nothing I could do. I didn't really see how awkward small talk was better than me apologizing, but it's what they wanted. "Alright." I finally said. "But I need to say something to both of you too, alone."
"Gale, we-" Katniss started.
"Please," I pleaded to her. She stopped and let me go on. "I just need to say I never meant to hurt you. Or anyone in your life. But it felt like I did, and I thought I was standing in the way of Peeta, which is why I left and never contacted you. I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry." I told them.
Katniss nodded and said "I'm sure you are Gale. But we'll talk more on Sunday."
There was a silence in the room for a long time. I sat there with my childhood best friend and her husband, my childhood rival. Things were a lot different than what teenage Gale expected them to be. But that was okay.