"Tizen, son, why don't you take Erica, Lucio, and Rose outside?" Gale said.
The kids nodded and left. I took a deep breath before I looked up, facing Gale. Delly was sitting beside him, fidgeting with the hem of her T-Shirt. Peeta's jaw was clenched and his hands were balled in fists.
"How have you been, Catnip?" Gale asked.
I met his eyes. His grey eyes, ones that looked so much like mine. I wanted to hit him for leaving me behind. I wanted to hit him because a part of me couldn't help but blame him for my little sister's death. But most of all, I wanted to hug him because I miss hunting with my best friend.
"You named her Primrose," I whispered.
Gale swallowed uncomfortably and nodded. "You never replied."
"So you just thought you could name her after my little sister?" I replied, my voice louder than I had intended.
"Katniss, listen, we loved the name and wanted something to remember Prim. She was such a beautiful girl."
"You don't think I know Delly? You should've never named her after her. I am here to get Erica. Not converse with you; I don't want anything to do with you!"
I felt Peeta taking my hand in his. I sighed and squeezed his hand before meeting his blue eyes. He looked at me, his eyes asking if I were okay, I simply nodded, but kept holding his hand.
"I'm sorry, Katniss, I didn't know you would be this upset," Delly whispered, her cheeks red.
"I- it's okay, Delly," Peeta replied for me. He always knew how to comfort everyone. "It's just hard for Katniss. You have to understand that. You look good Delly; haven't seen you in years."
Delly smiled, she brushed her blonde hair from her eyes and replied, "Thank you; so do you, both of you."
Peeta completely ignored Gale. Their eyes never met. It gave me a nostalgic feeling.
"What brought your daughter here?" Delly suddenly asked.
I laughed, wondering the same. "I don't know what goes on in her head. She should've asked me. I don't want to talk about it, but I would tell her. She always had been the reckless one. Don't know from who she got it."
From the corner of my eyes I saw Gale laughing. It was nice to see his laugh again. I hadn't realized that I missed it, but then again, I had pushed away everything that had to do with him. The last few years had been Hawthorne-free.
"She looks a lot like you," Delly said.
"Except for the eyes, which she got from your husband there," Gale continued.
"Yeah."
"You have a son as well?" Delly asked.
"Paxaro; Pax for short. He's eight now."
"What age is Erica?"
"Nearly fifteen, what about your son?"
"Sixteen."
"I miss you, Katniss..." Gale said softly.
I stood up, my hands slamming on his table. In the back of my head I could hear Effie scream: "That is mahogany!" I was shaking, Peeta was desperately trying to hold me back, but I was fuming. I blinked away the tears from my eyes.
"What is wrong with you?" I spat. "How dare you enter my life like this? Saying you miss me. Saying you feel sorry. You never did attempt to come to my house and apologize in my face. My children play every day at the meadow. Under the surface people are buried. The rebellion killed me. Everything killed me. I felt numb for ages. And now you think a solid 'I miss you' will fix everything. No, Gale, it can't. Though I always said I didn't want you to come. I always felt like I needed my best friend. You protected me, hurt me and ran away. I told you the bomb wasn't your fault, Gale!"
Tears were streaming down my face and I felt weak.
"You know why you disgust me, Gale? You left! You left me dying alone. All I had was that stupid cat! I needed my friend, my hunting partner. I needed my family. My mom shut me off- again! How could everyone leave me, Gale? How could you leave me? You claimed you loved me, but you ran away when things got tough! It took me so long to restore my relationship with Peeta and do you think you can just come here?"
I drew a deep breath before I said back on the chair. Delly had a hurt expression on her face. I could see both wanted to say something. I turned my head to look at Peeta. He merely nodded and mouthed: "All is well." I nodded.
"Do you think this was easy for me, Katniss?" Gale whispered. "You didn't blame me, but I did blame myself. That bomb killed the one person you tried to protect through everything. And then the bomb- the one I designed- just hit me back in the face. I regret it every day, Katniss. So much. I know I will never be able to get you back. Forgiving takes time, doesn't it?"
I wanted to understand him. I wanted to be able to forgive him; he, once, was all I had: Gale and Primrose. My mind was spinning and I looked into his eyes. The fire I didn't need in my life.
"I was just a piece in Coin's game. Everything was planned. How could I come back to Twelve and kiss away your tears, comfort you if I couldn't even comfort myself? I needed to get away. Find myself after the rebellion."
I nodded and stood up. "We need to go," I whispered. "I promise I will come by again. I just- everything is just wrong now. Erica was never supposed to find out about you. It's too late, Gale."
He nodded and stood up as well. "Let me get that boy and Erica for you." His voice seemed broken, but I acted as if I didn't notice.
Peeta's hand wrapped around mine. His eyes gave me the comfort I needed. A few second later Gale returned, Lucio and Erica in tow.
"It was nice meeting the two of you," Delly piped in as she led the kids to us. She was acting as if nothing was going on.
We made our way outside. I waved Gale and Delly goodbye and left.
Disclaimer: All rights go to Suzanne Collins, I make no money of this. Also I want to thank my lovely beta!
Yes yes, a Gale/Katniss/Peeta moment. I have a chapter written for Tizen and Erica as well, so that will be on if you guys review (which by the way would be lovely!) Also sorry for taking so long with updating! And have you guys heard the new yet, that Gary Ross won't be directing Catching Fire? Made me quite sad, but the next director probably will do a great job at it!