A/N: It is with much trepidation that I post this chapter. I am nervous because I am a lemon virgin. ;) My fear is being too cheesy and/or cliché. I hope it's painless, but please let me know.
"What are you doing here, Katniss?" Gale asked in a tired tone after slowly raising his head from his hands. He lowered it back down before she answered.
"I should be asking you that question. You are in my house after all." Katniss replied while walking over to sit in another chair by the fireplace.
He had to smile at that just a little. "Mine was blown up when you blew up the arena. It's fair turn around." He looked up at her again. "Besides, I didn't think you'd mind." Katniss couldn't believe how miserable he looked. Her heart softened towards him a bit and she decided to change her tactics.
"I don't mind. I still come here on days when Peeta makes me angry. It reminds me how much better things are now and then I can't stay angry at him for very long." She said looking around and inhaling deeply.
"Peeta makes you angry?" Gale asked disbelieving. He had a hard time hiding the satisfied smirk on his face and it did not go unnoticed.
"Yes Peeta makes me mad. Everyone makes me mad. Things haven't changed that much." Katniss replied bumping her fist against his shoulder. She looked over at him when he leaned back in his chair and his mask of misery settled back over his face. "So it looks like you're as miserable as my sister is. So now I really don't know how to yell at you." She appraised him again. "Nope. You look worse. What the hell is wrong with you?"
"You have been hanging around Haymitch way too long. You talk like him." Gale remarked trying to deflect the conversation.
"It gives Peeta something to fret and complain about and quit trying to change the topic. I love both of you and you both are miserable." Katniss threw her braid behind her shoulder. "Prim won't talk to me and you are hiding out in my old house. It's obvious that you love her, why are you doing this to her?"
Gale explained to Katniss his feelings about being Prim's "boy-with-the-bread" and how it made him feel. He ended with his head back in his hands. Katniss was floored. She didn't know how to respond to such selfish stupidity. Prim had used that analogy to help Katniss understand the depth of her feelings for Gale, but she knew that Prim really loved him.
"That's it?" Katniss finally asked incredulously. "You're punishing her for something I said?" She kicked the edge of his chair with her boot to get his attention. "That's about the cruelest thing I've ever heard and I survived two Games and met with Snow numerous times."
Her words got his attention more than the kick to his chair. "Thanks for your kind and understanding attitude." He said dryly. He was a little hurt, but her bluntness didn't shock him.
"When did you turn into a girl?" Katniss wondered aloud. She hid her smirk; she was trying to provoke him to discovering the real problem. She knew he was just scared of his own feelings. She knew it because she recognized the behavior as something she did herself and Haymitch had done the same thing to her.
"What the fuck, Katniss?" Gale's anger finally flared and he used her language so maybe he could get his point across in words she'd understand. "You could maybe show me a little fucking compassion. You were, after all, the one who broke my heart the first time. Why should I expect anything different from your sister?" His voice reverberated around the tiny room in the dingy shack. Katniss didn't respond. She only blinked at him. She leaned forward in her chair so they were only a foot apart.
"But she hasn't broken your heart. She didn't do anything but love you back." Her voice was soft and she allowed compassion to flood through her words. "Don't break her heart for fear she'll break yours. Don't do to her what I did to you." Her voice was also firm and she held his gaze with loving and understanding eyes.
And there it was. They both knew Katniss had hit the nail on the head even though five minutes earlier neither one of them could have put their finger on that fine point. Katniss wondered at epiphanies and how they just appeared out of nowhere and cleared up of years of haziness and uncertainty.
"I don't blame you for anything." Gale said softly keeping her gaze.
"I know. But it doesn't take the fear away, does it?" Katniss asked. Gale shook his head and then looked at the floor again.
Katniss looked around the shack and noticed his belonging scattered about. "Are you staying here?" She asked. "At night?" Gale nodded.
"I'm going to get her and bring her here." Katniss warned. "Don't go anywhere." Katniss stood up and moved towards the door.
"I don't know…" Gale began to protest.
"Shut it." Katniss interrupted him. "You're both miserable and you both need to talk. To. Each. Other." Katniss made each word staccato and punctuated. "So you can both quit being miserable. I don't care if you two patch things up or break up for good, but get it settled." She considered what she just said. "You guys should patch things up, though. I like the thought of you two together."
"To ease your own guilt." Gale muttered. He was sorry he said it as soon as it slipped from his lips and Katniss reeled on him.
"What does it matter?" Katniss asked her voice rising. "What does it matter why I approve? You said you needed my approval and I granted it. Then you walk away? That doesn't make any sense. And, what does it matter how Prim's love started? All that matters, you idiot, is what it turned in to." Katniss turned back to the door and before she turned the knob she turned back around. "If you're not here when Prim arrives I'll know that your new position or new life has turned you into a pussy."
"What if she won't come?" Katniss almost didn't hear him he said it so softly. Her heart melted again. She really wasn't used to this soft Gale.
"She'll come. Just be ready." She considered him again. "In fact, I'm going to stall her for a little bit. You need to clean up. Go take a shower and clean this place up. This is my sister for heaven's sake." Katniss allowed one corner of her mouth up quirk up in a smile.
"I'm scared, Katnip." Gale half smiled back. There, she thought, he's almost back.
"Just be yourself and not that pussy-person who was here about five minutes ago and you'll be fine." He looked confused. "That selfish Gale…the soft Gale is okay." She didn't even wait to see how he responded to that. She called out "And take a shower and shave!"
"Go." Katniss said. Prim shook her head so hard that Buttercup went scampering off her lap. Katniss gave Haymitch an exacerbated look for help.
"He rejected me." Prim said and crossed her arms across her chest when Buttercup left. "See! Buttercup doesn't even want to be around me." She pouted and tears threatened her eyes.
"Who are you?" Katniss asked. "Where is my intuitive sister who sees past everyone's bullshit and finds the hidden meanings and wisdom making the rest of us feel like idiots?" Prim's jaw dropped open.
"Calm down, Katniss." Haymitch said. Katniss turned on her mentor who should be helping her with this stupid little project.
"And who the hell are you?" She looked at her old mentor. "You're supposed to be the straight talking one who also calls everyone on their shit."
"No." Haymitch corrected. "I only do that with you. Prim needs a little softer approach." He looked over at Prim. "But I do have to agree with your sister. You do need to go talk to him."
"Thank you…even if you are an ass." Katniss qualified. "And he didn't reject you…he's being…stupid." Katniss didn't know how to describe it. "And why are you being all…self-doubting? It's so…not…you." Katniss hoped their years apart hadn't changed Prim's most important quality…her intuition.
"Gale is not stupid." Prim said weakly. Katniss just gawked at her. That wasn't what she said and her normally intuitive sister had only picked up on the part that sounded bad and like an insult.
"Who are you?" She repeated. "I didn't say he was stupid. I said he's acting stupid...kind of like you right now." If Prim misheard her with this, maybe she misheard Gale. "Prim, love makes people stupid. I know…I'm the stupidest." Haymitch coughed and Katniss gave him a stern look. "Don't you remember? You used to set me straight all the time." Prim looked down at her fingers. She did remember and nodded at her sister. "Don't you think it's entirely possible that love can make you stupid, too? And Gale?" When Prim didn't say anything Katniss kept talking. "You need to talk to him and figure this out because I can't stand to see both of you so miserable."
"He's miserable?" She asked. Her heart ached. She didn't want him to be miserable. He had hurt her feelings, but her need to comfort him was overwhelming.
"He's worse than you." Katniss knew her sister's compulsion to sooth any wound would get the best of her sooner or later. She decided to go for the kill shot. "He's in a lot of pain." Katniss added mercilessly. Katniss saw the arrow hit its mark.
"Fine." Prim said. "Where is he?" She asked.
Katniss smiled. "He's at our old house. But you need to shower. You're a mess and you kind of stink." Katniss wrinkled her nose. "There are some things in my closet you can wear so you don't have to go all the way back to the train."
"I do not stink." Prim said tiredly. "But it'll make me feel better." Prim headed out the door to go shower at Katniss' house.
"That was a cold and calculated move…that bit about him being in pain." Haymitch said to Katniss.
"It had to be done and the sooner the better." She replied while heading towards the door to follow her sister. "And I had a good mentor who pushed me when I needed it most." She closed the door behind her before she could hear Haymitch gloat at her compliment.
Prim pulled her sister's sweater tighter around her as she walked up the old shack she spent her childhood in. She was nervous and she didn't know why. She had been thinking a lot about what Katniss had said and what Gale had said and what she had said. She was so tired of analyzing what everyone had said her head was about to explode. She latched on to one thing that Gale said the last night they were...together. He told her that he loved her more than he had ever allowed himself to love anyone before. This was the one thing, out of all the things all the people had said, that she hung all her hopes on. She knew that he meant it; she didn't know how she knew, but she did. Kat said he was being stupid like she had been with both Gale and Peeta. That just means he was scared.
She could deal with his emotional fear. She had watched it build in him and guided him through it during the Games. She took the time in the shower to think about what Katniss asked: Who are you? Who had she become? She didn't like doubting herself so much and she decided she was done. If Gale rejected her again, she'd just…get over it. It'd be his loss…right? If she thought any more about it she'd talk herself out of it.
She didn't knock; it was her house. When she walked in a warm glow came from the fireplace and there was the aroma of some kind of stew in the air. She thought that was odd. Katniss said he was a mess and he'd been cooking? She walked in and called out his name. "Gale?" Her voice sounded high pitched. She cleared her throat. Gale appeared from the small hallway. He was clean shaven, but the dark circles under his eyes betrayed his fatigue and his lips were set in a grim line. She did see his pain and Katniss had not exaggerated. She knew what to do and how to ease both his fear and his pain.
As Gale's eyes ran over Prim he noticed that she left her hair down. He couldn't help but smile just a little bit. He couldn't help but move closer to her because he was just drawn to her. Prim recognized this déjà vu. When she saw the hint of a smile cross his face combined with his tentative steps forward, she felt her confidence return a little. She took a few steps forward as well.
"Hey." She said. "Katniss said you weren't doing so well." She smiled tentatively.
"She said the same about you." He felt so stupid. This was stupid. He loved her and she left her hair down. His heart swelled and he wondered if she did that on purpose. "Look…" He started.
Prim had had it. She walked up to him and interrupted his explanation by placing her mouth on his. She wasn't sure what she was doing, but she decided to quit thinking and do what she felt like doing. She was in her own house with no one else around…no one else was around! That's when she deepened the kiss with a passion she had not felt before. When she heard Gale's breath hitch and felt his arms encircle her…her confidence shot skyward.
"Prim…" Gale tried to pull away, but she wouldn't let him. She wasn't doing all the work and when she pressed against him she felt how much he was reciprocating her desire. She moved her hands down his back and hooked her thumbs in the waistband of his pants. She inhaled his clean scent. She wondered if Katniss suggested that he shower, too. "You're going to let me do this." She grabbed and tugged the bottom his shirt out from his pants. Gale tried again. "Prim…"
"Gale, shut up. I'm sick of talking and I'm sick of thinking." And she ran her hand up the bare skin of his back. The scar tissue that marked that his back reminded her of his pain and suffering which fueled the love she felt for him and it fanned the fire of her passion into a blazing flame. She pulled her hands to the front, dislodging his shirt from the front of his pants and she reveled in each dip of his taut abdominals as her fingers drank in their definition.
Gale finally gave in and kissed her with all the fervor he typically held back for fear he would push things too far. He hadn't felt Prim's hands on his skin since that first night that he…well she just drove him crazy. Before he knew what happened his shirt was off and they were backing down the tiny and very short hallway to the one bedroom. Prim pulled off her own sweater and had to break their kiss to pull her shirt over her head. Gale's eyes widened and a smirk crossed his lips. He had done a little exploration under her shirt, but he had never actually seen her with his eyes. She was still wearing her bra, but he was impressed.
They made it in the door of her mother's old bed room. It was obvious to Prim that this was where Gale had been sleeping. "You've been sleeping in my mother's room?" She smirked and closed the distance she had created. She pushed him hard enough to make him take a step back and it was enough to make him fall backwards on to the bed. Prim climbed on top and sat astride him. "You have more than 15 minutes with me now and there's no one around to hear anything." There was a wicked glint in her eye and she watched as his pupils dilated with desire. She reached down and unbuckled his belt.
Gale grabbed her hands before she could unbutton his pants. "Prim, we have to talk about this." He felt his self-control slipping and they had just spent the last week not talking to each other. Well, he had spent the last week not talking to her. Prim considered him and several thoughts went through her head. When it appeared to Gale that she was going to quit undressing him he let go of her wrists. That's when she reached behind her back and undid the clasp of her bra and let it fall on his stomach.
"I'm done talking for a while." She leaned over him allowing her bare breasts slide up his chest. Hovering inches from his lips, he could feel the heat of her sweet breath as she whispered, "Every other time we talk we get into a fight." She rocked her hips rubbing herself against his arousal and all his objections evaporated. The heat of his lust rose from his core all the way up to burn all rational thought from his brain.
Prim moaned when his hands cupped her again and in one nimble move, with a growl deep in his chest as her only warning, Gale flipped her over and pressed her body into the mattress with his own. His eyes, hands, and mouth explored the parts of her that she so willingly revealed to him and every gasp and moan that escaped her mouth made her wonder why they hadn't done this sooner. The feel of his mouth on her was so erotic and distracting that before either of them knew how or why Prim had divested them both of their pants.
After what seemed like a blissful eternity Gale's fingers found their way to the throbbing and sensitive area of Prim's body that was screaming for attention. They were both panting as their hips provided pleasurable friction in a rhythmic motion that just didn't seem to satisfy either of them. Prim felt Gale's index finger tug on the waistband of her white panties in the front while the palm of his other hand rubbed across the bare skin of her bottom. The warmth of his hands caused a moan to bubble out her mouth and she wriggled free of the obtrusive garment when his hands slid them down her legs.
Gale let his fingers slide and tickle their way back up her leg from her ankle leaving a trail of fire as the sensations rose and pooled in her center. She pushed and bucked against his hand when it finally rested at the apex of her thighs. Her eyes were hooded as she watched him begin to work her into a frenzy with his magic fingers that found a new rhythm he hadn't used before. They circled and dipped into places that made her pant and buck her hips even more. Prim's eyes closed as the newly realized coiling sensation began spiraling in the pit of her stomach. It wasn't long before she came undone under the ministrations of his fingers, palms, and, much to Prim's surprise, his tongue. Stars exploded, the universe expanded, and colors faded into sound. Her legs relaxed and spread wider under his weight when moved and rested his body between them.
As Prim came back to her senses, she realized that Gale's underwear was shed when she felt a hot and velvety sensation on her leg. Gale trailed feathery kisses back up her body and claimed her mouth again with a tangle of tongues that brought a musky scent to her nose and her salty taste to her lips. Prim was determined to have her way tonight and pulled away from him. Neither of them had said any intelligible words in a long while even though Prim was quite vocal at the peak of the summit Gale helped her climb. When Prim finally spoke, her voice was raspy. "It's your turn…and don't tell me no."
Gale's voice was husky as he sat up and moved back against the wall. "I have no intention of telling you no tonight." He pulled her so she was kneeling in front of him. "But it may hurt."
"Do you forget what my training is in?" She smiled as his hands reached out for her hips, his eyes drinking in her naked body, and pulled her to him.
"No. I haven't forgotten." He guided her legs to rest on the outside of his and he pulled his knees up behind her so she could rest her weight there by sitting back on his thighs. "I just want you to be prepared." His hands moved across her flat stomach and up again to the swells of her breasts. "These are really nice, by the way." He smirked as he teased and pulled at her.
"You've had your eyes on those since I woke up from surgery, haven't you?" She reached down to do some exploration of her own of places she had never seen nor held. Air hissed through his teeth and was followed by a groan. "Uh-huh." She said with satisfaction. "I've been reading those books that aren't suitable for nice young ladies." She lined him up with herself and he could feel how ready she was by the heat that radiated off her. "Bow showed me how to clear a search from my tablet so it couldn't be traced." She gave him another stroke before saying, "And it's been very enlightening."
She slowly sank down on him allowing her body to expand around his girth and when Gale allowed his legs to drop it spread her wider to more easily accommodate him. She held his gaze and she loved that his eyes were filled with fire, desire, and love. How had she spent the last week doubting anything he felt for her? There was some pain from the stretching, and she adjusted once or twice to acclimate her body to the pleasurable intrusion. Gale leaned forward and claimed her mouth again until she was ready and soon she began a slow and steady rocking motion. Gale's head began to spin as Prim's motions not only stoked his desire, but made her body shake and tremble in ways that were all too pleasing to him. He was going to have to send a thank you note to her surgeons.
Gale didn't have much control in this position, so when it seemed Prim was no longer in pain he rolled her over on to her back and took over the pace. She giggled as she fell backward and then gasped at the new sensations this new position produced. She felt the tension build in her belly again and the look of sheer pleasure on Gale's face which soon sent her over the edge again. She convulsed and spasmed around him and that caused his release in conjunction with the sighs and moans coming from the beautiful creature under him. Gale finally moaned her name, repeating it like a litany before he searched for her lips with his own. Their breathing ragged and their bodies covered in sweat, they lay as a tangle of limbs and connected for a long while.
"Tell me that wasn't a dream." Gale finally whispered a few minutes after their breathing returned to normal. He smiled and kissed her forehead and rolled on his side.
"Do you dream of this often?" Prim asked running her hands down his chest still admiring this man who she could finally claim as her own. She hitched her leg up on his hip and used her leg to pull him closer to her.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. Of course I also have some very disturbing dreams as well." Her movement caused him to twitch inside her and he ran his hand along her leg and over her bum where it finally rest in the small of her back.
"Then this is a dream come true…for both of us." She whispered into his chest. She felt his arms hug her closer.
"Are you going to marry me?" Gale asked her rather pointedly and unceremoniously.
"Yes." Prim replied. "You've got to make an honest woman out of me. And you're not getting any younger."
Gale looked down and with his index finger lifted her chin so she was looking him in the eye. "I'm being completely serious." He said his voice dripping with both love and lust.
"So am I." Prim said with a serious edge to her voice. "And the sooner Johanna Mason knows you're mine the better."
"Does that still bother you?" Gale smirked, rolling Prim over on her back again so he had better access to kiss her neck and chest.
"She's evil and yes it still bothers me. She's got to do all of this with your first." Prim pouted, mostly in jest.
Gale stopped and looked at her again. "You're right; she gets off on the pain of others. She never touched my heart. She may have used my body—and she just used me—but that was it. While she was a distraction, you bring everything into focus."
Prim inhaled sharply as her heart exploded from the sincerity in his voice. He did want her. "Then why…why were you so upset last week?" She asked reluctantly. She didn't want to spoil what had just happened, but she also knew it was important.
"I was stupid and scared. I thought that the only reason you wanted me was out of a sense of obligation for everything I did for your family." Prim reached up and kissed her favorite place on his jawline. "Then I realized I didn't care." He paused. "I knew all along I didn't care. But I convinced myself for so long that Katniss only chose Peeta out of a sense of obligation. Part of that was believing that I didn't want that kind of love and I was better off without it…" He trailed off.
"Do you know why I let you kiss me so long ago in that lab in 13?" Prim asked him. The question caught him by surprise so he just shook his head. "I was curious and you were HOT!" She giggled. "I could tell all day that you were attracted to me and part of me thought it was only because I looked like Katniss. But the other part of me…the part that felt giddy and excited that an older man found her attractive…didn't believe it or didn't care. Well, until you said her name. That's why I ran."
"I'm so sorry." Gale whispered. Prim shushed him. She wanted to tell him the rest of the story.
"But I knew I wanted someone like you since I was a little girl. Ever since the Quell and the firebombs I knew that any man who ever showed interest in me was going to be compared to you for my whole life. So when you were available I thought, 'well, I don't have to compare if I have the real thing'. Then your lips were coming towards me and I accepted them."
Gale's brow furrowed and Prim knew he was still questioning something. "What?" She asked.
"What if you meet someone later that does measure up, but is younger or smarter or cuter or..."
Prim interrupted him. "There won't be anyone else; not after today or what we just did. I just chose you and sealed that commitment." She looked down to where their bodies were still connected. "We can't always choose who we fall in love with, but we can choose to whom we bind ourselves." She kissed him tenderly. "I will spend the rest of my life strengthening that bond." Their kisses became more heated and the passion ignited again. Prim smiled after her lips were puffy and a little bit sore. "This all began with a curious kiss."
"I still can't believe that was your first kiss." Gale remembered fondly.
Prim blushed. "Maybe I shouldn't have stopped you so long ago…maybe we could have been enjoying this all along."
"Your mother would have shot me." Gale said. "And I'm not so sure Katniss is going to be very pleased about this now." He confessed.
"Do we have to tell her?" Prim asked, alarmed.
They both looked at each other. "She'll just know." They said in unison.
"She made me shower…I'm thinking we have her blessing already." Prim said
"She suggested I shower too." Gale smiled. "Do you think we really smelled that bad?"
"No. She's been spending too much time with Haymitch and that man is always plotting something." Prim answered.
"Well," Gale said running his thumb across her again as he kissed her shoulder, "let's not let her scheming go to waste." He kissed her on the mouth and she bit his bottom lip. "Let's give this another go." And he shifted his hips to emphasize his point.
"Your bow is reloaded?" Prim asked with a smirk.
"You're so cheesy!" Gale said as they began round two.
A/N: Here's some lemonade. Let me know if it's too much, not enough, too sweet, or too artificial. It's really my first attempt and my goal is to not get too graphic but tell enough. Please give me some specific feedback. I'd be ever so grateful.
As always, thanks for reading. We're really winding down here. One more surprise to go.
