DISCLAIMER: HG CHARACTERS DO NOT BELONG TO ME

A/N: I figured some would be disappointed it wasn't Dez at the apartment, but I figured some would be happy as well. However, I was not going to have Dez be Gale's secret friend with benefits. I would not write him to disrespect Dez like that. And it is not fair to Dez's character either.

Warning: Strong sexual content in this chapter, especially in the first part

Chapter 147-Lies, Love II

He wakes her up early the next morning around 7 am. While not a morning person, she does not mind being woken up to his lips on her body. She disappoints him by slipping away into the bathroom for a quick shower to help wake herself up. She comes out with a towel over her body and one on her head about a half hour later. He watches her as she uses the towel to dry her hair. Once it is combed, she comes over to the bed, placing her clothes onto the bed to change into. While the apartment Gale rents is small, it has a large walk in closet and he has allowed her to keep a few small personal items here, mostly choosing to keep clothes here along with personal items in his bathroom.

Before she begins changing, he sits up and pulls off her towel, exposing her naked body to him. She sees him look at her hungrily. As a model, she is on the thin side, but did not look unhealthy. She is tall, but he was still a good 4-5 inches taller than her. However, it was different for him to be with someone so much taller than the previous two women he was with who were both on the shorter side-Katniss and Dez. And while Dez was so thin it was hazardous to her health, Cassandra enjoyed eating and physical exercise. He theorized that was how she was able to maintain a slim figure along with eating a healthy diet.

However, as with Dez, she was very much about appearances. Her hair was always perfect, as a natural blonde, she dyed it to make it even more blonde and she had gotten hair extensions so her hair was extremely long. She was always in dresses or skirts but at times would dress casually. Her eyes were light blue in color, and it reminded him of the merchants from District 12. And she visited the salon frequently, so her nails were always painted and polished and her body was always waxed, all of it. For the nature of her work required it.

He places his hand her on her flat stomach before bringing her closer and begins kissing her stomach. She closes her eyes and runs her hands through his hair as he wraps his arms around her mid-section. He then pulls her onto his lap and buries his head into her shoulder and squeezes her tight.

She had noticed this change in him in the last few weeks, ever since he eased up on his 'no kissing on the mouth' rule. She loved it when he was affectionate with her, as he was being now. She loved how he could be so gentle, yet so forceful when they had sex. She had heard over the years he had a history with women before settling down, seeing for herself that those rumors were true. There was nothing that the two of them had not done when it came to sex.

After he releases her from his tight embrace, he reaches down inserts himself into her, he knows she is ready for him, for he can feel she is wet as she sits on lap. His movements are slow at first, then he picks up the pace and the two of them begin to pant heavily as he moves inside of her. She begins to lean back, placing her hands down on the bed behind her as she arches her back and tilts her head back as she begins eliciting sounds of pleasure. He begins moving even faster, repeating his animalistic movements from the night before causing her to lose her grip and she moves backwards and collapses on the bed, accidentally pulling out of him.

"Fuck!" she says in between gasps, angry that the extreme pleasure she was feeling was suddenly interrupted.

He laughs at her and says, "You are so cute when you get angry" as he climbs on top of her and leans down and begins kissing her deeply. Not being able to get enough of him, she wraps her legs around his back, locking him into place as he begins his movements again. She wraps her arms around his shoulders, holding on tight as he moves faster and faster inside her. She begins shaking as she orgasms, and she can't stop whimpering in pleasure once she releases her legs and arms from him and rests them down on the bed while his one hand begins stroking her clit while his mouth is on her breast.

"Is this why you woke me up so early" she manages to say as he continues stroking her.

Releasing his mouth from her nipple he looks up at her and asks, "Are you complaining?"

She smirks at him and says, "I think you should have woken me up at 6 instead of 7" and then she begins moaning again as he begins inserting his fingers inside of her, reaching for him so his lips can be on hers again.

Twenty minutes later, they are laying naked on the bed together, beginning to drift into a light sleep. He begins to hear her stomach growl, for his head is on her stomach. Tilting his head back up and placing a hand on it, he says, "After I shower I'll grab us breakfast from the café next door" and he gets up off the bed and heads into the bathroom.

She looks over and sees the time is 9:40 am. Even though she already showered she knows she probably should hop in quickly to clean herself off. She gets up and pulls her hair into a bun and goes into the bathroom. She sees him in the standup shower and pulls the door open and goes in.

"I know what time it is-I'm just here to quickly wash up" she says as she grabs her bath sponge and lathers it with her soap.

He silently nods at her as they continue in silence in the shower. They both get out of the shower at the same time and he begins shaving as she gets dressed. She continues getting ready as he leaves to get breakfast and is ready once he returns. He sees she is in casual clothes, wearing stylish but comfortable black leggings and a black sweater. He is happy to see her in black fur boots instead of those ridiculous heels.

They eat breakfast at his small table, talking about their upcoming plans for the week. He is glad to hear she is keeping busy with work, for he says to her, "Next weekend I will be taking Juniper to get a new kitten, it is her birthday gift from me. This is probably going to be my last trip here for a while. With a new pet I'll need to be at the house with her."

He sees she tries to hide her disappointment. Looking down while eating her fruit she says, "What about when you are in the Capitol for work?"

"I'll have to see, usually when I am here my days are pretty busy and my lunch breaks are spent with my co-workers. I don't have a whole lot of time on my break to get over here and back over to the square."

"You can come to my place" she offers. Her apartment is small like this one but is near the town square.

He hesitates before answering, thinking over her offer. He finally says, "I'll consider it."

Not exactly the answer she was hoping for, but not a firm no either, she nods and continues eating. He sees she is disappointed and says, "Someone could see."

"See you go into a random apartment?"

"It could still look suspicious."

"People at your work know your two older daughters live in the Capitol right?"

"Yes."

"Well, then, you could always tell them you are going to see them."

He realizes what she is saying makes sense, for the people he worked with the in Capitol did not know where Sienna and Avery live.

"Okay, but only if I have time."

She smiles at him in response, he realizes it gives him a renewed sense of happiness seeing her flash him her gorgeous smile.

Once they are finished and he strips the sheets off the bed placing them in a bag outside for the laundry attendant to pick up later, he sees the time is 10:50 am. He has just enough time to head to the train station to get back to District 2.

He gives her a long kiss as he says his goodbye. She looks up at him sadly as she closes the door behind her. Their routine is that she is the first to leave and he leaves the building five minutes later.

The walk from the apartment to the station is less than five minutes and his timing is perfect as he purchases his ticket and gets on the outbound train heading for District 2 right at 11 am.

The following weekend as promised, Gale takes Juniper to the downtown area of District 2 to the animal shelter to pick out a kitten. While Silver Lake had their own animal shelter and that is where they had gotten Jade, Silver Lake's animal shelter currently had no kittens, but the one downtown did. Not able to say no to his youngest girl, Gale caved and allowed Juniper to get two kittens, two little white fluffy kittens from the same liter. They are thirteen weeks old. One boy and one girl.

He knew he was going to have his hands full for the next few weeks.


April 18 (Saturday)

"They are even cuter in person" Mrs. Everdeen says to Juniper as they sit in the great room on the large couch. One of the kittens in Mrs. Everdeen's lap, the other in Juniper's.

Now five months old, the kittens were much bigger, but still very lovable and cuddly which Juniper adored. Within the first week after bringing them home, they started to notice the slight coloring around the kittens faces and the points of their legs get darker. The female's a dark brown and the male's a gray color. She decides to name the female Sophie and the male Smokey.

Apprehensive at first about having three cats in the house, Gale figured out the hardest part at first was introducing Jade to the two kittens. Juniper informed him she had read in one of her books about cats that new cats should be introduced to resident cats in a slow and gradual manner. Trusting his daughter, Gale let Juniper handle the introduction, and she decided to have the kittens be set up in the guest bedroom. Two weeks later, the gradual introduction successful, Jade was able to be with the kittens alone in the house and took to the kittens quite well. While Jade was a great cat and Juniper loved that Jade slept with her at night, she was not a lap cat. Sophie and Smokey were lap cats, and she was in heaven that the two cats followed her from room to room in the house, all three cats sleeping with her in bed at night. It helped making being at the house less lonely now that it was just her and her Father.

Gale comes over to the couch and says to them, "Lunch is ready."

They follow Gale over to the large island and sit down, for he has prepared chicken salad sandwich's and a salad. Now 75, Katniss's mom was retired and still living in District 4 but was in better physical health than Hazelle and did not mind traveling to District 2. She had taken a commercial hovercraft early this morning instead of the overnight train. She would be staying for the week with Juniper while Gale was reporting for his mandatory one-week military duty. He must report to the Capitol at 6 am Sunday and he usually stayed in the Capitol Saturday night. In the past when he was gone, Katniss would be at the house and he would get a hotel room in the Capitol. Since her passing, he has usually had the two Grandmother's watch Juniper while he was gone, either Juniper going to them or the Grandmother's coming to the house.

As they begin to eat, Mrs. Everdeen cannot help but notice how much healthier and happy he looked. He had gained weight back, though he was slightly thinner but still fit. Even though she did not see him often, she had suspected he had increased his drinking quite a bit since her daughter died. Seeing him now, acting more like his usual self, she suspects he has cut down his alcohol consumption.

"How was your flight?" he asks.

"Fine" she says, then adding, "It is a lot easier than traveling by train, I think I might be a converter to commercial hovercraft travel from here on out when I come here."

They continue to engage in conversation, Gale talking about his work when Mrs. Everdeen asks him, "So you will be retiring soon from the military correct?"

"Yes, September 30 will be my last day. So, I will only have one more one mandatory rotation left in July."

"And your job as government official?"

"Oh, I'll still be at that one. I hope to still be working for at least another 4 years, at least while this one is still here" he says as he points to Juniper.

"It will be forever until I graduate" Juniper says.

"It will fly by" Mrs. Everdeen says smiling at her.

"Yeah right" Juniper says.

"You should try to enjoy it while you can" she says encouragingly.

Juniper gives her Grandmother a look as they finish eating. Juniper clears the island while Gale and Mrs. Everdeen continue in conversation. Once Gale sees it is 2:30 pm he lets them know he must leave and heads upstairs to get his bags.

As he says his goodbyes he says quietly to Juniper, "Make sure you clean the litter boxes each day, I don't want your Grandmother doing it."

"I know Dad!" Juniper says angrily, defensive knowing that she does not clean them everyday as she knows she should.

"They are your cats Juniper" he says sternly. He then gives her a hug, holding her tight. When he pulls away, he can tell she is sad he is leaving though she will not admit it. Ever since Katniss died, her knows his daughter is fearful something will happen to him and she will lose both of her parents.

"I love you" he says as he turns to go. She runs up to him and grabs him by the arm and says, "Dad-wait-I'll miss you" and she hugs him again, not wanting to let go.

He gently pulls her away and kneels, so he is eye level with her and says, "I'll miss you too-but it'll be okay."

"I know-I don't know why I feel this way."

"It is perfectly normal. If you still feel anxious, feel free to call me tonight. You know you can call me anytime, but it will be easier to reach me tonight."

She nods as he rubs her shoulder one last time and as he rises, she turns and heads into the great room for the kittens had awoken from napping and were running around near the fireplace. As he walks to the front door, he says to Mrs. Everdeen, "Thanks for coming, call me if she is not doing her chores."

"I will. I hope you have dinner plans tonight."

"I do-meeting a friend for dinner once I get to the Capitol."

"That's good. You are happier now than the last time I saw you."

"I am?"

"Yes" she says smiling, "I have technically known you for forty-one years you know."

"It's crazy to think about sometimes. Whoever thought we end up where we are now" he says.

"I just never thought we would be here, and she wouldn't."

He sees the change of demeanor on her face. He says, "A day doesn't go by that I don't think about her. I miss her-so much."

"Sometimes I wonder how much longer I can go on, with all this loss."

"A lot of people need you, them especially."

He sees her form a small smile. "I know."

They say their goodbyes and he heads for the train station, he arrives at the Capitol at 5:15 pm. Once he is at his apartment and unpacked, he pulls out his phone and calls Cassandra. Knowing that he was coming into town today, she tells him she will be over shortly. He asks her where she wants to order in food from. Telling him she was craving pasta; he orders a lasagna dinner from a nearby restaurant and arranges to have it delivered in one hour. When she arrives, he is pleased to see her in casual clothes, and once the door is locked they begin kissing each other frantically, her bag still slung over her shoulder.

They had not seen each other since the weekend before Juniper got the kittens. While she never called him for that was part of their agreement, she had sent him a message on his phone in March asking if he was coming to the Capitol anytime soon. He had responded back stating that things were too busy at work for him to see her right now. Last week he had sent a message letting her know he would be reporting for military duty and that he could see her the night before. She responded back saying she would make sure she is free that night.

They move from the door to the couch, taking her bag and gently setting it down on the floor as he moves her to the couch. After a few minutes he pulls away and says, "I guess you are glad to see me."

"I'm always glad to see you, I like you" she says playfully as she moves in to kiss him again, inserting her tongue in his mouth. She reaches her hand down his pants and is disappointed when he pulls her hand out, pulling his tongue out her mouth he says, "The food will be here soon."

She sighs but does not argue. Moving off his lap she sits down beside him on the couch. She is caught off guard when he says, "I thought you'd be mad at me, for not calling for two months."

"You told me you couldn't be my boyfriend" she says blankly.

"I didn't see you due to not wanting to."

"Have you only been in the Capitol for work?"

Not wanting to lie to her, for he already felt like dirt for lying to the ones he loved he said, "No, I was here two weeks ago to celebrate Avery's birthday. I was only here for the day; Juniper was with me. I could not get away. We were at Avery and Sienna's apartment. We went to dinner and then left shortly after to go back home."

She nods in understanding, he can tell by the look on her face she was not angry hearing that he was not far from her place, for Sienna and Avery's apartment was only a ten-minute walk away. She knew Avery had recently had a birthday, having a modeling contract with Avery's employer, she was frequently in the building and had seen going past Avery's office birthday balloons that had been put up by her co-workers. The number 23 on the balloons.

He asks her what is new in her life. She fills in him on the details, telling him she turned 34 on March 23. He tells her he wishes she would have told him, but she shrugs in response saying that her birthday was spent as it usually has been since she's been living in the Capitol, a birthday dinner night out with friends. He realizes soon after her response that her message reaching out to him seeing if he was coming into town was in the middle of month.

"Well, I will have to make it up to you later tonight for missing your birthday" he says as he pushes a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.

Before she can reply his doorbell rings, the food finally here. He goes downstairs to get it and they begin to have dinner. Ordering wine with the meal, they drink the entire bottle. They go into the bedroom once they are done cleaning up, and immediately undress each other. Showing each other how much they missed each other, they lay horizontally on the huge king bed in opposite positions on their sides as they each pleasured the other. The room was silent except for the occasional whimper or moan coming from one of them. Out of nowhere, Gale's phone begins buzzing and ringing, he knows immediately who it is by the ringtone.

Abruptly raising his head from her crouch, he wipes his mouth off with his hand as he says, "Shit!" quickly getting up and reaching for his boxers which had been thrown on the floor. As he is pulling them on, he hears her say, "Why did you stop? You never answer your phone when we are having sex!"

"It's Juniper-I have to get this" he says as he sees the time is 9:47 pm on his phone as he answers and says, "Hey sweetie, everything ok?" and begins walking into the bathroom to wash his hands and face. She then hears him say, "Yeah, I'm not sleeping, I am getting ready for bed."

She watches him as he then moves from the bathroom and into the living room, closing the door behind him. Knowing she should not be but unable to keep her emotions in check, she is angry that he has interrupted the limited time they have together to answer the call. She gets up and moves under the covers. She knows they have to get up at 4:45 in the morning, for he needs to take a shower and eat a quick breakfast before getting on the train to head to the military base north of the main square to be there by 6 am, for she was with him here in his apartment the last time he was called to report for duty.

He comes back in at 10:08 and says, "Sorry-I told her she could call me tonight. I didn't think she actually call."

"Why not?" she says stiffly.

"She's a teenager. You don't call your parents all that often on the phone to chat. But-she's been having a hard time today."

"And why's that?" she says, her arms crossed.

Gale gives her a hardened stare before saying, "She's missing her Mom today."

"And you?" she asks pointedly.

"Do you really want to know the answer to that?"

Suddenly feeling guilty, for she knows it is wrong of her to be angry at the situation, she cannot help but feel inferior, no longer wanting to be his secret side piece. She knows he will never acknowledge her existence out of shame. She realizes now he is ashamed to be with her. Feeling stupid for hoping that he would finally ease up on all his rules, she cannot accept the fact that he will never be hers.

She gets up from the bed and begins putting on her clothes. Knowing that she is leaving he says, "I don't want you to go. You know I enjoy having you here with me beyond what we do in here."

"I have to go" and she grabs her bag and heads for the door, Gale trailing behind her.

Before walking out, she turns to him and says, "I thought I could do this, but I can't."

She sees the look of disappointment on his face but says in response, "I understand."

"I'm breaking one of our rules. I'm falling in love with you" and she quickly turns and walks out.

He slams his hand against the door in anger once she is gone.


July 10 (Friday)

Gale sits outside in the garden area with the audience as they wait for the fashion show to begin. Juniper beside him, they are eager to see Avery's designs that are about to be shown. He tries to keep his emotions in check, for he knows Cassandra will be in the show, knowing beforehand she would be there, it was confirmed for sure when he saw her name on the holographic brochure that was projected as they walked into the building. They have not spoken since that night in his apartment, wanting to give her space. He had hoped she would reach out, but he knows he was being selfish in that wish.

Once the shows begins Gale looks over as Juniper happily watches as the models come out to the upbeat music, all the outfits in the show are Avery's, and while this was a smaller show, taking place during the afternoon while the bigger shows took place in the evening, it was a huge deal that she got her own show.

When Cassandra came out, Gale almost didn't recognize her at first, for her body was painted gold and she was wearing a blue wig. While the fashions of the Capitol had calmed down over the years, they were still strange, for he would never like nor understand them.

But today he was here for Avery, and he was glad to see Juniper was enjoying herself. She came out again later in an outfit that was not as unflattering, but still strange, wearing a pink wig instead. He was not sure if she saw him staring at her, for while he tried not to, he could not help himself. Once the show was over and she came out without the body paint or wigs on, Juniper turned to Gale and said, "That woman who was wearing the body paint with those wigs, the one standing on the end, she's really, really pretty."

"Aren't they all pretty?" Gale asks, trying to change the subject away from Cassandra.

"No-I mean, one would think with models, but some of them are really not that pretty in the face. That woman is the prettiest one out of all of them. I don't know why Avery put her in that body paint."

Gale knew the reason Avery had chosen to put Cassandra in the weirdest outfits. Avery had confided in him over the last few weeks as she was getting ready for the show that her boss wanted her to have a variety of outfits and looks, and she stated she had chosen the model she wanted to wear the unappealing looks. When asked how she went about choosing the unlucky person, Avery replied by saying, "She's the best looking one, it helps the other models not get as jealous."

While staring at her up on stage, he sees that her hair while still long, was now a darker shade of blonde, he assumes her natural hair color.

Later as the reception takes place in the garden area, he stays close to Juniper as people mingle, drinking the beverages and eating the appetizers provided. Gale sees Cassandra staring at him from across the garden, and he stares back at her in response. Neither one smiling, instead their looks were looks of unease, not sure what the other should do.

Twenty minutes later when Avery takes Juniper by the hand and starts introducing her to her co-workers, he tells his daughters he is going to stretch his legs for a quick walk. Seizing on the opportunity to approach her, he looks around and sees her mingling with some of the other models, smoking a cigarette. A habit he considered disgusting, he knows she has tried to quit but began the habit when she first started modeling, for smoking helped her keep her weight down.

She moves away from the others as she sees him approach, going over to him. "I was wondering if we could talk in private?" he asks.

She nods and motions for him to follow her into the building. She leads him into her private dressing room area and seeing it is completely deserted as everyone is outside, he turns to her and says, "How are you?"

"Good. Keeping busy, it is what I do."

"I just wanted to say, I'm sorry about what happened back in April. I never should have started seeing you."

He sees the look of shock on her face, for she was not expecting him to say that.

"What do you mean?" she says her voice rising.

"It was wrong of me to begin seeing you in secret."

He sees tears form in her eyes, "I can't believe what I'm hearing" she says.

"This is why I should have never started it. I hurt you. I was selfish. I was lonely and when you offered yourself to me, I could not refuse. I know now I should have."

She pushes him, slamming her fists into him. She wants to continue hitting him but instead stops and starts cursing at him instead. He does not respond and lets her continue to hurtle insults at him. Tears still in her eyes, she says, "Why are you saying these things to me?"

"I need you to forget about me. Find another man who deserves your love. You deserve happiness."

"I was happy with you!"

"Were you completely?"

She does not respond and looks at the floor. "I knew you were becoming attached" he says.

"What if I was? What is so wrong with that? Because it went against your precious rules? I'm the one who's hurting here!"

"No, you're not."

"Excuse me!" she says in disgust.

"You are not the only one hurting. Do you know how much I've missed you?"

Confused now more than ever, she says, "You are ashamed of me, you are ashamed of our relationship, and you just admitted you never should have started seeing me."

"Because you deserve better, you deserve more."

"What are your feelings for me?"

"I set all those rules and boundaries in place, because-I was afraid-I was afraid of loving you."

She blinks at him, making sure what she heard was right. She reaches up and touches his face. She had seen him become more and more affectionate as their affair progressed, she thought it was lust, part of the way he seduced women.

"And do you?"

"I realized I loved you the day my Mother in Law told me I looked happy. That was the day I came here to see you before I left for my military leave."

Remembering that was the night she walked out on him, and not speaking since, she brings his face to hers and begins kissing him. He resists at first but then gives in, opening her mouth as he kisses her deeper, wrapping their arms around each other tight.

A/N: Because this is still a Galeniss story-there is still a chapter to come regarding a recorded message Gale gets from Katniss-just in case anyone got sad/mad reading this chapter.