I would like to say thank you, thank you, a thousand times thank you to everyone who has taken time out of their busy days to read and review my story! Also for your patience with me due to the holiday's… I hope this chapter will make up for all the weeks between postings!
All of your wonderful reviews keep me working hard to complete this story for you! So… please keep'em coming!
Cassie: As always thanks for proofing my chapters for me and keeping me on track with your feedback. Thanks for our conversations about the books and sharing your story ideas and thoughts with me and for being a sounding board for my thoughts and ideas.
Wolfskin: What can I say… thanks for our conversations about the books too and for sharing your story ideas and thoughts with me and asking my opinion. Thank you… I'm honored to help!
I do not own these characters or this world that Suzanne Collin's has created if I did Katniss would have been with Gale in the end. But thanks for letting me borrow them for a while.
CHAPTER 9: SPLISH SPLASH OR A FIRE OF ANOTHER KIND
Okay, Greasy Sae thought that if this girl could agree to take a bath earlier, acknowledge that someone did something nice for her, and even express genuine concern for someone else then she could damn well take a bath. Tonight!
She signaled for Gale to be quiet then marched into the bathroom and began filling the tub with hot water. She knew Katniss wasn't going to give in easily so the water wouldn't be hot by the time she decided to get in it. Sae placed some clean towels and clothes on the counter and a washcloth and bar of soap on the edge of the tub. She placed all the bottles of 'stuff' on the floor by the tub.
She went back out to the kitchen and took a deep breath. "Katniss, I have run water in the tub for you to take a bath. Everything you need is in there."
Katniss turned and looked at Greasy Sae with a stunned look on her face. She tilted her head to the side, closely scrutinizing Sae. Gale grimaced and waited for what was coming.
"No, I don't think I will, " Katniss said in clipped, even tones.
Sae replied in a firm but gentle voice, "Katniss it wouldn't hurt you to try you know."
Katniss took a deep, calming breath and then said in a slow, even voice, "Sae. I have never asked for you to come here every day. If you don't like what you see then you don't have to come back."
"Really?" Sae said with an edge of hurt in her voice. "Well, thank you. I have come here every day to cook and make sure you're all right. I think the least you can do is take a bath which would make it much better in here while we are all trying to eat."
Katniss knew she was right. She needed to take a bath. It was even starting to bother her. But her stubborn streak rose up and she just glared at Sae.
"Fine." Sae turned to Gale and said, "you see if you can get her to clean herself up." She gathered her bags and headed for the door. "And maybe I just won't bother to come back tomorrow," she added as she stormed out of the kitchen.
Gale stood there like a deer caught in the cross hairs of a gun.
Katniss glared at him daring him to say something... anything as her stubborn streak was flaring and causing her to say things she really didn't mean.
"Ummm, Katniss she is right and you should be nicer to her. She has come here every day to take care of you and everything else around here. And really it would be nice if you... ahhh... cleaned up a little," he stammered.
"If you don't like it you can get out too," she challenged.
Gale closed his eyes, exhaled loudly, and then turned and walked out to the front porch where he began to pace back and forth. "Damn it," he swore softly. Katniss could be so frustrating and infuriating and completely stubborn sometimes! She was just never going to give in. She had dug her heels in and she wouldn't concede… not for anything or to anyone. He knew this fact was true because he knew her better than anyone. After ten minutes of pacing and ranting to himself he stopped and stared at the door, his determination growing with each passing minute.
"Fine. If this is the game you want to play then we'll just keep going round and round. No problem," he whispered to himself.
He marched back into the kitchen, his determination growing with each step. "Katniss, I'm going hunting tomorrow. Do you want to go with me?" he demanded.
In a sweet voice Katniss replied, "why Gale, I haven't taken a bath. Don't you think the animals will be repulsed by me?"
Gale's mouth dropped open and he just stood there staring at her. She was really taking this stubbornness of hers way too far. Unless something drastic happened he knew she would carry on like this until she finally felt she had waited long enough to make her point.
'Hmmm… something drastic,' he thought.
"I think I can fix that," Gale smirked.
He marched over to her chair and pulled her to her feet.
Katniss was taken by surprise and stammered, "what are you... stop that!"
This was going to be drastic but he didn't want to hurt her by pulling her into the washroom, so he bent over and put her across his shoulders, turned and marched into the bathroom.
"GALE! What are... ohhhh... you'd better not! Gale... don't you dare!" Katniss was squirming and wiggling, trying to get free.
Gale stood over the tub and flipped her down into his arms.
"GALE! STOP! I MEAN IT!" she yelled at him furiously.
Gale bent down and submerged a yelling Katniss, clothes and all, into the water filled tub.
She grabbed the edge of the tub and pulled herself up into a sitting position and let out an infuriated yelp. "DAMN YOU!" she sputtered through a mouthful of wet hair. "DAMN YOU. GALE HAWTHORNE!" she yelled as she tried to get up.
Gale grabbed the top of her head with his right hand and the back of her left knee with his left hand. He pulled with his left and pushed with his right and Katniss slid under the water. Then he let go and stood up.
She came up spitting and sputtering and yelping, "damn you!"
Gale crossed his arms over his chest and glared at her. "Now... you will take a bath." Katniss opened her mouth to yell at him some more and Gale bent down, reaching for her again.
"OKAY! Okay." She looked up at him through strands of wet hair. "Stop." She had conceded because she knew when Gale was determined he wouldn't back down and would probably dunk her all night long if he had too.
Gale softened. He was ashamed of himself for taking such harsh measures but he knew her better than anyone and he knew her stubborn nature would never allow her to give in. "I'm going to get a tub for you to put your wet clothes in," he murmured.
He turned and exited the bathroom, coming back with a small metal washtub. Katniss was still sitting fully clothed in the water with her knees drawn up to her chest.
He placed the tub on the floor and looked at her. "Katniss I will be back in 5 minutes and if your clothes are not in the tub then I will take them off of you myself."
She glared at him through the wet hair covering her face. "You wouldn't dare," she challenged.
He raised his eyebrow, "well we'll see won't we."
He pushed the door open and sat down at the kitchen table, facing towards the bathroom. With the bathtub behind the open door Katniss would have all the privacy she needed to take off her clothes. He crossed his fingers and hoped that Katniss wouldn't call his bluff and that she would just give in and take a bath.
Then a thought flashed across his mind of Katniss calling out to him. He closed his eyes and pictured himself walking into the bathroom, she is standing in the bath water smiling at him and she slowly begins to unbutton her shirt and when she gets to the last button she asks him to help her remove her wet clothes. Gale opened his eyes and drew in a deep breath letting it out slowly. Someday soon… he hoped.
Katniss leaned over the edge of the tub and peeked around the door to see Gale seated at the kitchen table, staring at her with his arms crossed. He raised his hand and waved, beaming her his charming smile… hoping it would work its normal magic and that she would give in and take a bath without anymore struggle.
She plopped back into the tub. "Arrrgghh," she fumed as she slapped the water.
Gale was just considering that his smile had lost all its affect on girls when wet clothes began hitting the metal tub. When the clothes quit flying he went into the bathroom to retrieve the washtub. Turning his head away from the bathtub, he reached over and dragged the metal tub to the kitchen, closing the door behind him. He took the washtub outside and flung the wet clothes over the porch railing.
Gale decided that since Katniss was finally taking a bath she needed a clean blanket to sleep with too. He knew that Greasy Sae kept several clean blankets stacked in the living room and would change out the dirty one on Katniss' chair whenever she went to the bathroom. He retrieved a clean blanket and threw the dirty one out onto the front porch.
Since Katniss hadn't eaten anything for supper Gale busied himself making some sandwiches. He got out the frying pan and fried four eggs, spread goat cheese on lightly toasted bread and placed the fried eggs on the bread. He cut a couple of apples into slices and set them on the table. Then he put the sandwiches into the oven to keep them warm until she was done with her bath and filled up two glasses with goats' milk and set them in the icebox to stay cold. Then he sat down to wait.
After an hour a scrubbed and rosy skinned Katniss emerged from the bathroom with her hair and body wrapped in towels. She had to grudgingly admit to herself that she did feel much better after washing and soaking in the hot water for over an hour. "The clothes that Greasy Sae left in here got knocked off the counter and they're wet," she mumbled to Gale.
Gale sat at the table and stared at her standing there in nothing but a towel. His mouth dropped open as he tried to breathe and his heart began to beat faster. She was so damn beautiful! More beautiful then he remembered with the droplets of water glistening on her arms and legs. All he could think about… all he wanted to do was go over to her and take the towel out of her hand so that he could dry her off, running the towel slowly over her body and savoring every inch.
"Gale?" Katniss questioned as she ran the towel over her arms.
Startled out of his roving thoughts, "huh," was all he could manage to grunt.
"Clothes. I need something to put on," she repeated.
"Huh," Gale snapped his mouth shut and coughed, "oh... right." He went into the living room to the stack of clothes that Greasy Sae had washed for him and pulled out a shirt and a pair of sweatpants.
"Here." He handed her the clothes and just stood and stared at her.
Katniss looked up into his Seam grey eyes and saw a fire spark in their depths... a fire that was smoldering and wanting to burn out of control. Her cheeks flushed red and a fire of her own started to burn in her stomach. She lowered her eyes and went back into the bathroom quickly closing the door behind her. She leaned against the door, breathing hard and feeling the fire grow in the pit of her stomach. She squeezed her eyes shut and whispered, "damn you Gale." Dropping her towel on the floor, she stepped into the tub and turned the cold water on and splashed icy water on her red face and let it run down the front of her body, trying hard to extinguish the growing flames.
Gale just stood there staring at the bathroom door, the fire in his eyes spreading down his body. He wanted to go over and open the door to wrap her in his arms and kiss her lips with all the passion he could just to show her how much he loved her. Then he would carry her upstairs and let their fire burn and simmer all night long.
It took everything he had not to turn that doorknob and go inside. He knew she wasn't ready for what he so desperately wanted and he was willing to wait and give her the time she needed to heal and figure things out and finally make her own choice. He just hoped that she would need him as much as he needed her. He turned his back on the door and went over to the sink and splashed cold water on his face. Looking down he groaned at the very obvious sign of his desire for her. "Damn you Katniss," he whispered through gritted teeth. He closed his eyes and tried to think of something else... anything else that would get his mind off of her... naked... on the other side of the bathroom door.
Several minutes later Katniss came out of the bathroom with a comb in her hand and headed straight to her chair, avoiding his eyes. She sat down and began to towel dry her hair.
Gale pulled his shirt out of his pants hoping to hide his growing desire and busied himself retrieving the plates from the oven and dividing the slices of apple between them. He set the milk down and then took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. He finally turned towards Katniss and watched as she tried to comb her hair. She was struggling with her hair, trying her best to pull the comb through the tangles. He could tell that her anger and frustration was growing with each yank of the comb.
She pulled and yanked on her hair, swearing under her breath the entire time. "Damn shit! I'm," yank, "ouch," pull, "going to cut this all," tug, "ouch... OFF!" Huffing and fuming, she continued with the assault on her tangled locks.
"Katniss sit here. You can eat and I'll comb your hair for you," Gale suggested.
"No. I can do it," Katniss said as she tugged and grimaced.
"Katniss, really, it would be easier if I did it for you," Gale urged her.
Yanking with determined force she said, "NO! I will do this myself."
Gale breathed hard and looked up at the ceiling. Damn, she could be the most frustrating, stubborn person... "Katniss, please come over here and sit down. You can eat and I will help you with your hair."
"No!" she said stubbornly.
"Okay." Gale took a deep breath then let it out slowly. Walking over to her chair he took the comb from her hand and pointed to the other chair. "Sit. Over. There. NOW!" She looked up into his face and recognized the same stubborn determination she had seen a short time ago. So she got up and stomped over, plopping down in the chair like a five year old not wanting to do what they've been told.
Gale stood behind her and smiled. She never wanted to be the one to concede... ever. He stifled a chuckle then began working on the tangled mess of hair, trying his best not to yank it all out. Every now and then he would throw out a soft, "sorry," whenever he pulled too hard.
Katniss would exhale softly whenever he pulled but she didn't say anything. She actually liked the feel of his hands working through her hair. She found it very comforting and soothing. She closed her eyes and quieted her mind and tried to enjoy this small peace between them.
After a while her hand snaked out and snagged an apple slice off of her plate... then another... and another... then half of the sandwich. Before she knew it she had cleaned her plate and even licked the tip of her finger so she could pick up the crumbs.
Gale continued working on her hair, steadily gaining ground on the knots. Every now and then he noticed that she would turn her head to the right, glancing at the food on his plate. He could tell she was still hungry and knew that when she was in one of her moods she would ignore everyone and everything around her, focusing only on the fire in front of her. Gale reached over and put half of his sandwich and most of his apple slices on her plate.
This was typical Gale, always giving his food to everyone else and going without any himself. She sighed and snagged an apple slice off of her plate. By the time she had finished her food, Gale was done combing out her hair and had twisted it into her usual braid down her back.
"There," he said with a triumphant voice. "Done." He placed the comb on the table next to her plate then sat down rubbing his hands together and began to eat what was left on his plate.
Katniss watched his hands out of the corner of her eyes as she nibbled on her last apple slice. She always loved his hands: they were strong and capable but could be so gentle and nimble when he was working on his snares or playing with his brothers and sister.
She loved to watch his hands when he was with Posy especially after Hazelle had given her a bath. Posy would always run to him saying, "Gale do my hair pretty!"
He would scoop her up and put her on his lap saying, "pretty... oh, I don't know little girl you are already too pretty." Posy would giggle and smile the proudest smile at him.
He would tickle her sides as he said, "I can't keep the little boys away now." She would giggle even more and snuggle into his chest.
"Please Gale," she would beg.
"Oh... okay!" He would plant a kiss on her cheek and gently comb her hair out and then nimbly work the soft strands into an intricate braid.
Gale's hands; hands that were strong and capable but gentle and caring; hands that could do hard rough work but that he had trained to nimbly tie and set intricate snares and gently braid soft curly hair.
As Gale ate the last slice of apple on his plate she finally whispered, "ummm... thank you."
"No problem," he said around his last mouthful of sandwich. He swallowed then continued, "why don't you come hunting with me tomorrow Katniss? It would be good for you to get out of this kitchen for awhile." Gale then reached for his glass of milk, draining it in a few big gulps.
Katniss sat in her chair and watched him finish his glass of goats' milk, a few drops dribbling down the side of his mouth and onto his chin. She remembered when she and Gale had bartered with Mr. Martin over a mangy goat that he was going to slaughter. Katniss had wanted to get the goat for Prim as a birthday present and had been trying to get Mr. Martin to sell it to her for several days. Finally she'd asked Gale to come with her - she knew he could negotiate a deal with Mr. Martin; Gale always prided himself on being able to make a good and fair deal with anyone. It was a simple matter of supply and demand Gale would say. You have to supply something the other person really needs to get what you want. They left that day with the goat in hand and a promise to supply Mr. Martin with a couple squirrels a week for one month. It meant extra time in the woods to get the extra squirrels but they were both willing to do that to make Prim happy.
Prim was so excited when Katniss gave her the goat. She went on and on about how she would take good care of her and that she would provide all kinds of milk for them and it would not be any trouble at all. She said that she would make goat cheese and sell it to everyone and they would have money to buy the things that they needed. The goat did provide them with a little milk and they were able to make some cheese on occasion but any extra milk they had was shared with the Hawthorne's.
Katniss watched as Gale wiped the milk off of his chin and then smiled at her. "What'd ya say Katniss... come hunting with me tomorrow."
Katniss looked at Gale, seeing that boy who always prided himself on making a fair and honest deal for anything they needed. Then she saw Prim so excited and happy to get a dirty old mangy goat to love. She always had such a nurturing and caring spirit and would constantly be dragging stray animals home, begging to keep them. But she wouldn't be doing that anymore.
Katniss stood up and looked him in the eye. "No," she hissed. Then she turned and went back to her seat by the fire.
Gale sat back in his chair stunned. What the hell just happened? They had established a small peace between them, or so he had thought. He looked down at his hands and sighed. How in the hell was he ever going to get her out to the woods? He mechanically picked up the dirty dishes and put them in the sink. Then he walked over to the door, turned around and looked at her huddled under her clean blanket. "Goodnight Katniss," he said quietly.
Katniss closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair thinking about the first time Prim tried to give that damn goat a bath. She smiled slightly to herself.
Gale turned back around and walked out the door, dropping onto his sleeping bag. "Damn you, Katniss. I'm right here. What do I need to do for you to finally see me? See me for who I have always been and hope to be again." He closed his eyes and drifted into a restless sleep.
A few hours later he was snapped out of his restless slumber by small groans and yells. He knew Katniss was having another one of her nightmares so he got up and went inside. Usually he would place his hand lightly on her shoulder and she would immediately start to calm down, never waking up or even realizing he was there. Sometimes he would just sit there beside her, holding her hand and watching her drift into a deep sleep. When he could feel her start to stir he would leave her side and return to his sleeping bag on her front porch.
Tonight he went in and saw her slumped over the arm of the chair, jerking slightly and groaning in her sleep. "Oh, Catnip, you've slept in that chair long enough," he whispered.
He bent down and gently picked her up in his arms. Katniss stirred slightly then wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders as she snuggled her face into the side of his neck. Gale stood there for a few moments enjoying the feeling of her in his arms and the comfort of knowing that just for this small moment she was his. He carried her into the living room and lowered her down to the couch, then grabbed the blanket off the back and covered her up. He stood there smiling and thinking that at least for tonight she would be comfortable and maybe get the rest she so desperately needed. She turned slightly and started to stir, and Gale stepped back and started to leave. Katniss reached out and took his hand, squeezing it softly, "please stay here," she whispered through half opened eyes.
"I have always been here," he replied softly. Then he laid down on the floor next to the couch and pulled some of her blanket over top of him. She placed her hand on his chest and settled into a restful sleep. Gale smiled a contented smile and closed his eyes, falling into a peaceful sleep for the first time in a long time.