2 - Last Christmas

They had had a successful hunt today. Due to the heavy snow that had fallen in the past few days, the turkeys had had trouble avoiding their traps, and thanks to the clearly visible footprints they'd even caught up to a deer's herd. It had been a long time since they'd last had had trouble carrying the game back to the Hob. Joking and laughing, they pulled the game under the fence and made their way through the snowy seam to the major's house. On a day like that fresh meat sold well, especially at the major's and head peacekeeper's doors. They always turned a blind eye on the two friends; they knew as well as everyone else that their hunting was the only chance of their families' survival.
They knocked on the backdoor of the major's house the first thing. Madge opened, as usual, wearing a beautiful red dress with a green bow around her waist.
"Merry Christmas!" she smiled at them as Katniss handed her one of the deer, in exchange for a handful of money. Katniss smiled back hesitantly and so did he. He wasn't really sure if he liked Madge, though she sure seemed to like him. She was a bit too cheerful for his taste.
Just as they were about to close the door, Madge reached behind her for a prettily wrapped present standing on the table behind her.
"Oh, I almost forgot! For you and Prim." She said and handed the present to Katniss, who blushed slightly.
"Thank you, Madge!" She said, not knowing what to reply. Even though Madge seemed to be the closest thing Katniss had to a friend in school, she would never have thought to get a present from her. Madge smiled at her for the last time and then closed the door with a silent goodbye. For a moment, Katniss just stood there and stared at the door, then she shrugged and put the pretty present in her father's game bag.
Their next stop was the house of the Head Peacekeeper. Darius was a kind-hearted red haired man at the age of about thirty-five who paid well for the game they brought. He smiled when he opened the back door for the two teenagers and even let out a "Merry Christmas, you two!" as he dumped more money in Gale's hand than needed. A Christmas present from the Head Peacekeeper. Then they made their way to the Hob. Katniss needed some herbs for her mother's medicines while Gale went to buy new shoes for his two younger brothers, Vick and Rory, and with the extra money from Darius, they even had enough to buy a small Christmas present for Prim and Posy and a new dress for Hazelle, Gale's mother.
They walked back to the Seam in silence, but it was a happy silence, neither of them had even dared to hope they'd be that lucky. Only when they parted and went in different directions, Gale spoke. "See you later, Catnip. Wear something pretty", he teased her. She smiled.
"See you later." And with those words, she turned around and walked home. For a short moment, Gale looked after the girl, how she walked up the small path to her house, the heavy game bag rested on her shoulder. Then he turned around and made his way home, his thoughts already at the Christmas dinner, where he would finally see his Catnip again.

Hazelle was beyond pleased when she saw the turkeys Gale brought home and Posy squeaked in excitement when she learned that Gale had brought her a present. He smiled, seeing his whole family in such a cheerful mood. He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen his mother so happy, since Gale's father had passed away in the mine explosion four years ago Hazelle hadn't had many occasions to smile. Only when Katniss and Gale were lucky enough to bring home more than a day's amount of meat, her face had lit up a bit.

They spent the afternoon decorating the whole house, while Hazelle started to pluck and stuff the turkey with the chestnuts and apples Vick and Rory had brought home from the woods yesterday. They hung up fir branches, set up candles and Posy even sacrificed her hairbands to tie up some mistletoe. There was much laughing and singing going on, and for a moment Gale paused and watched his younger siblings, wishing the moment of happiness could last forever, and even though he knew it was silly he found himself wishing they would never grow up to the reaping age.

Before Gale had realized it had become dark and the moment of the Christmas dinner had arrived. There was a firm knock on the door and he rushed to open, but Rory was faster.
"Merry Christmas!" he called out cheerfully as he let Katniss, Prim and their mother enter. Hazelle immediately rushed over to welcome their friends and almost teared up when little Prim handed her a self-made plum cake as present. Finally Katniss came over to Gale, handing him a small packet wrapped in brown paper.
"Merry Christmas", she said and he reached behind him and produced a small wooden box and exchanged it for Katniss' packet.
"Merry Christmas, Catnip!" he replied and she nodded, meaning thank you. Katniss had never been a girl of many words, but neither had Gale.
For a moment, there was an awkward silence between them, and Gale lifted his gaze to the ceiling, in hope of finding a topic of conversation, when his eyes got caught by something. Hanging right over their heads was a small green bundle with white spherical fruit. Mistletoe.
"Know what they used to say about mistletoe before the dark days?" he said absently.
"The ancient people believed that if two people kissed under mistletoe, they'd have a year of good luck." He lowered his eyes and finally dared to look at his best friend. Their eyes met all of a sudden, and Katniss blushed slightly and looked away immediately, as if she'd only now discovered how interesting the pattern of the wooden wall looked. Gale took a step closer to Katniss and then he worked up his courage and softly put his hand on her cheek. Her eyes flickered back to his, not sure where to look and what to do as their faces came closer and closer, and then –
"Gale! Look what Prim brought for us!" Vick cried enthusiastic, holding up a basket filled with goat cheese. They both startled at the voice of Gale's little brother and Gale pulled back his hand. Katniss took a shaky step back, blushing, and turned away.
"That's awesome, thank you very much, Prim!" Gale exclaimed, faking a smile and hoping no one had seen what had been about to happen between and Katniss. Prim smiled warmly at Gale, then Posy pulled her away to show her something.
"Why don't we all have a seat?" Hazelle proposed, and everyone shuffled over to the nicely decked table in the middle of the room.
Katniss took a seat between Hazelle and Prim, avoiding Gale's eyes, and he felt a sting of rejection in his chest. And he hoped with all his heart that he hadn't just ruined their friendship with his stupid, stupid feelings.