A/N: Hello lovelies! So here is Part Two! I'm finishing up Part Three right now. I'm not sure I'll have a chance to post it tomorrow, so if I finish it tonight, you guys will get the final part! Yay! In the meantime, I hope you guys enjoy Part Two!

Tallyho!

Part Two:

Gale felt ridiculous. He was standing on the Mellark's porch holding a small basket of fruit that he had picked from the woods to give the family while dressed in his cleanest clothes and his hair freshly washed. He felt like he was picking up a girl for a date, not going to dinner at his old best friend's house with her husband and two children and said old best friend wouldn't even be there. He wasn't one to run away but this was one of those times that he wanted to.

Before he could take a step off the porch, the door opened to reveal Peeta holding his son and the smell of freshly baked bread flowed out. Peeta smiled as he greeted Gale and invited him inside. The house was cozy. There was a fire roaring in the fireplace and the house was filled with the smell of fresh bread and soup. Peeta's daughter, Sierra, was in the living room reading a book while the TV was playing some show involving cars. The girl smiled at Gale but quickly went back to her book as Peeta placed his son on the couch next to his sister so he could watch the television. Gale gave Peeta the fruit basket which he thanked him heartily. As Peeta walked back into the kitchen, he told Gale to make himself at home and that dinner would be ready shortly.

Gale sat down on a chair in the living room and looked around. Little Jace was captivated with the TV while Sierra seemed to be struggling to focus on her book and kept sneaking quick peeks at Gale before looking back down to her book. Gale sensed she was as curious about him as he was about her. Taking a chance, he decided to start a conversation with her.

"What are you reading?" he asked her.

She looked up and smiled as if she was happy to talk to someone about her book. "It's called Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." she said proudly.

"Alice in Wonderland…" Gale muttered to himself. "Isn't that the book where she falls into a rabbit hole and ends up in a different world?"

Sierra nodded. "Yep! And she meets a white rabbit in a waistcoat, a Mad Hatter, and a Red Queen!"

Gale chuckled. "That's right. I remember now. I read that book once for school. It freaked me out a bit."

"Really?" Sierra asked surprised. "I love this book! This is my third time reading it!"

He shook his head. "You're braver than me. I read it once and couldn't wait to get rid of it. How'd you get started reading it, anyway?"

She paused before answering. "I may or may not have stolen it from Grandpa Haymitch's book stash."

Gale raised an eyebrow. "Grandpa Haymitch?"

"That's just Haymitch to you, kid." he heard a familiar gruff voice say. Gale turned around to see Haymitch leaning on the wall with a smirk on his face.

"Grampa!" said a small voice as Jace ran over to Haymitch to be picked up. Haymitch's smirk grew into a smile as he picked up little Jace and tickled him. After giving him a quick kiss on the side of his head, Haymitch put Jace down and walked towards Gale. Gale stood up as he put his hand out expecting a handshake but was surprised when Haymitch pulled him into a hug. Gale and Haymitch never really became friends during their time together in 13 but they respected each other and got along well enough that neither ever felt extremely uncomfortable around each other. So when Haymitch hugged him, he couldn't help but return the gesture because it had been so long since everything had happened that it just felt natural.

Haymitch pulled back and examined Gale. "You look good." he said.

"I feel good." he admitted. "You look well, yourself."

Haymitch smiled. "I am. So what brings you back to 12?"

"Just thought I'd come by to see how things were. I haven't been back since I came here with Katniss during the war so I wanted to see my old home in it's new glory."

Before Haymitch could respond, he was interrupted by Sierra. "You knew mom?" she asked.

Gale looked at her and smiled as he sat back down with Haymitch sitting in the chair across from him. "Yeah." Gale said. "We were best friends for a long time."

"Then how come you haven't come to see her before now?"

Gale hesitated and glanced at Haymitch who gave him a warning look with his eyes. Gale wasn't sure how much Katniss' kids knew about the Hunger Games and the events afterwards so he decided to play it safe.

"We just grew apart. Your parents fell in love and I had bigger plans for myself so I moved out to District 2. We never really stayed in contact after that. We just got busy with our own lives."

Sierra nodded. "Were you and dad very close?"

Gale looked back at Haymitch again for help but this time help came in a different form. "Sierra, dinner's ready. Why don't you take your brother and go wash your hands?" Peeta said.

Gale let out a sigh of relief as Sierra stood up and led her brother down the hall. Haymitch stood up and patted Gale on the back as they walked towards Peeta.

"She wasn't too nosy was she? She can be very curious without quite realizing her boundaries." Peeta asked concerned.

Gale shook his head. "Not at all. She seems like a sweet kid."

Peeta smiled in thanks, then walked into the kitchen with Gale and Haymitch following behind. Dinner went much smoother than Gale had anticipated. They shared a few laughs and memories as Sierra tried to keep up with the conversation but soon getting bored and decided to focus her attention on her brother. After dinner, Haymitch and Gale helped Peeta clean the kitchen while the kids went back to the living room. When the three were done, they sat back at the dining table with some drinks in hand. While Gale and Peeta were drinking something strong, Haymitch stuck with water. When Gale raised his eyebrow at him, Haymitch only shrugged.

"I don't drink in front of the kids." he said nonchalantly. "Wouldn't want to set a bad example."

Gale chuckled and nodded. "Fair enough."

Just then Sierra came into the dining room. "Dad, where's Jace's teddy bear? He's getting cranky."

Peeta thought for a moment. "Check his playroom. If it's not there, then it's in my room."

Sierra nodded and walked off down towards the hall. As she disappeared, Gale was reminded by her questions when he first arrived.

"Peeta," he said before he could stop himself, "if I may ask, how much do your kids know about… everything?"

Peeta sighed. "Not much. She knows that Katniss and I went through something terrible when we were younger. She's heard Katniss screaming in the middle of the night from her nightmares and, unfortunately, she's seen me have a couple of… episodes. She knows we're okay but she also knows that we'll never be fully recovered from everything that happened. We decided we'd tell her about the Games and the war when she was older. For now, all she knows is both of us were sick, and now we're better for the most part."

Gale nodded as Haymitch patted Peeta on the shoulder. Peeta smiled as Haymitch changed the subject to Peeta's bakery saving the trio from an awkward silence. As Haymitch and Peeta continued to chat, Gale decided he needed to get something off his chest before it was too late. When there was a moment between the three men, he took it as his chance.

"Peeta, I want to thank you." he said.

Peeta and Haymitch looked surprised. "W-why?" Peeta asked.

"For saving Katniss. You brought her back to life after the war and helped her put back the broken pieces. You healed her. You understand her better than I ever could and she always smiled brighter when she was with you… or at least whenever she smiled." Haymitch snorted as Gale assumed he was thinking of how difficult it was to get Katniss to smile before the Games in order to get sponsors. "You saved each other." Gale continued. "I know that if it wasn't for you, she would've given up a long time ago. You gave her the courage she needed to continue even when all else seemed lost. You saved her more times than I can count and you showed her the light within the darkness. So thank you."

Peeta studied Gale with an expression mixed between sympathy and perplexion. "You still love her. Real or not real?" he asked.

Gale thought before answering. "Real. But not in the way you do. I love her like a sister and a best friend. Nothing more; not anymore."

"Did you ever truly love her? Like I do?" he asked.

Gale thought once more. "I think I did. But she pushed me away and I didn't have the heart to fight back."

Peeta smiled and chuckled. "She tends to do that to people."

Gale smirked. "No kidding." He reached his hand out to Peeta. "I'm sorry we couldn't get along before this. Can we start over? As friends this time?"

Peeta smiled and shook Gale's hand. "Friends."

"Is the sentiment over yet?" Haymitch asked. "I'm too sober for this!" Gale and Peeta laughed as all three put their glasses together for a cheers.

Just then, they heard the front door open. "Hello!" a sing-song voice said.

"MOMMY!" Sierra and Jace said as they ran towards the foyer. Gale froze in his seat. What is she doing home early?! he thought as he heard her voice. It had been so long since he had heard it that he almost forgot what it sounded like. He knew it would be difficult when he saw her again but he didn't imagine that he would be frozen in his spot when that moment came.

He looked to Peeta wide-eyed, asking for help. Peeta nodded and patted his shoulder as he walked towards the front door. "I'll talk to her." he said. As he entered the foyer, the only voices heard were those of the children. As Gale waited for what happened next - being screamed at, kicked out, or killed on the spot - he fiddled with his hands. Then he heard footsteps walking towards the dining room. He could see Haymitch's expression change from concerned for him to a small smile he assumed was either for the children or for the woman he hadn't seen in years.

"Gale." he heard her say.

Letting go of the breath he had been holding, he stood up and turned around to face his old best friend.

"Hey Catnip."