Chapter 8: The "HAPPY" Ending

***** A/N: Ok so this is an extremely unrealistic ending, but an awesome one. If you have any ideas on how to make it better, PLEASE tell me! Btw- thank you so much to all who have reviewed so far. Especially Bluedog270. (and hutcherwife-I LOVED your review. I will forever remember Gale as a pansycake )

~Delly~

"Delly…can you do one last thing for me before…?" Gale croaks out.

"Yes anything for you," I say lovingly. My hand strokes his cheek and he winces.

"Can I see Katniss…one last time?" he asks.

I hesitate. I really can't have him spazzing out in his condition. He's already on the verge of death as it is. He squeezes my hand. Tears fill my eyes. I have to do this for him. It would be a crime not to.

"Please?" his voice is barely a whisper.

"I'll be back as fast as I can," I tell him.

It takes me 20 minutes tops, for me to get to the victor's village. I'm full on sobbing by the time I reach the Mellark's doorstep. I knock on the door-loudly. Actually, I more like pound as hard as I can on the door. A baby starts to cry, a few doors slam. There's some shouting and cursing. Finally the door opens.

"What do you want?" Katniss asks me very curtly.

So much for a warm welcome. Her brown hair is pulled into a messy side braid. Her angry eyes have dark circles under them. Obviously displaying her lack of sleep. Before I can answer her question, Peeta comes up behind her, holding a tiny baby in his arms.

"No need to be so rude Katniss, just chill out," Peeta says with a smile.

"Oh…um…well you see…Gale…" I can't finish. This is too hard.

"Delly?" a familiar voice asks.

"Autumn?" she pushes her way through Katniss and Peeta and gives me a big hug.

"Is everything okay? I was so worried about you! I didn't know what to do…."

"Would somebody please tell me what is going on?" demands Katniss, who seems to definitely be in a bad mood.

Autumn pulls away from me, then takes my hand and leads me inside. "We all need to talk," she says.

**** 30 minutes later at the cabin…****

~Katniss~

When I walk into the cabin, the first thing I feel is anger. Not sadness, not anxiety, anger. I turn to Delly who is now standing beside me.

"What. Happened!" I shout.

The room smells like blood and death. You would have thought I was back in the arena. Gale is lying on a cot, eyes closed, pale as a ghost. I run to him. No, more like lunge myself across the room.

"Gale? Gale?" I shake him awake.

"Wha- Katniss?" he tries to sit up, but seems too weak to do so.

"Shh…its ok I'm here…" I gently push him back to a laying position.

He grabs my hand and whispers my name to himself, over and over again. Tears stream down his face and I can feel that death is near. I look over my shoulder and narrow my eyes at Delly, who is also crying.

"Get over here." I mutter through gritted teeth.

She quickly comes over to where I'm now sitting and kneels beside me.

"Please explain," I say harshly.

She whispers through her sniffles. "He got really depressed after he saw you. I found him in the woods and brought him here I had him on morphling for a while but...he um…wasn't getting any better."

"And…"

"So I um…well never mind. The point is he was so miserable he started cutting himself. I stopped him the first time but I endied up tellin him where I hid it and then there was a lot of blood and I didn't know what to do so I just gave him more morphling and…" she starts to sob and lays her head on Gale's chest, soaking his shirt with tears.

I'm too perplexed by all of this I just kind of sit there holding Gale's hand while he's dying.

I get up and carefully position myself on the cot so that Gale's head is in my lap. Slowly my tears come too. Flowing steadily down my face to his. After an eternity of crying, Delly picks her head up.

"Do you…care about him?" she asks quietly.

Did she really just ask me that question while we're both sitting here crying our eyes out. The world truly has gone crazy.

"Do you?" I throw back.

"Of course I do. I begged him not to do this to himself," she says through blinding tears.

Gale's eyes flutter open and he looks up at me.

"I'm sorry…I'm so sorry," he whispers.

"You don't have to be sorry. It's ok…you're ok, " I tell him.

"No…I…I'm sorry I couldn't make you happy."

"You did make me happy Gale. You were the best friend anyone could ask for, "I say. "Please don't leave…"

He grips my hand tighter than ever. "Katniss?" he asks.

"Yes?"

"I will never find someone like you."

Delly runs screaming and crying out of the room but I'm barely paying attention.

"I love y-"

His eyes close and I watch the life slowly drain out of him. *(dramatic sigh)*

OK so I know it's really cheesy, but I had to make it dramatic and funny at the same time (if that makes any sense) If you have any ideas for making it better, I'm always open for suggestions.

Thank you for reading and please review.