O_o

Wow. I'm not even sure what happened there and I wrote it. Well, now everything is out in the open. It's an open book (Tee hee. I love wordplay.) ALSO: I recently wrote a Gally oneshot. If any of you would check it out, I'd be forever grateful. Or just enjoy this extra long chapter.

And my head told my heart,

"Let love grow."

But my heart told my head,

"This time no, this time no."

Mumford and Sons, Winter Winds

Chapter 14- Illness

What the hell just happened? I wonder. Was I about to kiss her? No. No way in hell that was going to happen. But what was that? I think about Johanna always smiling at us in therapy, how Madge though we were dating, how Delly said that it was illegal anyways. I just told her my secret. The thing that's literally driven me to insanity. I basically murdered someone- my best friend no less- and she doesn't even care.

"I'm so sorry. No one should have to go through that." Why did it bother me so much? I've seduced her at least three times by now and she doesn't even care. "You can get past it Gale." Delly ran out in the rain with bare legs when she didn't even know where I was going or why I was going. I'm still not sure why I left. Sometimes my mind just blacks out and I'm doing things without thinking. Maybe it's from lack of sleep or not taking my medication or smoking or drinking or the morphine or my sex drive suddenly kicking into high gear with no one use it on. Probably all of those things put together. "You don't have to be afraid. You're not alone." Delly's whispers follow me into my sleep and chase me in the darkness of my dreams.

"Gale Jacob Hawthorne, you've slept long enough." My mom says loudly, knocking on the door. I keep my eyes closed. Maybe if I stay in bed, she'll go away. She opens the door and enters my room, pulling back the curtains. I'm tempted to hiss at the sunlight pouring in. My mom is definitely smirking at this. I groan as she exits the room. I look at the clock next to my bed. 1:15 PM. Wow. I wonder if Delly's awake yet. Knowing her, she's probably going to enter at any minute wearing one of her flowy skirts and tank tops and start gushing about the sunlight. Either that or awkwardly enter and ask about what happened last night. I wouldn't put my money on the latter though. I stay in bed for another twenty minutes. I change my pants and walk out of my room.

"So are you trying to go for the 'I just rolled out of bed' hairstyle, or did you really just roll out of bed?" Rory asks when I sit next to him on he couch.

"Whatever works." I say running a hand through my hair. "Is Delly awake yet?"

"Nope." Rory says. "She's been asleep all day. Mom won't let any of us check on her either. Did you two shag last night or something?"

"Repeat that last part again." I say.

"Mom won't let us check on her either." Rory says. I smile.

"What? You like watching Delly sleep?" I ask Rory. He looks like he's trying to think of a come-back.

"You win for now." He says narrowing his eyes. There's a knock at the door. "Gotta go. Collin and I are going to run some drills at the park and stuff. Plus, Prim is going to be there."

"Primrose Everdeen Prim?" I ask. Rory nods grabbing his soccer ball and cleats throwing them into his backpack.

"She takes Buttercup to the park on Sundays. Supposedly it's good for him to run around." He says.

"Okay then. But what do you care if Prim's going t- Hey wait a second!" I say getting off the couch. Rory tries heading for the door but I stop him just in time. "You like Prim!"

"No shit Sherlock." Rory mumbles. I pin him to the wall.

"Rory likes Prim!" I shout. He rolls his eyes and looks like he might clobber me, but leaves the house smirking.

"Don't shout so loudly." Mom says. "Delly's not feeling well. I might take her to a doctor tomorrow."

"Why what's wrong?" I ask.

"It's like she suddenly got hit with something." Or spent about three to four hours in the rain while wearing extremely short shorts that displayed her ass very nicely. What am I doing thinking these things? "It looks like a flu, but could be pneumonia." Mom says. "I'm covering my shift, as well as one for the night. Make sure Posy gets to bed on time, keep Rory from sneaking out, and make sure Vick doesn't play video games all night long."

"What about Delly?" I ask.

"Check in her once or twice. I don't think she'll be getting out of bed anytime soon." Mom says leaving. I peek into the backyard, Vick and Posy are playing some sort of game. I open the door to Delly's room. She sits propped up on pillows, looking very pale.

"Hey." Her voice is still the same.

"Hi." I say sitting on the edge of her bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Like shit." She says smiling.

"This is probably my fault." I say thinking about how cold it was last night.

"No, it's fine. If a 24 hr bug is what it costs to gain your trust, then I'm really good at finding deals." Delly says.

"You're such a dork." I say laughing.

"Yeah. I know." She says smiling. Delly takes my hand, she's burning hot. "Thanks for telling me. I understand now."

"I figured you should know." I say. "You're really warm."

"That's what we humans call, 'a fever'." She says.

"Alright smart-ass. I'm going to let you rest." I say getting up.

"Thanks for checking on me." Delly says.

"No problem." I say.

The next day she gets worse. When Mom takes her to the doctor's office I catch a glimpse at her. Pale, purple circles around the eyes, sweaty forehead, bright red lips, even her usual curly blonde hair hangs like bleached seaweed around her face. Delly goes straight to her room after they both return.

"Stomach flu with a fever." Mom announces.

"But tomorrow is my soccer tournament." Rory says. "What if she can't go?"

"There is no 'what if?' Delly isn't going to get to see you play Rory. That's that." Mom says.

"What's going to happen to her?" Posy asks.

"Gale, I need to stay here and watch over her. Angelica told me that whenever a bug goes around, Delly's the first to catch it. Considering Rory still can't drive and you seem to have an immune system made of steel, you're the best candidate."

"If you're trying to set us up, I think you should know I told her." I say mom raises an eyebrow.

"Who said I was seething you up for anything?" She asks. I roll my eyes. "Look Gale, I just need you to stay behind. I'll record the games and we'll tell you what happened when we get back."

"Okay." I moan.

"Look on the bright side, the rest of us have to wake up at four tomorrow and take a three hour drive. You get to sleep in." Mom says. Vick's eyes widen at the thought of waking up so early. For a moment, I can look on the bright side. Then my mom mentions that Delly has to take a medication if she stays the same tomorrow. I can barely remember to take my own medication. Tomorrow suddenly doesn't look so fun.

I wake up at 7:30 on the dot. I always find it freaky when I do this. The morning is unusually quiet and boring. No Delly running around telling me I'm going to be late to therapy. I get an idea. I quietly knock on her door.

"You can come in." She says softly. I open the door slowly. Delly looks the same, but now she's sitting up. Actually, now her skin is so pale it's started turning green slightly as well as developed a glossy sheen. It's probably sweat. "So. What's up?"

"Nothing really." I say. Delly reaches out and pats a spot at the edge of her bed. I walk over and sit.

"I'm really sorry I messed this up for you." She says after a moment. My eyebrows knit together. "You can't go to Rory's soccer game now."

"Are you seriously apologizing for getting sick after you chased after me in the rain?" I ask.

"Well, yeah." Delly says. I move closer to her.

"You're so stupid Cartwright." I say laughing. "You're sick because of me. So I guess that makes us even."

"Okay." Delly says. I grab her hands, they're colder than reptile blood.

"Would you mind if I went to group therapy by myself today?" I ask.

"No. You should go anyways." She says. I squeeze her hand.

"Thanks." I say. Delly looks down.

"Don't do that." She says.

"Do what?"

"That. Where you grab my hands and make me feel awkward. Then when you get what you want, you drop it like it's hot."

"I don't do that." I protest letting go of her hands.

"You just did it there!" Delly says. She looks so sick, it's contradicting to hear her arguing like she's fine. "You held my hands before you asked me about leaving, now you stopped."

"That's a coincidence." I say.

"You've seduced me several times as well." Delly says. Just when I thought she would never notice.

"Name a least four." I say.

"In the car twice, at the door twice, and two nights ago." She says. "That's five times."

"So?"

"All of those times you were using me for something."

"No I wasn't!"

"In the car you were using me to take out all of your new physical drives. The first time at the door was to make me listen to you. The second time at the door you were grabbing the car keys out of my back pocket." Delly says. "And that night... you tried to kiss me."

"What?! No!" I shout. " I don't know what I was doing, but that is not it!"

"Both of those times at the door, it seemed like you were."

"Yeah at the door. And according to who?"

"Glimmer, Rue, Clove, Foxface, Johanna, Amber, and me." She says. Oh shit, I didn't think she'd actually have an answer.

"Wait, Glimmer was the one at the door, how did those other people become members of your jury?" I ask

"Rue is my best friend, I talked to her and Amber overheard. Glimmer told Clove and Foxface, and Johanna asked me about it." Delly explains.

"Only Glimmer counts. She was the only person there. You could've twisted the story when other people found out." I say.

"Okay. You win. We're not a romantic couple, nor will we ever be." She says. I sigh standing up.

"Thank-you." I say. "I'll be back in an hour or so." I head for the door.

"Slag Senior." She says it lowly under her breath, but I hear her. I whip around as fast as I can.

"What did you just call me?" I ask. Delly clenches her jaw and gulps.

"Slag Senior." She says. "I remember the rumors. And I have eyewitnesses as well as firsthand accounts from friends. I know for a fact that they weren't rumors." Nobody's called me "Slag Senior" since 12th grade.

"What's your point?" I say slowly. Delly looks me right in the eye. Hers are the only brightly-colored feature on her face.

"Nothing. It's just, I was never one of those girls, and I wasn't on the list either." Delly says. "Just think about it." I don't feel like fighting back so I just leave the house and let her win this one. The sunglasses go on and I start driving.

I got the nickname "Slag Senior" because of what I did my senior year with girls. There used to be a dump a few blocks away from our school, a few years ago they covered the whole thing with grass seeds and let a meadow of sorts grow in. But there was a lump that they never smoothed out that became a mound. And in the winter when it snowed something they put in the grass to keep it growing turned the snow a really gross grey color. The kids school nick-named that mound of slush, "the slag heap". Because of how close it was to the school, lots of couples would go there to make out after prom or before they were on school grounds where "PDA is not permitted". Yeah. Neither is smoking but we have a courtyard for that. Let's just say as a senior I got a reputation for taking girls to the slag heap. Madge was one of them. At one point, Thom started making a list for girls to sign up and meet me there. Other times, I would just take a girl there by choice. I try to remember which one of Delly's friends I took there. I distinctly remember Glimmer licking my lip and sliding her tongue down my throat. Clove might have been in there too. I remember wanting to kiss Foxface, just to see if the stories about redheads were true. Rue's name might have been on the list at one point, but then Katniss made me stop and shortly after we started dating. I can definitely see Delly as one of the girls who would sit tying her shoes in the locker room rolling her eyes while my latest costumer would drag on about how wonderful it was. I hate how I acted, but I don't exactly regret it.

"Hey solider boy. Where's Blondie?" Johanna asks.

"It's nice to see you too Ms. Mason." I shoot back. "Delly's sick. She stayed home today." Madge looks up from her conversation with Seneca when I say this.

"Wow. Tell her I hope she feels better soon." Johanna says. She seems kind of, sad. Like a normal person.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"Nothing." Johanna says. "It's just... I don't know. It's barely July, you two have only known each other since June. I didn't think... wow Hawthorne, you must work fast if Delly has morning sickness already." She breaks into a grin when seeing my face. "I thought it wouldn't happen until at least August."

"Real mature Mason." I say walking off. Haymitch high fives her and Madge clears her throat.

"Aside from Delly, is anyone missing today?" She asks. I look around.

"Where's Chaff?" Seneca asks.

"He quit." Haymitch says.

"But, why?" Madge asks. She runs to Haymitch. "He was making so much progress, I thought-"

"Yeah. That's just it." Haymitch says. "He quit. Drinking and this group."

"Oh my." Madge says. Wow. Even I'm shocked. The guy lost his hand and he was the first of us to get over his addiction. "I think you can all learn a lesson from Chaff. Moving on isn't as hard as it seems." Madge continues with the session. Johanna makes her usual inappropriate jokes, Haymitch laughs at them, Seneca looks like he'd rather be anywhere else but here. I'm still stuck on what Madge said. "Moving on isn't as hard as it seems."

"You don have to be afraid. You're not alone."

Both if them sound the same, and before I can stop, I start thinking too fast again. When therapy ends I head home, hoping I can smooth things over with Delly.

"Delly?" I call out. The bathroom door is open a crack and I see her hunched over the toilet. Oh yeah. Stomach flu. She throws up and starts gasping for breath. More puke, and then she starts crying. Whenever someone gets sick you try to remember the last time you were sick. That way you know how to act around them. I've never been sick, so I throw the rule book out the window. Delly reaches up a weak arm and flushes the toilet. I walk over and kneel next to her.

"Hey." I say. Delly looks at me and wipes her eyes. "How bad is it?" I ask, because "how are you feeling?" Would be stupid to ask.

"Awful." She says. "I've barely eaten anything and my stomach is trying to kill itself." Delly breaks off into tears again and I awkwardly hug her.

"C'mon." I say. "I think I have an idea." Because she's sitting in a fetal position, all I have to do is put my arm under her knees. "Put your arms around me."

"I'm fine." She mumbles.

"Just do it Cartwright." I say. Her hands are colder than they were before and the rest of her is burning hot. I carry her to her room and set her on the bed. I grab her iPhone. "What's your pass code?"

"1409." Delly says. I enter it and check her contacts. Please work. I hit the number and it dials. Pick up, please pick up.

"Hello?"

"Hi. Peeta?"

"Yes. Who's speaking?"

"This is Gale Hawthrone. Your sister is at my house."

"Oh yeah." Peeta suddenly remembers. "What's wrong?"

"Well, Delly's sick, I thought hat maybe if you came over she might feel better. I'm not really experienced with this sort of thing." I say. Isn't this just strange? The Seamster asking a Townie to play doctor because the Seamster doesn't know how.

"Yeah. I'll be right over." Peeta says. From the other room Delly moans.

"Crap. I think I just started my period." She says. Delly begins crawling to the bathroom and I pray that there's no traffic on the way here. In ten minutes Peeta's at the door knocking.

"Hello Gale." He says. Wow. They really do look like twins.

"Hi. She's in the living room." I say awkwardly. Peeta nods and walks past me with a tote bag in hand. I stop myself from making any mean comments, verbally anyways.

"Peeta." Delly croaks when he enters the room. I watch them from the kitchen. She holds out her arms for him and they embrace. "How did you-"

"Gale called me." He says. Delly hugs him again and curls into a ball.

"What's in the bag?" She asks. Peeta smiles.

"A survival kit." He says reaching in. "I've got Harry Potter movies 4-8, because you know the first three well enough to perform them as a one-woman show." Delly laughs. "I brought some chicken noodle soup. Don't bother protesting that you're a vegan, because it's crazy enough that you live off of leaves regularly, your body will need this stuff now more than ever. I also brought Gatorade and ginger ale, those won't be too hard on your stomach, so the puking might stop. And I didn't know if you were on your period or not, but just in case, I brought you Kotex tampons since you prefer that brand."

"You're the best big brother in the world." Delly says snuggling close to him. He takes out a blanket and gives it to her. Peeta takes a thermos of soup and goes into the kitchen. It's like he knows where everything is. Bowls and spoons anyways. They sat in the living room the whole day. Watching every single Harry Potter movie he'd brought. Occasionally Delly would fall asleep, but if Peeta paused she come out of it mumbling, "Keep it playing. Cedric's going to die soon and I can't miss it." or "No. It's almost time for us to met Luna for the first time." Things along those lines. Delly's puking did decrease as the day went on. She eats Peeta's soup without a word and I give her the medication my mom left behind. The sweat on her skin disappears, her hair regains its golden color, and Delly seems happier in general. I do watch the last movie with them. Delly and Peeta sit snuggled on the couch, hanging on every word; even though when she isn't m crying, Delly mouths or whispers every line. I sit on the armchair, not understand most of what happens, given that I'd never really been a Harry Potter or Twilight fan. Delly falls asleep as soon as the 19 yrs. later scene wraps up. Peeta gets ready to leave around nine.

"Thanks." I say.

"It's no problem. I miss my little sister so much, it was nice to take care of her for what was probably the last time." Peeta says.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Just that she's growing up. I'm growing up. My time with Delly was limited to begin with, but she reminded me what love was and I showed her what it really meant. If my dad hadn't married her mom, I don't know what I would've done." Peeta says.

"You're her step-brother?" I ask. I think Delly's used the term before, but I didn't pick it up.

"Yes." Peeta says. He glances at her sleeping on the couch. "But neither of us use that term. We're more than siblings, let alone step-siblings." There's a pause as Peeta smiles at me. "If you ever need everything again, just call."

"Okay." I say as be leaves. It would be so much easier to hate him if he weren't that nice.

I walk over to the couch and get ready to carry Delly to her room. She sits bolt upright.

"I can walk." She mutters getting up. I have to stop myself from laughing.

"You sure?" I ask.

"Yeah. It's just, just, just, down the hall." Delly says getting up and waltzing down the hall. Halfway there I hear her hit the floor. I check the bottle with her prescription, CAUTION: May cause drowsiness, dizziness or fainting upon standing. Wow. You never take the side-effects seriously until they actually happen. I head down the hall and scoop up Delly in my arms, taking her to the bedroom. I pull back the sheets and set her on the bed. I brush back a piece of her hair and pull the covers to her collarbone.

"And that night... You tried to kiss me."

What would it be like to kiss Delly, I wonder? There's still purple rimming her eyes, but it's turned pinkish now. Delly's fever went down, I could feel that earlier. And her hands are the same temperature as the rest if her body too. Her face remains pale, but her lips have regained their light pink color. I find myself staring at her mouth longer than necessary. Just before leaving, I lean down to her face, and press my mouth on hers slightly. Warm from her fever, and stilled from her sleep, Delly's lips have no effect on me. I'm not sure what I was worried about. I pull back and head towards the door, feeling better about myself. Then before I can stop myself, I run back over and kiss her again, at least a minute longer than before. She might as well be dead, she doesn't kiss me back or even show a sign of being aware of what I'm doing to her in her sleep. It's like a one-way make out, because I keep kissing her with as much passion I can muster; almost hoping that she'll wake up. But not even running my tongue over the soft curve of her lip causes her to do so much as stir. I finally pull away when I can't take the heat of her fever-induced hot mouth building up to a fire on my lips. What the hell? I look at Delly; sleeping, innocent, unknowing. This can't happen. I won't let it. I walk out and head to my room. Then I grab my cell phone and dial Madge's number.