A/N: WOW! I can't believe I got so many reviews for the last chapter! Thanks a TON, guys! You're...*sigh*, you're the best X3

Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games.

Chapter 29: Winners, Losers, Dances and Confessions~

"Cato!"

Gale's heart sunk.

The fact that he had just lost to Cato (of all people) barely registered as the blond walked up to claim his prize. Well, prizes, since he had already practically won Katniss, too. Gale watched, feeling oddly numb, as the carved hunting knife he had planned to use as a bargaining chip for winning back his best friend floated away to the table across from him.

His gaze followed the object he had lost, turning his head but not really feeling himself do so as he witnessed Katniss accept the gift with open arms. She took the knife readily, as if knowing all along that it would soon be hers, and Gale watched as she delicately ran her fingers along the smooth finish of the handle, eyes sparkling.

If his heart was in his stomach before, it was in his toes now. And if he wasn't mistaken, it wasn't possible for it to go any lower.

Unless it's been ripped out of you.

Gale turned his head away at the sound of his obnoxious inner voice. That was the last thing he needed.

"Alright, everyone, we're going to go through the last items for the raffle, and after that, everyone be prepared to dance!" Effie announced in sing-song, giving an enthusiastic shake of her behind.

Never mind. That was the last thing he needed.

Giving a heated exhale through his nose, Gale got up from his seat and stalked out of the shelter, not caring what everyone else thought of his sudden departure.

He ended up behind the shelter, running a hand over his eyes and mouth as he attempted to wake himself up from whatever nightmare he was having.

It was almost laughable, to think that a reunion would end up being the thing that tore he and Katniss apart.

"Gale!"

He whipped around at the sound of his name, chest flickering for just a second before realizing it was only Prim.

"Why'd you leave?" She asked, brows furrowed in worry.

"I lost, Prim." Gale said, finally accepting what was happening to him. It felt kind of good to admit defeat.

"What do you mean? Lost what?" Prim questioned, clearly confused.

"Everything!" He blurted out. "That knife, Katniss, my chances, our friendship...everything!"

He hated saying it, but it was true. He had lost everything. Of all the fights he and Katniss had had over the six years they had known each other, this was by far the worst. He had never been that angry, over anything she did, and she had never had a reason to make him so; she just wouldn't want to.

But this was different. Katniss had never had men chasing after her, and Gale had never been jealous. My, how the boat was rocked.

Apparently having decided it was safe to speak, Prim opened her mouth. "You know, that knife won't change anything. It may have made it a bit easier to win her back, but it's still not impossible. You've still got a chance."

Gale couldn't stop himself from scoffing. "Yeah. Right. And I suppose I've still got a chance at getting that train set this year if I'm a good boy, right?"

Prim shook her head dismissively. "That's besides the point."

He blinked.

"Look," she said, rolling her eyes. "We're going to be dancing here in a few minutes. You can go on moping around if you want, but I'm saying you've still got a chance. I know, I'm her sister."

He sighed heatedly through his nose, considering her words. He honestly didn't have much faith in it, but at the same time it wasn't as if he had anything to lose at this point. He might as well give it a shot, however hopeless it was.

"Alright, Prim," Gale said. "Let's do it. But how do you plan on getting rid of mister Perfect? I highly doubt she'll want to be anywhere near me."

"Let me handle that," she said easily, waving it off as though it were nothing.

"Gale! Prim! Come on, we're dancing!" Mrs. Everdeen shouted, appearing from around the corner.

"Coming, mom!" Prim yelled back.

She turned back to Gale.

"Come on," she said, waving him forward as she began to walk off.

"You've got a girl to win back."

"Oh, man..."

Gale's face drained of any enthusiasm he had previously held for what they were about to do.

The raffle tables had been cleared away, leaving a large and empty space by the unlit fireplace. Enobaria was messing with an old fashioned record player, and everyone else was lining up for the dance.

He spotted Cato and Katniss immediately, glad that they hadn't noticed him yet.

"Alright, everybody," Sae yelled happily. "Get into position!"

Everyone began migrating towards the dance floor, and Gale was thankful for the distracting tug that Prim gave to his shirt sleeve.

"Watch this," she winked, and she pranced over to Cato and her sister.

"Cato, will you dance with me?" She asked sweetly, sugar all but dripping from her mouth.

Cato smiled down at her. "Well sure, Prim. Come on, let's go find a spot."

She happily grasped his hand and skipped over to find an open place, giving Gale a conspiratorial smirk.

Now was his chance.

"Hey, Catnip," Gale greeted lamely as he walked up to her, trying not to feel worse than he already did as her affectionate smile for Prim instantly dropped at the sight of him.

"Gale," she greeted stiffly, crossing her arms.

Great start, lame-brain.

Ignoring the self-loathing voice in his head, Gale placed his hands in his pockets and...well, stood there.

He swallowed.

He didn't know what to do. He didn't know what to say. Hell, he'd never even dealt with anything close to this before! He was working a freaking minefield, here!

Clearing his throat, Gale finally opened his mouth to get out the three simple words he'd been trying to wrench from his throat for the past 60 seconds-

"...You wanna dance?"

-and immediately wished he could put them back.

Katniss stared at him, eyes wide, and his stomach flared up in a panic to the highest degree. He was about to open his mouth again and stumble out an apology, but her sharp tongue beat him to the punch.

"Excuse me?"

He cleared his throat again, feeling an intense heat flooding up the back of his neck.

"I said do you wanna dance-"

"I know what you said," she snapped. "I'm wondering why the hell you would ask me."

Shit. Shitshitshitshitshit.

"Uh...I dunno..." Gale stumbled over himself. "Because there's no one else?"

As if just realizing his point, her gaze frantically swept the room to find that everyone else had indeed already chosen a partner. Her mouth opened, and he prepared himself for the coming onslaught, but was saved by the most unlikely of people.

"Hey, Red! You dancin'?"

Johanna's voice rang throughout the shelter, her cocky smirk coming into view.

Katniss' mouth briefly snapped shut before opening again. "Oh, I...uh, Johanna-"

"Because if you're not," she continued, cutting the brunette off. "I'll be happy to take him off your hands."

She gave Gale a flirtatious wink, and for the first time all day, Gale smiled genuinely in return, happy for her presence. Katniss was forced to make her decision under pressure.

"I...uh, y- yes, actually. We are dancing together."

Maybe it was just his imagination, but the way she ended her last sentence - the finality with which it was spoken - made Gale smirk in the best of ways.

"Well okay, then." Johanna replied. Having done her job, she chewed on her gum, blew a bubble, and walked back the way she came.

Over to Peeta, nonetheless.

Wow.

Katniss swallowed, obviously unhappy with herself that she'd just given in so easily.

She sighed. "...Come on," she grumbled.

She walked over to stand by Johanna and Peeta, and Gale hid his growing smile as he followed her resolute voice.

"Okay, everybody, let's dance!"

Gale barely had time to register Sae's words as the record player blared to life.

An upbeat oldies tune played, and he recognized it as Elvira...er, only because his mom listened to lame-o records as old as the dinosaurs. Not because he was into them.

He was about to ask for instructions (he didn't have a clue on how to dance!) but silenced himself when Katniss grabbed hold of his hand. He could practically feel Johanna's smirk creeping up the back of his neck from behind him.

Everyone moved to their left and Gale awkwardly did the same, not really knowing where to go or what to do. And, to make matters worse, Katniss was a little ball of flames beside him, angrily tapping her feet to the beat with the occasional slap to her thigh when the song picked up.

Gale tried feebly to follow her lead, not noticing the vice grip she had on his left hand because he was concentrating so hard on the ever shifting position of her feet.

Three steps forward, three steps back, forward, forward- no wait, back! Forward, back, forward, back-

His eyes widened as everyone turned to their left and Katniss yanked sharply on his wrist, shooting him a questioning look when he didn't immediately comply.

Gale embarrassingly tried to cover up his blunder, but it became quite clear to her (and everyone else, he was sure) that he really didn't know what he was doing.

Still trying to observe his partner's feet, he didn't catch her softened expression.

"...Here, let me show you."

His head shot up, wondering if he had heard correctly over the thundering music.

His ears must not have failed him, however, because Katniss' grip loosened to a comfortable hold as she instructed him on how to dance.

"Three steps forward,"

Still looking at their feet, Gale followed her instructions, trying to keep in time with the pace that was all but engraved into her soles.

"Three steps back,"

He did as he was told, his boots perfectly in sync with Katniss' tennis shoes.

"Forward, back, forward, back,"

Panicking slightly when he started out with the wrong foot, Gale hastily switched to his right.

"Kick,"

They both thrust their right foot forward.

"And turn."

Squeezing Katniss' hand, he turned with her to the left, instinctively clapping his right hand against his leg to the beat as Katniss did the same.

"And repeat. See? It's all in the legs."

Gale didn't miss the now bright smile on his friend's face as they started another round.

He wasn't looking at her feet anymore, or his to make sure he wasn't stepping on hers. No, he was staring at his dance partner, at Katniss. His best friend, his confidant, his go-to buddy for hunting or movies or paintball, his partner in crime and fellow prankster, his flutter of a crush that gradually turned into an unconditional love, and so much more.

Simply put, if he could keep things the way they were now - happy and young and lighthearted and dancing 'til the world ended with the one person that meant that same world to him - he wouldn't hesitate to do so.

Katniss caught him staring as they kicked and turned and clapped again, and upon seeing the look in her eyes, questioning but curious, Gale found the courage to finally say the words he'd been wanting to say since they got here.

Opening his mouth into a loving smile, he said,

"I love you."

Her brows twitched in confusion, and he could tell she hadn't heard him.

"What?" She asked, shouting over the loud music.

Gale tried again. "I said I love you!"

She shook her head. "I can't hear you!"

Becoming a little miffed (but not discouraged) Gale tried one more time to get his point across, not noticing Sae breaking away from the crowd to wander over to the record player.

"I said-"

The music shut off.

"I LOVE YOU!"

Freezing.

Gasping.

Silence...

Katniss stared at him as though he had just slapped her, her look all too similar to the one she had given him when he had caught her and Peeta together just an hour before.

Shit.

A/N: Ooooh, cliffhanger! :O PleasepleasePLEASE tell me what you thought of this chapter! I'd love to see what you think! :DD

My family reunion went pretty well, we hung out and danced (ever hear of the Electric Slide?) and ate great food. Some people didn't show up but it was all good. And yes, we jammed to Elvira. As well as Pretty Woman :)

Here are the vote tallies (some of which were by private messaging) for who should win the raffle:

A. Gale – 2 votes

B. Katniss – 2 votes

C. Cato – 4 votes

D. Some random person – 3 votes

Jojowerid, your review made me laugh. So much so, in fact, that I al-MOST wrote your idea into the story...almost. I don't mind Effie at like, all, but that would indeed be a shocking twist to have her suddenly die in the middle of the raffle XD I also liked how you made your own option, you think outside the box. I like that.

isamags2, don't worry. No matter what option would have won out, this story would be Galeniss all the way. Plus I'm glad I was able to make you laugh with this story! :0

Sasha, good to hear from you again! Glad chapter 27 was to your liking, it makes me feel great knowing I wrote well up to your expectations! And yes, my family reunions can get pretty wild. Not as bad as this story, of course, but try to imagine it 2 or 3 notches lower. Well...maybe 1 or 2 depending on the year. Lol XD

CelestialTitania, thank you for your reviews! You were like, the first to vote so you get brownie points in my opinion ;D

MISSYOCELINHAWTHORNE123, thanks a load for your vote! Honestly, if so many people hadn't voted for Cato I probably would have gone with option D. XD

And to the Guests, thank you SO much for your votes! I may not have had a solid decision without you! D:

I hope to read ALL of your lovely reviews for the remaining 3 chapters for this story. Come on, people let's DO this! :D

Also, it would mean the world to me if you took the the time to read and review another story of mine, The Pen Is Mightier Than The Hammer. I dunno if any of you are into The Avengers (movie) but it would mean a lot if you checked it out all the same. It's a very unconventional pairing, but I wrote it so that it could easily be a friendship fic (and no, it's not slash).

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. And even if you didn't, don't hesitate to let me know!

'Til next time!