A/N: Previously on Days of our Katniss:

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...

Shit.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games.

Chapter 30: How It All Ends~

Silence.

Normally Gale enjoyed silence. Between his crazy siblings and the drama at work and home, he jumped at any chance at ambient peace. And he usually shared those moments with Katniss. It was one of the reasons he liked spending so much time around her, he supposed. She was the epitome of peace, both inner and outer. She was always just so...chill. Calm. Reserved.

Gale's current predicament, however, hardly represented any of the feelings or emotions mentioned above...at all.

Nope. Currently, he was waiting with baited breath and sweaty palms as he hung off that imaginary cliff that you can't hold onto for much longer while trying not to hyperventilate with anxiousness, and the beautiful girl in front of him was practically stepping on his fingers with every passing second of silence she graced him with.

Katniss had been able to reel herself back in somewhat, trading her previously horrified expression for one of sheer disbelief. Her idea of a composed demeanor, however, did little to nothing to calm the nerves of the man that had just laid his heart out in front of her.

Swallowing down a huge lump in her throat, she finally opened her mouth.

"...What?"

Uh-oh. Was she seriously going to make him say it again?

Gulping down the muteness that had effectively lodged itself in his own throat, Gale tried his best to ignore the fear in the back of his mind telling him to backtrack and reverse the situation immediately as he looked into her steely eyes to say something back.

"I said...I said I love you."

Everyone gasped.

No going back now.

"And..." he hesitantly continued. "And I have loved you for...a really, really long time."

Katniss looked at him, then at the floor, as if the cool cement surface would somehow give her all the answers she needed. Gale could see the cogs in her head turning, and it wasn't a good thing. She was too analytical. Too cynical. She read too much into things. If he let her mind go any further, he was sure to be a goner.

Taking a leap of Faith, Gale knelt down before her, grabbing hold of her hands and cutting off her view of the floor, severing her train of thought.

"Look, I know I'm not perfect," he began, and his stomach flared up in all kinds of new knots. "But I'm not the worst, either. And you're not a robot, you're one of the most emotional, expressive people I know. You have the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen, and I've never wanted to look at someone longer than I have you. You're smart and funny and gorgeous and you're my best friend...and I wanna spend the rest of my entire life with you. I don't care if it's only as your friend or hunting partner if that's the way it has to be...but please, please, believe me when I say that you're the most important person in my whole life, and you have been ever since we stumbled across each other that day in the woods."

Feeling his throat closing up, he added, "I love you, Catnip."

Everyone in the room quietly 'awwed', and by time Gale finished his speech, Katniss had tears in her eyes.

Unfortunately, he wasn't sure if that was a good thing.

Her mouth opened and closed several times, stopping because of her unfallen tears, and he squeezed her hands in assurance, prompting her to speak.

Letting out a breathy sigh, Katniss looked down at him, composing herself as best she could before speaking.

"...I...I don't...know, if...if I love you."

His heart dropped.

Mayday, Mayday, we are going down!

"But," she continued. "...I think I could."

His face brightened, but he tried not to let it show.

"I've never..." she paused to wipe her eyes. "I've never done anything like this before. And you know that. I'm just...I don't want to disappoint you if it doesn't work out."

Great. She was rejecting him.

Be glad, you idiot, his conscience scolded him. She's letting you down easy.

But he refused to believe it. He refused to believe for one second that Katniss would shut him down without at least giving him a chance.

"So...so what are you saying?" He asked hesitantly.

She let out another breath. "I'm saying...that...we can try."

Gale shot up from his spot, the tips of his boots leaving the floor for just a second, grinning like a madman as he let go of Katniss' hands and pulled her face in for an ecstatic kiss. She squeaked and attempted to back away, but he held her to him as he proceeded to kiss her senseless, smiling all the while.

When he finally pulled away, her eyes were wide with surprise and a little discomfort, and she blinked rapidly as she wiped her lips, the corners of her mouth drawn down like a little kid that had just tried something they didn't like.

Her nose crinkled.

"Ugh, but we're gonna have to work on...that."

Around them everyone laughed, obviously enjoying the show. Suddenly remembering they were there, Katniss and Gale pulled away from each other, and the flaming redness in Katniss' cheeks made Gale want to kiss her all over again.

Sae stepped out from the crowd. "Well, well. What was it you were saying about you two being just...friends?"

"Stop it, grandma," Katniss chided, rolling her eyes as she wrapped her arms around Gale's torso.

"Yeah, right!" Johanna barked a laugh, walking over to stand beside Sae. "Like we're ever gonna let you live this down."

Gale smiled at her, and she smirked in response.

Scanning the group of onlookers, he found the two people he was looking for; Peeta and Cato. Peeta stood timidly on the outside of the crowd, smiling hesitantly but looking everywhere but at them, and Cato towered behind him, arms crossed, smirking ruefully at the newly formed couple.

Gale only smiled wider.

After everything died down, Gale and Katniss helped with cleaning up.

Chairs were folded, trash was thrown away, leftovers were saved, kids were herded, and games were put away. It was almost dark - the sun had already set – and as Gale helped Mrs. Everdeen load the last of the camping chairs into their little minivan, he couldn't help but think about how everything would be different now. But in a good way. He had started out having an okay day, which went to an eh day, which turned into a shit day, but in the end, it turned out as the best day of his life...no, really.

"That's the last of it," Mrs. Everdeen said, closing the back door of the minivan.

"Yep," Gale said, looking out at the darkening sky.

"You ready?" She asked him.

He looked over at her. "Hm? Oh, yeah. Pfft. Totally."

The older woman smiled, containing whatever snort of laughter she felt coming up her throat. "Okay, Gale. I'll start the car."

Looking out at the treeline once more, Gale sighed happily to himself. Just then, someone tapped his shoulder.

Cato.

"Hey," the blond said solemnly.

"Hey..." Gale replied, unsure of why this conversation was taking place.

"I just wanted to say congratulations. I know how much you care about Katniss."

Pursing his lips, Cato began to walk away, taking no more than a single step before turning back to finish whatever he had to say. "And that you should watch yourself. If you screw anything up, believe me, I'll be there."

"Thanks, Cato...I think."

The blond nodded. It was silent between them for a few moments, then he opened his mouth again.

"Well, I'm gonna get outta here. See ya around, Hawthorne."

Not bothering to wait for a reply, Cato brushed past him and strode over to his car...wait, motorcycle? Since when did he have a motorcycle?!

As Gale watched him strap his helmet on, Katniss jogged up to him.

"Hey," she greeted, smiling.

Gale looked down at her, smiling himself. "Hey."

"What's going on?" She asked, and he had to stop himself from rolling his eyes as her gaze was averted to the blond prick in the parking lot.

"He's just leaving..." Gale replied, annoyance dripping from the cracks in his wall of indifference.

"Oh, well why didn't you tell me? I wanted to say goodbye."

It was all he could do to stay silent as she waved a hand in Cato's direction, successfully getting his attention.

"Bye, Cato!" She called.

Balancing himself on his bike, Cato raised a hand to wave back. "See ya later, Katniss."

He turned back to what he was doing, but Katniss wasn't done.

"...Hey!" She said, and she brought her first three fingers to her lips, then raising her hand high in the form of some strange salute that was completely foreign to Gale.

Cato laughed, doing the same in return.

"See ya around," he said, and he started up his bike.

Gale gave her a look. "What the hell was that?" He asked, confused.

She looked up at him. "Oh, it's just a little thing that we used to do when we were kids."

Katniss glanced over at Cato once more before leaning up to kiss Gale on the cheek.

"I'm gonna go get Prim and Rory. See you in the car."

And she left, braid whacking him in the shoulder on her departure.

When he was sure she was out of sight, Gale looked back to the prick with the fancy-shmancy bike in the parking lot not fifty feet from him.

"Hey, Cato," he yelled, already pleased with himself when said person turned his head in his direction.

Bringing his middle finger to his lips, Gale brought his hand high, mirroring what Katniss had done earlier, and held it up proudly as he flipped the spiky-haired man off.

Cato only scoffed in return, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he smirked beneath his helmet, before shaking his head and revving up his Harley, not giving Gale a second glance as he zoomed away in a trail of noise.

At the sound of footsteps approaching, Gale quickly brought his hand down, clearing his throat as he turned around to face-

"Hey."

-Johanna?

"Hey," Gale returned, giving a half wave and looking at her oddly.

"So...you and Red, huh? I gotta say; I never thought it would happen," she shrugged, smiling despite herself.

"Glad to know you believed in me from the start," He mumbled sarcastically.

She rolled her eyes. "Look, that's my way of saying...great job," she reluctantly admitted, and Gale was blown away.

"I-I'm sorry...What was that?"

Another eye roll.

"Nice try, Sport, but I'm not about to repeat that any time soon...like...ever."

They both laughed, simultaneously looking at the ground.

"Thanks, Johanna." Gale said, still chuckling.

"No problem." She smiled widely.

She briefly adjusted the strap of the bag on her shoulder before glancing over at her parent's car.

"Well, I'm gonna get outta here. Good luck with...well. You know."

"Yeah." Gale said. "See you around, Jo'."

He waved as she strutted to her car with the extravagance of a superstar, and as she opened the passenger door to toss her stuff in, she looked up at him, smiling mischievously as she said,

"But if it doesn't work out...well, you know where to find me."

Maybe it was her flamboyance, or her unyielding confidence, or maybe it was just the ridiculousness of it all, but Gale laughed loudly to himself as he nodded in faux agreement, placing his hands on his hips as he took a step back towards the Everdeen's car.

"Thanks. I'll be sure to take you up on it," he joked.

Johanna smirked laughingly, shaking her head ever so slightly as she got into her family's car just as her parents came. As they drove off, Gale couldn't help but get the feeling that he would probably have the honor of having her as Best Man at his wedding...wait a sec, where did that come from?

Shaking his head to clear his mind of the horrific thought, Gale turned around just in time to see Katniss and Rory and Prim climbing into the car as Mrs. Everdeen started up the vehicle. Seeing that they were now the only car in the parking lot, Gale trotted over to the sliding door of the minivan and heaved himself into the cramped space, noticing immediately that Katniss and Rory were sitting in the back on that danged bench seat with a nice little space in the middle for him.

Pausing, he twisted around to look at the passenger's seat, seeing that it was filled by Prim. Hiding a smile, Gale made his way to the back of the van, using the two seats in the middle for support as he twisted around and plopped down in between his brother and his girlfriend, not failing to notice the entire vehicle shaking as he did so.

Beside him Katniss chuckled, though silently, and Gale could feel the vibrations from her chest creeping up his right arm. Mrs. Everdeen pulled out of the parking lot and drove out of the park, and Katniss seemed unable to help herself as she stretched out her arms and let out a big yawn, forcing Gale and Rory to do the same.

"I am so tired..." she mumbled, eyes clenched shut as she yawned again.

"Man, me too..." Gale agreed, feeling his eyelids getting heavier.

Without saying a word, Katniss rested her head against his shoulder, and Gale couldn't stop himself from letting his own head rest on top of hers. As if absentmidedly, she reached out and grabbed hold of his hand, loosely tangling her fingers with his as their joined fist rested in between them.

Gale sighed, looking ahead of him and out the windshield as Mrs. Everdeen made a left turn, and as his eyes drifted shut and he began to doze off, he had the fleeting thought of what he was going to do with his next paycheck.

He was going to buy a motorcycle.

A/N: Yep! This is the end :( But don't worry! It's not completely over YET! I've STILL gotta post the epilogue (which will be very funny) and then it'll be over for good. Finished. Done. No more. Ended. Zip.

I took another reference from the movies/books with the hand thing. I didn't plan on it but...I just couldn't resist XD

I jammed pretty heavily to Feel Again by OneRepublic. I dunno. Just kinda fit the mood for this chapter :/

Sasha! Thanks for your review! I'm really glad you like how I write Johanna (or is it just her in general?) :D And to answer your question, I can't really peg a particular year that was the weirdest/craziest, but I do remember a large collection of things that happened over those years that would probably amount up to the insanity of this story XD

For EXAMPLE:

1. Back in 2010 or 2011 (I think) we were all eating in our park shelter, and there's this one family that's really loud and outgoing (but in a fun way, not annoyingly so) and one of the guys (he was probably about 17 or 18 at the time) called his mom out on farting on them.

Very. Loudly.

One minute they were all talking and the next he gets up from his seat and yells: "OH MY GOD SHE FARTED!" The guy's mom tried to hush him up and say that 'no, she hadn't farted' to which he tactfully replied,

"Aw, no way! I felt the vibrations!"

I actually blushed myself in embarrassment for the lady, but at the same time I was just glad it didn't happen to me XD

2. You remember that chapter I wrote, Cato Climbs A Tree? Well that was based off of yet another snippet of excitement from another year (probably 2011 or 12) in which one of the family members from the family mentioned in 1. attempted to get to the top of a very high tree. He went up pretty far, but on his way down he slipped and almost fell to his death. He made it back down safely...luckily, lol.

3. This one happened to my sister. She was walking to the restroom and these two kids were throwing a football back and forth. While she wasn't paying attention one of them accidentally socked her right in the head with it. She looked at them but kept walking, and she later told me that they were whispering amongst themselves: "Dude, I think you hit her." "What? No I didn't!" "Go apologize, you idiot!" "No!" lol XD

4. This isn't particularly crazy, so much as it is funny. My sister was sitting with one of the funner family members, watching the family baseball game. While they were watching this little girl (probably 5 or 6) walked up to them and asked what they were doing. The guy that my sister was sitting with asked her why she wasn't out playing baseball with everyone else. To which she replied:

"I don't like soccer."

The little girl walked away, and our cousin looked at my sister with eyes so wide you could've had dinner on them. I just wish I was there to see it! XD

But perhaps the craziest thing that's ever happened (that I can currently remember) was this:

5. We were all playing Red Rover (this was way back in 2005 or 6, I believe) and the opposite side that I was playing on called over one of our players (a little boy) and he ran so fast and so hard I thought for sure that he was gonna break through the other team's arms.

Nope.

When he reached them they kept their arms locked together in some kind of magic super-hold and he ended up not only running straight into them, but flipping himself over their arms and doing a weird somersault type thing...very weird from my point of view (and very painful for the boy, lol) but also very awesome.

My favorite Hunger Games characters are as follows: Katniss, Johanna, Gale, Haymitch, and Cato. Oh, and Finnick XD

And funny you should mention Divergent, I JUST watched that movie last night! I haven't read any of the books (just like I haven't read The Hunger Games) but I did like it a lot. I'm not sure which pairing I like the most, though, although I definitely like 'Trice (is it Trice or Triss?) and Four. Haven't decided. Which pairings do you like? Do you have one in particular that you would like me to write a fanfiction for? :)

I've never seen or read The Fault In Our Stars. I saw the preview and it looked okay, but it didn't seem like it would be my thing. Do you think I should watch it?

Again, thank you TONS for your reviews. Your bubbling optimism and chipper attitude really make my day :)

MISSYOCELINHAWTHORNE123: Thanks for your review! I hadn't realized that I left a cliffhanger for every chapter (do I really do that?) but I'm glad I kept you interested :)

Isamags2: Thanks for your reviews! BOTH of them, haha! XD I hope I updated soon enough for you, I'm really glad I could get you to laugh with this story :D

Chey121311: Hey! Thanks for the review! I hope this update came fast enough for your Galeniss appetite, and I'm sorry if it didn't come soon enough! D:

CelestialTitania: 'Better than live television'. Lol, you XD And don't worry about the length of your review; I LOVE long ones! Idon't think I'm going to write a sequel to this, but who knows? If I do it'll be as an attachment to this story. Just a cute little extra, I suppose :)

Again, THANK YOU for ALL of your reviews! I love them love them LOVE them! X3

Alright, just one more chapter and then we'll wrap this up! See you at the finale! :D

'Til next time!