Katniss and the Rebels

Chapter 35: Happy New Year

AN: Hello! I'm back again :) This is a Rebels centric chapter so I hope you enjoy. Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! Especially the guest reviewer from yesterday. It means a lot to me when you tell me what you think and I'm glad that you can see that my writing has improved. Because I'll be the first person to admit that the first half of this story was a mess! But thanks to everyone who has stuck with me so far!

Anyway! On with the chapter!

Gale POV

I postpone telling the Rebels about James for a few days.

I convince myself that it's because we are all so busy which isn't technically a lie.

Katniss's mum caught a cold so she was busy taking care of her, Thom's family wanted him around during the holidays and Darius and I were almost always caught up with work.

I certainly couldn't tell them through text or over the phone, it would have been all kinds of wrong.

I think Thom has his suspicions because of my reaction to the voicemail on Christmas Day but he hasn't said anything and neither have I.

Then New Year's Eve arrives and Darius has organised for us to have a get together at his house from nine pm onwards.

We decide to keep it small this time, just the four rebels and I think we're all happy with that.

Darius enlists the help of Thom for the barbecue and Katniss and I sit on the outside bench in Darius's backyard, laughing at them.

Darius has an apron that says 'kiss the cook' on it and he forces a crisp white chef's hat onto a blushing Thom's head.

"You could help you know; instead of lounging around and giggling at us." Thom remarks

"Em I offered." Katniss reminds them

Thom gives her an 'are you serious?' look while Darius just snorts.

"Don't worry we'll clean up." I promise

We love Katniss but she's not the best cook. But then again neither am I which I suppose is why Thom is the one who is doing most of the work.

Darius's face lights up and he goes back to looking over Thom's shoulder to make sure he's doing it right.

Their muttered bickering drifts over to us.

"Dariee you don't have to check up on me every five seconds okay?"

"I know, I know. I just don't want anything to get burnt."

"It won't!"

"But-"

"It won't okay? So just relax and go sit with the others." Thom turns his head to look at Darius who is still standing directly behind him, "I'm fine."

Darius hesitates for a minute before begrudgingly sitting beside me on the bench.

"Darius?" Katniss asks cautiously

"Yes Katstar?"

"Could you tell me why are we having a barbeque? In the middle of winter no less?"

Katniss Everdeen, asking the important questions.

It definitely isn't a stupid question seeing as I'm still wearing my winter coat, Katniss has gloves on and Darius is wearing a thick woolly scarf.

Thom was wearing a scarf too but Darius tugged it off of him, fussing that bits of it could get into the food. Thom had glared at him but said nothing in favour of not starting an argument.

"Because it's New Year's Eve!" Darius grins "We need to celebrate in a unique and fabulous way! So while all our peers are out drinking themselves ill or god knows what else, we are going to have a lovely barbecue."

Thom sniggers from his place behind the transportable grill and Darius shoots him a look.

"Well we could sit inside if you're cold but I doubt we could get that thing inside. Plus it would be rude to abandon Thom out here all alone."

"Very rude" Thom agrees; a smirk still etched on his face.

Katniss wraps her arms around herself and runs her hands up and down her arms to warm herself up, "Okay, okay! I can handle a bit of cold if good food is on the line."

"And it better be good." I add; receiving a sharp hit over the head with what I suspect might be Thom's spatula.

"Ow! Anyway there's something I want to tell you guys." I say carefully

"You got Madge pregnant." Darius says instantly

I roll my eyes,

"Dariee no-"

"Thom, I told you! What did I tell you? I said this would happen and-"

This time Darius is the one being hit over the head with a spatula,

"Shut up and listen to him or I'm eating your burger." Thom orders

Darius sticks his tongue out at him but he obliges.

"What's up Galey?" Katniss asks

I have thought of a thousand different ways that I could tell them but I decide that just showing them is easier so I pull out my phone and play the voicemail for them.

"Gale...Gale it's James Heavensbee."

I watch Katniss's eyes widen from across the table.

"Listen I know it's been a while since I've been in contact and I'm sorry. I just wanted to let you know that I talked to my bosses, we had a lot of meetings and conversations but I convinced them to give you a shot."

Darius huffs.

"The four of you. I'd really like to meet up with you to discuss this. Preferably with the three other members there as well. I talked to the head guy and he agrees with you. We want to sign you. All four of you."

I hear Thom put down his weapon (spatula) behind me.

'I understand you mightn't want that anymore but if you do then call me back on this number. I understand if you need time to think about it but you should know that my company and I are very sorry for any offence and hurt we may have caused and we want to make amends. Goodbye Gale, I hope to hear from you soon.'

An irritating beep signals that the voicemail has come to an end, leaving only the sizzling of the food and the distant sound of cars driving by to fill the cool, quiet, bitter air.

I take a glance at the others, Katniss's mouth is agape in shock, Darius is staring wide eyed at the phone with his eyebrows pulled into a frown while Thom's eyes flit between me and the phone and I know he has put the pieces together from Christmas Day.

"I got it a few days ago but I wanted to tell you in person." I explain

The others nod in understanding but still nobody speaks.

Thom runs back and forth from the kitchen, gathering plates and alike; Darius rushes to help him and Katniss and I are left alone.

Even though she hasn't said anything I can tell that this has unnerved her.

Things were going so well, we didn't need this curveball to complicate things.

Katniss's fingers tug on the end of her braid and when I catch her gaze, I smile at her.

"You know none of us are going to agree to this unless you want to?"

"I can't ask that of you…" Katniss says

"Don't be so self-centred Catnip." I tease "It would be the same if they originally said they didn't want Thom or Darius or me. And even now if one of us doesn't want to do this than we won't."

Katniss drops her hands into her lap, "Really?"

"Really." Darius answers for me.

He and Thom appear at the top of the bench, placemats under their arms.

"The food is cooked but we might want to eat inside…" Thom suggests, looking up at the pitch black sky and I can hear his teeth chattering.

I laugh with relief, "Sounds perfect."

All talk of James Heavensbee is postponed until after we eat.

The food is amazing and we all thank Thom generously. Darius jokes that he thinks his food may be a bit burnt and Thom quickly threatens to take it away from him which causes Darius to immediately shut up.

Despite the discomforting news they have just received, my friends make an effort to keep the mood light.

"We need some music!" Darius exclaims

Katniss and I are cleaning up but Thom, who is sitting comfortably on the kitchen table laughs as Darius rushes about the kitchen, plugging in his stereo and flickering through his CD case.

I shake my head and tune out Darius and Thom's debate over which CD to play, focusing more on not getting soap all over my clothes.

By the time Katniss and I are finished, Darius and Thom are giddily dancing around the kitchen, high on the coca cola that we drank with our food.

Katniss and I lean against the counter and we watch as Darius twirls Thom around the small kitchen. Thom reaches forward and tugs Darius closer gently by the hem of his scarf and then one hand is on his waist, the other clutched in Darius's palm and they are galloping around the room.

Before I know what's happening, Katniss tugs me out and we're laughing and dancing along with them to the beat of our favourite music.

The four of us push the thought of our future to the back of our minds; we completely forget about James Heavensbee, music contracts and college just for a few minutes.

For a few minutes we allow ourselves to be free.

…

Katniss POV

"We should talk to him."

We're sitting on the couch pretending to watch the people in Times Square prepare for midnight when I bring it up.

Gale turns to give me an inquisitive look, Thom raises his eyebrows and Darius shoots up from where he was comfortably lying against Thom's shoulder.

"James?" Darius checks

I nod, "We could at least hear what he has to say."

Part of me never wants to see that man again.

I probably wouldn't have minded so much if he had told me that he didn't want to sign me because he thought I was vocally weaker than my friends. But instead his problem was with my gender which infuriates me.

I remember what Thom said to James the night we last spoke to him. All of us were slightly shocked that the soft-spoken Thom chose to speak so harshly and honestly to someone who had his future in their hands.

Thom had said how James's company were desperate to replace their last boy-band that had recently split up. Apparently they must be severely desperate if they're changing their minds so much that they'd let a girl as well as three boys sign with them.

I'm not stupid. I know this is an amazing opportunity that we might never get again. Yet for some reason after our last conversation with Mr. Heavensbee I was left feeling more than a bit unsettled.

But I know it can't hurt to at least hear him out.

I catch Gale's eye and he watches me for a moment, probably trying to see if I'm lying or not before he nods in agreement.

"Alright, I'll call him in the next few days." He turns to Darius and Thom who are sitting on the other couch. "What about you two? Are you happy with talking to him?"

Thom and Darius share a look.

Darius shrugs, "I am if you are."

Thom nods, "I'd like to hear what he has to say for himself, so definitely."

"Alright then."

And that's that. We don't talk about it for another half hour.

The presenter Caesar Flickerman on the TV is quite entertaining this year. His hair is dyed dark blue to match his suit and he's practically bouncing up and down with excitement as he interviews people in the crowd, the performing celebrities and so forth.

"Emm guys?" All of us turn to look at Thom, "If this doesn't work out with James. Have any of you given much thought to universities?"

It was always our dream to move out to the west coast and study there. To find a good music college, hopefully all get into the same one and to study there while still working on our songs.

However dreams aren't reality and even though we've been saving for years, I doubt any of us have the money to move to the other side of the country let alone go to university as well.

The tension builds as nobody wants to be the first to talk about their plans because we all know what going to university means.

Gale sighs, "Well…I think we've all thought of them but…affording them is another issue."

Thank god for Gale, one of the only people who can actually say what we're all thinking.

"Well I mean..." Darius swallows "I'd love to study music but…if that doesn't work out I might study engineering so I could work with my dad…"

Thom nods, "Yeah…I've thought about applying for some English literature courses…they aren't what I want to do but…"

We all know what he means. That if this all goes badly or if the band splits up, we all need to have a backup plan.

Trouble is I've never been good at making a plan B.

My plan Bs are always rubbish because I like plan A too much to want to try something else.

"Have any of you applied for any music scholarships?" I ask hesitantly

We never talked about it but it was always sort of known that if we were to go to university then we would need scholarships.

We also know how hard they are to come by and how it would be almost impossible to give them to four students from the same school in one year.

The boys glance to one another and each of them nods silently.

Caesar Flickerman announces that there's five minutes until midnight and just like that we force ourselves to forget about our futures again for another while.

Darius opens a few bags of popcorn and even though we all berate him for still being hungry it doesn't stop the rest of us from eating some too.

Darius's parents come in for the countdown; I have to squeeze into Gale's side so they can sit beside us but I don't mind.

We're happy, despite everything we've talked about tonight and that unexpected voicemail the four of us are still happy.

Darius pulled himself up from leaning into Thom's side when his parents came in and he's now pulled his knees to his chest and is eating from the bowl in his lap.

His parents are asking Thom about his resolutions for this year. Thom lets out a nervous laugh, exchanges a glance with Darius then says he hasn't decided yet.

Gale is muttering playful insults about the presenter's fake personality and cheesy jokes; I have to choke back a laugh at them because he isn't wrong.

Then the crowd on the TV starts chanting:

"10"

"9"

I send a quick text to Prim, telling her I hope she's okay and that I'll be home soon.

"8"

"7"

Darius sets his bowl of popcorn down on the table and claps his hands together excitedly.

"6"

"5"

Thom runs a hand through his hair and grins at the screen.

"4"

"3"

Gale squeezes my shoulder gently and I smile at him for a split second before turning back to the screen.

"2"

"1"

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

Fireworks explode on the screen and Times Square is filled with music, cheering and clapping.

Darius's parents kiss to mark the occasion and I had almost forgotten that that was the custom of this holiday.

I feel Gale press a kiss to the top of my head before ruffling my hair up mischievously. I glare at him and nudge him in the ribs causing him to laugh.

Darius and Thom kiss each other on the cheek and just like that another year has come and gone.

I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket and when I check it there's a message from Peeta.

"Happy New Year Kat!"

I smile and reply,

"Happy New Year Peeta"

I look around at my friends and I wonder what on Earth this year could bring because last year was certainly full of surprises.

I look down at Peeta's response of several heart emoticons and I smile.

I suppose not all of those surprises were bad.

AN: This chapter did not go at all like I expected it to but I'm happy with it anyway :)

I'm sorry for the lack of everlark and made/gale fluff in this chapter but I hope you liked it anyway

Let me know what you think!

Thanks for reading!

- xTeam Mockingjayx