Disclaimer: We don't own the Hunger games or it's characters. All credit goes to Suzanne Collins. We don't own Safe Haven. All credit goes to Nicholas Sparks.
Gale's POV
One week later.
"What the fuck did you do to yourself? And where did you get that uniform?" Thom laughs as I step out of the bathroom.
It's been over week since I've been trying to find Katniss and I've had no luck so now I'm looking on foot. I dyed my head and eye brows blond so people won't suspect that I was the man on TV. If it weren't for the media I wouldn't have had to change my appearance so fucking drastically but they fucked me over.
I also have on my spare police uniform that I had at home. It should do the trick.
"Shut the fuck up," I growl.
"Hot date?" Thom jokes.
"I said shut the fuck up," I growl and plop down on the kitchen chair.
On the table is everything I need. Two guns, a badge, and a picture of Katniss that I photo shopped yesterday night.
The two guns, I bought about three years ago and the badge I kept hidden at home. Nobody knows this. Nobody except the bitch when I caught her running her mouth with the kid across the street.
Flashback...
What the hell is taking her so fucking long? It shouldn't take five minutes just to throw away the fucking trash.
I glance out the window and see Katniss talking to the fifteen year old girl that lives across the street.
What are they talking about? Is she telling her about how unhappy she is? How dare she? I sacrifice everything to keep her happy and this is how she repays me? By being an ungrateful bitch! If it weren't for me, she'd be living on the fucking street! She's nothing without me! She wouldn't last a fucking day out in the real world!
I storm towards the front door and open it.
"Katniss, sweetheart, you should come inside it's getting dark," I answer in a fake tone.
Katniss turns around and her eyes widen with fear when she sees me.
Scared I fucking caught you, huh? Thought you could get away with it? You're fucking dumb! So fucking dumb!
"Um, I'll be right in sweet heart," She answer. She turns back to the girl and mumbles something before walking towards me.
The fifteen year old girl gives me a small smile before returning home.
As soon as Katniss is in the house, I slam the door shut and shove her against the wall.
"What did you fucking say to her?!" I yell.
"What- Gale, I didn't-" She shakes her head in fear.
"Were you telling her how you wish you never met me? How I'm not good enough for you?" I yell." Is that it Katniss? Were you telling her how you're going to leave me?!"
"No!" She shakes her head." I would never leave you! Gale, I would never do that to you! I swear with all my heart! I love you!"
"Shut the fuck up!" I slap her.
She whimpers and places a hand on the cheek with my handprint.
I grab her by the bicep and drag her all the way to the bedroom.
"Gale! Gale! No please! Gale!" She cries with loud sobs.
I grab her by the hair and go up the stairs.
"Please stop!" She cries.
I can't fucking stop! She has to pay! She has to pay for the consequences of her actions!
When we reach the top of the stairs, I throw her into the room and slam the door.
I walk into the closet and take out my safe. I spin in the code and open it.
I take out one of the two guns and aim it at her.
"You fucking listen to me and listen closely because I'm not going to repeat myself," I growl and take the safety off. " If I ever see you running your mouth again like that with anyone on the fucking block, I will put a bullet through your chest and the person you talked to."
"Gale, I didn't say anything," She says in between sobs.
"Don't fucking lie!" I yell." Say you won't do it again! Say it!"
"I won't do it again," She mumbles as tears continue to stream down her face.
"You fucking disgust me," I says before slapping her with the gun." Now go make dinner."
End of Flashback...
I grab the photo shopped picture of Katniss and place it in my wallet.
"Fuck, who's that?" Thom lets out a wolf whistle.
"Katniss," I hiss.
"Fuck, that's Katniss?!" He laughs in shock." Of fuck man, she's the bitch I ran into a couple of times in town!"
Red clouds my vision and I say," Why didn't you say shit?! I've been looking for her a whole fucking week and here you sit with all the fucking information!"
"You didn't show me a picture!" He rages."I knew she looked familiar."
"Tell me everything," I growl.
"Fine," He says." First time I saw her, she was paranoid. The second time, I was at the grocery store and saw her ass. So I went up to her and tried to get busy but this blonde asshole came out of nowhere and was protecting his territory."
My breathing increases and I feel my head pounding.
That fucking slut. She's with someone else. Who the fuck gave her permission to be with someone else! That bitch is going to get it so bad.
"Who's the blonde?" I demand in a harsh tone.
"You're missing the good part," He rolls his eyes.
"Who's the fucking blonde!" I yell and grab a gun off the table and point it at him.
"I don't fucking know! Fuck man, get off my back!" He puts his hands up in surrender.
I lower the gun and pull at my hair.
She could be fucking him for all I know!
"Gale, man, she changed her name." Thom says moment later.
"What?" I hiss. She changed her fucking name?
"She changed her name to Jessica," Thom says.
"How the fuck do you know?" I ask him.
"There were people calling after her and they weren't shouting Katniss," He says.
..
I enter a shoe store and a bubbly blonde immediately greets me.
"Hello officer! Is there anything I can help you find?" She asks.
"You wouldn't mind me asking you a couple of questions?" I ask her.
Her eyes widen in confusion but she slowly nods.
You better not fucking lie, bitch.
I take out my wallet and say," Have you seen this woman around town before? Her name is Jessica. "
She squints at the picture and shakes her head.
"I'm sorry but I haven't," She apologizes.
"If you hear anything, you let me know," I hand her a card from my shirt pocket. It's one of the many I printed out last night.
"Will do! Have a nice day!" she says as I exit the shoe store.
...
The same thing happens everywhere I fucking go. No one knows or has seen her.
"Fuck!" I growl and throw my wallet on the floor.
How has no one fucking seen her? This is a small ass town for fucks sake!
My phone goes off and I angrily pull it out of my pant pocket.
"What?" I growl.
"Chill the fuck out," Thom laughs.
"What the fuck do you want?" I demand and bend down to pick up my wallet.
"I met two girls at the bar today and they're asking for it Gale," He says." You have to come see for yourself, man."
"I have shit to do," I growl and click.
For the next two hours, I walk around town in the blistering heat. There's no one that's seen her. NO. ONE.
"I'm sorry officer but I've never seen her."
"Never seen her around but she's hot."
"I've never seen a woman that looks like that around here."
"Never seen 'er but 'ers somethin' 'bout 'er."
Maybe she heard I was fucking coming for her and she ran away. Yeah, the bitch always tries to leave when everything gets tough.
I look up at the Bakery and see that's crowded with people.
Last fucking shop and I call it a day. Tomorrow I'll hit the fucking neighborhood and see which one of those golf playing assholes has information about her.
I enter the bakery and a girl with spiky hair and brown eyes greets me in a bored tone.
"Welcome to the Mellark Bakery, my name's Johanna, how may I help you..." She narrows her eyes at me." Officer?"
"I have some questions to ask him," I reply and open my wallet." regarding this female."
Her eyes widen as she stares at the photo.
"Do you know her?" I ask her." If you know her, you must tell me. This woman is a first degree murder and we've been looking for her for months."
"Yes, she works here," She slowly nods in shock. About fucking time! I knew that bitch was here! I felt it in my gut! My gut instincts are never fucking wrong! NEVER!
" Fuck, she lives with Peeta! Fuck! What if he's in danger! and then there's Jackie! Damn it, Peeta just had to be the nice guy! I can't believe he took in a fucking criminal!" She says in a fearful tone.
She lives with a man?! Is that the fucking douche bag from the grocery store?! Who the fuck does she think she is?!
He's probably fucking her right now.
Fuck you!
"This woman is dangerous," I try to say in a steady tone." The sooner you help me locate her, the sooner your friends can get to safety."
"Right, right," She runs a hand nervously through her hair." He lives on- Wait, shit he's- they're not at the house today."
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"Peeta took them out for a picnic. You missed him a couple hours ago, he stopped by for some pastries for Jackie and Jessica." She says and her breathing increases." Oh, fuck Peeta you fucking idiot!"
"Just take deep breathes and tell me where they went," I say in a fake, steady town.
Tell me where she is now so I can make the bitch pay for her fucking actions!
"I don't know! You can check the park but if they aren't there then I don't know," She shakes her head in fear.
"I'll have a car or two checking around town, while I check the park for clues," I lie but she seems to be eating it up because she nods. Dumb ass bitch.
"Th-Thank you," she slowly nods.
"I'll get back to you as soon as I have any new information Mrs...?" I raise a brow.
"Johanna Mason," She says.
"Johanna Mason," I nod." Thank you for your help. You wouldn't believe how relieved we are to receive this news. I'll make sure your friends are okay, no need to panic."
"Thank you officer," She nods and I see a bronze haired man come to the front and eyes me as I walk out the bakery.
Katniss's POV
One hour earlier...
"Don't run too much, you'll throw up!" Peeta warns as Jackie takes off running towards some flowers in the distance.
Peeta took us to the large field so we could have a picnic. He packed sandwiches, juice, and a bunch of treats from the bakery.
"Jessica, can we talk?" I hear beside me.
I look over and see he has a hopeful look in his eyes.
Ever since that night a week ago, I haven't been great at communicating with him. Every time were left alone together, I turn into a stuttering blushing mess. It's gotten to the point where I sometimes avoid him.
"Um, yeah," I answer and avert my eyes from his.
"I just..." He sighs before continuing." Am I doing something wrong here?"
"What- No," I shake my head.
"I feel like I've done something wrong," He says." You've been avoiding me all week."
"Peeta," I turn red." It's not you."
"Was it because of what happened between us?" He asks. My face instantly turns a darker shade of red.
"I... I-I just..." I stutter, looking at anything but him.
"Look at me," He softly says.
"Peeta, I-I-I- I m-m-ean I'm-" I begin but he softly tilts my head towards him.
I keep my eyes trained on the ground but don't look at him.
"Hey," He softly says." Am I making you nervous?"
"P-P-Peeta, I just... I can't," I shake my head.
"Hey," He says again.
My eyes flit over to him and I know I've made a giant mistake. I'm instantly lost in his eyes and I can't seem to look away.
"Jessica...I...I-uh...I li- uh-," He shuts his eyes and lets out a frustrated sigh." Never mind."
I give him a small nod and he immediately stands up, clearly frustrated with himself.
"We should- uh- pick up if we want to take her to the park before dark," He mumbles as he starts putting the trash back in the picnic basket.
I shoot up and say," I'll help."
"No, it's fine," He shakes his head and shoves in empty Styrofoam cups into the basket.
"U-Um okay," I nod deciding to give him some space. What he clearly wanted to say put him in a bad mood. The last thing I want is to push his buttons." I'll just check on Jackie, I guess."
...
Peeta's frustrated mood is still present as he drives Jackie to the park. Jackie doesn't seem to notice, since she's too busy dressing up her dolls in the backseat and singing songs, but I do. What ever he wanted to say, is clearly upsetting him.
I glance at Peeta and see that he's deep in thought.
Do something!
What am I supposed to do? I don't know what to do! I don't have much knowledge at this! When Gale would get frustrated- No. No, don't go there!
Without thinking, I reach over and intertwine my hand with his free one.
I can feel him looking at me from the corner in my eye but I don't look back. I fight the blush and draw soothing circles on the back of his hand with my thumb.
I take a peek at him and see that the frustrated look on his face has been replaced with a small grin. I fight a grin of my own and look out the passenger window, without letting go of his hand.
We get to the park about ten minutes later. As soon as Peeta parks the truck, Jackie jumps out and runs towards the swings.
I glance at our hands and then reluctantly pull it away. The second my hand Is free, It feels weird and out of place. It's like it belongs to be intertwined with Peeta's.
Don't say that.
When I jump out the car and close the door, I find Peeta with his arm stretched out before him. I give him a shy smile and we join our hands together again.
I could get used to this.
No, no I can't. Not like this. I sigh.
I have to tell him the truth one of these days. He was upset today, so definitely not today but tomorrow? The day after tomorrow? Two days after tomorrow? I don't know but I'm going to tell him soon before any of this can escalate. It's the right thing to do and he deserves to know. I just... this secret is holding me back from everything and it's affecting those around me. Him the most, though. I need to come clean because even though I don't want to admit it, I know that deep inside I feel safe here with him. It's the one thing that I thought I'd never be able to feel again.
Gale's POV
Park. The fucking park. She's at the park. Where the fuck is the park?
"Hey!" I call after the man walking ahead of me. He has dark hair and is about my height.
He turns around and his eyes widen when he sees me.
"Officer? How may I help you?" He asks.
"I'd like directions to the park," I say.
"The park?" He raises his brows but doesn't say anything." Um, you're going in the right direction. You just have about three to four more blocks to go."
"Thank you," I mutter before I start walking again.
I'm going to grab her by the fucking throat and make the fucker she's with watch. She's a slut! She could never keep her hands to her fucking self! It's not fucking shocking; she'd be all over the fucking guests when they came over.
I see the park right in front of me and I scan the perimeter.
Where the fuck are you, you- There!
I spot her sitting next to a man with blonde hair. My eyes drift down and I see that they're holding hands.
My vision turns red and my breathing accelerates.
Teach her a fucking lesson, Gale! Do what you said you were going to do!
No, I shake my head and feel a smirk form on my face. I'm going to let her know I'm here and watch her freak out. She'll slowly cave in and ruin everything for herself. Then I'll strike.
"Uncle Peeta, come push me!" I hear a little girl shriek. I look over and see a girl about seven or eight years of age on a swing.
The fucker whispers something to Katniss and she blushes.
Blushes? When the fuck do you blush bitch!
She slowly nods and they untangle their hands from each other.
When he walks over to the swing set, I see a small smile form over Katniss's features.
I scowl and slowly walk towards her. Her eyes drift from the blonde towards me and her face shows confusion.
When I'm a couple of feet away from her, I see horror cross her faces and her breathing accelerates.
"Gale," She whispers in fear.
Author's Note: Half credit goes to me, the other half goes to Awesomegirl2656. Please review and let us know what you thought.