Author's Note: Don't own the Hunger Games. Just own the story. I'm slightly worried because slightly unlikeable shit in here. Okay. And I'm sorry this took so long. I fell ill.
Venus realized she had let more slip then she ever meant to let slip. And Gale picked up on it. "Who's Tis?"
Venus flushed, never meaning to tell him about Artemis Keane, her older sister who had perished in a fire so many years ago. She ruffled her hair, and said, "Her full name was Artemis Marie Keane. She was seventeen when she died. She was my older sister."
The dejection in her voice, the guilt, the love for her sister, every feeling that everyone in the current room could relate to. The pain of losing her sister, the matter of fact acceptance that nothing could bring her back. Katniss was the one to say something first. "I'm sorry."
This sentiment, while well intentioned, seemed to shock Venus, as if she had never heard of someone expressing sympathy or empathy for her lost sister. "Why would you be sorry? It's not your fault. Besides, I've grown up without her."
The look in her eyes said everything, the things she didn't want to admit, the way she wanted her sister back more than anything else in the world. However, everyone else could feel the awkwardness, and therefore nothing was said. Venus got up smoothly, and said, "Well, it was nice meeting everyone. But I think you three need to catch up without me. Bye."
*** scene break ***
The next day was heavy with confusion for Gale. He couldn't understand how everything had snowballed out of control so easily. One girl was all it had took to break his routine, and if he was honest, he was purely curious about her. He absolutely needed to know what happened to Artemis Keane and why Venus Keane was upset when she mentioned her. "Hello, sweetie."
Gale turned around to see Venus with her legs crossed at her ankles sitting on a counter. He was slightly surprised to see she was wearing his shirt over jean shorts, but he liked the look on her. He raised an eyebrow. "Since when did you call me 'sweetie'?"
She smirked, snapping her gum. "Since now. Now, you see me at your work and the first thing you question is an affectionate term?"
He grinned, and stated, "Lucky for you, it's my lunch break. Why don't we go out for lunch?"
She nodded, smiling at him affectionately. She followed him out to a small restaurant across the street where he usually ate lunch. She grinned at him with her tongue poking between her teeth and deadpanned, "Fancy."
He laughed, and realized that she easily found ways to make him laugh. He liked that about her, that she made horrible parts of his past seem like they're not such big deals after all. However, that couldn't escape what his original thoughts were. "What on Earth happened to your parents… and your sister?"
Her eyes flashed with sorrow, sadness, and anger. She didn't want to discuss her sister or her parents on a date with Gale. She didn't want to discuss them ever, really. "I thought we agreed we were starting over. No past."
He ruffled his hair, much to Venus's amusement. Her smile with her tongue poking out from her teeth returned in full force. "That got kind of shot to hell when Katniss showed up, didn't it?"
She sighed, admitting defeat. She clearly hated admitting defeat, something Gale noted quickly. "Yeah, it did. My parents and sister died in a house fire. It was murder, and I didn't know it for the longest while. My parents were merchants, so the fact our house caught on fire… it should have been a clue. My sister screams before falling silent… she was the first despite being furthest from the source. I got who did it though…"
Gale was surprised that he was shocked at this revelation. He knew it had to be horrible if Venus didn't want to talk about it. "What happened to who did it?"
There was an almost victorious glint in her eyes as she stated, "He's dead. I killed him during the war."
Gale was taken aback. He hadn't seen any examples of Venus's dark side. He figured it was rather appropriate though, considering this man had killed her family. "How?"
"I shot him. Four times. Once for my mother, once for my father, twice for my sister."