Together, Always || An After Mockingjay Everlark Fanfiction

Chapter 20

"Gale! Oh my god, Gale! Is it really you?" I rush forward and throw myself onto him. He seems taken aback before he returns the hug and buries his face into my braid. An overwhelming feeling of relief washes over me at having my old best friend back.

"Gale," I whisper and before I know it I'm sobbing. He pulls away to give me a confused look, then holds me tighter. I can't stop sobbing. What's wrong with me?! If only Peeta was here. He'd be able to calm me down with ease. I take a few deep breaths and manage to stop my tears.

"Sorry," I mumble staring at our feet.
"It's okay Catnip," he replies. More tears build up in my eyes and my lip quivers at the nickname as it brings back memories of our childhood before it was destroyed by the games. I take another deep breath and build a barrier to stop my tears and emotions from showing. He hugs me again. I missed his arms, holding me in a friendly, comforting embrace.

"How are you?" he asks with a suddenly very somber expression on his face.
"Good!" I reply as joyfully as I can, "great!"
"Honestly?" he asks.
"Well, I'm . . okay, I guess. How about you?"
"I'm good," he replies with a smile.
A sudden hurt and anger boils through me as I think of what to say next.
"So what brings you to twelve?" I say, barely holding back the hostility.
"I wanted to see how things were going. I wanted to see if you were okay."
"Why?" I ask, the anger coming through stronger and stronger.
"Because I care about you, Katniss."
"If you cared about me so much then why would you leave me?! Why would you go to 2?!"
He looks down at our feet with a hurt expression. He looks as if he was expecting me to act like this but hoping I wouldn't.
"I didn't want to interfere with you and Peeta. I wanted you to be happy. And there were job opportunities over there. You and Peeta might be secure with money and a home to live in but I'm not so lucky Katniss! I don't think you have ever realised that!"

I was taken aback by his words. He was right. I should have realised what he was going through as I had known the feeling all to well before I won the games. Now I have more money than I could ever need. I would offer some of it to Gale but I know him, and he would never take money from me.

"I'm sorry." I reply. He prepares to argue but then realises that I apologised. He must have been expecting me to argue further, to bring out the fire I would normally have in our arguments, but I'm too drained. I've been missing Peeta and tiring myself out with all of the hunting and crying.

"We got off to a really bad start. Can we forget this happened and start again?" I propose.
"Sure," he replies with a small smile, "so what brings you to the forest today?"
I hesitate for a moment, wanting desperately to tell him about Peeta back in the Capitol and how utterly terrified I am for him but I can't bring myself to do it, "I just wanted to get some fresh air."
Something flickers in his eyes but to my relief he doesn't press the subject.

We stride off through the forest, talking and talking and talking. From our conversation I find out that he is living in one of the empty tribute houses in District 2 and he found a few new friends over there called Josh, Levi and Zoe who all work with him. He works as a peacekeeper and also in his spare time goes to schools in the nearby districts to educate the children of the war and games. I would not be able to do this job and I am so proud of Gale for doing it. As tough as it may be, we need to be informed and reminded of the horrible state Panem was once in. We need to use the knowledge of these events to move on and make sure that it never happens again.

It feels so amazing to have Gale back. I imagined our reunion over and over again, even dreamed about it. I imagined arguments and sobbing on my part. I imagined feeling betrayed and having terrible flashbacks of Prim. I imagined myself taking all of my anger and grief out on Gale. But I can no longer bring myself to blame him. It was not his fault. He may have designed the bombs but he was not the one that chose to have them dropped on that group of defenceless injured people in the Capitol with her in their midst. He did not intend to kill her. He would never ever intend to hurt her in anyway and I'm absolutely sure of it. I must stop blaming him for her death and try to move on.

All too soon the sun begins to sink to the horizon and I must bid farewell to my friend.
"When can we meet again?" he asks.
"Soon." I reply. I give him one last hug, scared to let go and return the solitary confinement of my home and the anxiety and nightmares about Peeta being tortured in the Capitol. We turn our seperate ways. I wonder where he's heading. Does he have somewhere to stay? I guess it's too late to ask now.

I stash away my bow and arrows in their usual spot and travel back home. I throw myself into bed without changing or eating dinner. I don't want any free time to think and stress and end up having another panic attack like I have every other night of this week. I just want to sleep. I drift off rather quickly into a sleep interrupted by horrifying nightmares of Peeta tortured as I was expecting and as I have every other night this week. Thank god he's coming back tomorrow.

Because of all of the nightmares I barely get a few hours of sleep, so I don't wake up til almost midday. I wake up with a start after realising the time. Peeta could be here by now. I jump out of bed way too fast and I am overcome by dizziness. I ignore it and rush to my wardrobe, strip off yesterday's clothes covered in blood and dirt, and put on an orange sundress that I (Cinna) designed and sprint out the door.

I wait at the station, butterflies fluttering in my stomach with anticipation. My mind starts to wander, imagining his appearance. Maybe bruised and bloody like it was last time he came back from the Capitol. Maybe distant and traumatised by what he went through. Maybe he would try to murder me again.

The whoosh of the train speeding through the district becomes louder and louder, the butterflies fluttering harder and harder and faster and faster. The train stops just ahead of me. Passengers step out of the train. I spot his dirty blonde hair in the crowd. He spots me, starting to move faster towards me. He stops in front of me and his mouth stretches into a wide grin. He wraps his arms around my waist. I bury myself into his chest and breath in the scent I missed so much, the warm cinnamon smell. I breath a sigh of relief. He's back. And he seems to be unharmed. Thank god.

THIS IS PROBABLY THE WORST CHAPTER I HAVE EVER WRITTEN I AM SO SORRY!! I'll try and make it better soon ILY ALL