Gale Hawthorne X Reader -The World Has Caught Fire-

Chapter 14: Interviews

Y/n's POV

I wake up yet again to Effie pulling open the curtains and saying: "Up, up, up, it's a big, big, big, day!" I groan and pull the blankets over my head.

"Not yetttttt" I say

"Yes, come on now, get up," She says and pulls the blanket off me. I'm forced to get up then Effie lets me take a shower but right after she puts me in another long dress and tall high heels.

"Again? Really?" I say

"Yes, you have to be as freshly trained as possible, I'm guessing the past year in district 12 you weren't wearing any dresses and heels now were you?"

"No. Except for the photo shoot" 

"Okay, now let's start with normally walking"  I walk up and down the corridor, it's not as hard as last time but it's still tricky given that I only just woke up. She put a book on my head and I walk with it on. There's no point though, the entire interview I'm going to be sitting. After walking practice, Effie makes me do the smiling exercises. After the four hours are finally over, it's a huge relief to take off the dress and heels. At lunch, I'm super hungry because Effie didn't let me eat before we started practicing. 

After lunch, I went with Haymitch and we talk about the interview.

"So this year do I just act sexy again? Or are we doing something different?" I ask

"You should stick with what you know, so yes, act sexy again. And the audience already loves you so you don't need to worry about that"

"I wasn't. I don't care what the audience thinks anymore, I'm not coming out of that arena, at least not alive. You and I both know that. When I go into that arena tomorrow...I'm not coming back" Haymitch sighed

"Maybe so, but if you don't have a little bit of confidence in your survival then you really won't live, you have to believe in yourself" 

"You shouldn't believe in me, you should believe in Gale, remember our deal? Gale lives, not me. You have to do whatever you can to keep Gale alive, focus on Gale, not me, okay?" Haymitch didn't want to argue, so he agreed. It didn't take as long with Haymitch because we've done this all before. When we were done we have a few hours of free time before we have to go with our prep teams to get ready for our interviews.

Gale and I decide to go up to the rooftop and spend our last few hours in peace together. We set up a blanket to sit on, we got snacks and drinks, and we have each other, what more could we want? 

We've hung out on the rooftop for hours, the sun is about to set and it looks beautiful with all the colors. I'm laying with my head in Gale's lap while I make a crown out of flowers and he's playing with my hair. It's so peaceful and I wish that it could stay like this forever.

"Right here. I wish we could just pause everything, pause the whole world around us, and just be frozen in this moment right now. I would give anything for that to happen" Gale says

"Me too, Gale. Me too." The sun sets but it's still light up here. I sit up and kiss Gale, he pulls me into his lap and we make out for a bit. We're enjoying the alone time we have. and then Effie comes through the door making me jump a little.

"Effie for the love of God," I said

"Oh, I'm sorry, but it's time you two start getting ready," She said. I sighed.

"Well, I'll see you later then," I say to Gale

"Yeah, after the interviews," He kissed me one last time before I'm taken by my prep team and he is taken by his.

"Y/n, we are gonna make you so beautiful tonight everyone is going to drop dead" Flavius says as he sits me down in front of a vanity where there is lots of makeup displayed. Flavius does my makeup while Venia did my hair, but Octavia ran out of the room crying before we even started. She knows that I'm not coming back this time. A little bit later Octavia comes back with red puffy eyes and she starts doing my nails.