74 Years of Bad Luck - Gale Hawthorne X Reader

Chapter 14: Nightlock

We watched for hours into the night as Cato was ripped apart by the mutts. I wanted to end his suffering so much that it brought me to tears. Gale held me close those long hours into the night that Cato spent fighting off the mutts. Time continued to pass though it felt like it was going faster. Like this was all one big simulation.

The sun began to rise revealing the most beautiful sunrise I had ever seen. I remembered how clouded the air back home was. It was full of dust and coal and it was always cloudy except for in the woods where the air was fresh and the blue sky's shone through the trees.

I looked down once again to see Cato barely fighting back anymore. Chunks of his body were missing and I hated having to look at his mangled face.

"Please." He asked so quietly we could barely here.

A moment later gale drew his bow and shot Cato in the head. A canon sounded and the mutts abandoned there meal crawling into an opened hole in the ground.

Gale and I climbed down and left Cato's mangled body by the cornucopia as we went back to the lake we were at the last evening.

"Only one of us can go home." Gale started.

"Knowone needs me you should go home just kill me and you can win." I said.

"That's the problem. I need you. I can't live without you. I can't kill you and you know that."

"Than I'll eat the Nightlock." I suggested as I pulled it out of my pocket. I brought it to my mouth but gale stopped me.

"We're both gonna take it." He said as he took a few berries from my hand.

"No. I won't let you die for me. I couldn't live with myself." I said as my eyes began to water.

"We wouldn't be living." He replied.

"Gale I love you. Let's just do this." I said.

We rose our hands full of Nightlock to our mouths at the same time when Seneca interrupted us.

"Here we have our two victors of the 74th annual hunger games!"

Gale and I dropped the berries and jumped onto each other our lips crashing together.

"We won together. We did it." I said breathlessly.

"Im so proud of you." He replied.

The hover craft came down to pick us up out of the arena and we entered. Neither of us had any injuries at the moment but I was put to sleep so they could remove the scar on my cheek. They wanted to remove the one on my arm but I insisted they leave it for memories earning a laugh from haymitch who was on the hovercraft with us.

When I woke up in the capital I looked at my arm and sure enough they removed the scar. I got up and left the room to find cinna and Effie in a little sitting room.

"Morning." I said.

"Darling it's the evening." Effie corrected.

"What else did they do to me?" I asked cinna.

"They wanted to give you cosmetic surgeries to make you look more normal but I compromised by adding padding in your costume. I knew you wouldn't want your body to be changed after what you just went through." He replied.

"Thanks." I replied.

I was ushered into a new room where I was left to sleep for the next day. I tried to eat a bit of food but all the capital delicacies did was make me sick so I was brought a bowl of soup that resembled the one gale and I made at home. Haymitch brought the bowl in and set it on my bedside table.

"Gales alright kid he just threw up after a few bites of the capital food just like you so I found a recipe for your favorite soup and had them make to that." He said rubbing circles on my back.

"How did you know my favorite soup?" I asked.

"Hon I've been keeping an eye on you for a lot longer that you think. You see I'm your biological father. So once I realized the little orphan of the seam was my daughter I had to make Shure you were okay from a far. If I had been in your life when you were younger the capital would have done something to you so I had to protect you by hiding the truth."

My jaw dropped as he continued to speak and once he was done I gave him a huge hug. Effie was standing in the doorway and I ushered her over to join the embrace. She came over and hugged us both.

"Effie, at first I thought you were annoying but I'm beginning to see what's deep down in your heart and I really like you as a person." I said to her a moment later.

"Your so sweet darling." She replied wiping a tear from her cheek.

We released from the embrace. Haymitch and Effie left so I could change for dinner. I arrived in the dining room and sat quietly.

"I am so proud of both of you but president snow is very angry at the two of you and Seneca crane for letting you two both win." Effie said.

"I recommend you keep playing up the star crossed lovers act. The crowd eats it up."

"It wasn't an act." Gale said.

"What's star crossed lovers supposed to mean?" I asked.

"That's just what there calling the two of you. I know it's not an act but snow thinks it is. The rest of the crowd are believing it but if snows not happy your toast." Haymitch answered.

We finished dinner in silence than gale and I went back to bed. That night I tossed and turned. My mind replaying all the lives I had taken. The bed was too soft as well. I was so use to sleeping on rocks that even after I layed on the cool marble floor it felt soft and smooth. I drifted off to sleep again but nothing changed so I left my room to gales.

I crawled next to him in bed and he pulled me close. I was able to get a bit better sleep but the bed was still to soft for my liking.