74 Years of Bad Luck - Gale Hawthorne X Reader

Chapter 15: never the same again

We had an interview later today so I spent the day cleaning up. My stylist spent a grand total of four hours on my badly cut hair. First they trimmed it so it was even than they bleached my entire head so it was a platinum blonde color. They cut my bangs so they fell into my eyes and I couldn't see.

"I hate it." I said to my stylists when they showed it to me.

"You did this to yourself when you chopped your beautiful brown locks off in the arena." One of them replied.

"Yea I liked my haircut better. not this one." I retorted.

They didn't say anything after that. Once my hair was done they blow dried it and sent me out. Effie met me outside to test some shoes. She let me stay in what I'm wearing instead of making me wear a dress this time. Effie put me in the tallest heels first.

She held out her hand and I took it. I attempted to walk but my ankles were shaking so much that Effie had to hold me up.

"Maby well do flats this time." She said as she gave me a look of sympathy. She helped me out of the shoes and pulled out a pair of leather boots.

"Thank you." I said as she sat me down and put the boots on. My muscles were very weak from the lack of nutrients I was able to consume so I was still pretty shaky.

Effie and my prep team kept trying to get me to eat more and more food to try and get me back to a normal health by the time I return home. I was trying too but the food just wasn't staying down. I just stuck to eating soup.

It was a few hours later and I was about to go change into my outfit after my prep team finished my makeup. The dress and makeup had a childish essence making me look like I didn't just kill half a dozen kids right in front of everyone's eyes. It was a blue cocktail dress with off the shoulder sleeves and a pair of blue flats to match.

Before ceaser called us out gale and I met up. it was the first time I had seen him all day and my face lit up. He was in a three piece suit that matched my dress.

"Wow." He said looking me up and down. Some would say he was checking me out but I knew he was just realizing how much the games had changed my appearance.

"Cinna had to put padding in the dress so people couldn't see my ribs." I said looking down at my feet.

"And now a few words from our victors. Gale and y/n!" Ceaser said into the microphone. Gale took my hand in his as the doors opened and we walked out.

The whole crowd awwed as we walked out, my arm wrapped around gales as I was still regaining strength in my ankles. He helped me sit on the couch than sat down right beside me, our legs pressed together. I still clung to his arm for comfort and he wrapped it around me holding me close understanding that I was uncomfortable.

"So what is going on between the two of you?" Ceaser asked.

"The whole killing each other thing was an act. We have always been very close and were even closer now." Gale replied.

"You had us fooled untill you saved her during the bloodbath! Let's roll the clip." They showed a montage of all our romantic moments during the games. The crowd awwed everytime the screen showed us kissing. I just rolled my eyes and looked at gale. He looked back at me and couldn't resist. He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to my lips. I leaned into it then remembered where we were and pulled away. I looked around and noticed Cesar looking shocked at us.

"Well you saw it for yourselves everyone! The star crossed lovers of district twelve!" He announced. The rest of the interview we watched the highlights of the games.

It made me sick to watch and I was struggling no to tear up. Gale held me the whole time and even gave me his jacket because I got cold. Once the interview was over we stood up. We shook Cesar's hand than before we walked out gale and I kissed for the crowd.

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We were on the train on the way home now. Gale and I were sitting together on a couch. Haymitch entered along with Effie and started talking.

"You two really need to watch your backs now. I really don't think there is a way to convince him." Haymitch said.

I opened my mouth do say something but no words came out. It had been that way for the last few days I had been recovering. I could never really utter full sentences anymore. My mind was clouded and the only time I spoke clearly was when I was speaking to gale. He was the only person who I could relate to because he was there with me. I had attempted to go to sleep many times but they were failed attempts unless gale was there forcing me to stay in bed instead of sleep on the floor. He was the only thing I had keeping me sane. I knew I would go back to normal in time but time feels so relative now.

I began to fall forward in my seat out of exhaustion. Gale rested my head on his lap and began running his fingers through my short hair.

"She needs medicine." Effie suggested.

"No she needs family. She needs to be home with my family and Katniss." Gale replied.

"We're almost there." Effie said back.

"Posy." I said in my sleep.

Gale smiled hearing me say his sister's name. Posy and I were close and I missed her but a reoccurring thought kept distracting me. "What if everyone is scared of me." I said out loud in my sleep again. Effie wiped a tear from her cheek.

A few hours later we arrived at district 12 and left the train. We stood facing a large crowd of people and gale imedeately ran to his family. I just stood there frozen when a body slammed into mine hugging me. It was Katniss. I buried my face into her hair and hugged her tight. We stayed like that for a while. I finally got to come home and embrace the closest thing to a family I had. Peeta one of my other friends came over too. He gave me an awkward hug than hung back beside Katniss as the Hawthornes approached us. I was hugged by gales mother almost instantly and I saw gale and Katniss share a short hug. Gales mother released the hug and let Rory and Vick hug me next. Last was little posy. I knelt to the ground to get on her level and held out my arms to her. She hid behind her mother's leg and peaked at me. I stood up realizing she was scared of me and blinked back tears.

"Did you let her watch?" I asked.

"She wasn't supposed to she just followed Vick and Rory's bad example and saw you." She replied. I noded In response.

I stayed still for a moment than began to sprint  towards the woods as the tears started flowing. I didn't stop running through the woods for about thirty minutes. The adrenaline running through my veins finally ceased and I collapsed. I sobbed there for about an hour when I heard rustling.

"There you are." Gale said as he belt beside me and pulled me onto his lap and held me as I sobbed.

"I turned myself into a monster and she's scared of me!" I screamed in my cracked voice from lack of use.

"Stop." He said. We just cried together in the woods of our home. Gale eventually got up with me in his arms and carried me back to his house. I didn't recognize the house at first then remembered that we now lived in victors village.

It was a few days later I had invited the Everdeens to live with me In my new home. They didn't accept at first then realized how lonely I would be without anyone else in my house so they moved in. I was still struggling with just about everything but I was getting better. I was spending more time with Haymitch. He was my neighbor now so I could visit my dad all the time.

Things now are never going to be the same ever again. I just had to survive through it all. It was much more of a challenge than my younger self would have though since I have been doing it my whole life but I was the capitals property now. It was time to let the hunger games begin.