Behind Those Violet Eyes ▸ Hunger Games

Chapter Twenty: Gale Hawthorne

Chapter Twenty:

Gale's POV

I stayed up all of that night, watching her fall asleep. Her arm looked better then it had the moment of the impact of the bomb, but it still didn't look 100% better... at all.

I turned away from Cyra and looked down at my legs. The blood flow had stopped, thanks to the pressure Cyra had put on them earlier, and they looked as if they were starting to heal.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I stood up slowly, realizing I could walk again. I stood up slowly, and walked out of the cave, and into the dark forest. Though Cyra had objected, I had offered to take first watch. Eventually, she was so tired that she just fell asleep from the effort of fighting and BAM! I had first watch.

I stood outside of the cave, and sat down on some rocks. I wanted to hear the announcement about who had died today, just to see if it was anyone I knew.

 I stared up at the sky, and I heard the loud boom, and the screen pop up, signaling they were about to tell us who had passed today.

 "Hello!" The voice boomed loudly. Then the faces popped up and I watched carefully.

There was only one name: "Katniss Everdeen: District Twelve, female."

A pain shot through my chest. Katniss was one of my best friends. It was hard to see that she was gone, after all this time

"We're going to stay together in the arena... Okay, Gale?"

Katniss huffed and shoved me onto the sofa.

I nodded quietly and she sat down next to me on the sofa on the District Twelve floor. The room has lit up softly by the candles around us, as we were having a small power outage on our floor of the building. I looked outside the bright windows, out and over the Capitol streets. It filled me with anger, knowing my little brother and sister were at home, struggling for life, while these people wasted everything they had.

She smirked and she got closer to me. "Gale... I have something to tell you." I nodded and got closer to her.

"What is it, Catnip?" I laughed, at my stupid nickname for her and she just gave me a sly smirk.

"I... I'm in love with Peeta."

I stared at her in confusion. "The type of bread?"

Katniss laughed, and shoved me. "No, stupid... The boy. With the bread."

I huffed and glanced at the floor. I had a small crush on Katniss for a while...  And I really liked her. But, there was one other girl that Katniss didn't know about, one that I had loved for a while....

And she was sitting right behind me, asleep... and she had no idea I felt that way. At all.

"I'll miss you, Katniss..." I whispered softly, and looked up at the artificial sky. A single star twinkled as I walked back inside the dark cave.

Cyra lay asleep on the floor, her hair was a bit ratty and soaked with blood. Scratches scattered across her face. The moonlight reflecting on her pale skin.

I thought I had never seen anyone more beautiful in my life.

Quietly, so that I didn't wake her, I stepped over her, and laid a large palm leaf over the front entrance to the narrow cave.

I stepped over Cyra's sleeping body, and walked over to the back part of the cave where I slept. I brushed the blood soaked rags from the soft and as I turned to sit down, I stared at Cyra and quietly enough, so she could hear I whispered.

"I love you."

She rolled over, her eyes still closed. She was clearly asleep, but that didn't matter.

I had told her... and that in itself was all  that mattered.