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a continuation of the previous imagine: gale shows up at katniss and peeta's wedding. taken from an unpublished fic of mine.
The tall man with the olive skin, grey eyes, and straight black hair that stood before Katniss was no other than Gale. Her best friend before the Hunger Games. The man who taught her how to survive after both of their fathers died in the mine explosion. The boy who... the boy who designed the bomb that killed her little sister, Primrose. Gale Hawthorne, the raging fire, the one Katniss loved so dearly but pushed away because all she wanted was Peeta Mellark, the dandelion in the spring, who she needed more than anything else in this world. How he knew Peeta and her were getting married was a mystery to her, since they had been very secretive about it and only told a few close friends and family members. Unless Katniss' mother invited him, but she would know not to tell him since he and Katniss hadn't spoken to each other in five years. But maybe...
No, he wouldn't do that, Katniss thought.
"Gale, why are you here?" Katniss questioned him, staring into those grey seam eyes that mimicked hers almost completely. His eyes stared right back. It was not an icy stare, like she expected their inevitable meet up to be like. It was more compassionate, and forgiving.
"I heard that you were having a wedding, and trust me, as much as it pains me to see this, it makes no difference how I feel because you chose him over me. And your happiness is what matters the most. I realized that what you needed was not me, no, we're practically twins. You needed someone who would always be there for you no matter what."
Katniss' hand brought itself to her mouth. It felt like she'd just been slapped in the face but kissed on the mouth at the same time. She was hurt, but touched.
"I would like to say a few words, if that's all right," he announced. He was nervous, Katniss could tell by the way he was standing.
It's funny how after all the years apart, she still remembered the small things. But those will never leave Katniss' mind. Because when you spend years of your life with someone, they never go away. Not really.
There was a slight murmuring from the crowd, mostly from Katniss' friends who knew about the separation.
"Katniss was my best friend. We met when she was only twelve years old, and I was fourteen. She was trying to steal from my snare but I caught her, and I told her stealing is punishable by death. We were always each other's hunting buddies, until the Hunger Games, but I'm not here to talk about those, they're in the past. I'm here to apologize to her for everything that I've done, all the pain that I have caused. And to Peeta, for resenting him for years and years because he got what I couldn't have. I was an asshole, and I can understand that now. I should've known you were meant for her... Katniss and I, we were too alike. She needs you, she needs you more than she ever needed me, and you have to always be there for her. Always," he declared, looking straight at Peeta. "Protect her, nurture her, do everything I know you already do, because if you didn't she wouldn't be sitting here in a wedding gown."
"One thing I learned about love, from you and her, is that it's not about finding someone who's alike you. It's about finding the person who will still hold you in their arms after a restless night filled with bad dreams, even if they only got an hour of sleep, the one who will never leave no matter how hard life gets, the one who will stay standing and wiping the tears of the other after a fight. That's what love is," Gale finished his speech, and everyone is left silent as midnight.
Katniss didn't realize she had started crying until Peeta's thumb caressed her cheek and it came back wet. Katniss raised her hand gadfly to her eyes and wiped them, careful not to smudge the makeup that Effie worked so hard on. Gale's right; had Peeta not loved Katniss as much as he did, she'd probably still be sitting in a blank state in that god forsaken house that she moved out of three years ago. Yes, Peeta is the one who will ALWAYS be there, no matter what. No matter how much Katniss hurts him.
Because he would never do anything to hurt her.
Gale nodded and walked off the stage. Nobody else wants to speak, Katniss' mother wants to but she'd been told that morning it would be too painful for Katniss. The music started back up again and Johanna stood up and walked away to go find some boy to flirt with.
Gale strolls toward Katniss, and Peeta stood up to go get another slice of cake and give them some private time.
"Welcome back," Katniss said, averting her gaze, and Gale brought his thumb to her cheek just as Peeta did, but his hand is rough, not smooth like Peeta's. "That was..."
"Beautiful? Aweing? Inspiring?" He joked, and Katniss laughed lightly.
"Yes."
"Perfect. But maybe you should go spend sometime with your husband, I know you want to, after all today is your day," his voice dropped, "I saw what was in the bag... he's gonna love it."
"Oh my God. Gale I can't talk about that right now, I'm already as stressed out about it as I can be, and I can't handle both you and Johanna's teasing!" Katniss exclaimed, but laughed along with her friend.
She turned on her heel and walked toward Peeta. Her hand enveloped his, and she dragged him away from the crowd and into a small little pathway that was set up just for the wedding to "add aesthetic," as Effie said.
The lush green bushes surrounded them as they walked the rock lined path. After about five minutes, Katniss stops.
"Thank you for inviting Gale. I know it must have been hard for you to do, because of everything that happened..."
Peeta seemed shocked to know that his wife had figured out he had been the one to invite Gale and said, "Katniss, there's no hard feelings between us. He realized you needed me more, and he respected that. I would've done that too, if you'd chosen him."
Her voice is quiet as she asks Peeta, "Would you?" Katnjss stood in front of him now, looking into those crystal blue orbs that struck her with awe every time she laid her dull, seam gray eyes on them.
"Yes, because when you love someone the way I love you, you're willing to give up everything for them, even if it's your happiness."
"Peeta.." She whispered, but he brought a finger to her pink lips.
"Don't talk," he said, staring into her eyes. His hand grasped hers and he led them out of the pathway.
