Behind the Seams

“Gale!” I shouted. I was running as fast as I could through the forest. I had to find him. I had to tell him the good news. “Gale! Gale! Where are you?!” He only ever goes so far. Where could he be? “Gale! I’ve got to talk to you! It’s important!”

“Moo? Could you be any louder? He jumped down from a tree he must have been in. “You are scaring everything away. I won’t be able to catch anything.” I ran to him.

“They changed the rules!” I said, smiling. I could not hold my happiness in. This was something that could change everything. “What were you doing up in the tree?”

“What? Hunting. What rules?”

“You know you aren’t a very good shot. That’s my area up there.” I said, smirking and pointing up to the tree.

“Stop bragging.” He smiled. “What rules?

“Oh, right.” I shook my head to get back on track. “The Hunger Games! They changed the rules of the games!”

“Which rule?”

“Now, I know we said we weren’t going to watch anything about the Games, but the television was on when I woke up. I just couldn’t ignore a rule change, could you?” He shook his head. “I mean there has not ever been a rule change. Ever! But they changed the rules this time. Gale, they could both come home!” Gale’s eyes widened.

“They what?” he questioned.

“Will you stop asking me questions?”

“Yeah, when you give me a straight up answer, I will.”

“They changed the rules. If both tributes from the same district are the last in the competition, they both win! They both could come home! Katniss and Peeta. You can have Katniss back and I could have Peeta. Obviously.” I laughed at my comment. “I mean we’re going to have a little chat if you think it should be the other way around. But it doesn’t matter. Just as long as they stay together, they’ll be home in no time.” I watched as his face went from being shocked to being confused to being happy. He smiled and engulfed me into a hug. I hugged him back. He pulled away awkwardly. “Gale, I want to watch. I want to watch to make sure he comes home.”

“Are you sure?” I nodded. “Yeah.” He scratched the back of his neck. “Yeah. We’ll watch.”

“Let’s go now!” I said, excited. Peeta had a chance to come home to me. I had to see his face. I had to see if he was happy to see me.

“You know what. We should hunt for just a little bit. Get some game. We could celebrate.” I pursed my lips. I really just wanted to go home and see Peeta. I guess, though, I have got kids to feed. I nodded, reluctantly agreeing.

*

Gale’s POV

Early in the morning, before the sun completely rose into the sky, I went into the woods. I wanted to get some time to hunt to myself. Mostly, I just wanted some time to think. I climbed up into a tall tree. I wanted to get another bird for Larsen to cook the soup again. I am not sure how or why but all I want to do is make her happy. At the Reaping, when I saw her volunteer herself for Prim, I saw her as a whole different person. It also killed me inside to see her do that. It scared me. But after, when I saw her crying, I just had to comfort her. She was so torn up over Katniss volunteering for her, and especially over Peeta getting reaped.

My feelings for Katniss have changed drastically. I thought I would be more upset with her being gone and with the chance she might now come back. But, now that I am realizing my true feelings I am really not that upset. I guess I just wanted those feelings to be real instead of actually feeling them. Instead, here I am, thinking about Larsen. My best friend. I cannot stop thinking about her. Then there was the other day. The two of us sat by the river and she fell asleep on me. That was probably the happiest I have felt in a really long time.

A voice shouting my name shook me away from my thoughts. “Gale!” I furrowed my brow, a little confused.

“Larsen?” I said, to myself.

“Gale!” Her voice was closer. “Gale! Where are you?!” I looked around noticing I had come out a lot farther than I normally would probably throwing her off. “Gale! I’ve got to talk to you! It’s important.”

“Moo? Could you be any louder?” I said, before jumping down from my tree. “You are scaring everything away. I won’t be able to catch anything.” She ran over to be right in front of me.

“They changed the rules!” She said, then smiled her gorgeous smile. As confused as I was, I smiled; but only because she was smiling. “What were you doing up in the tree?” She took me away from her smile.

“What? Hunting. What rules?” She leaned on one leg and wagged her finger at the tree.

“You know you aren’t a very good shot. That’s my area up there.” I smiled at her ridiculousness.

“Stop bragging. What rule?”

“Oh, right.” She shook her head back and forth. Her braid flapped around on her shoulder. “The Hunger Games! They changed the rules of the games!”

“Which rule?”

“Now I know we said we weren’t going to watch anything about the Games, but the television was on when I woke up. I just couldn’t ignore a rule change, could you?” I shook my head, agreeing with her. I couldn’t ignore watching something like that. “I mean there has not ever been a rule change. Ever! But they changed the rules this time. Gale they could both come home!” My heart dropped.

“They what?”

“Will you stop asking me questions?”

“Yeah, when you give me a straight up answer, I will.”

“They changed the rules. If both tributes from the same district are the last in the competition, they both win! They could come home! Katniss and Peeta. You can have Katniss back and I could have Peeta. Obviously.” She laughed at that. “I mean, we’re going to have a little chat if you think it should be the other way around. But it doesn’t matter. Just as long as they stay together, they’ll be home in no time.” This is not what I wanted. I wanted it to be me and her, forever. The other way around? Did she really say that? This is what she wants. So, I smiled a bit for her anyway. I pulled her into a hug hoping to savor it. I could tell she felt weird so I pulled away awkwardly. “Gale, I want to watch. I want to watch to make sure he comes home.”

“Are you sure?” She nodded. “Yeah.” I scratched the back of my neck. Yeah. We’ll watch.”

“Let’s go now!” She was so excited. I was not. I did not want Peeta to come home. Larsen was mine.

“You know what. We should hunt for just a little bit. Get some game. We could celebrate.” She pursed her lips. The light in her eyes disappeared. She nodded, reluctantly agreeing.