Behind the Seams

When I woke up the next morning, I was a little confused as to where I was. However, I suppose that I should be used to waking up around trees. Seeing as Gale and I have been out here a few times. That is when I noticed Gale next to me sound asleep. I curled up to him and stared up at the clouds. I wondered, only for a moment, what Peeta was doing right now. I was sure he would not make it, but I was still hopeful regardless of what relationship I had with either of these two guys.

About ten minutes later, I felt Gale move underneath me. I looked up at him. He noticed me and smiled.

“Good morning, Beautiful.” Gale said. I smiled a small smile.

“Hey. Are you up for a hunt, Goose?” I asked, not really wanting to talk about us or what we were.

“Um, yeah. I guess we could.” I quickly got up and started to walk for the hollowed out log. I had not said one word the entire way there. I thought we could hold off out conversation until after the Hunger Games were over. Gale might have known this since he also did not bring up anything the whole time.

Conversation was very sparse between us for the rest of the time that we had hunted. He congratulated me on my kills as I congratulated him. That was our only conversation all day. I know many of the times I looked over at him; I could tell that he wanted to say something. Part of me was sad that he did not. I wanted to talk to Gale, or at least part of me did. I would not know what to say. That was my reason for not speaking up first.

I thought it was weird of him not to say anything yet. For wanting to fix me so badly he was sure starting off very slow. It is not like him at all. He always speaks his mind, no matter how badly it could hurt. That is the Gale I have always known since I was little. Even if I did want him to say something, I suppose it was a good thing he did not. At least until I have actually talked to Peeta and knew we were actually over. What I wanted was for us to be over. This “relationship” has hurt me way too much for us to just go on like he had not kissed Katniss; I lost all feeling for him. Sure, it hurt. However, I was practically dead inside already.

After the two of us finished hunting, we stopped by to drop off some game with Prim and Peeta’s dad. I helped him carry some of his game back to his house. Rory and Vick were watching a snippet from the Games.

“Attention. Attention, tributes. There has been a slight rule change. The previous revision allowing two victories from the same district has been revoked. Only one victor may be crowned. Good luck. And may the odds be ever in your favor.” I immediately stopped in my place. No. My world slowed. There was nothing around me. I could not hear anything. There is no way that Peeta would make Katniss sacrifice herself. Peeta was too good for that. He would let her kill him or he would kill himself. I would never see Peeta again. I memorized his face. I watched him touch Katniss’s hair. A tear rolled down my cheek.

“Moo?” I shook my head and ran out of the shack. “Larsen!” he screamed after me. I hoped he had not followed me.

As soon as I got home, I looked to make sure he had not followed me. He did not. I started a fire just outside the house. I wanted to cook some food and get my mind off of Peeta. I should also try to put something in my father’s stomach besides alcohol.

“Dad!” I shouted as I walked in the back door. I wiped a tear from my face. “I’m home! I brought food!” I went through the kitchen to the living room. “Dad?” he was lying on the floor. “All I’ve got to do is cook it up and you can eat.”

“Shut up, girl!” He yelled back at me.

“Don’t you dare talk to me like that. Not after all I sacrifice for you.” I rolled my eyes at him.

“I will talk to you however I want.” He got off of the floor. He almost fell, but he grabbed onto the couch to keep him up. “I am your father.”

“Oh, please.” I scoffed. “You have not been acting like my father for half of this year.” He growled.

“Who do you think you are?”

“I’m Larsen. I’m supposed to be your daughter. However, you are a drunk who doesn’t really care.” He came at me. He grabbed my wrists and slammed both of them against the wall. I screamed out. My eyes widened with fear. I froze. He has never gotten physically violent before. I did not know what to do. My breathing sped up, for I had a hard time breathing.

“I am your father! And you will respect me!” I nodded, scared. What would you do in this situation? Screaming probably would not help. I cannot fight him. He is too strong. Before I could decide, the next thing I knew, I was hit over the head and everything went dark.

*

“Larsen, if you can hear me, please, wake up. Things are really hard without you. There is so much that is still needed to be said. Well, your bruises, they’re bad. The cut above your eyebrow is what knocked you out. Then he just kept hitting you. But your dad is gone. I suppose that is good news. They took him away after he beat you. I don’t know where they took him. You are safe now, Larsen. You will be protected. That is all I want to do. That is what I’m doing. Protecting you. You will not be hurt ever again. I promise.”

*

Gale’s POV

I woke up in a chair at Katniss’s new house. Her mom had been taking care of Larsen. I did not want to leave her side. Not when she was in and out of consciousness. Whenever she woke up she was screaming out in pain. I had to be there to calm her down. At this point, she has been on morphling for almost two weeks. Katniss and Peeta have been home now for a couple of days.

“Gale, she will wake up. Soon.” I looked up, seeing Katniss standing just behind the couch. “My mom says the cut above her eyebrow is about healed up. We are going to see how she is the next time. Maybe the last was the last dose of morphling she will need.” I nodded.

“Yeah, I know.”

“You should go make sure that your family is okay. I hope that they are very well fed. We haven’t been hunting for a while, but I went to empty your traps this morning.”

“My family is fine.”

“Do they have enough, you think? I can spare some more if you need me to. I would love to help out your family.”

“My family has enough.”

“Really. It is no problem. I know you don’t being offered help. Or accepting it. But we have plenty of money, Gale.”

“Katniss! Stop! I really don’t want your help.” She took a step back, looking a little hurt.

“Why are you being so cold?” I shook my head at her and looked away from her to Larsen. “What have I done, Gale?”

“This really is not the place to talk about this.”

“Then can we go someplace to talk about it?” I looked at Katniss, then back to Larsen. “She will be fine. Mom and Prim are here to take care of her. I am very sure that she won’t wake up while we are gone.” I contemplated in my head. I do not know if it was the smartest thing to do, but I followed her back to her old house. “Now, can you tell me when I did wrong? I thought you would be happy to see me.”

“I am. I am glad that you made I home.”

“So everything is okay.” This was not a question. I shook my head. “Why?

“Honestly?” I looked up at her. “I thought that I loved you. For the longest time, I really believed that it would happen, you know? You and me. When you volunteered, it was not a big deal because I knew that you would come back. I knew you would outsmart everyone in there because that is how you are. You fight. But when Larsen volunteered before you, I was scared that I would lose her. Not because she couldn’t handle herself, I knew she could. I just kept thinking that I could lose her. I wasn’t scared to lose you.” She looked sad and confused.

“I am not seeing what I have done wrong yet.” I nodded.

“I’m almost there. I love Larsen. Whether she feels the same way or only loves me like family. I love her. Larsen and I…we didn’t watch the Games. We decided that it would hurt too much. I was unsure about my feelings for you. And Larsen, she was in love with the bread boy.” Katniss looked surprised. “Don’t act like you did not know.”

“I didn’t.”

“She asked you to take care of him. To keep him alive for as long as you could. Why else would Larsen ask you to watch out for him?” I looked at her sternly. She didn’t say anything. “After we found out about the rule change, we watched. That was the first time you helped him. And kissed him.”

“Gale, you really don’t understand. I was trying to save our lives. Your life.” I rolled my eyes.

“I never thought you would do something like that Katniss. You have changed so much.”

“No! Gale! No, I’m still me. I’m still Catnip.” I shook my head. She briskly walked to me, grabbed my face in her hands and forced her lips on mine. I immediately pushed her off and wiped my lips.

“You’re not Catnip. You kissed Peeta back, Katniss. You broke Larsen’s heart. You were her best friend. You were our best friend.” I left the shack, slamming the door behind me.