Tough Love | EVERLARK

Where the girl and the boy finally have that talk.

Breathing in the fresh air of the woods, Katniss felt totally at peace for the first time in what felt like forever.

It was just after noon, and Katniss had already been out for hours. She'd been itching to get back to her favourite spot since last night. Prim had teased her about being one with nature as Katniss had said goodbye early this morning, desperate to go on a walk and snap some pictures.

The woods were unchanged, with all the same paths and quirks. All the same trees and chirping birds. Katniss was fully content as she walked leisurely through her woods, knowing that Gale would be at their spot waiting for her. She had her dad's camera slung over her back, the familiar weight had been gone for a while and she had missed it dearly now that it was back.

"Katpiss!" Gale shouted at her as soon as she became visible to him through the thick trees. She rolled her eyes as she approached him. They had arranged to meet here the night before, both excited for a reunion, but Katniss did not take kindly to Gale's old nickname for her.

"Will you stop calling me that?" Katniss said as she reached her and Gale's rock. He just shrugged as he sat down, waiting for Katniss to join him.

"Okay, I'll promise to stop calling you that when I die. Deal?"

Katniss laughed and flicked her braid from her shoulder as she surveyed the area. It was exactly as she remembered it. This brought her more joy than she cared to admit.

"Deal, but only because I can just kill you to speed up the whole process," Katniss quipped, causing Gale to laugh. He looked as he always did, tall, dark and classically handsome.

Katniss felt embarrassed as she looked at him, she remembered how she used to feel about him romantically — which was nothing. But she used to tell herself that one day maybe she would feel something for him, maybe if she forced herself to. This embarrassed her as she compared that feeling to her very unforced feelings for Peeta. However, could she have ever settled?

"Thinking about your lover boy?" Gale teased, poking Katniss on the shoulder to get her attention. Katniss had been talking to him somewhat regularly during her time away, and by extension, Gale had caught on about Peeta being the Peeta Mellark and had figured out quickly how Katniss felt about him.

Katniss shook her head and looked up at Gale, "he isn't mine," she replied with somewhat of a huff

To Katniss' surprise, Gale burst out laughing at this, even going so far as to slap his knee comically.

"You're kidding right?" Gale asked, subduing his laughter as he realised that Katniss was staring daggers into his soul.

Baffled, Katniss defensively crossed her arms, "No?" she asked, totally confused over Gale's reaction to the truth, which was, that Peeta did not belong to her romantically.

"Oh Katpiss you surely knew that he's always had a thing for you," Gale said, sounding genuinely baffled.

Katniss furrowed her eyebrows, not sure if this was Gale's idea of a very strange prank.

"What is with you and Prim lately? He didn't even know me in highschool — he was in your year at school and he only spoke to me like one time!" Katniss said, remembering that Gale and Peeta were the same age as one another.

"He didn't speak to you often because you were terrifying in highschool. Truly a hardass, but everyone knew he wanted you. It was just a fact," Gale shrugged, taking a sip out of his water bottle as he left Katniss to stew in her thoughts.

"I just never told you at the time because I had that pathetic crush on you. And I knew that you... Well I dunno if you liked him but you certainly considered him more than you ever did me. I cringe now thinking about what I used to be like," Gale added, clearly just as ashamed of their brief foray into romance.