Help Me Make it Through the Night (Everlark Fanfic)

Chapter 27: My World Stood Still

(This Chapter is dedicated to Gale Hawthorne. I've never actually hated him. I just feel like Peeta is a better person to and for Katniss.)

Katniss' POV

I walked through town looking for the supposed dress shop Peeta told me Delly now owned. I haven't been this far into the merchant village since before the quarter quell since Peeta's bakery is on the edge and close to the Victor's Village. I finally walk into it and see Delly Cartwright siting behind the counter, smiling brightly. She looks shocked to see me.

"Katniss? Is that you? I never would have thought I'd see you walk through those doors. What can I help you with?" Delly says walking out from behind the counter.

"Well, I'm getting married in about two months and still kind of need a dress I guess," I tell her, not really feeling at home in the dress shop with the pale pink drapes and puffy, capital like dresses of every color.

"Oh Katniss that's wonderful. What were you thinking?" She asks.

"I don't know. Somthing simple. I am not having a Capital wedding," I tell her.

"Well the bride is always right," Delly says leading me to two racks of long white gowns."Why don't you pick some of these out and I'll help you try them on."

I absentmindedly take a few off of the rack, not really paying attention to what they look like and walk back over to Delly.

"Hey you ready to try those on?" she asks. I shrug and she leads me to a dressing room. "Just call me if you need any help," she says shutting the door behind her.

I look at one of the dresses I had picked out. It was different than the others. The material was silk and shimmery sheen to it. It was strapless with a lace up back tied with a sunset orange ribbon. The Hem line was defined by pale flame designs. I ran my fingers along the seems and am just as sure as I was with Annie's dress, I'm sure these stitches were made by Cinna's hand. A silent tear rolled down my cheek and lands on the beautiful flame designs.

"Katniss are you okay in there? You've been in there an awfully long time," Delly says, knocking on the door. I shake my head and turn towards the door.

"Yeah Delly I'm fine. I think I found the right one, but I might need your help," I tell her through the door. She walks in and smiles when she sees the one I'm holding.

" I knew you would pick that one," she said taking it from me and gently unlacing the back as I get undressed,"He gave it to your prep team because he knew he probably wouldn't survive the war and Plutarch had it after they were 'rescued'. And after the war, Plutarch gave it to me when I said I was thinking of starting a dress shop in the hopes that when you got married, you'd come here," she helps me step into the dress and pull it on. She gently laces the back and I find that it fits perfectly. Delly gasps.

"Oh Katniss, you look beautiful," Delly said gently.

"Can I see?" I ask her, turning to face her. She nods excitedly and leads me to the main lobby to the catwalk and mirror. I turn to the mirror and see a totally different person. The young woman in the mirror has silver eyes sparkling with happy tears. Sure she has scars but the life that glows like an aura from her makes them fade. At Cinna's hand I have again become the girl on fire. I am again as radiant as the sun.

"You look beautiful, Catnip," a voice I know all to well says from behind me. I turn around and look into the eyes of my former hunting partner. He looked different then when I had last saw him. His hair had gotten longer and he had begun to grow a beard. But it was still the same person I had encountered in the woods when I was twelve.

"Hello Gale," I said.

"So you are getting married?" he asks.

"Yes," I say.

"To Peeta?" he asks.

"Yes, who else would I be marrying?" I say, starting to get slightly annoyed.

"Why Katniss? Why him? I thought you said you'd never get married," he asks.

"He was there for me Gale! He took care of me! He does everything for me and expects nothing in return! You left me to rot here while Peeta came home the first day they allowed him because he wanted to protect me, even if it meant protecting me from myself. He saves me from my nightmares every night. You left me Gale! You abandoned me!" I tell him.
He looks down and then looks back at me.

"Katniss, I didn't leave because I didn't love you or care about you. I left because I knew Peeta could protect you better than I ever could. We are to alike. I knew he would come back to you. I also knew that he was the one you couldn't survive without. So I moved to 2 so I didn't have to watch you fall for him all over again," he said. I go over to him and hug him.

"Thank you for letting me go. I will always care about you too," I say pulling away. I hear foot steps that aren't Delly walk up behind me.

"Gale, who is this?" a soft, pretty voice asks. I turn to see a pretty blonde woman with icy blue eyes that cut right through me. She looks eerily familiar.

"Katie, this is Katniss, The Mockingjay and my old hunting partner. Katniss, this is my wife Katie," gale says. Katie looks at me shocked. She gently takes my hand.

"Katniss it's amazing to finally speak to you. I'm sorry I never got a chance to speak to you when you visited my district for the victory tour. There were just so many people at that party and its not like a tribute's sister gets any special treatment," she says.

"A tribute's sister?" I ask slightly confused.

"I'm Cato's sister," she says softly. I gasp. It's now so obvious. She has almost all the same features as the vicious tribute that haunts so many of my dreams.

"I'm so sorry Kaite," I say slowly backing away from her. But she keeps her grip on my hand and gently pulls me back to her.

"Katniss, you saved him. Who knows how long he would have suffered if you hadn't killed him. Ive been waiting so long to talk to you because I wanted to thank you for ending his suffering," she says hugging me.

We make small talk for another half hour until Delly says that she has to close soon and that Peeta called worrying about me. Gale said that they had to go now anyway, that Hazelle was expecting them. I invited them to the wedding and they said they hoped to be able to make it. As I watched them walk away my world seemed to stand still and I felt an ache in my heart telling me that no matter how much I loved Peeta, Gale would always have a place in my heart.

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Hey guys, hope you all liked this chapter. I know a lot of you probably don't like Gale, but I never really hated him. He probably did have reasons for leaving her and I never felt he was evil and that he deserved happiness. He will be back but it won't be to cause Drama. I owe the inspiration for this chapter to the song And Still by Reba McIntyre. I probably wouldn't have written this weekend if it were not for hearing this song Saturday when I was on the bus to a basketball game. This chapter means a lot to me. Please comment what you all think of this chapter. I love you all.
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-Kayla