The Other Slip

Chapter 17

A/N: HI I HATE THIS CHAPTER I HATE IT SO MUCH AND I REALLY HOPE YOU CAN FORGIVE ME I AM 100% AN EVERLARK SHIPPER BUT THIS IS NECESSARY TO THE STORY

Happiness. It's all I feel at this very moment. A multitude of birds chirping, the calm gurgling of a stream, the bright sun piercing through the trees' thick foliage. I look to Gale, he has the same euphoric expression on his face. This, the forest, is my home.

After several minutes of walking around with dazed smiles, we finally start hunting. I slip off the broken shoes District 13 gave me and go my own way while Gale sets some snares. I manage to shoot two rabbits and a squirrel, and decide that's enough. I walk back to see Gale skinning a badger.

-"I'll skin them all. You can rest." He says. I smile at him and lean on a large rock not too far away from him.

-"I missed this." I sigh.

-"Yeah, it's been a while." He laughs.

I missed all these times with Gale. We have always been a team, even during the rough times. I place a mint leaf in my mouth and close my eyes. A few minutes later, I hear Gale grunt as he sits next to me on the large rock.

-"We still have some time," he says, looking at his watch, "Coin will send a message when she wants us back."

I sit back up and look at the beautiful forest around me.

-"Who would've thought that the forest around what we assumed to be a destroyed district would be so beautiful."

-"Almost as beautiful as you." I looked at him, surprised. He was not the type to say things like that. Our eye contact barely lasts a few seconds before he grabs my face and kisses me. We lean our foreheads against each other as we release, and I feel his warm breath on my lips. He lies back down on the rock, looking at the sky through the leaves. I mirror him, and we stay like this until it is time to leave.