(Untitled)

[worldisburning]

It's late. It's very late but he can't stay out all night, not even if Helena's bed was wide and warm and her arms were welcoming. He can't stay because of Katniss, because of knowing how rarely she sleeps through the night. He has to be there, in case she wakes. He kicks his boots off next to the door and pads through the bedroom, stripping

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[burnwithus]

It's really only because of the alcohol in her system that Katniss sleeps at all, which makes Haymitch's addiction make even more sense to her (though she'll never let herself get that far) and that's only depressing, that a drunk ex-murderer mentor is the person who understands her the best out of anyone. But in the end it doesn't help at all really, because Katniss only wakes up with a dry throat and an aching head. She rubs blearily at her eyes, sitting up in the bed when she catches sight of Gale.

She blinks a few times to get the sleep from her eyes, shaking her head to clear it when she catches sight of his dripping hair and damp shirt. A frown tugs at the corners of her mouth. She knows Gale’s habits. Showering in the middle of the night was not one of them.

“It’s the middle of the night. Why is your hair wet?”

[worldisburning]

"I showered."

He drags in a breath through his nose; he's deliberately kept Helena from Katniss without telling lies because...Because they're barely on speaking terms most of the time, and it just seems like it would be one more thing that they can't talk about.

"Go back to sleep."

[burnwithus]

"I can see that. Why?" there's no way she's going back to sleep now, not with her throat so dry and her pulse pounding in her temple. Katniss tugs her knees up so that they touch her chin, resting her head on them. Gale's hiding something from her - that much is obvious. He's always been able to tell when she lied, and the opposite is true.

The more worrying thing is that Gale never did have anything to hide, back then. And with all of his urgings for her to tell him everything, it leaves a sour taste in her mouth as she doesn't take her eyes off of him.

[worldisburning]

"Because I just got home." He rubs his hands over his face; he's got no idea why they're going to talk about this now, other than the fact that shit usually lands on more shit and they're living in a house of cards.

"I was with someone."