"And I guess I could come into town a little more often. You know, since everyone's there. Since you're there." He could buck up, and go where the people he loved were. As much as the city made him nervous, there were a handful of people in this world that he cared for, and they were all within walking distance, if he just chose to live in the space generously provided for him. Okay, maybe that was a stretch, living in an apartment in a smoggy city when he could camp out in the open air, although soon it would be far too cold to live outdoors. Until that sad day came, though, Gale could at least make the same offering Katniss had made. "We could do Wednesday dinners. Family style." He realized, after the words were out, how much he wanted that. Even if it meant looking at Peeta and Katniss being Peeta and Katniss, the promise of a family cobbled together out of the people they cared for in this place made him hopeful.
--
It surprised Katniss so much to hear Gale compliment Peeta that she couldn’t think of what to say in response. What would she have said, anyway? Yes, of course, Peeta was brave. She knew that, maybe better than anyone. He also had a way of making her feel brave, which she appreciated even more. She didn’t consider herself particularly brave on her own, in spite of everything. She was calculating, weighing the risks and taking chances when the odds seemed good. And impulsive, in the fiery way that she had more in common with Gale than with Peeta.
Neither of them were particularly fiery anymore, though, and Katniss couldn’t help but see that as a good thing. There were others around here who fought, who argued, but she was too tired of the anger and the fear. She wanted her warm little corner of the world where she could be (relatively) safe with her sister and Rue and Peeta, and she wanted the peacefulness of the woods and the feeling of her best friend watching her back. As he leaned back against her, his head on hers, she felt like a missing piece was clicking into place. It wasn’t until then that she really felt like she had him back, and only then did she let herself acknowledge how much the distance between them had hurt.
It still wasn’t perfect, but maybe it would be easier than she thought. She had almost forgotten about the books, because they hardly mattered, in the face of being able to mend their friendship. But in some part of her mind, she was aware that he probably still had questions, and she felt relatively prepared to answer them.
But he didn’t ask her anything, immediately. They were both still trying to find some hope for their future here, even if they didn’t have it at home. (Especially because they didn’t have it at home, she thought.) She was glad that he was planning to come back to the city more often, but his offer to have regular dinners surprised her, and she lifted her head to look at him, wanting to be able to see his expression. “Really?” she said. “With… everyone?”
She wanted to, of course she did. There was nothing she wanted more than to have all the people she loved together, without any animosity or tension between any of them. But she also knew how much that would cost Gale (and maybe even Peeta, in a different way), to be able to manage it. She had vague hopes that eventually they might all be able to get together, for dinner or something else, and she had planned to wait until Gale felt ready for it. She just hadn’t expected him to make that kind of an offer so soon.