Chapter Text
Johanna wears her hair in soft curls all the time now. She runs her fingers through them all day and night and Gale can track where's she been in the house because she leaves little black strands everywhere she goes.
She refuses to cut it although it's way past her waist by now. She says it helps her count the days from when they took it all away.
She also refuses to bath unless Gale is with her and even then she sometimes kicks out her long bronzed legs at Gale's chest and screams until her face is ruddy and her throat runs so dry she tastes blood. He holds her then and brushes his fingers down her face. She'll press her face into his chest, kissing the marks she inflicted (and the ones she didn't).
Gale thought she'd move on. He thought that when she pressed her forehead on his after Katniss and Peeta's wedding, he thought they'd be happy.
She's still the Capitol's though. She'll always be the Capitol's.
Until Johanna stops waking up screaming and smashing her head on the headboard pleading for Gale to kill her.
*
- We're left overs, she whispered once when they were alone.
- Yeah Jo, Gale whispered back, I guess we are.
*
Peeta is slumped across the bar with a warm beer still snug in his hand and and unlit cigarette hanging out of his mouth. Johanna leans over and lights it, watching him splutter and cough back to life with a smile.
'You witch,' Peeta says and it almost sounds like a compliment.
'If I were a witch we both wouldn't be sitting here, ' They both fall into silence and Johanna brushes the dirt from his denim jacket. 'Katniss make you sleep in the yard again?' Johanna asks and waves down the bartender.
Peeta nods, his knuckles rub against the bar.
'Well, what did you do?' Johanna knows she shouldn't pick at his scabs but god knows she's tired of picking at her own.
The bartender takes both their orders - rum for Johanna and whiskey for Peeta. Peeta finishes his glass with one practiced gulp and grimaces, 'I told her I didn't know who she was anymore. I told her I missed it.'
'Missed what?' Johanna asks for the whole bottle of rum and ignores the bartender's raised eyebrow. (He eventually gives it to her because after being strangled by Haymitch he's learnt to just give the victor's what they want.)
'Everything,' Peeta says simply and Johanna crushes a napkin in her hand.
'Even the torture? Even everyone dying?'
Peeta snorts and takes Johanna's bottle, 'At least it made sense then, at least it was worth it,' Peeta tries to smile but there's no mirth. 'It's like torture everyday trying to ignore it happened and now all our friends are either dead or dying. Finnick-'
Johanna's head is spinning and she snatches the bottle back. 'Don't you dare say his name Mellark, don't even fucking whisper it,' she's aware she's hissing now. Her limbs twitch, possessed by rage.
Peeta nods and shifts on the bar stool.
'Why are you here anyway, I thought you and Gale had it made.'
'We do,' Johanna says with crossed fingers and a clutched heart and she's sure neither of them are convinced.
*
- Roses are red, bruises are blue, you drive me crazy, I fucking adore you.
- You mean you adore fucking me, Johanna's grinning in the dark.
- Oh yeah that too.
*
Johanna and Peeta slip back into Johanna and Gale's house, after throwing up black sludge into Gale's toolkit she's now crawling around the kitchen with Peeta nipping at her ankles, pretending to be a dog.
Gale comes downstairs naked, rubbing his bloodshot eyes.
'Jo, it's time to go to bed,' Gale kicks Peeta out of the way. 'Mellark, you fuck off.'
Peeta has a lopsided grin on his face as his eyes slip down Gale's body.
'I said fuck off Mellark,' Gale sneers and pulls Johanna up to her feet.
Peeta gets onto his knees, struggling slightly and looks up at Gale, his eyes twinkling slightly from the whiskey.
'Can I crash on your couch? My backyard doesn't seem so appealing right now,' Peeta says, now leaning on the kitchen counter.
Gale watches him for a moment, they're not friends, not even close, but he doesn't want to put up with the hell Katniss will give him tomorrow morning. So he nods and picks up a sobering Johanna and throws her over his shoulder, his hand rubbing the small of her back as they walk slowly up the stairs.
Gale places her gently on their bed, peeling off her muddy boots and her flimsy sheer lilac shirt and stained denim shorts.
She smells like vomit and cheap rum but he still kisses her goodnight.
They'll be happy together if it kills him.
Gale's hosing his tools in the backyard when Peeta kneels down next to him and starts breaking down.
He's wailing about Katniss, the games and - 'fucking mockingjay'. Peeta's shirt is stained with god knows what, his denim jacket shudders over his shoulders; filthy and torn up.
Gale turns the hose on Peeta and watches him squirm and splutter in the grass. He doesn't know whether Peeta hates water like Johanna and frankly, he doesn't really care but he feels a small pang of compassion when Peeta yelps and brings his knees to his chest.
That small pang disappears when seconds later Peeta's on top of Gale, fisting his shirt and snarling.
He'd forgotten Peeta was a victor too.
'What the fuck is wrong with you?' Gale's livid, this is his house, his and Johanna's. This is their life, he left Katniss and Peeta behind a long time ago.
Then Peeta presses his wet lips onto Gale's and it takes him a while to comprehend that Peeta has his lips on his and is tracing circles on Gale's hip. Gale's too stunned to pull away, he doesn't move his lips, or any part of his body but Peeta eventually stops and smiles. 'Can I stay here another night?'
Gale punches him in the nose and watches him crawl away, red dripping from the spaces in between his fingers, the blood spreading like branches across his arm.
'What the fuck did you do Gale?' Johanna's running over to Peeta and she's screaming at Gale but all he can hear is a static buzz.
Johanna's shaking Gale till his bones rattle and he falls back into his body, 'What's wrong with you? What did he do?'
Gale whispers, 'He kissed me.' And he's not surprised when Johanna throws back her head and laughs because he wouldn't expect her to react any other way.
Peeta stays another night. Johanna gave Gale her 'final answer' look and promised to make dinner for once.
They have slightly burnt chicken and no one bothers to make conversation.
It's only when they're sitting on the couch flipping through newspapers (all skipping the columns on Katniss) that Gale asks, 'So when are you planning on going home?'
Peeta doesn't flinch, he simply flips the page as if he expected the question.
'Have I overstayed my welcome?' He asks quietly, eyes fixed on the page.
Gale looks at Johanna who's also looking pointedly at her newspaper and sighs.
'No, I suppose not,' it sounds like defeat and both Johanna and Gale smile at him.