Quite different from what I usually do; my stories are typically dialogue-heavy, whereas this little piece is not, to say the least.
Moments
Madge surprises Gale on more than one occasion. Each time, it makes him fall even further.
001.
The first time Madge surprises Gale, he is too focused on the countdown to Katniss' almost-certain death to really care about it.
27...
26...
25...
She just strides up to him and takes his hand without a word.
24...
23...
22...
She doesn't spare him a single glance; her attention solely on the large screen in front of them.
21...
20...
19...
They both watch in silence as their mutual, and only, friend faces unimaginable horrors in less than half a minute.
18...
17...
16...
Without even thinking about it, he squeezes her hand fiercely for a fraction of a second; in thanks or acknowledgment or something else entirely, he isn't sure.
15...
14...
13...
She responds by a shuddering intake of breath, something akin to a prayer spilling quietly from her lips; it goes unnoticed to everyone but him.
12...
11...
10...
The countdown seems to go by too quickly; they are not ready for what is to come. No one can possibly be ready.
9...
8...
7...
He does not let go of her hand.
6...
5...
4...
She does not let him even think about relinquishing his hold.
3...
2...
1...
They just stand there hand in hand, two powerless spectators, while they become unwilling witnesses to something beyond horrible.
0.
He isn't surprised by what Madge did until afterward, when everything is sort-of-safe, and his mother asks him how he knows the Mayor's daughter. He answers truthfully; that he doesn't know her at all, really. Which, in the end, is what surprises him the most.
002.
The second time Madge surprises Gale, she inadvertently lets him know she hates the Capitol with a passion that rivals his own. She doesn't state it as plainly as he does, but it is, nevertheless, in her voice, her tone, her face, when the subject arises.
They have an unspoken arrangement to watch the games side by side in the square when they both have the time. It is during these moments, when everyone's attention is diverted elsewhere, they start murmured conversations about everything that is wrong with their world. How twisted those in authority must be, for allowing something as sick as the Hunger Games to continue. How unfair the districts are. How they both wish they could do more.
He talks in heated whispers, a scowl ever present on his face. He grows more and more angry, wishing he could do something, anything.
She agrees in resigned murmurs, a sad expression in her eyes. She grows more and more bitter, knowing she can't do anything.
When they watch Katniss rise three fingers in tribute to sweet, innocent, little Rue, Madge breaks down and wonders with tears streaming down her face, why everyone just let this happen, why no one has put a stop to it in seventy-four years, why no one has overthrown the Capitol yet. Gale is surprised, not by the words spoken or that they were spoken by her, but by how they mirror his own thoughts so perfectly.
003.
The third time Madge surprises Gale, she calls Katniss' bluff. They have been witnesses to the evolving romance between Katniss and the baker's youngest boy Peeta for days now. The two tributes are stranded inside a cave. She nursing him back to health. Seemingly using kisses as main incentive for the boy to regain his strength. Gale tries his hardest to not let it show how much it bothers him. How much it hurts. That he feels betrayed, even though he knows he has no right to be.
Madge doesn't say a word about the romance at first. Not until Haymitch sends a huge lamb stew to District Twelve's two contestants. That is when she puts her hand on Gale's upper arm and tells him Katniss is only doing it to stay alive. That Haymitch probably told her to play it up for the audience. She reveals she knows Haymitch as a friend of her mother's. She knows how he thinks. She doesn't say Katniss is still his, but she might as well have.
Gale is relieved and grateful of her words, whether they're true or not, and actually gives the blonde girl by his side a half-smile in thanks. The color rising rapidly to her cheeks in response, is what takes him by complete surprise.
004.
The fourth time Madge surprises Gale, she isn't even there. Katniss has come back; the same, and yet so different from what she used to be. She looks the same, she sounds the same, and yet... It is something in her eyes, he decides. There is a haunted look in her eyes that ages her; a look that scares him more than he likes to admit. What he is even less inclined to admit, is how the look softens whenever she is around him, Peeta. How the set of her shoulders relaxes ever so slightly. Gale doesn't think she knows this herself, and he would rather be stuck in the mines the rest of his godawful, miserable life, before he made her aware of this. Then she would be lost forever, and he is too damn selfish to back down without a fight. Especially a fight that only exists because of the Capitol.
That was why he planned to spend as much time with Katniss as possible when she got back. To show her what they used to have. How easy their routine was. That he knows her, that he loves her.
The universe doesn't like Gale. What with his work and her new-found skittishness he hardly sees her, and when he actually does, it doesn't turn out the way he thought.
He kisses her.
She flees.
It is when he dejectedly follows her a minute later, he thinks of Madge and her reassurances of Katniss' feelings for him. How he trusted her word. He is surprised he did; he is surprised he trusted someone from Town.
He is even more surprised to realize a small part of him still kind of trusts her word.
005.
The fifth time Madge surprises Gale, he realizes he hasn't seen her in months. He is walking home from the mines when he sees a flash of a white dress and blonde hair in his peripheral vision. Without thinking he is calling her name and he sees her turn around at the sound. As he walks up to her, a smile blooming on his face, he watches Madge watching him with an unreadable expression. Before he has time to ask her how she has been, where she has been, what she has done, she averts her eyes and mumbles something he doesn't catch. She turns to go, but he stops her by grabbing her wrist. He hears her inhale sharply, but she doesn't make any attempt to free herself from his grasp.
He asks her what is going on, a bit hurt she too would flee from him. To him, it seems everybody is always trying to get away.
She finally looks at him. Really looks at him. Her blue eyes meeting his gray. And what he sees... He doesn't... Sadness, regret, longing, it is all jumbled together, and he doesn't understand... But...
She gently frees her arm, smiles, her expression again unreadable, and says she is happy Katniss is back, she is happy for him, she is happy for them. Then she is gone.
Gale hasn't seen her in months, and yet she manages to render him completely speechless. What surprises him is that he, for just a split second, that split second when he met her eyes, he felt like pulling her closer.
006.
The sixth time Madge surprises Gale, she stands beside him again like no time has passed at all. He is standing in the town square, an awful sense of dread and repetition coursing through him as he watches his friend yet again face death and destruction. His hate for the Capitol and everything it represents and destroys, burns stronger than ever.
He understands this is just them wanting to make a statement, he understands Katniss is meant to die, he understands they will stop at nothing. He also understands Katniss will give her life for the Bread Boy, Peeta with the most stupid name he has ever heard, if given the choice and chance.
And there is nothing Gale can do about it. He wasn't enough, he will never be enough.
His hands make angry fists, eager to punch something, to transfer the pain from him to someone else, anyone else.
Suddenly, his fist is engulfed by a steady warmth, slender fingers wrapping around his tense ones. He doesn't need to look to know who it is. He knows, and his body relaxes, if only a little.
He isn't surprised she is there by his side again; he is surprised he thought she wouldn't be.
007.
The seventh time Madge surprises Gale, he learns about her death. He is counting the survivors who managed to escape with him. He wants to know who are safe, but most of all, he needs to know who he didn't save. He isn't narcissistic enough to actually blame himself for not saving everybody nor does he have grand illusions of how he had been their only chance of survival. But he still wants, no needs, to know.
It is when it dawns on him who is not there that he understands why he needed to know. He is surprised to realize he foolishly thought nothing bad could ever happen to her. Not to her, never to her. That he had absurdly thought her invincible, when he knows no one ever is.
That he had hoped she would still be there to take his hand when his world continues to fall apart around him.
008.
The eighth time Madge surprises Gale, she turns up in his dreams. She is standing in front of him in a field of grass, barefoot, wearing only a flimsy, short, white dress. Her blonde hair is free and streaming down her back. Her face is serene and warm. She is smiling. Smiling at him, smiling because of him. Her blue eyes glow at the sight of him. She says something, but he cannot hear. He takes a step closer, suddenly desperate to hear her voice. Her smile grows, and she takes a step too. They are standing so close, Gale can count all of her freckles if he wishes to. He raises a hand to cup her cheek, but the moment he touches her, she disappears and everything is suddenly cold.
He wakes, disoriented and confused. His small room in District 13 feels dark and empty. It's the middle of the night, but he gets up anyway. He needs a distraction, anything to erase the ghost of the friend he had not even realized he missed. But he does. He does miss her. To his complete surprise, he comes to the conclusion that he does miss her.
Madge.
009.
The ninth time Madge surprises Gale, she shows him the rumors about her demise were greatly exaggerated. The war has been won, but not without devastating losses. He is a coward. He fled. When everything became too much for him to bear, he fled. He ends up in District 2. He gets a job, an apartment, new friends. His guilt over Prim still tears him apart from the inside, but on the outside, at least, he is whole again. He has finally adjusted to his new life when a knock on his door turns it upside-down. Again.
It's late, almost half past ten. He is annoyed, but also worried, that someone would come visit him this late. He contemplates not opening, but only for a second. He opens the door and scowls down at the person disturbing him. At first he doesn't understand who it is he's seeing. It's a pretty blonde girl, his age, with bright blue eyes and a tentative smile. A delicate frame in a spotless white dress.
The air leaves his lungs in a sharp exhale when she says his name, quietly, in such wonder. She raises a hand slowly towards his cheek, but he catches it before it finds its mark. When his hand makes contact with hers a jolt goes through his whole being.
She is real. Madge is here.
He doesn't question what she is doing there, where she has been, why she didn't find him before, how she is alive. That can wait. Now, he only crushes her to him in an embrace that surely must hurt her. But she clings to him just as fiercely, so he dimly figures she mustn't mind.
Relief battles with wondrous surprise as her name slips from his lips.
010.
The tenth time Madge surprises Gale, she falls asleep on his couch. The tenth night in a row. He still cannot really believe she is here with him, not dead, but alive. That she is not only a shadow of a thought haunting his dreams.
She has told him, in fragments and cut-off sentences, what she had to do to survive, how her life fell apart piece by piece. She told him of her mother, unwillingly left behind in Twelve with two of the staff. Three bodies the world would think was her family. Her father, succumbing to exhaustion and illness in the woods, weeks after their escape. Her, alone, unprepared and unequipped for survival, surviving against the odds.
She has told him of her loneliness, her desperation, her wavering spirit. He has heard of her courage, her strength, her determination.
It is after these conversations, when they say so much, but never enough, both unwilling to go back to being alone, she quietly falls asleep and he tucks her in. It has been months since the day she came back into his life and started to slowly mend the splintered pieces of him back into a semblance of a whole. As he brushes a strand of blonde hair away from her forehead, he wonders how he managed to live without her for so long. How he could ever have overlooked and scoffed at this fragile, unrelenting and durable girl.
He is surprised anyone would ever trust him after what he has done in the war, and fall asleep like it is perfectly safe in his presence, not once, not twice, but the tenth night in row.
011.
The eleventh time Madge surprises Gale, she kisses him. He is standing by the door, on his way home after a dinner that for once was at her place. She had, only half-serious, said she needed to be seen at her own apartment at least once a week, lest the neighbors think something bad had happened to her. Gale had replied, only half-joking, that inviting him over would not appease anyone's worry. He knows what the public thinks of him, the ill-tempered, unfriendly, scowling Twelve. He also knows what they think of her, the mannered, kind, smiling woman, who no one really remembers is from District Twelve too. Madge had only smiled, though, and claimed she did not care, he was the only one she had left, the only one she cared about in this town.
He is standing by her door, reluctant to head home to an empty apartment, looking everywhere for any excuse to stay just a little longer. It is when he can think of nothing, sighs and nods at her as is his customary way of departure that she asks him to wait. He watches as she steps closer, her soulful, blue eyes searching his almost hesitantly, before a determined look sweeps the hesitance away. He feels the outline of her body pressed to his, and he wishes that she would step even closer.
He does not know what he is expecting when she slowly stands on tiptoe, never wavering in her gaze, but her soft lips on top of his is not it. It is a chaste touch, lasting hardly a second, not nearly long enough. She backs away quickly, almost tripping over her own feet, suddenly shy. He can see an apology working its way out of her mouth. He does not want to hear it and does the only thing he can think of to prevent its descent. He pulls her to him and tries to hold back the passion and longing he has carefully kept at bay for months.
She surprises him when she does not let him hold back at all and meets him with equal fervor.
012.
The twelfth time Madge surprises Gale, she kisses the scars on his back. He knows she has felt the scars running criss-cross over his back, the ugly ridges a former Capitol doctor once offered to erase. Then, he had refused to accept help from anyone associated with the oppressors, he had angrily lashed out at the mere suggestion and no one had asked again. The scars were, and are, a constant reminder of the war, what he has suffered, what he has lost. What he has done. He thinks it is only fitting his body is not whole, that it is scarred, thus being a pale reflection of the broken man he truly is.
But now, as Madge lies sleeping on his chest, he cannot help but wonder if she would rather have someone whole, someone unscarred, someone untormented by war. He falls asleep, unsuccessful in pushing away the troubled thoughts, but when he wakes again, be it minutes or hours later, he feels soft digits tracing patterns on his back. For a moment he lies perfectly still, unaware he is holding his breath, until her fingers on his back still too. He turns to face her, hiding the scars from view and meets her eyes. Her gaze is tender, loving, accepting, everything he has ever wished for. It gives him courage to deliberately turn on his side, exposing his marred back to the only person he trusts. He does not know why he is surprised when he feels, instead of the press of her fingers, soft lips tracing a particularly viscous scar running across his entire back.
It is when she leans up and presses a kiss under his ear, his world finally stops crumbling with three whispered words.
013.
The thirteenth time Madge surprises Gale, she says yes. He is a mess. He has known for a while now that Madge is the first one he wants to see in the morning and the last one he wants to see before sleep. He knows she is the only one he trusts completely, the only one who truly makes him happy. He also knows he loves her, and that she loves him. What he doesn't know is if she considers him to be as permanent a fixture in her life as he sees her in his.
His mother has welcomed Madge with open arms, as has his siblings, even new, serious grown-up Rory who never laughs anymore. He mentioned to his mother the other day, only casually, like it was no big deal, that he was thinking of asking Madge to marry him. His mother, always poised, calm and collected, had burst into tears and then regaled him with a rather incoherent retelling of his father's proposal to her. It was a romantic tale of wine, roses, strawberries, picnic, poems and midnight that left Gale feeling slightly overwhelmed and, to be honest, totally freaking out. His little sister Posy had not helped with her sighing, squealing and cooing over the story their mother told, either. He had thought he could just ask her, only casually, like it was no big deal, over breakfast, she would say yes or no, and that would be that.
After his visit with his family, he had started planning, and decided that today would be the day. He would leave work early, prepare dinner, welcome her home with a glass of that sparkling wine she likes, be a gentleman and get her coat, give her a gift, tell her everything he loves about her, go down on one knee, present her with a ring and just ask. It was a simple plan, really, but what Gale had not accounted for, was how much the universe seemed to hate him.
He is unable to leave work early, or even on his usual time, and is running incredibly late. He bursts through the door, hoping he will at least arrive before Madge, hoping he will have time to change his clothes and at least start on the dinner. He does not. Madge greets him with a soft smile from her place at the couch, a book in her lap, reading-glasses balanced on the tip of her nose. She looks adorable, and the only thing he wants to do is lay his head on her lap, and forget about the world for a while. If today had been any other day, if today had not been a day of monumental consequence, he would have done just that, because he is just so damn tired.
He does not. He is a mess, and the only thing he can think of is how much he loves her, so he just blurts it out in a rush. Two words, not a question, but a resigned request. Madge looks at him, eyes wide, lips parted, before she puts away her book and moves to stand in front of him.
Gale is terrified, he berates himself for acting so stupid, for not sticking to the plan, for being so unsmooth, for being so him...
That is when she nods, a hushed yes on her lips, a beautiful smile blossoming across her face, a tear trickling down her chin. That is all the confirmation he needs to scoop her up in his arms, silently thanking a deity he does not believe in for this wonderful, surprising woman he will never in his life let go of.
He is surprised, but eternally grateful, she actually, beyond all reason, seems to want him too.
Fin.
Thank you for reading; tell me what you think, or don't, either way I am very happy you stopped by and came this far.