Romeo and Juliet, Seam and Town.
She accepts it's ridiculous, her infatuation with the Seam boy. She sees him at school, across the hall, with his friends and she knows, she knows she should get over him. After all, he hates her. And it's not only because she's from town, no, he's proven to everyone that if you're pretty, it doesn't matter. It's who she is, what she represents.
He hates her and he's not the only one. Everyone avoids her like she's the plague; they look down at her as she walks past them. But somehow his rejection is the one that hurts the most. The way his gray eyes look at her emotionlessly until she says or does something that bothers him immensely. How, once that happens, his eyes would flash dangerously and the grey would turn a lighter shade, how he'd frown at her and make her feel like dirt with only one look. That haunts her.
She finds herself waiting impatiently for every Sunday. The only day he's forced to talk to her directly and, sometimes, he even manages to avoid doing so, letting Katniss do all the talking. She knows Katniss knows, or at least suspects it. Katniss would look at her sympathetically, sending him a glare and smiling apologetically at her as she pays her for the strawberries. Strawberries she both hates and loves, their taste becoming bittersweet in a way. Sweet because, truly, she loves them and because she gets to see him at least for a little while, and bitter because every time he sends her that glare she knows once again that he'll never love her.
"You have to stop, Madge. He's nothing but mean to you." Peeta tells her one day.
"I'll stop…" She starts, looking out of her room's window. "Once you do the same about Katniss."
Her voice grows in confidence as she turns around and faces the blonde boy. He's sitting on her bed, his elbows are on his knees and he has his hands entwined in front of him, he looks up at her with an amused expression. He sends her a small smile that doesn't reach his eyes and pats the space next to him. She complies with a sigh.
"They're going to be the end of us, these Seam kids," He jokes lamely and she laughs sadly.
"At least Katniss doesn't talk to you because she doesn't know you exist. He hates me."
"Madge, don't say that. You're one of the best people I've ever met, nobody hates you." Peeta consoles her. She simply nods.
The day Katniss and Peeta get reaped, she is devastated. She spends most of her visiting time with Peeta, relieving memories. How they met, how he never cared that she was the Mayor's daughter, how they were each others first kiss, something awkward that happened at age 10 and never really meant anything, and, most importantly, how she'd miss him dearly. She goes home that day and cries until she falls asleep, sure that her mother will be disappointed in her because she gave away Maysilee's pin. That Sunday, Gale doesn't go to her house and she doesn't blame him. She, herself, feels like doing nothing.
The day of the interviews, it is mandatory that everyone watches in the square. She stands alone, the only two friends she ever had being prepared for slaughter. When Peeta finally admits to loving Katniss, her eyes immediately go to him. He's standing with his family next to the Everdeens, a stoic expression etched to his handsome features. She can't help but feel proud of him for that attitude and, then, feel stupid for feeling that way. Why would she be proud of someone she doesn't really know? Two days into the game, she's killing time by playing the piano. A sad slow tune that makes her want to cry. Her father isn't home, nothing weird, and her mother is so sick she hasn't been awake at all, her bloodstream full of Morphling. Her butler and cook, Joseph, is out with his family on his day off. She's all alone as always.
"Coming!" she calls to whoever is knocking at the door.
Her jaw practically hits the floor when she sees him on her doorstep. Her eyes then go down to herself, she's only wearing some shorts and her worst t-shirt, her golden hair is in a messy bun in the top of her and she doesn't even have shoes on. This is perfect, the only day she's not presentable is the day he willingly goes to her home.
"Gale," She says, shaking her head. "It's not Sunday." She continues, cursing herself for her words.
'It's not Sunday', really? She's sure he's about to give her the look and leave but he doesn't move. Instead, his eyes go to hers for a second and look away again. Her air gets constricted in her throat. He's frowning, not really knowing what the hell he's doing there. She's right, of course, it's not Sunday, he has nothing to sell her so why is he here?
"I'm making tea, would you like some?" she asks, unsure of herself, unsure of everything but her fast-beating heart.
"We're not friends, Undersee." He snaps at her, looking back at her.
"I know, Hawthorne. But you're already here, I'm only being polite." She snaps back, surprise at her own courage.
He agrees only because, once again, she's right. That's the most awkward tea she's ever had. He leaves soon after, promising himself he's never coming back, only to find himself breaking that promise two days later. They fall into a routine. He goes there and they watch the games together, then she'll play something to him and they'll talk. At first, the talking part is awkward and difficult. He gets easily angry and she's closed off to everything and everyone, something that comes with being hated for no reason, but slowly she starts to open up and he tries to understand her.
"Your life is so easy." He comments one day.
She stops playing the piano and looks up at him, a frown appearing on her face. He's wrong, her life is everything but easy. She's alone, completely and utterly alone. Of course, she has food and money but she wishes for what he has: a loving and caring family, friends. It angers her that he thinks that because it only proves to her what she has known all alone but refused to accept: to him, she'll always be the Mayor's daughter, nothing else.
"What?" she asks.
"Yes, you have this big house and money, nothing to worry about." He shrugs, his old bitter tone returning.
"Nothing to wo—I—my life is not easy." She shakes her head, her anger making her unable of finishing her sentences. "Sure I have all those things but that doesn't mean I'm happy."
"Of course, because you're selfish and you need more." He answers. That comment is enough to send her on a rampant.
"No, it's because I'm alone, Gale!" she exclaims, getting up and storming toward him. "My father's never home, he doesn't know me, my mother is slowly dying and my only two friends, the only people who were nice enough not to judge me because of who my father is, are fighting for their lives! Tell me, Gale Hawthorne, is my life really easy?" she hisses, lifting her head so she can make eye contact.
"At least you don't starve or fear winter because you run the risk of freezing to death!" he snaps back.
"I'd trade lives with you in a second, Gale." she tells him.
"You're crazy, why would you do that?" he shoots back, shaking his head.
"Because you have the one thing I want the most." She mutters, making him roll his eyes.
"I have nothing." He snaps.
"You have love." She retorts.
He blinks at her and simply stares at her face for a second. He never imagined she'd feel that bad but if what she said is true, then he has to admit her life sounds pretty bad. Now that he thinks about it, he's never seen the Mayor around but he figured it was because she kicked him out of the house before any of her parents could see him.
"Madge, darling, who's your friend?" a weak voice reaches them from the top of the stairs.
They both look up at the stairs. Mrs. Undersee is standing there with a robe around her frail body. She has one hand on the railing and the other starched out like she's keeping her balance, she most likely is. Her skin is unnaturally pale and her eyes go from Gale to her daughter and back again.
"Mom, this is Gale Hawthorne." She replies after a few seconds.
"Is he the young boy who brings you strawberries?" Mrs. Undersee asks. Madge nods at her mother, not knowing what to say. Mrs. Undersee turns to the Seam boy with a weak smile. "She loves them, did you know? And she always shares them with me, although I tell her not to. I know how hard they are for you to find."
Gale looks at Mrs. Undersee, her thin blonde hair and her pale face, how dangerously thin she is, and realizes Madge is right. Mrs. Undersee truly is dying. He nods at her, speechless.
"Mom, why are you out of bed?" she asks, taking a step toward the stairs, her voice laced with worry.
"I heard you stop playing, I wanted to know if something's wrong. I see you're with your friend, don't worry dear, I won't bother you." Mrs. Undersee makes to leave.
"No, mom, please stay," Madge begs. "Gale was leaving." She sends said boy a pointed look and he nods.
She walks him to the door, the air tensed between them after their argument. None of them say goodbye. Two days later he goes back, actually planning on apologizing but finds that he doesn't need to. She opens up the door for him as if nothing has happened. The days drag on and he starts to realize that the idea he had of Madge Undersee was wrong, she's a total different person, someone worth spending time with. The unbelievable happens: they become close friends. And she falls for him even harder every day. When both Katniss and Peeta win, they actually hug. He lifts her up in the air and twirls her around, laughing freely and enjoying the way she squeals. But when they return to District 12, everything changes. Gale stops showing up at her door, he doesn't talk to her at school, doesn't even acknowledge her existence, just like before. Her heart shatters just like it did before every time he glared at her. She feels a pang on her chest every time he spares a glance her way.
On her free time, days where her mom's headache is too strong for her to play the piano and her father's late for dinner as usual, she lays in bed, looking up at the ceiling and imagining what her life would be like if he loved her back. She imagines he doesn't care she's from town, she imagines there's no Katniss, she imagines him kissing her and telling her it's always been her. And she silently cries because she knows that won't happen. One winter day he appears on her door again and this time she feels like slamming the door on his face.
"What do you want?" she asks coldly.
"Madge…" he starts, his gray eyes finding her blue ones.
"No, Gale. You haven't come here in months and now you appear and expect everything to be perfect?" she says, all her fury coming out in that one sentence.
"Katniss is back, Madge!" he shoots back.
"And that means I go back to being useless invisible Undersee." She nods, understanding the message loud and clear.
"No, I simply got confused, I…" he stutters and she thinks this is the first time she's ever seen him hesitate.
"I get it, really. It's fine." She says, looking around. "Just don't come back, please. You really hurt my feelings and I don't want that to happen again." She admits, making eye contact with him.
He doesn't say anything so she closes the door, leaning into it and fighting back tears. The weeks pass and when she watches him get whipped, she has a clear view of the square from her room's window and tears fall down her face, the first thing she thinks of is giving him morphling. She risks her own life by doing so but the relief she feels when Peeta lets her know he's healing is overwhelming. She dreams he goes to her and thanks her but her dreams are nothing but that. She wishes he's next to her more than ever when Peeta and Katniss go back to the arena. Watching them there again all alone is worse than she ever expected it to be.
And when the bombs strike and she knows she's about to die with her parents, suffocated or burned or maybe both, she doesn't care, the only real regret she has is asking him not to come back. Her only regret is not telling Gale Hawthorne, the only boy she's ever loved, how she truly felt about him. Her only regret is knowing she was a coward about the most important thing there was.
It's a year after the war and District 2 still doesn't feel like home to him. He misses the weather, he misses the woods but, most than anything, he misses Undersee. He runs a hand through his hair as he curses at himself for bringing her up. She's dead, gone forever, lost. He shouldn't be thinking about her this much, but she's always on his mind. He sees her every time a blonde passes him by, he sees her eyes in the blue sky, listens her laugh in the wind, smells her every time he passes the store and there are strawberries. Strawberries, the damn fruit are spoiled forever for him. The worst part is he knows it's his fault. If he had gone to her instead of supposing she'd get out of there, she'd be alive. If he hadn't left her hanging and hurt her in the process, she would've been watching the games with him and she'd be alive with him now. But the thing that hurts him the most, yes, Gale Hawthorne admits to being hurt, is that she died without knowing. She died without knowing that he stopped going to her not because of Katniss but because he realized he liked her a little more than he should. No, not like, love. She died without knowing because he never thought she'd feel the same and he would've been happy living believing that. But Mellark had to go and tell him that she was in love with him and that was enough for him to loathe himself even more.
But that doesn't matter because she's gone and he's still here, haunted by her memory, and wishing he'd be able to go back in time and tell her how much he truly loves her.