Gale approaches the tall, oak door and knocks on it softly. He takes in the cold night air with a sharp breath and looks up at the star-laced sky, wondering if the stars are that bright in the Capitol. He figures Katniss is probably asleep now, in some warm and luxurious bed in an air conditioned room. He knows it's late, but the Undersees are still expecting their strawberries like they do every week. Life had to go on, he realized the day after the reaping, when he went hunting that morning and Katniss wasn't there beside him. He had to try and continue on with his daily routines. His family depended on him.
The door opens and reveals a surprised looking Madge, her golden hair cascading in waves behind her shoulders, blue eyes wide and teary, as if she'd just been crying. He hopes his eyes don't look the same.
"Oh, I didn't think that..." she mumbles. She doesn't have to say the rest. He understands. This year's reaping had shocked everyone so much that people were still struggling to continue on with their ordinary lives. Madge certainly hadn't expected Gale to show up at her doorstep after his best friend had been picked nearly three days ago. She figured he'd have more important things to worry about now than bringing her family strawberries.
"Why wouldn't I come? I'm here every week." he growls, holding out the basket to her. He's a man of his word, isn't he? She bites her lip as she stares at it. He wonders why she's hesitating to take it.
"Come inside for a sec..." she says, opening the door a bit wider. She disappears back into the house before he gives an answer. After a moment of confusion and uncertainty, he follows her inside, not knowing what else to do and certainly not wanting to spend more time than he has to in the frigid air. He shuts the door behind him quietly and holds his breath. Madge vanishes behind some corridor and he stands there, gaping at his surroundings. The tidy house is warmly lit and fancy carpets string the walls and floors. There's a beautiful piano in the corner of their living room with a vase of marigolds on top. There's sheet music out and he knows she'd been playing earlier that day. He wonders what her piano-playing sounds like.
So...this is the world you come from, Madgy-Madge.
There's utter silence in the house and it unnerves him. He's so used to hearing constant chatter, his mother shouting over everyone to quiet them all down, Posy crying, his brothers joking around and laughing...He looks about the room, wondering where Mayor Undersee and his sickly wife are tonight.
Madge enters the room again with some peculiar items in her hands.
"My parents are at a meeting. They won't be home until much later." she tells him, reading his thoughts.
Gale doesn't reply. He stares at her listlessly, still unsure about why she's asked him to come in. She's wearing a plain, blue, cotton dress that Posy would die for. He wishes with all his heart that he could be able to give his sister something like that one day, but he knows that's never going to happen. Madge approaches him slowly, her eyes glued to the items she's holding.
"I wanted to ask if you could...well, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, for you to give these to the Everdeens."
Gale sees a smooth, pink ribbon in her left hand.
"This goes to Prim." she says, holding out the ribbon. He blinks at her.
She puts it in his free hand. He stares at it, feeling how soft and sleek it is in-between his coarse fingertips.
In the other hand, she's holding a small bundle.
"This is some leftover fruitcake that I had made last night. Mrs. Everdeen's probably got more things to worry about than cooking, what with Katniss..." her voice drops. She doesn't dare to say more.
At the mention of her name, he bristles, like he used to do when people whispered about his father after his tragic death, trying to keep Gale from overhearing their gossip. His jaw stiffens and he narrows his eyes on the bundle, gritting his teeth. She takes the basket of strawberries from him and puts the bundle in his hand instead. He gets a strange shiver down his spine when her warm fingers briefly touch his own icy ones. She slips a few coins into the pocket of his tattered jacket and sets the strawberries on the kitchen table.
"That's uh," Gale clears his throat, but the words still come out low and rough. "That's real nice of you, Undersee."
She shrugs off the compliment like an uncomfortable coat.
This whole "being polite" thing is going to be the death of me, I swear. But Katniss insisted that I try more...
"I'll give these to 'em." He swallows, hoping she'll let him go now because he's itching to get out. It's a little too warm in here for his liking.
She stares at him for a moment as he stands there, looking at the what he's holding and avoiding eye contact. He's already dreading the moment he'll have to go over to the Everdeens and greet those dejected, hopeless eyes, mirroring the same pain he feels inside. His mind goes off imagining the unfortunate scenario, forgetting that Madge is even in the room.
"Gale?" she gently speaks his name.
He jerks out of his momentary distraction and looks up to see that she's now standing right in front of him, a worried look on her face. He lifts his brows. What? What else do you want from me?
She bites that poor bottom lip of hers and, before he knows what's happening, she's reaching her slender arms around his neck and is pulling him into an embrace. He stands stiffly, his mind reeling. What on earth is this crazy girl doing?
Her hand tentatively rubs his back and shoulder blade in what he guesses to be her way of comforting him. He doesn't understand what she's doing and is ready to push her away when she whispers,
"She's going to make it, Gale. It's going to be okay."
It takes him a second to realize who she's talking about.
"She's going to survive." Madge whispers into his neck, her breath hot on his skin, letting out her own supressed sorrow.
Gale freezes. He tries his best to hold back a shudder. He'd convinced himself he'd done an excellent job of hiding his concern and worry for Katniss. Madge somehow happened to see straight through his guise. It's his turn to bite his lip as he decides what to do.
This is the only time, he's promises, that he will let himself do this.
He slowly wraps his arms around her back and relaxes into her embrace. He lets all of his worries come to the forefront of his mind, thoughts he's tried his best to push back. Images of Katniss getting stabbed, shot, beaten, burned, eaten alive... all gruesome images that flash before him endlessly.
"Shhh..." Again, Madge seems to sense what's going on in his distraught head as she rubs his back some more. "She'll come back to us."
He doesn't get frightened all too easily, but her psychic abilities are seriously starting to scare him.
"All we can do at this point is hang on to hope." her voice cracks in his ear.
He tightens his hold on her because he can't help everything he's been bottling up from finally spilling out. Because he desperately wants to believe what Madge is saying. Because he imagines this as that last time he got to hug Katniss before the peacekeepers brutally took her away from him and he never really got a chance to say a proper goodbye. And because Madge feels warm and welcoming and Katniss had never really been the affectionate sort and would definitely never allow him to hug her like this.
The scent of her shampoo drifts up to his nose, something sweet resembling the smell of the flowers in the meadow. The tips of her long hair brush against his hands and her shaky breath continues to tickle his neck. He won't admit it to himself, but if feels good to hold her...even though this is Madge Undersee. The mere mention of her name should be arousing some sense of hostility, but he can't seem to gather enough to help him out at the moment.
As she lets go and takes a step back, he thinks he hears a quiet sniffle. Sure enough, she quickly swipes at the corner of her eye and struggles to put on a small smile. He forgets that Katniss is her friend, too. It's good knowing he's not the only one carrying this burdensome grief and worry around.
"You should probably be heading home now," she mumbles, walking towards the door. "I won't keep you any longer, I promise."
As they stand before the opened door, looking out at the cold night, he turns and says, "Thanks."
He doesn't need to say what for. She understands.
"No problem." she smiles shyly.
He steps out on the small porch, bracing himself for the trek back home.
"Oh, and Gale?" she calls out before he's gotten very far. He turns around to look at her. She's biting her lip again and he swears, if she does that one more time...
"Don't tell them where you got those things."
He looks at her as she clutches the sides of her dress, leaning against the frame of the doorway as a cool breeze ruffles the ends of her hair.
"Okay." he finally says after he's permanently etched the image of her into his brain.
He takes a few more steps, but turns around again.
"And Madge?" he calls just before she's shut the door. She looks at him.
"Don't tell anyone about...this."
She nods and smiles because he's called her Madge for the first time. And even if they think they have nothing in common with each other, they've just become each others secret keepers. And that's enough.