A/N:- Based on the song 'I Knew You Were Trouble' by Taylor Swift.
And also that my laptop is going for repair so you guys would have to wait for like 2 to 3 months coz, 1 month for the repair and then I have this quiz and exams and I am just not going to get a break so hope you guys would farewell till then, till my next update.
Disclaimer:- I don't own the Hunger Games Trilogy or the song 'IKYWT'. It belongs to SC and TS respectively.
The cold water surprising felt colder, as if she had burned her face with an acid. Better. Much better than what she was feeling at the moment. Much better than the crushing memory of a certain dark haired hunter from beyond the fence.
The memory of their first kiss replays in her mind. His hand moving intricately through her golden threads. His lips soft against hers, knowing well enough how to manipulate hers. His breath fanning her face as he pulls away to look into her blue eyes.
"You know, I made a rule for myself," he brushed her bangs behind her ear and gently leaned in so that his forehead was resting against hers, "That I would never kiss you," he said, his voice husky. So much for following the rules.
His hands slowly slid from her cheeks to her shoulders, down her arms and paused at the hips.
Her eyes watered ever so slightly seemingly wanting to cry out because of the intense look he was giving her.
She knew Gale Hawthorne was off-limits for her. Yet, she couldn't help crushing over him big time. Isn't the thing kept out of your reach the one you want the most?
This was the very reason she went to look for him. Right in the middle of the night. In a nightgown that didn't go below her knees. Foraging the woods beyond the fence.
Because that was the only place she reckoned he would be regardless of the time.
Katniss was reaped.
She could only imagine Gale's state of mind, as she found him hunched over on a rock, overlooking a valley.
He could sense her presence. That was too little of what he was capable of doing in the woods. He turned to give her a side long glance only to remember what he had been doing and turned his head immediately, shielding his face from hers.
But she saw it. The redness in his eyes, his hair askew, the desperate slant of his shoulder that he had been crying.
This was all very new to her. She had seen various sides of him. The arrogant side being the dominant one along with the egoistic side, the side which made him think he was superior to everyone else, the careless side.
The protective side.
Seeing him like this—broken—was something she couldn't entirely digest. For the first and maybe the last time in her lifetime she was getting to see this side of him. The vulnerable side. And that made her heart soar. Gale Hawthorne had a heart in him after all.
She took one step and he replied with an angry 'What do you want?'
She could hear the rough scratch in his voice implying he had been crying. A lot.
Ignoring his answer altogether, she went and sat right next to him all night long.
Acknowledging the fact that he had been crying would be a hard hit to his masculinity, so she figured staying silent is the only option she's got.
When the first rays of the sun hit them, he silently got up and went back. To his home, she assumed and so did she.
This continued for days to come. And he would just walk away after the sun rose, as if she didn't exist at all, wasn't there with him at all.
She would silently sit right next to him, absorbing his pain in an enigmatic manner.
Gale seemed to have realised that because after a couple of days he was gracious enough to smile back at her; wait for her to leave before he leaves; answer her questions devoid of sarcasm.
It was one such day. Or night really. She came as per usual. What was unusual, Gale was standing rather than sitting, his back lean, facing her. His bow and sheath of arrows were slung over his back, incase an animal makes a surprise appearance.
The moonlight fell on him, as if spotlighting him. His black hair gleaming and looking as soft and silky as ever. She wanted to run her hands through them but as soon as her thoughts crossed her mind, chills ran through her. No. She shouldn't be thinking of him in that manner. Gale Hawthorne was just good enough to be a friend. Anything more than that would invite nothing but more trouble.
Ofcourse, she wasn't oblivious to the rumours that floated around in the school. Gale had a reputation. And she didn't want to be a part of it.
He turned and saw her. Standing, hesitating and smiled.
And her mind just shut down immediately, because his smile was so rare and so blindingly beautiful that it left her speechless.
He extended his hand and she took it, without as much as a flicker of hesitation considering she was hesitating very much a moment ago.
He walked her through the forest, took her deeper and deeper into it.
For all she knew, he could be leading her to her death. But his smile was so frightfully blinding that she was capable of doing only one thing. Walk.
And walk she did. To place filled with flowers so many that they seem to rival the population of Panem altogether.
Her hand was clad in cold for Gale removed his hand from hers. She turned to look at him, wanting to know what caused him to do that but all she saw was Gale looking straight ahead to the flowers blooming in the night, swaying to the breeze that ran over that place.
She walked to the centre of the place, all the while feeling Gale's eyes on her and bend down to inspect one. She looked up to see Gale looking at her and blushed a crimson red, which earned her a smirk from Gale. She beckoned him to come to her and he did, never leaving her gaze.
He didn't stop until he was right in front of her. Madge's eyes widened sensing the proximity between them and closed her eyes, sensing him lean in towards her.
Anticipation was killing her. She could sense him, staying right out of her reach, tempting her, teasing her. His lips were a hair away from hers, his warm breath caressing her face. He stood a good distance away, there bodies not touching at all, only that he leaned in.
Only when an unexpected, impatient moan left her that he allowed himself to meet her. Though he was not ready to accept it, this moment had been dancing on the edges of his fantasy land. But nothing could have prepared him for this moment. His hunter instincts, senses turned down only to the level that all he could fathom was a light pressure, so gentle and soft and just Madge that it stole his breath.
His senses were attuned to Madge and Madge only. The way she was stepping closer and closer, hesitating to close the gap between them. Without any further delay, he wound his hands around her waist, bringing her body close to her, never parting ways with her.
The move seemed to have encouraged Madge, because before he could contemplate what was happening, her hands reached up to cup his face in her hands so that it was convenient for her to kiss him.
Gale growled, and took the kiss deeper. Madge was on the same wavelength as Gale for she moved her hands through his hair, down his face and to his collar to pull him towards her even more.
Gale could feel it. His dizzying departure from reality. This momentary kiss turning into a full-fledged one.
Why did it have to be the mayor's daughter of all people? The only girl he could never have? The girl with the golden hair? The girl who is so so off-limits? It feels illegal. Illegal to kiss Madge more than it is to cross the fence and hunt. More than trading at the black market.
He pulled away only enough to see her face, their noses brushing.
"You know, I made a rule for myself," he swallowed hard, moving her hair behind her ear, intentionally wanting to touch it, "That I would never kiss you."
Her eyes glazed a bit, looking into his, that sent his heart beating strongly against his chest.
Oh dear God, not Madge Undersee of all people.
She giggled then, her voice was raspy as she replied, "That's funny coming from someone who breaks rules everyday." She stopped smiling, waiting for him to just say something. Maybe he took it the wrong way. Got offended.
But then he chuckled, the noise giving her goosebumps. She stared at him, etching this moment in her memory, this sound in her mind, worried that it may not happen again.
He gently kissed her neck, her jaw and ultimately leaving a lingering kiss on her lips.
"I'll walk you home," he whispered and took her back to her house, leaving her standing in her backyard porch, seeing his receding form disappear in the darkness.
Maybe he wasn't that bad at all. As much as people implied. Maybe they could actually have a go at the relationship she was sporting in her mind. And maybe they could just break this barrier between the Seam and the Town.
But it didn't take her a day to hold that thought. For he wasn't there the next night. Or the night after. She stopped going there after a few nights, tired of waiting for him. Maybe he was waiting for her in the flower-field. But she knew she was kidding no one. She very well knew, that Gale knew as well that she didn't know the way to the field.
And those nights turned into yet another blissful memory. After Katniss came, the same shred of hope she held for days turned to ash, as the girl on fire burned through it all.
He didn't even spare her as much as a glance when he walked past her on the streets. And that was all that she needed to know that it was over.
But the reality didn't strike her until it did. Hard.
It was the day she planned on going to meet Katniss. And instead saw her, on the other side of the fence, close to it.
With him.
.
The alarm clock on her bedside glowed red.
3:02 AM.
She looked back into the mirror, not surprised to see her hair all tangled up, her eyes rimmed red and her black eyeliner smudging her face.
She went back again to bed whispering, "I knew you were trouble when you walked in, Gale Hawthorne."
A/N:- I was so high on the emotions after hearing that song that I couldn't help but right a fanfic on it.
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