Summary: Gale and his squad are on their mission to save Peeta from the Capitol. Madge admits that she's in love with the boy from the Seam, the hunter who's Katniss Everdeen's best friend. Most importantly, she tells that Gale returns her feelings. AU. One-Shot. Gagde.
Rating: T
Disclaimer: Nope, I'm not Collins. If I were, I would have made GalexMadge canon.
~HG~
"Is Gale back yet?" I ask nervously.
Katniss shakes her head at me. "No", she says. "No word from him or his squad yet."
My heart pounds in my chest and my whole body trembles in my seat as I think of Gale lying lifeless and bloody somewhere in the Capitol. aWhy couldn't he have simply told me he was going on the mission to rescue Peeta?
At least it would have given me the opportunity to say good-bye to him.
I haven't shed a single tear or shown a single emotion but I've had enough and now I can't bear waiting anymore. I've been trying to be strong for Hazelle and the kids. They need me now that Gale isn't here and I can't disappoint any of them by breaking down myself.
I've got to be strong, I tell myself. I've got to be strong.
Katniss looks at me. "What's going on between you and Gale?" she questions.
"What?" I freeze.
She gives me a stern look. "I'm not an idiot, Madge. I've noticed how you're so worried about him... In fact, you're just as worried as I am", she says, folding her arms across her chest.
"You won't understand", I say. "It's complicated."
She lets out a snort of humourless laughter. "Oh please. Everything in my life is complicated right now and I wouldn't mind hearing about your complications", she tells me.
I shut my eyes and think of Gale Hawthorne's face. "I'm in love with him", I admit.
This has her attention. "You can't be serious!" exclaims Katniss wildly. "That's impossible."
I re-open my eyes and glare at her. "I was right", I say. "You won't understand." I turn to walk away from there and think of heading over to the Hawthornes. I haven't seen them since yesterday and it might make me feel better by seeing Rory, Posy and Vick. Or perhaps I could help Hazelle with whatever she's doing to keep herself occupied for the day.
"Don't go", she rushes to me, grabbing my wrist and squeezing it lightly. "I want to understand. I'm sorry I reacted that way but it's just... weird thinking of you being in love with Gale. I never thought you'd go for someone like him."
"Someone like him?" I repeat, standing at full height. "What the hell do you mean by that? Just because I was the Mayor's supposedly spoiled daughter, doesn't mean that I'd discriminate against people just because they're from the Seam and I was a townie!"
Her sentence has me fuming. I can't help but wonder what made Katniss say such a thing. We were -are- friends and I believe that she knows me well enough to know that I don't judge others from their origins. I judge them by their character and what kind of individuals they are.
Other than that, I was never a spoiled rich girl, unlike the rumours described me to be.
"I don't mean it like that", she sighs. "It's just that you never gave any indication that you had any feeling other than hatred for him."
"I never hated him", I say quietly. I guess that she doesn't like this piece of news.
I'm not ignorant of the fact that she's in love with Gale too.
"Does he know?"
"Yes", I nod.
Her grey eyes widen. "What did he say?"
She doesn't want to know this but I tell her anyway. "He loves me too."
"He said that?" she raises an eyebrow. "Gale's never been the type to declare his feelings out loud."
"He was lonely and hurting after you and Peeta left for the Games", I start. "You can't even imagine what it was like for him to see you and your fellow tribute in the cave. He was heartbroken and he regretted that he hadn't told you that he was in love with you."
"What makes you say that?" she sighs. "What makes you say he was in love with me?"
"I was with him the whole damn time!" my voice takes an unexpected rise in volume. "I was madly in love with this man and you were the only thing on his mind. It killed me to be friends with him, knowing that he could never feel the same. It wasn't fair but that was the way it was and I didn't say anything about how I felt."
"How'd you become friends?"
"It just happened!" I'm shouting at her now. "Some things happen without a reason. It was out of our control. It just happened one day when we were out in the woods and he kissed me. From that point he realised he needed me in his life even though he wasn't in love with me. He told me as much but I couldn't care less. I wanted him."
I needed him. Just like I do now. His presence is enough to make me at peace.
"He took you to the woods", her tone is flat and void of emotion.
I take one last look at her and begin to walk away. "I care for him", I say. "Don't forget that."
"When did he tell you?" she says in defeat. "That he loves you?"
"The night we came here", I say. "I was walking back home after visiting his mother. Gale wasn't there so I was all alone on my way back but that didn't matter as I knew my way. I heard screaming..." my voice shakes slightly. "and next thing I knew, everything was on fire."
"I'm sorry about your parents", Katniss whispers softly. "I'm so sorry I haven't spoken about them previously but I thought you wouldn't want to talk about them."
She's right. "I understand", I inhale a breath of air.
She looks at me expectantly, waiting for me to continue.
"He saved me", I proceed. "He saved me and held on to me as tightly as possible, saying that he couldn't lose me because he loved me too much."
"You and Gale, huh?" she says almost to herself.
~HG~
A/N: Now who's gonna make me happy by telling me what y'all think of this? :)