Written for Jenny, meant to be a one-shot, turned into a monster. Enjoy!
I. All we are is skin and bone, trained to get along. Forever going with the flow, but you're friction.
It's the Homecoming dance his senior year and he sticks his foot in his mouth (as usual). But it's all Madge Undersee's fault (as usual).
She shouldn't have come to this dance, at this school, wearing that dress.
There are two high schools in their town: one, Capitol Prep, for the kids on the fast track to college with money and connections, and two, District High, nicknamed "Seam" High because geographically it straddles the best and worst parts of town (three guesses which schools he and Madge attend.)
Madge shouldn't have even been at the Seam's Homecoming dance, but she's good friends with Katniss, who wants to get in Madge's best friend's pants bad, so Madge decided to help Katniss out by suggesting that they all go as a group date, so here they are.
It's pretty obvious to everyone but Katniss and Peeta that they want each other bad, and Gale's half-tempted to shove them in a broom closet and tell them to go for it, but that, of course, would ruin the romance and allure that the dance seems to provide for them.
He shakes his head in disgust. He never thought he'd see the day where Catnip would be into all the cheesy romance stuff she so long abhorred. Prim is a bad influence on her, clearly.
As for him, he and Bristel and Thom came stag, each having enough ex's between the three of them as to have very limited options for a date. Gale, for his part, is bored of the girls at Seam and the way they throw themselves at him. Okay, okay, that sounded arrogant, sure, he admits that, and no, he doesn't say it out loud, but he's tired of the catty games and the backstabbing. Dating shouldn't be so difficult, so complex. It should just be about the two of them, right? That's what his parents have. That's what he wants, too—not necessarily something that lasts forever, but something more than this high school bullshit, at the very least.
So, he makes his rounds, waiting for Catnip and The Baker and Madge (and Darius, who Katniss begged to come along as a fourth member since Gale refused) to show up—he declined to go to dinner with them (seeing Katniss and The Baker make moon-eyes at each other? No, thanks) dancing with a couple girls, hanging out with his friends, the usual.
He's been at the dance for about an hour when they finally show up. The Baker is in a nice fitting suit, no surprise, as is Darius, which is surprising, as the man is constantly in his ROTC uniform. Catnip looks fantastic, in some deep red, one shoulder dress that is simple atop but fans out at the bottom, looking like she's a walking flame. She lights up like one when she looks at Mellark, though, who beams back at her, bright like the sun, and yeah, he rolls his eyes at them because they're just so damn sappy but he really is happy for them, and he and Mellark have already had that talk test, which Mellark passed ("You hurt her, I kidnap you in the middle of the night, take you to the woods, and hunt you down with my bow and arrow, are we clear?" "Crystal.") so Gale, well, maybe not approves of the match—how can he, when Mellark is from Capitol Prep, destined to get out of this bumfuck town, while Katniss is from the Seam and yeah, she's smart enough, but Gale just doesn't want her to get hurt. Sometimes some people are too different to work.
Like, for instance, he and Madge Undersee. That girl is in a league of her own, especially with her dad being the mayor of said bumfuck town (which, under his terms, is becoming less and less bumfuck, to his credit.) Gale can't believe the nerve of her, wearing that dress to a Seam dance—it's like she's yelling for everyone to see how much better and how much wealthier she is than them. The girls are glaring at her and the boys' eyes are about to come out of their heads.
Her dress is simple and long, a cobalt blue with a sweetheart neckline and a satin sash of the same color underneath the bust. She wears two studs in her ears, but otherwise is unadorned and she looks nervous but excited, darting her eyes everywhere. She's never been to a dance at Seam before, only visiting the high school to see Katniss's soccer or archery matches.
"Is that Undersee?" Bristel asks Gale, his voice, normally cool and collected, tinged with awe. "Damn."
Thom only gives a whistle, long, low, and appreciative.
"Yeah," Gale grunts, getting more annoyed by the second, as are the many girls around him whose dates are turning their heads towards the blonde. "What's the big deal? We've seen her before. I don't see what's so special about her."
"What's your problem?" Thom asks. "You got something against Undersee?"
"Yeah," Bristel says, "she's all right for a Capitol girl. Not snobby like the rest of them."
"How would you know?" Gale all but growls.
Bristel raises an eyebrow, and smirks. "We've talked a couple of times," he says in nonchalantly, conveniently not mentioning that it was about what time was their mutual SAT test.
"Well, so have I," Gale says bitingly, "and she is a snob. Wearing an expensive, pretty dress like that to a Seam dance, thinking she's better than everyone else. Who does Undersee think she is, anyway?"
He says this part rather loudly, and it's obvious that Madge has heard because her eyes falter on him, cheeks growing red. Darius glares at Gale, as do Peeta and Katniss.
"Shit," Gale swears as Thom and Bristel look at him.
Bristel shakes his head. "You're in for it now," he tells him unnecessarily as Katniss comes marching up, wearing a smile that looks like she's in pain as she grabs his arm roughly and says, "Boys, excuse us," and marches Gale away.
"What the fuck is wrong with you," she hisses at him. "Talking about Madge like that? What the hell has she ever done to you?"
Existed seems like the right word, but Gale holds his tongue. He's just glad his mother wasn't here to witness that disgusting lack of manners. "You don't get it," Gale just mutters.
"Get what?" Katniss demands. "Madge has never been anything but nice to you and you barely give her the time of day! I've never asked before because it wasn't a big deal, but I'm not about to let one of my best friends trash talk the other for no goddamn reason!"
When Katniss talks a lot, Gale knows he's in trouble. And this might as well be a novel from her.
"Shit, I'm sorry," is all he says, but it's petulant. "I'm just having a shitty night."
"I don't give a fuck what kind of night you're having," Katniss spits, still blazing mad. "Apologize to Madge right now and get your act together."
Gale scowls at her. "Jesus, Catnip, you're not my mother."
Katniss smirks at him evilly. "I could bring her into this if you'd like a more legitimate set down," she says.
"Fuck," Gale swears. "All right, all right, I'll go apologize to Undersee. Just call off Mellark and Darius, okay?"
Katniss nods her head, barely, and goes back to the trio, dragging Peeta and Darius away so Gale can talk to Madge.
Gale heaves a big sigh and goes up to the girl, whose hands are twisting together and refusing to look at him. Fuck. She's the only girl who makes him feel like he's crawled out of his own skin and into someone else's.
He opens his mouth to speak when she snaps her head up and looks at him. "Look, Hawthorne," she says and he stares at her because she rarely uses his last name, "I don't really care what you're saying about me, but I don't want you to come over here and spit out a half-assed apology just because Katniss told you to. Okay? I know you hate me. That's fine; we can both be Katniss's friends—we can be civil to each other, but let's not pretend that we actually like each other, okay?"
Gale blinks. I know you hate me. "Shit, Undersee, I don't hate you." He feels like crap.
Madge shakes her head. "Sure sounded like it. Don't worry, Gale, you don't have to explain yourself to me. I've long stopped worrying about how you look at me." And with that, she walks away.
Gale stands there for a few minutes, absolutely dumbstruck. I've long stopped worrying about how you look at me.
Her words stay with him for a long time.