Rag Doll
"SHE'S coming home."
"I know."
Don't you dare tell me that because between us, I'll always be the first to know, Madge wanted to snarl at him. She was the Mayor's messed up daughter; of course she was always the first to hear about things. But all she could do at the moment was stare him down, wishing nothing more than for him to live through all the hurt she'd felt ever since day one.
She leaned against the closed back door and folded her arms on her chest. Gale just stood on the steps, giving the impression of someone who did not know what to say. She would never buy the anguish on his face either.
She thought she had braced herself for this, when Gale would no longer want her. It was unavoidable. She had tried to prepare herself with each morning that she met him. He always showed up with the strawberries, sometimes even with an extra smile for her.
"She's broken." Gale tried to explain.
"And I'm not." Madge nodded.
"Don't say that."
"Then tell me what to say."
Gale exhaled harshly, grabbing his hair with a hand. Madge would have consoled him if it were not for the fact that she was herself at the receiving end of his pity. This would not have happened if they just kept their hands to themselves.
If they just didn't fuck.
"You know this isn't gonna work out."
Gale needed reassurance that the mistake was both their fault. He needed to believe that she gave consent to everything they did — in the recess behind the slagheap, in that abandoned building near the fence. Of course she allowed it. She initiated it.
She summoned all her willpower to not let the sob come out of her.
Madge did not trust herself to speak. She looked at the row of houses that were always bigger than what their inhabitants needed. Those people, who usually had food on their plates, knew nothing about discomfort. They could never understand the people from the other side of town. Gale would always come from the Seam. This was what she got for merely trying.
Gale understood Katniss. Katniss understood Gale. And there's Peeta. He could brag about his unconditional love for her to the whole Panem. Madge did not have a place in their grandiose love triangle. What did she do aside from act like a common whore each time Gale touched her?
At least he never pretended to care.
But Madge just wanted to scream for the injustice of it all. God, she was so stupid to let Gale mess around with her.
"I need to go," Gale said after a while. "Madge, I — "
"Go on, Gale." Madge snapped. "Tell me. I'd never deny you that chance." Sarcasm dripped her words. Damn him.
She waited for the explosion but Gale only gazed at her. Maybe he was there to say goodbye, but Gale did not have to look so tormented. She only hated him more. Madge turned her back on him and was about to twist the doorknob.
"I'm sorry."
Then he was gone.
She did not get the chance to open the door. She slid on the steps and cried.