A/N: It's been an unacceptably long time since I posted a chapter of this story. I've actually had this written for quite a while, but I was trying to finish out the entire second day. It's gotten to the point that it kind of makes more sense to post what I've got and then finish up when this stupid semester is over in two weeks! To anyone who still has interest after all this time, thanks & enjoy! :)
DAY TWO (Part 1)
Honestly, my expectations for her showing up that second day had plummeted to around nothing by the time twilight had settled on the Seam. She'd never said she needed an escort to our house, so I figured she could find her way. It wasn't like I even cared if I got to see her. At least, I kept telling myself that. But Rory had the bright idea of informing Vick and Posy she'd be there, and they were all jazzed about it. If she disappointed my siblings, then fuck that whole good attitude bullshit I'd been trying on. I'd find the words to cut her to pieces if I had to dig to the bottom of the mines for them. Just as I was planning my "fuck you" speech, there was thump on the door. Not exactly a knock. But enough to get my attention.
I swung the door open and saw… "Madge?" I tilted my head and frowned down at her as she knelt on my doorstep gathering things back into a wicker basket. Huh… guess that explained the thump.
"Hi… sorry, I know I'm later than I said I would be, but I just thought the least I could do was bring over some supper… since I'm the one using your television," she said sheepishly. Yeah, because it's a huge imposition to have someone over to stare at that stupid box for a few hours. Charity. Great. She'd seen how thin my siblings were, and I guess Hazelle wasn't her best these days either. But it had been a few days since I'd gotten really good hunting in, and I only pulled in half the game I used to. Without Katniss. My shot could use a little work. I decided not to refuse the offer, though my pride was definitely wounded. I just wouldn't let her know that.
"Well, get in here," I said, taking the basket from her hands and ushering her inside.
"Madgey Madge Madge!" Posy crooned, launching her tiny body our direction. Madge caught her clumsily but managed to balance Posy on her hip without tipping over.
"Hi pretty girl," she cooed back. Ugh. I could already tell this was gonna be another girls' night until Posy passed out.
I quickly excused myself from the greetings to set up the food in the kitchen. Okay, so it was only like three steps away, but at least I could ignore them a little easier. I started unpacking the basket that was filled with warm bread, the best fruit, cheese, and milk my family had seen in months, and even a little candy at the very bottom. This was… way too much. I started turning to face her when, suddenly, she was right there at my side, helping separate the food onto plates. I'm sure I jumped… I'd never have lived it down if she'd seen.
"I know it's not much," Madge said idly while piling the plates high with fresh food.
I scoffed. Not much? Was she trying to dig at me with that? "Madge, it's too much. They won't know what to do with all this food. They'll get sick," I argued. Though I didn't turn it away. We could always save it. Food, especially this good, was getting harder to come by these days.
She looked up at me, her eyebrows knitted together in confusion or concern or some mixture of the two. Apparently she was already so attached to my siblings that the thought of them getting a stomachache was cause for great alarm. "Should I put some of it away, or…?" she trailed off.
"I'll handle it," I said—well, snapped. It wasn't because I didn't appreciate it. The food, I mean. What I didn't appreciate was the acknowledgement that I'd been having trouble providing for my family. And if someone like Madge could see it, who knew what our neighbors, our friends were thinking when they saw the kids? Maybe I overreacted. But Madge already got under my skin without even trying. So this just added another layer.
I fixed their plates with small helpings of everything but the candy to start with and called them to the table. Even with the miniature portions in comparison to what Madge was doling out, they looked awestruck. Especially Posy. It never took much to get her keyed up anyway. When Hazelle saw the spread, she looked about the way I felt. Embarrassed. Not really able to look Madge in the eye. At least that confirmed I wasn't completely out of line. Not that it would've been a new thing for me if I had been.
Dinner was quiet, save for forks scraping plates, and the occasional uncouth chomp out of Vick. Hazelle shot him a look about the third time, and he sheepishly bent his head and started chewing with his mouth closed. Great, now we'd probably have to teach table etiquette so we didn't offend the mayor's daughter. I ventured a peek in Madge's direction and spied the ghost of a smile on her face as she watched the kids. It was strange. She didn't even know them outside of her tutoring sessions with Rory, but I'd never really seen that look on her face before… except when I said she could watch the Games with us. Maybe I just didn't pay enough attention. Maybe she always had that look on her face, and they were nothing special to her. But something about the way she looked when she was helping my family… it has just stayed with me. It's probably why I decided to stop being an asshole that night. Okay, why I decided to try to stop being an asshole. It's all a process.
Like I'd predicted, even the small helping had Posy complaining of a stomachache about thirty seconds after shoveling down her last forkful of food. Hell, she may have even still been chewing. Hazelle took her to get ready for bed, and I started clearing the table. I figured Madge would just go sit with Rory and Vick. Rich girl wouldn't really know what to do with dirty dishes anyway. Didn't they hire people like my mother to handle that sort of thing for them? So when she stood in my way at the sink, humming softly as she actually washed—not just dumped into the sink, but washed—our dirty dishes, I just about dropped everything I was holding on the spot.
"Uh, you don't have to do that," I mumbled, nudging my shoulder against hers to force my way into her place. I plopped my own haul of soiled dinnerware into the sink with an unceremonious plunk.
Her nose wrinkled at the tinkling sound the plates made. Or maybe I should've gotten a bath before she came over. Whatever. "I've got it," she insisted, grabbing another plate and scrubbing it clean. Her smooth, pale hands and long, thin fingers didn't look like they were made for this kind of grunt work. Just looking at them, I'd have been surprised if she'd ever done this in her life. But… she did seem like she knew what she was doing. And not in a this-is-common-sense kind of way but more of a methodical, practiced way. Okay, so maybe even the mayor's daughter had chores. That didn't change anything. She was still a spoiled little rich girl. Right?
I scooted around to the other side of her and held out my hand—dark, scarred, rough, calloused, and completely appropriately adorned for grunt work—for the dish she'd just finished. I thought I caught the corners of her mouth tugging up as she handed it over and watched me dry it. I felt warmth race up my arm when her fingers brushed against mine. And her smile grew. "What?" I asked when she tried to hide her expression by dipping her head.
"Nothing," she insisted, clearing her throat of the chuckle she was clearly holding back.
"Did you think I didn't know how to do this or something?" I had to ask. Mainly because it'd been what I was thinking about her. But maybe I didn't wanna know why she was ready to laugh at me. I never really thought about things like that back then… that maybe she could say something that would totally change things between us… that maybe she would make me feel something that messed up this whole distant, awkward sort of truce between us. I should've learned my lesson from the other night when she got all let's-be-friends on me, but I never really was a quick learner.
"It's just cute," she shrugged her shoulder and passed me some dripping silverware. They clattered to the counter in front of me, making me jump again. This time she definitely saw. I couldn't even care.
Cute? What the fuck does she mean by cute? I don't think anyone's ever called me cute in my whole fucking life… and I've been more than okay with that, thanks. "I should go check on the kids," I mumbled and turned my back on her, allowing her to finish my family's dishes. She wanted to clean them anyway!
I padded across the floor and sank down on the sofa between my brothers. They were both smirking. Great. So they'd clearly been watching us instead of the television. I should've known this was a bad idea from the beginning. "You two are gonna wanna wipe those smiles off your faces," I growled, eyeing each of them with a dangerous glower. But for once… it didn't work.
"You like her," Rory accused, his smirk actually growing. Not only was he gonna get his ass kicked for being a shithead, I was also gonna have to explain to mom that he was clearly losing his mind.
"Shut it," I grumbled.
Then Vick chimed in. "Gaaale liiikes Maaadge," he sang. Rory joined him. Oh, that was it. They were dead. Or one of them was sleeping on the floor for a week while I, for once, got a bed to myself. Huh. Yeah, that should do it. I was just about to make my threat over their singsong accusations of my non-existent feelings for Madge when… she walked into the room. Yeah, right about then would've been the perfect time for the earth to open up under my sofa cushion and just swallow me right up. Unfortunately, luck never did seem to be on my side, and I stayed firmly planted in my living room and the horrible reality that was my life. I was waiting for her to rush out of the house, appalled by the implication that some Seam scrub might want her. Not that it was true. They were just being stupid. And soon they'd be stupid and floor-bound. For a month this time.
She didn't leave, though. She didn't even look annoyed. In fact, there was that smile again. What was that look? The boys shut up the minute they noticed she'd caught them, but the damage was done.
"Who likes Maaadge?" she crooned back at them playfully. "Could it be… Vick!" She plucked him off the couch and blew raspberries on his cheeks while he squealed with laughter.
"Nooo, it wasn't meee!" he snorted a laugh louder than I'd heard in months as she tickled under his arm.
"Ooo then it must've been Rory!" she grinned over at my other brother who scrambled off the couch and held his hands up, apparently more afraid of being tickled by a pretty girl than beaten down by his big brother. Umm… that'd have to change.
"It was so not me!" he insisted, his floppy dark hair falling into his eyes as he jumped out of her grasp again.
She caught him and tickled his sides until tears ran down his cheeks. "Hmm, yeah, I definitely think it was you," she told Rory as she used her sleeve to wipe the wet trails off of his flushed face. Then she pressed a kiss to his forehead, and his olive skin turned more like tomato-red.
"Alright boys, settle down, it's time," Hazelle announced as she appeared in the entrance to the living room and knelt down to turn the television on. Rory looked a little deflated, but he settled back down on the couch next to me, eyeing me kind of warily. Yeah, I'd get him back when he least expected it. I anticipated having Vick sit on my other side, but he hopped into Hazelle's lap on her chair… leaving his space empty for Madge.
An unusually rosy tint dusted her cheeks as she squeezed into the spot next to me on the sofa. Her fingers brushed mine as she adjusted her skirt, and it felt like I'd been jolted with electricity. She had probably just dragged her feet across the carpet before she sat down. Right? Right. Of course that was all it was. I swallowed hard and kept telling myself that, even as my eyes kept drifting to her hands resting in her lap. It was gonna be a long night.
