A/N: I AM SO SORRY. It has been just a day short of a month since I updated! I can't even express how sorry I am! But hopefully, this chapter will suffice until I can finish the next chapter, which will be a little more interesting. As promised, this chapter is Madge's POV on what happened between Gale leaving her house and meeting up with him for their little date.

I also would like to apologize for the poor editing/proof reading on my part when it comes to this story. I went back (of course, after publishing) and saw that the third chapter was A TOTAL MESS. I am so sorry! The program I use to write doesn't have an extensive spelling/grammar check system, so I do my best to catch my errors on my own time, but I'm far from perfect. Needless to say, this chapter may still be sprinkled with errors, but I did my best.

Unfortunately, I was so worried about getting this up that I didn't go into as much detail as I would have liked to in some parts. So I hate to say that this chapter will be shorter than the previous ones. My apologies for the long A/N as well!

Also, quick shout out to Aella Leto, your review made me smile!

Happy reading!

Chapter 4.

Madge POV

When Gale's figure disappears into the ever-present cloud of coal dust, my minds starts going at a mile a minute. Did that really just happen? Was Gale Hawthorne really just in my kitchen? I'm really happy that I brushed my hair before coming down to breakfast. I run out of the kitchen and up to my bedroom. My socks cause me to slip a few times on the stairs, making me extra thankful for the wooden banister on the right hand wall. I can't risk my mother or Pauline seeing me, with my cheeks still red from blushing.

I slam the door to my bedroom behind me, not thinking about being courteous to anyone else at home. For a minute, I stand with my back pressed against the door with my hands holding the door in place. I feel like one of those women with big hair and red lips in those Capitol shows that Pauline likes to watch. Soap something-or-others.

Once I catch my breath, I calmly walk across the room to my walk in closet. There's a tiny clock on the wall next to my closet door. 12:18, it reads. I have to meet Gale at the Seam-Town border at seven. Which means I need to leave my house at six. So I have about five hours and forty two minutes to get ready, I think. Well, now it is more like five hours forty one minutes. Oh, well.

I scan over the vast array of clothes hanging up in the closet and place my hands on my hips. The first thing I think of when I see all of my outfit choices is how lucky I am. It's a bitter sweet feeling, I'm glad I have nice things, but I don't want to be living in luxury when the rest of the district is barely getting by. I swallow down the lump that has formed in my throat and get down to business. The real issue at hand: Should I go flirty and fun? Smart and sophisticated? Rich girl? Poor girl? And what about shoes? Do I dress for comfort, style, or to impress? So many decisions, so little time. I decide to mix flirty and fun with smart and sophisticated. My favorite flowy blue skirt and my professional-looking white blouse.

If I do my hair now, I'll wind up sitting around the house for four hours looking pretty with nowhere to go and nothing to do except daydream and count down the minutes. I lay the outfit on my king size bed and take a step back, giving the outfit a once-over. I decide it will work just fine. With a hint of a smile on my face, I clap twice, shutting off the lights, and go downstairs.

"Made, honey! You need to be a little quieter coming down those stairs! Your mother needs her sleep," Pauline chides as I clamber into the kitchen.

"Sorry, Pauline," I say, grabbing an orange out of the bowl on the table. She sits at the head of the table, drinking a cup of tea and watching some Capitol television show. A quick look at the screen confirms that it's one of her 'soaps'. I open my mouth to ask her why they're called that, but she raises a ringer, as if to say 'hold on', never taking her eyes off of the screen. I notice that she's sitting in the exact spot that Gale was just a little while ago. My goodness, he looked good today. Too good, especially for being whipped within an inch of his life not too long ago. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the middle aged woman lower her finger. A few dramatic piano chords sound out and the screen goes black.

"Yes, darling. What's up?" she asks, taking a long sip of her tea.

"What?" I say, forgetting what we were talking about to begin with.

"You were going to ask me something, what was it?" she responds, giving me a questioning look. To be honest, I can't remember what I was going to ask, but I don't tell her that. Instead, I blurt out,

"Galeaskedmeonadate," speaking so fast the words slur together. Her eyes snap to attention and she looks surprised. My hands fly to my mouth, I can not believe that I just said that out loud.

"Who asked you on a what?" Pauline's eyebrows have shot so far up, I'm surprised that I can still see them. I drop the orange back into the bowl, knowing that this will be a long talk. Before I answer, I push back my chair, sigh, and pour myself a cup of tea. I slump into a seat across from her at the table with a groan.

"Gale Hawthorne. You know, my visitor this morning? He asked me to let him show me a good time," I say the last part with a hint of sarcasm in my voice. Yes, I do like Gale. But he's never said more than "ten coins" to me before he was whipped, and now he wants to take me to do who-knows-what? For all I know, we're going hunting…

Despite the nagging in my head, I take a long drink of the scalding tea and tell Pauline about everything- the whipping, the morphling, the cabinet. When I finish, I expect her to launch into a spiel about the Seam boys and how I need to respect myself, I'm barely seventeen, blahblahblah. Instead, she just chuckles quietly and says,

"Well, it seems to me like you've got yourself an admirer."

"That's what I'm thinking. So, what do you think?" I ask nervously, still waiting for the lecture. When Pauline is silent for a minute, I begin to wonder if she's mad at me for accepting Gale's invitation. Another minute of silence and I have to ask myself if I came off as desperate or un-classy in anyway. Pauline smiles at me after I begin to squirm in my seat. Her dark features make me wonder exactly how gorgeous she was when she was my age, which must have been about twenty or so years ago.

"I think you should go for it," she grins.

"You think I should what?" I ask, leaning forward.

"Do it, Madge. How many times in your life has a boy voluntarily taken you out?" she asks. I raise my eyebrows at her, slightly hurt at what she's implying, she reaches across the table and grabs my hand.

"Now, darling, you know I didn't mean it like that. But do think about what I'm saying. I think you should go out with him tonight. What's the worst thing that happens? You have to suffer through several hours of an uncomfortable date. But what if something clicks between you two? You won't know unless you try." Damn, Pauline's good at that.

I think for a minute-she's completely right…worst case scenario, it's awkward and I ditch early. Best case, I spend some time with the guy who I've been secretly crushing on for the longest time, and maybe it turns into more than a little crush.

"Okay, I'll do it. I'll go with him tonight!" I exclaim, suddenly excited.

"That's great, honey. I'm glad. Now, I need you to run an errand for me. Can you stop off at the Justice Building some time before you leave tonight and have your father sign these papers? Head Peacekeeper Thread dropped them off this morning, but your father had already left." She hands me a pile of papers, about an inch thick..

"Sure thing. I need some hair pins or something, can you get me some?" I ask Pauline. As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I regret them. "Uh, actually, I think I'll just stop and get them when I'm out," I say quickly, trying to cover for my repulsive rich girl comment. It works, because Pauline smiles again, and turns the television back on. I take that as my cue to leave.

Five hours later, I'm showered and dressed. I used a hot rod-like tool I found in mother's bathroom to make my hair look special, and pulled the soft curls up and secured them with two wooden sticks. The man at the beauty supply store called them chopsticks, but I don't even know what that means. It's cold out, so I grab my wool jacket and slip my stocking-clad legs into a pair of fur lined boots. With a reassuring glance from Pauline and a quick once-over in the mirror, I walk out the door into the cold winter air.

It takes me about an hour to walk to the Seam-Town border, but I don't mind the trek. I love passing children playing in the grey-tinged snow and the looks on their faces when they recognize their miner fathers shuffling home from their jobs, covered in coal dust. Before I know it, I'm only a block away from our meeting spot. As I turn the corner, I see Gale, hands shoved deep in his pockets.

He looks great.

"Wow," he says when I approach him.

"Is it too much? Do I have something in my hair? What is it?" I say, extremely worries I've done something wrong already, and we're not even five minutes into our "date".

"It's just…you look really nice, Madge."

"Well, you said to wear something pretty. You clean up pretty well yourself," I reply. I catch him grinning, and I do the same, very happy to hear he thinks I look good.

"Yeah, well, I do my best," he replies with the little chuckle that makes my heart lurch. "Now, are you ready for what's going to be the best night of your life?"he asks.

"Yes," I say. It's now or never.

"Very good. Now, shall we?" He says in an almost flawless Capitol accent. I let a small giggle escape my lips before I can stop it.

"Yes, I believe that we shall," I reply in what is definitely a poor attempt at the same accent. I don't really know what to do, and I can sense that he doesn't either. After a minute of horrible awkwardness, he reaches for my hand. I take it without thinking, smiling to myself.

This is going to be a good night.

A/N: Not happy with this ending either, but I didn't want you guys to have to wait any longer. Again, SO sorry for the wait and short chapter! I think I'm going to have another chapter up VERY soon! *hint, hint* And this time, I won't make you wait a month for it! If you read this, please review! I need to know if I still have readers :) See ya soon.