A/N: Thanks to everyone reading this story! Special thanks to Ellenka, Cloud-Lover26, teamGale143, an anonymous reviewer, rcee, ShibuHaraLuvr, cherri0196, Solaryllis, anonymus, hoeoverbros, Miki-Chan, and Aliya for the latest reviews!

BTW: Just in case there's any confusion, these one-shots are NOT in chronological order! He might be 17 in one, 10 in another! :D

Hope you enjoy this next one! :D


Chapter Four: STRAWBERRIES

"So," Gale says, gutting the squirrel, "what should we do next?"

Katniss hesitates before saying, "I know a place. A strawberry patch."

Gale looks up.

Lately, he and Katniss had begun to open up a lot about each other and the things they know. This weird feeling is starting to creep up slowly between each other.

A feeling that he might call trust.

So he trusts her this time too, and half an hour later they're out of the woods with a belt of squirrels and more strawberries than he'd ever seen in his life.

Once they're back in the Seam, they go about their usual route, selling squirrels to the baker and trading at the Hob.

Sunday being a busy day for trading, they're left with a satisfying pile of coins jingling happily in their pockets, as well as a squirrel apiece for their families and the strawberries.

Gale holds the scarlet fruits up. "What do we do with these?"

Katniss doesn't hesitate this time. "The mayor likes strawberries. We'll get ten for a sack of them."

And that's how for the first time in his life, he finds himself standing in front of the mayor's house, pressing the doorbell with Katniss at his side.

The door is yanked open from the inside, and Gale expects to meet with a servant or perhaps the paunchy old mayor himself, but it's not either one of those.

It's the Undersee girl. He's seen her before, at school. She's in Katniss's class, he thinks.

She looks nothing like Katniss though, with her blonde ringlets and glossed lips and perfectly ironed purple dress and the two rather prominent bumps on her chest (she does have three square meals to eat a day, after all).

"Katniss!" she says with a smile when she sees them.

"Hi, Madge," Katniss greets, holding out the sack of berries.

The girl called Madge takes them and says, "How much?"

"The usual ten."

Madge reaches into the pocket of her dress and pulls out a burgundy leather wallet.

A wallet that if sold, could probably pay for at least three months –if not more –worth of bread, vegetables, soap, and kerosene.

Madge hands ten over to Katniss, and her eyes suddenly land on Gale. She looks flustered for a second before politely asking, "Who's your friend?"

In the few months that Katniss and Gale have been hunting partners and...friends, he supposes, they've learned quite a bit about each other.

And by now the former knows that Gale is not going to be answering that question himself, so she graciously takes over and says, "Gale. Gale Hawthorne."

(Besides, judging from Madge's expression, he has a sneaking suspicion she knows very well who he is. Most of the girls at school do.

Townies and their stupid formalities.)

Madge bites her lips, her cheeks flaming red. "H-hello, Gale."

He grunts back.

Katniss shoots him a look, but he is not going to be acting all chummy-chummy with the mayor's daughter, the girl whose perfect purple dress could feed his family for months, the girl whose father is so closely linked with the Capitol.

Although he will appreciate (privately, of course) the two large mounds on her chest.

Just when the atmosphere around them cannot possibly get more awkward, Madge says, "Well, I'll see you two at school then," nodding at the both of them.

"Bye, Madge," Katniss replies, and Madge closes the door, tactfully not waiting for Gale's response.

Once the Undersee girl is out of earshot, Katniss says, "Couldn't you try to be a bit more...friendly?"

His stony silence is an adequate answer for her.

They walk through the Seam till they reach Katniss's place.

"Same time tomorrow?" Katniss says.

Gale raises a surprised eyebrow. It was usually he who initiated all their hunting trips and meetings.

He guesses that Katniss is starting to trust him the same way he is starting to trust her.

"Same time," he confirms.

Before he makes his way home, there's one place he intends to stop by.

He continues toward the edge of the Seam, a place near the mines, until he reaches what one may call either a very, very large mound or a rather small mountain of dark grey silicate.

The slag heap. One of the few worthwhile places in District 12.

There awaits a girl from his class with golden tresses and crimson red nails and a sheer white dress so impossibly short he's surprised it still manages to cover her.

He strides over to her and can't stop the smirk that glides over his face as he presses his lips to hers.

As he lets his hands frisk her slender but well-fed Town-girl body, he can't help but think of a certain purple dress and all the things it covered from his sight.

His smirk widens as he plans on making another trip here soon.

One with the Undersee girl.


A/N: Several more Madge one-shots coming soon! (AGAIN: NOT NECESSARILY IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER)

Reviews are appreciated as always. :)