AN: Poor Katniss. Just to be clear, her relationship with Gale is 100% platonic in this fic. Thanks for reading, following, favoriting.
"You can't help what you feel, but you can help how you behave."
Late in the night, Madge fell asleep in the tub. She woke to the red light of morning, red like the blood on her thighs that she'd scrubbed long after the stains were gone. After twelve hours of soaking, she still felt dirty, and her neck ached from having been bent over the porcelain edge of the tub for so long.
Madge was tying her robe, when her mother entered the bathroom without knocking and said, "Have you been in here all night?"
"Yes," said Madge. As if you didn't already know. Mrs. Undersee pursed her lips, but said no more.
"Peeta's downstairs," she said. "He's been waiting a long time."
Yesterday, Madge wouldn't have bothered changing out of her fluffy robe just to greet Peeta. They'd been friends since their diaper days. There was no shame, no secrets, between them. But after last night, she needed clothes like armor, something to protect her, something to hide what a dirty thing her body was now.
Peeta came with an offering of baked goods.
"Your mom let you have these?" asked Madge as she picked morosely at a strawberry muffin, her favorite. She wasn't hungry.
"Dad made them before she woke up," said Peeta. "He thought you might need something sweet to cheer you up."
Madge forced a smile. "That was very sweet of him. Pass on my thanks."
"Are they alright? You're not eating."
She took a big bite. Muffin stuck to the roof of her mouth like dry plaster. Peeta watched her chew. She was so pale. She kept her arms tucked in at her sides, legs crossed, spine bent inwards, making herself small. He'd never seen her cower before. She was the mayor's daughter. To see her this way was both terrified and inflamed him.
"Did he hurt you?" asked Peeta.
Madge shifted. "No," she muttered. The physical pain was nothing. She was sore, she'd felt worse. There was a wound deeper than flesh, she couldn't describe to Peeta, or anyone. He didn't need a description to know it was there. He leaned forward, eyes fiercely burning, and voice gentle as rain, "Who was he?"
Madge shifted again. She'd sworn to herself not to tell. She hated Gale Hawthorne, always had, and after last night she didn't hate him any less, or any more. He'd been unkind, teased her pretty dress, so what? That was typical behavior. He'd treated her like an object. That was expected for the situation. He'd hurt her. Any other man probably would've done the same. She didn't want to slander him for events beyond his control, despite that he'd never shown the same consideration. Be the better person. Be dignified, be proud, be…
"It's Gale," she blurted. Peeta's warm, brotherly concern was too much. She hated keeping secrets from him. She just couldn't do it.
"Hawthorne?" he said, closing his hands into fists. "What did he do?"
"Nothing," said Madge. "Only what he had to."
Peeta winced. Hawthorne had a well-known reputation. His hatred for Madge was no secret either. No wonder she was so pale. Gale Hawthorne probably hadn't shown her a hint of kindness and she had four nights left to endure.
"Don't pick a fight," said Madge, straightening up suddenly. "Let it go. I just want to get this over with, alright?"
"Alright," said Peeta. Like hell was he just going to let it go…
Katniss was heading home from the Hob, when Peeta Mellark stormed out of nowhere.
"We need to talk," he snapped, planting himself in her path. She scowled at him, more annoyed than surprised. What did the baker's boy want with her? They'd never once spoken directly to each other. She was about to tell him to fuck off…
Then she remembered the day he gave her the bread. Her father had only been dead a month. They would have starved that night, had it not been for the baker's boy. Katniss realized that she owed him. She didn't like being indebted. A few minutes conversation for two burnt loaves of bread seemed like a fair trade. "Fine," she said. "Talk fast."
"Tell your friend," snarled Peeta. "If he hurts Madge again, I'll kill him."
Katniss knew who he meant. After all, she only had one friend besides Madge. "What the hell are you talking about?" she said. "Gale hasn't done anything."
Peeta snorted and, despite herself, Katniss blushed. "Okay, so he teases her sometimes," she said. "That's no reason to threaten his-"
"You don't know," said Peeta, looking at her curiously. "I thought Hawthorne would've told you by now."
"Told me what?"
"He and Madge are mates," said Peeta. "She won't tell me what happened, but I've never seen so...so…" He couldn't explain. Just thinking about how broken she'd looked this morning made him too furious for words.
After a minute of silence, punctuated only by Peeta's heavy breathing, Katniss said, "I'll talk to him."
"Really?" said Peeta, shocked by how easily she gave in.
"Madge is my friend, too," she reminded him. She knew exactly where Gale was, seeking solitude in the woods. She had no intentions of letting him find it. While she loved Gale like a brother, she also knew better than anyone what an asshole he could be.
Katniss snuck up on him. One minute, he was alone, and the next she was beating her fists against his back. Gale slipped on the damp carpet of leaves in mid-turn and she took the opportunity to cuff him across the jaw while he regained his balance.
"What the hell?" he said, snagging hold of her wrists.
"What did you do?" she hissed. Her eyes were slit like a cat's. She resembled Buttercup right then, but he knew better than to mention that observation aloud.
"Well," he said. "Let's see, I came out to hunt and then you ambushed me."
Katniss jerked free of his grip. He let her go, prepared to defend himself. Truth be told, she frightened him when she got this angry. It didn't happen often. The few times they'd really fought, he came out on the losing end.
"Seriously, what's wrong with you?" he said.
Katniss had trouble using her words when she was upset. "Madge," she forced out. "What did you do to Madge?" Somehow, without striking him, she knocked the breath right out of him.
"Who told you we were mated?" he said, firing a question at her question in a juvenile distraction attempt.
"Peeta," she answered promptly.
"Mellark?" said Gale in disbelief. "Since when do you talk to him?"
"Since he threatened to kill you a few hours ago."
Gale laughed. As if the baker's boy could so much as scratch him.
"This isn't funny," said Katniss, shoving the heels of her palms into his chest. Gale swatted her hands away.
"I don't know what bread boy told you," he said, "but I didn't do anything to Undersee, besides what the Capitol required."
"Did you even try to be nice about it?"
"I barely touched her and I kept my insults to myself."
"Did you talk to her at all?"
"You want a detailed account?" said Gale. "I can write it all down for you, so you can really analyze every single-"
Katniss shoved him again. She definitely did not want a detailed account of what happened between her only two friends in the Justice Building. She just wanted a general estimate of how much of a jerk he'd been.
"Did you treat her like you'd have treated me?" she asked.
"That's different," said Gale. "You're my friend."
"I'm a person," she corrected. "So is Madge. She deserves the same respoect."
"It's not like she was warm and welcoming," he said, refusing to admit to a crime
he hadn't committed. He hadn't been cruel, just cold, same as Undersee. He clearly remembered the way she'd glared at him, as if their situation was his fault.
"Of course she wasn't," said Katniss. "It was her first time. She was petri-"
"What?" Gale took a step back, feeling sick. "She didn't tell me that."
Katniss rolled her eyes. "Did she need to?"
"Uh, yeah. How was I supposed to know it was her first time?"
"She's never even seriously dated anyone," said Katniss, no longer angry, just exasperated.
"What about Mellark?" said Gale. "I thought they were together."
"Just friends."
"So, last night really was…"
"Yeah," said Katniss. "Look, I'm not asking you to like her. Don't worry, I gave up on that a long time ago." She paused to collect her thoughts. "And I know how much you hate this, so just think about how she feels. That's not an unreasonable request."
Gale had to admit that it wasn't that unreasonable. Now that he knew Undersee had been a virgin, he was guilty over his behavior. "I'll be nicer to her," he finally said.
"Good," said Katniss. "Because if you aren't, then I'll kill you before Mellark even gets a chance." She punched his shoulder to prove she meant business, but the hit was barely more than an affectionate tap.
