Chapter 4

"Your hair and your…dress… you looked like…" he was wincing, she thought it might not be good.

"Crap?" she supplied, grimacing at the thought of what she must've looked like. At the same time, she was grumbling how unfair it was for a girl to look gross after a tumble down a slope while the boy came out looking okay, attractive even.

"Yeah, but more like 'you're obviously been to the slag heap'. Plus the scratches," he looked at her legs pointedly (it was the only part of her that wasn't covered by his during the fall), muttered a curse and rubbed his face with his hands.

'Obviously been to the slag heap' translation: Obviously doing naughty things.

She hoped that the burning feeling on her cheeks wasn't a blush because she was forbidding it to come out.

"I think I should clean up before going home," she suggested, trying to sound normal.

"You can clean up in our place," he offered, rubbing his neck. They started walking again, side by side, when he added, "It's not far from here."

"Of course, how convenient," was out of her mouth before she could filter her thoughts. She must've left her self-control down that cliff.

He wasn't offended, though, because he laughed.

But just like earlier, he seemed to ignore her insinuations. Instead, after he composed himself, he cleared his throat and said, "I should probably apologize."

"Don't, you couldn't possibly have known that you'll startle me and make me slip,"

"No, not about that," he said, "Although, I thought you were going to jump! What are you doing there in the first place?"

"I wasn't going to jump," she insisted, "I wanted to get away from all the boisterous company and I ended up there! What makes you think I was going to jump anyway?"

"I heard you say that it's going to be worth it and that's the first thought that crossed my mind," he explained, "And you looked like you were going to jump."

"Wait," she grabbed his arm, stopping him, "You thought I'm going to end my life?"

"No," he said, trying to catch her eyes, which was firmly fixed on his left ear, "I thought you're going to jump over, there's a difference." He shrugged her hands and started walking again.

She caught up and quietly said, "I really wasn't going to, there's a flower I wanted to pick. It's growing on the side of the cliff…" She trailed off as she realized that she had forgotten about it. She really thought her mother would have loved it, "… doesn't matter anymore."

"I was actually trying to apologize for what happened on Reaping day," he told her, "It was uncalled for."

"It's okay, already forgiven and forgotten," she said, glancing at him (he was looking straight ahead) and thinking, "So this is Katniss' best friend."

Her friendship with Katniss was based on their mutual aversion in socialising with their classmates, theirs must've been based on a stronger bond than that. Who was she kidding? Of course theirs was based on something stronger than quietly sitting in the same table.

Both of them were forced to grow up quickly. They had to support their family, and they were just kids. And with Katniss in the games, he was feeding two families. She often checked on Prim and the younger girl always assures her that they were eating. That Gale checked on them everyday, asking if they need anything. He's really a good friend.

She remembered when they said goodbye to Katniss. She stayed behind after giving her aunt's pin to her only friend, wanting to catch last glimpse of her. She saw Gale being dragged by peacekeepeers, his eyes filled with unshed tears.

Madge just realised it wasn't just tears for a friend, who might be gone for good. Katniss was her friend too but she already partially let her go. Don't get her wrong, she was rooting for her friend but at the same time she had to prepare for the worst. She knew what grief could do to a person, that's why her closest friend was a girl she never opened up with.

She could give up but not him. Never him. Because the person behind the name she often heard from the mouths of forever giggling girls at school, was in love with his best friend.

"Okay, stop that!"

"What?"

"You've been doing these crazy sounds! It's like a cat trying to quietly meow or something!"

They were walking back to the Seam through the woods with him leading the way. The two of them walked in silence but as they walk from the slag heap her shock began wearing off and the ramification of what happened started sinking in. He had brushed off the encounter with Gem and company with that 'freaking true love' bit but from what she observed from the past three days with those capitol reporters, they tend to over exaggerate everything!

"I've been to the slag heap!"

"Yeah, we already established that but…"

"And those three saw me…"

"Most unfortunate but what's that had to…"

"…with you!" she cried, covering her face with her hands, trying hard not to scream and then Gale Hawthorne, suddenly pull her into a stop to face him.

"What's wrong with being seen with me?" he said but then as if realising what she just did, added, "Oh, Sh–Crap!" She pulled her hands away from her face and saw him looking at her.

"They're going to tell your father," he said, seriously.

"Yes, I think so," she's almost in panic, her father wasn't an easy person when it comes to things like her dating. And she wasn't even really dating!

"No, they're going to tell the mayor, it wasn't a question."

She finally met his eyes and asked, "How are you so sure?"

He looked beyond her shoulder. She quickly turned to see what he's looking at and saw Mrs. Hawthorne marching over them.

"Because they sure told my mother."

AN: I had to cut it here ^ . Because I think it'll be more interesting to read Hazelle's interrogation in Gale's point of view. Thanks for the reviews! :)

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Thank you for reading.