Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who's reviewed. I really appreciate all your encouraging remarks and observations.

My thanks, as always, to swirlsofblack also.


"Er…Gale! I'm not sure this is a good idea," Madge hissed as they neared the fence.

When it had been agreed that they spend Sunday together, she had pictured possibly walking around the Town Square or perhaps sitting in the Meadow for a few hours. She had not imagined that he would demand she change into something old and comfortable as he came to pick her up and then hustled her towards the fence.

"I need to check my snares," he said. "Besides, what are we going to inside the fence? You've been at my house every night this week, apart from last night when we were at your house. Posy keeps asking if you're moving in and eyeing her bed in concern."

The thought of the youngest Hawthorne worried that somehow Madge was a threat to the tiny little cot-bed she slept on made her smile. Gale's siblings had accepted her presence in their house without too many questions. Rory had attempted some kind of interrogation, keen to be taken more seriously by Gale, but one of his oldest brother's famous scowls had soon shut down his personal questions, leaving Posy free to dominate Madge's attention with a request to play with her hair.

However, any thought of smiling fled as Gale glanced around, checked they were in the clear before he held the fence apart, took the bag she carried over her shoulder, and gestured for her to wiggle her way through. She gulped and hesitated for a moment.

It wasn't the first time Madge had gone out into the woods. Katniss had taken her once she'd realised just how much Madge wanted to go, but going with her friend had not seemed quite as daunting as crossing the fence with Gale. Katniss had patience and didn't laugh at any Madge's attempts with her bow, or at the sheer wonder that had Madge stopping frequently just to gaze at a flower or view. She didn't think Gale would have nearly as much patience.

"Madge," Gale said with a growl as if keen to prove her point, "Hurry up! It's now or never!"

On the walk over, Gale had lectured her on what she needed to do, despite Madge saying she'd already been out there with Katniss. "Get through the fence and into the trees as quickly as possible," he'd said. She had rolled her eyes as he had emphasised the importance of getting out of sight and not dawdling, but as she stood here, she wasn't sure she could do it this time. The prospect of President Snow having cameras out there scared her.

"I bet you didn't come out here with Katniss; you probably just said that to so you could get out of this," Gale said dismissively, a condescending smile on his face.

Stung by his words, Madge glared at him, and then wormed her way under the fence, not bothering to stop to see if Gale was following as she ran towards the safety of the trees.

He sauntered under the canopy a minute later, looking smug. "You said that on purpose, didn't you?" she asked.

"Said what?" he replied with an innocent look.

It didn't fool her for a moment. She'd spent more time in Gale's company in the past week than she probably had in anyone else's (apart from her family). She'd learnt to see beyond the scowls and general lack of charm and down to the dry humour that lurked beneath them.

"That comment about not believing I'd already been out here."

He shot her a playful glance. "I knew that remark would provide you with suitable motivation to get moving. If we'd stood there any longer, we were bound to get caught."

Madge huffed in annoyance but couldn't keep the admiration of his tactics out of her voice as she said, "You're a jerk, Gale Hawthorne."

"But a clever one," he said smartly. "C'mon, let's go and see what I can catch for dinner."

As they moved deeper in the woods, Madge couldn't help but gaze around in awe even though this was her second time in the woods. She was sure that Gale was used to coming out here and that it wasn't so special to him anymore, but to Madge it represented a whole other world. There wasn't much greenery inside District 12 and going from the drab and coal-covered roads of the Seam to this endless stretching forest of green and brown seemed almost magical.

…Until she tripped over a tree root and landed face first in a pile of rotting leaves. The smothered laughter coming from above did nothing to mollify her as she sat up and spat some mulch out of her mouth.

"You need to look where you're going, Madge," Gale said, a huge grin on his face.

She had once asked Katniss what it was about the woods that she liked so much and when she had answered that it was the freedom to smile, Madge had been confused, especially as when she'd come out here with Katniss – the worries that had her friend's shoulders so tense hadn't disappeared. But as she sat here, looking up at Gale, she finally understood what Katniss had meant. She had never seen him look so carefree, as if the troubles had been lifted from his shoulders and he could finally breathe. She stared, transfixed, at this lighter version.

"You can't sit around here all day," Gale said, holding out a hand for her to take as she hauled herself back up on her feet.

She brushed the leafy debris from her clothes and once finished, she gestured for Gale to lead the way once more.

"Hang on," he said. "You've got half the forest in your hair."

He swiftly set to work on removing leaves from her hair, giving Madge the perfect opportunity to study him. There had always been whispers among the Town girls about Gale Hawthorne. He was far too good-looking to not have been discussed. Madge had always rolled her eyes when Delly and the Endicott twins had giggled about him being worth slumming it for, embarrassed for Katniss' sake that they would talk about a boy from the Seam like that – let alone Katniss' best friend. Also, despite the fact that he was undeniably handsome, Gale's surly nature had never appealed to Madge, or how he didn't think twice about unleashing rude remarks towards her.

Now, as she gazed at him, she felt the unwelcome stirrings of attraction in the pit of her stomach. It didn't help that she knew how well her hand fitted in his, the rough calluses contrasting nicely with her own smooth skin. Then there was the way his grey eyes would light up in amusement a moment before he would let out a laugh, which was so rare and infectious it would make those around him laugh, too. When he concentrated on helping his younger siblings with something, his tongue would peak out between his lips as his eyebrows furrowed together, making him appear softer somehow, and more approachable. In fact, over the past week, Madge had been blindsided by how he was in the presence of his family. It was a world away from the Gale Hawthorne who would briskly go about his business trading his game with the merchants or the boy who would tense up in anger in face of all the poverty and inequality that surrounded him on a daily basis. She had found herself fascinated on more than one occasion.

It was then that Madge noticed that his hands had stilled and that he was staring right back at her, a question in his eyes. She cursed the fact that she blushed far too easily as his eyes flicked to her reddened cheeks. One of his hands slid down to cup her left cheek, his thumb brushing gently over a spot. Her heart skittered at the contact and, for the first time, she wondered what it would feel like to kiss him.

"Dirt," he said in a low voice before dropping his hand away and she couldn't help the disappointment that spread throughout her body as he turned away. "We better get moving."

Stupid! Madge chastised herself as she followed him through the trees. Of course he wasn't going to kiss you. He is in love with Katniss. He has made that perfectly clear.

In fact, he was so in love with Katniss that they had been forced into this stupid charade to keep him alive. Yet somehow, she had managed to develop an attraction to him, a ridiculous crush that was never going to be reciprocated. Then there was the fact that Gale didn't bother to hide his views on those who lived in Town, and for all the talk between Delly and the Endicott twins, she knew that he had never taken a Town girl to the slag heap.

Until this week, he had never had a kind word to say to her, so what made her think he was suddenly going to kiss her? She needed to get these dangerous ideas out of her mind before they jeopardised everything. Gale was never meant for her and no amount of pining was going to change that fact.

By the time they reached the first of Gale's snares, Madge had her emotions under control and she found she was genuinely interested when he taught her how to make a simple snare. He was good at it, she was surprised to note. Gale had never struck her as a particularly patient person. Everything he did was surrounded by an air of impetuosity that often made her feel like she had just survived an emotional tornado. She wondered how Katniss managed to deal with it, as it was antithesis of her friend's calm and stoic personality.

Gale almost always smouldered with passion that burnt so closely to the surface, but not here, not in the woods. Out here he transformed into someone with infinite patience who happily taught her the best way to skin a rabbit. Although, if Madge was being honest, she would rather not have ever known this. She had managed to keep her breakfast down, but it had been a close-run thing. Only the thought of how Gale would probably mock her if she looked away made her keep watching.

As she completed the last knot, Madge looked up in trepidation. He wouldn't snap at her for doing it wrong – she knew that. Inside the fence, he might take his anger at the conditions out on her and the other people who made up the Merchant class, but the Gale who hunted through these woods was a very different prospect – someone more in control of his life and therefore more forgiving towards others.

"That's pretty good, Madge," he said with admiration.

"You sure?"

"Yeah. For a first attempt, I'm impressed. We'll keep this one here and see what you can bring home for the Mayor," Gale said with a wink.

Madge laughed at the idea of presenting her father with a squirrel or rabbit. Half the time he only brought game off Katniss or Gale because he knew it put money into much-needed Seam pockets. Although there were days when the meat at the butchers was too rancid to eat. District 12 was not exactly high up the Capitol's list to supply with good food. However, that didn't mean he would condone Madge going out into the woods and bringing illegally obtained goods home herself. No, that would be taking it a step too far.

Gale didn't need to know this though, so she said, "You're planning to bring me back out here again?"

"Despite your unfortunate start, you've actually not been too bad. I reckon I can teach you to walk quietly so you don't scare all the game away, too."

Madge frowned at that. She had been trying so hard to replicate Gale's silent tread and was miffed that she had failed in her endeavour.

"Aw Madge, don't feel bad," Gale said, putting an arm around her shoulders. "You still did better than both Rory and Prim when I brought them out here during the Games."

"Really?" she asked, instantly perking up.

"Yep. Prim cried when she saw a rabbit in one of the snares."

"So this Town girl did better than two kids from the Seam…" Madge said, trailing off and giving him a sly glance from the corner of her eye.

Luckily, Gale in the woods could take a joke. He laughed and threw his hands up in a surrender gesture. "Alright, you got me there."

It didn't mean that she was going to push her luck too far, though, so she just grinned at him and asked, "Where to next?"

"Lunch and a nice view."


Gale hadn't planned on taking Madge to the rocks. It was forever imprinted in his mind as the place where he and Katniss went. On more bitter days, he remembered one morning in particular, when they had shared a loaf of the baker's bread and Prim's little goat cheese, and joked bitterly about the Reaping. It was also the first time he tried to talk to Katniss about his feelings. She hadn't understood what he was hinting at and had snapped at him instead. Gale had been cryptic, he had to admit, but Katniss had never given him any sign that she was interested and he didn't want to destroy their friendship. It was valuable, for one, but more importantly he would've missed her. It hadn't mattered by the end of the day, anyway, because she had been stolen away by the Capitol along with the baker's boy, and Gale had been struggling to find his footing with her ever since.

Pushing the painful memories away, Gale concentrated on the present. He had been surprised by how well Madge had taken to the woods, even fashioning her own snare. It had taken her a while but her fingers weren't clumsy – they were rather nimble. From all the piano playing, he guessed. She'd been thrilled at her success, too, her face lighting up as he congratulated her.

Now she sat entranced, staring out over the valley with a roll halfway to her mouth.

"If you're not going to eat that…" Gale said teasingly, patting his stomach.

Her cheeks reddened as she realised just how she'd been sitting and she finally brought the roll to her lips and took a bite.

The packed lunch had been of much higher quality than anything he usually ate. Gale had objected at first. He had a small loaf of hard bread made from the coarse tesserae grain in his foraging bag and he usually just ate that with whatever greens or berries he could find. However, Madge had insisted and busied herself for twenty minutes assembling a small feast of fruit, little cookies and fresh crusty rolls filled with cheese or thin slivers of spiced meat that melted in his mouth.

"Pastrami", Madge had told him it was called. It was a delicacy from the Capitol that rarely found its way into the Mayor's household. "My dad gets it for me whenever he can. I loved it when I first tried it when we went to the Capitol."

Gale's kneejerk reaction had been to spit the meat out, but he had swallowed it down with the roll. She had shot him a timid look when she had finished explaining what it was and he'd felt vaguely ashamed of just how apprehensive she'd been due to the amount of times he'd been to rude to her because of her father's position. Instead, he had made a noncommittal noise in his throat and continued to munch on the roll. It would be an empty gesture to spit it out, anyway, and he'd gone hungry enough times to not waste any food, no matter where it came from.

"Here," Madge said, handing him the tin of cookies. "Take these instead."

Taking the lid off, Gale's eyebrow's rose at the mound of cookies she'd packed. "You either have a really big sweet tooth or an exaggerated idea of how much I can eat," he commented.

Madge flushed. She did that a lot, he had noticed. It must have been her much paler skin, but it was also a handy guide for him in understanding what she was thinking – one that he appreciated after spending the last few months trying to work out what the hell was going through Katniss' mind.

"I didn't know how much you would eat," she shrugged before she looked away and continued, "And I thought you might take any leftovers for Rory, Vick and Posy."

"Madge," Gale said warningly. He pinched the bridge of his nose, not wanting to go off on her. He knew she meant well and those fairy cakes had been adored by his three younger siblings and eked out to last as long as possible. But this was the exact situation he had been keen to avoid. He didn't want her to get used to packing extra to give to his family. She might not see it as charity but it stank of it all the same.

"It's okay, I'll take them back home," she said, snatching the tin back off him and dropping it back in her bag.

She looked upset and for some reason this made Gale feel bad. He didn't want to hurt her with his rejection, but she needed to understand there were boundaries that she couldn't just trample across. He grabbed her wrist. "Look, the kids don't get it, alright? They'll get used to stuff like this and then they'll wonder why we can't have it when things go back to normal."

"Normal?" she asked.

"When you go back to staying in your mansion in Town and not slumming it in the Seam."

She pulled her wrist out of his grasp, her cheeks even more flushed, and stood up, carefully brushing pine needles off her clothes. When she finally looked down at him, he was surprised by the anger that glinted in her eyes. "Is that what you think of me? That I somehow view spending time with you and your family is some big Seam adventure?"

"Isn't it?" he asked, getting to his feet, too, as he didn't like Madge standing over him. "You can't tell me that this is how you actually want to spend your time long-term? Eating a watery vegetable broth half the time because I don't have time to go hunting for something more substantial?"

For a moment, her face dropped and he was confused by the devastation he saw there before it was replaced by something a lot colder. Her finger came out and jabbed him painfully in the chest. "God, Gale Hawthorne, sometimes you are so dense!"

He brushed her finger off his jacket before he crossed his arms. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Madge flung her arms up in exasperation. "Firstly, I'm insulted that you think so poorly of me. Although, I should be used to that by now. Secondly, you think this is going to return to normal? We're on this rollercoaster now, Gale, just like Katniss and Peeta are, and who knows if we'll ever be allowed to get off."

Somehow he'd never looked at it in such bleak terms. Yeah, sure, he'd known they would have to pretend for a while, but he'd thought the Third Quarter Quell would take the pressure of them and by the time those Games were over, the new victor would be in the spotlight and those around Katniss would be able to slink back into the shadows from whence they'd come. He'd never really considered it as something that might well turn into something permanent.

"You really had no idea, did you?" Madge asked, a disbelieving expression on her face. "Did you actually think that at some point you and Katniss might have a chance? Despite what I said to you last week?"

Gale rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously. It was true: he had brushed her words away, not wanting to hear them. "I thought the attention would die down," he said.

"Have you listened to anything my father has said to you about this? President Snow is worried about something and Katniss and Peeta didn't exactly help matters in District 11 with their gesture towards Rue and Thresh's family. Haven't you watched any of the Victory Tour?"

"Watching Katniss and Mellark hold hands and fawn all over each other has not exactly been high up on the list of things I want to do," he said, scoffing.

"Get your head in the game, Hawthorne. There is no ignoring this because you get jealous every time you see Peeta standing too close to Katniss."

She turned away from him, her shoulders hunched defensively as she knelt and cleared up the remains of their lunch. As he gazed down at her, he felt lost and off-balance, which he noted Madge did to him pretty often. Maybe it was because he was too used to Katniss, who would politely listen to him as he spouted off about how unfair everything was, but wouldn't hesitate to take the opportunity to turn the conversation to something less dangerous.

There was none of that with Madge. It was obvious that she knew so much more than he did about how things worked and she did not hesitate to challenge him or to put him in his place. While it could make him feel a little stupid, he liked this Madge a whole lot more than the girl who had sat so quietly at school, barely talking, just seeming to exist for the sake of existing.

That realisation didn't make him feel any better about his accusations about Madge, though, and she wasn't bothering to hide that he'd offended her and made her angry.

"Sorry," he said gruffly.

She didn't appear to hear him, finishing what she was doing before she stood back up and turned to face him again. He repeated his apology.

"I heard you the first time," she said.

He stood at a loss, not knowing what to say to this angry Madge.

However, she didn't leave it at that. "What for?" she asked, not giving him an inch. "For living in a bubble when it came to our situation or for being an ass to me?"

Gale ran a hand through his hair. "Both?" he queried. "Definitely both," he quickly confirmed seeing just how unimpressed she looked.

"Apology accepted," she said, but he knew his words weren't forgotten or forgiven, and that he needed to make this right or all the progress they'd made in becoming somewhat unlikely friends would be lost, and that would be a disaster for this whole charade.

"Look, I'm an idiot. You don't need to tell me that. I'm not good at expressing myself and I'm not good at filtering the words that come out of my mouth. I say things that aren't always fair. Especially to you," he said and Madge snorted. "And I'm sorry for doing that."

"There comes a point when sorry is no longer enough," she said pointedly.

"Yeah, I kind of figured this was that moment," Gale said and was gratified when she gave him a small smile. "I'll do better, I promise."

"It's no good promising if you still see me as the enemy."

He took a couple of steps towards her then, upset that she thought that way. Yeah, he had a smart mouth and would run it off now and again, but he knew she was at the mercy of the Capitol just as much as he was, albeit a little better fed, clothed and housed.

"I don't think you're the enemy," he said, reaching out and touching her shoulder. "I never have."

"You could have fooled me."

"I don't," he emphasised, annoyed that she didn't take him at his word. "I might say stupid stuff when I'm angry about just how crap it is living here because it's hard to take sometimes, but I know you're controlled by the Capitol. The same as I am."

With a sad expression on her face, she looked up at him. "I know I have it easier than most here, Gale. I'm not blind or ignorant."

Stretching out, he grabbed one of her hands. "You certainly aren't puffed up with pride like some others," he said. "For all the shit I give you, I've always liked you a lot more than anyone else in Town."

Looking down at their linked hands, Madge gave a disbelieving sigh before returning her eyes to his. She looked despondent and he knew it was because of his words. "You have a funny way of showing it."

He stared at her, a little discomforted by just how much his harsh words had affected her. He'd never really thought about how she'd taken his barbs before. She'd been a convenient target for his anger when she'd said something stupid or inconsiderate.

Gale led her back to one of the rocks and sat her down, keeping hold of her hand and observing her fingers. "You have pretty hands," he stated, ignoring the startled exclamation that she gave. "Not all rough like mine, but not perfect like the Capitol made Katniss'. It was the first thing I noticed when she got back; all her scars were gone and it felt like they'd erased our entire history together. Half those scars she got out here in the woods with me."

As he dropped her hand, silence fell between them before Madge picked up his hands in her own. "And how many of these scars did you get out here?" she asked.

"Too many to count," he said as he watched her run her fingers over his hand.

"They can't erase your history with Katniss, Gale. You have shared too much together for that to happen."

"Then why does it feel as if nothing will ever be the same again?"

"Because it won't. Whether you like it or not, Katniss is not the girl you knew before the reaping. She's gone through things that you'll never understand."

"Mellark does, though," he said bitterly.

"Yes, Peeta does," Madge said sadly. "And Katniss will never know what it was like for you having to watch her go into that arena and fight to the death. You've both changed and there's no going back."

He was surprised by the finality of her words. When he'd said a little of this to his mother, Hazelle had tried to reassure him that with time, things would get back to how they'd once been with Katniss. He'd known deep down that it wasn't the case, but his mother had enough worries without him adding any more.

"How do you know this?" he asked, looking at her and noting the sad expression on her face as she continued to toy with his hand.

"I've seen it," she said. "Well, not really, not first hand, but I've seen the effect the Games has on the remaining families. Do you remember me telling you about my aunt who was reaped?"

She lifted her eyes to look at him then, and he nodded. "Yeah, I remember. She was in the Quarter Quell with Abernathy, right?"

"Yes. I don't think I told you that she was my mother's twin sister, Maysilee Donner," she said matter-of-factly.

His eyes widened at that. It would be awful to have a sibling get reaped, but a twin? He couldn't imagine how heart-breaking that would be.

A horrifying thought occurred to him. "He didn't…?" he asked, unable to finish the sentence and thinking how appalling it would be having to see Abernathy knowing he'd killed your relative.

"Oh, no. Nothing that terrible. They were allies in the arena, but when they made it to the final five, my aunt called the alliance off, walked away and straight into a pack of mutated birds with razor-sharp beaks that killed her. She died in Haymitch's arms," she said sadly. "My mother was never the same again. She developed the crippling headaches that she now suffers from, and as she gets older, they get worse. But sometimes I see flashes of that girl she must have been before. Dad will tell me stories about the mischief she'd get up to with Maysilee and when she feels okay, my mom will tell me about her dates with dad. But the Games ripped her apart and she never recovered."

Gale had prepared himself for Katniss dying. He had told himself that he would never see her again, especially after he saw the tribute from District 2. He hadn't wanted to hope because hope would have broken him if she had died in that arena. He'd also wanted to be prepared for whatever help he needed to give Prim, because he knew that Ivy Everdeen wouldn't be able to provide it. So he had focused on that and had not been prepared for what would happen if Katniss actually came home.

"Is that why I've never met her?" he asked.

"Yeah, she doesn't come down very much anymore. I told her about you, though."

He wrinkled his nose in embarrassment. "Bet that went well. 'By the way, Ma, there's this boy I have to pretend to love so he doesn't get killed. He's a real jerk, though, and keeps saying mean stuff to me because he's an idiot.'"

He was gratified to hear her laugh at that – a genuine sound of amusement that lit up her eyes and brought her dimples out.

"Even if I had told her this was pretend, I wouldn't have said that."

"Why not? It's true!"

"You're only an ass half the time. The other half you're actually pretty decent," she said teasingly.

"So what did you tell her?"

"That I met this guy and he's pretty great. He might not seem it at first but he's patient, kind, and cares about his family and friends. He's capable, smart and has so much passion that it could power the whole district."

Her words warmed him in a way he didn't want to analyse. He was used to being called stubborn and pig-headed and he knew that he was both of those things, too. Of course, his family and Katniss appreciated him, but to hear Madge say nice things about him was an entirely new experience and a welcome one. He wondered just when he had started caring what Madge thought about him and he found that he couldn't pinpoint a moment. Maybe it was because she'd stepped in to help Katniss and himself when she really didn't need to, or when she'd called him on his dumb plans and hasty words. No, it was probably when he had seen her in his home, fitting in so seamlessly with his family; helping Hazelle out around the house, or sitting with Rory and Vick whilst they wrestled with a complicated piece of homework that he certainly couldn't help them with. Or maybe it was her infinite patience with Posy, who was always surrounded by so many males that she had enthusiastically welcomed a regular female addition to the house.

He squeezed Madge's hand, unable to express any of his conflicting emotions into words and she gave him a shy smile.

"C'mon," he said, pulling her up and keeping hold of her hand. "I have something I want to show you. It's not much in winter but I thought while you're out here you may as well see it."

Madge looked up at him, interest in her eyes. "Oh, what is it?"

"Your strawberry bush," he said.

She laughed and he suddenly wondered if it was a stupid idea. He didn't even know when he'd started thinking about it as her bush. He knew it was the Mayor who had the taste for strawberries, but because it was usually Madge who opened the door for them when they traded, he'd come to think of it as hers.

"Has Katniss already shown you?" he asked.

She rolled her eyes a little. "I love Katniss, but I doubt she'd think to take me there."

Gale made a noise of agreement. "But you do want to see it? I mean, I'm not being weird in thinking you would, right?"

It was her turn to squeeze his hand reassuringly. "No, I would like to see it. It's strange to think that there is something out here that is perceived to be mine."

He shrugged, a little embarrassed. "No one else really pays for fresh berries," he said in way of an explanation and then wished he'd kept his mouth shut as some of the brightness in her face dimmed in disappointment.

"Oh, of course," she murmured.