She lit up the room. She didn't say much but when she did talk, her voice filled the air with a gentle warmth that only Madge could bring. My mother was beside herself. You could tell she loved Madge. The way she kept smiling and laughing at her, asking her a million questions that always made Madge's stories last longer than she intended them to. I couldn't seem to take my eyes off of her face. The way her blue eyes sparkled over the candle in the middle of the table. The way she pressed her lips together whenever there was silence. The way she talked to Posy with such enthusiasm and wonder. I just couldn't look away.

After we finished dinner, Posy persuaded Madge into playing a game with her. And then Madge persuaded me into joining them. Posy ran into her room and returned with a rope. She led us outside and gave one end of it to Madge and the other end to me. She stood in the middle as we twirled it around. She kept tripping over the rope and I couldn't help but laugh. Posy glared at me and said, "You do it then, Gale!"

I shrugged and handed her the end of my rope and stood in the middle. Madge smiled at me playfully as her and Posy began to twirl it. I tried to jump at the right time but ended tripping on it as well. I fell to the ground and Posy and Madge bursted out in laughter. I cursed quietly and stood up, glaring at Madge.

"Your turn." I snapped, yanking the rope from her. She rolled her eyes and was still laughing as she walked to the middle of the rope. As I twirled it around, she jumped on cue and then jumped again when the rope came back around. She jumped and jumped and didn't miss a single step. This went of for a few minutes before I stopped spinning the rope.

She was out of breath and had her hand on her waist as she breathed heavily. "Piece of cake."

Posy stared at Madge just like she a superhero of some kind. "You have to teach me how to jump rope!" She begged.

Madge laughed. "I will some other time. I promise! Alright?"

Posy nodded her head. "Alright!"

I lifted her tiny body off of the ground and into my arms. "Time for bed, little one."

Posy squealed in my arms and cried out, "I want you to tuck me in tonight! You and Madge!"

I laughed and turned to Madge who was beaming at my little sister. I gave her a shrug and Madge nodded her head, signaling she would do it with me.

I carried her to her room and then set her down on the bed. She crawled under the covers quickly and looked at Madge and I expectantly. "Gale you do the right side and Madge can do the left!"

Madge brushed past me to get to the other side of bed. We both tucked in our appropriate sides around her tiny frame and then I leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Now sleep, Posy."

Posy smiled. "Okay. I will. G'night."

"Night." Me and Madge said simultaneously.

As we walked back out of her room, I noticed the sun was setting outside. It would be dark soon. "I should get you home." I said to Madge.

"Alright."

We walked in a comfortable silence through the seam. The weather was perfect. It was warm with a gentle breeze that kept the air from feeling too stuffy. I liked to watch Madge's hair lift off her shoulders and brush past her face whenever the breeze blew. It was a beautiful sight.

When we reached her front door, she placed her hand on the knob but then turned around to face me. "Would you like to come in?"

"Yeah, sure." I said shrugging my shoulders.

When we walked inside, I noticed the piano was scattered with sheet music across the bench. "Were you playing earlier?" I asked.

She looked confused by my question but then noticed my eyes on the piano. "Oh! No, my father was."

That surprised me. "He still plays a lot?"

"Yeah, whenever he gets a free few moments."

Then, without warning, the words were floating past my lips. "Will you play something for me?"

She looked completely startled and caught off guard, her mouth shaped into a perfect, little 'O'.

"Come on. It's just me." I added.

She licked her lips and then clapped her hands together. "If you insist."

She sat down and cleared the sheet music from the chair. She moved over on the piano bench and looked up at me. "You can sit too, Gale."

So I did. I sat down next to her on the small bench and our shoulders were touching, the warmth that radiated off of Madge now touching my arm. And I had never noticed it before but Madge smelled like... like vanilla. And when she placed her fingers on the keys and began to play, I watched her face instead of her quickly moving hands. She bit her lip as she played. Her teeth clutching the edge of her lower lip so tightly, I wondered why she wasn't bleeding.

And then she was singing. She was singing while she played. Her voice wasn't like Katniss's. It wouldn't stop the birds or turn a million heads but it was pretty. Gentle. Quiet. Soothing. I stared at her as she sang, afraid to take my eyes off of her for even a moment. She was so beautiful. As I focused in on her lips again, I found myself paying attention to the words of the song.

You, my darling, are my sunshine on a rainy day

You, my love, are true north when I lose my way

You, my sweetheart, are a blanket on a cold winter night

You, my baby, are my laughter when nothings alright

A piece of hair fell in front of her face and blocked my view. Just because I wanted to, I reached out and tucked it behind her ear. Madge didn't stop singing, but her eyes floated over to my own. She didn't just belong to the sunlight, she was the sunlight. Everything she said and did, everything she stood for. Even her singing. Why I had spent so long hating her? I could've spent the time listening to her play the piano and sing, I could've spent the time swimming with her lakes and walking her home at night. I could've spent the time falling in love with her smile, her hair, her damn eyes.

The song ended and her hands stayed on the keys, letting the sound of the notes linger in the air a moment longer. With her eyes still fixed on mine and our faces an inch apart, leaning my head down to kiss her would've been so easy, so simple. But even at the thought of kissing her, Katniss came to my mind. Katniss wasn't my girlfriend. Why the hell would I care if I kissed Madge then?

Because I promised myself I would do more to get her home and again, I was almost kissing Madge. But even if I wasn't going to kiss those perfect lips, I didn't want the moment to end. "Beautiful." I said quietly, my voice just barely above a whisper.

"What is?" She asked.

You.

"The song. Your.. your voice. Everything, Madge."

She licked her lips and looked towards the ground for a moment, trying to hide her blush, and then back up at me. "My mother used to sing that song to me when I was little while my father played it. It was my lullaby."

"How is she?" It was common knowledge that the mayor's wife had horrible headaches that kept her too sick to leave bed for years.

Madge shrugged. "Same as always." She tried to sound nonchalant about it, but I wasn't buying it.

"It will get easier." As soon as I said the words, I wondered why they sounded so familiar. As if they were directly connected to Madge somehow. Then it hit me.

And suddenly, I wasn't sitting at the piano anymore. But I was five years in the past, in the Justice building getting my medal after my father's death. I was only 13 at the time but I still remembered it like it was yesterday. Madge Undersee who was only 11, walked over to me with her hair tied back into a tight bun and wearing light pink dress that reached her knees.

"It will get easier." Was all she said. She whispered that to me before turning on her heel and scurrying away. I had barely even enough time to register that she was talking to me before she had ran off.

I pulled myself back to reality and said, "You said those same words to me once. After my father died."

Her lips turned up into a small smile. "I remember, Gale."

Of course she does. "I didn't know what to make of you then."

She laughed and I couldn't help but smile at the way her face lit up. "You still don't, Gale."

"Maybe not, but I am slowly figuring you out, Madge Undersee."

She placed her hands in her lap. "Oh, really? This ought to be good. Tell me what you got."

I laughed. "Alright. Here's what I've gathered so far." I thought for a moment, choosing my words with precision. "You lick your lips a lot. Especially when you're nervous. Oh, and you try to pretend to never be nervous because you're afraid to ever appear as anything less than confident but your mask fails you often. And that's alright, because I like it better when I see that even the mayor's daughter isn't always perfect."

She smiled at this. And so I continued.

"You're excellent with children, you're too polite for your own good but you never let people walk over you. You speak your mind. Even when you're angry, you don't say things you don't mean and you still find a way to remain composed. You don't like to admit it when you're sad or upset, which I can relate to. Oh, and you don't give a damn about what anyone thinks of you."

She couldn't hide the grin that had taken over her face. "Well, you're not entirely correct. I do care what some people think of me."

The way she said the word some left me with the indication that she meant me. I wanted to tell her that some people thought very highly of her, thought she was adorable. But then I knew this would lead to the perfect moment to kiss and I was trying my best to avoid that, no matter how alluring her lips were.

So, instead, I stood up to create some distance between us. Then I said, "No need to worry about that."

"Why ever not?" She asked, putting on a fake capitol accent.

I smirked. "Because everybody likes you, Madge."

She swallowed and glanced up at me with nervous eyes. Her voice had returned to normal. "Everybody?"

"Everybody."

She looked as if she was going to say something else, she even opened her mouth to do so. But then, her eyes fell to someone behind me and she stood up quickly, flustered. I whipped around as well and stood face to face with the mayor himself.

He stared at me with narrowed eyes. He didn't look mad, though. Just very curious as to why I was standing in his living room. "Hello, Gale."

"Hello, sir." I said quickly. I held out my hand and he shook it hesitantly.

"Gale walked me home and then I invited him in." Madge stepped forward and stood beside me but left plenty of room between us.

He nodded. "Well... that's fine, I suppose. Just let me know next time you have a guest over, Madge."

"Sorry. I knew you were probably busy working in your office and didn't want to interrupt." She gave him an adorable smile and it seemed to ease him a little.

"Well, regardless, it's getting late." The mayor said sternly.

"Yes, of course. I was just leaving." I said before shrugging my shoulders, trying to play everything off as casual, nonchalant.

"Alright. Good night, Gale. Madge, I expect you upstairs in a few minutes."

"Alright. I'll be up there!" She said sweetly.

"Good night, sir." I added before he turned around and walked away, glancing over his shoulder every few feet in suspicion.

When he was gone, Madge and I turned to each other and started laughing.

"You've got that sweet, innocent daughter thing down good, huh?" I teased.

She shrugged her shoulders. "I'm his only child and therefore, I am his biggest weakness."

"Well, whatever you do to get out of trouble, keep doing it. It works. I really should get home, though."

She nodded and walked me to the front door. We faced each other again. She looked up at me and as she said the words "Goodnight, Gale," her arms wrapped around me, engulfing me in a hug. I was too surprised at first to do anything. But then, my arms wrapped around her shoulders with ease, like I had done the day she was crying. Her head gently nestled into my chest, right at my heart, and I instinctively leaned down and placed my chin on the top of head. When she pulled back after a long moment, she gave me a warm grin.

Just as I began to walk away, I remembered something and turned back around, one foot already out the door. "Wait."

She placed her arms over her chest. "Hm?"

I took a step back inside so I was back in the room completely. "I told you what I make of you. But you never told me what you make of me."

She rolled her eyes. "Because you're a mystery to me, remember?"

"But you've got to have some of me figured out."

She laughed and tucked a stray hair behind her ear, like I had done for her earlier. "I'll tell you some other time. When I've perfected you."

"I'm going to hold you to that, you know."

She nodded her head. "I know. And I wouldn't have it any other way."

I finally did walk away then. And as I walked home alone in the dark, visions of her singing and playing the piano refused to leave me. How could someone be so complicated? How could the same girl with this explicable fire inside her also have a gentleness that carried itself with her? How could she be so breathtaking to look at and so riveting to listen to? She was stunning in every single way possible. All of this confused me, frustrated me. What was Madge to me anymore? Was she still just a girl I respected? Of course not. She was so much more than that.

But how much more?

Did I like her? I wasn't sure. I mean, I didn't, did I? I loved Katniss and that hadn't changed. But like I said, she wasn't my girlfriend. I could flirt with other girls. Somehow, deep inside my chest, I knew what Madge and I were doing was certainly more than harmless flirting, though. She was pulling me apart, piece by piece. She was finding her way with me, figuring me out in a way that nobody else had ever taken the time to do, besides Katniss. She was breaking me down. And I didn't even mind. As far as I was concerned, Madge Undersee could break me down as much as she wanted because even if it left me with nothing but hundreds of questions and thousands of frustrations, she would still be the same; a beautiful, terrifying, mess.

A/N: I told you things were getting interesting! It's hard to write Gale's feelings for Madge because I don't think he really understands himself. He loves Katniss and cares so deeply for her. Anyways, I bet some of you were expecting a kiss, right? El Oh El.. I like to tease you all to death instead. Don't give up on me yet, though because you'll wanna stick around for the rest of this story. Wink, wink. If you could all throw me a review, I would be oh so happy! Thanks!

P.S Hunger Games DVD comes out August 18th. And there's a DVD trailer out that emotionally tears me to pieces. 12 weeks and we get to watch the movie whenever we want. SIGH.