Disclaimer: I don't own anything Hunger Games or any other books/movies/ects mentioned.
It happened that Madge was forced to leave her apartment again the next time Gale and Peeta came to visit. Granted, she hadn't been a hermit the entire time. She'd just didn't like going out to places where a good amount of talking was required. She favored staying in and reading her books or going on bike rides and taking in nature.
It was about half a year later and Madge had noticed that Katniss had been up later at nights, chatting with someone. Unless Madge was completely blind, those chats were taking place online and she had a sneaking suspicion the person on the other end was Peeta. That's why when Katniss asked Madge to come out to dinner with the two men again she agreed. Madge wasn't a gossip, she just liked to know what was going on.
Dinner itself went fine. Gale seemed on much better behavior towards Madge, in fact it seemed like he was trying to be pleasant! She surreptitiously watched Katniss and Peeta but didn't notice them acting any differently from usual. After dinner however, Katniss suggested they go back to the girl's apartment and continue chatting.
Once they arrived, Madge started bustling around making coffee and tea and bringing out cookies while the others chatted in the living room. Once she brought everything out and sat down Katniss glanced at Peeta.
He nodded and she took a big breath. "I've decided to move to Seattle."
"What!" Gale and Madge exclaimed.
"Well I've been looking for a new job. In my current one I'm stuck in a dead end and don't have the level of leadership I'd like. I never really planned on staying here forever, so I widened my search area. I got this really great offer there, so I decided to take it." Katniss detailed, looking at Madge nervously.
Madge glared back at her. "You just decided to tell me now? I didn't even know you were looking for a job!"
She whipped around to look at Peeta. "This is your fault isn't it? Katniss' great offer better not be Mellark housewife."
Suddenly her glare dissolved into tears. She couldn't really tell since she immediately covered her face with her hands, but she was pretty sure everyone was staring at her, astonishment on their faces. She couldn't believe she'd started crying in front of everyone but now she couldn't stop. She squeaked, "I'm sorry," and got up and ran to the safety of her room, pulling the door closed behind her.
After a few minutes she felt her bed dip down next to her and found herself being pulled into a warm embrace. One hand slowly moved up and down her back and she heard a voice murmuring calming noises in her ear. As her sobs quieted to occasional sniffles, she pulled back to see her comforter.
Gale peered down at her, concern etched on his face. His steel eyes examined her face for signs of a relapse into tears. "You feeling better now?"
She nodded and sighed. "Thanks." She glanced at him, curious and embarrassed. "How did you become delegated to comfort the crazy girl? It seems like you're making rescuing me a trend."
He grinned, "Well, they decided that since I'm used to dealing with my little sister Posy when she gets upset that I might be the best suited. Also, Peeta's busy trying convincing Katniss she should still move and that he's not going to lock her in the kitchen with various meal making demands when she arrives." The grin left his face. "In all seriousness though, I figured that I could somewhat relate to how you feel. After all I was pretty upset when Katniss moved away for college. I'd always assumed we'd go to the same place but then she moved and met you and I heard about all the great times you two were having. I was pretty jealous of you before we met Madge. That's probably why I have a tendency to act like a jerk around you. It started off with me venting my anger that Katniss had moved away. Then I just didn't know how to act differently around you and you were already constantly on your guard. I just couldn't say and do the right things, something always got botched. So basically I'm suggesting you don't go 'Hawthorne' on Peeta just because he stole Katniss away."
"Hey," Madge leaned back into Gale's embrace and giving him a hug, "It's okay. I'm glad you're getting her back now and I forgive you for all those comments. I could have tried harder to be friendly with you, I'm just not the most sociable person. No worries on the Peeta front though, I think I'd have to train for years before I could get anywhere close to your brooding stare of displeasure."
"Well, I'd offer to teach you, but I don't want to inflict the result on the world. It may not survive my stare coupled with the aura of righteousness that you exude." Gale teased.
He gave her another squeeze then stood up, pulling her with him. "If you're feeling better, let's go give the two love birds a hard time for springing this on us so suddenly."
She smiled at him. This was a side of Gale Hawthorne she didn't think she'd ever seen before, a teasing and kind side. She liked it quite a bit. The realization then hit her that this was probably the last time she'd see him. With Katniss gone, they had no reason to meet up. She gripped his hand, not yet ready to lose contact with him. "Yes let's. I think we could make quite a team working together.