When Katniss finally did wake back up, it was Rue who helped her out. They formed an alliance and worked well together. Rue gave Katniss something for the tracker jacker stings and Katniss helped Rues with her burns. She never said it out loud, but I could tell from the way she talked to Rue, with gentleness and patience, that she reminded her of Prim. I had to laugh though because I could almost hear Gale's voice probably saying something along the lines of, "leave it up to Katniss to form an alliance with the 12 year old."
Gale. At the thought of him, I smiled. Gale with his flirty jokes and hands that reach out and tuck hair behind ears and his warm smile. Since the night with my dad, we had tried to avoid spending time near or in my house. He wasn't mad. He was a gentle man, my father. He was just being a concerned parent, looking out for his daughter. Of course, he had found many ways to bring up Gale in conversation.
"So, you and Gale, huh?" He had said the previous night at dinner.
I had sighed. "He's my friend, dad."
My father nodded his head slowly and pressed his lips together tightly. "I know but you were playing for him. I thought you were nervous about others hearing you play."
That was true. I was nervous about others hearing me play. But when Gale asked, I couldn't find it in me to say no. I didn't want him to think I was too scared to play in front of him. And once my fingers hit the keys, I realized that playing in front of Gale was so easy. I wasn't even nervous anymore with him by my side. I even racked up the courage to start singing. Something that never happened. I was just so lost in the music and the boy that it felt right to sing. And so I did.
I had shrugged my shoulders. "It wasn't as terrifying as I have previously thought playing for others would be."
My father only eyed me curiously, trying to figure me out. Trying to figure Gale and I out. I wanted to let him know that he wasn't alone, that I was trying to figure "Gale and I" out as well.
The sound on the TV pulled be back to the present. Katniss and Rue were nestled up in a tree, discussing the careers. When Katniss asked about Peeta, she told her that he was no longer with the careers. It was then that the camera cut to Peeta. He was lying in the mud, completely camouflaged. Bloody and dying. Slowly, painfully, dreadfully.
I had to turn off the TV. I wanted Katniss to win, yes. I believed in the very depths of my soul that she would win but... Peeta. He didn't deserve to die. He was sweet, gentle, kind. Everything he did in the arena, he did to save Katniss. It made me stop and wonder for a moment what I would do if Gale and I were in the arena together. I told myself to remember the thought and bring it up next time I saw him.
Just then, there was a knock on my door. I stood up and before I even had time to wish that it would be Gale, the door swung open on its own and there he was, leaning against the frame with another basket of strawberries.
I laughed. "You just gave me some strawberries not too long ago."
He shrugged. "Make a pie." He held out the basket and I took it, not before throwing him a playful glare, however.
And because his timing was perfect, my father came down the stairs. He stole a glance between Gale and I and then sighed. "Hello, Gale." He said tiredly.
Gale smiled and waved over at him. "Hello, Sir. I brought you some strawberries."
"You don't say." He replied, slightly sarcastically.
I threw a sharp glance at my father who only smiled at me uncomfortably. There was an awkward silence in the air that I was finding far too uncomfortable for my liking. I clapped my hands together once loudly.
"Okay, so how much do I owe you, Gale?" I sounded so polite, so strict, so distant.
Gale was hiding a smirk. "Well, Madge," He mimicked my polite tone, "Three or four coins."
"Four it is." I said as I grabbed some money out of my pocket. I handed it off to Gale who took it and shoved it into his own pocket.
"Well, you two have a nice day." Gale said quickly.
"Bye!" I exclaimed as I hurriedly shut the door, practically on his face.
When I turned around, my father was indeed staring at me like I belonged in an asylum. Perhaps I did. I licked my lips. Then, I remembered Gale telling me I licked them a lot, especially when I was nervous.
Then I wanted to kick myself because I couldn't seem to ever get him off my mind anymore.
"Madge, are you sure there's nothing going on? You can tell me." My father said.
I laughed nervously. "Of course not! He's my friend, dad. And his best friend is in the games and really he needs someone to talk to."
"Just... be careful." He warned.
I didn't know what that meant. Be careful? Of what? Gale? I had already accepted the fact that Gale loved Katniss. I knew he did. I knew he didn't care for me in the way I cared for him. I was being careful. I was already well aware of my inevitable heartbreak. I wasn't living in some fantasy world where I believed Gale would fall in love with me and forget about Katniss and we would get this perfect ending. I knew exactly what would happen when Katniss got home. Gale would forget about me and go back to Katniss's side. I knew.
I didn't care though. Because the time I got to spend with Gale now was worth any amount of pain in the future.
The following morning, we were let out of school early on behalf of an exciting day in the games. Katniss and Rue were well on their way to destroying the careers food source. As I was leaving the school building, Prim raced up to my side.
"Madge! You have to watch the games with me!"
I smiled and threw my arm around her tiny shoulders. "Of course I will. I wouldn't miss today's games for the world."
She beamed up at me. "Katniss is going to destroy it, isn't she?"
I nodded. "Yeah, she is."
As we walked, Rory and Vick joined us, followed by Gale. Rory chatted with me excitedly about what he thought would happen when Katniss finally destroyed the food, complete with sound noises and hand motions. I laughed at his animation and then caught Gale smiling at me. I smiled back and wondered briefly if he knew the extent of his effect on me.
Once again, our interaction did not go unnoticed by little Prim. She bit her lip to hide the smirk that was playing on the edges of her mouth when she noticed our prolonged glance. I nudged her shoulder and gave her a stern look, to which she busted out into a fit of giggles. We decided to go into the Hawthorne's, since their house was bigger than the Everdeen's. When we reached their house, we all piled inside and sat around the TV. To my surprise, Gale voluntarily sat to my right and Prim sat to my left. When we tuned in, Katniss was just observing the food, trying to figure out why it was left unguarded so easily.
The announcers were saying something about land mines and I watched Gale squint at TV, figuring something out.
"What?" I asked.
"Did you know they rigged up their supplies with bombs?"
I whipped my head towards him and then back to the TV quickly. "How did they do that?"
He shrugged, like it was obvious. "By using the plates from the beginning of the games. They dug them up and rewired them somehow. Genius."
Prim gripped my arm. "But then how can she blow them up without hurting herself?"
Gale laughed and said, "Because she's Katniss and she's capable of anything."
For some reason, the statement settled in my stomach in a sour way. The way he had said it with a little laugh, like it was almost humorous how perfect Katniss was. How she was strong and brave and capable of anything. It was all a dreadful reminder that I didn't measure up.
When the girl that I had heard Katniss call Foxface popped out from behind some trees, she hopped from foot to foot across the land near the food and supplies. She obviously knew exactly where the bombs were and what would set them off. She took a little bit of everything, not enough for anyone to notice the difference. And then she was gone.
"Smart Girl." I mumbled.
"Yeah, but Katniss is smart too." Gale said back. I looked at him curiously. Since when was he the poster child for optimism? Better yet, why were his encouraging comments about Katniss making me so frustrated? He caught me staring at him. "Uh... what?" He asked.
I shrugged and brought my focus back to the TV. "Nothing. You just seem pretty confident in Katniss today. That's new."
He smiled and put his hand on my knee before giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Well, you bring out the best in me, Madge." He turned his eyes back to the TV as well and his hand slipped away.
You bring out the best in me, Madge.
You bring out the best in me, Madge.
You bring out the be-
"She's ganna use her arrows! To shoot down the apples!" Rory screamed, breaking me out of my trance.
I blinked a couple times, bringing my focus back. Three arrows. That was all it took for Katniss to send the bag of apples down. As they rolled against the ground, suddenly, the supplies flew through the air, igniting in flames. Katniss went flying backwards with them.
We all gasped and on accident, I grabbed Gale's hand. The second I realize that I had his hand in a death grip, I went to remove it. However, just as I did, his fingers laced through my own and he held on tight, his eyes fixed on the screen in front of him while mine were locked on him.
Slowly, I forced myself to pay attention. Katniss' life was on the line and I was too busy remembering how to breath because Gale was holding my stupid hand. We watched as Katniss finally stood back up, touched her bloody ear, and then began to slowly walk back to Rue.
Although something was wrong. And just as Katniss figured this out, the little girls scream rang through the forest. Gale's grip on my hand tighten and I soothingly rubbed my thumb over his own. Katniss was running, screaming Rue's name. When she reached her, caught in a net and crying, Marvel sent a dagger through her chest.
Katniss killed him with her arrow before he could even blink. She freed Rue from the net but knew from the wound that she wasn't going to make it. She held her hand and told her about she blew up every last bit of the supplies. She made Katniss promise that she would win. You have to win, she had said. And when Rue asked Katniss to sing for her, a lump found it's way to my throat.
You could hear a pin drop in the Hawthorne's house. Nobody spoke, every single pair of eyes were fixed on the screen. I couldn't help it when the tears began to spill down my cheeks without warning.
Katniss's voice was shaky and broken, but even still, it was beautiful.
Here it's safe, here it's warm
Here the daisies guard you from every harm
Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true
Here is the place where I love you.
As she finished the song, she was sobbing. Sobbing. I had never seen Katniss cry. It only made my own tears fall faster. As Katniss walked away, I thought it was over. Rue was dead and this was the end. But suddenly, she was grabbing flowers. Flowers? I thought, Why flowers? And then I had my answer.
She was laying them all around Rue, on top of her, in her hair. She was burying her in flowers. Beautiful, colorful flowers. A sob escaped me against my will. A 12 year old girl, Prim's age. Dead. Gone. Never coming back. And Katniss was making her beautiful on last time, Katniss was respecting her short life. All silly jealousy over her faded away. Because I wasn't jealous of her in that moment. I admired her. She was without a doubt my hero.
Katniss kissed her goodbye and then walked off, her tears still leaving stains on her cheek. Someone turned off the TV and nothing could be heard in the room except for the cries of me, Prim, and Posy.
I felt a strong arm come around my shoulder and a whisper tickled against my ear. "Let's get you home."
I wiped at my face and nodded, standing up and following Gale out the door. His hand found mine again as we walked and I tried not to read into it. He was just comforting me, after all. It had been a rough day. A terrible day. Another tear fell down my cheek as I spoke. "I can't even blame Marvel. He was just doing what they were told to do. Kill."
I kept my eyes fixed in front of me but I could tell Gale's were watching me now as I spoke.
"I blame them. I blame the capitol." I said with anger and bitterness, my words slipping past my gritted teeth.
Gale stopped us and turned to face me. He dropped my hand and instead placed both of his on my shoulders. He whispered to me as quietly as possible. "Not here, Madge. You can't say stuff like that here."
I yanked away from him. "I don't care, Gale! I don't care!"
"I do!" He snapped back. "Because you'll get yourself in a lot of trouble if someone hears you."
"Then take me... there. " I said through wet eyes.
He knew where I was talking about. He nodded and reached for my hand once more. I took it and he led us to the edge of the district and then safely into the woods. We didn't stop walking for a few miles. When we finally did stop and leaned against a tree, I remembered my thought from earlier. About what would happen if Gale and I were in the games.
"I don't think I could kill anyone. If I were in that games." I said. "I mean, I just justified Marvel killing Rue! I obviously see the good in people, even when there is no good. I don't think I could kill a single person."
Gale sighed. "You know I could."
I nodded because I did know this. "But you would feel bad after."
He shook his head. "I don't think I would, Madge. I think the arena would turn me into the monster that I already know I am."
I looked at him and whispered, "I don't think that's true at all. You're not a monster."
"Yeah, I am."
"The capitol makes them kill, Gale. If you were in there... you'd just be doing the best you could under the circumstances to come home."
He turned to me, his eyes finding mine with a new level of intensity I'd never seen before. "Not if you were in there with me. I'd be bending over backwards to keep you alive."
I blushed and turned away. "I could take care of myself in there."
"No, you couldn't. And that's why I'd need to do it for you."
"You make me sound so pathetic!" I said with a laugh.
He smirked and nudged me with his shoulder. "Not pathetic. I'm not saying you wouldn't do your best to stay alive, because I know you would. All I'm saying is... I'd never forgive myself if I let you die in there. Therefore, I'd always be trying to help you out."
"Why do you say things like that to me sometimes?" I asked.
"Things like what?"
I smiled. "Nice things. Things that are just genuinely nice."
He shrugged and closed his eyes, breathing in the woods air. "I don't know. As fun as you are to make angry, I also like to see you smile."
This seemed like an acceptable answer. I nodded my head and when he glanced at me with a smirk on his lips, I broke out into a fit of laughter. He laughed too and threw his arm around my shoulder, pulling me into him. I leaned my head against his shoulder, his strong arm around me, protecting me. I closed my eyes and eventually, I began to drift off to sleep.
And as sleep began to pull me under into the waves of unconsciousness, I could've sworn I felt Gale press his cool lips against my warm forehead, leaving me with a tingling sensation as my world fell away.
A/N: SO MUCH TOUCHING IN THIS CHAPTER. I love it :) I hope it feels natural for Gale to be acting the way he is towards Madge. I mean, it took him time but you can tell he really does care for Madge. PLEASE review and let me know what you think and I'll update again soon! Thanks!
