Disclaimer: I'm just playing with Suzanne Collins' characters and her world. They're hers. Not mine.
The Date: A Second Attempt
I'm putting the approximate time of each chapter on the college and high school au to see if that helps cut down on the confusion from them being out of order. Let me know if it helps.
Fall, Freshman Year
Gale is almost afraid to pick Madge up for their second official date.
After the disaster that had been their first one, which had abruptly ended with Madge regurgitating most of her dinner and then some in the sushi shop's bathroom, he desperately wants this date to go better.
She's at work, the little coffee shop he'd taken her to at the beginning of the semester, and she'd asked off early so they could make it to his reservations at the City Circle. Gale had checked the menu, twice, to make sure there were things Madge's apparently delicate constitution could digest. He'd gotten them a balcony table on the deck level, which supposedly had an amazing view of the city.
The little bell jiggles over the door when he walks in, inhales the soul warming aroma of freshly brewed coffee.
"Well don't you look like you just fell out off the cover of GQ."
"Dorothy, your peach fuzz looks a little darker today."
Great.Katy-Jo Lewes and Birdy Alameda, the demon baristas of campus corner.
He should've brought Peeta to distract them. They practically fawn over him, it drives Katniss crazy.
Rather than feed into their sniping Gale stuffs his hands into his pockets and slouches over to his favorite table, in the far corner, a healthy distance from the two dingbats.
He catches a glimpse of Madge, hair pulled back in a loose bun and a few coffee stains on her little apron. She's preparing a couple of large mugs of coffee, adding shots of something or another to them, before putting them on the little tray and sliding them across the counter to the pair of girls in front of her.
She comes out from behind the counter, carrying a plate of something, a muffin of some sort, to a table, and sends a quick grin Gale's way, mouthing the words 'Give me a minute'.
Straightening up, he hadn't realized how much he'd been slouching over the little table, Gale smiles back. His heart speeds up. This date has to go better than the last. If they can't even get through something as simple as a date what is that going to say about their relationship?
While his stomach is rolling with anxiety, he fails to notice the pair of figures swooping down on him.
"Not gonna give our little Magdalene food poisoning again, are you Lil'D?" Alameda flashes him a wicked smile.
Gale rests his chin in his hand, elbow to table, studiously ignoring them, and hopes they take the hint and leave. He isn't that lucky.
The seat across from him makes a screeching noise as someone pulls it out, plops down at the table with him. Glancing over, he finds Katy-Jo Lewes, arms and legs crossed, staring him down. "We have come to determine your intentions with our sweet Madgie."
He intends to take her to a nice dinner and not end the night in the minor emergency. He intends to drive her home and get a goodnight kiss, and if that escalates to something more then so be it.
He intends to show Madge that he's good enough for her, even if she insists that he has nothing to prove.
"What are you two doing?"
Madge appears just as Gale is about to tell the human parasites to take their concern and stuff it. She's changed her clothes, is in an expensive looking dress and a pair of heels. She gives the pair a small smile, "Be nice."
"We're just looking out for you, hon." Katy-Jo Lewes golden eyes flicker away from Gale, smiling at Madge, "He's a real scoundrel, this one."
She might be teasing him, Gale isn't certain. Madge seems to think so, though, because she snorts, rolls her eyes, "Right. Thanks."
Before they can say anything, annoy him more, Gale gets up and heads to the door, hoping Madge will quickly follow.
She lags for a minute, the two idiots are whispering conspiratorially with her, before she laughs, waves to them as she follows Gale's path to the door.
"What'd they say?" He asks, shooting the grinning and waving girls his filthiest look as the door drops closed.
"Birdy was offering to shank you if you get too handsy. I told her you would were a perfect gentleman on our last date and I think you will handle yourself just fine on the second."
#######
Madge looks a little pale in the street light outside the City Circle. She chews her lip.
"It's pretty swank."
Gale wonders if it's as 'swank' as the places she's used to.
She pulls her sweater closer to her, shivers a little. Gale reaches over, wraps an arm around her shoulder, she's like ice.
"Damn," he mutters. "Why didn't you wear something warmer?"
Her mouth turns down and she shoots him a look from under her lashes.
"I figured if you were taking me to a fancy restaurant I'd better dress nicely."
While he appreciates the gesture, appreciates the view even more, surely she had a nice dress that wouldn't turn her into a human popsicle. Women's fashion, though, isn't his area of expertise, so he just grunts, begins pulling her toward the doors.
There's a man at a lectern, pointedly ignoring them when they walk in. Gale clears his throat, he isn't about to let this guy ruin his night.
"Table for 'Hawthorne'," Gale tells him firmly, trying to sound like he isn't intimidated by the low lighting and intricate patterns on the wall.
The man looks down at his book, scans it, probably not expecting to find anything even remotely like 'Hawthorne' on the list. His eyebrows arch up in surprise, though, when he clearly does.
He looks up, obviously annoyed that he's going to have to seat a pair of kids, before waving his hand to the arched door behind him, "Follow me."
Gale feels Madge's cool hand wrap around his as they trail behind the old man.
They make a winding path between a few tables, skirt along the outskirts of the room before reaching the balcony. There are only a few other people on it, all older than Gale and Madge, all clearly well off if the jewelry on the woman to Gale's left is any indication.
Feeling a little self-conscious, Gale straightens his shirt, the jacket he'd paid way too much for, takes a deep breath before pulling the chair out for Madge. She sits, perfectly graceful, helps him scoot her up to the table, and flashes him a bright smile, trying to encourage him.
Swallowing down the anxiety bubbling up in his stomach, Gale takes his seat, accepts the wine list and menu, forces a terse smile for the man whose nose is still stuck in the air.
He's already picked his meal, during his scouting of the menu for Madge, but he gives the overpriced food a cursory look anyway before glancing up at Madge.
Her lower lip is between her teeth as her eyes move along the inside of the ornate menu. Gale can almost feel her anxiety, it's practically radiating off her. After a few seconds she seems to come to a decision, nods to herself, then sets the menu down.
"What are you getting?" Gale asks. She seemed way too nervous for his liking.
"Oh," she smiles. "The minestrone soup."
He squints at her, "Then what?"
Her smile falls, "That's all."
What?
She couldn't be serious. He'd called in favors to get a reservation at this stupid restaurant, done research about the menu, spent good money on a whole new outfit for the ordeal, there's no way he's going to let her put all his hard work to shame by only ordering an appetizer.
He watches her shift in her chair, clearly uncomfortable with the look he's giving her.
Madge keeps her eyes on the table, toys with the silverware, more utensils than have ever graced any place setting at the Hawthorne house, and Gale feels a sudden flare of annoyance.
Did she not want to order more because she didn't think he could afford it? He wouldn't have brought her to this stupid overpriced restaurant if he couldn't pay for her meal.
"I have money, you know?"
She looks up, a little confused at first, then her nose wrinkles up, "I know that, Gale."
"Well then," he reaches across the table and pushes her menu back towards her, "get an actual dinner."
Lower lip puckering, she ignores the menu, "I'm just not that hungry."
Bullshit.
It's a bit like arguing with Posy, he knows he's going to lose, but he's going to keep it up anyway. This may be the only time they get into a place this nice and he doesn't want her worry about his finances to ruin the night.
He picks up the menu and finds the pasta, she likes pasta.
"What about the lasagna?"
Lip back between her teeth, she nods, "Yeah, that sounds good."
Annoyed with her lack of faith in his finances, Gale shuts the menu, sits back in his chair and takes in the surroundings.
There are tiny white lights laced through the canopy above their heads. Wisteria vines, dangling purple flowers hang in icicles down around the edges of the balcony, their scent drifts in the wind around them.
Beyond the edge, just as promised, is a breathtaking view of the city. Parts of the university are lit on the horizon, glowing in the distance. Soft and harsh lights burn in the distance, demarking the downtown and the outskirts, where the majority of the residents lived. If he squints, looks hard enough, he's pretty sure he can find his front porch…
He's pulled from his observations by the waiter coming back, standing snootily beside him.
"Have you and the lady made your selections?"
Gale nods, caught a little off guard by his arrival. "Yeah, uh, I'll start with the calamari then the prime rib," he swallows, flicks his eyes to Madge to make sure she wants him to order for her. She gives him a tight smile, so he continues, "And she'll have the minestrone soup and lasagna."
He's pretty sure he stuttered every other word, but the waiter is less hostile than the man that had seated them, smiles tells him 'Excellent choices, sir' and bustles off.
"We made such weird combos," Madge snorts, some of the anxiety gone from her demeanor.
Not really understanding what she's talking about, Gale picks up the wine list, it might be a good idea to get something even if Madge won't touch it. One glass won't break him.
He glances back at Madge, she's sitting a little stiffly again, staring out at the city like he had been doing only minutes before.
"What's the matter with you?" He finally asks. She's being too closed off, they'd been making such good progress. Tonight was supposed to be his chance to prove to her that he could make it in the world she'd grown up in, the world of snooty men, too much silverware, overpriced foods and uncomfortable shoes.
Madge's mouth turns up, just barely, doesn't reach her eyes.
"I-I don't know," she makes a face at one of the many little forks. "I just feel so out of place."
She feels out of place? How does she think he feels?
"You went to these kind of places with your parents all the time," Gale points out. She should be used to this fancy crap.
"Yeah," she slumps a little, "I felt out of place then too." A little sigh escapes her lips, "Everything was always so fake. Everyone was out for something, trying to prove something. You never knew if someone was really being nice or if they were trying to get an edge." Her shoulders droop a little more, "And then there was the gossip. My mother…she wasn't exactly a social darling, and you can't even imagine all the things people said about her. Some of it was true, but…I was right there! They whispered about all the horrible things going on in my life like I couldn't even hear it and all I could do was smile and pretend it didn't hurt." She takes a deep breath, "Being here just kind of brings it all back."
That hadn't been his intention at all. If he'd have known all that…
"I'm sorry," he feels his own shoulders droop a little. "I just wanted to take you somewhere nice. Somewhere like you were used to and wouldn't make you sick."
Of course his best intentions brought out bad memories. Just his luck.
"Gale, I keep telling you, I don't need fancy dates. There's a reason I live with Katniss, why I went and got a job, why I don't like going to functions with my dad." She reaches across the table and takes Gale's hand, "Just because I was born into that life doesn't mean it's the life I want to live. I like you. I loved our first date, even if I ended up looking like a banshee."
Gale nearly chokes on his laughter. She hadn't looked even remotely like a banshee.
Madge's smile brightens, "I don't want to waste money on fancy food. All I want is to spend time with you, get to know the real you and let you get to know the me you haven't really met yet. If you want to eat here, that's fine, I'll eat here, but I'd be just as happy with a snowcone and a Happy Meal."
He is not buying her a Happy Meal. She and Peeta have a collection of toys from the stupid things and he won't be adding to it.
This place is a waste of money though. Gale is pretty sure he can make a steak better than whoever is in the kitchen and he isn't all that fond of calamari.
"No Happy Meal." She never needs to eat a child meal again. "But maybe we can go get that snowcone."
#######
They both pretend to go to the bathroom before bolting from the restaurant. Gale's pretty sure he'll never get reservations again, but he honestly doesn't care.
Madge gets a strawberry shortcake snowcone and he gets one dubiously named 'The Caped Crusader', some kind of mix the stand owner had created himself.
"It tastes like insanity," he warned Gale.
He takes a bite as he and Madge sit in the motel chairs on the slab in his backyard.
"Mmmm, so this is what insanity tastes like." A bit like grape and cinnamon. He flashes Madge a toothy, purple smile. "Wonder why they didn't name it after one of the bad guys?"
"Because," Madge tells him, "Batman is deeply troubled, probably just as troubled as the villains he fights. I mean, the guy does dress up as a giant bat."
Good point.
"You read a lot of Batman?" That…wouldn't surprise him actually.
She shakes her head, licks some of the red juice from her lips, "I read a lot of Wikipedia."
"Of course you do."
She grins, "The universes around Batman and, I don't know, all the characters in the DC and Marvel Universes are very complex. I was just reading something one day and stumbled across something, and one thing led to another, and bam! It was two in the morning and I was learning about multiverses and timelines…" Her feet, free from the heels she'd forced them into for the date, curl up under her in the chair. She pulls the old blanket Gale had given her closer around her shoulders, "It's all really interesting. Makes you think about all the possible worlds we could exist in."
Gale briefly wonders about all the versions of him that could exist, wonders if any of them were brave enough to ask Madge out earlier than he had.
That's stupid.
He shakes the thought away. All there is, as far as he's concerned, is the here and now. Thinking about multiple timelines and different versions of his life makes his head hurt.
Taking a scoop of his snowcone, he flings it at her, hitting her in the knee. He grins, "Maybe in another timeline you avoided that."
Rolling her eyes, she takes another bite of her snowcone, "I don't think you're really understanding the concept."
She goes off on a tangent, explaining away the various worlds that could have or can exist, mentioning all kinds of wild possible lives for them. Her hands move wildly and her eyes flicker with excitement as she tells Gale about some show she had been watching, something about red and blue universes and 'Observers'.
"You are such a weirdo," he tells her, laughing as she's explaining about a cow named 'Gene'.
"Well youasked me out," she tells him loftily. "So I think you'll just have to put up with me for a few more dates before you can dump me."
He has absolutely no plans to dump her. Unless she turns into an ogre at midnight, which he will easily be able to tell in about another half hour, he isn't leaving her. Even if she turns into an ogre he really doesn't think he'd want to lose her. Getting the courage to ask her out had taken him too long. He isn't about to lose her over her apparent knowledge of something as weird as timelines and sci-fi shows.
"A few more dates, huh?" Gale runs a hand over his chin in mock-consideration, "Did you read that in the 'social skills' article on Wikipedia?"
"…maybe," Madge's strawberry red lips turn up.
He flings another spoon of snowcone at her.
Their date hadn't exactly gone as he'd so carefully planned, but it had gone infinitely better than the last, and for that he's grateful. They got through their second date with Madge smiling, and Gale is pretty sure that bodes well for their relationship.
