Chapter 12

(Madge POV)

I change into my dinner dress, a short black one that comes up high in the front and dips down low in the back. I'm hopeful that dinner will be fast so I can get to Gale sooner but with today having been the first day of the games it most likely will be a long, drawn out affair. I've just taken my seat at the table when Cynthel comes right at me.

"Madgie! You must tell me who that tasty dish was you were holding hands with at the viewing." She exclaims, taking the seat directly across from me.

"He's the boy I'm dating." I tell her. I'm partially excited to talk about him and partially uncomfortable.

"Oh now come on honey, let's have the details! Why haven't you brought him around before?" Another Capitol woman chimes in.

"We've only just begun dating, yesterday actually."

"Why Madge, I wasn't aware you had a new suitor. Who is he?" My father asks, having walked into the dining room right after the conversation began. He sounds almost delighted at the sound of me dating someone.

"Gale Hawthorne."

My fathers jaw tightens but only a little. "Gale Hawthorne?" He echos.

"Yes."

"He's certainly easy on the eyes!" Cynthel comments and the Capitol woman to her left nods in agreement.

"How did you meet?" The woman asks, leaning in across the table.

"Well, I've known him for several years through a mutual friend but it wasn't until recently when he came to my assistance with a problem that we ever really talked to one another."

"You should've brought him to dinner! Bring him tomorrow so we can all meet him!" Cynthel suggests.

"Yes, should join us for dinner tomorrow evening." My father agrees. I'm still struggling to get a read on how he feels about my dating a boy from the Seam. His voice sounds less delighted than it originally had but he is suggesting I bring him to dinner so maybe it's not a problem.

"I'll ask him, though he may not be available. He comes from a large family and therefore has a lot of responsibility." I say, not wanting to say he'll come for sure just in case he doesn't want to. I'm not sure this is the sort of thing Gale would come to. A fancy dinner with a houseful of Capitol citizens? No, he probably wouldn't come.

After that, dinner conversation moves on to the games and I don't have to answer anymore immediate questions about Gale. As I suspected, dinner lasts for an eternity. As our guests and my father move towards the parlor for after dinner drinks, I excuse myself and head for the kitchen so I can slip out the back. I should probably go change clothes before I leave but I really hate to keep Gale waiting any longer than he already has so I don't. I hurry down the steps and through the grass towards the meadow. He's still there. Sitting quietly, staring off towards the woods, chin resting on his knees.

"Hi, I wasn't sure if you'd still be out here." I tell him as I sit down next to him then add "I'm glad that you are."

"How was dinner?"

"Long. You were a topic of interest."

He turns a little and faces me. "Oh yeah? How so?"

"The Capitol women staying with us saw you and I holding hands at the viewing. Wanted to know all about you. I believe her exact words were Who was that tasty dish?" I laugh as I tell him about Cynthel's description of him.

His face scrunches up in disgust. "I'm a tasty dish?"

"They like how you look." I laugh, explaining it.

"Capitol people are so strange." He says as he shakes his head. "So what did your father think about it? About seeing us together?"

"I'm not exactly sure. I haven't spoken to him about you really. He did ask me to bring you to dinner tomorrow though."

"Dinner at your house? With your father and those Capitol women?"

"Yes, but it's alright if you don't want to come. I already told them you might not be available to come."

"Why'd you tell them that?" He asks and his voice is edged with annoyance.

"Just figured you wouldn't want to come is all. I don't like going and I live there."

He's quiet for a moment and I'm worried I've offended him. I honestly didn't think he'd be interested. "Gale, if you want to come to dinner, I'd love to bring you. I was just trying to keep from obligating you to attend."

"Did the other guys you date come to dinners?"

"Sometimes." I tell him. He still hasn't said if he actually wants to come or not but I feel like there's an awkwardness now between us that wasn't here last night.

"I'll come." He tells me quietly and sounding anything but excited about it. The awkwardness is almost palpable now. If I were just any ordinary girl, we wouldn't be like this right now. He wouldn't feel pressed into coming to a fancy dinner and I wouldn't feel as if I was making him do things he didn't want to do. This is where it'll be hard for us, the mixing of our worlds.

A breeze floats through the meadow and I shiver, pulling my legs up and hugging my arms around them. I definitely should've changed clothes. This barely there dress isn't doing much for me in the night air.

"You cold?" He asks, raising his chin off his knees.

"The breeze got me is all. I should've changed clothes but I didn't want to keep you waiting any longer than I already had. I'll be fine."

He gives me a soft, barely there smile. "I would've waited longer you know."

I feel the awkwardness from earlier start to melt away and I relax a little. "You may have waited but I didn't want to. I wanted to see you as soon as I could."

His smile grows bigger at my words and he leans forward to kiss me. It's a short kiss and it leaves me wanting more. When another small breeze comes through and I shiver again, he shakes his head. "Come here." He tells me as he moves so that I'm sitting between his legs, my back to his chest and he wraps his arms around me. His hands rub over my arms, warming them. "Better?" He asks.

Better? I'm wrapped up in his arms, leaning against his chest. Yes, I'd say this feels a million times better. "Much." I whisper, closing my eyes and drinking in the feeling of his hands against my arms.

(Gale POV)

When she shivers a second time, I move so that she can sit between my legs. It's only then that I notice the back of her dress is missing, cut clear down to her waist. No wonder she's cold, she's half naked. I wrap my arms around her and rub my hands over her arms, trying to warm them. "Better?" I ask, hoping it's helping.

"Much." She whispers as she leans her head forward and rests her cheek on my arms. When she does, her back is once again exposed and I can't help but stare at her. I may not be a fan of fancy stuff but she sure does look stunning in this dress. I lean forward, press my lips against the skin of her back once lightly and then rest my chin on her shoulder. She leans her head to the side, her eyes closed, and lets out a subtle sigh. It only makes me want to kiss her again. I turn my lips to her skin again, kissing along the curve of her neck and shoulder, her skin soft against my lips. I rest my chin on her shoulder and hug her a little tighter.

"Sorry if I was grumpy when you got here." I whisper. I was a little short with her about the dinner thing but it was only partly about that. My mood was already on the glum side because I miss Katniss so much and then when she'd mentioned that she'd made an excuse for me not to have to come to dinner, I'd been annoyed initially. I didn't need her to make excuses for me. If the guys she dated came over for Capitol dinners, I could do that too. I'd hate it, but I could do it.

"Sorry for making excuses for you not to come to dinner. I should've just invited you and let you decide." She offers in return.

"So this dinner, anything special I should know? It'll be my first time to share a meal with Capitol folks." I ask.

"Be prepared to be bored and be ready for the women to fawn all over you."

"I'm used to having women all over me." I tease with mock chauvinism.

She laughs. "I'm sure you are. And you're so humble too."

"I mean, I'm a real catch. You should probably have had me over for dinner months ago."

She laughs more and playfully shoves me away from her. "Gale Hawthorne!"

"Say it again." I tell her, loving to hear how my name sounds coming out of her mouth.

She pauses and then says it once more, softer this time and without the laughter. "Gale Hawthorne."

"I can't get enough of you, you know that? Even the smallest thing, like the sound of you saying my name, makes me happy."

She smiles and bites her lip a little. "I could say the same about you. Took me forever to fall asleep last night because I was so happy."

I reach over and pull her her to me again, wrapping my arms around her, planting my lips against her neck. "If you keep kissing me like that, I won't sleep at all tonight either." She warns in a breathy voice.

I trail my mouth up and along her jawline to her ear. She shifts in my arms, turning around to face me. Our lips find each others and she kisses me so eagerly, so wantonly that a sigh actually escapes my mouth this time.

"We should probably be getting you home." I tell her, even though her leaving is the last thing I want right now.

She frowns. "I think that's a terrible idea."

"Me too, but it's late and I don't wanna start out on the wrong foot with your father by keeping you out all hours of the night."

"Fine. But tomorrow night, after dinner, we pick this up where we left off." She says as she leans in and steals one more kiss.

"Deal." I tell her.

After walking her to her door and one more kiss goodnight, I head home but just before I make it to the Seam path, someone calls out to me.

"Mr. Hawthorne?"

I turn and find the Mayor. No one with him, no peacekeepers, just him. "Yes sir?"

"I'd like to have a word with you regarding my daughter. Do you have a moment?"

"You want to talk here?" I ask. It's so strange, him meeting me in the street rather than sending for me and having me come to his office.

"No, actually, I was heading to my office when I saw you walking this way. Let's take this to my office, shall we?"

I nod and follow him over to the Justice Hall. This place is always creepy but even more so at night. Alone, with the Mayor. In his office he gestures to one of the large chairs in front of his desk and I take a seat. Once he's seated in the chair behind the desk, he clears his throat and begins.

"My daughter tells me the two of you have begin dating, is this true?"

"Just yesterday actually." It's hard to tell where this is going. He has such a poker face that I can't tell if he's approving or disapproving of me dating her.

"And who's idea was it?"

"Who's idea? What do you mean?"

"Mr. Hawthorne, what I'd like to know is did you pursue my daughter or did she pursue you."

"Oh, well, neither really. Just sorta happened. I was sitting in the meadow and she walked by, stopped and talked to me for a while and we just sorta hit it off. So I asked her out the next night."

He nods and taps his fingers against the desk. "As daughter of the Mayor, Madge has a certain level of expectations set for her. She is always in the public eye and often in the Capitol eye. You are aware that by dating her, the same expectations will apply to you?"

"Expectations?" I have a feeling I won't like what he's about to say.

"When dating my daughter, you'll be expected to be a law abiding citizen. One who doesn't break rules or cause trouble. One who always shows the utmost support for our Capitol."

He means hunting outside the fence. I date her and I have to stop leaving the fence. I can't do that. It's how I feed my family. When I don't say anything, he speaks again.

"Now typically, my daughter would be expected to date a boy of, how shall we say it, of a proper means. Usually that requires an actual job in town. Do you work Mr. Hawthorne?" He asks. I don;t know why he's asking. He knows damn well that I don't.

"No. I can't start in the mines until I'm 18."

He snorts. "My daughter dating a mine worker? No, that just won't do. Not at all."

Anger is boiling up inside me and I have to bite my tongue to keep from saying something that will most likely get me in trouble.

"Now this of course poses quite the dilemma seeing as you are the very first young man my daughter has ever shown an interest in and you don't quite fit the bill of what is expected for her. However, she is my daughter and I'd like to see her happy therefore I've come up with a solution for our little dilemma."

"A solution?" I ask, terrified of what that could possibly be.

"You'll come to work for me, here in the Justice Hall, part time for now of course while you complete your schooling. You'll be paid a fair wage for your efforts and that should allow you to provide for your family while being an upstanding citizen, with an image worthy of being with my daughter. You'll begin immediately. Report here tomorrow, an hour prior to the viewing. My secretary will give you directives from there."

A job? He wants me to come and work for him? "I don't understand...Are you asking if I want to come work for you?"

"No, I am letting you know that if you expect to be presented as my daughter's suitor, you'll be here tomorrow, ready to begin learning a proper trade."

"Does Madge know about this?" I ask him. I don't feel like she would've known about this and not told me but I still have to ask him.

"I'll tell you what, you think it over, decide if you'd like to continue dating my daughter and if so, I'll see you here tomorrow. Otherwise, I trust you'll let her know you've chosen to end this newfound relationship. Have a good evening Mr. Hawthorne. I do hope to see you tomorrow."