Disclaimer: I'm just playing with Suzanne Collins' characters and her world. They're hers. Not mine. Any lines from the books are hers too. It's all hers.

'V' is very, very extraordinary

Valentine's Day, Sophomore Year

Gale glares at the flyer on the wall, an announcement for sing-o-grams on Valentine's Day.

It's obnoxious and cheesy, but it interrupts each class at least once during the day, so he can't hate them too much.

Besides, they're kind of funny. No one sends them to anyone they actually like. People use the anonymous option to embarrass their friends, Gale should know, he's received no less than ten mocking renditions of 'L.O.V.E' from Thom over the years. If it weren't such an offensive use of funds, Gale would send one back to his idiot friend as payback.

Five dollars a song, though, is more than Gale is willing to pay to profess his undying love, or more accurately his never ending scorn, for his dick of a friend.

"Planning on sending 'God Must Have Spent A Little More Time On You' to Madge?" Thom, who had materialized from somewhere down the hall, asks from over Gale's shoulder.

Refusing to dignify his with an answer, Gale rolls his eyes and starts back down the empty hall, back to zoology and his increasingly ugly doodle of Principal Snow's face.

"Come on, it's a good song, and no one ever chooses it," Thom continues on, jogging to keep up with Gale's longer strides. "What better way to confess your love for the lovely Madge Undersee than through the dulcet crooning of our high school's award losing choir?"

"Stuff it, Thom," Gale grumbles, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "I'm not in the mood."

He'd seen Madge walking with stupid, perfect Peeta 'I'm so funny' Mellark, giggling conspiratorially, his arm slung over her shoulder as they made their way to first hour earlier, and it had soured Gale's whole day.

"Because you dumped gravy on her Friday?" Thom asks, as he swings his hall pass, a pink hairbrush with the Home Ec teacher's name written in black block letters along the handle.

Groaning, Gale stops and presses his fingers to his eyes. Did he have to remind him of that? It isn't like the image of Madge with one of the freshman's breakfast of biscuits and sausage gravy down the front of her shirt has faded from his mind since he'd caused the disaster the week before.

"No, but thanks for bringing it back up."

Thom shrugs. "No problem. What are friends for?"

To add to a guy's misery, that's what Gale's friends are for apparently.

Deciding that it's bad for Thom's health for Gale to spend too much more time together without witnesses, Gale shakes his head and starts back down the hall.

"Maybe I can get my sister to buy that FTD groupon for you," Thom says right before Gale reaches his class's door. He smiles brightly at Gale's irritable glare. "Nothing says 'I wanna touch your butt' like a forty dollar bouquet, purchased at half price."

Since he's appealing to Gale's frugal side, he may be sincere, but that's doubtful. Thom lives to annoy, probably why he and Rory get along so well.

Without answering, Gale grabs the door handle and leaves his idiot friend grinning in the hall, still swinging a pink hairbrush in his hand.

#######

"Here, Gale," Posy says, handing Gale what may be his tenth valentine from her.

"Posy, those are for your class," his mother reminds her warily as she helps Vick copy down the names of his classmates from a list the teacher has provided.

Huffing and blowing her bangs out of the way, Posy gives their mother a haughty look.

"I know, momma," she tells her loftily. "I just-I just have'ded some lefted over and I want Gale to have them."

Their mother looks like she might be considering explaining to Posy that she can't have left-overs if she hasn't even filled out her cards, but thinks better of it. Logic hasn't been working on her youngest lately and it isn't likely to magically start.

Opening the little white envelope, Gale pulls out a simple looking card with a dopey looking cat on it. Posy's been obsessed with the little fur balls lately, ever since a feral one had taken up residence in their backyard.

The little white cat is sitting on a giant pink heart, overly wide blue eyes staring out at Gale, and below it, written in glitter, it says 'Valentine, I think you're purr-fect!'

It is, by and large, one of the stupidest things Gale has ever seen. Posy squeals in delight, though.

"Oh, I like this one!" She says, crawling into Gale's lap and taking the card from him. "I'm glad you got it."

Gale chuckles. "Well you picked it out for me, didn't you?"

Posy shakes her head. "No, I wanted it to be a surprise."

"Posy," he hears his mother ask, sounding a little guarded. "How did you make it a surprise?"

Looking pleased, Posy points to the pile of cards in front of her seat. "I sealed them all up!"

#######

After several hours of carefully opening all of Posy's sloppily sealed valentines, which she'd closed up without writing a single name on, not even her own, Gale had gone to bed, anticipating a day filled with off-key renditions of over-played love songs.

Chenille Shumard receives the first one of the day, 'Sugar, sugar', complete with a snickers bar thrown in, and it goes downhill from there. The teachers, for the most part, just up and decide that education isn't going to happen today, passing out crosswords for extra-credit and letting the madness overtake their classes.

Gale gets 'My heart will go on', sandwiched between 'You're Beautiful', and the first chance he gets he punches Thom in the shoulder as he exits his third hour.

"I hate you."

"You know you loved every sappy minute of it," Thom snickers, rubbing his shoulder gingerly.

Actually, Gale kind of does. He thinks it's hilarious, but he isn't going to admit that out loud, to Thom of all people.

"Do you know how much money you're wasting?" He decides on instead. Because Gale does, and he's appalled on Thom's behalf.

"It's for a good cause," Thom defends himself.

"They're awful!" How is it a good cause to support something that makes people's ears bleed?

"True, but it embarrasses you, and I consider that a worthy cause."

Of course he does. Asshole.

"Well," Thom sighs before letting another grin stretch onto face. "I'll see you at lunch. Enjoy your pre-meal serenade, compliments of The Beatles."

Great, just what Gale needs. Unless they sing 'Help!' he doubts they'll catch his mood at all.

Stuffing his book into his locker, Gale grabs out his next class's folder, a little rougher than he intends, and several papers fall out and to the dirt and leaf covered tile.

"Damn it," he mutters, dropping to his knees and picking up his papers.

Hidden in his homework, looking out of place and glittery, Gale finds the card Posy had given him the night before.

Standing up, Gale stretches his legs and starts to slam the locker shut when he hears Madge's voice come from behind him.

It might make him late for class, the halls are already thinned out to a trickle, but he thinks it's worth it if he gets to eavesdrop on her for a minute.

"And I've gotten three singing valentines!" Delly, wearing a loud sweater with glittery hearts stitched across the chest, is telling her.

Glancing out the corner of his eye as he pretends to straighten his papers, Gale see Madge nod politely, opening her locker and switching out her books while Delly continues to tell her about her exciting day.

"And I've gotten a box of chocolates, and Rhys gave me a card, and they called me into the office, and guess what?" She looks ready to explode, and before Madge can give her an obligatory 'what?' Delly has started babbling again. "I got flowers!"

Gale rolls his eyes. She probably sent the flowers to herself. No one, except maybe Rhys Mellark, would waste time with Delly. It makes Gale's ears sting just listening to her.

"It's just such a fun holiday," she carries on. "How many valentines have you got, Madge?"

Gale's ears, which had begun ringing, instantly clear as he strains to hear Madge's answer.

She doesn't, at least not at first, and tilting his head, Gale can see her fiddling with her books, rearranging her already tidy locker as she thinks.

"Not everyone is as popular as you, Delly," she finally says, her voice painfully even.

Not missing a beat, Delly throws her arms around Madge's shoulders and squeezes her tightly.

"Oh, Madge! You are popular, just, you know, a different kind of popular." She lets Madge go and beams at her. "Maybe if you were a little more…"

For a minute she struggles with just what Madge should be, then Madge supplies her own option.

"Loud?"

"I was going to say 'outgoing', but for you the two are one and the same I think," Delly says with a shrug. Her smile widens. "Just be a little more open with people and you'll have boys fighting for you."

Scowling at his locker, Gale does some unnecessary rearranging of his own.

Madge doesn't need to change, and she definitely doesn't need to be more outgoing. The last thing she needs, or more specifically the last thing Gale needs, is boys fighting for her. He likes her just the way she is, quiet and funny and not on any of the idiots in the school's radar.

She's perfect and Delly is too blinded by her own poor fashion choices to see that.

Listening to Madge's locker close as she and Delly vanish off down the hall, Gale glances over his shoulder and watches her skirt swish around her legs.

Once both girls are safely down the hall, and the bell for the next hour is precariously close to ringing, Gale looks down at the card still in his hand.

'Valentine, I think you're purr-fect!"

Nodding to himself, stealing himself for the exceptionally stupid thing he's about to do, Gale turns around and walks over to Madge's locker and carefully folds the card, blue-eyed cat face in, before slipping it through the grates and letting it drop in.

#######

Before lunch, Gale goes back to his locker and drops off his book, folder, and detention slip for being tardy, which really isn't fair. He'd walked in the door right as the bell rang, that counts as on time to him.

A little annoyed that he'll have to lose fifteen minutes of lunch the next day, he shoves his books in and slams the door shut before pulling out his phone.

'you're a dick, Lcewood,' he types in quickly. 'Call me maybe? no beatles'

Of all the songs he could've chosen, 'Call me maybe' has to be the worst. It's going to be stuck in Gale's head for the next week.

While he's waiting for Thom to reply, probably with a series of 'lol's, he hears Madge's voice behind him.

"Have you even started on that stupid paper for Ms. Trinket?" He hears her ask.

"Naw, I'll probably finish it next week," Mellark, of all people, answers.

Grinding his teeth, Gale listens as Madge's locker opens with a metallic click.

It takes a second, and at first he thinks she isn't going to see the card, or that maybe it's fallen out, to be swept up with the last of the fall's leaves and dry grass by the janitor.

Then-

"Peeta, did you put this in here?"

There's a note of surprise and confusion, in her voice, and Gale can't help but smile.

His smile dies, though, when he realizes Mellark is probably going to get credit for his card. The bastard.

To his surprise, instead of a smug, 'yeah, of course', he hears a bewildered, "No."

He can hear the frown in Madge's voice as she asks, "Well, then who did?"

Turning his head slightly, pretending to pop his neck, Gale spots a small smile on Mellark's face.

"Someone who obviously thinks you're," he takes the card and holds it in front of her face, "purr-fect."

Snatching the card away, Madge smiles at it. She looks up at Mellark, squinting suspiciously. "Who?"

Mellark shrugs. "I dunno."

Madge doesn't believe him, though. "Yes you do, tell me!"

She pinches his side and Mellark makes a wounded noise as he tries to escape, running down the hall.

"They wouldn't think you were so 'purr-fect' if they saw you now. Violent and paranoid," he yells, laughing, as he escapes down the hall.

She stands at her locker for a minute, her eyes alternating between Mellark and the little card, before she slams her locker and takes off, her bag slapping loudly against her back.

"Peeta!"

Gale's phone buzzes in his hand, pulling him back to reality.

'u enjoyd ur song :p'

Thom deserves to have his man card revoked for using that emoticon.

'dead,' Gale quickly types back before stuffing his phone back in his pocket, though his mood is too good for him to actually give Thom the ass kicking he so rightfully deserves.

Smiling to himself, he heads down the hall, back towards the Ag barn and his truck.

He may have another three hours interrupted with poorly sung valentines from Thom and a lunchtime detention to look forward to tomorrow, and he may not be getting credit for giving Madge that stupid little valentine, but it had brightened her day, and that makes the rest worth it.

#######

The next year

Gale comes up behind Madge as she digs through her locker, probably to find her botany textbook.

She makes a little squeaking noise as his hands, cold from walking across the parking lot after Ag, wrap around her middle and he pulls her flush against him, his nose nuzzling into her hair. It smells like strawberries and sunshine.

"Happy Valentine's Day," he murmurs against her neck as he presses a kiss just below her ear.

He feels her laugh.

"You already told me that this morning when you brought me flowers, and before second hour, and between third and fourth hour." She turns in his arms and narrows her eyes. "And you texted me it when you woke up."

"And now I'm telling you at lunch," he says with a shrug before leaning in, catching her lips and easing her against the lockers.

She obliges him for a minute, then gives him a gentle shove.

"Let's go. I made you some chocolate covered strawberries at Poppa's shop and I put them in the fridge at home. I want you to get some before my dad and Mr. Abernathy find them."

Reaching in her locker, she pulls out a folder and stuffs it into her bag.

Before she shuts the door though, Gale spots the valentine he'd slipped in her locker the year before. There's a crease in it where she'd folded and unfolded it, and the glitter has rubbed from the words, but she's still got it, taped to the inside if her locker door to see everyday, even if she still doesn't know who'd given it to her.

Gale smiles at it as she slams the door and spins the lock before taking his hand and pulling him down the hall. She certainly is perfect.