Author's note: Here is another idea that for-prim requested: Gale and Maggie spending time together when she's older. I hope you enjoy this. Feel free to review and let me know what you think.

The title comes from the Paramore song Where the Lines Overlap.

Happy reading!

I've Never Been Happier

"Are the girls home from school yet?" Gale asked Annie excitedly as he took his practice bow out of the top of the closet.

She chuckled and kissed her husband. "Yes, they walked through the door not long before you."

"Great." He walked to the foot of the stairs. "Maggie, come here." He called.

She appeared at the top of the stairs. "What, Daddy?"

He held up his bow. "Ready for your first lesson?"

His older daughter squealed and ran down the steps. "Really?"

He nodded. "Really. Get your shoes and coat."

Mags hurried to the front door and gathered her things. Pearl appeared at the foot of the stairs. She looked up at Gale and batted her eyes like she usually did to get what she wanted.

"Can I come too, Daddy?" She asked in her soft, high voice.

He kneeled down in front of her. "Not yet, sweetie. You have to wait a couple more years until you can learn the bow."

"But Prue and Caleb already know how." Her eyes shined with tears.

"That's because Katniss and Peeta wanted them to know how early."

"But why can't I?"

"Mama and I want you to wait. When you're ten, you'll learn too. But now it's Maggie's turn to learn, okay?"

She nodded.

Gale pulled Pearl into his arms. "You and I will do something tomorrow, okay? Whatever you want."

Her eyes lit up. "Can we work on the tree house?"

He chuckled and kissed her cheek. "We can. You are the best at handing me my tools."

"Can I use some tomorrow?"

"Of course." He kissed her again and stood. "Ready to go, Maggie-moo?"

"Ready!"

"Give your mother a hug."

She did and then ran out the door.

Gale chuckled and kissed Annie. "We'll be home in time for dinner."

"Take your time. Pearl and I will hang out here. And you and Maggie can bring dinner home."

He heaved a sigh. "Okay. What do we want? Pizza? Burgers? Tacos?"

"We don't have tacos around here." She said wistfully.

"That's right. But we can in District Four." He kissed her again. "And we'll be there with Finn next week."

She nodded and stepped away. "Have fun, you two." She picked Pearl up and spun her around. "Mama and Pearl time! Let's put on a movie and pop some popcorn."

Gale handed the bow to Maggie before he walked around the car. "When Finn and I first started his lessons, we lived in walking distance to the range."

"Will you show me where?"

"Sure." He drove into the middle of town. He pointed to an apartment building. "Right there. It's where we lived until you came along." He reached over and ruffled her short chestnut hair.

"Did you like it there, Daddy?" She asked as she smoothed her hair down.

"Not really. I lived there alone for a really long time. And then your mom and Finn came into my life and made it better."

"And you liked it even better when you moved to our house now?"

"Yeah, I did." He patted her knee and drove the last few blocks to his office campus. They parked. "You got that bow, hon?"

"Yep." She climbed out of the car and hurried around to his side.

He leaned down and kissed the top of her head, smoothing down her hair. "You're getting so big, Maggie." He draped an arm over her shoulder and led her into the building that housed the shooting range. Gale signed out his own bow and the practice arrows that he kept there.

He took the bow from his daughter and loosened the tension. He handed it back. "Pull on that and tell me if it feels too hard or too easy."

She did. "It feels good."

"Good. Here." He held out his hand. "Give me your left arm." He strapped a piece of leather to her wrist that extended a few inches down her arm. "This will keep you from getting bruised up too badly."

He pulled out his own and put it on. "We'll only do this a few times. It will hurt your fingers. And no point in overdoing it the first time anyway."

She nodded. "So what do I do?"

He smiled. "First watch me." He picked up an arrow and showed her how he nocked it. He took his stance and looked down the range at the farthest target. He lifted the bow and pulled back on the string at the same time. He let the arrow fly a moment later. It landed slightly off center. "Damn."

"Daddy!" Mags scolded.

"Sorry." He nocked another arrow and let it go. This one hit the bull's eye dead center. "All right, Maggie, that's how it's done. You try now. But on that target." He pointed to the one just a few yards away.

She nodded and took her father's place. She picked up the arrow and struggled with getting it onto the string. Gale helped her and then fixed her stance.

"Okay, baby girl, give it a shot." He said, stepping back.

Mags pulled the string back with difficulty and the arrow fell to the ground.

Gale took the bow back and loosened it a bit more. "Don't try to be tough, Maggie. You'll get stronger and better with practice." He handed it back. "Try again."

She was able to actually pull the string back and aim this time and let the arrow go, but it fell just a few inches away.

"Try again." Gale encouraged. He was brought back to his first lesson with Finn as he watched his daughter struggle to get the arrow to go more than a foot. He had a lot of the same issues Maggie had.

Then finally, after Maggie's frustration grew almost to the point of her giving up, she shot an arrow and it didn't fall until just in front of the target. She immediately picked up another arrow and nocked it, letting it fly. This time the point hit the top of the circle before it bounced to the ground.

"Daddy, did you see? I hit it."

"You did. Now we need to work on making it stick." He looked at his watch. "It's getting late and you're exhausted. We need to head back."

"Can we come back tomorrow?" She asked as they gathered the arrows.

"Not tomorrow. I'm working on the tree house with your sister. But we'll try to come at least once a week. You only get better by practicing."

"Will I be as good as you one day?"

"I think so."

"As good as Finn and Katniss, too?"

"If you keep practicing, you can be the best."

"But no one's better than Katniss."

"She's pretty great."

"Have you been friends with Katniss forever?" Maggie asked as they left the range and walked up to the desk.

Gale signed his equipment back in. "Well, not forever. But close. She was twelve when we met. Our fathers had both just died in the same mine explosion. We were both responsible for our families. We met in the woods."

"Where you were hunting illegally. And she taught you how to use the bow and you taught her about snares."

"I think you know the story already." He teased as they got in the car.

"Maybe." She blushed. "I just like hearing you tell it."

"You prefer when Katniss tells it."

"You tell it better. She doesn't like to talk about it much. Like Mom."

"No, your mom was pretty messed up then."

Maggie was quiet for a moment. She looked down at her hands twisting in her lap. "Mom was crying the other day. She said she was fine, that it was just because she missed Finn, but she had a picture in her hand and it wasn't his. It was a man who wasn't you."

Gale sighed deeply. "She has rough days sometimes."

"Was it Finnick Odair?"

He sighed, "Yeah."

She looked out the window as they passed through town. It was already getting dark. "It must be so hard."

"He helped her through a lot."

"No, Daddy, for you. She still loves him."

"She'll always love him, Maggie." Gale gripped the steering wheel tightly. "He's Finn's father. She loved him for years before that. Just because he died won't mean she'll stop loving him."

"But you've been married to her for more than ten years."

"And he's been dead for twenty. But she loved him a lot. And a love like that is hard to get over."

"Is she not happy with us then? Me and Pearl?"

Gale pulled the car over to the shoulder and looked straight forward for a long time. "Maggie, you have no idea how much you're like your brother." He looked over to her. "Your mom is sick in her head because of what the Capitol did with the Games and everything after. She loves you and Pearl and Finn and me. But sometimes her head won't let her heart remember that. Finnick used to be the only one who could pull her out of her darkness. And when she has a bad day, she takes out that old picture of him and she stares at it until she remembers that she's alive and loved and safe because of the sacrifice he made. And none of us would be here if it weren't for him."

"It just doesn't seem fair." Maggie said, putting her cheek in her hand and staring out the window.

"I know it doesn't, but your Mom and I have worked through all that. We're at a good place. And you and Pearl wouldn't exist in our world in Mom and I didn't love each other."

"Ew, let's not talk about that." She squirmed in her seat.

Gale chuckled. "Just don't blame your mom. She does more for us than she needs to." He put the car back in gear and then pulled back out into traffic.

"Did I do a good job today, Daddy?" She asked when they stopped in front of the pizza parlor.

"You did very well today, sweetheart." He kissed the top of her head. "I'm proud of you. And I love you."

"I love you too, Daddy." She wrapped her arms around his waist as they walked to the counter to place their order.