Author's Note: Oh my god, this story has over 1000 reviews. Thankyouthankyouthankyou! This is really unbelievable. As a thank-you-present, Finnick will send you all a virtual hug and a sugar cube, 'kay? :) Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games. Suzanne Collins is the owner of this amazing trilogy. This story is mine, although most characters are not.

Chapter 50

Gale's POV

Okay, take a deep breath. You can do this, Hawthorne. You've done braver things, like hunt, and tell Madge you liked her, and fight with boys at school. You can do this. Then why is my heart beating so quick?

Madge squeezes my hand once and looks up with a small smirk on her face.

"I can't believe you're so scared." She says. I snort.

"I- I'm not scared. At all. Pfft. Scared." Madge laughs and knocks on the door. I straighten my shirt and run a hand through my hair. The door opens and Mayor Undersee looks me up and down once.

"Gale Hawthorne. Good to see you." He says, sticking his hand out. I shake his hand and smile.

"Good to see you too, mayor Undersee." I say. He nods once and then gives Madge a kiss on the top of her head.

"Hi Dad. What's for dinner?" She asks, walking past him. He gestures for me to walk in. Then he closes the door behind us. He tells Madge what's for dinner, but I don't listen. Madge's house was unbelievable.

"Gale?" My head snaps back to Madge and she laughs. "I was just asking if you'd like me to show you the house." She says. I nod and follow her. She shows me the living room, and the entertainment room. Like, seriously, who has a freaking entertainment room?! She also shows me the dining room, and tells me there are three bedrooms, and four bathrooms. Then we arrive at her bedroom. She opens the door and walks in. I walk in behind her and close the door.

"It's.. pink." I say, looking around. Her whole bedroom was different shades of pink. Madge chuckles.

"Yeah, I had an obsession with the color pink, princesses, and ponies when I was younger." She says. I laugh and sit down on a comfortable egg-shaped seat. I think her room was bigger than mine and Rory's together.

"You really have an amazing house." I say, looking around. She smiles and thanks me. Then she makes her bed. I thought the cleaners would have done that for her. While she's busy, my phone buzzes. It's a text from Finnick.

So, how's it going? Are you being all prince charming? Has the father given you his blessing yet? What's the house like?

I roll my eyes and text something back quickly.

The house is like a palace. I only said hi to her father, we're in Madge's bedroom now.

Literally ten seconds after I send the text, I get a text back. Finnick was a quick texter.

Shit, Gale, I don't even want to know. Use protection, okay? I don't think mayor Undersee would be too happy if you made his only daughter pregnant at the age of 16.

Fuck you, Finnick. I roll my eyes again and just put my phone in my pocket. I wasn't even going to respond to that. Madge turns around and then laughs.

"What?" I ask.

"You still look really nervous." She smirks.

"Yeah, well, I'm just about to have dinner with my girlfriend's father, who happens to be a freakin' mayor." I say. She rolls her eyes and walks over to me.

"Gale, he's just a normal guy. Okay? Just a normal man, someone you'd talk to on the street or at school. Only he happens to wear a suit all the time and be in charge of a District." I laugh and pull her wrist so she falls on top of me. I shift her so she's sitting on my lap. She rests her head on my chest and I wrap my arms around her waist.

"By the way, don't worry, I won't pull a Finnick and tell your Dad that I know where you got your good looks from." I say. She laughs and looks up at me. I give her a kiss and she smiles, putting a hand on my cheek.

"Dinner's rea-" We both lean back quickly and look at the door. Madge's father was standing there, staring at us. We hadn't even heard the door open. Fuck. Madge jumps off of my lap and looks down.

"I'm, uh, sorry. Dinner's ready, so.. yeah." Mayor Undersee murmurs. Then he just turns around and walks away.

"Shit. Your Dad probably hates me for making out with his daughter." I say, standing up. Madge chuckles and grabs my hand.

"It'll be fine. Just.. don't kiss me in front of him, okay?" She says as she closes the door behind us.

"I'll try." I whisper as we walk down the stairs, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. She smiles and squeezes my hand before we walk into the dining room. Madge's father was already sitting down, at the end of the table. We both sit down at one of the longer sides, opposite each other.

"Where's Mom?" Madge asks. Mayor Undersee looks up.

"Sleeping. She's doesn't feel too well." He says softly. Madge nods slightly and looks down. Madge told me her mother had been sick for a few years now. She had bad days, and she had better days. Apparently today was a bad day.

As if this moment of silence couldn't be any more awkward, Madge's father just keeps staring at me. I swallow hard and look down. Then three waiters walk in, each with a big plate. They put it down in front of us and mayor Undersee thanks them. They nod once and walk away.

"Well, bon appetit!" Madge's father says. I look down and swallow hard. Why were there three different kinds of knifes and forks? I look up and see Madge and her father have already begun. There was fish, and some potatoes, and some greens. Madge's father looks up and raises an eyebrow.

"What, not hungry?" He jokes. I smile and shake my head. I look down and pick up the fork and knife in the middle. Then I look up at Madge with wide eyes. She smirks slightly and gives me a thumbs up. I smile and start eating the fish.

"So, Gale. Would you like some wine?" Mayor Undersee asks. I look up and swallow. This is a test, I'm sure it is.

"No, thank you. I'm fine with water." I say. He stares at me for a moment and then nods, a small smile playing on his lips. Phew. I eat again and sip at my water. There's was a bit of an uncomfortable silence. Madge was just glancing up at me and her father. I was trying to remember to use table manners. And I had this feeling Mayor Undersee was still staring at me.

"Do you still hunt?" He asks after a while. I look up and shake my head.

"No, sir. There isn't any woods in District 4, so... yeah. I don't." I say. What a sentence. He nods slightly and takes a sip of wine.

"And how is the family? Rory still getting into trouble all the time?" He asks, smiling. I chuckle and nod.

"He sure is. The family's fine. They've all gotten used to District 4 by now." I say.

"Why did you move, anyway? What's wrong with my District?" He says. The smile was gone. Oh fuck.

"T- There's nothing wrong with- my mother- she-" I stutter. He starts laughing and I sigh.

"I'm only joking, Hawthorne." He says. I smile slightly and stuff my mouth with a potato. Oh, shit, manners. I try to swallow it quickly and nearly choke. I put my knife and fork down and put my hand over my mouth.

"Gale, are you okay?" Madge asks as I cough. I nod and cough again. Could this dinner get any worse? I try to grab my glass of water. Suddenly I knock it over and there's water all over the table. Fuck it. I cough again and then swallow hard.

"I'm so sorry-" I say, trying to absorb all of the water with my small napkin. A waiter comes in and cleans the table, removing all of the water. Then he leaves and I look down, rubbing the back of my neck.

"Um, Dad, how was that meeting you went to this morning?" Madge says quickly, pretending that scene just didn't happen.

"Oh, it was the usual.." He starts talking about the meeting and Madge smiles at me. After a few minutes there's a silence again. We were all finished. Mayor Undersee clears his throat once and then calls one of the waiters. He collects our plates and comes back with three bowls a few minutes later.

"Oh, dessert." Madge says, raising one eyebrow slightly. Her father gives her a wink and then tells us to enjoy. It was a big waffle, with ice cream, melted chocolate and strawberries. I take a bite and sigh. This was delicious.

"This is nice." Mayor Undersee says. Madge and I nod quickly. After a few minutes we're all done and filled.

"That was lovely." I say. Madge's father smiles at me. Then we hear the phone ring in the living room.

"I'll get it." Madge says, standing up and walking out of the room. She closes the door and I gulp. I was alone with her father. Okay, relax. I play with my spoon, twirling it around a bit, until it falls onto the floor and makes a loud sound against the wood. I pick it up and put it down carefully. Oh god. This was so awkward.

"So, how is school going?" Mayor Undersee asks after a few moments. I look up and shrug slightly.

"It's going okay. My grades aren't bad." I say. He nods slightly and stares at me again. I rub the back of my neck nervously and look around the room. Where was Madge?! It felt like she had been gone for hours!

"Hawthorne?" I turn my head and look at him. His face was more serious than I had seen it all day. I gulp and nod.

"Yes?"

"Do you love my daughter?"

Finnick said he'd probably ask this question. I had thought of a long, sweet, polite answer before we came. But.. what was it again?

"Y-yes." I stutter. Shit, now it sounds like I don't mean it. He raises one eyebrow slightly and I exhale sharply.

"I love Madge. A lot." I say. It felt so weird to talk to her father like this. He nods slightly and then leans forward slightly, looking me in the eye.

"You better. She's head over heels for you. The mayor of District 4 is a friend of mine. He can make his peacekeepers do stuff. If you break my darling's heart, I'll make sure my friend and his peacekeepers find out, are we clear?" He says softly. I nod my head quickly. He smiles and then puts a hand on my shoulder.

"Alright then. Welcome to the family." He smiles, and the scary, threatening mayor of a second ago is gone. Wait, did I just get his blessing or something? I smile and thank him. Just then Madge comes in.

"Who was it?" Her father asks.

"Oh, just this girl from school I know." She says and shrugs slightly. Then she looks at me. "Wanna go to the living room?" She asks. I glance at her father and he smiles. I smile back and then nod.

"Sure. Thanks for the dinner, Mayor Undersee."

"You're welcome, Gale."

Madge and I walk out of the dining room and into the living room. She closes the door and then hugs me.

"That went well, didn't it?" She asks. I nearly snort. I nearly choked, spilled water, stuttered, blushed, dropped a spoon, got threatened, and then, I think, got her father's blessing.

"Yeah." I say, giving her a quick kiss. She smiles and I look around the room. My eyes fall on a big piano in the corner of the room.

"Your father plays piano?" I ask, walking over to it. She chuckles and shakes her head.

"He can't play at all."

"Oh. So who does play the piano?" I ask, sitting down on the small piano bench. She sits next to me and shrugs slightly.

"I do."

I gape at her for a moment. "I didn't know that. Why didn't you ever tell me?" I say. She shrugs again.

"I don't know." She says as she trails her fingers over the keys.

"Play me something." Her head snaps to me and she blushes slightly.

"I'm no good."

"I don't care, play me something. Please?" I say. She sighs and straightens her back. Suddenly her fingers start flying over the piano, playing a beautiful song. I just gape at her, until two minutes later she's done. She blushes again and looks down.

"I told you I wasn't any good." She mumbles. I turn her head carefully and rest my forehead against hers.

"You, Madge Undersee, are amazing. Can you teach me a song?" I grin. She chuckles and nods.

"Sure. Just do this..." She presses some keys slowly and then looks at me. I imitate her and she nods. Then she does another few. I try to imitate her again, but she was too quick, and I don't do it correctly. I try it again and again, but it doesn't work. She smiles and rests her hand on mine. She presses the keys softly and then just leaves her hand on mine. We sit there for a moment, her hand on mine. Then we both turn around at exactly then same time and crash our lips against each other's.

"I really love you." I murmur against her lips.

"Shut up." She grins mischievously, pulling me closer. I chuckle and wrap my arms around her waist.

"Okay." I pull her onto my lap and she wraps her legs around my waist.

"Miss Undersee? Phone for.. you.." We both lean back quickly. Madge turns around and glares at the cleaner for a moment before sighing and standing up.

"Thank you." She says before taking the phone. The cleaner nods once, smirks at me for a moment, and then walks away. Madge walks over to me and sits down on my lap.

"Hello? Oh, hi Peeta. Uhu. Yeah, it was great. We were just... ugh, shut up Peeta. Like you never make out with... Uhu. Haha, no! Yeah. Uhu.. No. Nearly. Okay. Sure, we'll be there in half an hour. Alright. Alrighty. Bye Peeta. Uhu, bye!" She puts the phone down and then turns her head to look at me.

"What did he want?" I ask. She shrugs slightly.

"He said Finnick's got an announcement to make, and he's making it in half an hour, with or without us. So we better go." She says, standing up.

"Aw, but I was just getting cozy!" I say, standing up and wrapping my arms around her again. She chuckles and gives me a kiss on the cheeks before dragging me out of the room. She walks to her father and gives him a hug.

"Dad, we're going. I'll be home in a few days, I'm staying at Katniss' again." She says.

"Alright sweetie, have fun. Gale, thanks for coming." He says, patting my shoulder. I smile.

"Thanks for having me. Nice seeing you again." I say before Madge drags me out of the room. We walk outside and I notice it's getting quite dark already. I slide my fingers into Madge's and we walk slowly.

"I had a really nice day." She says softly. I smile and nod slowly.

"Me too."

"First date I've ever had."

"What? No way." I say in disbelief.

"Yes way. Boys don't often ask me out, and if they do, there are always a load of other people with us as well so it isn't an actual date."

"Oh. Wow."

"What?"

"I thought you would have been on a load of dates."

"Why?"

"Well, because you're.. you. You're pretty, and nice, and funny, and I just expected that a load of boys would have asked you out in the past." I say softly. She chuckles and squeezes my hand softly.

"Nah. They're all wimps. They wouldn't ask me out because my father's the mayor."

"Pft. That's so silly. I mean, what's scary about your father being the mayor?" I say sarcastically. She laughs and nudges me with her elbow.

"Shut up, Hawthorne."

"Make me."

She stops walking and narrows her eyes at me. I cross my arms and narrow my eyes as well. I'm sure she could see the dare in my eyes. Kiss me, Madge. I dare you. After a few seconds she walks over to me slowly and stands on her tiptoes. Our faces were only inches apart. She leans in slowly and I close my eyes, expecting to feel her lips on mine any second now.

"Nope." She whispers, popping the 'p' at the end. I open my eyes and see her walking away with a smug grin on her face.

Katniss' POV

The door opens and Gale and Madge walk in.

"Ugh, finally! What took you so long?" Finnick says. They both start blushing and Gale rubs his neck.

"Something got in the way." He says.

"What, your hormones?" Peeta mumbles. I laugh and he smiles. Madge rolls her eyes and whacks Peeta's free arm as she walks past us and sits next to me. Gale sits next to her and Finnick stands up.

"Okay, so now everyone's finally here," he says, narrowing his eyes at Madge and Gale playfully, "it's time for my announcement." He clears his throat and Annie jumps up.

"Wait wait wait, I'll get us all some hot chocolate!" She says, walking into the kitchen. Finnick sighs and I chuckle. I lean into Madge and she turns her head slightly.

"How was the date?" I whisper. She grins and gives me a look, saying amazing. I would have never imagined Gale to be.. romantic. I smile and lean back again.

A few seconds later Annie walks back in and gives us all a mug of hot chocolate. Then we all sit in a circle on the ground. Finnick clears his throat again and stands up.

"I, Finnick Odair, am going to model for a magazine!" He says, grinning. We all gasp and jump up, giving him hugs and saying congratulations.

"I never knew you wanted to be a model." Madge says. He shrugs slightly and grins sheepishly.

"Well, I have a hot body, so why not?" He says. We all chuckle and roll our eyes.

"My Finnie's going to be in a magazine. Oh, this might be the start of your successful modeling career!" Annie says. He laughs and shakes his head slightly.

"It's just a small thing. I get half a page, somewhere in the back. I have to model with some other guy."

"Are you modeling clothes or something?" I ask. He nods.

"The newest 'capitol fashion for the districts' or something."

"I hope they give you bright pink skinny jeans and make you dye your hair green." Gale says, smirking. We all laugh as Finnick's face goes pale.

"Oh, Peeta, you should announce your news too." I whisper. He frowns.

"What news?" He asks. I run a hand up his arm and squeeze his biceps softly.

"That news."

"Oh." He says, grinning. He stands up and clears his throat. "Okay, so um, I have an announcement too. It's not as big as Finnick's, but... well, Finnick, sit down." He says. Finnick sits down and everyone stares at Peeta. He swallows once.

"I'm joining the school's wrestling team!" He says. Everyone jumps up and hugs him, just like they did with Finnick's news. They congratulate him and he smiles. Finnick's eyes go wide as everyone sits down again.

"So that's why you kept drooling over him today!" Finnick says, pointing at me. I feel my cheeks go red and roll my eyes.

"Shut it, Finnick." I murmur. Everyone laughs and Peeta smiles sweetly at me. He puts a hand on my cheek and I sigh contently. I smile and he grins.

"Oh, they're having a moment." Madge whispers. I choose to ignore her and lean in to give Peeta a soft kiss. When I lean back I can feel everyone's stare on me. I feel my cheeks burn up and look down.

"Oh my god!" Annie yells. I look up and see her staring at me. "Is that the promise ring?" She stands up and runs over to me, dropping onto her knees in front of me. I look down and see the little ring on my finger.

"Oh. Yes." I say.

"Oh my god, can I see?" She squeals. I chuckle and take it off for her. She examines it closely and then reads the inside. Her eyes widen and she bites her bottom lip.

"Oh my god, that's sooo sweet!" In the past twenty seconds, she's said 'oh my god' three times already. I smile and nod.

"I know, right?" Madge says, leaning over to look at the ring as well. Annie looks up at Peeta.

"You are so romantic!" She says. Peeta grins. Annie turns to Finnick and narrows her eyes at him.

"You should be more romantic." She says. Finnick rolls his eyes.

"Peeta, you're making us look really bad." Gale jokes. Peeta laughs and shrugs slightly.

"Sorry, can't help that I'm just a better boyfriend than both of you." He smirks. Finnick snorts and we laugh. Then we all just sit down and drink our hot chocolate, which was now only warm chocolate. I lean against Peeta's arm a bit and he gives me quick kiss on the cheek. After a while we're all done. We put the mugs away and start getting ready for bed. While I'm in the bathroom brushing my teeth, someone knocks on the door.

"I'm doing my teeth, give me a sec!" I say. The door opens slightly and Peeta's head looks at me. I raise an eyebrow and he grins, coming in and closing the door behind him. I spit the toothpaste out and put my toothbrush away.

"Peeta?" I say as he walks over to me. He puts a finger on my mouth.

"Shh." He whispers, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"Did you seriously sneak in here without anybody noticing?" I whisper. He nods. I roll my eyes.

"What? Am I not allowed to have some alone time with my girlfriend?" He teases. I chuckle.

"Sure, but in the bathroom?"

"Well I didn't think you'd want an audience."

"Why wouldn't I want an audience?" I ask, raising one eyebrow. He grins and gives me a long kiss. Oh. That's why. I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him closer to me.

"You taste like mint." He murmurs against my lips. I chuckle and run my hands through his curls. When we lean back for air after a few moments, I think of something.

"Peeta?"

"Hmm?" He murmurs as he kisses down my jaw.

"You're not going to flirt with some other girl tomorrow night, are you?" He stops kissing me and rolls his eyes.

"What do you think? Seriously Katniss, sometimes I even wonder if you have a brain." He teases, kissing the top of my head once.

"But you'll probably get drunk." I say, straightening his pajama shirt.

"Not drunk enough to forget about you." I smile and open the bathroom door. Everybody in the room turns around and stares at Peeta and I.

"Well well well. In the bathroom. That's nasty, Peeta. I have to brush my teeth in there." Finnick says. We walk out quickly as I feel my cheeks burn.

"Shut up, Finnick." Peeta says, punching his arm.

"Why does everyone always tell me to shut up? It hurts my feelings, you know." He says, putting a hand on his chest. We all laugh and sit down on the mattresses.

"Alright, time for bed. Finnick, get your ass over here." Annie says. We all burst out laughing as Finnick walks over to her quickly and lies down. The rest of us lie down as well and I turn the lights off. Peeta pulls me close and wraps his arms around me.

We all say goodnight and get comfy.

"Katniss?" Peeta whispers.

"Uhu?"

"I love you."

I smile and snuggle into his chest.

"I love you too."

Author's Note: So that was the chapter. Again, thanks for all the reviews. You do not know how excited I was this morning. I realized the story had 1000 reviews and jumped off of the sofa, spilling cola everywhere, dropping my sandwich, and scaring my mom and little sister. They just looked at me like: … what. So yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if they send me to the nuthouse soon. But if they don't, the next update will be sometime in the next few days! :)