Prompt: Character A kisses Character B to distract Character B from something.

Gale observed her over the rim of his beer. Madge Undersee, the only person whose very existence pissed him off had kissed him and walked away as if it was something she did regularly. Actually, she sprinted away, and moments later, he'd realized that she shot him. She shot him! He'd been so distracted by her soft lips and warm skin that he'd dropped his gun and didn't even notice when she grabbed hers.

That wasn't supposed to happen. He wasn't attracted to her- not at all. He appreciated that she was a good looking girl. In all honesty, she was one of the most gorgeous people he'd ever known, all blonde hair and blue eyes. But that was supposed to annoy him, not turn him on.

They'd known each other for years- and there wasn't a single time in high school or college where Gale had considered hooking up with her. And now, all of a sudden, he couldn't think of anything else. Where the hell did that kiss come from? He didn't know she could kiss like that. She looked like a god-damn virgin. Acted like one too- turning pink every time he stood near her. Although that was probably more because of the things he said to her. Mean things, if he was being honest with himself, but he couldn't help it. Ever since the first time he saw her in high school- when she stepped out of her shiny, new Audi in a pair of $300 dollar shoes, he'd hated her. Despite Katniss's constant appeals for him to 'please stop taunting her', Gale couldn't seem to stop himself.

"Gale," Johanna's voice interrupted his thoughts, "Gale!"

She jerked his head toward her and raised his eyebrows, silently asking why she felt the need to shout his name.

"I'm heading out, see you later" She slung her jacket over her shoulder and nudged his shoulder as she walked behind him. "Later, Undersee," she nodded at Madge approvingly, "you weren't horrible today.

Clearly, she'd had been impressed by Madge's less than awful performance. And she wasn't the only one, Katniss had spent the better part of the last hour convincing her to come white-water rafting with her. Rory, on the other hand, had spent the last hour making fun of Gale for his terrible performance. It wasn't his fault he'd been distracted- how the hell was he supposed to concentrate after that kiss? Every time he saw a flash of blonde hair, he froze, expecting Madge to shove him against the nearest wall and throw herself at him again. And he was thoroughly disappointed when she never did.

Now he was fantasizing about her?

Nothing about tonight was normal, not the kiss, not the way Madge was laughing and joking with everyone else, and definitely not the way Gale, wedged in a corner of their booth, was unable to take his eyes off her.

She, on the other hand, hadn't spared him a single glance since they left the Arena. It was like the kiss never even happened. It had happened, right? Or had he imagined the taste of her vanilla chapstick?

There was no way, he wasn't that creative. And if it was just a dream, there's no way he would have stopped at a kiss.

He turned his head toward Katniss, pretending to listen to whatever she was saying but watched the blonde from the corner of his eye. She looked happy tonight, a far cry from her trademark cool, composed persona- no longer the perfect Mayor's daughter. Maybe it was the alcohol, but she seemed brighter- more vibrant. She looked animated and interested in whatever stupid story Mellark was telling her. And her hair, which had been tied back in some hideous mess earlier, was wavy and tousled around her shoulders now. It looked like sex hair.

And now Gale was back to thinking about fucking the mayor's daughter.

"Later Rory" Gale waved as his younger brother slid into the backseat of Katniss's car. He was planning on surprising Prim after her shift at the hospital tonight.

Now it was just the two of them- Gale and Madge, left in the little parking lot behind the bar. She still seemed completely unconcerned as she rifled through her bag, looking for her car keys.

She looked up and smiled at him distractedly as she fiddled with her keys,

"I'm parked over there," she gestured over her shoulder, "I'll see you around."

"I think you're right next to me," Gale nodded at his car, "I'll walk you." Her cheeks turned a pale pink as they walked across the cold, empty lot. Was it because of the cold or because of him?

Her Audi automatically unlocked with a quiet click as they approached the cars. Gale slowed his steps down, hesitant to let her go so soon. He wanted her to stay, wanted her to look at him. He needed to see something other than distant politeness in those bright, blue eyes.

"So," Gale said, leaning against his car as she swung open the driver's side door and tossed her bag into her passenger seat, "been meaning to kiss me long?" She stiffened and turned toward him with that infuriatingly neutral expression. No, it wasn't enough. He had to see her eyes light up. "Or did you just feel like slumming it with a coal miner's kid?" He regretted the words as soon as they came out of his mouth, but couldn't hold them back.

"Excuse me?"

She turned to face him, eyes narrowed and lips pressed into a frown. Well, his wish came true- her eyes were now filled with utter contempt rather than her customary apathy.

He couldn't stop himself, "Oh come on, Undersee" He slowly looked her up and down and shot her a mocking smirk. "Rich girl like you- what, you kiss me for some excitement?" He closed the distance between them until they were toe-to-toe. "Think I can give you what your preppy little boyfriends can't?"

He paused when she jerked back as if he'd slapped her. Then, with a sudden and terrifying burst of rage, she brought both her palms up to his chest and shoved him back. Gale's eyes snapped to hers, shocked by her intensity.

"You're a bastard, Gale." She pushed him again. "I get that you hate me, ok? I get it." The next push had him backed up against his car. "I'm rich, you're poor. We all get it!" She was in his face now, eyes glittering with hateful tears. "But you know what? Get that fucking chip off your shoulder- because this whole thing is just played out."

"I didn't kiss you because I felt like 'slumming it'." She quoted his accusation, disgusted by the words. She dropped back to her heels and shook her head. SHe looked back up at him with shockingly empty eyes- he didn't like it. She wasn't supposed to give up, she was supposed to fight back, damnit. All the passion fueling her tirade seemed to leak out of her. "God, just forget it."

She turned away and flung open her car door, pausing to say one last thing, "I kissed you because I wanted to. I've wanted to for years." Slamming the door shut behind her, she backed the car out and sped out of the nearly empty lot, leaving behind Gale in cold, shocked silence.

"Undersee," He pounded on her door- grimacing at the jolt of pain that ran down his wrist each time his fist met the wood. "Open the damn door." He paused and pressed his ear to the door, listening for her footsteps. "I know you're there- I can hear you."

He thumped his fist harder, ignoring the discomfort, "I'm not going to leave so you might as well open it before your neighbors freak out."

He heard the chain on her door unlatch, or maybe she latched it to keep him out. A quiet snick of the deadbolt told him she was standing right on the other side of the door, about to open it.

He hadn't bothered to consider what he would say or rehearse an apology for when she opened the door. All he knew was that he'd fucked up more than he ever had before, and he needed to fix it. The worst he'd ever done over the past 10 years were some quietly rude comments and dirty looks, nothing so obviously malicious as what he'd said earlier that evening. As soon as he saw the confusion and hurt in her eyes, he knew he'd crossed a line. He didn't know what it was about the Mayor's daughter that turned him into the worst version of himself.

When she sped out of the parking lot, he got in his car and raced after her, hoping to catch her before she locked herself away in her apartment, but the entire world had been against him, punishing him for his cruelty. He hit every single red light and been cut off by an 18-wheeler. So by the time he sprinted to her door, she was inside and understandably unwilling to open the door for him.

But Gale was nothing if not tenacious.

He'd been standing outside her door for nearly 15 minutes. First, he tried ringing her doorbell- but she ignored that. Then, he spoke loudly enough for her to hear, calmly asking her to please let him in- she ignored that as well. Now, he was pounding on the door like a madman, shouting so loud that her neighbors could hear him. She couldn't ignore this, could she?

He heard the doorknob turned and paused his forceful pounding as she cracked the door open an inch, just enough for him to see the ends of her blonde hair through the gap.

"What do you want, Gale?" she asked. She sounded exhausted- like she didn't have the energy to talk or listen to him.

"I want you to let me in."

"No." She tried to close the door, but he jammed the toe of his shoe into the tiny gap, keeping it open.

"Please open the door," From where he stood, he could see a little silver chain, looping from the wall to the edge of the door, holding it in place. She had definitely latched the chain earlier- knowing he would try to come inside whether or not she wanted him to.

She sighed heavily, "Fine. You have three minutes." She pushed the door slightly closed, then unlatched the chain and opened it again, letting him enter.

He stepped in and let her close the door behind him as he glanced around her apartment. The heavy wood furniture, massive flatscreen and tasteful decor made the entire place look it belonged in a home design magazine. It screamed money. It was exactly what he'd expected- but he tried to push down the mean comments that immedietely came to mind. He was here to apologize, not make things worse.

She came to stand in front of him, arms crossed defensively. In the low light, he could just barely see the redness around her eyes. She'd been crying. He had made her cry. And that made him feel sick. Even though he'd spent the better part of their relationship belittling her or ignoring her, he never considered the possibility that she might be affected by any of it. What the hell was wrong with him? He knew he'd kill any guy who ever made Posy or Prim cry, so why was he making Madge Undersee cry?

"What do you want?" She looked up at him but didn't meet his eyes, instead gazing at some point behind his right shoulder. There was no sign of the the fury from earlier.

"I'm sorry." He said, "I shouldn't have said that. It wasn't true, and I know that."

She nodded without hesitation, barely even listening to the words coming out of his mouth. All she wanted was for him to leave. "I accept your apology. Goodbye, Gale." She edged around him toward the door, mentally telling herself to keep it together, at least until he left.

"That's it?" He looked at her, confused, "just like that?"

"Yes. You're forgiven." Her voice was flat and polite. No emotion, and absolutely no sign of the well-bred, well-mannered rich girl.

"Undersee- I," Gale paused- even if she said she accepted his apology, it wasn't ok. His words from earlier still hung over them like a dark cloud, "Madge, please look at me."

She ignored his request and slid her hand over the doorknob, "Your three minutes are up."

He pushed his hand against the wood and held the door shut, bowing his head in defeat. "Please look at me," he repeated, hoping she would shove his hand away and fling open the door or turn around and yell at him to leave- but she didn't. She just turned and leaned against the door, looking up at him with those bright, blue eyes.

"You're not the kind of person I accused you of being- I'm so sorry I said it." Gale said, then paused, frustrated. He ran his hands through his hair, mussing it up as he searched for the right words to explain himself, "I just wanted- I mean, I- Did you mean it when you said you wanted to kiss me?"

She narrowed her eyes at him, bewildered by his sudden question. Good, at least he finally got some sort of response out of her. Gale stepped closer until they were inches apart, sharing the air between them. His hand came up slowly and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"Yes, I meant it." If she was confused by everything he was doing, she didn't show it.

"Good," He leaned closer, lips quirking up into a half smile as she gently skimmed her hands up to his waist, fisting them in the material of his jacket. "I shouldn't have said that earlier today, but I did becuase I didn't want you to go- and I didn't know how to ask you to stay." At some point, his voice had become quieter. It was nearly a whisper now, a private confession meant for her, and only her. He smoothed his thumb over her cheek and tilted her face up to his. God, she looked beautiful.

"You could have just asked me to stay." Madge tugged him closer with a small smile.

He nodded as he brushed his lips against hers, "Next time, I will." He slid his arms around her waist and kissed her, teasing her lips with his tongue as he stroked her lower back.

She wrapped her hands around his neck and pulled him closer, rising to her toes as he backed her up against the door and kissed her deeper. She scraped her fingernails up his scalp, burying her hands in his thick, chestnut brown hair and felt his smirk against her lips.

"Damn, Undersee," He whispred into her mouth, moving his hands dangerously low, until his thumbs hooked into the elastic waistband of her leggings. In one fluid movement, he slid his hands further down and hooked his palms under her thighs, hoisting her up against his body. With a surprised laugh, Madge wrapped her legs around his hips and crossed her ankles at his back, arching into his kisses.

"For the record," he pulled back with a sheepish smile, "I didn't come here to kiss you."

Madge pulled him back in for another kiss, gasping with delight when he began pressing open-mouthed kisses to her neck. "I don't care. But if you stop, I'm kicking you out." She tilted her neck, giving him access to her throat.

He laughed against her skin then mumbled something about not wanting to disappoint her as he pulled away from the door and walked them to her sofa.

Continuation of Laser-Tag I because there was some interest :)

-M-